#spyral

[celaenaeiln]

Dick Grayson's talent for manipulation literally brings the world to its knees.

Part 1 post

My absolute favorite trait about Dick aside from his craziness is his ability to control every single person in existence. The best part is, he's so clever in the way that he does it that people almost never notice.

Bart Allen

"Oh! Ahh..you're trying to get my DNA sample. You need my spit! Ha! That's such a Dick Grayson thing to do."

Bart knows!! Dick's brilliantly sly okay. Honey catches more flies that vinegar? He takes it so far that breaks he the ceiling with it because by the time he's done, people don't even know they've been manipulated. And if they do, then what can they do about it? He always wins.

With friends and family he does it to make them feel better without being so overt and discomforting them.

Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis

Jon came to him when he was feeling lost and upset and Dick set up the perfect conditions to encourage him and pick him up. He's just so good at doing what he's doing but he does it for all the right reasons.

But the extent Dick can go trick and manipulate someone is off the charts. A virtuoso.

In a Titans comic, Dick literally spent MONTHS acting depressed and weak after Donna, Wally, and Garth were kidnapped to another dimension by a villain just so he could trick the villain into thinking that his career was over and bring him into the same dimension so Dick could take him down.

He fooled everyone.

Teen Titans: The Silver Age TBP 2 Part #1

"Batman taught me how to be a totally convincing actor! So if the only way you could send me here with your ring was if I filled my brain with evil thoughts, I just faked it! My facial expression was pure evil-but my mind remained pure good." MONTHS.

He planned, pretended, and calculated every single fiber of his own mind and body until the whole world was fooled by his acting. He tricked an interdimensional being who had psychic access. That means he was so extraordinarily manipulative, he can control his own thoughts inside his head to trick someone else. Voldemort's legilimens has nothing on Dick's talent.

Like Bart, sometimes his allies are aware of this like with Selina-

Gotham City Sirens Issue #23

Selina's literally having a mental breakdown trying not to fall for Dick's manipulation and tricks.

But even if they know he's manipulating them, they still are forced to fall for it anyway.

Gotham City Sirens Issue #23

"Damn it."

Like a goldilocks mad scientist - he does it just right.

His acting is just so on point that he outschemes the schemer.

When the Crime Syndicate (Superwoman, Ultraman, Owlman, Power ring, etc) arrive on Earth to take it over when Dick is Batman, Dick needs to do something fast. But to make things worse, there's a being that's so powerful, that both the Crime Syndicate and Justice League combined have a snowball's chance in hell of defeating him.

So what does Dick do? He runs the game.

Justice League of America (2006) Issue #52

Justice League of America (2006) Issue #52

"Of course he had a plan the whole time. He's Batman. He always has a plan."

Justice League of America (2006) Issue #52

He tricks everyone.

Justice League of America (2006) Issue #52

And in the end, the Justice League wins and Dick saves the world.

Justice League of America (2006) Issue #52

I love how they characterized Owlman as a snake because that would make Dick a mongoose since mongoose eats snakes. And do you know what Mongoose represent in folklore? Action, adventure, boldness, fearlessness, impulsiveness, independence, optimism, rebellion, resistance, resourcefulness, speed, adaptation, agility, quickness, intelligence and wit. All characteristics that define him.

He plays the world like a chessboard, always five steps ahead.

He always has an ace hidden up his sleeve.

His thoughts are always masked behind a disarming smile.

He has mastered the art of manipulation.

And that's while he's outright fighting. His subtlety is just so seductive.

Take a look at the way he smoothly evades answering in this panel -

Grayson Issue #9

He's so smooth. She's constantly on the watch but she instantly fell head over heels for his charms in a half a heartbeat, that's just how good he is.

Grayson Issue #10

He's a master manipulator who knows exactly what to say and how to act to always end up winning.

It's seriously such a shame that one of his greatest skills and talents isn't talked about more because this man?! Flawless.

He's the spy everyone on TV wishes they could be. He's the type of spy people read about in history books and marvel at the ease, grace, and legendary story he leaves behind. He's the spy that everyone knows and dreams of in their fantasies.

Nightwing (2016)

And oh how they so are.

He can just get people to do whatever he wants.

There's a reason why Batman's only contingency plan against Nightwing is "Let's hope he fucks up." Because with his intelligence, skill, power, charisma, and raw talent - he's goddamn unstoppable.

#manipulative dick grayson #dick's honest to god terrifying for what he can do #so thankful he's on the good side because the world doesn't stand a chance with him on the bad #dick grayson #nightwing #bart allen #dc impulse #jon kent #super boy #selina kyle #catwoman #dc titans #owlman #robin dick grayson #crime syndicate #justice league #spyral #batman dick grayson

[tired-teddybear]

has anyone written a fic where once Dick gets back from Spyral and gets to see his siblings again, he's extremely confused as to why they are surprised and pissed at him?

"i thought you knew!"

"obviously not!"

"i never expected Bruce to keep that from you! i just assumed he told you once i got out of the country!"

"...what."

"i'd never let you actually believe i was dead if i wasn't, i wouldn't do that to you guys. i thought Bruce informed everyone in the family of the plan."

"...BRUCE YOU BASTARD!"

they spend the next couple of days smothering Dick (who is so happy to be back from that isolating place and hug his siblings) and not letting him out of their sight. they also ban Bruce from talking to Dick and give him the silent treatment for at least a month.

(to most of the family's surprise, Jason is the clingiest aside from Damian. it's bc he basically experiences what Dick went through when he died and it's terrible. he has a lot more empathy for Dick after that. also, Dick is one of the few people he is comfortable touching, and Jason knows his older brother thrives off of physical affection)

#dc comics #dcu #dc #dick grayson #batman #batman comics #the batfamily #the batfam #bruce wayne #jason todd #damian wayne #agent 37 #spyral #nightwing #nightwing comics #batbros #batfamily #red hood #drabble #fic idea #unless its already been written #then gimme recs

[shyjusticewarrior]

Dick is bad at being unrecognizable.

First off there's how Tim recognized his quadruple flip.

When he was Batman the Riddler knew it was a different guy (tho not who specifically.)

Gaggy hates the og Robin cause he subconsciously recognized him from when the Flying Graysons replaced him at the circus.

Duke figured out his identity when he was Spyral.

#dc #dc comics #comics #comic books #a lonely place of dying #gotham city sirens #we are robin #media analysis #character analysis #dick grayson #nightwing #batman dick grayson #spyral #robin dick grayson #batfam #batfamily #batkids #rogues gallery #media commentary #funny #motifs

[sadiewayne]

i will never stop gushing about wayne family adventures purely to piss off those comic fans

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures Episode 63 - Opposite Day (2022)

recognise this anyone???

you should

Grayson Issue #4 (2014)

*sighs* i love it so much

#dick grayson #nightwing #helena bertinelli #huntress #dc huntress #spyral #spyral dick grayson #dc comics #dc #comics #batman: wayne family adventures #wayne family adventures

[galaxymagitech]

I just learned that, due to all the weird New 52 retcons, Dick was 21 when he was in Spyral.

And yeah, that’s an adult, but that’s still barely old enough to drink. Suddenly all those times people call him a kid make more sense. That time he fought someone who was just like, “this isn’t your fault, kid, you’ve been tricked/manipulated into this,” the guy was certainly wrong about Helena tricking Dick into joining, but he wasn’t entirely wrong about Dick being manipulated into joining Spyral either. Dick’s age also helps explain why Tiger was so annoyed at him. People around Dick consistently view him as a kid.

In Forever Evil, Dick is tortured and dies at 21, and then is brought back, and while he’s messed up from that the closest thing he has to a father then forces him to go on the Spyral mission. And Dick does end up agreeing in the end, but that guy Dick fought would just say a completely different person manipulated a naive kid.

And Dick saying it was his responsibility to take this burden for his family as the oldest suddenly reads differently. Because in Post-Crisis, he was ~7 years older than Jason and ~9 years older than Tim, but in the New 52? That age gap is 2 years and 4 years respectively. He’s still the oldest, but not as drastically as he used to be. And he still took complete responsibility for protecting his siblings.

