Title: Time Will Tell
Author: DC Luder
Summary: After a tragic injury, Bruce must make the long road to recovery with the help of family and friends.
Rating: T
Infringements: All recognizable characters belong to DC Comics, not DC Luder.
Author's Note: This chapter has been updated from its original version to make it more awesome-er.
^V^
It was much brighter. But there was no one to look at.
He left a little while ago, but I didn't know where she was.
I wasn't scared though.
I couldn't sit up. My head felt like it was a thousand pounds.
But it didn't hurt as much to breathe.
I could see a lot of light when I looked towards the window.
They were closed.
I think.
I was confused so easily. I koew what I wanted to say but it comes out all mumbled and confused. But I knew things.
Right?
She was back.
I could understand what they say. At first it was so hard, but it was much easier.
"How about something to drink?"
She had a glass of water with a straw.
I was thirsty. But how did it come out of the glass?
She put the straw in my mouth for me and just stared at me.
I breathed into the straw and bubbles formed in the glass. Some specks hit my nose.
"Drink, Bruce."
But how?
I blew again and even more splattered.
She reached with her other hand and began to tickle my throat. I swallowed in response and a bit of cool water came into my mouth. She stopped tickling my throat and the swallowing ended.
Water dribbled out of my mouth and ran down my neck.
She wiped the water with the sheet, "Try again."
The second time, I swallowed on my own. The water actually came up easier and went down my throat in a few seconds.
A few sips and I was exhausted.
I spat the straw out.
"That better?" she asked.
I tried to smile, but it only half worked. Half of my face felt as if it wasn't even there.
Maybe it wasn't.
I hoped not.
I was about to try to talk again when there was a loud banging noise. She looked away from me and got up after touching my arm.
She'd be back.
I hoped
^V^
I hadn't seen Bruce in over twenty-four hours.
As the time neared eight in the morning, I had lost all regard for Leslie and Alfred's orders to stay away. Having been up all morning after Batman's victorious return to Gotham, I was on my last nerve. After leaving GCPD, we had scattered throughout the city, making our presence well known to all levels of criminals. Although we had scoured the entire city, I still felt as if we hadn't accomplished anything.
Despite the terrorized looks as I jumped down on fleeing thugs…
With Tim no doubt trying to function at his first class of the day, I was alone in the Cave with no one to talk me out of it. After telling Jim Gordon that Bruce was dead, I needed to remind myself that he was still breathing. I was unable to get the concept out of my head. Bruce was dead.
It was heart-breaking that the man I considered to be my father was gone.
Finally changing out of the rest of the suit, I washed up and put on a pair of dark blue sweatpants and a long sleeved tee shirt.
Donning the clothes, they were a bit too big for me and I had to forcibly swallow upon realizing they were Bruce's.
Trekking upstairs, I pressed my ear to the door, listening to Leslie and Alfred's muted conversation. Footsteps began to approach the door, and I quickly sought refuge in the sitting room across the hall. I heard Bruce's door open and close before Alfred's distinct footfalls traveled down the hall and out of range.
My plan had been to force my way into the room, even if it was only to catch a glimpse of him slightly propped up in bed.
Exiting the sitting room, I quietly crossed the plush carpet and knocked on the right hand door.
Leslie answered moments later, "Did you get lost, Alfred---" When she looked at me she gasped, "Dick, you can't---"
"I have to, I'm sorry. I just want to see him. Is he asleep?"
"No. He's awake... Please. Don't do this."
As much as I loved Leslie, I loved him more. With my weight being twice hers, I shoved the door open and walked in.
Each one of the blackout drapes had been pulled back, letting in the bright May sun. The only sound in the room, aside from Leslie's protests, were the blips and beeps of monitoring devices that were stationed on the near side of the bed. My eyes instantly found their way the reason for those bleeps as Bruce laid in bed, propped up by three pillows.
The last time I had seen him, he had been wrought with sheer terror upon waking from his seventy-two hour coma.
