A/n: Hi… so… I've been busy (changed basically everything about my room, had a mini breakdown of some sort that night because of it, also procrastination is a major problem) but this chapter is here now. I intend for it to be the last chapter, but it might not go that way, so as always, we'll see.

Also, if you haven't already, again I highly recommend reading the first part of this series or some things won't make as much sense/ the whump won't be as relevant, so for the best reading experience, go read that first. If you've already read that, enjoy!

The room was chaos.

Gunshots fired in every direction, but Cass and Damian were too quick. Jason hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave his injured older brother, but Dick shoved him away. He wanted to protect Jason, of course, but two of his other siblings were here now and they needed all the help they could get.

A few guys rushed him, and Dick steeled himself to fight - a hand still pressed tightly against his still-bleeding side and still ignoring what was most definitely a concussion after all the hits to the head he'd taken tonight - but he never had to lift a finger. He watched as someone else dropped down to behind the men and swiftly take them out with a bo staff.

"Hey, 'Wing. How's it going?"

"Red Robin," Dick smiled, patting Tim on the shoulder.

Tim pulled out some bandages from somewhere and replaced Dick's hand with some gauze, hastily working on his side while filling his older brother in on the operation. "Batman's taking down anyone else left outside and Spoiler's gathering up all of the scientists outside so we can blow this joint. I'll go back to helping her once you're patched up."

Dick's brain was working slower than Tim's hands, so even by the time his brother had finished taping the gauze to his side in a not-pretty-but-still-good-enough-first-aid-attempt, Dick was still processing everything.

"You hurt anywhere else?" Tim asked, and Dick just blinked.

"No, I'm good, thanks. You go help Spoiler."

"Okay," Tim nodded. "Oracle's on comms," he said, handing Dick a small earpiece before turning to leave. He hesitated. "I'm glad you're okay," he smiled, quickly hugging Dick before leaping away towards Red Hood - who'd gotten his helmet back, Dick saw - and disappearing into the chaos.

Dick was frozen for a few moments, brain refusing to work, but he didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Nightwing!"

He looked up at Damian's warning just in time to dodge the man rushing at him. Instincts took over and he took the guy down, going over to help his family with whoever was left. He remembered the comm still in his hand and popped it into his ear.

"Hey, Oracle," he said.

"Nightwing," Barbara greeted, relief evident in her voice. "We are going to have a long talk when you get back," she scolded him, relief quick to be replaced with annoyance. Dick couldn't help but smile.

"Let me get back first," he laughed, blocking the punch of one guy and returning it.

He had to admit, he'd missed this. Every patrol he'd gone on in the past few weeks had been without anyone else, and he hadn't realised how much he'd missed having Oracle in his ear with him and his siblings fighting beside him. But as nice as it was, there was a reason he hadn't done it recently, a reason he was too busy dealing with to think about anything else right now…

Just as he was running over to help Cass with the three guys ganging up on her - she could take them easily, but it'd be done quicker if he helped - he noticed the guy in the masquerade mask - Masquerade Man - standing at the edge of the room, watching.

As Dick looked closer, he saw the man reach into his pocket and bring out something that looked suspiciously like a remote. He watched the man press a button, his mask extending to cover his whole face as vents all around the room slowly opened.

Oh, fuck no.

Dick changed direction, moving faster than he should have been able to in that moment, throwing his stick which knocked the remote out of the man's hand into Dick's, rebounding and hitting the man too.

Dick caught the remote, quickly taking in all the buttons and especially the one that said "reverse". He wasted no time in pressing it, then dropping the remote and smashing it underfoot. Then he turned to Masquerade Man, who'd fallen to his knees after being stuck by the escrima. Blood dripped from under his masquerade mask.

"You thought you could get away with threatening the people I love?" Dick asked, voice low but still perfectly audible over the shouts and noise behind them.

It was just Nightwing and Masquerade Man in their little corner of the room.

"I'm going to give you once chance to make the only smart choice you have in your life, and surrender. Call your men off. Destroy all of your serums and whatever else you've cooked up and all of the research that led up to it."

