No matter how steady and stable your life seems to be, it can all change in an instant. Dick's life seemed to be a testament to this fact, even if he couldn't remember that himself.
Dick live a happy childhood in the circus, with his loving family. That all ended the moment his parents fell from the trapeze.
Things got better eventually, Dick found a new family with Bruce and his brothers. Unfortunately, that changed as suddenly as it had began, leaving Dick homeless, wandering through Blüdhaven and looking for a place he could afford to rent.
After a while, things once again began to look up. Dick found a job as a police officer, and became Nightwing, but it only took an instant for life to take that from him too.
—
A hostage situation at a local elementary school had been called in to the department, and Dick was one of the first ones on the scene.
Things seemed to be going well for a while. Dick was able to take down the gunman who was threatening the children, and everyone was breathing a collective sigh of relief...
Nobody expected the shot that rang out from the sniper on the roof over.
All of the officers ran into the other building, heading to the roof, all except two. Officer Sying was kneeling by her partner's side, frantically starting first aid as Dick bled out from a bullet hole in his head.
—
Dick didn't wake up like the stereotypical movie coma patient, surrounded by concerned, but relieved people. No, when he woke up he was completely alone. No family, no friends, no nurses. Just him. He stared at the ceiling of the room, trying to piece together what had happened. The last thing he remembered was his parents' funeral, and by the look of his body, he definitely wasn't an eight year old kid anymore.
A nurse came in a few minutes later and blinked in surprise when she was that Dick was awake."Mr. Grayson! You're awake!" she said cheerily. She quickly took his vitals before going to get the doctor to look over him.
The doctor was a tall, friendly man who introduced himself as Doctor Lansing.
"So, Mr. Grayson. Let's start with a few questions, just to see if everything's still there," Lansing said jokingly, tapping his forehead.
"First question; What's your full name?"
"Richard John Grayson... but I prefer Dick," Dick answered, surprised at how scratchy his voice was from disuse.
"Good. How old are you?" the doctor asked.
"I... I don't know..." Dick said, furrowing his brows in confusion. Age was definitely something you should remember...
"Hmmm... How old do you think you are?" Lansing asked.
"Ummm, maybe in my 20's..." Dick replied uncertainty.
"Good. Our record says you are 21. Does that feel right?"
Dick simply nodded.
"Alright," Lansing continued. "This is the last question. What is the last thing you remember?"
Dick thought for a moment, before quietly answering. "My parent's funeral."
Dr. Lansing looked shocked. "That was..." he trailed off. "13 years ago."
Dick was silent for a moment, not being able to comprehend what he was hearing. "Wha-what?" he asked, suddenly feeling unsteady and falling back to lay on the bed. "What happened to me?"
Dr. Lansing gave him a look of pity. "You were shot in the head, after which you fell into a coma for two months... It seems that you have also lost the memories from the past 13 years," he said.
"I've been in a coma for two months? Why was I shot in the head? Don't I have any family to take care of me?" Dick began to spout off questions.
Lansing held his hand up in a gesture for Dick to stop his stream of questions. "You were a police officer, and you saved an elementary school from a shooter, but if I remember correctly, the shooter had an accomplice."
Dick suddenly felt absolutely exhausted. "W-what about my family? Isn't there someone out there worried for me?" Dick asked in a whisper, fearing the answer.
"As far as we know, you don't have any family. The only people who've been in to see you are members of the police department," the doctor said, a hint of pity in his voice.
"S-so I don't have any family..." Dick said sadly.
"I don't believe so," Dr. Lansing looked like he might've said more, but a nurse appeared at the doorway.
"Doctor. There's someone here to see Mr. Grayson," she said.
Lansing sighed. "Let them in."
A tall, well build woman entered the room, smiling widely when she saw that Dick was awake and rushing to his side. "Oh my goodness! Grayson! I'm so glad you're awake. The entire department was fretting for the past two months," she blurted.
Dick looked at the Doctor, wanting some help with what was sure to be an awkward thing to explain. Unfortunately, Dr. Lansing simply got up and walked out of the room. "Well, this is awkward... I have absolutely no idea who you are," Dick said to the woman.
The lady, who Dick could now see was an officer, looked shocked and perhaps even slightly hurt. "I'm officer Sying, your partner..." she trailed off.
