Whispers in the Night

This chapter contains:

Spoilers: Some for Season 1 and the start of Season 2

Random Lyrics from: Scars by Papa Roach

Pairings: Dick and Wally brotherly friendship and Spitfire

Categories for this story (bold are the main ones): angst, friendship, romance, crime, hurt&comfort, suspense, tragedy and family.

Updated: I am attempting every one week and/or two week updates.

Extra Notes: This has turned into a sorta AU of season 2 with a new OC villain. This will focus on the three main characters of Dick, Wally and Artemis with features of both the new and old Young Justice Teams and Justice League. For this story—Bart is already with the team (this first chapter takes place before the start of season 2 but after the time skip, the story slowly moves through season 2), The Light and The Reach are defeated and I figure that the Justice League knows all of the civilian IDs of each other as well as all of the civilian IDs of the Young Justice team.

This chapter is rated teen for topics of abuse, mentions of torture, very heavy violent scenes, small amounts of improper language, periods of suggestive themes and scary visuals.

i tear my heart open

It was a chilly Friday night in the mist of late January and nineteen old Dick Grayson, also known as Nightwing, was nearly falling over from exhaustion. He had been at the hologram computer nearly the entire day, guiding the new team through yet another routine mission.

He allowed Tim Drake, better known as the current Robin, to take the lead and it went less than perfect but Dick wasn't too mad, how could he be? Hell, he used to be in the kid's shoes, actually he still was sometimes; having to choose the best way out of impossible decisions. Batman had stopped in and was less than happy with the team's performance when they got back but Dick took the fall for it.

He was the man behind the computer, the man who was supposed to guide the young guys away from danger.

Another part of him argued with himself, about how danger was part of the job—always was, always had been. Dick couldn't count how many times he had been thrown in sticky situations. He was also used to taking the brunt of things, he hated when other people got hurt, even if it was rare, because of him.

Dick was always one to feel guilty about the littlest things.

So after Batman and the rest of the team cleared out, he pulled Tim aside he told him not to worry about Bruce—they both knew how tough he could be sometimes. The young boy seemed slightly more reassured when he was leaving after Dick had talked to him and that was nearly three hours ago.

Now the clock was tittering near one in the morning and Dick ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. With a few concluding clicks and swipes a final shutdown screen came up and he tapped the 'confirm shutdown' tab with his finger. A loading bar appeared on screen, the numbers slowly accelerating from zero up to a hundred percent.

As he waited, Dick took off his domino mask for a moment and rubbed at his sore eyes.

He walked over to the mirror that sat in the far corner of the room and took a look at himself.

His jet black hair was still sticking up in some places from rolling out of bed that morning, black Nightwing suit dull in the lime light of the room, his slim muscular form sagged with the tolls of running off buildings and fighting, and his baby blue irises slightly bloodshot from the few hours of sleep he had been getting—Blüdhaven was ripe with endless criminals at the moment. Dick exhaled softly before turning and moving towards the zeta beam, placing his black mask back over his eyes.

"Shutdown complete."

He stood still in the zeta beam, the yellow light engulfing his body before transporting him to the abandoned, old phone booth in Gotham City. He groaned out loud, cursing to himself quietly as he slammed his fist against the creaky metal.

"Damn it Bruce," He seethed to himself as he exited the booth, using his graphing hook to propel himself up to the top of a tall building.

Batman had told Dick that he re-programmed the zeta beam to be able to transfer the young adult to Blüdhaven so that if Dick ever worked late he could get to his apartment in the town easy enough. Dick walked to the front corner of the building and took a seat, his legs dangling off the edge.

Next he tapped a few buttons on his suit's communicator, bringing up a small holographic screen of Alfred at Wayne Manor.

"How can I be of help Master Richard?"

Dick couldn't help but smile at the sight of the butler, Alfred was like a grandfather to him. "What are you doing up this late Al? I'm really sorry if I woke you." The butler looked tired and Dick felt bad about calling without even thinking first.

"Of course not sir, a butler's job is never finished, I usually don't go to bed until two."

"Al, I think I've told you a million times by now to just call me Dick. Plus I don't live with you guys anymore so there is no need for the 'master' or 'sir', really."

Alfred looked unamused but Dick could see his lips twitch, the older man trying to hold back a grin. "You are always welcomed here Richard, you and Bruce and Tim are all family to me."

Dick chuckled, "I know Al . . . thanks."

Alfred smiled gently and tapped his forehead with a pearly-white handkerchief. "So what trouble have you gotten into to be calling at such a ghastly hour?"

Dick scratched the back of his head and the hologram screen flickered once but neither took notice to it. They were on a secure channel after all, no one would ever be able to hack it. "Didn't Bruce re-program the zeta beam in the cave to hook up to Blüdhaven for me a few weeks ago?"

"One second sir, just let me check." The hologram wavered again, the signal seeming to start to cut out. Dick's brow furrowed, it was impossible to be losing signal—neither of them were moving so the signal should have been perfectly fine. "Sir?"

"What'd you find out Alfred?"

The older man looked distressed, "The zeta beam was hooked up to a deserted pharmacy store next to your apartment. Master Bruce had scoped it out for you, there was an entrance through the roof. But there is something odd about when you exited the cave tonight." Dick heard something scrape behind him suddenly and whipped around, hand resting on one of his fighting sticks.

The dark sky was the only thing behind him, along with a crescent milky moon and multiple stars dotting the sky. Dick quickly scanned his surroundings, Alfred becoming worried on the other end of the line. "Master Richard? Is everything alright?" Dick looked around one last time before turning back around, now standing, and looking down at Gotham City before him.

"Just thought I heard something but it's nothing. So what was odd? Was there a screw up with the system mainframe or a glitch?" Alfred gulped silently, his heart feeling heavy. There couldn't be someone after Dick . . . even if all of the facts were staring him blankly in the face. "Al?"

