"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Bruce questioned as he glanced every so often over at Dick while driving both of them home. It was a great escape from the charity event, although, he knew it wasn't Dick's intention to get sick on that cupcake.

"I told you I'm fine, just a bit queasy is all." True, but it wasn't the whole truth. To be honest, he did feel queasy, but his stomach also hurt too. Like cramps. It wasn't enough to have him bending over and moaning from the pain, but the knot inside his gut did have his mentor's attention.

"When we get home, you're going straight to bed." Bruce announced. Dick was silent for a moment, looking out the window as a few flurries flew in the wind.

"You're going out on patrol, aren't you?"

"You're not coming, you're sick. You'll only endanger yourself if you try to coax your illness." He didn't give Dick an option. Either they spend all night arguing about it or Dick complied and went to bed. A twang of pain erupted from his stomach and the nausea returned.

"Fine, I'll go to bed." Dick succumbed. A bed sounded really good at the moment. Besides, it was late, and he had school tomorrow morning. He closed his eyes to try and ease the pain and nausea away, finding it relaxing to keep them closed too. He didn't even remember arriving at the manor, or Bruce carrying him up into his room. The next thing he was conscious about was his guardian tucking him into bed before quietly shutting the door. He didn't bother opening his eyes, they were kind of glued shut at the moment, so instead he listened to Bruce and Alfred's soft voices disappear down the hall. No doubt the man was informing the elder of what transpired.

Dick let his mind wander as he drifted off into sleep, the nausea subsiding and the pain disappearing.


5:29 am turned over to 5:30 am as the alarm on the night stand went off, a radio wakeup call.

"Good morning Gotham, its 5:30 in the morning and the weather is looking sunny for today with a 80% chance of snow showers later on into the night." The man spoke through, soon to be followed by a song, to which never played since Dick had already turned it off. He yawned, and tapped his head, noting how there was no headache.

A big smile grew on his face. "No hangover, and nausea's gone." He cheered, jumping out of bed and walking over to his bathroom. After his shower, he opened the closed door with only a towel wrapped around his waist as he got his uniform and laid it out on the bed. Soon he was dressed and heading down stairs for Alfred's breakfast.


The school bell rang and all the students of Gotham Academy gathered themselves in their scheduled classes. Dick had history first, so the class didn't exactly fly by as fast as he'd want it to. But soon the bell rang again and Dick and his classmates exited the room. He grabbed his books from his locker, and swung his bag over his shoulder. Closing the metal door, he walked down the hall towards Barbara who was fiddling around in her locker.

"Hey, Babs." He greeted, earning a smile from her as she greeted him.

"Hey, how was that charity event last night?" she asked. Dick had told her about it yesterday, well, mostly about how much he was going to dread it.

"The cupcakes were evil." He stated simply.

"Huh?" Barbara sent a questioning glance at him while closing her locker door.

"I'll tell you more about it at lunch." He said, someone in his peripheral catching his attention. It was Artemis, she was huddled in a circle with some of her friends, Bette being one of them. There was a rumor going around that she had a crush on him.

Barbara followed his gaze and rolled her eyes. "Artemis again?" she groaned, feeling a bit jealous at how Dick had been paying a little too much attention on the girl.

Dick looked at her with faked surprise, "No, Bette. Does she have a crush on me?" he questioned, changing the subject as the two began to walk.

"I don't know, I don't talk to her."

"Yeah, but I heard there was a rumor—"

"I'm going to spread a rumor that you have a crush on Artemis." That really got Dick's attention.

"What!?" It was true Dick had been keeping an eye on Artemis, but out of the sole reason that they were both secretly heroes and she was part of their Team. And she still didn't recognize him, it was hilarious.

"I do not have a crush on the new girl." He defended, clutching his books to his chest as they walked past Artemis and her group of friends.

"She's not really the new girl anymore, and yeah you do. I see you watching her all the time." Barbara argued.

"I know her and she just doesn't recognize me. It's kind of weird, you know." It was more funny than weird to Dick.

"I guess." Barbara agreed. Dick was having difficulty finding out if Barbara took the bait or not. He really didn't need a rumor going around that he loved Artemis.

"Why do you want to know if Bette has a crush on you?" she asked. Dick was happy she let the whole thing go.

"I don't want her stalking me."

"She's not going to stalk you."

"Yeah she will. I know a stalker when I see one, and she's a stalker."

