I KNOW I'VE BEEN GONE FOREVER PLEASE FORGIVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Batman: -_-
I'M !
My only excuse is Finals. -_-
Batman: Don't mimic me or I'll hang you off a building... Without padding beneath.
O.o
Anyways, I don't own Young Justice- otherwise Nightwing would have his fingerstripes... -_-
Batman: ropes me in a ties me up.
ACK! SEBASTIAN HELP ME!
Sebastian: I only answer to my master. Why? Because I'm one Hell of a butler. ;)
CURSE YOU AND YOUR SEXY HAIRCUT, YOU DEMON BUTLER!
(btw: I'm a BB fan now! XD It's ammmmaaaaazing! Now, I'm a fan of: Fruits Basket, Ouran Host Club, Hetalia, and Black Butler thanks to mah BFF Du'Varg)
PS TO YA'LL:::: Du'Varg's collection of poems has been cancelled... Because he/she hates the time skip in YJ... I JUST WANT FINGERSTRIPES!
Batman: Shut up or I'll gag you.
ACK!
"How can I help?" Dick asked energetically. Medicine always messes up my head... "I mean, I can do something, right?"
Bruce was about to speak, then stopped as if in thought. "Actually, I think you can help. An extra set of hands on working the dimension coordinates should be useful."
"Yes! Ouuuuuuch..."
"Fist-pumping might jar your ribs."
"Ha-ha."
Bruce smirked as Dick's face plastered itself to the window. He was grinning, looking at the storefronts that were lit up in the snow. A few late-night shoppers bustled around, laughing and talking with each other. Bruce suddenly began thinking about whether or not he was going to patrol that night... After Dick goes to sleep.
Bruce was still confused over what his feelings for the boy were supposed to be. He knew it wasn't his little Robin, but it was still Robin. There was still that little twinge in his heart when he saw Dick wince, or that warmth in his heart when the boy grinned. Dick turned in his seat to look at Bruce.
"Hey, how are we gonna get the coordinates?"
Bruce blinked, then smiled. Apparently, Dick's Batman hadn't ever taught him dimensional-travel smarts. "I have a machine that can test the sonic and gamma waves of time and dimension. I built it originally to help Flash test out how fast he could go before he reached Speed Force velocity, but it proved to work better for dimensional shifts and tears in time travel."
"Tears in time travel?" Dick echoed, frowning. He looked out the window, biting his lip, before turning back to Bruce. "If time travel can cause tears in the 'fabric of the universe'-" he waved his hands around and wiggled his fingers "-then can't there be tears in dimensional fabrics? I mean, if I've traveled across and your Robin traveled across..." His voice faded away ominously, and Bruce turned to face the boy.
Their eyes met.
Bruce swore inwardly, then turned to Alfred. "A bit faster, please."
…
When they arrived, Bruce instantly was walking to his study. Dick lingered back a bit, taking in the Manor. He noticed tiny, tiny details that were different from what he remembered when he was eight. The granite tile in the kitchen, for instance. The tile here was tan and red, while back at his Manor, it was white and tan and gray. Also, small decals on the tall pillars on either wall were in different shapes than the ones back at his home.
Alfred tapped the teenager's shoulder. "I will start the cookies. I believe I know the recipe you were telling me earlier. Go on with Master Bruce."
Dick nodded, grinning, before he darted after Bruce- a bit slower than he might usually have been, as his ribs were still a little sore. He looked to see that Bruce had left the clock open a tad for him then walked down into the Batcave.
It looked the same, besides missing several trophies that Dick remembered gathering with Batman. Bruce didn't look up from what he was doing on the major computer as the ebony teen came to stand beside him. Dick put his hands in his pockets as he watched several numbers and letters flash across the screen in codes. Bruce looked up from the keyboard to the screen, then to the keyboard, then to Dick. He blinked, then turned back to the screen. "The first digits are dimensions we know of. E-16, Earth 16, E-2, Earth 2, E-7, Earth-7, and so on."
Dick whistled. "How many dimensions are there?"
Bruce smirked at the familiarly inquisitive voice. "We know of almost 150, a bit more. There are even more versions of those dimensions, only in different time spans. We use the version closet to our year, then add on negative days or positive days that the other versions are ahead of it."
