Dick was still doing his best to avoid his family, although that had grown harder to do now that Jason was randomly stopping by for seemingly no other reason than to bother him and force him to eat or go outside.

He did not want to go outside.

He did not want to eat.

There was no point to do either, really.

After all, even if he lived longer, it would never be the same. All of Bruce's money would never be able to remedy the fact that Dick's body was broken, destroyed from years of misuse. Not that Dick would want Bruce to spend his money on him anyway. He was burden enough already.

He would always be a burden.

Excited voices pulled Dick from his thoughts, and he turned just in time to see the door swing open, both Wally and Jason standing there with devious looks on their faces.

"No. Whatever it is, no. I don't want to."

Wally deflated instantly, shoulders slumping as he stepped further into the room. "Come on, Dick... at least let us tell you first."

"Yeah, come on, Dickie-bird. Wally here has a great idea. And I'm coming along for the fun." Jason ruffled Dick's hair, earning an annoyed groan, before flopping down onto the bed.

Titus whined, licking Jason's face.

Dick sighed. "Just get it out then... but if I say no, that means no. Seriously. I will not sit on a street corner in a shabby wheelchair and beg for you two."

"Um... what? We would never ask you to do such a thing, would we, Wally?" Jason's eyes had lit up further at the idea, making Dick cross his arms over his chest with a soft huff of irritation.

Sometimes he wondered why he had ever missed the guy. Jason could be seriously annoying, and when combined with Wally the two became a nightmare. He was just glad that the two had not thought to bring Roy along too.

Wally gave Dick a sheepish smile, starting to pace back and forth in front of the bed. "Okay, so I was talking to the Team, and they're all really worried about you. Kinda sorta told them that you're not demon possessed anymore but are also like... seriously not able to do things, and that just made them even more concerned and so I thought... you know... might help if you visit the mountain. Especially since half of them were unconscious when stuff went bad. You're still our teammate, after all. Even if you're out of commission for now."

"I don't know, Wally... I... I don't think that's a great idea." Dick mumbled, already feeling the anxiety knotting in his chest. He could barely handle being around his family. Having to be seen by his team, the people that he had fought bedside and supported on missions... he could already feel the pitying stares.

Useless. He was useless.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Come on. It'll be fun. Bruce is gone and can't complain about it, and the other two minions aren't around either. I've been dying to mess with your team ever since Roy first complained about it."

Dick frowned, fingers twisting in Titus' fur as the dog moved up to place his head in his lap. "Are they all going to be there?"

"Most of them are. M'gann and Connor still live there. And there are new people too! Everyone's so excited to meet you."

"You..." Dick narrowed his eyes at his friend, shoulders slumping in defeat. "You told them I was coming, didn't you?"

Wally's grin told it all.

With a loud groan, Dick flopped back against his pillows.

-Recognized Kid Flash B03-

-Recognized Red Hood Z11-

-Recognized Robin B01-

The Cave looked exactly has it had the day Dick had left for his mission. Although, now he was looking at it from a whole new angle. Sunglasses covering his eyes and thus hiding his identity, Dick watched warily as people began to swarm into the main room.

First to enter was M'gann, eyes widening as she practically threw herself at him, only held back by Jason's protective arm.

"Hands off the little bird. He's a bit fragile at the moment." Jason stated calmly, moving to stand next to Dick's chair to better prevent overly zealous heroes from attack hugging his younger brother.

Dick gave him a faint smile of gratitude before looking back at M'gann. Raising his hand, he gave her an awkward little wave. "Hi..."

"Hello, Megan!" M'gann exclaimed, facepalming before looking back at him with a wide smile. "I am so sorry. Wally did say that you were still recovering. I'm just... We're all so excited to see you."

"It's nice to see you too." Dick mumbled, although he could not help but shift uncomfortably in his chair as he noticed the intense stares coming from the group of heroes behind the Martian. "You got new people?"

Wally spoke up then, grin shining like the sun as he gestured wildly around the room, introducing everyone. "These are Bumblebee, Lagoon Boy, Beast Boy, and Wonder Girl. And then obviously you already know Connor, Artemis, and Kaldur."

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Robin." Kaldur added, joining M'gann by his chair and offering Dick his hand. "Everyone, this is Robin, protégé of Batman and founding member of this Team."

Dick clasped it, unable to fight the smile that tugged across his lips. "Can't say anyone's called me that in a while. It's good to see you, Kaldur."

It did feel nice, to be called Robin again. But it hurt too. Because Dick knew all too well that there was no 'yet' in his recovery; he knew he would never recover.

He would never truly be Robin again.

