Robin released the button on the grappling hook he was using to fly from building to building. He loved the feeling of flying; a Robin flying in the middle of winter. A feeling he never thought he would feel again, after leaving the circus. He closed his eyes it felt like he was back on the trapeze and his parents were waiting for him on the other side. Robin pressed the release button on the grappling gun, flipped, and handed on the rooftop. He ran across the rooftop, his cape flapping behind him, once he got close to the edge he released the grappling hook.
He was flying again…no this wasn't flying it was falling. The hook missed its target. Falling wasn't new to him. He'd fallen from a greater height than this. All he had to do was position himself the right way so it would not hurt when he landed. The darkness of the alley below forced Robin to have to pull off a blind landing. Another thing he'd done countless times before. The trouble with blind landings is you cannot see the ground below you, or in Robin's case a dumpster. It was a soft landing amongst the trash bags. Dick was about ready to hoist himself up out of the dumpster when he heard voices. He kept himself hidden and listened.
"What the hell is that thing?" a voice called.
"I don't know! Just get rid of that thing!" a second frantic voice called as something was unknowingly thrown on top of Robin.
Robin tried to throw the spiky rose and thick-vined plant off him, but it fought against him. He was having a hard time moving being stuck amongst the bags of trash and other garbage. Robin struggled to find and press the emergency call button to contact Batman.
The plant wrapped a thick vine around The Boy Wonder's neck and around his torso, it held on to him tightly. Robin's eyes slowly closed behind the white lens of his black domino mask.
Batman got the unusual emergency signal from Robin. Using his GPS he located Robin When he got to the alley it started to snow again.
"Robin?" he called out not seeing his partner. It did seem strange that Robin would call from such an open area with his distress call. He started looking around; with the snow it would have been easier to track footprints. The only footprints that he found were both leading to and from the side door of the building to the dumpster. Batman made his way to the dumpster. When he looked inside he saw black roses with red spikes coming out of them, and thick vines wrapped around something- someone!
"Robin!" Bruce reached in and lifted Robin out. Once the teen was safely out of the dumpster he tried to pry the foreign plant from his protégé's chest. The plant fought back and still remained tightly on Robin's torso and neck. Batman knew that he needed get Robin to Mount Justice to get help figuring out what this thing was, and how to get it off. Bruce put a call out to any available Justice League member to meet him at Mount Justice.
When Dick opened his eyes, he did not find himself in the dumpster, instead he was in a soft bed. Bruce must have found him, and brought him home.
"Dick! I said wake up! You're going to be late!" a female voice called. It sounded familiar. Like a voice from the past, a voice he only heard in his dreams now. His mom.
That was the moment Dick realized he was not at Wayne Manor. He could feel his heart beating in his chest. Where was he? What was going on? This room felt both familiar and strange at the same time. It was like his room in Wayne Manor was merged with the boxcar room he had on the train for Haly's Circus.
"DICK! This is the last time! You can't be late for school again!"
"C-coming…" Dick said stammering as he slipped out of bed. He slowly reached for the doorknob. He was scared that once he opened the door, he didn't know what to expect. Was he dreaming his mom was calling him? Or was Gotham and being Robin with Batman a dream. Once he opened the door he feet guided the way down the out dated wallpapered hallway. He eventually came to small cramped kitchen with a table set for three. He could see the back of his dad's head at the table reading the paper, hearing the youngest Grayson enter the room he turned around. Dick felt himself go numb; his heart skipped a beat.
"Dick, son? Are you okay?" John asked pushing his chair away from the table and stood up.
Dick ran to his dad and threw his arms around his father and started to cry into his chest. John was thrown off by his son's reaction.
"It's okay…" John said he rubbed the back of Dick's head ruffling boy's raven colored hair.
"Mom. Dad. I love you," was all Dick could manage in the shock of seeing his parents alive.
"Dick? Honey, are you okay?" Mary said coming up behind the Grayson men and rubbed Dick's back.
"Yeah…Yeah…" Dick lied. He didn't want them to know anything was different. "I'm just going to get ready for school…after breakfast." If this truly was a dream Dick was not sure he wanted to wake up from it. And if he did wake up from this dream he wanted to have one last meal with his parents. It was a simple breakfast of sausage, eggs, and toast. After breakfast and changing into clothes for school Dick left with his dad to head to school.
Dick looked out the window until John pulled up in front of Gotham's public high school. "Have a good day at school kiddo, bye." he smiled.
"I will," Dick said not want to day good-bye.
"Guess you are here today." Wally said running up beside Dick.
"Wally!" Dick called smiling at his best friend.
"The one and only!" The red headed boy smiled. He was running late too. "Babs thought you were skipping with Raymond. You weren't replying to your texts."
"I forgot to charge my phone." Dick said giving Wally a half smile while quickly glancing down at his phone seeing the missed messages from, Barbara, Wally, Raymond, and even one from Raya. The pair went into school, signed in late, and headed to their first period class.
