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“Uncle Clark, I’m sorry okay? Please, please forgive me”
Dick looked up at Clark and pleaded as Clark looked back down into Dick’s pained blue eyes.
Superman’s muscular chest heaved in anger, and his icy glare was filled with stone cold disappointment,
“Uncle Clark? Can you- can you please say something... anything?”
Dick’s urgent begging was met with silence as Clark did not respond. Instead, the large superhero turned around and stormed out of the Batcave.
Superman was always Dick’s favourite. He could recall looking up to ‘Big Blue’ even before he was involved in the superhero business.
After Dick was introduced to the man behind Superman, Clark Kent had come to mean so much to Dick. Someone who Dick could rely on for unbiased advice or support anytime.
Dick knew he messed up. Bad. For Clark to be angry at anyone, but especially Dick, was a very rare occurrence. The young hero felt that he needed to fix things right away.
Dick moved to get up and follow the man who meant so much to him, but the forceful hand of Alfred pushed him back down to the stainless steel surface,
“Master Dick. Remain absolutely still and do not even think of moving from your current position. I will restrain you if necessary.”
Alfred fussed with some supplies, as Dick settled himself back down.
He turned his head to watch the Batmobile speed into the cave. Robin jumped out before the vehicle came to a full stop.
Batman called after Damian, who stopped in his determined little tracks.
After a brief and stern looking conversation which Dick couldn’t make out via his ears or through lip reading, Dick observed young Robin’s shoulders slump down. Batman put his hand on Damian’s shoulder and Damian nodded before turning to head to the showers.
When Damian was out of eyeshot, Batman stormed into the medbay, yanked off his cowl and boomed out,
“What the hell happened out there, Dick?!”
“B, I... I didn’t think...”,
“Clearly you weren’t thinking!”
Batman interrupted harshly and with the same tone of anger that Clark managed to convey towards Dick through his eyes.
Alfred removed some soiled gauze bandages from the left side of Dick’s suit. The butler also proceeded to cut away the tough black and blue fabric while Bruce grabbed a couple of bags of blood and other IV bags.
Jason’s bike rumbled in next along with Tim’s.
Jason was heard yelling out,
“Where the fuck is that fucking idiot?! Let me go, Replacement!”
After what sounded like a brief scuffle, Red Hood stormed in to the medbay on a war path.
If this was Jason from a few months ago he probably would have destroyed a good section of the Batcave, but for now Jason managed to keep most of his rage behind his glowing green eyes. His mouth was another story however, he could spit venom from his tongue like a pissed off cobra,
“You! You!! ... You motherfucker!!!”
“Language, Master Jason,” Alfred tutted,
“Fuck that, Alfred! If you saw what I watched this shit-eating moron do out there, even you would be yelling at him,”
“Jjjasson...”, Dick began, his speech started to slur,
“Shut the fuck up, Dickface! Although, I guess the perfect end to all of your dumb fuckery would have to be you bleeding out, wouldn’t it?!”
“Jason! Out! Now!” Bruce growled out warningly as he pushed the IV line into Dick’s vein to start the blood transfusion.
An exasperated and still irate Jason stormed out.
Tim walked in next, concern etched all over his face. The teen smiled at Dick thinly,
“Hiya, big D,”
Dick smiled back at one of the three Tim’s he could make out in his increasingly blurred field of vision,
“Ttttimmyy....”
A frown formed on Tim’s face and he asked hurriedly,
“Can I help with anything, B?”
Bruce looked up gratefully at his most practical and mature son. Thank goodness for level-headed Tim.
“No thank you, Tim. Why don’t you go and get cleaned up? Alfred and I have got this under control. It’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
“Sure, B. Just let me know if you need anything.”
Tim retreated and headed off towards the showers.
“B...?” Dick called weakly,
“Save it, Dick. I’m going to put you under and you’re going to get patched up now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
With that stern statement from
Bruce, Dick felt a sharp sensation jab his arm and then his eyes grew heavy.
“.... ccall me.. chhummm mmkay, B?
Dick allowed the sweet comfort of darkness to surround him.
Bruce lifted the corner of his mouth to smile at his now unconscious, sweet, innocent, idiot of a son. He hated how hard it was to stay mad at Dick,
“Alright, let’s get you all fixed up then, chum.”
~
Dick woke up slowly, feeling groggy and heavy like he was laying in a pool of molasses. He looked around and discovered that he had been moved from the medbay up to his bedroom in the manor.
Dick tried to decipher what time of day it was as it was growing dark outside.
He attempted to reach out to grab his phone from his nightstand and gasped sharply when he felt a sharp tug on the left side of his torso.
‘Oh right... that.’ He panted, trying to regain his breath.
“Tt. Careful, Grayson.”
“Aahhhh!”
Dick jumped and yelped in surprise at the voice, pulling at his stitched up side once again.
“Calm down, it’s just me you imbecile,”
Damian commanded as he emerged from the shadows in the corner of the room.
“Dami! You scared the daylights out of me!”
“Well then Richard, consider us even. I was also concerned for your wellbeing.”
