A/N:

WARNING Chapter Contains: Sexual Assault, Triggered PTSD

Since it's referenced in this chapter, the comic pages containing Dick's rape by Tarantula are in Nightwing (Vol. 2) #93 for those who didn't read/don't remember and want to look it up for a refresher on what exactly happened. Obviously warning for rape/SA in the comic pages.

~*~

"Who the hell are you?" Dick grunted as he fought a woman in a simple black domino mask.

She was the one who had been stalking one of the ER nurses at Gotham General Hospital; and her peering over the side of a rooftop facing the exit with a gun on a night he was working late didn't look good. Thankfully, Dick had gotten the drop on her and kicked it out of her hand and over the side of the building before they'd started fighting.

What he couldn't figure out was why she was fighting instead of running. She didn't seem to have any sort of established costume, just dark athletic wear and the domino, and the gun was certainly not the type of rifle ideal for shooting from such a distance. Everything screamed random amateur with a grudge, but she was fighting him...and she was pretty good.

Perhaps she figured he would catch her even if she ran, and that she may as well go down fighting. Really there was no telling until he took her down.

"It's none of your concern who I am, pretty boy." Her teeth flashed as she grinned, dancing out of the reach of his Escrima Sticks, and landing a hard kick to his wrist. His left-hand Escrima Stick went flying and clattered across the rooftop.

He twisted his hand quickly to grab her foot and yank her off balance. She crashed hard onto the rooftop on her back, and Dick took the moment to grab two Wingdings out of one of his gauntlets while she was down. "Really?" he said. "Because I'm pretty sure I bring down criminals, and it's looking like you are one. You know, what with the waiting with a gun after stalking a nurse here for days," he said.

She quickly rolled to the side and back up onto her feet, backing out of his reach again and managing to dodge both of the Wingdings as he threw them quickly one after the other.

"You don't operate in the law either, Mr. Vigilante-Wing."

Like those two things were comparable. Ugh.

Dick didn't dignify that with a response, and decided to take a risk, since she was moving out of his reach again and again so quickly. He took a running start and flipped over her head, reaching out to strike her from behind with the remaining Escrima Stick. He landed a hard hit with a small electric shock on her shoulder, but just as he made contact, she turned, jabbing her elbow up and back, striking him in the side of his head on his way down. He felt his communicator pop out of his ear, and it bounced away over the rooftop.

Well that had been stupid of him to try. He stumbled, and dropped to his knees, fighting dizziness.

"I've got to admit, they weren't exaggerating. That was pretty hot, Nightwing. Too bad I saw it coming."

She shook her arm out, chasing away the feeling of the electric shock as she stepped forward toward him. He tried to strike at her with the remaining Escrima Stick, but she stepped on his wrist and it fell from his grip. She kicked it across the roof.

"Oh, it'll be okay. I'm sure you've lost fights before," she crooned, pushing him back.

When his back hit the ground, he tried to jab his knees up as his head swam disorientingly. Shit, he was probably concussed. He reached for his left gauntlet to grab more of his Wingdings, but she pushed his wrists down, easily avoiding his knees as she straddled his lap, pinning his wrists securely under her knees. She settled down against him, her hips swivelling slightly, and suddenly his whole body felt paralyzed.

"See, isn't this nice, handsome? That's right..."

Her voice faded out, and his breaths were coming quick and panicked, and suddenly his head was ringing with the echo of a gunshot instead of just a concussion. The domino mask looming above him now glinted orange in the night, and what had been tightly tied back brown hair turned darker, with loose, long tendrils hanging down over his face, wet from the pelting rain.

"Catalina," he choked out. Tarantula. Blockbuster. Oh god, he had just stood there and let her kill him. He had failed, broken everything he was supposed to stand for. And now she was crawling over him...

Shhh...

"Don't touch me," he whispered, unable to move, unable to get her off, barely able to talk, barely able to breathe.

His groin ached in a way that made bile rise in his throat.

