Treacherous | Dick Grayson

1

Detroit, Michigan

Ashley picked at the space under her nail for imaginary dirt. She sat on the roof, legs hanging off and stared down at the Detroit alleyway. 'He just had to pick this shitshow' Ashley thought bitterly. She sighed and watched the show down below. "Pink?" a man asked.

"The kids love it" Another replied. Disgust curled in Ashley's stomach as glared down. 

Ashley heard Dick make a noise and she held in a laugh as the men began panicking. "Relax, I'm only here for Tyler Hackill" She heard Dick announce and drop down onto a car that had been parked in the alley. 'Yeah, you're really done with Robin aren't you Dick?' Ashley thought as she watched him. "Leave the drugs, leave the guns and you'll walk away" Dick told him.

The men started waving weapons to the sky asking desperately "Where's Batman?" Ashley couldn't help but let out a little laugh. She just knew in her heart that Dick was frustrated.  "Hey! Where is he?" She heard one of them say "Hey, little birdies alone." She grimaced, even alone she knew Dick was hard to beat. She knew they wouldn't stand a chance, even with the weapons they possessed. She knew how it would play out, so she made her way down the other side of the building and to Dicks car.

She opened the door and sat in the car for a few moments, waiting for him to come back to the car. She could only imagine how pissed he was going to be to see her again. He opened the door, now in civilian clothes. "You've gotten slow in your old age" Ashley joked.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dick asked, exasperated. 

"Obviously, I'm here to see you d-bag. Nothing else in this place I could want to see" She said, shrugging as if was the most obvious thing in the world. "Also, you still got some blood on your face" Ashley said, removing the mostly dried blood from his cheek. 

"Thanks" He told her. "Your father didn't follow you here, did he?" Dick asked.

"Nope, the only reason he would know I left is that I haven't shown up for patrol. Probably thinks I'm in Star with Dinah, if nothing else" She told him. 

"Fine. We can talk at my place" Dick told her, starting up the car. Ashley agreed and leaned back in the seat. 

 ♠️♠️♠️

Dick and Ashley entered the loft. She went and sat on the sofa, and Dick followed suit. "Where's the first aid? You're bleeding through your shirt" Ashley asked him. 

"I am?" He asked. "I guess so... Underneath the cabinet sink in the bathroom" Dick told her. 

"Shirt off, I'll patch you while I'm here" Ashley told him, getting up and leaving the room. 

Dick sighed and got up, removing his shirt and standing up and opting to leave it on the coffee table. 

"Oh. Those are some nasty bruises" Ashley muttered, putting the first aid kit down on the island and asking Dick where his bowls and wash clothes were. "Sit down, you know I can't see much from down here" Ashley grumbled, making him let out a small laugh. 

"Maybe you should've grown a few more inches" He teased and grabbed a dining chair, opting to sit facing the backing, so Ashley could start with his back. 

"I am really just thinking about bitch slapping some of these painful looking ones just for that" Ashley said with an eyeroll.

"You'll think about it, but you won't" Dick said. Ashley agreed, albeit unwillingly. 

"So Detroit?" Ashley asked him. 

"Yeah. Don't know how long I'll stay, though. Doesn't feel like home. Not like how you made it feel" Dick admitted. 

"Its been a year Dick with no word from you" Ashley replied softly. "This is gonna hurt" Ashley told him, beginning to stitch up his cut.

"Anyways, Dick. How are you? Don't play games with me either, I know when you're lying through your teeth."

"I'm alive, aren't I? Should be a good indicator of how I am" He replied.

"Almost a year ago I had walked into my Dad's house and you were cursing the Wayne name, screaming about how you wouldn't touch Robin again. Here you are eleven months later, strung out on caffeine and pent up anger, and probably haven't slept in days. It isn't healthy for you" She told him in concern. 

"I'll work it out when the times right" 

"Richard-"

"Don't Richard me, Ashley" Dick replied. 

"You know I don't care for many people in the world, right?" Ashley asked with a small voice. 

"No one like us does" He told her. 

"You're one of the few I care about Dick. Just give me something to go on, and I'll go on and you can whatever it is you're trying to accomplish. I'll make my way back to Gotham and you can carry on doing whatever you need to do to be you. I need to know that you are okay" She told him. 

"One of these days, I'll be fine. I'll know how to function without the suit, and I won't feel like I'm torn in half. It takes time for that Ashley. You know that" Dick told her. Ashley nodded and moved to see if there was anything she needed to mend on his front. 

"Don't let them get you this bad next time. You know better" Ashley said with a sigh. 

"Fine" Dick agreed. 

"I think its best that I go, now that your patched up and we've talked" Ashley said to him. 

"Ash, you can stay" Dick said. 

"We both know I can't stay if you have any hope of getting out" Ashley replied.

"What if you got out too?" Dick asked her.

Ashley bit her lip and pondered her answer. After a few seconds of debating with herself she decided to white lie. "We both know I never will. Not with Bat-dad lurking around the corner waiting to usher me back to Gotham."

"Fuck Bruce, Ash. You're twenty-six! He can get over it. It can be like old times without the capes and cowls" Dick pleaded. 

Ashley and Dick locked eyes, and she knew she wanted nothing more than to stay. "I got loose ends to tie up. We can talk about me hanging it up when its done."

"We both know, you won't tie up those loose ends" Dick told her.

"And we both know that I won't be enough for you to stay around when you get pissed again" Ashley said, swallowing her feelings. "You proved that last time" Ashley said, reaching up to kiss his cheek and leave.

She missed the heartbreak on his face as his world crumbled around him for third time in his life.