"So you know how to make so I can speak with her whenever I sleep?"

"No," she thought about it and snorted, "But that does sound oddly creepy and a little like a wet dream." Her remark was rewarded with Robin blushing and becoming very flustered.

"I didn't mean, that's not," He hid his face in his hands and sighed in frustration. "Not what I was going for," he finally said. Alexandra snorted at him, it wasn't as much fun being mean to him as it used to be. Or maybe it was because Jessie wasn't here to tell her to stop.

"I know, I just like messing with you, it's a lot easier now."

Robin ran a hand through his hair.

"I suppose it is."

Alexandra stared at him for a long time, he was biting his lip and fidgeting, all things Robin didn't do. Finally she said, "Alright, spit it out. You didn't just come to find out what I was hiding."

Robin rubbed the back of his head again and fidgeted in his seat again.

"I talked to Zatanna."

Alexandra rubbed her face and was tempted to walk away right then and there, but she let him continue.

"About how we should proceed in our relationship."

Nope, she couldn't do it. Her and Robin had been friends for a while, but this crossed lines well past awkward and well into creepy. "No, no, no!"

"Oh come on," he pleaded.

Alexandra glared at him, he couldn't ask for her advice here and frankly she didn't have thoughts on this. Zatanna was her friend and Jessie her sister for crying out loud.

"No, that is something you have to work out with Zatanna and yourself."

"How am I supposed to make a decision when I can't even remember anything about Jessie?" Alexandra groaned and scrubbed her eyes with her the heel of her palms.

"Do you have any idea what you are asking me? I love my sister and I like Zatanna. Both of them are wonderful women." She sighed and looked Robin in the eye. "If you feel you must know more, why not try talking to Jessie in dreams?"

"How?"

Alexandra raised her eyebrows at him, so he didn't know how the connection was formed.

"Like I said earlier, dreams. You have a connection to her, one that even from a telepath's stand point is strong. Though you have none of the draw backs of a telepath's connection because it is not a telepathic connection. You guys are connected in a much more basic way."

"How is that possible? I'm human!"

In that moment Alexandra felt very dangerous shift inside herself. And she was certain it showed in her eyes because Robin cringed away from her like a cornered animal cringes from a predator. She could practically smell his fear.

"So is Jessie." It was said through clenched teeth and energy crackled around her making the hair on the back of his neck stand up on end. He held up his hands in the age old sign of surrender. He knew he had crossed a line.

"I didn't mean it that way."

"No, you are only pining over your problems of choosing between two girls, and hinting that you less than thrilled with my sister on the off chance she is not completely human, which is somehow a problem to you. Even though your best friend is half fish, one of your teammates is Martian, another is a clone, and you, Batman and Artemis are the only humans with no "power"." Her words shamed him like nothing else could. Alexandra saw the exact moment he realized he was being selfish; he realized they had sacrificed so much for him, for the world, and this was a poor way to repay them.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid, mostly for a woman I can barely remember, but I know more than anything I want to remember her." He rubbed the back of his head. "Ever since the first time I dreamt of her, I couldn't stop thinking about her. On some level I knew she was real. Since that first time we talked I felt-," his words trialed off and Alexandra realized he just didn't seem to have the words for the different emotions he had felt and the lack of understanding of why he felt those things. It had probably made everything so damn confusing.

Alexandra sighed, took a deep breath, and did her best to clamp down on her anger.

"Then dream."

"But I don't know how," he pleaded desperately.

"I'll help this time, but you'll have to figure it out eventually, because as you said you're human with no powers, so how you do this is different from the way I do it." Alexandra's hair was washed with silver and her irises turned milky white. Her clothes jerked this way and that until they were white robes. Her ears pulled into pointed ears and she grew about a foot taller. Robin stared into her eyes and fell into them. Alexandra caught him before he could hit the floor. She quickly swept through the halls and laid Robin down on the couch before shifting back to herself. "Good luck," she wished him. Then she tossed a blanket over top of him and headed back to her own room.

Robin felt like he had hit a brick wall. He stood up and took a survey of everything around him, only there was nothing. No obvious floor, no walls, no ceiling. He turned around and found a door. It was made a light colored wood and an ancient wrought iron handle. On the door was a carved image of a woman in a cloak; Bard, he guessed after staring at it for a long. Along the edge of the door were the same symbols that had been in the journal. Only these didn't move. It took him a moment to find the pattern in them. When he was able to decipher it, it read,

I'm Bard, named by my friend. I am protector, storyteller, sibling, daughter, friend. As long as there is breath in my body I shall protect this world and the people in it. This is my promise to you. Enter my friend.

Robin wondered if this was the way he had come the previous time. He grabbed the handle and pushed the door in. It was the same room he had been in the last time. He turned back to look at the door he had come through and gasped. His image was etched into this side of the door. Around that image were all his different personas, only two he didn't recognize. A slight gasp drew his attention. Behind the crystal, on the floor lay Jessie still and cloaked. Robin ran to her and tore off her cloak. He was horrified to find Jessie's face was a patchwork of bruises and a few cuts covered her face. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was too shallow.

"Jessie? Jessie!" He shook her awake.

She moaned and opened her swollen eyes.

"How did you get here?" A smile touched her cracked lips at the sight of him. Robin cradled her gently in his arms.

"I'm pretty sure your sister sent me here. What happened?"

"He came in, took all stories."

Robin glanced around finally noticed all the doors were hanging loosely on their hinges. Many of the doors were bent, dented, a few were even completely shattered. There were broken branches from the ceiling laying scattered across the floor.

"Who?"

She panted and moaned.

"He is different. I didn't even recognize him at first." Her whole body was shaking like a leaf. Her eyes were staring up at the ceiling like she was terrified and reliving what had happened.

"Jessie who is-?" Then he noticed it. Jessie's features were slowly becoming drawn. She looked like a skeleton with skin stretched over her bones. Robin looked down at her body which had basically wasted away to almost nothing. "How?"

She wheezed out a half laugh.

"I've been stuck here Robin, in my mind. I haven't eaten real food in years. The only way I leave this room is if you call me out into your dreams. My mind is starting to reflect the state of my body."

"How is that possible?" How was she still alive? How much longer could she hold out in such a state?

"I don't know." Her eye lids fluttered shut.

"Jessie, where are you?"

She took a deep gasping breath and sat up to whisper, "Wake up," into his ear.

Robin's eyes opened just as several waves of energy rippled through the air. It was like bomb went off. The alarms were blaring and footsteps pounded around him heading in the direction of the main room. Robin struggled to get up, but his body felt like lead. But he managed to make it to the briefing room.