Dick stared at his reflection in the uniform case. His reflection blended in perfectly with his Nightwing suit, making it seem as if he was truly wearing it at the moment. 

"It will always be yours."

Dick turned his head at the voice, Bruce coming to stand beside him.

"No one is giving up Dick. You shouldn't be either."

Dick turned his head to the side, disrupting the illusion.

"I-I'm not..."

He felt Bruce put a hand on his shoulder, prompting him to turn around and face him.

"It's alright."

Dick's face contorted for a moment, his brain struggling to settle on a single emotion.

In the end he hung his head, shame taking over his body, however misplaced that shame may be.

"I uh... I'm sorry. You've trained us to be stronger than this..."

"Dick, I raised you half your life... I know that you are one of the strongest people I know."

Dick raised his head back up, giving Bruce a sly smile.

"You're only saying that now because no one else is here to hear you say it."

Bruce's eyes crinkled, as it was true. He's never been one to show emotion well. However, there have been two major exceptions.

Alfred, of course.

And his... kids. Still, he's always been the most open with Dick. However, in private. Just as well, as they both preferred it that way anyways.

"Hmm, maybe but I'm not lying either."

"...Bruce, thank you. For everything. If you hadn't taken me in..."

Bruce's grip on his shoulder tightened.

"Don't talk like that, not now."

Dick merely shrugged and nodded slightly.

There was a beat of silence as they both stared at his suit before Bruce spoke up again.

"Tim will probably be coming down soon and Barbara should be here any minute... do you want to wear your suit to the Watch Tower?"

Dick bit his lip, torn. He did, he really did, but... he couldn't--

"I-I can't..."

"I know, I know. I'll help you."
_______________________________________

Dick had just put his mask on when both Tim and Alfred came down on the elevator, Tim coming out with a huge yawn escaping his mouth. 

"Hey Timmy..."

Tim's gaze landed on Dick and he gave him a small smile. 

"Hey bro..." 

The elevator dinged as soon as Alfred got off and shot back up to the surface.

"Guess Barbara's here."

Another yawn from Tim.

"And that would be my cue."

Tim grabs both his and Barbara's uniforms from the cases and starts to make his way to the changing rooms.

The elevator came back down and opened up to reveal Barbara and as she opened her mouth to say something Tim walked past and threw her the uniform so that it ended up covering her face.

"Here Babs!"

Dick snickered and gave a real smile, as Barbara slowly pulled off her uniform, playfully glaring at Tim as he walked away, a smug smirk on his face.

Barbara rolled her eyes before going up to Dick and giving him a quick kiss which resulted in an even bigger smile from Dick.

"We'll be right there with you." 

It was nothing more than a gentle whisper but it filled Dick with a much needed feeling of peace as she walked off towards the changing rooms, passing Bruce as he left that same area.

Dick watched Bruce as he walked towards him once again, giving him a slight nod as he came to stand beside him.

"Clark and the other founding members know Dick. They've made sure that Kaldur, Connor, and M'gann have arrived, they're waiting in the conference hall. Artemis was already there."

Dick raised an eyebrow.

"What... about Wally?"

"He's--"

Another ding from the elevator announced another's arrival.

"What?"

Confused, Dick spun around in the direction of the elevator, eyes widening as the person inside made an appearance.

"Wally?"

Wally gave a timid smile as he stepped out of the elevator, dressed in a simple lightning bolt shirt and jeans.

"Why... why are you here? I mean like here?"

He stopped just short of Dick, hands in his pockets.

"I have a lot to make up for, hopefully this could be a start."

Dick couldn't help but gape and nod at him, then turning his head towards Bruce as he cleared his throat.

Bruce eyed Wally for a moment before glancing at Tim and Barbara as they came back, gauging their reactions at seeing Wally.

"Are we ready then?"
_______________________________________

He ignored the stares of his old teammates and only focused on sitting at the chair at the end of the table before sitting down, keeping his gaze on the floor before finally bringing his eyes up to meet the stares of the others in the room.

And true to their word, Wally sat on one side of him with Artemis on Wally's other side, while Tim sat on the opposite side of Dick.

Barbara and Bruce stood just behind him, Barbara's hand placed on his shoulder.

Kaldur was the first to speak, worry evident in his voice.

"Dick, we came as soon as we were called. What is going on?"

Dick took a deep breath before slowly blowing it out through his nose, calming his nerves.

"I have something to say and... I would really appreciate it if no one would say anything until I'm finished."

Kaldur, Connor, and M'gann all glanced at each other with varying looks of concern and confusion on their faces before all three of them nodded.

"Okay... well the first thing is... I'm formally tendering my resignation as Nightwing. Effective immediately."

Three jaws practically dropped to the ground and Kaldur's mouth did open to protest before immediately closing again, remembering his promise.

"And... the reason for this is that...um..."

Dick hesitated before Barbara gave him an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder.

"I... have leukemia. I've actually had it for a while now, during the invasion. I've... already undergone treatment but it... hasn't worked."

Dick took a minute to take a deep breath while trying to judge from their faces, how much more his friends could take.

"My only real chance is a bone marrow transplant, ideally from a blood relative. But since I have no living relatives that's not really an option. My doctor is trying to find another suitable donor but they're not having much luck and yesterday... yesterday they told me that unless they find a suitable donor soon, I probably only have a year... if I'm lucky."

When he finished, it was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

All three of their faces were as white as snow and Dick briefly wondered if any of them were going to pass out.

"There is... really nothing to be done?"

"No Kaldur, at this point I'm looking at end of life care. And as for Nightwing... he's already dead."