Chapter Text
Tim and Jason sighed, finally having gotten Dick to go to sleep. Dick had been barely eating or sleeping since Batman left. He'd had to not only take care of Bludhaven and Gotham, he'd also had to take care of the Justice and Young Justice Leagues, as well as keep up with his studies as he was a full-time college student and take care of Wayne Enterprises. Jason, Tim, and Alfred had tried to help as much as they could but it wasn't enough. Dick wouldn't let them help.
"Where is he?"
Jason and Tim sighed again, annoyed that the moment Dick decided sleep might not mean the end of the world a pest showed up.
"What do you want West?" Jason said, fingers inching closer to his gun. It was a lot of hard work convincing his older brother to go to sleep and he didn't want to do that again.
"I want to talk to Dick." Wally looked straight into Jason's eyes, not a hint of fear in his green orbs even though Jason now had his hand resting upon his gun.
Jason had to admit, he had expected Wally to be a little scared. If not scared, at the very least he should have been surprised that Jason was alive. After all, Wally was the one who'd stay up late at night to try and calm Dick down for days on end after Jason's death.
"He's busy so why don't you run along back to your girlfriend or whatever." Tim put his arm on Jason's shoulder to calm him down. Jason looked down and frowned at the appendage but didn't shrug it off. It had been a long week and he wasn't in the mood to fight with his brother.
"What's he doing that's so important that he's been ignoring everyone? He hasn't even come by to see me once since I've been out of the speed force! Not to mention that he apparently hasn't been to the cave in forever!"
"Can you maybe tone it down a bit Wally!" Tim hissed. They weren't that far from Dick's room. Tim and Jason had been in the kitchen, Tim drinking coffee and Jason some soft drink, when Wally had shown up.
"Why?" Wally had momentarily forgotten his anger in his confusion.
"Because Dickhead finally fell asleep," Jason grumbled.
"You mean to tell me he's been avoiding the cave and skipping out on missions because he's sleeping."
Jason rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to retort when he got cut off.
"Hey Walls, didn't know you were dropping by!" His voice sounded exhausted even though he tried to put energy into what he said.
They all looked over to see Dick leaning on the door frame, wearing sweatpants and a baggy long-sleeved shirt, eyes focusing and unfocusing every few minutes.
"Go back to bed Dick," Jason said, his voice gentle yet firm.
"Jaybird," Dick looked into Jason's eyes and they stared at each other, silently communicating in a way only the Bats could, for a minute before Jason huffed.
"Fine," He grumbled under his breath and took a swig from his drink. Dick laughed slightly when he saw what Jason was drinking but didn't comment.
Tim forced Dick to sit down and Dick didn't argue. As soon as he was in the chair Wally took a good look at his friend for the first time since the speed force.
He'd obviously lost a lot of weight. The shirt he was wearing looked 2 sizes too big on him even though Wally remembered when the shirt fit Dick perfectly if not a little tight. He had huge bags under his eyes, and his eyes were sunken in. Even though his best friend was smiling it didn't reach his eyes. His eyes just looked tired and defeated. Wally flinched slightly. Dick, of all people, should never look like that.
Wally opened his mouth to say something but he didn't know what. Instead, all that came out was, "You look like shit."
Dick and Jason snorted. "That's an understatement."
Dick hit Jason in the side with the back of his hand for the comment but it looked more like a tap. He'd probably become so weak after not sleeping or eating properly for so long.
"So, why'd you drop by, buddy?" Dick's head was resting on his closed fist, elbow resting on the armrest.
"You haven't come by to see me." Wally crossed his arms.
Dick rubbed the back of his neck with the hand not in use. "Sorry Walls! It's just that I've been really busy lately with Gotham so I haven't had time."
The anger that had disappeared when he saw Dick came back full force.
"Don't lie to me, Dick." Wally tried to keep his voice even, clenching and unclenching his fist over and over again.
"What do you mean?" Dick genuinely looked confused. That just made Wally angrier.
"There haven't been any sightings of Nightwing anywhere in Gotham for quite a while. And, according to the team, you haven't been by the cave in forever, you've been avoiding their calls, and during the Arkham breakout a week ago Nightwing was never reported to be on scene. So don't fucking tell me that you've been busy!"
Jason's hand was back on his gun and Tim moved closer to Dick to put a hand on Dick's shoulder but Dick just kept fucking smiling.
It was when Dick moved to put the hand that was holding his head on Tim's hand that Wally saw it.
Wally flashed forwards and grabbed Dick's arm.
