Somehow the family had congregated in the same room without any arguments. The library was the calmest place in the household and seemed to maintain that energy even with all of them inside. Bruce sat by the fire reading a newspaper whilst on the seat beside him Damian went about finishing his novel that he'd forgotten half the plot of at this point but was too far in to start again. Alfred had briefly left the Manor and returned with some supplies to keep Dick entertained, one of them being a friendship bracelet-making set. In a vague memory from the past, he remembered the acrobat loved making them and giving them to just about anybody. He even made one for Batman and one for Bruce so they wouldn't give away his secret identity. Dick immediately took the kit to the library after thanking the butler and got to work making one for each of his family members. Steph decided to join in on the fun although she was swiftly sent to work on the other side of the room when she use the beads to spell out a curse word. Whilst she worked on the floor, Cass overwatched the youngest as he created a bracelet for her that she was probably going to wear until it was impossible to keep it on. Jason had a classic novel in his hands and sat in a way that brought a short lecture from Alfred about his posture. Tim had perched himself in the darkest corner of the room and secretly worked on some case files despite this being his time off. He treated himself to some fun cases though so it wasn't too bad. Every now and then Alfred would come in and check on them before disappearing to clean something. The whole scene was rather domestic and none of them could say they wished it wasn't happening if they were sceptical of how long their mentor would allow such things.

Eventually, it came time to put Dick to bed which wasn't without argument from the boy. He was admittedly fighting off sleep and could do with a good night's rest but he'd gotten overtired at this point which made him resistant to the idea. Not to mention his constant struggle with nightmares and night terrors. 

"I'm not tired!" he argued as Cass began to pack up his kit. He didn't bother to stop her since he'd grown bored of the activity. "I don't wanna sleep."

"You are tired," Damian argued. "Just go to bed and you'll feel better."

"No, I won't! I'll feel sore and achy," he retorted. He folded his arms across his chest with a little pout but they could see through the front he was putting on. They knew better to think that he was just annoyed at turning in early. Bruce knelt down in front of him before scooping him up as though he weighed nothing and placing him on his hip. Despite stating he wasn't tired, Dick leaned into him and his eyes drooped. "Can't I stay up a bit longer?" The older smiled at the familiar phrase, one he'd heard from every child to pass through the Manor at one point or another. Though he had to admit, Dick's puppy dog eyes had always made him a bit more willing to let him. However, he was aware that the kid had injuries and needed plenty of rest. Of course, he couldn't tell Dick that because that wouldn't be a worthy enough answer.

"Here's the deal. If you're able to sit through me reading at least one chapter of a book then you can stay up as long as you want." 

"Half a chapter?"

"A full chapter. I think that's only fair." 

"You're on."

Dick lasted a paragraph.

The room is dark and devoid of any noise other than the sound of breathing. When Dick listened closer, he noticed that there were overlapping with his own. He wasn't the only one breathing. He paused to check and felt a shiver go up his spine when he heard the other maintain a quick pace. Someone else was here in the dark. He wrapped his arms around himself for comfort and picked a direction to move in, not sure if it was correct or if he was even going in a straight line. "Hello?" he called out into the darkness, hoping for some kind of guidance. The breathing took a sharp inhale and there was shuffling. 

"Hello?" a frantic voice replied. It sounded older than the previous iteration of himself Dick had met in the Slade nightmare but there was no denying that this was anyone other than another version of himself. He promptly named the voice Grayson for ease. 

"Where are you?" he shouted. A light suddenly turned on as though it were a spotlight and settled on Grayson. He wore a suit Dick had seen when he suddenly woke up in the middle of Gotham. He'd recognise the bright blue insignia across his chest anywhere. The man stared at him as a spotlight appeared above him. "Are you the one that's been trying to find me?"

"Yes!" Grayson replied with a relieved smile. He swiftly ran over but couldn't get far before the ground rumbled and a crack emerged between them. They both took steps back only to bump into poles. The suit Grayson wore shifted into the Flying Grayson's costume and Dick looked down to find his pyjamas had done the same. Bright colourful lights snapped on and soft circus music suddenly became almost deafening. The darkness shifted into the pinstripe tent they'd lost everything in and below them was a crowd of people who'd bear witness to the tragedy. "Shit, kid!"

"Just tell me what you needed me for!" Dick shouted over the music. 

"What?"

"Tell me! This one doesn't last long!"

"When they take M'ganns DNA, it'll have remnants of her DNA! We can't take it, it'll change our physiology!"

"What do we do then?"  The older remained silent and gave him a look that said he already knew the answer to that but he didn't. There had to be something they could do to fix all of this. "What? What do you mean? Just tell me!"

"Have fun this time, Dick."

"What?" But the nightmare had already begun and he was forced to look at the trapeze whilst his jaw tightened, making it impossible for him to ask any further questions. He supposed Grayson was having the same problem. Once again, he was forced to watch his parents perform whilst knowing their fate. He tried to prepare himself for the screams but he couldn't. There was nothing you could do to prepare yourself for it. He watched them do their flips before he heard the wire snap. Unable to do anything but watch, he saw their smiles melt into terrified screams and let out a sob when he had to follow their journey to the floor. 

Dick shot up out of bed with a gasp and blinked a few times before he could actually understand where he was. He put a hand on his chest, feeling his heart thump against his chest. After a few minutes, he let out a long breath and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He needed rest but how could he rest? Between the injuries and the nightmares of strangers and now this occurrence, he had no time to rest. His older self had shot down their prime method of getting him back to normal yet offered no solution. A dark part of his mind whispered that no solution was offered because there wasn't a solution but there had to be. If his age could be reversed then his age could be accelerated. Unless it couldn't or at least not in a way that would have his best interests at heart. He wanted to stay up and think about it longer but his head was pounding and the call of sleep was all too enticing. Yet he couldn't sleep in this room. It was big and had unfamiliar faces staring at him from picture frames, always making sure he was out of place despite how much of the original decore had been kept. He needed a constant and that constant was currently asleep down the hall. The boy slipped off the bed and quickly exited the room, silently entering the hallway and beginning to count the doors before he got to the magic number. He opened the door to the room, smiling to himself when he found that it was still indeed Bruce's room and his mentor was snoring softly. He closed the door behind him silently before making his way over to the other side of the bed and climbing on, pulling the sheets over him. "I had a nightmare," he stated, knowing the man was dead asleep. "B, he told me to have fun this time." There was no reaction from his mentor but he didn't expect there to be. "I...I don't think you're gonna get him back. I think you're stuck with me and I'm scared you won't be content with me. I'll let you try, you know I will, but I think I'm here to stay." He laid his head on the pillow and felt his eyelids grow heavy. "Gnight B."