After an hour or so of throwing up, I managed to get some sleep and pull myself around before making the journey to the Wayne Manor.
The Manor hadn't changed one bit, I'm not sure why I'd expected it to as I hadn't been gone all that long. I suppose the nature of my departure had just made it feel like a long time. Bruce and I had initially fallen out over my lack of independence, I had become frustrated about living in his shadow and wanted to blaze my own trail. Which led me to take on the leadership of the Titans. He began training Jason just before I left. I returned for a while and aided in Jason's training, but Bruce was acting like I needed training too and that I was still somehow his sidekick. Jason's death was the final straw, and the night it happened was the night I left.
Bruce and I hadn't said a word to one another in months. Alfred had tried his best to get us to talk to each other, but the timing just wasn't right. I spent a lot of time being angry, about Bruce holding me back, about losing Barbara, and about losing Jason. But I had to put that aside because I needed Bruce's help, and I wasn't about to risk the people of Gotham by working on this alone.
I walked my motorcycle up the driveway as I had a thousand times before, it was all flooding back to the front of my mind, the memories of my childhood, the memories of being Robin.
The colossal oak front doors of the Manor were menacing, the same as they had been when Bruce first brought me there after my parents were murdered. I hesitated for a second before ringing the doorbell, the thought of seeing Bruce again became more daunting with every step I made. The door eventually creaked open "Young Master Grayson!" Alfred said, excitedly.
"Hey Alfred" I replied with a smile, it was nice to see the old butler face to face again. We'd been talking via email and on the phone frequently but it wasn't the same as being in his presence. Alfred exuded a warmth which had an unparalleled ability to make me feel at ease.
"It's great to see you Master Grayson" We shook hands very formally and Alfred led me into the entrance hall.
Seeing all of the Wayne family paintings and the old artefacts that Bruce and his father had collected over the years felt like the first time. At the top of the stairs was the portrait of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and to the right, there was a new painting – one I had no idea was ever finished. Bruce sat centre-stage with Ace the dog at his feet, I was stood to the left and Jason to the right. It hit me like a Joker-sized mallet to the gut, I should never have waited this long to come back.
"Master Bruce," Alfred called loudly up the stairs "We have company."
A shadow crawled across the wall on the first-floor landing, the moment of truth. Emerging from the tip of the long shadow, there he was, dark hair, formidable stance, carrying shoulders that could only be out-squared by the squareness of his jaw. It seemed as though he'd gotten even more muscular, his barrel chest had never looked more intimidating.
Bruce slowly walked down the stairs, his face as stern as ever. Every step echoed loudly with the rising tension. And then, we were face to face. His eyes met mine and then started to analyse me. I did the same. We were weighing each other up, I wasn't sure whether he was going to speak to me or hit me.
After nearly a minute of silence, he took a deep breath and finally said "Hi."
"Uhm, hey" I replied, that was easy. All of the tension seemed to leave my body with the words.
"How can I help you, Dick?" Bruce asked.
"Vertigo," I began "The designer drug from Star City, is in Gotham."
"I know."
"This stuff is different though, it's been tampered with."
"I know" he repeated.
"Yeah, I get it – you know because Barb told you. But there was an accident with my equipment, and I was hit with a dose myself," I explained.
Bruce looked closer into my eyes with concern and said: "We best get you to the cave and make sure it's out of your system" He gestured toward the drawing room where the entrance to the cave was hidden. We started walking side-by-side, closely followed by Alfred.
"What did you experience, did it make you hallucinate?" Bruce asked.
"Yeah. But it wasn't your run of the mill vision. I saw Jason."
Bruce stopped walking and turned to me: "What?"
"I saw him. Not just images of him, but an actual physical being right there in front of me. The Joker and Harley Quinn appeared too. Jason was... being murdered, and I couldn't stop it…" He could tell I wasn't lying'; I could see it in his eyes.
Bruce stroked his chin, "It sounds like the compound amplified your fears and projected them. What else did you feel?"
We began walking again, "Harley bound me, and I couldn't move, I tried, but the vision genuinely had me trapped."
"That's not abnormal with these kinds of compounds, it must have tricked your brain into believing the phantoms were real."
