Disclaimer: Batman and all other Heroes belong to DC and Vertigo. I owe nothing thus you get nothing for suing me.

Gotham: the dreaming

Chapter 3

Schooling her emotions, Cassandra Cain made her way down to the Bat cave. What Tim had said, not to mention what happened afterward, where still fresh in her mind. More the "what" happened afterward, but the talk was still there, and that's what she needed to concentrate on. She needed to stop feeling sorry for her, not to mention to forget her feelings for Coldcase, and start to act like Batgirl. Not an over emotional teenager.

She found Batman still sitting in front of the main computer; although she couldn't exactly see what he was doing, it looked like he was reviewing tapes of past crimes he was in. His cowl was still off, and as he heard her nearing he turned to watch her make her way down the stairs. She couldn't miss his body language as he watched; it was a mix of guilt, pride and other emotions that were hard for her to define. He's been feeling a lot of guilt lately; almost as if he took on his shoulders all the evil that had happened to his extended family as of late. Cassandra felt her own tingling of guilt, she should have trusted him, shouldn't have made him feel like he was hurting her; no matter how true that was.

"Feeling better Cass?" he asked gently; that was something else that he's been doing a lot of lately too. Trying to sound gentler, actually trying to listen to what the others are feeling. He's still got a long way to go but for Bruce that was a very big step. Dick seems to think it has something to do with Selena Kyle, a.k.a Catwoman, a.k.a "WOW… nice whip", who Bruce has been seeing outside of uniform. Whatever the reason, Cass had to admit it felt kind of nice, weird but nice. She only nodded to acknowledge his inquiry, and he only nodded back, that is the way they where use to acting and too much change to quickly was not something either of them were use to.

He went back to typing away at his computer, took a CD and made his way to the back of the cave. Cassandra fallowed, since that's what it looked like he wanted from her. It took Cassandra a minute to figure out where he was leading her; she had never been there, and saw no reason for wanting to go there. It was the teleporting pad to the JLA headquarters. Batman took his place at the pad and motioned her to take her place besides him. Feeling slightly apprehensive, not afraid of course, after all if this was anything like the ones on Star Trek, a show that she had to watch nearly religiously when she was living at the Clock tower with Barbara; this thing was going to atomize her and then re-atomize her instantly on the moon base. She had no idea what that meant, but it didn't sound like something she wanted to feel.

Fighting monsters from a shadow dimension was one thing, it wasn't that bad after all they bled like anything else when you stuck a sword into them, but to become nothing then back to something a thousand miles away was not something she was looking forward to. "You're going to feel a moment of vertigo after we reach the other side, don't worry, it happens to everyone the first time." Batman told her. Before she could have second thoughts he pressed a button and Batgirl was in hell.

The first thought that past her mind was that it was a very stupid idea to have a mask that didn't have a hole for her mouth; because of this little oversight she was going to drown in her own vomit. Thankfully someone was there to pull it of her head; but that didn't help her with the fact that the world seemed to have gone head over heels. Her sense of balance was gone, she couldn't figure out up from down. Of course that wasn't that important because she was back to puking out all the wonderful cookies that she had; they didn't taste nearly as good coming up as they did going down. The convulsions that she going through didn't help the matter either, or the fact that it felt like her head was going to explode.

Someone turned her on her back, at least she thought it was her back, and forced his hand into her mouth; probably to stop her from biting her own tongue or worst swallowing it. "Medical emergency. We have a medical emergency, get her to sickbay NOW" she felt someone else pick her up, or was it put her down; she wasn't sure about anything, and then her experience took a turn for the worst. She was moving, but it was too fast, her eyes told her that the world had stopped moving or was it that she was the one that was frozen in time. It was too much for her, and thankfully she lapsed into the darkness.

Cassandra felt herself come back to wakefulness and tried her hardest to stay exactly where she was; after all here the world understood that up was up and down was down. At the end though the voices all around her were what pushed her back to full consciousness; she opened her eyes with a small whimper fearing another attack. Thankfully none came, although she felt wrong; the same way when she was in the shadow dimension with Coldcase, where they shared there first kiss. It was hard to describe, it just felt wrong to her senses; her balance was slightly off.