My responsibility. My fault, my fault. He wasn't sure if the words were actually coming out of his mouth or not.

Everything continued to grow more and more disjointed, shadows looming above him, and that horrible weight pressing down on top of him, worsening those terrible feelings that just wouldn't stop.

Dick's mind checked out, empty eyes staring up at the equally empty, dark sky.

~*~

Jason listened to Dick fighting someone through the comms, as he walked down one of the many damp alleyways Gotham had to offer. There was a sudden crackle and a small popping sound in his ear, and Jason immediately went on alert.

"What was that?"

"Nothing technical...everyone sound off," Barbara said.

Everyone except Dick responded quickly, confirming that their comms were undamaged.

There was a small silence.

"Nightwing?" Barbara asked. "Nightwing, come in." She waited a second. "I think his comm got knocked out." She boosted the volume, and they heard a feminine voice come in, sounding far away and indistinct.

"—ice, Handsome? ...t's right, good boy."

"Where the fuck is Nightwing?" Jason demanded, and Barbara immediately sent his location to Jason's helmet.

"Catalina," he heard Dick croak out through the comms.

"I'm going in for back up," he said firmly.

He took off, grappling up onto the nearest rooftop, and running flat out. Damn, he really should've brought his motorcycle out tonight, but he hadn't thought he'd be going far.

He was just supposed to be having a quiet, easy night checking up on the sex workers around central Gotham, and making sure none of the dealers in the area had forgotten that the Red Hood was watching and started trying to deal to kids again. This was not in the books.

"ETA four minutes," he panted, leaping from one rooftop to the next.

"Black Bat, get closer to Nightwing's location in case of extra backup," Bruce ordered, and Barbara sent the location to Cass's cowl.

"Going."

"Got a visual on Nightwing, he's down. Unsure if injured. Woman's still there. I'm engaging," Jason said, as he sprinted across the final roof, and pulled a gun from his thigh holster, flicking the safety off and cocking it.

As he approached, he could see her straddling Nightwing, who was flat on his back, looking unresponsive. She was staring down at him, looking confused and a little scared.

"Get the fuck off of him, creepy bitch," Jason growled dangerously, levelling the gun at her.

Her head whipped around to face him, and she scrambled backward off of Nightwing, landing hard on her backside.

"What did you do?" he demanded, moving to stand between them and looming over her, keeping the gun trained on her face.

"N-nothing," she held her hands up in surrender and slowly stood up. "I just elbowed him in the head while we were fighting, and then I was...and he just..."

"Run. Before I change my mind and shoot you."

She didn't have to be told twice, and scampered away over the rooftops. Jason put away the gun and scanned Dick, kneeling beside him.

"Possible concussion. No other physical injuries. He's conscious, but unresponsive, hyperventilating," Jason reported. "Woman was white, unarmed, about 5'7. Masked, dark hair. No uniform, black clothes."

He leaned forward, taking off his helmet — Dick seemed to be breathing words. Jason listened, unsure if the speech was conscious.

"Don't...My fault. My. Fault...Don't...Don't. Don't."

"Dick, baby, come on," he tried, but Dick continued to stare blankly straight up. "Gotta come back, babydoll."

It would probably be a bad idea to touch him right now, he decided, so Jason sat back and continued calling for his attention.

~*~

When Dick's world finally began to recreate itself, a familiar voice faded into existence. "Dick? Hey — Dickie, babe, are you there?"

With great effort, he finally let his head roll to the side. "Jay," he breathed out, realizing as he tried to do so that his breaths were still coming too quick and shallow. He tried to slow them, to breathe deeper, but he didn't seem to have as much control as he should.

Black spots danced over his vision, and he blinked rapidly.

"Hey baby. Do you think you can get up so we can get you home?"

Dick made a noise which even he wasn't sure if it was meant to be a 'no' or an 'I'm fine'. He felt like both were the answer he was supposed to give.

