Sorry about me posting this rather late, but I did say that I don't really have a steady updating time on here. I have a new job on 2nd shift as a caregiver so late nights after work I play on my Xbox til around 1am instead of being on my laptop, but it makes no difference I'm still sitting on my ass being lazy after work. It was also the month of my birthday (October), so I took some time off of my projects to catch up with friends before I'm stuck working the odd hours again. I hope you're okay with surprises, because I tend to throw those in. You also might want to kill me in later chapters, considering I thought of something funny and fluffy. Not really in this chapter, but perhaps later ones.

Phoenix Chapter 8

Leslie came in the afternoon the same day around 2pm. She was escorted to Tim's room, and saw a sight for sore eyes. The boy was fast asleep still, and Ace was curled protectively around him. She had seen, as well as treated, this boy for several illnesses in the past, but she still didn't quite know him as well as she did Bruce and the others. He looked drained and even smaller than when she last saw him. It didn't help that the bed he was in was big enough for seven more kids his size. Tim's hair lay flat and damp against his face, covering the thick eyelashes that twitched occasionally as he slept.

"The medicine should be a lower dose soon," Alfred said as Leslie nodded. "It will peak up again if he gets aggravated, but he should still be pretty drowsy until you leave later."

"Very good, he's been through a lot, so keeping him calm is one of the main objectives," Leslie responded as she sat in the chair by the bedside. "I'm not sure there is much else I can do for him, but perhaps with time he will remember everything."

"Indeed. Master Bruce and the rest of the household are worried about his current state," Alfred admitted as he glanced over at Tim's sleeping figure. At least he gets-along with the dog thought Alfred to himself.

20 Minutes Later.

"Good afternoon, Timothy," Leslie said politely as she saw the boy sit up now and rub his eyes.

"Dr. Thompkins?" he acknowledged as he turned to face her. "W-where am I?" Tim asked as his eyes looked at Leslie while he covered a yawn. He seems to remember me, but no one else. I'll ask him a few questions and maybe I can figure out what the cause may be.

"Tim, you currently live with the Wayne's at Wayne Manor. Don't you remember Richard, Jason, and Bruce?" asked Leslie as she handed Tim a photo of the four of them together on an outing taken about a month ago. Tim frowned a little, recognizing the young man with bright cheerful eyes and the warmest smile as he held the smallest child on top of his shoulders. That was the guy by his bedside earlier .The smallest boy looked a lot like Tim, but he didn't know who these people were, or did he? "Timothy? Do you remember them?" asked Leslie again, a little more encouraging as he just continued to stare at the picture. Tim pointed at the man.

"I remember him; he sat in your chair. Does he live here?"

"Yes, that's Richard or Dick as his nickname has come to be," nodded Leslie as Tim took in a quick breath. His eyes locked back on to Dr. Thompkins. "Now, how is it that you remember me?" asked Leslie as Timmy gave her a funny look.

"I read one of your articles in the newspaper you recently had published for Gotham. My parents, where are they?" asked Tim, changing the subject fast as Dr. Thompkins couldn't help but let out a sigh. He only remembers me because of that, how unfortunate.

"Tim, this isn't easy for me to say, but your parents were murdered, someone set their house on fire and they didn't make it out. We thought we lost you as well, but somehow you made it out before the flames could do much to you," she explained as Timmy just continued to stare at her. He didn't seem as upset as she thought he would be. It was almost like he knew what the answer would be.

"Did, did they have a service?"

"Yes, Bruce Wayne made sure that they had a proper memorial and burial. He is your current guardian now," Leslie added as Tim's eyes grew wide at this. He knew who the man was, but only as the owner of Wayne Enterprises. He had no recollection of his previous year at the manor with him. Last he remembered was having dinner with his family, the smell of smoke, then nothing after that. "I hope you come to realize that Bruce and the boys here mean you no harm. They really do care about you and want you to enjoy living here with them," Thompkins pointed out as Tim nodded slowly.

"I, I see," noted Timmy under his breath, the dog gently licking his hand as Tim absentmindedly pat Ace's back.

"If there's anything you would like to talk about Timothy, you can always ask me. I need to know if there's anything I can do for you to make you feel more comfortable around here," smiled Leslie gently as Tim managed to smile a little.

"Thank you, but, are you sure I'm supposed to be here?" asked Tim once more as Thompkins nodded reassuringly.

"Bruce Wayne will legally be your guardian now and you will be living with him until you're of legal age," explained Leslie as Tim slowly nodded at this. "I need to run a few tests with you, Tim. Are you alright with me doing a medical examination on you?" she asked as Timmy nodded and smiled a little.

"Okay. Is it going to hurt?"

"No, but sometime this week you'll be due for a shot. I'll also need to take a few blood samples to be sure that all of your files are up to date. A social worker will be here later to conclude with the adoption."

"Okay." Tim wanted to believe this lady, he really did. He had no other memories to go by for these people. It was then that Tim decided that when he'd fall asleep later to see if he could contact those "spiritual mothers," as they called themselves. After asking him a few more questions, Leslie stood up and politely dismissed herself.

"I'll be back to check with you next week to see how things are going here," smiled the doctor as Tim smiled grimly. When Thompkins left the room, Tim fell back against his pillows. Bruce Wayne. He was going to be Tim's caretaker. Just the thought and realization of it made him dizzy as he closed his eyes, trying to settle his fluttering stomach. Mr. Wayne played a very important part in the city of Gotham, and it didn't help that Tim did admire his outlook of the future and his business, Wayne Enterprises. He willingly wanted to adopt Tim? It almost made him forget about what happened in his dream earlier. Almost.

"Hey Timmy!" smiled Dick as he made his way to the side of the bed, sitting in the empty chair. Tim opened his eyes, recognizing the young man as he looked up at him blankly. Dick was still a bit hesitant, especially with the incident that happened earlier. "Um, I just wanted to give you a little something. I swear I'm not trying to bribe you, but since you don't have a laptop anymore, I figured you should have a replacement," he honestly explained while placing the laptop on Tim's lap. "I downgraded it to Windows 7, since I remember you were saying how horrible Windows 8 is."

"But it's the truth!" insisted Tim unintentionally as he shot up out of bed. "It's only good for touchscreens and if you aren't afraid of it crashing all the time…" Dick tried his hardest at not chuckling at all the tech lingo Timmy was sputtering out. He may have been an intelligent, but he was still just a kid. His lecture on the downfall of Windows 8 was a good five minutes until Tim stopped abruptly, his face beat red in embarrassment at his outburst.

"I know I know, and I believe you! Glad to see you haven't lost that part of you," grinned Dick.

"Did I really know you before?"

"Yes Timmy, you did. I hope that you'll remember me again soon. That reminds me. I bought you something else. It's a journal. Sometimes it helps to write things down and it might help you to remember more. Bruce and I are always taking notes, but it's just something that maybe you'd be interested in doing. It has password protection on it with voice recognition, as well as a thumb scanner."

"Why does it have a thumb scanner?"

"In case you have a frog in your throat."

"Oh."

"Also, I know how you are when it comes to privacy, so I didn't want you thinking we would try to peek at your entries." Tim smiled a little at this. This was such a familiar feeling. Was he supposed to really know this guy? It made his head hurt a little more.

"Thanks."

"I'll see you at supper in a little while. Everything will be alright and we're going to help you remember," promised Dick before he left the room.

"Right, I'm sure you will," Tim thought out loud, his voice iced over with suspicion.