I screamed in pain as the crowbar hit my rib. I moved my body away as fast as I could, feeling my ribs quickly. Alright, that was the third broken rib so far. I opened my eyes and scanned the room, watching as the figure walked away for a moment. Kaldur and Artemis seemed to be passed out from the pain, and from the silence that filled the room, so were Wally and M'gann. Another moment of silence passed until I heard Superboy swear under his breath, I didn't think he was far from passing out though. I took a painful breath and glared at the Joker, he was the one that did it this to us.
The bastard clown had jumped us on one of our recon missions for the League. He said he was 'jealous of not being invited' and thought we should pay. Batman was going to kill me for letting the team get kidnapped. I heard the Joker laugh and a chill went through my much bruised spine. He grabbed the crowbar from one of his goons and hit me in the kneecap, yelling something about 'Having fun'. Asshole was all I could manage to think as he dropped the crowbar and walked away, his clown henchmen following.
I waited a few moments until I pulled myself up, grabbing my right side where most of the damage was. Fuck it hurt. Everyone looked like crap, I'll be honest. Conner must have gotten up a few minutes before me, because he was pulling M'gann up into his arms. Kaldur started to stir, Artemis was still breathing. I slowly turned to Wally, trying to minimize any pain. No movement came from Kid Flash. I limped over as quickly as I could and checked for a radial pulse, nothing. I leaned over and checked if he was breathing; nothing, no movement from his chest. Fuck. I called over Kaldur, who now seemed more alert, blinking back tears and pointed to Wally. "CPR." was all I could say, stepping back so that Kaldur could do his handy work. I looked at the door of the cell we were thrown in, only a few short hours ago. There was one of Joker's goons behind the metal door. I ran up to it, punched, yelled and screamed like a little kid. That asshole Joker killed my best friend, and now it was time to pay.
The goon opened the door and I punched him in the face, which felt whelming. He pushed me back and a few goons came through the door, but I knew that I had to find the Joker, and this guy was the only obstacle. Something warm and soft hit me on the cheek, it was there for a moment then it disappeared. I dismissed it for a tear and wiped it away with one of my torn gloves. Then, a second goon joined us, he grabbed my arms while the other one took out a gun. I fought back, trying to release the grip he had on me, but then I was paralyzed from the waist up. I kicked my legs and tried but the man shot. I didn't feel any pain when it hit my chest, I assumed it was because of the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Another warm touch, it felt like the tear before, but now it was on my forehead. The man shot again. I closed my eyes tightly, and felt something on my lips. Was it the shot? Then I heard something from afar.
"Rick, it's a bad dream. Wake up sweetie."I knew that voice. I took a breath and opened up my eyes, and the cell disappeared. Instead of the walls being dark there was light in a bedroom. Instead of a goon pinning me down from behind, it was my wife, Sara. Her hands were on my wrists, her legs wrapped around my midsection. Her face was bloody from the bloody nose. Her worried sapphire eyes studied my face like a textbook. Her strawberry blond hair was in a braid.
"Fuck Sara, I'm sorry!" I said, removing her hands and grabbing the Kleenex box from the black night table. She thanked me and got off, walking to the bathroom. It took me a moment to re-encounter what had happened. I had experienced a nightmare. Ever since that night with the Young Justice, when Wally was murdered, I had nightmares. It wasn't every night, but poor Sara was accustomed to me having them. She always commented that a hero is allowed to have fears. Something about something that doesn't kill you, usually makes you stronger. I got up and walked to the bathroom. She was sitting on the floor, staring at me. She was still in the black pair of bra and undies from the night before. One of my white dress shirts draped over her like a dress. Other than the blood on her face she was adorable.
"I should have woken you up. But studies show that people who wake up when sleep walking still think they're asleep. I also didn't think you were having that dream until you punched me. Don't feel bad. I love morning sparing." She smiled and walked to the sink. "I'm sorry I bled on you by the way." She said nonchalantly as she washed the blood from her face. Sara then walked over and cleaned off my face, stripping me of my wife beater shirt, and stealing a kiss from my lips. "Now, Mr. Grayson, Bruce wants to see us in an hour."
