I'd Bend Time To Keep You Safe (Congratulations, It's A Boy)

Chapter 1: Heartbreak and Hope

In the dim light of the prison's visitor's hall, Dick Grayson sat in the cold, metal chair, waiting for whatever the cryptic call had brought him here for. The warden hadn't said much over the phone, just a vague request that he come to the prison and that someone would fill him in once he'd got there.

That had yet to happen.

As he sat there, his foot tapped anxiously against the floor. He'd dealt with enough criminals, lies, and betrayals to feel uneasy about the unknown.

When the door finally opened, instead of a figure from his past or some scorned villain, like he'd expected, a young woman entered, holding a bundle wrapped in a tattered red blanket. Her face was drawn, tired, and she looked at him with a mixture of fear and relief.

"Mr. Grayson?" she asked with mild hesitance.

With a puzzled nod, she placed the bundle into Dick's arms. Confused, he glanced down at the baby's face, wide-eyed and innocent, staring back at him.

"Ms. Flores," she said, her voice shaking, "Catalina... she... she named you as the father."

At the mention of Catalina Flores, Dick felt his stomach drop.

The memories of Bludhaven, of Blockbuster, of his complicated relationship with Catalina rushed back. Of all the things she'd done to people. The things she'd done to him. And it was tax evasion that they got her on. Not the murder of Blockbuster, or the crimes she committed against others, or the things she'd done to him. He'd spent nine months trying to forget her. Nine months pretending it never happened and shoving it all down for this.

He swallowed hard bringing his focus back to the present as his gaze locked on the child's face once more. "This... this is my kid?" His voice was barely a whisper as he tried to process, his mind no more than a clouded mess.

The woman nodded. "Catalina is not in a suitable state or environment to watch over him. As it stands, she currently holds parental rights and is allowed to ask for monitored sessions with the child. Though, all things depending, those may be waived if the courts deem her unfit."

Dick sat frozen, the weight of the revelation hitting him like a freight train. Catalina, the woman he had such a complicated, painful history with, had given birth to his son-and he had known nothing. It's always just as he'd starts to forget her that she comes crashing right back in ready to ruin his life once more.

His mind raced, unable to process it all.

//\//\//\//\//

After what felt like hours of signing forms and conversing with lawyers he'd called for advice, Dick finally left the prison, his newborn son cradled in his arms.

Towards the outer edge of the city was an apartment, one that neither Bruce, Alfred nor any of Dick's friends knew about. He'd bought it after Bruce kicked him out with the intention of making his own home without Bruce or Alfred but quickly found himself growing lonely. After that he decided to keep the place for when he was starting a family of his own one day and moved to Jump City where he created the Titans. He'd just never thought it would have happened so soon.

When he arrived, he set Jason down on the bed, his hands trembling. He paced back and forth, the enormity of his situation crushing him with every step. The adrenaline of years spent as Nightwing, the calculated confidence, all of it crumbled in the face of unplanned fatherhood.

He leaned against the wall, slid down, and buried his face in his hands. For the first time in years, he let himself break. The pressure of keeping Gotham safe then Jump and finally Bludhaven had always been immense, but now he had a baby to protect, and not just any baby, his baby. What the hell was he supposed to do?