Chapter 2: Nightmares of Yesterday
In only a matter of weeks Dick's entire life had been turned upside down and his views on the world had changed forever, He had not even been counting how many days had passed, it felt like an eternity ago that the day of April 1st had occured, it was supposed to be a day filled with joy and happiness for people but now that day would forever remind him of the tragedy that had left him alone in the world. He along with his family including his Mother and Father, Aunt and Uncle, and his older cousin had been a part of a traveling Circus called Haly's, they went all over the world performing their death defying act of performing acrobatic stunts on the trapeze without the safety of a net. Even though his family was the most normal in the world to him it was everything he could possibly ask for, he had a family, loving friends, and he got to go anywhere in the world he desired, but his world came crashing down once they arrived in Gotham City tour stop, their act had gotten some unwanted attention from the local mob lead by a mean looking man named Tony Zucco, he had wanted protection money from the circus but they had refused and kicked him off the circus grounds wanting nothing to do with the criminal word
He had been walking by Pop Haly's trailer when he heard the argument and had gotten a good look at Zucco when he was kicked out
"Pop Haly, who was that?" He looked up at the older man
"No one you need to worry about Dicky boy, That man won't be bothering us anymore i promise"
He had been foolish enough to believe him, he had a very innocent outlook on the world and didn't think it was in anyone's nature to want to cause harm to others, life was a very precious thing and should live every second to the fullest kind of like a free spirited person. During that night though when he was getting ready to get onto the trapeze with his family a man had bumped into him, he looked up to see none other than the crime boss himself Tony Zucco leaving the tent, he tried warning his parents about the man "Dad, that's the man, he's the guy that-"
"AND NOW FOR THE FINAL ACT OF THE NIGHT! OUR VERY OWN DEATH DEFYING AERIALISTS, THE FLYING GRAYSON'S!"
"Come on Dick we're on!" Mary grabbed his shoulders and led him up onto the trapeze
As the act when on his worry of anything happening simmered, maybe zucco had just been here to talk to someone, but during the last act of the show that he was not allowed to participate was when his view on life changed forever, he figured out in less than a minute why zucco had really been inside the tent, the sound of the clanking of the wires that held the trapeze in place made him realize that zucco had sabotaged their act as retribution again Pop Haly for not paying him the protection money, and his entire family was caught in the crossfire. He looked back to his family one last time before they all plummeted to the ground his hand could only brush against his mother's before she slipped away. Everything after that moment had been a complete blur, he could only recall the screams of the audience when his family died, one of the circus workers had to come up to the trapeze to get him down, he remembered talking with the police and he told them about what he had seen and told Pop as well
"It was him who did this Pop, We always make sure everything is ready for our act, he did this!"
"Ok we believe you son! Just try to rest up" Commissioner Gordan tried comforting the 9 year old boy then walked up the homicide detectives that were already on scene "I want an APB out on this Tony Zucco right away"
"Yes sir"
Dick was happy the police believed him and hoped they would bring Zucco to justice for what he did, he only got a brief glimpse of a man and woman in fancy looking clothes walk up to the commissioner before everything became a blur again, his world was only just beginning to crumble down when he learned he could not stay with the circus, he had been forced to leave and put into Gotham City's Child Protective Services, and according to his so called Social Services agent there was no room left for him in any of the city's orphanages or foster homes so he had been places in Gotham Juvenile Detention Facility. He was forced to wear a prison uniform as if he was another common inmate and had to share a cell with one of the worst juvenile criminals in the facility. He had become the punching bag for all the tough kids in the cafeteria and could barely eat anything. He had begun having nightmares of his family's murder and Zucco coming after him but something confused him in his dreams, something there would just be small glimpses of blue and purple humanoid figures before his nightmares ended, he didn't understand what any of it meant. As far as he was concerned he had no one to turn to with this problem, he was all alone in the world, his family was dead, killed by a cowardly mob boss, his friends in the circus had been forced to move on from the city, he had no friends or living relatives anywhere that he could possibly look for help too
Until after being stuck in the Detention center for what felt like years his Social Services agent came into his cell, this was actually the first time he was seeing her after he had been left here the day his family had died, she had told him very forcefully to follow her to a waiting room, where she made him try to clean himself up from the bruises and dirt on his uniform and little bits of blood. He didn't understand why she was trying to make him look nice for, when the door opened though he could see why
In walked two people he never even considered would even be at the center in such a run down crime ridden part of the city in Juvie, There in front of him was Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, Bruce was the wealthiest man in the city maybe even on the entire east coast, he was the CEO of Wayne Enterprises a multi-billion dollar company and Selina Kyle was the Director of Gothams Charitable Functions, she was in charge of creating charities all around Gotham and raising money for others, she made quiet the living off of this occupation, she wasn't as rich as Bruce but she was considered a white collared worker.
