Seen too much for Robin

Conversations with Bruce were, every so often, good. This had not been one of those times. Dick hadn’t been so frustrated in a very long time and yet it was an incredibly familiar feeling. Bruce had been...peeved when Dick had finally told him what had really happened with Crane - and then about Tereus’ kidnapping. Bruce had already known about the actually event, but Dick had received a scolding for not immediately reporting in everything that had gone down. Then on top of that was the disappointment in Dick’s decision to take time off from work, the disapproval of his continued work with Dr. Linnear, the fact that Dick had taken so much time off from patrolling in Kin, that he had yet to set up a vigorous training regimen for both Blue Beetle and Hawkeye.

( And apparently, since they were at it anyway, Bruce had been holding back just how disappointed he was that anyone had figured out Nightwing’s identity - much less five people. )

The day flew by for Tereus. He didn’t wake up until Dick and Arges had come in and he spent most of that having a shower and getting ready for the debriefing. After the doctor cut him loose with the instructions to check in with the Olympus Police Hospital when they return, Tereus was forced to separate from Dick with nothing more than a glance and a smile as the two armed soldiers came to collect him.

Arges gave Dick a friendly pat on the shoulder and they headed off, leaving Dick in the possession of Arges’ assistant, Rudy.

Rudy did his best to keep Dick entertained, not an easy thing as the man was a bundle of nervous energy. He finally opted to leaving him at Arges’ apartment and he sat on the sofa working on his laptop.

Just when Rudy thought that Dick was going to begin swinging from the light fixtures, the front door opened, much to Rudy’s relief and he leaped from the sofa and met them. “Hey Arges.”

Arges nodded to Rudy and motioned for Tereus to enter first before following him in and shutting the door. “Update,” he asked Rudy, leaving Tereus and Dick to say hello in some kind of privacy.

“Hey, baby,” Dick said as he stepped around Arges, giving him a nod, to gather his boyfriend up into his arms, “how was it?”

( The only reason he’d stuck around in the apartment at all in stead of going for a run or something was because he hadn’t been sure when Tereus would be getting out of the meeting, and didn’t want to not be there, waiting, when he did. )

Arges went in with Dick at least as far as the floor Tereus was on and stopped by the nurse’s station to talk with Tereus’ attending doctor who was standing there. He nodded for Dick to go on to his room, knowing Dick would be anxious to see him and also knowing Dick probably didn’t need to hear their conversation which consisted of when Tereus would be released. As much as he hated to have to submit Tereus to it, there was the debriefing.

He’d already strong-armed his superiors into letting him sit on the board of inquiry, feeling he needed to be there, if only to keep them from bulldozing Tereus. Having been there when they got to Tereus, he saw the shape the man was in and so far they’d been unsuccessful in finding out the depths of their torture and how far they’d gotten into his head. They’d determined that Tereus had given up no information, which was a relief and now it was to figure out how much damage had been done to Tereus that the doctors weren’t seeing and if, as much as it pained Arges to admit, he would still be of use in the project.

( Dick appreciated the escape. )

Poseidon medical facilities were first-rate. Olympus was set up to handle cyborg cases and they were world class. This also applied for bioroids, where the technology was created and perfected. But the company Arges worked for was a technological giant and as such, wasn’t any slouch.

( Tereus was resting, floating in and out of wakefulness. )

As far as Tereus was concerned, the session went very well with Dr. Linnear. They’d both fallen into bad habits in regards to how to deal with stress in their relationship and she gave them a few ideas on how to deal with it in the future. But considering all the conflict prior to this, she was impressed they’d gotten as far as they had.

He was pleased and Dick didn’t look any worse for wear for it, considering his own issues in how much he was willing to divulge, and after the session ended, they made their next appointment and Tereus pulled Dick out of the building to walk to a small health food cafe around the corner for their lunch.

( Once they were seated and alone, enjoying the pretty spring day in the small courtyard, Tereus extended his legs and tangled them with Dick’s. )