And so yeah, although 21 is an adult, I feel like the fact that he’s so much younger than everyone around him really makes some things from this arc a lot worse.

#dick grayson #batman #meta #dc comics #dcu #dc #batfamily #dc meta #batman meta #batfam #spyral

[lilituism]

For @dickgraysonweek 2024

Day 5: Dick (Helen) of Troy | Batfam Meets Agent 37 | Polyamory

#dc comic #illustration #dick grayson #nightwing #digital fanart #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #dickgraysonweek2024 #day 5 #batfam meets agent 37 #spyral #agent 37 #identity reveal

[dickgraysonweek]

🤸‍♂️TWO MONTHS TO GO 🕵️

From April 6th to 12th, we’ll be celebrating 84 Years of Dick Grayson 🐦 with the following amazing prompts you voted for:

DICK GRAYSON ANNIVERSARY WEEK 2024 PROMPTS

Day 1: Leader of the Titans | Dick’s Undervalued Competency | Spyral Crew Day 2: Captivity | The Meaning of Robin | Rescue from Juvie Day 3: DILF Dick Grayson | Apologizing To Dick | Time Loop Day 4: Batman’s Most Trusted | Trauma Reveal | Reverse Robins Day 5: Dick (Helen) of Troy | Batfam Meets Agent 37 | Polyamory Day 6: Supernatural Creature AU | Dick Pushed to the Limit | Identity Porn Day 7: A Celebration of 84 Years

‘A Celebration of 84 Years’ is the free prompt.

For the Muse:

If you’d like to challenge yourself, how about… - using all three prompts of one day for one fanwork. - writing a multi-chapter fic that uses one prompt of each day. - drawing sequential art that uses one prompt of each day

Join us on the Dick Grayson Discord server ‘Green Booty Shorts’ (18+, ship friendly) to keep your muse going or to talk all things Dick Grayson!

Any questions left? If you can’t find an answer in About or Rules, be sure to send an ask.

How is it going everyone? Have you started? Are you in the idea finding phase? 👀 💙

#dick grayson #robin #nightwing #batman #agent 37 #batfamily #teen titans #spyral #outsiders #blüdhaven #dc comics event #dickgraysonweek2024

[wondertwinsenthusiast]

A bit late, but happy Dick Grayson week!

Day one: spyral crew

Shout out to @ev-arrested for giving me motivation to do this

@dickgraysonweek :)

#dicktiger #dick grayson week #dick grayson #nightwing #tiger king of kandahar #helena bertinelli #agent 37 #tigerdick #spyral #spyral crew #dickgraysonweek2024

[hornithology]

I think Grayson would make an incredibly good 10 ep TV series but only if they leaned into making it extremely trippy. use Spyral's hypnos technology to mess with the viewer and create a 'who is who' mystery. it's only revealed that Agent 37 is Dick Grayson episode 3 and all of a sudden you're like "why is 37 talking to Bruce Wayne? is Batman in this universe?" 50/50 campy spy action and psychological thriller, culminating in a narrative arc about how Dick is using his funny persona to cope with extreme trauma. themes of perception and persona. aesthetically, it would draw on 70s/80s spy chic, flamboyant colors, music videos. lots of eye candy objectification of Grayson but then make it about his sexual trauma in the finale. strong first person narration where Grayson tells you he's everyone, he's no one, he's whoever you want him to be.

#dick grayson #grayson #agent 37 #spyral #if I was king of DC

[dickgraysonwayne]

Underneath

Ao3

Summary: Agent 37 seems familiar, but nah…he couldn’t be.

@dickgraysonweek 2024, Day 5: Dick (Helen) of Troy | Batfam Meets Agent 37 | Polyamory

Jason fucking hates Tuesdays.

Fuckin’ Tuesdays, he stews, kicking a can at his feet. Fuckin’ Batman. Fuckin’ drug dealers. Fuckin’…

“Hey,” Tim says, adjusting his baseball cap over his forehead. “Are you blaming Tuesdays again?”

“No,” Jason grunts. He doesn’t make eye contact. “Aren’t you annoyed, though? That we had to come all the way here…”

Tim shrugs, all smarmy-like. “Hey,” He says. “I get to miss school this way, so. I’m not too bothered.”

“But,” And Jason gestures around the alley they’re in. The mist hands low over his face, leaving him with a permanent vaguely damp feeling. “We’re not even in Gotham.”

“So?” Tim says. “I like travel. Anyway, it’s not even that different from Gotham…”

“We’re not even in the country anymore!” Jason hefts his backpack on his shoulder, irritation growing.

“Dude,” Tim says, summarily unimpressed. “What’s with you? So we do a little trip to the UK to investigate some drug operation Scarecrow’s running. What’s wrong with that?”

“I just…” Jason’s face screws up, pushing back at the memories in his head: the heat, the exhaustion, the pain. “I…I don’t like travel. That’s all.”

Tim sighs. “Well,” He says. “You better pull yourself together. Unless you wanna tell Babs you’d rather come back home and not do the mission she asked you to do? Or Bruce?”

“No need to go that far,” Jason mutters

“And,” Tim says. “Do you want to take shit from Damian about not being able to handle a ‘simple fact finding mission’ that even a ‘fool’ could complete?”

“That one,” Jason says, shrugging. “I don’t particularly care about.”

“Well, I do,” Tim says. He looks through the alleyway grimly before pushing forward. “So let’s go. The sooner we’re done, the sooner we come back anyway. So. We headed in the right direction?”

Japan glances back down at the phone in his hand. “Yeah,” He says. “Building should be showing up soon. It’s a bakery, top floor.”

Tim nods. “Okay then,” He says. “Plan confirmed?”

“Reconnaissance,” Jason drones out. “Get a sense of the operation and get out. Yeah. I know.”

“No tipping them off,” Tim says sternly. Jason hears a tinge of Bruce-inspired gravitas in his tone. It’s not quite as effective in a just-hit-puberty vocal range. “I mean, we can probably develop something to counteract the drug now, but still…don’t risk it.”

Jason grins. “Aye aye, Captain.”

He can practically feel Tim’s glowering frown. “Hey,” He says. “Why do you always—” He pauses. “Oh. Hear that?”

“Oh, yes,” Jason says, the feeling of being watched prickling over his back. “Think they’ll attack?”

“Well,” Tim says. “They’re still following, so.”

Jason nods. “Yeah,” He says. “Get ready..”

He barely has time to pull out a weapon before all hell breaks loose.

-

“I. Fucking. Hate. Tuesdays!”

Jason rolls, dodging a sword (a sword?) that clangs heavily against the cobblestones of the alleyway.

He looks up. A veritable gang of people seem to have rolled up on them in the last couple minutes, all outfitted in the same dark outfit and face covering.

They’d been ready for them. This is an ambush.

“Stop it with the Tuesday thing already,” Tim says, whacking a man around the head with his staff. “It’s obnoxious at this point.”

“You’re obnoxious at this point,” Jason kicks another man in the chest, then zaps someone else with an escrima stick. “You know what else is obnoxious? Not having a fucking gun.”

“I guess you—oomph—missed the point of a covert operation,” Tim says, staggering back at an attack, but recovering quickly.

Jason, about to go help him, is stopped by three attacking him at once. “This look covert to you?” He asks, zapping at someone else. “And anyway…shit!”

There’s too many people. It’s taking all his concentration to stay alive, stay uninjured, and he senses more than sees someone start to make his way around them, to the vulnerability of his back.

Jason grits his teeth, doing a final large sweep before turning back. “No you don’t—”

But he turns to see a nozzle pointed directly at his face, and stumbles back automatically. “Shit..”

He flips through days worth of research in his head substance distribution memory issues side effects no treatment yet magic involved and holds his breath, swearing internally…

A crossbow bolt suddenly embeds itself in the man’s chest, who gives a kind of choked gasp, shudders, then collapses onto the damp cobblestones, twitching a couple times before going still.

