Avoiding Past And Future

21

Bruce let out a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding. Now that Dick had gone to his room the usual chill of the Batcave had become more apparent.

The weight of the whole situation had hit him the moment the only noise left in the cave were the quiet rustling of the bats up above.

Just who exactly was it that the team interacted with in Belle Rêve?

Could it really be Danny or was Dick just subconsciously linking an unidentified meta with his brother?

If it really was Danny, just how badly had they failed him? How did he end up there of all places? Were they not a safe place for him?

Who all knew about their relation to him?

But

What if it hadn't been Danny and they spent the last two days on a wild goose chase? Dick was so certain it was his brother. But what if it wasn't and they wasted all that energy on nothing. Would they need to hold a funeral with an empty casket, so his headstone can be next to their parents? Or would Dick insist on personally going to the accident site and go through all the evidence, or whatever is left of it, himself?

What should he even do, as Dick's guardian, should that be the case?

Was it too late to call in Dinah to have a talk with Dick about this?

About everything?

Bruce sighed deeply, sagging further into his chair and letting his head fall back. Two whole days they already worked on this case. Two whole days without taking a proper break and just letting the info sit before looking for other perspectives. Mentally speaking, Bruce was exhausted. A few power naps and an ungodly amount of coffee did enough for physical tiredness but this exhaustion wasn't something he could sleep away.

"Perhaps some tea, sir?" Alfred suggested from a distance away. Of course the man had noticed Bruce's internal struggle with the case long before he was aware of it himself.

Bruce sighed again, it seemed that was the only thing he was capable of doing anymore, as he reached for the most definitely medicated tea cup. The tea was nice and soothing to his throat and he could already feel some tension leave his body. Perhaps some assistance in getting some proper sleep wasn't that bad of an idea.

Much to his dismay, the tension quickly shot back through his tired muscles as Dick came barging back into the cave. "BRUCE!" The boy yelled out. "Bruce you gotta see this!" In no time Dick had crossed the cave and was tugging on his pseudo-father's arm. He wasn't sure if it was whatever drugs Alfred had slipped into his tea but something felt off about his ward. A glance at Alfred let him know the elder man also had no idea what was going on.

Bruce got up and, with Alfred in tow, they followed Dick as the boy rambled on and on.

"I was going up like you told me to, yeah? And then there was this weird feeling and I didn't know what it was and I swear, Bruce I swear, I saw that dog and so I followed it. Did you know we have so many hidden passages here? Who knew, not me that's for sure. That dog did though, the dog knew. What else would it know?"

The two adults shared a concerned look as Dick seemed to do his best imitation of speedster talk. Perhaps he had been spending too much time with Wally and was picking up on the teen's way of speech.

"Oh who cares about that right now. Anyways, I followed it yeah and like we went all over the place? Like, I'm pretty sure I was inside the walls and ceiling at some point. Somehow we got to my room and I swear I was so close to touching it. It was like RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME but then it ran off again and it went through my door. Like, walked straight into it, not open it like we would do. Through! Crazy to think that's probably how it found out about the passages, no?"