TRIGGER WARNING FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT/ ASSAULT

Here are some sites/helplines if you are dealing with this problem 

https://www.safeline.org.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwu-HoBRD5ARIsAPIPendlsPQo8gqbPB0Bj4h3c-fQ_CkSUtVb02m5Pnhnh-SInuMBuZnijUgaAgEuEALw_wcB

https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/crime-info/types-crime/rape-and-sexual-assault?gclid=Cj0KCQjwu-HoBRD5ARIsAPIPenciiG-KfhuQAVVTjALl1pa29Tqe7UBSX-gVWjfoq-ylAzm4eu6gz2EaAsWpEALw_wcB

https://www.itv.com/thismorning/rape-helplines

I took a lot of inspiration from the Brooklyn nine nine episode where they dealt with the same issue as I thought it was a good example of how to handle the topic within entertainment

"Grayson, a new case has just been assigned to you," Deborah announced before handing over the case file. He took it from the fellow police officer and flipped through it. 

"Alleged sexual assault? Shouldn't this be with Jimmy in the sexual violence unit?" he asked, attempting to hand it back. She pushed the file towards him and shook her head. 

"They merged them with our unit. Budget cuts," she explained. He frowned. Of course, they'd reduce budget cuts at the time of year where crime was at its highest. There wasn't much he could do so he took the case to his desk and gave it a proper read through. He didn't like sexual assault cases. They were hard work to prove and half the time the assault victim wouldn't get the justice they deserve. He hated going home at night and knowing some pervert was still out there because they just couldn't find enough evidence. It felt like his job was done. He couldn't catch them as Nightwing either unless he wanted a massive lawsuit on his hands and a public scandal. Although he wanted to risk it, he couldn't get him and Kori kicked out of their apartment because he wanted to be a hero. He shifted through the case and internally groaned. It was a she said, he said situation. That meant the guy would most certainly get away with it if he didn't find enough evidence. Circumstantial evidence wasn't going to sway many on this one, he needed hard proof. He texted Kori that he'd be late home tonight, knowing that there were going to be many late nights hereafter.

His prediction about many late nights wasn't wrong. After interviewing the victim and the attacker, there was nothing new he could add to. The basics of the case were that they had been in the storage closet when it happened which unfortunately didn't have any security cameras inside to prove what either was saying. The attacker was your typical power-hungry guy. He came from a rich family, got a high up job when he was young with a barrage of lawyers behind him whenever he did something less than legal and enough money to bribe everyone in his office to say "Oh, he's such a great guy. That girl is just crazy and looking for money." He wished more people weren't like that but it was a money-driven world he supposed. "Dick, home time bud," Dennis announced, waving his hand in front of Dick's face to take his focus off the computer screen. 

"I'm working overtime again. I've got to get some headway on this case," he replied. 

"Not happening. Your girlfriend is going to kill us if we don't get you home at a reasonable time tonight," Dennis argued. He leaned over the desk, blocking Dick from the computer, saved the document he was working on then logged off the computer and turned it off. 

"Dude, I have to get this done before the victim gets spooked and drops the charges," Dick complained. 

"And I have a wife and kids I'd like to see tomorrow. Go home." Dick mimicked the taller's voice but relented to his order. He was a senior officer after all. "What's with you and this case anyways? I haven't seen you this invested since that serial killer who killed people fitting your friend's description," Dennis commented. He quickly packed up his things whilst thinking through his answer. 

"I just hate people who could hurt someone like that. It's hard to get past, ya know?"

"Speaking from experience?"

"I'd rather not say," he responded, finishing packing up and leaving.

Dick opened the door to his apartment and was immediately swooped up in a hug by Kori. "Hi to you too, Star," he greeted with a chuckle. She put him down before placing her hand on his cheek, staring at him in concern and he knew why. They'd hardly seen each other these past few days. It was completely his fault, he knew that, so he was sort of surprised when she greeted him with a hug and not the silent treatment. "You look tired," she stated, rubbing her thumb just underneath the eye bags he had. 

"I'm always tired," he replied. She gave him a dismissive smile and took his bag, placing it on the table. 

"What have you been working on?" she asked.

"Nothing special."

"It must have been something special to keep you so busy," Kori pointed out. After some rummaging, she found a case file. "How many times are you going to sneak things out of work? You are asking for trouble," she stated. He groaned. She only brought it up because of their rule to not bring work home. He just couldn't help himself, however. Leaving things unfinished left a bad taste in his mouth. "Nobody will find out. It's like you're purposely forgetting I'm famous for being sneaky." He strolled over and threw his arms over her shoulders so he could snatch the files out of her hands. She caught on and placed the file down, pulling on his arms to lift him off his feet and turned around to throw him onto the couch. He landed flawlessly and made sure to be dramatic about it. The taller shook her head and went back to the file, flipping through it before he could attempt to get it back again. "Heavy case then," she stated after glancing over the basic notes. Dick nodded, sitting up with a frown. "But what has you so invested in it? I have seen you laugh at murders before, what makes this different?"

"She murdered people with lads mags! I couldn't help it. And there isn't a special reason," he answered. She raised an eyebrow at him, not believing him one bit. 

