Chapter Text
Dick stared at the sink in his connected bathroom. He’d tried to splash some water on his face, Tim’s pale face, glassy eyes, and bloody nose hover over his shoulder. The giggles echo around him as he swallows thickly. His hands are shaking while he grabs his jacket and slips it on, Linda had approved an emergency session once he’d mentioned having hallucinations again. He tried his best to ignore the ghostly figure of Tim trailing after him, still talking and trying to get Dick to just acknowledge him. Once in the car, Dick broke down sobbing as he screamed,” Just leave me alone, please. Stop haunting me, I didn’t want this,, why can’t you leave me alone? I tried to stop it once I knew what was happening,” His throat felt raw as the ghost of his little brother just stared at him silently. Dick manages to drive to Linda’s office. She was waiting in the lobby for him.
The beige couch felt comforting and suffocating at the same time. Linda started the session by quietly asking what had triggered the hallucinations. Dick took a deep breath and started talking quietly,” It’s my little brother, the one I told you about last year. Our friends accused him of something, and I didn’t stand up for him. He’s gone now, and I can’t do anything, I can’t fix this,” Linda nodded and wrote something on her clipboard,” And were there any extenuating circumstances that could’ve affected how you reacted to the accusations.” Dick looked up, having not expecting her to ask about that,” Maybe, I mean I was pretty tired, and I wasn’t feeling the best during the whole conversation,”
Linda paused,” How were you not feeling well?” Dick looked confused for a moment before quietly saying,” I guess my head was fuzzy, and I couldn’t really focus. Kinda like how you described dissociation to me after the incident,” Linda frowned and looked up at him,” and was this feeling similar to how you felt back then?” Dick paused as he thought about it. His stomach started churning as he realized that feelings were very similar, almost too similar. Linda sees him growing pale and watches him run for the connected bathroom. She sits next to him and rubs his back as he throws up. “ I thought I’d be able to recognize when someone was messing with my mind, why didn’t I recognize it?’ He cries softly. Linda hums softly before saying,” Dick, It’s been years since you first experienced that kind of trauma, and you’ve made great steps in healing from it. It’s possible that you’d felt safe enough that your body and mind dismissed that as a possibility,” Dick looks unsure as he hesitantly nods.
Linda helps him back to the beige couch before she uses the Kürig in the room to make him a cup of tea. He holds the warm ceramic between his hands like it's the only thing keeping him from falling apart. Linda quietly runs through all the usual grounding techniques that he responds well to. They seem to work until Dick hears a familiar giggle that makes him drop the mug and slam his hands over his ears. Tim’s voice floats through them like they’re not there as the ghost croons,” You really are pathetic. First you agree to kill me, then you can't even recognize that someone was messing with your mind. Can you even trust that you tried to save me? That you begged Superman to let you see me before I died?” Tim’s accusations made Dick’s spine straighten and his breathing stopped for a moment. He wondered if he could trust his memory of what happened after the meeting. Had he tried to see Tim? Why would he just listen to Clark telling him no, why wouldn't he just ignore Clark and sneak into the holding cells to see him anyway?
The rest of his session passes by in a blur as Linda sends in an order for a refill of his prescription. He drives to the pharmacy and picks up his prescription before pausing, should he go back to the manor, would he be welcomed back there? Dick decides that he needs to confront Clark and figure out the truth before he goes home. He needs answers so he can tell everyone the truth. He needs the truth to start fixing the mistakes he made, to reconnect with the family he was beginning to lose.
He grimaces as he takes one of his anti-pychotics with the bottle of warm water from his center console. He rubs his face as he takes a deep breath before he changes his route and heads for a zeta tube to head up to the watchtower. He quickly changes into his nightwing suit, feeling more confident than he had since Bruce had disappeared and he’d taken over as Batman. He takes a deep breath before he enters the zeta tube and uses it to go up to the watchtower. He looks around for Clark for a while before deciding to snoop around his office in the watchtower.
