Phew, guys it's nearing time to close this sucker up. I'm going to try to get the rest of this fic written by Tuesday. Since I'm starting NanoWrimo, I want to get this done so you don't have to wait an entire month before a new chapter gets posted. I'm super sorry for those ugly times of extreme delay. I'm hoping the small bit of a rush does not hinder on the quality. I'm really trying to make this as thoughtful and detailed as I can.

Dick was starting to wonder what was going on. He hadn't seen Bruce or Batman for the past 24 hours; his parents hadn't been there when he awoke, and the mansion was silent. He was so tired of being locked in this room, being forced to lay down and do nothing but think.

Thinking hurt; it brought back memories not wanted and it reminded him of his mistakes. He needed to get out of this room. He was being suffocated. His lungs had to have healed by now; it'd been almost a week! Rolling over and off of the bed, he stood and listened.

Silence.

Figuring it was safe to move about without being ushered straight back into bed, he opened the door to the bedroom and made his way down the hall. There was soft snoring coming from Damian's room despite the time. It was only late afternoon. Peeking in on his little brother, he found all of his brothers, including Barbara sitting quietly in the cat filled room.

Barbara was brushing her hair on the floor next to the bed, sitting on a pile of kitten plushes, a bored expression on her face. Tim was on a computer, quietly scrolling down whatever web page he wasn't concentrating on. Jason was at the end of the bed, leaning against the wall and fiddling with a lighter. Damian was fast asleep, one arm curled around a cat plush and the other hanging off of the bed.

"Why are you all in here?" Dick asked quietly, trying not to rouse his still recovering little brother. When Batman told him of the injuries the others faced, he was feeling both guilt and relief. He'd been afraid Damian was dead, and he'd had no clue as to whether Jason, Tim, Babs, and Kon were alright. He didn't even know if Bruce had gotten out alright.

Three heads instantly snapped in his direction. Babs set down the brush, Tim closed the laptop and set it aside, and Jason momentarily stopped fiddling with his lighter.

"What are you doing up?" Tim asked.

"Got boring in there." Dick shrugged, not really knowing what else to say.

"Are you okay?" Barbara asked scooting over to make room for him on the mountain of cat plushes.

Dick accepted the invitation and collapsed slowly and carefully onto the pile. He didn't want to aggravate his lungs at all. Just because he could walk didn't mean he was completely fine.

"For the most part." Dick smiled at Damian, who snorted in his sleep and rolled over. "I was worried about you guys."

"You were worried?" Tim hissed. "We were the ones wondering if you were dead in some alley! Why'd you just run off?"

Dick frowned. He really didn't want to argue about this right now. Seeing as they wouldn't give up on getting an answer, he reluctantly revealed his logic.

"You guys were getting Bruce out, so I needed to get them off your track."

"Jay and Roy were getting Bruce and Damian out. They didn't exactly need our help. You, on the other hand, did." Barbara countered. "So why didn't you let us help you?"

Dick sank a bit, entirely unhappy to have been caught for his stupid, selfish actions. "They were after me. There wasn't any point in getting you guys more involved."

"We're your family, in case you didn't notice." Jason lit the lighter before letting the flame die. "We're always going to be involved."

Dick knew it was true and kept quiet. Damian suddenly choked and gasped for breath, sputtering before sitting up. He frantically licked his hands, a disgusted expression on his face.

"What's a matter?" Jason quipped with a quirked eyebrow. "Cat got your tongue?"

"More like the cat tried to kill him with a fur ball to the lungs." Tim added. "That's what you get for sleeping with stuffed animals, Damian."

"Shut up!" Damian coughed once more before throwing the offending stuffed animal at Tim.

"Easy," Barbara soothed, though she made no move to touch the irate boy, "Alfred said you need to lie still."

"I'm sick of lying still!" Damian growled.

"Same here dude." Dick sighed.

Damian gave him an odd look. "I see you've been released from the cage."

"More like escaped," Dick corrected, "but yes."

"So?" Damian demanded haughtily.

"So what?"

"Have you made your choice? Is it us or them?"

There was a tense silence that followed the question. Dick bit his lip. He knew he'd be forced to answer this question eventually. He was extremely worried about how they would take the news.

"I… look, it's a hard thing to answer, all right? I'm not exactly choosing—"

"Yes you are." Jason interrupted. "You can't be in two places at once."

"I know, but I don't exactly have a choice—"

"So it's them." Tim deadpanned, trying not to show the hurt on his face. Hadn't they all known this would be the choice in the end? Dick was always talking about how he needed to get home, to get back to his own dimension.

"Will you just listen to me?" Dick huffed. "I have to go back with them. I know you're all angry, but I can't just stay here."

"Why not? You've got family here." Barbara argued. "Why would you leave your family to go back to… to how miserable you were before?"

"I wasn't miserable!" Dick objected. "I mean, I went through a rough patch, that's all. It's my own fault anyways. I was the one who messed up. I have friends and family back there too. Things are just… a little less together."

"There's no sense talking about this." Damian lied back down, facing the wall and pulling the covers over his head. "Grayson isn't going to listen to reason."

"It's you guys who aren't listening! Just let me talk." Dick snarled. "I can't even get out a sentence without you blowing up on me."

"Then talk. All I've heard is "You don't understand… blah blah blah". Why don't you start explaining exactly what it is we don't understand?" Jason snapped back.

"If I don't go back this dimension isn't going to last. No one knows the exact time it'll collapse in on itself, but it will eventually." Dick explained tersely. "I have to go back. There are also people waiting for me."

No one said a word, but Tim looked away as well, obviously not liking Dick's excuse.

"I don't want to leave, either, okay? You're right; my parents are here, you guys are here, and it's hard on me too. I've never had siblings before, and it's been really fun. But you guys aren't thinking about the others. They all probably thought I was dead. Babs, I can't even imagine what's running through your mind on the other side."

Barbara looked over at him, biting the inside of her cheek. It was true; she hadn't once thought of how her other self felt. She was younger and closer to Dick, from what she's heard. This heartbreak she was feeling, this anxiety of losing a little brother, she probably had felt it ten times harder.

Dick was having hard times coming to grips with what he was saying as well. He'd been so scared to face those he'd loved when he'd let that soldier drop, he'd forgotten all about how everyone back home was feeling. He was realizing what an impact he was making on his friends, his family, and he hadn't even seen them yet.

Still, none of his brothers said a word. Deciding that leaving them to their own thoughts was the best course of action, he carefully got to his feet and silently exited the room, shutting the door on his way out. That was hard to do, but actually saying goodbye would be harder.

"He's going to forget us." He heard Damian say from inside. "He's just going to forget and move on."

His chest squeezed painfully. He would never forget, and he was going to make sure they all knew that.

Special thanks to everyone who's reviewed! I am only 3 reviews away from 500! That is absolutely amazing! I thought I'd maybe only get about 50 max when I first started out. You all are incredible!