AN: Warning, this chapter contains content that may be emotionally harmful to certain people. A section of this chapter had been marked with "TRIGGER WARNING," and should be skipped if self harm is triggering to you.

This mentioning of self harm is not going to occur often, because I know that it could be damaging to some of my readers. Rest assured, the reference isn't too graphic, but it's there nonetheless.

xXx

Dick tapped his pencil against the dining room table, frowning at his paper indecisively. His homework assignment during break was to write an essay about all of the things he was grateful for this Thanksgiving. Barbara told him that it was a fairly normal assignment; she did it several times in her own lifetime, and it became easy after the first few years. But unlike Barbara, Dick didn't go to school for the majority of his life. No, his life was a completely different story

So naturally, Dick found that he had a lot to be grateful for this year.

He didn't think about it much, but there were tons of things that people took for granted, but had left him breathless when he first escaped from Cadmus. The sun, the sky, the grass, the trees, everything that people saw during their every day lives saw foreign to him. Seeing people wander around in the streets, hearing the roar of car engines, watching a show on television... Those were all unfamiliar as well.

Dick closed his eyes while he thought. Even the pencil and paper in front of him would have made him ecstatic last year, back when he had nothing. In a short amount of time, Dick adjusted to his new life and began to take things for granted just like everyone else. It made him frustrated with himself. He used to dream about the luxuries that he now has, and never once did he stop to appreciate any of it. But now, he would make sure to, at least for today.

He began to write. 'Thanksgiving is a holiday that was once celebrated by acknowledging the things we are grateful for, but over the years it has been downgraded to a day spent stuffing our faces with food. But that's because we never realize what we have until it's been taken away. We don't appreciate what we have because we can't imagine life without it. To us, everything is normal. We have food on the table, we ride in a car to school, we hang out with our friends, and we argue with our parents. But what if that was all taken away?

'My life in Cadmus wasn't an ideal childhood. I ate stale bread and drank water everyday, there was never any light in my room, and the only company I had wasn't exactly wanted. All of my memories became distant and blurry, and eventually I started to forget who I was. I was without hope for the longest time, but that all changed when the Justice League found me. Then, I was given a second chance.

'At first, this world terrified me. What was normal for most people easily overwhelmed me. The scariest part? Having people who cared about me. Not only did Bruce Wayne take me under his wing, but I made several friends who, to my surprise, actually liked me. Sometimes I still don't know how to act around them, but every time I mess up, they forgive me. Because that's what friends and family do. We're there for each other, and we accept each other's mistakes. And I think I'm just starting to realize how special that is.

'So this Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for everything. Sometimes I need a reminder that my life changed for the better, and this holiday might've been the push I needed. There's always something to be grateful for, and thinking about it will make life seem so much better.'

Dick smiled slightly to himself as he set his pencil down besides his paper. He would have to expand on it a bit, but he figured it was a great first draft. "Hey Alfie, I'm done with homework!" He shouted, hopping up to his feet. "I'm going to go to the Cave to hang out with the Team until Bruce gets back."

Alfred emerged from the kitchen, removing an oven mitt from his hand. "Very good Master Dick, but please stay out of trouble."

Dick gave him a quick thumbs up and grabbed his usual hoodie as he ran towards Bruce's study. Alfred watched him go with a soft smile, shaking his head at his antics. "That boy is a wild ball of energy when he's in the mood. It's rather nice having a child in the house again." He looked at the dining room table and noticed the boy had left his homework behind. "Of course it would be nicer if I didn't have to clean up after him." He chuckled lightly and strode over to the table, swiftly picking up the writing utensil and paper. "Hm?" His eyes caught the word 'Cadmus,' and he stopped short. Why would the young master write about Cadmus for school? Curious, Alfred continued to read.

When he got to the end, he found tears prickling his eyes. "This boy is certainly a blessing to this house. I don't think he quite understands how grateful we are that we have him." He lowered the paper back onto the table. "I hate to intrude, but I absolutely must show Master Bruce what he wrote. I think we all need a reminder of what we have."

xXx

"Recognized: Robin, B01."

"Dude!" Wally suddenly appeared right in front of him, just as he stepped out of the Zeta Tube. "I thought you'd be stuck at home all day."

Robin grinned as he shook his head. "I finished what I had to do, and since Batman's still at the JLA meeting, Agent A let me come here."

"Sweet," The redhead punched his shoulder lightly. "I have a few minutes before I need to go back to my place. Thanksgiving dinner isn't something I take lightly."

