Author's note: To Cyberkat, Adolescent Jess, and Pinkchick, thanks for the reviews. I'm trying to keep updating on a more regular basis, and I hope this makes up for the long lull! I know where this story is going in a broad sense. It's just the details that are taking some time!

Reviews appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own them. I'm just visiting. I'm not making any money, and have no intention of trying to make money.

Living Through the Nightmares Part 5

Sequel to Trial by Fire

By Ecri

Alfred kept himself busy in the kitchen, though the excitement for the evening seemed to be over. When he had heard Bruce call him, his voice laced with all the fear with which his younger self had imbued the Englishman's name, Alfred's blood had run cold. He had rarely heard the younger man sound so desperate and, yes he would admit–though Bruce never would–afraid. Whatever had happened to Bruce Wayne's Ward, had shaken the man. He hadn't known what to do and so had turned to the one constant in his life to rectify the situation, to put things to rights, to fix it.

Alfred poured a cool glass of water and several cups of hot tea. Balancing them on the serving tray, he moved quickly towards the living room, where he'd left the two men he considered his sons.

He and Bruce had moved the unconscious Dick Grayson to the room once they had determined that he seemed to have suffered no injury. Bruce had been worried enough to mention calling an ambulance, but a surprisingly strong grip on his arm and a shaky voice asked him to let it go.

"Please, Bruce. I'm fine. No hospitals." It was the look in the young man's eyes rather than the belief that everything was all right that had compelled Bruce to acquiesce.


Now, Alfred wondered if he'd made a mistake. Something had caused the young man to collapse. It couldn't be passed off as normal.


He entered the living room, and slid the tray onto the coffee table, offering hot tea and cold water to whomever preferred whatever. He was somewhat surprised when Dick chose to drink the weak chamomile, but wisely chose not to mention it.

"Honest, Bruce, I'm fine." Dick reiterated for what Alfred was certain was the hundredth time since the butler had left the room.

"Dick, I've agreed not to call an ambulance, but we need to have someone take a look at you. I can get a house call. You'll never have to leave your room if you don't want to."

Stubbornly, Dick shook his head. "No. Bruce, I'm fine."

"People who are fine don't collapse!"

"I didn't collapse! Ifell down!"

"After you lost consciousness!"

Dick was about to respond when Alfred interrupted. "Perhaps we should simply determine what you were doing that led up to yourincident."

Bruce nodded. "Yes, you were standing in my study with the coin display in your hands."

Dick paled noticeably, but didn't comment.

"What were you doing?" Bruce pushed.

Dick looked down at his hands and saw they were shaking. He concentrated on willing them to stop, but the more he tried the more violently they shook, until, in frustration, he stood and walked across the room hiding his hands behind his back. He knew what he'd been doing. He'd wanted to steal the coin. It was an overwhelming urge, and thinking of it now made him want to scream until his throat went raw. He'd wanted to steal the coin and take it tohe opened his mouth to try to tell Bruce, but his throat seized, and he nearly choked on the very air he breathed. Panic hit him, and he clutched at his throat trying to ease the spasms before he stopped breathing all together.

While he struggled for breath, he finally noticed that Bruce was there by his side again, Alfred standing just beside him. They were looking down at him. Only then did he realize he was on the floor. They were speaking, but he was passed hearing. Alfred slipped away then, and Bruce turned his attention to his young ward. "Hang on, Dick. Help is on the way." Dick never heard a word as he slipped again into unconsciousness.

**

Chase Meridian slammed down the phone in her office. That was the seventh call from one of her patients, and each had ended up either in jail or in the hospital in the last 24 hours. It was puzzling. Four of them had been patients for years, and three had just joined her recently. All had complained of debilitating nightmares, but none had ever committed a crime. Why then would four of them end up in jail being held for attempted theft while the other three were being treated for unexplained collapse? She could make no sense of it.

The phone rang again, and she steeled herself for patient number eight. She was right and wrong.


"Chase, it's Bruce."

"Hi! Bruce is everything okay. You sound tired." She heard him sigh, and knew there was a long explanation coming.

"I've just taken Dick to the hospital. He collapsed last night."

Chase sat down. This was it. Four and Four, though Dick Grayson wasn't technically her patient. "When? How? What happened?"

Bruce described the events of the preceding evening, but his frustration bubbled over when he told her what the doctors had said. "They won't diagnose him. They say they won't speculate until the tests are completed, but I can tell they haven't got a clue."

"Bruce, are you still at the hospital?"

