Seconds, minutes, hours trickle by in his mind. In reality, it's only been about an hour. Maybe less than that. All he knows is that Wally's been asleep for the past few minutes and he's nowhere near ready to fall asleep.
A change in sleeping position has done nothing to lull him into the fearful hands of sleep. He's avoided sleeping on the side that gives him the perfect view of Wally's sleeping face. It will do him no good if Wally is to wake up and see Gardner staring right at him.
He sighs through his nose. He wants to get up and fetch a cup of water but he doesn't like the idea of roaming the halls and potentially getting confronted by Damian. Frowning, he moves to lay on his back to stare at the ceiling.
Gardner decides that it's too quiet. There's nothing but Wally's constant breathing and that isn't enough. The thoughts in his head begin to get louder and he screws his eyes shut, willing for sleep to take him in its arms.
Somehow, it works.
•••
Dick's older brothers minus one blood son meet in the dining room. Each one of them is seated, spread out with at least two chairs between them. None of them speak. Jason decides to place his boot-clad feet on the table, uncaring of how Alfred would scold him come morning.
Honestly, Jason doesn't want to be here but he also doesn't want to be at risk of being interrogated by Damian. He knows that Damian suspects something and he can see why. After all, Damian's gotten to be far more paranoid than Bruce and had taken notice to Jason's odd behavior. So, meeting with the Brothers Bat becomes the longer end of the stick.
"So," Tim says. "Dick's home."
Terry nods, smiling a tight smile. "Yeah. It's kind of hard to believe, huh?"
In order to have something to add in, Jason shrugs and leans back in his seat. "I can't believe you guys actually couldn't find him." He snorts.
Shooting him a fixed glare, Tim says, "You weren't any help at all, Jason. You didn't even try to look for him all because you hated him for being a better Boy Wonder."
Jason tenses up. He takes his feet off the table so that he can lean forward and glare back at his predecessor. Because he's not five, he holds back the urge to blow a raspberry or something equally as immature. "Piss off, Timmy," he replies in a heated voice. "I did not hate him."
Terry's smile turns uneasy as he looks between both boys. He remembers when they were both constantly at each other's necks; Jason because he knew he could never be as good of a Boy Wonder as Tim and then Tim because Jason just knew how to get on his nerves. Honestly, he's surprised that the two haven't thrown any punches ever since Jason arrived at the manor.
"If you're going to start a fight, keep your voices down and don't get blood anywhere. Alf's going to kill you guys if he knows that you two decided to brawl it out in the dining room."
"Oh, ease up," Jason retorts. "The man's got ESP or something. He always knows even if you got rid of every single damn piece of evidence."
Terry resists the urge to facepalm. "All right," he says. "Don't even think about starting a fight—but if you're going to start one, it better be verbal and it better be quiet or we're dead."
The rogue son sighs and falls back against his chair. He rolls his eyes and flips off Terry before looking off to the side. "So, with Goldie back, what do you suppose we do?"
Everyone goes silent, looking at each other. They had never been in this situation. Well, Jason may have returned from the dead but he was too busy committing genocide and being the biggest ass he could possibly be once he publicly came back.
Then, an idea sparks in Terry's head. "I think we should hold off on reintroducing him to the press," he says. "Let him get settled first and that. Plus, we have to decide who comes back first: Richard or Robin."
Jason scowls but Tim's the first to say something. "Slow down, Terry. What if Bruce doesn't let Dick out on the field again? What if he's out of shape because, if what he says about living life as a new person is true, there's always the possibility that he's not at the top of his game like he was back then."
"He's not going back out there," Jason grounds out. "It's too dangerous."
"That's Bruce's call, not yours and not ours," Tim says back, rolling his eyes.
"Well, you can be damn sure that I'll convince him to keep Goldie out of the business." Jason crosses his arms in a way that doesn't look like how a kid having a tantrum would do so. It will do no good to his image to have him mimic the actions of a distraught five-year-old.
The oldest male has to hold his hands up in a placating manner. He tries to smile at the both of them. "So, moving on... do you think Damian's going to be stop being a jerk to Dick?"
Jason snorts, giving Terry a look that conveys the stupidity of that question. "Course not," he says. "He thinks he's always right."
The other boys ignore the jab at the blood son and instead purse their lips and think. Then, Tim pipes up, pointing out the details of Gardner's story. If what was said is true, someone or someones know that Dick Grayson is Robin. And for the past two years. Obviously, that doesn't bode well with any of the members.
It's possible that everyone who's been part of the Dynamic Duo has had their identity compromised in the past two years without even knowing it.
And the thought of that really does suck.
"So, what do—"
A scream rips through the air. Immediately, Jason jumps out of his chair, not caring as it falls to the floor, and runs.
"Dick," Tim says sharply, nodding over to Terry. They follow suit and run like Jason with nothing on their minds but protecting their little brother.
•••
Wally wakes up, startled. He sits up with his chest heaving. He realizes the screams belong to Gardner. Looking down, he can barely make out the outline of Gardner's fear-stricken and sleeping face.
He starts panicking, biting his lip as he watches the boy. Then, he remembers that Gardner has been ailed with horrible nightmares. Wally shakes his head, trying to snap himself out of his stupor. His features take on a determined affect as he fumbles with one hand to turn on the bedside lamp.
