The Equivalents

37. Sewers.

After Dick threw down the smoke grenade, he had managed to escape and drag Steve with him into the sewer. Not the most fun place to be. But it beat being dead. Dick was on the verge of having a panic attack. How could he do this? He was a good guy. And yet, he was willing to sacrifice another hero? He wanted to make sure Jason got out of this alive, but a hero makes sure everyone gets out alive. Or if someone doesn't, they sacrifice themselves. They aren't selfish to put their personal needs above the lives of others. Steve wouldn't have sacrificed Dick for Bucky. Nightwing felt like he couldn't call himself a hero anymore. He was just... Dick Grayson. Human. But still not Ric Grayson cause I would forever like to remove that memory from my mind, take it out back and BURN THE HECK OUT OF IT!!!!

It took a little while for Steve to come to, and Dick was relieved when he did.

"What happened?" Steve asked.

"I threw down a smoke grenade and got us down here. Considering they haven't found us by now, I'm guessing they didn't see us." Dick explained.

"Why were you helping them? I'm not angry, I just want to know." Steve questioned.

"I lied. The day we arrested the Joker. I lied about not finding anything when I got blasted back. I found a note." Dick explained. He still had it and pulled it out of his pocket to hand to Steve. "They said if I helped them, they'd give me Jason. So I took it. And then when I found out that the Joker wanted me to break him out and bring you to Red Skull, I started having second thoughts."

Steve didn't say anything when Dick paused. He just waited silently until Nightwing continued.

"I don't know what happened, but somehow they hacked the screen in the interrogation room. Black Mask had a gun to Jason's head. He looked awful. Like he had been beaten to a pulp. They said they'd kill him if I didn't do what they asked. I panicked. I'm sorry." Dick almost whispered.

Steve sighed. "It's alright. I know we have only known each other for a few weeks, and that Jason is your brother. You guys lost him once, you were scared it would happen again."

"It's not just that." Dick whispered. "I know Bruce said he doesn't blame me, but I still do. The first time Jason died, I wasn't there. I wasn't there when he was alive either. I blamed him for Bruce making him Robin. I saw him as the person who replaced me when I became Nightwing. So I didn't care to be his brother. I teamed up with him a few times. But that was Nightwing and Robin. Not Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. I was honestly kind of a jerk to him. Just because I was mad at Bruce. Then he died. Which is why when Tim became Robin, I made sure I didn't make the same mistake with him. And now that Jason's back and not a crazy killer anymore, I've been trying to do the same with him. But I couldn't keep him safe that day. He asked me not to leave."

"It wasn't your fault." Steve placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm not exactly happy that you tried to use me as leverage, but I understand why you did it. It's ok. We'll find him."

"Everyone keeps saying that but it's been almost three weeks now. We don't know where they are and the only lead we have is some pizza place that nobody can figure out what it has to do with this." Dick pointed out. "Three weeks. Who knows what those psychopaths are doing to them. They were my team. I let them down."

"I don't know how I can convince you that it wasn't your fault, but let's just agree not to do something this impulsive again. Alright?" Steve asked. Dick nodded. "Good. How long have I been out?"

"About twenty five minutes give or take." Dick said.

"Well, I guess that's good and bad. Good news is they're probably long gone and won't find us. Bad news is they're probably long gone and we can't track them." Steve sighed. "Either way, it's been a long day and I think we should probably get back to the compound."

"Yeah," Dick said. "Now I just have to hope Bruce won't kill me when he finds out what I did."