Traumatised

Only A Man

A/N: WARNING, this chapter may contain scenes that some may find upsetting.

Dick awoke to a terrible throbbing pain running through his arm. When he opened his eyes, he saw he was sat up against a cold brick wall, with his hands chained to an iron ring. His broken arm was black and blue, and it shook with the pain.

He looked around, he was chained to a wall in what looked like an old military airbase. There were abandoned planes dotted around – they clearly hadn't been worth the money or hassle it would take to move them.

A shuffling from his side drew his attention, he looked and saw Joey in much the same position. The young man was looking at him, his eyes large with concern. There was dry blood coating one side of his face and his complexion was grey. He nodded to the boy; silently asking him if he was alright.

'Where are we?' Dick whispered.

Joey shrugged his shoulders as best he could. Then he closed his eyes for a moment and rested his head against the cool wall. His head was splitting.

'Joey, don't go to sleep.' Dick said a little louder.

'No, best not to go to sleep. You may never wake up.'

Dick's whole body tensed at the sound of the voice. He pressed himself against the wall, his eyes darting around until they came to rest on the figure who had just entered.

'Finally awake I see little bird.' Bane walked over to him and crouched down, reaching a hand forward and tracing his fingers down Dick's face, his neck and collar bone. 'I was beginning to think I'd smothered you too long.'

Upon seeing Dick's distress at being touched by the man, Joey began pulling at his restraints, spitting at the man to get his attention away from Dick. Bane simply sighed.

'You are just like your father, Jericho. Always a pain in my side.' He stood and walked over to the mute, looking down on him with a disappointed shake of his head. 'You should have stayed out of it boy. This is between me and him.' He checked the tightness of Joey's chains. 'We will be leaving, but you will be staying here. Please do not interfere again.'

Going back to Dick, he resumed his crouch. Smirking when Dick tried to squirm away. 'You will be coming with me. Who knows, we might even resume some of our fun.'

A choked sob escaped from Dick's lips, fear written all over his face.

'You're afraid. Good. Maybe this time you will be a little more cooperative.' Bane said, checking the tightness of Dick's chains as well. 'And this time, I will be prepared for your strength...Boy Wonder,'

Dick's blood ran cold. Bane knew he was Robin. His secret identity was compromised, that meant Batman's ID was compromised too. He could hear his heart beating in his ears as he watched Bane leave the room. He couldn't breathe. This monster knew the truth about Batman and Robin!

Monster.

From a weird haze of memories, Dick remembered the first time he had met Joey. He remembered the English assignment, to describe the picture of Hitler and the little girl. It had been unsettling because Hitler wasn't a monster, he was a man. A dangerously flawed man.

A calmness washed over him. A calmness he hadn't felt since before he had met Slade in the rain that night. The calmness that Bruce had taught him to master before heading into a fight.

Bane wasn't a monster – he was a man. And men could be defeated. When he had faced this villain alone in his house, he had been terrified of being discovered, of betraying Batman's identity. This fear had left him vulnerable. But he didn't have to worry about that now. The cat was already out of the bag.