Richard Grayson was trying to fall asleep in his seat. He had decided to skip sleeping during the night so that he would sleep in the train. Unfortunately, his plan backfired; he was exhausted with a relentless headache and nothing better to do than to wait to arrive to his destination.

Jump City.

The boy thought it was tragically funny how he would change schools and residence every so often due to his parents' jobs. Within a year, they would usually pack up and take Richard with them into the next city. This time however, Richard would be staying with his uncle.

Richard hadn't seen the man much, except for when he was significantly younger. From what he remembered, he was obsessed over his uncle being a detective and having the looks overall. Even so, he was rather uncomfortable with the fact that he would disturb an actually functional family. He wanted to bother his uncle as little as possible but was also grateful the man seemed genuinely willing to take him in.

Another reason for being reluctant to stay with his uncle was the fact that the man's wife had died recently, leaving him to raise their daughter Lisa-Marie on his own.

"Oh well," he exhaled, feeling a trace of relief in his chest. "I'll just have to do my best not being a burden."

When Richard was younger, he too wanted to become a detective or something along those lines. He wanted to become some sort of a hero, in essense. He kind off still wanted to, but had admittedly become a cynic over the years. Richard, for just a brief moment, wondered about the child inside him. Was it still there? Was it worth preserving? Probably a stupid thought, though. As far as most are concerned, Richard was still a kid, he mused. But it depressed him how his younger years appeared to be more intensive in emotion than the present.

And with such thoughts on his mind, Richard Grayson fell asleep.

…

"Attention all passengers" a raspy voice, presumably the driver's, spoke via the train's communication system "… we have arrived at Jump City train station. Thank you for travelling with us and we hope you enjoyed yourselves…"

"About time!" Richard yawned and hurriedly put his unfinished book into his backpack. As people had started to stand up from their seats and fill the hallway, Richard had to wait a bit before he could grab his red haversack and go out.

The boy walked out of the train to find an enormous train station. Watching the bulk of people, he realized he wasn't sure where to wait for his uncle. Richard stood around for a while but, growing bored, he decided to wander around just to get his hands on a snack. Entering the station's general store, he couldn't help but notice a large volume of pinned newspapers. He stood about 2 other people and begun skimming the front pages. Most were about increasing crime rates and petty gang wars while the rest had to do with musical artists and their antics.

"Hey! Richard!"

As Richard turned around, he saw a man alternating between a walk and jog towards him. A little girl was following the man timidly. Indeed, there was no mistaking it who those 2 were. He waved in response and walked a couple of steps towards the man. When they met, they exchanged a firm handshake.

"Richard! Good to see you!" Heh, you've grown into quite the man, I must say!"

"Don't we all?" Richard couldn't help but smile. He noticed his cousin timidly looking at him behind her father's trousers.

"Uncle Leonard, thanks for taking me in by the way" He continued, expressing genuine gratitude.

"No problem kid. And by the way, this is your…" Leonard laughed as he tried to encourage Lisa-Marie to come face to face with Richard. The girl reluctantly came before Richard's blue eyes, looking at the floor.

"… Cousin Lisa-Marie" Leonard continued.

Richard, wanting to put an end to this awkward silence bent his back and put his hands on his knees so that he would be face to face with the little girl.

"Hello Lisa-Marie. I'm Richard. Nice to meet you!"

"H-hello" said the little girl timidly.

"Well guys, how about we head home? As for you Richard, I'm sure you're either hungry, tired or both."

And with such words, Leonard gestured to what Richard assumed was the direction towards the car. Holding Lisa- Marie by her tiny hand, uncle Leonard eventually led his nephew and daughter to his black S.U.V.

"Hey Richard, why don't you give me your baggage, so that I can put it in the trunk? In the meantime, you get comfortable in back seats, alright?"

"Uncle Leonard, once again, thank you…"

"That's Leo to you. Or uncle Leo if that's what you prefer. Leonard is not a bad name but it makes me feel old. You'll understand when you're my age."

Richard just nodded, but his mood had already improved considerably.

A few kilometers away, an abrupt stop forced the sleeping Richard awake.

"When did I fall asleep?" he thought.

"Richard, are you alright back there? You kinda collapsed on the seat" said Leonard with a chuckle escaping him at the last 3 words.

"Right… I was pretty tired I guess…"

"Seemed so. Why don't you and Lisa-Marie go out for some fresh air while the car is re-filled?"

It was then that Richard had a better look at their surroundings.

They had apparently stopped at a fairly mundane gas station.

"Leo!" A young employee walked towards Richard's uncle in a greeting fashion. "Burnt all the gas already?" he continued with a harmlessly mocking tone.

"The damn thing vanishes like smoke, can't help it. Have I ever mentioned my nephew Richard by the way? He'll be staying with us for the year."

Before the gas station employee could speak back, Richard approached somewhat reluctantly for a handshake.

"I'm Richard. Pleased to meet you."

The man gazed at Richard for a second, like he was evaluating him. Finally, the muscles of his face started to twitch into a warm smile.

