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“Don’t bother coming after me!” Dick screams, half his words cut off by the zeta-tube bathing him in bright light and transporting him elsewhere.
Robin, B01.
Dick falls to his knees and lets out a little sob the minute he steps out of the zeta-tube. The world in his vision is slowly drowning as he remains kneeling, one hand gripping the fabric of his hoodie at his chest, and the other softly wrapped around his throat. He remains on the floor almost as if the heaviness in his heart had dragged him down, too heavy to fight against. Dick lets out a scream, hoping it would ease the weight in his heart.
“Robin? Is that you?”
Dick looks up from the floor to see Megan, followed by Wally, Artemis, Aqualad, and Conner, rounding the corner of the hallway, entering the large area where the tubes are in. This jolts him out of his inner battle. He drops his head down again and fishes his sunglasses out from one of his pockets, placing it on the bridge of his nose.
Plastering a smile on his face that he knows looks convincing from years of practice, he stands up. “What’re you guys doing here? I thought y’all were helping Green Arrow and Superman on a mission.”
Artemis and Kaldur glanced at each other. Their eyes were talking louder than words, but only the two of them could hear it. Finally, Kaldur faced Robin.
“Green Arrow had asked Black Canary to aid them in their mission before the team was called to help. While we were on the way to assist, Black Canary found the gang leader that they had been searching for."
"And with Superman there, it didn't take long before everyone involved was caught," M'gann adds.
"Yes. In the end, we were not needed." Kaldur's eyes subtly scan Robin's body. "What brings you to the cave, my friend?"
“Yeah, don’t you have patrol right now in Gotham with the physical embodiment of justice?” Wally chimes in.
Dick looks away, not making eye contact with anyone. “Just forgot something here from the last mission, had to make a quick stop.”
“In civvies?” Wally asks, gesturing to Dick's clothes.
“Didn’t have time to change.” Dick grates out.
"And what did you forget?" Wally asks, ignoring the daggers Artemis was piercing into him.
"Utility belt."
"The very one you claim to - HEY that hurt!"
Artemis had punched his arm to shut him up. "That's what I was aiming for Kid Mouth." Artemis glances at Kaldur briefly, then looks at Robin again. “Are you sure everything’s okay?”
Dick keeps the convincing smile firmly on his face. “Yup, feeling pretty whelmed right now.”
“You know you can tell us anything, right?” M’gann says sincerely. “We’re here for you.”
Dick’s eyes are starting to feel prickly, and his stomach wants its contents outside of him. He wants to scream. He wants to run. He wants the ground to swallow him up. He wants to knock the team out hard enough to give them amnesia for the previous five minutes.
“I’m fine.” Dick manages to grind out a beat too late.
“Look, dude, we all heard you scream in agony,” Conner says, “We know something isn’t okay.”
Dick felt warmth blossom on his cheeks and neck. He hasn't felt this caught out in a long time.
"Robin?" Kaldur prompts.
“I said, I’m fine!” Dick snaps.
Water is pooling into his eyes causing the world to drown again. Dick doesn’t spare a second longer standing in front of his team. He dashes away from them, his legs taking him to a room in Mount Justice that houses some of his weapons, clothes, and first-aid supplies.
Dick collapses onto his hands and knees causing his sunglasses to fall to the floor the minute he enters the room. His tears escape their prison, freely flowing down his face. Quiet sobs escape him. Dick feels 9 years old again. Alone, scared, and unsure where to go, Dick tries to scrub the tears off his face using his hands - which is turning out to be a difficult task due to its never-ending source.
Knock, knock.
Dick jumps to his feet, frantically rubbing his jacket sleeve across his face, and sniffling wildly to get everything that's never supposed to see daylight back where it came from.
“Can I come in?" Wally's voice says softly from behind the door. "I’m alone.”
Dick takes a deep breath, collects his fragmented thoughts before they run off again, then opens the door with a small smile. Wally shuffles in and plops himself onto one of the chairs Dick had in the room. While Wally spins around in the chair, Dick opens a drawer and pulls out a duffle bag half filled with clothes. Silently, he makes his way around the room collecting some belongings that could be useful now that he'll be living on his own.
