Hey there heartbreakerninja here,
Had a bit of a lightbulb moment and was attacked by rabbid plot bunnies. This angsty/fluffy piece is what came from that attack. I should say this now there are NO pairings in this dabblerish story. Any fluffy moments are family like fluff. Not romantic in any way shape or form. Also the charecters may come off a litte AU'ish. These robins personalities ( and batmans) are based if the all had lived, and so there personalities reflect that. So most of the charecters broodieness has been slightly eleninated. Also With Jasons background, I'm going with the one created in the batman cartoon created in the 90's (you known, the good one) just so ya know :)
Anyway hope you enjoy this next chapter. If you have any questions or comments or any ideas for the next dabble let ne know :)
See ya in the next chapter,
heartbreakerninja
It was a rare night. Batman had had the boys stay home that night and opted to just have Stephanie and Barbara out on patrol with him. When questioned by Dick, Bruce just said that Stephanie was lacking in areas of her training and he wanted her to get more one on one experience in training. Barbara was out with him only because he couldn't tell her to go home even if he wanted to.
Jason had shrugged saying he had midterms to study for anyway so a reprieve from patrol was fine with him. Tim was a little disappointed but got over it quickly when Bruce said he could play his video game for an extra hour and a half before bed that night. Damian was the one who was upset mostly because he had to go to bed if he wasn't out on patrol. Dick though was the one that Bruce was really worried about.
All though he didn't show it, Dick wasn't really happy with the fact that he wasn't on patrol that night. Not because he wanted to be out there with Batman but because the idea of going to bed wasn't all that appealing. Bruce knew this, and it was one of the reasons he wanted the boys to stay home that night. He wasn't really worried about the fact that they were up late. No what he was really worried about was Dick not getting enough sleep. He was worried about Dick because of one specific reason.
Dick had nightmares.
And not just any old nightmares either. They were terrible gut wrenching terrors of the night that would have him waking up in a cold sweat, most times screaming in what sounded like complete agony. The problem was though that Bruce didn't know how to help him. Dick had been having them since he was 8 years old when Bruce had first taken him in. At first Bruce thought it was because of the death of his parents but when asked about them he said he'd had nightmares for as long as he could remember. When asked what they were about Dick would get quiet and shut down refusing to answer.
Bruce had taken him too many top rated doctors and psychologist but none could help the boy. They all said that it stemmed from some kind of trauma in his past. At first they thought it was his parent's death but later realized it was something from further back and more deeply rooted. He was, at the time, only 8 years old. Whatever happened, it was strong enough to have left a deep and lasting scar on the child's psyche.
Years later and they still hadn't found a solution to them. The only way to combat them seemed to be complete exhaustion. It he was to the point of collapsing he would sleep deeply enough that he wouldn't dream. Other than that they hadn't found a way to stop them. Dick was a high school sophomore now and still struggled with the nightmares. He had missed out on many overnight trips with friends and classmates because of the nightmares. During the day Dick acted fine and would ignore the fact if he had woken up screaming again and continued to act normally.
It had scared Jason to death the first time he had stayed at the manor. Jason's room had been 2 doors down from Dicks with Bruce's being right beside Dicks just in case something happened.
On Jason's 3 rd night at the manor Dick had had a particularly bad nightmare that had sent Bruce running to his side. Dick had been trashing and screaming in utter agony that night and it had been the worst that Bruce had ever seen it. Jason had also come running thinking that someone was hurting his new friend. Bruce had ignored the boy for the moment, concentrating instead on waking Dick the rest of the way up and then comforting him. Thankfully Alfred had arrived to take Jason back to his room to wait for Bruce to come explain what was wrong. It had taken him close to an hour to get Dick to calm down and go back to sleep. By then Jason had looked quite frightened. Bruce could still remember the look on the poor boys face.
*flash back Jason's room*
When Bruce had finally gotten Dick to fall asleep he was exhausted but he couldn't sleep yet; he had another child to talk to that night. He quietly made his way down to the room he had given to Jason. He knocked but didn't get a response. Not that he expected one. Jason rarely spoke; still not used to the idea that he was allowed to.
Bruce opened the door slowly before sticking his head in to spot the child. Jason was sitting on the bed facing the door. He looked up when Bruce spoke.
"May I come in?" A small nod was given as consent and Bruce quietly shut the door behind him before he came to sit beside the small boy. Bruce was still unused to expressing emotions to others and the like but having the children around was helping. He was learning and that was what mattered. He gave a sigh before he began.
"I'm sorry that you had to see that, he hasn't had a nightmare that bad in a few months so I didn't think to warn you. I apologize for that." Bruce told the boy. Jason nodded while looking at his hands sitting in his lap.
"We're not sure what is causing them other than something that happened before he came to live with me." At this admission Jason looked at Bruce in confusion.
