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Bruce Wayne almost smashed through the doors of the elevator as he waited to get to Dick's room. Dick was awake! He'd finally gotten the call from the hospital that he'd wanted to hear for so long now. Dick heart had stopped after his brain activity had nearly ceased. Then, somehow, his brain waves bounced back up again and his heart began beating. According to the doctor who had witnessed it, he'd never seen anything like it. Bruce, however, knew that it was no miracle.

At last the doors opened and he ran to Dick's room, ignoring the protests of the nurses. Dick was there, sleeping peacefully, but alive. They had told him even though he was nearly recovered from his coma, the side effects would still take place. That included a lot of sleep and short visiting periods.

The team sat around him, everyone about ready to doze off. Bruce entered as quietly as possible, quickly pulling a chair up next to Dick and sitting down. He placed his hand on Dick's and looked up at the team, everyone now fully aroused. He knew they had played a big part in Dick's recuperation, especially one Martian in particular.

The team met his eyes. Bruce Wayne smiled.

"Good work, team." The man said, and then he lowered his voice, his eyes softening. "Thank you." The teens looked at each other in surprise. Where was a video camera when you needed one?

Bruce nodded towards the door and the team obliged, trying to hide their relief. They had been waiting with Dick for hours, and honestly, it was pretty boring. Not to mention the emotional roller coaster they had been through the past week was sending them through serious exhaustion.

"M'gann," Bruce said as she walked past him. She stopped, coming back around to face him nervously. "You did something to Dick, when he was…dying."

"Yes…I know I'm not supposed to enter people's minds, but I thought I could finish what J'onn had–"

"M'gann, you saved him, you brought Dick back. I cannot thank you enough." His voice altered saying the last couple words. She smiled gratefully and followed the others.

Bruce turned back towards Dick. He'd actually made it through. While Bruce had tried to keep a positive attitude and work on finding the cure, he'd really been scared out of his mind about it all. He had to be strong for Dick, though. He'd had to act like everything was going to work out, even when he knew it wasn't. It's what Dick always did for him. He was the sanguine one, the one who looked at things with a golden hue. When he was so close to death, the least Bruce could do was return the favor.

Dick sniffed the air and groaned. God damnit! Another hospital!

He's never had one, but he felt like what he imagined to be a major hangover. His head pounded, his stomach churned. He hadn't opened his eyes yet, and he could tell he hadn't used them in a while. His throat was dry, like it always got in the stupid medical room. He swallowed to try and relieve the drought in his mouth, only to be thrown into a cough attack. A hand reached behind him to pull him slightly upright, while a cup of water was placed to his lips. He drank, and the hand lowered him back against the pillow. He finally found the strength to open his eyes.

It was extremely bright, even more than usual if that was possible. Then again, maybe his pupils were still dilated. He turned his head to see a man clad in a frazzled business suit, who smiled down at him with almost a bittersweet countenance. Ca-reepy. Dick cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Do...do I know you?"

The horror passed briefly across Bruce's face before he gave his famous not-really-a-smile, smile and shook his head. "After all you've been through and you can still joke."

Dick grinned teasingly. "It's part of my charm." He tilted his head and frowned. Something really bad must have happened to him, again. What was it? Had it been another fight with Joker and Harley, or maybe something with Two Face?

"Do you remember anything?" Bruce asked tentatively, the lightness fading from his voice. Dick shook his head slowly, thinking hard. What was the last thing that he did? Batman almost always tried to get him to remember things after he'd been unconscious or under anesthesia, just in case he wakes up somewhere strange someday and needs to act fast. An image flashed across his mind and a familiar feeling fluttered in his stomach. He nodded.

"I remember a toxin..." He bit his lip. It was like his memory had been put through a shredder, and then the scraps were shredded again. Piecing it together again was a serious challenge. "Leslie said I wasn't going to make it…and then I was falling…the team had a party…" Recognition struck his face. His eyes grew large. "What happened to me, Bruce?"

The fear in his voice almost tore the man's heart. Bruce placed his hand on Dick's arm. "We had to inject you with the antitoxin, even though we weren't sure how your body would respond. Your immune system shut itself down, and you were in a coma for a week and a half." Dick's brows were knit together tightly. "The coma allowed your body to fight back at the toxin. You're better now."

Dick was still deep in thought. Bruce wasn't telling him everything. He wouldn't be so…poignant if he'd just gone into a coma. Sure he'd be troubled, but something about him had changed. "Bruce, what else happened?"

The man looked into the boy's eyes, knowing he wouldn't be able to lie to him. He ran a hand through his hair. "You were dead for more than ten minutes, Dick. M'gann traveled into your mind to try and save you, and you were revived."

Dick's eyes expanded more, if that was even possible. He gulped. He'd actually died. As in no heartbeat, no pulse, no anything...