As I approached, he looked at me and simply moved his lips.
"Bruce…" I whispered, fighting the quivering in my lip by biting it.
He stared at me for a moment and then mimicked the behavior, slowly and deliberately.
For the first time in far too long, I felt a real smile on my face. Careful as to not bother him, I sat on the edge of the bed and admitted, "I know. Bad habit. You don't have to remind me."
He stopped chewing on his lip and stared up at me, blinking. His head twisted to find Leslie before he picked up his right hand and let it fall back down.
Even though I knew the answer, I asked the painful question, "Do you know who I am?"
He scrunched my eyes, blinked and then pushed his head back with a soft moan.
Leslie had stepped up behind me but made no further attempt to stop me.
"I'm Dick. Your... son."
He chewed on his lip again.
"Yeah, Dick."
He opened his mouth and mumbled, "Mmmm Duh-cuh."
"That's me… I'm going to get yelled at for being here but, I had to," I glanced back at Leslie to see her arms crossed over her chest, with one hand covering her mouth, eyes glassy. I looked back to Bruce and smiled again, "Then again, I'm always getting into trouble… learned it from you. Bruce."
He jerked his head to the right and then opened his mouth, "Uh.. Mm… Rooo... Sssss."
Not sure how he would react, I reached out and set my and on his left arm, "That's right, Bruce." I pointed to myself, "Dick." I then pointed to him, "Bruce."
When he looked away, blinking rapidly, I took his left hand and extended his pointer finger. Directing it to me, I repeated, "Dick." He glanced up at me when I turned the finger to point at himself, "Bruce."
After doing the same three times in a row, I pointed his hand to me and looked down at him. He took a deep breath, moaned and then said, "Duh-cuh."
My smile couldn't have been any bigger as I made him point to himself, "Right, now you."
"Duh-cuh."
"No," I pointed to myself, "Dick."
"Duh-cuh."
"Right, now you. Bruce."
"Rooo-sss." Upon seeing the looks on our faces, Bruce smirked, nodded slightly and then crossed his right arm over his stomach.
"Right," I laughed softly before letting go of his hand, "On your own, now."
His hand fell limply to the bed. Before I reached out again, he fought to pick it up, although he was unable to point, he aimed his hand at me and mumbled, "Duh-cuh." Letting the hand drop, he pushed his head back and finished, "Rooo-sss."
I felt Leslie's hand settle on my shoulder before I replied, "See. Now you know who I am."
^V^
When Alfred had come down to the cave just after seven in the evening, I expected him to yell at Dick for barging in into Bruce's room that morning.
While we had been warming up on the training bay, he had caught me up on what had happened while I had been sleeping through classes all day. My calculus teacher had even taken me aside, asking if I was all right given that I was never one to slack in his class. I lied, of course, and told him I had stayed up all night working on my US History report on Wounded Knee. After skirting out of school, I had raced to Wayne Manor on my bike, worried that Dick hadn't so much as texted me throughout the day.
I had been surprised to find him in the kitchen with Alfred, eating what appeared to be a spicy, vegetable an chicken sauce over penne. Lunch for me had consisted of a hand sandwich, two Snickers bars and a half liter of water. As always, Alfred stepped in to save the day, offering me a fairly good portion of the dish. Dick had patted the stool next to him, "Hop on up."
Once Alfred had tidied things to his satisfaction, he excused himself. It was then Dick had wiped his mouth, "So… I talked to him."
I had almost replied with a mouthful but knew Alfred would race back into he room if I had, "Who, Gordon?"
"No… Bruce."
Dropping my fork, on the counter, I ahd looked to him, "What… I mean, how?"
Dick kept his eyes straight ahead, "Alfred had stepped out of the room this morning, and I made a dash for it. Leslie tried to stop me but… It was so surreal, seeing him… just stare up at me without any idea who I was."
Taking a moment, I had asked, "You said you talked to him… how?"