"What went wrong J'onn?" she heard the unmistakable voice of Batman demand. "It seems that she went through epileptic shock due to severe vertigo." The equally unmistakable voice of J'onn Jonz answered; it was monotones but full of love for everyone. "Severe vertigo? J'onn I saw this girl jump down a building head first and do cartwheels that would have left the tire of a bus dizzy." It took Cassandra a few second to identify the third voice. It was the Flash; she liked the Flash, he reminded her of Tim in a lot of ways. He was kind, nice and pure, but there was pain hidden behind the smiling face. She had served with him in the Elites, and unlike everyone else there, he was the only one without blood on his hands; the only one that didn't have a dark past, unlike her.

"It is because of that that she had the attack Flash. Because of Batgirl's unique upbringing, she has a higher then average control of her own body. For her perfect balance is second nature, and the ability to understand her body is perfect; not to mention that her sense of orientation is also flawless, no matter in what position she is in, Cassandra always knows up from down. Going through teleportation is the equivalent of us being thrown into a washing machine and having multi-colored lights flashing in our faces." J'onn explained. "So what's the solution?" Flash persisted. "Not to go through teleportation, or if that can not be help drugging her before hand. Also I would recommend avoiding any zero-g environment, since it will cause the same attack, in fact left long enough in such an environment it might be fatal for her."

That last bit was enough to make Batgirl sit up; which proved to be a very bad idea as another bout of vertigo hit her, making what was left in her stomach come back up. Thankfully a bucket magically appeared in front of her; which was good since she would have ended up vomiting all over the Flash and that wouldn't make a very good second impression. "Yum! Alfred's chocolate chip cookies." Cassandra looked up at the Flash in shock. He had the decency to laugh at the look she was giving him; "hey it's a compliment to Alfred. The fact that I can tell his cookies even when they look like that." He gave her a small smile. It felt nice; they didn't real leave at the best of circumstances the last time. The Flash was still angry that Batman had had her spy on the Elites; although Cassandra felt it was more the fact that Batman nor Batgirl had told him until everything blew up in all of there faces. She gave him a small smile in return, and he gave her an affectionate pate of the shoulder; it was the sign that there were no hard feelings.

"How are you feeling Batgirl?" Batman asked. "Like… I've been in a washer." Cassandra replied trying to sound like it hadn't been the worst experience in her life; and failing. With the Flash's help she made it to her feet, although the vertigo and sickness was gone; her balance was still slightly off. "How are you feeling NOW Batgirl?" He persisted. "Balance… off. No feel right." She couldn't really explain it any better then that. "Does it feel like you are walking on earth?" J'onn asked. "No… feels like… different. Can't explain… better." "Hum!" Both Batman and the Flash gave him looks; one of inquiry and the other of confusion. "It's the artificial gravity." J'onn answered there looks. "What do you mean the artificial gravity; you're telling me she can sense it. J'onn the gravity is one g like back on earth." Flash said in an annoyed amazed voice. "No matter how like earth it is Flash, it is not earth. Batgirl isn't the only one that has noticed the difference. Other members that are more attuned to the there own bodies or the gravitational forces have mentioned that before. It will pass as she gets accustomed to it." "Will she be able to test my theory?" Batman questioned; the mission coming first now that Batgirl was no longer in any danger. "She should have adapted by the time we reach the training room."

True to his word, Batgirl was feeling the unbalance less by the time they reached the training room. Although it was her first time on the space station; batgirl didn't feel out of place. True most people that passed her gave her a once over; it was rare to see anyone from the bat clan other then Batman on the station. But other then those no one made her feel uncomfortable. As for Batgirl she spent most of her time watching J'onn walk. It was strange; she had rarely been around aliens that had not lived there whole lives on earth. Watching him was like listening to someone who talked a language she knew but with a new accent. It was like the telepathic projection she had fought. Now that she knew what to look for, it was far clearer.

