Dick Grayson one shots

Too late

Jason raced towards the smoldering rubbles, not caring that he left the Batmobile running with the keys in the ignition, all he could think of were the pained cries for help and blinking red emergency beacon that seemed burned into his mind.

As he ran, a thought struck Jason, making him stumble. Was this how Bruce had felt when he'd died? Was this how Dick had felt? Running towards a pile of burning rubble, hoping he was still alive beneath it all...

The ruins smoked and shifted as Jason desperately dug through the scalding rubble, not caring that his hands and legs were already badly burned. As he searched he called out for Nightwing, hoping... needing a sign that he was alive.

Jason's heart leapt when he caught a glimpse of a blue stripe on a black glove. He rushed towards it and started digging in a, thankfully, much cooler patch of rubble.

Nightwing's body was completely unearthed after a few minutes of careful digging.

Tears of relief filled Jason's eyes as Dick began to stir, his eyes fluttering open for a moment, and he quickly pulled Dick into a hug, carefully pressing him to his chest.

"Jay..." Dick said, his voice faint and wobbly.

"I'm here," Jason replied, placing one of his hands on the back of Dick's head to support him better.

Dick let out a pained whimper.

Jason stilled, realizing he should probably be rushing Dick back to the cave at this point. "I have to pick you up Bluebird..." he said, trailing off when he heard the way Dick's breath hitched.

"J-Jay..." Dick mumbled, sucking in another pained breath.

Jason's brows pressed together in concern for the man in his arms. "I'm here Dickie," he reassured.

Dick mumbled something unintelligible, his head dropping slightly to the side.

"Stay with me," Jason said, scooping the injured acrobat up in his arms.

—

Jason wasn't going to pretend that he wasn't worried about the effort each of Dick's breaths seemed to take, or the small trail of blood dripping down his chin. He was plenty concerned about those things, his concern showed on the speedometer, which hadn't dipped below 100 during the entire ride.

"Stay awake," Jason repeated again as Dick's eyelids drooped, but this time the bright blue eyes didn't snap back open, instead they stayed closed, the faint movements of Dick's chest with each breath now the only indication of life.

—

Jason jumped out of the batmobile's driver's seat and ran to the passenger's side, opening the door and... and stopping.

Dick's chest was no longer moving. He was completely still.

Jason pulled Dick's unresponsive body from the car and started despite chest compressions, calling frantically for help.

Bruce, Tim, and Damian rushed over from where they'd been trying to track the batmobile after Jason had jumped into it and rushed off.

Bruce gently pushed Jason away, taking his place over Dick's chest, placing his hands near the center and resuming compressions while Tim gave rescue breaths.

Jason just sat there numbly, the physical pain he was feeling from his first and second degree burns overshadowed by the emotional ruin he'd been reduced to.

Damian clung to Jason's arm, something he'd only ever done to Dick, but everyone was too preoccupied to notice.

Alfred rushed over with syringes filled with atropine and epinephrine, which would hopefully help restart Dick's heart.

'Such a well oiled machine,' Jason thought absentmindedly.

The bat family had practiced this scenario countless times... Dick used to joke that his first kiss had been with the CPR mannequin... but no matter how much they'd practiced, they weren't ever prepared to be preforming it on their own brother's cooling corpse.

Nothing can prepare you for something like that.

—

"Time," Bruce called, his voice breaking.

"What?" Jason asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Time of death, 12:01 AM..." Damian whispered, biting his lip and burying his head in Jason's jacket.

The realization finally hit Jason. Dick was dead. They were calling his time of death... Jason breath quickened, and he suddenly seemed to notice everything all at once. The paleness of Dick's skin, the blood dripping from his mouth, the stillness of his chest, the blood pooling under his back... it was all too much.

Jason ears rang, and he squeezed his eyes shut, opening them to find himself vomiting violently as a large hand rubbed his back... Bruce.

Bruce pulled Jason to his chest and held him as he sobbed loudly.

—

There was a sense of finality as Bruce was handed the urn. It was Dick's wish, to be cremated when he died, perhaps so the pieces of his ash could be blown about in the wind, allowing him to fly through the sky even in death.

There was no undoing this. No Lazarus pit to bring him back, just ashes floating through the wind... and a hole in the hearts of his friends and family... a hole that could never be filled.