Since arriving late Dick missed the first fifteen minutes of his first period class. It was only math. They had a test today, his teacher said he would give him no extra time and any incomplete answers would be marked wrong, so Dick quickly started the test pushing back the questions that were forming in his head. He had a few questions left when he looked at the time on his cell phone. He could still see the missed text messages. He also saw he had five minutes left on his test.
Five minutes past, and the bell rang signifying the end of class. Dick turned in his test. He managed to answer all the questions, but he knew he could lost some points for not show all his work on some of the easier questions. He dropped the paper off on the teacher's desk and headed off his next class.
The rest of the day pasted just as easily. It was as if brain was running on autopilot. He went to each of his classes and saw all of his friend. Everything felt so normal it felt so great.
When he got home he waited for his parents to get back from work, they had dinner as a family, just the three of them. It was a perfect ending to the day. It got even better when Dick woke up the next morning and his parents were still there.
The more time he spend here the more it felt like his time, as Robin was a dream. Making this a reality, a wonderful reality. He started to forget his real reality.
By the time Bruce arrived to Mount Justice Flash and Superman were already waiting for him.
"Bats what is it?" the Flash asked seeing Robin limp in Bruce's arms with the unknown plant strapped to his chest.
"I don't know. I found him like this. I can't take it off him and he won't wake up. He's breathing and I can feel a pulse." Batman was worried about his protégé.
"Let me run some tests, get him in a bed." the Flash said racing ahead of Bruce and Robin.
"I will go to the Watchtower and research the plant," Superman said he placed a hand on Batman's shoulder before he left.
Bruce gently laid Robin in in the bed. "Barry, I can't lose him." He looked his friend in the eyes, with deadly seriousness.
"We will figure it out. I won't let you lose him," Barry said as he finished hooking medical monitor devices up to The Boy Wonder. "I know how much he means to you."
"I'm going to call in J'onn. He can form a telepathic link with Robin." Bruce said not taking his eyes of his ward.
Dick was sitting at the kitchen table with papers and books spread all around. He was working on some math homework what he heard his phone go off. Dick moved some papers to find it.
It was text from Raymond. 'wanna have some fun? Pick u up at 9.'
Dick bit his lip and responded. 'sure'. He looked at the time it was 8:45. Didn't give him much time to get ready. He started packing up his homework and shoved it into his backpack. It was Friday night; he knew his parents wouldn't have a problem with him going out with his friends.
Fifteen minutes later Dick heard a horn honking. He wondered if it was some angry driver on the street below or if it was Raymond. After the excessive horn honking Dick's phone went off. It was Raymond telling him that he was there.
"Dad I'm going out with my friends!" he called to his father as he grabbed a jacket and ran out the door to their apartment down the hall and two flights of stairs, the our the main door to the apartment building. When he got outside he saw Raymond in the driver's seat of run down car that was three shades of red and missing a hub cap.
"Get in Grayson." Raymond said opening the window. "We still need to pick up West."
Dick jumped into the passenger seat. He glanced over to Raymond who had a devilish smile on his face.
"Your dad let you take the car?" Dick asked as they drove to pick up Wally.
Raymond smiled, then shrugged as he drove away, "let is a strong word. Beside I have my permit."
Dick raised and eyebrow and looked over at his friend. He that with a permit Raymond will still need an adult driver.
Wally didn't live too far away from Dick, so they arrived in under five minutes.
"So what are we doing anyway?" Wally asked jumping into the back seat.
"We don't always need to plan." Raymond flashed another devilish smile.
Dick looked out the window watching Gotham's skyline moved past him. "Have you ever wanted to fly?" Dick asked abruptly.
"We took an airplane we our families moved us to this crazy town from Florida," Raymond said.
"No, like a bird," he said. "Feeling the wind against your face as you as you move freely threw the air." Dick smiled describing the sensation of flying.
"You wanna fly like a bird?" Wally said laughing.
"Grayson, you're crazy!" Raymond laughed too.
Dick gave a halfhearted laugh, "yeah it's dumb…" He went back to looking out the window. His mind wondered as he thought about the dreams he had been having jumping rooftop to rooftop with Batman.
"Hey wait! I know where we can go so you can fly." Raymond drove to the train yard and stopped, and got out of the car.
"Trains?" Dick said getting out after his friend.
"What are we doing here?" Wally asked getting out too.
"Grayson said he wanted to fly and if he wants to be a bird then let him be a bird."
"How is he going to fly here?" Wally asked.
"We are going to run and jump across the tops of trains like they do in the movies! It's late so no one will be around to see us."
"Are you nuts?" Wally asked.
"Let's do it," Dick smiled. "Race ya!" Dick ran off followed by Raymond leaving Wally behind.
"You're both nuts!" Wally called out trying to catch up to his friends.
