Dick's eyes slowly opened, then quickly closed again when bright light met them. Again, they slipped open and he sat up, but he was disappointed as he looked around. The bright, colorful pictures and colors were gone, instead the dark, cave-like room had returned with its cracks and peeling walls.

The button-eyed doll was slumped against the lamp on the nightstand, all knowing eyes staring straight ahead. As Dick reached for it, he noticed the rash on his hand was gone. His other hand wasn't red anymore either. My poison oak is gone… He thought, mystified.

He flung the covers off and ran out into the hall, where he dashed down the stairs and into the room with the clock. It was slightly loose so he was able to slide a few fingers behind it. Disappointment occurred when he could feel the cold steel. "Huh?"

The boy rose back to his feet. Maybe it was just a dream. Just then, the tea kettle whistled from the kitchen. It was time for breakfast.

Bruce was already sitting at the small kitchen table when Dick walked in. He was drinking coffee and looking through a thick yellow folder. Alfred, dressed in his bowtie and apron, stood at the stove frying eggs. Dick pulled out the chair nearest to Bruce and sat down. The usual silence hung in the room except for the hissing of the eggs and the pop of the toaster.

"I had a really crazy dream last night." Dick piped up. Bruce gave a distracted 'uh huh'.

Alfred began to scrape eggs onto plates. "Really Master Dick? Whatever was it about?"

Dick excitedly began to talk about crawling behind the clock, the buttons for eyes, and the lavish house and meal.

Alfred placed a glass of green gunk and a plate in front of him. "That sounds interesting Master Dick, but as the feast was merely a dream I must require you finish your breakfast and drink your greens."

Dick made a face before focusing on Bruce. "You were in the dream too Bruce! You played piano, sang a song, and you were writing a musical about a caped crusader who dresses as a bat and fights crime!"

That got Bruce's attention, he looked up from his file. "That's a thought. Could you imagine me jumping around rooftops in tights?" Both he and Alfred chuckled. Bruce swallowed the last of his coffee and stood. "Well, Wayne Enterprises needs me there to finalize some reports before a meeting, so I need to be off!" He picked up the file, put his mug in the sink, and ruffled Dick's bed head. "Thanks for breakfast Alfred. See you later Dick."

"Bye." Dick muttered. He picked up his plate and glass full of green gunk. Artfully, he dumped the sludge down the drain without Alfred noticing. He began to rinse the evidence and food off his plate down the drain. Outside the clouds were still dark and there was a light drizzle. What am I supposed to do all day?

"Master Dick," Alfred began, "Why don't you go and visit the lower level to meet the ladies who live there? They're both rather animated, I'm sure they'd be very interested in your dream."

"Bruce says they're dingbats!"

"They are, odd perhaps. But it's not polite to refer to them as 'dingbats'." Alfred sipped his tea. "Now scurry along, remember your manners. And take a jacket, it's raining."

Dick's plate and glass clinked as he set them in the sink, he slinked out of the kitchen.

The outside air was humid, the clouds seemed to block any potential fresh air attempting to cycle through. Dark mud surrounded the porch, it was quite tempting. Dick zipped up his raincoat, just as he stepped out onto the porch, he nearly squashed a stack of envelopes. He reached down, picked them up, and began looking through them. Rathaway, Rathaway, Rathawy. Don't know what I was expecting anyway… There was a sign on one of the porch posts reading, 'Rathaway around and up'. Dick walked around and saw steps on the side of the house leading to the third floor. They sure sectioned off this house weird.

Creak, creak, squeak! Went the steps. Most of them were beginning to rot and were covered in fuzzy green mold. The stairs ended at a small balcony. Dick knocked on the door and waited. A foul smell coming from the mail pile made his nose wrinkle. He knocked again, but there wasn't a sound. "Hello?" Dick called. "I have your mail. It was left on our porch." Silence. "Should I just leave it out here? Or-" The door creaked open slightly.

Dick peered inside, it was rather dark and full of boxes. Faint flute music drifted from further inside. "Hello?" A shadow cast in front of him caused him to whip around, there was a man leaning over him,

"Seeecret!" He hissed. And a bony hand grabbed the doorknob and yanked the door closed. He stepped back and crossed his arms. The man wore a long green coat with a hood, his dirty blonde hair was pulled into a messy ponytail. A shiny silver flute hung off his belt on his side. His jaw was tight and his eyes narrowed, in short, he looked unhappy. "My rat orchestra is not yet ready to perform!"

"Rat orchestra?" Dick cleared his throat. "Oh, I brought this up for you." He held out the suspicious smelling pile of mail. Mr. Rathaway grabbed the stack and smelled one of the envelopes.

"Ah, delicious."

"Uh?"

"New cheese samples. For the rats." Just then, a rat climbed out of the man's hood and onto his head. It squeaked menacingly at the boy. Mr. Rathaway's glare returned and he stepped closer to Dick. "Very clever of you to use this 'mix-up' to sneak a peek at my ratti!"

