Over the next twenty minutes, I detailed what I remembered seeing, earning some skeptical looks among the group. The only time they started to consider it might not have been a dream being when Conner and Gar verified that the scene sounded like CADMUS.

"So, you get visions now or something?" Hank asked gruffly and I shrugged. I didn't know how to answer, mostly because I was sure it was something that already happened.

"You said you have a brother," Dick said suddenly, throwing me off for a moment. "In the CADMUS file that Bruce sent."

"Oh, uh, yeah," I stumbled, still a little confused. "Why?"

"Did it say if he was a part of any special projects?"

"Honestly, I don't know. There was a hyperlink for his name, but I didn't click on it."

"You didn't think you should be up to snuff on your past that you've apparently been chasing for years?" Kory challenged. As annoying as her presence and barely veiled accusations were becoming, I could appreciate her ferocity to protect her makeshift family.

That didn't mean I wasn't two snarky remarks away from slowly poisoning her.

I don't know if Dick was attuned to as much, or was growing annoyed himself, but he replied before I could. "Everyone wants to know their past until it's laid out in front of them. I seem to recall someone else not so thrilled to have theirs resurface." His dark gaze fixed on her pointedly and I watched hers narrow at him before she scoffed.

"Whatever," she said, making her way towards and through the door to leave. "While you kids are busy with your Scooby Doo mystery, I'll be out looking for Jason. We have a few address leads on CADMUS warehouses that I can look into." She disappeared without giving anyone a chance to respond, the room falling into an awkward tension.

"I should go with her for backup," Dawn said into the silence.

"I'll go, too," Hank volunteered.

"Okay, but recon only," Dick said with a frustrated sigh. "I mean it, no making contact. We can't have them knowing that we know where to find them. Report back with anything you find. If you think Jason might be in there somewhere—"

"Don't pull a Dick and run in on our own without a plan," Hank said sarcastically. "Yeah, we got it."

"I can go with them and see if Jason's there," Conner offered. "No one will ever have to go in."

"Sorry, Conner, but for right now I would prefer if you stayed," Dick replied. "We can't risk them realizing you're there and getting to you again. We're going to need you more later, during the attack."

Conner nodded somewhat reluctantly as Hank gave him a reassuring pat on the back and then left with Dawn. Gar suddenly skidded into view in the hallway, a tablet in hand, and I realized for the first time that he had quietly disappeared at some point. His eyes were focused on the screen as he spoke. "So I pulled up the file Bruce sent and tried the hyperlink that Madds mentioned—"

Dick and I interrupted him at the same time. "Don't call me that."

"Don't call her that."

Neither of us looked at each other as an awkward but amused smile crossed Gar's face "Right, sorry," he apologized. "Maddie?" I nodded once. "Cool, okay, so like I was saying I pulled up that file. The hyperlink that you mentioned was encrypted but I was able to hack enough to get part of his profile." He came into the room, holding out the tablet for me to take.

I stared blankly at it, wondering what could be so bad about it that they would encrypt it. Dick took it from his hand once he realized I wasn't going to, thanking Gar for his help.

"I didn't mean to invade your privacy or anything," Gar told me apologetically. "I didn't even look at anything else, I swear. I just figured there was probably something we could use—"

"It's okay Gar, thank you," I said honestly, looking at him with a small smile. "I appreciate the help."

He looked pleased with himself as he smiled back, returning to a spot beside Conner. Suddenly, he looked around as if noticing the decline of attendance for the first time. "Where'd everyone go?"

"Recon mission," Conner answered.

"Aww man, and we're stuck here?" Gar complained, looking at Dick.

He kept his eyes on the tablet screen as he answered the younger boy. "You're not stuck; I need you here for right now. Reach out to Rose, double check that she hasn't heard from Jason. Don't let her know that he might be in trouble; just make up something about him and I getting in another argument and disappearing. I don't need another wildcard running around. After that, keep watch of any influx of suspicious police chatter on the radio. Especially anything with a John Doe fitting Jason's description."

I cringed at the sentence, hoping it was a precaution that wouldn't bear anything from it.

Catching my reaction, Conner's brows drew down. "Who's John Doe?" he asked and I flinched again, waiting for someone to give him the answer.

"I'll...explain later," Gar said carefully as he patted him on the shoulder. "Come on." They turned to leave just as something else occurred to me and I spoke quickly to catch them.

