Not me casually straying from canon again... but that's normal so you're all probably used to it :)

Dick's screams started off quiet, nothing more than drawn out whimpers, his body shifting on the bed. It wasn't long however before the screams got louder, tortured cries filled with fear splitting the air as his body writhed on the bed.

"H-he won't wake up," Damian called, eyes wide with panic.

Jason ran out of the room, coming back a few minutes later with a bucket of ice water, which he proceeded to douse Dick in.

Dick gasped, shooting up in bed, eyes darting around the room, back pressed against the wall like a scared animal.

Bruce watched in shock as Jason pulled Dick into a hug, rubbing his back as he cried. 'Night terror,' he mouthed over the elder's shoulder. He knew about those all too well.

Dick's shoulders shook as he shivered in the cold wetness of his clothes, his face pressed into Jason's shoulder.

He drew comfort from the presence of his family, taking measured breaths until he felt he could trust himself to face the world without having a breakdown.

"What happened?" He asked, tucking his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on them.

"You saved me," Damian said quietly, offering Dick a towel to dry his hair.

"They injected you with something... we're still not quite sure what... but it... you... you had a seizure when we were back at the cave," Jason said, grabbing Dick's hand and squeezing it gently.

"Oh..." Dick mumbled.

"Alfred checked you out and he said everything seems to be fine. Your body was able to break down the toxin on its own," Bruce said.

Dick took a deep breath. "C-could I maybe get some time alone?" He asked.

The various family members nodded and filed out of the room, Jason giving him a worried look on the way out.

Dick immediately started a hot shower, stripping off his soaked and freezing clothes and stepping under the warm water. Letting it pound down on his skin and wash away some of the bone deep fatigue he was carrying.

Flashes of memory from his dream flitted through his mind, scraps of the horrors his brain had come up with to torment him in his sleep.

His tears mixed with the shower's warm water, mixing with the suds from his shampoo as they dripped down his face.

He rinsed off , slowly sliding down to the floor and huddling in the corner.

His eyesight blurred, the scene around him shifting as he was plunged into another flashback.

—

Everything was so white... so sterile.

Dick could feel the shackles cutting into the skin on his wrist, skin rubbed raw from trying to get away from the men with the needles.

The thin white sheet they'd covered him in was flecked in blood, drops of it still fresh.

"One more dose should do it," one of the masked people said.

Dick couldn't quite tell who though, their faces all a blur of porcelain white.

He tried to speak, tried to move, to protest in some way when he saw one of the masked figures approaching with a needle in hand.

His body wouldn't respond. He was stuck, watching as the dark liquid known to him as electrum was forced into his veins, making them run black under his skin.

Dick was too weak to even scream as the electrum burned through his veins, drawing a broken whimper from his lips.

Sweat beaded on his skin as the pain finally subsided.

Gloved fingers pried one of his eyes open, the now golden eye unfocused and fogged with pain.

"He's finished."

Dick's consciousness drifted, brain stuffed with foggy thoughts.

His breath caught when a blade was drawn across the bare skin of his arm. His mind swam as he watched the black tinted blood spill from the cut, soaking the white sheet.

And then the skin was knitting itself back together, leaving nothing but smooth bloodstained skin behind.

"Perfect," a new voice hissed, this one familiar. William Cobb.

Cobb unlocked the shackles, grabbing Dick by the upper arm and dragging him out of the room.

Dick stumbled behind Cobb, his feet dragging. He swayed, falling to the side as he was dragged.

Cobb huffed, hauling Dick to his feet again. He shoved him along, dragging him into a room lined with strange looking pods.

Dick dragged his feet, struggling in Cobb's grasp. A sinking feeling filled his chest. "No!" He cried out, panic clear in his voice. "P-please don't put me in there. I-I'll do anything you want."

Cobb stopped in front of one of the coffin-looking pods. He smirked at Dick, shoving him inside.

Metal and glass slid into place, locking Dick in.

A button was pressed, and suddenly the world around Dick began to freeze, his heart rate dropped, eyelids drooping. His breath hung in the air, his body shaking in a futile attempt to keep himself warm.

"Goodnight Richard..."

—

Dick snapped out of his flashback, now cold water showering down on his skin.

He shivered, reaching up and turning the faucet off, forcing his wobbly legs to carry him out of the room, throwing on some clean clothes Alfred must've set out for him.

Fatigue pulled at his limbs, begging him to lie down and take a nap... he wasn't about to fall for that though. Perhaps he'd finally take Bruce up on the offer of patrol tonight. Punching away his feelings had always worked before after all.

