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[6:32 a.m., Saturday]
Dick turned in his bed with a groan. He was having trouble sleeping. He had broken a rib yesterday, and there wasn’t much you could do about those, now could you? He had just hoped he could drift off for a few hours without any medicine, but it seemed he had no luck doing that today.
Suddenly, he heard the window to the room open, followed by the sound of footsteps.
This wasn’t his apartment, so there weren’t any traps set up around the room. There wasn’t really a need for them here anyway the manor’s security was top-notch after all so someone making it inside was unexpected. He had decided to stay the night here after yesterday’s rough patrol.
He kept his eyes shut as the sound became louder and louder, until it stopped right next to his bed.
“Dick. Open your eyes.”
Dick did as he was told and looked at Jason.
He wondered what had brought him to the manor this early in the morning. Dick opened his mouth to ask him that, but decided against it when he saw how disheveled Jason looked almost like he had been crying.
“Are you alright?” he asked instead.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” Jason said he than suddenly knelt on the floor like his legs had given out. Dick immediately got up and knelt beside him, checking on his younger brother. Now he was really concerned. What had happened to make Jason look like this? He had seemed fine when they met for patrol yesterday.
Dick had actually thought Jason would avoid him for a while after the argument they’d had. So something terrible must have happened for Jason to come to him.
The thought made his heart sink.
“Jason, are you—”
Before Dick could finish the question, Jason suddenly stood up and left the same way he had come in, leaving Dick alone in the room confused and worried.
Dick decided to go after him. He couldn’t let Jason be alone, not when something was clearly wrong.
Dick leaped out of the window.
The moment his foot touched the ground outside, he was reminded that it had snowed yesterday.
He was half awake and too concerned about Jason to even properly register what had happened.
His foot slipped on half-melted snow and he fell from the second story Dick couldn’t even feel any pain.The only thing he felt was the warmth of his own blood as it spilled from his cracked skull.
Dick closed his eyes.
Wondering if Jason was alright.
[6:32 a.m., Saturday]
Dick turned in his bed with a groan. He was having trouble sleeping. He had broken a rib yesterday, and there wasn’t much you could do about those, now could you? He had hoped he could drift off for a few hours without any medicine, but it seemed he had no luck doing that today.
He decided it would be better to just get up. Since he wasn’t getting any rest anyway, he might as well start his day early. He wasn’t usually a morning person, but it couldn’t hurt once in a while.
He slowly moved toward the window.
Looking outside, he was pleasantly surprised to see that everything was completely covered in snow. Maybe he should make use of his time and make a snowman with Damian.
Suddenly the door slammed open.
Before Dick could even say a word, Jason grabbed his arm harshly.
“What the hell happened?” Jason yelled.
Dick just stared at him, dumbfounded. Not only because he had no idea what Jason was talking about, but also because he hadn’t even known Jason was at the manor in the first place. He had been sure that after the argument they had yesterday, it would be a while before he saw him again.
Last night Dick had shielded Jason from a direct hit, resulting in his now very much broken rib.
Jason had thanked him by telling him not to get in his way again.
After a bit of back and forth in the cave, he had even said that Dick could die for all he cared, in the heat of the moment, before storming out on his bike.
So what was he doing here now?
“What are you talking about?” Dick said, snapping his hand away. It was too early to start a fight.
Jason just stood there and stared at him.
Alright. Now Dick was getting a little concerned.
“What day is today?” Jason asked.
“Saturday,” Dick said instinctively.
Weird time to ask something like that.
Jason mumbled something under his breath and walked out.
Dick frowned, wondering what that had been about. Did Jason seriously just come here to ask what day it was? Couldn’t he just check his phone?
Well, whatever.
It was too early for this.
Dick stretched and winced as he remembered his rib was cracked. Now that he was awake, maybe it was time for some breakfast. Dick walked out of his room and started going down the stairs.
From the hallway he could see Jason talking to Bruce. He was saying something urgently while Bruce stood there with his arms crossed, listening carefully he had a concerned look on his face.
