𓅫𓅫𓅫

𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐳 - 𝐣.𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐞
"𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢'𝐦 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢'𝐦 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 '𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡, 𝐢 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, "𝐧𝐚𝐡, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭", 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛-𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲"

𓅫𓅫𓅫

𓅫𓅫𓅫

As the moonlight spilled in through my chiffon curtains filling the darkness to a dim perfection I couldn't help but kiss Dawn's cheek as she slept in my arms.

It was almost bizarre yet inevitable that in a matter of nine hours, it felt like my entire universe had changed for the better.

Carefully, slipping my arms from around Dawn, I quietly made my way out of bed in attempts to head to the kitchen and grab a drink, and return.

As I made my way downstairs the first thing I noticed was the dim lights on in the kitchen and my siblings and Ace passed out on the living room couch while a horror played on the tv screen.

Smiling to myself, I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of juice before looking at the clock on the wall which was one of the many entrances to the Batcave.

Sighing in defeat, I walked over to where the clock was opening the little window to it before twisting the handles to a certain direction causing the hidden door to pop outward and me to open the door just enough for me to slip inside before closing the door behind me.

It was five in the morning and Bruce usually wasn't home until six when the nights were longer in the year, so the cave should be empty minus Alfred on the monitors.

But that wasn't the part of the cave I was headed to.

Quietly, I made my way up the stairs of the cave as the waterfalls and Alfred's voice helped mask the sound of the stairs creaking every other step I took until I made it to where I wanted to be in.

"I miss it here," I mumbled faintly as I looked at all the costumes that hung in each of the suit chambers

Walking past Batman's empty chamber I then looked up at my suit and the turquoise symbol knitted in the all-black nomex, kevlar lined material.

My head couldn't help but hang low after getting a good glimpse of the suit.

Looking up to Bruce and Clark is what birthed Nightwing and though I hung up the suit, the guidance and advice given by them never left.

"It's still yours to take, you know?" Bruce exhorted in a subtle tone

"Yeah, I know..." I replied turning to face him seeing he was still in his suit minus the cowl

"I'm surprised to see you here, Dick." He then said causing me to nod as I said, "I'm surprised to be here."

"Can we talk?" Bruce asked very straightforwardly causing me to slightly cringe at how weird it sounded for him to ask something that normally wasn't of him

"Damn, who taught you that one?" I rebutted causing him to crack a smile as he looked to the floor

"Clark, Diana, and Tim." He answered causing me to laugh as we made our way down to the main section of the cave

"Master Grayson, I was wondering when you'd make your grand entry!" Alfred exclaimed happily

"You know I'd always make my way to you, Alfred," I replied as I hugged him

"I'm going to go warm you two up some tea, I suspect they'll be no fighting and bloody noses between you two this time during a conversation," Alfred stated as he began making his exit from the cave leaving us in a serene yet deviant silence fell upon us

Out of all the nostalgia conjured in thought about this place, one of the last ones I wasn't quite able to shake no matter how much time had passed.

Simply, because it was a true breaking point for me.

"So putting her back in danger to "help her relieve her anger" is better than just being there for her as a Father!" I yelled

"Cassandra is more than capable of handling herself," Bruce replied subtly

"Is she? Or did you manipulate her like you did the rest of us?! She was created to be weaponized why can't she have a norm for a bit to choose what she truly wants?!" I retorted as Bruce kept his eyes on the monitor in front of him gathering intellect on Shiva and Cain's whereabouts because of course they and the league of shadows are searching for her

"What's it going to take, Bruce? Her to end up like Jason or Barbra?" I asked keeping my same seething tone causing Bruce to rise out of his chair and face me

"Oh, but that's fine too right? Anything to get your way." I snapped

"You are getting close to dangerous lines the more you speak, Richard." He warned as we stood toe to toe

"It's so like you, you can't handle the truth!" I chastised before I felt a heavy force against my face causing me to fall to the floor from the sudden impact as I spit blood from my mouth

"Dammit, Dick, I-i didn't..." Bruce began to state apologetically as I got up, cutting off his speech by punching him in the face as hard as I could causing his nose to almost immediately gush blood

I then went in for another attack which he countered this time, putting me in a tight defense hold as he said, "What is this really about, Dick?"

"Let me go!" I sneered as I began to fight against his hold

Neither of us were trying to hurt each other, but it was a lot of emotional build-up that led to this moment.

"What do you want? You did the same thing when you wanted to quit being robin" He asked sternly as he kept his hold on me

"I want a normal fucking life!" I finally admitted after years

Bruce then let me go causing me to turn and face him, "Why didn't you ever say this?" He asked

"Because I wanted to be like YOU!" I shouted feeling my eyes become watery

"Dick..." He began to say before I cut him off again and say, "When my parents died and you came into the picture, you and Alfred were all I had for a long time and all I wanted to do was live up to your expectations as Robin and then as Nightwing. But, it's tearing my mind apart...I can't be like you Bruce as much as I try and as much as I've pushed myself to be."

I then wiped my eyes as I turned beginning to make my exit before Bruce's voice stopped me.

"Take all the time you need...even if that means never returning to this life. Whatever you need, I'm here for you even if you feel like I'm not."

I then slightly turned back to face him before nodding and exiting.

"So, um, how's college life?" Bruce asked sheepishly as he gently scratched the back of his neck

"It's nice, just a few weeks left before I graduate," I answered

"Law degree, right?" He asked

"Yeah," I replied

"You're happy, I'm glad." He then said causing me to smile

"It's so weird hearing you sound genuinely interested," I said as I began to laugh lowly

"Well, Richard, I'm glad to be the epitome of your laughter." He replied chuckling lowly

"Listen, Bruce, I haven't been here as much as my siblings lately so hearing this side of you is a bit funny," I replied as we smiled in each other's direction

"So what is Batman currently taking down in Gotham?!" I asked

"Same old, except the villains, have been calm. So, I can't help but believe something's going down." He answered before pivoting the entire conversation

"So, who's the girl that's been the talk of the group chat?" He asked causing me to smile

"I thought you didn't check that?" I asked causing him to say, "I didn't but when you get almost a hundred texts saying 'Dad, there's a woman in the house that isn't for you', it'd intrigue you too."

"She's one of my old friends from my Flying Grayson days," I answered while most likely smiling foolishly

"Oh, so I finally have someone to refer to when you make fun of me about Selina?" He said causing me to laugh

"Hmm, we'll think about that one" I rebutted jokingly

"Well, you've never brought any one of your lady friends here so this is definitely being held over your head," Bruce replied

"Yeah, and that's my cue to leave before you start with the Dad jokes." I cringed playfully

"Alright, but before you go...I just wanted to know is Gotham U still on against Metropolis the Friday after next?" He asked referring to the upcoming football game I had

"Yeah, of course," I replied causing him to smile as he held up 7 tickets in his hand

"The star wideout and his best friend will be playing as well, correct?" He asked as I chuckled and said, "Yes."

"Well, we'll be there." He then said causing me to smile a bit harder he hugged me and said, "I'm proud of you, Dick."

"Thank you, Dad..." I hummed as I hugged him back

"No problem, son. Go back up before the lady thinks you're like Bruce Wayne." He replied with a laugh

"I'm more like him when he's being who he truly is," I said as I pat his shoulder before making my exit from the cave

𓅫𓅫𓅫

Slipping back into my bedroom I couldn't help but notice Dawn hugging onto the nearby pillows as she slept causing me to smile as I looked at her for a quick minute before slipping into bed behind her.

I then wrapped my arm around her waist and kissed her cheek before slowly falling back asleep.

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