A month. That's how long he had been in Slade's care. When he had first come to be with the man, he had been numb. Uncaring about whether he lived or died. But now, the numbness was fading. He wasn't sure what Slade was doing, but piece by piece his mind had been returning. But beyond the numbness was pain, and day by day, he was becoming more aware of it.

Joey had been dropping by every few days. Dick liked Joey, he was an interesting man, and he seemed to have taken an interest in the younger boy. He would sit and help him with his studies and they would talk through sign language for hours. Dick liked it when Joey stopped by, the son of Deathstroke allowed him to forget everything for a little while. He was the one person in the world who didn't seem to know his secret.

But these moments of distraction were few and far between. He was growing more tearful and he found himself holding the tears back to the point that his throat and chest burned. There was rarely any real cause for the tears, which made him feel childish and stupid. He would just get caught up in his own thoughts and the next thing he knew, his eyes were welling up. But worse than the tears were the new-found anxieties of being alone. He couldn't explain it, but unless he was distracted by Joey, he felt a need to be in the same space as Slade. Even if the man simply went to the next room, Dick found his heart beating faster with panic.

He felt like he had taken a million steps backwards and worried that everyone would be disappointed in him. What would happen if Slade thought he couldn't help him anymore? Would he send him back to Bruce to be put on medication? What if Bruce didn't think he could handle him? After the incident with the train, what if Bruce had him sectioned!

These thoughts were rolling around inside his head and he found himself just staring at the screen in front of him. He couldn't concentrate.

A knocking sound from his side made him jump. But he relaxed when he saw it was just Joey. The older man was trying to get his attention. He had a look of concern on his face.

You alright? – He asked.

Dick nodded and then looked around. He realised Slade was gone. The eldest man had started regularly going to meetings, at least once a week. He would leave Joey with him, which Dick didn't mind. But when he had left for his second meeting, he had said goodbye to Dick and had noticed that the boy had become distressed. The kid hadn't said anything, but his body language betrayed his anxiety. They soon worked out that Dick was always better if Slade just left while he was distracted.

Joey noted the dark circles beneath the boy's eyes. His father had said Dick's sleep was becoming disrupted. Nightmares were beginning to plague his sleeping hours. But the kid looked exhausted.

You look tired. Time for bed.

'I'm not a child.' Said Dick, as he stifled a yawn.

Then don't argue with me. Joey stretched his arms above his head. He wasn't particularly tired, but he knew Dick wouldn't go alone, so he resigned himself to at least attempting sleep. Half an hour later, he was led in bed, once again reading his book. He looked over and saw that Dick was already asleep. He smiled at him. Slade hadn't told him all the details of what Dick had been through, but he gathered it was something terrible. The poor kid was so genuinely likeable, it killed him a little to see him in pain. Drawing his attention back to his book, he waited for his father to return.

OOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The more the two met, the more comfortable they became in each other's presence. Bruce rubbed his face wearily.

'How is he?'

'Distressed.' Slade admitted, which gained him a surprised look.

'Why is he distressed? I thought he was doing better?'

'He is.' Slade assured him. 'When I found him, he was suicidal and numb. He's finally started feeling again. Unfortunately, the first layer under the numbness is the anxiety and pain.'

Bruce's brow furrowed.

'He's very anxious.' Slade explained. 'He's having trouble sleeping, he can't concentrate, he's having a lot of separation anxiety.'

Bruce nodded. He remembered Dick having separation anxiety when he had first taken him in after his parents had died. The boy had hated being left alone.

'I want to try something,' Slade continued. 'Have you ever heard of CBD?'

'Cannabis?' Bruce asked.

'Basically, only it's hemp, not marijuana. It's been proved to be very effective with anxiety. My son uses it a lot.' He watches Dick's father's reaction. 'I want to try Dick on it. But only with your consent obviously.'

Bruce shook his head but then nodded. He had tried everything else. He'd heard about CBD, but it had never been something he had before considered.

'Do you think it will work?'

'I think there is only one way to find out. It won't cure him, but it might take the edge off.'

They discussed further matters regarding Dick. The fact that Slade wanted to start sparring with him. Hoping the endorphins of a friendly fight might help him through this rough patch. This too, Bruce agreed to. After about an hour, they both got back into their cars and Slade started the long drive back to Jump.

OOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

They were on a bridge. There was someone after him. The dark shadow was chasing him. He was screaming for someone to help him. He could see Bruce up ahead. He called out to him, but the man simply turned away. Then he saw the Titans. He called out to them, but they shook their heads.

'You're disgusting. How could you let a guy do that to you?' Said Cyborg, before they too turned away from him.

The dark shadow was getting closer. He could see Slade, he shouted the man's name.

'I thought I could help you.' The man said, 'But you're not worth saving.' He turned away.

One by one, everyone he had ever loved turned away from him, leaving him to the wrath of the dark shadow. Then there was Wally. His best friend. The first person he had run to after he had been raped. The boy who had held him while he cried, helped him save Bruce, saved him from himself. His heart broke as the redhead looked at him with pity and then turned away.

