Ric Grayson picks up a fare, and the two begin to talk. This is a "What If" story from the Earth 14 Universe. Dick Grayson in our world would never suffer from the same fate.

Relate

"TAXI!" the young man shouted out as he spotted the cab coming down the street. His heart was discouraged. He came to Bludhaven to find his brother, to give him a gift. He could not believe that after all they had been through, his brother could not remember. He thought back on that day when he returned with his wife and children from Atlantis and discovered that Dick had been in the hospital, shot in the head by the KGBeast. It was the straw that nearly broke Batman's back, and Damian was right beside him in that feeling.

Tim knew something was wrong when the link he shared with Dick was somehow blocked. It was as if a black wall had been placed between them. And even in Tim's dreams Tim could not reach his brother.

"Where to Mack?"

A familiar voice cut through Tim's thoughts. His eyes went wide when he looked up to see a short cropped, nearly bald man with a specific scar on the left side of his scalp. Bruce had text him about Dick having been shot by the KGBeast. He hadn't told Tim where Dick had been shot. Seeing the scar might explain the memory loss, but it didn't explain the rest. Even Samantha did not understand why the link did not work. She was able to confirm that the link was still there, but the communication path was like entering a void.

"Dick?" Tim questioned, surprised to see that the cab driver was who he was searching for. "Is that really you?"

"My name's not Dick," the man stated. "It's Ric. It says so on my license."

"No, you're Dick Grayson my . . . "

"I told, you my name's Ric, Ric Grayson. I'm not who you think I am."

"I know who you are," Tim said. "You're my brother."

"I don't have a brother. My mother was pregnant, but she lost the baby."

"That's not true," Tim said quietly.

"Look, if you're not going to tell me where you're going, I'm going to need you to leave my cab. There are other fares I could be picking up right now."

Tim felt a lump form in his throat. It sank like a stone into his stomach. He had to hold on to hope or otherwise he would break down, and he couldn't do that, not now. This guy may sound like his brother, but he certainly wasn't. There was a bitterness to the man that was never part of Dick's personality. Maybe if Bruce hadn't taken Dick in . . . No, he knew what would have happened. That was also a part of Dick as well, but that part seemed to be missing, too; lost in the void and neither could find their way back. That was the reason for the gift, to help Dick find his way back.

"I just want to say one thing," Tim started. "That's what our parents told you and wanted you to think. You need to learn the truth."

Tim got out of the cab and left what he brought with him in the back. Bruce had tried to tell him, even Damian. Barbara didn't mince words, their friendship was still apparent in her mind, even though it wasn't apparent in Ric's. It was Solona who really brought it home for Tim. Tim could see the pain in her eyes. She had lost her husband, and the father of their children. Seeing the look in her eyes, Tim vowed to do something about it. At the same time, Tim had a hard time believing that all Dick's memories of his family, his second family was gone.

"I'm sorry to bother you," Tim said as he left "Ric" and his cab, walking back where he had been just moments before.

Ric Grayson watched the younger man leave. He was going to say something more, apologize for his abrupt behavior, seeing the look in the young man's face. He didn't mean to get on the younger man's case, but he really didn't know what else to say. For the past three months he's had several people come to him to tell him who he was in the past, but he could not relate to any of it. He only remembered the death of his parents, and nothing else. Everything was a blank, which even now was starting to bug him. Those missing years, though they were important to them, did not seem that important to him at first. Even so, how could he relate if he did not remember all of that?

Rich Grayson watched the young man walk down the street and turn a corner. It was then that Ric Grayson noticed the box that had been left behind. "Hey," Ric Grayson called after the young man. "Hey, you forgot your box!"

Ric climbed out of his cab the pulled the box out from the back seat. He took after the young man trying catch him, but once he turned the corner, the young man had disappeared. He should have seen him walking down the street, but the street was totally devoid of people.

Ric walked back to his cab. What was he going to do now? Usually, when there were items left in his cab, he would turn them over to the lost and found at the dispatch. Eventually, owners of those items would come looking for them. The young man didn't act like he had been forgetful either. He hadn't tried to chase his cab down to retrieve a forgotten item. That young man had deliberately left the box in his cab. Why? What was so important about this box that it would be left in his care?

Maybe the young mad did forget, but something that the young man said nagged at the back of Ric's mind.

'I'm your brother,' and 'you need to know the truth,' the words echoed through Ric's mind.

That was impossible. He had no brother, and yet he kept having a dream of his father placing a bundle in his arms that squirmed and cooed, but when he looked down, the bundle vanished, just as elusive as a puff of smoke. 'Impossible, it's just a dream," Ric thought. 'Wishful thinking after being alone for so long.'

Ric tossed the box on the floor of front seat, jarring the lid loose and spilling a few items from its interior, when he heard the police ban announce there was trouble nearby. He quickly went to the back of his cab, opened the trunk and pulled out a jar of black polish. He smeared it over his face, obscuring his features. He then placed gloves on his hands and grabbed a rope with an old hook on the end. He couldn't quite understand why he was doing this, only that something compelled him to.

Up on the roof a shadow in a long black cape and mask watched below as the older man equipped himself. He could hear the police dispatcher through his com link. He watched and smiled as the older man left on his mission.

'I know you,' the figure said. 'You're my brother. And you can relate. You just don't know it yet.'

The End?

A/N: We shall see . . . .