Still A Hero

Hello Team

Dick looked at the Young Justice team nervously, waiting for a reaction from them. Things had been going so wrong for him lately and he really hoped that he would start out on the right foot with the team. He was starting a new chapter of his life and he really wanted it to be a good one.

Tim looked both anxious and excited. Dinah told Dick earlier that Tim was ecstatic that his older brother was going to help mentor but also worried that his skills would pale in comparison with how skilled Dick was at him age and that he'd embarrass himself in front of Dick. That sentiment made Dick smile. Tim shouldn't have to worry about Dick being embarrassed by him, but it made Dick happy that Tim cared so much what he thought of him.

While Dick hadn't actually met the team before, he already knew all about them. Wally and Tim hung out at the mansion together all the time and Dick heard about a lot of fun adventures. From these stories Dick knew that Kaldur was the mature, wise leader, M'gann was the sweet Martian, Conner was the protective clone, and Artemis was the strong-willed archer. Dick knew all of this but he didn't really know them, who they really were as people, what they were like. This was the part that made Dick nervous.

Dick's anxiety was lessened by Wally's predicable, positive reaction. Wally whooped and cheered, his face lit up in excitement. "Boo-yah! This is soo cool! Tim you didn't tell me that Dickie would be training us!"

"It was a surprise," laughed Tim.

Dick turned to see what the others thought of his announcement. Kaldur obviously wasn't the kind of person to wear his emotions in his sleeves but he looked happy. Kaldur gave a small smile and said, "A great surprise too! I am looking forward to being able to learn from you."

"Yeah, I'm going to have a lot of fun with you guys! Hopefully I'll manage to teach you guys a few things too." Dick smiled back. From Tim, Dick knew that Kaldur was always very respectful and that he was reserved with people he wasn't really close with. It would be fun to see how Kaldur would loosen up around him as they spent more time with each other, hopefully.

Dick noticed that the Martian he had identified as M'gann wasn't standing where he saw her earlier. "Where did—"

Artemis laughed. "Oh, she always does that. Every time she meets someone new she brings out the cookies she always has ready."

"I can't wait!" said Dick. "Tim brings treats home a lot and they're always really tasty."

"Let's head over to the training room and get to it. We're going to work on flexibly and agility today, something you're way too good at," said Dinah, patting Dick on the back and bringing everyone's attention back to the fact that they weren't gathered for a social gathering.

Wally shuddered. "Eww! I don't want to see your weird flexible bending. Damn contortionist." It was always hilarious to see Wally get grossed out by Dick's range of motion.

Dick laughed. "That's too bad. You get to see me get all bendy all the time now."

Wally made a disgusted expression, though he still has a smile plastered on his face.

"Is he really that flexible?" Conner asked. He had heard great things about Nightwing, but still wanted proof of his skills. He had high expectations for Batman's first protégé, but as Superman's protégé he felt the need to try to be the better protégé. Yes, Nightwing had many years on him, but he could dream.

Wally pretended to retch and vomit. The first time Wally saw Dick contort his body he totally freaked out and now it was a running joke.

The team made their way to a room that wasn't used very often. It held a lot of gymnastic and trapeze equipment. This kind of training room was basically home for Dick and he was immediately comfortable there.

The Young Justice team looked about the room in awe and in apprehension. This was not the kind of training they were used to. Their worries seemed to vanish when M'gann rushed in the room trying to catch up with everyone else. In her hands was a plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies. Dick and Dinah watched from afar as the teenagers helped themselves to food.

"Not so bad, right?" asked Dinah quietly. Anyone listening might think that she was talking about the room but Dick knew that she was actually talking about his interaction with the team so far.

"Uh-huh. Yep. The day is not over yet though," said Dick, showing that he was still worried.

Dinah rolled her eyes and made a comment about him being a worry wart. She walked in front of the the group and began explaining what they were going to do that day. "Alright guys, we've been working on strength training for a while and now I want to start incorporating that training with fast pace movement. For today and for the next two-to-three weeks we will work on flexibility, balance, and agility. Your attacks won't do you any good if you can't place them correctly and you won't make very far in the field if you can't dodge and keep your balance. Nightwing is going to demonstrate some high level exercises for you. It's going to be really hard and I don't except you guys to get it right—not even a little bit—but I want to see how well you guys can try to copy his movements by the end of this unit. Don't except to get it right and don't push yourselves to. Know your limits. He's had years of practice. Dick, take it away."

Dick took a deep breath and tried to shove all of his worries into the back of his mind. Worries that he'd have a seizure while in mid-air or that he might miss his landing and fall on his face. He took those worries and he banished them as far away as he could and focused on his task at hand. He took a running start, grabbed a bar, and flew.

Dick flew. Flying in the air and feeling the rush of excitement, everything else fell away. All sounds, worries, and distractions were left behind as Dick moved though the air. The world stopped spinning and everything grew still. The stress of his life changing injury was momentarily forgotten. The happiness he carried with him since he was a little circus boy with large, unstoppable dreams bloomed in his chest. Joy was pumped through his veins. Memories of laugher and of his mother's lullabies rang in his ears. Everything was right with the world.

Then Dick's feet met the ground and it was over.