My apologies for the slash in the last chapter, but I was just testing to see if I could actually write it for another story I've been working on. I get the idea though, no more KF and Rob. Point taken. *holds hands up in defeat* Don't tell me that you guys don't do stupid stuff in stories that others don't like though. No one is perfect, and if anyone is then they aren't human. Sorry guys, but everyone has some flaws, even Barbie.
Disclaimer: Uh… yeah, I don't usually write these, but if YJ was mine, do you honestly think I'd be typing this? No, no I wouldn't be.
Richard opened his eyes weakly and was automatically confused. He was in his room at the Wayne Manor, or so said the Circus poster to the left of him and the neatness of the room. He sat up, an eyebrow raised.
How did I get here? Wasn't I with Wally at Mount Justice?
He rubbed at his eyes and slowly got up from the bed, shivering at the cold of the floor to his bare feet. He froze again.
I fell asleep wearing socks… he glanced down at his feet and saw that they were indeed bare.
He rubbed at his neck and shook his head.
"I'll just ask Alfred…" he decided to himself.
It wasn't until after he reached the door that Richard noticed something was off. He could feel it in the base of his stomach, although he wasn't sure what was off. First he scanned the room, looking for something to be off. His covers were still a shade of evergreen and his pillows were still white. His floors were still wooden and his walls were still a cream color. His dressers were in the right place and they were the right shades. His sunglasses were on the dresser next to his bed where he always left them. His closet door was closed and his windows were still the same two way split with the white colors.
I don't get it. Nothing is wrong… why does it feel like it though?
Richard glanced towards the mirror for an answer and felt his heart stop in his chest. He wasn't staring at the maskless Robin that he usually saw. In the mirror staring him back was a confused looking nine year old wearing green spandex with a yellow cursive G on the front. In horror, Richard looked down at his hands, as if expecting to see claws. What he saw was much worse. He saw the familiar white bandages that used to bind his arms. Richard's breath caught in his throat and he quickly punched the mirror, unable to accept what he saw.
This is ridiculous! I must be- I'm asleep! That's it! I just have to wake up!
That was easier thought than done though, because no matter how hard Richard pinched his arm, he didn't wake up in the slightest. He frowned and stood there.
"Well, this is stupid. I guess I should just follow this dream to the end… Maybe I'm starring in Inception and I just wasn't told…"
Richard looked up, waiting to hear a 'Damn, he's onto us!' but he never heard it. With a shrug, he went over to his closet and opened it to change out of the troublesome spandex. He took back every time he had longed to wear the outfit and immediately grew thankful for basketball shorts and baggy blue shirts which he ended up changing into. But when he tried to take off the bandages, he found that he couldn't, much to his anger. They seemed to be a part of his skin. He just tried to ignore it and opened his door to leave. Instead of stepping out of his room to the cold hallway floors he was used to, Richard found that the floor dropped beneath his feet.
He let out a cry of surprise as harsh winds tore at his skin and he spiraled downwards. Before Richard could comprehend what was happening, he fell into what had to be the softest bean bag he had ever felt. He blinked in surprise and looked around. It looked like he was in a childish Doctor's waiting room. He got up from the chair and looked down at his clothes, only to see that he was dressed like a doctor with the white coat and the gloves and the cute little name tag. With a sigh, Richard tossed off the jacket and chucked the gloves halfway across the room to go back to his baggy clothes.
"A hospital huh? How boring," he muttered to himself.
He walked down towards the nearest clearly marked exit, a frown on his face. The second he opened it though, he was met with a swarm of two foot gummibears, red and blue, with piranha-like fangs. He pulled the door closed as fast as he could, his eyes wide.
"Damnit, why can't I go ONE dream without stupid gummibears?" he complained.
With an angry sigh, Richard ventured deeper into the hospital. He kept his eyes forward and tried to ignore the snarling and demented faces glaring at him through the doors on either side of him. He kept walking until he reached a dead end.
