Our Time in Reverse- What it Takes

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Chapter 56: Staying Put

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Fluttering wings and windy drafts were never present in his daydreams. He by far had avoided hearing voices of HIM.

Of his new enemy, his new level to a nervous breakdown. The boy in the mirror staring back, he was a shadow as Dick ducked his head, his eyes scrunched in pain as his body crumpled alone as tissue; used and ready to be disposed of.

"M…." Saying it took time, as the devil on the side, grinned with sharp. Teeth. ~ Say it, call to him. Robin.~

He shivered staying still, quiet.

~ Robin….~

R –

"Dick?"

/

He'd stopped fighting, the sweat on his poor brow, suppressed by…by cloth, by someone. He was never too far, as the voices rang out again, calling back. The false Renegade left his eye to hunt for other victims, to stay clear of the transformation.

Dick whimpered and tried to sit….

Wait…

He pulled at his wrist, it was his. He was here, but not where, as he opened his eyes with a jolt too soon.

"Can we undo the cuffs on him, B? He's gonna get hurt –

"Jason." Bruce pulled away from the medical bed. "Go wait upstairs with Alfred."

"Alf should be helping, he's still himself-

"I won't say it again, Jason. Please."

Jason's cry for help was subtle, Dick was his first ward, never a true son like he'd become. "Sure whatever. Call me, if you get the chance. Later." The teen shrugged and went for the elevator to be brief; to not spook their waiting patient as one person was just enough.

Dick had slept for four days, his small comatose state due to the serum, a promise to make him better. Stronger. More miserable than he could ever be should be decide to take that man's hand ever again.

"Dick, I'm not going to hurt you. We're in the cave. You're home. I'm here, like I said."

Dick's eyes walked around the cave, the dim, dropping sounds and the fact he'd never seen it. Never gotten the chance. He'd left before ever learning the truth. Thanks to ( ), now he knew everything.

"You…could have stayed away." Dick said with a dry, raspy voice. He needed to drink something. Bruce went to a small mini fridge and pulled out some water bottles. "Drink this. It's just water, nothing can hurt you here."

He did, trusting the man wasn't as cunning or vile as his…

Dick held his skull as the face, he couldn't see it. He…what was it…? That man, he had a mask on…

"Where…were is my –

"Dick." Bruce sat at his side and without the cowl, only the suit, he looked human and worn out completely from an honest day's search. "In Jump City California, you were rescued from a situation…and it wasn't…You were coerced and damaged mentally by a man who's name you won't get to remember. His real name, and I prefer that we start over. ( ) ( ) is a mercenary for hire who was once a soldier in many wars. He was later experimented on and as a result of the testing, he became impossible to defeat in battle. Super serum, the ability to heal from almost any abrasive gash, wound, or shot fired."

Dick's saw a flashback of a shadow, a man but a crossed off face, he didn't know what ( ) looked like? What was going on??

"I…I can't see his face. Who? Who's my kidnapper? I…. Why, what did you do to me???!"

/

Manhunter would be contacted later. His trick was to reprogram Dick from having ever met that man, his name was forgotten and every time – even if the kid tried his hardest, nothing could bring it back.

Nothing.

It was a foul plan, yet that's why it had to happen. Dick would be used to not being used. He'd get proper schooling, go through his ebbs and flows, until one day he could finally handle his past a bit better than he currently was trying to.

"( )…." Dick held his skull. "Who took me? Why does he feel like he knows? Why….it hurts…."

"It's the serum." Bruce lied, trying not to spell any danger, should the boy realize that it made less sense to belief science held such reason to curse them, ten fold. His memories that were there, were after the incident with Zucco. When he'd been missing, kidnapped.

Nothing else. No serious life ahead and no love from a family member, locked away.

Just as this blank space in his skull.

"If you don't think too much about the past, it won't have to. Right now, we are here to help you as much as we can. And we will, Dick. That man is not going to come back and take you away." Bruce looked him in the eyes, firm and strong abd soft, a father…Bruce…

"MOM…" Dick gasped, the memory of their deaths coming back as his breathing hikes up a notch. "Can't….no way….please….!"

Bruce clung to his wrists, holding him there as the blanket fell off of the teen's knees he was in a hospital gown and white boxers as Dick cried out of fear, or a shame deep inside was this home? His home was gone, the circumstances were weird, not at all hopefully better….something was amiss, and so he cried about that too.

Bruce reached out and pulled the kid to him, against his better judgment. Dick folded and clung to the man's, chest. His heart was pounding too hard not to. The boy needed to be safe, even at his age. Even how Slade had played on that support, maybe even done the same.

"Bruce…" The boy whispered, even so, recalling what he did remember. "So, why was I…in California?"

"He took you there, for almost eight years I had to keep hoping. Running into dead ends, leads that wound up making things worse in the end…we found you, Dick. You're OK. You're going to be…just fine. I'm here."

Dick believed it as best he could, clinging closer abd nodding a snot filled thank you into the man's bicep. One part. The part staring across the room that only he could see, however, shook it's head in disappointment.

~ He never loved you long enough, Renegade. We are always welcome to another's loving arms. You know that, or one day …you will remember, everything. ~

/

Eating again was easy, it was only a week since the incident. Yet the serum had disrupted his habits. He had an appetite for almost anything and every morsel, still. It was not enough to fill him up. "How much as he been willing to consume since breakfast, Master Wayne?"

