Silence fell over the four of them as they all watched Dick's reaction to Megan's words. It must have been serious if Megan wanted to call Batman down from the Watchtower. Dick appeared to be processing everything in his head. How was all of this was happening and should Dick even trust this girl he only met minutes ago?
"Do we really have to call Batman? He said he was going to the Watchtower…I remember seeing that in some files I wasn't supposed to be looking in. I don't think we should bother him. I'm all right." Dick said, trying to brush off the intense feeling that had entered the room. All eyes were on him and it made him want to back into the shadows.
"I think it would be best." Megan said and turned to go to the holo-computers in order to call Batman. Although Dick latched onto her arm before she could move. "Wait, are you absolutely sure that there's something wrong? You're not just playing some elaborate joke on me right, because that's what this feels like." Dick said.
"I'm not joking. None of us are." Megan reassured him gently.
"Then what's wrong with me? I feel fine right now."
Megan sighed. "I don't know exactly, but there's some sort of block in your mind. Your memories are there, but they are slowly being covered up by…some kind of entity. Your conscious mind has no way to access those thoughts. I can't fix it either."
"Rob, how old are you?" Wally asked suddenly.
Dick turned to him. "I don't see what this has to do with anything."
"Just answer it, please."
"I'm twelve." Dick responded with a huff.
"You lost an entire year." Conner said quickly.
"What…no, that can't be right." Dick said.
"Rob, you're actually thirteen. Whatever is going on inside of that brain of yours has stopped almost an entire years worth of memories. That's why you can't remember Conner or Megan."
Dick looked like he didn't know what to say next. His mouth was shut tight, and there were creases in his brow. He was trying to make all the pieces fit, but the puzzle just wasn't coming together for him. Didn't Batman say he was sick last night? He must have screwed up royally for his memories to just vanish like they did. Batman had no idea either. He's going to be so angry when he finds out, Dick thought. His train of thought was interrupted when the computer suddenly announcing Batman's arrival.
"Recognized: Batman 02. Flash 04."
The four of them went to meet the new arrivals at the zeta-beam teleporters. Batman looked furious, and Flash just looked concerned. Dick stood behind Wally because he didn't want to face Batman at the moment. He looked madder than Dick had originally thought.
"Dick," Batman called to him, and Dick just looked at him in shock. He said his name in front of strangers, when clearly they only seemed to know him by his alter-ego.
"Y-yeah?" He answered, and stepped forward a bit. Batman seemed to relax slightly.
"Good. I just needed to make sure you knew your name."
"How…Batman, we didn't call you about the memories yet."
Batman looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"
"Um, Batman," Megan spoke up. "When Robin first arrived at the cave he didn't recognize us. He only knew Wally, and I found out that Robin's memories have been blocked from his conscious mind. How did you know he was having problems?"
"Last night we were at an event and Dick was caught off guard by Poison Ivy. She got him with a powder and just now Flash and I discovered that it can suppress the mind's ability for recollection. It's almost like a virus on a computer. Apparently it's not fast acting, but without a way to stop it the virus will keep spreading until the program is deleted." Batman explained.
"So what exactly does that mean?" Conner asked.
"It means that Dick's memories will slowly be covered up until there is a complete amnesia effect."
"It looks like it can be stopped, but it will take some time to reverse engineer the chemicals used." Flash added.
When Flash was finished Batman's eyes fell upon Dick. He looked genuinely upset now.
Dick stared down at his sneakers, his sunglasses sliding off the bridge of his nose, not wanting to make eye contact. When he finally looked back at Batman the shades slipped off falling to the ground with a clatter, and revealed Dick's eyes. They were bright with tears that refused to be shed, and sadness was etched into his features. "So I'm going to just forget everything?" He didn't know what else to say or how to act. He knew he should probably put on some kind of front and pretend that it didn't bother him, but it truly did. His memories, especially those of his parents, were like treasures to him. They were invaluable.
Batman walked over to Dick and knelt down so that he was level with him. "Dick," he started softly. "We will find a way to fix this. I don't believe it is permanent. Megan said they were blocked, not gone. All right?"
Dick nodded, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Okay. But how long do I have until I can't remember anything at all? Wally said I've lost about a year already."
"A year?" Batman frowned. He didn't think about asking what he did remember, and learning that he lost that much time in one evening was disconcerting. "There's no way to estimate how long it will take for the memory loss to fully take effect. You lost a year during the night. That was about twelve hours of sleep; it could go at the same rate or slower than that because you're awake."
"This just doesn't add up though."Dick huffed. "Why did Ivy do this to me? What does she gain from it?"
"I don't know, but we'll figure it out. Trust me, Dick."
"I do… why do you keep calling me by my name? I thought you wanted it to be a secret." He asked, his voice falling into a whisper at the end of the question.
"Because you've been Dick longer than you've been Robin. If we don't figure out how to reverse what Ivy has done quickly enough, I still want you to be able to recognize yourself when someone speaks to you."
"Are you leaving then?" Dick asked.
"Flash and I will be within reach. We'll figure this out and everything will be normal again."
"I know. Just don't take too long. I…I don't want to forget you too."
Batman pulled Dick into a quick hug, and then stood up. "You won't." Batman turned to the teammates who were waiting patiently in the background. "Take care of him."
"We will," Wally answered.
"Call him by his real name from now on…just in case." Batman said.
Wally nodded. "Okay."
"Keep us updated, Kid," Flash said to Wally.
"Sure thing."
"See you later." Dick said, giving a quick wave as the two Justice League members re-entered the zeta-beam teleporters, and then promptly disappeared from the cave. Dick wasn't too fond of having to be looked after like a young child, but he understood all of their concern. This wasn't exactly a problem that could be ignored, no matter how much he wished it was.
The four left in the cave looked at one another, looking lost at what they should do next. Dick bent down to pick up his sunglasses from the floor and placed them in his coat pocket. "I suppose I won't need these then." He muttered. "I guess this isn't exactly how everyone expected to spend their Saturday, right?"
"It's okay Dick." Megan responded. "These things tend to happen a lot anyway."
"Well what should we do now?" Wally asked.
"Video games?" Dick suggested with a small smile. "It's not like we can do much else."
Wally shrugged. "Why not? Let's go."
They wandered back into the living room, and Dick sat down on the couch. Wally sat down next to him and handed him a controller. As the game started, Dick began to hit the buttons, commanding his virtual player forward. Although he wasn't quite paying attention to the game, his thoughts still dwelled on everything that was happening. It was difficult to grasp the fact that he was going to lose every memory and couldn't do anything to stop it.
First, thanks for all of the reviews on the last chapter! You guys are fantastic and it really makes my day when I know people are enjoying the stories I write. So here's another chapter...two updates in one week :) As always let me know what you think!