Here you go everyone :)
(the italics are flashbacks)
Fevered shivers wracked Dick's skeletal frame. His body burned, his skin drenched with sweat from the last unsuccessful dose of electrum that had been pumped into his veins mere hours before.
His head fell to rest against the cool wall of his cell, lungs aching as he sucked in another painful breath, his lip trembling as he fought back tears.
Dick's hand twitched, a spasm of pain drawing his gaze down to the blood spotted bandages holding catheters in place in his inner arm. The catheters used to pump poison into his veins.
He would've emptied his stomach right then and there if there'd been anything in it in the first place...
A broken sob left his lips as he dragged his eyes away from his arm, letting his eyelids fall closed.
The silence in the cell was deafening, punctuated only by Dick's ragged breathing. "I-I'm sorry Bruce," he mumbled, letting out a fear filled whimper.
'No wonder he wanted to get rid of me...' he thought to himself, his breathing stuttering 'if this is all it takes to break me...'
His quiet hiccuping sobs filled the cell, tapering off abruptly when he heard the lock on his cell door click.
A shadow filled the doorway, a white mask glinting on his face.
Dick wanted to jump up, to fight off the hands that grabbed him, to tie up the masked men who dragged him from his cell to the operating room and back every day... but he didn't have the strength to...
So the men grabbed him and dragged him down the white hallways, his body leaving a smear of crimson blood in its wake.
—
Dick shot up in bed, his chest heaving, eyes blown wide with fear. His fingers clenched the sheets Alfred had put on his bed, his lips pressed tightly together to keep himself from making a sound.
After a moment he stood, making his way to the bathroom on shaking legs.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror for a long moment, swiping at a tear as it rolled down his cheek. Something as remarkably human as his tears contrasting so darkly with the unnatural hue of his eyes. It was that shred of humanity that had allowed him to break free of the control the court had over him. No matter how hard they'd tried there had always been a sliver of Dick Grayson in him that refused to die. Refused to conform and become Talon number 6514.
And he'd payed the price for it... over and over again.
Dick curled up on the too big bed, drawing his knees up to his chest and settling down for another long sleepless night.
—
Dick felt like the living dead when he finally had enough of sitting in bed and counting the leaves on the tree outside his window. He sluggishly went through his morning routine, grateful for the warm running water to wash some of the tension from his muscles.
He sighed, wishing he didn't have to lie to his family like this...
'If anyone would understand it would be them,' a voice spoke in his head.
It was true... but he wouldn't allow himself to tell them. No. He had to keep them safe. Safe from the court... safe from himself.
He sighed once more, using his blue contact lenses to cover his golden irises.
Dick stumbled his way to the kitchen, surprised to find Damian sitting there with a glare fixed firmly on his face.
"Uhhh... hey?" Dick said, rubbing at the back of his neck. He didn't quite know what to do with the tiny version of Bruce.
"Why are you here?" Damian asked.
"Well I was hungry..." Dick started.
"Not in the kitchen Grayson, here in the manor," Damian fumed.
"Oh," Dick said quietly.
"You've been somewhere for the last 7 years. Why come back to Gotham now? Why come back at all?" Damian huffed.
Dick stood frozen for just a second too long. If only Damian knew...
"Well?" Damian prodded.
Memories shoved their way into Dick's mind, making him flinch. Would this all be easier to deal with if he just told someone? He wondered.
No. It was safer for them if they didn't know. Safer and so much less painful.
Dick didn't realized he'd been subconsciously backing away until he ran into someone, strong arms grabbing him when he startled and almost fell to the ground.
"Leave him alone Demon," Jason said, glaring back at the younger until he relented.
"I will not allow him to harm this family Todd," Damian hissed as he walked past.
"I didn't know you considered us a family Wayne. How sweet," Jason sassed back.
Damian huffed and brushed past him, making his way off into the manor.
"Don't let him get to you," Jason said, turning back to the acrobat. "He's like that all the time."
Dick nodded.
"Look," Jason said after an awkward moment of silence. "You don't have to tell me anything, but know that I'm always here to listen."
Dick managed to drag his gaze up to Jason's greenish eyes. How easy it would be to just tell him everything... "I-I think I'll pass for now," he mumbled, trying his best to not look as frazzled as he felt.
Jason shrugged and walked off down the hall.
Dick sagged, struggling to get control of his breathing. The kitchen walls seemed to close in on him, trapping him there.
He swore he could smell the iodine they always wiped on his skin before injections, kept them cleaner they'd said. He'd never asked for this. There was never a choice.
Why? Why didn't he get to choose?
—
Long rectangular light fixtures glared down at Dick, their light stabbing his eyes. He tried to lift a hand to block it out, brow furrowing when he realized he was restrained.
"Bruce?" He called timidly. Surely his mentor wouldn't tie him up in the Batcave and leave him... granted, they'd had a fight, but even he wasn't that heartless.
"He's not here," a voice hissed, causing a shiver to run down Dick's spine.
"Wh-what do you want with me?" Dick asked in a moment of boldness.
There was a nerve grating laugh before a face finally came into view, two piercing golden eyes staring down at the acrobat. "Little bird," he cooed. "You were born to be ours. Bred to fulfill one purpose. We're simply helping you."
Dick shifted on the cold metal table, testing the restraints again.
"We've never taken one so old before," another voice said from further away. "Not one that's alive that is."
The man's head tilted a degree to the right. "The serum hasn't failed us before. I have faith it'll take eventually... and if not we can always kill the boy and go from there."
Dick's heart rate picked up, something the man acknowledged with an amused smirk.
A cold swab was wiped over the skin on his arm, a prick causing Dick to stiffen.
"You're a bit of an experiment," the man said, stepping back into view for a moment to grab another syringe. "We're simply priming you for your first dose of electrum," he explained. "The ones who live through the process always turn out better."
Dick sucked in a breath as a searing pain snaked up his arm. "W-what are you doing to me?" He asked.
"Giving you your birthright of course. Weren't you listening at all? You were bred to be a talon. The talon for the court of owls."
Dick barely felt the third injection, his world exploding in white-hot pain.
He screamed.
YOU ARE READING
Secrets hurt
FanfictionAfter Dick Grayson finds himself on his own, stripped of his title as Robin and his position in his family he drops off the grid for years. When he returns things are far from what they used to be.
