Disclaimer – Own nothing.
To quicksilver123 – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you liked it and I hope you like this chapter too!
To vi - Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I'm glad you liked Diana and that she and Kory are the voices of reason and the banter between Bruce and Dick. Hope you like this chapter as well!
AN – And here's the last chapter! I hope you all like it!
Enjoy!
Dick woke feeling more rested and relaxed than he had in weeks, which was a little weird considering he was still in the med-bay of the Watchtower. No one would describe the beds there as 'comfortable'. Then again, when you're exhausted, a rock-solid ground would feel comfortable. That's something Dick knew from experience. Hopefully though, he won't have to stay another night. He didn't want to stay last night, but both Bruce and Dr. Mid-Nite decided that he should stay just to be on the safe side. They wanted to make sure that the poison was truly out of his system and the antidote wouldn't have any side effects. Since those were some valid points, and Dick was too tired to even try to argue, he agreed.
Shifting so he could lie on his side, Dick found he wasn't alone in the room. While that didn't surprise him, he was a little surprised that the person was Donna. He knew that near-death experiences had a way of bringing people together, but he had kind of figured that she was still mad at him. They hadn't really talked at all since she showed up at the Watchtower with the others. It was nice to see that she was there beside him though.
Noticing that he was awake, Donna gave him a small smile as she whispered, "Hey bird boy."
"Hey." Dick said back, also in a quiet voice.
"How are you feeling?" She then asked, leaning a little closer to him.
"Better." Dick answered.
"That's good." Donna stated in a somewhat absent tone. Dick nodded, then looked her over in more detail.
The photographer's hair was messy, like she hadn't brushed it in a while. Her eyes were bloodshot, complete with dark circles under them. Her skin was also a bit paler than normal. All in all, she looked like she was more exhausted than he was. It was then that his gaze fell on her extremely bruised and scraped knuckles.
"What did you do to your hands?"
Donna glanced down and realizing what he meant, she looked back at him and said, "They had a run with Slade's face."
"What?" Dick asked. He didn't at all remember Donna landing punches hard enough to cause that kind of damage when they fought the assassin.
"Yeah. I was kind of angry and his face was begging to be punched." Donna explained, looking a little sheepish.
"Does it hurt? It looks like you should get that checked out." Dick told her. He instinctively reached out, then pulled his hand back. He was intending to look them over more closely and make sure nothing was broken, but he wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Before Slade, he would've gone ahead as he wanted to make sure one of his best friends was okay, and Donna would've let him, though she would throw in an insistence that she was fine. Now, he was fairly sure that that action would've been unwelcome.
"It's fine. Nothing serious." Donna responded. "But are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm alright. Dr. Mid-Nite said I can actually leave soon. The only reason he's keeping me here is because he wants to be on the safe side. Especially since Bruce is here and being his overprotective self." Dick said with a slightly annoyed grin.
"I think you're going to have to get used to a lot of people being overprotective of you for a little while. You scared us, all of us, really badly." Donna informed him, her tone becoming serious.
"Sorry." The apology is out of Dick's mouth before he even realizes it.
"It wasn't your fault." Donna said, then lowered her head. Dick's concern for her, one of his best friends, started to grow and he made to sit up, but stopped when he heard Donna whisper, "None of this was your fault."
"You lost me." Dick responded, confused as to what she was talking about.
Donna stayed silent for a minute and didn't look back up at him. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, Dick slowly placed a hand on her shoulder. To his surprise, she didn't flinch or shrug it off. She didn't look up at him though either. Leaning a little closer to her, he asked, "What's going on Donna?"
"I um," Donna stuttered, then fell silent for a few more seconds before she said, "You weren't the only one who lied five years ago. I lied too."
"About what?" Dick questioned with a gentle tone.
"I, Jillian didn't pull me. I went to her and asked her to take me back to Themyscria." She revealed, lowering her head even more.
