Let me tell y'all- it is weird as hell going back to first person, present tense after writing 3rd person/past tense for the last few years. (Though I am fixing all this to past tense but still). Also, major edits for this chapter are I cut out NW's POV of him talking to the team and worked to make him more IC, so it's shorter than it was at first but hopefully sounds better overall.

Chapter 2~ Unwanted

Nightwing's POV

I walked out of the hall, half in a daze. It didn't feel real yet, quitting a team I helped to start, a team I helped to ruin. Breath shuddered out of my bruised ribs as I stepped in the rain, letting the darkness hide the limp of my gait. I lied back there when I said I had no regrets, I felt like my life had become one big regret where right versus wrong bleed together in a confusing shade of gray. Decisions, mistakes, deaths, and lives all rested on me like the millions of raindrops that fell from the heavens.

I yanked the mask from my face, wishing I could pull my inner Batman with it. I always said I didn't want to be like him, not after the failsafe mission, but as soon as the opportunity arose I did just that. I played Kaldur, Artemis, the Team, like chess pieces in some grand game and it was only by sheer luck they didn't lose their lives. It would've been my fault.

I stopped, setting a hand against a tree to steady myself as my vision clouded briefly with tears. I wasn't strong enough to avoid becoming like Batman but I also wasn't strong enough to wield that mantle.

"Nightwing!" Tim's voice rang out like a small beacon, and glancing back I could just make out his small form in the door of the Hall. "Nightwing!"

"Tim…" I found my feet turning back to him, but I forced myself to stop. I chose this, I chose to leave, to quit. I chose not to hurt them anymore, because the people around me always ended up hurt. My parents, Jason, Tula, Wally- it was only a matter of time before I hurt someone else or drove them away for me forever. Easier to do it myself, at least that's what I told myself. I pressed the mask back over my eyes, sealing away Dick Grayson's bleeding heart.

Before I could take another step something heavy hit me from behind, overlapping the pain from a forming concussion. I hit the ground hard, barely managing to get my arms up in time to stop my face from smashing into a rock. Blinking away my daze in time to see a heavy boot as it came toward my head I rolled to the side, body screaming in protest as my wounds from fighting Black Beetle reopened.

My training kicked in as another kick came my way, body folding forward into a roll that landed me back on my feet.

"Who-" A fist struck out at near superhuman speed and caught me in the center of my chest, sending me flying back into the nearest tree. My head snapped back against the bark, black threatening to cloud my vision.

"Not feeling very traught today are you Nightwing?" My vision focused on a blur of orange and black as he advanced, his fist splintering the wood where my head was moments before.

"Deathstroke. I don't suppose you came to congratulate me on my victory, did you?" I mocked, wheezing slightly through the pain. I could the stitches in my side coming apart, blood seeping through the thin bandages. The mercenary let out a low chuckle, circling across from me.

"Yes, the savagery of sacrificing your friends for the plan. I'm sure Batman must be so proud." The words hit like a blow, spurring me on the offensive. I swung my leg in a kick aimed for the head but Deathstroke was faster, fresh, and uninjured. The kick hit air and in the moments I needed to regain my balance a hand latched around my throat. I snarled in response but the sound is caught short as the breath is knocked out of me as he slammed me to a tree. The fingers clawed uselessly against his gauntlets.

"Oh, poor Nightwing." He cooed mockingly, twisting his fingers into the cut across my throat. The thin scab flaked off, blood steadily leaking out. "Your friends really left you out here to die, injured as you are." He pulled back a smidge before bashing me against the tree again and tossing me to the side. I rolled gracelessly against the ground, head slamming against a rock. I felt a dribble of blood trickle from the point of impact, fighting to retain consciousness.

Deathstroke approached leisurely, like a cat stalking a trapped bird. I tried to get up in vain, his boot slamming into my chest and pinning me to the ground. My lungs struggled to bring in air, vision black around the edges. There was a flash of silver as he brought out a knife, looming over me.

"Killing me won't fix the damage I did to the Light." I wheezed, going lax under his boot. I couldn't fight anymore, and I was so, so tired. There was nothing I could do.

He chuckled, the knife a blur as it sliced across my chest. "This has nothing to do with the Light." His other hand reached down, yanking the cut fabric of my insignia from the rest of my suit, barely a mark on the black undershirt I wore beneath.

"What is that, some message for them? They won't care that I'm gone." He kicked his boot off of me, flipping me over, and mud splashed into my face.

"I'm counting on it." I dimly saw him toss the fabric aside before his foot swung forward into my face and the world faded to black.

Hope y'all enjoyed it! Please leave feedback if you're up to it 3 ~Fate