A snort. "Of course not, Wally. When do you ever take eating food lightly?" He joked. "So who's here?" He asked as Wally led the way to the living room area, where he spotted Connor and Wolf. Inside the kitchen was M'gann and Zatanna, who seemed to be enjoying themselves as they made dinner.

"Everyone except Artemis and Kaldur. I'm guessing they have their own things to do today."

M'gann looked up from the oven. "Oh, I thought you were going back home, Wally." She smiled warmly before turning to Robin. He was about to greet her, but her smile fell the second she laid eyes on him. She stared at him for a solid five seconds, seeming to mentally argue with herself about something. After a moment passed, she nodded her head at him curtly before turning to look at Zatanna. "Do you need help with the potatoes?"

Robin was taken aback by her abrupt change in personality. Even Wally seemed pick up on it, for he gave him a questioning glance. Robin could only shrug his shoulders in response, staring after her in confusion. Did he do something wrong? "M'gann-"

"Hey Wally, shouldn't you be heading to your house now?" She interrupted, smiling at the speedster. "You shouldn't keep your family waiting on such a big day!"

Wally groaned. "Right, right. I wanted to stay and hang out with Rob, but..." He smiled apologetically at the acrobat. "Sorry, but she's right. I'm already late enough as it is. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow?"

"...Sure." Robin forced a smile. "Send me a text or something. I'm sure Agent A will be more than happy to give you leftovers from dinner if you come over."

Wally beamed. "Agent A's cooking? Sweet! There's no way I could pass that up. See you tomorrow!" And with that, he sped out of the room, the Zeta Tube announcing his departure.

Robin's smile finally fell off of his face, and he turned towards M'gann. "Did I do something wrong?" He thought towards her, knowing that she would be able to pick up on it. "Look, if this is about how I acted in Qurac, I already apologized. I don't know what got into me."

M'gann continued to work in the kitchen, acting like she couldn't hear him.

"... Fine." He turned away and stalked over to the living room, flopping down onto the couch. He didn't know why M'gann was ignoring him, but he had to admit that it stung. A lot. The martian girl was one of the sweetest people he ever met, and he thought it was impossible for her to ignore anyone. But now she was giving him the cold shoulder, and he had no idiea what to do about it. Maybe Connor had some clue? He was her boyfriend after all. "Hey Con-"

Connor suddenly stood. "I need to walk Wolf," he said, his pet standing by his side. "Unless it's important, we can talk later." Without waiting for a reply, the clone just about fled the room with his oversized dog.

"..." Robin watched him go with wide eyes. Okay, so both Miss Martian and Superboy were ignoring him. Were they still mad at him for how he was during their last mission, or was this something else entirely? Whatever it was, Robin didn't like it. Being treated almost like he didn't exist was a major punch to the gut.

"I'm going to go back home," he muttered, standing.

Zatanna frowned at him from her place besides M'gann. "But you just got here. Is something wrong?"

He didn't meet her gaze. "No. You guys just seem busy, and I don't want to annoy you." He turned his back and walked towards the Zeta Tubes. "I'll see you later. Have a nice Thanksgiving."

He walked through the Zeta Tube and didn't even blink as his surroundings suddenly changed to the Bat Cave. His face burned with an emotion he couldn't describe, and his steps lacked enthusiasm they held before. It wasn't too long ago that he said how grateful he was to have his friends, and now it seemed like they were drifting away. How could he be grateful for having them around if they were leaving him? And what changed between them? Whatever it was, he hoped it wouldn't last.

His thoughts suddenly took a turn towards self hatred. Of course it was his fault that his friends were mad at him; he acted like a total jerk the last time he saw them. And even though they brushed it off at the time, it probably still lingered in their heads.

Dick winced and looked around the Cave, his gaze falling on his hung up Robin costume. He eyed the utility belt warily; he had a very bad idea...

xXx (With Superboy) xXx

Superboy used the Super Cycle to navigate the streets of Washington DC, focused on finding the owner of the voice that spoke to him earlier. He felt slightly guilty for leaving Robin hanging when he wanted to speak with him, but he figured that he would get over it. This was Robin he was talking about; that kid shrugged off everything that came his way.

Well, almost everything. There was one thing- one person that was able to get under the acrobat's skin, but since this had nothing to do with him, Superboy decided that it wouldn't be a problem.

He had no idea that the majority of the statements in that last sentence were incredibly incorrect.

Connor came to a halt at the meeting point of the mysterious voice, and narrowed his eyes at the limousine that was waiting for him. So what kind of rich guy would be stupid enough to call him? Bruce Wayne?