"Yes. We'll probably be here at least all day. They haven't decided whether to admit him or not, and, knowing how he feels about hospitals, I'm not sure I'd let them keep him if they can't give me some sort of solid reason for it."

"I'm coming right over. I have something to discuss with you, and it might be more revealing about what's happening to Dick than anything the doctors there could tell you." Chase was already selecting files and putting them in her briefcase and scribbling a hasty note to her secretary. "I won't be long, Bruce." She hung up not waiting for his reply.

**

Bruce, Chase, Alfred, and Dick sat around Dick's hospital bed going over what details they could. She couldn't share with them the identities or particulars of her patient's problems, but the generalities were interesting enough. Three of her patients were experiencing just what Dick was. She'd sought them out and questioned them, but their reactions were identical to Dick's. Twice, Chase had asked Dick about what he'd been thinking the previous evening before he collapsed, and twice he'd gotten pale and shaky before passing out again.

Now, the teenager was angry and annoyed. "I can't just avoid this! The answers are here! If I could remember what it is"

Alfred placed a restraining hand on the boy's arm. "Don't. We wouldn't want you to pass out again."

Chase was silent for a few moments, then caught Dick's eyes and held them. "We may be able to find out another way."

"How?" He was eager for answers.

"Hypnosis."

"You mean that cluck like a chicken stuff?" His distaste was apparent. There had been a hypnotist at the circus where he'd worked all his life with his family.

Chase shook her head. "That's entertainment. Clinical hypnosis is different. You'll be able to bring yourself out of it if it seems too much for you, and we'll be here to be sure you're okay. I've used it with my patients many times."

Dick considered it. "I'd rather do it from home." He said, turning the statement into a request to be taken there immediately with just the way he looked at Bruce.

Bruce turned to Chase. "Is it safer to do it here?"

"Hypnosis is perfectly safe in any environment. Maybe more safe wherever the subject is most comfortable.

Dick grinned at Chase's words, sensing they might be enough to spring him from the hospital. His hopeful thoughts were confirmed when Bruce nodded his agreement and headed down the hall to secure his release.

Several hours later, they sat scattered around the Wayne Manor living room. Chase had insisted Dick be as comfortable as possible, and had asked if he'd rather do this one on one, but the boy had panicked at the idea. He trusted Chase, but he needed his family.

Chase seated herself in a chair facing her subject. "Okay. Let's begin."

Dick breathed exactly as she instructed, listening only to her voice. He found himself drifting into a peaceful place, not slumber exactly, but restful, warm, secure.

When Chase was sure he was under, she began with her questions. "Dick, you were in the study last night. Tell me why."

"Nightmareswoke me."

"What nightmares?"

Dick shuddered as if even the memories were too painful to recall, but he answered her. "Nightmares of fire and falling and violence and death." He shuddered again. A sudden look of panic crossed his face. "Alfred! The fire!"


"Alfred is fine." Chase kept her voice carefully modulated to project comfort and peace. She was calm, keeping her own emotions well out of the room. Dick had enough of his own fears to deal with. "Alfred came through the fire just fine. Why did you go to the study?"

Dick's face twisted in concentration. "I was walkingI fell asleep watching Casablancathe nightmares woke me and I wanted to walk"

"You went to the study?" Chase prodded gently.

"I think I was looking for Brucebut the coin caught my eye." Dick's hands began to tremble.

"There's nothing that can harm you here. Take a deep breath and remember that you're safe. No matter what you remember, it can't hurt you." She took a chance and added, "No matter what you were told."

Bruce looked at her, a puzzled look on his face. He looked over at Alfred, who merely shrugged, not sure himself what the young woman meant.

Dick visibly calmed and began to speak again. "I wanted the coinI had to have itI had to bring it"

"Bring it where?" Chase asked when he stopped speaking.

"To the Riddler."

Chase looked at Bruce who returned her glance, trepidation coursing through him as he began to ponder the connection of Dick's revelation with what was going on all over Gotham.

He'd suspected the Riddler was up to something, but he hadn't had enough pieces to the puzzle. Now, with Dick's help, he might be able to figure out the villain's plan.

"How were you going to bring it to the Riddler?" Chase asked.

"Take it to the RiddlerForget it all if caught"

"Forget what? Where do you take it?"

"To the" His hands began to tremble again, but just when Chase was about to try to sooth him, they stopped. She looked up, startled by the sudden change, and saw Dick looking her in the eye, all traces of the fear and the aftereffects of hypnosis gone.

"I know where he is." He whispered. He stood and headed out of the room towards the hidden entrance to the Batcave, Chase, Alfred, and Bruce trailing along behind.

To Be Continued.