AN: This chapter is gonna get a bit wacky as we finally learn what happened with Dick. I'm proud of the title btw. It's officially one of the best chapter names I ever came up with.

I'm actually really excited for this one because pivotal things happen.

14. Cosmic Mistakes

Dick had been in the darkness for what felt like an eternity after Talia had thrown him of that building. Bodyless. Without purpose. Just existing as a consciousness. Being dead had mostly meant staying in the darkness and drifting. But Dick hadn't been alone.

There had been another consciousness drifting in his periphery. Dick hadn't been able to communicate with them. So, they had co-existed in the darkness together. Their presence had been faint but comforting.

One day – did time exist when you were dead? – something had pulled at Dick's consciousness. The pull had disrupted the empty calm of death and brought pain with it. It had been agonzing to be ripped through existence and pushed into a body again. Existing in a body had felt too small. Like a cage. Dick had wanted to rip his skull open and set his consciousness free again.

Only later did he notice that his body indeed was too small. But not for the reasons Dick had expected. Something had been shut in with him. The other consciousness hit Dick's with a force that made him shut down for a bit – losing himself to rage and desperation. Dick assumed the other consciousness had gone through the same because Dick's (their?) body had lashed out with skills that Dick didn't possess. Apparently, the other consciousness did.

Dick had embraced the darkness when Jason had tranquilized him. At least, he didn't have to feel anything for a while.

Dick woke up again with something soft under his body. A plush seat. Something cut into his limbs. Zip-ties. Panic rose in Dick. It reminded him of his time in Juvie. When he had struggled against the guards and they had pushed him down, not caring about his well-being.

People were talking close to him, their voices low. He couldn't make out individual voices. His head was buzzing. It seemed to be filled to the brim with too much. It was overwhelming.

This had to be a nightmare. His memories of being killed. Being dead. Being revived apparently? It was the only way Dick could interpret these events. And then that other thing that was trapped in his head with him. Dick wondered if it was still there or if it had vanished-

"Don't struggle. We're in Bruce's jet and not in immediate danger", a voice said in the back of his head – the other presence was still there, "Let them think we are asleep while we sort this out."

Sort what out? That Dick was losing his mind? That whatever had happened had ripped his mind apart, put something new in and made him crazy?

"You aren't crazy", the other voice was calm.

Dick was pretty sure that hearing voices in his head wasn't making him the most sane person.

"Let me explain before you have a freak out."

Dick wondered how the other person (entity?) could be so calm.

"I have to admit this is pretty high on the crazy pole even for me but it's nothing that can't be explained."

Dick was curious for that explanation. But he was an open guy so he would allow the clearly crazy part of his mind to explain itself (himself?).

"You died", the other voice said, "I don't know how you died but I could feel your pain and your presence. Bruce revived you through the Lazarus Pit. And there must be some cosmic mistake because I shouldn't be here. I just got falsely sucked back in with you."

What had Wayne to do with this and what the hell was a Lazarus Pit? Dick couldn't wrap his head around any of this. This story had a lot of holes Dick didn't know how to fill in and the pieces he had were inconceivable. Also: Who was that other guy in his head who could fight off dozens of ninjas?

"I'm you from another timeline. You can call me Nightwing to make it easier. Bruce erased me and my timeline when he travelled through time and created the timeline you know."

Dick truly was insane – but at least he was aware of the fact so that counted for something.

"You aren't going crazy. This situation is just crazy because Bruce screwed up."

Nightwing kept going back to Wayne and Dick couldn't figure out why. Some random billionaire he barely knew couldn't be the reason for whatever mess Dick was in. Right?

Nightwing audibly sighed: "Strap in. This is gonna be a long story. I'll try to make this as understandable as possible so we have to start at the beginning."

The voice – Nightwing – told him about his life in the other timeline. That Wayne had taken him in and a slew of other kids. That Wayne had become a vigilante to avenge his dead parents. That they had all been vigilantes. And then Wayne had erased this timeline by bringing his parents back. To summarize: The story was insane and sad, but it was the most logical explanation Dick had for his predicament until now.

It certainly explained all the things Dick hadn't been able to explain. The hug Wayne – a complete stranger - had given him. The melancholy with which Wayne had watched him sometimes. The way Wayne had cried over Dick's dying body as if he was a son. It all made sense now. Wayne had missed Nightwing.