Why on Earth was the power couple of Gotham City visiting him?
Bruce had led a secluded life since his parent's had been murdered right in front of his eyes when he was merely 8 years old, with the exception of his friend and butler Alfred he kept everyone else in his life as arms length, he had always blamed himself for his parent's murder, he had gotten scared by the play they had been watching and asked if they could leave so being the loving parent's Thomas and Martha Wayne were said their goodbyes to their friends and took the back exit out of the theater. His life had been turned upside down only a few seconds after walking down the ally when a low common thug tried robbing his father of his wallet and his mother's pearl necklace killing them both with a single gunshot to the chest leaving him there to watch his parents die before his eyes as the coward ran from the alley with only the wallet, their murder was never solved he wouldn't have been able to identify the man if he ever saw him walking down the street, he had been covering his face with a ski mask. So from that day on he vowed his life to make sure nothing this tragic would ever happen to another innocent person ever again
He spent the following years of his life traveling across the world to train into the feared crime fighter he was today, Gotham City's very own Dark Knight, The Batman. He had successfully made a name for himself again the crime that had been polluting his home and was able to bring the crime rate down more than the police department ever could, so much that the police no longer though of him as another criminal that needed to be stopped but as an ally thanks to their new commissioner Gordan. This was all he needed in his life to keep him satisfied, he was very much steady being the CEO of Wayne Enterprises by day and fighting crime by night
Alfred had tried talking to him on several occasion about how a life on rotation of the same thing everyday was not healthy, his parents would have wanted him to have a much happier life than this instead of obsessing over something he could not change. He thought over this several times while he attended a local Charity Function for the city's police department where he just happened to meet a woman that had actually gotten his attention, she was the director of tonights function, she was proud, determined, Kind, and beautiful, he learned later that night that her name was Selina Kyle, he took liking to her as they talked more that night and began seeing her more often after the charity function until he got an unwelcome surprise when he was patroling the city and came across her alter ego known at Catwoman. He had had an experience like this before when he tried to get involved with a woman in the years of his training, a woman named Talia she had been a friend to him and he had foolishly thought that she would give up the life she was leading but he had been wrong she had been determined to stick with her ways so had decided to cut off all contact with her. He could somehow feel that with Selina it was different, she was not like all the other criminals in the city that were bent on terror and mass destruction she was merely in it for the thrill. He gave her the benefit of the doubt and after reviewing her records he considered that after all she had went through she could have turned out a lot worse, he confronted her and after a long while he had been able to convince her to change her ways
That had all transpired over 3 years ago, now He and Selina were is a perfect healthy relationship and neither of them felt the need to add anything else to it, both of them had very demanding jobs and both had a night job to pertain too so it wasn't like they had the time to even consider adding a child to their relationship, it was not until Alfred had actually reserved tickets for them to a circus that had come to town the day before called Haly's that their opinion on it changed. Bruce had only heard of the circus once before in passing and they were supposed to have a family of daredevil acrobats that could seeming defy the laws of gravity, when they took the stage he and selina both were surprised to see a boy that couldn't even be a teenager up on the trapeze with the rest of the family
"He's not actually going to perform is he?" Selina asked
"I think he is"
The act began and both of them held their breath when the boy in question jumped off the safety of the board, the boy was probably the most skilled trapeze artist than the older artists of his family, he actually gave the illusion that he could actually fly
"AND NOW FOR THE FINAL ACT OF THE NIGHT OUR DAREDEVIL GRAYSON'S WILL BE FINISHING THEIR ACT WITH THEIR MOST FAMOUS MOVE OF ALL!"
