Nightwing was still sitting next to Batman whose pulse was getting weaker.
"I had a dream about Bruce," said Robin.
"Oh," answered Nightwing.
"We were in the hallway in the manor, but everything was really bright, like super-bright, and Bruce said that he would stay for as long as we need him. He said he wouldn't go until we said it was okay." Nightwing didn't respond. "I think he was trying to tell us something."
"You just had a dream, Tim. Bruce's condition has been on your mind, so naturally you dreamed about it."
"When you see a dead person in your dream you're supposed to listen to them."
"He's not dead!" shouted Nightwing.
"Maybe he should be," Robin said quietly.
"How dare you, after everything he's done for you, you're wishing death on him?"
"I don't want Bruce to die, but I don't want him to suffer either. The med team said there's no reason he should have lived through the night, let alone all day."
"So what? He's strong."
"What if he's only sticking around because of us?"
"Well, good."
"It's not good if . . . if . . . it's his time."
"Just shut up," said Nightwing, and Robin left the room.
Superman was drinking tea. Well, he was trying to drink tea, but his hands were shaking. Batman's impending loss was casting its shadow over the entire Watchtower, and it hit the Man of Steel especially hard. All superheroes want to be effective. They want to make the world better and safer. For a hero, helplessness is the worst feeling in the world, and helplessness in a situation where a loved one is in pain, that's a terrible feeling for anyone.
"Superman?" asked a familiar voice.
"Robin, did . . . did something happen?"
"No, except I pissed Dick off."
"What do you mean?"
"Superman, is your Martian friend here?"
"J'onn, yes, he's always here."
"He can read people's minds right?"
"Yes."
"Does he have to be, like, right next to them?"
"Why are you asking this?"
"Well, I had this dream . . ."
Nightwing was trying to forget what Tim said, but was having difficulty. Death was a bad thing, it separated loved ones, it wasn't something to wish on anyone, especially not your parent. No child should be without their parents, but Dick wasn't a child. He was a grown man, as he tried to prove to Bruce for a long time, so why did he feel like a child? Like the small, scared child that watched helplessly as his parents fell to their deaths doing a routine that they had done a thousand times, doing a routine that he had just done a second before. And it was happening again. He was losing his parent and there was nothing he could do.
"So can you do it?" asked Robin.
"I am afraid I cannot," said J'onn.
"Oh," said a disappointed Robin.
"Why not J'onn?" asked Superman.
"Invading his mind while he is in such a delicate position could be fatal," said J'onn.
"Thanks anyway, J'onn," said Robin, then he turned and walked back to Batman's room.
"I didn't know telepathy could be fatal," said Superman.
"It is not," said J'onn.
"Then why did you tell Robin . . ."
"Because, I didn't want to know what Batman's final thoughts are."
"J'onn . . ."
"Superman, as a telepath I have a lot of invasive power. Only I alone can decide when my powers are ethical and unethical to use. I believe now, that in Batman's final hour, he deserves the privacy of his own thoughts."