Dick stands in a blindspot and uses a gadget that he lifted off Selina that loops nearby cameras. Once the cameras are taken care of, he sneaks into the office. Dick carefully opens different drawers, rifling through different draws and going through different files. He doesn’t find much until he feels around the top of the middle drawer where Clark’s keyboard sits when he doesn't use it. The file is named ‘Project: Reset’, Dick pauses and starts to flip through the file. He finds multiple papers that he takes pictures of so he can send the copies of them to Barbara and the others. The files make his stomach roll as he reads how Clark had planned to wipe Tim’s mind and leave him high and dry so someone could just swing in and take him. The files are redacted in a way that Dick can’t tell who Clark was gonna let steal Tim away. His chest feels tight as he tries to figure out who Clark was working with, the files indicate a third conspirator and Dick needs to know who else Clark was working with.
He freezes when he hears someone coming. Dick checks the real camera feed and sees Clark walking towards the office. He panics and puts the files back as best he can before slipping into the closest vent. Clark’s voice echoes through the office as he walks in, talking to someone on the phone,” Yes, of course I’m being careful. No one suspects that we staged everything to frame the child. Tell him that the child is no threat currently. He’s ripe for the taking if he can be found,” Clark pauses for a bit before he gets angry with whoever is on the other line,” You never said I had to keep track of the brat, That is all up to him. If anything you're supposed to be the one keeping track of him. I have no obligation to know where the former robin is at any time,” Clark pauses again before growling,” Then get up here and we can talk about who will find the brat for him since he’s clearly too incompetent right now to do his own work,”
Dick tries to leave using the vent before he realizes that Clark must’ve changed the vent layouts and added a fan so people can’t use the vents to access or leave his office undetected. He’s forced to wait by the vent entrance for Clark to leave. Almost an hour later Clark’s office door opens and someone walks in. Dick shifts to try and see who Clark is meeting. His breathing stops and his body locks up as he hears Slade Wilson start talking,” Look, we both know that you're supposed to be the one keeping tabs on the brats. I’m here to clean up if you failed, and you lost the kid. Neither of us want to deal with him getting angry at us, so let's just find the brat and snatch him. Our benefactor never has to know we lost him,”
Dick involuntarily gasps and flinches, his elbow hitting the edge of the vent with a loud clang. Clark and Slade freeze before Clark hisses,” We’re not alone,” Slade walks over to the vent and crouches down. His head tilts to the side as he grins,” Hello Boy Wonder,” Dick tries to get out of reach as Slade opens the vent cover and reaches in. Dick manages to get in just far enough that Slade can't easily grab him. He knows he’s trapped so he tries to send the files he scanned to Babs as Slade crawls into the vent and grabs his ankle. Dick kicks as hard as he can while hiding the file transfer screen on his wrist computer. His foot crunches against Slade’s face and Slade curses before spitting out some blood,” You little bastard, get over here,”
Dick felt a familiar panic well up in his chest, one he hadn’t felt in years. His breathing picks up as he panics and thrashes about. Slade growls and grabs Dick’s hair so he can slam his head against the wall. Tears welled up in Dick’s eyes involuntarily as his nose broke. Blood dripped onto the carpet as he thrashed about, trying to get free. Dick managed to slam his elbow into Slade’s nose, forcing the older man to let go. He runs for the office door, trying to get to an area with more people who could witness Slade being in the watchtower. He makes it maybe two feet into the hallway before he’s tackled into a wall. He cries out as Slade snaps his arm, growling,” Now you can’t hit me again you fucking brat,” Dick feels his chest stutter as he struggles. He desperately fights back tears, not wanting to show weakness in front of the man who stared in his nightmares.
Slade chuckles,” Oh little boy wants to cry? Gonna call for Daddy like last time? Oh wait, you pushed him and anyone who could help you away. I learned from last time Birdy, and I’m not letting you get away again, no matter what my co-workers tell me,” A sob breaks through Dick’s chest as the flashbacks start. He hyperventilates as Slade pulls out a small syringe with clear liquid filling it. He thrashes, trying to stop Slade from injecting the sedative, but Slade manages to empty the syringe into the side of his neck. Dick’s vision slowly goes black as Slade picks him up in a bridal carry. The last words Dick hears before he passes out are,” Don’t worry Big Blue, he won’t cause you anymore problems. I’ll put him near your little problem,”