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Troubled Hearts
—The Dream—
TWO

"Dude, so, you're telling us we're not in some sort of alternate dimension?" Dick nodded in confirmation. "We're really just dreaming?"

"I don't know, man, this all sounds rather fishy." Vic said as he leaned against the wall. Was he really non-existent? Was he only a figment of a dream? No, he couldn't start thinking like that. How could he only be a fictional character when he had a whole lifetime of memories, thoughts, feelings, and dreams of his own?

"But Robin," Kori interjected, "how did this happen?" She asked very inquisitively. It felt strange to call him by his alias once again. It was almost like she was speaking a foreign language. She no longer felt like she once had for this man. He was Rachel's now. Still, Kori had doubts. If this is all just a dream, how does he feel?

"It was Slade." Dick said in a cold, steely manner. It reminded everyone of his past obsession with his arch-nemesis. Why did the man have to show up in their lives once more? It was as if his life's ambition was to plague their own.

Tara looked up with a pale face all of a sudden in shock. "Slade?" She swallowed quite visibly, but no one seemed to notice. Not even Gar who was standing next to her in the room. No doubt he was caught in thoughts of his own.

"Yeah," Dick said. "He used something called dream serum to put us all into a potentially permanent sleep. It also united our brain waves to form a joint dream."

"A joint dream?" Gar asked. "You mean, like, our minds are linked and now we're all in the same dream?"

"Yes," replied Dick. "That's exactly what I'm saying." He looked at everyone in the room. There was no hint of humor in his bare blue eyes. He was dead serious.

Gar squirmed at the thought. "Dude, my mind feels totally violated!" Gar perhaps wasn't being completely as somber as Dick was, but his reaction received no chuckles; not even a faint smile from Tara. The mood was almost as solemn as a cemetery.

"Perhaps. . ." Kori started. It seemed strange not to see her being cheerful. Then again, no one felt the urge to smile. "Perhaps that is why I have had no dreams since I have come here. I was already dreaming. . ." She trailed off. But her unspoken question was in the air and penetrated everyone's mind. Why did it all have to be just a dream?

"I have a question." Vic stopped leaning against the wall and stood up straight. "If this is some kind of 'dream world' as you suspect, why did Rachel get knocked out all of a sudden? Did something happen to her?" Vic paused before finishing his thought. "I mean, I've been watching this thing happen for a while now, and I've noticed things only happen when you sleep."

"I don't know." Dick looked down. He wished he had an answer to give. He only hoped she was alright. . . no matter where she happened to be. "We can only wait to see what she tells us when she wakes up."

Dick was never one to be slow, but with the dream becoming more real and his brain fog lifting, he finally found he had a question to ask them. Or rather, something to ask her.

He looked straight at the quiet blonde and asked, "Terra, how are you here?"

"If we're in a dream like you said, then I must be dreaming too." She said, but did not look Dick in the face.

"But you died." Dick emphasized. "I saw you die. Raven used all the incantations she could find, but none worked. You were just a stone statue."

Gar looked at her, but she couldn't look back at him. "Yeah, and I saw you at the high school some months ago. Your statue in the cave was gone." Gar looked puzzled. The enigma was right in front of him. And she had a look that he couldn't quite determine. In fact it seemed so different from what he had seen on her. She was so happy before. . . "How have you been here all this time?" He asked her.

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Dick asked in a quieter and softer voice. However, it was still very intense. With Detective Grayson on the case, he would not let a single detail slip through his fingers.

Tara felt everyone's eyes on her. She could not look up, though. She felt so guilty. What would have happened if she had told everyone what she had seen at the beginning? She kept her eyes down and finally spoke after a long absence of words. "Well, I do remember turning to stone after stopping that volcanic eruption." She paused as she took a long breath. "It was terrible. There was this cold numbness creeping up my spine as little by little I became petrified." She put her hand on her mouth as she recalled the horrible feeling. Gar put his hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "Then, the next thing I remember, Slade was looking over at me in a metal building."

