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Second Chance
Shinedown
Wayne Manor, Gotham City
May 26th, 2011
"Master Richard, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"
"It's nice to see you too, Alfred." Dick smiles at the elderly butler. Knowing he still needs medical attention, he heads over to the medical room of the cave. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Bruce walk over to Alfred and begin talking. Dick shakes his head, positive that they are speaking about him.
Once he gets to the medical room he sits on the small bed. The small room hasn't changed at all. Still there is equipment that Dick only knew half of lining the right wall, some in drawers and some on the table near the bed. The stuff near the bed has obviously been used more recently than anything else. On the left side of the bed there is a chair pushed against the wall, and there is enough room on all sides of the bed for someone to work on anyone hurt. Dick and Bruce had planned for years to make the room itself bigger so they could put another bed in there, just in case both of them got hurt badly enough in the same night, but they never got around to it.
He glides his hand across the sheet, reliving memories of all the times he got hurt on patrol or on a mission and ended up here, with either Bruce, Alfred, or Jason sitting in that chair. Sometimes they would talk, or sometimes they would just sit in silence. It was their family's way of saying they were worried or that they cared about you. They all did the same to Bruce when he was injured, and they no doubt have done it to Jason since Dick was taken. How many times has he ended up in this bed in just the past month? He wonders.
Dick's mind begins to swirl with numerous questions and concerns, about his younger brother. He couldn't see what was happening around him. The thoughts plagued his mind and drilled at his skull, making his heart race and his head pound. He didn't see the man walk in the room. He didn't feel the comforting touch of the butler's hand on his shoulder until he finally snapped back to reality.
"Master Richard?" Alfred murmurs softly, giving the boy's shoulder a soft squeeze. Dick quickly looks up at him, his eyes wide, and then tenses and looks down. "Alfred. Hey…" he breathes, looking back at the familiar face.
Alfred looks down at him for a long while, examining his expression before kneeling down beside Dick. "I'll tend to your wounds," he speaks calmly. Dick flinches nervously, but nods his head and takes off his shirt and sweatshirt with some difficulty, displaying the scars, burns, and cuts from his time with The Joker. For a moment Dick believes he can see sadness flash across the mans face, but it is replaced by a blank mask that he used often back when Dick first became Robin and Alfred didn't want to scare him by making him worried about his injuries. As he grew up, Alfred would put on that blank mask less and less, and to Dick it meant that Alfred knew he wasn't going to break.
Does the return of the mask mean he thinks I might break?
"Alright, this may sting a little," Alfred said lightly and reached for the materials. He grabbed a cotton swab and a bottle of hydrogen-peroxide solution and carefully poured some over the cotton. Alfred gently dabbed at the cuts and burns, avoiding more serious areas and tending to the smaller ones. It stung bitterly, but Dick forced himself to ignore the pain as he had been for so long. After he used the disinfectant, he tossed aside the sickly colored cotton and reached for the Neosporin to tend to the burned areas.
"I take it the team knows you are back?" Alfred inquires, glancing over one of the larger burns on his chest. "Yeah. They are just thrilled." Robin mutters in response, looking away from him as he tended the nasty wound.
"I'm sure they are glad, Master Richard." Alfred murmurs, looking up at Robin's blue eyes. "They were probably just in shock back then. They must be excited to have you back. They have missed you dearly." As he spoke, he gently placed some gauze over the larger burn wound, making sure there was not much pressure applied to it as he placed it on.
Sure. That's why they all think I'm a traitor. Robin thinks bitterly, looking away from the butlers gaze once more.
Alfred works in silence for a little while longer, finishing off his bandaging. "Alright, now your back." he says, "could you turn a little for me, Master Richard?"
Dick nods and shifts so that the butler could have a better look at the injuries on his back. Alfred reaches out to grab the disinfectant again but freezes suddenly, his arm stopping before his hand even grasped the bottle.
"Broken birdies can't fly…" Alfred breathed, his voice coming out a little hoarse. Dick tensed, looking down nervously. "I'm so sorry, my dear boy." Alfred whispered, brushing his thumb carefully over the burn. Dick blinked, feeling rather numb. He didn't know what to say.
Alfred finished patching Dick up in silence. It didn't take too long for him to complete his work.
"Are there any other injuries I have missed, Master Richard?" he inquired.
"No." Dick sighed, carefully stretching out his arms.
"Is that the truth?" Alfred asked with a reassuring grin.
Dick smiles again, remembering the one time he told Alfred he was fine and ended up having a fractured wrist. Since then, the butler asked him multiple times if he had any other injuries besides the ones already treated. "It's the truth, Alf."
Alfred chuckled lightly at the familiar nickname. "Okay, thank you." He stood up to exit the room, then paused at looked at Dick. "Oh, and Master Richard… I am very glad to see you again." He begins to walk out of the room again, but pauses by the door. "Dinner will be ready soon. Make sure you are washed up beforehand."
Dick looks down. "Thanks Alfred, but I'm actually not hungry at the moment." He could eat, but his stomach is feeling sick with everything that has happened today.