Even with his late start Wally still won the foot race to the loosely chained gate. He pulled the door open and it was just enough for the three teens to slip in and get into the train yard. The trio made their way to train and used the ladder to climb to the top.
"Let's go!" Dick said running at full speed across the top of the parked train. When he got to the gap he pushed off and jumped across the gap. When he landed crouched like a cat, then sprang up quickly and started to run again. This was the feeling Dick was missing. More than just sitting on the roof of the apartment building where he lived. He missed the thrill. Dick rested on the next boxcar for his friends to catch up to him. Dick folded his hands behind his head and lay down on his back and looked up at the sky. He loved being out in the night, with the cool crisp air, the feeling of flying.
Wally and Raymond watched their friend effortlessly run and jump across the top the train. He made it look fun and easy.
"Hey! Wait up!" Wally called chasing after Dick who took the lead and, was now two cars ahead of his friends.
"You really were flying like a bird," Wally said running to his friend. "Have you done this before?"
"Will you wait for us this time?" Raymond asked after landing he went over to where Dick and Wally were waiting.
Dick jumped up to feet. "Nope, never. Come on! Let's keep going! This train had an insane amount of boxcars." He was smiling widely.
As Dick was in mid-air his ears twitched and he could hear an unfamiliar voice. He landed and laid flat on his stomach and slowly crawled over to the edge and looked around. He could see a dim light in the distance. Dick slowly sat up so he could get a better view of the person getting closer to them.
Wally joined Dick looking where he was staring ahead. "Dick—" Wally started only to have Dick cover his mouth with one hand and point to the security guard.
Raymond landed next to look and followed where Dick was pointing. It was dark so all he could see was the light.
"Someone is coming," Dick whispered before Raymond could even ask a question.
"Hey! You kids get down!" A voice called shinning the light up to the three teens.
"Damn…" Wally said now that he was free to talk.
"Follow me," Dick said jumping from the top of the train without using the ladder.
"Let's just go," Raymond said and both he and Wally looked at the distance down and decided they would take the ladder.
"That's a cop…not a security guard," Wally whispered as he and Raymond joined Dick who was already standing starting to apologize to the officer.
"This way," the police officer said in a serious tone.
"Shit…" Dick said. He was mentally cursing himself for saying he wanted to feel like he could fly. If he didn't say that maybe Raymond would not have thought of breaking into this train yard.
Kid Flash tried to look into the window without being noticed. He knew it was impossible since he swore Batman actually had eyes in the back of his head. He wanted to know what was going on with Robin, after all The Boy Wonder was his best friend.
"Do you see anything?" Megan asked coming over to Wally.
"Do you know what's going on?" Wally asked.
"No…I'm sorry. None of them have talked to us." Megan said sadly.
"Can't you read one of their minds?" Wally asked.
"No, all of them would know that I was in their minds."
"There has to be another way…" Wally said.
"Hello Megan!" the martian from Mars said hitting herself in the forehead with the palm of her green hand. "We can ask Super Boy. He has super hearing!"
"Miss M. you're a genius!" Wally smiled racing off to get Connor leaving Megan standing there.
Robin's vitals were all normal. Barry compared Robin's condition to a coma, but his brain function was like someone who was awake. Barry did everything he could; right now all they could do was monitor him.
J'onn phased threw the door to enter the room. He knew there were prying eyes around and he didn't want Wally to be given an opportunity to slip into the room.
"J'onn," Bruce said looking to the tall green Martian from Mars.
"Clark has filled me in on the situation, Bruce. I will see what I can do." J'onn crossed the room to Robin's bed. Martian Manhunter closed his eyes hovered a hand over Robin's head to form a telepathic bond with The Boy Wonder. He was carful when he entered Robin's mind. He was not sure what he would find when he entered the boy's mind.
The connection was made, and it was not an easy one to make, Robin kept fighting him.
"Richard John Grayson!" John called out once he got into their apartment.
Dick winced when his father used his full name. His heart sunk. He disappointed his parents. This was the last thing he wanted.
"I'm sorry," Dick said quietly lowering his head repeating the words for what help like the one hundredth time both to his parents, the owner of the train yard, and the police officer.
"Dickie, what were you thinking?" Mary said sadly crushing Dick's heart even more.
"Clearly he wasn't!" John snapped pacing the floor causing Dick to grow even more uneasy.
"You wouldn't have had to pick me up at the police station if Raymond didn't lose his keys—"
"Dick you're grounded!" John was growing frustrated with his son's unusual behavior.
"No one pressed any charges…" Dick said giving a small crooked smile. He rubbed his head; he could feel a sharp pain forming across his forehead.
Dick nodded continued to listening to father yell at him. He could only hear bits and pieces of what his father was saying. He closed his eyes trying to regain focus. But it was not working, he could feel himself lose focus. The harder he tried to focus on his parents, the harder it was to actually focus. Then he felt himself go numb, and his vision burred. The pain became too much for Dick and he cried out from the pain before his knees buckled and he collapsed limply onto the floor at his parents feet.