"I… Itwas funny, some of it he seemed to understand… Leslie says that she and Alfred have been talking to him as if everything was normal…" he picked up his fork and waited to resume eating until I had as well, "She seems to think that his comprehension is far better than she had anticipated, he's just having a hard time putting it to use, to communicate. When I was first with him, I got it through to him what my name was as well as his."
"Whoa… How long were you with him, alld ay?"
He had shaken his head, "No… he slept most of the day, but any time he woke up, Alfred let me back in… after promising not to get him all riled up."
"Riled up?"
"I made him laugh… but since his chest hurts still it upset him… but still, seeing him laugh… Damn, Tim, I don't think there are words to describe it."
Scary, I had kept to myself.
After cleaning up our dishes, Dick had lead the way upstairs, hoping for me to get a chance to see him before we started down to the Cave. Unfortunately, Bruce was sleeping, but Leslie and Alfred gave in to the pleads and pouts of Robin former and current. As quietly as possible, we crossed the room and walke to the other side of the bed where Bruce had been laying.
Given that I hadn't seen him since he first opened his eyes, he appeared to be much better with a clean jaw line and a far more natural look to his face. Something about people being comatose took a little bit of the life from them, leaving their faces far too still and far too pale. After a few minutes, Dick had set a hand on my shoulder before whispering into my ear, "He'll be up by the time we get back… we better get going."
Nodding, I had looked once more to Bruce's face before returning to the corridor.
As we sparred and got in a pretty good workout, I kept thinking back to how my father had been changed by his near-death experience. Having been nearly killed in Haiti, he had returned to Gotham without his active and adventurous spirit. Even after he had regained the use of his legs with physical therapy, he was never quite the same man he had once been. Given what Bruce was facing, I wondering how different he would become.
Alfred clearing his throat had not only stopped our ruthless attempt at pinning one another on the mats, but had brought my morbid thinking to a halt.
"Master Dick? A word, if you please."
Releasing the hold he had on my neck and left arm, Dick sighed, "Uh oh… here it comes."
After grabbing a towel to wipe my face with, I followed him to the edge of the mats where Alfred was standing. He looked over the both of us, his face showing each sleepless hour had been enduring over the last few days under the flourescent lights.
"sir… I must aska considerable favor of you."
Dick sighed, "I know, and I'm sorry, Al… but I ahd to see him, I ahd to---."
"On the contrary, Master Dick… I am most grateful to see you determination has proved worthwhile…. Master Bruce seemed very delighted to spend time with you today. However, this favor is to inform someone of…Master Bruce's alleged condition…"
"That he's dead?" I asked.
"Quite." Alfred's disapproval of Dick's white lie washed over his face suddenly, "Seeing how you have been quite busy over the last few months, you may not be aware that Master Bruce has been involved in a rather serious relationship. I will leave it up to you as to whether you tell her the truth or not… but I would think very carefully before deciding. I have… been able to postpone this matter as long as I possible, however, her inquiries have become quite threatening."
Dick looked to me as if to ask who Bruce had been seeing. I shook my head, "Seriously, you don't know?"
"Who?"
"Selina," I smirked.
"What? I thought they were just… you know."
"Master Richard," Alfred warned, "That is highly inappropriate."
"I'm sorry, I figured after he told her the truth she would have dumped him."
Alfred's sighed woefully, "At any rate, the matter needs to be breeched with her. Tonight."
Watching Alfred return to the stairs, Dick grumbled, "You're coming with me."
"Why?"
"Backup."
We silently suited up for the night before heading into the city in the Mobile. Batman had contacted Oracle and learned that Batgirl was already in Chelsea knocking skulls. I would have done anything to be there with her in the shady borough rather then on a suicide mission…
Batman dropped the growl momentarily before informing her computerized image, "Alfred's sending me to Selina's."
Barbara's face softened, "She's been calling me… I… I haven't told her anything aside from the fact that he was shot."