“Concerned? Wait, were you just watching over me, Little D?”
“Tt. Not only just now, but ever since father carried you up to your room several hours ago. Todd was acting like a rogue brute as usual, so Drake and I have been guarding your bedside while you rested.”
Dick laid back slowly,
“Jay’s still upset, huh?”
“Tt, we are all upset with you, Richard.”
“Oh come on, it’s just a little graze, buddy. Nothing major. I’ve had way worse. No need for everyone to get all worked up over it.”
Before Damian could interject, Dick asked,
“Oh, hey what time is it, and uh, actually what day is it for that matter?”
“You have been resting for approximately 11.5 hours. The time is 5:15pm”
“Ah, so I missed most of the day then. I think I’m good to get up now Dami. Let’s go downstairs.”
“Grayson, you need to rest,”
“Damian, I have been resting. You’ve been watching me rest, remember?”
Dick pushed himself up to a wobbly, standing position, and Damian realized that stubborn Richard wasn’t going to back down from this particular battle,
“Slow down, Richard! I shall assist you. Father and Todd will be especially hostile if you ruin your stitches.”
With that, Damian pushed up to Dick’s good side and made his brother lean on him for extra support as they made their way downstairs.
~
Dick and Damian entered the living room area where the rest of the family was lounging before dinner.
Tim looked up over the brim of his coffee mug, eyes widening in shock at the sight of Dick already up and about.
Jason glared at Dick as though he dared his older brother to speak a word. Dick decided it would be for the best to avoid acknowledging Jason for now.
Bruce got up to help Damian ease Dick softly onto a nearby armchair,
“Dick, what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting.”
“Oh come on, Bruce! I’ve been sleeping in bed all day. I’m fine. You act like none of us have ever been injured before.”
That comment by Dick got Jason’s full attention. He stood up, moved over to Dick and stood menacingly over his seated form.
Jason leaned down and placed a hand on each arm of the chair, boxing Dick in. Jason moved his face in closer to his brother he spoke,
“Yeah, we do all get injured. But only one of us does it recklessly. Tell me.... Dick... do you have a goddamn death wish?”
Dick sat in stunned silence, partly because he didn’t want to test Jason’s patience by speaking when his eyes were glowing so brightly green. The other part of him didn’t know how to answer the question.
Bruce had stood to intervene when the doorbell rang.
“That will be our dinner guest,” Alfred announced as he proceeded to answer the door.
Jason merely grunted and huffed out of the room.
~
At the dining table, Dick sat directly across from the man who couldn’t stand to look at him right now. The same man who was Dick’s childhood idol and the same man who Dick still referred to as his favourite uncle.
Clark refused to make eye contact with Dick.
There was near silence at the table which was unheard of when all of the Batboys were in the same room together.
If there was anything that Dick could not stand it was silence and this particular silence paired with the awkwardness was near unbearable.
Dick would have preferred to just be yelled at by everyone and get it over with so they could try to get back to normal.
Dick tried the only thing he could think of to help ease the tension,
“Hey, Uncle Clark! Why was the baby ant confused?”
Everybody stopped eating and looked up at Dick. Clark looked as well but didn’t say a word. Dick flashed his 1000 watt mega smile and quipped,
“Because all of his uncles were ants!”
Damian tutted and Tim stifled a giggle. Jason and Bruce responded by rolling their eyes at Dick’s lame dad joke.
But Clark did nothing.
“Hey Uncle Clark... did ya get it? Cuz all of his uncles were ants. See? Ants.. aunts?”
Dick searched Clark’s face for something. Anything. Any hint of a smile, but he couldn’t find anything.
The cheeky smile fell off of Dick’s face. He discovered that he couldn’t continue to sit there knowing his Uncle was so upset that he couldn’t even utter a word to him or crack even just a tiny smile.
“Please excuse me everyone, I’m not feeling hungry anymore,”
Dick stood up and hobbled away from the table, he tried to walk away with some shred of dignity, but ultimately his unnatural movements gave away that his injury was causing him some discomfort.
Dick proceeded down to the cave and prepared his bike so that he could ride back to his apartment.
He wanted to be alone and get far away from the weird silence and anger.
The injured hero attempted to lift his left leg to throw it over his motorcycle but when his limb rose about a foot off of the ground he was stunned by the shockwave of pain. He grasped his side with one hand and put his other on his bike to try and stay upright.
“Dick Grayson!”
A booming and angry voice called out from behind him,
“what on Earth do you think you’re doing?!”
‘Damn his Super-hearing’, Dick thought as he groaned aloud.
~
Dick found himself involuntarily carried back up through the cave against his wishes by an even more irritated Clark. Dick was plopped down onto a couch in the manor’s study where his family was waiting for him.
Nobody looked entirely pleased with the injured acrobat at this point.
“Goldie,” Jason laughed out bitterly entering the room as well, “what did you do now?”
“I just want to go back to my place. Let me leave,”
“Dick. Be sensible,” Bruce replied.
