Teen Titans – ReBel Yell – If I Had Stayed a Renegade –
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Based on Anima Nera by Lacuna Coil on overcoming trauma. Nightwing reflects atop the towering city of Blud and then Gotham and Jump in memory.
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Ego Sum
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~I am a lot of things; I was a student, a teacher - and a father I hope to be one day…once I've found a way to settle down, comfortably. ~
Dick Grayson was on watch duty in his city, his playground with the ground so far away.
~So many shocking times I thought I'd fall. ~ He chuckled and did a leap to the next ledge, feeling super human and on the high wire. A flashback lit up the dark as he let himself follow the trail of pain and self-loathing of then…
How Zitka the elephant had encouraged the boy wonder before every show, how the shock in the faces of the youth he'd entertained beside his parents had been swallowed once his full name had been added to a piece of paper.
Orphaned, with no folks to cry about his losses, his plans to get back at Zucco had him lose face quickly. Hr was pushed to the point of lashing out at the other boys…
It had all seemed hopeless, until a dark knight had drilled a hole into that tough kid's shell. He was so off kilter as the days came when he'd gotten to be the WARD of a man of such publicity and subject to those real fears as well – later, when the cat took its first paw to knock over the salt, he'd been reborn. It was so true, he grinned in mid fight.
To let it do its worst as Robin, was born from that turmoil. As if it were meant to be.
~I was the one kid he could trust, but I was still just a kid to anyone who saw me…that was until I put on the mask. I was a prince, a young squire beside the real dark knight of the worst crime – city on the globe. We made headlines and heads turn…~
He was pretty still as cocky, even Dami now didn't have that same boy wonder's charm. Tim was far from shy, but still…. And Jason? Cass? Nope. None of them had come as close as he had to putting the citizens of Gotham or Jump at ease.
Robin was forced to pull back, to assess what HE had wanted.
Dick flicked out a grapple and went swinging into the air. ~ Yes! And to all of those kids who think that gym class is lame? Well, it's more than just acrobatics. Don't try this at home…. ~
The Titans were formed by a chance meeting of unexpected origins, a story for the history ooks with a little wholesome drama sprinkled in for some added effect.
Cyborg was a tin can with fists and he had the highest IQ out of any League mind.
Raven was a dark mystical sorceress from what seemed another time, with a cursed body and heart even so…she had always a lion's heart for her teammates.
Garfield Logan was given a tragic loss like Dick. He'd lost his parents to a mysterious disease that had also saved him…made him into Beastboy, now Changeling as time had changed them all to a degree.
And of course, who could for –
"Whoa! Hold up, Romeo!" Dick stopped himself as he clambered not to hit a brick wall, using his gear to end up gliding up and out of danger.
"That was a close one…"
~ Dick? Are you messing around on the job, again? ~
Dick nervously chuckled through his ear piece and to the voice coming from it.
"Sorry Barbara…. I got –
~You want to end up a Nightwing pancake special? I'm not scraping you off the sidewalk this time. ~ The bespectacled red head huffed and rubbed her temples, head shaking from the late-night comings and goings of these nightly birds and bats.
"Did Jason drop off anything to you?"
~What? No, why? ~
"Nothing…. I thought I saw his M.O…."
~ Uh – huh…. You need to doze off soon, or you'll turn into a cloud and drift on me, Wing. ~
"I get it…a few more minutes. My complex is only about five to ten minutes away." He pleaded to his teammate. "I really need to get my head together for tomorrow…you know I can't stay cooped up and think in a box."
~ Like you did with Deathstroke; after the Titans were in danger of his attacks on the city, back when we were kids? ~
Dick froze, moving slower as that reminder of those bruises…they weren't there now, yet he'd not forgotten those hands to have shoved him into the abyss…
~ You can't even see the truth, Robin; even when it's right in front of you. ~
"I'm heading in soon." He swallowed, the night becoming more dangerous with the adrenaline pooling by, a lost cause. He wasn't old enough to forgive that man, that's why….