"Dick not your son?" Jason said in his still broken English. He was still learning how to use his own voice. Bruce shook his head with a sad smile.
"No Dick came to live with me, much like you did. His parents had died when he was eight years old. I'll leave it up to Dick on what he wishes to share outside of that as it has to do with him." Jason nodded to Bruce's explanation; understanding that it was Dicks story to tell. But he still had a question.
"Parent's death cause screams?" Jason asked trying to convey what he wanted to ask. Bruce shook his head.
"Not in the full extent. The nightmares are from something rooted in his past before his parent's death. Though their death may now also be a part of them. Dick doesn't like to say what happens in his nightmares. I'm not sure as to why but he's never told anyone the reason for them. I wish he would though; maybe then I could find a way to help him to overcome them. Maybe then he could get a descent night's sleep." Bruce shook his head and sighed tiredly before standing to help Jason back into bed.
"Sorry that you were woken up because of all this; but if you could try to not mention it too much in the morning; Dick, like I said, doesn't like speaking of it a whole lot. And again sorry you got woken up, try to get some more sleep." Bruce said rubbing his hand through the child's hair before leaving. He flipped the extra bright nightlight on as he walked towards the door. He then watched Jason snuggle down into the covers before shutting the door behind him.
"How did he take it?" Bruce stopped to see Alfred waiting in the hall. Bruce shrugged.
"I'm not entirely sure. He seemed to take it alright but it's hard to tell with his own emotional state. I guess we'll find out in the morning." Bruce said as he walked down the hall towards Dicks room; Alfred followed, worried about the child as well.
Peeking into the room Bruce could see that the boy was indeed asleep once again. His face did not convey peace but at least it didn't seem to be a nightmare. Sighing tiredly once again Bruce closed the door to just a crack. Dick was slightly claustrophobic and didn't like his door shut even with his room being quite large. Turning around he faced the older man waiting worriedly behind him.
"He's asleep. I don't think we'll have anymore nightmares tonight." Bruce said, answering the unasked question. Alfred nodded before putting a reassuring hand on the younger mans shoulder.
"We will get through this. Maybe he will get better as he gets older and starts to forget. He's still young so maybe time will heal what it has damaged." Alfred said, trying to comfort his friend and employer. Bruce gave him a weak smile in return.
"Thanks Alfred; I hope your right. It can't be doing him any good waking up like that. I can only imagine what is going on in that head of his." Bruce replied before both men bid the other good night before heading their separate ways.
*end of flashback*
Unfortunately nothing had ever helped and Dick was left to deal with the nightmares. Bruce tried to be there for him as much as possible but he couldn't be there all the time. At times like these when Dick was home alone or with the younger boys he worried that he would have a nightmare that was too much for him to handle on his own.
As Dick had gotten older he had gotten better at keeping his screams to himself. He even taught himself to automatically turn into his pillow if he woke up suddenly. This way if he woke up screaming no one would know. That is until the next morning when loss of sleep was evident on his face.
When Tim and then later Damian joined their ragtag family Bruce had spoken with both to let them know about the nightmares but not to mention them to Dick. He didn't want to worry them like what happened with Jason when he first started living with them. It wasn't till later that he realized that telling them not to mention it had caused them to be curious. More than once he had found either Damian or Tim outside Dick's door, peeking in to make sure their new big brother was alright.
He really hated having to leave them all at home like this but Stephanie really did need more training and the boys needed sleep no matter how much they said they didn't.
Bruce watched the boys from his spot by the bat computer. [He was waiting for Stephanie to arrive from an after school activity before heading out.] Jason was getting in some practice with the batarangs before he went up stairs to study for his midterms. Tim was busy trying to imitate Jason's moves but not doing quite as well. It was quite amusing to watch him try though. When he looked to see what Damian was up to he smiled warmly. Dick was standing behind Damian helping him with his form for his weapons practice.
Damian had experience, even for such a young age, in the art of assassination. It was taking a lot of work to break those habits. When he had first arrived he had 90% accuracy for kill shots and 20% accuracy on nonfatal shots. Since retraining he now had 85% accuracy for kill shots and 79% accuracy for nonfatal shots. It was still a long way off but he was getting closer to having a better accuracy for nonfatal shots. [Being the number one prankster in the Wayne manor was also helping him on his nonfatal attacks surprisingly enough.]
He watched the two boys for a few moments longer before turning back to the bat computer. He was graphing out the patrol routes for that night since it was going to just be him and the girls out that night. He didn't want to tire them out to much or have them out all night so he was graphing out the patrol routes accordingly.