"Ratti?"

"The rats!"

"Oh, um, sorry." Dick extended his hand. "I'm Dick Grayson." Mr. Rathaway grabbed and shook his hand before bowing.

"And I am the Amazing Hartley Rathaway! But please, call me Hartley, as I already know I am amazing!" He pulled the flute from his belt and played a light, bouncy tune. With a final toot he hooked it back in its place. "You see Dickie, when my sheet music reads: Toot-a-toot. But my rats only play: oompah, oompah. It is nice, but not amazing!" He lifted his cheese. "But now I am switching to stronger cheese and we shall see!" The rat on his head squeaked. "Now if you'll excuse me!" He marched to his door, he paused and tossed Dick a piece of cheese. "Here, have some cheese. Goodbye Dickie!" With that, he disappeared into his home.

Dick was left standing on the creaking balcony. "It's Dick." He looked at the smelly piece of cheese in disgust before leaving it on the edge of the balcony for some lucky rat. The stairs played their creaky song as he made his way down. Flute notes caused him to look back up. Hartley was leaning over the edge of the railing.

"DICKIE, WAIT!" He leaped off the railing.

"No!" Dick called, but Hartley landed in one piece.

"The rats, they wanted me to give you a message!"

The orchestra rats?" Hartley's expression was grave as he nodded. He leaned close to Dick's ear and whispered,

"They are saying, 'don't go behind the clock'." His tone was as serious as his face. "Does this make sense to you?"

Dick was confused. "The clock in the library room? The passage is all closed up…"

Hartley stood and shrugged. "Sorry, it's probably nothing. The rats, sometimes they're a little," He pointed at his head and twirled his finger. "Mixed up, y'know? Probably just practicing too hard." He started climbing the steps. "Maybe I should increase their breaks…" he muttered.

All Dick could do was stare.

A few feet past the makeshift staircase were the steps leading down to the basement flat. The door was ornamented with a clown doorknocker. Its leering eyes pinned on Dick as he knocked. He glanced down at the doormat which read, 'No laughing in the house'. Scratching picked up on the other side of the door. Dick stood on his tiptoes and tried to look through the window. Suddenly a set of fangs and yellow eyes were behind the glass. Snarling and barking sent Dick back a few steps. The creature whimpers as a thin, bony hand yanks it down. The door creaked open and two hyenas jumped out and started laughing.

"BUD, LOU!" A high pitched voice shrieked, "SHUT UP!" The hyenas ran to their owner's side. A wide smile formed on the woman's face. Her wide blue eyes were unblinking. "Hiya Dickie! We were just about to play some cards, care to come in?" She said sweetly.

"Still Dick, not Dickie Miss Quinn." Dick muttered, his heart still pounding.

Miss Quinn, a tall, skeleton-like, graying blonde, didn't seem to hear him, shouted over her shoulder, "IVY! Put the kettle on!" She led Dick into the living room, her roommate, Pamela 'Ivy' Isley, was in the small connecting kitchen. Miss Isley was a touch shorter than her roommate with red hair and a… noticeable bosom. She was dressed in a green leotard with a sequined dressing gown.

"Why Harley dear, something followed you in."

"It's the new neighbor Ivy, Dickie! He'll be having some Oolong tea." Harley chirped.

"No, no, I think he'd prefer Jasmine!" Ivy protested.

"Oolong!"

"Jasmine it is then!" Ivy grabbed a handful of leaves and dropped them into a kettle of boiling water.

"C'mon fellas!" Harley called to Bud and Lou. The hyenas jumped off of the couch. Dick sat down in their place. He glanced around, a shelf on his side caught his eye. It was loaded with pots of plants with teeth.

"Are those plants real?" Dick asked with wide eyes.

Harley sighed. "Those are Ivy's babies! She loves 'em to pieces. There's Paul, Michael, Susanne, Camille…"

Ivy walked in pushing a tea tray. She handed Dick a cup and lifted a jade green bowl of candy onto the table. "Please try one. It's hand pulled taffy from Kaznia! Best in the world." Dick reached for blue one, but it was stuck.

"… Gerald, Lucille, Ethel, Paul Sr., Susanne the second…" Harley continued. Dick yanked his hand out and the bowl flew into the air, sticking to the ceiling. "And that's Camille's third cousin twice removed!" Harley glanced at Dick's cup. "I'll read them if you like."

"Read what?"

"Your tea leaves! They predict your future, drink up!" Dick recalled a fortune teller at the circus who did the same. He gulped down the bitter tea and handed his cup to Miss Quinn.

"Good, you left a little. Let's see…" The blonde stared intently for a few moments before gasping, "Oh Dickie! Dickie, Dickie you're in terrible danger!" Miss Isley snorted.

"Give me the cup Harleen, your eyesight is going!"

