Dick rolled out of bed and stopped the alarm on his phone, glancing quickly at the reminder that had popped up on the screen before rolling his eyes and grabbing his Nightwing suit.

It had been nearly a week since Dick had last dared to let himself to go on patrol. The first two days had been spent in bed fighting off a fever, but after that it was simply the fear of what would happen if he tapped into the strange magical force Salt had instilled in him.

It was an assignment from the JLA that was calling Dick back out as Nightwing, something he hoped wouldn't require him to do anything magic related, but he honestly wouldn't be surprised if it did.

—

Dick arrived at the watchtower with folded arms and a slight scowl on his face. It only took a few minutes from the time when his name was announced for him to be peering over Bruce's shoulder at a screen while the man gave him the details of his assignment.

"You're being assigned as backup for a mission with the young justice," Bruce said gruffly.

It took a moment for the information to sink in, but when it did Dick's frown deepened. "And why can't someone else babysit the mini league?" He asked.

"We're going on a mission that'll have us occupied in space for a few days. We just need you to monitor coms and possibly help out if things go too far south," Bruce replied.

"Fine," Dick finally agreed.

"The team is at the cave training right now. A room has been prepared for your stay," Bruce said, turning and walking away.

"Great... just what I need..." Dick grumbled, folding his arms and walking back towards the zeta tubes.

—

Dick's scowl was even more intense as he walked into the mountain. He was not looking forward to seeing the members of his original team... they wouldn't know him of course, but that didn't really make it any better.

There was a moment where Dick toyed with the idea of simply trying and find his temporary room on his own, but he ultimately decided that it would be rude not to introduce himself.

All training immediately halted when Dick walked into the room, and the heroes who'd been sent to apprehend him shared a look.

"Hi," Dick said awkwardly.

"I can't believe this is the guy we couldn't capture," Conner muttered under his breath. "He must be like 12 or something."

Dick turned to Conner, his annoyance growing. "For your information Cloney... I am a legal adult, which is older than you... What are you... 3?" He said, putting his hands on his hips.

Conner growled and stomped forward.

"Friends," Kaldur said, stepping between the two. "Let us not fight."

"You better say that again Salty... I don't think the clone understands what the words not and fight mean when they're next to each other," Dick said, knowing perfectly well he was metaphorically poking a sleeping bear.

Conner bellowed and rushed past Aqualad, lunging at Dick, only to be met with empty air where the acrobat once was.

"Didn't you hear what Salty boi said?" Dick mocked. "No fighting," he said slowly, dancing out of the way of Conner's strikes all while leading him onto the sparring pad.

Conner growled and rushed towards Dick once again.

This time Dick stood his ground, smirking as Conner ran at him. He waited until Conner was almost to him before launching himself into the air, twisting and grabbing Conner's shoulders. He used all his strength and momentum to pull Conner backwards.

Conner fell hard onto his back, all the air that was in his lungs whooshing out and leaving him gasping on the ground.

Dick simply tucked his legs into a flip and landed lightly on his feet.

"Superboy, fail," the automated voice announced.

The rest of the teens stood, staring at Dick in awe as he bowed and walked out of the room, figuring that he'd just find his room on his own.

—

Dick stretched as he walked into the YJ mission room, raising a brow at the glare he was receiving from Conner. "Hey gang," he said, leaning against the wall.

This time the glares were from more than just Conner.

"We are leaving on our mission Nightwing. The equipment you shall use to monitor us is on the bioship," Kaldur said.

"Aye aye Captain Saltwater," Dick said with a mock salute.

Kaldur paused for a moment before continuing his instructions. "You are to man the coms so to speak, and provide backup if necessary."

Dick simply nodded this time, glancing at the people around him.

"Alright team, let's go," Kaldur said, leading the way onto the bioship.

As soon as they stepped into the ship, the layout reconfigured itself, adding an extra seat for Dick.

M'gann sent Dick a strange look. "Bioship knows you," she said.

Dick plopped into one of the seats. "Well I don't know how," he said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

The other heroes shrugged, pushing the thought to the back of their minds for now and settling into their seats for what was going to be a long journey.

—

Dick sat in the camouflaged bioship as it hovered above the thick jungle the others were currently trekking through. He'd hacked into the island's security systems hours ago, and was currently entertaining himself by setting off random alarms around the facility and watching as the armed guards ran to see what was going on... it was absolutely hilarious.

Dick jumped when he heard Robin's voice in his head, 'Guys... there's a bomb... a big one,' he said.

'Can't you disable it?' Wally asked, oblivious as ever.

'Can't you just fly it into outer space?' Tim sassed back.