"Well… what do I do now?" he thought aloud.
He looked around, but the hall hadn't changed in the slightest. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Gummibears are an option…" he shook his head swiftly. The boy honored his life. "Alright, no gummibears, and I really don't want to have to deal with the patients of this freak show…"
He jumped back as one of the patients snarled at him loudly from a nearby door.
"Hey, look at yourself in the mirror buddy! You aren't too good looking at the moment," Richard stood up for himself.
That only angered the creature, which caused it to break down the door and approach Richard slowly. The blue eyed boy's eyes tripled in size at the sight of what looked like a Spitter from Left for Dead 2. He swallowed an urge to puke and looked down at his waistband hopefully. Just like he had prayed, there was a weapon there. It wasn't the usual AK47 he preferred to use just because of the speed, but it was a machete, and out of all of the melee weapons, the machete was his best. He grabbed it tightly and braced himself.
The Spitter let out a cry and spit a long trail of green electrified acid Richard's way. He grew thankful of his years in the circus as he charged forward at the wall and ran two feet up it before pushing himself off and flipping over the acid path. Landing roughly, he charged forward and decapitated the female Spitter, trying not to gag at the sight of her clothing choice. He grinned down at the machete and charged forwards to open the other doors, only to see that he wasn't in the hospital anymore. He sighed again and surveyed the area around him.
His heart caught in his throat though as he saw what it was. The spot light, the red and white circus tent, the about to be occupied trapeze in front of him… This was the worst night of Richard's life.
"Screw this, I'm not dreaming about this," he told himself.
With a deep breath, he threw himself off the edge, looking up at his parents faces. His mother's lips were parted in a scream, but he didn't hear her scream. No, it was a male scream, and a familiar one at that. Richard focused on it as he felt his lips part in a cry of pain as he smashed into the dream's ground. The scream he was hearing wasn't in his dream though, it was a real one, in real life.
Richard sat up quickly, his eyes wide. His head swiveled around. He wasn't in Wally's room, but he knew this was real. He was in the living room, and alone at that. The screaming continued on. As Richard got up, pain shot up his arm. With a glance at it, he noticed how awkwardly bent it was. Biting hard on his lip, he grabbed that wrist and brought the arm up and towards the other shoulder until the painful pop sounded. Shaking his head hard and licking the blood from his lips, Richard bolted towards the screaming. He wasn't all too surprised to find it was coming from Wally's room. But as he pushed open the door, he was disappointed to find that he wasn't the first to arrive.
Megan had her eyes closed and her eyebrows furrowed, her fingertips to his head. She was trying to stop the screaming, but it wasn't working. The others stood back awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Richard did though. He pulled out his utility belt and unfolded it until he found a thumb sized bottle of what looked like colorful sample perfume. He walked up to Wally and sprayed the boy in the face with it. Wally stopped screaming and gave out a staggered breath before he collapsed and went peaceful. Emotionless, Richard tucked the spray back in his utility belt and folded it up before stashing it away.
Until it was concealed, Richard hadn't taken in how awkward the silence was. He looked up with an eyebrow raised, surveying the crowd. Superboy had his normal 'I-Don't-Give-A-Shit' look on; Kaldur was silent and was looking at Richard with his head cocked to the side and his eyebrows furrowed as if in deep thought; Artemis's eyes were wider than normal and her lips were slightly parted in surprise; Megan had turned her attention from Wally to him and seem just as surprised.
"Um, did I do something wrong?" Richard asked nervously.
They all exchanged glances but no one said anything. Following a suspicion, Richard touched his hand to his eyes, but he felt the familiar touch of his little black mask he wore at night. Then he looked down at himself. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, although he was missing his arm sling and he still felt the familiar invisible tug of the bandages that bound his torso tightly. When he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, he looked up at them again.
"Why are you all looking at me weird?" he asked.
