Dick ran over the manor grounds, cursing himself for not thinking to find shoes before he left.

His heart pounded, breaths tight with anxiety. The owls could already be on their way...

The flash of a white mask caught his gaze, its wearer blending in with the tree line...

Dick slowed, approaching warily. He counted 13 talons... they were missing one...

Cobb dropped from the trees, landing in front of Dick with a knife in hand. 14... they were all there.

"Talon 6514," Cobb growled. "It is time for your execution."

Dick stiffened. He didn't want to die...

"Give yourself to us willingly and we'll spare the rest of the fake family you've built for yourself," Cobb offered.

Dick's resolve softened. "You promise?" He asked, his voice pitifully helpless. "No harm will be done to them?"

"I give you my word," Cobb answered with a sneer.

Dick squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, a tear rolling down his cheek. And then he was walking forward. Sacrificing himself.

In one fluid movement Cobb had Dick pinned against him, knife pressing between two of the acrobat's ribs.

Dick let out a surprised whimper as the blade was pressed further into his side.

"So pitiful," Cobb mumbled as he stabbed the blade into the ex-talon's flesh. "So easy to kill."

He drew the blade out and regarded it for a moment, glistening with fresh crimson blood.

Dick's knees gave out, Cobb's steel-like grip the only thing holding him off the ground.

And then Cobb let go, tossing Dick aside as if he were nothing more than a used tissue. He dropped the knife into the dirt, a wicked grin spread across his face. "Now burn the mansion to the ground," he ordered.

Dick's heart clenched, and he sucked in another painful breath. "Y-you gave your word," he cried, voice breaking.

"Yes," Cobb muttered. "But then again, what good is the word of a lier?"

Dick tried to push himself to his hands and knees, but Cobb simply hooked a foot around one of his arms and pulled it out from under him, sending him back to the ground.

"You don't h-have to do this," Dick tried to reason.

"Oh, but I think I do... you see, after I rid the world of you I'll be left with a bat problem," Cobb said. "And I've already faked my death once this week. I don't want to have to do it again."

Cobb turned to a nearby talon. "3859. Make sure they're all inside and then burn the place down," he ordered.

"No," Dick pleaded, pushing himself back to his feet.

Cobb stared at him with an amused smirk, as if watching him struggle was something to be laughed at.

Dick stood unsteadily, his fists raised in front of him, gaze determined.

He launched himself at his great grandfather, only to find himself on the ground again, a booted foot pressing down on his chest.

Dick gasped for air against the pressure on his chest. He couldn't lose... losing would mean the deaths of his family...

His thoughts grew foggy as he struggled. And then the pressure on his chest was gone.

The talons around him screeched, several falling to the ground with ice and frost covering parts of their skin.

Dick turned his head, almost sobbing when he saw his family. Alfred held a steaming cryogenic freezing gun in hand, the rest of the family close behind in a mix of pajamas and Kevlar.

Cobb's feral growl was silenced by a blast of ice, the rest of the talons falling soon after.

"Dickie," Bruce breathed as he pulled Dick into his arms.

Dick let his head fall to rest on Bruce's shoulder. "Dad," he mumbled, his body starting to feel heavy.

Tim ripped his pajama shirt into strips, kneeling next to Bruce and using them to wrap the wound on Dick's side.

"Let's get you back inside Master Dick," Alfred said.

Dick agreed, allowing Bruce to pull him to his feet, the elder supporting most of his weight as they made their way back to the manor.

"Not so fast," a sinister voice called... William Cobb.

Bruce's eyes widened when he saw the talon standing with the cryogenic gun in hand, Alfred lying crumpled at his feet.

Jason, Tim, and Damian, who'd stayed behind to tie up the frozen talons were in a similar state.

Bruce hunched over his eldest, acting as a human shield, ice spreading over his skin. He collapsed, pinning Dick to the ground.

Dick squirmed out from under Bruce, hauling himself to his feet. Rage pumped through him as he took in the twitching forms of his siblings, the ice coated back of his father figure.

Cobb stumbled back a step. Dick's eyes were glowing a bright golden-green, his fists clenched by his sides.

Dick could feel the wound in his side starting to mend itself, the tiny amount of electrum he had left racing through his body.

He attacked.

Dick dodged a beam from the gun Cobb carried, swinging a leg out for a kick.

Cobb jumped forward, landing in a roll. He popped up and fired at Dick again, the beam catching his shoulder.

Dick stumbled, the gold in his eyes flaring brighter for a moment.

He ran at Cobb, flipping over his shoulders and sending two quick punches at the back of the man's knees.

Cobb's knees buckled and he stumbled forward a step, turning and firing off the gun again.

Dick easily dodged, aiming a kick at Cobb's head.

Cobb jumped up, catching Dick's kick and roughly dislocating his kneecap with the butt of the gun.

Dick screamed, sweat beading on his forehead as the pain made the world around him seem to swirl.

Cobb, threw him to the ground with a wicked chuckle. "Can't run anymore can you?" He said, approaching the fallen acrobat.

Dick squeezed his eyes closed, whimpering pitifully when Cobb nudged his dislocated knee with the toe of his boot.

