End Days Chapter 3

Don't own DC


Wayne Manor, July 5, 3:00 am

Dick rubbed his eyes wearily. He had gotten home just and hour ago. And he couldn't sleep. He was so fucking tired he couldn't sleep. Dick got up and walked around the room. He wondered how Alfred had convinced him to move to the master bedroom. It was too big. Too empty.

Dick sighed as he resigned himself to the fact he would sleep again tonight.

"Maybe I should call up Donna. She would be pissed at me for waking her, so never mind." Dick groaned. He sat in the chair by the desk.

Running a hand under the desk, Dick found the hidden switch and opened the hidden drawer. Pulling out a small box, Dick felt his throat close up. He had gone through this box hundreds of times the first year. Each year, a few times less. He was recovering, he thought. Dick laughed at himself. He was a hypocrite.

Opening the box brought a strong smell of cloves. Dick carefully lifted the precious items and set them on the desk. A dried blue flower from when Bruce had trained under Ra's a Ghul in his early years still gave off sweet smell. A photo of the last time the Flying Graysons had preformed. A perfect report card from the year after the circus incident. A hand written letter saying "I think I should say thank you…" from Jason the year Batman had picked him up. Another perfect report card stapled to a disciplinary report also belonging to Jason. Next was a newspaper clipping congratulating Timothy Drake's Mathematics awards. Then a report about Timothy being adopted by Bruce. No report cards for Tim though. There was a picture of Tim and Dick when they were younger. It was also from the night Dick's family had died. Next was a strip of white fabric from the uniform Damian had worn when Talia had brought Damian to the family. There was also a small bag with a locket of hair, presumably Talia's. There was a report card from Stephanie, and a newspaper clipping about Barbra's gymnastic awards. There was even a family picture including Cassandra and the whole family. The last picture was from a week before Bruce had died. Dick held it in his hands. He looked so tired and weak in the picture.

Swallowing hard, Dick repacked the box and put it away. Not even ten minutes had passed. A tap at his window drew his attention away from the clock. Dick walked over to the window and opened it. He swung his legs out and sat on the sill next to Kate.

"What do they think of me?" Dick asked her.

"They think repressed emotions are stressing you out. They're trying to help you." Kate told him.

"Yeah, well I wonder how they'd feel knowing I'm a hypocrite." Dick answered.

"You still plan to go through with your plan?" She asked. Dick nodded. There was a long pause.

"You were freaking out." Kate commented. Dick breathed in then out.

"I was. I didn't want them to do anything before me. I didn't want them to be responsible for bringing a crazy Bruce back to life."

"Why didn't you just tell Tim you believed him?" Kate asked. Dick didn't answer for a long time.

"When Tim first suggested his theory, four years ago, I was in denial of Bruce's death still. I latched onto the theory too much. I'm still attached to that theory."

"Think it will work?" Kate asked softly.

"No. Not unless I can sacrifice a person to bring him back. That's how the pits work. A give and take. Ra's always used his ninja followers. Hardly any died because he never was dead when he went in. He just took five to ten years from his servants." They were silent for a while, watching the brightest stars that could shine through the light pollution.

"It's times like these I miss Kori." Dick whispered. Kate turned to look at the younger man.

"I thought you guys…"

"We've made our peace. She's off being a fucking awesome queen, and I'm here fucking up my life." Dick chuckled darkly. Kate frowned.

"What about Donna?" Kate asked.

"I really care about her. But it's not the same." Dick admitted. Kate took a deep breath.

"And Barbra?" Dick didn't answer for a long time.

"Still not the same." Kate looked up to the sky.

"Not being the same doesn't mean it was any less important or special." Kate stood. Dick watched her as she left. He looked back up at the stars. He stayed at the window sill the rest of the night.


"Dick, I'm telling you, I don't know enough about the Lazarus Pits to help you." Zatanna said to darkly clad hero. Dick frowned deeper. Zatanna rolled her eyes. "Sorry. Batman, I repeat my last statement." The frown lessoned.

"Thank you for your research, Zatanna. I'll be in the Watchtower tonight for a shift." Dick informed his former teammate. Zatanna nodded and turned off the screen.

Dick rolled around lazily in the chair. It appeared he had his own, personal work to do.


Gotham Watchtower, September 7th, 9:00 pm

"Any luck?" Barbra asked Jason. Jason sneezed as the snowed whipped his black hair around his face. The white strip in his hair blended perfectly with the snow.

"Yeah. I found it, but it's guarded as fuck."

"That doesn't make sense, Todd!"

"Shut the fuck up, demon spawn!" Jason shivered. His parka was zipped up and he was wearing a face mask, not his helmet, and a thick wool hat.

"Should of guessed Ra's keeps the pits closer to his home more heavily guarded. So, no evidence that Dick has noticed what we're doing?" Tim asked. Barbra frowned.

"You should have said 'should have'." She corrected Tim frowned.

"Why the fuck am I on this fucking mountain when we don't need the fucking pits? Fuck!" Jason snarled.

"Feel better, whiny pants?" Damian asked in a baby voice. Jason began to cuss him out as Tim and Barbra looked over their plans.

"We're doing this because two months ago, Zatanna told me Dick was asking about Lazarus Pits. I don't want him to do anything rash."

"Rash, why the fuck would he do something rash?" Jason asked. Barbra froze. Damian and Tim took a step back. The fury was evident in her shoulders.

"Maybe because when we thought Bruce was dead, Dick was the only one who kept his head. Maybe because we forced Dick to go against Bruce's request, no his orders! Maybe because when all of us decided there needed to be a Batman, three idiots went and fought each other, practically to the death, and dragged Dick into it! Maybe because after everyone had licked their wounds, we all abandoned him! Damian only stayed because he had nowhere else to go! Tim, you ran off spitting insults and Jason, you just disappeared, again! You all hurt Dick! I me! I… I just cut him off for a whole year!" Barbra turned back to the other boys. Cassandra and Stephanie had walked in.

"We didn't do much better." Stephanie admitted. They had left for a year as well. Damian wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. It had taken a year to finally get some semblance of balance between him and Dick. He felt slightly guilty for going behind Dick's back like this.

"Well, once we get Bruce out of the time stream, everything should go back to normal." Tim said.

"No." Damian surprised everyone, including himself. "Not back to normal. We'll finally fix things." After a beat, everyone began to smile and nod.

"Alfred loves to cook big dinners."

"Dude! The fucking Christmas gifts Dick would give us!"

"The Manor wouldn't be as cold!"

The idea seemed perfect.


Please review!

Love

Burning Bright