"Well, Mrs. Grayson, we'd better not fool around then." She nodded and turned around, buttoning up the dress shirt and started putting on makeup. I left the bathroom, and walked into our small apartment closet. A pair of dress pants and a dress shirt later, and I was ready to go. I sat on the bed to put on my socks when she returned from the bathroom. Her thin, silver rimmed glasses lined her gorgeous blue eyes, her strawberry hair was thrown into a bun, and she was wearing my shirt (We were at a Wayne Enterprises event last night).
"Pass my skirt please." She said pointing to it. I threw it at her and she slipped it on. "Now, let's go so that we can skip traffic. You think, two heroes, could get a decent apartment." She laughed, and grabbed a pair of shoes. She walked to the kitchen and grabbed an apple. I followed, put on my dress shoes. I always tried to look dapper when I saw Bruce. We got into the car and started the fifteen minute to Wayne Manner. "I hope he's giving you a vacation. Both you and Damien deserve it. I think the last time you had a day off was... I think it was our wedding. And that was about two years ago." She laughed and smiled.
Sara was right, we were caught in the morning traffic, thankfully, all the years I had worked with Bruce helped us dodge it and get to the Wayne Manor in good time. We walked up to the door hand in hand, and knocked. Almost as if Alfred was waiting at the door, the door opened to reveal the elderly butler. He smiled and said "Hello Master Dick, Hello Sara. Welcome home." Something Alfred started to do whenever the young couple came to visit the billionaire. "Master Bruce is in the cave with Master Damian." He said as he was closing the large oak doors. "I'll bring tea in a moment."
We walked down to the cave, and in all the years of crime fighting, I realized that the Batcave had never changed. The Batmobiles , including the batboat and the batplane, were positioned to our left, the past costumes of Bruce, myself, Jason, Tim and the Batgirls, were all ahead. The supercomputer was to our right, and there sat Bruce in a suit. He looked older today, it wasn't often when I saw him look old, but today he did. There next to him was a young splitting image of ol' Bruce-y himself. My Robin, my little brother. Damian, my protogé, I trained him, taught him how to become the next Batman when it became time. Damian was thirteen, the same age I was when I joined Young Justice. I shivered as I thought about Wally. He was dead because I wasn't good enough. Sara squeezed my arm, knowing what I was thinking. She always knew what I was thinking though, it made us an excellent team when I needed extra help as Batman.
"Hello Dick." Bruce said getting up from his chair and shaking my hand. He then moved to Sara, pulling her into a hug. "Hello little Sara." Sara made a face, but was used to the pet name. When she joined Young Justice, she was a little frail thing, but she grew up to be one beautiful woman. She controlled Nitrogen particles in the air, which meant, she was pretty much a badass fighter. It also made her lighter than the average human, because she only breathed Nitrogen. Weird, but I'm assuming some weird accident happened to her when she was little. I never asked. I looked at Damian, who stuck his tongue out at me. I was surprise that he wasn't tired, we were out crime fighting until four in the morning.
"So Bruce, you wanted to see us?" I asked, averting my glaze from my protogé to my old mentor, he nodded and looked at he sat down. He seemed exciting about something, his leg was bouncing, and he had an odd glow about him. He adjusted his tie and smiled.
"I did. I wanted to talk to you about a very important matter. The League has discovered a possible way to travel through time. I know, it sounds farfetched, but it's true, we've tested it. I know that you have never forgiven yourself over the death of Wally," I flinched, and Sara stepped towards me, she grabbed my hand and stroked it with her thumb, it calmed me momentarily. "It was nothing you could've controlled, son." There was a long pause.
"Anyways, I discussed it with the League, and they have given you and Sara permission to go. You may go, help the Young Justice beat the Joker, and come back here. We'd send you a month in advance, and bring you home a week after the battle."
"Father, wouldn't that change their future? Our present?" Damian asked.
Bruce smiled and pet his son's head, thus annoying the young Wayne. "No, if they do save Wally, then they would have created an alternate dimension. We'll still be able to bring them back. Do you want to be able to save Wally?" Bruce said. I looked at Sara, someone who never knew Wally. She smiled and said:
"How soon can we leave."