Dick tried to make out what they were saying as he hurried down the stairs. Maybe he shouldn’t have done that. Not when he was already injured.
Dick suddenly lost his balance and fell down the staircase, hitting several steps before finally landing hard on the floor.
He heard panicked shouting.
Before his vision blurred and darkness took over completely, the last thing he saw before dying was Bruce rushing toward him.
[6:28 a.m., Saturday]
Dick woke up to someone shaking him.
That was not good especially when he had been injured on patrol yesterday.
He tore his eyes open and looked up at the figure leaning over him.
It was Bruce.
Dick immediately sat up. It had to be an emergency if Bruce was literally physically shaking him awake.
“What happened?” Dick asked.
To his surprise, Bruce suddenly pulled him into a hug.
Something was definitely wrong.
His mind raced through every possibility. Had something happened to the others? Were they attacked? Was someone hurt?
Anxiety began to creep in. He didn’t even want to ask.
So he just kept hugging Bruce, even though it hurt his ribs, for what felt like several long minutes.
Then suddenly the bedroom door slammed open and Jason rushed inside.
“Fuck,” was the first thing he said.
Dick expected Bruce to immediately snap at him for swearing, but Bruce didn’t say anything.
Dick could feel it now something was terribly wrong.
“B… what’s going on?”
Bruce finally let go of him and exchanged a glance with Jason before looking back at Dick.
“Do you remember what happened yesterday?” Bruce asked.
Dick stared at him, confused. Surely Bruce hadn’t come in here just to ask for a morning report.
“Are you asking about the patrol?” Dick said, rubbing his eyes as he tried to wake up properly.
Bruce looked at him silently… then turned to Jason.
“It seems our theory was correct,” Bruce said quietly. “And the trigger has also been identified.”
“What do you mean?” Dick asked, standing up now. The pain medication he had taken last night must still have been in his system, because none of this was making sense.
Jason and Bruce exchanged another look.
Which was strange in itself.
They were two people who almost never saw eye to eye.
“Time loop.” Jason said
Dick stared at both of them for a full minute, waiting for one of them to say it was a joke.
Neither of them did.
“Alright… well,” he started slowly, “how many times has it been?”
“Shit, you believe it just like that?” Jason said.
Dick shrugged slightly. “Even if I don’t believe you, we can worry about that tomorrow right.”
“This is the forth time it has been March 14th,” Bruce answered.
“Okay, You said I’m the trigger,” he said quietly. “Does that mean I’m somehow causing this?”
Bruce didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
The way Bruce had hugged him earlier… the way he kept looking at him now, with something like grief in his eyes…all made sense now
He must have died.
His death was the trigger that was resetting their day.
“So, are you two the only ones stuck, or are Damian and Tim also part of it?”
“Not sure. Didn’t really have the time. The last two loops were too short.”
Huh did Dick die that quickly? That they didn’t even have time to discuss the situation yet. Wait so was he already dead by this time around yesterday? That was a weird feeling to have.
“We should call the others and discuss the situation immediately,” Bruce said.
“Right, let’s go,” Dick said, walking out quickly only for Jason to yank him back before he could go anywhere near the stairs, since they were having the meeting upstairs for a change apparently.
Dick stood in the corner of the room as the others discussed the matter, talking over each other and ignoring him completely. It was like he wasn’t even there, really.
It turned out all of them Damian and Tim included were stuck in March 14th. Since he was out of the loop, he was also out of the conversation. He caught a few glances his way, and he just smiled back. He couldn’t even comprehend what they all must be feeling.
“Grayson should be kept locked in his room. I don’t understand what is so difficult to understand?”
“I said the second time happend in his room.”
“Well… how?”
“I don’t fucking know!”
So from listening to them dick found out everyone was there when Dick died the first time. No one was talking about how, and he knew better than to ask. The second time, he had died alone, with no one present, so they weren’t sure how it went down. He can only hope he didn’t slip in the bathroom with his pants down.
The third time, he fell down the stairs, which had been the reason that led to this conversation being held in Damian’s room instead of the living room or the cave.