Dick gave her a questioning look. "I seem to be missing about 13 years worth of memory, so..."
"What?" Sying asked, concern lacing her voice.
"Yep," Dick replied. "So... why don't you tell me what you know about my current life..." Dick said, hoping the woman would oblige him.
"Um, ok." Sying found a chair and sat before continuing. "Well, you came to Blüdhaven a few years ago, and started working at the precinct. You were always super tired at work, and you texted someone named either Jason or Jay a lot. You like cereal. You live in basically the crappiest apartment ever... And that's pretty much everything I know about you."
Dick pondered over the revealed information. "Thank you," he said afterwards. Who was this Jay or Jason?
The nurse came in a few minutes later and interrupted a particularly interesting story officer Sying was telling Dick about a drug ring take down they were both assigned to a few months back.
"Mr. Grayson. I believe you are all cleared to go home, at least if this officer would be as kind as to escort you there, seeing as you probably don't remember where you live... We have your few personal items in this bag," she said, holding out a small bag that contained Dick's uniform, badge, phone, keys, and wallet.
Dick looked hopefully at officer Sying.
"I don't mind giving you a lift home," Sying said, helping Dick off the bed. "I'll be waiting in here for you to get dressed," she said, sitting back down in her chair.
Dick wobbled for a few steps, but was able to get the hang of walking again as he made his way behind a small curtain to change into his officer's uniform, since it was the only clothing he had.
The uniform didn't fit Dick very well. The shirt hung loose, and he had to cinch the belt up almost as tight as it would go.
Despite being underweight, Dick was a bit surprised at how well muscled he was. It wasn't too surprising, considering he was a cop, but he felt as if that wasn't the only reason.
Officer Sying drove Dick home after about 15 minutes of signing papers. She easily directed him to his apartment, which he agreed was horrible, before leaving with a wave and a promise to have the chief text him about returning to work.
—
Dick had spent most of the day trying to sort through his life. He managed to unlock his phone, with the blessing of Face ID, and had to go through emails, texts, and accounts, changing every password to one he would remember.
It didn't take long for Dick to come to terms with the life he'd made for himself. He had an apartment, a steady job, and apparently a friend named Jay.
—
It was months after Dick got home that he found the secret compartment in his closet that housed his Nightwing suit.
At first, Dick didn't want anything to do with the costume. He was Nightwing... a vigilante. Whatever happened to being a cop? He simply shoved the costume back into its place and closed the door over it.
Dick's resolve not to don the Nightwing suit only lasted a few weeks however...
Ever since Dick had gotten the first hospital bill, and taken out his first loan, money had been tight. He lived paycheck to paycheck, never being able to afford eating as much as he knew he should be. The stress of every day piled up on his shoulders, and Dick had just about hit his breaking point.
A vague memory of flying through the air, and the adrenaline rush that came with taking down criminals fluttered into Dick's mind, which quickly led to him donning the black and blue Nightwing suit and going on patrol.
—
The stress felt like it was draining from Dick's tired and hungry body as he swung through Blüdhaven, loving the feeling of his adrenaline pumping.
Dick stopped, however, when he heard a frenzied cry for help.
A woman was standing in an alleyway, pointing a gun at a man who had a small child cowering behind his back. The woman sneered and cocked the gun.
"You shouldn't have tried for a divorce Jack. I told you it would end ugly," she practically hissed.
"Please don't hurt us Amanda. I'm sure you're angry, but you shouldn't do something you'd regret," the man, Jack, said.
"What makes you think I'll regret killing you two brats?" Amanda retorted, raising the gun up to point at the small girl who was hiding behind her father.
"In fact, I don't think I'll regret it at all," Amanda said, pulling the trigger.
Amanda expected to hear either her ex-husband or her daughter scream as they were shot, but instead she found herself face to face with a black and blue clad vigilante.
Dick let his muscle memory take over as he quickly disarmed the woman and tied her securely. "Call the Police, and they'll come and take her away," he said to Jack before grappling up to the roof of the building.
A smile made its way onto Dick's face as he jumped from building to building, putting a bit of distance between himself and the sounds of incoming sirens. The smile disappeared though as he noticed the gushing bullet wound in his side.
