Batfamily (1): Black Cub (Dick Grayson x OC)

Chapter 42: Stop fishing for answers that you already have, Grayson

Dick Grayson

The first scream woke me up. It wasn't the first time it had happened either. This was the seventh night in a row that I'd woken up because Catalina had screamed. I carefully got out of bed and slid my screen back. There was a flickering light in the room across the hall from me. I would see the outline of Catalina's body hunched over on the side of her bed. Even through the thin paper walls I could tell she was shaking, holding her head in her hands.

The three sisters had been trying different methods of magical healing on Catalina everyday. During the day, you couldn't tell it was getting to her. But every sense they'd started, Catalina had been waking me up every night with her nightmares. The three sisters had given Bruce and Selina rooms on the other side of the shrine, so I was the only one to hear her.

I moved closer to her room and leaned carefully against the wall. She was talking to herself.

"Not real. Fuck." She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." She slammed her hands into her temple a couple of times then stopped moving. After a couple of minutes, I was about to go in to see if she was ok when she blew out the candle on the dresser, plunging me and the hallway into darkness. I still waited a few more minutes before I went back into my room. In those few moments before I left, I could hear her crying softly to herself. She didn't know me well enough anymore nor did she know I was even awake. I tried to shake off my rage but it was getting a lot more difficult.

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The next night, when she screamed, I didn't wait. I got out of bed and stood outside of her room. Once her figure moved to a sitting position on the side of her bed, I gently slid her door open. "Hey." She looked up at me.

"I woke you up, didn't I?" She asked. She sounded so tired. There were dark rings under her eyes and she was shaking slightly. I shrugged and moved to sit next to her.

"Actually, not tonight. I was already awake." She let out a shaky breath and rested her head in her hands.

"Because you knew I was going to wake up." I sat next to her and didn't say anything. "Please don't stare at me." She whispered hoarsely. "I'm so tired of people staring at me and waiting for me to do something." I nodded.

"Then what do you need me to do?" She looked up at me.

"You cared about me a lot, didn't you?" I nodded.

"I still do." Catalina scoffed and put her head back.

"Why? I don't know you. I haven't talked to you. From the way the sisters act, I might as well be the Hellspawn." I snorted at her choice of words.

"Trust me. I've met someone nicknamed Hellspawn and you are ten times better than him." She didn't say anything. We sat in silence for a while before I spoke again. "Do you want to talk about them?" She shook her head numbly. Then she looked up at me and ran her hand through her hair.

"I wouldn't know how. They're so vivid and terrifying as they happen but then I can't remember them afterwards." She sighed deeply. "I just want to be able to sleep." She mumbled. I thought for a moment.

"Here, lay down." She gave me a sideways glance.

"Why?" I smiled softly.

"Just trust me." She looked like she was going to argue but then she laid down again and pulled her blankets up to her shoulders. I reached out and brushed her hair off her forehead. She froze when I first touched her, but as I continued, she slowly relaxed.

"Why are you looking out for me?" She asked quietly. "Why are you so angry?" I looked down and met her green eyes.

"Because I could have stopped this. I was there every time she managed to get into your head and I didn't do anything to stop it." She closed her eyes and hummed softly.

"It's not your fault." She breathed out. "No one could have stopped her. She knew exactly what she was doing and how to do it. From what I've been told by the sisters." I clenched my fist that wasn't messing with her hair.

"That's what they've told me too. Doesn't mean it's true."

"Grayson." Her voice was warm and I looked back down at her. Her eyes were open again and they were scanning my face. "Beating yourself up over this, whether you could stop it or not, isn't going to do you anything other then make you distracted when it counts the most." I snorted and smiled.

"Sounds like someone's been talking to Bruce." She grinned and closed her eyes again.

"Hardly. He gets on my nerves. Even I can tell that my feelings towards him are the same as they were. Nothing's changed there."

"And what about me?" I asked. She smiled again but didn't open her eyes.

"Stop fishing for answers that you already have, Grayson." 

//Sorry I didn't post a chapter last week! My school as decided that we will be back in person, so I was trying to get prepared for that and I completely forgot to post. I hope all of you guys are doing well and you are safe and healthy. What do you guys think is going to happen further down the line with the book? Do you think that Cat will get her memories back? I love you all so much and I will hopefully see you next week!//