"Hold on, there's one more thing you need to check for," I added, all eyes on me. "Any sort of weather anomalies being reported. Specifically, random bouts of lightning in the same spot." Lightning seemed to be Hurricane's calling card and I was sure if we found some we would find him; undoubtedly leading us to Jason.

Dick nodded in agreement with my suggestion. "Keep us updated on what you find." The teens nodded before heading out, once again leaving Dick and I alone. I looked at the tablet still in his hands, took a deep breath and held out my own. Without a word, Dick passed it to me, eyes fixed on my face.

I looked down at the screen, seeing a profile similar to my own but mostly redacted.

PROJECT NAME: [REDACTED]

SUBJECT NAME: Roman Yuma

DOB: August 25, 1990

PLACE OF ORIGIN: New York City

RELATIONS: Edward Yuma (FATHER—deceased), Kendra Stark (MOTHER—deceased), Emersyn Yuma (SISTER—deceased)

SUBJECT STATUS: [REDACTED]

ESTABLISHED ABILITIES: un/conscious manipulation

PROPOSED DNA SAMPLINGS: [REDACTED]

EXPECTED RESULTS: [REDACTED]

ACTUAL RESULTS: [REDACTED]

Of all the information visible, only two things were news to me. Roman was apparently my twin and "He was born with an ability and I wasn't." The words sounded distant in my own ears, my mind busy piecing the information with what I learned the night before. "I was listed as a 'family volunteer,'" I said, thinking out loud. "There was nothing about me having powers before the experiments. What if my parents offered me up for them because I was basically born a dud?"

"You're not a dud," Dick said dismissively without a pause. "And we don't know what any of this means, so don't read too much into it. Let's just focus on the relevant facts. Your brother essentially has some kind of mind control—"

"Manipulation," I felt compelled to emphasize for some reason.

"The dream you had about Jason, may or may not have been a dream," he went on as though I hadn't spoken. "There were details that pointed towards it being real, but here's the problem. The entire thing could've been a manipulation to draw you out. CADMUS thought you were dead twice now, and both times they were wrong. Something resulted from their testing that they hadn't anticipated and now they want you back to figure out what it is. They used Roman to reach out to you with something that's guaranteed to catch your attention—"

"Hurting Jason..."

"And the next step would be getting a message to you on how to save him."

"Okay," I said slowly. "But where's the problem with that? I mean, if that's their plan, then all we have to do is wait, right?"

"If that's what this is," he stressed. "The problem comes from the fact that it could be that or it could just be a dream. Any accurate details on the setting could just be repressed memory surfacing with stress images because you're worried about Jason being missing. There's no way for us to know for sure right now."

"Until, hopefully, they make some kind of contact."

"Exactly."

"So, what, we just sit around and do nothing?" I scoffed, rubbing over my face roughly with both hands. I hated all the unknowns that left us with and how useless that made me feel. More than anything, I wanted to be out in the city, tearing apart every building to find CADMUS and where they were hiding Jason. I wanted to engulf Hurricane with my toxins and watch him suffer a painful death for bringing all of this into my life now. "I don't know if you recall, but that's never really been my thing."

"We're not doing nothing," Dick responded. "We're doing everything we can to prepare. The others are out on recon, Gar and Conner are looking into everything else that they can. We will find Jason and I will make them pay for what they did to you." I saw the deadly glint in his eyes again, the sharpness contorting his face. But instead of worrying like before, I welcomed it.

A dark ally who wouldn't stand in my way. Someone who, when we were together, could very well help me put an end to the world if I'd asked. Someone who was willing to stand with me and do whatever it took to put an end to this.

"Before we can do any of that, though, there's something you need. Something I've been meaning to give you for a while now," he said as he rose from the bed. I cocked an eyebrow at him curiously as he gestured for me to follow. He led me to his room, holding the door long enough for me to go inside and then closed it again.

With my back turned to him, I took a minute to take in the familiar neatness of his room. I thought of all the times I'd been in it before, half-jokingly accusing him of having OCD. Moving a shirt or pair of jeans from one drawer to another, just to see if he would notice.

