A/N Why, yes, it did take me over a month to write a thousand words *shakes head*. Sorry for the delay! This chapter marks the end of this little story. Thanks so much to everyone who was kind enough to leave a review, and an extra special thank you to Black Friar, who is the most incredible beta :)

Epilogue

Robin wrapped his arms around himself as he stood in the cramped space behind the Batwing's front seats, watching the bioship depart through the windshield.

Batman stood beside him. "Are you all right?" he asked, once the bioship had disappeared into the clouds.

Robin looked up at his mentor. "Yeah, I-" he broke off, trying to swallow a sudden lump in his throat. His hands were beginning to shake. "I'm-" he tried again, but his throat felt so tight he couldn't get the words out.

Batman pushed back his cowl and then Bruce was kneeling in front of him, gloved hands hovering close but not touching. "Dick, it's all right, you're safe."

I know that! Dick thought, but now his whole body was trembling and he didn't understand it. He'd been fine a minute ago!

"I- I don't know why- w-what's happening?" he managed to choke out.

"Your body's having a delayed stress reaction," Bruce said. "It's all right, Dick, just breathe."

Easier said than done, Dick thought, as he fought to keep from hyperventilating. He didn't register the hands on his arms until Bruce slowly and carefully pulled him into a hug. Dick clung to him, trying to make his body calm down.

He stood there for a while, shaking in Bruce's arms, trying to breathe through his nose. Gradually, the tremors began to subside and his breathing returned to normal. He pulled back a little, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," Dick said, not looking at Bruce. "I-I don't know why I suddenly freaked out. I mean, I was fine before."

"Sometimes it takes your body a while to process what's happened," Bruce said. "It's similar to coming down from an adrenaline high; during times of extreme stress your body employs a protective mechanism, preventing you from reacting to the stress until it feels it's safe enough. It's a perfectly normal response to what you've just been through, Dick." Bruce reached out and tilted Dick's chin up, gently peeling off Dick's mask with his other hand. "Look at me, kiddo," Bruce said, and Dick reluctantly met his eyes. "You've got nothing to be ashamed of or to be embarrassed about."

Dick managed a small smile, feeling marginally better but still wishing his body would get with the program already and realize that he was fine.

Bruce's expression remained serious. "Dick, I'm sorry, but I have to ask-"

"He didn't hurt me," Dick interrupted. Bruce raised a skeptical eyebrow, so Dick added, "I mean, he just slapped me around a little and tried to scare me into spilling the beans about you. Well, about Batman. He- he did assault me, I guess, but it was nowhere near as bad as- you know."

Bruce nodded and Dick saw the rage his guardian was trying to keep under control simmering in the brown eyes.

"We'll make a new appointment with Black Canary," Bruce said, his voice sounding more like Batman's than his own.

Dick sighed but didn't protest. His last session with Canary had been about two months ago and he'd been glad to be done with them. As much as he liked her and as much as their sessions had helped him, he'd just wanted to move on already. He was definitely in a better frame of mind now though, so maybe the one session would be enough.

"Ready to go home?" Bruce asked, standing up.

"More than ready."

Bruce pulled his cowl back on and they took their seats behind the controls. They were in the air a few minutes later.

"So where are we?" Dick asked after a while.

"Approximately an hour north of Gotham."

So they had a one-hour flight ahead. Awesome.

"How long were we missing?"

"About three hours."

Three hours? That wasn't very long at all. Then again, a lot could happen in three hours. "How did you guys find us so fast?"

"Miss Martian managed to apprehend one of your attackers as they were making their escape," Batman replied. "She searched his mind for your location."

Dick snorted. The guy hadn't stood a chance. Speaking of…

"So…what did you do to that guy- Fairchild?"

"I turned him over to the police."

"Uh-huh. And what did you do to him before that?"

"I showed him the error of his ways." Batman paused. "He took some convincing."

"Right."

oOo

Later that night, Dick lay awake in bed, having trouble shutting his mind off. His brain kept wanting to replay the events of that day and if there was one thing he didn't want to be doing, it was that. Especially not in the middle of the night. He didn't want to think about what might have happened if he hadn't been able to free himself and- don't think about that!

He needed a distraction, something to get his mind off of things… He was pretty sure Bruce or Alfred would notice if he went to the Batcave or the gym for a workout and they probably wouldn't approve, so that wasn't an option. School stuff? No. He needed to think about something fun, something he could look forward to. Bruce had some kind of charity event tomorrow, but maybe…

Dick grabbed his phone off the nightstand and fired off a text.

Dude, wanna come over tomorrow? I got the new JL game the other day.

Dick blinked when his phone beeped in response a mere two seconds later. Wally usually slept like the dead; he hadn't expected a reply until noon tomorrow at the earliest, especially after the day they'd had. That meant that Wally was also having trouble sleeping. Or he might have just woken up to get himself a snack.

Dick grinned when he read Wally's text.

The new JL? OMG, dude, I am so there!

Cool, Dick texted back. I'll let u know what time, ok?

Wally replied with a thumbs-up and Dick put his phone back on the nightstand with a smile. He burrowed back under the covers, turning onto his side. Monday he would have to talk about unpleasant stuff with Black Canary, but right now he could put his mind to work thinking up battle strategies.

He fell asleep in the middle of devising a plot to kick Wally's butt.

- End -