"He certainly didn't", Nightwing scoffed, "If he did, he wouldn't have fucking erased me from existence."

It was the first time Nightwing showed any other emotion than pure professionalism. If Dick concentrated, he could feel an underlying rage radiating through his mind.

Dick tried to keep his breathing under control and to keep the rage from taking over. Now that he understood the extent of the situation, the existential implications creeped up on him. He only existed because Wayne had messed with time. He was a faded copy of some other guy who was stuck in his head. He wasn't supposed to exist. His whole life – everything he had gone through – was just an illusion. Dick wasn't real. His life wasn't real. Nothing he did mattered. Maybe he wasn't insane now but it was only a matter of time if he continued to think about all of this.

"Hey. Take a breather. You are real."

No, he wasn't. He was someone who shouldn't exist. He was a defect variation of the guy who should exist. No wonder no one had adopted him – or rather someone had un-adopted him.

"You are real", Nightwing insisted, "More real than I am at the moment – because I'm a faded voice in someone's head. We live in a multiverse. There are infinite numbers of universes and infinite versions of us. They are all valid and all real. You matter. You are just less alone than you expected."

Way to spin this into something positive. He could believe that this guy had been a superhero.

"Imagine all those timelines like a tree", Nightwing said, "The branches go off from each other. They all exist. They are just different. You aren't lesser. All of the branches are important."

That was surprisingly comforting. Dick felt his breathing slow down again. Apparently, there were infinite versions of Dick Grayson out there and Dick was just one version of him. Nightwing was another. Dick could work with that. This was fine. He had watched a few sci-fi movies in his meagre existence.

"You're welcome. I stole this explanation from Wonder Woman. She told it to me when I was a kid and it was comforting to me as well. We are part of a gigantic picture but we are a part of it nonetheless."

Dick was surprised that the guy in his head knew Wonder Woman of all people. The Amazon seemed to be from another world every time Dick saw her on TV fighting some gigantic monster.

"She's the best. Bruce asked her to babysit me when I was a kid. Uncle Clark as well."

Uncle Clark? Dick frowned.

"Clark Kent? Superman? The reporter from the Daily Planet?"

How the hell was Dick supposed to know that? He had never even seen Superman in person. And he wasn't up on his Daily Planet journalists as a Gothamite. Dick only watched Superman whenever he was on TV and maybe he had a little bit of a Superman-phase growing up. And maybe he had never completely grown out of that phase. And maybe he thought that Superman was kind of hot…

"STOP", Nightwing's voice reverberated through his head, "Can we please not think that way of the guy who babysat me when I was a child?"

Dick bit his lip. Well, that was awkward. He mentally apologized. This interdimensional stuff could get weird.

"Yep", Nightwing agreed, "At least Bruce didn't create a timeline where everyone is evil. We had those multiple times, and it was a pain in the ass."

Dick tried to pretend he knew what Nightwing was talking about. He had to admit that it got to him. Not only were there other versions of him – but Dick clearly was one of the most pathetic ones.

The guy in his head was infinitely cooler than him. Nightwing was a superhero – who hung out with other superheroes. He had grown up with them and casually called Superman his uncle. Also, he had been adopted and even managed to make it stick – unlike Dick who had been such a disappointment that he had managed to get fucking un-adopted.

"Don't do that to yourself. You are a hero to those kids. Think about how many of them you've saved. And I think I got cosmically un-adopted by being erased from existence, so we are even. Yay to us I guess."

Dick frowned, taking some time to think about Nightwing's words. It was sad when Nightwing phrased it this way. Nightwing had lost his whole life and family. Dick had taken over his place in the universe somehow when Nightwing's timeline had been erased.

Nightwing didn't have to be so kind to Dick – and Dick would understand it if Nightwing was pissed at him.

"It's not your fault. You had no idea. Bruce did this to me and he's the one I'm pissed at", Nightwing said.

Fair enough. Still, Nightwing was handling this impressively well. There were worse people to be mind-melted with.

"Thanks. Likewise", Nightwing's tone was non-chalant, "I'm not handling this well at all by the way. I'm just good at compartmentalizing – and I get chatty when I'm close to losing my mind. Don't let me take over when Bruce is close because I would probably try to strangle him again with all this pit-madness flowing through us."

