Red hood and Nightwing leapt out of the second story window of the burning building. Red Hood landed with a roll, and Nightwing shot out his grappling hook and lowered himself and the little boy he carried to the ground.
The boy ran into the arms of his worried parents and Jason turned to leave. When Dick didn't follow, Jason turned back around and said, "Come on Wing. Patrol's over."
Dick paid no attention to what Jason had said, tilting his head slightly and listening. "I heard someone screaming," he whispered, looking back towards the building for a moment before shooting his grappling hook up to a window on the top floor and letting it haul him up.
Jason followed Dick's lead, barely repressing a groan. He just wanted to get to sleep at a reasonable time for once. Was that too much to ask?
The building creaked and groaned as the two vigilantes made their way through the top floor, calling out to see if anyone was there.
"There's nobody up here Wing," Jason said, reaching out a hand to steady Dick as an explosive coughing fit tore through his body. He didn't have the filter that Jason's mask provided, and the smoke he was inhaling was definitely not doing anything good for his lungs.
Jason was just about to insist that they leave when a scream filled the air. Dick stumbled in the direction it came from with Jason following close behind.
The two entered a room with a women huddled in the corner, flames climbing up the walls. Dick rushed to her side, helping her up and putting one of her arms over his shoulder, all the while saying reassuring things and helping her towards the room's window.
Dick and the women hadn't made it far across the room when he cried out and fell to his knees, a hand clamped to his side.
The women stood with a blood covered knife, a demonic smile stretched across her face. She watched as Dick fell to his side, clenching his teeth together and groaning in pain. Her smile grew as she looked straight at Jason and lifted her hand. Jason felt some invisible force surge through him, and then he blinked and the woman was gone.
Jason looked over to Dick who was trying to rise to his hands and knees, one hand still clamped on his side.
As Jason watched, Dick whimpered in pain and turned pleading eyes to his younger brother.
Suddenly the building was shaking and the ceiling started falling apart, pieces of it raining down.
The building shook again and Jason raced towards the window.
"Hood... help," Dick's weak voice called.
Jason glanced over his shoulder, his eyes widening when he saw that a burning beam from the ceiling had fallen and pinned Dick to the ground.
Jason took a step towards his brother, before he could reach his side, the spell the woman had cast on him took control. His eyes glazed over with red and all the horrible negative thoughts he had ever had about his sweet and caring older brother flooded his mind. His lip turned up into a sneer, though Dick couldn't see it. "I'll never help you, filthy circus trash," Jason spat before leaping out of the building window and not even looking back. 'Golden boy can save himself,' he thought as he swung off into the night.
—
All of the members of the Bat family who had been patrolling that night met up on a rooftop that was only a few buildings away from the fire Dick and Jason had been assigned to look into.
Jason landed on next to Bruce, Damian, and Tim. He glared at his brothers, eyes still glowing red under his helmet.
"Hood, where's Nightwing?" Bruce asked, his gruff voice cutting through Jason's foggy thoughts of hatred and breaking him out of the trance he was in.
Jason hissed and stumbled forward as the red light faded from his eyes.
Bruce laid an arm on Jason's shoulder and steadied him as he blinked rapidly and shook his head.
Suddenly Jason straightened and turned back towards the burning building. "Nightwing... what have I done?" He whispered before racing to the edge of the rooftop and leaping across building after building until he stopped near the fire.
Jason was about to shoot his grappling line over to the building and swing into the window when he felt Bruce's hand on his shoulder again.
Jason stopped on the edge of the building, Bruce's grip like a clamp on his shoulder. "Let me go!" He shouted with tears in his eyes, trying his best to break free.
Bruce refused to loosen his grip.
All at once the burning building gave a massive shudder and collapsed in on itself.
Jason fell to his knees and pulled off his helmet. Tears dripped down his face and his back shook with his sobs.
"You never would have made it out in time..." Bruce said, trying to comfort his son.
"You don't understand," Jason said between sobs. "Nightwing was still in there. It's all my fault."
His family stared at him in shock as he explained everything, from Dick hearing the women's scream to the spell she placed on him.
