The Universe's Mixer

Jake couldn't remember the dream when he woke. It had been long, but how could you really tell how long a dream was? All he remembered was the burst of fear at the end, the sense of something slipping away, and when he rose in his bed, the name of his mother, his adopted mother, was on his lips.

"Barbara?"

It was the name they had decided on for now. In public, he called her 'Mom'. When formality required it, he called her 'Mother', or 'Mia' per the High Speech. The times were growing when he called her 'mom' between them, but the impulse for now was still her full name. "Barbara?"

The dream was fading. Jake shook off the last of his sleep, looking around his room in the Tower. Not the Tower he'd quested for, but the Tower that was now his home. With Barbara Gordon. His adopted mother. She'd understood that he'd wanted to keep his own name, and that was fine by her. But in recognition, he had changed his legal name to John Gordon Chambers. Everyone who mattered called him Jake. As always.

Oy curned against his belly, and Jake started to settle back to sleep. He hoped he hadn't woken Babs. He knew she worried, but a dream was just a dream.