"Sorry sir; so I brought up the system memory to see if your Blüdhaven location was programmed into the system, which it was a few weeks ago by the official digital trademark of Batman of course but the troubling thing I found is that a certain ID hacked into the computer and messed around with the system changing your B01 designation address back to Gotham for tonight only. Then the ID, which is named B20, set the computer system to restart and delete any trace of past system changes from a week past—including tonight—exactly at three in the morning."

Dick's mind was racing, his heart beating fast in his chest. He could hear Alfred typing something else into the bat-computer, but it felt as if his ears were filled with the blood rushing to them. Dick didn't know if it was better to be pissed or act on stunned silence. "Sir, isn't B20 Master Drake's designation for the cave?" Dick was too busy minimizing Alfred's picture and moving it to the top left corner of the hologram; starting up the cave computer and quickly trying to access the mainframe.

He needed to make sure nothing was erased.

"Alfred, is Tim home?"

"Yes he got in—"

"Get him down there and on the hologram now." Alfred nodded and his face disappeared along with the square, leaving Dick to work on his hacking. Every few seconds the young adult peeked at the time in the top right corner of the hologram, almost afraid that if he didn't check one time it would unexpectedly be three in the morning. Even if that wasn't true, as it was only 1:33 currently. "Alright so here's the mainframe and now I need to go to the memory and head to the counter until it deletes and then stop the timer to keep the system from . . . what the hell?"

The system shut him out, a code required to move forwards. Dick typed in every code he knew, even ones that were supposed to break the encryption through malfunction. After his fifteenth try the computer brought up a red message that read 'NICE TRY NIGHTWING, BUT YOU ARE NOW DISMISSED' before the hologram closed itself and wouldn't allow the man to bring up the cave computer again.

"What the hell is going on—"

"Master Richard," Alfred pushed Tim forwards, the boy rubbing at his eyes and still clad in his Deadpool pajamas. If this wasn't such a serious threat against him at the moment, Dick would've laughed and called out Tim's obsession with the masked mercenary (Tim always said how he wished to face him one day but all Dick could do was roll his eyes and say he wasn't real . . . he hoped).

"What's th' issue?" Tim slurred in his half asleep state, squinting his eyes to see Dick through the bright screen.

Dick looked to Alfred who stood behind Tim, "Al I was just shut out of the cave's mainframe with a message that was obviously hacked in, it said that I was dismissed, we have until three to fix the computer can you start to work on that?"

Alfred nodded, "Should I wake Bruce?"

Dick thought about his options for a moment. This seemed like more of a center attack on him and whoever was aiming for him was just used Tim and whoever else as pawns to get what they wanted. Because Dick knew Tim didn't really do it, did he? But was this serious enough to wake up Bruce?

Dick shook his head quickly, "No, no I can handle this."

"Master Richard I wouldn't advise—"

"I said I can handle it Al."

Alfred said no more as Tim looked between the two nervously, "Dick, what is going on?"

The kid seemed more awake now and the man in question sighed heavily. "Someone hacked into the cave's mainframe using your B ID. B20. It was all over anything related to the glitches. Tim I know you. You are basically my little brother so if there is something you aren't telling me—"

Tim's eyes widened to the size of saucers in disbelief at what Dick was proposing. "Dick I have nothing to do with that I'm not some traitor! After all this time and you would jump to a—"

"Tim wasn't saying that. I-I just had to make sure. I mean the team has been betrayed in the past—"

The screen crackled abruptly, Tim's face disappearing and static screeching into the nighttime hours. Dick groaned and covered his ears with his hands, the sharp clatter seemingly slicing through his eardrums. "S-Suit override c-command 223, voice identity Nightwing!"

The screeching stopped and Dick let go of his ears, moaning in relief. He was so glad he added in a manual suit override in case something like that happened to his communicator. Then he heard something that sounded a lot like a wisp of air behind him and his instincts told him to move so he swiftly did a backflip out of the way. When he landed on his feet he saw four men in front of him and a piece of sharpened metal sticking out of the glass of the work building across from the one Dick was standing on.

Dick crossed his arms as he quickly evaluated the men in front of him.

Two were wielding metal pipes in their gloves hands, one held a wooden board and the last one had a short dagger in one hand. Each one had a different colored mask, the left side of all their masks were pitch black but then there was a line in the middle to spilt the colors so the color on the right was altered for each—one blue, yellow, green and red. Dick scoffed out loud, "I find it hard to believe that you four are stupid enough to be behind such an elaborate attempt at getting me."

"Let's just kill the kid, the boss just said to bring him in—he didn't say anything about keeping him alive!" The man with the black and blue mask growled, charging and raising his metal pipe in the air.

Dick waited until the last possible second before cartwheeling out of the way, the goon about to tumble off the edge of the building. He could hear the three other men gasp and he rolled his eyes, grabbing the terrified man by the back of his black jacket collar and pulling him backwards so fast that it seemed like the man got whiplash. Without second thought, though a part of him did think about just allowing the man to fall off the building even if it was against the 'no killing' code Bruce raised him by, Dick sent a punch to the man's gut which doubled him over and then an instantaneous punch to the face; knocking him out cold.

"Shit he just knocked out Captain!" The yellow mask shouted, the red masked one rolling his eyes and holding up his dagger threateningly.

"Well then let's double team him Cart and bring his dead corpse to the boss."

The yellow one charged with his wooden plank from the left while the red closed in on the right and Dick grabbed his two batons from his utility belt (he was glad he had decided to actually bring his sticks with him that day). Dick did a somersault once the two thugs got close enough and brought the sticks up when he went up; knocking each in the upper chest.

The yellow one crouched over and gasped for breath but the red one just turned around and charged into Dick, bringing them both to the ground. Dick lost one of his sticks and kept a tight hold on the one he still had—knocking his head into the thug's cranium before hitting him in the face with the stick.

