Never Sleep, Never Die.
Oh here we go...another depressing oneshot. yay...anyway for those of you looking for a Demon's Head update, it's on its way! I've just had severe writer's block and I'm hoping this will help get over it :P But until I finish that chapter I will be posting some Bat-Family-ness for y'all :D
As always if you see any mistakes, let me know...I might make this a two-shot, it depends on the feedback though.
Warnings-character death
*Takes place after the League leaves and Artemis gets "killed" which is why you will see a lack of Justice League and Wally and Artemis.
-Inspired by the song "Not Alone" by Red...so maybe listen to it while you read? Up to you.
Enjoy~
Robin did not foresee bleeding to death on a rooftop that night. A million and one
thoughts ran through his head as he blinked away tears, trying to staunch the blood flow
coming from what seemed like a million stab wounds.
He scrunched his eyes shut.
Robin didn't cry.
Robin didn't cry.
Timothy Drake, well he did.
Another spasm of pain washed over him and he bit down on his already chapped lip so hard
another copper taste ran through his mouth, mixing with the dried blood he had already
coughed up.
He ever so slowly moved his gloveless hand to find his communicator, it had been lost in
the scuffle and he needed to get a hold of somebody, anybody. Nightwing. No he couldn't.
Not after what had happened tonight.
He had purposely disobeyed orders on going out to patrol that night. He and Dick had
fought and it ended up with him calling Tim as reckless as Jason. That one hurt. So as an
end result Robin took off on his bike disabling all trackers and any other means of
finding him. Damn he really regretted that one now.
He pleaded with his aching body to move even a little, unfortunately for him it didn't
cooperate.
"I'm going to die here." He whispered to no one in particular.
"Now that's not the right attitude."
Robin's eyes shot open. He was not on the rooftop alone. He squinted as a figure appeared
from the shadows.
Clad in a blood red helmet and combat boots armed with enough weapons to fight a small
army was the man who had answered him.
Robin tried not to show any fear as he gave his best batglare to the figure.
His voice was barely a whisper as he gave a snarky reply. "So they send stereotypical
villain number 3 to come finish me off? Figures. What do they call you, bucket face?"
He heard the man snicker. "Watch it kid, or I may have second thoughts on saving you. And
the name's Red Hood, I'm surprised the Bat-Clan hasn't heard of me yet."
Robin did his best to scoff. "Guess you didn't make the priority cut on low life villain
scum."
The figure grabbed at Robin's shoulders and he did his best to squirm away.
"Ouch. That one hurt. But I set my mind on something and I'm gonna do it."
Robin's head swam as he was hefted into the man's arms. "The h-hell are you doing?"
His head lulled as they were both propelled downward. Before he knew it, he was being
laid on the man's jacket on the ground.
He was wrapping what he assumed was some type of tourniquet over the wounds.
Robin looked at him through half-lidded eyes. "W-why you helping me?"
The figured shrugged. "Not sure, maybe it's because I've seen one too many birds die
alone, can't really say."
Robin couldn't even nod, black was beginning to line his vision when he heard the shrill
sounds of sirens coming from the distance.
Red Hood's head shot up and he jumped to his feet.
"Guess that's my cue." He nodded his head. "See ya around, Replacement."
Robin watched as he took off into the alleyway before he completely blacked out.
"You with me? Robin. It's the Commish. You with us?"
He first came to when he felt a hand on his forehead. If he could've he would have sighed
with relief. His mask was still on his face and the Commissioner was there.
His eyes danced lazily around the area. That's when he felt the pain again. He coughed up
blood over the side of the gurney. His eyes focused somewhat and he realized he was on a
helicopter.
The Commissioner's signature mustache came into focus and he could feel the man grasping
his hand tightly. "You're gonna be fine, Robin. Just fine."
"...ank...ou.."
"We've got the Bat-signal up and everything, Batman will be here soon.."
"...ot...gonna...get...im...outta...country..."
The man's face turned cold. "He's out of country and he left you by yourself?"
"No...Nightwing..ightwing...c-call...N-N-N-Night..."
He touched the boy's head and smiled sincerely. "I get it..call Nighwing.."