'Wally! Please help me!'

But no one answered.

'Relax.' Said the shadow. 'It will hurt more if you struggle.'

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The scream had Joey out of bed in seconds. At first, he was disorientated, having fallen asleep at some point whilst reading, but then he noticed Dick withering on the bed next to him. Throwing his book to one side, he shook the boy's shoulders until Dick's eyes flew open. Tears spilt down his eyes and his body shook with fear.

For the first time in many years, Joey wished he could talk. He wished he could comfort the boy, who was in no state to understand his sign language.

He took Dick's hands in his own and the boys head shot up to look at him, fear clear in his eyes.

Joey mimed deep breathing to him, hoping he would understand. Thankfully, he did. He copied the older man, taking in long shaky breaths and then slowly letting them out. His breathing started to become slower, but the tears were only coming faster.

'Wally.' Dick spluttered.

Joey looked at him confused. Who was Wally?

'I…need..to call...Wally.'

Joey nodded – Do you have your phone?

'Top…. drawer.'

Getting off the bed, Joey found the phone in the top drawer of the wardrobe. He handed it back to Dick, who unlocked it with shaking hands. He held the phone to his ear, biting his thumbnail on the other hand and bringing his knees up to his chest.

'Dick? Is that you?'

Dick didn't say anything, but his eyes closed, and more tears dripped down his face.

'Dude, are you ok?'

'Wally…' Dick began, but the tears blocked his words.

'Did you have a nightmare?'

At the other teen's words, Dick broke down further. Wally waited patiently for Dick to cry. Finally, the boy spoke again.

'He was after me.' Dick explained the dream. 'I was calling for help but everyone looked away. I'm not worth saving.' More tears.

Joey sat and listened. He wanted nothing more than to wrap the boy in his arms, but he knew now was not the time to interfere.

'Dick, we would never turn our back on you. I would never turn my back on you. I came to find you, didn't I? Why would I do that if you weren't worth saving? You are worth saving a million times over Dickie Bird. Even right now. Say the word and I will be there in less than a minute to get you.' He paused, and he listened to Dick hiccup. Hiccups were good, they meant his friend was calming down. 'But from what Bats says, it sounds like your where you need to be right now. How are you doing?'

Dick thought about the question. He didn't want to lie and say that he was all fine. He clearly was not. But he realised that some things had changed.

'Well…' he sniffed. 'I haven't jumped in front of any more trains.'

He heard Wally chuckle. 'That is good. And how do you feel in yourself?'

'I don't want to die.' Dick said quietly. 'But everything…it's still too much.'

'It's going to be for a while Dude. What that man did to you, was horrible. But I think you're finally starting to face up to that. Even from where I'm sat, I can see you're getting better.'

'Yeh? How?'

'Dude, you called me! You haven't called me in a year. You've reached out, we've been sat here for the last half hour talking about how you are feeling. Before you were with Slade, you would close off whenever I even tried to ask how you were.'

Dick suddenly realised he was right. After the nightmare, his first thought had been to speak to Wally. Which had always been the way before Bane's attack. Ever since the age of 13, every time he had a particularly bad nightmare, he would call Wally.

'Are you alone?' Wally asked.

Dick looked over to Joey, almost like he was noticing him for the first time.

'No.'

'Good. Try and get some sleep. We can talk again tomorrow if you want, but you need to go back to sleep. Ok?'

Dick nodded and then realised he was on the phone. He agreed, and they said their good nights. He brought the phone away from his ear and turned back to Joey.

Feel better? – Joey asked.

Dick nodded, but then looked hesitant. He was tired and knew he should go back to sleep. But the thought of being alone was terrifying.

Joey somehow seemed to understand this. He stood and walked over to him.

Scoot over.

Dick moved to the far side of the bed and Joey climbed in. For a little while, Dick led their awkwardly, but soon his exhaustion got the better of him and he started to fall asleep.

It was about an hour later that Slade opened the door to the bedroom quietly, expecting to see the two boys either asleep or reading on the two beds. But what he saw genuinely made him smile.

Both of the boys were on Dick's bed. Joey was asleep, one arm behind his head and the other arm around Dick, who was deep in sleep and curled into Joey's side.

He could guess what had happened, Dick had been having nightmares all week. But right now, the boy looked to be in contented sleep. Co-sleeping wasn't a habit he was going to get into. But he was glad Joey had found a way to let Dick finally get the rest he needed.

Not wanting to wake either of them, he quietly shut the door. Tomorrow, they would start tackling Dick's anxiety.

A/N I'm not amazingly happy with this chapter, but I need to get it done otherwise I could sit amending it for weeks! I am so glad so many of you are enjoying this story. I am currently studying an 'Understanding teenage mental health' college course. Which has been super helpful in the research for this story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter - please review. FYI it's my birthday tomorrow, so let's see how many reviews I can get for my birthday ;) Karin x