"He needs to come to the Cave so we can check him out. She's an unknown variable. She could have injected him with something, or maybe a pollen from Ivy, or she could even be magic," Bruce's gruff voice came in through the comm. Jason clenched his jaw. He wanted to snap back a sharp response, but he didn't want to scare Dick, so he bit his tongue and ignored him.

"Is it okay if I touch you, just to help you sit up?"

"Yeah." It was very gradual, but sure enough, Dick's breath was slowing.

Jason helped him sit, and shifted back to crouch beside him as Dick wrapped his arms around his knees. He slowly caught his breath, and Jason seemed content to just sit there with him as he regained himself.

"Are you mad at me?" Dick asked, quietly, tonelessly. "I don't know what happened, I don't know if...are you mad? I didn't know, I didn't do it on purpose."

"No babydoll, I'm not mad. Why would I be mad?"

Dick shrugged, but his face held no emotion. "'S happened before. Kory. Babs. Please don't leave me. I didn't know, I didn't mean to. Don't be mad."

"I'm not gonna leave you, okay? I'm not mad, I—"

Suddenly, with hardly a split second's warning, Dick vomited.

He had just enough time to turn his head to the side away from Jason, but some of it still got on the side of his Nightwing suit as he gagged.

"Dammit," he muttered, still coughing slightly.

"Babe...?" Jason hadn't moved his position, but his hands hovered, slightly outstretched, clearly unsure if his attempts to soothe would make things better or worse.

Dick held up a hand as he spit and caught his breath again. "I'm fine," he said flatly. "I'm going home."

He slowly began getting himself to his feet.

"No. Bring him to the Cave, Hood. He needs to be checked over," Bruce demanded in Jason's ear.

Jason suppressed an annoyed sound, and stood up.

"'Wing. Did she inject you with anything? Was there any magic?"

Dick shook his head slowly, refusing to meet Jason's eyes. "I don't know...I don't know what happened after...Nothing happened before I lost both of my Escrima Sticks."

"Do you wanna...What was going on in your head?"

He shook his head again. "Nothing. It was just...I was..." He swallowed hard. "...Tarantula."

"Tarantula?" Jason raised his eyebrows, then he pressed his lips together tightly in displeased understanding. "Catalina."

Jason didn't know much about the situation, but he had known there was something that had happened, even if Dick didn't talk about it.

There was a beat of silence before Dick responded, face still terrifyingly blank.

Another brisk head shake. Not denying, but dismissing. "I'm fine. I'm going home."

Jason nodded.

"You're bringing him to the Cave, or I'm coming to get him." Bruce growled.

Jason gritted his teeth, and tried to respond as quietly as possible while jogging over to pick up the Escrima Sticks and Wingdings. He gave up Dick's earpiece for lost — he wouldn't find it in the dark.

"This doesn't concern you, B."

"It does, Hood. It's a matter of safety. We need to get Nightwing checked out."

"I don't think that's a good idea right now, and he wants to go home," Jason hissed.

"Is that B?"

Jason turned, and found Dick staring at him.

"Yeah, he wants to check you over back at the Cave."

"Give me." Dick held a hand out for the earpiece.

Jason slowly took it out and handed it over.

"No." Dick said firmly, into the comm. "Learn to take it for an answer. Don't come find me." He dropped it onto the rooftop and ground it under his heel, shattering it.

"We're going to our regular place," Dick said, taking his Escrima Sticks back from Jason and putting them in their holster. "I'm not gonna bother hiding from him." He shoved the Wingdings back in his gauntlet. "If he shows up, I will fight him."

Jason put his helmet back on, and they headed off in the direction of their main flat, jumping off of the roof and firing their grappling lines in tandem.

~*~

A crackle echoed through the comms as Dick stepped on it, and there was a short silence.

Barbara cleared her throat. "Nightwing, Red Hood out."

There was another silence.

"I'm going home. Red Robin out," Tim finally broke it.

"Red. What are you planning on doing?" Bruce asked.