"My eyes? You're blind as a bat!" Ivy snatched the cup away and looked in.

"No worries dear, it's good news: a tall beautiful beast is in your future!"

"A what?" Dick was confused.

"Ivy, you're holding the cup wrong!" Harley protested, she rotated the cup. "See? Danger!"

Dick craned his neck, trying to see. "What do you see?"

If possible, Harley's eyes widened further, in an ominous tone she said, "I see a thin, peculiar hand!"

Ivy twisted the cup. "Well, I see a giraffe!"

"Giraffes don't just fall from the sky Ivy!"

At that moment the candy dish fell from the ceiling with a crash! It caused both women to jump.

"Chutes and ladders!" Exclaimed Harley.

"Oh my!" Exclaimed Ivy.

Dick asked, "What should I do?"

"Never pair purple stripes with green polka-dots." Harley said in grave seriousness.

"And acquire a very tall stepladder," Ivy added.

"And be very, very careful! Now, was there something you wanted to tell us?" Harley began to scratch behind Lou's ear.

Dick thought for a moment, but went with his better judgment and shook his head. "No, I guess not. But thank you for the tea." He stood and the hyenas immediately resumed their spots on the sofa.

"Goodbye." Said Ivy.

"See ya later!" Waved Harley. The ladies returned to their card game with Harley asking, "Now babies, have any jokers for mummy?"

"Danger?" Dick muttered to himself as he climbed the steps. As he walked through the mist, towards the front of the house, he felt like he was being watched. He saw a periscope in his peripheral vision, but he kept looking straight ahead and walking. The periscope followed and then he whirled around, pulled it up, and punched a very surprised Wally in the nose.

"Owww!" the redhead yelped, rubbing his nose.

"Wonderful." Dick deadpanned. "The village stalker!"

"I wasn't stalking you!" Wally protested. "We're hunting banana slugs!" He reached underneath his coat and pulled out a pair of salad tongs. He smiled and clicked them.

"We?"

A meow sounded from underneath Wally's coat. He unbuttoned it and the black cat crawled out and onto his shoulders.

Dick scoffed, "Your cat's not wild! He's a wuss-puss!"

Wally rubbed the feline's ear. "He hates to get his feet wet! So what?" The cat sent a glare at Dick.

Undeterred Dick cooed in a mocking tone, "Wuss-puss." The cat, who presumably had enough, jumped off of Wally's shoulders onto the porch where it climbed onto the roof.

"So," Dick began, "How'd you make that doll look like me?"

Wally, who was crawling on the ground looking for slugs, looked up. "Oh, I found it that way. It was in a trunk in my uncle's attic. It's older than him, probably older than the house." He resumed his hunt.

Dick was skeptical. "C'mon, it has the same hair and eye color as me! The gymnast's outfit is my family's design!"

Wally excitedly jumped to his feet and presented a giant yellow slug caught in the salad tongs. "Dude! It's Slugzilla!"

Dick groaned. "You're just like them."

Wally looked at the slug, then to himself. "Huh?"

"I meant Bruce and Alfred; they don't listen to me either."

Wally nodded vacantly, clearly not paying attention. "Uh huh. Do you mind?" He held out a camera. Dick took the camera and looked through the lens.

"Ready?" If you can't beat them, join them. He proceeded to photograph Wally's various poses with the slug including: him being horrified; pretending to eat it, wearing it as a mustache; and making it look like mucus from his nose. "Ew!" Dick tossed the camera back to the other boy.

Wally flung the slug back into the mist and put the tongs back on his belt. The camera went back around his neck, he looked up at the manor and sighed. "Y'know, I've never been in the manor before."

"Seriously?" Dick asked skeptically.

"Uncle Barry would kill me! He thinks it's dangerous or something."

"Dangerous?" I guess the stairs could cave in at any moment or the asbestos could kill you.

"His best friend and he used to hang around here a lot."

"So?"

"One day he just disappeared. Uncle Barry says he was stolen."

Dick whispered, "Stolen?" He glanced up at the cat lounging on the roof, in his bedroom window he could see the doll, staring. "What do you think?"

Wally looked nervous, he kicked at the mud. "I-I dunno." He whistled and the cat jumped from the roof, onto his shoulders. "Maybe he just ran away."

"WALLACE!" An agitated voice carried over the wind.

Wally turned and posed to run, "Look, I gotta go!" He began running away.

"Wait a minute!" Dick yelled. He tried to run after the other, but he couldn't keep up. The redhead and the cat disappeared into the thickening mist.

That night when Dick got up to his room, the doll was on the nightstand. He put a small piece of cheese by the door. Mouse bait. Then he went and climbed into the giant bed. His eyes watched the door until they became heavy and he drifted into sleep.

AN: I'm on a roll! I did replace the author's note with a chapter, make sure you've read it, it'll help this one make sense!