Blood gushed from a newly formed cut on the man's forehead and Dick winced, that must have hurt.

As the man stumbled backwards, Dick sent a kick to his stomach and the man flew backwards into his friend; both of them tripping over the unconscious body of the third before their heads smacked the harsh ground. The fourth man in the green mask dropped his metal pipe instantly, Dick could see him basically quaking in his black spiked boots. Dick threw his stick into the air and caught it, and he could see the fearful look in the thug's eyes through the mask.

"That's all the time we have for show and fail today folks so I suggest you run before I change my mind." The thug didn't waste time in turning and running and Dick laughed loudly.

What a bunch of amateurs.

Though it didn't seem like those guys were capable of hac—

Dick's train of thought was cut off as someone grabbed his left bicep from behind and their other hand wrapped around him, a knife pressed against his throat. "We can do this the easy way, where you come with me with no issues and no one has to get hurt, or the hard way where I break a few of your bones in the process." Dick ignored the fear in his gut and put on a cocky front even if he had a feeling he would regret it later.

"Weren't you captured by the League Sportsmaster? Or did you just get lost trying to find your way back to loser city?"

Sportsmaster allowed a smirk to spill across his lips behind his grey hockey mask. He always knew this damn kid had guts, even back five years ago when he was still Robin. He knew the kid liked to glare at death when it stood before him or shove haunted phantoms out of his way to get the job done.

"You got balls kid, I'll give you that. But I suggest you cooperate so that you can make it through this alive." He hissed, his lips by Dick's ear.

He waited a moment, for that one moment when the bad guy always thought they were in control and loosened their grip for just a spilt second, before slamming his head backwards and knocking Sportsmaster off him.

Dick tumbled forwards, grabbing two batarangs (wingarangs as he liked to call them) from his belt and tossing them towards Sportsmaster, Batman's teachings of 'no killing' long forgotten as Dick watched the sharpened, flying knifes glide through the air. Sportsmaster pressed a hand to his mask, which now had a large crack towards the top, and laughed. His laughter was haunting as it grew louder and louder, and he let out a even brasher roar of mirth when one of Dick's batarangs found it's destined target and buried itself in Sportsmaster's right shoulder blade.

Dick ignored the painful throbbing in the back of his head and the smell of metallic blood floating around him so that he could quickly call Alfred. The butler answered in a matter of seconds, voice frantic and vexed. "Oh thank God you're alright, Master Richard what happ—"

"No time for fanciness Alfred, the person after me is Sportsmaster." Dick paused and looked up at the villain in front of him who was currently pulling out the sharpened metal out of his shoulder and threw it to the ground. He sent a sinful glare Dick's way.

"Oh Nightwing, you shouldn't have chosen the hard way. You'll regret it soon enough." He started walking towards Dick and he scrambled to speak quickly to Alfred and find one of his sticks to at least have a fighting chance with.

"He is probably going to take me Al so I need you to tell Bru-Batman that it is code 129 in effect. Code 129 and code 456; key word B-E-T-A. Also tell KF that he still owes me that KitKat bar he stole from me on Tuesday. I love you guys."

He dodged a punch and then a jumped over Sportsmaster's attempt at knocking his feet out from under him. He got a hit in on Sportsmaster's bum shoulder and he knew it was a dirty way of fighting but he really didn't want to have to deal with the horrors the man undoubtedly had waiting for him.

"Growing slow in your old age Sporty?"

What he wasn't able to avoid was the unexpected punch to the gut and the flip afterwards. Dick landed on his back, the breath knocked from his lungs and all Alfred could do was watch helplessly. The young adult wheezed, struggling to stand up but failing miserly as Sportsmaster sent a punitive slap to his cheek and then picked him up by the front of his suit. Dick sent the best glower he could create at Sportsmaster, one that was close to Batman's scowl actually, and the blonde haired man simply chuckled.

"Don't you ever know when to stop fighting boy?" Dick stayed silent for a moment and Sportsmaster believed he had finally scared the kid into silence, until a huge wad of saliva landed in his face. He didn't flinch and Dick tried to keep his shock hidden, knowing he probably just signed his own death warrant. Everything was silent for a minute, the only thing disrupting it was Dick's panting every few seconds.

Then Sportsmaster threw Dick to the ground and kicked him hard in the ribs, even getting a stomp in on his face. His felt an aching behind his left eye and a shrill soreness near his jaw. Dick tried to squirm out of the way but had little luck as a lucky shot from the man above him nailed him in his spine.

He groaned and his ears went fuzzy, he could hear Alfred's voice muffled from someplace.

The last thing he saw was Sportsmaster's grey mask in his face and his hand caressing his cheek. "Didn't you see my message Nightwing? You are dismissed from duty, or at least you will be once and for all when I'm done with you." The next thing he knew Sportsmaster was tearing out Dick's suit tracker and ripping out the wires to his communicator.

Then the man stood up, seemingly towering over Dick, sending a powerful kick to Dick's face and the supposed hero of the night was rapidly bounded by darkness.

i sew myself shut

The phone unexpectedly rung which shattered the perfect moment between Wally and Artemis and he groaned lowly when she detached her lips from his. She pulled her tank top back down, running a hand down his bare chest.

"Let's just ignore it," Wally muttered, grabbing his girlfriend by the hips and pulling her back onto his lap. He started to press kisses to her neck and she laughed softly in response; shoving his hands off from holding onto her.

"What if it's someone important? Like Batman?" Wally shook his head, reaching over and pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"We retired from the team years ago babe," The twenty one year old mumbled, his green eyes sparkling with mischief. Artemis shook her head, standing up and walking towards the kitchen.

"Just answer the phone Baywatch, it could be Nightwing asking for a favor or something. Wouldn't want to ignore your best friend right?" The twenty year old answered, grabbing a pan from one of the cabinets of their apartment and placing it on the stove.

Wally let out a loud whine, "What does a guy have to do to get some alone time with his woman?"