"I'm just going home. I've got research to do."

"Red," Bruce warned. "Don't go sticking your nose into Nightwing's business."

Stephanie butted in.

"Me and Black Bat are already heading over to search for the woman 'Wing was fighting. And no, Batman, we aren't going to listen to anything you say otherwise." Her tone brooked no argument. "Besides, she'll be able to tell us if she used anything on him and you won't have to keep badgering Nightwing to come to the Cave, because he clearly isn't going to."

"Please keep me updated, Batgirl," Tim responded. "And B, I can and will find out what the hell Tarantula has to do with this, because I know you (and probably Oracle too) know more than you're letting on. Red Robin out." His comm went silent.

Bruce sighed. "Signal, Robin. Are you two at least going to continue the usual patrol?"

Both replied in the affirmative, but neither of them sounded particularly happy about it — although Damian was the one who actually sounded blatantly resentful.

Bruce grunted disapprovingly at Damian's tone. "Fine. I'm going to cover the south side, since everybody over there has apparently jumped ship."

"Hey Oracle, can I get a private line to you real quick?" Duke asked.

"Sure. One second. Okay, it's just us now, what's up, Signal?"

"Uh, I just didn't want Batman to hear and get mad at me, but could you set up a channel between me, Black Bat, Batgirl, and Red Robin? I mean, you don't have to, but...could you?"

Barbara sighed. "I could... Hold on, Red turned his comm all the way off, I'll need to text him."

"Thanks, O."

Duke was almost done zip-tying a would-be-mugger's hands together, when Barbara came back on.

"Signal. I'm about to put you all on a line. But remember, I am still listening. I told the others, but...you're the only actually responsible one, so...tell Red to keep his big mouth shut about my business."

The line opened and he heard Stephanie's exhilarated laugh as she and Cass flew through the air toward Gotham General.

"Alright kids, enjoy your gossip, since you'll do it later anyway. Oracle out."

"Hey guys."

"Signal, what's up?" Tim asked, at the same time Stephanie and Cass chimed in. "Hey Signal!" "Hi."

"...Hey. So, I don't agree with you guys nosing into Nightwing's business, and I don't like that you all completely ignored Batman..." Duke started.

"Sounds like there's a '...but' coming," Stephanie said.

"Yeah. But I'm worried about Nightwing. I don't want to know whatever it is Red Robin digs up because that's not my business, but do you think he's okay? What just happened?"

"Understandable," Cass stated.

"Do you wanna know what we find out about the woman from tonight?" Tim asked.

"...Uh, yeah, I think I do. She's a current case, right? I mean Nightwing was trying to take her down, so...yeah I wanna help take her down too. Or at least know the deal if Black Bat and Batgirl catch up with her tonight."

"Okay then," Tim said, putting on his business voice. "All I know so far is that, one, that wasn't Tarantula. Catalina is dead, and while we have known some cases of dead people not staying dead, this woman didn't match the description, and didn't have an accent — plus I'm sure Nightwing would have recognized her earlier. He clearly didn't know who she was, and she was the amateur-looking stalker case...that doesn't sound like Tarantula.

"Two, I said B and Oracle (hi, Oracle) probably know more about this, and I do stand by that...but I'm not sure exactly how much they know. I think they both may have guesses at the very least, and that they're more familiar with Tarantula than the rest of us; especially since (sorry Oracle, I'll stop talking about you after this) Tarantula was all mixed up in Oracle and Nightwing's break up a few years ago and, you know, name drop.

"Three, I don't know if Hood knew what Nightwing was talking about either when he referenced Tarantula, but he probably at least has some better guesses since he and Nightwing are, like, a serious relationship now or whatever."

"Okay, so then where does that leave us?" Duke asked. "I think you're right, we can assume that the woman wasn't Tarantula, but I could've sworn he said 'Catalina'. That was one of the few things I could still hear after his comm got knocked out. So why would he say that? Did he recognize her as a friend of hers or something? Why would she be coming here now instead of when this happened, I mean you said it was years ago."