“Want to talk about it?” Wally asks, still spinning. “Silence works too, but know that I’m your best bud, so if we’re silent for long enough I’ll eventually find out what's bugging you using my telepathy.”
Dick snorts.
“I’m serious, give me a couple of hours and I’ll be able to find out what happened. You’re not the only detective around here.”
“I thought you’d find out using your ‘telepathy’.” Dick says, making air quotes on telepathy while holding mismatched socks.
"Gotta keep that ability a secret so the bad guys don't find out."
“Bruce kicked me out of the manor.”
Wally stops spinning and focuses all his attention on Dick. “I can push him down a flight of stairs, he won’t even see it coming.”
A genuine smile flutters across his face. “As much as I would love to see that... it's not going to change his mind.”
“But it’ll be fun.”
Dick shoves a few smoke bombs into his duffle bag. “That’s true.”
“Did he say why he was kicking you out?”
After a beat of silence, Dick runs his fingers through his hair and sits down on the other available chair. “I was in the cave getting ready to suit up when Bruce comes in dressed in his whole Batman shtick. There’s no hi or hello, but then again that’s Batman for you." Dick takes a deep breath before continuing. "He just tells me that he’s firing me from being Robin. I tried asking him why but he never answered me. That's Batman for you, never one for communication, or emotions for that matter." Dick laughs bitterly.
When Wally doesn't say anything, Dick continues.
"Y'know, these past few weeks he’s been distant. Cold. Telling me off for every little thing. And yeah, sure, maybe I haven’t been as careful as I normally am, but Wally," Dick's voice cracks, tears once again spilling down his cheeks, "He looked at me like I’m the dirt at the bottom of his polished, expensive shoe today, and - and I don’t know. I had to get away. I’m old enough, and I’ve saved enough to get out of there.”
Once Wally was sure Dick wasn't going to continue speaking, he speaks up. “If you’re sure about this decision.”
“Yeah, I've thought about it." Dick wipes the tears off his face. "He can have that huge, creepy mansion for himself. I need some time to figure out myself. Alone.” Dick considers something for a moment. "I will miss Alfred, though."
“Who wouldn't? I miss him, and I've only seen him a few times."
Dick rolls his eyes. "That's because you love his cookies. It's the only reason you go to see him."
"That's not the only reason." Wally says, lightly kicking Dick's chair backwards.
Dick giggles. He stands up and grabs a rebreather off the shelf on his left, then continues to pack.
Wally's features become softer. "But seriously, if you need anything, I’m always there for you. “In fact, the whole team would be there for you.”
“Thanks, I know, Walls." Dick bends down out of Wally's view and swipes blindly under the bed. "Could you maybe tell the team that I'm sorry for lashing out earlier? And that I’ll be MIA for a bit while I sort everything out.”
“Or you could tell them yourself.”
“I don’t want Batman overhearing any of my plans before I’m out of here and long gone.” Dick reemerges with two tasers and a box in hand. "Pass me my gloves on the desk."
"You could still apologize before leaving?" Wally says, reaching out for the gloves.
"They'll want answers, and to beat Batman up. Especially Artemis.
Wally tosses Dick the gloves “Okay, solid point. Then, for now, I’ll tell them that you apologize and that you said you needed some time alone. I won't bring up Batman.”
“Thanks, Wally. I'll tell them eventually.” Dick walks over to Wally and pulls him into a hug. "This won't be the last time you see me."
Wally hugs him tighter. "It better not be. Remember, I'm a telepath, I'll hunt you down if you decide to disappear forever."
~ Few years later ~
Nightwing B01.
The team beamed when they heard Dick’s ID called out. Dick stepped out of the zeta-tube, walking towards his team who are in front of the monitors waiting for the mission briefing to start.
Batman’s already tense body tensed further. “What are you doing here, Robin?”
Without losing his stride, Dick walks up to Bruce calmly and punches him in the face. Batman, who was not expecting the greeting, took the whole brunt of Dick's knuckles to his face and stumbled back slightly.
“In case you didn't hear my name echo through the cave when I entered, it’s Nightwing.” Dick said cheerfully, then joined his team in line for the mission briefing.