When Jason was done explaining Bruce's face was a mask of grief and horror and Damian had stepped away from him, now sobbing in Tim's arms.
"It was a spell. It's not your fault," Bruce whispered, trying to contain his emotions.
"It is my fault. I should have been able to fight it. To resist." Jason stared at the pieces of the building as water from a fire hose poured down on it. Eventually all that was left was smoking rubble. The fire department left and all the civilians who had been gathered around went back to their respective homes.
Jason didn't know how long he sat there before the rubble near the edge of the building suddenly shifted and hope swelled in his chest. Instead of the familiar black and blue suit that Jason so desperately wanted to see, a small singed dog emerged from under a piece of the building. It looked like a ragged street dog and no sooner than it had emerged it had ran off down the street.
Jason's heart fell, but a thought came to his mind. 'Nightwing might still be alive.'
Another spark of hope ignited in Jason's chest, and he dived off of the roof, shooting his grappling hook out and swinging to the ground before rushing into the burnt husk of the building and digging through the rubble, frantically calling out for his brother.
The rest of the bat family stood solemnly at the edge of the rubble, watching as Jason cried out for his brother, searching for a sign of him with all of his might...
The hope Jason had was slowly fading, until he saw a shining metal cylinder sticking out of the rubble. It was one of Dick's escrima sticks.
Hood dug deeper and found the other escrima stick. This one covered in soot and blood. More digging revealed Dick's utility belt. The latch mechanism had been crushed open and there was blood staining one side of it.
The three items lay in front of Jason and his tears rolled continuously down his sooty face.
Bruce laid a hand on Jason's back. Jason leaned into the touch and continued crying.
"Let's go home," Bruce whispered, helping his son to his feet.
—
About 5 months later
—
Jason was speechless when he recognized the shivering form huddled in the corner of a small cage. He quickly activated his com and said in a low voice, "Guys... you need to see this."
Tim and Damian rushed into the room a few minutes later. They both stopped when they saw what Jason was looking at. Who he was looking at.
The two vigilantes felt their hearts jump with elation as they stared into they blue eyes of a person they knew and loved.
'Grayson!' Damian wanted to shout before flinging open the door to the cage and rushing into the arms of his brother who had been long presumed dead. One thing stopped him in his tracks, it stopped all of the bats in their tracks. It was the pure terror in Dick's eyes.
Jason warily stepped forward. There was no sign at all that Dick even recognized them. "Dick," Jason spoke warily. "Remember me... Jason?"
Dick's head turned toward Jason when he spoke and a wisp of his voice could be heard as he said, "J-Jason?"
"Ya Dickie, it's me, Jay," Jason said as he stepped up to the door of the cage.
Dick was huddled in the corner of the cage with what looked like a tattered blanket draped over some of his body. He was still in his Nightwing suit, which he had been wearing when he 'died', but now it was littered with holes and tears. His domino mask was still desperately clinging to his face, but a large portion of it had been ripped away, exposing the blue of one eye.
When Jason knelt down and started picking the lock to open the cage Dick whimpered and tried to press himself closer to the bars of the cage and further away from Jason. This only resulted in a stab of pain in his back, making him cry out.
"Calm down Dick, it's alright. I'm just trying to get you out of this cage."
Dick calmed somewhat when he registered Jason's words, but he still violently flinched away when his brother laid a hand on his shoulder to try and coax him out of the cage. He was now pressed even more tightly to the bars of the cage. He huddled there shuddering, ignoring the stabbing pains coming from all over his body.
"Hey, Dickiebird. Can you come out? We're just trying to help. We're going to bring you back home," Jason said, forcing his voice to remain calm, soft, and gentle even as his mind was filled with blazing anger at what these men had done to his brother.
Dick flinched again when he heard the nickname Jason had used, but it wasn't as violent as before. "They've said that before," he whimpered, still not sure whether he could trust these people who claimed to be his siblings.