"Yeah, I thought I heard him say her name too," Stephanie agreed. "I couldn't hear anything else he said, but I could hear enough of her to know she was definitely stepping over the 'don't say that, that's fucking creepy' line. Then again, Nightwing gets that a lot, so I feel like he's kind of used to it."

"Uh-uh," Cass interjected. "Not just words. Over the line."

"I...think Black Bat is right. Some of the stuff Hood was saying and some of...I can't fully explain myself because of some things Signal doesn't want to know, but, as much as I don't want to think that's what happened, it does sound like a 'bad touch' thing."

"Oh. God, I hope he's okay," Duke said. "I don't...I don't think we should be talking about this anymore."

"Yeah, but then— ugh, I have redacted-for-Signal questions now, because then I don't understand some other things about...ughh. Because if...back then, then why would he...unless maybe it was later?" Tim asked.

Really though, if Tarantula had done that, then why would Dick have kept seeing her? Why did he have to be talked out of marrying her by Bruce?

"If you're asking what I think you're asking, you know...about the stuff B had to intervene on, I don't know...it's not that simple. Especially with guilt and, well, you know Nightwing takes the blame for, like, everything," Stephanie said.

"This...isn't very well redacted. I really think we should stop talking about this. If he wanted us to know, we'd know," Duke butted back in.

"Yes." Cass agreed firmly.

"Fine," Tim said. "We'll stop speculating. Signal is making me feel guilty about it."

"Well, we've lost any leads on the woman without using a computer for the surveillance feeds anyway, so we're heading back," Stephanie said.

"Gotcha. I'm gonna keep looking through the files on Tarantula. Batgirl, I'll tell you what I find, Black Bat, you want in as well?"

"No." Her tone made it clear she didn't think they should be looking into it either.

"I just..." Duke said, "do you think he's gonna be okay with just Red Hood? I knew Nightwing had a temper, but I never saw it before. He's usually so calm and nice...and Hood isn't exactly known for being collected and good with emotions. Is Nightwing gonna have anyone to talk to?"

"Oh, that wasn't Nightwing's temper," Stephanie said. "When you see it, you'll know. But lets hope you don't."

"Yeah, that was nothing — Nightwing used to have little snits like that all the time," Tim agreed. "And as for Hood...well, you heard him when he went to get Nightwing. He knows what he's doing. He's actually probably the best person for 'Wing to be around right now; the Red Hood has dealt with this kind of stuff a lot — it's kind of an unfortunate specialty."

"Okay," Duke still sounded uncertain. That didn't match up with a lot of what he'd seen from Jason, but he did have to admit Jason had handled it pretty well tonight. Duke just hoped the man's patience held.

"Don't worry," Cass said. "Hood would never hurt Nightwing. Go home."

Duke sighed. "Okay. Signal out."

"Red Robin. Could you keep your comm on for a minute?" Barbara broke in. "Putting the rest of you back on the main channel. Oracle out."

"So...why am I being held after class?" Tim asked.

"I just wanted to...if that is what happened with Tarantula, I didn't know. That isn't why we broke up. I didn't...it wasn't like that."

Tim sighed heavily. "Yeah, I figured. That doesn't sound like you — Kory either — but, you know how brains make all sorts of connections that aren't really there, especially with trauma...I doubt he actually thinks that you dumped him over that, or that you blame him, Oracle."

There was a small silence as Barbara bit her lip.

"I hope so, I just...I really hope so. She— she kissed him, and I got...mean about that when I probably shouldn't have. But I didn't know she did anything else." Barbara sounded pained, and Tim did his best to contain his judgement.

He knew he didn't know the full story and he had no idea what Babs had said or how mean it actually was, but his kneejerk reaction was still to tell her off for it. He bit his tongue, though, and stayed quiet.

