Dick bit his lip as he dug shards of glass out of his skin. He glanced longingly at the shower, wishing he could take a shower to try and wash out the disgusting smell of alcohol from the bottle that had been smashed on his shoulder.
Shifting from the adjoined bedroom drew Dick's attention.
"Dick?" Jason's voice called.
"I'm coming... just brushing my teeth," Dick called, panic welling in his chest.
The bed creaked, and heavy footsteps echoed through the apartment as Jason made his way to the bathroom.
"Brushing your teeth huh," he growled. "You think I'm stupid or something? You brushed your teeth 30 minutes ago."
Dick cowered away from Jason. "I-I just—
"I don't care!" Jason interrupted. "Get out of the bathroom and stop making noise so I can get some sleep."
Dick nodded, eyes wide and breathing fast.
Jason turned around and stomped back to bed, leaving Dick to hurriedly flick the lights off and make his way to his blanket on the floor where he slept.
—
A pit grew in Dick's stomach as he made his way back home from work. He'd woken up later than usual this morning and hadn't had time to make something for Jason to eat for breakfast... something that he probably wouldn't get off the hook for.
Dick tried to enter their apartment as quietly as he could, hoping that Jason wouldn't be home. He managed to get inside without too much noise, but his breath caught when he stepped on a particularly creaky floorboard.
After a few moments of waiting frozen in the entry hall Dick relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. 'Jason must not be home," he thought to himself.
Dick slowly made his way to the kitchen to start preparing dinner before Jason got back from wherever he was.
It had barely been 5 minutes when the door to the apartment opened, closing with a slam.
Dick's chest tightened in panic. He had only just started working on dinner. Jason would be mad.
The stench of alcohol invaded Dick's nose as Jason entered the kitchen.
"Where's dinner?" Jason demanded, his voice slightly slurred.
"I'm making it," Dick said, pressing himself into the cupboard to get as far from Jason as he could.
Smack.
Dick put a hand over his stinging cheek, tears pricking his eyes.
"You're the laziest person I know. You slept in this morning and don't make me any breakfast, then I come home and you haven't even made dinner!" Jason shouted, stalking closer to where Dick was pressing himself against the cupboards.
"I-I'm sorry, I just got h-home," Dick stuttered, panic growing.
Jason paused for a moment, simply glaring at Dick. His brows furrowed after a second, and he snatched Dick's left hand from where it was gripping the counter. "Where's your ring?" He snarled.
Dick's eyes flicked down to the faint tan line that indicated the spot where his simple silver wedding band had rested earlier that day. "I-it broke a-and the pieces fell down a storm drain.
A heavy blow to the side of Dick's head left his ears ringing, and the next sent him to the ground where he huddled as Jason rained blows down on him.
"You useless piece of crap," Jason shouted while punching and kicking Dick as he curled up on the floor. "Don't you know that that was expensive?! You shouldn't have been so reckless with it!"
Dick whimpered and covered his face with his arms in a feeble attempt to protect himself.
Jason eventually stopped when he heard Dick's feeble pleas for him to stop. "Get up," he said, grabbing Dick roughly by the shoulder and pulling him to his feet. "Hurry up and make the dinner," he growled, turning and stomping off into the apartment.
—
Dick sat on the roof of a short building in Blüdhaven's slums, his feet gently swaying back and forth as he stared blankly at the city's skyline.
"Uh oh, little birdie looks blue," the overly peppy voice of Harley Quinn shocked Dick out of the spiral of his own thoughts he'd been sucked into.
"Why aren't you in Gotham Harley?" Dick asked unenthusiastically.
"Well I'm not stuck there if that's whatcha wonderin'. I can go to other places besides Gotham. Besides, if I hadn't came here you wouldn't have anyone to cheer ya up," Harley said, sitting down next to Dick on the roof. "So, what's got the big bad Nightwing poutin' like a wittle baby?"
Dick sighed. "I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled.
"Come on," Harley said, slapping Dick lightly on the arm. Her brows furrowed slightly when she noticed how he flinched. "Come on birdie. I used to be a shrink ya know, so I can help if ya just tell me what's goin' on."