"What? Why?" To say Dick was surprised would be an understatement. He didn't know what to expect when Donna said she lied but that most definitely wasn't it. Why would she lie about that? Why did she want to leave? While they were growing up, they hated being separated and would often talk and joke about actually moving in together when they were older and when they first put the Titans together, they had that. Along with Hank, Dawn and Garth.
"Because, because of Garth." Donna replied, still not meeting Dick's gaze. "I tried not to, but I had feelings for him. I loved him but I didn't want to start a relationship with him. I didn't want to get distracted from what I thought I needed to do with my life. If I didn't do that, Garth wouldn't have been at the airport that night and would still be alive."
Dick moved his hand from Donna's shoulder to rub her back. He knew of what was going on between Donna and Garth. A blind person could see it, and he knew that she was trying to keep things professional. He did think Garth and Donna would make a good couple but he did his best to stay out of it. It was their lives and their relationship. Thinking that was it, he opened his mouth, but closed it when Donna said, "And that's not all."
He wasn't sure what all else there could be, but he continued to stay silent and let Donna continue. After taking a deep breath to brace herself, she did.
"While we were trying to get information from Jericho about Slade, Jillian called me and had me meet her. She had found out from surveillance footage that Garth died because he jumped in front of the bullet. Slade was trying to kill Jillian, and because of that, she pulled rank. She told me she was taking over the investigation but I didn't tell any of you. I wanted revenge, so I didn't tell you. Because of that, I almost got myself killed, almost got you killed, thought I got Jericho killed. Yet, I still blamed you. And because I kept it a secret, Hank and Dawn blamed you too. I put you through h*ll all because I refused to accept that I did anything wrong. It was never your fault. It was mine. I'm so sorry Dick."
The former Robin paused in shock. He wasn't sure what to think right now as it took a minute or two to really process what she had just said. But as he did, he couldn't deny that it felt like he got punched in the stomach. For the last five years, he had felt a heavy weight of guilt on his chest for what happened to Jericho. Even when Roy and Wally told him that it wasn't his fault, even when it was discovered the Jericho was still alive inside of Slade, that guilt stayed. Now he was actually being told by his best friend that not only was he not at fault, but it was hers and she let him take the blame.
As the shock started to wear off and the hurt settled in, a part of Dick wanted pull his hand away and tell her to get out. But then he saw the tears running silently down her cheeks. He knew that if he was able to, he'd see the pain in her eyes. Though her confession hurt and she was probably expecting him to yell at her and kick her out of the room, he didn't want to do that. In his opinion, there had been enough pain to last them both for a lifetime. He didn't want to add to that.
So, he shifted a bit to get closer to Donna and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. He felt her tense for a minute, clearly not expecting him to do that, but then almost went limp in his arms and started sobbing. As his shirt started to get wet with her tears, he could hear her mumbling, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."
"Sh." Dick whispered, rubbing her back. "It's okay. I forgive you. It wasn't your fault. We all played a part in what happened. It's okay."
"I'm so sorry." Donna continued to mumble despite his words. So he stayed quiet and waited for her to calm down a bit before he said anything else.
It didn't take that long until her sobs died down and she started breathing normally again. She still leaned against him, completely boneless in his embrace. Not that he minded. Despite what his friends and the kids might think, he actually loved human touch but he didn't want to cross any boundaries that people might have, and honestly, he really missed Donna. No matter what she just admitted to doing, she was still like a sister to him.
"Donna, the only person to blame for this whole thing, is Slade. Not you, not me, just Slade. Yes, we made choices that in hindsight, were questionable and probably not smart and definitely hurtful, but Slade started all of this. So let's just blame him." Dick told her, still rubbing her back.
"How can you say that? How can you not blame me, hate me for what I did? I hurt you." Donna asked, burying her head further into his chest.
"You did, but I forgive you. I think there's been enough pain to go around without adding to it. Let's just, both forgive each other and, promise to do better." Dick suggested, to which Donna nodded in agreement.