~ See you for a briefing on Tiger Shark at eight am sharp.So… Night, Wing! ~
Starfire had worried to an extreme too. She'd never let Dick pull those al nighters by himself after…
After…. him.
A bit of rain had started to drizzle down, the sound of thunder rolling in a bit light before it had to increase.
"Starfire….I wonder what she's been up to."
They had all been a team and now he was going to watch and wait until Bruce called him back to action. Pushing back his longer black mane, the shadows fell and Dick was frozen by each step. He leaped highest to the next ledge, his eyes on letting go of the disaster of a past he'd left to rot, to stay dead.
The stone was slick with rain, he didn't see it –
Wait…that…
Falling…the sky was so far away as he braced for impact.
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Dick opened his eyes….
Trash. But…he wasn't close to…?...
His eyes darted up to see a dark shadow fling from the next rooftop, yet he couldn't however move his shoulder very well. No contest, he'd lost the perp till tomorrow.
The rain was a late summer rain so it didn't feel cool enough to numb him. He sat up from the dumpster landing pad and attempted to climb out, a few blocks to his home to go as he managed not to pull his arm out of its socket with a swing through the top floor window.
Someone had saved him. Did…that just had happened to…But, how? He puzzled, the paranoia losing steam as he yawned.
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Later, Dick was up in bed with an icy compress and a shirtless back to remove the friction. Haley was by his feet, making sure the cool shower didn't numb her human papa to death. The clouds blocked the sky light's glowing moon that hid itself, shy…. Or maybe it was waiting to heal…
He winced and saw on his bedside table a text had been delivered to his cell. Reaching over, he chuckled at the caption.
Kori…and Raven. They were visiting Donna this week…That was nice of them…
He yawned once more, not caring what the day would bring, but soon…soon, he would have to heal and get back up. Fight another day in the sun.
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Did he just….
Catalina was back to her dive in her regular get up. How did that meeting end up so…awkward?
She turned a corner and found the room where her informant was; a real stuffy big wig with whiskey in his glass and a single eye looking on into her chocolate hued orbs. She walked up to the punk and made herself cozy.
"Hi, how'd you know the vigilante would be there. You his numero uno, fanboy? Papi?"
"I'm just making it my business to keep my enemies…." The man took a short swing of his drink, emptying it as if to say "adios" to the new kid at his booth.
"Close. And you, wanted to know so I had some way of knowing his routes. He took a big risk with that jump….same kid as ever –
" Aha!" She pointed, then clamming up when that seemed to bring attention to their table.
"He'll check out the clues and evidence; it's what all of the bats are trained to do. You'll see him again, soon enough." Slade left his tip and walked from the table, motioning for the waiter to bring his guest a sparkling since she was still only nineteen. Just like his dear, Nightwing. Robin was a thing of the past. So too was the Slade who wouldn't hesitate to take over an entire city…maybe.
"If that boy sprouts a new set of wings, I may not be so lucky next time… Good luck, my dear." He waved her off and left the booths behind, the scent of a sinner's secret on the bridge of his nose as Slade walked through puffs of thick cigar clouds.
"You're going to need it."
Then, the man had left Catalina to her thoughts. Underage and wiling to leave the drink for a coffee down the strip. At least it wasn't left to her by a total creep as that piece of work, she shuddered and walked right out to find him nowhere to be found…
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Yup, so Slade helped Tarantula "Catalina" stalk her beloved to – be partner Nightwing, and that is e….so no go! Just wanted to use this as a way of "Ego Sum" meaning I Am in Latin. Black soul or anima which is to the feminine soul or aspect of the soul in Jung logic. Ah, what a mess, but the song speaks of overcoming trauma and how Dick knows he can hold on and has to. One wrong move, the rest is history as Babs put it. A Nightwing Pancake Special. Did it hit the feels? Ah, well anyway more to say and do…until next chapter! Noted also, not a slash. Slade just sees Nightwing as his rival and is impressed he made it this far without dying – oh! So, Dick was killed when he'd tripped in one comic. Look it up!
The only thing that can kill a god is their own, Ego? See? Worked out too!
