Element of Surprise

Part 2: Twin Nightmares

'The darkness came . . . Swallowing me . . . Suffocating me . . . I . . . I couldn't breathe . . .' Tim was dreaming. "No . . . No . . . Let me out! . . . LET ME OUT!"

Dick felt in his dreams that Tim was having a bad dream. Without realizing it, Dick reached over and placed his hand onto Tim's head. He pushed good feelings into him, good dreams and took the bad ones away, all within his own dreams.

Tim shuddered and warmth spread through him, like light cutting through the darkness and the dream, the nightmare faded almost as quickly as it began. Tim settled back into a deeper sleep and his dreams turned to ones of sunshine and light, of circus tents and the smiling face of his six- year-old brother looking staring down at him. Dick was telling Tim he would protect him and teach him. Tim reached for that face with his small chubby fingers. Then the dream faded, and Tim was looking into the face of his mother; the one who gave him life.

"Remember Little Red Bird, someday you'll fly high like your big brother."

Was that a dream? Or was that a memory and why would Tim remember that now?

"Mom?" Tim said in his sleep.

Dick smiled at the small memory he was able to remember. 'I miss Mom's face,' he thought. Being able to see her so clearly made him feel happy. Dick gave Tim more good dreams to dream. It was instinctive since Samantha had opened their minds to a link to each other. It was easier with Tim than it was with Jason and Damian. 'Maybe because he is my biological brother. He does kind of look like her.' Dick gave Tim more dreams, mainly ones of Mom. Our mother. The one she gave birth to us, not the lady that ignored Tim as he got older. He didn't know much about Janet Drake anyway. Dick gave Tim memories of Mom's smiles, her laughter, her hugs. Everything he could possibly remember of her. He wanted Tim to experience it too, even though it was a dream.

The dreams were pleasant, and even filled with love that was palpable, but little did Dick know there was an ugly side of those dreams, more like memories In the background, an argument that both overheard was going on, an argument in Romani. It invaded the safe space that Dick had tried to create. In that space, an ugly reminder had been awakened.

/I do not want to raise someone else's bastard/

/But my friend why?/

/I learned my wife slept with another. I will not accept him. Either she gives him up or I will walk out./

/You cannot. The Flying Grayson's are the headlining act./

/That is not my problem. Either that bastard son goes or I do./

/No, I don't want Timmy to go away./

/You are too young to understand, Ricard./

/No! He's my brother! I love him./

/Do not get attached. He is NOT YOUR BROTHER!/

/HE IS MOMMA GAVE BIRTH TO HIM!/

*SLAP* /You will not talk back to me that way. Go to the wagon! . . . Mary . . . Either he goes or I do./

Wwwwaaaa. Wwwaaaaa*

Tim started crying in his sleep. 'Brother! Don't let him take me away.'

'No, this wasn't supposed to happen,' Dick started to get upset. He was remembering how his father was very rude about keeping Timoti. 'I tried my best to get Momma to talk to Daddy about keeping him but, everything always went downhill. Either I got smacked or she did. I am sorry brother.' And within days of that argument, Timoti disappeared. And Dick didn't see him again.

The dream changed, now out of Dick's hands.

'Where are you?' Tim called out, but the faces that he saw weren't his brother and the woman who gave birth to him, his Momma, but someone else. His father was carrying him and next thing he knew Tim sat on Dick Grayson's lap at 2-1/2. That felt so familiar. Even his smile felt familiar. Deep down Tim knew but he didn't know how to voice it. He watched the performance, remembering and then . . .

They were taking Tim away, kicking and screaming. "I wanted to help! Let me GO! I want my BROTHER!"

"He's not your brother," Janet said. "He's just a circus kid who lost his parents. It happens. It was an accident."

"NO! It wasn't" How Tim knew back then hadn't even been revealed yet.

"You don't know that, Timmy," Jack Drake said.

"I DO!"

"You can't help the boy."

"WHY? He's my brother!"

"He's not your brother."

"HE IS!"

"That's enough, Timothy."

"He is. I know he is."

"We're going home, and that's enough on the subject."

Tim remembered his father picking him up and despite hugging his father's neck, Tim continued to cry and looking toward the center ring as they passed through the tent opening. He could see the boy kneeling between his parents, crying. 'My brother crying, and I can't help him. And Janet Drake, my mother. That's when it started. Her ignoring me, and the arguments with my father,' he thought. 'The false smiles she would put on when they were out as a family. I remember all of it.'

Dick slowly woke up and shook his brother. "Tim, Tim wake up."

Tim came awake, wiping tears from his eyes. "Janet Drake was my stepmother. There were days she did act like my mother, but only when my father was around. When my father wasn't there, she would either ignore me or lock me in the closet. Told me if I said anything she would spank me. She left me there all day once without anything. It was dark. And lonely. I must have blocked that from my memory."

"I'm sorry," Dick said, holding Tim close.

"It's not your fault," Tim replied. "By then, you forgot about me. I tried to keep you in my thoughts. Like a secret, but I forgot, too. We're together now. I guess that's all that matters."

Yes, it is," Dick yawned. "What time is it?"

"I don't know I can't see a clock from here. I think that was Alfred's doing so Dad wouldn't worry so much and keep looking at the clock to see if he'd finish patching him up when he would get hurt."

Dick let go of tim for a second and stretched. He was so freaking tired right now. He felt exhausted. 'It's probably from giving Tim his dreams. I'm not sure how I'm doing that. I just want my brother to be happy, I guess.'

"Did I actually remembered you smiling at me? Tim asked. "When I was a baby?"

"Uhm . . . maybe," Dick answered. 'I really liked keeping the dream thing my secret, but . . . eventually . . . '

"Then, the rest of it. Being taken away. Wondering what happened. That was real too. I remembered after your parents . . .," Tim corrected himself. "No, your Dad and our Mom fell, they dragged me away, kicking and screaming. I wanted to help. I tried to tell them you were my brother. My stepmom said you weren't. It was soon after that she . . . Janet started being mean to me. Only when we were alone, otherwise she just to ignore me. And that's when I remember they hired a housekeeper. My Dad would take my stepmom places. Sometimes she would act normal to me, but I knew in some ways she hated me. I think she knew I wasn't her son."

"I'm not trying to be mean, but that doesn't matter anymore. You're here now and nothing else matters."

"I know," Tim said, shrugging on shoulder. "I guess being buried alive kind of brought some of those memories back, especially being locked in the dark, and being alone."

'I'm going to want to sleep the day away now,' Dick thought. 'I never did a dream transfer that big before.' He said instead. Well, are you feeling a bit better?"

"Yeah, actually," Tim replied. "Not fully refreshed. I think I could sleep longer, but I do feel better."

"I'm going to sleep here a little bit longer."

"Okay, I think I want to talk to Jason. I think I know how he feels even more now."

"Alright." Dick rolled over and went bacl to sleep.

'I never experienced something like that,' Tim thought as he sat up to leae Dick sleeping in peace. 'Memories . . . He gave me memories.' Tim turned around and gave Dick a kiss on the forehead. "I'm glad you're my brother." Tim got up and realized he was wearing his old uniform. 'This was weird. It still fits, too. I better go change, see if I can talk to Jason if he's still around. He might be in class.'

Tim headed to the showers to change and prepare for the rest of the day.

Continues with Part 3

A/N: We will be dealing with Dick's ability to transfer dreams in another story. Has he turned into a meta? Or has this gift been a part of him all his life? We shall see. Let's get back to the children.