Dick's eyes widened. Slade!

"I thought I had killed him! I thought that terrible monster was finally gone. But," her breath became shaky and uneven, "I can only guess he brought me back." She shrugged. She didn't know why, though. What sort of maniacal plot did he have behind all this? "And then," she bit her lip, "as soon as I had woken up, he said, 'Sweet dreams, dear apprentice' and he injected something into me. Next thing I knew, I was here. I've been here for nearly a year." Why would he go through all that trouble to bring me back just to put me to sleep?

"But Terra," Gar interjected, "if you were sleeping the whole time, how did I see you awake in reality?" He looked at her with earnest eyes and this time she looked back at him. Her eyes were uncertain.

"I honestly don't know." She told him and Gar knew it was the truth. "I'm probably more in the dark than you are." After that, she fiddled with her hands and looked uncomfortable as everyone stared at her. It was as if everyone in the room was expecting her to say something more. However, she had nothing more to add. She really didn't know anything.

The awkward silence was saved by a groan coming from the couch. Dick, Gar, Kori, Tara, and Vic walked closer to find Rachel holding her hand on her head. She had finally woken up. "Man, I have the worst headache." She sat up and looked down and felt what she was sitting on. "That's weird. I don't remember falling asleep on the couch. . ." Rachel looked around to find her roommates looking at her with expectant eyes. "Anyone care to explain why you're all staring at me?"

After a moment of bewilderment, Dick finally asked, "Raven, what happened?"

"Raven? Who is Raven?" She looked around at everyone still looking at her strangely and saw a blonde whom she did not recognize. "And who are you?" She asked as she pointed at Tara.

"Raven?" Dick asked again as he sat down next to her on the couch.

"Babe?" She asked and touched her husband's bicep with two of her fingers. "What's going on? This is really weird." She looked at him for an answer, but received none.

"It's not her. . ." Dick said and looked around to everyone else in almost a panic. What could possibly have happened to Raven? He wondered.

"What do you mean I'm not me? What is going on?" She looked frantically at everyone and waited for an answer.

Dick couldn't help but channel his disappointment and frustration. His whole way of finding an answer was gone. Finally, he spoke. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

It wasn't the answer Rachel was looking for. She gripped his arm firmly. "Tell me." She commanded of him. Dick saw the fierce determination in her eyes and found he couldn't deny her. She asked and she would receive.

"Okay. But this might take a while." They talked for a long time. Vic talked mostly about what had been going on in the dream world. Dick also explained about what had been going on in reality. He told her why they were dreaming.

"Slade? Dream serum? A joint dream?" She looked disbelievingly at them. "Are you seriously saying that?" She looked at them and waited for them to tell the truth. However, she did not receive a second explanation. Were they merely mocking her? She hated to admit or even think that they might be serious, but with the way they were speaking and the way her own husband was acting was almost proof enough.

"I know it sounds crazy," Dick replied, "but it's the truth, Raven."

"Stop calling me that!" She raised her voice and stood up suddenly. "That's not my name. . ." She spoke a little more softly, but no less intense. She looked around. She saw everyone looking at her with disappointed and curious gazes. What do they want from me? Dick went to touch her gently on her arm, but she pulled back. "Don't touch me!" She said and began to tear up. "You're not my husband." At that she stormed off into her room with tears flowing.

"Wait!" Dick said as he stood up and tried to go after her. However, Vic caught him by the arm before he could go any more than two steps.

"Let her go, man." Vic replied and finally loosened his grasp when Dick eased the tension in his muscles. "She needs time to accept this. We all did." Dick thought of Rachel's tears and knew his friend was right.

—Fin—

A/N: So, I was thinking of alternating between the dream world and reality. Do you think this would be better? I wanna know what you guys think. Let me know if you think there should be any improvements or of there is anything you liked and want to see more of. I look forward to hearing from you all!

Signed,
Her Sappiness