Dick closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine," he said. "But this stays between us," he said.
"Ya ya, I know about patient confidentiality an all that," Harley said, gesturing for Dick to commence telling her what was bothering him.
"Well..." Dick started. "My husband hits me."
Harley was silent for a moment. She had all too much experience with abusive relationships. "Why don'tcha just leave em?" She asked quietly.
"When we got married I promised to stay with him for the rest of our lives. Through sickness and health... the good and the bad," Dick said, resting his head on his hands.
"That doesn't mean ya have to put up with abuse..." Harley said gently.
"It's not abuse!" Dick refuted abruptly. "I... It's not abuse," he mumbled quietly.
"Birdie, that's abuse. That man is abusing you," Harley insisted.
"No..." Dick mumbled weakly. "I... I could get away if I wanted to... I could stop him if I wanted to."
"Then why don't you?"
"Because... I still love him. I love him so much... and I don't want to hurt him," Dick said, tears gathering in his eyes.
"Birdie," Harley said soothingly. "It doesn't matter if you could stop him or not. Abuse is abuse, and you shouldn't have to live with that."
Dick took a shaky breath, his tears spilling over and wetting his domino mask. "I can't leave him... If I left he-he'd have no one."
"Fine," Harley said. "Do whatevah ya want... but just know that that relationship ain't healthy. And you're only hurting yourself by stickin' around." She stood, walking to the edge of the roof. "Bye Birdie... Don't forget what I told ya'."
Dick looked up to see the white pompoms on Harley's hat disappearing over the edge of the roof. "Bye," he mumbled quietly, turning to look back over the city.
—
Dick let out a sigh of relief when Jason finally pulled their car into the driveway of Wayne Manor. He'd finally be able to have a week without beatings and excess bruises from the man who was supposed to love and protect him.
Jason grabbed Dick's wrist as he was exiting the car and pulled him harshly back into the seat. "You better behave yourself while we're here, or else you know what's going to happen when we get back home," he hissed, squeezing Dick's wrist until it popped.
Dick shrunk in the seat, his eyes wide and filled with fear. He nodded quickly when Jason finished his threats.
"Good," Jason said, releasing Dick's now bruised wrist and exiting the car.
Dick followed behind him sullenly on their way to the door.
—
"What are all those bruises from Grayson?" Damian asked as they were getting changed to go out on patrol.
Dick froze as all the bats' attention was turned to him. "N-nothing... I mean... patrol was just kinda bad the last few weeks," he said, glancing at Jason.
"I keep telling him to take it easy, but you know Dickie, if there's anything he can do he'll do it," Jason said with a chuckle, laying his hand on Dick's shoulder.
Dick tried to mask his violent flinch, and let out a nervous laugh. "Yep... that's me..."
Everyone else laughed and continued on with what they'd been doing... everyone except Damian who hadn't failed to notice how Dick had flinched when Jason touched him, or how well Jason's hands matched up with the hand-shaped bruises on Dick's neck, shoulders, and wrist. He planned to confront Dick about it, but decided against it, reasoning that Dick wouldn't stay with Jason if he was abusing him... he wasn't that foolish. Was he?
—
"Well Bruce, something came up in 'haven, and I have to go back to deal with it," Jason said at breakfast about halfway through the week. "Thanks for your hospitality, but Dick and I will have to leave early."
Dick's breathing picked up as he was filled with panic. He wasn't ready to go back to the daily beatings Jason dished out upon him. The constant drinking and the bottles that were often smashed on his own back and head... No, he wasn't ready to deal with that again. "I-I want to stay for the rest of the week like we planned Jay... Y-you said that you needed to go back, but I still have work off until the end of the week... so... so I want to stay here until the weekend," he said, a hint of the panic he was feeling showing in his voice.
Jason's jaw clenched, and he had to tamp down his anger to say in a somewhat civil voice, "Alright. I can pick you up on Saturday then."
Dick relaxed slightly and a slightly less forced smile appeared on his face.
"Well, I guess I'll grab my things and get going," Jason said, standing and walking to the guest room he'd been sharing with Dick and grabbing his overnight bag.