“No! I’m sick of being yelled at or ignored,”
“So you would rather risk re-opening your wound or crashing on the ride back home? Tell me, how would that poor decision make us any less upset with you?” Bruce reasoned.
Dick dropped his head down into his hands and tugged on his hair in frustration.
Damian sat beside Dick and slid a protective little arm around his ailing brother.
Dick rested his head on Damian’s shoulder and choked out,
“I don’t know how else I can say sorry for what I did. I messed up. Uncle Clark can’t even stand to look at me anymore... I can’t take it.”
A few tears dropped and soaked into Damian’s sweater.
Clark broke his silence,
“Dick. Do you understand why it is that I’m so upset with you?”
Dick shrugged wearily, wanting to avoid the conversation until he was feeling less like his torso was on fire.
Jason decided to answer for Dick when he realized Dick was refusing to speak,
“Seriously?! Let me answer this one for you, Dickface! Everybody is fucking pissed at you because you took a fucking bullet for goddamn Superman who is fucking bulletproof!
You saw the guy aiming a gun at Superman and you jumped in front of it and sacrificed yourself like you meant nothing.. like Superman possibly getting a scratch was worse than the more likely odds of you dying.
You’re not getting a medal for that, Dickie. Why don’t you ever think?”
Dick noticed that Jason’s voice had softened considerably by the end of his rant. Dick understood Jason’s way of communicating and how his anger usually masked a deeper emotion, such as fear.
Clark sighed,
“Dick. You know I’m virtually indestructible. Even if there was the unlikely chance of kryptonite being in those bullets I still would have had a very good chance of surviving.
I’m angry because I love you and if you had died I could never forgive myself for your sacrifice. I can hardly stand it right now knowing that you’re hurt because of me.”
“Likewise, chum,”. Bruce cut in, “I don’t want any of my children sacrificing themselves for me, ever.”
Dick contemplated everybody’s words for a short while and answered,
“You know.... I know I said I was sorry, but...truth be told, I’m not actually sorry.”
“Dick, do you have any idea what you’re saying?” Clark questioned.
Dick swiped the remaining tears off of his face. He felt his temper starting to take the wheel now,
“Yes, I do! I’m not fucking sorry, ok?! When we were fighting and then I saw the gunman aim at you, Clark... I didn’t see Superman, or think that you wouldn’t get hurt. I only saw my Uncle Clark.
I would have done the same for any of you. I would do the same thing for the family goldfish if I’m being perfectly honest here.
We all know that there isn’t time to analyze each and every situation and I acted the way I did on an impulse. What makes you all think that I would want to live in a world without any of you?
I have lost so many of you before... I can’t lose you... any of you. I would rather die instead..”
Damian gripped on to Dick tighter and tutted,
“Grayson, you noble, selfish fool. I do not want to lose you.”
Dick sighed,
“Look... everyone, I don’t think I can help it. If I see you guys in danger I will step in. It doesn’t matter whether one of you it is indestructible or not. I can’t stop myself from helping you if I believe that I can.
If I say I wouldn’t do it again that would be a straight up lie.
When my parents died I couldn’t do anything to help them. When Jay died, I wasn’t there to help him...B...”
Dick trailed off his breath hitched slightly before he composed himself and finished,
“Jason, you asked me why I don’t think. Actually, I do think. I think about losing each of you in some horrible ways. I don’t want my nightmares to become a reality. So, yeah Jay, maybe that does qualify as a fucking death wish.”
“Dick... kiddo...”, Clark began,
“No, Uncle Clark! Unless you’re going to come over here and give me a damn hug, I don’t want to hear it! And B, and Tim and Dami, Alfred... and even you grumpy Jay...
You’re NOT going to stop me from going out as Nightwing, and you’re NOT going to stop me from loving you guys unconditionally. So.. yeah, uh deal with it, I guess.”
Clark furrowed his brow and moved over to Dick. He waited a beat and then he crushed Dick into his massive chest. He hugged Dick tightly while remaining mindful of his injury.
Clark breathed out into Dick’s soft, black hair,
“Kiddo, I know you just manipulated us all into forgiving you. I’m sorry I was so angry with you, but I am not happy about you being shot instead of me.”
Clark released Dick while adding,
“I would beg you to have a better sense of self-preservation, however, I am assuming that would be completely pointless, right?”
“Yup!” Dick chirped out.
Clark opened his mouth to respond but Bruce put a silencing hand on Clark’s shoulder and shook his head as his friend.
Bruce knew all too well from experience that Dick could never be persuaded to care about himself more than his family.
Dick proceeded to hug each of his family members. He hugged a reluctant Jason extra tight ignoring the flash of pain the ripped through his gunshot wound. Dick also planted a light kiss on the foreheads of his two youngest brothers.
As he ungracefully hobbled out of the room he called out over his shoulder,
“So, movie night?! I call dibs on picking the movie.. I’m in the mood for Disney tonight!! Uncle Clark, you sit with me!!! Warning, I will be cuddling!”
A series of unimpressed groans serenaded Dick’s ears as he walked away. He grinned happily to himself knowing that all was right in his world again.