Dick looked confused, so Bruce reiterated. "For example, Earth 2. Right now, it's about 2000 there. So, the number for Earth 2a, which is two years in the future, is 2000-730. Add on the Earth name, and it's E-2a 2000-730."(1)
Dick nodded, slowly coming to understand. He pointed towards the right of the screen. "What about those numbers?"
Bruce wet his lips before continuing. "There's an imaginary grid that spreads out infinitely, starting with our Earth, E-16b-"
"Why starting with your Earth? Is it in the center?"
Bruce shook his head, smirking softly as he remembered how his Robin always interrupted to input his own fun facts or ask questions. It got annoying rather quickly, but as of the moment- Bruce missed it.
"No. There isn't a center of bounds, because the space is infinite." Dick nodded, going 'oooh' as he began to understand better. "But, if we were ever to travel dimensions or times, this shows us how far we would have to and how long it would take to get there. It also helps us understand the time of other dimensions. I figured out that, the farther away a plane, the longer the time distance. To discover if the time is more or less, it's like a grid. You know, like on math problems."
"With the four quadrants?"
Bruce nodded, and Dick 'oooh'ed again. He pointed to a dot on a miniature map that had popped up while Bruce was talking. "I get it! So, if the slope of the direction of a plane from your planet is positive, it goes to the first quadrant. Most of the time, I mean. It's like a slope-intercept line from your planet to the next."
Bruce nodded, again, bemused at how the young acrobat's face was lighting up.
But Dick wasn't finished. "But, it doesn't depend upon left from right or up to down, it's like the planets have a huge circle with your planet as the midpoint. Right?"
"Yes. Continue."
Dick smiled, turning back to the screen. "And from your planet to the other is like drawing a radius, so however long the radius, the more years that go by. Hence the negative and positive of the numbers!"
Bruce chuckled. "Yes. So, we have to compare the time differences from my dimension and yours. But, we have to be careful. Like I said, we don't know how many dimensions there really are, so we might send you to the wrong place if we aren't careful."
Dick placed his chin in his hands, nibbling on the inside of his upper lip. Bruce swatted his hand. "Stop. That'll become a habit."
Suddenly, Dick burst into laughter. Bruce cocked an eyebrow as he watched the boy wipe tears from his eyes, clutching his sore ribs as he tried to stifle his laughter. A few moments passed before Dick spoke. "That... Heh, that's exact- exactly what my Bruce- my Bruce says."
The Dark Knight's confusion level quickly diminished as he smiled sadly. He had been thinking about his Robin all this time, about his pain and his son's pain... But this Robin, this teenager, was going through the exact same thing- alone, in a different dimension without his father and without his friends.
Bruce sighed, reaching over to ruffle Dick's hair. The boy froze, then relaxed into the touch. He grinned, letting out a small whine/sigh that made him seem like a puppy dog. Dick yawned loudly, and his eyebrows began rapidly scrunching together. He nibbled on his lip again, and Bruce realized that this child had even more similarities with his own foster son than he thought.(2)
"C'mon, chum. You need rest."
"But... Alfred's cookies..." Dick put on a puppy-dog face, which admittedly took more willpower to withstand than one might expect. But, with his eyebrows bunching together repeatedly, Bruce knew that the boy was exhausted.
"Go up and sleep in my room. I'll get you when the cookies are done and we can continue this after that."
Dick relented, but nodded and turned to walk up the stairs. Bruce turned back to the computer and saw a small blip on the map.
"Exactly what I was afraid of..." he spoke softly to himself, blowing up the map. "A tear in the Continuum..."(3)
1) I know it sounds complicated, but it made total sense in my head! PLEEEEEASE go back and re-read it if it doesn't make sense! It'll make this story much easier to understand later and as of previous!
2) If you've caught the eyebrow and lip thing, PM me or Review it. I wanna see if anybody understands what I'm getting at with it...
3) The 'Continuum' is the never-ending span of dimensions and time periods that Dick and Bruce were talking about earlier on in the story. 'Continuum' means never-ending... kind of. XP I DUNNO HOW TO EXPLAIN IT! ARGLE FARGLE GARGLE!