"Or what?" The man asked, standing up.

"Or you have to deal with him," Dick finished, crossing his arms and nodding to behind the man. He wanted to say something more intimidating, but a) he was this close to passing out, let alone in any state to come up with his usual quips and b) the sight of Batman looming over you with restrained anger exuding off him was plenty enough to make some people shit their pants. Dick knew from experience, and now Masquerade Man did too as he slowly turned around and froze as he came face-to-face with the Bat himself.

"And, you'll have to deal with all of us."

Jason stood with the rest of the family - Robin, Red Robin, Black Bat, and Spoiler - all of them crowding around Dick, Batman and Masquerade Man as the bodies of all of Masquerade Man's goons lay scattered around the room behind them. With how everyone was glaring at the man, weapons in hand and blood on some of their uniforms, Dick would hate to be Masquerade Man in that moment.

He could almost see the wheels turning behind the masquerade mask, the man's muscles tense as his eyes roved over all of them. They settled on Nightwing, eyes narrowing, but with the rest of his face covered, Dick didn't know if it was because of a scowl or a smile and it terrified him how it could be either.

So much happened in the next moment.

Masquerade Man lunged toward Dick, the glint of a knife in his hand but the blade had only just touched Dick's cheek when everyone moved.

Black Bat pulled Dick back, Red Hood shot the man's wrist with extra bullets he'd been given, making the man drop the knife. A birdarang from Robin knocked the blade far away, Red Robin bringing the man to his knees with a bo staff to the back of his legs and Spoiler helping by using a grappling hook to pull the man down, and Batman delivered a swift kick to the man's head as he went down, mask cracked as he lay limp on the ground.

Masquerade Man never had a chance.

"Red Robin, tie him up," Batman ordered. "Spoiler, you and - "

Until now, Dick had been frozen. The world was spinning too much for him to move, and too much was happening for him to be able to pay attention. His head felt too light and too heavy and everything was going dark.

"You okay?" Cass murmured, immediately noticing the change like she always did.

"'M…," Dick started to say, but he never finished.

Cass was already reaching out a hand when his legs buckled. The last thing he was aware of as his world went dark was her gentle but firm hands slowly lowering him to the ground as everyone shouted his name, not one person's voice - including Oracle's still in his ear - sounding at all glad that he was dying.

Instead, they were all sad and scared and worried even though he'd failed them alland it was his fault they'd had to come and some were injured because of him.

If he'd been okay, he might have cared, might have wondered why. But he wasn't okay, and the world was too hazy so he just let himself float among the darkness, thinking about how good it felt to just let go…

There was something warm next to him.

He couldn't see what it was yet, since his eyes were taking a while to cooperate, but it felt… nice, reassuring - familiar. As his brain kick-started, he recognised what it was - the same feeling as he'd woken up to enough times before to know what it was by now - so he cuddled closer to Damian. Or… as close as he could manage since his whole body was stiff, but he still managed to crack open his eyes to see what he was doing as he carefully wrapped an arm around his youngest brother.

Damian - somehow, but thankfully - didn't stir, but Dick saw a faint smile come to his brother's face as he slept. While Dick was still tired, he didn't want to rest just yet until he had some answers. First, an internal assessment.

His side felt tight in a way that told him he had bandages wrapped around his torso, but there was no pain which meant he was probably on strong painkillers. He'd dealt with gunshot wounds without painkillers before, so he didn't really need them but he appreciated them all the same - even if it might still be early after the truth serum incident to be completely comfortable with the idea of drugs in him.

The lights in the med-bay were dimmed - almost off - but they still made his head hurt, so definitely a concussion there but he knew that already. Other than those two things, he was mainly just sore and bruised - incredibly so - but he'd gotten lucky. He knew that from experience.

His memories were just hazy enough for him not to remember if everyone else had been that lucky though, memories of bloody uniforms mixing with nightmares in his mind to make him very worried. Keeping an eye on Damian in case he woke, Dick tried to look around the rest of the room, hoping the other beds were empty.