He remembered it, only faintly. The images were there: the slideshow of his past, the yellow light sucking him in, the explosion. There was a point when he had seen someone, had it been M'gann? She'd rescued him or something.

He looked back at Bruce. "I was really dead?"

Bruce nodded gravely.

"That's…that's kind of awesome." Dick stated, congratulating himself for coming back from the dead. He kind of was a zombie now. Suck it, Wally.

"Dick, that's not all. You…you told me to read a letter…"

Dick gasped, mortified. He'd forgotten he told Bruce about it that night. That had been when he thought he was really not coming back. "You didn't actually read it, did you? I mean, I know I told you to, but it was just a precau –"

"Dick, I read it."

His words hung in the air. Dick looked down, almost ashamed. He'd meant every word that he'd said in that letter, but he could never have told Bruce the way he felt in person. There were so many private thoughts, thoughts he didn't want to have to discuss with Bruce. Like, ever. Then he'd sounded so pathetic and inferior in the note, something he tried often to hide from his mentor.

"That was one of the bravest things you've ever done." Bruce said. Dick's head popped up, amazement and incredulity on his face. "I would never be able to tell everyone goodbye like that. And Dick…" He sounded exasperated, like he shouldn't have to say what came next. "I do see you as my son. When you were in that coma, I don't think I've ever been so frightened. After I read your letter, I wished I would have told you that sooner. I wished I would have told you that you mean everything to me, Dick."

Dick's eyes watered. He hated it when he became so emotional, so fluffy, but right now he didn't really care. He smiled at Bruce before falling back asleep.

"Does anyone have a marker?"

"Wally!"

"Ow!"

"Stop arguing."

"We're not arguing! She just hit m– ow! Cut it out! Kal, tell her to stop!"

"Guys, maybe you should be quiet. Dick is sleeping."

"M'gann, he's been sleeping for 12 days!"

"You're such an idiot."

"You're the one dating me."

Dick opened his eyes. The team was positioned around his bed, garbed in civvies and casual clothes. Artemis was standing next to Wally, who was rubbing his bruising arm. M'gann, Kaldur, and Superboy stood to his right, all looking terribly annoyed.

Dick beamed. Just like old times.

"Dick!" Wally said, noticing his friend staring at them with his usual smirk.

The others turned toward him happily and patiently as if waiting for the "ok".

"Come on. Let's just get it over with." Dick said, exasperated, only not really as much as he let on.

He was attacked by Wally, Artemis, and M'gann's outstretched arms. They squeezed him tight and lovingly, like they hadn't realized what he meant to them until he was gone. Dick could relate.

Kaldur placed his hand on Dick's shoulder, and Superboy stood there stubbornly with his arms crossed. "Not even going to say hi, Supey?" Dick murmured through Artemis' hair. He couldn't breathe. "You won't hurt me, I promise."

Superboy couldn't help but smile and joined the party, ruffling Dick's hair and saying, "Hi." They finally stepped back, allowing him to inhale. He sat up in his bed, looking around the room happily.

His eyes landed on M'gann. He remembered everything she had done for him and thought in her direction, Thank you, M'gann. I'd be lost without you. She nodded, her eyes brimming with water. They would always have that bond. She'd been inside his mind. Deep inside his mind. She'd saved him from...himself.

"Are you okay, Dick?" Wally asked after they had visited for a while. "I mean you've been through serious hell the last couple weeks. Are you still…you?"

Dick thought about it for a while. He was different. He felt older, like he had grown and matured a couple years' worth in a few days. He would probably be more careful, not to the point of paranoia necessarily, but less reckless and more "reck". He also might have more of a relationship with Bruce now that they faced their gray area. But he hadn't really become a different person, not really.

He still played with words and had a sense of humor. Wally and Babs were still his two favorite gingers. He would still kick everybody's butt at video games, among other things, and yes, he still hated hospitals.

"I'm still me. I'm the same guy, maybe just a little bruised, but nothing a little rest can't handle." He sighed. "Are you guys still the same? You aren't going to treat me like a piece of china now, are you?"

"No," Artemis confirmed, sitting down on the side of his bed. "The only thing that's changed is how much closer we all are." She planted a kiss on his cheek, making his cheeks flush. "I'm glad you're okay, Dick."

Wally cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but I thought I was your boyfriend." She got up off the bed and stood behind the redhead, wrapping her arms around his waist tenderly and kissing his neck and laughing. He broke into a smile.

They talked for another hour or two, the team keeping him company and making him forget the awful place he was in. Dick thought about his farewell letter. He'd regretted not telling everyone how much they meant to him, and how awesome each person made his life. He'd make sure to get it right this time around. He had many more asterous days ahead of him to do so.