#your ridiculous plan IMMEDIATELY backfiring because the longer you feel the warmth of his palm the more desperate YOU'RE growing

[ghost-proofbaby]

nonnie who sent me more bff!perv!eddie thoughts - i see you. im saving the ask. im cooking.

[dontcallmecookie]

for your Dick Grayson must Die series could I prompt something with the OG Titans maybe? Maybe he gets into a fight with Hank and passes out during it?? Or something along those lines!!

Change of Plans

Part 4 of the Dick Grayson Must Die series

Summary: In which Hank picks a fight with Dick after a bungled mission.

Warnings: Whump, canon-typical violence, lots of swearing

~~

The tension in the room clung to the walls like sticky dew, stinking up the room with hormones and emotions. Donna swallowed, glancing worriedly at Dick. Dove and Hawk would be back any second now. And Hank was going to be livid. The frown on her brow said it all as she looked pointedly to his cradled side.

Are you ready for this?

He considered it for a moment, working his jaw as his thumb beat out a nervous tempo on the countertop. Suddenly, he pivoted and stood, working out his nerves as he wandered aimlessly around the great room, cape swishing behind him.

Nope. Not even a little bit.

Donna sighed, watching carefully at the hitch in his step, the way he favored his right side. “You need to get that looked at.”

Robin made it as far as the dining room table before having to lean against it heavily, palms pressed to the tabletop. He was panting, dizzy as the lights swam in front of his eyes. “I’m fine.”

Wonder Girl rolled her eyes loudly, spinning to making her way to the fridge. She snatched a yogurt, not bothering to check the flavor; she wouldn’t be tasting it anyway. “You say to the woman who literally had to catch you midair after some psycho took a barbed wire bat to your-”

The elevator dinged. Robin straightened, squaring his shoulders. It was a brave face for someone who was moments away from passing the fuck out. He would need it, though. The only way to calm Hank down after something like this would be to either fuck him or bark louder. Dick knew which one he was in for.

The doors slipped open and Dove and Hawk marched into the great room. Donna moved around the island defensively, her instincts yelling at her to protect her Boy Wonder. Hank meant well, but he often forgot his own strength. The larger Titan saw Dick and froze like a predator spotting its prey and huffed angrily. Dawn slipped her mask off and moved to Donna, taking her yogurt and swallowing a mouthful.

Hank stared under the red lenses of his helmet, sizing up his opponent as he decided if he wanted to have this fight or not. Well, no, he definitely wanted to have a fight, he just wasn’t sure if it should be with Dick or a punching bag.

He scoffed sourly and stomped off. Punching bag it was.

“Hank.”

He kept walking.

Dick sighed. “Hank. We need to talk.”

Fuck the punching bag. If Grayson wanted a face full of fist, he would damn well get it. Hawk circled to Dick and gestured impatiently. “I’m all ears, oh great and wise leader.”

Robin swallowed, falling against the dining table for support. Suddenly, he was at a loss for words. Hank was expecting something from him and he didn’t have the first thing to say. Where would he even begin? It wasn’t his fault Hank’s plan was going to backfire. And Hank disobeyed his direct order to stop - was he just supposed to stand by and watch him and Dawn get slaughtered? “I won’t apologize for what happened back there,” he finally said.

It took a moment for the words to sink in, a wry smile splitting across Hank’s face. He looked back at Donna and Dawn, wondering if he had heard that right. “The fuck did you just say to me, Bird Boy?”

Well, too late to take it back now. Dick raised his chin in defiance. “Your plan was going to get you, Dawn, and tens of innocents killed. It was flawed from the start. I had to step in and set things right.”

“Did you now?” the larger man sneered, stalking forward one heavy step at a time.

“I did.”

“I don’t fucking believe this.” He waved at the women. “Do you fucking believe this?”

Donna bit her lip, fighting the urge to back up her childhood best friend. It was a hard call, but Dick had made it. And if he was going to be respected as the leader of this team, he would need to learn to defend his actions against the harshest scrutinies.

Dawn didn’t share her Amazonian convictions, though. “You saw what happened, Hank. You saw what they did - what they were going to do-”

“Dawn,” Wonder Girl warned quietly, touching her arm.

Hank turned his venomous glare to her. She titled her head and let it bounce off like a mosquito bite. “You’re taking his side on this?”

So much for the quiet bystander role. “I am.”

“Of course you fucking are. Anything for your boyfriend, right? Your little Boy Wonder?”

Robin grabbed his arm. “That’s enough, Hank,” he said and Donna would have to remember to compliment his Batman voice. It was pretty on brand.

Hawk yanked his arm back, shoving Dick roughly in the chest. “Get your hands off me! You want to divide this team, fine. But I’m not going to stand here and take your brainwashing.”

“I’m trying to keep this team alive,” Dick retorted angrily. A flush rose to his cheeks and Donna gulped worriedly. “There’s no brainwashing going on, no coercion. Because, unlike you, I’m capable of solving problems with my brain and not just my fists.”