The area with the largest police patrol he would only graze over leaving the cops to mostly take care of it. They would mostly focus on areas with businesses that criminals would think was easy pickings. They would also do a quick sweep over the residential area; not a long patrol but long enough to make sure it was all quiet. They would also do a wide sweep over the docks. There had been a lot of illegal activity there as of late and it wouldn't do to just graze over it. If they were lucky it would be a quiet night and they could work on some stealth drills.
Stephanie's over all stealth needed work. It was ok for the more normal criminals but for ones like The Riddler and Mr. Freeze she would be in big trouble if they spotted her. Her acrobatics had greatly improved since joining the cheerleading squad and working with Dick in the bat-cave but still had room for improvement. Her weapons control was not as good as Jason's, Dicks, and Damian's but was pretty spot on when she was concentrating. What she really needed to work on was her hot headedness. She had a tendency to get ahead of herself and that would have to be worked on.
A video feed came up for the camera set in the stair case for the secret entrance. It showed both Stephanie and Barbara coming down the stairs. Tuning away from the computer screen he saw that the boys had finished practicing and were heading towards the stairs themselves.
"Dick before you leave, can I talk to you for a moment, and Jason let the girls know to head straight to the changing area before coming over please." Batman asked before the boys made it to the stairs. Dick stopped and started his way while Jason gave a mock salute before heading up the stairs with the two younger boys trailing behind.
Batman waited for Dick to come to him; not wanting to speak loud enough for the others to hear. Dick sighed tiredly once he was standing before his adopted father.
"What's up Bruce?" Dick asked; though having an inkling as to what was going to be said. Bruce sighed lowering his cowl before speaking.
"Dick I need to know how you're feeling. I know the nightmares are still going on even though you hide them now. Don't worry I'm not mad just concerned. I'm not going to be around to night if they get to out of hand for you to handle. Usually when they are going to get extreme you know beforehand. So I want to make sure you are alright with this." Bruce asked his teenage charge with unrestrained worry in his eyes. Dick tried to look aloof and that he wasn't afraid of what he knew was to come. He wanted to tell Bruce no, that he didn't want him to go and leave him alone at the manor. Instead he pasted a fake smile on his face and shook his head.
"Don't worry I'll be fine. It probably won't be that big a deal to night." Dick tried to reassure himself just as much as he tried to reassure Bruce. For his part Bruce didn't look totally convinced. He could see the slight traces of fear in Dick's always expressive eyes.
The teen didn't realize it but his eyes made like an open book when he wasn't wearing his mask. All his emotions were plain to see in his eyes. Bruce wanted to say more but didn't want to push Dick. Aside from that the girls had finished changing into their respective costumes and were heading over to where he and Dick stood. Both put on smiles so not to worry the girls. Barbara didn't really know about his nightmares and he wanted to keep it that way. Stephanie knew a little but was in on that Dick didn't want it told to everyone. She had been there one night during a particular bad one and Dick felt bad for scaring the girl so bad back when she first started living with them.
"Hey Dick, looks like you boys will miss all the fun tonight" Stephanie teased as she gave her impromptu big brother a small hug. Dick smiled trying to look sad about them leaving him behind.
"Oh woe is me. How will I ever go on?" Dick said in a silly dramatic tone of voice as he pulled a dramatic pose of sadness making both girls to giggle at his silliness. Dick smiled and laughed along with the girls before he waved and headed for the stairs.
"Have fun guys; don't cause Bats to much trouble." Dick said before he headed up the stairs. Bruce watched as the teen disappeared from view before turning back to the patiently awaiting girls before him. He gave them a small smile before pulling his cowl back over his eyes falling into his bat persona.
"Alright you two lets head on out. We'll take the bat mobile out then head for the roof tops." The Batman said as he headed over to the driver's side of the bat mobile; the girls following him before they too go in on the passenger side.
Dick watched the trio from the shadows of the stairs till the vehicle sped out of the cave leaving only the echo of its passing. Dick let out a sigh before heading back down the stairs. He knew if he went up to his room that he would eventually fall asleep and then the nightmares would come. He really wasn't looking forward to that. He didn't really feel like scaring his impromptu younger siblings half to death and have poor Alfred running to him just because he couldn't handle a few nightmares.
Sighing to himself, Dick headed towards the Olympic grade gymnast bars that Bruce had installed back when Dick had been robin. They felt like a piece of the circus was still with him whenever he swung on them. Dick shook his head to rid himself of the memories that tired to surface before heading over to the bars.
Dick lifted himself on the lowest bar twisting and holding himself up and just spinning around to warm up before flipping easily to the middle bar. There he again did a few simple twists and holding himself in place before again flipping easily to the third and highest bar. There he again went through the warm up of a few simple twists and holds before moving to more complicated moves he had perfected over the years as a crime fighter.