Since he didn’t have anything to say, he decided to help Alfred, who had brought tea. He poured it into cups and carried the tray to the tense group of people discussing his demise.
“So how about we just keep a watch on him?” Tim said. “We only have to make it through today.”
“I don’t have a problem with that, but I should be fine as long as I don’t do anything dangerous, right?”
“You literally died after falling down the stairs.” Jason said raising his eyebrows.
“Ha, yeah… that’s funny. To think I went out like that,” Dick said chuckling.
“It’s not funny!” Bruce said.
“Right, sorry. But it’s still kind of ridiculous that I—”
Dick paused as the sudden wave of dizziness hit him out of nowhere it was nothing really, just the exhaustion from last night but that didn’t stop his whole body to go boneless. The tray slipped from his hand, and he fell right into it. Shards pierced his face and throat.
Blood pooled into his mouth. He coughed and wheezed. He couldn’t breathe.
He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t—
[6:32 a.m., Saturday]
Dick turned in his bed with a groan. He was having trouble sleeping. He had broken a rib yesterday, and there wasn’t much you could do about those, now could you? He had hoped he could drift off for a few hours without any medicine, but it seemed he had no luck doing that today.
He opened his eyes and startled when he saw Damian sitting at the edge of his bed, watching him intensely.
“Hey, kid,” Dick said, rubbing his eyes. “Um… what are you doing?”
“There is no point in explaining the same thing over and over again, Grayson.”
“Okay…? Can I get up?”
“As long as you don’t trip and fall over, I suppose.”
“I am not one to fall easily, you know.”
Damian didn’t say anything. He just stared at Dick. Something was definitely going on. Dick just couldn’t put a finger on it.
He got out of bed and stretched, then winced. Than he looked out of the window and lit up. “Hey! Everything is covered in snow. Damian, we need to make a snowman.”
“Tt. Are you a child?”
“No, but I know one who might want to have a snowball fight with me,” he said, smiling.
“I am not a child either, and we can’t be careless today. So you are absolutely forbidden from going outside.”
“Why? Did Bruce say that because of my injury? They’re not that serious.”
“I am the one forbidding it. I will take you out to play with snow tomorrow but today you need to stay put Grayson”
Dick rolled his eyes at being talked down to by a child. But he also needed to know why Damian was suddenly acting strange.
“Alright, I can stay inside, but can I get an explanation, please?”
“Tt. We are currently stuck in a time loop, Grayson.”
Dick just looked at him. Did Tim put him up to this? But they didn’t get along well enough to cooperate just to pull a prank on him.
“How many times has it been?”
Damian looked at him, then sighed. “Todd was right. You believed it right away. It’s foolish to be this trusting, you know.”
Dick put a hand over his face. It was too early in the morning to be lectured by his youngest brother.
“It’s the fifth time,” Damian said.
“And the others?” Dick asked curiously. He hoped Damian hadn’t just been dealing with this situation alone.
“Besides you, everyone is affected by the loop. They are currently discussing what to do about the situation.”
“So what is causing the day to repeat?”
Damian looked at the floor, his eyes getting glassy.
Dick immediately realized he was an idiot for asking that. Of course it had something to do with him. No wonder Damian was keeping watch over him.
He must have died.
His death was the trigger.
Dick got down on his knees and hugged Damian tightly. “I am so sorry, Damian. I’m going to be fine, I swear.”
“You are an idiot, Grayson,” Damian said. “I am the one who is going to protect you.”
“I have no doubt about it.”
Dick entered Bruce’s room. He wondered why they were having the meeting here instead of… anywhere else. Everyone stopped mid-argument to look at him.
“Good morning,” he said awkwardly. He had no idea what else to say.
“Yes, good morning, Dick. Did Damian brief you on the situation?” B asked.
“Yeah… so, time loop, huh? How are you guys dealing with it?” Dick said, trying to smile.
“As you can guess, it’s been fucking fantastic.”
“Jason? You are here?” Dick asked. He hadn’t thought Jason was in the manor.