"Jacob" he said, responding with a firm handshake.

"Quite the grip you have there, Richard" he continued, "do you lift or something?"

"Well uh, no-not really"

"Well, if you are ever in need of a job, we could use someone like you. My boss is on the lookout for a partial employee."

"He will definitely think about it, although working at a gas station is somewhat dangerous nowadays" interjected Leonard, while Jacob moved to give the car a re-fill. Richard had totally forgotten about the fact that his uncle was a police officer. He wanted to ask all about the profession, and he would to see to it if he remembered to do so.

"Typical cop icebreaker" Jacob laughed heartily. "Is it really that bad, Leo? It would seem like you're the perfect person to ask."

"Things aren't that bad currently and certainly are under control, but crime rates are on the rise lately. I'd be lying if I said that doesn't concern me." said uncle Leonard with a stern look on his face. He then had a look around and, noticing Richard's thoughtful expression, he added "nothing to panic over, but better safe than sorry, am I right?" he then winked as if to reassure Richard.

By the time they had reached Uncle Leonard's house the sun had already set. Richard was woken up by Leonard and then the both of them considered to exit the car as silently as possible.

"Ok Richard, these are the house keys." He handed Richard the keys and the proceeded to open the car's trunk.

"And this is your bag. I'll get Lisa-Marie to bed. Get comfy and grab something to eat if you'd like. Or you can go straight to sleep since your bed's ready."

"Right! Thanks! Umm, do you need help with anything?"

"No Richard. Maybe starting tomorrow."

Richard walked into the room fighting exhaustion. He vehemently searched for his pajamas (making somewhat of a mess, too) and burrowed himself under the warmth of his sheets. Needless to say, he quickly fell asleep.

...

His initial dreams were mumbled like always. One could find traces of aspirations, memories, hobbies and fear in those dreams, masked under the guise of pop culture and a young man's imagination. And yet, an alteration had occurred within him today which no matter how slight led to the boy's first nightmare in years.

He was walking in a dark sewer, his steps disrupting the eerie silence. He was moving as if out of instinct to what it was that called him. The exit. He knew when he had reached the final passage. He knew with absolute certainty. So, when the dim light from the outside world reached his eyes, there was no response. No relief, satisfaction or accomplishment.

When Richard had reached what appeared to be an empty city block devoid of life, he couldn't help but notice the overwhelming thick fog that deviously started to creep around him and inside of him. The dreamer just walked on, up to the point where the fog would obscure the buildings and the cars. But Richard could still see in front of him. So, he walked.

"You have come this far. Yet, do you know what you seek?"

Richard frantically looked around for the originator of the voice. Slowly, he was beginning to attain greater consciousness. There couldn't have been a worse time for that to happen. He was very afraid.

"Do you even seek anything?" the voice had an unmistakable faint flavor of irritation, with an alien interest seeping from it.

"Who are you?" came Richard's response. It was the most logical but also the most futile question.

"You'll have to come to the truth. Not the other way around."

By now, Richard was trying to locate the source of this alien voice and reach it, ignoring his fear and perhaps disgust for the otherworldly nature of the voice, under an influence like no other before it. As he started to take a better look at his surroundings he was taken aback by the horribly grotesque environment. It was a mass of grey and black in the form of a desolate and depressing city.

Although Richard thought it looked post-apocalyptic in a rather cliché way, the dream's intensity weighted down on him like a guilt or qualm. Richard, while cautiously walking to where his instinct guided him, started to reflect his most horrible memories; all those instances where he put down his parents and disappointed them, the fights and the times when he didn't want to be alive anymore. All the while, his mind would anticipate monsters jumping down on him, but fortunately nothing of the sort happened.

Eventually, his steps led him to what appeared to be a mundane high school. He pushed the outer door open and felt the fog thicken as he wandered the school playground. His instinct driven completely numb for the first time ever since the dream began, he aimlessly inspected the area more thoroughly to find graffiti on the walls and destroyed water taps. Having nothing left to do, he gathered his courage and reluctantly entered the building, its door unpleasant to his touch.

The school felt empty and awfully damp, with water drips echoing along the hallway and breaking the silence. Despite the darkness there was no fog, ultimately resulting in better visibility than outside. Richard managed to regain his composure somewhat, but as soon as he took another step an ominous chill grasped him, terrorizing him.

He stood there, contemplating what he should do. The temperature was falling rapidly, to the point where his exhales were visible like in a chilly winter day. Eventually, he decided to finally make a move, and walked extremely slowly to end of the hallway. He turned to his right to find a featureless silhouette far ahead of him at the end of the next hallway, just standing there.

He froze instantly, his eyes fixated on the horrifying figure. It was completely motionless and Richard could almost discern something like TV static on it, making the whole sight extremely unnerving. Despite his overwhelming fear, his feet were stuck on the floor, and Richard dared not make another move except running away as fast as possible; for he feared it would provoke the silhouette to do something horrible to him. After what seemed like hours, a question escaped his lips.

"Who are you?"

To which the figure responded:

"Let's see if you can find out."