Artemis rolled her eyes from the kitchen as Wally gradually stood up and moved like molasses over to the phone. "Your 'alone time' was going to get interrupted anyway. I have to make lunch."

Wally made it over to the phone just as the final ring went off, the man grabbing it and pushing the receiver up to his ear. He had no idea who would be calling around one in the afternoon on a Saturday. "Hullo?" He questioned, not caring how his words seemed uncaring and garbled.

"Flash, we have a problem." Wally became instantly alert when it was Bruce's frantic voice on the other end of the phone. He knew Bruce was never one to become nervous or weary in any way. Not when he was the fearless Batman.

"What happened?" Wally straightened up his posture, moving closer to the front door so that Artemis couldn't hear the phone call. He was afraid her father had escaped or that her sister was after her again. Why else would Bruce be calling?

"Nightwing is gone."

The man felt the world close in around him, a discourteous numbness overwhelming his gut. Dick was gone? "What do you mean Dick's gone?" Wally whispered into the phone, glancing up to make sure Artemis couldn't hear him as she continued to cook lunch.

Bruce figured Dick had told Wally of his secret identity, the two were such close friends that it was like they had been brothers their entire life. As much as he didn't like the idea of Wally knowing Dick's real name, he just pushed it away. The kid wasn't a clone of him, he was allowed to have different feelings about being a superhero than Bruce. The older man had taught him everything he knew.

Wally could hear a sigh come from Bruce on the other end after a minute or two, "What I mean is that we have to get the team back together because Dick has been kidnapped."

The world stopped spinning for Wally, as he felt his mouth moving without permission.

"Artemis and I will be at the cave in ten."

A part of him heard Bruce respond about M'gann, Conner and Kaldur meeting the two there but it was stifled in his mind. The next thing he knew he was picking up his black shirt from the side of the couch, throwing it over his defined body and grabbing his jacket off the coat rack along with Artemis'.

"Wally? What's going on?" He just hit the power button on the stove and grabbed his girlfriend's arm; dragging her towards the door.

"It's Nightwing. He's been captured. I told Batman we would be at the cave in ten."

Artemis got a determined look in her eyes, Dick was like the little brother she never had.

"We can make it there in five."

my weakness is

The team barely had time to say hello to each other after not seeing one another for so long, but they were too worried about Dick to really do anything else.

Wally had given M'gann a tight friendly hug as soon as he walked in and saw the dried tear trails on her flushed green cheeks. Kaldur gave Artemis a quick hug and then Conner patted her awkwardly on the shoulder (the one thing he still didn't fully understand was human comfort).

After the short greetings were passed, the team turned to a distraught looking Batman who already had the final video footage of Dick before he was taken up on the holographic computer.

He didn't say anything, instead waiting until all of the teens' attention was directed at the board before hitting play. After the video finished; M'gann had new tears leaking out of her eyes, Artemis was quietly swearing her father out under her breath, Kaldur had to keep taking deep breaths to calm himself, Conner's rage was at its peak and Wally's hands were balled into fists.

"This is the last contact we've had with Nightwing, the video feed and his suit tracker both cut out at 2:18 in the morning." Batman stated hoarsely, tapping a few more letters on the keyboard which brought up Nightwing's standard picture and apartment location. Where his name, date of birth, origins and the rest of his info was blocked out by was looked like a black line. "Nightwing is estimated to have left the cave around 12:57 last night and then proceeded to go through the zeta beam but ended up re-routed to Gotham City instead of where his apartment is in Blüdhaven."

"Didn't you fix that weeks ago?" Artemis questioned, to which Batman sourly nodded to.

"Yes. Nightwing noticed the change and contacted me so I looked it up and it turns out someone—"

"Sportsmaster." Wally growled as the man's face came up on the computer, hitting his fists against the wall.

"—used Robin's B20 ID to hack into the cave's computer mainframe and made the tube transport Nightwing to Gotham City for that night only. He thought ahead and tried to make the system wipe it's own memory but I stopped it before that could happen."

Batman knew he couldn't say Alfred but it seemed as if Wally read his mind and knew the truth (simply because Wally knew someone like Alfred would be up at whatever time to help any of the Wayne family).

Artemis let out a shaky breath and placed a hand on Wally's shoulder, her boyfriend tensing up at the impulsive touch. "What do the codes 129 and 456 mean?" Conner asked, Batman running a hand down his cowl in a feeble attempt to rub at his eyes and stay awake (he had gotten up as soon as Alfred woke him and hadn't gone back to sleep yet, but he wasn't going to rest until he found his adopted son).

"B-E-T-A is code for 'urgent alert, priority one' while 129 means a code red—identity possibly known along with a side note to not come after him. 456 is an order for who can run the team in his place, this team, and is Kid Flash's certain code."

The entire team looked to Wally and he felt his cheeks go cherry.

Dick choose him?

Over Kaldur?

"Di-Nightwing choose me to lead?"

Wally thinks Batman actually sends him a smile but doesn't look into it. He's probably loopy from no sleep. "Yes. I'm breaking you into two teams. Team One will consist of Aqualad, Superboy and Miss Martian and you three will head to Nightwing's last known location and look for clues. Team Two will have Kid Flash and Artemis, you two will head to Nightwing's apartment and see if there is anything there that will lead us to something."

Everyone nodded and started to move out, Batman grabbing Wally softly by the shoulder before the man could exit.

"We have to find him Kid."

He sent Bruce a small smile. "We will."

Wally just hoped his words weren't lies.

that i care too much

Every part of him was in mountains of suffering. That's the only damn way he could describe it.

His heart was throbbing disturbingly, rushed little thump, thumps barreling through his body.

His chest felt like it was on fire but also frozen in ice at the same time.

A wave of discomfort would hit him from the right side of his ribcage every time he breathed.

He started to lose consciousness after a few minutes of the repeating troubles and Dick welcomed it gratefully.

