Chapter 13

The next morning Bruce experienced a brief period of panic, starting from when he woke up to find he was alone in bed and lasting until he found Dick sitting on one of the bar stools by the breakfast bar in the kitchen; leveling the full force of his pout at Alfred.

"Oof," Bruce said, "Alfred, what did you say 'no' to to deserve the pout of mass destruction?"

"I can't say that I have the foggiest idea, sir." Alfred answered drily, though Bruce could hear the smirk in his voice and wisely kept his back turned to Dick as he continued preparing breakfast.

Dick turned the 'pout of mass destruction' on Bruce, "He won't tell me what's been going on." He complained, "I still don't remember how I ended up here."

Bruce studied Dick carefully, "What do you remember?" he asked.

"White." Dick answered with a slight wince, "Nothing after that except for that dream with my parents and waking up last night."

"Do you remember anything before the white? Or any specifics about the white?" Bruce asked as he claimed a seat next to Dick.

"Master Bruce," Alfred interrupted them, finally turning around, "Don't you suppose the two of you ought to have some breakfast first before getting into such weighty matters?"

Bruce nodded, "He's right, kiddo," Bruce told Dick, "I think we both have long stories so we should get some food in first."

Dick looked like he might argue but Bruce cut him off before he could, "Use the time to really think about what it is that you remember exactly, I want specifics."

Dick rolled his eyes at Bruce as Alfred placed a plate loaded with eggs, bacon and toast in font of each of them, "Alright." He agreed and then added with a grin, "I suppose I'll be too busy stuffing my face with Alfred's cooking to talk to you any way! This breakfast looks and smells delicious, Alfred."

Alfred smiled at Dick, "Why thank you, Master Dick, but will you please refrain from 'stuffing your face' as you put it. I would hate for you to choke on your bacon."

Dick chuckled and the sound made Bruce's heart do a little happy dance; it was the first time he had heard Dick laugh in a long time.

Half an hour later they had relocated to Bruce's study.

"Okay," Bruce said as they both settled into the couch opposite the fireplace, "Tell me everything. What do you remember from before the white room?"

Dick shook his head as if clearing it, "The last clear memory I have is breakfast with the Titans," he started, "Then an alert that that Doctor Light had been spotted in the lower part of town, the co-ordinates lead us to a warehouse. There wasn't any sign of Doctor Light but I wanted to check the warehouse out for any clues…we went inside… and then it gets really hazy." Dick's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember, "I think… there was an," he gasped and shot to his feet, "An explosion!" he exclaimed, with an urgent look in his eyes, "Bruce, the Titans! We need to find out if they're okay!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Bruce stood up as well and placed his hands on Dick's shoulders, "The Titans are fine. I spoke to Starfire last night; they're all still alive and well."

Dick's shoulders slumped in relief, "Oh, thank goodness." He said as Bruce lead him back to the couch and they settled down again, "Uhm, so where was I? Oh right; explosion. Sorry." Dick took a deep breath before carrying on, "The explosion in the last thing I remember before waking up in the white room."

Bruce nodded, "Makes sense that it would be. What do you remember about the white room?"

Dick took another deep breath and Bruce knew this part would be difficult for Dick to recount but he also knew that Dick needed to talk about it as soon as possible because that was how Dick healed; he talked.

"I remember waking up to this bright white light, which hurt, but my eyes adjusted and then I saw that everything was white. The walls, the restraints and I was even dressed in white." Dick visibly shuddered.

Bruce felt his anger suddenly spiking as Dick's words sank in, "He didn't make you dress yourself?!"

Dick flinched and shook his head, "No… I woke up like that."

Bruce had to close his eyes and focus on not getting up to punch the nearest wall for a few seconds before telling Dick to carry on.

Dick took another breath, "I was tied down to a bed and I could barely move." he shuddered again, "It was completely quiet at first but then all of a sudden there was this static and it was so loud and I tried to keep my cool but it was just too much and I couldn't take it…" he trailed off to take a deep, shuddering breath again and Bruce had to concentrate on controlling his anger once again, "The noise stopped after a while and I knew, right then and there, what was going on; that whoever had me was putting me through white torture. I remembered learning about it, how it's meant to strip a person of their identity… and then Slade came in and told me that was exactly what he was planning on doing: he was going to keep me in there for a few months until I was just a shell of myself and then he was going to build my mind back up the way he wanted it to be his…" Dick shuddered again and Bruce decided that the best way to control his anger and to help his son get through the rest of what he remembered would be to hold him so he threw an arm over Dick's shoulders and pulled him close to his side.

Dick seemed to relax a tiny bit at that and carried on, "Then he left and the sound came back and I swear it was louder than before and I wanted to cover my ears but I couldn't because I was tied down and I just wanted it to stop and to come home." Dick's voice broke at the last word and he stopped to take few deep breaths.

