So to be clear I've only read a little of the Sandman comics, so a lot of this is based on the tv show.
Wesley didn't dream like normal people. He's known that for a long time, because when he first told his mother she struck him and hissed that he must never speak of it. He must never speak about how he dreamt of a place where his imagination was his only limit, that he dreamt of things that have not yet happened, or that he dreamt of the evil that lived in the world. That's why he said nothing when he dreamt of his father coming home from a business trip to find that his wife had passed away a week before he returned, and why he never said anything when he had a dream of his brother Gerald drowning two years later. As he got older he became a little better at hiding his weirdness from everyone but his father, who often looked at him with a frown on his face as he took him on trips across the Orient. Of course Wesley later began to suspect that his father was less focused on Wesley's odd nature and more on his black hair which contrasted the brown hair of his parents as well as the physical details which didn't resemble either of them outside the green eyes he inherited from his mother.
Strangely he never dreamt of his father's sudden death in 1938, and he didn't know whether the shock gave him a moment of clarity or drove him to acts of madness but when he dreamt of a woman being violated by a man only a few days after the funeral he didn't ignore it. Since then he became the Sandman, a vigilante who fought against the gangs of New York and recently a member of a group called the Justice Society. A ridiculous name even for someone like himself, but in the four months since the team has formed he has befriended his new teammates and even introduced some of them to Dian who bonded quickly with Shiera and Dinah. Dian is actually the reason why he's doing this, having been concerned since their relationship became more intimate and she learned more about how his dreams affected him, and so at her insistence he decided to see if he could trust their unofficial leader.
Kent had done his whole magic thing, which Wesley was still struggling to believe despite having seen him do some pretty ridiculous things, at the Tower of Fate which has also been working as a base of sorts for the team. He had waved his hands while bright lights danced around his fingertips for almost an hour, looking intimidating while wearing that helmet of his, before suddenly making a golden copy of the globe appear before them while a bright light flashed in England. That's how they ended up standing outside the mansion of Roderick Burgess, both himself and Kent dressed in more normal clothing instead of their superhero outfits.
"So please remember Wesley, I don't know what we could face in there." Kent warned him again.
"If you're so worried, why didn't we bring someone like Jay or Shiera to help us?" Wesley asked while hoping his own fear was well hidden, though he did doubt that as he has never been that good at lying. He's not like the others, he's just a normal man with odd dreams who struggles against crooks while his teammates were either like modern heroes of myth or had the powers of gods. He wasn't even close to being as brave as any of them, so he had to try as hard as he could to pretend to be.
"Because despite all the rumours about Burgess, that's all there has ever been. While I've heard that he is part of some cult there isn't any evidence to prove they know any real magic, and there's especially no proof he actually has any of the devils trapped in his basement." Kent explained as they both approached the door. "At the same time, secret cults are secret for a reason and it's not a good idea to be overconfident."
"I suppose you're right." he replied with a nod before frowning. "Wait, what do you mean by 'any of the devils'? How many devils are there?"
"Do you really want me to go over how many rulers of Hell there are and how they are all the same person, split apart into fragments when he was cast out from Heaven?" Kent asked with a look that made Wesley decide to save his questions for later, and he waited with Kent after he knocked until the door was opened by a man with some grey in his hair.
"May I help you gentlemen?" he asked politely while Kent wore a fake smile on his face.
"Good afternoon. My name is Dr Kent Nelson, and this is my friend Mr Wesley Dodds. We were hoping that we could have a conversation with Mr Burgess."
"I'm afraid that master Burgess is not accepting any unexpected visitors this day."
"Not even for something like this?" Kent asked as he pulled out a necklace from his pocket and Wesley actually had to cover his eyes with his hands a little due to how it shone with unnatural blue light. The servant did the same but despite this the shock was visible on his face, and Kent gently placed the necklace back in his pocket with the same fake smile on his face
"Of course Dr Kent, the master would certainly be interested in something like that." the servant replied as he opened the door for them, and after shutting it behind them he gave them a polite smile that came across as forced to Wesley. "Please wait here while I tell the master that you are here."
Once he was certain that the servant was out of earshot, he looked at Kent in surprise. "Since when was handing Burgess a magic necklace part of the plan?"