They all averted their gaze back to Wally. Richard glanced in the mirror quickly to see if he missed anything. His face was pale as usual, the blood on his lips was only internal and his hair was still the same color it had been for a while. Then something occurred to him.
"Oh, is it because of how I shut Wally up? Batman made it a couple months ago after a battle with the Joker. I call it the 'Insta-Mute', 'cuz it shuts up even the most troublesome sounds," Richard explained, grinning slightly.
They still didn't reply, and Megan turned back to searching Wally's mind. Richard felt as if he was going mad.
"What's wrong with you guys?" he cried angrily.
He didn't wait for an answer though as he felt an ominous shadow settle over him. A hand settled on his shoulder gently and he sighed.
"Dangit," he muttered.
He turned around and looked up at a solemn Batman. The two exchanged a brief conversation with their eyes and Batman nodded, walking over to Wally.
"Robin, call his parents and inform the Flash," Batman ordered.
Richard stiffened.
"Who says I have his parent's number?" he cried defensively.
Batman's eyes narrowed and Richard sighed in defeat. He pulled out his utility belt and unfolded it until he found his cell and hit one of the speed dials, pressing the phone to his ear. Batman picked up the red head, glancing over the team and hesitating.
"Off to bed, training session early tomorrow," Batman informed them.
They shrugged and headed off to their rooms at the command. Batman headed for the door.
"Yes, Mr. and Mrs. West? Yes, it's me… Yeah, he's why I'm calling. Well, Wally…" Richard's voice trailed off in Batman's ears as he hurried to the infirmary.
Screaming… Richard mentioned the needle that he was stabbed with… He won't die at least, but we might as well check it out. If this is what I think, then Zucco has made some new friends ever since we locked him away. I shouldn't tell Richard though. It'll only make him madder if he thinks that Zucco might have a chance at taking us on. He wouldn't win of course, but it's not fun to think that he's stronger now… Batman thought to himself, frowning slightly.
His mind changed quickly.
He doesn't have to be friends with the Scarecrow to have the technology though, just like Richard's 'Insta-Mute' as he nicknamed it… Either way though, Zucco does have Amanda and Thom and they were strong enough to disarm Richard… That means Richard isn't safe anymore… But I won't intrude and give him a body guard, no matter how much that would help him. People might get suspicious and Richard hates the attention. I should discuss this with Richard… or just strengthen his costume. I wonder if they make any fabric that is knife proof? I'll ask Alfred, that's right down his alley…
XxXxX
"He's okay though, right?" the Flash asked quickly, concern in his voice.
Richard wanted to tell the man the truth, but he couldn't muster it.
"As far as I know; Batman wanted me to call you and tell you. That's probably League talk for you to get down here or something," Richard said innocently.
He could practically hear the Flash nod.
"Be there in a sec," he promised and the phone was shut.
Richard knew that was probably true so he lay down on Wally's bed and looked up at the ceiling, waiting for Batman. When he heard his communicator go off, he smiled. It had to be Batman. He opened it.
"Hey, about time you-…"
Richard's lips parted in surprise as he saw the face on the other line.
"Hey yourself honey," the woman's country drawl teased.
As quick as he could, Richard chucked the phone as far away from him as he could manage with the best strength he could muster. He heard the phone shatter against Wally's wall, but he didn't feel any better. Now they knew where he was. He definitely wasn't safe. Richard leapt from the bed and bolted from the room towards his mentor. Batman would know what to do.
Crappy ending, sorry. I tried to make up for the last crappy chapter. By the way, if you're wondering how Robin got from Wally's room to the living room, it's because he never was there. He dreamt that Wally helped him because his shoulder was popped from socket when he was sleeping. And if you're wondering how he double dreamt, stop wondering. People double dream a lot. I've dreamt things more realistic than both dreams. And if you're questioning me and my gummibears obsession, it's a reference to another story of mine, and a reference to my dream of getting a five foot blue gummibear.
-F.J.
