Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

His hands shook as the liquid life poured around him at an alarming rate, staining the metal and once sterile floors around him. His mind felt numb, his thoughts spinning in tandem with the room.

Was this it?

Now after all that he had been through, the trials that he had faced and the guilt, the betrayal, the deaths? What he was certain to be his last few moments few uncomfortably anticlimactic, like a quiet ending to what had been a violent, audacious film. It bothered him to think that after it all, despite it all, he was left like this; in pain, in darkness and overwhelmingly lonely.

Not whelming at all.

He let out a pained grimance thinking of his old corny adage that he was so mocked for in the early days of the Team. The best days. How he missed them dearly. They used to be so carefree and ignorant, blissfully unaware of the realities of life and death and dangers thanks to their oppressively protective mentors. His hand grasped his gored side harder at that, his grip sending shoots of pain to surpass the tightness of his chest when he thought of Batman. When did he last speak to him? Where was he?

Thats not important right now. I just need to stay alive long enough to see him again.

With that his twisting train of thought slowed enough for him to gather himself, bring himself back to that reality he so desperately wished to ignore. The incredible pain in his side had dimmed though the bleeding had not and while he knew that should worry him, his relief from the thralls and spasms was a blessing. Nightwing reached with his unoccupied, limp left hand to his communicator, blindly pressing buttons to call someone, anyone.

Batman, Tim, Babs, Wally, Roy, Kaldur, Artemis, Conner, Megan, Zatanna, Rocket, Cassie, Bart, Arsenal, Clark, Diana, Oliver, Billy. Please.

A spasmed cough shook his hands from his side but he couldn't find the strength the put them back on the wound and instead he left them limp, resting on the soaked ground. He could feel warmth trickling over his lips and chin with each cough and the growing pool of blood growing around him.

Soon. To soon.

He had so much to say, so much to explain; to apologise for. He did this all for them. He changed himself to become what the world needed, another Batman. He never intended to isolate himself though the ethos of the batman demanded it. He expected anger, indignation and even rejection. He never expected the crippling loneliness.

So alone.

His final moments proved the rule. Here he was, dying for the friends and family he loved but dying alone. The worst part was the amount of loneliness though. It was one thing to be lonely but another to be alienated entirely by the only ones who had ever truly cared for you. Yes, he did what was necessary, saved so many people a thousand times over and would do the same again. What he did and how he did it was not perhaps the right way but it was the only way. His only option.

His breathing was becoming increasingly difficult, the red pool incredibly extensive and his heart worn and heavy. Not long. He watched the alarms of the ship flash vividly around him, silent, wailing signs of urgency that he no longer had the strength to comprehend. The illuminated screens just in his line of sight projected the images of his Team and family fighting desperately against the drones of enemies. His Family were clearly there but that was still not enough to satisfy him, he wanted to speak to them, say his goodbyes. So what? I can be selfish, I'm about to die! The metallic room around him seemed to close in on Nightwing and yet it still felt disparingly empty and void, only pixelated screens as his final company.

No one had answered his distress signal.

He realised faintly that he wasn't breathing anymore. The room was getting dimmer and had increased its spinning. This was it. A strange tightness grabbed his chest as he lost the strength to keep his head held up, tipping his world slightly to the side. Everything was becoming so far away, a blanket of nonchalance and unknown assurity that everything would be okay fell over him. He had the sudden urge to rip off his mask that had managed to stay on his face. He didn't want to die as a mysterious hero, a hero who had become something cold and dark and manipulative. No, he wanted his final moment to be his last, not the personas but he couldn't will his arms to move. It will be okay. The screens in his peripheral showed that his Family were no longer fighting, they were safe. Everything would be okay.

A slight crackle from his communicator interrupted his decent into oblivion, a voice ringing with static and concern that he almost felt his heart physically warm. The voice was gruff and comfortingly familiar though it was one he had not heard for a long time.

"Nightwing report."

He couldn't respond, his trachea was too bloated with blood and his lungs too deprived of oxygen to function though he didn't need to. He was overwhelming happy to hear his fathers voice again. And besides, he had nothing he had to say that his mentor, his father, didn't already know.

"Nightwing respond."

All worries and pangs of guilt and remorse were clouded, all he could coherently think and envision was the swinging motion and giddy, fleeting memories of the trapeze under the circus big-top. Of the grapple through the darkly beautiful illuminated streets of Gotham. Of sway as he held on the chandelier in Wayne Manor. Of his home. He was content.

"Dick are you okay?"

Yes, everything would be okay. He could let go.

"Dick?"

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! This is the first part of a large multi-chapter fic that I plan on posting and I have written up almost all of it. It is quite long!

I'm sorry if the prologue all seems a bit vague but you will find out why a little later on in the story ;)

Please let me know what you think about my story. It is my first ever fic and I would love to get some constructive criticism on how to improve my writing! I don't have a beta reader so I have scoured the story as much as possible for grammatical errors but if it you spot one, please let me know! I am also Australian so my spelling of things may be a little strange :)

Will update as soon as possible, thanks again for reading!

Savvy