"DICK!" his mother called as she knelt down next to her son and gently shook him. She looked up to her husband worried.
"Connor! We need you!" Kid Flash said stopping behind his friend and teammate.
"What do you need?" Connor asked not looking away from the TV that was only playing static. He was not phased by by the sudden appearance of the teen speedster.
"Use your super hearing to listen in on what's going on with Rob." Wally tried to ask, but it came out more of command than a request.
Aqualad didn't need the ability to mind read to know what Wally was thinking when he asked Connor the question. He knew how close KF was to Robin, and they had been friends before the forming of the Team.
"I cannot condone that. It is a vast invasion of their privacy. They are our mentors we must respect them. No one will be listening in on therm." Aqualad said pulling rank a leader of the Team. He also knew he needed to knock some common sense into the rest of his team.
"But it's Robin!" Wally complained. Kaldur knew what he meant by that, because Robin was the youngest he was like a little brother to everyone; a little brother who could kick all their butts in a fight.
"Are you pouting? What are you two?" Artemis said rolling here eyes. She was worried for Robin too, but she didn't exactly know how to show it.
"They will tell us about Robin when they are ready. No using any powers to listen on them. I understand it is hard, Robin is our teammate, but we must respect our mentor's decisions. That is final." Kaldur said in a soft firm voice.
Wally let out a heavy sigh and sat down next to Connor watching the static on TV. Megan went to the kitchen to make some something to distract herself, Artemis joined her. Kaldur went off to see the situation in the in the medical ward.
This connection was unique, from the second J'onn tried to connect with Robin, the younger boy's mind resisted, more than he'd ever seen. This was different because usually people in states similar to Robin's were easy minds to enter. Nothing was stable, the images were blurred, and he could not hear anything.
J'onn felt himself being physically pushed back and the connection was broken. Barry watched Robin's heart rate spike when J'onn was thrown back. Bruce refused to take his eyes off Robin.
"J'onn?" Barry said worried.
"I could not form a proper link with Robin." Martian Manhunter said easily shaking off the feeling of being pushed forcibly from the boy's mind.
"Did you see anything?" Bruce asked anxiously.
"I could not see into his mind clearly. It was a blur, I did see two people a man and woman, but I could not make out their features well, and I could not make a good enough connection to Robin to find out who they are. I'm sorry…but there's something else—"
"Try again!" Bruce said raising his voice, but it came out as more of a command that a request.
"I cannot, not yet…" was all J'onn could manage before Bruce impatiently interrupted again.
"Why?" Bruce demanded growing angrier.
"I feel as if the connection will hurt Robin, again." J'onn tried to speak calmly so he could Bruce at ease.
"Again?" Bruce questioned slowly starting to calm down.
"The connection was strange, but when I was disconnected from him I could feel his pain. What ever is on his chest appears to be affecting his mind." There felt like there was more to Robin's condition, but he could not explain it.
"And I agree," Barry said. "Before you say anything, listen." He said seriously. He knew Batman would be patient, if it meant understanding what was going on with Robin "His vitals are normal for someone sleeping, but his brain function is like someone who is awake. When J'onn was forced from the connection Robin's vitals changed. They all spiked to higher level. Before we try anything we need to wait on Clark's research."
"Show me the memory." Batman said. "It could be a clue of what is going on in his mind." Bruce hopped he could figure out what was going on with Robin by just seeing the blurred image that J'onn saw.
Bruce prepared to receive the image from J'onn and after showing Bruce the blurred imaged from Robin's mind Martian Manhunter severed his link with Batman.
"Were you able to make out the image?" Barry asked anxiously.
"I was. I believe the man and women are his parents."
It was clue, in Robin's mind he was seeing his parents. He was dreaming, while having the brain function of someone who was awake. The idea fascinated Barry and he wanted to figure what was going on, how was this happening?
"Dick, Son?" John said going from being angry with his son to being worried for son's wellbeing. John was trying to go threw the ride home and the conversation in his head trying to think if Dick was acting differently (beyond his little act of rebellion), but he could not think of anything strange.
Mary looked anxiously as John checked to make sure his son was breathing and had a pulse. Both parents let out a sigh of relief that their son was still breathing and his heart was still beating.
"He was fine…what happened? He's not waking up. I'm calling an ambulance!" Mary said worried she knew her son needed help. She glanced worriedly at Dick before getting up to make the phone call.
John stayed with his son. He had rolled Dick on his back and used his own jacket as a pillow to support Dick's head. John placed a hand on his son's head to attempt to see if the boy had a fever.
Dick started to moan a little as he started to wake up. His eyes slowly opened and focused on his father.
"Dad?" Dick asked his voice cracked and he was feeling dazed.
"I'm here. You will be okay." John helped Dick sit up on the floor. "Mary! He's waking up." The older Grayson called causing his wife to dropped the phone and came running over. She knelt down next to husband and son.