"Uh-huh, but what is the real reason?" Dick broke eye contact and Kori immediately jumped into comfort mode. She sat beside him on the couch and held his hand. "You can tell me."

"Kori, it's a sensitive subject."

"Which is driving you to your breaking point. I love you, no matter what." Dick sighed. He couldn't really argue against the I love you statement. 

"When I first started at the precinct, I didn't really get a lot of cases. I understood why since I'm a billionaire's son and everything. There was one guy that got to know me and he started sweet-talking everyone to give me a chance. When I solved my first case, he offered to take me out." He realized the error in his words since he was technically dating Kori at the time the guy asked him out. "I mean in a platonic way or, at least, I thought it was a platonic way since everyone knew I wasn't on the market."

"I trust that this wasn't an attempt to cheat on me," she assured him with a smile. Dick appreciated that smile. He needed it. 

"So we go out to this really fancy place downtown and dinner goes fine. He pays for dinner despite me saying I wanted to at least pay for my meal. Then we go outside. He gets a little too close and kisses me." He pauses. This was the first time he told anyone about what happened.  It felt weird to relive it. Almost unnatural. "Of course I pushed him off and said I was in a relationship, he says he deserved something for all his efforts. I refused and said I would report him. He begged me to keep it quiet since he was married and couldn't have word get out he was gay. I couldn't out him like that so I didn't tell anyone."

"But he still did something wrong," Kori objected. "You would have been in the right to report the crime."

"C' mon Kori, I'm used to random people kissing me. I just didn't think it would be a colleague."

"Wait, who else has kissed you?"

"You want to list of half the villains I've dealt with?" Kori shook her head, seeing that he was wearing that sad smirk. 

"What about Nightwing? Can you not seek justice that way?"

"People are getting too close to figuring out we're the same person. I can't do it." She nodded then her eyes went wide with realization. 

"When we first met, I kissed you." Dick tightened his grip on her hand to get her attention. 

"You didn't know what Earth was like. Plus you needed to so you could speak to us. You have a valid reason, those others didn't."

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit. Both of them needed to take in the situation that had presented itself to them. Dick leaned on Kori, resting his head on her shoulder. "Do you think of me any differently?" he asked cautiously. She chuckled, kissing him lightly on the forehead. 

"You are still my boyfriend. Nothing can change that," she assured him. "But this does change your plans for tonight." He gave her a confused look, not following her line of thought. She got up and picked him up bridal style. 

"No patrol. I could go on holiday with your eye bags," she stated. He groaned theatrically and wrapped his arms around her neck. 

"Why must you punish me so?" Kori rolled her eyes and carried him to the bedroom, dropping him on the bed. "Are you patrolling instead?"

"Someone has to. I'll be back before you know it."

The next day, Dick found two new files on his desk. He raised an eyebrow in intrigue and flipped through them. One was a written confession from the attacker in his sexual assault case and the other was the confession of the man who assaulted him when he first started. "How in the world?" he muttered. He decided to not ponder on who got them for too long and immediately got to work building a case for both assaults. Two days later, he noticed how different people were acting with him. The male officers didn't say hello to him and muttered something about him liking it. What it was, he didn't know. Then the female officers were shooting him dirty looks and whispering to one another then laughing. Only a few officers were friendly with him and when he asked what he'd done wrong, they told him. Word had gotten out that he was taking the officer to court. Opinions were divided but most were siding with the officer. He couldn't see why though. Surely he was in the right. He was the victim, not the officer. He learned that the men thought he was over exaggerating and the women thought he was only being taken seriously because he was a guy. Both groups agreed that he was flirtatious himself so he had double standards when someone gave him the same treatment.

When he came home, Kori asked him how his day was. "It was alright. I put in a request to be moved to a different precinct," he answered, dumping his bag on the kitchen table. Kori, who had been chopping vegetables, stabbed her knife into the wooden chopping board and stared at him with shock. "What? But you love that precinct! You went to the captain's wedding," she exclaimed. He shrugged. 

"Word got out about me reporting the officer. Everything's changed at work so there's no point staying there," he explained. She frowned and gave him a hug, hoping it would help. 

"I should never have stepped in. I just wanted to help," she said solemnly. Dick looked up to her with a smile. 

"Are you kidding? I'm finally getting justice for what that guy did."

"But you have to move?"

"They weren't good officers if they thought of me differently when they found out. Besides, maybe I inspired someone else to stand up against someone." She sighed, releasing him from the hug with a frown. 

"But you did it at a cost."

"If moving to a new precinct is what I need for closure, then that's fine by me. I have great friends, a loving family, and a wonderful girlfriend to help me through it." Kori blushed and laughed to herself. She kissed Dick sweetly, drawing a real smile out of the smaller. "Can you give up on dinner so we can cuddle? I'll pay for takeout," he suggested with a hopeful glint in his eyes. 

"Anything for my little hero."

"I'm not that small!"

I did my best to treat this subject with the respect it needs as I am well aware this is a live issue and I didn't want to devalue anything by using it in the fanfic so if there's any words or phrases that I used that aren't right or sound bad please tell me