He nodded to a man in the helicopter and they nodded back, pulling out a cellphone.
Robin smiled before his head lulled to the side. The commissioner looked at him with
concern before shaking his shoulder gently. "Robin...Robin...hey...you need to stay
awake. Ok?"
He shook him harder this time before cursing under his breath. The doctor's beside him
went crazy and he moved out of the way.
"Pulse dropping! "
"What's our ETA? "
"BP is low!"
"ETA's 2 minutes!"
Batgirl laid a hand on his shoulder affectionately. "Face it Dick, you were both being
jackasses, I saw the whole thing. Now you need to go be the bigger man and apologize."
"I know Babs...but you should have seen his face...I became what I never wanted to
be...I did what Bruce would have done."
She furrowed her eyebrows. "That's not true. You are going to grow a pair, get on your
motorcycle and go apologize to him."
She removed her hand and pointed to the hangar.
He sighed before getting up and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks."
With that he ran off to go get his bike.
His communicator went off. Sighing in annoyance he pulled off to the side of the road and
answered.
"Nightwing here."
"Hello...er...Nightwing. This is Detective Montoya of the Gotham City Police Departme-"
He cut her off. "What happened?"
She stuttered slightly from the tone in his voice. "We were dispatched earlier this
evening, we found Robin...he was hurt pretty bad...The Commissioner went with him in the
helico-"
"What hospital?" Worry was radiating off his voice and the detective could tell.
"Gotham General..."
"Thank You, I'll be right over." He hung up quickly before returning to the road.
Speed Limits be damned, his little brother needed him.
Nightwing stormed into the waiting room and received questioning glances from various
people and was even stopped for autographs, as upset as he was he still politely declined
before a nurse came over to him.
Nightwing looked to her expectantly as she told him to follow her. His face pressed up
against the glass of the hospital room his little brother was in. This wasn't right, they
should be flying over the rooftops now, not sitting in some overly-sanitary clad in
white, hospital.
The nurse hesitantly grabbed his forearm and sat him in a chair beside her. She was
fairly young and was practically shaking, probably the first superhero she had been this
close to.
He stared into the room at his little brother who was being worked on. He took a great
sense in relief that they had not touched his mask, his eyes lingered over to the other
side of the hallway where the Commish was talking to a doctor. He was brought back to
reality when the nurse lightly tapped his hand.
"Mr. Nightwing...sir.."
He shook his head slightly. "Sorry, what were you saying?"
She fiddled with her shoes. "I was just wandering if you would like a coffee or
something? The doctor should be out to talk with you in a few."
He cracked a smile. "Oh..no...that's fine...no thank you..." He sighed sadly and
returned his glance to the observation window.
"Well if you're sure.." She skidded off without hesitation.
He tapped his fingers gently against the chair arm. He could call Young Justice since
they'd probably want to visit-no, not yet, the last thing he needed to do was crowd the
hospital with a bunch of teenagers worried sick over their friend, he'd wait a little.
"Nightwing."
His chin tilted up out of habit and he came face to face with an older woman in a
doctor's get up. She shifted her clipboard so it was under her arm and shook Nightwing's
hand firmly before sitting down beside him in the unoccupied chair.
"I'm Dr. Thompkins, head doctor in charge of Robin."
Nightwing nodded his head. "H-how is he?"
Was that his voice? No, it couldn't be..it sounded...terrified...
She adjusted her glasses and took a deep breath. " He sustained various injuries from
stab wounds and he was roughed up quite a bit. There was some heavy hemorrhaging. So we
started him on transfusions-
Nightwing's face lit up. "That's it then? He's had transfusions before, so he'll be fine,
right doc?"
He suppressed a smile, Little Timmy was gonna be A-Ok!
Dr. Thompkins bit her lip. She reached out and took Nightwing's gloved hand in her own.
He cocked his head in confusion before she began to speak again.
"After the initial transfusion we discovered his body was rejecting the new blood..."
Nightwing shrunk back in his seat a little. "What are you saying?"
She tightened her grip on his hand slightly. "What I'm saying is...we've done all we
can...after the new blood is rejected its only a matter of time before the organs begin
to shut down..."