Despite the usual calmness, Alfred frowned in concern. He probably thought it had to do with Dick seeing Bruce again. They hadn't so much as looked at each other since entering the cave. "I could have something brought up to you, if you would like." he offered lightly.
"Sure thing Alfred. But it can be later. I'm really not feeling up to eating at the moment."
Alfred nodded slowly. "As you wish. If there is anything you would like to talk about, anything at all, you can talk to me." he said quietly before exiting the room and leading him up to the manor. Dick didn't know how to respond to this. He didn't know what he would talk about anyway. Would he be able to talk about the months of torturing people? Not to Alfred unless he would want Bruce to find out. And Bruce finding out is the last this Dick wants at the moment.
The two part ways once they pass the living room, where Dick heads up the stairs to his room. His room is in one of the lesser-used parts of the house, since those are the area's that party guests would not usually bother to walk to. It takes the teen about five minutes to arrive at his room, where surprisingly nothing has changed. He had assumed that, while they believed him dead, they would have cleared his room but everything is exactly how he left it.
He flips on the light and suddenly he is ambushed by emotions. It seems as if he can feel everything from joy to sorrow. He sits down on the edge of his bed, trying to calm himself before he has a mental breakdown.
It's not like anyone would care if you did break down. For them it would just be the extra reason to get rid of you. His mind taunts him.
Dick's hands shoot up to cover his ears, as if protecting himself from a loud noise.
No one cares anyway. The jeering voice says to him, sounding like a thousand people at once. He urges the noises to go away desperately, not wishing to hear them taunt him again.
They wanted you to stay dead. This is what they have been yearning for, and now you've messed it up for them.
But some of them were happy to see me.
They are lying. Why would they want you back for any other reason besides being another soldier?
Is that all I am to them? Why don't they see me as me? Maybe things would have been easier if I had just stayed dead. Dead, dead, dead. I'm sure that's what Conner wants.
Conner never wanted you alive. From the moment you got him out of that pod he has hated you. He would've left you to die many times if he didn't want to stay on the good side of that Martian. He wanted to leave you the first day he met you, rescuing the other two. If you hadn't gotten yourself out of there you would still be there. Alone.
"No! That's not true!" He whispers, trying to convince himself more than anything else. "He's not that cruel! Kaldur and Wally would've gotten me out either way. They care about me."
Leave them! They scream, They don't want you, no one wants the baby birdie, leave them leave them leave-
"Go away," he mutters to no one in particular, closing his eyes tightly. The noise becomes louder, each hidden voice slamming against his skull and filling his head with poison. He hates it. He hates it so much.
Do you want to leave them? Why not? Are you afraid? You don't feel fear. You have been trained to erase those emotions. Fool.
"Stop."
You are a traitor.
"Don't…"
You abandoned them.
"Please." He was begging now. He didn't even know what he was begging for; he just wanted this to stop.
Dick hears a light knocking that doesn't seem to belong with the blaring noise that is echoing through his head. He snaps his eyes open just in time to see the handle on the door turn. Quickly he attempts to compose himself as the youngest member of the house walks in with a blank face and a plate of food. "What are you begging for, Grayson?" At that, the noises begin to die down. But the pounding never stops.
"Nothing, Jay. I'm the only one here, what could I possibly be begging for?"
"You tell me. You're the one that was just saying please, not me."
Dick looked down, unsure what to say. He wasn't about to admit what was happening to his little brother, even if Jay is only a year younger.
"What do you mean?" he asks, widening his eyes with an innocent curiosity.
"Fine Dick. Keep your little secrets. It's not we're family or anything." The boy replies angrily.
Dick glared at him, trying to hold back the sudden fury that's inside him. "Lay off it, Jay." he growled, snapping his gaze away. "You don't have any clue as to what's happened."
"Well we would know what has happened to you if you decided to talk to someone instead of hiding in your room! Bruce and Alfred are worried sick about you! Yet neither will actually come up here and confront you like they think you will break!"
Something inside of him suddenly snaps, and Dick stands up, only slightly taller than the younger boy. "Worry? Why would they worry about me? Break? Break? I am NOT broken, I am fine, do you hear me, Jason? I am not broken!"
Jason doesn't so much as flinch at the outburst, standing his ground. "That's not what your back says. Broken birdies don't fly, am I correct? It's obviously talking about you. Nobody thinks you are going to fly again. Nobody!" He growls in barely suppressed anger.
Dick began shaking again. How did he know? He sat back down, feeling far sicker than before. Jason was right. Nobody believed in him anymore. He was still dead to them. Worthless. Jason leaves the room, probably headed off to the gym to punch something.
Dick has to get out of here. He can't handle staying here at the moment when everyone knew he was broken. He had to leave before they can find out just how broken he is. Quickly he grabs his batarangs and sunglasses and walks over to his window. He props it open climbs onto the sill, ignoring the way his injuries are protesting. Sure, he was on the third floor. But he made an easily escapable route out of this window for when he was injured and couldn't use his grappling hooks to swing his way out. He climbs down, enjoying the feeling of fresh air.
He's spent a long time without it.
