TW: guess underage here.

Forever

The brush with death had left him a nervous wreck of a teen, while trying to hide it oh so well from everyone else. Well, not everyone it seems as he could never fool them. They know him too well to know that his attitude was just a mask- a cover for how he really felt. At home, they don't smother him immediately when they walk through the door, in fact he has a sense that they're waiting patiently for him to come to them on his own.

That only happens when he wakes suddenly in the middle of the night, sweat clinging to his body with an inaudible scream caught in his throat because his nightmare was too real. He could even still feel the heat of the flames eating away at his Robin costume. He shivered at the memory of it and how damn lucky he was then. What brings him back to the present, to this reality, is the press of soft lips against his temple and the cool arm laying across his hip against his feverish skin. They're reminding him that they are there. Dick is very comforting to him right now, and the mummer of Atlantean words calms him down even more.

He's safe. With them, he knows he'll always be able to wake up from these nightmares and be safe and sound in their shared bed in Blue Haven. With them on either side of him, he's able to sleep again, far more peacefully than before.

If only that could've lasted forever...

Next time he sees them, so much time has passed but he knows them by sight. Kaldur's body has lost some of its muscular physique as if he found no more will to care for himself but continued to do so to keep others from worrying. Dick-still in that Nightwing persona-looked like he hasn't had much reason to smile often and everything about him was rigged and hard- so much like Bruce.

But they don't recognize him, of course they wouldn't. He has a new mission, a new name, outfit- even his stance was different from that cocky teenage kid he had been. He wanted to say something- tell them anything to ease this but..

"Looks like Batman can't even bother to come after me himself." His bitter tone caused a shift in Nightwing. Damnit, he can't have Dick figuring this out. He'll simply screw this up. "I don't have time to babysit toddlers-" With that, he jumps off the roof, shooting a grapple hook at the nearest building and swung away

Leaving behind what had been the most valuable people in his life, forever.