To any on lookers it would look like he was almost flying with the way he would throw himself into the air, flipping elegantly before grapping the bar and spinning himself around to move along the bars once again. He continued this going faster and higher in the air. He let his mind wonder as he continued his fast pace. He thought about what had happened that day. His pace slowed slightly with the lack of concentration on what he was doing. He tried not to think about what was to come that night. He hated how he was afraid of sleeping. He wasn't a child anymore and hated feeling like he was still that scared little boy that Bruce had taken in all those years ago. He didn't have any problem taking down criminals and had no fear to go running across roof tops and swinging up to higher buildings. And yet he was terrified at what awaited him within his own mind when he closed his eyes.
Dick tossed himself high in the air in his agitation. Without really thinking he did mid air somersault but the timing was off and he wasn't in a good position when he came back towards the bar. A moment of panic came over when he missed the bar. Grasping out his hand he just managed to grab the bar with one hand jerking the muscles in his left arm painfully.
Hissing from the pain, Dick raised his right arm up so that he was grasping the bar with both arms. His left throbbed painfully. Knowing he wouldn't be able to swing himself over he shimmied himself over to the pole to slide down to the ground. Looking over at his left arm he could tell he had dislocated his shoulder.
Dick sighed. Alfred was not going to be happy with him. Berating himself for not paying better attention, Dick headed up the stairs to find Alfred.
An hour and one lecture later, Dick wearily headed into his room. Like he thought, Alfred had not been happy that he had dislocated his shoulder out of nothing less than carelessness. Alfred never yelled but he might as well have.
Sighing again Dick collapse awkwardly onto his bed. Now with his arm in a sling and shoulder wrapped for the next 2 days he was going to have nothing to exhaust himself with.
"Oh joy this is going to be interesting." Dick mumbled into his comforter. Sighing once again Dick flipped over onto his back before hefting himself up. Looking at the clock he saw that it was 10:30pm.
"Well, might as well help get Damian and Tim to bed." Dick thought as he headed back out of his room and down the hall where the two youngest rooms were located.
When Dick reached Damian's door he saw that they were both in there playing a board game. Dick cocked an eye brow at that. Though Tim playing a board game was not uncommon, Damian playing one and with Tim was. On top of that Bruce had said that they could play video games for an extra hour tonight.
"Whatcha two up to?" Dick said surprising both boys. Both smiled when they saw it was Dick.
"We're playing a game what's it look like?" Damian asked sarcastically. Dick rolled his eyes.
"I mean why are you playing a board game; Bruce said you could play video games till bed time. I thought you two would have taking advantage of that fact." Dick stated as he walked over to where the boys were located. Ironically the boys were playing clue.
"We were trying to stay under the radar till Alfred went to bed. We thought that if we were playing a board game he wouldn't think to tell us to go to bed. Unfortunately, we didn't figure on you coming out of the cave as soon as you did." Tim stated to Dick; trying to skip around what they really wanted to say. [We thought you'd be up all night training so not to have to sleep] They didn't have to say it; Dick knew it to be true. If he hadn't been careless on the bars he would still be down there, gliding across the bars trying to forget what the real reason was to him not being upstairs in his room.
Dick shook the reality of the reasons to the back of his mind and turned his attention to the two younger boys in front of him. He could clearly see the worry on their faces but tried to look like he didn't. Instead he put on a smile he didn't feel and bent down to their level.
"Well lucky for you I did come up here so now you can get into bed." Dick said as the two boys groaned before beginning to clean up their game, much to Dick's surprise.
Since they were in Damian's room he tucked in the smaller boy first before bidding him good night and shutting the door to just a crack. He then headed down two doors to Tim's room to get him ready for bed.
He had just gotten the child tucked in and was about to head out of his room when a small voice called him back.
"Dick?"
"What's up Timmy-bird?" Dick asked the younger boy with concern. Tim hesitated as he twisted the comforter in his hands.
"Are you- I mean will you- I uh mean- uh- are you ok?" Tim asked quietly after tripping over what he wanted to try and say. Dicks smile faltered before he looked a Tim with a small smile.
"It's going to be alright Timmy-bird just get some sleep Kay?" Dick said as comfortingly as possible; trying to reassure the worried child. Tim nodded mutely as he watched Dick leave the room.
Jason was in the hall waiting as soon as he shut the door.
"Were you being trueful?" Jason asked as Dick turned back towards his own room. Jason jogged to keep up with Dick's long strides as he walked brisk fully back down the hall.
"I don't know what you mean Jason; I just said everything is going to be alright." Dick said in an almost deadpanned tone of voice. Jason scrawled at the other teen before a crease of worry lined his face.
"Dick you aren't alone here; if you need me I can stay up with you. We can spar, or play a game, or watch TV, pig out on chips and cookies, or something till Bruce and the girls get back." Dick was almost taken aback by the worry and pleading in Jason's voice. Jason was the tough guy. He was the stronger one. He wasn't supposed to worry about Dick. Damian and Timmy sure but not Dick.