"It's over already?" Selina asked
"Well it couldn't last forever"
But while the Grayson's were in the middle of performing their final act of the night, a horrific metal clanking sound could be heard over the sound of the audience, everyone looked up at the trapeze's wires, Bruce saw the small boy, who had not been allowed on the trapeze with his family for the final act looking in same direction, he couldn't see anything that high up from his position on the ground but when the boy turned back to his family, the expression on his face was one he knew all too well, he had the same exact look on his face when he heard the safety being taken off the gun that had killed his parents. When the wires of the trapeze snapped off the once death defying family were finally meeting their end from the laws of gravity. Bruce looked up at the boy 'Don't look!' he thought to himself but the boy seemed to be frozen in place and watched the entire thing as his family plummeted to the dirt floor of the circus ground
Screams of horror erupted from the crowd, Selina held onto his arm as he stood up she had one of her hands covering her mouth from the shock of what had just happened, but Bruce wasn't looking at the dead family he was looking up on the board of the trapeze were the small boy fell to his knees and seemed to crawl into a ball crying, he more than anyone in this circus could relate to what just happened to him, his life had just been ripped away from him and would never be the same again, no child should ever have to witness the death of their parents, or any kind of death for that matter
The police arrived quickly to the scene and had begun ushering the crowd out of the tent, most people had already gone but Bruce wanted to stick around, he had seen one of the circus workers go up to the board and bring the small boy back down to the ground, the family had already been placed into body bags and taken the coroner's office
"Bruce, there's nothing we could have done to help him, it was an accident, let the police handle this" Selina tried getting his attention
For some reason Bruce felt the need to stay, he saw Commissioner Gordan talking with the boy probably trying to comfort him but when they heard the Police try to write this off as an accident the boy jumped up and looked directly at the Commissioner
"This wasn't an accident, the Mob boss killed my family, Tony Zucco he was arguing with Pop earlier today and i saw him leaving the tent before our act, he did this Pop, we always make sure everything is ready for our act! He did this!"
"A mob boss!" Bruce's eyes widened
Selina seemed to be coming to the same conclusion, with the statement from the boy just now, there was no way the police or anyone for that matter would write this off as an accident "Bruce i know what you're thinking" She was narrowing her eyes at him
Bruce looked over to see the commissioner walking over to a group of Homicide detectives "I want an APB out on this Tony Zucco right away"
"Yes Sir"
Bruce walked up to the Commissioner with Selina right behind him "What about the boy?"
"Mr. Wayne, Ms. Kyle what are you two doing here?" Gordan asked
"We were in the audience, thought we'd stick around to make sure the boy was okay"
"Does he have anyone?" Bruce asked with a little hope but hearing Gordan sigh crushed it
"No, Everyone that died tonight was the only family he had, some of the circus people have offered to take him in but...I'm just not sure it's the safest place for him to stay here"
Bruce and Selina could agree now that he had outed a powerful mob boss as the mastermind behind his family's murder there will be people coming after him to try and shut him up for good
"I think i may be able to help"
Now after three long weeks of the adoption process Bruce and Selina were both standing in the waiting area of Gotham's Juvenile Detention Facility,
"What kind of insane person puts a 9 year old boy that is guilty of nothing in a detention center right after having just lost his family" Selina had been fuming after she had found out where CPS had placed the boy, she wasn't sure about adopting a child at first but after she learned of the way the system was treating him she did everything in her power to make sure the adoption could go by as fast as it could "I just can't image the state he might be in"
"It is a twisted world we live in" Bruce sighed, he had been in the system before and if it wasn't for his family's reputation and Alfred's help he could have ended up just like the boy "Good thing we're taking him out of here today"
After a few more minutes of waiting one of the security guards came and led them to one of the meeting rooms, once they walked in they got a clear look at Richard John Grayson for the first time, so far they had only seen him from a distance and the pictures of him that had been put into the system, even from the distance they had seen him at the circus he looked way better then than he did now, here he looked deathly pale as if he hadn't gotten enough sunlight and looked badly malnourished
Bruce glared at the Agent that had put him in the god forsaken place "We would like to speak with Dick alone"
The Agent tried to keep her profession expression under his glare "Mr. Wayne this facility has a strong policy on visitor regulations-"
"Yes but this isn't a visit as you very well know, now leave before we have our lawyers step in!" Selina glared
Dick didn't know much about the power couple of Gotham City but from what he had heard and seen over television broadcasts they were supposed to be very nice gentle people, during the time he had been in the center he had learned to never let your guard down, he avoided making any sort of eye contact with either of them after the CPS agent had left the room, trying to figure out why they were here, don't make eye contact, don't speak unless spoken too, keep your head down, and obey the rules or else those were all the rules of this new life he had learned during his time here
"I'm not sure you may remember us, but we were at the circus three weeks ago" Dick's eyes widened when Bruce spoke up, he didn't recall seeing the two of them there but then again he couldn't meet every single person that attended their shows "We spoke briefly with Commissioner Gordon about you, he told us you had no where to go but into the system so we offered to help" Dick clenched his eyes, the CPS agent said she was going to help too and look how he ended up, how much more damage could these to do that the facility hasn't already done
Selina walked up to him, she had actually been put in the detention facility once before in her life as well after her parents died and she had been left to fend for herself "You know when i was about your age i was put into a detention center" this actually got Dick's attention, surprised that this successful woman had been in his position "I know what it's like to feel helpless and having no way out, feeling trapped with no one to turn to for help. But that's why Bruce and I are here, your situation can relate to ours in very similar ways"
"After we learned of the situation you were in, we made up our minds on how to help you" Bruce sat in the chair across from him "We've decided to adopt you"
Dick's eyes widened in surprise "Why would you want to adopt someone like me?"
