SUMMARY:

Dick Grayson: The first Robin and founding member of Young Justice. Intelligent, charming, handsome. Despite this, he was constantly belittled by his team and looked down upon by Bruce. After putting up with it for years, he decided he'd finally had enough and left.

Seven years later, having become well-respected as the hero Nightwing, he was approached with an offer to join the Justice League. This left Dick with a major dilemma - how could he join the team he'd dreamed of being a part of since childhood if it put him back into contact with those who'd caused him to leave in the first place?

༻✧༺

NOTES:

Hello and welcome to the first of the rewrites I'm planning to do. We're starting off with just a taste of what's to come but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

༻✧༺

PROLOGUE:

That was it, Dick decided, glaring mutinously at the team who had been critiquing his performance during their latest mission as if he was the only one who had done anything wrong. Dick knew for a fact that they were the ones who had stuffed everything up. Wally had set off the alarm, Artemis had shot off an arrow too soon - it nearly killed one of the guards - Kaldur had flooded the place, M'gann had nearly destroyed a man's mind while trying to get information and Conner had set off the self-destruct which had ultimately ended with the whole compound blowing up and taking all the evidence with it. Dick had only done whatever he could to resolve the issues caused by the others but, in the end, he was only one person and couldn't, realistically, deal with everything at once.

The fact that they were blaming him for it all made him furious. After years of their degrading treatment, he'd finally had enough. His temper snapped like a tightly strung wire and he simply blew up at them.

"That's it!" he shouted, interrupting Kaldur's so-called 'analysis' of his performance, "I am sick and tired of you blaming me for your own mistakes! That's all you ever do! No 'thank you's when I've just saved your asses from getting killed, no apologies for all the times you've insulted me. All you ever do is disrespect me and I've had enough of it, especially since I've been doing this far longer than any of you and have more experience and training than you ever will!"

The team stared at him in shock, surprised by his sudden outburst. Dick simply glared at them and spoke through gritted teeth.

"Consider this my formal resignation," he spat, turning and leaving without another word.

Thanks to the zeta-beams, he arrived back at the Batcave a few moments later, grateful that Bruce wasn't there. Bruce, too, had been driving him insane, speaking down to him as if he were still the eight-year-old he'd first met going out on his first patrol. Dick had had enough of that too and he decided it was about time to cut ties with those who didn't appreciate him and live his own life.

Having made up his mind, he hurried up the stairs to his bedroom, pulling his suitcase down from atop his closet and packing the necessities - clothes, shoes, toiletries, wallet with all of his savings, his cellphone and other devices - everything. Before closing it up, he carefully picked up the photo that sat beside his bed and studied it for a moment, running a finger over his parents' faces in fond remembrance. He then carefully tucked it between the layers of clothes and closed up the suitcase. Deciding that he couldn't go without at least letting Bruce know why he'd gone, Dick wrote a quick note and left it on his neatly-made bed before leaving the room for the last time.

He ran into Alfred at the top of the stairs and the old butler eyed his suitcase with sad resignation. Dick stopped dead-still, fearful that he'd prevent him from leaving. Instead, Alfred sighed and smiled sadly.

"Is there anywhere you'd like me to take you, Master Dick?"

Dick looked up at him, relief clear on his face.

"The airport, please, Alfred," he said.