The pain hit Dick like a truck, almost sending him to his knees. He heard a noise, and his head snapped up, his eyes catching a glimpse of the glinting red helmet of none other than Red Hood.
Dick started to run away, Red Hood quickly chasing after him. Dick only made it across a few roofs before he fell to the ground, unable to continue any longer.
Suddenly, there was a face leaning over Dick. It was Red Hood, his helmet laying discarded beside him. "Dickie? Where have you been? What happened to you?" Jason asked.
'Do I know this person? I know Red Hood?' Dick thought to himself. "Who?" He croaked out.
"It's me, it's Jason," Jason replied.
'I'm best friends with a criminal?' Dick wondered. Wishing he could slap his old self for not writing important stuff like this down. Dick let out a groan. "No hospital," he managed to slur before passing out.
—
Dick woke up in a warm bed, confused as to where he was. He tried to sit up, but gasped and fell backwards when he felt a stabbing pain in his torso. Soon Jason's worried face came into view.
"Dick are you alright?" Jason asked.
Dick let out a pained groan.
"I'll take that as a no then," Jason said, gently removing the bandages that were wrapped around Dick's stomach. His eyes widened when he saw the mess of blood and broken stitches that the once neatly closed wound had become.
Dick tensed when he felt Jason gently cleaning his reopened wound.
"Calm down Bluebird," Jason said. "I'll be quick." Jason proceeded to stitch up the hole in his brother's abdomen, trying not to flinch at each of his brother's gasps of pain. "We're all done," he said soothingly, pushing Dick's sweaty hair out of his eyes.
"Jay..." Came Dick's weak voice.
"Ya?" Jason replied.
"I... A few months ago I was in an accident... a-and I was in a coma for two months. When I got out of the coma... t-the doctors... well... I have a 13 year memory gap," Dick said, never once looking Jason in the eye.
Jason stumbled back. "What? You... you don't remember anything from the past 13 years?"
Dick shook his head.
"Y-you don't remember me? Or being Nightwing?" Jason asked, starting to panic a bit.
"I don't remember anything Jay." Dick said. "My co-workers have been telling me things about how I used to be, but there's still a large gap that I don't have any information to fill."
Jason dragged a chair over to the side of the bed and sat down heavily. "What happened? What happened to make you forget all that?" Jason asked, voice barely a whisper.
"I was shot in the head," Dick said, making a mental note when Jason flinched. Dick lifted part of his tangled hair to show Jason the scar on the side of his head.
Jason took a ragged breath. "And why did you tell me not to take you to the hospital before you passed out up on that roof?" Jason asked, almost afraid of what the answer would be.
"I..." Dick stopped. Could he really trust this person? They had apparently been best friends, but what if there was something he didn't remember about Jason that was bad. He did use to be a villain after all. Dick ended his moment of indecision by deciding that it wouldn't hurt if Jason knew he couldn't afford another hospital trip. "I can't afford it. I still have so much to pay off from my two month stay in the hospital."
A look of concern grew on Jason's face. "You... Are you ok? Financially I mean?" He asked.
"Ya...." Dick Said, putting up the 'I'm fine' facade he'd had to relearn to put up over the past few months.
Jason was honestly skeptical about the truth of that statement. He wasn't going to just pretend he couldn't see how prominently Dick's ribs were sticking out.
"Are you sure you forgot everything?" Jason asked. The unspoken 'even me' hung heavily in the air.
"I... I don't remember anything. My partner on the police force told me that I was friends with someone named Jason... I guess that's you, but I don't have any memories of anyone," Dick said, sadness passing across his features.
Jason couldn't help the hurt that he felt from that statement. 'Friends'... Jason definitely felt that their relationship deserved to be called something more than just friends. He had to remind himself that Dick didn't remember anything. He didn't remember what they were to each other... what they had been.
"What's wrong?" Dick asked.
"Well... I'd say we were a bit more than just friends," Jason said, bitterness poring into his words. He was angry at the world for taking Dick away from him, one of the only good things that had happened in his sad life.
"What do you mean by more?" Dick asked with innocent confusion shining in his eyes.
Jason looked at Dick for a second, debating what he was about to do. 'Sure, what the heck,' he thought to himself before he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Dick's lips.