Jason's heart clenched at this. He was so angry at the people who had taken Dick... angry at himself for letting it happen... he was going to hunt them all down and... he had to reign in his thoughts. He needed to focus on getting his brother out of there first. "It's us Dick, your brothers, your family. We're here to rescue you, we're going to take you back to the manor where Bruce and Alfred will fix you up. Ok?" He said, moving away from the cage's door so Dick could come out on his own.
"B-Bruce?" Dick stuttered questioningly.
"Yeah bud. He'll be really excited to see you," Jason replied, anxiously latching on to the positive response the acrobat offered.
Dick decided to trust the three people he believed to be his family. His captors didn't know about Bruce being Batman... At least he thought they didn't, so this couldn't be another trick.
Slowly and shakily he made his way out of the cage, only to collapse when he tried to stand. Jason caught him, wrapping one of his arms around the elder to support his weight.
Jason almost dropped Dick when he touched what he had thought was a torn up blanket resting on his brother's back. It only took a second for him to realize what the thing, or rather things actually were.
A large chunk of Dick's Nightwing uniform had been ripped away from his back, and the area exposed was a maze of stitched up incisions, scars, and bruises. The most horrific part, was the two large glossy black wings sprouting from his brother's back.
'So that's why Dick flinched when I called him Dickiebird...' Jason thought wryly.
Jason glanced at the two other vigilantes to see if they had noticed Dick's wings. Tim was diligently standing watch at the door to the room, and Damian was staring at the ground and fiddling with the handle of his katana.
Before either of the others could look up Jason peeled off his jacket and helped Dick's shaking figure into it. Dick winced as the jacket pressed his wings against his body and he sucked in a breath, leaning more heavily against his brother.
Dick only made it a few more steps even with Jason carrying most of his weight.
Jason tried to slide the elder gently to the floor when he noticed he'd started to become a dead weight in his grasp. Dick's single visible eye was clouded with tears and pain, and it drooped, fluttering almost closed.
"Stay awake Dickie! Stay with me," Jason fervently said as he shook the acrobat's shoulder.
"H-hurts Jay... everything..." Dick managed to whisper before he went completely limp.
'Things aren't supposed to be like this,' Jason thought to himself. Dick was supposed to be the strongest one. He had always been the one who comforted, loved, and fixed everyone. No matter how messed up they were, Dick Grayson could fix everything in a way only the boy wonder could.
Jason felt the strain of suddenly being placed in that position. He was now the oldest of the present bats... at least the oldest one coherent at the moment. This time Dick was the one who was scared and confused, the one who desperately needed love and consolation, and Jason wasn't sure if he could do that. If he could fill the spot of Dick Grayson, if only temporarily, cuz boy was that a huge hole to be filled.
Trying to be as gentle as possible, Jason lifted Dick and carried him bridal style through the room. "Robin, Red, we're leaving," he said as he walked out of the room with his brother in his arms.
Luckily, Damian had insisted that they take the Batmobile instead of their individual motorcycles, some sort of less pollution deal or something. Jason had been a bit irked by it earlier, but now he was only grateful.
Damian slid first into the back seat of the armored car, and Jason set Dick gently back there with him.
Dick was still swaddled in Jason's jacket, which looked so large on his malnourished frame that it was almost funny.
Damian was cradling Dick's head gently in his lap, looking like he was doing a mental scan of his brother's body to discover any injuries.
Once Dick was settled, Jason hurried to the driver's seat and hopped in, quickly starting the car and driving away.
—
Dick woke up about halfway through the drive. His body tensed up in Damian's lap and he looked questioningly at his youngest brother. "D-Dami? Is that you?" He asked quietly.
"Yes Grayson. It is me," Damian replied, a hint of worry slipping into his voice.
Dick seemed to relax for a bit, and he started rambling on about something for a few minutes before tensing again and asking Damian the same question, whether it was him or not.
Concern started growing in all of the bat boys' chests as they listened to Dick ramble on deliriously, stopping every now and again to ask Dami if it was actually him next to him or not.
There was a feverish light in Dick's eyes, and his thoughts were becoming less and less coherent. Many of the wounds and incisions that had been made on his body burned with infection, and all the pain and fever was making him delirious.