"Abnormal is precisely the word I'd use," I said
"Whatever the word is, it's serious," Bruce said, turning to face the Grand Piano in the drawing room. He played a few aggressively out of tune notes which preceded a clunking sound and the rattling of old chains. Alfred's China cabinet roared as it split down the middle and swung open like doors, revealing an ancient elevator which looked a lot like a shark cage.
"You ever gonna get around to replacing that old elevator?" I asked with a smirk.
"If it ain't broke..." Bruce said, walking towards the elevator and opening it, gesturing me inside.
"Thanks," I said.
Alfred joined us and the next thing I knew the secret doors had swung closed, and we were moving down into the ground. The clunking chains interrupted the slumber of the many bats lining the cave wall, causing them to fly around us frantically. I enjoyed the theatricality of it all, seeing it from an outsider's perspective would have been quite something.
We'd been in the Batcave for about an hour before Barbara arrived with Leslie Thompkins. Leslie was close friends with Bruce's parents, she served as a godparent for Bruce when he was growing up, she'd been our personal doctor for as long as I could remember. Being something of a pacifist, Leslie openly disapproved of our vigilantism, thinking that she'd failed Bruce as a role model when he was growing up and felt responsible for him becoming Batman. Disapproving or not, she'd never let us down, and I trusted her with my life.
Barbara walked over and rubbed me on the shoulder before pulling up a chair to the Batcomputer. Leslie greeted Bruce and kissed him on the cheek, "I wish you'd call with something that wasn't a medical emergency once in a while."
"You know you're always welcome Leslie," Bruce insisted.
"I know, I have tea with Alfred all the time, it's just that you're never here," She said, raising an eyebrow at him.
Bruce laughed and turned to Alfred who nodded.
"Where's my patient then?" Leslie continued.
"Over there," Bruce said, pointing to where I was sitting, twiddling my thumbs.
She approached me, a beaming smile on her face, "Well, Dick what have you gotten into this time?" She asked with a sympathetic smile.
"What can I say, I finally succumbed to all the peer pressure and tried one of the 'cool kid' drugs" I joked as she examined my face and jotted down some notes.
"From what I hear it was a pretty strong hallucinogenic compound," Leslie said, not reacting to the joke at all.
"You could say that, yeah," I said, flinching as she shone a light right into my eye.
"I'm going to take a blood sample and do a few tests, but it does look like the worst is over."
"Thanks, Leslie," I smiled.
Leslie jabbed my arm with a needle and took a small vial of blood over to the Batcave lab where Barbara was now setting up the equipment. Leaving Bruce and me alone.
"So… I like what you've done with the place," That was my icebreaker. Bruce gave me a sly look as if he appreciated the joke but didn't want to admit it.
"I heard about your encounter with Freeze," He finally said.
"Yeah?" I replied, curious as to whether he was taking a genuine interest in my career or just making small talk.
"Yeah, I'm impressed you managed to take him down so easily." He said, sincerely.
"Was that a… Compliment? My god, what next, a hug?" I said, laughing a little.
"Don't push it."
"New girlfriend turned you all soft? I did hear you were dating a Kardashian," I said, goading him as I often used to.
"That was just a vicious rumour."
"I'll bet"
Barbara walked back over to where Bruce and I were talking and put a hand softly on my shoulder again "Nice to see you boys getting along, Alfred wants to know if you're staying for dinner."
I looked at Bruce, and he looked at me. He nodded indicating his approval.
"Sure Barb, sounds good!" I responded.
"Well that's settled then, he's making your favourite anyway," She smiled.
"Alfred is making pizza?" I quizzed.
"Alright, your second favourite," Barbara sighed.
Alfred's Chicken Parm elicited the kind of response you only see in movies when someone eats something truly delicious. A chorus of "Mmms" rang around the table, causing Alfred, who had insisted on standing by the door instead of joining us, to smile pridefully.
Barbara had spent the first part of the meal looking between myself and Bruce constantly and not-so-subtly smiling to herself. I couldn't blame her, it did feel good to be sat there again, eating Alfred's cooking and talking like the old days.
"So, Dick, what have you been up to lately?" Leslie asked, taking a large glug of what must have been her third glass of red wine, "Alfred tells me you've not been to visit in a while."