Once he reaches the ground, he heads towards the garage on the other side of the house. He moves with the shadows, knowing that if anyone were looking they wouldn't be able to see him. Finally he reaches it, quickly picking the lock holding the door shut and sliding inside. He looks around at the vehicles he has become accustomed to seeing. There are at least a dozen priceless sports cars, two limos, and four motorcycles.
Dick moves to the motorcycles, knowing he still doesn't have a license to drive one. He doesn't have a license to drive anything, yet he knew how to drive all types of cars, boats, or motorbikes. He was learning to pilot before he was taken.
He jumps on his old bike and throws the helmet on while pressing the button that opens the doors. He turns on the bike, nearly silently, and speeds off of the property without a clue as to where to go.
Mount Justice, Happy Harbor
Wally watches as his not-dead best friend disappears with tears in his eyes through the Zeta beam. Royally pissed off, he speeds back to the television room where the team is still sitting. Seconds later, Batman storms into the room, glaring at all of them. "I do not know what just happened to make him like that, but you will not be treating Dick any different now than how you did three months ago! Understood? And you will apologize for what happened here." He growls.
M'gann, Zatanna, and Artemis quickly mutter something along the lines of "Yes sir." Kaldur nods and looks down, ashamed at not defending his teammate. Conner glares back at the bat before speaking. "He's not the same person he was months ago. That person's dead."
Batman grabs him by the collar and slams into the wall, hissing something that Wally cannot hear. It must work the way it was supposed to, because Conner goes pale and nods. The Dark Knight turns to Wally, glaring at him. Wally only slightly flinches at the glare, but doesn't say anything. He gets glared at for what feels like forever for the young speedster before the Bat gives a small nod and exits to room.
"Wha- why didn't he make you agree?" Zatanna sputters.
"Yeah that is totally not fair!" Artemis complains, as she so often does.
"Maybe it's because I tried to talk to Dick before he left and the fact that I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!" Wally responds, voice rising as his anger does. "This is all your guy's fault!"
"You're the one that spoke out loud, Baywatch! If you wouldn't have done that he wouldn't have known!"
"He's a Bat! He would have found out what you all think about him anyways! And he would have been even more crushed that you kept it from him!"
"Stop fighting." Kaldur intercepts the fight. "We are all to blame here. We assumed he is a traitor without any proper evidence."
Suddenly they are all talking at once
"He has been dead for two months. Suddenly he hacks his way back into our base, doesn't tell us exactly what happened to him, then he tells Batman the enemy just 'let him go'. What more evidence do we need?" -Conner
"Whoa! What do you mean we all assumed? I argued with every single one of you about it!" -Wally
"I only said it was a little suspicious! I never said he was a traitor!" -Artemis
"I didn't even say anything! I don't agree that he's a traitor!" -Zatanna
"Conner does make some valid points, though. How do we know we can trust him after this? -M'gann
"Quiet!" Kaldur yells. The room automatically becomes silent. "Good. So, we all don't think he is a traitor. However, we all did say we have suspicions about him one way or another except for Kid Flash." Oh great. Wally thinks. He started using hero names. This can't be good. "And he did alert Dick to what our conversation was about, although if he did not Dicks attention would have possibly been much crueler than the truth. We are all to blame. And we all must apologize to Dick."
At that the yelling starts again, both stating that they did nothing wrong (Wally and Zatanna) and that they won't apologize without having a better reason to (Conner)
Recognize: Red Arrow B-0-6
None of them notice the Zeta beams go off except for Conner, who doesn't acknowledge it. Roy coming to the cave has been a much more common occurrence since Dick 'died.' He never gave a reason for coming, but they all knew it was to check on Wally. They were the two closest to the little bird, and it hurt them most when he left.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Roy yells, now standing in the doorway to the television room. Nobody jumps at his voice; they are all too wrapped up in their own emotions to care about a new person being there. Wally quickly speeds to Roy's side, wrapping an arm around the older guy's shoulders.
"Both good and bad news, bro." He says, a vindictive smile making its way to his voice. "Good news, Robs not dead and he trusted the team with his secret ID. Did you know he was Dick Grayson?" Receiving a nod and the beginning of a smile, he sighs and continues talking. "Bad news, these people called him a traitor and made him run out of here crying. See ya!"
As he runs off, the team stands shocked. They had made Dick cry? The boy had always just shrugged off any insults headed his way. Whatever happened to him had to have been horrible to make him show that much emotion in front of his team. Then again, would anyone be able to handle being called a traitor by the team they had been with for over a year and they considered family.
They all snap out of their shock when they hear a growl from Roy. Before they could even do anything, they found out why Wally had run away.
They also learned not to mess with Roy's family. He even managed to get his hands on some kryptonite to hurt Conner with. None of them stood a chance.
Gotham City
He had been driving around for the better part of an hour before he finally stops. Not bothering to look around, he climbs off the bike and turns it off. Might as well walk around a bit now. He thinks, sliding his glasses over his eyes. It's not like he has anything better to do. The pounding in his head goes down quite a bit and Dick smiles because of it.
"Ooh Bird boy! You're back already!"
The voice makes him growl, and he looks around, finally taking an interest in where he ended up.
He's back at the docks. Go figure.