Selina gave him a smile "As we said before you are similar to us both in very specific ways, and we've made sure that you won't have to spend not even another minute in this place"
True to their word Dick had been given a new set of clothes to wear instead of his uniform and the suitcases that he had taken from the circus were placed into the limo outside the facility. He had been given a new chance at a happy life because of these generous people, Bruce had shared with him one night after he had woken up from a nightmare of seeing his parents die before him about how he could relate to his situation
"You can't help but think, if only there was something you could have done differently, if you had been able to warn them, but there isn't anything you could have done, anything we could have done"
Dick looked up at his saddened expression " Your talking about your mom and dad?" Bruce nodded over to the picture of Thomas and Martha Wayne above the fireplace, they looked like very happy people and wondered what had happened to them "Does the hurt ever go away?"
"I wish i could tell you yes but...i does get better as time goes on, you just need to remind yourself that you are not alone in this, i promise you"
True to his promise in the year before he made sure Dick had the happiest life he could possibly give him, Dick Grayson went to the most prestigious school in the state, the principle of the school and his teachers were shocked when he became a straight A student almost right away in all of his subjects especially in history and math, and only a few weeks after Bruce and Selina had brought him home he learned of their secret alter egos and had managed to convince them that if they wouldn't train him he would go out and fight crime on his own, as a way to keep him safe after so many times he had managed to sneak away they agreed. Now Robin was the pride and joy of Gotham, their very own Boy Wonder. He had been introduced to the Justice League a few weeks after he went on his first patrol, he became like a nephew to must of the league members
But during the time of the full moon of the middle of the year Dick began having horrifying nightmares and that wasn't the only thing that had been happening since the full moon, every time when dick was out fighting crime by Batman and Catwoman's side he was somehow stronger and faster than he was just a week before, so much that he had accidentally kicked a man into a brick wall when he just meant to knock him down and gave him a concussion
"That wasn't what i was intending to do, i guess i'm stronger than i thought" Dick looked down in shame as the man was transferred to the hospital
Even though Bruce and Selina forgave him and just told him to hold back next time they were both baffled by the amount of strength this small 9 year old boy had just exerted on a man twice his size and weight, and he had been too fast for them to stop him when he had gone after the man. They guessed they were just training him better than they thought and would have to teach him how to not use to much force when fighting against crime
'I guess he'll just have to be kept off patrol until he learns to control his strength' Selina thought
Dick looked to her wide eyes "But i don't want to be kept in i promise i'll make sure not to hurt anyone and i'll let you guys go in first now!"
Bruce lifted an eyebrow at him but Selina widened her eyes "How did you know that?"