The door to the driver's seat open, and a blank faced woman with light brown hair stepped out of the car. Connor studied her carefully, confused to why he couldn't hear her heartbeat. Was she not human? A robot, maybe? He felt his apprehension grow; he heard of a villain having a robotic assistant, didn't he?

The lady barely sent him a sideways glance as she moved to the side of the car, opening the door for a bald headed man. Superboy froze in his tracks as the man elegantly brought himself out of his limo and gave him a polite, yet cold smile. "Superboy," he greeted. "My name is Lex Luthor. I'm the new Chairman of the Board for Project Cadmus."

Superboy curled his hands into fists at his side. Of all people, it had to be Lex Luther that wanted to meet him. "I know who you are," he ground out, scowling. "And I want nothing to do with you, or Cadmus." Instead of punching him in the face like he wanted to, he turned around and moved back to the Super Cycle. What a complete waste of his time. This was why he ignored Robin earlier? He'd rather hear the acrobat's newest butchered word than deal with this.

"Cadmus has created a new super clone," Luthor called out to him, making him come to a halt.

He slowly turned around and sent his strongest glare at the man. "What did you say?"

"I said: Cadmus has created a new super clone," the genius repeated calmly. "Please don't make me repeat myself a second time. I do have other things to do, believe it or not."

That smartass comment made the clone snap. Superboy snarled and charged forward without a second thought, leaving Wolf behind. The robot woman attempted to get in his way, but he easily pushed her to the side. Once he was close enough, he grabbed Luthor by the front of his expensive suit. "Either you talk, or I'll break every bone in your body."

"I wouldn't if I were you." An arrow suddenly landed by Superboy's feet, and he instinctively looked over at it. He regretted it as soon as the glowing rock strapped onto it came to view, and he lost his grip on Luthor as he fell to his knees.

"Kryptonite..." he growled, glaring up at the man.

"What's that look for? I didn't do a thing." Luthor smiled coldly. "I did, however, come prepared." There was the sound of footsteps to his left, and Superboy weakly turned his head to look at the new addition to their little get together. His eyes widened when he saw who it was. "I believe you've met Deathstroke before, haven't you?"

The one-eyed mercenary chuckled humorlessly. "I'm afraid he hasn't had the pleasure of meeting me in person, but I'm sure he has heard many tales from my apprentice."

"You..." The image of the laughing acrobat came to mind, and his rage skyrocketed. "If you go anywhere near Robin, I'll-"

Deathstroke waved an impatient hand. "Yes, yes, I know. Do you heroes only have one script?" He folded his arms behind his back casually. "But believe it or not, I am not here for Renegade. Luthor simply asked that I remain on hand just in case you threw a tantrum."

Superboy grit his teeth in response; this man was the reason Robin had panic attacks, the sole person who kept him from being happy. "I don't care what you're here for," he spat, though the effect was nullified by how weak he felt. "I'm telling you right now, I don't care about our no kill rule. I'll rip your throat out if you so much as think about hurting him!"

The man seemed unconcerned with his threat. "I'll keep that in mind," he said with an audible smirk. "Now, are you calm enough to listen to reason? Lex here had something very important to tell you."

Connor wanted to do nothing more than lunge at the assassin, but both the Kryptonite in his face and the thought of another super clone stopped him from acting on those feelings. "...Tell me what you know," he ground out.

Deathstroke hummed as he came over and plucked his arrow from the ground, returning it to the quiver on his back. Superboy climbed back up to his feet, sending him the deadliest glare he had. Still, Deathstroke remained unfazed.

"Ahem," Luthor straightened his tie. "Now that we're ready to act like adults..."

xXx

Minutes later, Deathstroke watched the clone race away on his bike. "You are certain that the Shields have been modified appropriately?" He asked Luthor calmly.

"Yes. Each time he uses them, he will have a reaction similar to how Renegade acts when he uses his abilities. It was your apprentice that gave me the idea, actually." He smiled smugly. "It was difficult to make a stronger effect towards a certain person, but I was able to make the proper adjustments. Each time Superboy uses the Shields, he will become extremely agitated, even more so with Renegade present. Even after the very first Shield, his emotions towards Renegade will shift permanently. They'll only grow worse over time."

Deathstroke smirked. "Excellent work, Luthor. Now all that's left is the archer, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Zatara's daughter."

Luthor rose his eyebrows. "Three will be enough, I think. I would recommend the archer, Artemis. Her father already works for the Light, and it would be easier to make her change allegiances. The other three have been involved with the Justice League for too long to be swayed so easily. That would take time that we don't want to waste."

There was a brief pause as Deathstroke considered his words. After a moment of silence, he slowly nodded. "Very well, Luthor. I'll trust your judgement. You do know the JLA more than I do, after all."