Jason doesn’t have time to react. He whirls back around, lifting a stick to protect himself from a blow to his head. Tim is standing nearby, still fighting, still upright.

He sees another man aim a knife at Tim from behind, then draws in a breath to warn him, before…

A gunshot rings through the air, and the man screams, clutching at his bloody hand and dropping to his knees.

Guns? Jason thinks frantically. He dodges a blow to the head, feeling weirdly vindicated. He draws an arm back, ready to zap another person, before—

A large figure runs in from the side, tackling the person in front of him and taking him both to the ground. They collapse into the shadows, tussling in a smaller alleyway to the side.

“What—”

Jason whirls around back to Tim, and sees someone else jump into the fray next to him. It’s a woman this time: face uncovered, clothing casual, and punches lethal.

Who the hell…

He feels something sting at his shin. His leg buckles, and he swears as he stumbles to his knees, trying to find his bearings.

The sticks drop from his hands and roll, and he dives frantically to try to grab them back. He looks up to see another nozzle aimed at his face, and…

Time slows down. Jason sees the finger on the nozzle tighten, then push, and he knows that there’s no stopping it, that he won’t have time to move backwards or to the side…

Suddenly, he’s looking at a gray t shirt covering a broad back, and it’s so unexpected that he thinks there’s something wrong with his sight at first. Instead, he hears the nozzle being deployed and then a cough, and he knows that it isn’t coming from him, so…

A woman’s voice cries out “You idiot!”

The back in front of him bends, then falls, revealing the startled eyes of the masked man that Jason had been staring at earlier, still holding the spray bottle. This snaps Jason back into movement, and he picks the sticks back up and delivers a hard thwack to the man’s head.

He hears the thrmmm sound of another crossbow bolt, then keeps fighting, mind whirling. He notices almost instantly that the crowd seems to have thinned out, but he doesn’t know if that means that they won or that they lost.

It feels like minutes, but the alleyway empties out, save for a few of the men that they had taken down. The woman with the crossbow stows it away then runs, falling to her knees in front of Jason, pulling at the downed man in front of him.

Tim follows close behind, looking tired, but cautious. Jason nods at him, then waits for Tim’s answering nod.

“So,” Jason says eyeing the duo in front of them. “You think they bulk ordered all those ninja outfits or did they have them laying around?”

Tim gives a tired laugh. “Maybe they got them from the Minion Coat Factory,” He suggests,

“Not your best work,” Jason comments, before the woman gives a loud sigh.

“You idiot,” The woman hisses again to the downed man. She pulls at the man on the ground, who slowly goes upright, head bowed. “What are you doing?”

The man looks up. Jason literally feels the color drain from his face.

“Dick?”

Tim stops in his tracks at the word, drawing a quick, choked breath.

Dick looks him in the eye (it’s him oh my god it’s him it’s him it’s him), and then, with a slight air of confusion, says:

“Who?”

-

Jason’s blood freezes in his veins. “That’s…” His kind is whirring in all sorts of different directions, not knowing where to stop, and how. “That’s…that’s you. That’s you, right? It’s you?”

Dick’s (maybe?) eyebrows furrow. “I…” He says. “No. I’m…” He looks up at the woman with him, who gives him a curious stare. “Who are these people? Do we know them?”

“No,” The woman says, giving him a furtive look. “What’s wrong with you?”

It’s at this point that something in Jason snaps.

He surges forward, grabbing Dick by the shoulders and pulling him close. He stares intently into his face. “It’s you, isn’t it? It’s you. It looks like you. What happened? How is it you?”

Dick’s startled eyes darken quickly. A hand quickly latched onto his wrists and bodily throw him off. “Get off me,” Dick says, voice dangerous. “Don’t do that again.”

“Stop being a dick,” Jason yells, trying to get closer. “What was it? Lazarus Pit? Did it make you forget or something? Did it—”

A hand yank at his shoulder, pulls him back. He startles, looks down and Tim, white-faced and tight lipped, holding onto him for dear life.

“Stop,” Tim says, and it comes out quiet. “This is…look, we don’t know what’s going on, okay? But we need to find out. Obviously.”

Here, the woman with Dick steps in. “We all need to calm down,” She says. “Look. I’ll introduce myself, okay? My colleague,” and here she points at Dick (it’s him!) “And I represent a global organization that specializes in, hm, covert operations, let’s say. I shouldn’t be telling you any of this at all, but,” And here she gives him a searching look. “I have a feeling you would have found out about us either way.”

“I don’t really give a shit,” Jason begins, but Tim squeezes his shoulder tighter.

“Let her continue,” He says quietly. His eyes are fixed on Dick, and his hand is trembling.

“There’s not much more than that, really,” The woman says. “You can refer to me as Matron, and this,” She gestures at Dick. “Introduce yourself.”

Dick nods. “I’m Agent 37,” He says. “I would say pleased to meet you, but…”

“Yes, okay, fine,” Jason says, impatient. “Let me guess. You woke up somewhere and were told that you were this agent guy at this organization and that you’ve always been there, and you rolled with that, right?”

“Hey,” The woman protests, but Dick waves her down.

“No,” Dick says. “That’s incorrect, actually. I’m pretty sure I’ve only ever been Agent 37. That’s just who I am.”

Jason’s eyebrows raise. “Oh yeah?” He says. “Can you tell me anything about your childhood?”

“I…” Dick’s voice trails off. “Why would I tell you that? I don’t know you.”

“Come on,” Jason says. “You very clearly don’t remember a childhood. So what does that tell you? Either you popped into existence as an adult or you’ve been brainwashed in some way. And, since you were fucking dead, my guess would be on a Lazarus Pit.”

“Dead?” Dick asks.

“What the hell is a Lazarus Pit?” Matron says at the same time.

“Fuck it,” Jason says. He grabs at Dick’s arm again. “Come on. Let’s take you home, and we can try to get your memory back. And then when you remember us we can talk for real instead of going in circles like this.”

Dick yanks his arm back again. “I don’t know you!”

“Oh yeah?” Jason says, voice rising. “Then why did you—”

“Let’s talk for a sec,” Tim interrupts, pulling him off to the side. “Stay there, please.”

“What are you doing?” Jason hisses as he’s dragged off. “That’s Dick. You know? Your brother? The one that’s dead? That brother? How are you not…how are you not reacting to this?”

“We don’t know that it’s him,” Tim says, and his voice cracks on the word. “We can’t…we can’t be sure until we can confirm it. And I…I don’t want to say that until…”

Oh. Jason feels kind of bad for snapping. “Hey,” He says. “I get it. But, come on. That’s Dick. It’s very clearly him. And he’s alive and he needs a kick in the ass to remember who he is. And we’re the only ones who can help him.”

Tim sniffs. “Yeah,” He says. “I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right,” Jason says. “Look. This is good news. He’s alive! We just need to get all of him back is all. And this isn’t our first go around with resurrection, right?”

Tim nods.

“Excellent,” Jason turns back to the two agents. “Now. As I was saying. If you didn’t know us, why did you jump in and save us from those guys? There’s no reason to do that for completely random strangers. Especially not for jumping in front of someone who was about to—”

He cuts himself off. “Oh. Hold on. You got hit by…oh my god. Oh we’re so stupid.”

“Oh,” The Matron says, snapping her fingers. “You’re right! The spray. Or whatever that was. That’s probably what’s going on here.”

“What spray?” Tim asks, eyes narrowed.

“I don’t feel any different,” Dick says, but Jason ignores him.

“Dick got sprayed by something during the fight,” He explains to Tim. “And…hey, remember what we came here for? Scarcrow’s whole operation?”

Tim stares at him for a second before understanding fills his gaze. It’s a second longer than it would normally take. “Oh!” He says. And then, quietly, again, “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Jason says grimly. He turns to the other two. “We came here to investigate a drug operation, with some sort of magic involved—it’s a long story. The drugs have a…memory issues side effect. And since Dick here lost his memories after getting hit, then—”

“He must’ve ingested the drug,” Matron continues. Her eyes tighten. “Amateur hour, 37. How do you let yourself get hit like that?”

