Dick Grayson One-Shots { requests open }

pt 2 to whatever the fuck the last part was

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𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗽 (𝗶𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘆): n/a

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 908

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: refer to first part xx

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: refer to first part xx

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Jason tossed and turned in his bed for what felt like hours. But, no matter what he did, he couldn't calm his thoughts long enough to fall asleep. He just- he couldn't stop thinking about his brother. He couldn't stop thinking about the monster that took advantage of the literal nicest person on Earth.

Finally, Jason gave up and climbed out from underneath the covers. He padded across the hall to his older brother's room where he creaked the door open. Unsurprisingly, Dick laid on the side of the bed furthest from the door, Damian curled into his side. The kid always did want to be as close to Dick as possible...
However, what did surprise Jason was that Bruce (yes, Batman himself) was sat against the wall by the window, staring blankly ahead.

Jason furrowed his brow in confusion as he approached the older man. "Bruce?" he asked softly, trying not to wake his brothers. "What're you doing in here?"

Bruce's eyes flickered up to his second-oldest son, "I, uh, I know what happened to Dick, Jason."

Jason glanced back at his unconscious brother before returning his gaze to Bruce. "Did he- did he tell you?"

Bruce shook his head, "I was watching the manor security footage when he came in. I knew something was really wrong so I activated the camera I have set up in here. I- I heard the whole thing."

Pushing aside the creepy fact that Bruce had a camera in Dick's room, Jason asked, "Well, what're you gonna do about it?"

Bruce scowled, looking angrier than Jason had ever seen him. "I'm gonna put whoever did it in the ground."

Jason's eyes widened a bit, "What about your no killing rule?"

Bruce stared ahead, an icy-cold look in his eyes, "That went out the window the second they laid a hand on my son."

A new admiration for his former father-figure filled Jason's body. He never thought Bruce had it in him to go the final step, but, looking in those steeled eyes, Jason knew he'd been wrong. Bruce would make whoever hurt his child pay.
"I'm helping," Jason declared. "I want to be there when they beg for mercy."

Bruce nodded stiffly, "Fine."

Little did they know, Dick had listened to their little plan. Unable to sleep, he'd just been laying there the whole night. He'd heard Bruce come in, he'd heard Jason follow an hour later, and he'd heard their conversation. He didn't like it— not one bit.

The whole thing was his fault anyway. He was the one who let Catalina get the best of him. He was the one who was too weak to fight back. He was the one who couldn't control his emotions enough to prove to his family that he was fine.

And, now... Bruce was going to give up the thing he valued most as a vigilante— the no killing rule. Catalina's blood would be on Dick's hands... That was the last thing he wanted. But, then again, Dick hadn't wanted any of this. If he'd known twenty-four hours ago what his day would have in store for him, he wouldn't have gotten out of bed. God... why did he have to get out of bed?

"Grayson...?" a soft voice pulled Dick from his thoughts, not even having realized that Bruce and Jason had taken their conversation to another room.

"What is it, little bird?" Dick responded, running his fingers through his little brother's raven hair.

Damian was quiet for a moment, making Dick think that perhaps the young teenager had gone back to sleep. But, alas, nearly a minute later, he spoke. "Whatever happened tonight... I know you're not okay. And... I know that someone did something horrible to you. I don't expect you to tell me what it is, but you do know that you can, don't you? You don't have to pretend to be strong with me..."

Dick had to just stop and breathe for a moment. His little brother— his perfect baby brother— had somehow managed to say the one thing that could bring him even the slightest comfort in one of the darkest times of his life.
A single tear slipped down his cheek as he tried to steady his voice long enough to choke out, "Thank you, Damian..."

—— • ꧁꧂ • ——

The days and weeks following that torturous night were long and painful.

Jason got to the point where he wouldn't let Dick out of his sight in fear that something would happen and his big brother would break even more.

Tim and Damian, both perceptive enough to realize something was horribly wrong, clung to their eldest brother like he'd disappear if they didn't. Day, night, 24/7, they were right there by his side no matter what.

Bruce found that a sense of protectiveness for his oldest he hadn't felt in years had rose to the surface of his being. Constantly, he was terrified his son would break and no one would be there to pick up the pieces...

But what they didn't know was that Dick was strong— stronger than they gave him credit for. He was broken, yes. He was scarred, yes. He was different, yes. But he was still Richard Grayson. And no one would ever take that away from him.