'Right... what are we going to do then?' Wally asked sheepishly.

'Well if someone hadn't been spotted maybe we wouldn't be in this situation!' Artemis fumed.

'Hey! I can't help that I'm just too fabulous not to be seen,' Wally retorted.

'Guys. Bomb!' Tim said, trying to refocus the scattered conversation.

'Robin, can you send us your location?' Kaldur's voice came through the mental link. 'Everyone rendezvous there and we'll figure out what to do with the bomb.'

There was a chorus of mumbled answers, and Dick rolled his eyes. These supposed heroes were jokes. The job had been simple; retrieve a piece of kryptonite from the possession of a well known weapons dealer.

The job was something Dick could've done in his sleep, but of course the YJ team had the stealth level of a lighthouse foghorn.

Even with his complete control over the security system there was only so much that Dick could do to help when Wally decided to run straight into a platoon of armed guards...

Dick's moment of silence was interrupted by a message displayed on his holographic screen... The bomb Tim was trying to disarm wasn't the only one... it was part of a series of bombs meant to destroy the island in case of an invasion. He needed to get the team out of there.

'Team, you need to get out of there,' Dick said over the mental link, rushing to the bioship's controls and flying the ship towards Tim's location as fast as it could go.

'We're fine. I almost have the—' Tim's voice cut off and Dick swore under his breath as he saw an explosion in the distance.

Dick stopped the ship as close to the first explosion sight as he dared and jumped to the ground.

Conner was holding an unconscious M'gann in his arms, and Wally was holding Kaldur up with the help of Artemis.

"Where's Robin?" Dick shouted above the crackling of the flames.

Wally glanced back towards the flames and Dick turned and ran into the inferno without a second thought.

—

Dick coughed and stumbled through the smoke, looking for Tim's uniform.

He finally caught a glimpse of the yellow lining of Tim's cape and rushed towards his sort of brother.

Dick skidded to a halt when he nearly fell into a pit that seemed to have no bottom. He grabbed at his hair as he tried to think of a way to get Tim to safety.

The ground suddenly shook from another nearby explosion.

"No!" Dick shouted as Tim's body slid over the edge and into the pit.

Before he could even think, Dick's hand was stretched out, blue light shooting towards his brother and carrying him upwards again.

Sweat beaded on Dick's forehead as he willed the magic to drop Tim at his feet.

Once the magic disappeared Dick stumbled, his vision darkening. "No," he mumbled. "Can't pass out now..."

Dick bit his lip and focused on the tugging in his chest, wincing when the feeling intensified and he felt the magic swirling through his body, keeping him from passing out.

Tim whimpered when Dick picked him up, and the older's brows drew together in concern. "We'll be back to the bioship soon Robin," Dick soothed as he started running back through the flames.

—

Dick sat in the far corner of the bioship, watching as the others tended to Tim's broken wrist and burned back. He kept the magic circulating through his body, preferring to deal with the feeling of being turned into a human shish kabob rather than getting help from the people who'd replaced him so easily with another.

—

The Justice League was waiting for the heroes at the mountain when they returned.

Dick ignored any attempts at conversation with the various leaguers and headed straight towards the zeta tubes. He'd have to come back later to get his overnight bag, but he didn't much care at the moment.

"Nightwing," Bruce said, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.

'Oh carp...' Dick thought as he turned around. Batman was one the one hero he'd wanted to avoid the most.

"I... I just wanted to thank you..." Bruce said awkwardly. "For... for saving Robin."

Dick nodded, his head starting to spin. He could feel himself loosing whatever grasp he'd had on his magic. "N-no problem," he said with a weak smile.

Bruce's brow furrowed. "Are you ok?" He asked, reaching out a hand to steady Dick when he stumbled.

"D-don't... don't touch me... I... I don't... don't need your h-help," Dick said, pain spiking in his chest. He stumbled away from Bruce and grabbed his head, ripping the domino mask from over his eyes when his vision flashed black.

The room grew silent as the thin black fabric drifted to the ground.

"Dickie?" Bruce said in something near a whisper.

Dick looked up, trying desperately to stay conscious. He let out a pained whimper as his stomach twisted.

Bruce took a step forward, reaching out to help his son. "Dick, let me help you," he said.

Dick faltered, desperately wanting Bruce to just make everything better like he used to. His breathing hitched as a wave of pain passed over his body, and he fell forwards into Bruce's arms.

"Hey, stay with me bud," Bruce said, kneeling down and holding Dick to his chest.

Dick's head rolled to rest against Bruce's shoulder and he muttered something incoherent, letting his eyes slide shut.