She didn't say anything, just lead him into a room with two comfy chairs... the room which Black Canary used to counseling the kids in.
"Have a seat." She closed the door behind her and took her goggles off and moved the chairs much closer together. "Dick, you can keep telling yourself that you're fine but after you attacked me in the hall, we both know you're not... Talk to me. I know it's hard to admit everything isn't alright. But I've been through this sort of thing before..." She smiled encouragingly.

Dick stayed standing, "Ciara, there's nothing to talk about." he replied, "My team was under attack, we were in a tight spot so I ordered them to go ahead while I held off the Reach. I didn't manage to get out myself but they came right back for me. I might be a little on edge but it'll pass. I just need some time."

Ciara gave him quite the look, "That's what you've been telling yourself every day isn't it? That you just need some time... That everything is fine. These feelings you feel will past. You feel detached from everyone even though they're standing right in front of you. Randomly you recall the event in your mind over and over again. You feel numb... You don't feel like eating, being in social interactions is the last time you want to do.... You find it hard to go to sleep at night and when you finally do get to sleep you recall the event... Dick, you're not alone..." She said sincerely. She wasn't just listing the symptoms of Post-traumatic stress disorder, she was talking from personal experiences. And if Dick was going through what she thought he was, then these would be some of the things he was going through too.

"Nothing happened!" Nightwing retorted, losing his patience a little, "nothing that I haven't had to deal with a billion times before. You think this was bad? Try holding your own against the Joker's torture tactics. It's not just pain, he gets in your head to. And like I said, the team came right back for me. I was barely there long enough for them to do anything."

"Yes. Something did happen. You were abducted and used as a science pin cushion. Miss Martian and Robin found you screaming in pain. Do you think perhaps this event could have sparked some of your previous experiences...Just humor me, please."

Dick let out a hefty sigh and reluctantly plopped into the chair, "I don't need therapy Ciara." he told her bluntly, "I may not sleep well but that's nothing new as of years ago. I'm not having any nightmares out of the ordinary, my deductive reasoning is still in tact and last time I checked, I could handle a couple hours of pain. I deal with my past experiences, I face my fears and it makes me stronger."

"Everyone has a breaking point, Dick. And don't think of this as therapy. Just... a way to vent, to release all the bad things from your body...Just tell me what's on your mind. What have you been feeling the last couple of days. Whatever comes to mind... Whatever we discuss here, stays here."

"I've been thinking about the base" Nightwing replied, still annoyed, "today: keeping the systems updated, making sure our security protocols aren't compromised. Yesterday: Checking and double checking firewalls. Trying to see if I can hack in so I know where the threats are. And the day before that? I was thinking about getting my team safe home from another mission. Before that was training excersizes, before that was more training, are we done here?"

"Wait wait... Back up the Bird boat... Are you telling me you don't remember being held captive for 3 days?" She asked, "The team didn't just come back for you, Dick. You weren't even on the same ship as before... They had to save all the people you found. You told them to, no ORDERED them too. You didn't give them a choice.

It would have taken them hours to get back to you. Pietro and I were called in since the team couldn't come back for you. You were no where to be found....We didn't find you till 3 days after you were taken... Do you understand now why I'm so worried. They had PLENTY of time to torture you. To do unspeakable things.... Things you're clearly suffering from." Slowly and gently, she put a hand on his knee.

"... wait, woah-back up" Nightwing withdrew as she spoke, "no, I would have noticed that. I remember everything. I had managed to plant a couple bombs and set them off when the others left. It was nearly an hour before they took me down and put me in one of those pod things with flashing lights and a really bad pain at the back of my neck" he touched the spot as he thought back, "I kept my mind on counting, lost track a couple times but it was just a few hours, half a day at most."