After a while of muttering in English Dick subconsciously slipped into Romani. He chattered to himself for a while, speaking too quickly to be understood by any of his brothers. By the time the Batmobile had almost reached the Batcave Dick had switched from Romani to just spouting nonsensical gibberish.
When they finally reached the cave Bruce was waiting for them. Jason had told him to be ready and waiting, but for what?
The Batmobile had barely just skidded to a halt and been thrown into park before Jason was out of the car and at the back seat door. He opened the door and carefully helped Dick out, putting an arm around the elder and practically dragging him towards the awaiting medical table.
When Dick saw Bruce he gave him a wide feverish grin before pushing away from Jason (almost giving Jason a heart attack in the process) and stumbling towards Bruce.
Bruce was just about frozen from the shock of seeing his son alive, but he managed to catch Dick as he teetered and fell towards the ground.
Dick gripped Bruce in a tight hug, fists clutching at any loose fabric on Bruce's suit. The feverish delirious boy began to question Bruce. Why had he let Jason drive the Batmobile? Why was it so hot? Why did everything hurt?
Questions spilled from Dick's lips, but everything he said turned to gibberish. The more he said the more confused he got. Nobody seemed to understand what he was asking.
Dick's ears rung and his eyesight started swirling. His head sunk down to rest on his chest, and he barely registered Tim inserting a small syringe into his neck and pressing the plunger down.
The effect was almost immediate. Dick's body slumped in Bruce's arms and they all heaved a sigh of relief. Everyone that is but Jason.
It seemed as if nobody had noticed Dick's wings... yet.
Bruce still held Dick's limp body, tears of relief leaking from his eyes as he looked at his son.
Everyone was crying happy tears as they released the pent up emotions they had been keeping in for the months since Dick had disappeared. Jason didn't want to ruin their happy moment, but his brother still needed medical attention.
Jason cleared his throat and grabbed his older brother's sleeping form from Bruce's embrace. He laid Dick down on the medical bed face down before removing his Jacket and revealing Dick's back.
Before he had removed his coat the rest of the bat family had assumed the black feathers of Dick's wings that hung down to the ground were just some blanket or cloth, but now... they could see the truth.
Tim passed out when he saw the patchwork of scars and incisions on Dick's back, some of which were an angry red and oozing puss. Damian on the other hand let out an alarmed squeak and backed up to stand behind Bruce.
Bruce simply stood there, still as a statue.
The only one that had some sort of helpful reaction was Alfred. The faithful butler got to work cleaning and examining Dick's exposed back almost as soon as Jason removed his jacket.
The skin directly surrounding Dick's new appendages was mottled purple, black, and blue. There were long incisions stretching from the top, bottom, and sides of Dick's wings. Those cuts looked like they had been made the most recently, and they were all swollen and infected. The stitches that closed the still fresh incisions were small and neat... whoever had done this had known exactly what they were doing.
Alfred worked like a machine. He started with the worst looking wounds before moving to the less infected ones. He furiously scrubbed the infected wounds and ended up having to redo some of the stitches. When he was done scrubbing, he doused each wound in an antibiotic ointment before carefully wrapping Dick's whole back and torso.
Jason noticed with a twinge of guilt the large burn scar covering Dick's lower back, and a newer scar on his side. All at once a memory forced its way to the front of Jason's mind. The memory that had been replaying in his mind continuously for more than 5 months, the memory that haunted his dreams.
A flaming building... a lost brother...
Jason was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Alfred calling his name. "Huh?" He said quickly in response.
"Master Jason would you be so kind as to lift Master Dick's wing?" Alfred asked, gesturing to where he needed to wrap the bandage under one of Dick's wings.
"Sure Alf..." Jason said, quickly wiping away the tear that had been collecting in his eye.
—
By the time Alfred was finished wrapping Dick's back and giving him a large dose of antibiotics, the other bats had gotten over their original shock at seeing Dick's wings, and they were now standing in a loose semi-circle at the foot of his bed.
