Chapter Text
Blüdhaven, May 17 th , 3:31AM
It had been a few years since his time with Deathstroke and a lot had changed in the boy wonder’s, former boy wonder’s life. He no longer wears the colours of his family having upgraded to a sleek black and blue with the new name Nightwing inspired by a story his uncle Clark had told him after a fight with Bruce.
That was another change in his life his and Bruce’s relationship was rocky at best, they still cared for one another but Dick needed space to grow and Bruce wasn’t giving him that. Dick understood why given everything that happened with Deathstroke and considering the man still showed up every now again with his invitation to rejoin his ranks. Dick would never go back there; he took the challenge of a fight whenever Slade appeared knowing if he didn’t others would be hurt but he refused to ever don the Renegade suit again. However, because Dick was making his father worry Bruce pushed him away out of fear and after being shot in the shoulder and nearly killed by Joker, his father had fired him as his partner. That whole ordeal had caused a huge fight which is when Dick decided it was best to give his father the space he so clearly needed.
He spent a few days with Clark and then with Wally whilst he worked out what he wanted to do with his life. He finally settled on moving to Gotham’s sister city Blüdhaven and enrolling in the police academy. Bruce had voiced his reservations about his choice of future employment but Dick didn’t care he just wanted to help people and ‘Haven was a city that desperately needed it. He could be one of the few good cops on the BPD and then also protect the city at night as his new persona. Whilst training for the police academy he took up two jobs one being a trainer at a local gym, the other in a bar known to be a frequent for cops to visit of duty. For the bar job he worked under an alias given he was under 21 but he made it work and it gave him an insight on how corrupt the BPD was.
He’d also gained a brother during this time who at first, he’ll admit he was a little less than welcoming given that Bruce had actually adopted this child unlike him who was still just his ward but Bruce had also given the teen his name. Jason wore it proudly but Dick did hold a little resentment that his father had allowed the younger to wear the name that was his, that was gifted to him by his mother. Eventually he did warm up to the kid because it wasn’t Jason’s fault Bruce was Bruce but just as they were starting to get along, he had month long mission to depart for and would have to cut all contact until he returned.
He returned home less than twenty minutes ago and as soon as his uniform was off, he was falling into bed exhausted. He should have called Bruce when he was at the cave to debrief him, but he was too tired and would just swing by the manor tomorrow. He’d given a quick rundown to Kaldur as he was waiting for the return of those who were on the mission and also told him he’d be taking a week off to get back to normalcy before returning for duty. It didn’t matter about not calling Bruce he was going to visit the manor anyway having promised Jason, he’d teach him some of his fighting techniques however he had been planning to go when Bruce would be at the Watchtower on monitor duty. It’s not that he didn’t want to see the man, he did, but he didn’t want any lectures about not taking care of himself which he would definitely receive if Bruce sees him in person.
His hair was longer and he was thinner than he was before he left. He also definitely needed a hot shower and probably some minor first aid for the few injuries he’d sustained and hadn’t had checked over before leaving Mount Justice. Then he had to worry about Bruce questioning the delay in the return home as the month mission took nearly three weeks longer than it should have because of unavoidable circumstances. For now, though all he wanted was close his eyes and sleep for the recommended eight hours ones supposed to have every night.
He was thankful he was awake enough to grab a water bottle from his practically empty fridge before stumbling into his room as that meant he wouldn’t have to suffer swallowing the ibuprofen he kept next to his bed for emergencies dry which wasn’t the best. He took two of the pills to hopefully ease his aching body enough that he’d be able to fall into the peaceful realm of sleep.
He could worry about facing Bruce tomorrow after a hot shower and figuring out what he was going to do for breakfast because there was no way he was going to the manor without eating, Alfred would definitely have something to say about that.
At least with Alfred’s lectures it never seemed as if he was a failure and was always more out of concern, Bruce probably meant the same but he wasn’t as good at communicating it. He was expecting a talk from Alfred as well but that happened every time, he mustered up the energy to visit and deal with Bruce’s silent judgement. Alfred typically would mother-hen him anytime he went back to the manor always interrogating on whether he was eating, sleeping or needed any injuries looking at, so Dick knew to expect some form of disappoint when he sees his pseudo-grandfather.