“I didn’t!” Dick protest. “I…” His eyes glaze over. “I…”

Tim interrupts him. “The memory loss seems targeted,” He says thoughtfully. “His whole sense of self is gone, but he still seems to be able to function like he normally does. He has a persona left, but only his primary identity is gone. This is new, we should look into this more.”

“And get you back,” Jason says, staring Dick down.

“And get him back,” Tim agrees. He gestures towards them. “We probably have a formula that’ll be helpful here, to counteract the drug. And that thing Constantine gave us…Anyway, if you’ll all come with me, we can take you back home and—”

Dick shakes his head, speaking before Tim’s even done. “I can’t leave,” He says. “I have work to do here. I can’t leave.”

“You have to,” Jason cuts in. “You need to get your memory back, don’t you? And then, maybe…” His voice trails off. “We can find out what happened to you.”

“He’s not leaving,” Matron cuts in. “We have resources here you can use. A lab, everything. We’ll take you to HQ: we need the real 37 back, so consider yourselves hired. On a temporary basis.”

“No,” Tim says, voice firm. “All our research…we have everything set up at our base. We can take it from here.”

Dick shakes his head. “I’m not going,” He repeats and man does that stubborn expression look familiar. Jason had thought he was never going to see it again. “I don’t know you.”

Tim looks at Jason helplessly.

Jason sighs. Fucking Tuesdays. “Fine,” she says shortly, then tilts his head to Tim. “You got the folder with all the info? And all the solutions and stuff?”

Tim grits his teeth. “Yeah,” He says. “I do. But—”

“We kinda don’t have a choice, here,” Jason says. He glances at the two agents again. “Fine. Lead the way. We’ll go to your HQ.”

“Right,” Matron grabs Dick’s hand, helping to pull him to his feet. “Follow us. 37, you remember the way?”

Dick nods. “Yeah,” He says, then sets off without another word.

Jason swears under his breath, then rushes to follow, Tim right next to him.

-

It doesn’t take long before Tim breaks.

Jason had known it was coming, had seen it in the twitching of his fingers and the telltale furrow of his brow, so he just waits.

He doesn’t want long before he feels him elbow his arm. “Jason,” Tim hisses, clearly trying to remain out of earshot. “We have a problem.”

“You think?” Jason says, eyebrows raised. “What could’ve clued you into that idea? What, with the drug ninjas and resurrected amnesiac brother?”

“Shut up,” Tim mutters. “Anyway. We probably blew the mission. I’d guess the drug operation’s packing up and leaving as we speak.”

Jason sighs. “Get ready for that earful from Damian.”

“You said you didn’t care about that!”

Jason shrugs. “I lied. He’s a tiny little shrimp and his royal shrimpiness gets soooo smug when he’s right.”

“Yeah,” Tim says, but his heart is clearly not into it. “I guess so.”

Jason waits a little more.

“It’s just that,” Tim begins, voice hesitant. “Dick…he got hit by the memory spray thing right? And he got hit because he was saving us, right?”

Jason nods. “He stepped in front of me,” He says. His throat tightens. “He took the hit.”

“So,” Tim says. “He knew to do that. He knew who we were, before he got sprayed. So…he was alive this whole time. Here. And…and we thought he was dead.”

Jason sits with that for a while. A spike of anger and confusion pools up in his head.

“We thought he was dead,” Jason repeats. “And he’s alive. And…and we don’t know why…”

“But he still…” Tim swallows. “He must’ve known. What that would do. And…and he still did it. Why?”

Jason grits his teeth. He stares at the back of Dick’s head. “We’ll find out soon enough,” He says.

A sign in the distance catches his eye. He squints. “Does that say girls’ school?”

-

“Welcome,” Matron says, sweeping an arm out at the entrance. “To HQ.”

Jason eyes the building, skeptical. “Girls’ school?” He repeats.

Matron shrugs, smiling. “The children are our future, and all that,” She says.

Jason waits for Dick to chime in, make a lame joke, continue the song lyrics…

But he just stands there, face blank, waiting.

Matron gives him a look. “Wow,” She says. “You’re really not yourself, huh?”

“Yeah, like we’ve been saying,” Jason says, a little irritated by her overfamiliarty. “So can we speed this up already?”

“Jason,” Tim hisses, sounding embarrassed.

Matron shrugs. “I’ve had worse,” She says. She leads them through hallways, the sounds of laughing women echoing in the distance. “I just need to take you around—ah. Here we go.”

She stops outside a door with ROOM 84 emblazoned on a large sign stuck to it. She creaks it open then peers in furtively before ushering them in “Come on,” She says.

Dick goes in robotically, without comment. Jason follows, seeing a pretty impressive and fully equipped lab on the inside.

“Huh,” Jason says, looking around. “Nice setup you have here.”

Dick, finally, speaks up. “Are you sure about this?” He asks Matron, with only a hint of doubt in his voice.

“Yes,” Matron says. “We gotta get you back to how you were. And, you know,” She gives him a significant look. “I’m going to need you fully with me for what’s coming.”

Dick’s face clears up. “Ah. Right.”

“You don’t have much time,” She says, backing up towards the door. “Try to get it done quick. I’ll keep watch. Good luck.” She nods, then snaps the door shut.

Tim instantly leaps into work, pulling out his file and starting to decipher it. “I’ll need a while,” Is all he says, before his focus narrows and he zones in on the problem in front of him.

Jason sinks into a straight backed chair. “All we can do is wait,” He feels compelled to tell Dick. “I’m gonna nap, I think.”

Dick’s face is blank. Disturbingly so. He nods.

It disturbs Japan so much that he wants to try to wipe it off. “What do I call you?” He asks him. “Agent? 37? Full name? What?”

A bit of emotion leaks back into Dick’s face. “Agent 37 is fine,” He says. He falls silent again.

“So,” Jason says, trying to goad out the emotion again. “What do you like to do? You have any hobbies, anything like that?”

Dick stays carefully blank. “Not particularly,” He says. “I’m too busy for that.”

“Doing what?”

“Top secret,” Dick replies. “Can’t tell you.”

“Then why were we okay to be let in here?” Jason asks. “You sure didn’t put up much of a fight to take us right into the heart of your operation.”

Dick shrugs. “Matron made that call,” He says. “I followed her lead.”

“Yeah,” Jason says. “But that wasn’t very international man of mystery of you, was it? What do you think that means?”

Dick frowns a little. “Can’t say it means anything,” He says.

Well. He’s just as frustrating without his memories as he is with them. “Then why are you still talking to me?” Jason demands. “What do you gain? Is that what you’re drawn to do? Have you thought about why that is?”

“You’re very angry,” Dick says, looking a little curious now. “Why?”

“Don’t try that on me,” Jason says. “I know you. That won’t work. And anyway, I’m not angry. I just want answers.”

“And I can’t give them to you,” Dick pins him with a searching gaze. “Look. I know it sounds…illogical, but I think you may be right. Maybe I am the guy you say I am, and the gaps in my memory hold the person you’re looking for. But I’m not that guy right now. And I can’t tell you what you want to hear.”

Jason laughs disbelievingly. “You sure about that?” He asks. “You sure sound like him right now.”

“Maybe,” Dick says. “But I’m not him. I’m Agent 37. You’re going to have to wait for this other guy to come back.”

“Hey,”

They both turn. Tun stands there, a glass bottle in his hand. “It’s done. It was mostly done anyway, because of the magic involved, I just added the—never mind. It’s done. You can take it.”

Dick stands up, slowly taking the bottle from Tim’s hand. Tim doesn’t make eye contact, and steps over to Jason’s side as soon as the bottle leaves his possession.

That…that definitely seems like a problem.

“So?” Jason asks. “You ready for the other guy to come back?”

“I…” Dick says. He pushes, drawing in a deep breath.

Jason waits, heart pounding.

Dick breathes out slowly, then says “Okay.”

“What,” Jason says, disbelieving. “Just like that?”

“I guess I trust you,” Dick says. Before Jason can reply, he downs the liquid in one swallow.