"What-what happened?" Dick mumbled now trying to focus on his mother.
"You collapsed, honey. Are you feeling okay?" Mary said nervously smoothing Dick's raven colored hair.
"I feel kinda dizzy…" Dick admitted reluctantly, his voice was soft.
"Kids his age don't collapse like that for no reason," Mary said concerned. "Perhaps I should still call an ambulance?"
"Unless you're not telling us something Richard." John said sternly he didn't want to interrogate his son like this, but if it meant helping him he would have to.
"No! I didn't nothing like that!" Dick said struggling against his father. His mind was still foggy.
"What about his last football game? He could have a concussion and we are calling an ambulance or taking him to the hospital now."
Dick was going to protest, but he saw how worried his parents were, and he was telling the truth. He didn't know what happened.
John helped Dick to his feet and Mary guided Dick to the car. The more time that past since his fainting spell, the better he started to feel. The car ride to Gotham General mostly consisted of Dick apologizing for the entire night, first for breaking into the train yard, and now this.
"I wish there was something we could do to help," Wally complained.
"If your uncle can't do anything, and Miss M's uncle can't do anything and Batman can't do anything. What makes you think you do anything?" Artemis said pointedly.
"Well I guess I at least want to know what's going on. Rob doesn't have an super powers he could really be hurt." Wally said looking over at hospital ward.
Dick was lying back on the bed in the examination room. He was looking up a the drop ceiling. He didn't want to talk about what happened, but he knew it was unavoidable.
"I really don't know what happened. We didn't take anything…all we did was run across the tops of the trains…" Dick said speaking after a long silence.
They knew what Dick had done, he had told him, the police officer told him. What they didn't know was why Dick and his friends were running on top of the trains.
"I…we…it was just a dumb prank…" Dick said not wanting to tell any one else that he like the feeling of was a light knock on the door. Dick inwardly let out a sigh of relief. Saved by the knock.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Wayne, you must be Richard." The man was tall with neat dark hair and matching brown eyes. He had a gentle calming smile.
Dick looked at the man. He looked familiar, to Dick in his current state he didn't know why, but deep down his subconscious had seen pictures of him before. Dick read the name embroidered on left side of his chest. 'Dr. Thomas Wayne'
"Like Bruce Wayne?" Dick said awkwardly the name just came out. Something was familiar about the name.
"I think what Dick is trying to say is that Wayne Enterprise sponsors his football team. We have been lucky enough for your son to come down and watch some of the games." Mary said with a gentle smile.
"Bruce always enjoys going to the games. Sit up Richard; swing your legs over the side. Let's see what's going on with you. Now, can you tell what happened?" Dr. Wayne effortless talked to Dick while starting the exam.
"I just passed out…I don't why." Dick said leaving out the part about the headache.
"You said you played football, were you tackled recently? Now focus on my ear, and follow my finger with you eyes."
Dick followed Dr. Wayne's finger with his blue eyes. "No…my friend Connor won't let anyone tackle me." Dick said with a smile. "I'm the quarterback." Dick spoke this confidently from the memories that were given to him when he woke up in this reality.
"That's exciting, I will have to tell Bruce I saw you. Now let me ask you some questions. Let's start easy; when is your birthday?"
"December 1st 1996."
"So your birthday is coming up. How old will you be?"
"Fifteen."
"How has your concentration been?"
Dick hesitated. "It's been a little fuzzy…I've been having weird dreams…" He hadn't even told his parents about his dreams. He didn't want to tell anyone. It didn't feel right.
"You hesitated a little and what kind of dreams?"
"No…just dreams…No…it's been fine. Just been a lot of school work, you know mid-terms are coming up." avoiding the question about the dream while mentally nursing himself for even mentioning it.
"Sound like any other teenager," Dr. Wayne smiled he then tuned to John and Mary. "Have you noticed any changes with Richard's concentration or behavior?"
"We have noticed his concentration has been off, but I agree with Dick, I though it was because of school and sports." Mary said feeling a little guilty.
"Dick did have a little adventure today," John said glancing at his son before briefly explaining what happened tonight.
Dick would have done anything to disappear right now. This night was a disaster. Not only this night, but the past few days. The shock of seeing his parents alive, seeing all his friends, together. He finally started to feel normal and back to himself, if that was even possible. His reality was shifting. This was his life now.
"Fainting spells can be caused by a number of things, pain, emotional stress, anxiety, fear. Considering tonight actions Richard's faint spell could have been a delayed reaction. I do want to run a CT exam to check for a concussion, just in case he is having a delayed reaction to a concussion." Dr. Wayne said writing something down on his clipboard before leaving the room after instruction Dick to rest until it was time for the test.
Barry felt unless. There was nothing he could do to help Robin. He had known the boy for several years now and he was like a nephew to him. Right now it was a waiting game. He was also worried for Bruce, he didn't want to see what would happen if he lost the boy that was like a son to him.
