I paced around the Batcave annoyed. I just wanted to punch something but I have to wait for the sun to go down. I'm already suited. I just need to blow some steam. Hearing them laughing made me mad. The more they talked the more I wanted to punch them in the face.
"(N/n) come over here and talk to us." Dick called over. I glared at him over my shoulder and kept pacing.
~Flashback~
I just got a really big promotion at work and dad said we'd celebrate together. But apparently the boys' mission finished earlier than expected and dad invited them. I didn't want to invite them but didn't want to be rude.
"Why are we going out?" Jason asked taking his helmet off.
"I got a big promotion at work." I said smiling a bit. My mood was kinda ruined now.
"Boys go change so we can go out." Dad said. We went up to their rooms and came back a few minutes later.
"Yay Korean BBQ time!" I said excitedly grabbing my keys.
"Really? Why don't we just go to a burger joint?" Jason asked. I clenched my jaw so that I didn't start a fight. Me and dad already decided on Korean BBQ before they were invited to tag along.
"Well dad and I already-"
"Yeah let's get burgers. That mission has me wanting a cheeseburger." Dick said.
"Ok let's go to the normal spot then?" Dad asked. They nodded their heads. I just went along with it. We got there and ordered. I've been working so hard for this that I wanted to tell dad everything but they were so wrapped up in how the mission went. It was great, minimal damage and casualties, intel was good, and out before local law enforcement arrived. But they were so into themselves that celebrating my promotion wasn't a thing. It was celebrating their mission.
~End of Flashback~
We left early because I said I was having stomach pains after angry crying in the girls bathroom at the restaurant. I just wanted some time with dad. But every time it's them!
"I've told you before don't call me (N/n)." I said stiffly. I've had it up to here with them especially Dick. He always tries to be nice but never includes me in anything with them. It's so annoying and insulting. They went on a Batkids hang out and didn't invite me. Literally said it to my face as they left. I'm the original Batkid. I was here before Dick.
"Ok then (Y/n) come hang out." He said with a smile. I glared at him again and flew off with my jet pack. It was sunset. I could finally leave. I quickly came across some joker thugs and two face thugs having at it.
"What are you doing?! Were you gonna go in without backup?!" A familiar voice whisper shouted. I sighed annoyed and dropped down. I started bashing heads. A thump soon after let me know that Dick is fighting with me too. I smiled finally able to let my rage out. They called for backup and I just kept taking down people.
"Batman some backup would be great right now. Two gangs are having at it and we're in the middle." I heard him call in while I was fighting. It made me freeze. No I needed this.
"No we've got it." I said into the comms. But that gave a thug time to swing at me in the ribs with a metal pipe. I hissed and swayed a bit at the impact losing my footing. I quickly punched him across the face before grabbing his hair and smashing it into my knee knocking him out. After a few minutes and some scratches dad got here as I took down the last guy.
"Nightwing good job are you ok?" He asked going towards Dick. I looked at him in disbelief. I was the one taking out most of these guys.
"Hi (Y/s/n) is here too." I said sarcastically dropping the guy that I was holding and previously punching in the face.
"You rushed in without thinking! What were you thinking?!" Dad asked me. I glared at him.
"I was thinking I had a handle on the situation. I took out 70% of the thugs here! But it's "oh is Nightwing ok" how about me?" I sassed crossing my arms.
"I was going to check on you." Dad said. He says that but I know it wouldn't be as concerned as it would be for his boys.
"Oh my gosh. I'm patrolling alone tonight. I need some alone time." I said flying off to the run down parts of Gotham. There is rarely ever crime here but it when there is it gets bad. I went from rooftop to rooftop hoping for something. Even just petty theft. I happened across some suspicious activity. Barrels being moved into a warehouse. Seeing Black Mask and Deadshot confirmed my suspicions. I took out my camera and took pictures. I stealthily snuck onto the roof and looked at the skylight. I snuck in and opened a barrel. I saw it was gunpowder. Barrels of gunpowder. It already filled half of this warehouse. I snuck over to a table and took pictures of all the papers laying around. I could solve this at home. Right when I saw people coming over I slid behind some barrels.
"Do we really have to move all this shit?" One of them asked. I heard a smack and then heavy stomping.
"Dumbass don't smoke in here. There's gunpowder in these barrels. Whatcha trying to do light the whole place up?" The other scolded.
"'ight my bad calm down. Can't believe we have to make all these fucking rockets." The first said. Rockets?
"Don't ask questions. It just gets you into more trouble. Let's just get these outta here." The second said before I heard them groaning. I ziplined up to the skyline again and looked for the lab they used to make the bombs. I followed those guys and saw a large assembly line. I dropped down and snagged a bomb. Seeing how it's made will help us prepare for it they were small and handheld which made me wonder what they were planning. I was going to leave when Dick showed up. He pulled me aside and glared at me.
"Why didn't you call for backup? This is huge!" He whisper shouted. I glared at him.
