Sick Bird.

65. The Dream.

Bruce wouldn't get a chance to go back to Dick, he should have know the moment he stepped out of the Batcave. The heaviness in the air should have alerted him of the nearing of the end... But it didn't. The man's thoughts were elsewhere, counting down the time his little bird had left, how much time he had to save the only light he had in this dark, dreary world. He should have used the time he had now to explain how he felt to his son. He should have held on tighter to him. . . But he couldn't have known.

_-_

The manor was under attack. Even though he couldn't hear, Dick was sure. It was the heaviness of the air, the terror that struck his heart the moment Bruce stepped out of his room. He wanted to call back his father, hug him and cry over his shoulder. But fear and another emotion he couldn't place strangled his voice. The boy couldn't even manage a croak; the heart monitor by his right beeped rapidly, showing how much panic he couldn't express.

Dick was frozen but he wasn't blind, at least not yet. An urge sprung up in him to run away, a sense built up from all his years as Robin. He struggled to lift his finger, the first step to running out the door and shouting for Alfred. The bird had no doubt that the faithful butler could protect him, and even. . .

"Don't even try, boy." A cool voice pierced through Dick's thoughts and the boy jerked forward, the spell of paralysis over his body broken.

His entire body shook, sweat pouring out of his skin as he raised his trembling gaze to the man that held his face up by the chin. Is this a dream?

"Why. . ." the thirteen year old gulped and shifted back in shock. "Why can I hear you? When did you. . . How?"

The man used his thumb to brush away the sweat dripping off Dick's face. "You shouldn't worry about that, right?"

Suddenly the bird felt drowsy, the face of the man turning into a blurry image. "What. . . What are you doing to me?"

"Sleep!" The command came as a surprise and in that moment Dick realized, this wasn't a dream, it was a living nightmare.

As he descended into the darkness and lost consciousness, feeling the subtle warmth of the arms now wrapped against his body, Dick found himself wondering if he would ever see Bruce again, before his life would end.

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