Chapter 31:
The Lady Dreamless
Doc Silence and Natasha Grey walked across a vast, white marble arch toward a tower made of glass. Natasha scoffed.
"Subtle," she said.
"Be nice."
"Why are you having such an issue with this?" Doc said.
"Because the Dreamless Lands are full of lunatics, and you're bringing me to right into the asylum," she said.
"Hush," Doc said.
Standing guard at the door was something akin to a minotaur, with long, sweeping horns and a wrinkled, blocky face. The creature carried a sword so big it looked like a prop and not a real weapon. But here, dreams could kill just as easily as steel, so Doc followed protocol.
"We're here to see the Lady Dreamless," Doc said.
The creature snorted.
"You're from the lower planes," it said.
"Are we that obvious?"
"Look at your coat," the minotaur snorted.
"I like my coat."
"It doesn't look like you treat it like something you care about," the creature said.
"Are we really talking about fashion with a minotaur?" Natasha said.
The minotaur narrowed his eyes at her, but Doc intervened.
"Can you tell her that Doc Silence is here seeking an audience?" Doc said.
The minotaur didn't answer, but instead raised his weapon over his head. Doc started preparing a defensive spell in case the creature attacked, but instead, the beast used his sword to swing a knocker larger than a man, once, twice, three times. The door creaked open, and a green creature with large yellow eyes and a small, dainty mouth stuck his head outside.
"We're not expecting anyone," the creature said.
"We have an honored guest," the minotaur said. "Tell the Lady her Doctor Silence is here to see her."
The little creature, who resembled, once his small frame came fully into view, a turtle who had been stripped of his shell, led them swiftly down the hall, a long corridor made of swirling blue stone that changed patterns when touched.
"You really should have called first," the creature said. "This is very rude."
"I didn't really have the option," Doc said.
"And you're really expecting to be seen in that?"
"It's how she'll remember me, isn't it?"
The creature's tiny mouth pinched into a frown.
"This is why I hate this place, Silence," Natasha said. "Demons I can handle, but the figments . . ."
"They're not all figments," Doc said. "That's the danger of this place. There's plenty here that can do you harm."
As if to prove that point, the shell-less turtle opened a pair of massive doors, opening up into a room skinned in black pearl. A carpeted walkway lead to a huge throne made of the bones of some long-dead behemoth. On either side of the walkway, emptiness was all that could be seen, a bottomless drop into nothing.
Sitting on the throne was the Lady Dreamless. Exactly as Doc remembered her. A pale, petite creature, she looked mostly human, at least perfunctorily. Two arms, two legs, two eyes, a nose and ears, though those were pointed. Her skin was a shimmering white, reminiscent of soap bubbles, but broken in regular intervals by slashes of bioluminescent color, a high red as if her blood itself glowed from within. A reptilian tail swished back and forth as it draped over one armrest. She ran a slightly clawed hand through a shock of bright red hair, standing up like a circus performer. Her eyes were too big, empty black spheres set into a pale, childlike face.
Resting below her, sprawled across steps made of bone, were a pair of beasts with enormous, horned heads, front arms bent and muscular like a bulldog's. These creatures looked at Doc hungrily, red glowing eyes taking in his every move above mouths filled with rows of teeth.
"Those are demon hounds," Natasha said. "And they are very real."
"I know," Doc said.
"Where did this little girl get a matched pair of demon hounds," Doc said.
"They were given to her as puppies," Doc said. "Come here boys. Come to me."
Doc knelt down on the ground and both monsters charged at him. Instead of tearing him to shreds, though, they pounced playfully, licking his face with forked tongues, baying playfully as he scratched them behind long, pointed ears.
"Now I know you're not an imposter," the Lady Dreamless said. "They remember you."
"They should," Doc said. "Have you kept them safe?"
"I have," the little elfin woman said. She stood up and left her dais, walking barefoot toward them. "And they me."
"Well they weren't safe where I found them. They needed a good home."
"And I needed friends," Lady Dreamless said. "And speaking of friends, who is your companion?"
"This is my former teacher, the Lady Natasha Grey."
Dreamless quirked a slim red eyebrow.
"Are you royalty as well?"
"It's just an honorific, like the good Doctor here," Natasha said. "You know humans and our tendency to name things."
"Oh, I know," Lady Dreamless said. "But you're here, and a long way from home, Doctor Silence. So you must be in terrible trouble."
"Just very lost, love," Doc said. "Very, very lost."
She nodded, and led them to an antechamber behind the dais, a room that seemed to simply appear because Lady Dreamless willed it into being. Food materialized, and wine, and a plate of meat on the bone which she threw to her demon hounds as if they were harmless puppies in need of a treat. She gestured to the table, and Doc helped himself to a drink and an orange that turned out to be sky blue inside as he tore into it.
"You can't find your way home?" Lady Dreamless said, coiling onto an elegant cushion on the floor.
