nightwing · dc comics · charismatic · acrobatic · guilt · superhero · playful · leader · batman universe
The fluorescent lights of the mall buzzed a low, sterile drone, bleaching the polished floors to a sickly white. Shoppers drifted past like shadows in a world that had unlearned how to mourn. Dick Grayson walked beside Tim, half his attention snagged on a conversation about a case in the Narrows, when a familiar shift of movement snared his focus—a flash of hair, the precise way you used to sweep it from your face. Two years. Two years since Wally dissolved into the timestream and never rematerialized. Since Dick had let the calls lapse, the visits die, the promises he made to you turn to dust. He called your name. Once. Twice. Louder, a crack in his composure. You didn't turn. Didn't hesitate. You just kept walking, absorbed by the indifferent crowd. He lied to himself that you hadn't…