"Love you little brother." She murmured.
Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he said, "I love you too my older, smarter, prettier sister."
2018TITANS2018
"So? Am I good to go?" Dick asked Dr. Mid-Nite about an hour after his talk with Donna.
Donna had actually fallen asleep on him after they talked. Seeing that she was exhausted, Dick let her sleep but she woke up when Bruce came into the room with the doctor. The photographer, hearing that the others were in the dining room eating dinner, went over to join them. As soon as she was gone, Dr. Mid-Nite did another check over Dick, which, Dick was hoping, would end with him being cleared.
"Yes, you are." Dr. Mid-Nite said, then rushed to add, "But the minute you start feeling off in any way, you let me know immediately."
"You got it!" Dick replied excitedly.
Not fully trusting of his son as Bruce knew that Dick would have to be on his deathbed before he said anything, he told the doctor, "I'll make sure to keep an eye on him, and I'll let the others know to do the same."
"Really Bruce?" Dick questioned with an annoyed, pointed look.
"You have a bad track record Dick." Bruce responded.
"It's better than yours." The younger vigilante shot back, causing Bruce to glare at him. Dick met it for a minute, then looked back at the doctor and said, "Everyone's in the dining room still, right?"
"Most likely." Dr. Mid-Nite answered as he started cleaning up his supplies.
"I'll come with you." Bruce told Dick, coming over to him as Dick stood up off the bed. He reached over to help his adoptive son, and while Dick let him help, he did give him an annoyed look for his trouble.
Turning back to Mid-Nite, he said, "Thanks doc."
"Yes, thank you Dr. Mid-Nite." Bruce added, giving the man a rare smile.
"Of course." The doctor responded, also with a smile before turning back to his task of cleaning everything up as Bruce and Dick made their way out of the room.
As they made their way down the hallway towards the dining room, Bruce kept looking over at Dick. He was definitely looking a lot better than before. He still looked slightly pale but nothing like he was before. The redness in his cheeks and neck was gone as well. He had taken a quick shower earlier and was now wearing a fresh pair of grey sweats and a black T-shirt. He looked like he hadn't been sick at all. However, Bruce couldn't help but worry. He always worried about Dick.
"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Bruce inquired, placing hand on Dick's shoulder.
"Yes, I'm fine. I promise." Dick replied, giving Bruce a reassuring smile as he tried his hardest not to sound annoyed. He understood why he was constantly being asked that, he knew he had scared his adoptive father, but he hated being asked that all the time. Bruce nodded and let the matter drop, especially as they entered the dining room.
"Dick!" Rachel shouted in excitement the second her eyes fell on him. She practically leapt from her chair and ran over to him. Dick barely had time to open his arms before she crashed right into him with enough force that he almost fell over.
Looking up, he spotted Roy, Wally, Donna, Dawn, Kory, Hank, Gar, Jason, Rose and Conner all getting up from their seats at the table to come over as well. Kory, being one of the first to reach him, asked, "What did the doctor say?"
"He gave me a clean bill of health. I'm a free man." Dick said, somewhat proudly. Everyone smiled in relief at hearing that.
"Good." Hank stated from his position at the back of the group.
Dick gave the man a small grin before asking, "So what's for supper? Assuming Wally hasn't eaten it all yet."
"Hey! I resent that." Wally complained, though his eyes made it clear that he wasn't actually upset.
"Dude, come on. We all know you could easily do that." Roy told him with a chuckle. Clapping Dick on the back, the archer said, "Food's over here."
Roy led him towards the kitchen counter where all the food was laid out while everyone else headed back to the table. Bruce followed closely behind them, but not too closely. After the two of them filled their plates, they headed to the table and took the last two seats available.
Sitting down, Kory placed a hand on Dick's shoulder and asked with a concerned voice, "How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine." Dick answered, giving her a small smile, then asked, "How are you guys?"