Artemis and Connor came to welcome him back next, and Dick did his best to put on a good face, to smile and act normal, to be Robin.

It was hard.

"So... is it true that you were a demon for a while? You got any cool powers from it?" The green kid, Beast Boy?, asked after a long moment of silence, eyeing Dick curiously. "That thing totally wiped out so many cities. It was epic."

The blonde girl elbowed him, earning a disgruntled hiss. "You can't ask stuff like that. It's rude."

"No, it... it's fine. It's true that I was possessed. And no. No cool powers." Dick mumbled, fighting the urge to shrink back into his chair as the new members stared at him harder.

"You don't look like much of a fighter." The Fish boy commented, crossing his arms over his chest with a cocky expression.

"Oh, fuck off, Fish kid. He was possessed for three fucking years. Of course, he doesn't look like much of fighter now. What are you, fucking stupid?" Jason retorted bluntly, earing wide-eyed stares from both the new Team and the older members.

Dick sighed, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Um... this is Red Hood. He was Robin before me."

Thank goodness.

Now the questions were turned toward Jason instead of him.

He reached over, poking Wally in the side. "Hey... can we ditch 'em? I want to see the changes around here."

Wally perked up at that, nodding enthusiastically. "Sure." He whispered back, grabbing hold of Dick's wheelchair and starting to push him toward the exit.

"Wally, where are you going?" Artemis asked, keeping pace with the wheelchair.

"Showing Rob around. He missed a lot of changes."

"Sweet. I'm joining. You cool with that, Robin?"

Dick nodded, glancing back to see poor Jason swarmed by overly excited young heroes.

Wally steered him through the hallways of the Cave, explaining the various changes with Artemis pitching in every now and then to help explain something or point out something that Wally missed. Under normal circumstances, Dick would have felt bad about zoning his friends out, but right now he needed to focus. He needed to concentrate on staying calm and not freaking out about anything.

It was hard.

Ridiculously hard.

"Oh, Zatanna's here too." Artemis commented as Wally pushed the chair through the hallway housing bedrooms. They came to a stop in front of a room that Dick could only assume belonged to the young magician. "Yo. Z? You in there?"

The door pushed open, and Zatanna stepped out, hair mussed and dark circles under her eyes which widened upon seeing Dick. She quickly looked away. "Robin. I did not know you were coming."

"Yeah... I didn't know until like an hour ago either." Dick grumbled, glancing up pointedly at Wally who simply shrugged.

"Everyone missed you... it wasn't fair that I'd seen you and they hadn't."

"Right..." Zatanna sighed softly, eyes scanning over Dick carefully. "So... the wheelchair. How bad is it?"

Was it just Dick, or was she acting unusually hostile? He had always gotten along well with Zatanna, so maybe he was just making things up. He had to be, right?

"Well, I'm not dead..." Dick left off the 'yet' part, but it was fairly obvious in his tone.

Wally frowned. "Hey, you'll get better in no time. Just give it a bit and I'm sure you'll be swinging off rooftops and making up dumb sayings like the old days."

Dick looked away, and Artemis smacked the back of Wally's head.

"Ow... What was that for?"

"For being a dumbass. Robin, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Seriously, I mean... what happened was messed up. Just having you back at all is a miracle."

"Thanks." Dick mumbled, shaking his head as he looked back up at Zatanna. "The doctors don't have high hopes. Apparently, pretty much everything that could fail did. Pretty disastrous, heavy on the dis. But for now, I'm doing okay. Like I said, not dead..." He shrugged, and Zatanna turned away.

"Seriously? After all this... you might still die?" She asked, tone growing even colder.

Wally frowned. "Hey... Z... chill. It's only been a few weeks. Give him time."

"Time? Seriously?" Zatanna snapped, turning back around to glare at Wally, eyes watery with unshed tears. "You want to know how he got brought back? My father put on the Helmet of Fate and Nabu took him. Permanently. So, I'm sorry that I can't just give him time, but my father sacrificed everything to bring him back. To bring this back." She gestured at Dick's wheelchair bound body, anger clear in her voice.

Dick flinched back, anxiety bubbling in his chest, rapidly turning into panic. He had hurt Zatanna. It might have been unintended, but it had happened. It was his fault she had lost her father. "I... I'm sorry, Z. I really am. I... I never would have asked for that."

Zatanna scoffed, angry glare focusing in on Dick. "Sorry doesn't cut it. He gave his life to bring back Robin. To bring back a hero, because you had potential. Not to bring back some broken boy who's going to die anyway."

He really was panicking now, heartrate rising as Zatanna's angry shadow loomed over him.

Shadows.

Crimson.