Bruce reached out a hand and stroked the soft Black feathers of one of Dick's wings. "What happened Jason?" He asked, looking Jason in the eye.
"We were scoping out that building like you asked... and I went into a room that was full of cages. Dick was in there in some sort of oversized bird cage," Jason said with a shudder.
"And why did you take the Bat-mobile?" Bruce growled next.
Jason had known that question was coming. Bruce was VERY protective of his car. "Demon insisted..." he said, trying to place the blame elsewhere. "Besides," he continued, "we couldn't have brought Dick home as easily if we only had our motorcycles."
Bruce sighed. "Fine. You're off the hook this once, but just know that just because you're 18 now doesn't mean you can just take the Bat-mobile whenever you want," he grumbled, turning back to Dick with a huff.
Jason rubbed his neck and glanced at Tim who he could see was trying to hold back a smirk and possibly a chuckle at the encounter he'd just witnessed.
Bruce gently removed the piece of Dick's mask that was still on his face, and smoothed his son's hair out of his eyes.
"I should probably get working on finishing up some cases," Tim said a few minutes later, walking towards the large computer near the parked batmobile.
"Master Tim, Master Jason, Master Damian. I do believe it is time for you boys to get to sleep," Alfred said, moving to stand between Tim and the computer and giving the boys a pointed look.
Rather than face Alfred's wrath, Tim, Damian and Jason hurried up the stairs to their respective rooms.
"Master Bruce. I do suggest sleep for you too," Alfred said, dragging a chair next to the bed Dick was on and placing a hand on Bruce's shoulder.
Bruce grunted in response, thanking Alfred and sitting in the chair he had provided. "I don't know if I'll be able to sleep now Alfred, so I'm just going to watch over Dick for now," he added, smiling over at the butler.
"Alright Sir. If you need anything, feel free to come get me," Alfred said before turning and making his way out of the Bat-cave.
Bruce held one of Dick's hands, absentmindedly running his thumb over the back of it. His eyelids were growing heavy and his head drifted down slowly, until it rested on the hospital bed.
—
Dick awoke on a comfortable bed, something that both comforted and scared him. He was lying on his side, and when he shifted he could feel someone's hand resting on his own.
Bruce's eyes snapped open when he felt Dick shifting on the bed next to him.
"Nnng... Bruce?" Dick mumbled questioningly.
"Hey bud, how are you feeling?" Bruce asked, stifling a yawn.
"Hungry," Dick answered.
Bruce chuckled. "Alright, let's go get you something to eat."
Dick slowly sat up, and with the help of Bruce, made it up to the manor.
"So what sounds good Dickie?" Bruce asked as he guided Dick into one of the chairs at the kitchen's large island.
"I don't know..." Dick said uncertainly.
Bruce frowned slightly. "Do you want me to get Alfred to make you something?" He asked.
"I... I don't want to bother him," Dick said quietly.
"It's really no bother," Alfred said from the doorway. "I was actually about to start preparations for my own breakfast, and I would be happy to make some for you two as well."
"Thanks Alfred," Bruce said.
"What I do ask is that you wait for your food in the dining hall. There is a reason we have one after all," Alfred said, sending a pointed look at Bruce.
Bruce cleared his throat. "Right," he said, recognizing that Alfred really just wanted to give them some privacy where they could talk about what had happened.
Dick managed to stand on his own and take the few steps until he reached the wall which he leaned on for support as he followed Bruce to the dining room.
One they were seated in the dining room, Bruce decided it was a good time to ask Dick about what had happened.
Dick was staring blankly at the white tablecloth, and he was slightly startled when Bruce said his name.
"Dickie, would you feel comfortable telling me about what happened to you during these past few months?" Bruce asked, trying his best to sound comforting and gentle.
A small sort of whining noise came out of Dick's throat, and he subconsciously drew his wings around himself. "I... I don't remember much," he confessed. "Whoever was keeping me kept me drugged most of the time up to the actual surgery that gave me these... these wings. But... but I remember that they did a lot of experiments beforehand, on other people... and... and on me... They would inject me with things and they said it would help my body to function with the wings." Dick trailed off, thinking of some of the horrible things he'd been subjected to during his time as a captive.
