Disclaimer – I own nothing.
AN – Hey everyone! So, I was planning to finish writing this story before I posted but it's taking longer than I thought it would and I'm going to be very busy this upcoming week and I really wanted this story up before season 3 airs. I have actually been (very slowly) working on this story since, not long after season 2 finished actually but have been pushing it to the side to focus on other things. I decided to write this because I didn't think that the rocky friendship between Hank and Dick was getting any attention and I wanted to explore it a little. Kind of got the idea from one scene in a movie I watched years ago, Passchendaele. I hope you all like it!
Enjoy!
It took the Titans almost three weeks to find Dick. Despite the fact that they knew who took him, drug dealers who stole directly from pharmacies and hospitals, they covered their tracks well. Even with the trackers that Bruce had put in Dick, the heroes somehow couldn't find him. At first, they wondered if it was because they had found the trackers and disabled them, or jammed them in some way, but it seemed more probable that wherever they took Dick was a place that blocked the signal, like underground.
So they searched the sewers and subway lines until Gar got lucky. He shifted into a dog and was able to catch Dick's scent. It was faint, but it was enough to lead them to an abandoned subway line where the drug dealers had made their home. Taking them down was child's play. They weren't skilled fighters and they were completely surprised by the heroes. As soon as the Titans took care of them, they searched for their missing teammate.
Donna, now going by the name of Troia instead of Wonder Girl, found a door that most likely led to an old office. Opening it, she found the man that they had been searching for. Her best friend. Practically her younger brother.
"He's over here!" Donna shouted at the others, then ran to Dick's side. He was still in his Nightwing uniform and mask which was good. His hands were tied together in front of him with zip-ties and was lying on his side. That didn't really surprise her, but what did, what worried her was that he didn't react at all. He was unconscious.
Gently patting his cheek as the others came into the room and joined her, she said, "Dick, wake up. Come on. Wake up."
He didn't wake. Donna tapped him a little harder though she didn't want to. His face was filled with bruises that seemed to have faded but she didn't want to hurt him more. Beside her, Hank untied Dick's wrists while Kory started shaking his arm, whispering, "Wake up Dick."
Dick groaned and weakly opened his eyes. Though it was clear he was trying, he didn't seem to be able to focus on them. Donna gently ran her hand through his hair, looking for a bump or cut. Any kind of sign that he had sustained a head injury or something. He could have a concussion. To her surprise, she didn't find anything. He did however have an old bruise above his left eye. But it didn't seem that bad.
"Dick, are you okay?" Rachel asked, trying to get closer. Dick's eyes drifted over to her, but then he closed them.
"Oh no you don't." Kory told him as she started shaking his arm again. "You need to stay awake."
The detective let out another groan and his eyes fluttered but didn't really open. Hank frowned at that. There was something familiar about the way Dick was acting. Something that Hank didn't like. Something that gave him a cold and sick feeling in his stomach.
He gently pushed Rachel and Dawn out of the way to get closer to their injured leader, ignoring their protests. Now close enough, he put his hand under Dick's chin and tilted his head up. With his neck exposed, Hank got a clear view of the several marks that littered Dick's skin. Needle marks. He was drugged. And he had been drugged far more than once. That must've been why he hadn't been able to escape.
Moving his hand to Dick's shoulder, he jostled it with more force than the girls were doing. Again, Dick let out a noise of protest, but this time he was actually able to open his eyes. Seeing that, Hank demanded, "What did they give you?"
Dick didn't answer. He simply stared at the blonde in mild confusion. It made Hank wonder when was the last time his kidnappers drugged him.
"Bird brain, I need you to concentrate for a minute, okay?" Hank said, now putting both of his hands under Dick's jaw so he could make sure he was looking at him. When he saw the hero now known as Nightwing try to focus on him, he asked, "Do you know what they gave you?"
"Table." Dick mumbled with a hoarse voice, his eyelids fluttering again. He wasn't going to stay conscious for much longer.
