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Artemis was going home, with Brucely at her side, the house Oliver bought for Will and Lian wasn't far away, the night was calm, when the dog ran to the door, barking at a figure kneeling on the front door.
Her hand moved to her hip, where she kept a combat knife, the snow was falling, and the only pat to the house was made by Brucely paws, moving slowly, licking in the shadows, she glanced at the door, where the figure was petting her dog, curled in front of the door, using a light jacket, too light for the winter.
"Dick?"
He lifted his head, with bruises and stitches, his eyes blinking, afraid of something inside his head, his lips, dry, bitten, and bloodied, were open, one hand grabbing himself and the other holding onto Brucely.
"Dick, what happened?"
"I'm sorry," he mumbled, "I didn't— I should—"
Kneeling, Artemis hugged him petting his hair, feeling the bandages under the jacket, it felt like Dick didn't wear anything else, shooting him, she wondered what put him in that state.
Looking at him like that, it was easier to connect the first image she saw about Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson, the crying boy looking down at the blurred corpse of his family, a video every channel in Gotham kept running, a thing she got sick of seeing, and the hero, the mischievous edge of Robin’s laugh and the compassion and righteousness of Nightwing persona.
“It’s okay, come in, we can have hot cocoa.”
Taking off her coat, she ignored the way Dick moved, the way the mask he usually wore was off, the tiredness and sadness he had, the tension of his muscles, and the shaking of his hands, he never let himself be so open, only a few people had the honor, Batman and Barbara, for sure, Wally, Will, Kaldur, and Artemis; sometimes she wondered if other people knew the boy under the shield, like his brothers and sisters, M’gann, Conner, Zatanna, or Dinah, if someone else held him when he was down, and pulled him back to the light.
"Sorry," Dick mutters "You don't have…"
It's natural for Artemis to squeeze his hand, she isn't a fan of physical contact, but Dick is always warm, easy to touch, easy to trust, and he leans on her, like a needy puppy, asking with his eyes for the contact, babbling self-deprecating nonsense, pleading for forgiveness, as if being down was a crime.
Like a routine, Artemis is kissing his jaw, hugging him, grounding him, cooing him, caressing the hair of his scalp, dragging him to the kitchen.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Just fear gas.”
Dick’s voice was barely a whisper, his knuckles were white, holding the table of the kitchen, fear gas was something malevolent, and an understandable explanation of why Dick’s walls were down.
But this was the first time Dick inhaled fear gas after Wally’s death.
It had been almost a year since that day, but the wound was open, still bleeding for all of them.
“You should change your clothes, Will won’t mind if you go to his room.”
Those big blue eyes looked at her, blinking nervously like he didn’t know was loved, when Artemis and Will were ready to hold him, he looked insecure, despite every hero or morally ambiguous person in the caped community trusted him, acting like he needed permission to be vulnerable.
“He likes when you come here, I like you around, Lian loves when you take care of her.”
“Thank you.”
Artemis heated a pot with water, looking at the way Dick paced along the corridor, smiling when he entered Will’s room, pouring the hot water in three mugs, sinking the little tea bags she bought for Dick, drinking hers while moving around the house, checking on Lian, locking the doors, giving food to Brucely and changing her clothes, giving time to Dick and Will.
Pushing the door opened, Will gave her a thumbs up, with Dick sleeping in his arms, his head hid in the crook of Will’s neck, his hands grabbing Will’s tee, both of them covered in the blankets, the white bandages wrapped around Dick’s chest and shoulders, putting the mugs down on the nightstand, Artemis crawled onto the bed, hugging Dick from behind, and arm wrapped around his waist.
“G’night Dickie bird,” muttered Will, kissing Dick temple.
“Sleep well,” added Artemis, pressing her lips on Dick’s neck.