Superman's designation was announce from the Zeta Tube system. Barry looked up from the papers he was going over again. Batman rose quickly to his feet and turned to face the door waiting for Clark to enter.
"Clark, what did you find?" Bruce asked not even given the Kryptonian time to enter all the way into the room.
"It's called Black Mercy," Superman started to explain immediately. "It's a plant that creates a perfect dream world by tapping into the pleasure part of the person's brain."
"Then in his dream he's with his parents," Bruce said. He looked down at Robin, his dream would be the same, a life with his parents alive.
"Did you find out how we can remove the Black Mercy?" Barry questioned.
"That is the difficult part, he needs to realize that what he thinks is reality is a dream." Clark said.
"Wouldn't he know that when he arrived there?" J'onn asked.
"The true reality could have been a dream to him. He could doubt himself, but the longer he is in the false reality more he will lose grip on the actual reality." Superman said sadly.
Bruce remained quiet only looking at Robin. To be ripped from a perfect dream world where his parents are alive would crush him. Robin worked hard to come to terms with the death of his parents, but to go threw it again? Bruce could only imagine.
"What if we try a mind link? Maybe someone can talk to Robin?" Barry asked now that he had a chance to think about what Clark had said.
"It has to me," Bruce said seriously.
"I will make this like any other link. Speak out loud if you do not wish Robin to hear. I am not sure how entering his mind this way will effect him." J'onn said.
"I will monitor Robin, if his vitals change to drastically you should pull out," Barry said.
Barry and J'onn managed to convince Bruce they should allow Robin to rest before they tried again.
When the time came, Martian Manhunter used a mind link to connect Robin with Bruce and himself. J'onn was going to remain quiet and only interfere if Batman got into tight spot.
Dr. Wayne cleared Dick of having a concussion and sent him home with the instructions to keep an eye on him and come back if it happened again. He also told Dick to take a couple of days off football. That was a couple of days ago now, today was Sunday, Dick was feeling better, and he was excited for the football game coming up again Blüdhaven. Maybe this was the adenine rush he was subconsciously looking for.
Dick was going over the play he was to call out when he got on the field with his coach.
Dick called for the ball and it was snapped to him. Dick's finger's skillfully found the stitches in the football so he could send a spiraling touchdown pass to Raymond. He lined himself up to the throw the ball. His heart was pounding. He didn't have much time to make the throw. They were double covering Raymond. There was no way he get the ball to him. Wally was open, he need to get the ball to him. Dick pulled his arm back to throw the football for the forward pass. Dick was getting put on him by the other team, Connor was having a hard time holding off the other team.
"[Robin]," Dick heard a familiar voice speak in his head before he was tackled to the ground.
Dick laid on the ground for an extra moment 'Get you're head in the game Grayson,' Dick told himself trying to shake off the foggy feeling.
"[Robin! It's me!]" Batman called he heard Dick giving himself a pep talk, so he knew the link worked.
"Dick. Earth to Dick," Wally said kneeling down and waving his hand in his friend's face seeing him down longer than normal.
Dick jumped to his feet, "it's fine…it happens…" he gazed over at Barbara unintentionally.
"You and red heads." Wally said giving Dick a playful shove before running off.
Dick stood still. He looked around. Who called him?
"Grayson!" Dick's coach called out.
"Yes, Coach Jones!" Dick called back.
"[Robin, answer me!]"
'Get out of my head!' Dick thought in a panic before getting ready to get back out on the field.
Robin had unintentionally pushed Batman and Martian Manhunter out of his mind.
Barry was keeping a close eye on Robin's vitals. This time was better than the last. This telephonic link appeared to be not as invasive as the direct mind read.
"Damn it! I knew he heard me! He didn't answer!" Bruce said.
"There is only so long Robin's mind will allow us to stay. This time was longer than the last. I also think this time it was Robin who pushed us from his mind, though it was not his intent, he was scared." J'onn explained.
"Robin was probably scared when he heard a voice in his head. You have to figure he might not be used to a telephonic mind link," Barry said thinking out loud.
"I can attempt to put Batman into Robin's fake-reality and see if that can make a difference," J'onn offered.
"I want to try and speak with Robin again through the mind link," Batman said, "maybe his time he will realize it's me. J'onn are you ready?"
"I am ready if you are." He said.
Dick was relieved he didn't hear voices for the rest of the game. He was pretty sure that if he did hear the voice again he would have thought he was going crazy. Hell maybe he was going crazy. First the weird dreams about being a domino mask wearing vigilante. Then there was the desire to fly, passing out…now hearing voices.
Dick got a moment of clarity, well about the hearing a voice in his head maybe he over heard a conversation. That is entirely possible there was stadium full of people.
"Dick? Are you hungry?" Mary asked.
'Come on Grayson, you're over thinking things. And now your talking to you're self…again.' Dick sighed and looked out the window and tried to think about A Midsummer Night's Dream he had a test on it tomorrow at school. He needed something to focus on.