No. Not Crimson. It was just Zatanna. Just... just his friend.

His very, very angry and hurt friend.

He had hurt her.

Zatanna turned to go back into her room, and Dick reached for her.

His hand fell short, but that was not about to stop him. He needed to comfort his friend, to apologize for taking her father away, for hurting her.

And so, body trembling and breaths coming in sharp gasps, Dick pushed himself out of his wheelchair.

One step.

Two.

Three.

His hand stretched out, reaching... the door slammed in his face and Dick's legs gave out from under him, his body crashing to the floor.

Loud voices echoed in the hallway, panicked words blending into one twisted harmony as Dick's vision blurred, the black tinted corners moving inward as unconsciousness threatened to claim him.

Someone kneeled next to him, gentle hands cradling his body as he was lifted, into a firm hold. He struggled weakly, panic churning in his stomach as his breathing turned into full on hyperventilation.

Dimly, he was aware of the many eyes on him, whispered words only serving to fuel his panic aa dark spots threatened to overtake his vision. A careful hand touched his cheek, moving his head to rest against the chest of whoever was carrying him.

As the darkness overcame him, Dick's struggles decreased, his body going limp in the man's hold as his head tilted back. His last thought was one of recognition.

Damian.

Damian was there... it would be okay.

A soft beeping was what first registered as Dick drifted back into consciousness, eyelids fluttering tiredly as he blinked his eyes open and gazed around the room, brain slowly registering the fact that he was back in hospital.

Great. Just great.

As if he was not a problem enough already.

"Dami?" Dick asked, gaze focusing in on where his oldest brother sat across the room, phone pressed to his ear and mumbling quietly.

Damian glanced up, relief flashing across his expression. "Father, I need to go. He just woke up. We'll be home shortly." He hung up, slipping the phone into his pocket and standing up, worried eyes making Dick feel even more guilty.

He had worried Damian.

Useless.

"How long have I been out for?" Dick asked, glancing away as he struggled to sit up, noticing that more tubes were connected to his body.

Great. Just great.

"Lay back down. You're restricted to full on bedrest now." Damian grumbled, coming to a stop at Dick's bedside and gently pushing him back down. "It was a few hours. They had to put you under for a while to get a better read on your vital signs... nightmares were interfering."

"Right... okay. We can go home?" Dick sighed, brushing away Damian's concern as best as he could. He was still trying to be distant, after all. Hugging his older brother did not count as staying distant, even if he really did need the reassurance.

Damian echoed his sigh, stepping away again to grab Dick's wheelchair from where it was situated against the wall. "You're clear to go home for now. But we do need to talk about how far you pushed it today. Todd... Jason should not have taken you to see your friends. It was not a good idea without supervision. You're lucky I got there in time."

"Wally said they were worried... I... I'm tired of people worrying about me."

"We wouldn't worry about you if you would just let us help more. Or at least talked about it. There's nothing wrong with having issues, you know. That's why I have Titus."

Dick frowned at that, glancing up at his brother curiously. "Titus... Titus helps you with issues? But you're fine... what would he even help you with?"

"Jason's death hit us all pretty hard, little wing. And then you... well... things were rough for a while." Damian said, looking away from Dick's curious stare as if embarrassed. But that could not be right.

This was Damian.

Damian was never embarrassed.

"What did he help with?"

Damian crossed his arms over his chest, distinctly uncomfortable now. "I was having anxiety issues. Panic attacks. They were not as bad as yours, but... well, Titus helped. Father got him from a trainer after a few bad episodes."

Now it was Dick's turn to feel uncomfortable. He had never seen Damian so vulnerable before. It hurt to see his strong and confident older brother looking so... so... Dick did not know how to describe it, honestly.

And then it hit him even harder.

Titus.

Damian had let Dick keep Titus with him and sleep with him at night, even though the dog was Damian's support animal.

Dick was even more of a burden than he had originally thought.

Even without Crimson, he was hurting them.

"I didn't know... do you... do you still have issues? You're letting Titus sleep with me. It's not making it worse for you, is it?"

"No, no. I've been doing better for a while now. It's good to see that Titus is helping you." Damian spoke quickly, firmly, as his hand reached forward, ruffling Dick's hair. "He's probably happy to hang out with someone less boring anyway."

Dick managed a weak laugh. "Right... the kid stuck in a wheelchair and incapable of doing anything is more interesting."

"Tttttt. If you'd just take it easy and recover like you're supposed to be doing, then maybe you'd realize that there are still things you can do." Damian rolled his eyes, gesturing toward the wheelchair. "Now come on, Grayson. Pennyworth will be angry if we are late to dinner."