"It's okay," Bruce said as Dick breathed, "You're okay, you're home, you're safe."

Dick sniffled, "I know, it's just I could feel myself slipping the longer I was in there. At one point I tried to think of my parents and I could barely remember their faces and…" Dick trailed off, his brows furrowed in concentration again, "Actually that's the last thing I do remember of that white room from hell, the next thing after that is the dream with my parents."

Bruce frowned a little, "Nothing else?" he asked

Dick shook his head, "Nothing."

"So you don't remember how your shoulder and thumbs got dislocated?"

Dick shook his head again, "Not at all."

"Hm," Bruce hummed in contemplation, "Tell me about the dream."

Dick seemed to relax as he delved into the dream of living with his parents from waking up in his parents' trailer to performing every night, waiting for them to fall and then just carrying on when they didn't to the dinner with Bruce, "And then I woke up in my bed and you know the rest."

Bruce nodded, "Yeah… It's interesting, it's like the moment you realized that you really were losing yourself you barricaded yourself within your mind and created a place where you knew you would be safe until it was safe for you to come back out again." He mused.

"Why would I have known to do that? I wasn't exactly having clear thoughts." Dick said.

"I don't know," Bruce said, "Maybe it was just your subconscious' way of protecting your mind, like a knee-jerk reaction thing. If that is the case then you've definitely mastered all the methods I've taught you to protect your mind with. I think I'd like J'onn to come and have a look at your mind though, if you don't mind."

Dick shook his head, "That's fine; I want him to make sure that I didn't lose anything at all."

Bruce nodded in agreement.

"Okay, your turn," Dick said, "How'd you find me?"

"Starfire called me the second night after you had gone missing," Bruce started and continued to explain how he and the Titans had worked together to find him. Dick seemed amazed that Batman had actually agreed to work with the Titans and then laughed when Bruce told him that he hadn't been given much of a choice. He only cut in when Bruce got to when they found him.

"Wait, I didn't remember any of you?!" he asked in shock, "Not even you?"

"I'm not sure, you let me come close to you but you kind of freaked out when the others tried so I think you at least sort of remembered me, or at least that you could trust me. It upset you that I knew who you were but you couldn't remember who I was… or who you were…"

"I… I didn't know who I was?" Dick asked, "What do you mean."

This time it was Bruce that took a deep breath before continuing, "You didn't know your own name, where you came from or anything… You just seemed to know that you could trust me."

Dick looked shell-shocked, "So he really did it… he made me forget everyone… even myself…"

Tears started falling from Dick's eyes and Bruce immediately tightened his arm around Dick's shoulders, "No, no, no," he countered Dick, "He didn't make you forget. You barricaded yourself in your mind, remember?"

"He still-"

"No, Dick." Bruce cut Dick off so vehemently that Dick froze. Bruce pushed him back so he could look him in his eyes, "Slade did not succeed. If he had then we wouldn't be having this conversation. Do you understand?"

Dick remained frozen for a few moments more before finally nodding and then diving back into Bruce's arms, still crying.

Bruce held him until he finally calmed down again before carrying on, "We rescued you three days ago. I sent the Titans home while I brought you hear to recover. We've been working on trying to get your memories back. It didn't seem like anything was working but then you woke up last night and you know the rest. I suppose it just took a few days for your subconscious to realize that it was safe for you to come out again."

Dick nodded against Bruce's chest, "I guess." He mumbled.

They spent the next ten minutes sitting like that, Dick held tightly in Bruce's arms, before Bruce finally sighed and got up.

"Come on," he said, "Let's call J'onn."

The Martian Manhunter came not long after he was called and took a look at Dick's mind. He agreed with Bruce's theory that Dick had subconsciously barricaded his memories and personality, everything that made him Dick, deep within his mind and had created the world where he had lived with his parents for him to stay in until it was safe to come out again. He was impressed at how well Dick had reacted to the whole ordeal actually.

He also warned them that Dick might start remembering what had happened while he had shut down. He had still experienced it after all and there was a chance that those memories might resurface. They were going to have to watch out for post-traumatic stress for the next few weeks. Dick would have to stay home until at least his shoulder and thumbs had fully healed.

Neither Dick nor Bruce complained, both just happy that Dick was home and that they were together as a family again. Although Dick did complain about not being let out on patrol because of his injuries… he complained about that a lot.

AN: Sorry about not updating last week but Age of Ultron, you know, it was AWESOME! Hehe… and then I climbed a mountain the next morning at 5 AM (I'm crazy, I know)… hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Just one more and an epilogue to go!

Enjoy your week guys and thanks again for reviewing, favouriting and following! You guys ROCK! :)