"My gut is telling me something bigger is happening. If we stop this we won't find out. We need to investigate. Why are you following me anyway?!" I whispered back. He looked like a deer and headlights.
"This." I said holding up the bomb. "Is my case. I don't need you trying to take it out from under me. I don't need your help so drop it." I continue. He glared at me again before his eyes widened. He kicked the bomb from my hand and then it went off. I heard the explosion and then felt pain in my right side where I was carrying the bomb. Dick grabbed my hand and ran with me. But I was in so much pain that I started to black out.
"(Y/n)? (Y/N)?!" I heard before I blacked out.
~Time Skip~
I opened my eyes and was blinded by white lights. It made my pounding headache worse. I just held my head but saw my arm bandages up. My arm and my torso. I looked in my other arm and saw an IV probably loaded with pain meds. Looking towards the foot of my bed I saw my personal items. My suit and utility items were in there. Which means I'm at the watch tower med bay. Being looked after by high paid doctors sworn to secrecy. I pressed the call button and a nurse came in a bit later with a doctor.
"What happened?" I asked trying to sit up. They rushed over and put their hands on my shoulders.
"Thats not the best idea right now (Y/s/n). You came in with first, second, and third degree burns on the right side of your body. We cleaned them and stopped the bleeding before bandaging them up. Right now there is still some swelling and we don't want you to pop your stitches. But this will leave residual scarring. We can talk about skin grafts to reduce the appearance of the scarring once you've had some time to process but it will take multiple operations due to the size of the burns." The doctor said. I nodded and took a deep breath.
"Get me a phone please. I need to make a phone call." I said holding back my tears. The nurse looked at her digital clipboard and put a hologram in front of me. They left and I sighed. I dialed dad's number and called.
"Batcave who is speaking?" I heard Damian ask. I cracked a smile before feeling pain at my skin being pulled putting my hand to my cheek there was also a bandage there.
"Hey Damian. It's (Y/n) can you get dad?" I asked.
"Father!" He called. I could hear him running. There was some commotion.
"(Y/n)? You're awake! Oh thank god! We're coming right now." He said.
"Being Alfred please." I said. He's the one I actually wanted. I needed a parental figure with me to help me deal with this. He hung up and I was left alone with my thoughts. Fucking Dick. If he didn't butt in I could have just snuck away and not had this happen to me. And he's not here so I'm sure he's fine. But I'm the one who has to live with burn scars all over. Who is going to want me looking like this? And what do I tell people as my civilian self? Oh yeah my curling iron exploded in my face. I glanced down and saw just now bad it was. My arm especially my hand and my chest and a little of my stomach. I won't be able to wear a swimsuit because of this. I slowly started crying. I still want to feel pretty but that doesn't seem possible right now.
~Time Skip~
It has been two hours since I called. It better be because Alfred is bringing me a care package otherwise I'm going to be mad. Because why the fuck are they so late and 2 the nurse tried feeding me hospital food. Yeah no.
"Miss (Y/n) thank goodness you are awake!" I heard a familiar voice. I cracked a smile heading Alfred. I looked over and saw Alfred with a few bags. And something smelled good soooo I'm not mad they were late.
"I've brought your favorite meal and some clothes for you once you are able to be clothed. I can see that you will be staying in a hospital gown for some time." He said grabbing a chair. I nodded and a new wave of tears got me.
"How bad is it?" I asked him. He looked at me.
"You look beautiful as always my dear." He said. I shook my head as much as I could.
"Alfred I'm going to have scars all over. Some are first degree burns. How am I supposed to look beautiful after this mess up. And there are so many burns." I cried. Alfred held my hand.
"You have become a strong independent young woman. You are going to be just as beautiful as before." He said before turning to look at my chart.
"From what I can tell your face should have minimal scarring. Your arm will be the worst I'm afraid and you do have some nerve damage there. Your torso will have some scarring but nothing as severe as your arm. Overall I'm assuming it should take a few months to a year for the scaring treatments and physical therapy to get you back to tip top shape." He said. I got mad hearing everything.
"Dick is making me lose a year of my life. I will be recovering, in pain, alone and isolated. I won't be able to go to school or patrol. I hate him. I could have snuck out of that building and nothing would have happened. But he pulled me aside inside that building to scold me. Someone shot that bomb I was holding which means someone saw us. ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS LEAVE ME ALONE!" I said getting increasingly angry.
"I didn't mean for any of this to happen." A quiet voice said. I looked and saw dad and the boys. But my eyes zeroed in on Dick FUCKING GRAYSON. I grabbed my phone and threw it at him. He dodged it and it hit the wall.
"YOU DID THIS TO ME YOU STUPID PEICE OF SHIT. I SAID 1 THING REPEATEDLY! LEAVE ME ALONE AND YOU FOLLOW ME AND SABOTAGE ME! A YEAR OF MY LIFE IS GOING TO BE WASTED BECAUSE OF YOU GOLDEN BOY! FUCK YOU! GET OUT!" I shouted at him throwing anything I could reach with my left arm aka my only good arm. They all turned to leave.