They weren't. It terrified him. They were all hurt because of him, because of his stupidity and failures and -

Shut up, the rational part of his mind said. Have you looked at the time? You know how they are, they're probably just sleeping as they should be at one in the morning, but refused to leave you.

One in the morning… that meant he'd been out for at least 24 hours…

That's not the focus here, he chastised himself, consciously having to make himself focus through the concussion making his thoughts go everywhere but where they needed to be.

When he looked around this time, he really paid attention.

Damian seemed okay, a few small cuts and bruises visible on his face and arms but that was always unavoidable. On the bed beside him, Jason was sleeping with a bandage on his arm from when he'd gotten cut at the warehouse and an IV in his other arm. Tim was in the bed across from Jason, a pile of used tissues on the table beside him. That confused Dick, but he'd ask about it later. Injury-wise, all he could see was that Tim had a band-aid on his forehead.

On his other side, he saw that Cass and Steph were cuddled up together on the bed, the latter's wrist wrapped up as she snored. Cass seemed untouched, though she was half-falling off the bed - not that she ever would though, being as graceful as she was.

Bruce was nowhere to be seen, but Dick didn't know what that meant. He didn't know what had happened to Masquerade Man but he found himself a bit nervous to know. He knew how Bruce could get, and while he'd hated the mask-wearing man, he wouldn't wish Batman's full wrath on a beginner villain no matter what he'd threatened to do.

Jason shifted in his bed and yawned, Dick watching as his brother's eyes slowly blinked open and looked at him. It took Jason a second, but then he seemed to register what was happening and opened his mouth only to snap it shut at Dick's pointed look towards the still-asleep Damian in his arms.

Jason glared at Damian as if it was his fault he couldn't have a proper conversation with his older brother, instead resigning himself to mouthing, 'How you feeling?'

Dick shrugged as best he could, looking up at the IV bag next to him. 'Drugs,' he answered.

Jason grinned, understanding immediately.

'You?' Dick nodded towards his brother.

Jason's turn to shrug, yawning again. 'Tired.'

They lay there for a bit, trying to stay awake. Then Jason realised he should probably call Alfred since Dick was awake for the first time in 24 hours. He reached for his phone, but Dick scowled at him, gesturing to the various sleeping bodies around him. Jason raised an eyebrow, continuing to bring his phone closer to him and typing even as he kept eye contact with Dick defiantly. Once he'd finished the short text, he dramatically lifted his finger, Dick glaring harder at him as Jason grinned and slowly brought his finger down until he pressed send and a quiet 'swoosh' sounded.

At the same time, a sneeze came from the bed across from Jason, making the two of them jump. Damian shifted in Dick's arms, and they both froze until he settled down, then Jason started silently laughing. Dick just frowned.

He nodded a head toward's Tim's bed, question in his eyes but Jason couldn't stop laughing, waving a hand to say 'tell you later'. Dick rolled his eyes.

Alfred showed up a few moments later, sending a disapproving look to Jason as he passed his bed. Jason went back to sleep after that. The butler was careful not to wake the others as he quickly checked Dick over, not having to ask any questions verbally since gauging the answers from Dick's expressions seemed to satisfy him.

'Sleep,' Alfred ordered, but they both knew it wasn't necessary to say. Dick's eyes were already closing…

"But I'm barely sick," Tim whined. "I can still work."

"If you work, that 'barely' is going to become 'very', so if you want to go back to your cases, I suggest you rest and recover first," Bruce said firmly.

As Dick had soon found out after he'd woken up in the Cave at a more reasonable morning hour, Tim was on bedrest because he'd been benched due to the beginnings of a cold, but had gone against orders to help save Jason and Dick and was now ordered to stay in bed until he was completely fine. According to Tim, he never wasn't completely fine, but they could never be too safe thanks to his compromised immune system and the fact that the cold had not been helped by his little outing.

