It should be that in a perfect world that I'd dream of wonderful things all revolving around Jason. In a perfect world, I would get at least one night of decent sleep. But I digress; I did clonk out around two for about an hour or so, enough time for Jason to sneak out.
My dreams were horrifying. I saw Tim, lying dead in the Batcave. I saw Jason leaving, never coming back. I saw Bruce killing the Joker. I saw my parents' death over and over. I awoke with a start after reliving their fall in slow motion. Jason was gone.
In a normal house, three o' clock in the morning is when everyone is asleep. The Wayne Manor has never been a normal house though. Despite it's charming appeal from the outside view, once anyone ventured inside –or more rather downstairs- the house was anything but homely. I did not see Jason on my way to the cave, and I was okay with that. I did not want to face him yet, after last night.
Alfred was down in the cave alone with Tim. I was surprised to see that Bruce had gone, Damian; not so much so. Bruce had felt so much loss starting with Jason. It was hell for him any time on of us came to him broken, it brought everything back to him.
"Alfred." I wandered over to his slumped form. "You should go to bed."
He looked up as if I was a ghost.
"Oh, Master Dick, I couldn't do that." I put my hand on his shoulder.
"Really Alfred. You need sleep." He looked at me with tired eyes.
"I already sent Bruce off a few hours ago." He muttered, straightening up. "Make sure that the boy is okay? He shouldn't be waking up for a few more hours, when we can access the damage."
"Did it hit his spine?" I looked down to his sleeping form, so peaceful. It would have been much more peaceful had he not been hooked up to several different machines.
"Thankfully, no. This family seems to have a predisposition to spinal injuries as it is." I laughed at his dry humor.
"Go on up. I'll watch him." He turned from me. "And Alfred?"
He turned back around.
"You keep this family sane, you know that?" I smiled at him, hoping I could convey the gratitude that Bruce had never shown.
"Oh I am well aware this family would fall apart without me." He smiled. "But the excitement keeps me young Master Dick."
He walked back up the stairs as I chuckled, sitting down at the Batcomputer. I thought about the current situation. Joker knew all of our secret identities. He had been picking us off one by one, but we were all here now, so he would have to get all of us now. It seemed unlikely that he would actually pick any one of us off. Apart we were strong. But together? Forget about it. But then again, Joker was never much for just random killings, especially of the Bat family. His scheme behind it must be elaborate at best.
I grew restless, just sitting there. My mind kept racing over all of the things that Joker could have concocted. He could be pulling us in, together for something. I grew paranoid. I did the only thing I could when I felt cramped and paranoid, I started working out.
It may sound silly, but feeling the pain of my muscles, feeling the pull of the tendons and the joints come alive made me feel better. I sat on the floor, doing push-ups until I couldn't think anymore. I worked out all of my frustration, all of my fear and anger. I did countless sit ups and push-ups until my body screamed in protest, and then did more. It was exhilarating.
At around eight, Bruce came down to check on Tim, relieving me of my post.
"Alfred said that he is going to be alright." Bruce nodded at me, sweating on the floor as if it was an everyday scene. "The bullets did not hit anything too major."
"Good." I stood up to him. "I'll uhh, go take a shower."
"Good idea." Bruce was a man of few words, a trait that I still hadn't gotten used to. He was much more, not happy, but more…naïve when I was Robin. After Jason died and Barbra was shot, he became a darker Batman.
The shower was scalding. I loved taking scalding showers; somehow the heat took my mind off everything that bothered me. I could just stand there, not having anyone rely on me. Stupid, I know.
I heard a knock on the door, a slight rapping. I did not know anyone in the Wayne house who would knock softly, everyone was much too abrasive.
"This house has more than one bathroom!" I yelled over the sound of the running water.
"Too bad, I'm coming in anyway." Jason walked in and I practically slipped on my ass. He had softness in his features. An afterglow, if you will.
"Jesus." I regained my balance and rinsed my hair. He just stood there, staring with his hands folded over his chest. I shut the water off and grabbed a towel off the rack, wrapping it around my waist.
"Is Tim okay?" He asked me, avoiding the elephant in the room.
"Yea, Alfred said that he'll be fine." I shook my hair out like a dog, getting Jason wet. "Where did you go this morning?"
He looked uncomfortable. He shifted his weight on one foot and avoided my gaze.
"I had to go." He cleared his throat. "Meet up with Kori and Roy." He said it like it was all one word. Meetupwithkoriandroy.
"What for?" I looked up at him. It didn't bother me before that he was hanging around with Kori, it shouldn't now.
"Well they wanted to know what happened, why I bailed out on them when the Joker broke out of Arkham." He looked over at me. I saw a blush spreading across his cheeks before he turned his face away. I looked down at my abdomen. There were three sets of long scratch marks running from my chest down my pelvis.
"What did you tell them?" I folded my arms over my chest, not doing a very good job of covering them.
"The truth." He still didn't look directly at me. "I had family business I needed to take care of."
His eyes scanned over my body, from head to toe. Hid gaze lingered on the scratches a second to long before he lifted his gaze to mine. His bright blue eyes never ceased to amaze me. They held such knowledge, such pain and wisdom.
"Sorry about those." He smiled a crooked smile. He made no move to come closer, so I did. I closed the distance between us and brushed the hair off his forehead.
"Sorry about that." I pulled the collar of his jacket down, revealing a large, purple hickey.
He laughed with me. We forgot everything going on downstairs. We forgot the Joker and Batman and Kori and Roy.
"This is so weird." He cupped my face in his callused hands.
"The weirdest." I agreed, kissing him without thinking. I knew it would only blow up in our faces later.