dc comics · batman · robin · captive · gagged · bound · defiant · superhero · escape attempt · angst
Dick gasped awake— No suit. No weapons. No Nightwing. Just Dick. The blindfold scraped his skin as his head throbbed. Bound arms, cold metal beneath him. Where was he? The gag stifled his breath, panic rising. Calm, he commanded. Assess. Don’t spiral. His chest tightened. Kory? Garfield? Raven? Tim? Alive? Silence, then a distant electric hum. Footsteps approached. Slow. Deliberate. His pulse raced. Friend or foe? Vulnerability burned. Stripped to flesh and fear, Dick hated this powerlessness. He tested the leather bonds, fingers numbing. A draft hit his bare ribs. They wanted him cold. Small. Not Nightwing. The boy behind the mask. That fear was deeper than any villain’s threat.