Chapter One

24th May

Nothing is always something, and if something means everything then obviously nothing is everything… isn't it? Well, considering that Dick had been falling fast into oblivion of nothingness for longer than he could be bothered to count, he supposed it had to count for something. The feelings of weightlessness made him feel alive, forgetting everything in the black abyss of his mind. He had no idea who he was or where he was, he didn't care. His eyes were shut tightly (not that he'd particularly noticed), and his fists were clenched tight; He didn't want to stop, he needed to let go.

His adoptive father stood over his limp body protectively as the constant state of being on the verge of sleep and being awake took hold and caused a self induced coma. He had been like this for several weeks and there had been no changes since he had been brought in from the field with a head injury that matted his hair with a thick clotting blood. It's a strange feeling of realisation when you come out of a coma; all the thoughts that weren't there rush back into your mind like the world is changing from black and white to colour in a matter of seconds. You probably aren't surprised that it gave him a headache. All of Dick's memories rushed through the now open door of his consciousness. His parents flashed past his eyes in a matter of seconds, they were smiling and laughing, sitting around the table in their little trailer, his mother hugged him and his father ruffled his hair; then they were flying, once more gracefully twisting through the air as if they were alive, then came the deafening snap of breaking wire and their smiling faces disappeared. Falling, falling, falling down to the circus tent floor in slow motion. The image burnt into the back of his mind, their lifeless bodies painted with each other's blood, their screams still rang in his ears as they fell to the ground with frightened faces. Then there were Bruce, Alfred and Barb; Wally, Roy and the team. Good times, bad times, you name it, each flashed through his mind like an unexpected storm.

It finished as quickly as it had begun as he tiredly fluttered his eyes open to a wave of blurred colours. Bringing up both of his surprisingly heavy hands he rubbed his eyes then blinked rapidly to try and get used to the sudden change in light intensity that seeped into his eyes. He shakily sat up, tears in his eyes. Bruce noticed his wards

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asked softly

"II-am văzut…" Dick replied quietly, still in shock

"Ei au fost acolo , iar apoi au căzut , la fel cum au făcut ultima dată . Ei au căzut , și nu am putut opri. Ar fi trebuit să i-au oprit . Bruce , ar fi trebuit să ia oprit." He choked, wide eyed. Bruce sat down on Dick's bed, hugging him tears flowed steadily through Dick's eyes.
" E în regulă, nu a fost vina ta. Nu a fost nimic ce ar fi putut face ."

Dick pushed away, wiping his nose with a spare hand (one that didn't have millions of wires coming off it) before he rubbed his eyes again to face his adoptive father.
"Someone wanted to see you" He said getting off of the bed
"I'll give you one guess" he continued

"Wally?" He guessed, forcing a watery smile and wiping his nose on his hand once more

"He hardly left your side." Bruce explained comfortingly, taking Dick's mask out of his pocket and putting it on the bedside table before going to find Wally.

It took less than five seconds for the blur of red and yellow to get to the infirmary; add about a minute or so onto that and that would be the amount of time Dick had been left alone with, a little more time to process what he had re-witnessed; barely still holding himself together . So Wally rushed in and started talking too fast for anyone to here, as expected.

"Slow down Wally" Dick chuckled quietly slightly relieving his stress

"Sorry" He answered awkwardly, sitting down on the chair next to his bed

"How long was I out?" Dick managed to say

"About two weeks" Wally answered. Dick groaned and flopped back onto the bed.

"Are you all right?" He enquired

"Yeah, sure, just peachy" Dick sarcastically gesturing to the fact he was in the med-bay

"My mind only decided to break down all my mental barriers to mess up my head and make me relive my life in a matter of seconds through a flood of memories! So yeah, I'm great." He snapped, immediately regretting it as he put his hand over his mouth
"I'm so sorry, I didn't"

"Sorry for what, I asked the wrong question, it's me who should be sorry. The whole team was really worried." He said, feeling guilty. Wally really didn't know what to say when his best friend was hurt; it may have escaped the others attention, but Dick wasn't invincible and he was only twelve for goodness sake!

"What happened anyway? I can't remember" Dick asked, changing

"You were in a coma, memory loss is normal. Unfortunately you might not get it back. There was a mission to infiltrate a drug ring, it was a trap and Klarion showed up, cast a spell and you were knocked out." Wally explained casually. Dick crumpled his forehead in confusion as he attempted to remember. It was useless.

"Why don't you talk to Zatanna? I swear that your memories shouldn't flow into your head when you wake up from a coma. Anyway when Klarion's involved, it's probably better to check." Suggested Wally

"That's probably a good idea; anyway I should probably head back to the bat cave, you know Alfred."

"Yeah, but you're not going anywhere." He stated sternly as he pushed his friend back under the covers

"Wally!" Dick shouted playfully sitting up

"You have just come out of a coma, you are not going anywhere until it's safe and your medically fit (to use the proper terms), and I'll get Bruce to down here to make sure you stay put if I have to!" He exclaimed

"Yeah, whatever" Dick grumbled lying back down into the uncomfortable bed and falling back asleep before Wally had even left the room.

A few uneventful days had passed as everyone had forced him to take bed rest until the end of the week, knowing they couldn't keep a bat in bed for too long. His boredom had escalated over the past couple of days as all he was allowed to do was sit in bed and do nothing, all day. The team had visited constantly to make sure he was ok, but he was glad when he finally got to go home. Unfortunately he had gone from one bed to another, but at least it was in more comfortable than the med-bay at Mt. Justice. Barbs visited and gave him a talking to about recklessness. However, in a few days he was well and jumping from the rafters. He still hadn't managed to talk to Zatanna, but it didn't really matter, it was in the past, and the past stays in the past. Doesn't it?

Translations

I saw them…

They were there, and then they fell, just like they did last time. They fell, and I couldn't stop it. I should have stopped them. Bruce, I should have stopped them.

It's ok, it wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done.