Hmm, I have little to say this week. Other than complaining about the fact that fanfiction is not giving me any of my email (PM's and story alerts) I've got nothing. Oh, yes I do. I would like to say that this is the second to last post of "Of Gumshoes and Moonlighters." On November 1st this story is coming to a close. And I'm starting wrestling season but you don't care about that.

Disclaimer: Balkoth does not own Teen Titans. They would be the property of DC comics and Cartoon Network.

The Awakening

There was a very steady, very comfortable beeping somewhere. It wasn't all that interesting but served to distract Richard from the pain he was feeling. And Richard was in pain; there was no mistaking that. The hypnotic beep made everything better.

Richard could see himself, as if his eyes had leapt from his head to afford him his present viewpoint, standing in a never-ending line surrounded by bright yellow light. Richard saw himself advance in time with the beeps. He conjured the image of St. Peters standing at the gates of Heaven and scanning everybody who approached as if they were grocery articles. The beep was just a more modern way to check who got into Heaven and who didn't. Richard was a little impatient as the line moved forward. He'd never liked standing in line.

The light started to fade away but Richard could still hear the mechanical sound. There was movement nearby; there were voices at work, and by the sound of it both the voices and the movement were frantic. "Get me the anesthesia; he's coming out of it!" Richard just barely registered something cold and rigid, plastic, being pressed his mouth and then he floated away again.

When Richard next awoke he was surprised by what met his eyes as he took in his surroundings. He was in a hospital bed and dressed in a cheap paper gown. The walls were a bright white that hurt his eyes. He reached for his left breast pocket only to discover that the gown didn't have one and, thus, his sunglasses wouldn't be there. The ceiling and floor each had an inch of colorful wallpaper right on the fringe. Blue and yellow. It wasn't really so much a pattern as a pitiful attempt to lighten the atmosphere, thick with the smell of medication and disease.

"Mr. Grayson? You're awake?" Richard jerked his head around at the sound. The voice was soft and feminine but sounded harsh and unnatural to him. The nurse who had just poked her head through the door came into full view. She had a cherubic face and wide mossy eyes that complimented her earthy hair. Richard's first impression was that he was looking at a nymph.

Richard tried to sit up; but, as soon as he lifted off the mattress, gravity and dizziness grabbed him and dragged him back down. The nurse bustled over to prevent Richard from sitting up again. It was a good thing she did because Richard was already preparing to force himself into a sitting position when she finally laid a slender hand on his shoulder.

"You need to rest, sir." She said it kindly but there was an authoritative note to her voice that made it clear that she was not to be trifled with.

Richard tried to sit up regardless and barely got two centimeters off the bed before she forced him back down gently but with finality. Richard opened his mouth to speak and his words caught in his throat until they formed a giant lump that made it hard for him to breath. Richard closed his mouth, swallowed the lump, and tried again. "What happened?" Richard asked. His own voice felt alien, neglected, and harsh.

The nurse blinked a few times. Richard took the time to look for her nametag. Maddie, as Richard learned she was called, answered after a brief pause. "You don't remember?" she asked. "I was hoping you would." In response to Richard's questioning gaze she added, "Nobody seems to know what happened. The news made it out to be an industrial accident or something but the next day they were calling it a terrorist attack. It couldn't have been industry though: there isn't any real industry in the part of the city where you were found."

Richard closed his eyes and tried to remember. There had been a lot of pain and wind. Had it been a terrorist attack? For some reason, Richard doubted it. Richard remembered that he was Richard Grayson, a private detective. He had a girlfriend named Rachel Roth. He had a partner named Garfield Logan and the two of them were working on a case. Richard couldn't remember what the case was. His memory didn't seem to extend that far, as if, for some reason, select pieces had been cut out and discarded.

To give himself time to think and hold off the next question Maddie was going to throw at him, Richard asked, "Where is Gar?"

"Mr. Logan was discharged two weeks ago. He's been back to visit you almost every day." Richard saw a small smile creep onto Maddie's lips as she decided that Richard didn't have amnesia.

Richard attempted to get up again and this time Maddie, with a resigned sigh, lent him her shoulder. As soon as Richard was on his feet, Maddie stepped away. It took all of one second for Richard to topple back to the bed. "Will you stay down this time?" Maddie asked with a twinge of exasperation coloring her tone. Richard glared at her but didn't try to get up again.