-

Jason waits.

Time ticks by, and Dick just sits there, eyes screwed shut.

“What’s wrong with him?” Jason whispers to Tim, eyeing Dick critically.

Tim is so tense he’s about to snap in half. “It probably tastes gross,” He says. “Give it a second. It’ll work. I’m sure it’ll work. Give it a second.”

Jason waits a second. And then another. And then another.

When Dick opens his eyes again, alive, teary, scared, Jason knows. He knows.

He stands up.

“Dick?” Tim asks, voice a tad wobbly. “You back?”

Dick takes a shuddering breath. “Hi guys,” he croaks out. “Long time no see.”

Tim lets out a soft oh noise, then runs toward Dick is one quick motion. He slams into his torso, almost knocking him backward. He wraps Dick in a tight hug, face mashed into the gray t shirt. “You’re alive,” Tim says, voice teary. “You’re…you’re here.”

Dick wraps his arms around Tim, squeezing just as tight. “Yeah,” He says, choked. “I guess I am.”

There’s a part of Jason that wants to join them, to give in to the need to give a hug, to allow a few tears to fall, to let go of that weight on his shoulders.

There’s a bigger part, though, that’s too full of rage to do much of anything else.

Jason crosses his arms. “So,” He says, voice deceptively calm. “Can you explain how you’re alive? When we all saw you die? And why, if you were alive this whole time, you’re here instead?”

Tim freezes, then slowly lets go of Dick, backing up next to Jason.

Dick’s face falls into a devastated expression. He stays silent.

“Dick?” Tim says. His voice is quiet, confused. “Can you answer his question?”

Dick audibly swallows. “I…” He says. “Look. I’m still a little out of it because I just got all my memories back, so—”

“Excuse,” Jason says shortly. “You have your memories back? That means you have your reasons back too. So. Explain.”

Dick sighs. “Look,” He says. “I didn’t want to. I promise you, I didn’t want to. And…and I wanted you to know I was okay. But…I couldn’t. I’m sorry.”

Jason gives a disbelieving laugh. “That’s barely an explanation,” He says. “Total bullshit, to be honest. Did you even die? Or was that a lie too?”

Dick’s voice softens. “No. That was real. It’s just…I didn’t stay that way. Obviously.”

“Obviously?” Jason says, eyebrows raising. “That’s what you have to say right now? Unbelievable.”

Dick raises his hands in surrender. “I didn’t mean it that way,” He says. “I promise. I…I really am sorry, it’s just…”

“How could you?”

And there’s the Tim explosion.

“You knew. You knew how upset we’d be! You knew. And you still let it happen. We mourned you! We…we had to deal with that all by ourselves! Us, and Babs, and Alfred, and Damian—” and here Tim’s mouth clicks shut, a look of horror on his face. “Oh my god. Damian. Do you know?”

Dick actually smiles. “Yeah,” He says, a heavy sort of relief in his voice. “I…I saw him. On the news. I about passed out when I did.”

Shitty way to find out. Jason thinks. But really is there even a good way? Or just a bunch of really bad ways?

“Then you know! How could you?” Tim’s voice is hoarse by now, his volume increasing with every word. “Not to mention what it’s doing to Bruce!”

Dick’s expression flickers, just barely, at Bruce’s name. Jason knows the signs, and knows exactly what that must mean.

“Tim,” Dick says, voice heavy, but Jason doesn’t let him get that far.

“Bruce,” Jason repeats. “He knew, didn’t he.”

Dick makes eye contact with him, and Jason knows that he’s right. “He’s…he’s the one who sent me here.” He says. There’s an air of resignation in his tone, a total surrender to his situation. It’s disquieting, seeing him like this.

“Of fucking course,” Jason mutters. “Let me guess. He saw an opportunity to use your whole situation and he took it. Motherfu—”

“But you went along with it!” Tim bursts out. He’s still angry (so angry) but not as explosive now. “If you didn’t want to, you should’ve just refused! If you really thought it was wrong, you should’ve just said no!”

Dick chuckles darkly. “You’re right,” He says. “I should’ve. That one…that one’s on me. I’m sorry, I really mean it. And if you can’t forgive me, I understand.”

Something’s still off. Jason frowns at him. “You’re telling me you woke up from near death, Bruce asked you to do this, and then you said yes? Just like that?”

Dick hesitates. “Well…”

Jason swears under his breath. “What did he do?” He asks. “To make you go. What did he do?”

Dick shakes his head, disbelieving. “What makes you think he did anything?”

“Because I know you,” Jason says. “And I know him. And that story doesn’t track, for either of you. Unless you went fully dark side and decided to embrace being his perfect little soldier? You’re telling me that you would ever do that, in a million years?”

Tim’s eyes are on him, a slow understanding dawning in his eyes. “Of course,” He says, voice still a little hoarse. “There’s gotta be something more to this. What happened?”

“Look,” Dick begins, voice heavy. “I’ve worked with Bruce a long time. Ever since I was a little kid. There’s certain things with him that I understand, and if he asks this of me, then, well…”

“Bullshit,” Jason repeats. “And what’s with this little kid shit? You were sixteen when you became Robin. Don’t lie more.”

Dick frowns. “No, I was…” He trails off. “I was…was it eight, or ten? I can’t remember.”

Jason frowns. “Huh? What’re you saying?”

“What’s wrong?” Tim demands. “Are you feeling off again? Your memory?”

Dick shakes his head. “Nah,” He says. “Sorry. Anyway. You know how it is. When it’s something really important, it’s important. Like, world-ending important.”

“Was this world-ending important?” Jason asks. He sees the answer clearly on Dick’s face. “Or was this daddy issues important? Or Bruce being a piece of shit important?”

“You lost the metaphor there,” Tim mutters.

“Shut the fuck up,” Jason responds. That’s back to normal, at least. “So. If this wasn’t world-ending important. Then why? Because the Dick I know wouldn’t have let Bruce force him to do anything just because.”

Dick just shakes his head again. He laughs, but it’s hollow. “I didn’t even say anything,” He asks, almost wonderingly. “How do you know this?”

“Because I know you,” Jason says. “Idiot. How many times have I said that already? So? Stop stalling. What happened?”

“You don’t want to know,” Dick says. His face is stuck between a small smile and a grimace. “Trust me.”

“Oh, we really do,” Jason says. Tim nods his assent.

Dick just sighs. “Okay,” He says. “I’ll tell you. I promise. But for now,” He looks around. “We have to get you guys back, okay?”

“You’re coming too,” Tim says instantly.

“What, already?” Jason asks. “You trying to get rid of us?”

“No,” Dick insists. At Tim’s protest, he raises a hand. “I want to go with you, but I can’t. Listen. There’s things going on here right now…I need to see them through. A lot of lives are at stake. But the first chance I get, I’ll come. Promise. I promise. And trust me: you guys knowing I’m alive already lifts a huge weight off my shoulders. Bruce’ll have little to no issue with letting me come back if he knows that you guys know.”

“Letting you?” Jason asks, eyes narrowed. “Also. What makes you think we’ll be okay with doing that? Just up and leaving you here?”

Dick’s face softens. “I know it’s a lot to ask. But, look. We need to make sure to get you guys out of here as soon as possible. It’s…well. I want to make sure the people here don’t get you in their radar.”

“Will you be okay then?” Tim asks, concerned about this development. “Staying here? It doesn’t look like you trust them.”

“I don’t,” Dick says. “And I wouldn’t stay unless I felt like I had to. And…I’ll keep in touch, okay? You won’t be leaving me entirely like that. Bruce has a way to contact me, you can bully him into using his. Tell the rest of the family, okay? I want them to know.”

This, more than anything, convinces Jason that Dick means every word of his promise. “Fine,” he says, over Tim’s protest. “We need to clean up here first, anyway. Which would be faster if I had my gun.” He eyes Dick’s belt. “Hey, can I—”

“No,” Dick says instantly.

“Come on,” Jason whines. “How come you get one and I don’t?”

“If I had the choice,” Dick says. “I’d switch with you. But alas.”