"Table?" Hank questioned, completely confused by the younger man's answer.
"Over here." Gar spoke up. Hank looked over his shoulder to see the green-haired teenager back in his human form, wearing the specially made suit that stayed on whenever he changed shape, standing off to the side in front of a table that was pressed against the wall. Hank immediately got to his feet and walked over to him.
The second he reached the younger hero, he saw what Dick had meant. The table was cluttered with vials, some empty, some not, and a syringe. There were multiple needle marks on Dick but only one syringe. That was dangerous. It could easily lead to infection. Hank then grabbed one of the vials that still had liquid in it and almost growled at what he saw. Dilaudid, an opioid that was around 10 times stronger than morphine. It was extremely addictive and the drug dealers had given it to Dick multiple times.
"Hawk?" Hank heard Dawn call out. Slipping the vial in a pocket in his belt, he turned back to the others and said, "We need to get back to the Tower."
2018TITANS2018
Two hours later, Hank stood in the doorway to the Tower's infirmary. Rachel was sitting in a chair on Dick's left, leaning down so her head and arms rested on the bed, fast asleep. Kory, who was also asleep, sat in a chair on Dick's right, her head tilted to the side in an angle that Hank knew she'd be regretting later. Rose/Jericho had stayed in the room for a total of 20 minutes before Rose got bored and went off to do something, telling the others to get them if anything happened. Gar had gone to the bathroom but was most likely going to retake his place in the empty chair near Rachel when he returned. Conner was asleep in his room and Dawn and Donna were in the kitchen.
"Hey." Dawn said as she came down the hall to stand beside Hank, holding two mugs, followed by Donna with her own mug. Handing one to him, Dawn asked, "Still asleep?"
"Yup." Hank replied, taking a sip of the hot drink that turned out to be a type of tea which was probably smart. No one had slept that much since Dick had been kidnapped. Now that he was safe, the last thing they needed was coffee.
"Are you okay?" Dawn wondered, seeing the worried expression on his face.
"I'm fine." Hank answered, turning his gaze back to Dick's sleeping figure.
Seeing what he was looking at, Donna said, "He's going to be okay. Rachel healed him."
"Of physical injuries." Hank pointed out, causing a concerned expression to come upon the women's faces.
"What do you mean?" Donna inquired, a new worry coming over her.
Hank reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial he had grabbed and handed it to Dawn since she was closest to him. "Found this when we rescued him. This is what those sh*t-heads were drugging him."
Dawn read the label and felt her worry increase. Beside her, Donna did the same. When they brought Dick back to the Tower and started looking him over for injuries, they had seen the needle marks along with the old bruises and scrapes. Some of the needle wounds were infected but when Rachel healed his injuries, it looked like she healed the infections too. They decided to keep an eye on them though, just to be safe. However, they didn't what drug dealers had given him. She had hoped that it was just a sedative, something that wasn't addictive, but they were wrong.
"Is there any chance he didn't get addicted?" Dawn asked, looking back up at Hank.
"With how many injection sites there were, I doubt it." Hank informed her. It didn't matter that Dick didn't choose to be drugged. His body had gotten used to it and would now crave it, whether Dick liked it or not.
"So, what do we do?" Dawn knew from helping Hank with his own struggles of breaking his addiction to drugs that it wasn't easy, or fun.
"Well, we can't do anything until Dick wakes up. Then we ask what he wants to do."
"What about the others?" Donna asked. "Shouldn't we tell them?"
Hank's brows furrowed as he thought it over, then said, "Maybe Kory, but not the kids, not yet. They're just kids. After Dick wakes up, we'll ask if he wants them to know."
AN – So from the research I did on the portrayal from the show and from watching the show, it does confirm that Hank had generalized substance abuse problems with both drugs and alcohol, in case any of you guys were wondering whether I made that up or not. Hope you guys liked this chapter! See you all next time!