Dick sighed before turning towards the other boy with a said smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Sometimes I wonder who the big brother is supposed to be." Jason rolled his eyes at the comment as he ruffled Dick's hair; getting a squawk of indication from the smaller teen.
"It all depends on who needs it's the most I guess." Jason replied with a smirk at Dick tried to fix his hair back.
"But seriously Greyson, if you need me, I'm here for you." Jason spook softly but with a firmness that showed his seriousness in the situation.
Jason didn't like it when his family was in pain; and Dick had been in pain for a very long time. He hid it behind smiles and a can do carefree attitude but Jason always knew the truth. Dick was hurting and was scared and no one seemed to be able to figure out why. Not even Bruce had been able to figure out why.
Almost every night for as long as he could remember since moving in with Bruce he could remember waking up to Dick's screams and sobs. Now that Dick was older he was able to hide it more but every once and a while Jason would wake up to hearing Dick sobbing in his room quietly. He would feel so helpless. Dick had never told any of them what was in his nightmares but Jason could tell that they were of the most terrifying sort. Something that not even the scarecrow could create.
Jason shuddered at the thought. If scarecrow or even the Joker had ever found out about Dick's nightmares he wouldn't stand a chance. He just wished that the other teen would tell him or someone what was causing him so much pain. He was always such a mother hen with the rest of them. Always making sure they were alright and didn't need anything. So why couldn't he let one of them take care of him?
Dick gave him another one of his sad smiles that didn't reach his eyes. It was like he knew exactly what Jason was thinking.
"Like I said Jason; everything is going to be alright. Besides you have midterms to be studying for right?" Jason groaned at the reminder. He hated test of the school sorts. He'd take a fight with the Joker and his crowbar any day over having to sit and take a test.
"Well if push comes to shove you could always help me study?" Jason said; now grasping at straws, anything that would keep Dick from having nightmares.
Dick chuckled now it was his turn to ruffle Jason's hair. He had to reach a bit with Jason having had a growth spurt this past year and shooting passed him for the moment. Jason scowled at Dick before trying to fix his hair back.
"Nah I think I'll go take a shower and then finish some homework. Besides knowing you you'll ace the test anyway." Dick said with a wave as he headed back towards his room.
Ace, the families faithful German Shepherd, followed Dick into his bed room without the boy even noticing.
Jason sighed and shook his head while he watched him go. There wasn't anything else he could do except keep an ear perked to anything sounding off while he study. Ace would alert them if anything big happened. There was no way he was going to sleep right way though. With another heavy sigh, Jason trudged back to his room next door.
Since Tim had come to live at the manor Jason's room had been moved next door to Dick's since he was use to Dick's nightmares and wouldn't freak out as bad if he heard Dick's cries through the wall. That suited Jason just fine at the moment since it gave him a better chance to know if something was wrong. Even better was that his desk was against that wall. It looked like he was in for a long night.
*Sometime after midnight*
Having let his guard down after a few hours of not hearing anything from the room next door, Jason had fallen asleep at his desk. He hadn't meant to fall asleep but Algebra was a boring subject. So there he was sound asleep on his text book. It wasn't a wonder he didn't hear anything when it first started.
It started out quiet; just a few small restless movements and unhappy grunts from the occupant next door. It was so subtle, that the noise didn't even register to Ace the guard dog; who just happen to be sleeping in Dick's room that night. It wasn't till Dick knocked the book, that he had been reading before he fell asleep, to the floor did Ace take any notice. There was a reason Ace usually slept in either Dicks, or Bruce's bedrooms. He usually heard Dicks distress first.
Acting on training as a guard dog and on his PTSD training [Bruce's idea], Ace walked over to Dick's bed and nudged Dicks hand. When he didn't get any response he placed his front paws on the bed before nudging Dicks shoulder and head. Dick remained unresponsive and continued to moan and whimper in his sleep. Ace not being deterred Leaped lightly onto the bed and began licking Dick's face; trying to wake the young teen up. Still Dick didn't not respond. This was not unusual for Ace. If Dicks nightmares where anywhere near their worst it took a lot to wake him up. Ace then began to tug at Dick's sleeve. This seemed to only agitate the boy more.
Ace wined in distress. He had one more piece of training to use but even as a dog he knew to use it as a last resort as it would most likely alert everyone else to what was accruing. Ace got back off the Bed and began to bark trying to awaken his charge. His barks were tinged with wines as he was distressed by the lack of response from the boy he was trying to wake. The boy was now to the point of thrashing and was getting to the point of crying out. This only made Ace bark and wine louder trying to either wake the teen or someone else for help.