Jason raises an eyebrow. “Hey,” He says. “Does Bruce know about that? The gun?”

Dick laughs, strangely bitter. “He had to deal with it,” He says. “If he sends me here, he has to live with those consequences.”

Jason knows Dick isn’t the biggest fan of guns either, so this is probably hitting on a sore spot. Kind of his expertise, to be honest.

“I’m still mad at you,” Tim interrupts, staring Dick down. “Really mad.”

Dick’s mood changes again. “I know,” He says softly. “I’m sorry. Really.”

Tim surges forward suddenly, hugging Dick tightly again. “Really really mad,” He mutters into Dick’s tshirt.

Dick hugs back, pats him on the head. “I know,” He says. “Missed you.”

Tim makes a small, wounded sound. “Me too.”

Dick looks up, making eye contact with Jason. “You too, kiddo.” He says.

“Kiddo?” Jason says. He swallows around the lump in his throat. “Yeah. Me too, I guess,” He clears his throat. “I’m waiting for that full explanation. The minute you get back. We’ll decide what to do with Bruce from there.”

“You don’t have to—” Dick says, and Tim lets go of him again. “Look…”

Tim walks to the back of the room, quickly starting to gather up everything they brought with them.

“Shut up,” Jason says. “We’ll handle it then. We’ll head back now, contact you later. Deal?”

Tim pops back up, shoving things into Jason’s backpack. “Done,” He says.

“Deal,” Dick answers him. He gestures at them both. “I’ll lead you back, okay? Follow me.”

He walks them to the door, then pushes ahead, directing them to follow. “Matron,” He says quietly. “We’re good to go.”

She pops back around the corner. “You back now?” She says, giving him a searching look.

He grins. “Like a bad penny,” He says.

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah. It’s you all right,” She gestures at the rest of them. “Right. Let’s go.”

They walk down the hallways, quietly striding through the creaking building, before Tim whispers. “We’ll need to regroup on this mission. How bad do you think we’ll get it from Damian for failing it?”

“We’re bringing Dick back,” Jason says, eyeing him. “I’m sure he’ll forget all about that.”

“I doubt it,” Tim mutters, but he grins just the same.

They head out the door, following Dick through the hallways. He walks different here, not like a Dick, not really. Like Agent 37.

Jason shakes the unease out of his head.

“Hey,” Tim says. “You still hate Tuesdays now?”

Jason snorts. “You kidding?” He says. “They’re still the worst. Although…” He glances up to see Dick ahead of them. “Gotta say. It’s about…20% less bad than it was.”

“Only 20%, huh?” Tim asks, amused.

“Yeah,” He says, then “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You didn’t have to,” He keeps his eyes forward. “I know you.”

“You do,” Tim says. He smiles again. “You really, really do.”

#dickgraysonweek #agent 37 #dick Grayson #spyral #Jason Todd #red hood #Tim drake #Red Robin #speaks

[celaenaeiln]

One of Dick's greatest strengths is his ability to manipulate every single person in existence.

Genuinely I think this makes him the smartest person in the room. Not only is he a brilliant detective, but the fact that he's able to outmaneuver and control virtually everyone including other geniuses and masterminds makes him the most terrifying. There's a reason why his enemies have give up using intelligence against him and simply resorting to brute force.

Now hold your horses before you bring your crowbars and let me explain.

Dick once said, "On an even playing field, I always win."

And it's true. But how do you even the field if your enemies are geniuses, detectives, or metas?

"Well, if you don't like how the table is it, turn over the table."

And that's exactly what Dick does.

Let's begin from his younger years. Dick is 19, newly out of Batman's wing and in no position to take on a skilled mercenary on by himself. But the mercenary isn't going to stop just because he says please. So.

DEATHSTROKE WAS CLEARLY NOT EXPECTING TO GET OUTPLAYED BY A 19 YEAR OLD.

"You're right Slade, he's not a fool so choose a dumber kidnapping victim next time."

Ofcourse this is the least of his abilities.

This cover is perfect because it shows how two of them are literally in a constant game of chess. And evidence of Dick's tactical expertise was never more obvious than the bombing of Bludhaven.

By all means Dick had won.

And he's right. Dick is incredibly intelligent, and he has to be given how he maneuvered the entirety of the world to save him city. Not just the heroes and villains, but everyone - the heroes, the villains, the government, the civilians, the organized crime - everyone. He ruled the freaking world at that moment.

@haroldhighballjordan actually made a post about this that explains this scene so well

But yeah Slade knew he lost so in his petty vengeance what he basically did was set the whole fucking chessboard on fire.

The perfection to which Dick had calculated and moved millions of people to force Slade into abandoning their game and leave him shrieking and seething in rage over his loss. Another reminder that this game only happened because Dick manipulated Rose away from her father, away from his control to a better life.

Spyral is one of my favorite comics because it shows just how good of a manipulator Dick Grayson is.

One of Dick's coldest traits is his ability to manipulate a situation to fit his needs.

In the beginning Dick wanted to calm the meta down and take him in but the second his opponent let out the slightest hint of weakness, look how fast he flips his words. This man is brilliant.

And his planning came to fruition as the meta wore himself out, allowing Dick to take control of the situation and the opponent with no harm to himself-a quick, two second exit. He can manipulate emotions, thoughts, and people to get what he wants like he's playing chess with a child.

But it's not just other people- he can completely change himself to become a whole new person. In the earlier chapters, Dick is learning how to shoot a gun for the agency.

Dick's a terrible shot. Not a single bullet lands in the center of the target-there's no way he's ever going to shoot well....or atleast that's what he wants you to think-

"Yeah, well, that's what spies do."

"We lie."

He's a puppet master and the final boss.

part 2

#dick grayson #nightwing #comic panels #manipulative dick grayson #part two coming soon #slade wilson #deathstroke #tiger #spyral #dc #batfamily

[tired-teddybear]

dick “if i breakdown i will literally never recover so i will bottle up all of my trauma until i die” grayson

. . .

dick “ok well i died but i came back and now everything is so much worse but if i let myself feel anything i’ll get killed so i guess i’ll just continue bottling everything up forever and ever” grayson

#dick grayson-isms #dick grayson #dc comics #nightwing #richard grayson #grayson comics #nightwing comics #spyral #dcu #dc #agent 37 #i want to shake him between my teeth like a rabid dog #forever evil

[beepboopimaproblemchild]

Sometimes u read a fix it of Jason learning Dick actually died and how he responds to that and u cry at how Jason copes and how Dick helps.

THEYRE BROTHERS UR HONOR

#dick grayson #dc #nightwing #jason todd #dc comics #fuck the Spyral run fr #spyral #fix it fic #batfamily #ao3 fanfic

[sadiewayne]

so i sat and re-read grayson

i then sat and read it again but i "annotated" it

this is in preparation for me to go and obtain screenshots of the specific 'annotations'

the code is as followed:

blue - dick grayson being a badass (showing how manipulative or intelligent his really is)

purple - every time dick is sexualised

pink - every time he is sexualised specifically by the girls (and once by agent zero)

gray - mostly full page spreads i just really really like (like all the pages where dick sees bruce, jason and tim, babs, and damian again)

there is also a magenta tab which is the one instance dick was shown to enjoy the sexual comments

i mean i probably missed some stuff and there was a million other things i could have tabbed as well but i wanted to keep it thematic with colours and those were the things i cared about the most so

time to compile the screenshots

#dick grayson #nightwing #grayson #spyral #grayson dc #dc #dc comics #dc superheroes #dc batfam #super spy dick grayson #spyral dick grayson #dick grayson is a manipulative bitch #dick grayson is smarter than us #richard grayson #sadies dick grayson

[galaxymagitech]

Living Ghosts

Written for Dick Grayson Anniversary Week: Day 5 Prompt: Batfam Meets Agent 37

@dickgraysonweek

Summary: Cass is tracking down a metahuman trafficking ring in Hong Kong when she meets a man without a face...a man who moves like Dick Grayson but wrong, wrong, wrong.