"[Robin?]" Batman called via the mind link.
"Dick?" Mary called again.
"Huh?" Dick said, he heard that name again, or was he thinking about the character from the book.
"[Robin, it's Batman. I need you to listen to me.]"
Nope not the character…the name from his dream. The image of in a cape and domino mask behind a man dresses in all black with a cape and cowl.
'Leave me alone!' Dick said in his mind annoyed to the voice that was back in his head.
"Are you hungry?" Dick's mom asked again.
"Yeah.." Dick said hoping that his answer was valid answer to the question asked.
"Would you like a burger?" John asked.
"Yeah sounds good." Dick said rubbing his temple, and sighed. It was official he was going crazy. He just hoped the voice in his head would allow him to enjoy his burger, was that too much to ask?
The Black Mercy induced fake-reality Robin was in still had a strong hold on The Boy Wonder. It was the only explanation Bruce could think of as to why he could not break Robin from the dream, even after the second attempt. This left only one option that J'onn hadn't tried with his mind control power. It was the one that would leave Bruce the most vulnerable, he would have to be asleep for it to happen.
"Bruce this is the best idea. Reading Robin's mind won't break him from the false-reality and he's not listening to you threw the mind link. I will keep a close watch over Robin. And if anything drastically changes I will have J'onn stop," Barry said before Bruce could ask any questions.
"I will too. We will get the Black Mercy off Robin." Clark said trying to help reassure his friend.
"If it will help Robin, then I will do it," Batman said he looked at his protégé
Bruce knew he would have to be gentle when trying to get Robin back to reality. Right now Robin was in a reality where his parents were alive, and to knowingly pull him from that made Bruce's heart ache for the boy. Luckily when Robin came back to reality he would have the support of his friends and teammates; if he needed them.
"I cannot choose where you will go in Robin's false-reality it will be up to you to find him," J'onn said.
Martian Manhunter prepared to put Bruce into Robin's dream. At Bruce's request he sent him in prepared with his Batman his cape and cowl, as well as Robin's uniform.
Dick was flipping through T.V. to find something to watch. It was Monday night and he finished his homework early. He got to a channel that they didn't have causing static to come across the screen. The static made his mind wander; hearing the voice in his head was a little unsettling. It sounded so familiar, but where did he know it from? Dick didn't tell anyone about hearing the voice in his head.
'Am I over thinking this?' he thought to himself. Dick though to himself that if he told his parents they would freak out and take him back to the hospital.
"Dick come help set the table for dinner," John called to his son.
Dick turned off the TV and walked around the couch passed the table and to the kitchen. He opened the cabinet, pulled out three place settings and brought them to kitchen table. John brought over the ceramic dish that the pot roast and vegetables were in and set it on the table.
"Smells great mom." Dick said filling up his plate.
"Looks great, dear," John said.
"Thanks you two," Mary smiled.
The Grayson's enjoyed their dinner while talking about each of their day. Dick told a story on how Megan burnt cookies in their cooking class causing the school's fire alarm to go off and the fire department to come. No one was sure how it happened since one second they were under cooked and the next they were burnt. Since it was an accident and the teacher blamed the oven none of us would fail.
"Megan was crying when it first happened. I told her to keep the cookie anyway and just say they are chocolate cookies and give them to Wally. He eats anything. She did, then Wally chased us around the school. Artemis tried to stop him by chasing him." Dick laughed again at the visual.
"Care to skip another grade Dick? Get done with high school faster?" John asked
"Then I can I have fun in college, away from home?" Dick smiled.
"Who wants ice cream?" Mary asked trying to disrupt the playful conversation before it became more serious one.
After ice cream Dick headed to his room on the other side of the small apartment. Once in his room he climbed out the window onto the fire escape. Once outside the teen made his way up the fire escape to the roof. He liked it up here. He didn't know why, but it felt right.
When Batman (in full cape and cowl) arrived into Robin's dream he found himself in an old part of Gotham filled with mostly rundown apartments. He looked up to the roof and saw a figure sitting on the ledge looking at the city. There wasn't many people who hung out on the roof of random apartment building. There was a strong possibility that it was Robin. Bruce crossed the street and made his way to the rooftop.
"Robin," Bruce called to the boy who was know laying on his back looking up at the stars.
Dick sat up that was the voice that had been in his head, it was back. Dick didn't move from the spot, he looked around that's when he saw the figure. Then he looked for a rock or something to defend himself from the man dressed in a costume.
"I won't hurt you," he said gently. He did not want to scare Dick. He was also trying to get more feel for the situation before he said.
"It was you, your voice that was in my head why?
"Yes I was, I'm sorry if-"
"I thought I was crazy! Actually I still think I am. I've been having weird dreams. With you and the crazy costume! Hearing voices. I need to go! Your crazy and I don't even know why I am saying this to you. Who are you?" Dick asked. He didn't know what was keeping him here talking.