Natasha chose a seat at the table and crossed her legs, appearing incredibly relieved to be sitting in a real chair again.
Doc sat down casually on the floor, and both demon hounds chose to flank him on either side.
"We've been trying for a while," Doc said. "We've been through I have no idea how many different planes."
"Nine," Natasha said.
"Well I'm glad one of us was keeping track."
"Someone has to," Natasha said. "My traveling companion used a planar knife to cut a hole in our world and pushed us through."
"And I neglected to bring the knife with me."
"Well that was a silly thing to do," Lady Dreamless said.
"You know me and my silliness," Doc said.
Lady Dreamless steepled her fingers and leaned forward.
"I can't send you home," she said.
"I know that," Doc said. "But I bet you can help me send a message home."
The strange little girl smiled. Her canines were especially sharp.
"You want me to let you walk in someone else's dream," she said.
"That's right. If someone can get to the planar knife and open up a door for us . . ."
"But what if I want you to stay here with me, Doctor?"
"You've tried that once before with someone, didn't you, love."
The elfin girl's face shattered into a desperate frown.
"That poor boy," she said. "He's still looking for his mother."
Doc nodded.
"It's okay. You didn't know," he said. "But you know we can't stay here forever."
"You'll stay a little while?" she said.
"Of course."
She clapped her hands. Doc looked at Natasha, who was staring back at him.
"You do know the most interesting people," Natasha said.
"My Doctor, I would like a moment alone with your friend if that's okay. I have a question for her," Lady Dreamless said.
Doc looked from one Lady to the other, then stood up.
"As you wish," he said. "This is your home after all."
Doc made a calling hand motion to the demon hounds, who bounded after him as he returned to the throne room.
Natasha remained casual as the girl came to sit next to her at the table, mimicking her nonchalant pose.
"You're a bargainer, aren't you," Lady Dreamless said.
"I am," Natasha said. "You knew?"
"As soon as you walked in," Lady Dreamless said. "You know if I let you through, you'll owe me a boon."
"I believe Silence will owe you a boon," Natasha said.
"No, no, I owe him my entire life," she said, holding up one finger.
"And two guardians." Two more fingers.
"And my castle." Another finger.
"And my freedom." Her thumb rose as well. She turned her hand so that her palm faced the ceiling. "Everything I hold in my hand. And so I will help him."
"But you won't help me?" Natasha said.
"I will. I can see you want to go home," Lady Dreamless said. "But you'll owe me a gift."
"I'm listening."
"I want to visit this world of yours," Lady Dreamless said. "And so you will make me a vessel . . ."
Chapter 32:
About Kate
Titus returned to the Tower to find the Alley Hawk sitting alone in the darkened command center. He appeared asleep — certainly the tiny dog who had taken up residence in the Tower on his lap was out cold — but the older man's eyes clicked open instantly when he sensed Titus approach.
"Everything okay?" Titus said.
"Yeah," Alley Hawk said. "Just a lot of old ghosts in here. A lot of dead friends."
Titus nodded.
"I was trying to review my notes on the Labyrinth, but apparently Neal's an honest machine — he destroyed the files I asked him to when I retired," Alley Hawk said. He set Watson down on the ground. Titus heard the clatter of paws across the floor before feeling tiny feet bang into his knee, demanding to be picked up. He obliged.
"So your notes are gone?"
"I have backup files, but I'll have to retrieve them," Alley Hawk said. "They're in a bolt hole outside the City."
"Good thing for that."
"And everyone thought I was paranoid for keeping notes on how to break into the prison," Alley Hawk said. "I told them we might need to do it someday."
"Last laugh?" Titus said.
"No laughing here," he said.
The older vigilante took Titus in more closely than before, studying him.
"Never met a werewolf in all those years," Alley Hawk said. "Met a guy who thought he was a werewolf. Met a canine creature who'd been forced to evolve into a more human form, but no true werewolves."
"There's really not that many of us," Titus said.
"But the others found you?" Alley Hawk said.
Titus said nothing.
"I'm not going to push. Just an observation. Your file said you were shy and lacked confidence," Alley Hawk said. "The kid in front of me right now is neither shy or afraid."
"I learned a few things," Titus said.
"Good. I hope they were things that will help you survive."
"They were."
Alley Hawk gave an approving shake of his head.
"Had to fight a vampire once," he mused, strangely wistful.
"I hear vampires are all jerks."
"Every damned one of them is a pain in the backside," Alley Hawk said. "Sorry. This is strange. I'm not usually one for musing but . . . All my friends are gone."
"Were you close?"
Alley Hawk gave a definitive no.
"Doc and I had a good understanding of each other. We'd seen darker things than the others," he explained. "And the others . . . I didn't appreciate them. I had no patience for idealists."
"You're a bit of an idealist yourself, aren't you? Like Kate."
"Ah, see, I didn't know I was an idealist back then. I thought I was an avenging bastard of doom," Alley Hawk said. "Your Kate doesn't know she's an idealist either."