"Time doesn't work the same when you're being tortured Dick. It took them 3 days to find you. Pietro and I were on the coastline the whole time on stand-by in case something went wrong. They had you hooked up to some kind of machine... which was attached to your head... You must have blacked out at the worst times of your capture. The brain does that... when something is too great for the body to handle, it shuts things off... You didn't even realize it was happening. It's probably for the best that you don't remember most of your stay there.

Actually, I'm rather happy to know you don't remember. It must have felt like centuries..."

Dick stared at the table in front of him, trying to sort out what she had just told him. "... three days..." he mumbled, trying to wrap his head around it. At least he wasn't being defensive anymore, "I didn't even notice... how is that possible?" he went to the device on his arm, checking the date, "friday... two days ago I got back... we went on the mission on... what day was it? No, this can't be right" he held his head in his hands, "what happened?!"

"Hey," She said gently, "We'll figure this out together. If you like I could get someone who knows their way around minds to help figure out what happened.." She said encouragingly.

"No" Nightwing replied immediately, rubbing his eyes, he suddenly felt very tired, "I need some time to think about this. Thank you for talking to me Ciara..." he paused and looked at her for a moment then sighed, "I'm sorry. You're probably right, I must have blacked out at some point. I need some rest" he stood to leave.

She nodded and stood up as well, "It's a lot to take in. If you ever want to talk about it or anything else, just to get it off your chest. My door is always open to you." She patted him on the back and lead him out, pulling her goggles back on. "I'll see you in the morning then."

Nightwing nodded, "I think I'll be alright now. See you in the morning" he headed off to bed.

"Good night." She waved and then heard her tummy rumble. She headed into the kitchen. The table was cleared, the dishes were washed and there was no left overs in the fridge. She sighed and pouted, "Couldn't even leave me a slice of pizza or a spring roll?" She picked up a banana and headed to her room, not having the energy to make something from scratch.

"How was dinner?" She asked, closing the door to their room without really looking anywhere but the floor.

Pietro had set up a little table in the middle of the room, the aroma of a pair of candles filled the air and the table had two plates of food, saved from the take-out. "Delicious" Pietro replied, getting up as she came in the door, "care to have some more with me?"

Ciara looked up and paused, blushing. "Oooh Pietro, you sweetie." She pulled off her goggles and tossed them aside. She pushed him back into his chair, rested a knee between his legs to support herself and took hold of his face with her hands and kissed him gently for a few moments.

"Gods, I love it when you're romantic and make everything better <3."

Pietro gladly wrapped his arms around her and kissed Ciara back, "Well, you missed supper. I figured you'd need to eat" he grinned, "and then I figured you deserve to eat in style"

She blushed, smiling sweetly. "I love you, Pietro Maximoff. I really do." She slipped off him and sat down, "I'm SO HUNGRY!" She yelled, nibbling on a spring roll. "Caring about other people's welfare is a lot of hard work."

"Of course" Pietro smiled and took a bite of his own meal. Even though he'd eaten with the others, there was always more room in that bottomless pit he called a stomach. "What's up with Nightwing anyway?"

"He's just going through a rough patch... He didn't realize he had been held for 3 days... He has time lapses in his memory which explains a lot... I think he'll be alright now." She smiled, continuing to feast on the meal.

"That's good to hear" Pietro nodded, "well, you know what I mean"

They ate the rest of the meal in peace and then went to bed. The next morning Nightwing was up before everyone else, working away at the computer again.

Breakfast was rather good. The kids had gotten up early and made breakfast in a way to say thanks. Nightwing was nowhere to be seen. After breakfast, Ciara sent the team off for their morning run, explaining that Nightwing would be taking some left from training. No one questioned it. He'd been through a terrible thing. Blue Beetle didn't like the idea of this... morning run but went along with it.

The others had really gotten good. Each time they got better, Sting Ray increased the distance they ran. Super Boy was now wearing weighed clothes to help him build his super strength even more.

Sting Ray walked into the control room, a tray of breakfast foods in her hand. "Hey. How are you feeling today?" She asked setting the tray down on the desk.