“You got a problem with that, Goldie?”
“No, not really,” Dick said before he could say anything else Alfred came in with tea.
“Here, let me help you with that, Alfie,” Dick said moving to take the tray.
“No!” everyone yelled in unison.
Dick startled at the sudden raise of voices.
“Dick, I think it’s best if you just sit down. And Alfred, please no tea today.”
“Fine, if you say so,” Dick said, raising his hands in surrender. He didn’t understand what the aversion to tea was all about, but hey he wasn’t the one who had lived through today over and over again, so who was he to question them?
He almost reached to take a seat on the bed beside Jason when he suddenly felt dizzy. But before he could collapse onto the floor, Jason was right next to him, helping him stay upright and guiding him to sit down.
“Thanks,” Dick said, holding his head. “Got really lightheaded there for a second.”
“Are you alright, Dick?”
“Yeah, it’s just exhaustion, I—” He looked up and saw everyone had surrounded him, watching him carefully. “I’m fine, really,” he said.
“You should rest today. It’s best if you remain in your room with someone keeping watch,” Tim said.
“Alright, I get it but just for today,” Dick said, waving his hand.
It was going suprisingly smoothly dick looked at the clock and smiled.
(10:20 p.m.)
Soon it would be March 15th.
It hadn’t been that bad to be honest. He had just spent the day chatting with his siblings and Bruce. At the moment Jason was in the room with him. The others had gone on patrol after some emergency came up.
“Hey, it’ll be tomorrow soon,” Dick said to Jason.
“Yeah. Then finally I can get back to my life instead of taking care of the golden boy.”
“Your sacrifice is noted and appreciated, Jay,” Dick said, chuckling.
After a moment of silence Jason spoke
“Hey, Dick,” he said “When I told you to drop dead yesterday… I didn’t mean it.”
“I know that, Jason,” Dick said, smiling softly. “Don’t worry about it.”
(11:10 p.m.)
Jason got an alert from Bruce Tim got shot and was in critical condition. They needed to get the medbay prepared immediately. He would bring tim there in about five minutes.
“Shit what the hell is happening now?” Jason said pacing.
“What are you waiting for Go, hurry!” Dick said. “I’ll be fine. Just go.”
“You better not fucking get off the bed.”
“I know. Just leave.”
(11:56 p.m.)
Dick had called Jason to get an update on Tim’s condition. He was in a dire situation he had been shot three times. One bullet was extremely close to his heart and he was bearly hanging on. They didn’t know if he would make it.
Was this it, is this one of the times where Dick was supposed to die, was tim going to take his place thats not fair, he cant let that happen.
“anyway how are you doing?” Jason asked on the call.
“I’m fine, Jay,” Dick said, looking at the time again. Just a few more minutes… a few more minutes and it would be March 15th. But what about Tim what if he doesn’t make it? If the day repeats again, they will know this is going to happen and will surely avoid it if only the day repeats one more time.
There’s no time to think.
“I love you Jay, I’m sorry,” Dick said.
“What do you mean, Dickface… Dick? Fuck, say something, dammit! Don’t do it! Please, please just don’t do it! We’ll figure something out, please Dick!”
[6:32 a.m., Saturday]
Dick turned in his bed with a groan. He was having trouble sleeping. He had broken a rib yesterday, and there wasn’t much you could do about those, now could you? He had hoped he could drift off for a few hours without any medicine, but it seemed he had no luck doing that today.
He was thinking about getting up when his door suddenly opened, and Tim rushed in with Jason right behind him.
“Pretender Wait! Listen to me—”
“No, There is no other way, or this will just keep happening over and over again,” Tim said.
“Tim, what’s wrong?” Dick asked, sitting up straight.
Tim crawled onto his bed and wrapped his arms around him. Dick hugged him back even though he was taken by suprise he looked at Jason and mouthed the words, What happened?
Before he could get any explanation, a needle pierced his arm.
“Tim what did you do” Dick looked at him in disbelief, then at Jason. “What is going on?”
