Part Ten
It took three days before Bruce (and Leslie) would allow the old Titans to stop by and then only Donna was allowed in so that Dick wouldn't feel overwhelmed.
Alfred opened the door for her as she stepped into the main foyer. "Miss Donna, it's always such a pleasure to see you and I know Master Richard will be so pleased. He's been so full of questions and confusion that I'm sure you'll be just what the doctor ordered."
"I hope so, Alfred but you're sweet to say that. Is he up in his room?"
"I believe he's out on the rear terrace, if you'd be so good as to follow me." He indicated the young man sitting on one of the chaises over looking the view of Gotham in the distance, seemingly lost in thought.
"Dick, how are you feeling?" She made a point of letting him hear her approach so he wouldn't be startled. "It's me, Donna." She noticed that he seemed to project a combination of wariness and reserve with a touch of nervousness thrown in.
He studied her for a moment then broke out a small smile. "We know each other? They told me that an old friend of mine was coming over today."
She nodded. "We've known one another since we were twelve."
"...How did we meet?"
"Through Bruce and Diana; she's my older sister."
"Is she one of Bruce's girlfriends?"
"...They work together."
"At Wayne Enterprises?"
She wasn't sure what to answer, she'd been warned that he didn't know anything about any of his hero activities, or those of his friends. He'd forgotten about Batman and Robin, Nightwing and the Titans. "I'm not sure, I know they've been friends for a long time."
"That was evasive." He smiled his old smile, the one he used when Roy was trying to scam him about something. "It's okay, everyone's still walking softly around me, trying not to upset me. I assume you were briefed?"
"Well, sort of, yes." She sat down next to him. "How are you, are you all right?" He gave her a look. "I mean, do you still have headaches or anything?"
"No, I feel fine, 'just can't remember anything. I think Alfred was ready to draw me a map to find my socks."
She laughed and took his hand, which he allowed for a moment before gently pulling his arm away. "That sounded like you."
"We're friends? Did we ever date?"
"No, just friends."
"Why not?"
"I was dating someone else and I guess, I always thought that we were more like brother and sister and avoided all those romantic complications." She laughed again. "I used to think about it, though, once in a while, anyway. You were always much nicer than a lot of the men I dated."
"Yeah, well you know what they say about where nice guys finish—slammed on the head and unable to remember where the band-aids are." It was said without humor. "So, are you going to tell me the real story or are you going to toe the company line about us just being old friends? I have amnesia, not stupidity." It was a flash if the old Robin, cutting to the chase and not wanting his time wasted with BS and games.
"We're old friends, you're one of my best friends and I love you like a brother, I always have. That's the real story, Dick."
"It's probably part of it, just like my living here since my parents died id part of the story; it's the elephant in the room everyone's avoiding."
"It'll all come out, I promise."
"So there is more? It must be major for everyone to be this paranoid about how I'll react, What, am I wanted for murder or something?"
She shook her head and tried for light and happy. "Nothing like that, you're one of the good guys."
"You mean about my wanting to be a cop?" He had the look on his face she'd seen too often when he was on the trail of some case. He wouldn't let this go.
Dammit, Dick was too smart and he was putting the pieces together, it was just a matter of time.
"Donna, that can't be it, there's something more, something much bigger than that, isn't there?"
"I can't, Bruce made me promise, not until they think you're ready. C'mon, Dick, it's for your own good."
"You also said you're one of my closest friends. The more pieces I have, the clearly the picture is."
"Dick—Bruce will tell you when he thinks you're ready, he will."
"And you won't?"
"It's not that, I can't. C'mon, you know we're just trying to make this easier for you."
"Well, you're failing." He leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed for a second. "If you don't mind, I'm tired."
"Dick, please don't be angry."
His eyes flicked over to her, she'd said exactly the wrong thing. "And I'm also tired of everyone deciding what's best for me. Thank you for stopping by."
With no choice, she leaned over to kiss his cheek. "I'll come back soon, tomorrow." He simply nodded in response.
On the way out she paused in the opened door of Bruce's study. "You have to tell him. You have to."
* * *
"Miss Donna is right, you know, Master Richard is far to astute to be kept in the dark for long."
"He's not ready yet."
"I'm afraid that I must disagree, Master Bruce. He is quite ready and this delay is simply frustrating him and distracting him from concentrating on getting well."
"I'll tell him when he's ready, Alfred. It's for his own good."
* * *
Clark stopped by later that afternoon, unannounced. "I apologize but I was hoping that I could see how he's doing."
Alfred nodded, almost smiling. "I'm sure that he'll be thrilled for your visit, sir, if you'll follow me."
"How is he doing?"
"Physically, he seems almost his old self."
"And his memory?"
"...Not yet."
They found Dick in the gym located near the indoor pool, he was trying some basic moves on the side horse when they walked in, Alfred leaving then to their privacy.
"Dick, it's good to see you looking so healthy, you're making real progress."
He hopped down from the apparatus, nodding at Clark and headed over to the parallels, boosting himself up and starting some elementary swinging moves. "Thanks for coming."
"I told you I would."
"Why do I know your secret identity?"
Clark hesitated, unusual for him, but he wasn't sure what to tell Dick. If he told the truth it might lead to his memory coming back but it could also confuse him and Bruce would be furious, either way—not that he cared all that much. Bruce could generally be counted on to be furious about something. "I—don't know if this is the right time for this."
Dick kept moving through the light workout on the bars without pause. "Then thanks for coming but I'm sure you must have someplace you need to be."
"Dick, please."
"I'll be in touch."
* * *
Later that night, around eleven, Dick made his way down to the main study, Bruce's private area. The man spent a lot of time in the room, door closed and he suspected that there was more going on than writing checks or business letters.
Poking around he didn't see anything to raise his suspicions at first. Everything seemed like standard stuff, large fireplace, a computer, rows of expensive books on shelves, leather furniture, probably dating back to the Civil War.
There was something here, he was sure of it, a half remembered fragment of a memory or a dream; there was something about this room.
He kept searching, moving this and that, studying the lamps for signs of tampering, checking the TV and music wall, it all seemed normal.
The clock. There was something about the old grandfather's clock, he was sure of it.
It was old and massive, standing at least seven feet tall and it ticked loudly in the carpeted silence.
Something about the clock.
The clock.
The clock was the key.
No. The clock was the door.
Hat's when he saw it, the slightest mark on the rug, as if a vacuum had passed over the pile and pulled it into a different direction than the rest if the fibers, the barest displacement, just enough to catch the light with a slight shadow.
The clock moved. It was the door to—something.
He pulled it but it refused to move. It was locked somehow. There was a release somewhere. He looked around the room again and then, unerringly, went to the expensive set of pens in their holder on the mahogany desk. Moving on pen, the left one, he pulled it down like a lever,a hidden spring returning it to it's upright position automatically as the heavy clock swung aside revealing a set of stone steps leading down to—something.
* * *
Three hours later the car roared into position in the Batcave, Batman opened the door out, startled by Dick sitting in the chair at the computer console, "So I take it that this is the big secret?"
TBC