It wasn't until Ace started to bark that Jason woke with a start. His training with The Batman had him at full alert, ceasing even to breath while he listen to the quiet around him. Quiet that was interrupted by the sound of Ace's distressed Barks. Jason was on his feet instantly and out the door the next. He wasn't the only one as both the younger boys were coming out of theirs as well. Jason waved them back.
"Stay in your room's guys; everything's fine." Jason said as he turned back towards Dick's door. Jason began berating himself for not staying awake like he was supposed to. Not even hesitating he pulled the door open before heading into the room. He then hesitated as he took in the scene before him.
Dick was thrashing like mad, his face scrunched in fear and pain as he tried to fight off an enemy only he could see. Ace continued to wine and bark even after Jason had entered the room. It wasn't till Dick let out an agonized cry before Jason snapped out of his trance and sprinted over to the bed. Going by past experience, Jason straddled the distressed teen before grabbing at his wrists. This was difficult as he didn't have Bruce's extra strength or build. Jason and Dick's Body types may have been different but there strengths levels were about the same. This was making it difficult to restrain the distraught teen as he continued to thrash, unaware of what was really going on.
"Come on Dickey." Jason said with a grunt as he continued to try and restrain the boy. "You got to wake up! Come on Greyson! DICK!" Jason continued to yell trying to be heard over Dicks now agonized screams.
To say the least, Jason was terrified. He hadn't seen Dick in a nightmare this bad since they were kids. There were tears running down the smaller teens face as he continued to cry out. Dick continued to try and restrain him while at the same time trying to wake him up. He tried to remember how Bruce usually did it but the chaos that was Dick's room at the moment was not helping.
Finally he gave up on trying restraining his wrist and instead grabbed him in a massive bear hug; pinning Dick's arms to his sides while turning the teen into his lap. He continued to hug the teen to him while trying to wake him up.
Ace, wanting to help as well, ceased his barking but continued to wine as he jumped onto the bed and started to lick Dick's hands and face. The combination of Ace's wines and licks along with Jason's voice seemed to wake the teen up with a choked cry. Ace backed off but continued to wine as Dick finally woke up. Ace knew how Dick could be easily startled after a nightmare.
Jason tensed slightly as Dick began to thrash. He was awake but not enough to know that Jason was who had him and not some unseen enemy.
"Shhh Dickey-Bird; Shhh, it's ok, you're ok. Everything's fine. I'm here, I got you, Shhh." Jason said in Dick's ear calmly as he began to rock the frightened teen. As soon as he heard Jason's voice, Dick ceased his struggles. He just stopped and listened to Jason's voice as his heart continued to pound in his chest and he struggled to regain is breath.
It was only a dream. Just another horrible dream.
And just like that, it was like a switch. Dick turned and clung to Jason like a life line as sobs wracked his slight frame. Jason continued to rock to teen and allowed him to cry. He made soothing sounds and murmured comforting nonsense as he continued to rock and rub soothing circles across the others back. He didn't care if Dick was almost the same age as him. He didn't care that he was almost the same height and weight. Dick was his brother. Maybe not in blood but his brother still; and at that moment his brother needed him and he was going to be there for him. For as long as Dick needed he was there.
Turning his head slightly as he continued soothing the distraught teen Jason noticed Tim and Damian peeking around the corners with worry etched into their faces. Jason gave them the "everything's clear" signal with his free hand; never stopping his calming motions. Tim and Damian both nodded as they left back for their rooms. They knew Dick would not want an audience.
Soon Dick had calmed down enough that he eventually cried himself back to sleep. This didn't bother Jason as it was what usually happened. Whenever Bruce would come to wake him from a nightmare Dick would usually tire himself out to the point that he would fall asleep in his guardian's arms. Jason continued to rock the now unconscious teen as his grip on his shirt lessened. Jason carefully pulled himself along with Dick so that he was leaning against the head board as he continued to rock the sleeping teen. Alfred chose that time to come into the room.
"How's he doing?" Alfred asked quietly; worry tinting his voice, as he came to sit on the side of the bed. Jason sighed before answering.
"He cried himself to sleep again. It must have been a pretty bad one with the way he was fighting me and thrashing around. It didn't even faze him when Ace was barking like mad." Jason said as he indicated towards the German shepherd who was sitting once again on the floor with his head lying on the bed. Alfred scratched behind the ears of the dog affectionately before sighing.
"Master Bruce was hoping that with Ace's training as a PTSD Dog that he would be able to help." Alfred said as he turned back to the teens. Jason nodded in understanding.
"For the most part Ace's training does help. I know for a fact that he is able to wake Dick up when the nightmares aren't at their worse and when they are bad he's able to alert the rest of us that something is wrong. No matter if Ace is in Dick's room or Bruce's, he's usually the first to hear when Dick starts getting restless." Jason answered in defense of the faithful hound whose tail was wagging from hearing his name being used multiple times. For a guard dog he sure likes attention.