"Oh come on, this isn't anything important. It's just an old necklace I found and the light is just from a simple spell, it's essentially as useful to casting magic as bread is." Kent told him as he looked around. "No matter how secret the cult, servants like that are always aware so I simply took a gamble that the direct approach would work. Just trust me ok, when it comes to magic I know what I'm doing."
Wesley hesitated for a second, wanting to point out that out of all the members of the Society they've actually spent the least amount of time together so how could they trust each other, but instead he just nodded and sighed a little. "Do you have any idea how my dreams could be tied to Burgess? I've never even heard of him or seen this place in my dreams."
"I don't know, to be honest I don't know how your dreams work. Even Nabu isn't sure about them though I get the feeling he knows more than he's saying which isn't anything new. You're not something normal like a psychic I know that much, but beyond that I..."
The sound of a tap against glass caught Wesley's attention and he glanced at the small window next to the door, seeing a black crow on the other side that seemed to be staring right at him. Somehow their eyes met and Wesley was no longer at the mansion, Kent's voice vanished entirely and Wesley was floating in a pitch black void, devoid of everything but him until he heard her voice.
"He's in the basement. Let me in and I can show you the way."
Wesley tried to speak but for some reason he couldn't. Or he did, but no sound came out. He wasn't sure, he wasn't sure of anything at this moment.
"I need you to trust me Wesley. Get Nabu's newest host to distract Burgess and I will show you why you dream."
There was a hand on his arm and Wesley leaped away, startled into raising his fists while Kent let go and took a step back in surprise. Wesley span around to see the crow waiting for him patiently, as if she knew he was going to help her after doing whatever it was she did. Logically he knew he should tell Kent what just happened, but he heard the sound of two people approaching from down the hallway and made a decision.
"Distract him, I need to be alone." he told Kent quickly, and he could see the doubt in Kent's eyes as he struggled to make a decision. The two composed themselves just in time for the servant to return, followed by an elderly man who struggled to move on his cane.
"Dr Nelson, Mr Dodds, this is Mr Burgess." the servant introduced them, but Burgess marched as quickly as he could to Nelson.
"Let me see it." he ordered and while still surprised from Wesley's outburst, Nelson did as he was told and pulled out the necklace. Unlike Wesley or the servant Burgess watched it as the anger in his face was replaced with glee. "Good, very good. Please, the three of us can talk in my study."
"Actually, I wish for Mr Dodds to wait here if that would be fine with you." Kent said quickly, looking pretty surprised he was actually saying that before scrambling for an explanation. "He has nothing to do with the necklace and our shared interest."
Burgess frowned slightly before nodding in understanding. "Of course, shouldn't let the staff be too familiar. Please follow me."
As Burgess led him away Kent gave Wesley a glance of concern before he was gone, and the servant nodded for him to sit on one of the chairs. Once he had the servant left, and Wesley waited a moment before rushing to the door and opening it. The crow flew in past Wesley's head and circled him for a moment, before dashing opposite where the servant and Burgess had gone. Wesley followed as quickly as possible as the crow led him to a door, landing on the ground and looking up at him.
"Are you going to tell me what's down there?" Wesley asked, before he realized what he was doing. "I'm talking to a crow. I must be going mad."
"No, you're perfectly sane. Now please hurry."
Wesley stared with wide eyes at the crow, which somehow sighed in annoyance. "Yes I can talk, big surprise. It's not like I just spoke to you a minute ago."
"But...But how can you...?" he trailed off.
"Fine, if we have to do the introductions now. My name is Jessamy, you're Wesley Dodds, and down in that basement is my master who has been imprisoned by Burgess." the crow replied, becoming more and more agitated. "Now are you going to be the superhero you claim to be Sandman, or are you going to keep asking me stupid questions?"
He looked at her wordlessly for a moment before he nodded, and reaching into the special compartment in his jacket pulled out a smaller version of his gas gun. Not as powerful as his main one and he can only use it twice, but it should certainly stun any guards and he has another one just in case. He opened the door slowly to avoid making noise and without hesitation took determined steps down the stairs while Jessamy followed behind him. The stairs led downwards and then turned right, and then once he made the turn he froze for a second when he saw it. Or more specifically saw him, sitting still inside a glass sphere suspended by metal chains connected to four pillars and completely naked as far as he can tell. He had his head lowered until Jessamy flew past Wesley to land on the sphere , making the man look up with a smile on his face. He then frowned for a moment before looking right at Wesley in surprise as the vigilante approached slowly, before the prisoner then glanced to his right just in time for when one of the guards noticed the bird.