Sleep was painless.

Sportsmaster stood up from the wooden stool he was sitting on after watching the hanging man for a moment, happy about how he finally got the kid to shut up. The whole time all he did was yap snarky comments Sportsmaster's way and the older man was sick of it ("Hey Sporty, can I go home yet? I think it's past my bedtime.", "Is that the worse you can do? My dead grandmother is rolling in her grave.", "You aren't gettin' shit from me Sporty." and let's not forget the cocky comments every time Sportsmaster left and came back—"Hiya Sports, did you finally give up? Tired yet?").

So he gave the boy a lesson in listening, a lesson in respecting his elders.

Dick hadn't spoken one word since the most recent beating from the man, which resulted in a large slice in his side, and Sportsmaster was enjoying the fresh stillness. He saw Dick's eyes flutter close from behind his mask and gained a malicious grin. "Oh no, no, no kid. No sleeping allowed. No pain, no gain right boy?"

He walked over to his medical table next to Dick and grabbed an adrenaline needle, roughly grabbing Dick's left arm and forcefully stabbing the needle point into the inside of his elbow. It took less than a millisecond for the drugs to kick in a wake Dick up, the man breathing heavily as he was shaken from his peaceful sleep.

Dick gained his focus and glared at Sportsmaster through his domino mask, shaking the chains wrapped around his wrists to try and break free—the veins in his arms grew bold at the trying movement; his chest muscles flexing hopelessly.

Sportsmaster grabbed a carving knife off the table next to him and got directly in Dick's face, grabbing the boy's chin and forcing him to look the man straight in the eye.

"What, no smartass remarks kid? Damn I was just getting used to your bubbling personally." He let go of Dick's chin to slap him in the face bitterly. Dick made no sound and Sportsmaster chuckled. "Well then hero, tell me the names and all of this will stop. Who's Batman? Superman? Flash?" Dick didn't move and held in the wince trying to break out as Sportsmaster started to press the knife's tip into his left bicep. "How about Wonder Woman? Or Captain Marvel? Oh! I know, what about that little running brat . . . Kid Flash?"

Dick snapped to attention at the mention of Wally's name and tried to move again.

"Don't you touch him. Don't you dare try to go near him." Dick whispered and it would've been menacing to anyone else.

"Didn't I teach you a lesson about talking Nightwing? I guess another punishment is in order." The next thing Dick knew, the knife was carving into his arm and he could only scream loudly because of the excruciating agony.

Sportsmaster's amusement drowned out Dick's screams after a while.

and my scars remind me that the past is real

"There's nothing here!" M'gann cried out desperately, throwing her arms up and yelling out in frustration. Kaldur sighed and looked over to Conner who simply shrugged and moved towards M'gann carefully. "We aren't going to find him." She muttered once Conner was close enough to her and he simply tugged the woman into a hug.

"We are going to find him. Over my dead body." Conner answered, and Kaldur eyed the dried blood they saw on the rooftop earlier wearily.

M'gann nodded into Conner's shoulder before he pulled away and looked around the area one last time.

"Maybe Flash and Artemis have found a lead, for that is all we can hope for." Kaldur said, eyeing his two other teammates cautiously.

M'gann sniffled once more before the night went noiseless again.

i tear my heart open just to feel

Dick was breathing severely, gasping for air urgently because every breath he took felt like he got nothing. Sportsmaster stared greedily at the blood now coating the floor and the knife that rested back on the mini table.

"Whenever you think you are something Nightwing, just glance at your arm and remind yourself of what you really are. Little piece of shit—"

The door across the room opened surprisingly, a man dressed in a gleaming white scientist coat walking towards the two. He had grey hair that spiked up all over his head, his eyes ablaze with the need to experiment on something. He reminded Dick of the movie Psycho for some reason. He looked at Sportsmaster and then to Dick, seemingly to inspect his body for something he was looking for.

"Did you make the cut?"

Dick could see Sportsmaster roll his eyes behind him. "It's on his right side. Should be ready for your work."

The scientist moved over to look at the grotesque gash and Dick felt sick to his stomach when he saw the odd, crazed look eloping the man's eyes. "It's perfect. You did great Mister Crock, I will give you your payment once I am done with this young soul. Please stand guard for me outside the door."

Sportsmaster turned to leave, "If he dares to speak just try your hand with some of the knifes next to you. Though I don't think he will because as you can see, his last punishment is still lingering."

"Thank you for the tips Mister Crock."

The scientist waited until Sportsmaster left the room and slammed the door behind him before turning to Dick and reaching for his mask. Dick's eyes widened and he tried to do something, anything to prevent the unavoidable from happening. "N-No, please. I'll do anything."

He didn't want to put his friends in danger.

He couldn't.

The man chortled, "Sorry my dear boy, work is work." He pulled of Dick's mask and didn't seem surprised, it was like he already knew who Dick was before unveiling his mask. Next the man pulled the wooden stool over to Dick and where his gash was, taking a few knifes off the table beside him. "Let's see how pure you are shall we my dear Richard?"

Dick's shrieks actually caused Sportsmaster to wince slightly from outside the room.

i saw you going down

Things just weren't adding up.

Dick put him in charge of the team, even with his hotheadedness and quirky temper. Then out of all of the things he could've said he wanted Alfred to tell Wally that he owed Dick for the candy bar he stole out of Dick's apartment the week before.

What was he missing?

There had to be a clue somewhere.

Wally scanned Dick's apartment bedroom and he could hear Artemis' light footfalls slowly moving around the roof on lookout. The speedster wandered over to where Dick's kitchen was, chuckling to himself at the mess, and opened up the top left cabinet where the hero hid his candy at whenever Wally came over. The only thing out of place that Wally saw was that Dick was running low on candy bars and rolled his eyes at the irony.

He reached his hand in and grabbed for the Twix bar in the back left corner, pulling it out and subconsciously already trying to undo the wrapper.