He nodded curtly, and I half expected him to ask her advice on what to tell Selina. Instead, the growl surfaced once more and he closed with, "Get me a list of those hideouts for the Aces High syndicate… we'll work on that afterwards."
Pulling into an alley three blocks from Selina's penthouse, I felt my heart rate begin to rise. I wasn't sure what I was more worried about, what Batman was going to tell her or what her reaction was going to be. Needless to say, I saw stitches in my near future.
Ascending to the rooftop of one of the neighboring buildings, we jumped across to hers, dropping down on a wrought iron terrace. She had a beautiful ivy plant that cascaded down the outside of her penthouse to the floor of the terrace. I made a note that it would be a good hiding spot if things got hairy.
With the French doors open, we passed through silently amidst silk drapes floating in the high rise breeze. Music played somewhere in the residence and after scanning the open living room, I found a Bose player on top of a waist high book shelf.
Although I had first known her only Catwoman, in the last few months she had become Selina to me. She liked caramel flavored coffee and wouldn't wait for it to cool before drinking it. She seemed to only wear sneakers, stillettos and Bruce's loafers. She was a human, with a contagious laugh and short temper. In the last few days, I had wondered why she hadn't been brought into the equation but then rationalized that we had no idea what the equation was.
She appeared through the open archway leading into what appeared to be a dining room, bare feet thudding on dark, hardwood floors. She was dressed casually, calf length sweat pants and a fitted green WWF tee shirt. As she walked over, she had her head buried in a towel, vigorously rubbing her long, dark hair.
Although muffled, I heard her say, "You know, it's one thing to ignore my calls, cancel dinner on Saturday… it's an entirely different matter to do so with rumors racing around about you getting your thick skull blown off." I cringed at her words as she paused not ten feet away, bending over at the waist to shake her hair out, giving it one last tussle, "If you think you're getting any love tonight, you better think again, because I'm not---."
When she stood upright, the sexy smirk on her fac quickly vanished and in its place was a gaped mouth and look of utter shock.
She inhaled quickly before demanding, "What are you doing in… where is he?"
"Selina," Batman stepped forward. No, not Batman, Dick. His voice was soft and filled with regret.
He wouldn't… He couldn't tell her he was---.
"Where is he?" she growled, fists clenching around the damp towel.
"I'm sorry… He… The… the rumors are true. He took three bullets from Pasqualle," he stepped forward again, reaching out to her.
"Don't you dare touch me… Where the hell is he?" her green eyes were always bright but they were growing practically luminescent with emotion.
Dick hesitated before pulling back the cowl, showing the same emotion in his own blue eyes, "Selina, he's gone."
I expected her to attack us in sheer rage or to accuse of lying to her, wanting to see for herself that he was gone. Seeing tears silently slip over her cheeks, I realized she was a stronger person than that.
Dick continued to explain that we had no contingency for how to explain Bruce Wayne's disappearance but that we all needed to work together in order to protect his identity. As his girlfriend, Selina had a role herself to play and he asked if she would be up to the task.
She shook her head before wiping her face with the back of her hand, "No… I… I need some time…"
"Of course," Dick nodded, "If you need anything---."
"What call?" she snapped, trying to redirect her emotional energy offensively.
"Selina," he defended, "This is difficult for all of us… We have to work together---."
"I'm not sure you got the memo, boy… I don't need to do anything with anyone for any reason," the tears came pouring suddenly and she spun around, "Get the hell out of here."
Dick pulled the cowl back on and nodded to me before retreating to the terrace. I had held my ground, looking at him in disgust before walking over, preparing my grapple gun.
"What?" he demanded.
Thinking of the weekend before when I had walked in on Bruce and Selina sharing breakfast in the nook, both smiling brilliantly, I snapped back, "You could have told her the truth."
"We have to keep it within the Family, Robin," he growled at me, taking me by the arm.
I shrugged him off before leaping from the railing, "Ever stop to think she is part fo the Family?"
^V^