"Huh? Didn't you just say that?" Dick asked
Selina turned to Bruce with a confused expression she was sure she hadn't said that out loud but maybe Dick could just read her that well that he knew what she was thinking
"We should be getting back, it's already late" Bruce told them both then each of them got out their grappling hooks and took off
Dick continued having the nightmares until the nightmares were happening every time he closed his eyes, In the dreams he would always see Blue and Purple humanoid figures and Black like shadows with red eyes attacking towns that were on fire, the dreams had been peaceful at first with the Blue and Purple Humanoid figures flying around in the sky and seeming to enjoy life which made him happy seeing something so pretty and peaceful until they somehow switched to these nightmares. He had gone to Bruce, Selina, and Alfred about his problem he was scared to even go to sleep anymore because he knew that if he fell asleep he would see those black things with red eyes
"Dick, you just need to remind yourself that what is in your nightmares aren't real, they can't really hurt you" Selina tried comforting him
"But it's every time now, i can't go to sleep without seeing them" He hadn't even slept in the past three days to avoid seeing it
"Maybe i can talk to Dinah and the other Leaguers about this, one of them may have a way to help you" Bruce assured him, he didn't like seeing his adopted son in such agony and being powerless to do anything about it, maybe Dinah, Martian Manhunter, or even Zatara could do something
"But for now why don't you stay in our room tonight, it's not healthy for a person to go without sleep" Selina told him
"Bruce does it"
"I'm a not the best example for a healthy lifestyle" Bruce sighed
After the next Justice League meeting Bruce had had them all stick around to try and see if any of them had a good idea on how to help Dick, Selina's suggestion of letting him sleep with them had not been helping but it did make them see for themselves that these nightmares were going to keep being a reoccurring thing if someone didn't do something about it, Dick had been telling him about how in the dreams he would see these black figures with red eyes attacking blue and purple people and one of the blue people hurting a small family
"Sounds like just a child'd weird imagination if you ask me" Barry was the first to speak up
"But for it to happen every time he sleeps?" Diana asked
"I don't have much experience with children but i do know nightmares only happen a few times" Clark thought
"These nightmare's could be caused by Dick's Robin lifestyle, nightmares are usually caused by the fears someone may have in their subconscious" Orin joined in the conversation
"That could be the problem, or it could be caused by the depression he felt when his family died" Dinah thought
"Dick is not depressed, aside from these nightmares he's perfectly happy" Bruce argued
"So these nightmares must be fueled by being Robin" Hal assumed
"No I've seen Dick on patrol with Bruce and Selina, he loves it he wouldn't be out there fighting crime if he was afraid" Clark tried to reason
"Then what do you suppose is wrong with him?" Diana asked
"Look guys maybe Dick just needs someone to talk to about this, like a therapist?" Dinah offered
"I do not think therapy is what Richard requires" J'onn spoke for the first time since the beginning of the debate, Bruce had seen him have a grim expression on his face when he asked for solutions of Dick's problem and when Dinah offered to send him to therapy he had a look that said 'Are you crazy'
"What do you suggest then? Dick can't live like this for the rest of his life"
J'onn looked for a moment as if he was contemplating with the forces of nature "Perhaps i could use my Psychic abilities to block the source of the nightmares in his mind"
"You can do that?" Barry asked looking shocked
"I have done this before, it is however a long process that could take hours"
The troubled expression on J'onn's face didn't sit right with him, it felt like there was something he wasn't telling him about this procedure but considering the agony that Dick had been in for the past couple weeks he felt this was the only way the Dick could return back to his normal life, he had contacted Selina through his comm's and discussed it with her and both of them decided this was the best way to help Dick, so Bruce asked Selina to bring Dick up to the Watchtower's Med-bay. Dick had been awake for a long time he only slept two or 4 hours a night now and you could see the bags under his eyes at how tired he was,
J'onn had him lay down on the medical bed and told him to try and sleep
Dick looked afraid at first not wanting to sleep "Don't worry Dick, he'd going to help you, he'll make sure you don't have anymore nightmares again" Selina assured him and had him lay back down
"Okay" Dick nodded then closed his eyes and a mere few seconds later he was sleeping
With that J'onn sat down on the chair beside his bed then after a second of concentrating his eyes opened to glow red
"He's started" Bruce told Selina to ease her worries
As J'onn had told them this was not a short procedure, they could see from the expression changes on J'onn's face that he was struggling with something in Dick's mind as he clenched his teeth and eyes at times but after over 8 hours of using his psychic abilities he finally came back to reality gasping for air looking to be extremely winded, Bruce went over to make sure he didn't fall over "What happened?" Bruce asked
"I am finished, He should be able to sleep peacefully now" J'onn assured them
Dick began stirring on the bed before opening his own eyes "Dick!" Selina went over to him "How do you feel"
He smiled "I actually do feel better, like a weight has been lifted or something"
Bruce smiled seeing J'onn had followed through with his idea "Thank you J'onn"
"It was my pleasure"
Later that night Dick was finally able to sleep on his own for the first time in weeks in his own room, sleeping peacefully in his king plus sized poster bed with his toy Zitka tucked under his arm. When the moonlight came out from behind the clouds and showed through the curtains on Dick, it made the parts of Dick's body that the light was shining onto make his skin look a dark Cerulean color before the moonlight went back behind the clouds
Another chapter finished in one day! I have seen that about 50 people have read the first chapter i posted yesterday, but none of you have posted any kind of review to tell me what you think of this new version, wonder why? the least you could say is if it was good or bad
Hope to get reviews for this chapter!
Next one should be up soon