But when he didn't feel the brass of a wrapper on his fingers, he looked down and saw none other than a black, square little GPS staring him vacantly back in the face.

He ran his finger across the top of the GPS, feeling a small button on the end. He clicked it and the screen came to life, showing a digital 3D globe of the world. He nearly dropped the damn thing when a woman's voice spoke to him through the tracker.

"Place state the last and first name of the person you wish to track."

Wally wanted to make sure the thing worked first so he tried the stupidest track of a person of all time. "Find West, Wally."

"Calculating."

The globe zoomed in and in until it showed an above head view of Dick's apartment. Big, bold and blocky font letters filled across the top of the screen. "Wallace West is currently in the outskirts of Gotham City; in a small town called Blüdhaven. Sixteenth Street Apartment Complex, apartment number 171. Apartment number 171 is owned by Richard Grayson."

Wally stared in shock at the device in his hand, until he knocked himself out of his stupor and laughed quietly. "Damn it Dick, you are always one step ahead of everybody aren't you buddy?" He murmured to no one in particular, "Find Grayson, Dick."

"Calculating."

As the GPS went to work on finding Dick, Wally reached up and grabbed a Snickers bar, closing the cabinet and loading the candy bar into the snack storage in his suit.

"Richard Grayson is currently in Gotham City. The street address is Thirty-Fourth Avenue, in an abandoned medical lab. The lab is owned by Lawrence Crock."

Wally didn't waste a moment in sending the coordinates to the rest of the team and then quickly walked out the unlocked door (Dick didn't lock it anymore considering every time he used to Wally would lose his key and object about Dick locking the door on purpose when he never was) to meet Artemis outside and hurry to the labs.

Wally just hoped Dick was still in one piece.

but you never realized

"Are you sure this is the place Wally?" He nodded at Kaldur's question, pointing to the map located on the GPS he was carrying. The team walked up to the front door and tried to open it, shocked when it did in fact open.

They walked inside judiciously, "Stay close to me." Wally murmured to Artemis who smiled at his protective tone of voice.

"Team to Batman, we found the building. Entering now—"

"Aqualad watch out!" M'gann screamed telepathically as Sportsmaster jumped down from the ceiling and towards Kaldur. He rolled out of the way just in time and Conner came up from behind Sportsmaster but failed in punching him as the man turned around and dodged easily.

He saw his daughter hidden behind Wally's puffed up body and laughed childishly.

"Coming to save your friend baby girl? I'm afraid it's a little too late for that."

"Where is Nightwing?" She shouted, throwing as much bravery as she could into her tone. Sportsmaster smirked behind his hockey mask, Wally sending him a scowl.

"Basement 2C. Room 52. He's good as dead anyway. Besides, I told the kid Flash here would be next." Artemis turned to Wally as Kaldur used his water whips to flip Sportsmaster onto his back.

"Go!"

Wally looked unsure, "Artemis I'm not going to leave you babe,"

She shoved him towards the stairs, "Go get Nightwing. I'll be fine!"

With a final glace to his girlfriend he speed off towards the stairs.

that you're drowning in the water

"Basement 2C. Room 52." Wally muttered to himself in a repeating fashion as he zoomed down the staircase, quickly glancing at each sign he passed. He skidded to a stop as he saw the sign for the secluded part of the basement he was looking for. After trying the knob and finding the door be locked, he kicked it open—not caring who heard him.

Right now his main priority was finding his little brother.

He slowly started to walk down the hallway, straining his ears for any hasty reverberations. The neon lights flickered with each explosion that came from above and he could've swore he saw something move from the corner of his eye. He shook off the feeling of being watched as he approached the end of the hallway; worry filling his gut.

"52! Oh thank God,"

Wally didn't have too much time to think anymore because he heard a loud grunt behind him and turned around just in time to avoid a metal pipe from jamming into his skull. The man that tried to attack Wally looked like he was from one of the many crazy scientist movies Wally had watched; his white lab coat was ripped in several places. Blood was gushing from a large gash below his chin, his green eyes chilled Wally to the very core.

"Ah Kid Flash. Coming to save your friend? I'm so sorry to have to tell you the news but though Nightwing put up a good fight and got a few good hits on me, as you can see, but he is no longer with us." The scientist lifted a hand up to wipe the blood off his neck, chuckling to himself as Wally stood frozen in front of him. "I have to say it's a valiant effort; tracking the boy down and then trying to sneak in here to save him. I applaud you Wallace."

Wally's stomach dropped to his knees.

His wrath disappeared as a new fear overtook him, because Dick would never give up his identity. He knew that, he believed that. He just wouldn't. "What did you just say?" Wally was proud of how sturdy his voice came out, rivaling the true feeling of terror immersing him.

"Oh don't play dumb Kid. I know who you are and the people closest to you. Richard was very helpful in filling me in. He was acting difficult at first but after a few screams he gave up. As you all do." Wally hated how calmly the man talked, like as if he had everything planned out from the start—like as if he was safe from everything.

As if he had known Dick and Wally for a while.

As atrocious as Wally felt about the man knowing his name; he was more concerned about Dick at the moment. So the next thing he knew, he had the man pinned against the polished greying wall in front of him, blood from the older man's cut splattering over the walls from the unforeseen speed.

"Where. Is. He."

The man smirked scandalously, "With his parents by now I would think. Such a shame I couldn't make his death more like theirs. It would've been so poetic."

Wally growled lowly, letting out a snarl that could rival Wolf's. He pushed on the man's throat, "Tell me where he is right now or else it won't be just your blood on the walls." If his words weren't enough, Wally sent a ferocious punch to the man's stomach to hint towards more; causing the scientist to cringe and choke out a strangled laugh.