I awkwardly met Bruce's eye for a second before turning to answer Leslie, "I've been pretty busy with my studies."
"Oh, of course, you're a college boy now!" She exclaimed, beaming with pride, "I'm so glad all this didn't keep you from getting an education."
Bruce coughed as Leslie said 'all this', but seemed to choose not to respond.
"What did you choose to study?" Leslie asked.
"Criminal Psychology," I said, scooping up another mouthful of chicken.
"Very appropriate, I'll bet you've got quite a head start on the other students," She said with a smile.
Barbara sniggered, prompting me to respond with a scowl before answering: "I thought so, but no, it's a little harder than I was expecting."
"Well, I hope you're not neglecting your studies too much, going out beating criminals to a pulp and so on. Who's your professor?"
"His name is Crane," I said, barely hiding my distaste of him.
"Jonathan Crane?" She replied.
"Yeah, you know him?"
"Funnily enough I met him not too long ago, I wasn't aware he'd gone back into teaching," Leslie explained, "He was working at Arkham Asylum, I'd been called in to consult on the health of some of the inmates. He's quite an odd fellow, isn't he?"
"Odd isn't the word I'd use," I thought out loud, "I've no idea why someone like him would ever want to teach."
"He's not that bad," Barbara interjected.
"How would you know?" I asked.
"I took a few taster classes with him last semester, he was always nice to me," She explained, "Maybe you're rubbing him the wrong way? You have been known to do that from time to time."
"I'm not rubbing him any kind of way, he's just an ass."
"If you say so," Barb said, looking upward and taking a sip of water.
"Anything interesting coming up, Bruce?" Leslie asked, trying to bring Bruce into the conversation, he'd been mostly silent since we'd sat down to eat.
"Nothing in particular," Bruce replied with a smile.
"What about the Casino opening?" Barbara interjected.
"Oh, that sounds interesting," Leslie said, pouring herself another glass of red wine, "They're reopening the Gotham Casino?"
"That's right," Bruce said.
"They're hosting a gala, there's going to be an auction and everything," Barbara said, hardly containing her excitement, "Hey, Dick, why don't you join us?"
"Oh, no," I said, mumbling, "It's not my scene."
"Don't be stupid, I'm going with my dad so you can be Bruce's plus one," Barb said, grinning and looking hopefully between Bruce and me.
We looked at one another, and then back to Barb. Bruce just nodded in agreement.
"Fine," I said, she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
Feeling quite lethargic, I lazily said goodbye to Leslie and Barbara, who left shortly after dinner. Due to Leslie drinking half the wine in the Manor, Barbara practically had to carry her to the car and lay her on the back seat.
"Are you quite sure you won't stay the night, Master Grayson?" Alfred asked me, once Barbara had made it safely off the property.
"I'm sure Alfred, I've got to get home," I said, he nodded and turned to leave the room, "It was good seeing you again."
"And you, Master Grayson," He replied, turning back around "Let's not wait so long to see one another again, and be careful out there won't you."
I nodded and smiled.
Once Alfred had left, Bruce and I were alone in the dining room. The brooding billionaire turned to me, a stern look creeping across his face, he was thinking of how to say something.
"I know why you left," He began, taking me by surprise, "And I know that my telling you what to do played a big part in your decision."
"Bruce, it's OK," I responded, but he raised his hand to stop me continuing.
"But I need to ask you a favour," He continued.
"Go on..."
"I need you to take it easy, just for a week."
"Leslie gave me the all clear..."
"Yes, but I talked to her afterwards, and we agreed that you should take a week off and monitor your vitals. We don't yet know if this drug has any long-term effects."
I thought for a second, this was undoubtedly reminding me of all the times he'd treated me like a kid, and I'd only been back at the Manor for a few hours. But I had to surrender to the fact that he was right.
"Fine," I said finally, nodding.
"Thank you, Dick," Bruce said, getting to his feet "Alfred was right, you really are welcome to stay the night."
I smiled and shook my head, "I might as well start my week off at home."
"This is still your home, whenever you want it to be."
"I know, thanks, Bruce."
Alfred and Bruce stood on the doorstep and watched me leave the grounds. Slowly pushing my motorcycle back down the long driveway to the main gate, I felt like I'd repaired an old wound, it felt good.