Dick didn't know how to feel about that - relief that Tim wasn't injured, but guilt that he was sick, or at least sicker because he'd had to come and save Dick and Jason because of Dick's failures - but there were a lot of things he didn't know how to feel about right now so he'd decided to deal with it all later.

He'd been allowed to move upstairs, choosing to spend most of his time in the living room. Tim also came into the living room whenever he wasn't in his room, bored because of the ban Bruce had put on his electronics so he hung out with Dick. Damian refused to leave Dick's side, but he did still have school and had to be dragged out - by Jason who'd volunteered for the role. Jason for his part had stayed in the manor, disappearing into the library or kitchen occasionally but staying near Dick.

Dick was grateful for that, but he knew it meant only a matter of time before Jason would want to talk. He was putting it off for as long as he could by taking the time to recover for once - he was exhausted so sleep was never hard to come by, even if most times it was cut short by nightmares. The concussion made it hard to find things to do that didn't hurt his head, but someone was almost always there with him so he had plenty of time to catch up on his family's lives through conversations and the occasional board game if he was up to it.

Cass and Steph had gone home but they'd checked up on him before they'd left with a promise to visit soon. Cass had also promised to take care of Blüdhaven so he didn't have to worry about that. She'd refused to let him owe her a favour for it, but she'd settled on his offer of a sparring match for the near future when Dick was fully recovered instead.

Before he knew it, two days had passed. So here he was, listening to a restless Tim and an exasperated Bruce argue once again about letting Tim work even when the guy was still coughing every few minutes. Damian was sat on the floor next to the couch Dick was lying on, sketching something or the other.

"I've been resting and recovering," Tim complained.

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "If Alfred agrees with you then maybe I'll consider letting you have your laptop back."

Tim frowned, knowing the butler would most definitely not agree. He stifled a cough, and Bruce hid a smirk. Dick rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to go call Bernard," Tim grumbled as he left the room.

Bruce sighed. "What am I gonna do with that kid?"

"You took away his lifeline, Bruce," Dick laughed. "At least he can go complain to Bernard about it."

"Tt, Drake is a child," Damian scoffed. "He- "

"Like you're not a pain in the ass when you get sick too, Brat."

"Language, Jason," Bruce sighed, as Jason came in.

"Todd- "

"Damian, remember, no threats. And Jason, stop antagonising your brother."

"I'm not 'antagonising' anyone," Jason protested, and Dick laughed at the look on Bruce's face, deciding to take pity on the older man for once.

"Dami, isn't it almost time for Titus' walk? Why don't you go take him out a little early? Maybe Tim would go with you?"

Damian scowled, but packed up his art supplies. "Fine. But I won't be asking Drake."

Dick thought about trying to push him to take Tim, but he was too tired to bother. Tim was probably happy talking to Bernard anyway, and just getting Damian to leave was a win in itself. He loved his younger brother, but having him there meant he had to pretend he was somewhat okay and he was quickly running out of the energy to do that right now.

Bruce seemed relieved enough at the conflict avoidance anyway, and Jason didn't seem to care less as he flopped onto one of the armchairs - but Dick felt his brother's eyes on him.

The second Damian left, Dick sank into the pillows on the couch.

"You okay, chum?" Bruce asked, eyebrows pulling together in concern. Even Jason seemed to stiffen.

"'M fine," he mumbled, massaging his head. "I think it's time for another dose of my painkillers though…"

Bruce eyed him worriedly, but nodded, moving towards the door. "I'll go let Alfred know. You get some rest."

"Bruce?" The name slipped out before Dick had really thought it through, but Bruce had already paused and turned back to look at Dick. He almost lost the courage, but he hadn't asked yet and he needed to know so now was as good a time as any. "What… what happened to him?"

"Who?"

"The guy… Masquerade Man or whatever," his voice trailed off, the name not seeming so stupid anymore now he said it out loud after everything that had happened.

Bruce's jaw clenched just the slightest bit, and Jason had gone still too, maintaining the carefree composure but obviously paying close attention.

"You don't have to worry about that, Dick," Bruce answered quietly and Dick got a lump in his throat.