"We're okay, especially now that you're on the mend." Donna spoke for the whole group. Seeing the happy way everyone was looking at him made Dick duck his head a little, feeling a bit embarrassed with all the attention.
"So, what's the plan now fearless leader?" Jason wondered, pouring some more water into his cup.
Dick's head shot up at the new Robin's words. "What?"
"Well, Slade's arrested, so what's our next move? Back to the Tower?" Gar questioned, looking over at Dick.
It took a minute for Dick to fully realize what Jason and Gar were getting at. When he did, he said with a hesitant voice, "You guys, want to…"
"We talked it over earlier and, if you're still willing, we want to start up the Titans again, officially." Rachel explained, glancing over at her teammates before turning her gaze back to Dick.
"And, we owe you an apology. We shouldn't have blamed you for what happened all those years ago." Dawn chimed in with a regretful and apologetic tone. Before Dick could think of how to respond to that, Hank added, "And, sorry about the punch."
"It's okay. I deserved it." Dick tried to shrug it off.
"No, you didn't." Hank told him, his tone making it clear that there would be no arguing which surprised Dick. He didn't really think Hank would actually apologize for punching him. He had seemed to angry and Hank didn't really do apologizes.
For a minute, Dick stared his friends, then asked, "You guys all really want to do this?"
"Yes, we do." Rose told him while everyone else nodded.
Dick's heart suddenly felt ten times lighter. He actually felt a bit like he was flying, and like he was about to start crying. Thankfully he didn't though. That would've been embarrassing. Even since he started up the Titans again months ago, he was worrying and doubting himself. Terrified that he would make the same mistakes he did before. But now, not only were his old teammates apologizing to him for what happened, but they along with the others were still willing to stick with him.
"Well, we probably should get a new home base. The Tower is compromised." Dick thought out loud. He hadn't thought much of what they should do once they took down Slade but finding a new place was definitely one of the few things he did think of.
"Not necessarily." Bruce told him, effectively getting everyone's attention. "The only person who knows about the Tower besides us is Slade. We can make it look like you all moved somewhere else without actually moving."
"Cool." Gar responded with a grin.
"That means we have a lot of cleaning up to do though when we get back." Dick reminded him. Slade had done a lot of damage when he attacked him, Gar and Conner. And he must've done more when he attacked the others.
"Already taken care of." Bruce informed them.
"Seriously?" Dick questioned, staring at the billionaire in shock.
Bruce simply shrugged and, with a slight smug look on his face, said, "I had a feeling."
Dick shook his head, then turned to face the others. "Okay. Guess we're going home."
2018TITANS2018
Slade sat quietly in his cell on the cot, staring at the one glass wall where the door was. After Batman and Wonder Woman had used those awful lassos on him and forced him to tell them how to cure Grayson, the heroine dragged him to this cell and left him here. He had no idea what was going on but since no one had come to beat him up or kill him or anything, he assumed that meant that Grayson was fine. And that infuriated him far more than it probably should.
Staring up at the security camera that was boxed in, in the far corner of his cell. Slade wondered if this was his new residence or if he would be moved to an actual, official prison. A normal prison would be fairly easy to escape from. A prison for metahumans or from here would be more difficult but not impossible. Nothing was impossible. He could find a way to escape and he would. He had a score to settle.
Deathstroke wouldn't be behind bars for long. Slade promised himself that. And when he did escape, he'd get his kids back and deal with Richard Grayson. Once and for all.
AN – Before anyone asks, no, I am not writing a sequel to this particular story. I ended it on a slight cliffhanger because not only in this situation, would Slade try to attack them again, but I firmly believe that in the show, Slade will return. If Rose can heal from what Rachel did, Slade can heal from a stab wound. I hope you guys liked this story! I had fun writing it! Though now I don't know which one of my AUs I like the most. Let know what you guys think. See you guys later!