The training room dwarfed the bat cave, but then again it had to be big enough for the people that could fly. Batman instructed Batgirl to do some stretches and warm ups, mostly to get rid of the last vestige of the vertigo that had assaulted her, while he had some words with J'onn. After ten minutes of doing both she and J'onn were ready for whatever Batman had planed. "Batgirl you will spare with J'onn. Do not do the mental exercise I taught you. He will be reading your mind." Batman instructed her. Cassandra took a fighting stand and waited for J'onn to do the same; when he was ready she attacked. At first the fight was evenly matched; but when Cassandra entered her zone the fight was far more one sided.

She flowed around his attacks like water, and no matter how hard he tried to block her counterattack it was pathetically easy to get around his guard. If she hadn't been reading his emotions she would have thought that he was holding back. After half an hour of her basically beating J'onn; not to mentioning acquiring a crowd of onlookers Batman called a halt.

Flash's whispered "wow" embodied what everyone was thinking. Unlike the Flash most of the people that where in the training hall had never seen Batgirl do what she does better then anyone else on earth. Every one of the people who were present where the best of the best at what they do, and all of them had at the least basic knowledge of hand to hand. But watching Batgirl was like comparing a guppy to a shark; both knew how to swim but one was far more dangerous then the other. Batgirl wasn't paying any attention to what they were thinking of her at the moment, because she had figured out what Batman was trying to prove. "How" her question was simple but it held all that needed to be said. "Batgirl, when you fight you don't think of your moves, they simply flow out of you. There is no way an opponent can read them, translate them to something he understands and use that knowledge in a fight. You reaction speed is a few millisecond slower then the Flash." J'onn's explained.

"So it wasn't a telepath." She said, but before Batman could confirm that, J'onn intervened. "Not a telepath that was reading your thoughts but I do believe that you are on to something." Batman simply gave a look that was inquisitive. "Do you have the tape of the fight?" Batman handed it over and they made there way to a viewing room. It didn't take her long to realize that the CD was her fight against Batman captured by the security camera. Watching the fight was more insightful then she would have thought, again she saw the wrongness of the way the fake bat moved. At the moment of climax, when she finally connected, J'onn paused the tape. "What were you thinking at that moment Batgirl?" He asked her gently. Cassandra gave Batman an apologetic look before answering. "I knew that I can hit Batman. I… better then him. I could take him down." "And what were you thinking before that moment" "Dunno… just thinking that it wasn't Batman." J'onn simply settled back into his chair and stabled his fingers together. After a minute of silent contemplation he finally spoke. "Batgirl wasn't fighting someone creating an illusions; she was fighting people's belief in you." When all he got was silence he elaborated. "As long as Batgirl wasn't thinking of the illusion, it was feeding on the knowledge of the only other people available; meaning the two criminals. For them Batman is a creature of myth, an unstoppable force of justice that could not be defeated. Thus Batgirl had to fight there expectations. But when she asserted her own beliefs, the fact that she knew that she could defeat you, that all changed. For the illusion to remain faithful to whatever image of you it was feeding on it had to be defeated by her."

It was a lot to take in, not to mention that even Batgirl found multiple errors in the explanation. Thankfully Batman was more then willing to point them out. "First the two thugs were already unconscious when Batgirl fought the illusion, second someone did escape that scene so it was created by someone; so how did he enter Batgirls mind in the first place. Third if this thing is an image created by peoples expectations, then why would it let the criminals escape." "You are thinking of it on the lines of a mental illusion, it's not. The illusion has its own semi sentience; it was formed by the two criminals, because they expected to be captured. As long as Batgirl didn't impose her own belief on what they had already created then it would have played out what everyone expected it to do. I believe that Batgirl had helped the illusion alone; you can see the difference between how it fought before and after Batgirl showed up. She expected to see something that was you, so it became more realistic. The fact is that it did nothing more then emulate you. As for why it doesn't capture the criminals, that one is simple. No matter how realistic it is, an illusion can not cause real damage. For it to capture someone then it would have to hold on to them, something far harder to do then simply make them believe that they were hit. As for the foot steps, I believe that that was Batgirl's doing. She expected someone there so the illusion, even though it had dissipated, gave her what she wanted."