Immediately, he gently shakes Gardner. "Hey, man, wake up. You're okay. It's okay."
Those words have no effect as the blue-eyed boy begins to thrash about. With lightning fast reflexes, Wally pins his arms down and ends up straddling him. He ignores the position, focusing on coaxing the other male to awaken with his voice.
"Dude. Dude, please, wake up."
Seeing that expression on Gardner's face strikes a chord within him. For a moment in time, Wally forgets who the boy is. He gets off, still holding down those arms and staring straight into that face.
"Dick, you're okay. Everyone's okay. Just, please, wake up. Dick, come on, I promise that whatever's happening in your nightmare isn't happening in real life."
That does something and Gardner shoots up in bed, eyes wide with terror and breathing all ragged. His bangs are stuck to his face due to sweat and he can't bring himself to say anything. Instead, he looks down where Wally's hands connect with his arms and then he looks into those green eyes.
It's only then that Wally remembers that it's not Dick he was trying to awaken.
The door swings open harshly and light floods the room. Jason is huffing just a little bit before he composes himself, noticing that Gardner is okay. He lets out a sigh of relief.
"Nightmare?" he asks, frowning.
"Yeah," Gardner says in a breathless voice. "Sorry, Jason."
Tim and Terry appear behind Jason. Seeing the traces of distress on Gardner's face, they move past their other brother and into the room. Tim looks at Wally and Gardner, raising his brows.
"Hey, Dick, you okay?" Terry asks, walking over. He sits himself on the bed, rubbing Gardner's back.
Wally looks a little lost as he stares off into a distant land no one else can see. No one bothers to ask if he's okay but that's fine. The blue-eyed doppelgänger is the one whose well-being is concerned. In fact, the boy is only now just quivering slightly from remnants of those foul dreams.
"I'll be okay," Gardner says, giving everyone a shaky smile. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I've been having nightmares for a while now and I thought maybe they'd be gone but..."
"What's going on here?" a calm voice asks in an accusatory tone. It's Damian. He's standing in the hallway, peering in with narrowed eyes of distrust. "I was about to retire when I heard the impostor scream."
Gardner flushes pink. The distress and fear melt away into something else entirely. Whatever it is, his expression looks so small. "Sorry, Dami, I just—"
"Don't call me that," Damian snaps. "Now, since no one appears to be dying, I'll go inform Pennyworth that there is absolutely nothing wrong. Do not let this happen again."
"I'm sorry," says the boy, frowning as the blood son disappears. He slumps, crossing his arms. "You can all go back to sleep."
Tim gives him a deadpan look. He, too, sits himself down on the bed next to Terry. He leans forward to look over at Gardner. "Dick, are you sure you'll be okay? I know you have Wally with you but I'll stay if you want."
Terry offers the same idea and both he and Tim look over at Jason, wondering if he'll agree. Scoffing, the male rolls his eyes and leaves. Wally mumbles something under his breath.
"I just remembered that I have some homework I need to finish. I'll just zeta back."
Quickly, Wally fumbles out of the bed and out the door. No one says anything as he zips down the hall and out of the mansion. Gardner doesn't buy the excuse but, again, he says nothing. Then, he looks over at the two older males.
"I'd rather be alone right now," he tells them. "I'll admit, that dream wasn't astrous at all but I'll be fine. Promise."
•••
It's now around six in the morning. Gardner has not been able to get another wink of sleep. He decides that later today he'll take a nap. He slips his hand inside his pocket, pulling out his phone. He looks at it, reminding himself that he'll need to get rid of it at some point because Bruce will figure out that one of his sons had been in contact with him before Gardner revealed himself to the family.
He unlocks it, opening up his messages. He shoots off a quick text to someone.
Hey Gardner, can you tell the boss that I quit the job? No one ever came to the shop past ten anyway. I left the city and I don't think I'll be coming back.
He slides out of bed and ambles over to the closet. Grabbing onto the first long-sleeved shirt he could find, Gardner smirks to himself. Then, he grabs more clothes from the dresser and heads for a bathroom to take a shower. He mentally reminds himself to go to one that probably has shampoo that hasn't expired.
Hello, hello! :) So, I'm surprised how many of you were actually interested in hearing some of my secrets about this story. Then again, as I've been told, it's one thing to know the plot and another to read it. :P
And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the real Gardner LaRou. He might make an appearance next chapter.
Okay, so, I probably won't update for a week or two after this chapter. I have a test in Algebra 2. And, as I've been told by my teacher, because I'm in an Honors class, I only get one class period aka 90 minutes to finish it and I cannot use my calculator at all. :/ I'm very nervous so, please, wish me luck! And a few other tests and quizzes. I gotta study, right? :3
I had a hell lot of trouble writing the nightmare scene. You probably won't learn what happened in his nightmare for a while. Who knows? ;) You are free to guess what happened though.
And, if you've been paying attention, Wally definitely lied. I wonder why? ;)
Oh! So, I bought a Batman costume. Hehe. And a time turner. Anywho, so, the costume is a romper with a detachable cape and a hood. :P I'm planning to wear it for my school's spirit week. I'm thinking of wearing my fishnets and these kickass wedges. And the sleeves have thumb holes! :0 Idk why but I love thumb holes.
Anywho, so, I plan to drag this story on. I plan to end it around 25 chapters. Maybe 30.