"I would ask Kory if she knows about anything that happened when they were together," Barbara continued, "but...I don't really think I should tell other people about what happened, especially when we don't even really know what happened. I mean, how could I even ask that without explaining tonight?"

"Yeah. I think you're right. Let's just...keep it between us. Do you want to be filled in on anything I find about Tarantula that you might not know?"

There was another small silence. "I feel guilty, but...yeah, I do."

"Us bats are great with guilt, huh? Doesn't stop us doing things anyway though."

"...Yeah." Her voice was heavy, but resigned.

"Red Robin out."

~*~

"Where are you going, Damian?" Bruce demanded. They had come in from patrol about an hour before, and he was sitting at the Batcomputer, back facing Damian, who had just come out of the showers dressed in street clothes and was pulling on his boots.

"I already typed up my reports. I'm going to see Richard," he said, petulantly, knowing Bruce would argue.

"No. If he isn't coming back here to get checked out, there could be something wrong with him. What if it's a pollen and it gets on you? What if he's unstable and he hurts you?"

"Don't follow me." Damian ignored him, and kick-started his motorcycle, tearing out of the Batcave.

In no time, he was pulling up in the garage under Dick and Jason's regular flat. Might as well start the search there.

He quickly exited the garage and scaled the side of the building, hauling himself up onto the fire escape, and running to the fourth floor. He probably shouldn't be up here for long now that dawn was breaking and he could be seen in the daylight.

He looked through the window. Oh. They were actually in there. He'd figured he might have to try a few safehouses before he found them.

Damian gave himself a moment to catch his breath outside the bedroom window before sliding it open as quietly as possible, deftly disarming the alarm.

Dick didn't move from where he was lying on his side at the edge of the bed, but his eyes flicked from Jason's sprawled sleeping form to Damian.

He looked wide awake.

Damian climbed inside, and closed the window, before awkwardly standing at the end of their bed, unsure how to ask the question he wanted.

When Jason had gotten to him, it had sounded like he hadn't wanted to be touched. He didn't want Richard to cuddle him just to make Damian feel better if he didn't want physical contact.

Dick cleared his throat quietly. "Come on." He beckoned Damian over with his hand.

He hesitantly pulled off his boots, and climbed up onto the bed between them, carefully leaving space between himself and Dick.

Dick held his arm out. 'It's okay. Jay checked me over and I don't even have a concussion — I got off easy."

Damian's face twisted at that, and Dick hugged him tightly. Damian squeezed back, tucking himself securely under Dick's chin to hide his face. "I'm fine, it's okay," Dick murmured into his hair, rubbing calming circles over his back.

Got off easy. Tt, Richard was such a liar. Damian knew from personal experience that trauma flashbacks took a lot out of a person, and that had certainly sounded like what had been happening with Richard.

And, of course, something had to trigger it. Damian didn't know what all exactly the woman on the rooftop had done, but she had at the very least been on Richard, saying repulsive things, enough to trigger him into some sort of episode. And for doing that, a small part of Damian wanted her dead, wanted to kill her himself.

He didn't actually. Damian fully understood and subscribed to the no-kill policy, but that tiny sliver of him, the bred-and-trained assassin, still had those thoughts sometimes.

But he would find her, and he'd figure out what game she was playing, and then he'd bring her to justice.

Damian inched closer to Dick, curling in on himself, and Jason roused.

"Mm?" His voice was scratchy, and he spoke slowly, groggily. "Oh, 's the li'l gremlin. Hey." He stretched, and then patted Damian on the head, rolling over toward them.

He dragged the duvet that had been twisted around his legs over all of them, and let his arm lay over them both, closing Damian in.

"Y'okay baby?" Jason asked, as he stroked a thumb over Dick's shoulder.

"Yeah, Jay, I'm fine."

"Gremlin?" Jason asked.

"This is...adequate," Damian replied.

"Mhm," Jason sighed, halfway back to sleep already.

Actually, Damian found it more than adequate. It was...quite nice.

He felt...safe. Loved.

He hoped Richard felt the same.