Dick smiled to himself. He thought how he had reacted when Professor Pyg had almost lobotomized him. Dick had lost himself in a bubbly form of nihilism that had taken him a while to get out of. Maybe Nightwing and he were more similar than they knew – even if Nightwing seemed to be the cooler, superhero version of him.

Dick could hear something opening. Wind touched Dick's face. Heavy steps entered the plane. They approached Dick.

"Hey", Wayne said.

Dick could feel Nightwing perking up in the back of his head. Rage was running through his body. Dick had to push it down to keep himself from attacking Wayne. If he let go, Dick's body would jump out of his seat and use those kung fu-moves on Wayne, zip-ties be damned.

"How is Canary?", someone asked.

It was Jason. Dick's chest felt lighter. His best friend – kind of brother in heart – was here. It couldn't be that bad then. Nightwing also stirred in the back of Dick's head at hearing Jason's voice.

"Dinah?", Nightwing sounded concerned.

Apparently, Nightwing knew the Black Canary. How shouldn't Dick be jealous of this guy?

"She is stable. Selina and Stephanie are with her", Wayne answered, "She is still unconscious but the doctors say she can be moved to Gotham in a few days."

"Good", Jason sounded relieved, "Maybe she can be there when we bury Huntress. Oracle is organizing everything."

Dick tensed. When had that happened? He hadn't had a lot of friendly conversations with crossbow-wielding vigilante but she had been a hero.

"Helena? She is dead?", Nightwing sounded hurt, "What the fuck did you do, Bruce? How did you let this happen?"

Dick wondered which kind of relationship Nightwing had with his version of Huntress. The rage in the back of his head was growing. Desperation mixed in with it. There was something Dick was missing.

Huntress must have died on the mission to revive Dick. Dick felt a pang in his chest. He hadn't wanted that anyone paid the ultimate price for him.

"How is Dick?"

"Still out."

Steps came closer.

"No, Bruce. Go away. Leave us alone", rage seeped into Nightwing's voice.

Apparently, Bruce's presence was too much for him to compartmentalize away.

"He's watching us. Stay still. I don't want to talk to him."

Dick tried to stay still. He really did for his own and Bruce's sake – because Nightwing sounded like he was out for blood. Huntress' death was just the tip of the iceberg.

But Wayne said: "I know you are awake, Dick."

"Shit", Nightwing cursed in his head, "Treacherous bastard. Ignore him."

Dick doubted that Wayne would just leave them be. He had this hopeful tone in his voice.

Wayne would be disappointed once he noticed that Dick was still there, and his real son was just a voice in the back of Dick's head. Dick would be able to deal with it. He was used to people being disappointed by him because Dick was never enough for anyone. He was never good enough.

"I'm not his son", Nightwing said, "Existentially un-adopted remember? Bruce stopped being my father the moment he erased our adoption papers from existence."

Nightwing had a point. Dick felt slightly awkward though. He wasn't very keen on being stuck in the middle of this interpersonal conflict. And he was literally stuck in the middle with no way of getting out of this.

"Dick", Bruce put a hand on Dick's shoulder.

"Don't touch me."

It had no use. Dick had to interact.

He opened his eyes. Wayne's face was directly in front of him – which made Dick more than a bit uncomfortable. There was a concerned frown on Wayne's forehead. This close, Dick noticed the little wrinkles on Wayne's face and his unkempt beard. And was his hair dyed black? That definitely looked like a grey hair there.

Wayne's face softened and he looked like the sun had just gone up: "Hello, son."

"I'm not your son", Dick said.

It came out with more force than Dick had intended, and Dick wondered if Nightwing could take control of his voice. Probably, because Nightwing had also taken control of Dick's body when they both of their minds had collectively lost it. Scary thought. This mind-melting things was so freaky.

Wayne's face fell: "I know that you are angry with me, Dick. I understand. I-"

"No. I'm literally not your son", Dick started to grow annoyed.

He didn't want to go to family counselling with some billionaire he barely knew. And Nightwing didn't seem eager to do so either despite being said billionaire's actual son.

