Summary: Takes place a few days before Dick's 15th birthday.

Disclaimer: I don't own DC

Dick's birthday was coming up, and he and Zee were already beginning to celebrate. Their birthdays were in rather close proximity, along with Wally's, so ever since she turned 15 they had been in a good mood. For her birthday, Dick took her out to a very expensive restaurant, and Zee loved every minute of it. She said she would pay him back somehow, but Dick just dismissed it and said she didn't need to bother, as it was his present as much as hers. Now that she was 15 and he was still 14, Dick had teased her a bit too much about being into younger men, and Zee certainly couldn't wait for that joke to be over, though she expected to hear it pretty much every year going forward around this time.

The team was experiencing the full joy of the holiday season. Wally had turned 17, Zee 15, and Dick was about to turn 15. Not to mention Thanksgiving was just around the corner and no tragedy or world-ending villain had reared its ugly head in their direction. Everything was going smoothly, and Dick was happier than he had been in a long time. He had an amazing girlfriend, a group of friends he trusted with his life, and even a Dark Knight who had acted more upbeat recently, though Diana likely deserved the credit for that. Megan wanted to go to the pool, and the team all agreed, since everyone was in a good mood. Dick decided that enough was enough. He was going to go on this team vacation with his friends, and he did not care if they saw his scars. Zatanna had offered to create another glamor charm for her boyfriend, but he said it wouldn't be necessary.

The Boy Wonder confided in his girlfriend about his decision, and she was beyond supportive. He seriously did not know what he would do without her. Zatanna's enthusiasm was enough for him to also tell Bruce, who was surprised at his choice. Bruce better than most knew how sensitive Dick was with his scars, but the fact that he was finally ready to open up about them pleased the Dark Knight. He told Dick that it was his choice whether or not he felt the need to share it with them, but he did also say that they were his friends, and if Dick shared this secret, it would not only bring them closer together but also remove a great burden from the Boy Wonder's shoulders.

The team Zeta'd to one of Bruce Wayne's exquisite estates in California. Dick had never been here, so he was just as surprised as the others by this building's existence, but he had nearly 7 years of experience with his father's wealth so the grandeur of the mansion was not as shocking to him as it was to the others. The team had decided to stay here for the night since this level of luxury was new to most of them. Despite the massive estate they were in, the couples all decided to share bedrooms, and so Dick and Zee went to check out their room. Zatanna was blown away by it. She had been to Wayne Manor before and had even spent a few nights there with Dick and his family, but she was still not at all accustomed to the high life the same way Dick was.

"I still can't believe you live in something like this." Dick smirked.

"Yeah, 's pretty nice. Not as gothic as the Manor, but it's not bad." Dick sighed as he sat on the bed, and Zee noticed he was a little worried. She sat next to him, taking his hand.

"Hey, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. I can make a charm for you, just gimme a few minutes."

"N-no, it's been long enough. It's not even a big deal, I'm just overreacting." Zee smiled and looked to him as he stared off into nothingness.

"I saw them, and I love you all the same. They will, too. None of us care about how many scars you have or how weird it might look. Trust me." Dick smiled before pecking her lips. "Now, we should probably get down." Dick nodded and Zatanna muttered a spell to change them into their swimming wear. She touched one of his larger scars, and he smiled before walking out of the room with her fingers entwined in his own.

The others were already situated when Dick and Zee walked out. Nobody noticed his scars until he stepped into the pool and everyone looked to him. Oh boy, this ain't gonna end well, is it? Arty and Raquel's jaws dropped, M'gann looked like she was going to cry, and Kaldur kept his demeanor, though his eyes widened the slightest bit. Connor was surprisingly unnerved, and Wally was just shocked that Dick had shown his scars to the others. Dick rubbed the back of his neck whilst turning a bright red, and Zee held his hand under the water for comfort. Artemis was the first to speak.

"H-how? We went to the beach and nobody saw-"

"I asked Zee to make a shape-changing spell to hide it that time."

"But you didn't this time?"

"I thought it was silly. I mean, it's just a few scars. Nothing to make a fuss about." Kaldur swam a bit closer to him.

"My friend, that seems like more than a few. How did you get those?"

"Well, Gotham ain't exactly the safest place to fight crime and all. It's fine, trust me. It looks worse than it is, I've been doing this since I was nine. This is all over time, not like I got them all at once." Most of the team seemed to calm down a bit at his explanation, but Artemis was still flabbergasted.

"You've never shown them before."

"Y-yeah...I, uh, I th-thought it might be a-a bit weird for you all to see. Zee found out when we went to the beach and Wally's known for a while, b-but I just didn't wanna risk any-'' Megan, who had broken down into tears at this point, waded up to him and hugged him tightly. The others slowly followed suit.

"My friend, you have nothing to worry about. Your battle scars do not change anything." Dick smiled as everyone was floating near him. You guys are the best. Seriously. They all spread apart a bit more so as to not crowd Dick, and he looked to Connor.

"You don't seem fazed." He shrugged.

"X-ray vision. I saw it a long time ago, didn't think it was a big deal. Never said anything about it cuz it was none of my business." Dick grinned before Raquel spoke.

"So? C'mon, tell us! How'd you get some of those?" Dick chuckled a bit as Kaldur interrupted his girlfriend.

"IF you are comfortable sharing, it would be a nice story to hear." He nodded before thinking, and Zatanna gave his hand a gentle squeeze as he pulled her a little closer to himself. Where do I begin?

"Well, do any of you know who Talia Al Ghul is?"

Dick regaled the team with stories of how he got his scars, massively exaggerating and changing some of them. Hey, I'm not about to tell them I got a scar by falling from a tree I was climbing trying to impress Babs when I was 9. "Catwoman scratched my side while we were fighting" sounds a lot more badass. Eventually, the group went back inside when it started getting a bit dark, and Zee reluctantly changed herself and Dick out of their swimwear, cleaning them off instantly. Dick tried to hide his disappointment upon seeing his girlfriend change out of her swimsuit, but she wouldn't have noticed either way since she was equally annoyed about having to make Dick put on a shirt. They went downstairs to watch whatever was airing on TV with the others, and once everyone had fallen asleep after their fourth or fifth movie, Dick smirked as he leaned in to Zee, who was cuddled next to him and dozing off. "Getting tired?"

"Tuhs pu dna og ot peels htiw em, Yob Rednow."

"Do you have to show off all the time?" Zee, in her half-asleep state, let out a low chuckle as Dick kissed the top of her head.

"Love you, birdy."

"Love you, too."

This book has reached 10k views, and I want to take a moment to just thank all of you immensely for that. It is seriously beyond amazing to me, and I never thought it would get this much attention. I hope you guys have enjoyed the book so far despite my sometimes poor writing, and I promise to do my best to keep you entertained for the foreseeable future. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions for chapters you wanna see. Next chapter up soon.