The billionaire nodded as well. "Of course. To be an expert on one Leaguer requires you to know a bit about all of them." He gave him a quizzical look. "I don't understand your motives, Slade. We already told you we have no need for Renegade to be stationed any longer, so why not simply kidnap him? That would save us all a lot of trouble."

"Renegade wouldn't willingly cooperate with me if I were to do that," Deathstroke said calmly.

"Why should that stop you?" He smirked. "Two words, Slade. That's all it takes to shut the experiments down; that's all that you need to have him under your control."

"... Having him under my complete control is not what I want." He narrowed his eyes fractionally. "If I were to do that, he wouldn't be human, he would be a mindless robot. He wouldn't learn, or be able to think in battle. Instead of steadily improving, he would remain exactly the same. That is not my wish."

"Ah... But you have considered it?"

Deathstroke nodded. "My first plan is to distance him from his friends, make it easier to manipulate his emotions and get him to willingly join me. If that doesn't work, I'll simply break him. I'll tear him apart and build him back up the way I want." He shrugged. "And if it comes down to it, I'll work out how to control him and keep his humanity intact." He smiled coolly. "But I'm certain it won't have to come to that. Even if the first plan were to fail, there's no recovering from the second one. If I break someone, they stay broken."

Luthor nodded in understanding. "Of course. But wasn't it his strong will that brought him to your attention in the first place? What if there is a chance that not even you could break him?"

Slade actually laughed at that. "Oh yes, he is definitely strong willed, but that won't be enough. He thought his training in Cadmus was difficult? Hn. He has no idea." He smiled darkly. "There are plenty of ways to tear someone down, Lex, and I know exactly how to bring him to his knees."

xXx (TRIGGER WARNING) xXx

The second Bruce walked through the Bat Cave's Zeta Tube, he found himself being tackled by a small, raven haired human. "Dick?" He smiled in amusement, removing his cowl. "Not that I don't appreciate the hug, but couldn't you wait to attack me at least until I changed?"

"Nope," Dick responded in a muffled voice, only hugging him tighter. "By taking me into your home, you unknowingly signed up for random hug attacks. So deal with it."

Bruce couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I see you're in a good mood today."

"Uh huh." He peered up at him. "I realized something today."

"What's that?" Bruce questioned, raising his eyebrows.

He briefly caught sight of Dick's grin as he pulled away. "One, Alfred's pretty nosy sometimes."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He totally read the paper I wrote for English." He smirked. "And I bet you that he's going to show it to you after I go to bed."

"Is that so?" Bruce ruffled his hair. "It must be some paper if Alfred was nosy enough to read through it."

"I'm pretty inspiring." He ran his fingers through his hair to fix it, stealing a glance at his reflection on the Bat Computer to make sure it was the way he had it before. "The second thing I realized was that I really like it here at the Manor."

Bruce was taken aback for a second. "I'm glad to hear that," he said uncertainly. "But did you not like it here before?"

"I did, but I didn't realize it before." He lowered his gaze. "Also, I came to the realization that I never thanked you for everything that you've done for me."

"You don't have to thank me," Bruce said gently, surprised by the change in direction the conversation took.

"Yeah, I do." Dick took a step backwards. "I had nothing, and without really knowing me, you stepped in and provided me with everything I could ask for. Even now, I don't understand why you bother with me. I mean, you keep giving me things and I never return the favor, but you still like having me around. I don't understand it, but I am grateful for it."

"Dick..." Bruce pulled him into another hug. "You do return the favor. I can't explain it, but my world was completely dark before you arrived. But then you came around, and I was given light."

His words only managed to confuse the teen. "How? Bruce, I don't know if you've noticed, but my world isn't any brighter than yours. How could I have possibly brought you light when I don't have any?"

Bruce squeezed his shoulder. "You'll understand when you have a child, chum. It doesn't matter how much darkness they have, they can always brighten the room." He finally released him. "And I'm more than grateful to have you around for that."

"... I think I understand," Dick murmured, smiling.

"Good." He stretched his arms. "Now, will you finally let me go get changed? Alfred's Thanksgiving dinner is waiting for us upstairs, and that's not something you'll want to miss."

Dick snorted. "Fine, I guess I'll let you go." He grinned mischievously. "But I'm going straight upstairs, and even Alfred's deadliest glare won't stop me from starting dinner without you." He let out an evil cackle that sounded even more eery as the sound bounced around the cave walls.

Bruce's eyes widened. "You are a whole new breed of evil, chum."