Dick stirred in his sleep causing both Alfred and Jason to still. Thankfully he only snuggled further into Jason's shoulder and continued to snooze peacefully. Both Jason and Alfred let out the breath they didn't know they were holding in relief. It wouldn't be the first time Dick would have multiple nightmares in a row especially if the first was an especially bad one. Dick shivered slightly and Jason reached to pull the blanket over him. Jason smiled down at the teen as he snuggled further into his shoulder.
"He's almost childlike when he sleeps. It's like all his barriers have come down." Jason commented as he watched his brother sleep. Alfred nodded.
"Yes except for the nightmares he's a care free sleeper." Alfred commented with a stifled yawn. Jason noticed it anyway.
"Why don't you go ahead and go back to sleep Alfred. I can stay with him till morning." Jason said knowing the man was going to need as much sleep as he could get. Alfred sighed before nodding.
"Well I'm not sure about sleep but I think I might get a late night snack from the kitchen, would you like anything?" Alfred asked the teen. Jason shook his head.
"Nah I'm good. Once I'm sure he's ok I'll go and grab my text book and just read it while I sit with him." Jason answered. Alfred nodded before bidding him good night and heading towards the kitchen.
Jason sighed before looking down at the sleeping teen that, at that moment, had a death grip on his shoulder. No way he was going anywhere soon even if he wanted to. Jason sighed, for what felt like the hundredth time that night, before he leaned his head back against the head board. Thankful that he wasn't in an uncomfortable position Jason closed his eyes as he continued to rock his sleeping brother.
He hadn't known he had fallen asleep till he felt someone shaking his shoulder gently and whispering his name. Cracking his tired eyes open he saw a blurry image before it cleared to show a worried Bruce Wayne standing before him.
"Bruce?" Jason said a little slurred as he struggled to wake back up. Bruce's smiled tiredly before indicating to something leaning against him.
"Bad night?" Bruce said worriedly. Jason tired mind was confused until he looked down and the sight of Dick still curled into his shoulder caused the memories of the night to come flooding back to him. Jason nodded grimly.
"What time is it?" Jason asked a little tiredly. Bruce indicated towards the clock which read 6:00am.
"Almost dawn. The girls and I just got back about 20mins ago. Found Alfred asleep over the remnants of his sandwich. He filled me in on what happened. He said it was a particularly bad one." Bruce informed the teen worriedly. Jason again nodded. He figured Alfred had gone back to bed. Apparently he never made it that far.
"How was Steph's on the job training?" Jason asked. Bruce chuckled.
"Well it could have been worse." Bruce smirked at Jason's questioning gaze. "She tackled a large cat thinking it was a burglar. Though to be fair the shadow it cast on the wall did look like a burglar." Bruce said trying not to laugh. Jason chuckled trying not to laugh and wake Dick. It was amusing to see Bruce laugh about a mistake. When he was Batman he was harsher and more authoritative. Then when the cowl comes off it's like a second personality. Bruce was kind but still stern. One thing was for sure he was a protector no matter what personality was showing through.
Dick stirred in his sleep causing Jason to return to his earlier rocking till the teen had calmed again. Jason sighed before turning back to Bruce's concerned look.
"He's been like that off and on all night. As soon as I try to leave it's like the nightmares know he's alone again and he gets restless." Jason said worriedly. Bruce nodded knowing what he meant.
"I really don't know what we can do for him anymore than what we already do. None of the doctors I've taken him to over the years could help. I thought Ace would help since he is a trained PTSD Dog; but not even he's been any help in slowing them down. The only option the doctors have given us that we haven't tried is medication and Dick and I both detest in doing so." Bruce said with a scowl before continuing. "Though if this keeps up at this pace I may have no other choice. Nothing else is working and his grades are slipping because of it. It's almost to the point that I may have to keep him home more from patrol just so he can get some sleep. I'd hate to do so though since he loves being out there and helping people and on top of that it exhausts him enough to help him sleep soundly. But I'm out of ideas. I can't see him continue to suffer." Bruce said exasperated and worried and frustrated all at the same time. Jason nodded in agreement. He felt the same way. Something had to be done.
"I wish he would just tell us what's going on in that bird-brain of his. Maybe if he told us what's so frightening about what he's seeing we could help him overcome it." Jason said a little frustrated himself. He ceased his rocking without even noticing as he talked causing Dick to stir once again. Seeing the boys beginning distress Bruce sat on the edge of the bed and began to rub the teens back in soothing circles. Dick calmed instantly bringing a small smile to Jason's face.
"I don't know why that seems to work, but every time he stirs and begins to fall into a nightmare, just a little human contact seems to sooth him right back into sleep. You'd think I was rocking a kid Damian's age instead of a teen almost my age." Jason said with a strained chuckle. Bruce shook his head and shrugged.
