The I dont know fam story from my one shots

Part two

Alfred was cooking in the kitchen when he heard the back door slam closed. "Master Bruce?" he asked out of confusion. He looked outside and saw no one immediately in his field of vision. He was perplexed, to say the least as he knew there was no way the door could've done that by itself. Before he could ponder about it anymore, the boys came rushing into the kitchen. "Have you seen Dick?" Tim asked worriedly. 

"I'm afraid not Master Tim, is there something the matter?"

"Todd said that we couldn't have him around anymore because Grayson worked out that we're the 'Bat-family', so to speak," Damian explained. Who thought up that name? Somebody who was clearly not trying too hard. "Wait, how did Dick work out we're vigilantes?" Bruce asked angrily. "He just figured it out!" Jason answered. "I messed up and he thinks he's going back to kid prison! He ran off crying!" 

"I'll work out what to do with you later, now we should focus on finding and calming him down," Bruce stated. "Tim, Damian search outside. Alfred look on the ground floor, Jason upstairs and I'll check the Batcave." They nodded and ran in different directions.

Two hours passed and Jason, Alfred and Bruce decided to aid the search outside. They found Damian and Tim halfway down the garden. "You just had to have a massive garden, didn't you?" Jason commented sarcastically. "Let's just find him."

After a while, Jason found Dick hiding in the bushes. He was shaking violently and staring into space, as though he was working out what to do next now that his world was crashing down around him. "Dickie-bird?" Jason asked, touching his shoulder. An off the cuff nickname he decided to keep to mind. It sounded comforting in a way. Dick jumped and back-flipped away. "I won't go back there! I can't do it again!" he cried, his eyes significantly duller than when he'd first arrived. Bruce heard him shouting and ran over to him. "We're not going to make you go back. You're still going to stay with us, you just surprised them by working out who we are," he assured him. Dick's tears fell heavier and they realised how scared he really was to go back. What happened to him to get this way? "Promise?" he asked, letting Bruce move closer. "Promise," Bruce replied, picking him up. Dick buried his head into his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," Jason apologized. Dick smiled, showing his forgiveness as best as he could. "If you tell me about Slade and help me put Zucco in jail then I'll forgive you," Dick bargained with a sly grin. "Slade? How does he know about Slade?" Bruce asked.

"He fostered me for a bit. He wasn't very nice. I thought you guys knew about him," he answered tiredly. "Or at least you acted like it."

"Maybe get some sleep before we do anything," Damian suggested. The boy nodded and fell asleep in Jason's arms. "He's known for abusing his apprentices, you don't think he'd hurt him?" Tim asked. "Slade isn't afraid to do anything like that. Dick would be a good target. He recently lost his family meaning he'll be easier to manipulate, has skills in acrobatics and gymnastics not to mention that he most likely knows many languages due to the circus," Bruce said. 

"Physical or mental?" Damian asked. He hoped for neither. 

"Both knowing him. When he wakes up, we're going to have to question him. We don't know the extent of his training." They sighed and eyed the boy in Jason's arms. What exactly had he gone through that they didn't know about yet?

Half an hour after setting Dick down to sleep, there was a shrill yell from his room. "Was that Dick?" Jason asked the others, who were as bewildered as he was. When they put Dick in his bed, the family migrated to the meeting room. It had actually been a pretty calm discussion until they heard it. There was another yell. "That's definitely Dick," Tim muttered getting up. 

"Is he having a nightmare or something?" Damian thought aloud. Bruce smacked himself in the forehead for forgetting. "Yeah, he has them all the time. The wardens say he gets them as soon after he falls asleep. Let's go calm him down," Bruce answered. They rushed upstairs to Dick's room where they found him violently thrashing in his bed. "Jesus Christ on a bicycle," Jason muttered. Beads of sweat ran down his face and his mouth was in a tense grimace. Tim ran over and tried to calm Dick down.