Dick Grayson one shots

The blessing and curse of being a talon

Sometimes I just decide to put off writing anything else and write something that no one specifically asked for before I actually fill any requests 😅. This is kinda one of those, but this one's for Phannias_

Blood. There was too much blood. It covered the ground and coated Dick's lips as he coughed violently.

Dick looked up at the sky, his breathing ragged and his head spinning.

Bruce landed at his son's side, desperately applying pressure to the gushing slash that ran across the younger's torso. He nearly threw up when he saw the glint of Dick's exposed ribs as he took a shuddering breath.

"Stay with me," Bruce pleaded. "Please."

Dick's unfocused eyes blinked closed for a moment. "B... l-let me..." he mumbled, his voice a near whisper.

Bruce's panic began to build after a moment of silence, his breath picking up. "Nightwing?" He called, his voice uncertain.

There was no response from his son.

Bruce felt for a pulse, knowing there was nothing he could do. There was too much blood loss, too much damage. CPR would be useless, as would the limited first aid he had supplies for. There was no way for him to bring his son back.

A cold rain started to fall, drenching the father and son.

Bruce sat for a long moment in silence, feeling numb, as if his heart had been ripped from his chest, but yet he lived...

His soul ached as he thought of how he was going to explain this to everyone else. That he had been too late once again.

The moments flowed away like sand through an hour glass. Bruce didn't know how long he sat there, an all encompassing numbness filling his soul.

The sound of a deep gasping breath beside him startled him out of his revere, his heart feeling like it was pounding out of his chest. His head snapped over to where his son had been lying, startling again when he saw two golden eyes staring back at him.

"Nightwing?" Bruce asked, his voice uncertain.

Dick coughed softly, pushing himself up into a sitting position, the wound on his chest healed.

"I... I thought you were gone," Bruce said, crushing his son to his chest in a hug.

"The blessing and curse of being a talon," Dick mumbled, his head falling to rest on Bruce's shoulder. "I tried to tell you not to worry."

Bruce sighed, feeling as if a weight was lifted from his chest. "I'm just glad you're ok."

"Me too," Dick agreed.

Eventually the two stood and made their way back to the Batmobile.

"Wing... I want... I think you should keep this secret from your brothers," Bruce said, grabbing his son's shoulder and turning him so they stood face to face.

"But... what if this happens again? They'll be... they'll be..." Dick trailed off.

"I know... but I don't want them to be careless with your life just because they think you can't die," Bruce said, giving Dick's shoulder a squeeze.

Dick sighed and nodded. "I'll try to keep it a secret," he said.

Bruce nodded and kept walking.

—

Hiding his talon healing proved to be much more difficult than anticipated. Turning up night after night without as much as a scrape or bruise from patrol drew more than a little bit of suspicion.