'I deserve this,' Dick told himself for what must've been the millionth time since he'd been taken. He told himself he understood why none of his family or friends had come to save him. He had lied to them after all... and his lies had led to Wally's death. It was only natural that his team would feel the way they had.
So Dick convinced himself he deserved to remain in the filthy closet he was locked in, removed only occasionally to receive another beating or a crust of bread with some water.
Dick lay there in the dark accepting this as his end. He'd been drugged for the first while, but now his captor didn't bother with that anymore. He was too weak to even attempt an escape now.
-
Jason crept through the dilapidated old house Joker had been using as his latest base.
The clown had already been sent to jail, but Bruce insisted on searching the entire place anyway.
"I'm moving on to the last floor," Jason spoke into his earpiece, getting an affirmative grunt from Bruce.
Jason walked down the rickety stairs, gagging as the stench of mold and rot assaulted his nose. He crinkled his nose, quickly walking to each door, throwing it open and taking a quick peek inside.
"You about done in there Hood?" Bruce asked.
Jason pressed a finger to the device in his ear. "I think so," he said, looking around at all the doors he'd thrown open. He was about to leave when another door inside one of the rooms caught his attention. "One more door."
The last door creaked loudly as Jason pushed it open, and he peered inside, his eyes drawn to what looked like a person slumped on the floor. "There's... there's a body in here," he said.
"Are they alive?" Bruce asked.
"I... I don't know. They look... they look dead," Jason said, stomach lurching as he stepped closer.
Jason's breath caught when he saw the blue bird symbol. This was Nightwing... he'd found Dick Grayson.
The Nightwing suit hung extremely loosely on Dick's skeletal frame, and Jason could see plenty of injuries littering the poor man's skin.
"B... I... I found Nightwing."
Bruce didn't reply for a moment. "Leave him," he eventually said. "He's only getting what he deserves."
Jason flinched at Bruce's cold and unfeeling tone. He knew that the superhero community had some beef with Nightwing, but how could Bruce be so cold to his own son? "If I leave him here he'll die," Jason said, hoping Bruce would see some sort of reason.
There was no response from Bruce.
Jason grit his teeth, taking out his comms device and tossing it to the floor. Screw Batman... screw Bruce. He knelt at Dick's side and pressed two fingers just under his jaw, feeling for a pulse.
Relief filled Jason when he felt a weak thrum under his fingers. He sat back on his heels for a moment before gently shaking Dick's shoulder.
Dick managed to open his eyes just a crack and look up at the blurry figure kneeling over him. "Bru...ce?" he mumbled, his voice a whisper that Jason could barely hear.
Jason's brow furrowed in concern. "I'm gonna pick you up Dickiebird," he said, scooping the frail acrobat up in his arms.
Dick whimpered when he was moved, and his head fell to rest against Jason's chest.
Jason stood, rightfully concerned about just how light Dick was. "Just hold on Dickie," he said, crushing his earpiece with one booted foot on the way out of the room.