"What the hell is this Dick?"
There were angry red lines all across Dick's wrist, some looked older while others looked as fresh as if he'd gotten them the day before.
Dick tried to snatch his arm back but Wally wouldn't let him. Jason growled in the back of his throat and Tim tightened his grip on his brother's shoulder.
"Wally, let go," Dick said, a slight growl in his voice. He struggled in Wally's grip a little longer before he gave up from exhaustion.
"I'm not gonna let go until you tell me what the hell has been going on with you!" Wally was so angry and scared and worried and who knows what else he was feeling that he started vibrating slightly.
Jason couldn't take it anymore. He pulled out his gun and pointed it at Wally. It didn't have real bullets in it, Alfred wouldn't allow loaded guns into the manor, but it did have BB pellets and they would hurt like a bitch.
"Back off West," Jason growled lowly.
"Stay out of it Jason!" He snapped at the younger man before turning his attention to the original Boy Wonder. "Dick, what the hell is this!"
Dick sighed. "Tim, can you take Jason and the both of you take a walk to cool off a bit?" Dick asked calmly.
Tim was going to protest before he saw the truly exhausted look in Dick's eyes. "Yeah, come on Jason, let's go." Tim moved to grab Jason but Jason pulled his arm out of the way.
"I don't need you to walk me out." Jason glared at Tim but walked out nevertheless, Tim following behind.
Once they were both gone the smile dropped from Dick's face and he pulled his arm back. He rubbed his face with his hand, sighing.
"What the hell is going on with you Dick?" He asked softly. Wally was tired of screaming at Dick. He just wanted to know what was wrong with his best friend.
"You died, Wally, and I couldn't deal with losing any more people." Dick sighed for what felt like the billionth time in the last few minutes.
"So that gives you the right to do that," He gestured to Dick's arm. "And avoid people who are worried about you?"
"The team doesn't care about me, they actually hate my guts." Came Dick's soft reply.
Wally was shocked that Dick could believe that. "Why would you say that? They're all really worried about you!"
"You know what, Walls? Can we do this later? I- I can't do this with you right now, I have a lot of stuff I still have to do." Wally's concern became full-blown worry. Dick never stuttered. Ever.
"No, we can't 'do this later'! I was ticked off before and wanted to punch you in the face but now I'm worried you're gonna kill yourself!" Wally flopped down in another chair, tired and worked up, rubbing a hand over his face. After taking a deep breath that ended up becoming a sigh, Wally continued.
"We had this conversation when Jason died, when Batman kicked you out, hell, we had this conversation after Tarantula," He ignored the way Dick flinched at the mention of the vigilante. "You can talk to people Dick. You don't have to hide away when you feel like crap. Everyone's willing to listen if you just talk."
Wally looked away, down to the tiled floor, knowing his next words would hurt Dick. More than he was willing to admit.
"I'm tired of this Dick," He sighed, resolutely keeping his gaze on the ground. "I- I'm tired of having this same conversation with you, I'm tired of seeing you depressed and I'm tired of worrying about whether or not you're gonna be lying dead on the floor next time I go to check in on you."
"I want my friend back, Dick. And to get him back I need you to get better."
Nothing was said for a while after that. It felt like an eternity to Wally, but it probably wasn't. Speedsters had a skewed sense of time after all. A little longer and Wally's patience was starting to wear thin. He chanced a look at his best friend, finding there to be Jason by his side, though Tim was nowhere to be found.
Dick was smiling, a smile he knew was fake, a smile Dick never used with him, Dick had promised he wouldn't use that smile with him ever again, something he only put on to show the rest of the world that he was okay. It was Richard Grayson's smile. More than anything, it was Bruce Wayne's smile.
Jason had put a comforting hand on Dick's shoulder, taking over Tim's role, and the other hand was placed over his gun. Wally couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a threat or if it was just Jason's form of comforting himself. It didn't matter though, it was probably both anyway.
"It might be best for you to leave now Wally," Though it sounded like a suggestion, Jason’s tone made it clear that it was a threat.
Dick placed his hand over his brother's, silently conveying that it was fine, that he was fine, though it was bullshit and all three of them knew it.
Wally cleared his throat. "I'll be back tomorrow and then one of you can explain what's been going on," And with those parting words, Wally sped off.
"Great," Jason drawled before turning to look at his older brother. "Now then, back to bed, Dick,"
Dick did so without a single complaint, without even uttering a single word, and Jason knew he'd be up for the next few nights, making sure that Dick wasn't going to do anything stupid.