I'm Fine (book 2)

Burgers and Bats

Nightwing sat uncomfortably in the metal folding chair next to the mother. It was a cold, foggy morning and the withdrawal headache started to creep in to his skull. He hadn't taken a pain pill since the day before and which left a strong craving he wasn't prepared for. The two caskets sat in front of them, covered in white roses. Nightwing sat quietly as strangers came over to the mother and shared of variety if condolences and memories of his siblings. It struck Nightwing just how much of a life they had without him which gripped his heart. Right as Nightwing's thoughts began to spiral into a depressing rant about loneliness, the mother elbowed Nightwing, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Hang in there... I know this might be hard for you too." She whispered as she wiped a tear from her cheek. The last guest walked to their seats.

"Thank you." Nightwing whispered back numbly.

"You're struggling..." the woman whispered sadly. Somehow her statement took the air out of his lungs, as if he had just been kicked in the chest. "It's okay to let yourself struggle today." She whispered and grabbed his had to give it a squeeze. Something about the pressure of the squeeze flipped a switch in his brain that triggered tears he couldn't stop. He sat silently, letting the tears roll down his cheeks as the funeral began.

Beastboy woke up on Raven's bed to see her laying there zoning out. She sat up and tried to ignore that overwhelming sadness coming from Nightwing's mind link to shift her focus to the day ahead. Beastboy gingerly sat up, expecting his back to hurt significantly more than it did.

"How are you feeling?" Raven muttered as she got to her feet.

"A lot better than I expected." Beastboy spoke as he stretched his arms out over his head. "And you?"

"Physically good... mentally drained." Raven spoke flatly as she got dressed.

Cyborg sat at his workbench trying to pry off the crusty gauze from his ear. There was enough dried blood that he needed to clean it out but he was having a hard to pulling it off. He didn't hear Bee walk up behind him as he pulled the last bit of tape off. She startled him with a hand on his shoulder.

"How much more of this can we do?" Bee asked holding Vincent on her hip with her opposite arm.

"Great question..." Cyborg spoke flatly, weighing their future with the team in his head as well.

Nightwing sat silently as the funeral finished up. He cried all of the energy he had left, out of his body and sat numbly waiting for some type of external stimuli. Nightwing's ear started ringing and his focus slipped into zoning out at the grass ahead of him. The woman sat down next to Nightwing after the last person left. "Dick...are you ready to go?" the woman spoke softly but fell on deaf ears. "Dick." She whispered with a nudge. His dry mouth opened but no sounds could come out. The world started to spin around him and his ears started ringing louder. "Dick, are you feeling okay?" She whispered and pressed her wrist to his forehead.

"I.... Don't feel...good" Nightwing struggled to get out before he slumped forward into the woman's arms. She helped him up to his feet and held him up.

"Let's get you home." Nightwing nodded with a grimace. The woman started to help him walk forward with an arm behind his back. Every part of Nightwing's body felt heavy and the spins made finding his footing hard in the grass.

"I'm so dizzy." Nightwing said breathlessly. The woman's black car was in view.

"We are almost there." She spoke softly as she clicked the unlock button. Nightwing tripped on the sudden change to the gravel of the parking lot but the woman caught him. She pulled his arm over her shoulders and bared his weight to finish the walk to the car. She helped him into the passenger seat and sat down herself. "What's going on?" She faced him without starting the car.

"I don't know..." Nightwing said leaning into his hands. "I didn't take any meds today...maybe withdrawals?"

"Hmmmm maybe..." the woman said and started the car. "Lets get some shitty food! That'll make us both feel better!"

The woman pulled up on a 50's style diner. "You stay here, I'll order to-go." She got up and went into the diner. Nightwing sat in his suit feeling a chill overcome his body. His ears were still ringing and his surroundings were were spinning. He slouched forward and leaned his forehead against the glove box and closed his eyes. Time ticked by slowly. To Nightwing, it felt like hours but the woman finally came back. She passed him the to-go boxes and started the car. Nightwing was suddenly gripped by hunger and tore open the box and devoured the burger. The woman smiled for the first time that day as she glanced at Nightwing finishing off his burger while driving back to the house.

Damien sat alone in the living room all morning. He threw the controller off to the corner in frustration and dramatically flopped back into the sofa with a sigh. This was the third day in a row he had to occupy his time alone in the tower. He zoned out at the blue sky outside the window and let his thoughts spiral a little too much for his own good. His mind wondered from missing battle to missing Nightwing. It had been a long time since Nightwing had been the Dick Greyson he grew up with. Nightwing had become colder, less energetic, more depressed and it affected Damien more than he cared to admit. Damien felt like he was slowly losing the only family he had left but he knew Nightwing already knew how that felt and didn't want to burden him with more stress. He had noticed Nightwing's growing dependency on pain pills to keep up with work lately and wondered exactly how much physical pain he was hiding from everyone else. He got up to talk to Raven.

The woman pulled up to the house and Nightwing grabbed the food boxes. "Do you need any help?" The woman paused before she got out of the car.

"No, uh, the food helped a lot!" Nightwing got up slowly. The ringing in his ears dulled and his surroundings were significantly less disoriented. They made their way to the sofa inside the house and sat down. The woman sighed as she kicked off her shoes.

"It's so quiet here without them."  She blurted before she could think about her words. Nightwing nodded. "I don't know what to do with my life now. My husband died 5 years ago, now the kids..." The weight of the situation hit Nightwing like a ton of bricks.

"You could always live in the tower..." Nightwing suggested softly.

"Oh my crime fighting days are long gone..." she protested before she had even given it any thought.

"No, you don't have to fight, I mean, just live with us. You've been like family to me for so long, even though we've only known each other through letters...it's hard to believe I've never met you before know. It feels like we've known each other for forever." Nightwing spoke slowly, the fatigue setting in.

"Oh, we've met before. You were just too young to remember." The woman chuckled to herself which started Nightwing. "I was your mom's best friend a looong time ago and Bruce Wayne is my cousin." The realization of who she was hit Nightwing like a ton of bricks.

"Kate!" Nightwing blurted to see the woman smile at the correct identification. "Which means you used to be Bat Woman!" Kate nodded with a grin. "Well now you have to come back with me! You need to meet Damien! And the others-."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Dick!" Kate said getting serious. "I left that life behind!"

"You wouldn't have to fight! It's just nice to have someone who feels like family again...sorry if I got too excited." Nightwing settled himself with a little bit of disappointment.

"Hey now, I didn't say no, I just want to make clear that I'm not fighting!" Kate said with a grin and she watched Nightwing's face light up.