"Where did that thing come from!" one of the guard's hissed with a deep voice, Wesley quickly leaning against the wall and glancing around the corner to see him and a younger guard.
"No idea, someone must have left a window open."
"And what, you left the door open?"
"Of course I didn't, you were the last one to come down!"
While the guards continued to argue Wesley took a deep breath to calm himself while putting his hand and hiding his gas gun in his coat pockets, before going around the corner with a smile on his face. "Hello, I think I've gotten lost. Could either of you please tell me where I can find Mr Burgess?"
"Who the fuck are you?" the younger guard asked as he and the older guard stared at him in surprise, both of them clearly tempted to use the guns they have in their holsters. But if Wesley was to take a guess, he would say that they are likely use to strange men like him appearing to see whoever or whatever Burgess had trapped in his basement.
"My name is Wesley Dodds, and I am an expected guest." Wesley told them with a smile until he was close to the older and more importantly larger guard, pulling out the gas gun quickly and spraying him in the face.
The guard was immediately disoriented from the strength of the gas which was enough for Wesley to push him into the younger guard as he tried to pull out his gun, making it fall out of his hand as they both crashed to the ground. Acting swiftly Wesley ran forward and kicked the older guard in the face while spraying the last guard, at which point he punched him with all his strength. Both weren't unconscious yet so Wesley pulled out his other gun and sprayed them both again, at the back of his mind being unsure whether he should care whether they will be alright after this. They are guarding a man that Burgess has kept prisoner for who knows how long, but considering everything Kent had told him about Burgess and what Jessamy had said he wasn't sure that the prisoner was a man.
Wesley looked up at the prisoner, who now stood up straight to show his almost skeleton like body while Wesley did his best to focus on his face. At the corner of his eye however he noticed the blue circle, with what he assumed were letters inside, below the prison which screamed magical trap. The man's skin was unnaturally pale while his hair and eyes were pitch black, and he seemed to stare into his soul as Wesley struggled to decide what he should do. He approached the sphere slowly, while Jessamy flew off to a corner, trying to figure out if it would be easy to break, when the man spoke.
"You have Marina's eyes." the man said in a deep voice that surprised Wesley.
"What do you mean? Are you reading my mind or something?" Wesley asked suspiciously, wishing that Kent was here to explain what this thing was.
"No, I am not reading your mind. I met Marina in August 1912, her husband Edward had been gone for several months leaving her to raise her son by herself, and we spent almost two months together before Edward returned. You must have always suspected, deep down at least, that Edward Dodd's wasn't your father?" the man asked while Wesley took a step back, not sure what to say or how to even react to what he was saying.
"What are you? If you want my help, tell me who you are." Wesley eventually told him, and the man hesitated for a second.
"My name is Dream of the Endless and I am your father. You dream the way you do because I am the ruler of the dreaming which grants you the gift of a seer. I know this because while you might be a mortal, you are still part of the dreaming and therefore part of me." the man explained calmly while Jessamy watched the two of them while occasionally glancing towards the stairs as a reminder that their time wasn't unlimited. "Burgess imprisoned me after a spell intended for my sister summoned me instead, and for the last twenty-five years he has tried to force me to give him power and wealth."
"And I believe I will finally get those things." a menacing voice interrupted, and Wesley span around to see Burgess himself walking down the steps. Behind him were two guards, one pointing a gun at Kent who reluctantly had his hands up while another aimed a gun at Wesley who out his hands up.
Wesley glanced at Kent, who shrugged in what he assumed was annoyance. "He turned out to be smarter than I thought."
"So, a spawn of the Endless. Do you have the power to give me what I want? Immortality, power, even just simply wealth?" Burgess asked Wesley as he observed him.
"If I could do any of that, I would use it to help people instead of just giving it to you."
"Oh wonderful, you're an idealist. Well now that I have you, perhaps your father will be more accommodating." Burgess said as he glared at Dream before waving his hand at Wesley. "Go and join your friend."