Alfred looked at the mess of dishes and got to work finding a protein powder formula to stuff into the little glutton's hand. "It's a temporary side effect of the serum. Once we can understand how much of his intake is supported, we can analyze the reason for his metabolism growing…." Bruce grumbled. "Ah, faster."

"Like the Flash?"

Dick dropped his spoon as Jason stopped, Bruce giving his other son a warning look as Dick seemed to be fishing through his useless memory bank fir clues on how to react. "Flash…he was there, the rescue?"

"He stopped a bomb that guy who took you had planted. He was pretty brave too. I couldn't have jumped in like that and sacrificed myself. Too many lives left."

Bruce stood up and walked over to the kitchen, Alfred coming in. While, Jason took the word as Alfred gave the boy a motion with his wrist to follow them. Dick was left in the room with a bowl if bisque abd no desire to turn it down. He was so hungry, abd it wouldn't stop eating him away, but it gave him energy too. Surreal.

He lifted the spoon, the reflection of his face now masked as he dropped it with a hard clink into the table spread. In the soup, he saw a Renegade's face sneering back. ~ You can't be full yet. You still gave more to do. You can do this, come on. You're the appre –

"AH…."

Dick gasped up, as Jason seethed in a breath and joined Dick next to his food, his slightly taller form leaning over to peer at the kid from the side. "Since you're my brother but you can't like, remember how we used to be, um…wanna go outside or something?"

Jason was…inviting? Him? Dick blew a gasket for a second, the fake shadow showing a death glare before his own lips moved.

Dick blinked back at the other boy, then at his spoon as the dark face had vanished. "Sure, I…just want to finish this. Still hungry…you know?"

/

Bruce held his ear to the line for his best practitioner on the spot. "Dr. Leslie, hi. Yes, I'm doing fine…we…Dick's going to need a proper checkup over –

He went on about the symptoms and she nodded to herself, not a first in dealing with metas and the like.

~ Bruce, bring him in as soon as you can. If the serum isn't done settling in his new body, I'm afraid something else might happen that he's not experienced yet. Maybe…~ She chewed at her pen and then refused, tapping to her clipboard, ~ Maybe, you might want to run some more in depth tests. Call in those involved in the Super serum –

"He's out, they are…. all, dead. Slade killed them to cover his tracks. Leslie. Dick is hungry, a lot more. I'm afraid if his heart or brain, God forbid it…" Bruce held himself steady as sge finally spoke. ~ Today, I have a slot at four. Will you be sure to keep a positive note, regardless of what this does to your son? ~

Son…

Bruce took in a breath, trying to do as she said. "Yes, I will. It's for him, more than anything. I can't turn back the clock. We can only support and suggest changes if our own to help Dick to overcome and adapt to his new abilities."

~ The rest, precondition, healing? Is it showing at all? ~

"Dick was, nipped by our hound, Ace." Bruce swallowed. "It took seconds, that wasn't in the records we had. Slade altered it, maybe, to fix himself…" Bruce gazed into space. Dick, was his ultimate weapon and his way to perfect the already almost perfect drug. "Master Bruce?" Alfred took the phone as Bruce ran to the doors, to find both boys…

Now gone.

/

Dick looked over his shoulder as Jason headed them off to his cycle in the garage. It was there he'd found for his next birthday yet to sneak a peek couldn't hurt. Right?

"See, I'm sort of a big deal to this fam. They know shit happened to me, so you're not the only victim of circumstance."

Dick nodded at the tarp that had something large like a car under it. It wasn't though. Another memory…

~ I won't eat any sugar. I promise. I really want to ride that same one you had, ( )!~

/

"Dickie bird?? Bird for brains! Hey."

"Hey, snap out of it, man?" Snapping his fingers in Dick's line of sight was strangely out of the question as reflexes were at a ten. He grabbed Jason's wrist and twisted it, throwing him into the closest item that was possible. Jason yelled out in a clamber of tools, while the garage door opened, revealing their caregivers with wide faces.

"Dick, Jason?"

"Master Todd, whatever happened in here?"

Dick stood back; his eyes ready to bolt along with his entire body. "He, he was…." Dick could not say it. Jason had…. had…

"It was my fault, B." Jason made everyone look at him as he lifted himself with one arm possibly dislocated or nearly – he'd just bruised it up. Dick had been caught in time, but he was still very wary on how to go with tricking the Bat right in front if them.

"Dick wasn't ok with us sneaking in here, so I pushed and he retaliated. I didn't listen. It's only a twist."

"A might of a bump, Master Dick?"

"I'M SORRY, PLEASE DON'T-

"Dick, it's ok. We're going to Leslie Thompkins's office at four. Jason? You're going as well. I'll reveal our reasons, but once we're on the road." Dick calmed a bit, the scare being that he'd hurt someone and didn't know if that was even possible in HOW he could have…the bruiser looked swollen up, his mouth went dry as Alfred headed the boys to the car. They had less than an hour to settle and relax. Leslie's job would be to fix Jason's arm, and to see if Dick was still safe to stay under the roof of the vigilante team without being any trouble.

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So, this is brief because I was trying to introduce how everyone is covering for Dick's ineptness. Thus, Bird brain etc. Those nick names. Dick saw a flashback of Slade promising Dick he'd get him a bike like the one during one of their missions when he turned sixteen. Jason is being a dick because his cocky personality covers up his frustration over Dick losing his memories of being Slade's apprentice. Bruce tells Dick that he was held captive for either years, yet will the former Renegade get his wings back and fly free to learn the truth? Find out!