"My dear boy, didn't you hear what he told you upstairs? Room 52. But I would—"

"Stop lying to me." Wally's grip around the man's throat tightened slowly as his patience ran thin. The man looked unamused, he actually seemed mad that Wally had cut him off. But the speedster didn't care. He needed to find his baby bro. "Tell me where the hell Nightwing is!" He shouted, the man simply staring at the boy in front of him. He said nothing.

Wally waited a few seconds and then yelled in anger, sending a well-aimed punch to the man's face; dropping his limp body and turning towards the final door at the end of the hall.

He entered the room and felt physically sick at what he saw.

The room was a small, square box with darkened black walls and a strong smell of piss and burnt skin. Two simple lights hung from the ceiling, shadowing a figure hanging by their hands on the far wall. Wally started to walk towards the body, a churning feeling appearing in his gut. Bile was crawling it's way up his throat, the smell of freshly burnt skin nearly causing him to gag.

"No," he muttered to himself as he got closer. But nothing prepared him for what he saw when he got to the young adult, and he had to use every part of his brain to stop himself from getting sick at the sight.

Dick was hanging by his arms—the chains that were draped around his wrists the only things holding him up. His head was lolled forward against his chest, matted black hair hiding his eyes and the rest of his face. Wally quickly took in the rest of his friend's injuries before moving forward and starting to work, attempting to unchain his left hand first. Dick's Nightwing suit had been torn in half, leaving his torso bare but his bottom half still clothed.

His slim muscled chest was covered in lacerations, burn marks and knife cuts. Wally was mainly concerned about the huge gash resting on his right side, it was angled like as if someone had tried to cut into him like a pig for slaughter.

A part of Wally didn't want to dare look at the marks covering his arms but did anyway, seeing more cuts and scratches.

The biggest and most sickening injury so far was what was on the inside of Dick's left bicep. Wally knew that it was a brand or carving of some sort but he couldn't get a good enough look to see what that words said. He opted not looking at it, knowing he needed his head in one place.

There was needle marks on the inside of Dick's left elbow and Wally felt dizzy just from thinking about what they did to his best friend.

He cussed lowly when he couldn't get the chains off, moving over and feeling Dick's neck for a pulse. He felt a faint thump, thump under his fingers and nearly sighed in relief. That's when Wally noticed that Dick's mask wasn't covering his face, and he shook his head in disbelief. He turned and looked around the room but saw no sign of his friend's mask and that's when he heard the footsteps of the rest of the team approaching.

He let go of Dick reluctantly, because he knew that he needed to find something to use as a makeshift mask, Wally knew how important it was to Dick that no one found out his true identity.

He knew that Dick didn't want to put anybody in alacritous danger, with how many times he had been kidnapped as Robin back in the day because of Batman to be used as leverage.

Or how many times he had been kidnapped as Richard Grayson to be used as leverage against Bruce Wayne.

Wally understood where his best friend was coming from, Dick figured he was too high of a risk as it was and if anyone knew his civilian ID He feared they would be next to be kidnapped and tortured (but he did tell Wally on his own account, no underage drinking needed to coax it out of him on Wally's part).

"What can I use . . . damn it Wally think!" He lowly whispered angrily to himself.

The only thing that could come to mind was a blindfold by ripping off some of his own suit. He didn't want to do that but he could hear the buzzing in the far depths of his mind as the team's telepathic link came back into play because they were closer now and getting closer as the minutes passed.

Wally turned to his left arm and carefully ripped off a strip of his yellow suit in as thin as a line as he could; he didn't want to scare Dick anymore then he would be if he woke up.

Wally reached up and gently tied the blindfold around Dick's eyes, being mindful of the bruises and small cuts lining his face, and just as he tied a knot around the back of Dick's head Artemis' voice reached him in a small shout.

"Wally!" He flipped around just in time for her to crash into him in a hug, wrapping her arms right around his back. He returned the hug, holding her as close to him as he could. He saw just Conner enter the room after a moment and his collective shock once they saw Dick hanging behind Wally. M'gann and Kaldur were upstairs, loading Sportsmaster onto the bio-ship.

"Conner," he turned toward Wally at the sound of his defeated voice. "Can you get the chains off him? I-I tried but they just wouldn't come off." Conner nodded and moved slowly towards Dick, like as if he was a piece of china your parents scolded you for even going near.

Wally felt his girlfriend's tears damp his shirt and he chuckled softly, pressing a kiss to her hair. "When you just ran off to go and find Nightwing I was terrified; even if I did tell you to go. We were all too busy fighting m-my dad to use the link and—"

She choked on a sob and Wally shushed her gently.

"It's okay babe, I'm right here. See? No blood, no broken bones."

She pulled away from him; punching him lightly in the shoulder, "You got lucky this time Baywatch."

He cracked a grin at his 'nickname' and was about to say something back when Dick screamed from behind them.

so i offered you my hand

"Why the hell is there a blindfold on him? Take it off!" Conner shouted but Wally shook his head as he helped hold Dick down on the ground so he wouldn't worsen his injuries more.

"No we can't! His mask is missing."

Artemis struggled with holding down Dick's right arm while Conner easily held down his left, Wally fraught with holding the rest of his body down. "What the hell does that matter? He knows all of our secret identities so why is he still hiding his?"

Wally knew it was more of a question directed at him but he also knew it wasn't his decision to make about if the rest of the team was allowed to know Dick's civilian ID. An idea hit him and he let go of Dick quickly.

"Let go of him and leave the room for a second you guys. I have an idea."

"Wally he's unstable and he's just as strong—if not stronger—than you now." Artemis argued, but Wally shook his head.

"Just give me a few minutes with him. Secure Sportsmaster and then come back."

Conner and Artemis still disagreed with Wally's irrational idea but they knew Wally wasn't going to budge. The two stood up and Wally waited until the door shut to swiftly reach over to Dick and ripped off the blindfold covering his eyes.

compassions in my nature

"Dick, it's okay. You're safe now."

Dick slowly opened his eyes at his friend's voice, freezing in place and just staring.

