Adult Content Warning
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Arnika by airyoubreathe
Fandoms: Nightwing (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
18 Feb 2026
Tags
Summary
As an eight year old Robin, Dick had traversed the tightrope of good and evil effortlessly, understanding how to navigate the world's morality in the way that only a child could. He knew right, he knew wrong and he knew how to differentiate between the two. As an adult, Dick didn’t have that certainty, and he no longer ran, skipped and cartwheeled over that tightrope. Instead, he crawled in a way that felt humiliating, even when no one else knew how much he was struggling to stand.
It's been six months since Nightwing dragged himself from the burning warehouse he'd been held captive in; bloodied, broken and with the fury of an avenging phoenix. And Dick Grayson has spent that time painstakingly putting his persona back together in a way that belies the total destruction wreaked over his mind and body.
Sure, the lie isn't as perfect as he wishes it was. But none of that matters. Not really, anyway. Because as the curtains open on the performance of Dick Grayson's lifetime, he knows one bitter truth; this is his path, and he has to walk it alone.
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A study in pain, grief and the relentless sting of finding a way to heal.
Fully written and updated twice per week
Series
- Part 7 of Terrible Sting, Terrible Storm