"Robin, it's me Batman."
Dick felt a slight pain in his head like he did before he fainted. "Two things. One, that explains the costume. Two, I'm not Robin."
"I need you to listen to me," Bruce hoping he could reason with the boy.
"Go away! I'm not Robin!" Dick tried to get away from Bruce.
Bruce was quicker that his protégé, so he quickly caught up the boy. Bruce grabbed Dick's hand to stop him. "Dick, look at me. You are Robin."
"How do you know my name?…No…No…you're not real. I've heard things, now I am seeing things." He could feel his head hurting again and the world around him started to blur. "Not now…" Dick mumbled thinking he was going to pass out again.
"Yes you are! You are Robin and I am Batman. This is the dream." Bruce dug in the bag he had and pulled out Dick's Robin mask and handed it to the boy. "You know deep down it's yours. Deep down you know this world you are living in is not real. You have memories that don't line up. Things have been happening you can't explain. Here, take it."
Dick hesitantly took the mask in his hand and looked at it. Seeing the mask caused the images of reality to sharpen, while the fake-reality blurred and faded away.
"No…I don't wanna go…" Dick mumbled feeling himself sway on his feet. "I wanna stay." He closed his eyes trying to hold onto the memories of his time with his parents. Even if it wasn't real it was real to him. Dick started to breath heavily as he was brought back to reality.
"Robin?" Barry called seeing Robin breathing heavily and tossing and turning in the bed. It looked as if the Black Mercy was giving up it's hold on the boy.
Bruce sat upright in his bed and looked over to Dick, who even though he was the one who severed the dream bond The Boy Wonder was still sleep and breathing heavily, as the Black Mercy started to lose it's hold. Bruce went over to his protégé he tried to pull the Black Mercy off The Boy Wonder. He hoped it would work this time, and it did. The plant put up a slight struggle, but Bruce was able to pull it off and flung it to the ground.
"Superman! Flash!" Batman called to his friends to help destroy the Black Mercy
Superman used his x-ray vision to blast the plant and kill it, then the Flash ran it out, away from Mount Justice.
Dick mumbled slowly blinking his eyes open, sat up, and slowly looked around the room. Then he turned to Bruce.
"Dick?" Bruce said gently.
"What happened…?" Dick asked slowly realizing where he was.
"The other night when we were on patrol you fell into a dumpster and had something thrown on you. That thing was a plant called the Black Mercy. It put you into a your perfect reality." Bruce explained.
"My parents…they were there…" Dick looked down, then he gasped and looked up at Bruce in realization, "you took me away from them without saying bye!"
"The false-reality breaks when you realize it's fake. If I could have let you say bye to your parents I would have."
"You still took me away from them! We could have stayed there! We could have been Batman and Robin and had our parents. It would have been perfect!" Dick said getting angry at Bruce.
"Dick, you know that's not what I wanted you to do!" Bruce said matching Dick's tone.
"I had a normal life! You took me away from that!" Dick snapped back. His heart was racing and he was breathing fast.
All Bruce had to do was look at his friends and fellow Justice Leaguers for them to know he wanted to be alone with Dick. Martian Manhunter, Superman, and the Flash left the room.
"Dick, calm down. I did not want to—"
"You did too! I meet your dad and he was just like you…except a doctor…my parents. Everything was normal…No circus…" Dick was not forming full sentences because he was more thinking out loud rather than talking to Bruce.
"And you were never Robin in that life. I was never Batman." Bruce said logically.
"We could have been!" Dick said.
"No, we wouldn't have been. We would have no reason to. With you parents alive you never would have watched them die that day on the trapeze. You never would have snuck out from group home and tried to find their killer. I never would have found you, never tried to stop you, never would have taken you in and never would have trained you. Our past made us who we are now." Bruce was trying to reason with Dick.
"Guess that makes sense." Dick said in a monotone voice finally coming to terms with what happened.
"Get some rest, you have been thew a lot." Seeing Dick seem
"I'm just going to change and then go see the Team," Dick slipped off the bed and headed to the closet where he kept a change of clothes and sunglasses.
Once Dick was changed he went out to see his friends, who had been told an abridged version of what happened from Superman, Flash, and Martian Manhunter.
"Rob!" Wally said running over to friend. He hugged his friend almost knocking the smaller boy over. KF was relieved to see his friend was okay. "So was I your best friend there too?" Wally asked trying to lighten up Dick's mood.
"Yeah you were," Dick laughed. "You make an excellent wide receiver."
"Huh?" Wally asked raising an eyebrow looking over at Dick.
Dick just laughed and let his friend be confused. It was more fun that way.
A/N: I hope you liked it as much as I did. Took me forever to work on this fic. I hope it was easy to follow and for those of you who don't know Raymond and Raya are friends of Dick's from Haly's (they are in the comics)
Shout out to my friends who were there with me when this was just a half-baked idea, and helped it become something more.