"How much of what you're telling me is speculation J'onn." Batman asked. "All of it, I do not have all the information. But on mars we had legends of illusion that were created by the waking dream. It was believed that if someone was powerful enough, they could make there beliefs take form. Before you ask I do not think it is the white Martians but it is a theory that should not be dismissed. Maybe a powerful enough telepath is doing just that." J'onn answered. "That doesn't explain the appearance of the other heroes in Gotham." Batman said before he took J'onn's place in front of the computer, after a minute of typing five different scenes came to life on the screen; each on of them a different event of hero sighting and the infamous Arabian knight. "In the first Superman sighting your theory would be right, the crooks where from Metropolis; so they would be afraid of Superman more then the Batman, but in the other sighting, the crooks where Gotham grown." Batman continued pointing to the first two scenes.

It was so obvious to Batgirl; she was surprised that the others had missed it. On the other hand, it was because she could read the body language of the people on the screen. Mainly it was the three criminals that where holding up the 7/11 where not afraid, so if J'onn theory was right, they would not have feared the appearance of any costumed heroes. But they weren't the only ones in the picture; there was the clerk, who looked ready to feint from having a gun pointed at his head, and a mother with her young son. The mother looked no less frightened then the clerk, but her son was starring at the criminals with the courage only the innocence of youth could bestow; he was wearing a superman shirt. Batgirl pointed out the boy and hoped that at least Batman would catch on. She wasn't sure she could explain it to them, even with her lovecraftian vocabulary. Thankfully Batman did catch on. "J'onn could these illusions form from something other then fear?" He asked already understanding what Batgirl was pointing out and giving her a quick nod of approval for her quick thinking. For Cassandra that made her feel infinitely better about herself; after all she had spotted something not even Batman had. "No matter what you might think Batman, fear is not the most powerful emotion. Conviction, love, courage even simple faith would be able to fuel the illusion." J'onn answered.

"Although it does speak highly of the telepath. Normally a telepath would be proficient with only one mode of… well fuel I suppose is the right word. For someone to be able to use any emotion… humm… it would require a truly powerful telepath. I do not know of any on this planet." Batgirl could tell that J'onn was losing hope in his theory. "And that might explain the other sighting of various heroes, but that doesn't explain the Arabian knight. Where would someone get that kind of image?" Batman continued. All of them were silent; that is until Batgirl gasped and nearly jumped up and down with glee. She figured it out, and before Batman again. And they said that the detective work was hard. "Movie!" She cried in excitement. "Premiere… crud aid… movie about crud aid." She cried. She was rather putout that the others, even Batman, were looking at her as if she had lost her mind. Sighting in exasperation, she pointed at the Arabian knight and repeated herself. It was almost as if a light clicked in Batman's head. "Crusade Cass… Crusade not crud aid. But you're right; a movie about the crusades had premiered that day. The criminal had snatched a purse of one of the movie goers, it would fallow that the first image that the victim had would be right out of the movie she just came out of."

"If that is true then I'm afraid that Batgirl's and my theory are wrong." J'onn said. Cassandra couldn't believe what she had heard; they had just spent the last hour proving it. How could this prove it wrong? "Batgirl for a telepath to be able to conjure any image, with that much realism; he would have to be more then powerful. It would mean that he is not fueling them at all. He is simply creating them; illusions so realistic that they could be captured by camera. If he was that powerful then he would have no problem capturing the criminals. He wouldn't need to result to such crude methods. This is not done with any rational thought; it's almost as if the illusions create themselves."

After another hour of the three of them coming up with, and then dismissing, theory after theory they were no closer to figuring out the mystery of the illusions. They had come up with something though; first it was not a shapshifter, and it wasn't a telepath.

But the biggest mystery was still unsolved.

Dear readers, which I hope I have some, I would like to ask your opinions. I have multiple drafts for the next chapters but I find myself in a crossroads. The ending of the story has already been written (yes I write the ending before the beginning) and I know how to get it there, but I am not sure if I want to add romance into the story. In chapter 1 and 2 I left hints, and I was wondering if I should keep on going, or just drop the whole idea, I could always add a new romance… anyway review and give me your opinions.