Wesley glanced at the prisoner, who looked at him expectantly, and he did all that he could do. As he walked away he dug the heel of his shoe against the floor, directly on the line making the circle below the prison. He glanced at Kent, who had clearly seen what he did and nodded slightly as Wesley made his way to stand next to him.
"So Dream, what about now. What would you give me to save your son?" Burgess asked as he glared at the man. "Surely you're not so cold and selfish that you would let him die?"
"You sacrificed your own son to trap me, and you dare to consider me selfish?"
Burgess laughed a little before looking back at Wesley and Kent. "That's actually the first thing he's said to me. I've threatened him for over two decades and he's never uttered one word. That means hurting you will get me what I want."
Jessamy suddenly cawed loudly before swooping down from where she was hiding, with Burgess narrowly dodging the bird while yelling in surprise. The guards jumped in surprise which gave Wesley and Kent the perfect opportunity to attack, each grabbing the arm holding the guns and struggling to grab it off them. They both suddenly fired, bullets flying wildly in every direction until Wesley headbutted his opponent. The guard was stunned enough for him to pull the gun out of his hand and smack the grip of the gun against his head with as much strength as he could gather. His opponent fell to the ground and Wesley turned to see magic lights fading from his hands while his guard was also on the ground, and with the gun in his hand Wesley looked at Burgess who glared at them angrily while clutching the side of his stomach while his cane wobbled in his hand.
"God damn you. Both of you. And you!" he whispered at first before getting louder, and turning around to glare at his prisoner while Wesley visibly saw blood on his hand. However Dream wasn't even looking at him and much to Wesley's confusion Burgess started to laugh when he looked in the same direction as Dream, but this vanished once he spotted the now dead bird in the corner.
"At least I managed to hurt you in some way. At least this way you will remember me!" Burgess shouted as he swung his cane against the dome, and for a second there was only silence as both Kent and Wesley struggled to figure out what they should do. Then they saw the dome crack suddenly, before the glass broke apart with a flash of bright light filled the basement while blinding both men. When the light slowly vanished Burgess was on the ground and standing above him, still as naked as before, was Dream who glared down at his former captor.
"What...What the hell did you do to him?" Kent asked hesitantly while looking at Dream with some fear.
The man, though Wesley was guessing that wasn't a completely accurate way to describe him, looked at them in silence for a moment before explaining. "He's alive, for now at least. The bullet has damaged too much and he will die. I just put him to sleep, a sleep which will for him make his pain last for a long time."
"You know what, this is too far. What the fuck is going on!?" Wesley demanded, the last fifteen to twenty minutes having been more stressful than anything he's dealt with for the last year. "Who are you, what do you mean you're my father? What the hell is an Endless, why were you even trapped here? Can someone just remember that I don't understand any of this magic nonsense so I would appreciate an explanation!"
"Your friend knows what I am Wesley. Besides, I've already told you who I am." Dream explained before looking at Jessamy, and he walked over to scoop her up in his hand. He looked down at her sadly and for a second Wesley wondered if he was going to bring her back to life, but instead he turned to look at them again. "I am your father Wesley, and I think that deep down you know I am not lying. I have business that I must conclude as three important objects belonging to me were stolen because of Burgess, but once that is done and if you wish to talk I will be willing to discuss it. But for now, I must leave."
And with only a blink, Dream had vanished from where he was standing which left both Wesley and Kent alone with a dying socialite and four unconscious guards. Wesley looked around while brushing his hands through his hair stressfully, before turning to look at Kent for answers though he seemed to be just as surprised as Wesley. But eventually he sighed and cleared his throat, while putting on a smile that was clearly forced.
"So we should probably leave, I might have some contacts who could help clear this up. But in regards to your questions, it appears that you're the son of the king of dreams." he explained, pausing for a moment before speaking again in response to his teammates shocked look. "Congratulations."
Please tell me what you think and if there are any spelling mistakes or sentences that don't make sense. So since Wesley Dodds is my favourite JSA character I wanted to do a chapter about him, and having recently watched the Netflix show I figured doing something related to that could work. I also thought that making Wesley Dream's son would be an interesting change and would give him a deeper connection to the more fantastical side of the DC universe instead of the explanation the comics gave for his dreams. Finally the mention of Burgess sacrificing his son is just to explain why Alex isn't here and also to make clear that not all the events of the comic happened here, especially since in this version Dream's imprisonment ended fifty years earlier.