"Beats me; he's always been that way. When he was younger and would fall asleep on the couch, while watching TV, all Alfred or I had to do was rub his back and he would calm instantly. Never could figure out why, might be something his mother or father did when he was little and all this started." Bruce answered. In truth he had always wondered why Dick responded that way in his sleep. In any case it was nice to know when he was in the throes of a milder nightmare, all they had to do was rub his back or hold him and he would calm.
It was almost like Dick de-aged when he slept. Like he was still that little 8 year old that Bruce took in all those years ago and not the independent teenager he actually was. It made him wonder if he didn't seem himself as a younger version of himself in his dreams. Maybe that was why he was so frightened. He saw them the way a small child sees the boogieman. He really wished the teen would tell him what was wrong.
Bruce looked at the clock once again before standing. Jason followed his movements with his eyes as he started to rock his sleeping brother once again.
"I guess it's a good thing that today is Saturday and you guys don't have any school. If he finally calms down enough try to slip out and get some sleep. If he continues to be restless try to get him to grab hold of Ace instead of your shoulder. Sometimes that works." Bruce advised Jason before he headed for bed himself. He wasn't needed in the office that day so he was going to use his day to catch up on some sleep and then maybe hang out with his kids.
Jason watched Bruce leave before he returned his attention to the teen still curled up into his lap and shoulder. He then looked down at the floor where Ace sat watching him.
"Up Ace." Jason commanded. Ace instantly reacted to the command and was up on the bed. He came over to Jason and Dick and nudged Dicks shoulder lightly with his nose. Jason chuckled at the dogs antics. "Lay down." Ace reacted to the command by laying down right beside Dick. Carefully Jason detached Dick from his shoulder and laid him beside Ace. Dick squirmed a bit till Ace acting on his training nudged Dicks shoulder getting the boy to latch on around the dog's shoulders. This gave Jason just enough room to be able to scoot loose of Dick completely and to scramble out of the bed.
Turning back towards the bed, Jason could see that Dick had both arms around the dog while Ace had turned onto his side so that he was comfortable and so Dick could curl closer to him. Jason smiled and wished he had a camera. Quietly Jason left the room and headed back to his to hopefully get some more sleep.
Dick woke a few hours later with little memory of what had transpired that night. That wasn't anything out of the ordinary as he often couldn't remember what happened between nightmares and waking up. All he could remember was someone telling him everything would be alright and feeling safe. Other than that he was clueless. Opening his eyes he found himself with a face full of fur. Too tired to really care; Dick pulled his head back only to get a big sloppy wet doggy kiss.
"EWWW Ace EWWW come on now quit that." Dick said while trying not to laugh as he was under attack by the large dog's big wet tongue. Ace just wagged his tail and ignored the command and continued to lick the boy. Dick giggled while he continued to try and push the big dog off of him. "Ok Ok I'm up. Good grief you silly mutt. You're such a goof." Dick said as he wrapped both arms around the happy dog in a hug.
"Last I checked Ace was a purebred not a mutt. Though I will have to agree with you on that he is a big goof." Dick looked up to see Bruce in the door way with a try in his hands. "Thought you might be hungry so I brought you up some lunch." Dick raised an eyebrow at that. Since when did Bruce bring food up to them? Then it hit him. Another nightmare. Bruce always brought up lunch to him if he had a particularly bad night.
Dick laid his head on Ace's shoulder as he gave the dog another hug.
"How bad was it this time?" Dick asked sullenly. Bruce sighed as he laid the tray on the bed side table. He then sat down on the edge of the bed.
"I'm not really sure; Jason was the one that came in. From what I could tell from him it was pretty bad." Bruce said quietly. Dick pushed his face deeper into the dog's fur, not wanting to look up at his guardian and father figure. He was embarrassed and ashamed that he couldn't handle a nightmare without having someone else there with him.
Bruce noticed the boy's distress and pulled him away from the dog to pull him into a tight hug. Dick stiffened at first before accepting the comfort that was being given. He felt like he was 8 years old again and Bruce was there to let him know he wasn't all alone.
"It's ok to be scared and need help Dick; that's what families for" Bruce told his adopted son. Dick couldn't help it. It was like that was all he needed to hear before he totally broke down and jut sobbed as he clung to his mentor and father figure.
Bruce allowed the teen to cry. He knew he was in pain and that sometimes crying was the best way to express what you felt. So he let Dick sob as held him tight and whispered comforting nonsense over and over.
They would get through this. It was taking a long time. But they would get thought his. It would just take one step at a time.
Sorry this is so long. I had so much to say and didn't really want to split it into another chapter with this suppose to be a dabbler lol