Nightwing was clawing at the back of Dick's head. Dick increasingly felt the need to throttle Wayne and it was hard to remind himself that it was Nightwing's need to throttle Wayne. His fingers seemed to be moving on their own. They were testing the bonds around his limbs. Not good. Dick didn't doubt that Nightwing could get out of these restraints.

Dick cleared his throat and said: "You should really pull back a bit, Wayne."

Wayne reluctantly stood up. Dick got a view of the rest of the room. Jason was there. Damian. They both sat on seats in the back of the plane staring at Dick with wide eyes.

And there was girl in the plane. Asian. Black hair. Dick didn't know her.

She looked at them with narrowed eyes. Dick wondered what she thought of all this.

"Cass", the scratching in the back of Dick's head got stronger, "Cass, can you read that I'm in here?"

Dick didn't understand. He ignored all the other people in the plane for now and focused on Bruce. It got overwhelming to think about the rest of them with the person inside his head.

Wayne sounded as if he could barely keep his voice under control: "You fought like him. You- You have to be him."

"I'm not", Dick said.

"I didn't imagine it", Wayne insisted.

Dick sighed: "I think the guy you are looking for is in the back of my head. We think our minds got melted together."

"Melted together?", Wayne's eyebrow twitched.

"He's barely keeping it together. Serves him right", Nightwing's voice was dripping with self-satisfaction.

Apparently, superheroes also had a petty streak. Dick couldn't fault Nightwing for it after the situation Wayne had put him – both of them – in.

"I- I think his consciousness got sucked into my mind, too, when I was resurrected. And no, we don't know why. Even Nightwing doesn't despite having far more knowledge about this shit than I have."

"You can hear him?", hope creeped into Wayne's voice again.

"Yes."

Dick decided to approach this like any other family dispute he had to deal with. It wasn't much different, was it? Just that one party was stuck in his head.

"Can I talk to him?"

The anger radiating from Nightwing was barely containable now. The other man was about to take over Dick's body. But Dick had to keep it together for both of them. Dick was better than his anger. He had learned to overcome his rage issues.

"He is very angry with you, Mr. Wayne. You should keep your distance because this could get ugly if I lose control."

"Angry?", Wayne asked.

"He doesn't want to talk to you."

Wayne frowned. He looked at Dick as if he was a puzzle to be solved.

"But he did tell you things?"

Dick wondered if it was a breach of trust to tell Wayne what Nightwing had told him. He had missed the briefing on what the proper etiquette for mind-melting was. Nightwing seemed too angry to respond rationally. It couldn't harm to tell Wayne more. Communication was usually more constructive than just angrily glaring at each other.

"I think his mind had to go somewhere when you erased his timeline and it must have gone where dead minds usually go. I felt his consciousness when I was dead and we were both stuck in this limbo-world until you resurrected me."

Bruce frowned: "You both got sucked in the same body?"

"Apparently", Dick hoped Wayne had a solution for this disaster.

Wayne thought. He seemed helpless.

"It isn't that hard", Jason said, "Wayne made a cosmic mistake."

All heads turned to Jason. Even Cassandra watched him pensively.

Jason pointed at Bruce: "Wayne travelled back in time to change something because he wanted to. He erased his original timeline and created a new one. But matter never vanishes and has to go somewhere. So, the minds of the people Wayne erased went into this void for dead souls."

"That actually makes sense, Todd", Damian sounded surprised.

Jason's gestures grew wilder the longer he explained: "But Wayne's time-travel wasn't natural. It disrupted the flow of the universe or whatever you wanna call it. And because of this, both Dick's technically occupy the same space in the universe and the universe used this opportunity to put both of them back when it had the opportunity to."

Damian shook his head.

"What?", Jason shrugged, "I'm a well-read guy."

Dick sighed: "So, Wayne made me into a cosmic mistake? Or us?"

"We are all cosmic mistakes. Our whole timeline is a cosmic mistake", Jason said, "We all took the places of the people who should have them. Thanks Wayne by the way."

"You aren't cosmic mistakes", Bruce said, "You are my children."

"I'M NOT YOUR FUCKING KID, WAYNE", Jason screamed, "Get that in your fucking skull. You erased the Jason who was your son and now Dick is all screwed up because of you. Both of them."

Dick increasingly felt overwhelmed by all of this. It was hard to keep the neutral position Dick needed to maintain to keep himself under control. Not when the whole room and the person in Dick's head was angry at Wayne.