Then heat rushed up the back of my neck as I thought of the time I broke through his perfect façade, knocking over everything atop his dresser, tripping over the bedside table and breaking its lamp before we managed to tumble down on his bed. I could almost see the ghosts of our pasts playing it out for me again before I blinked the image away and spoke.

"I see this room hasn't changed much either. With the obvious exception."

Dick laughed from somewhere behind me, catching my meaning. "Truthfully, I don't spend much time in here to bother changing anything."

"Not that you would anyway," I scoffed.

"True."

I shook my head with a smile, turning again to face him. "So what exactly did you want to give me—" My words cut off as I found him standing with a suitcase I'd recognized as the one to carry his Robin suit. "Why are you grabbing your suit? Are we heading out or...?"

"This isn't my suit," he answered simply, holding it out to me. "It's yours."

"What?" My face scrunched in surprise as my body worked on autopilot, taking the case from him. "When did you have time to make me a suit? Why?"

Dick shrugged as though all he was giving me was some cheap sweater I was going to shrink in the wash eventually. I put the case down carefully on the desk beside me before looking back at him; silently demanding an answer.

"I've had Bruce's people working on it for years, actually," he said, eyes roaming the case nonchalantly. "They finished it a few months ago, but things were crazy around here so I never got the chance to get it out to you. Then, with what happened to Donna, I didn't think I could face you with that news and then give you this. It felt too much like trying to buy you and aside from that you probably wouldn't have taken it. You would've said something about how her suit did nothing for and then probably thrown it at my head if I would've tried."

Sadly, I couldn't deny it.

When he looked back at me, it was like I could see every emotion flooding his dark eyes and my pulse sped up in reaction. "Whether you think you're doing good or bad in the world, you need some kind of protection," he continued. "I've always thought that. You're out there, putting your life at risk too, and some spandex and a sweater aren't going to save you."

"I mean, the spandex seemed to work for the Power Rangers," I joked, trying to ease some of the building tension. His eyes narrowed slightly and I pressed my lips together to keep from saying anything else.

"You died because I didn't give this to you when it was ready. We got lucky that you came back, but I will never forget my part in that. I can't help but think about if you hadn't. So, whatever happens next, this is yours."

I looked back at the suitcase that was more than a suitcase. More than a suit or fashion statement, its contents were made specifically to protect me. A physical monument to how entwined in Dick's mind and soul I was. Good or bad, together or not, Dick still thought of ways to protect me, the way that no one else did. Even knowing how he always felt about me, the gesture struck me hard.

"I hope it fits," I said in a half- hearted attempt at more jokes. "I might've put on some weight since you last saw me."

"You didn't. And like I said before, I've always known where and how you were. I would've had them make any necessary adjustments."

I couldn't help but laugh as I pressed open the latches. "Careful, Grayson, or I might have to get a restraining order against you."

"If that's what you want, I'll make sure to file it myself," he replied with a smirk. "Just open it already."

I did what he said, growing excited to see what was inside. There was a time in the beginning of all of this where I had dreamed of what it would be like to have a suit. How it would feel to have something that identified me to the world; something to strike fear in the hearts of all my enemies. A persona separate from me, but one that I didn't have to hide.

One that, somehow, Dick managed to capture perfectly.

He spoke almost wistfully, describing each piece as I lifted it up to see it more closely. It all felt light, yet weighted just enough to tell me that it wasn't the ordinary clothing it seemed to be. "It's all lightweight bulletproofing so that you're protected but can still move as easily. The leather is also all fireproof, just as an extra precaution. The basic design is a mix of inspiration from Canary and Ivy, but I can have them change it if you want."

I took it all in with a small smile. There were thigh high combat boots with buckles on the sides, a half-length and three quarter sleeve leather jacket with an almost neon lavender accenting on the cuffs. Sheer leggings paired with leather, waist high shorts with lavender colored floral designs curling up along the left. The top was a mix of spandex and sheer along the midriff with more of the floral on the side. There were black fingerless gloves, an eye mask much like his own and what looked like a thin collar.

As I lifted it to better assess it, Dick spoke again. "That doesn't really have a purpose," he shrugged. "It's just a choker like Dinah wears. They were going to scrap it in the design but I told them to leave it. Fits your style."

My mind was flooding thick with emotion, so I tried to mask it with amusement again. "I guess that episode of America's Next Top Model we watched paid off for you."