Cobb grinned, another of his deadly sharp knives glinting in his hand, cryogenic gun abandoned in favor of the wickedly sharp blade

Dick's vision swam as he looked up at the man.

"Your time is up," the talon hissed.

Dick turned and started to crawl across the frost streaked grass.

Cobb laughed, a heavy boot coming to rest on Dick's back.

Dick's breath caught...

Cobb leaned down to hiss a whisper in Dick's ear as he drove his second knife into the acrobat's side. "Give up."

Dick gasped, coughing up black blood. It seemed the rest of the electrum was finally leaving his body.

"N-no," he mumbled, turning back toward Cobb.

Cobb huffed a slightly amused laugh, already twirling another knife in his hand. "Fine," he replied coolly. "I enjoy a challenge."

He lunged, knife flashing... and then he was falling to the side, ice spreading across his skin.

Dick propped himself up on one arm, the cryogenic gun smoking in one hand. He fired it again and again at the talon before he let it slip from his grasp.

He collapsed the rest of the way to the ground, gaze blurring.

Alfred's face swam into view a moment later, the butler's lips moving as if he was telling him something.

Dick didn't understand what the butler was saying, but soon there was a sharp pain in his leg.

More pajama shirts were ripped to hastily stabilize both the knife and Dick's knee before Bruce eventually lifted him into his arms.

"You just keep getting hurt don't you?" He asked quietly.

Dick couldn't understand what Bruce had said, but he was soothed as the familiar sound of the man's voice washed over him. He rested his head against Bruce's shoulder and let his eyes flicker closed. He was tired, and it was surely way past his bedtime.

—

Dick wasn't sure whether he was dead or alive when he managed to open his eyes.

Sunlight streamed into a white room, making everything seem to glow.

Bruce sat in a chair next to Dick's bed, his eyes closed. He was tapping his foot, seemingly pretending he was completely awake even as he began to nod off.

Dull pain throbbed just under the surface of Dick's consciousness, flaring for a moment each time he sucked in a breath.

"Bruce?" He mumbled, gaining the attention of the elder. "Am I dead?"

Bruce chuckled. "No, you're in Leslie's clinic," he explained.

Dick closed his eyes for a moment. "They should paint the walls or something... -s confusing," he said, drawing another laugh from Bruce.

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asked.

Dick's face fell. "Physically?" He asked, waiting a moment before continuing. "I feel fine... granted that's probably because of pain meds."

Bruce grabbed one of Dick's hands in his own. "What about emotionally?" He asked.

Dick was shocked. Bruce asking about emotions? Maybe he really had died...

He was silent for a long time, now that he was finally sitting still everything from the past few months was coming crashing down on him.

A sob made its way past Dick's lips. He turned his head away from his father figure, tears streaming down his face.

"What's wrong?" Bruce asked, the concern in his voice making Dick cry even harder.

Dick let out another sob. "I-I d-don't know," he said, sniffling. "S-so m-much."

Bruce's heart broke as he listened to Dick's ragged sobs. "Scoot over," he said finally, squeezing next to the acrobat on the hospital bed and drawing him into his arms.

Dick curled up against Bruce's side, his hiccuping sobs muffled slightly as he buried his face in his father figure's chest.

"I'm so sorry Dickie," Bruce said after a while. "I should've protected you better... should have saved you from all of this."

Dick snuggled closer to Bruce, his tears wetting the elder's pressed shirt. He felt a sense of real security for the first time in weeks, and that was enough to calm him slightly, his ragged breaths eventually evening out as sleep claimed him.

—

When Dick awoke next the whole family was there. He was still snuggled up to Bruce's side, feeling very much like a child, but he couldn't bring himself to move, so he simply stayed there.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Jason joked.

Dick gave his family members a shaky smile.

"Are you okay Dick?" Tim asked, genuine concern shining in his eyes. "You've been through a lot... it's okay if you're not..."

Dick's gaze shifted to his lap. "I-I get flashbacks a lot," he said, voice hoarse from the crying he'd done a few hours before.

Tension settled in the room. It seemed no one had known about the flashbacks.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean..." Dick trailed off.

Jason rested his hand on the acrobat's good knee. "We're here for you," he insisted gently. "Tell us how we can help."

Dick's eyes watered again. His family was there... and they cared. "I... I was taken a long time ago. They took my memories a-and made me into a killer. If... if I didn't do what they wanted they... they'd..." he trailed off, his breathing picking up. "They took everything from me... every last thing... they broke me... I was never safe... not from them."

There was silence for a long while.

Dick didn't have to go into detail about what he'd been subjected to, everyone's minds did a good enough job of filling in the blanks.

Damian stepped forward, wrapping his brother in a hug. Tim, Jason, Alfred, and Bruce joined in shortly thereafter.

"You're safe now Dick," Bruce said, the whole bat family holding on to each other, supporting one another. "And I will fight every day to keep you that way," he finished.

Dick sniffled again, seeing the looks of determination on his brother's faces. He closed his eyes and leaned into the embrace. "And I will never stop fighting for this," he whispered.

The end