—

Jason swung through Dick's patrol sector. Trying to be inconspicuous as he searched for the other.

He understood that it was incredibly patronizing of him to be checking in on the other like this... but he was worried, and rightly so when he saw the acrobat curled up on a rooftop.

Jason swung down, approaching his brother slowly. "You alright Wing?" He asked warily.

"No," Dick whispered, covering his mouth with his hand as he jumped up and took a step away from his brother. He glanced over the edge, wondering if he'd be able to make surviving the drop look believable or if that would give him away.

Like that mattered at this point.

"Woah," Jason said, holding out his hands in a placating gesture. "I'm not going to hurt you. Can you tell me what happened?"

"S-stop!" Dick sobbed, taking another step backward.

His heel caught in the roof's ledge, his masked eyes widening as he fell backward.

Jason jumped forward, grabbing Dick by the arm and pulling the shaking boy into his arms.

"N-no... no more questions..." Dick said, giving up on trying to squirm his way out of his brother's grasp. "I-I can... can answer... have to... answer," he mumbled.

Jason bit back the automatic 'What?' that was on the tip of his tongue.

"Truth serum," Dick said after a long moment of silence.

Jason gave a knowing hum, releasing his brother from the vise-like hug he'd held him in.

"I got away before they interrogated me..." Dick mumbled.

The two sat in heavy silence for a few minutes.

"You scared us this morning," Jason said, finally breaking the silence. "Night terror I'm assuming."

Dick nodded.

"I used to get them too," Jason said. "Sometimes I still get them... about my death..."

Dick could feel the unspoken question hanging in the air.

What was giving him night terrors?

The truth weighed on his chest. He wanted to share... he really did. But how could he do that to his brother? Make him a target of the court all so he could feel better.

Jason must've sensed his indecision, because he scooted a bit closer, bumping Dick with his shoulder. "I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong Wing," he said gently.

Dick sucked in a breath. "I'm a talon," he said, voice breaking.

"What?" Jason breathed.

"I-I was taken... and... and they made me into their assassin."

"How long ago?" Jason demanded, not caring at the moment that Dick didn't have a choice on whether he would answer him or not.

"7 years," Dick mumbled.

Jason crushed his brother in another hug. "You... you didn't tell us," he mumbled.

"I-I wanted to keep you safe," Dick replied.

"Wing... we're a family. We look out for each other. It's our job... you must've been going through so much pain all alone."

Dick sniffled. "I don't want to go back Hood," he whimpered. "They said if I ever left they'd send people after me... they said they'll take me back there."

"Shhh... I won't let them take you," Jason soothed.

Dick calmed slightly. "They had me for 7 years Hood... and nobody was even looking for me.

"Hey, that's not true," Jason insisted firmly. "Bruce searched for you for years... Even after he adopted me he didn't stop looking. I... I wanted to help... to find my big brother, but he wouldn't let me. So... when I thought I'd found a clue I went looking on my own. And Joker was waiting for me."

Dick rested his head on his brother's shoulder. He'd read about that from Bruce's files. An explosion... an innocent life taken. All because he'd been looking for him.

"I think he stopped looking after that," Jason said quietly.

"Oh," Dick said quietly. "I'm sorry..."

"Sorry for what?" Jason asked, forgetting once again that Dick couldn't help but answer him at the moment.

"Sorry I got you killed," Dick said, shrinking away slightly.

"You didn't get me killed," Jason said after a moment.

"You were looking for me," Dick mumbled.

"Which was something I chose to do," Jason countered. "You were locked up with some crazy murder happy owl people. You couldn't exactly do anything to help."

Dick's shoulders slumped slightly. "You're right, but it doesn't make accepting it easier," he mumbled.

Jason wrapped an arm around his brother, drawing him closer. "I think this is something you need to tell B about," he said.

"No!" Dick blurted abruptly. "I-I can't tell him... he... he'll get rid of me. Please don't tell him," he pleaded, his breath picking up at the thought that he'd be out on the streets on his own again.

"It's your secret to share not mine... but B has changed since you knew him all those years ago. Maybe he'll be able to help you," Jason said.

Dick sat in silence for a long moment. "Maybe I'll tell him... but... but you'll be there right?" He asked, turning pleading eyes on his brother. "To... to make sure he doesn't hurt me?"

Jason pulled his brother into a hug. "Of course I'll be there Wing," he replied.

Dick breathed a relieved sigh, allowing his brother to pull him to his feet.

"We should—" Jason's sentence trailed off when he saw the man in a bone white mask on the next roof over. "Run."