"B…"

"Dick. I said don't worry about it. A horrible man is off the streets before anything else could happen, thanks to you. You don't have to worry about him any more, and that's that." Bruce's tone didn't leave any room for argument. "I'll go find Alfred now." And with that, he left.

The room was silent for a few moments, before Jason got up and sat on the other end of the couch Dick was on.

"Do you… want to talk about it?" Jason asked carefully.

"Do you know what happened to him, Jay?"

Jason swallowed. "No. After we tied him up and left, Bruce ordered the rest of us to get checked out and cleared by Alfred and he disappeared with the guy. He came back after we were all asleep but he looked like nothing was wrong, so we knew not to ask."

Dick let that sink in. He was glad that the man had been dealt with, of course, but something still put him on edge. He couldn't pinpoint what, but he had a feeling he wouldn't feel safe or sleep through the night for a few weeks at least.

"Dick?"

"Hmm?"

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

"What?" Dick blinked at Jason.

"I… you… shit, I don't know Dick, I'm not good at this touchy stuff, you know that's what you're good at, but there's something going on with you. There has been for a while now, we all see it, even before that night. I didn't want to ask you about it when you had the truth serum in you, but you wouldn't talk to me or anyone after that and I just… I want to be able to help you the way you've helped me before."

Dick swallowed. "Jay, I - "

"If you're not ready to talk now, then I won't push you. You never pushed me so I won't. You don't even have to talk to me, Dick, but you are a people person and talking to someone is all I ask because I know that's what you need and there are so many people who'd be willing to help because we all care about you - "

He didn't mean to start crying, but the teardrop fell onto his face anyway and Jason froze.

"That's the problem," he whispered, bringing his legs up and wrapping his arms around them so he had something to do other than look at Jason.

"Oh," Jason breathed, before his eyes widened. "Oh. Dick, is this about that? Dick, I told you that day and I'll say it again - I don't blame you. That guy was an asshole for using me to get to you, a coward hitting a low blow."

"But it almost worked, Jay," he whispered, not daring to speak any louder. "You still got hurt because of me."

"We've been over this," Jason said gently. "I knew the risks. We all face that risk when we get in the costume and step outside."

"You didn't have to take that risk though."

"What do you mean, Dick?"

"I asked you to come."

"And I came of my own free wil- oh." Jason paused, trying to remember that night. "You said you didn't trust yourself on your own… Dick, what happened?" He whispered, trying to hide the fear in his voice.

There was no truth serum forcing Dick to answer this time. He could just shut up, and Jason would never need to know, and nothing would happen to him as a consequence of being quiet. It was entirely his choice whether or not to answer.

But… he was so tired of keeping it to himself. He'd isolated himself for the past few weeks, hoping it would help, focusing on being better and faster and stronger. He'd forgotten his strength was in others. Jason was right. He was a people person, depending on others.

Sometimes that meant people around him getting hurt, but he'd tried to cut them out entirely and look where it got him. The people he'd been trying to protect had put themselves in danger to save him and Jason anyway. It would have changed things, but they didn't know why Dick wasn't worth saving. At least if he told Jason then maybe…

Jason was quiet for a second after Dick told him. Then he looked up at Dick.

"Dick, did you try your best to save them?"

"It wasn't enough."

"I didn't ask that. Did you do everything you could at the time?"

Dick thought about it.

No. There was so much more you could have done, you could have saved them if you were just a little better, smarter, faster, stronger, more than one failure because you weren't good enough.

"Don't listen to any voice in your head, Dick. Just yes, or no. Whatever your situation was just then, was there anything more you could have done?"

"No," he whispered.

Jason nodded. "Then you didn't fail. If you hold yourself to standards so high that even Batman can't uphold, then of course you'll fail, Dick. You think Batman - or any of us - can save everyone? You did what you could, Dick. That's all that matters. It always sucks when it's not enough, but that doesn't mean you're not enough. I know that. From experience and because I know you. You're better than all of us but that doesn't mean you're invincible, or perfect - as much as you want to make us think you are, Goldie.