Dick said: "Nightwing said you cosmically un-adopted him. He is pissed – understandably."

Wayne cringed: "I'm so sorry, Dick. This shouldn't have happened. I didn't know that a part of you would still exist out there somewhere and that this could happen."

Dick flinched. He felt anger rise in his own consciousness. Wayne couldn't have said a worse thing. Dick could feel the pain and feeling of betrayal radiating from Nightwing's mind.

Wayne didn't regret having erased his children in the first place. He regretted having not erased them properly.

"He doesn't care. Not about me or Jason or Tim or Cass or Little D and all the others. They are still out there in that void. And he doesn't care about any of them", Nightwing's voice broke.

The anger receded. Dick only felt sadness spreading in his mind.

"Why did it pull me back? I have to get out of here. I have nothing now. I am nothing. Why didn't he erase me whole? How could he do this to me? I thought we meant something to him."

Dick grimaced from the pain. He frowned when he felt something wet on his cheeks. Nightwing was crying.

Bruce froze, only now realizing what he had said: "I'm so sorry, Dick. Let me fix this. I can fix this somehow."

"YOU CAN'T FIX THIS. You screwed this up in the first place and every time you try to fix things you make them worse", Dick only realized that he himself had said it and not Nightwing once it was out.

Nightwing wasn't the only one who was overwhelmed by this situation. Dick had died. He had been ready to give his life so that Damian could be safe. Now, he was back when he had already been finished with his life and Huntress had died for him. And Dick's whole existence was apparently a cosmic mistake now that Dick had to live with.

Nightwing had grown silent in his head. Only a depressed undercurrent indicated that he was still there. It was concerning but Dick didn't have the energy to deal with it now.

Bruce paled. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"You didn't need to fix anything", Dick glared at Bruce, "You had a great family full of adopted children who loved you. Your parents died – which is sad and you have a right to grieve them. But life goes on and you have to accept it."

Bruce closed his mouth.

"Some people would have killed to be in your position. I would have killed to be in your position. But you threw it – them – all away because you just had to have it all. You were fucking greedy and now the universe – or whatever force is behind all of this - is punishing you for it. And I'm apparently the guy the universe decided to punish you with – which is fucking unfair. And I hate it. And I want it to stop."

Bruce turned around. He hurried out of the plane.

Dick wanted to run after him. Knock sense into this man. But he was still restrained and shaking from the adrenaline that ran through his body.

"You made your point, Richard", Damian cut the zip-ties with a dagger he must have procured from somewhere, "It was a very moving speech."

Dick felt more tears run down his face. Probably happy ones this time – or half-happy ones?

He pulled Damian into a hug. As horrible as this situation was, Damian was safe. Dick hadn't died for nothing. All of this was worth it so that Damian was safe.

Damian didn't protest. He hid his face in Dick's chest. His body was shaking and Dick was pretty sure the boy was crying. Dick didn't comment and ran his hand through Damian's hair.

"Am I just being ignored for the shiny new brother?", Jason said.

"Come here", Dick held out his arm to Jason, "I missed you, idiot. I hope you didn't do anything stupid while I was away."

"Stupid? You are one to talk, Mr. Clean. I had to clean up your mess."

Jason let Dick pull him into a hug. It was a little bit awkward, but Dick didn't care. He was reunited with his brothers.

"We are all officially cosmic mistakes but hey – at least we are together now", Jason said.

Jason being so openly sappy was a testament to how much shit they had gone through.

Meanwhile, Nightwing was a dull throb in the back of Dick's head as he mourned the brothers he had lost. Dick realized the dilemma they were in. Wayne had hacked off a branch of the tree with his meddling. Dick's branch had re-grown there and filled the empty spot. They had two timelines now competing for the same spot in the universe. One of them would have to lose.

"I'm sorry, Nightwing", Dick thought.

No answer. Dick frowned. Nightwing had been concerningly silent for being such a chatty person. Was he trying to erase himself from existence simply by being silent? Nightwing didn't say anything to dispel Dick's concern. Only the depressed undercurrent in his head proved that Nightwing was still there.

AN: And Bruce continues to put everyone into horrible situations. This one takes the cake… I think. I like you, Bruce - but wow.