"She's not my Kate."
"But you watch out for her," Alley Hawk said.
"When she lets me," Titus said. "She doesn't think she needs it."
"You all need it," Alley Hawk said. "If we'd done a better job looking out for each other . . ."
The Alley Hawk made a big gesture around the room.
"Ghost town in here," he said. "What have you got under your arm."
Titus tossed him the file, and the older man flipped through it.
"Telepath. Huh," Alley Hawk said. "Well you're in luck then."
"Why's that?"
"People think telepaths can see the future, but the fact is they can just read your thoughts right before you act. They're a beast in a fight. You think they're always one step ahead of you, but that step is just that blink between thinking and doing."
"I don't see how we're lucky."
"I didn't mean all of you. I meant you specifically," Alley Hawk said. "Know what kind of a mind telepaths can't read?"
"Werewolves?"
"Close enough," Alley Hawk said. "A mind in a blind rage. Because you're doing and not thinking."
Titus groaned.
"And here I spent my summer vacation trying to get my anger management issues under control."
"Well just remember, if you come up against her . . . do your thing. She won't be able to stop you."
"Any other advice?"
"Yeah, she's pyrokinetic. Don't let her set you on fire."
Titus laughed.
They both reacted quickly at the sound of Kate's approach, long before she walked into the command center. Titus was impressed — he thought only his supernatural hearing could have picked up her footsteps from that distance away, but the Alley Hawk was right on it with him.
Kate paused at the doorway, eyes glowing slightly with the inner power Billy's alien was providing her. She looked physically uncomfortable, like someone wearing her shoes on the wrong feet. Most people would have killed to have Billy's powers, but Kate couldn't wait to get rid of them.
Which, Titus suspected, might have been why Dude had chosen her.
"What are you two creeps doing in the dark?" Kate said.
Watson growled at her sounding like a very small motor.
"Three creeps." She pointed at the dog. "You're the creepiest."
"How'd it go?" Titus said.
"We have our storm," Kate said. "Yeah. We can rely on her. Because I said so."
Titus smiled at the jumbled words as Kate spoke.
"Talking to Dude?"
"He never shuts up. No, you don't."
Alley Hawk stood up and headed for the door.
"I'm going to grab a few things from one of my hideouts while it's still dark, take advantage of the cover," he said.
"Need a hand?" Kate said.
Alley Hawk shook his head.
"This is the most I've been around people for years," he said. "I could use a few hours alone."
"Ping us if you run into any trouble."
The old hero almost smiled, then headed past Kate and down the hallway.
She flopped down in one of the chairs, abandoning her usual perfect posture.
"You okay?" Titus said.
"How does Billy live like this," she said. "I can't even . . ."
"Can't even what?"
"I can't even pee without him there. I know he's there, but it's not like I can tell an invisible alien seeing through my own eyeballs to turn around for a second."
"You could," Titus said. "But I imagine it wouldn't help much."
Kate raised her head to look at him and then watched Titus for a few seconds. She pulled her mask down and let it hang around her neck.
"What?" Titus said.
"You're different."
"So are you."
"I have a parasite."
"Beside that," Titus said.
"I mean it," she said. "You're different."
"I went through a lot."
Kate continued to stare at him.
"Your hair is going gray."
"Does it make me look older?"
"Titus, it makes you look tired," she said. "Are you alright?"
"That depends. Are we alright?"
She frowned, an intimidating grimace scrawled across her face.
"You left," she said.
"I had to."
"I know."
"I asked you to come with me," he said.
"I couldn't."
'Why not?"
"Because I couldn't, Titus," Kate said. "I can't. I'm not someone who can just go with someone. I have to do things. I can't just leave."
"The others were here," Titus said. "You could have come if you wanted."
"No, Titus," she said. "I can't just leave. I'm just not . . . I have to be better. I always have to keep getting better. I don't get to rest. I don't get to leave."
They watched each other for a moment, in the dark, Titus's face a mask of calm understanding, Kate's one of frustration and pain.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Kate said.
"I think I did."
"And you came back here anyway."
"Because you needed me," he said. "If I haven't made this clear before, Kate, I'm sorry. But I'll always come when you need me."
She looked away, pulled off her costumed gloves and gauntlets, slapped them down on the table.
"Don't say stuff like that," she said.
"Okay," Titus said.
He stood up, walked over to her — that ridiculous little dog under his arm — and he placed Watson on her lap. She stared at him for a moment.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" she said.
"You be nice to him," Titus said.
"Is this a metaphor?" she asked, and they both laughed.
"Kate, you need a vacation," Titus said.
"Like hell," she said. "What did you find out there, Titus? On your own?"
"I found what I'm supposed to be."
"And you abandoned it for me. For us."
"No," Titus said. "I think all of you are a part of it. I think this is all part of what I'm supposed to be."