"You're full of yourself." Just as Barbara finished, the bell rang and her eyes grew with fear. "Oh no, I'm going to be late!" She gasped out before bolting down the hall. "See ya Dick, meet ya at lunch!"

He continued walking down the hall, watching his friend rushed off to get to her class. He didn't rush, though, there was no need to. He had math next and the teacher favored him, wouldn't mind if he was late one time out of the whole semester.

An older boy ran into, bumping his shoulder as he ran ahead. Dick was about to glare up at him, but noticed how he was running a bit too fast for any ordinary human. Something out of his peripheral caught his attention. He turned to look at a girl who was also going the same speed, but… it looked like she was walking, and someone had just sped up a video. His eyes grew wide as he glanced around him. They all were doing that.

"What the—"

Dick stood in the middle of the hall, the figures dashing past him as if some crazed time lapse in a movie. His eyes darted to and fro, an explanation escaping him as he stood still hoping none of these kids would run him over.

Then, all of a sudden, it stopped. He was alone in the hall now, all of the blurs vanishing in the blink of an eye. He stared down the hall, his books clutched to his chest as he was trying to figure out what just happened.

The bell rang, and the doors to the classrooms opened, students pouring out.

"What!? Class is over, but it didn't even start!" as soon as the words passed his lips, he brought his left hand up to his face and looked at his watch. 1:20 pm. His eyes couldn't enlarge any bigger than they already were. It was ten in the morning last time he checked.

He ran down the hall, avoiding the other students like a pro until he reached his math class. When he skid to a halt in the doorway, the teacher, who was organizing papers on her desk, glanced up at him with shock. The classroom was empty.

"Richard, there you are." She said, with relief. "What happened to you, you weren't in class this morning."

"What time is it?" he asked, his voice hinting at concern. The teacher looked taken back by his question and glanced up at the clock off to the left above her head. He too looked up.

"It's almost 1:30. Richard, are you okay? You're looking a bit pale." She announced. She placed the papers down on her desk and approached him, worry written all over her face.

"I… I have to go!" he stumbled with his words and darted off, dropping his books in the doorway without a second thought. The teacher was dumbfounded by his actions, bending down to pick them up and calling after him.

He didn't pay any attention to her, though he did feel sorry for his rude behavior. He needed to tell Bruce what happened. A whole afternoon running by you like that is NOT normal.

He shoved his hand in his bag and took out his cell phone, preparing to call Alfred. Someone bumped into him, the force hard enough so that he dropped his phone. The people around him were beginning to blur, and Dick started to panic.

"No, no, no, no, it's not happening again!" he whispered to himself. He reached his hand out to pick up his phone, but one of the blurs ran into it, a heart pounding burn climbing up his arm from his wrist. He cried out from the pain, retracting his arm to his chest where the other clutched it. Someone ran into his shoulder, causing pain to strike up there before another shoved him straight to the ground. He quickly covered his face, the blurs getting faster, colors fading into each other.

He got up and crawled to the side of the hall with haste, all care for his phone leaving him. He slammed his back into the lockers and sat there clutching his hand as the figures around him got faster and faster. It was becoming sickening, everything turning into streams of light. He closed his eyes and started to slow his breaths. He counted the seconds, hoping they were just that.

Then, it all stopped.

He still had his eyes closed, noting how the sounds and air around him were silenced. He opened them, his right arm still clutched to his chest. The hall was empty… again. But it was different this time.

His eyes darted towards his watch, reading the hands carefully.

11:52 pm

He didn't bother stopping himself from screaming. No one was in the school because it was nearly midnight and the school was closed!

The first thing that came to his mind was Alfred. He was supposed to come pick him up right after class, at 2:30. Alfred would be so worried about him right now; BRUCE would be freaking out!

Dick stood up in no time and ran down the hall towards his locker. He pulled out his winter coat, put it on, and dashed off to the double doors. Upon reaching them, however, he found them to be locked. Figures. He quickly unlocked the doors and dashed out.

His feet left footprints in the snow as he ran down the walkway. Glancing in the parking lot, he found it empty. Not a surprise to him though, but there was no sign of Bruce's car.

He glanced up, continuing his run. The sky was as dark as it could ever be in Gotham with a new moon, stars glittering away as little to no clouds were in sight. His breath came out as hot steam each time he exhaled, the cold wind nipping away the warmth in his face. It was supposed to be below freezing tonight. And he had lost his phone.