Characters: Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain

Warnings: Implied abuse

Cass crouches behind a large cooler, letting the shadows cloak her completely. She has grown adept at hiding. But she hates it, hates hiding when there are people being hurt every minute she spends waiting in the shadows.

Patience, Batman growls in her mind. She feels Cain’s hand grasping her shoulder and holding her back, fingers digging into flesh. 

A far-away scream. Cass doesn’t even wince. She has heard many, many screams in her life—most of them her own. But that doesn’t stop her heart from tearing itself apart inside her ribcage.

Cass has been after this organ trafficking operation for two weeks. It’s a short time for a police operation, but a long time for Orphan. In the two weeks she’s been working on this, many people have died. All of them because Cass wasn’t fast enough.

Batman would tell her to focus on the Mission—no use punishing herself when there are still things to be done. Cain would tell her to stop being ridiculous.

Cass tells herself that she still has more lives to save, and that she is doing her best, and that she is enough. The voice in her head is her, but it sounds like Barbara. Cass likes that.

Right now, her priority is turning off the automated alarms so she can begin to pick off traffickers one by one. It’ll be fun. Cass doesn’t like hurting, but she does like moving, fighting.

Two guards patrol past. Good. When they’re far enough away, Cass slips out and steps silently through the shadows until she reaches the control room. It takes minutes to disable the alarms. Cass isn’t the best with this, having never seen a computer during her childhood, but she’s adequate. Barbara made sure of that.

With the alarms off, Cass sneaks towards the area where the future victims are being kept. She finds a mass of guards outside one particular room. There are a lot of them. But Cass is good, and she knows it. She can take them.

Like a bullet, she shoots out of the shadows and attacks.

The traffickers fall like dominos. Cass has this under control. She will defeat these traffickers, free the victims, lead them out, and then defeat the rest. Then, she’ll turn them into the police with the evidence she collected. It will go well, and the two weeks she spent on this won’t be a waste.

Only, she hears the sound of fighting from down the corridor, getting closer and closer. Just as Cass knocks her last opponent unconscious, a man backs into view, fighting hand-to-hand with five more guards. Cass watches warily as he knocks each one out. His blows are clean, efficient. He’s not aiming to kill, but he’s clearly well-trained. An unusual combination. He moves like he wants to add in acrobatics but thinks better of it at the last moment—his feet are light on the ground, but every so often he seems to press himself down, holding himself to the Earth. When he’s defeated the last of the traffickers, he walks forward and picks up a hand-held cooler from the ground.

Cass knows there’s an organ in there. Which means…this man is not here to free the victims. He’s here to serve his own purposes.

Cass bristles. “Put it down,” she says in Cantonese. She is not good at speaking Cantonese. English was difficult enough to learn, when she heard only small snippets of it growing up, but learning a second language with entirely new sounds, and forcing her lips to cooperate? It’s difficult. She has struggled with every phrase.

The man turns to face her and—

—there’s something wrong with his face. She can’t make out any features of it. When she tries, her brain just goes fuzzy. It’s like staring at a black hole, only she can tell that there are features, she just doesn’t know what they are.

His body stiffens. Shock. He’s surprised. Cass does tend to have that effect. Five foot five, female, and standing over ten unconscious men. She bets he wasn’t expecting anyone else here, especially not her.

And yet, his surprise seems less I didn’t expect to find someone here and more I didn’t expect to find you here.

Does he know her? He could be from the League of Assassins, but although some of his moves contain slight traces of that fighting style, it’s buried far under other training. Almost as if he was trained by someone attempting to replicate the League’s style. No, this man is not League-trained—or if he was, he was trained very, very briefly.

The man raises the cooler. Cass doesn’t know what he’s trying to communicate. Why doesn’t he speak? She takes in his gray costume, with light blue accents. The gun strapped to his belt. Why does this man carry a gun, if he doesn’t want to kill?

“I won’t interfere,” the man says eventually, in English. How did he know she can speak English? Her Cantonese is not accented with English, but rather the strange accent that infects all of Cass’s speech, a side-effect of her difficulty forming words. His voice is strange, like he’s trying to disguise it. Not disguised in the way of his incomprehensible face, but disguised as if he’s putting on a voice in a play.

Cass believes him. But he is carrying an organ in a cooler. He is not good. And Cass is willing to bet that he does other not good things, if he does this.

Cass chooses her words very carefully. “Died for that,” she says, in English this time, pointing at the cooler.

“I know,” he says, sounding regretful. The way he stands, the way he speaks—it feels familiar, but slightly off. Wrong. So wrong.

“I will stop you,” she decides, and leaps forward.

“We don’t have to fight,” the faceless man insists, dodging her blows. “I just need to take this to my employer.”

Cass doesn’t waste time talking. This fight is difficult, and if she pushes her opponent far enough, he may be willing to use that gun on his belt. She will give it her all. But she’s Cassandra Wayne. Black Bat. Batgirl. Orphan. She knows that she will win.

Cass tries to figure out the strangeness of the way the man fights. He clearly is used to having weapons—likely short-range, bludgeoning. One for each hand. Perhaps tonfa or batons or escrima. None of them are common for a mercenary, and the man mentioned an “employer.” He doesn’t seem any worse off with only his fists, though. Notably, he doesn’t fight like he’s used to having a gun in his hands.

Why is a man who isn’t used to a gun carrying one?

Cass dodges a headshot and throws a kick at his chest. He stumbles.

“We don’t have to fight,” the man insists. “If I didn’t know you were here, I would’ve taken them down anyway.” Cass stops, watching him warily. His body doesn’t scream liar, but everything about the man feels off. Familiar, but wrong. She doesn’t know why. And Cass is not inclined to trust anyone she can’t fully read. “I swear, I’m not part of this. We can work together to stop the rest of the traffickers.”

“And your employer?” Cass asks.

The man shrugs. “He won’t be happy, but he’ll have to deal with it.”

Cass points to the gun in the man’s belt. He winces. It seems he doesn’t like to be reminded of it.

Suddenly, the man flies into a blur of motion, shooting forwards and pushing Cass to the ground. Cass isn’t supposed to be surprised like that, but nothing in the man’s body language was indicating an attack. Only, an attack would mean that Cass should be in pain, right now, and she isn’t. Instead, she watches the man do a strange flip over her head and land in front of a trafficker who snuck up on her, hitting him swiftly in the jaw. The mercenary takes advantage of the trafficker’s stumble and sends an elbow flying into the enemy’s skull. The trafficker falls to the ground, unconscious.

In that moment, it clicks. The man’s movements are…wrong. But not so wrong that Cass can’t see.

He’s supposed to be dead. Tim told her that he was dead, over a long phone call where Cass barely spoke. Alfred confirmed it, when she checked in with him during a brief visit to Gotham. And Alfred wasn’t lying.

But Cass trusts herself, and her eyes don’t lie.

“Dick Grayson.”

---

The second Dick sees Cass, he realizes why Helena didn’t let him bring his escrima sticks on this mission, why she insisted that she would be the one entering the trafficker’s lair. Only, she ended up delayed, fighting against some other organization that wanted the organs, and sent Dick ahead. She promised him that someone else was taking the ring down and he didn’t need to waste any time on it. Just get the spleen, pay, and get out.

Dick is clearly failing at this. But in his defense, Dick hadn’t known that Spyral been outbid.

It felt better, fighting for the organ. Still wrong, still dirty, still disgusting, but better than just paying for it. Spyral is a vulture, and so, by extension, is Dick.

It’s a mission, Dick reminds himself. Infiltration and sabotage. He’s here to stop Spyral, and anything he does would have been done anyway. It feels like a pointless excuse, because it is one.

He doesn’t want to fight Cass. He knows he can’t beat her, and he’s not crazy enough to try. But what else is he supposed to do? She rightly recognizes him as a villain, and she’s never been one for letting villains go.

Dick tries to reason with her, and just as he thinks she’ll agree to work together—Helena is going to hate that, but what choice does he have?—he notices a trafficker sneaking up on them. He’s been controlling his movements, his voice, his every action, trying to avoid tipping Cass off to his identity, but in this moment, the trafficker’s raising a gun and it’s his life or hers. And Dick knows that he’ll protect his little sister, even if it destroys his mission.