Was this real?

Was he saved?

"It's alright buddy." Wally held up his hands, "See? No weapons, no tricks. It's me."

Wally moved closer to Dick and then without any warning Dick reached up and hugged Wally, his arms clinging onto the man like a lifeline. Wally sighed, patting Dick's back. "It's okay Dick, I gottca. Sportsmaster is going to go away for a long time."

Wally could hear his wheezing breaths, the sticky sound of clogged tears. "You went and g-got more candy f-from my apartment d-didn't you? You g-got the message? 'Bout the d-damn KitKat bar?"

Wally blinked away the glassy feeling in his eyes. "Yeah bud. I got the message. I got the message about the damn KitKat bar. Where in the hell did you get that GPS from?"

Dick chuckled weakly, the tiniest of smiles appearing on his face.

He pulled back from the hug enough so that his voice wasn't muffled anymore. "I'm so whelmed by you sometimes KF, y-you can be s-such an idiot. I'm h-held captive and y-your and pickin' out candy for yourself."

Wally scoffed, "I'm the one that just saved your ass, what are you talking about?"

Dick let go of Wally and that smile was still there.

He was safe. He would be home and safe soon.

"Wally?"

"Yeah Dick?"

"You o-owe me a buck and thirty eight cents for the KitKat bar."

tonight is our last stand

They never learn the name of the scientist, he's long gone when Wally exits with Dick; his blood left behind. Batman and Alfred run countless checks in the world database to look for him but nothing ever comes up, even with Superman and The Flash flying and running all across the world for the man.

but at least i can say i tried

He heals.

It's slow and he gets tired easily and he won't be able to watch over Blüdhaven for a while.

Not until he's healed completely, which might not ever happen.

But Wally and Artemis volunteer to watch over Blüdhaven and when they do three weeks after he's rescued—Dick cracks the first joke in a while. He says they can stay in his apartment but if he catches Wally raiding his candy cabinet or them doing it on his brand new couch he claims that he's going to kick Wally's ass.

The redhead believes him and instead when Artemis and he get into heated situations they go in his room and Wally hopes Dick never finds out what happens on his bed.

Five weeks after his rescue Bruce randomly comes in and pulls Dick into a tight hug, saying how sorry he is for pushing him so hard and not being able to find him faster. They stay looked in the hug for a while and when Alfred walks in after grabbing a glass of water from the kitchen in the cave he sets the glass down and Bruce moves so that Dick can tell good ol' Al that it isn't his fault.

They are a broken bat family but Dick wouldn't want anything else.

Three months in he tells Wally that Artemis can know his civilian ID.

She punches him the next chance she gets for the selfie he took of them on the first day of school all of those years ago.

It takes a few months before Dick can watch over his city again and he doesn't want to be alone quite yet so he asks Artemis and Wally to stay with him for a while longer and they just hug him. Family always, right?

Dick does well and doesn't have any setbacks until around two months later when he thinks everyone is asleep and gets an early morning shower before going out as Nightwing. The clock strikes four in the morning as Dick walks out clad in just a towel and sees Wally leaning against the counter in the kitchen, half asleep.

When his glazed over eyes finally are able to read the words forever scared on the inside of Dick's left arm he doesn't know to say something or not. Dick just tells him it's alright and the next day he customizes his Nightwing suit so that the inside of his arms aren't covered by black anymore and instead show off his pale arms—instead show off his scar from Sportsmaster.

It helps him heal in a strange way but when Bruce sees it he gives a classic Batman frown to his son, Wally pats him on the back, Artemis hugs him tightly and says sorry, M'gann gives him a shy smile and then says 'thanks for being the bravest out of all of us', Conner gives him a hard look at first but then a short smile slips across his lips and Kaldur understands.

And Dick's okay with all of that.

Because they are his family and he is the superhero who is still broken at times but kicks ass the same way he did when he was younger.

and i left my heart open

"Did you complete the test you wanted to get done sir?" The man shakes his head with a hefty sigh, running his hands down his face. His long fingernails leave behind red marks when he let them fall from his face.

"No. Grayson go away before we got that far. Should've just kidnapped that Wally kid, then I could've gotten my answers twice as fast."

but you didn't understand

"Kidnapping a super would've been way too dangerous sir."

The man scoffs, "Richard was dangerous but I fared perfectly well Father!" His immediate shout started the older man sitting across from his son; his blue eyes flaring hauntingly.

"Son," The father tried, his worrisome eyes reluctantly glancing at the dried blood slashed across his son's neck like a rope waiting to be hung.

"I don't need permission from you Father. Aren't we in this together?"

The father's face twisted into something unrecognizable, something of a hesitant emotion.

His son noticed and stood up, walking over to the large window across the room. He crossed his hands behind his back, "We are in this together aren't we?" He whispered, closing his orbs for a moment.

go fix yourself

"Sir," his father gulped soundlessly, wishing he was back in the times when his son was young and carefree and didn't threaten him or make him call him 'sir'; "hiring a mercenary and giving him a payment that will never be used because he got caught, kidnapping people who are basically still children, wanting to kidnap a speedster—you are still thriving after a cure that is impossible to find!"

The son watched the rain puddle outside the window, heard the thunder boom in the sky, and chuckled at the lightening darting across the sky. "Father," the man in question held his breath as his son took off his scientist coat—which was filled with dried crimson and torn in so many damn places—and threw it across the room, "I will never stop looking for a cure. Richard Grayson was supposed to be the key to it all and now I have nothing. Nothing to show as my work."

The structure they were in shook the next time a loud roar of thunder boomed and the scientist gently rested his hand on the frigid glass of the window.

"There are better ways to go about this son. Normal ways. Safe ways."

"The only issue Dad, is that I'm not normal."

He avoided looking at his reflection in the window, not wanting to see himself.

He didn't want to give himself more scars.

It was always better when he took out his rage through someone else.