Chapter 12
Bruce had always had good timing; it was something he prided himself on. Some of the other Justice League members had described his timing as uncanny; Flash had described it as weird. Dick mostly used to say that his timing was awesome, unless of course he came in just in time to catch Dick in the middle of getting up to some sort of mischief; then suddenly his timing was terrible. Almost everyone couldn't figure out why he had such good timing (Alfred of course knew his secret because he had taught it to Bruce and Dick knew it to because Bruce had taught him) but it was actually a simple trick. 'All humans are creatures of habit, Master Bruce' Alfred had explained to him, 'All one has to do is learn the habits of others and use that knowledge to one's advantage.' Bruce had taken that lesson to heart and utilized it as much as possible and it was that knowledge that lead to him cutting his patrol time short tonight so that he could check in on Dick, because even nightmares have habits, and Dick's had been making themselves known around the same time the past two nights. It was for this reason that Bruce wasn't all that surprised when Dick surged upright and into wakefulness in almost the same moment that Bruce had pushed his door open to check on him.
Dick was looking around wildly as Bruce moved to his side at a measured pace (he'd found out the previous night that rushing at Dick straight after a nightmare in his current state of mind only freaked him out more). He sat down on the bed next to Dick and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
Dick's wide eyes landed on him and seemed to only notice then that Bruce had entered the room. He froze for a moment and Bruce's heart clenched as it did every time it seemed like Dick had to remind himself that he supposedly knew Bruce, but then Dick dove into Bruce's arms and started sobbing.
"Bruce…" Dick moaned.
"Shh, shh, shh, it's alright, I'm here, you're home, you're safe." Bruce told him soothingly while rubbing his heaving back in comforting circles.
"Bruce," Dick said again, "Am I – this is real, right? I'm not dreaming?"
Bruce frowned at the question but firmly answered, "You're not dreaming, kiddo, I promise."
Dick let out a shuddering breath, "I was so sure I would wake up back in the white room so when I woke up and I was home I thought I had to be dreaming, but mom was right; you wouldn't have come to get me if it wasn't safe."
Huh? Bruce's frown deepened because that made no sense. He reached over to put Dick's bedside lamp on before pushing him back so he could see his boy's face, "What are you talking about, Dick?" he asked, "You're not making any sense."
Dick shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts, "Sorry, I was having this… this dream? Or hallucination? I don't know, but I was with my parents and it was like Zucko never killed them, like I had been living with them my whole life but I also knew that I hadn't because I kept expecting them to die every time they went on to the trapeze for their duet before the finale, like they did the night they… you know… but they didn't and we just carried on and we just carried on like normal. Until tonight when you came to have dinner with us and said it was time to leave and then we turned into Batman and Robin grappled straight out of my parents' trailer and I knew I was going to wake up and I was sure that I would wake up back in that damned white room even though just before we left my mom told me that you wouldn't have come for me if it wasn't safe and I knew she was right but I still expected it so when I woke up here and saw you I thought I might still be dreaming and…" Dick's long ramble trailed off as he noticed the way Bruce was looking at him, "What?"
Bruce was trying to wrap his mind around everything that Dick had just said and then suddenly something important sunk in, "Dick," he whispered, "Do you… what do you remember? Do you know who you are? Who I am? Alfred? The Titans? Everything? Anything?"
This time it was Dick who frowned at him, "… Of course I do," he answered slowly, "Why wouldn't I? Did I hit my head or something? I mean I don't remember getting here, the last thing I remember is the white room and Slade and -" he was cut off as Bruce suddenly pulled him back into his arms.
"Oh Dickie," and now it's Bruce that's sobbing, "Thank you."
Dick pulled away and looked up at Bruce in total confusion, "For what? I'm confused Bruce."
Bruce chuckled and ruffled Dick's hair, "It's a long story, kiddo." He answered vaguely, "How are you feeling though?"
"Uhm," Dick seemed to think about it for a moment, "Actually I'm exhausted, now that I think about it, which is weird because I feel like I must have been sleeping for a long time, and my arm is kind of sore… and my thumbs too."
Bruce nodded, "Yeah they'll still be sore for a while, but you're only due for another round of pain meds in the morning."
"Huh? Why do I need pain meds? They're just a little sore."
"Dick, your left shoulder and both your thumbs were dislocated."
Dick stared at Bruce in shock, "What? When did that happen? Why don't I remember it?"
"I don't know, kiddo," Bruce answered his last question, "But we'll figure it out in the morning. For now though, I think we should get some sleep; I think we may have a long day ahead of us."
Dick nodded, "Okay… Uhm… you think I could, you know, crawl in with you tonight? I don't want to be alone…"
Bruce nodded, "Of course, Dick, you know you don't need to ask."
Dick smiled, "Yeah, I do."
AN: Whoo hoo! Two chapters in two days! I love it when inspiration comes for a visit! I'll try to have the next chapter up by the end of the week guys! For those of you who were a little confused by the last chapter, I hope you're starting to understand it a little better now, it will be explained properly in the next chapter though.
Thank you again to all my followers and favouriters and reviewers! You all ROCK! Enjoy the rest of your week guys! I hope I'll be able to post on Sunday/Monday like usual but I'm going to watch Avengers 2 Sunday night (I can't wait!) so no promises.
Love you guys!