Blood Ties

Chapter 22 -Revelations Part 2-

This house was too big.

How on earth was he supposed to find the Batcave in time?

Between his urgency and his lack of knowledge, his body felt on fire with anxiety and adrenaline. Even with his easy access to the house, the time was still ticking, he had to find where the Batcave was and fast. His friends were tough, they were heroes, but the Injustice League was going to kill them. Why do heroes always have to go headfirst into deadly situations? Dick hadn't really cared that the team was actually a bunch of stupidly heroic teenagers until now.

With literally no other plan, Dick took to running its halls, peering into different rooms that all looked the same before dashing off.

With every room he looked into his stomach dropped, he didn't even know the purpose of half of these rooms and the Batcave wouldn't just be sitting there. It didn't matter how fast he was searching, he still had no idea what he was searching for. His friends were running out of time, the thought weighed on him like a bag of bricks on his chest.

He came to a fork in the hallway and took a left, the first room he greeted was a giant ballroom. Knowing it was a horrible idea, (because hello big) he chose to push right through it. He booked it across the empty room, danger prickling along his skin like nails on a chalkboard. His feet pushed him faster like some unseen demon was chasing him, heart rate spiking as white edged his vision. Coming out of the big empty room, he slammed into a wall, breathing heavily as panic ran rampant in his veins.

He didn't give himself time to calm down and started running the halls again. He needed to find the heart of Wayne manor, some part of him said. The fou- cave would be there. His goal. His everything. The center of the maze.

That thought stopped him dead in his tracks. Dick was at a new crossroads in a hallway, identical to the one before. It was a maze. A labyrinth.

Dick panted, eyes wide and refusing to blink. He could hear his heart thumping in his ears as loud as a drum and he swiveled around, checking his six. Both he and his heart jumped as he saw a flash of movement in the corner of his eye. He only calmed slightly when he found it was just his reflection in the small pieces of some ornate object on a decorative shelf. Nothing was actually there. Dick was fine.

Something dark flashed to his left and Dick flinched, breath catching in his throat when the dark mahogany hallway turned white for a fraction of a second. His heart thundered when he looked down, the deep red rugs splattered with blood.

Dick clutched his head, gasping in short spurts of air that weren't enough. His sight turned blurry, not feeling the tears collecting and overflowing, diving deeper into a panic.

Find the center. Find the center. Things would make sense once he drank from the fountain. Had he drunk any water yet? No... no, he hadn't.

No! No the water was bad! Don't drink the water!

It made it easier to... to hide. To obey. To kill.

Dicks eyes went wild, flicking around like a crazed bird.

E-everything was white, everything was danger. Every corner would be hiding a Talon to test him, to kill him. His fingers dug into his scalp, body trembling with short useless breaths. NO! He couldn't- he couldn't let them win again! His friends! His friends, they needed him! They were going to die if he didn't get his crap together right now!

He scratched at his eyes, getting rid of the blur, only to see a dark maroon figure to his left.

Dick screamed and lunged with a powerful kick, driving his heel into his enemy. Dick landed in a crouch and spun around, ready to attack again as his target thumped to the grou-