Mask of Glass

Ch 6

For the next week all the members of the bat family who were at the manor did everything they could to help Dick remember his past. Nothing they had tried had worked.

After a few days of trying everything they could think of Damian got frustrated which ended up with Dick hanging upside down in the batcave and being threatened by the tiny ball of fury that Damian tended to turn into when things didn't happen like he thought they should. Dick was thoroughly confused by the time Bruce and Alfred managed to get him down. After that he was extremely skittish around Damian and tried to avoid him when possible.

Bruce and Alfred had also started trying to train Dick to sleep during the night instead of during the day. That effort had seen more progress, and Dick had been converted almost completely to sleeping during the night. He did tend to fall asleep and take small naps in random places all over the manor. This unfortunate habit that Dick had been forming was what had enabled Damian to sneak up on him and tie him up in the first place. Needless to say... Bruce was working on it.

When the Bat family had officially exhausted all their ideas they decided to just sit down and enjoy a movie as a family. Bruce happened to be working from home on that particular day and he sat down with his family and opened Disney+ on the tv in their family room.

"What are we going to watch?" Tim asked.

"Tt... obviously not something of your choosing Drake." Damian retorted.

"And what's wrong with my movie choice Demon?" Tim asked, shooting a glare at Damion who let out a feral sounding growl and lunged at Tim.

"DAMIAN! TIM! Stop it! Neither of you will choose the movie... Dick gets to choose." Bruce said with a look of finality that quieted any complaints either Tim or Damian might have had.

Dick looked surprised and possibly even slightly nervous as the remote was thrust into his hands. He took it and scrolled through the different movies, stopping on one that caught his eye and selecting it before handing the remote back to Bruce who looked at him curiously.

The movie started. Dumbo. Dick watched the first of the movie with great interest. There was something about the circus in the movie that seemed so familiar to him. He felt like there was some sort of memory or information that he should have about a circus, but his mind was frustratingly blank.

As the movie went on Dick's eyes became heavy and he eventually drifted off, his head falling to rest on Bruce's shoulder.

~Dick's dream~

Dick stood on a trapeze platform. Two people swung gracefully on the trapeze in front of him. A man and a woman. When Dick looked at them he instantly recognized them, they were his parents, and this was his first chance to perform with them. His mother flipped through the air and his father caught her by the ankles. She was swinging toward him... it was his chance to fly with them. Just as he reached for his mother's hands, Dick heard a snapping sound. The rope. Time seemed to slow as he watched his parents fall through the air. And then suddenly they weren't falling anymore... they were lying on the ground, still and unmoving. Dick raced down the ladder and to their sides. Their bodies were bent at unnatural angles and there was blood pooling around them. Dick closed his eyes and let out a sob, but when he opened his eyes again he was met with a different scene.

Scene after scene flashed through Dick's mind. He saw Bruce adopting him, going after Tony Zucco, becoming Robin, making the Young Justice team, becoming Nightwing, Jason's death, and countless others. Dick watched as his life flashed before his eyes, filling in blanks in his mind and answering questions he didn't even know he had.

The last memory to filter through Dick's mind was of his death. He saw Batman kneeling over him, putting pressure on the stab wound on his chest as the life slowly bled out of his body.

~~~~

Dick's eyes snapped open, and he saw the concerned faces of Tim, Damian, and Bruce... Dick launched himself at Bruce and wrapped his arms tightly around his father's body. He clutched at Bruce's shirt and hugged him with all of his might. "Bruce..." Dick said through his tears. "I remember... I remember everything."

Bruce's arms wrapped around Dick and returned his hug. Tim, Alfred, and eventually even Damian joined in the hug.

The hug lasted a long time. It eventually ended when Bruce said, "Come on, let's finish the movie." Everyone moved back to their previous places on the couch and Bruce played the movie. Dick refused to let go of Bruce, holding his arm and pressing himself into Bruce's side.

Alfred came into the family room about 30 minutes after the movie had ended only to see the four boys sleeping peacefully on the couch. Alfred snapped a quick photo before turning off the tv and leaving the boys to get some well deserved rest.