Bruce and Dick met Jason by the front door.
"See ya later old man," Jason said to Bruce.
Bruce sighed and walked back into the manor with a roll of his eyes.
Dick stiffened when Jason kissed him lightly on the lips, having to physically keep himself from flinching away.
"Don't try anything," Jason whispered into his ear before turning and walking through the door. "Bye Dickie, I love you," he called as the door closed.
—
Damian walked towards the door of Dick's room, hoping to spend some more time with his brother now that he was away from Jason. He paused his approach when he heard Dick talking on the phone from the other side of the door.
The phone was on speaker, and the anger in Jason's voice scared Damian more than he'd like to admit.
"Why did you insist on staying at the Manor?" Jason's voice asked.
"I just want to spend more time with the family," Dick said.
Damian's brow furrowed, there was something in Dick's voice that he couldn't quite place, something off.
"You better hope the precinct doesn't fire you for requesting so much time off," Jason growled.
"Jay," Dick said in an almost pleading tone. "I haven't had a day off of work in more than a year."
Damian suddenly realized what it was in Dick's voice that sounded so off. Fear. Dick was afraid of Jason.
Suddenly everything made sense. The bruises and cuts, the flinching at physical touch, and Dick's wanting to stay at the manor. Jason was abusing him.
—
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Dick said, trying to add a fake lightness to his voice.
Bruce, Tim, and Damian stood in front of Dick in the Batcave.
Both Damian and Bruce were standing there with the same look on their faces, their arms crossed over their chests. Dick would've laughed at how eerily similar the two looked if he didn't have a pit of fear growing in his stomach.
"Dick, we know," Bruce said, his voice gentle.
"Know what?" Dick asked, trying to play dumb.
The look Bruce gave Dick instantly shattered his forced composure.
Dick immediately started hyperventilating. "Y...you can't... you can't know... If... when..." he gasped, stumbling back and curling himself into the fetal position.
Bruce laid a gentle hand on Dick's shoulder, gritting his teeth when he noticed how Dick flinched away.
"I won't hurt you Dickie," Bruce said gently, opening his arms to give Dick a hug.
Dick buried himself in Bruce's arms, hiding himself away in the safety of the embrace.
"Dickie. Can you tell me what's going on?" Bruce asked once Dick had finally calmed down.
Silence was the only answer for a solid minute, until Dick finally said, "Jason abuses me."
"I'm gonna kill that son of a monkey wrench," Tim muttered.
"After you kill him I'm going to bring him back again only so I can kill him myself," Damian said after.
Bruce silenced the two boys with a look. "How long has this been going on Dick?" He asked.
"A-about a year... It started just after our honeymoon."
Bruce swore. "Why did you stay with him bud?" He asked.
"I-I love him... I... I didn't think he deserved to be abandoned... again..." Dick whispered.
"Dickie..." Bruce said, marveling at his eldest who was so kind that he'd rather be abused than leave his abuser on their own. "He doesn't deserve you bud, you're too good." Bruce tightened his hold on his son, vowing to himself to protect him. "I won't let him hurt you again," he promised.
Tears of relief flooded Dick's eyes and he buried his head in Bruce's chest and cried. "Th-th-thank you," he sobbed, finally able to believe that he would be safe.
—
"Hey Bruce, I'm here to pick up Dick, is he ready?" Jason asked from his position on the Manor's doorstep.
Bruce grit his teeth, trying to restrain himself from immediately ripping Jason's head off. "He's not coming with you Jason. In fact, he's never going with you again," he growled, making sure he was effectively blocking the entrance to the manor.
"What?" Jason asked, genuine confusion showing on his face.
"We know what you've been doing to him, and I'm not going to allow you to keep hurting him," Bruce said.
"That little piece of circus trash," Jason muttered.
"Get out of here Jason," Bruce said, anger coursing through his entire body.
"I'm not going without Dick!" Jason shouted. "I'm his husband—
"And I'm his father!" Bruce shouted in return, silencing Jason's protests. "Now get out of here before I take you to jail for abusing your spouse... and I better not see or hear from you again."
Jason glared at Bruce for a few seconds before stomping back to his car and driving away.