"I try." He smirked and spun around to leave, and that's when Bruce saw something that made his smile drop. He grabbed onto Dick's wrist to stop him, much to the teen's surprise. But Bruce didn't pause to give him an explanation, he only narrowed his eyes at the red line he saw just below the edge of Dick's sleeve. Dick finally seemed to catch on. "Bruce-" he started, but was promptly ignored.

Bruce pulled his sleeve back all the way, eyes widening. No. A series of horizontal lines were scattered around the majority of Dick's arm, all of them shallow, but terrifying nonetheless. "Dick..."

The boy yanked his arm back, smile now completely gone. "It's nothing," he said quickly.

"Nothing?" Bruce repeated sharply, staring at him in open shock. "You hurt yourself, Dick!" Dick flinched at his tone, and Bruce paused. No, that wasn't the best approach to that, was it? Yelling wasn't the answer in this situation. "... How long has this been going on?" He asked in a calmer voice, forcing his eyes away from the lines on his arm.

"...I just did it today," Dick murmured, pulling his sleeve down.

That was only sightly reassuring. "But why?" He grabbed both of his wrists this time, and brought his sleeves up past his elbows. He did it on both arms. Bruce wanted to tear his own hair out of his head, or maybe even have a panic attack of his own for once. Of course he had heard about teenagers self harming, but he never thought Dick would do that. The thought of him bringing a blade to his own skin made him inwardly flinch. "I thought you knew that you could talk to either Alfred or myself if you were feeling depressed."

"I know..." He still wouldn't meet his eyes. "But when I came back from the Cave you weren't here, and no offense to Alfred, but he isn't as comforting as you." His shoulders slumped. "I know that's a stupid excuse, but I didn't know what else to do..."

Bruce found that he didn't know what to say to that. If he didn't have a League meeting, could he have stopped this from happening? He winced and turned Dick's arms over, noticing that the deeper cuts were on his wrists. "Chum, that's so dangerous," he breathed, running his thumb over the most hazardous ones. If those had been any deeper... He shuddered, and pulled Dick into a strong hug. "Please, don't ever do this ever again."

Dick slowly returned the hug, nodding shortly. "I won't," he said in a timid voice. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be... Just promise me that you won't do it again. Please. I can't stand the thought of you hurting yourself."

"I-I promise." Dick squeezed his eyes shut. "I didn't mean to scare you, Bruce..."

"You thought that potentially losing you wouldn't scare me?" He ran a hand through Dick's hair. "What was it that made you do it? What could possibly make you turn to such means of coping?"

"... I have a feeling that M'gann and Connor hate me," he said softly. "But I don't know why."

Bruce pulled away in surprise. "What makes you think that?"

"I know my teammates, Bruce..." he sighed. "Well, Con might have just been distracted, but I know M'gann was ignoring me. I've never seen her act so coldly to anyone, not even our enemies. I guess I just happen to be the exception." He bit his lip. "It really hurt when she ignored me, especially since I was so excited to talk to the Team today..."

Bruce frowned. "If she continues with this behavior, tell me. Give me the word, and I'll make sure to have a talk with her."

Dick smiled slightly. "Thanks..." He shifted his weight slightly, looking uncomfortable. "Well, you should probably hurry and get changed. Knowing Alfred, he'll only wait a couple more minutes before he comes down go see what's going on." The way he said it implied that Dick didn't want the butler to be involved in this one bit. Bruce definitely didn't agree.

"I have to tell Alfred about what happened," he said sternly. "I know you said you wouldn't cut again, but I'd feel better if Alfred knew to keep an eye on you whenever I'm gone."

"...Okay..."

Bruce ruffled his hair again. "Stay here until I get back. I really don't want you being alone right now." He waited for Dick's nod of agreement before he grabbed his clothes and moved towards the small locker area. He wanted nothing more to just turn around and pull his adopted son into a bear hug, or fret over his wounds like the overprotective man he was, but he refrained. "Miss Martian better pull her act together," he growled lowly as he began to take off his costume. "Or I will personally remind her why I'm known as the world's scariest hero."

xXx

AN: I hope that wasn't too much. Please let me know if I overdid it or not. Like I said in the first AN, this kind of thing won't happen often, so no worries.

Also, writing about what Dick was grateful for made me think about my own life. Guys, I know I thank you for your comments at the end of every chapter, but I can never express how grateful I truly am to have such wonderful readers. Thank you all so much for staying with me for this long. 3

One last thing: Don't expect for another quick update like this. I just had way too much free time on my hands over the weekend, and I was so excited about this story that I spent the majority of my time writing this chapter. Yeah, I know, I'm a dork. xD

See you next chapter!