“I’m sorry, Dick, but this is for your own good i promise to explain everything tomorrow just--”
Tim stopped mid-sentence, his face going pale when he saw Dick’s mouth foam as his body started shaking uncontrollably.
Whatever was in the syringe was reacting badly with the pain meds already in his system.
Tim just looked at him, unable to move. Jason shoved him aside and held Dick, desperately trying to stabilize him. Jason kept saying something but dick couldn’t hear him he felt guilty for making jay go through something like this he wanted to apologize but he couldn’t talk.
“No no no I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to!” Tim started breaking down crying
Dick could feel his concussion fading, but he couldn’t let that happen not when Tim looked like this. He needed to get the words out. He needed to say them before he was gone he can’t leave without saying what he needed to say, what Tim needed to hear.
“It’s… it’s not your fault,” Dick managed to say.
His last words before he died in Jason’s arms.
[6:32 a.m., Saturday]
Dick opened his eyes. Bruce was sitting in front of him.
Weird. What was Bruce doing in his room? Also, more weirdly why was Dick tied to the bed?
“Bruce, what is going on?” he asked, confused but keeping his voice calm.
“Dick, you have been compromised, and you need to stay put for a while.”
“What are you talking about?” Dick asked, testing the restraints.
“I cannot explain the details,” Bruce said evenly.
“Like hell you can’t,” Dick said, trying his best to move his hands, only for the pain from yesterday to flare up. He winced.
“Chum, please don’t fight it.”
“I didn’t do anything, Bruce. I don’t get why you are doing this.”
“It’s just for today,” was all Bruce said, and nothing more no matter how many times Dick asked.
Why is Bruce doing this? Does he think Dick has been affected by a toxin? Or is Bruce the one under the influence of something? Whatever it was, Dick needed to get himself out of here.
Jason entered the room after a while.
“Shift change,” he announced. Bruce stood and glanced back at dick his eyes pleading he left without saying anything.
“Jason, you are here?” Dick asked.
“Yeah, I’m here. Surprise Dickie,” he said.
“What is going on, open me up”
“Look you may not believe me but this is for your own good.”
“You are right, I do find that hard to believe especially after last night when you told me you wouldn’t care if I died among other things.”
Jason looked at him for a second before replying, “I know. I’m sorry about that.”
“Dude, you are scaring me now. What the hell is going on?” dick asked actually sounding terrified
“Everything is fine. Don’t worry about this. It is only for a few hours.”
“But why, Jay? I don’t understand. Why won’t you just tell me?”
“Can’t you just trust me on this one?” Jason asked his voice breaking.
Dick looked at Jason and decided to give up. Fine. Looks like he would just have to wait and see how this turns out.
Dick had been in and out of sleep. Every time he woke up, someone else was watching him. He looked out the window it had gotten dark now. He wondered what time it was.
He didn’t need to ask.
Because Tim screamed it to him.
“It’s 12:00 a.m.! It’s March 15th Sunday!”
Everyone was in the room this time. A wave of relief hit them all at once. Dick had never been this confused in his entire life, because what in the actual fuck was going on? Yeah, everyone loved Sundays, but not this much.
“So… will someone tell me what all this is about now?”
Bruce finally untied him. Dick stretched and winced as he was reminded his rib was broken.
“Time loop,” Jason said.
“Ohhhh,” Dick said. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
No wonder they were so happy about the date changing.
“Well… how many times?” he asked.
“seven or maybe eight I dont remember.”
Dick had many questions like why they didn’t just tell him about the time loop instead of tying him up, and about everything else he had apparently missed. But judging by their tired faces, none of them really wanted to get into it right now.
“So what now? Do we just talk about everything that happened, or does anyone have a better idea?” he asked
“I suppose we should go have a snowball fight first. It will all melt first thing in the morning,” Damian said.
Dick raised an eyebrow. Since when was Damian invested in snowball fights or anything childish for that matter.
Well, not like dick was complaining.
So he shrugged his shoulders.
“Sure. Let’s go.”