"Shut up," he said with a roll of his eyes, clearly trying to stop the upward curve of his lips. "There's something else; check the inside of the right jacket pocket."

I raised a brow curiously as I reached for the jacket once again doing as he said. At first, I felt something cool and metallic; but then I felt the familiar smooth, almost silky feel of a plant. Turning the jacket so I could see inside the pocket, I felt my lips part in surprise while a pang reverberated in my chest.

Tucked inside was a smaller version of his R shaped dart, a bit of live vinery coiled around through it. "Grayson," was all I could manage as I looked up at him.

Dick was already staring back at me, shrugging as though it were no big deal again. "You've always kept a piece in your pocket, even now that you don't need it. it wouldn't really be your suit if it didn't have any and I guess I wanted you to have a part of me with you too. Even if I'm not Robin anymore. Plus, I'm sure you can come up with a creative use for it." He chuckled at the thought before it slowly died out, his eyes falling on my lips with the same desire that was plaguing me.

I self-consciously licked mine, fighting myself to keep from pressing them against his. God knows I wanted to—badly—but if I ended up hurting him or worse...

And then it struck me, as I watched him lean in, face hovering just above mine. His words from the night before. "I am waiting for you. I'm always waiting for you." We both wanted this so bad and I was sure that we could have it.

Because if Dick Grayson was always waiting for me, then he'd never stopped the inoculations that kept him safe from me.

"Madds," was all he managed to breathe out before our lips were busy with one another.

Dick groaned into the kiss, as relieved as me to stop pointlessly fighting ourselves. His hands grazed their way down from my cheeks, to my neck, along my collarbone and curves until they rested on my hips, grip tight. He held me there, pinned against him as if afraid the teeniest amount of space would shatter whatever spell we'd fallen under.

But he didn't have to worry; there wasn't anything that was going to keep me from him now.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss and jumping up without warning. Always unfaltering, his hands gripped my thighs so I could wrap them around his waist. I laughed a little breathlessly as he broke the kiss to move his lips to my neck, working up to just below my jawline. Years of training to memorize spaces came in handy as he blindly walked backwards to the door without stumbling over anything.

Keeping hold of me with one hand, he reached to lock the door with the other before swiftly bringing us to the bed. Still locked around him, my hands found their way beneath his sweater, pushing up until he got the message and yanked it off.

Marveling at the still smooth skin and hard muscle beneath my hands, my seconds pause was too long for Dick. Between one blink and the next, he'd pushed my shirt halfway up before I took over and shed the rest of it.

Suddenly it was his turn to take in the view of my exposed body but is gaze found itself distracted. His eyes zoned and locked in on the round scars on my chest that were the only thing left of my brief stint with death. He froze above me, every muscle in his body a different kind of tense.

I reached out to touch his face lightly, drawing his eyes reluctantly back to my face. "I'm here. I'm right here with you."

He took a breath, bending his neck to lean his forehead against mine, curling hair tickling my skin. "I have every intention of keeping it that way," he whispered against my lips. He moved back down slowly, kissing the scars as if that could make them disappear.

I pulled him back up to kiss me, reveling in every brush of him against me.

And with every touch, every sound, every taste, Dick proved to me every last one of his intentions.

Soooo... that finally happened. 😎 Haha, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it's been a long time coming and honestly I was so happy to give them this moment after so long. But, as I'm sure you already know, whenever characters get what they want it always takes a turn for the worse right after...

Quick detour from BLACK DAHLIA  for a second, I have a question to ask. So I'm working on CRIMINALLY SANE finally but I'm curious if you guys think I should keep it in the same universe as this story? Basically that means there would be a possibility to see Madds, which I would personally love because I'm not ready to give her up yet. Especially since we never really got to experience her first hand her friendship with Donna.

So what do you guys think? Should Madalyn exist in the world of CRIMINALLY SANE?

As usual, thank you guys so much for reading this story and showing so much support. I still can't believe BLACK DAHLIA has almost 41K reads! You're all awesome for giving this story a chance and I can't thank you enough.

Please feel free to comment your thoughts below because I always enjoy reading them. I'm interested in any theories you may have on what's coming next for our Titans.

P.S. For those wondering, CRIMINALLY SANE is a Titans/ Harley Quinn crossover fic that I'm starting, inspired by an AU from zorallens  instagram.