He stuck to the sidewalk, making sure to keep his eyes open in case anything happened. Being alone out at midnight wasn't entirely the smartest for a Gothamite. And being Dick Grayson, made it ten times worse. It would at least take him a half an hour, possibly forty five minutes before he'd make it to the manor. He prayed he wouldn't freeze to death by then. He swallowed hard when snow began to fall in large clumps.


The doorbell echoed throughout the lobby of the manor, followed by a couple knocks before Alfred made his way over to answer it. He peered out the peep hole, his face morphing from sadness to absolute shock as he saw who it was. Within a second he opened the door, grabbed the boy, and brought him in.

"Master Dick!" he yelled, shoving the shivering kid into the warmth of the manor before closing the door to the bitter winter weather. He immediately helped him removed his snow infested coat and bag. He was both relieved and terrified.

"Where have you been!? I came to pick you up this afternoon, but you weren't there. Master Bruce attempted to call you, but we couldn't get an answer! You don't understand how scared we were for you!" he announced with a grandfather's heart. He placed Dick's hands in his own and nearly pulled them away from how cold they were.

"You're freezing!" He placed a hand on Dick's back and led him off to the living room.

"Wwwwhere'sssssss Brrrrrrruce?" Dick asked through chatter teeth. He didn't know how to explain things, nor did he feel like it because all he wanted to do was cuddle up with some blankets and sleep.

"Out looking for you." Alfred replied, leading him through the manor and over to the living on the ground floor. 'Out' meant he was Batman, and 'looking for you' meant he was probably knocking a few thug heads together. "I'll call him back," Alfred said, sitting Dick down on the sofa before leaving to fetch some tea and blankets.

Dick shivered there, still clutching his hand as he stared off at the carpet. He looked like he was in shock.

What… happened to me?


Bruce sat on the coach beside Dick, one arm draped around him holding him close. Alfred was wrapping up his wrist, it being sprained from the strange event Dick had encountered at school. He was covered in three layers of blankets, a cup of hot, herbal tea sitting on the coffee table in front of him.

"I don't know what happened." Dick was explaining, his voice regaining its strength now that he wasn't shivering like crazy anymore. "I was just in the hall heading to class, and the next thing I knew, everyone turned into a time lapse. It went from ten in the morning to one in the afternoon in just seconds!" He informed them. "And then it happened again! But this time…" his voice fell off. He didn't have to explain the rest.

"It was so not asterous." Dick finished, Alfred patting his arm as he finished bandaging it. Dick brought it up close to his chest.

"What did the people around you look like?" Bruce questioned, wanting nothing more than to stop this from happening again.

"I don't know," Dick replied, his voice cracking a bit. It hurt from breathing in the cold air during his run all the way back home. Alfred picked up the cup of tea and handed it to him. Dick took it with a smile and sipped. "Everyone just looked like blurs. Kind of like how Flash and Kid Flash are when they're running, except… faster." He explained.

"Hours within seconds. How is that possible?" Their butler inquired.

"No one saw you? Did anyone seem to notice you not moving?" Bruce questioned.

"No," Dick breathed out, "At least I don't think." He corrected. "There was really no way of telling." He paused in thought before looking up at Bruce. "Did anyone notice me gone?"

"Barbara called, as did the principle. He said your math teacher last saw you and that you looked scared." His guardian answered back.

"Yeah, that was after the first occurrence. I was going to call Alfred and tell you about it before the second time lapse happened. And then I lost my phone in the crowd and got this." He finished while lifting up his sprained wrist.

Bruce sighed, he had nothing, Dick had nothing, and the boy was in danger of this anomaly happening again. What if it got worse? Hours to days, days to weeks, weeks to months… months to years…

He was right, this was so not asterous.

He stood up, "I'm heading down to continue my research on the two men from yesterday."

"You think they're responsible?" Dick questioned, following Bruce.

"I have my suspicions, but what part they play and how they're involved exactly still eludes me." He stopped and turned around, looking down at Dick.

"Get some sleep." He said before disappearing through the doorway.

Dick glared at the floor. He did not feel tired at all. In fact, he felt like it was still eight in the morning. Alfred didn't allow him to start complaining as he was lead up to his room. When their butler left, he plopped down on his bed face first before rolling over onto his back.

That pain in his stomach had suddenly returned and he cringe from its unpleasant visit. He figured he would just take a cat nap before waking up extra, extra early to do some exercise.

A punching bag sounded really good at the moment.