"And yeah, that night sucked for the both of us. I have nightmares about it too, but you know what never happens even in those nightmares? It's never your fault. It's never you hitting me, it's never your face I see." He swallowed, not able to look at Dick as he continued. "I'm going to be completely honest Dick, that night was really bad. It brought up memories I didn't want to remember. I hurt everywhere, and yeah I was terrified, but I also - in a way - wasn't scared at all. You want to know why?" He forced himself to meet his brother's blurry eyes. "It's because you were there with me."

"But I couldn't help you." Dick's voice broke as he said it.

"It didn't matter," Jason said, voice thick. "You were there. That was more than it was last time - another thing that's not your fault, you couldn't have known, I don't blame you for that either - but you being there reminded me it wasn't then. You were with me and that was all that mattered. That's all I thought about. Not one part of me blamed you for us being there, and if I had to do it again even knowing what would happen, I would still have come with you. I might have shot a few more guys, maybe somehow loosened one of your bonds so we could get out sooner or called the guys earlier…"

Dick laughed wetly at that before more tears fell onto his cheeks.

"But I'd still have come," Jason repeated. "Pushing all of us away isn't going to help, Dick. I still came to take down that psycho with you even though you weren't talking to me. I dragged you along this time, actually. Everyone came to help us when things when wrong because they all care about us, Dick. They care about you. It's actually really impressive you managed to ignore all of them for as long as you did."

Dick wanted to laugh at that again, but he couldn't manage it. Jason looked like he wanted to say more, but Dick was already holding back a dam of tears and Jason could see that so he shut up for once and just moved to hug Dick.

The first sob broke through and he couldn't stop. Jason just held him, reminding him to breathe when the hyperventilating got too concerning, murmuring more reassurances into Dick's ears but Dick was too out of it to hear. He could feel every unsaid word in Jason's tight arms anyway.

And then in Damian's head against his back. And Tim's hand on his shoulder. He hadn't heard them come in and a part of his brain told him to pull it together because he couldn't let his younger brothers see him like this, so broken and weak and so much of a mess.

"Breathe, Dick."

"Let it all out, Dick."

"We're here, Richard."

Even Damian - who had seen any display of emotion as a weakness to be exploited not so long ago - was comforting him, holding him tightest. Dick cried harder.

He felt a hand run through his hair, and he leaned into it, letting the hand pull him gently into a familiar chest for him to bury his face into.

"It's okay, chum, we've got you," Bruce's voice rumbled gently as he spoke.

He doesn't know how long they all stay there. All he knows is that by the end of it, he's cried every last tear in his body and he's so exhausted that he barely remembers taking a few painkillers that Alfred had brought before promptly falling asleep.

This time though, surrounded by his family, no nightmares can touch him and he sleeps peacefully for the first time in a long time.

Things aren't great, but they're starting to get better. He's finally where he belongs - among his loved ones, people who care about him as much as he cares about them. Pushing them away is useless because they're family and they'll only just come back, so the best he can do is try and keep them safe.

Things may not always work out how he wants them too, but he has people to help pick him up when he falls. And he will fall. He's not perfect, but he doesn't have to be.

He just has to be Dick Grayson and that is enough.

He is enough.

A/n: I struggled on those last few lines, but I think I'm happy with them. I can't think of any other options anyways lol. Jason also did cry a bit in that hug, even tho he would deny it later, and while it might seem like he's not that injured, he has some pretty big bruises so yk. Also, obviously Masquerade Man is not dead, but he decided to mess with the batfam and you don't get to just walk away from that so Bruce dealt with him in a way that he saw fit. Any other loose ends, just use your imaginations :)

So this is the fic! If you've made it this far, especially if you've come from Disadvantages of Caring, thank you so much for reading and I hope you've enjoyed it. If the ending still isn't giving you closure, then I might be convinced to write one last mini-chapter just with some batkid mayhem at the manor while Dick is still recovering/mostly recovered ;)

With that, stay safe, be nice and see you soon!

- CrowofArcadiaOaks