“You think your brains are better than me? What, just because you grew up going to galas and fancy-ass parties with Bruce-fucking-Wayne?”

“I grew up out on the streets, five nights a week, kicking asses and thinking up strategies on the fly to keep them from kicking mine in return.” He sidled forward, using every inch of his height to intimidate his hundred pounds heavier teammate. “I was doing this while you were still playing Pee Wee, linebacker. Which is how I knew your plan was shit and had to step in and save everyone’s lives. Lives that you put in danger!”

Hank growled and shoved him again, Dick latching onto the front of his costume to hold himself in place even as the larger Titan tried to shake him off. “Back off!” Suddenly a meaty fist was slamming into Dick’s right side.

“Dick!” Donna gasped, rushing forward.

He was immediately on the ground, a lump of pads and rubber under his bi-colored cape.

“The fuck’s wrong with him?” Hank wondered, stepping back in confusion as Donna knelt by their downed leader.

“The bad guy you were so insistent wouldn’t show up? Well, guess who showed up? And while you’re at it, take a stab at who found him and had to take him down. By himself,” she responded pointedly, cradling Dick’s face and prying his eyelids open to check his pupils. He groaned into her hands, eyes rolling lazily behind the mask.

Dawn approached worriedly, Hank gravitating to her for stability. “I… No, he was out of town. I checked. His plane wasn’t supposed to land for another-”

“Four hours? Yeah, say that to the barbed wire bat he took to Dick’s side.”

Dick coughed lightly, face scrunching in pain as his chest convulsed. He turned, droplets that matched the red of Donna’s suit decorating her shoulder.

“Jesus,” Dawn gasped, quickly joining Wonder Girl on the floor. “He needs to go to medical. Can he stand?”

Robin nodded, a gurgling noise coming from his throat.

“Turn him,” Donna said and they rolled him to the side just as bile and blood erupted from his mouth, staining the cold floor. He vomited weakly and Donna checked his temperature. “Go get a cold bath ready.” Dawn nodded and was out the door in a few hurried strides.

Hank looked like he was having a full-blown crisis under his ridiculous bird costume. “I didn’t know.”

“Clearly,” Wonder Girl snapped protectively. Recognizing her temper, she sighed, taking a precious moment to center herself. “You can grovel for forgiveness later. For now, help me get to him to medical.” She could lift the Titan on her own without breaking a sweat and they all knew it. But bridal style wasn’t easy on the ribs and Hank desperately needed to feel helpful.

“Uh, yeah, right.” He sprung forward, looping his arm around Dick’s waist. “Jesus, he’s burning up.”

“Thus the cold bath Dawn is getting ready.” Donna heaved him upright, nodding to the door. “Let’s go.”

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

The bat had broken several ribs, one of which was inches away from puncturing a lung. He wouldn’t need surgery, but he would be bedridden for a number of weeks as all the internal scrapes and tears healed. A couple of days after he was conscious for good - it was definitely the most he had slept since, well, the last time he was immobile - Hank broke his streak of avoidance and poked his head into the leader’s darkened room.

Dick paused the video on his League tablet, taking out his headphones. “What’s up?” he asked not unkindly, but with about as much warmth as if he was talking to a table leg that had just violated his toe.

Hank cleared his throat, motioning to the device. “Interrupting your Netflix?”

“Something like that,” Dick replied, shuffling uncomfortably as he locked the screen.

Hank sat uninvited on the corner of the bed, making a face at the secrecy. “Guess you gotta get the blood flowing somehow,” he quipped crudely.

“What do you want, Hank.”

“Well, I was going to apologize but if you’re going to be a prick about it I won’t.”

Dick turned to the window. “Then you weren’t really sorry, were you,” he corrected quietly.

The larger Titan considered it, nodding loudly. “Guess not then. Well,” he stood, slapping Dick’s knee under the thick blankets. “Don’t be out too much longer. Getting kind of tired of kicking the ladies’ asses all the time.”

“I’ll tell Donna to take it easy next time.”

“Uh. Yeah. You do that.” He turned and left, fleeing as fast as he could.

Dick swallowed as he watched his back retreat and mulled over why he couldn’t have one single goddamn conversation with the man without ruffling his feathers and reopening wounds all over again. How was he supposed to lead a team when he couldn’t have a civil one on one with one-fifth of it?

He sighed, eventually accepting that that answer would just have to stay unsolved until another day. And he would have plenty of time to torture himself with it until he was allowed back to normal life.

Wedging the headphone back into his ear, he unlocked the screen of his tablet and resumed the video. Grainy footage showed a man swing a barbed wire baseball bat into his side. He went to the ground, exposed and vulnerable as the man continued to beat him with the weapon, hitting and hitting him without pause. Dick rewound and played the segment again. Then again. On the fourth time, he paused it and switched to his suit’s body cam, his own cries of pain deafening in his ears.

He turned the volume up.

He was well on his way to being recovered physically, but mentally he was on loop in the ICU of his own bleeding mind.