A Twist of Fate

Chapter 35

Trigger Warning! BIG TIME. For... a lot of everything. Except gore. Don't have gore in this one.

Canary was sitting in the green chair for the third day in a row. But the difference was that she was to psych evaluate a teen villain and not a teen hero. He looked young and exhausted. His sunglasses sat on the desk to his left. To say she was surprised who he was under the mask was an understatement. It was the same boy Wally had a crush on and the same boy who Conner and Magan had befriended at their school.

"Can you tell me your name?" Canary asked softly.

"Richard Grayson. My nickname since I was young is Dick."

"Alright, Dick." Canary gave him a soft smile, "I'd like you to know that if Batman forced you in here, you can leave."

Dick smirked, "No, the big bad bat didn't force me in here. He suggested it but not forced."

"Ok, tell me about yourself." Canary started, not knowing a thing about the boy, unlike the rest of the team that had session at the very least once a month.

Dick shrugged, "What do you want to know?"

"How about your brothers. You seemed close to Joey? I think that's the name Batman told us."

"Joey's my second oldest brother. Grant's the eldest. I am close to my brothers. They're protective, even more so than my dad and Wintergreen." Dick smiled, "Grant was the one who found me running through the streets and took me in like a stray cat to keep. They'd do anything for me and vice versa."

Canary nodded, "That seems nice. How long have you had your brothers and father?"

"Four years, nearly five."

"Where were you before these four years. You say that for two years you were in the hands of an organization. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Want to talk about it, no. Thinking it's good to talk about it, yes." Dick leaned back in his chair pulling a leg up to hug, "You could say I was born to be an assassin. My Grandfather is an assassin in the Court of Owls. A high ranking assassin too. I was trained for two years to be a Talon."

Canary's eyes widened before going to neutral, "Wow. Just wow. Let me take a moment to process."

Dick nodded glancing over to the waterfall.

"Alright," Dick turned back to Canary's voice, "You said during the meeting that you ran away from them. Why?"

"It wasn't pleasant." Dick started slowly his voice cracking, "I refused to do anything and they... beat me for it. They did anything they could think of to get me to kill. There are also blank spots in my memory during that time."

Canary leaned over and placed a hand on the boy's knee. Dick flinched back but Canary kept her hand there, "I take it, they are also the reason you don't like being around a lot of people and flinch from human contact."

Dick nodded, "Most of my scars are from them." He smirked, "Not the harpoon threw my calf though. That was all me pissing off Dark Manta."

Canary smiled at the happy look on the boy's face, "What about before any of this. Did you ever have a family?"

Dick's smile fell as he nodded, "I watched them be murdered before my eyes, six years ago."

Canary nodded, "Bruce said something about that years ago. You know he went through the trouble to become legal to adopt you."

Dick nodded, "I know he did. Fate had other plans it seems."

"Now let's get down to why Batman wanted you here." Canary leaned back, "The simulation. Can you tell me what caused your reaction? You didn't want anyone to touch you for a while."

"Like I said. I've watched everyone I've cared about die before my eyes once. Going threw it again and then the darkness and peace that I was suspended in for, how long, was disorienting. It just brought things that I've worked through in the past back to the surface." Dick rubbed his forearms absently, "The touch would have had me breaking down in a way that would have either hurt me or others around me."

Canary nodded, "How do you feel now?"

Dick shrugged, "I realize that my training is so ingrained that my own feelings get tossed out the window the moment things go differently. I also feel that I need to go out on my own and find my own way to do things."

Canary smiled.

"No. I'm not becoming a hero."

The buzzer on Canary's phone went off, "Well thats time."

"That's it?" Dick asked.

"Yes and no. Batman asked if we could do this once a week." Canary suggested, "You don't have to tell me everything all at once. We got over the broad history of your past and I can see major things that can cause issues already. But it seems you mostly worked with your family and yourself. That's a good thing."

Dick nodded giving a small smile, "So no drugs or all that?"

"You already have something you take for things when you need it. Let's keep with that since it works. We can talk more in depth next time." Canary patted his knee, "Was this that bad?"

"Yes and No. I'll probably have nightmares tonight." Dick mused.

"Do you do anything for them?"

Dick shrugged, "Not really. It's the one thing I don't know how to get over."

"Ever thought about sleeping pills?" Canary suggested.

Dick gave her a sad smile, "I'm not mentally sound to possess sleeping pills."

Canary's face turned to deep concern in an instant, "Are you Suicidal?"

Dick pulled up his sleeve to show old neat scars going up his arm, "I was. Mostly when I was with the Court of Owls. With Slade's help I was able to break the habit but I still have the urge every now and then. I also tried on multiple occasions to kill myself. One being sleeping pills. It was my first year with Slade. It scared me almost as much as Slade." Dick pulled his sleeve back down, "I normally have to just deal with my nightmares."

Canary thought this over, "Do you need anything?"

Dick shook his head, "No. I'll deal with it as I always do."

They both stood up at the same time.

"O' I have one more question." Canary called.

Dick looked over his shoulder, "What is it?"

"Have you told Wally yet?"

Dick smiled, "He was the first one I told."

He opened the door and left first leaving the dark shaded sunglasses behind on the desk. Canary couldn't help the surge of pride and protectiveness rush through her. Dick Grayson. A Boy Wonder.