"Dick, I'm so sorry it took us this long to find you... We... we all thought you were dead," Bruce said, trying to explain to his eldest that he hadn't been abandoned.
"It hurt... It hurt so bad Bruce... every day there were more injections... there was more pain. I... I thought you'd come for me before they finished with whatever they wanted... but you didn't. And now I... they changed me into this," Dick mumbled, gesturing to himself and his wings. "But I understand. I understand that you thought I was dead, and I'm grateful for you... or whoever rescued me... but... but I think that now this is something I have to figure out on my own."
Bruce looked at Dick for what felt like a small eternity. "I understand... Just... just let me set up something for you... a house, an apartment... something. I could even get your old place in Blüdhaven back," he said, wishing that Dick would just want to stay at the manor for the rest of his life, but at the same time knowing that it would be best for Dick to leave Gotham and the painful memories now associated with the city.
"Thanks Bruce," Dick said, a small smile making its way onto his face.
—
"Hey Zatanna... I need your help," Dick said into the phone.
"Of course you do," Zatanna joked, used to getting spontaneous calls from the bats when they needed a bit of magical assistance. "So, what do you need?" She asked.
"I need a glamour charm," Dick replied.
Zatanna sighed. "You know those things don't just grow on trees right?" She asked.
"I am aware," Dick said with a slight chuckle.
Zatanna let out an extra long sigh. "Well, who do you need me to make a new identity for this time?"
"Me," Dick replied. "I need you to make me one that looks just like me."
"What? Why?"
"I... something happened... and now I have these... things that are part of me now. If I go out in public and as a vigilante people will be able to figure out my identity, so I need a glamour charm to hide them," Dick explained.
"Alright... but I have one condition... I get to see whatever these 'things' are," Zatanna said.
Dick started to protest, but Zatanna silenced him.
"Do you want the charm or not?" She asked. "Come on Dick, I've done so many favors for you for friendship sake, but this time I want to know what's going on. I refuse for you to go into whatever you're doing without at least letting me see what's going on."
"Fine," Dick ground out.
"Great!" Zatanna said. "I'll be there in a... well, in a flash."
The call ended the same time a blinding light illuminated Dick's living room. He stood facing the light with his arms folded, waiting for Zatanna to appear.
"Hi!" Zatanna called when she appeared. She was about to give Dick a hug, but she paused when she noticed his wings. "Woah!" She said as she circled him, looking at the silky black feathers.
"Can I get the charm now?" Dick asked, slightly annoyed.
"Uh, ya," Zatanna said, pulling a small silver anklet from her pocket.
"Thanks," Dick said, bending down and slipping the anklet into place.
"So... how exactly did this come to pass?" Zatanna asked, gesturing to Dick's back and the wings that were now only visible to him and her.
"It's a story I'd prefer not to get into," Dick mumbled.
"Alright... Last question; have you actually used them to fly yet?" She asked excitedly.
"N-no," Dick said hesitantly. "At first the incisions were still healing... but I guess now I'm just scared... The way I got these wings... it wasn't... It wasn't pleasant."
"Can I touch them?" Zatanna asked.
"Sure," Dick said, spreading one wing towards where Zatanna was standing.
Zatanna ran a hand over the silky smooth feathers.
"Thanks for the help Z," he said quietly.
"Any time Dick," she said, muttering a few words and vanishing in another flash of light.
—
Dick stood on the edge of a rooftop looking down at the street below. He tugged gently on the shoulder of his uniform, not quite used to wearing it again, especially not with the modifications he'd had to make for his wings to fit into it.
Zatanna's voice urging Dick to fly echoed in his head, but the voice of doubt was even louder.
Dick glanced back at his wings, taking a moment to furl and unfurl them. There was so much trauma associated with them. Could they really help him to fly? To be free?
In a sudden burst of courage Dick stepped closer to the edge of the roof. He'd been training with his wings for weeks. If he wasn't going to fly now he never was.
Before he could convince himself against the idea he jumped... jumped and flew.