He turns around to see Cass staring at him, eyes narrowed.

“Dick Grayson,” she says, and he knows that he has failed. There’s a scream from down the corridor. “They need help.” Dick nods. They move forward together.

Between the two of them, taking down the ring is easy. They slip out into the darkness of the night, and Dick tries to split, but Cass catches his arm. “We need to talk,” she says.

Dick sighs. He doesn’t even know if he can return to Spyral after this. He needs to check in with Bruce. Sure, he could make his own decision, but he doesn’t know if it’ll be the right one, and this is Bruce’s mission. Whatever Bruce orders, goes. Dick would love the excuse to leave, but it could very well make everything worse.

Dick lets Cass lead him back to what he hopes is a safehouse. It’s sparse and undecorated and very probably moldy, so Dick hopes that his sister is normally living in better conditions.

“Alright,” Dick says, sitting down on the couch next to Cass with a sigh. “What do you need to know.”

“Stop,” Cass orders. She scrutinizes him carefully and Dick just sits there, waiting for her judgement. And then she leaps forward and wraps her arms around him, pulling him close.

It’s amazing. In Spyral, well, it’s not that he didn’t ever have contact with people, but it was never just a hug. It was never this warm, this gentle, this careful. It never makes him feel like a person. Dick hugs Cass back, holding her close like a lifeline. When she pulls away, she’s smiling.

“Missed you,” she says, like Dick was away at college or something.

“I missed you too.” Dick swallows. He knows that what he did was wrong. He knows that he lied to his family and left them and let them believe he was dead. He’s not expecting a happy reunion at the end of this. But Cass, at least, doesn’t seem to be responding with violence at the moment. “I’m sorry, Cass.”

“Tim said…you died.”

“Bruce—” Wait, no. Dick didn’t rehearse this, he doesn’t know what to say, but he does know that he cannotblame Bruce for this. “I faked it. I didn’t die, not really. It was…an opportunity. To go undercover. We had to use it to our advantage.”

Cass bites her lip. “Lying.”

“I really didn’t die.” His heart just stopped, for a minute or so. It doesn’t count. It can’t count.

“Lying,” Cass repeats.

“My heart stopped,” Dick admits. “There was a bomb that would go off unless…unless I died. Lex Luthor stopped my heart and then revived me right afterwards. I just had a…close brush with death.”

“You died.”

“I didn’t.” Dick shakes his head vigorously. “I didn’t die.”

Cass frowns. “Why do you need to believe?”

She can probably see the desperation. “I…it can’t have been that bad. I have to be fine. And…” Cass is so against killing, she isn’t the person to discuss this with, but…she’s letting him in her safehouse. She deserves to know what a monster he is. “Years ago…I beat the Joker until his heart stopped beating.” Cass presses against Dick’s side. She should be pushing him away, not burrowing closer. “Bruce revived him. He said…he said it didn’t count. I didn’t break the rule.” Dick meets Cass’s eyes, but her gaze is off to the side. She can’t see his face, can he? The Hypnos implant is still hiding him. “If I died…if I died…” If Dick died, then he killed the Joker. If Dick died, then he broke Bruce’s one rule. And after Blockbuster…

…it’s no wonder that Bruce sent him to Spyral. “I trained you to live and I watched you die!” Bruce had screamed. If Dick died, then he’s a killer. A murderer. How could he have expected Bruce to respect his protests, to listen to his pleas about family, when Dick is the very evil that they fight?

“Stop,” Cass hisses. “Your mind is going around and around. You need to stop. You’re…hurt.”

“I deserve to be,” Dick says. It slips out. It stays there. He can’t take it back, but it’s not wrong, so he doesn’t see why he should.

“Do you regret what you did?” Cass asks.

Killing the Joker? Most of the time. Sometimes, Dick wishes that Bruce had let that monster stay dead. Wishes Jason had come back to a world where someone at least had avenged Robin. Wishes that he could have spared Jason the pain of discovering that the Joker still lives. But for the most part, Dick can see the disappointment in Bruce’s eyes and the fear in Tim’s and wishes that he could take it back and never find out what he was capable of.

But then again, he found out he was capable of stepping out of the way only a year later.

“I try to,” Dick says honestly.

Cass lifts a hand to Dick’s face. She’s feeling for his features like she’s blind. The implant can mess with the visual cortex, but not the somatic. Cass is seeing him, as best she can. “Brother,” she says.

Dick smiles softly. “I didn’t die,” he says. “I’m not trying to lie to you, Cass.”

Cass lifts her hand away. “Under…covered?”

“Undercover. Yes. Spyral is…they’re hunting metahumans. They want to discover your identities. Someone had to go.”

“Why?”

“To keep you all safe,” Dick says.

“Spyral is…bad,” Cass says.

That’s certainly an understatement. Dick sighs. “I hate it. But it has to be done. I wouldn’t have gone if…if there was any other option.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

Dick wanted to. He didn’t understand that part, didn’t understand why the family couldn’t know. It’s more realistic this way, sure, but they’re all excellent actors. And Dick knows that after Jason’s death, after Bruce’s “death,” after Damian’s death, yet another death would strike deep.

He wanted to tell the family. He didn’t want to hurt them.

But Bruce said.

Dick doesn’t have an answer for Cass. Any excuse he could try to give would be halfhearted at best, and she’d know it.

“They’re hurt,” Cass says. She points to her heart. “Here. Hurts. Hurt me.”

“I’m sorry,” Dick whispers, voice broken.

Cass pulls back. Dick doesn’t deserve to be near her anyway. “Why?” She asks again.

“Why am I sorry?”

“No. Why did you lie?”

“It was safer,” Dick tries. That’s not the answer, though, and Cass knows he’s lying.

“Lie,” she says, voice hard. “Why?”

“Bruce insisted,” Dick says. He half-expects Cass to call that out as a lie as well, because, yeah, Bruce had insisted, but Dick had agreed in the end. Instead, Cass pulls her feet up onto the couch and tilts back against him.

“Hurt,” Cass says.

Dick freezes. He doesn’t know what Cass is implying, and he doesn’t want to betray himself by answering a question that wasn’t asked. “I’m sorry for hurting you,” Dick says eventually. That’s the safest option.

Cass shakes her head and his heart sinks. “No. Hurt you.”

Dick swallows. “It doesn’t matter.” He forces himself off the couch. “I should go. The organ won’t keep for very long.”

Cass just watches him.

“You can’t tell anyone I’m alive, okay? Please, Cass. I need you to promise.”

“Fine,” Cass says. Dick can’t read bodies the way she can. He doesn’t know if she’s lying. But he does know that he has to go now before Helena gets suspicious. He gives Cass one last hug and tries to remember the feeling of her arms around him to carry him through the rest of the mission. “Love you, brother.”

“Love you too,” Dick says as he leaves.

---

Cass sits alone in her apartment, fists clenched and toes curled into the couch cushions. Dick moved wrong. He moved like a ghost.

And some part of her is overjoyed that her big brother is alive. It’s amazing. It’s a miracle.

But most of her—most of her is afraid.

She said she wouldn’t tell anyone that Dick was alive. She doesn’t know if she was telling the truth, yet. For now, Cass won’t tell anyone who doesn’t already know.

But Dick’s fear, his shame, his guilt is seared to the backs of her eyelids. He was hurt. He was hiding.

Cass has to have a talk with a Bat.

#fanfiction #dick grayson #cassandra cain #spyral #batman fanfiction #dc fanfiction #dick grayson fanfiction #dc comics #dc #dcu #batman #batfamily #batfam #agent 37 #cass cain

[lilituism]

For @dickgraysonweek 2024

Day 1: Leader of the Titans| Dick’s Undervalued Competency | Spyral Crew

#dc comic #dick grayson #illustration #digital fanart #nightwing #agent 37 #tiger #spyral #spyral crew #action pose #lilituism