"Good," Maddie said. She walked over to the wall and Richard noticed that a few wires were leading to him. It was strange that he hadn't seen them until now. He was plugged into some machines, none of which had a discernable purpose to Richard's eye. After she made a few notes on a clipboard hanging above the whirring machines, Maddie left.

ooooo

It took a little less than two days for Richard to remember why he hated hospitals. Aside from Maddie's check-ins to make sure Richard hadn't died or made a renewed break for freedom and Garfield's frequent visits, Richard was left with nothing to do but contemplate the bare white walls. They flashed bright sunlight into his eyes, reminding him that he was trapped inside on what promised to be a nice day.

"Hey, Dick," Richard diverted his gaze from the drab walls and focused on Garfield. "How are you holding up?"

Richard sat up straighter in bed and gave a tiny shrug.

"That's a relief," Garfield laughed. "Still drawing a blank on how you ended up here?" Garfield asked. Garfield made a habit of posing questions like this, as if trying to trigger some sort of memory recall. It had worked a little but it still irked Richard: if Garfield knew something he should have been telling Richard not the other way around. Of course, if Garfield had told him Richard wouldn't have believed him. That was why Garfield kept hoping that something would give Richard a push in the right direction.

"What have you been up to since yesterday?" Richard asked lightly. Even if he didn't openly admit it, Richard was desperate for any sort of news from the outside world: there were only so many times one could count the number of leaves that stubbornly clung to the trees next to the window before going insane.

"Oh," Garfield waved his hand to dismiss the question, "nothing special. Dodging reporters who want to know the truth about what happened and checking up on a few things."

"They won't go away, Gar. You should just answer a few of their questions."

"Tell you what, Dick. When you remember, you have my permission to answer all the questions you want. Me – I prefer to keep this to myself." Richard chuckled. Garfield loved the limelight. Why he was staying quiet wasn't something that Richard could fathom.

"Have you seen Rachel or Miguel recently?" Richard asked as Maddie entered the room and silently went about recording data.

Garfield glanced sideways at Maddie. "Yeah," he said slowly, choosing his words carefully, "I've seen Rachel a little." Richard puzzled over why he hadn't. If Maddie and Garfield were right, this story would have gotten to everybody in Jump City by now. Why hadn't Rachel visited? Some part of Richard knew the answer and he woke up in the dead of night, sweat dripping from his brow, as the thought wormed its way back into the depths of Richard's mind where he could not consciously follow.

"Well," Richard prompted, "how is she? Come to think of it, where is she?"

The lay person would not have noticed how Garfield started to clasp his hands together before catching himself and hastily stuffing the offensive hands into his pockets. Richard, being a little more observant than the lay person, followed the movement and finished by staring at Garfield's pockets. "Rachel's alright," Garfield lied.

"Gar," Richard sighed, his eyelids drooping in defeat, "what aren't you telling me?"

Garfield looked as if he was about to lie again, but then he thought better of it. "Well Dick, this whole thing was a little disastrous. It could have been worse, but it was still pretty bad."

"Gar," Richard growled while grinding his teeth together.

"Just be patient, Dick," Garfield insisted while throwing Maddie, who was now entering an observation for the third time, a significant look. "I'm getting to it." Maddie, after running out of reasons to justify her continued presence in the room, exited with leaden feet. "Tell me everything you remember – no matter how unimportant you think it is," Garfield said. Richard told him.

"So you remember wind and pain?" Garfield asked. "What about light?" Richard slowly nodded his head slowly. "What color was it?" Garfield pressed.

"I think is was red."

"Right," Garfield allowed a sad chuckle. "Red light, howling wind, indescribable pain. Do you remember people?"

Richard didn't remember people at all yet at the same time he ventured a tentative guess. "Rachel?"

Garfield walked over to the window and surveyed the world outside. Richard could see the pain in his face. "All three of us," Garfield said at length. "We were all there: you, Rachel, and I. Of course, you were a last minute addition." Garfield smiled but it was like chumming the water and the dark aura around him only increased.

Richard watched Garfield in silence for a moment and cast his thoughts as deeply into his mind as he dared. There was only one thing Richard could think of that would connect all the dots. "Whatever happened to The Raven?" – and Garfield helped him out of bed to show him.

Next Update: Wednesday, November 1, 2006