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The Talon - Dick, that's Dick, his brother - watches them from the Batcave's most secure cell.
The Bats have gathered en masse; the veterans, the newbies, the part-timers. From Bruce to Barbara all the way to Harper Row and Collin Wilkes, they mill about in the cave keeping themselves busy as they wait for the computer to spit out the results to the extensive testing they'd done while Dick was unconscious. Blood, DNA, hair and skin samples, everything they could think of to figure out what the hell had been done to Nightwing.
The Court of Owls had made their move when Dick was heading back to Bludhaven, and as such it had taken them three days to realize the man was missing.
Tim, in particular, is disgusted with himself for not realizing his brother was missing. (In enemy hands. Being experimented on.)
After the initial three, it took them seven days to identify a culprit, and an additional month to find where they were hiding.
Tim is furious with the rest of his family, because despite the fact that he was the one who pinned the location of the Court's lair, he'd been barred from the rescue. For some reason, Bruce felt like being a hypocrite and told Tim that his lack of sleep was detrimental to the mission.
(So what if he hadn't slept in four days? He'd gone for longer, under less dire circumstances.)
He wills the computer to process faster, as if it doesn't already have the processing speed even NASA scientists could only dream of.
Dick watches him, eyes blank.
It's unnerving, seeing the once animated man so freakishly still. He's barely blinked since he woke. Just sat up from the cot, stood, and moved to stand at attention in front of the reinforced glass that separated him from the rest of them.
"It'll be okay, Dick." Barbara soothes, more for their benefit than the would-be Talon's. No matter what they've said, Dick hasn't responded.
(Damian’s desperate pleading will echo in Tim's nightmares for the rest of his life.)
On top of the unnerving stillness, Dick's complexion is now grey. All the color has drained from his bronze skin, leaving behind ash and obsidian veins.
His eyes are perhaps the most disturbing part of all. A startling gold, truly owl-like in their wideness and how the sclera seems to have been swallowed up by the iris. The pupils are dilated to an insane degree, and for the man's comfort they've dimmed the lights. They aren't sure how sensitive to light he is, yet, but the LEDs in the medbay certainly caused some reaction that first time he woke up, no matter how quickly he'd buried it.
--
Two days go by with no change.
He stays there, standing by the glass and staring at nothing.
Tim is forced to leave at the thirty hour mark, but comes back as soon as Alfred deems him well-slept.
Bruce hasn’t left the cave, nor has Babs. Jason was chased off to bed once forty-five hours passed. Damian hasn’t been down since the fourth hour of Dick standing at the glass. The others have come and gone like the tide. Pushed away by all the tension and fear, brought back for all manner of reasons.
Around the fifty hour mark, they decide that it’s safe to sedate Dick again, so he can have something resembling sleep. Also so they can double check some of the bloodwork, and get an idea about his new metabolism. He'd eaten through the sedation far too fast, before.
The analysis of the substances in his bloodstream revealed that the enhanced metabolism was working in their favor. Several of the drugs geared towards suggestibility were already gone, and the rest were fading fast. Soon they'd only have to break the psychological conditioning, which Tim will admit is probably a hefty task.
--
The drugs have cleared entirely from Dick's system, but the man still hasn't spoken more than a few words. Tim has spent nearly a month straight down in the cave, trying everything he can think of to get his brother back into his own head. Inversely, Damian - who has taken a sabbatical from Robin - still hasn't been down to the cave since Dick's homecoming. Jason has come and gone. He and Bruce have been raiding Court bases as fast as they can find them.
Today Tim has decided to try reading Dick's favorite book. Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire is a little dark, Tim won't lie, but his brother had this book practically memorized.
He's been reading aloud for about an hour now, and Dick hasn't responded but for the occasional blink. Tim reaches the end of the chapter and closes the book. "That's enough for now, I think. Can I get you anything?"
Dick has taken basic necessities when offered, but hasn't requested anything yet. Tim waits a few moments politely, not really expecting an answer, but Dick looks at him. "Water?"
His voice is croaky from disuse, crackling like an old radio.
Tim puts effort into not looking surprised, or too excited. Instead he smiles, as soft and kind as Dick ever smiled at him, and nods. "Sure. Room temp or cold?"
Dick holds up one finger, to indicate the first option, and it's so familiar an action that Tim feels tears welling in his eyes.
It's slow, but his brother is coming back.