Not As It Seems

requiem

Huge thanks to AhsokaTanoJedi for the idea!!! Hope you enjoy it

Dick made sure no one was around before he slunk into the hall of fallen heroes, making his way over to his brother's memorial. He sat down at the bottom of it, looking up at Jason's smirking face with a soft smile.

Dick felt his lip tremble as he started to talk to the hologram. "Hey, little wing...its me, Dickhead as you would call me." He chuckled, wiping at his eyes. "There is so much to tell you, I don't even know where to start."

Dick sighed, running his hands along the cave floor. "Bruce has been...well, Bruce has been distant, ever since you...you know, died. He is trusting an assassin, Cheshire, more than me or Tim." Dick spat out. "Speaking of Tim, I thought I was going to lose him on a mission the other day. There was this new assassin, Red, I think his name was. Anyways, he held Tim at sword point and all that flashed through my mind was you, in that warehouse..."

Dick took in a shuddering breath, squeezing his eyes shut to make the vision of that damned assassin holding Tim like that go away. He felt his heart rate pick up just remembering the look on Tim's face and the evil glint in those red eyes...

"But luckily, Red didn't hurt Tim. He did shove Cheshire out of the helicopter, which I'm still unsure as to why, but Tim ran into him on a mission yesterday and let him escape to save Artemis' life." Dick let out a little chuckle. "I wish you could meet Tim, I feel like the two of you would get along well. He's smart, like, genius level smart. And sassy, just like you...you were."

Dick glared up at the memorial. "Why'd you go and do it, Jay? Huh? You couldn't have waited for back up, was that so damn hard?" Dick punched his thigh, wiping his tears furiously. "We couldn't...we couldn't even find a body, y'know? Your coffin lays empty and I know that takes its toll on Alfred and Bruce...I know it does on me."

Dick heard footsteps behind him and composed himself, getting off the ground to see Tim standing there. Tim offered him a small smile and Dick engulfed him in a hug. Tim was taken aback, but hugged his brother anyways. "I know it is hard, Dick, but at least Jason is at peace now."

"Promise me."

"Huh?" Tim pulled back, looking his brother over.

"Promise me you won't run off and do something as tragically stupid as Jason did."

Tim let out a laugh. "I promise. And you should know better, I am incapable of making bad decisions."

Dick raised his eyebrow at Tim. "I know a sink full of coffee mugs that would beg to differ." Tim punched his arm lightly. "Hey, no need to get violent."

"Come on, I was sent to find you. Bruce has word from his inside source."

Dick bit back a groan, following Tim nonetheless to the mission room where the team was standing, waiting on Batman to arrive and tell them what to do. Dick went over and stood with Wally and Artemis, watching as Tim bickered with Jaime and Bart about something trivial.

It was a moment later that the zeta tubes announced Batman's presence and everyone stood at attention, watching as the Dark Knight stormed over, looking more than a little peeved. He didn't say a word as he brought up the holographic computer, his pinched anger still evident on his face and in his body language.

"Uh, Batman? What was it you needed to tell us?" Dick asked, breaking Bruce's attention from the computer. He gulped when he saw the quick flash of an emotion he hated to see on Bruce, panic, dance across his face when his eyes settled on him.

"Right..." Batman typed for a few more moments before closing the computer down, facing the team directly. "I have word from my source that there will be another attack on Taos. This time, I am sending the whole team."

Batman dismissed the team to the bioship, watching Dick closely. He hoped against hope that what Cheshire told him was not true.

On the bioship, everyone was in their own little worlds, nobody saying a word as they headed towards the meta human sanctuary.

Artemis noticed the far off look on Dick's face. She frowned, tossing an arrow half heartedly at him, gaining his attention. She nodded to the back of the ship and he got the hint.

They made their way away from everyone and Artemis just gave Dick a look, one he knew meant she could see through his facade. He sighed, leaning back on the ship wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Artemis copied his position, waiting for him to start talking.

Dick rolled his eyes under his domino mask, considering his next words carefully. "I know...I know who Batman's source is." Artemis just nodded, waiting for him to continue. "And what I don't get is how he can trust Cheshire more than me! I mean, she's...Cheshire!"

Artemis nodded again. "That she is, but Batman must have a reason for doing this."

Dick scoffed. "You sound like Tim." He rubbed his hands through his hair. "Its just...frustrating, you know?"

"Oh, believe me, I do." Artemis nudged his arm with her elbow. "Come on, we should get back to our seats."

The duo sat back down, not saying another word until a transmission came through. M'gann answered, pleasantly surprised to see Will and Lian.

"Hey, Will, what's up?"

Will cut right to the chase, eyes landing on Dick. "Nightwing, you can't be on this mission."

"Why?"

Will sighed, making sure Lian wasn't paying attention before he continued. "Jade...she gave me information on the job. She normally doesn't do that, but she did tonight."

"What did she say, Will?"

Will looked over at Dick. "She said that Red has been given orders to kill you on sight."