Healing

Tormented

Dick woke with a jolt and quickly sat up in his bed, eyes dilated.

Sweat was pouring down his back, he was shaking uncontrollably.

Nightmare... another stupid nightmare!

After a minute his breathing seemed to return to normal.

He shakily pulled the covers off and swung his legs to the side of his bed and got up, gripping the bed post for support.

His alarm clock showed it was only midnight... Bruce would still be out on patrol for another four hours.

He walked slowly towards the window. It was a nice night. The full moon glistened upon the fluffy snow below.

He pulled his desk chair to the window and sat down with a grunt.

It was a little hard to move as his abdomen was still covered in bandages. But the pain has lessened.

Still though, he had to have his wound cleaned because it apparently got infected during his little 'adventure' last month. And then there was the whole procedure of getting his stitches replaced.

At first the pain was excruciating and he was always asking when he could have more pain medicine. Yeah, it was that bad.

But now it's a lesser dose, at breakfast and then again at dinner.

A shadow diverted Dick's attention from the view and caused him to look at a cluster of bushes near the garage.

It's probably just an animal Dick!

Although he wasn't sure what it actually was, he stood up from the chair.

A chill traveled down his spine as a suspicion came to mind. An impossible suspicion.

He watched the bushes again and the shadow became more clear.

Due to the location, the shadow was still a dark blob. But he could tell the thing was... a human.

It was standing on what looked to be two legs... about the average height for a grown man.

No one was supposed to be able to access the grounds... the residence is always locked up at night!

It's probably just Bruce then...

Dick started to relax and was about turn back to his bed until the figure moved again and came into the moonlight.

Dick immediately froze, his blood turned to ice.

He stumbled backward and fell to his butt, toppling the desk chair in the process.

His heart was pounding in his chest, he thought he was possibly still in one of the horrible nightmares.

Impossible! He's supposed to be in jail! Bruce said he couldn't--

"Master Dick are you alright?!"

Alfred was frantically knocking on the door but Dick was actually hesitant to answer him.

Alfred barged in anyways. Ace was right on his heels.

Alfred kneeled down to Dick and tried to get him to focus on him. Ace was on the other side trying to see what was wrong with her buddy.

"Master Dick you must calm your breathing, you're hyperventilating!"

I-I am?

He didn't even notice.

Dick gasped and quickly took in air in careful breaths. In and out, in and out until his mind felt a little clearer.

Dick slumped against Alfred, completely exhausted.

"A-alfred? Where's Bruce? Is he still out?"

Alfred placed a hand on Dick's shoulder, trying to comfort his 'grandson'.

"Yes he is Master Dick. Last I heard from him, he was on the other side of Gotham."

Oh... maybe it was just my mind messing with me.

"He should be home in a few hours. Are you alright to go back to sleep?"

Dick didn't say anything. Instead he nodded slightly and allowed Alfred to help him back into bed.

He lay awake for about an hour, dreading sleep. But he did have some comfort.

Ace was curled up at his feet.

So at least he wasn't alone.

Everything is okay now Dick. It was just your mind playing a trick... he's locked up for good...

It would be another hour of telling himself that before he would finally drift off into a fitful sleep.

The Ace I'm talking about and using is the original Ace.

The original Ace is a German Shepherd.

Although sometimes Bruce and Dick would refer to Ace as a he, Ace was constantly called a "she" or "her" before the Bat Clan officially took her in.