"No just him. You guys can stay." I said calmly. They looked conflicted.
"Accidents happen (Y/n)." Dad tried to reason. I rolled my eyes.
"An accident is breaking a vase. An accident is dropping someone's phone. An accident isn't doing permanent damage to someone's body that will affect them for the rest of their life. It may be superficial scarring but if it also nerve damage, it is also contractors which leave joints with decreased movement and reduced function, or if there are airway burns I may have less breathing capacity now. I may not be able to run long distances anymore. I might now be able to do simple things like holding an object. I do t throwing a punch will be easy anymore. And on top of it all I have nerve damage in my arm so I will have reduced feeling in my arm." I ranted angry. Dad couldn't say anything to that.
"On top of I want a boyfriend and to get married and everything a regular girl wants. Who will want me looking like this? I might be alone for the rest of my life." I said getting sad.
"I want you. You still look beautiful." Dick said. I glared at him.
"What the hell do you mean?" I asked.
"The whole reason I followed you is because I was worried about you. I love you and I have for a long time. But you never felt the same way. I don't expect you to love me but I hope you forgive me one day." He said. I laughed.
"Jason do me a favor and punch him in the face." I asked. Jason looked at Tim who nodded. It was only fair. Jason swung and nailed him in the jaw and Dick took it.
"This isn't a fucking movie asshole. Oh no I caused an insane amount of harm to someone and feel really guilty about it. Let me profess mg undying love for this person despite their new deformity that I caused. Cue the getting better sequence where they start to fall the person starts to love the one that hurt them. FUCK THAT?! What did you think telling me your feels now of all times would do?! You are my dad's golden child who he has always loved more than me, the important one, the one he will run to first, and how you have severed any decency I had towards you. I hope you rot in hell asshole. You have impacted my life in the worst way possible by being in it. NOW LEAVE ME ALONE. I DONT WANT TO SEE YOU!" I said. I could tell my words hurt him but I don't even care. He left and I could see tears coming from under his glasses. Serves him right.
"Damn that was cold. Deserved but cold." Jay said breaking the awkward silence.
"Way to shoot him down." Tim said looking uneasy about the situation.
"Tim look at how bandaged I am. This is not like a stab scar. Those you can hide. Those are avoidable. This is on a good 25% of my body. It was deserved.
~Time Skip A Year~
I have overcome my situation. I have scarring on my arm mainly. My face and torso not so bad. I can hide it with makeup. I actually did go with my hair dryer exploded and life is semi normal. I avoid Dick like the plague. I'm still in physical therapy at the Watchtower. I'm trying to get strength in my arm back still. I did end up having decreased function in my arm but the doctor said it will get better with time. There is a cute guy here on staff that helps navigate destruction on earth for the league to handle. He's really nice and doesn't mind how I look. He calls me beautiful and makes me feel special. So things worked out. Dick tries to talk to me every time I see him but I just walk away.
"Hey (N/n)!" Jay said running up to me. I smiled and waved. I actually have a great relationship with my other brothers now.
"Hey. How are things with the Outlaws?" I asked when he got close.
"Oh great. Yeah. Artemis and Bizarro are awesome. Just got paid from a mission. So I'm all good." He said. I smiled.
"That's great. So wanna go out for drinks after my physical therapy session." I asked as we walked towards the room. He nodded.
"You know I will never say no to my drinking buddy." He said before looking awkward.
"What is it?" I asked. He sighed.
"Dick is wanting to visit you today. He found out you had an hour session today and was gonna pop in to see you towards the end." He said. I sighed annoyed. We got to the room and I saw Lynn my physical therapist waiting for me.
"Hey Lynn we're gonna have to cut this session in half. There's a case I'm needed on today." I explained. She just nodded.
"We'll let's do a 5 minute warm up and then use our other 25 to recap our last session." She said. I nodded.
~Time Skip~
Once it was almost time for me and Jay to dip I heard someone clear their throat. I turned towards the door to see the person I was trying to avoid. I glared at him. Lynn knowing the situation cut the weight on the machine I was using. I looked at her and she sent over an apologetic smile for the unfortunate situation. I turned to Jason who decided to go on his phone because he likes the drama and is probably texting the group chat without Dick.
"I got you something to properly apologize." Dick said walking over. It was a box and a jewelry box by the look of it.
"I don't accept your apology or your gift. Now please leave." I said motioning to the door.
"I don't know what I can do to make up for this. I've tried to talk to you. I've tried giving you space. I've tried giving you things. All I want is to be there for you." He said.
"And I don't want you to. I'm telling you that I don't want it. I'm telling you that I'm not interested. And I am still pissed. So please go away. I have no interest in you as a friend or romantically. So disrespectfully fuck off." I said walking around him and motioning for Jay to follow. We went drinking and the boys told Dick to back off. Hopefully this time he'll get the hint.