Dick's POV...

"Stop cheating, Grayson," Damian growled from the other side of the coffee table.

"I'm not," I said, smirking. "I'm just better at poker than you."

"No way," Damian grumbled. "I'm just...out of practice."

My eyes wandered to the scarring on his neck from the collar like they usually did. Damian tried to hide the pain, but I could see it. His nails still haven't fully grown back, making his movements more sloppy. His burned arm is almost completely healed thanks to Martian Manhunter, but it will still leave a scar. So many scars. Every one of them made me want to break Slade's face.

"You're doing it again," Damian complained. "Quit daydreaming and get this over with."

I smiled across the table at my baby brother. "Does someone need a cuddle?" I held out my arms with a huge smile on my face. Damian's glare could have scared a lion. He grabbed a couch pillow and threw it at my head. "I'm guessing that's a no..."

"Young Masters," a voice came from the doorway. Alfred walked in, smiling. He set down a tray of cookies and two mugs of hot cocoa. Damian took a sip of the drink. He liked it, I knew. He also liked Alfred's cookies. He's been more moody lately, well, ever since we rescued him from Deathstroke. He's even more distant and I can tell he's been losing sleep. Nightmares, no doubt.

"Damian," I said, catching my younger brother's attention. "Are you doing okay? I mean, you've been through a lot."

"My grandfather put me through much tougher senarios than that," Damian said defensivly. "Being imprisoned by Deathstroke didn't change anything."

I could tell he was lying. He'd almost died. He was scared. "Damian, it's not good to bottle up your emotions. Letting people know how you feel is part of the healing process."

"I'm over it, Grayson," Damian growled slightly. "Just drop it."

I stood up and streched. "Well, Bruce told me not to leave you alone while he's at work. Wanna do anything?"

"No," Damian said.

"We can watch a movie," I suggested. "Or play a video game."

"No, Grayson," Damian said.

"Come on, Baby Bird," I said, plopping down next to him. "This is critical bonding time for us. Your stuck with me for only a few more hours, okay? At least give me this!"

"You'll just end up falling asleep on my shoulder and I'll have to deal with you until you wake up again," Damian complained.

"No I won't," I promised. "Come on, just one movie? I'll let you choose."

"I don't care," Damian said, crossing his arms. "But I refuse to watch a child's movie again."

"Admit it," I said with a smirk. "You loved Finding Nemo."

Damian glared daggers into me and I put my hands up in defense. I choose Karate Kid, which made Damian groan. We settled down and Alfred made us popcorn. Damian thought it wasn't well made and that it all looked fake, but I told him to shush and just enjoy the story.

Damian's POV...

Grayson fell asleep an houd into the movie as I guessed. His head was resting on my shoulder and I eventually just relaxed and closed my eyes as well. Unfortunatly, my sleep just brought nightmares. I remembered the pain and the tourture and how close to death I was. It must have made me scream because I was suddenly pulled out of it by Grayson. I had my hands locked around his throat and he was gasping for air. I quickly let go and burried my face in my hands. The tears started before I could stop them and I was suddenly a blubbering mess. Grayson had his arms around me, trying to offer comfort, and I embraced him back. I cried into his shirt until I was dry. He still whispered soothing words into my ears and rubbed my back. "Don't worry," he said quietly. "You're safe now. Nobody's gonna hurt you."

I finally relaxed and Grayson let go. I brushed away my tears, embaressed that I had started sobbing. Grayson didn't seem to mind. "I won't tell," he said. "But you need to talk to Bruce about this, okay?"

I swallowed and nodded. I was not looking forward to that, but I knew it would help me. I took a deep breath and stood up. "Father will be home soon. C-can you help me talk to him?" My cheeks were burning, but he just smiled and nodded.

The movie had been over for a while, but neither of us seemed to care. We cleaned up our forgotten poker game and sat outside on the steps to wait for Father. Grayson kept assuring me that it wasn't going to be so bad, but for some reason, I never could seem to find the right words to say, especially when I was talking about my feelings.

When Father pulled into the driveway, I took a deep breath and Grayson gave me a thumbs up. I stood and walked over to Father. "Hello, Damian," he said. "Is everything alright?"

"Not really," I said. "I've been having some trouble sleeping."

"What kind of trouble?" Bruce asked.

"I've been having nightmares," I mumbled.

Father put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm not surprised, Damian. You've been through a lot. Nightmares are normal when people go through trumatic events."

"I've been through worse," I said, feeling awkward having a sort of heart to heart with my father. It just wasn't something I was used to.

"Damian," Father said. "I know you're strong. I'm glad you're okay and I know that you've been hurt, so you don't have to hide that, but I'll respect it if you need more time to recover. I was planning on going on patrol tonight, but-"

"I'm coming with," I said. "It'll get my mind off things and I've healed." It was pretty much true. Only my fingernails were the only thing that needed to fully heal for me. My major fractures weren't completly healed, but they were good enough. Martian Manhunter had helped a lot with that.

Father just smiled slightly and nodded. "Good." He glanced up to see Grayson eves dropping in on our conversation with an idiodic smile on his face. I rolled my eyes. Everything was back to the way it should be.

~
I think this is the end.
I'm really crappy at endings, so sorry. I'm working on it.

Might eventually rewrite this chapter, but I'm too lazy at the moment tbh. See y'all around