He woke up, and immediately wished he hadn't. His mind felt horribly scraped and raw. Even though his eyes were still closed, the light in the room burned through his eyelids, stabbing into his brain. Everything hurt. Could hair hurt? Yes, he decided, yes it could.

"Dick?" the voice was incredibly soft, as if he knew the slightest sound caused him pain.

"Brss?" he whispered back, his throat dry and hoarse.

There was a sigh of relief, then the sound of footsteps heading away from him. Dick let out a sigh of relief as there was a click and the lights went out. He took a few deep breaths before he dared to open his eyes.

Through the darkness, he made out Batman's silhouette sitting beside his bed.

"Better?" Bruce asked.

Dick began to nod, then stopped with a groan of pain.

"Try not to move," Bruce ordered too late. "Your mind and body need to recover from the attack."

"Mm…over? …e's gone?" Dick whispered blearily.

"Yes," Bruce answered. "Your team recovered from the initial attack and was able to escape. Before you try and ask, they're all fine. The telepath who…interrogated you has been apprehended, along with the other men who were with him."

Dick's heart began to pound, and his breathing quickened. "Did-did I tell him anything?"

"No. You did incredibly well, Dick. He got nothing from you."

Dick's breath released in a relieved sigh. Then he frowned. Bruce's voice had sounded…off.

"What's wrong?" Dick could see the dark circles under his mentor's eyes even in the dark room.

"This shouldn't have happened," Bruce finally admitted after a moment of silence. His face, though he tried to hide it, was anguished. "So many things could have been prevented. All the signs that this mission was a trap were there, and I failed to see them."

"Neither did we," Dick argued softly. "But it's over with, and we're ok. Well, relatively ok. And like you said, he didn't get anything from me. I kept all of the secrets."

"You shouldn't have had to. He would have broken you, destroyed your mind until there was nothing left, just to get information on the League. On me."

Bruce ran a hand over his face, looking far older than he was. "I should have been there."

Dick placed a hand on his mentor's, despite the pain that pulsed in his head from the movement. He thought of the warm, safe darkness that had been his refuge, of the stars that had watched over him, of the night that protected him.

"You were, Bruce. You were."