After the manor he’d also need to arrange a catch up with Dinah because despite his better mental health since the days of Renegade, Dick had kept up with his therapy as Slade did still like to make his occasional appearances which had him still on edge. He might not have seen the mercenary since starting up shop in ‘Haven but he couldn’t help the feeling of still being watched which is where his sessions with Dinah come in.
He also still had the occasional check in with J’onn every now and the just to make sure there were no falters in his mental barriers which there hadn’t been since Slade last made an appearance.
Despite his relationship with Bruce all in all things were doing relatively okay for him at the moment, sure the mission had taken a lot out of him but a few days off would fix him up easily. He was set to return to his academy training on Monday and had his first shifts for work over the next few days, Tuesday at the cop bar and Wednesday at the gym. It might not seem like he’d be having time off but he was looking forward to the little break from missions for a while and actually getting to be himself for a bit.
Being back home also meant he’d get to see his friends that hadn’t been involved in the mission again and he was most looking forward to a well overdue get together with Wally, Artemis and Barbara.
Wally and Artemis had slowly started leaving the hero gig behind just before he left both wanting to just live their lives like normal civilians and get through college together. They'd moved into a small apartment together after being accepted by the same college, Wally would be studying Physics and Artemis Literature. Dick was happy for them, having understood the need to separate yourself from the life but he himself had never been able to make that jump. They both still would help out on occasion but had made it clear that they were thinking of retiring from the life fully.
Barbara however had been thriving as Batgirl and was now a member of the team as well as a few other new recruits. He has really enjoyed being able to work with her over the past few years and not have to hide anything from her. After Bruce was almost killed by Slade, Dick finally opened up to her about what happened he didn’t share everything but he told her enough that she understood what was wrong with him. He never told her about the brand.
He hadn’t told anyone about it, not since he revealed it to Wally, no-one else knew anything about it. In fact, no one except those around at the time knew about his time with Deathstroke at all. They had been informed about the mercenary but not of what he did to Nightwing. Anyone who had joined their ranks after that night on the GCPD rooftop were in the dark of the whole situation. Dick had also kept his identity a secret from any newcomers and also kept his distance from them to prevent Slade using anyone else he cares about against him.
The identity staying a secret was also out of respect for Bruce even if his respect for his father was less than then it was a few years ago, but he had to remember it wasn’t just Bruce that would be affected it would also be Jason. He might have resented the kid at first but he deserved to have his secret protected, it wasn’t Dick’s place to tell everyone who now wore the Robin uniform. Those who knew who he was obviously knew but that’s also because they knew who Bruce was as they were trusted with the secret.
As for the team when he does return to after his short break, he needs to make sure Kaldur takes some time off, having been dumped with managing everyone while he was away. Dick still wasn’t ready to be full-fledged leader of the team but he had agreed to start shifting into the role and take over like his friend had always said he should. Kaldur was still technically in charge but Dick did now hold a lot more responsibility with the team as leader. They worked well together as a team in leading both old and new members, and had even been given more responsibilities now they were older.
Red Tornado no longer lived at Mount Justice as the older teens who lived there were mature enough to ensure the safety of the youngers. Canary was no longer in charge of training regimen that duty had been delegated to Dick and while he was away other senior members of the team would take turns in leading exercises. Batman also wasn’t actively monitoring the team's missions anymore; he would still be in charge of deploying the occasional mission but once again that was something Dick had taken over which Kaldur had covered whilst he was on his own mission.
He would be taking those duties back once he’s had the week off, he needs to recuperate and get his head back in the game. He’ll still be maintaining his patrols as Nightwing during that time much to Kaldur’s advice not to but he’d left his city without a protect for long enough, he needs to get back out there.
Right now, all he needed was sleep which was finally starting to pull on him as the pain killers kicked in easing the aching all over his body. He could worry about everything else tomorrow.