Chpt. 7

In School Ar Scoil

Nell was trying to keep her composure. She really was. However, Aoife could feel the excitement radiating from her friend's skin.

"So you're not mad at me?" Aoife whispered, trying to get Nell's mind off of the other person sitting next to her on the hospital bench.

"Not at all." Nell shrugged. "I was already thinking that Jason might have been some sort of assassin or killer or something because I knew that that was blood on his hands and not paint. And I knew that you knew about whatever Jason did because you're kinda bad at covering things up, no offense." Nell smiled, ever the detective. "And I can understand why you'd want to keep this all a secret."

Nell couldn't help but look over at Steph, who was out of costume now, waiting with the two kids.

"It's great to actually meet you without the… y'know… mask." Nell said with a smile, looking at her hero.

Steph smiled at her.

"I'm just sorry you had to be pulled into this mess." Steph sighed, but gave the girl a small grin.

"Well, at least Barbra's okay." Nell said with some optimism.

"Yeah, thanks to Aoife being so adamant about going to her. No offense Aoife, but you were kinda scary." Steph informed, and Aoife shook her head.

"I had been having dreams that I apparently needed to see and I was so confused what they meant, so I kept to myself. I'm just happy she's okay. If she died… it would have been my fault."

"So you kept seeing a crazy guy at a computer screen?" Steph questioned, and Aoife nodded.

"Do you know who it could be?" Aoife inquired, and Steph shook her head.

"'Fraid not."

"But I do." Barbra informed as Cass wheeled her out of the hospital room. "The only person capable of sending a blast from their computer similar to the Canary cry, and be able to hack though all of my codes, would be Calculator."

"But didn't his brain kinda fry?" Steph questioned.

"Fried brains get better?" Nell suggested with a small shrug.

"She may be right." Barbra nodded. "If he is still trying to get better, that would explain why he's going after Oracle and not Barbra Gordon. He most likely doesn't remember learning who I am. And it would explain why he sounds crazy to Aoife. Because he most likely is crazy."

"So what do we do now that we know this? How do we find him?" Steph questioned and Barbra looked over at Aoife.

"Aoife, do you think you could try to see where he is when you're in your dream state?" she inquired, and the girl nodded seriously.

"I'll try." She informed.

"Meanwhile Cass will stay with me while I'm on the computer to get me out if I need to." Barbra stated, and Cass nodded her head from behind the woman.

Just then, Dick entered the room and smiled ear to ear when he saw that Barbra was alright.

"Steph called and told me what happened, but I'm still happy to see that you're okay." Dick smiled.

"What happened to Slade?" Nell inquired. Dick first looked shocked at Nell but then remembered the conversation he had with Steph on the cell phone. Nell knew.

"Slade got away." Dick informed regretfully.

"Is everyone okay?" Aoife inquired with concern, and Dick nodded.

"Yeah, but I don't like how Slade's still loose." He grumbled. He and Slade went way back, and Aoife knew that Dick hated the man.

"We'll get him soon." Barbra said in a tired voice. "Right now we all need to get home. Nell, you're sleeping over the night?" Barbra questioned and the girl nodded.

"Alright, let's get home."

~*~*~*~*~*~Later That Night~*~*~*~*~*~

"She's still alive." Growled the man that Aoife figure was calculator. "Someone got her out of the room in time! You didn't do your job Wilson! You didn't have a big enough distraction!" the man shouted and Slade was on the phone.

"I held up a football game. There's many bats. It's going to take a lot to drive them away from the target." Slade responded.

"Just do it Wilson. Once you do you will be paid! Now get on it!" the man shouted, then hung up. "Time's a tickin'. Time's a tickin'. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock."

Aoife tried to look around the building, but she was being restrained from walking out the door. Whenever she tried everything started to fade. So instead she had to examine the room.

She looked at the paper and the room structure.

"It looks like a… school? The windows are taped up." Aoife noted at the black paper taped over the window.

Unfortunately, the image started to fade.

"No. No, I can't wake up!" Aoife exclaimed as she still tried to look around. "No, don't wake up!"

"No!" Aoife exclaimed, waking Nell up.

"Aoife, are you alright?" she questioned, eyes wide. Aoife grunted in frustration and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I couldn't find where he was. It's some school or something… the windows are taped up with black paper, but I can't see the building!" she exclaimed with frustration.

"Hey, it'll be alright. At least you know what it kinda looks like, right?" Nell said, and Aoife sighed.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt." She informed sadly.

"Don't worry Aoife. I'm sure everything'll be fine. Maybe you could draw the things that you saw. Maybe that'll help." Nell smiled, trying to comfort her friend.

With a shaking hand, Aoife reached out for a notepad and pencil and started to sketch what she saw.

"Looks like a class room." Nell stated, looking at Aoife's finished picture.

"That's what I was thinking when I was there." Aoife nodded.

"You should show this to Barbra tomorrow and see if she knows where this is." Nell informed, and Aoife nodded.

"Hey, Aoife?" Nell inquired, and Aoife looked her friend in the eye.

"Yeah?"

"What's it like to see in your dreams?" she inquired, and Aoife had to think about that for a moment. Nobody had ever asked her that before.

"Well… it's like I'm standing in the room with the person, but I can't touch anything, and sometimes when I try to move away, I can't leave a certain area. And I can't ever close my eyes. It's weird."

"It's cool." Nell smiled. She then glanced over at the clock and sighed. "We better go to sleep."

Aoife looked over at the clock and frowned at the red numbers blaring, 4:51.

"Sorry for waking you up." Aoife sighed.

"No problem." Nell grinned. "This has been the most exciting day of my life." She giggled, then got comfortable on the bed again.

"Good night, Aoife." Nell said with a yawn.

"Good night, Nell." Aoife smiled, then laid her head on the pillow.

Aoife didn't have any dream the rest of the night, which was a great relief to her.