She took a deep breath and his eyes followed her body language as her hands shook
slightly.
"He's dying."
Everything from that point on was a blur for the young hero. He was aware of the doctor
telling him that Robin had at least 30 minutes..tops...but it was hard to tell since it
dependend on what started to shut down first.
That made him angry, telling him when and how and exactly what time his little brother
was going to die. No. It couldn't end like that...they just lost Jason..
Not him too.
He suddenly became aware of strong hands bringing him to his feet. Looking up he saw-
Commissioner Gordon.
"Commish-"
He was completely taken aback when the head of Gotham's police department wrapped him in
a bone crushing hug that lasted about 10 seconds.
Gordon released him from his hold and adjusted his glasses. "I know how Batman is with
being all touchy-feely..but you looked like you needed a hug, kid. I just heard..."
Nightwing nodded, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.
Gordon's expression softened before he gripped the man's arm. "You-you or Batman need
anything...you-don't hesitate to come find me...alright? You and your whole..."clan" we
owe you guys a thousand times over and-"
Nightwing stopped him. "Thank you Commissioner."
He turned to leave but his arm was grabbed again. "You're people...Young Justice and
some others are here already." He pointed to Tim's room, and sure enough there was Young
Justice complete with Miss Martian and Superboy.
He sighed. The Commissioner nodded as Batgirl came striding down the hall. "I'll leave
you two alone then."
He turned and his overcoat billowed behind him as he headed back to his cops.
"Dick.."
Nightwing turned to face her with a serious expression. "Babs..."
More hugs. Great. What was with people? Did they think that was going to make everything
better? It wouldn't...
Next thing he knew he was being led into Robin's room. Mal was the only one besides him
and Batgirl.
She leaned over to Mal. "The kids?"
He bowed his head. "Sent them back to the cave, they don't need to be here when-"
He stopped and looked to Nightwing who was staring at the highly drugged up form on the
bed.
Babs gestured him forward before bursting into tears. Mal wrapped an arm around her
shoulders before leading her out of the room.
Nightwing tried to prepare himself mentally before sitting in a chair beside the stark
white bed.
"Hey Tim."
The boy raised his head up slightly and smiled. "Dick."
Nightwing leaned in and ruffled his hair. "How ya feeling?"
Tim rolled his eyes from behind the mask. "Eh, I've been worse I guess."
Nightwing nodded before looking over his shoulder. The blinds were closed on the
observation window. Satisfied that no one would see him he peeled off his mask.
He tilted his head to Tim. "You want yours off too?"
He nodded. "If you would...I mean I'd do it myself...but I uh-"
Dick shushed him before peeling it off as gently as he could.
Tim laid his head back on the pillow, hiding his wince. "Thanks."
Dick tapped his fingers nervously on the table with the lamp beside the bed.
Tim winced. "Damn."
Dick looked up. "What?"
"I told Alfred I was going to help him give Ace a bath later...crap..."
Dick shook his head. "I'm sure he'll understand, he's Alfred! I bet he'll even have
cookies and everything waiting on the table and everything..."
Tim sighed. "I need you to thank someone for me."
Dick looked genuinely confused. "Who?"
Tim stared at the wall before speaking again. "He called himself the Red Hood...he got
me off the rooftop...I mean...I haven't seen him around Gotham before...but maybe if we
look through the database...he wasn't.." He paused. "He wasn't...evil...he was
snarky, but he actually wanted to help me..."
Dick stared at him with disbelief for a moment before thinking he could have been
hallucinating from the blood loss.
But he pushed that to the back of his mind.
He grinned. "Well, once you're cleared to go on patrol, we can track him down and you can
thank him in person."
Tim folded his hands over his chest and wouldn't look at his brother. His voice was
barely a whisper as he kept his eyes trained on the ceiling. "I won't be able to..."
"Why wouldn't you..?"
Dick stopped when he saw two small pairs of glistening eyes boring down on him, the small
boy's fists digging indents into the sheets.
"I'm not stupid Dick."
"What do you-"
"I know I'm dying."
Dick scrunched his eyelids together. "How?"
Tim chuckled half-heartedly. "If I can figure out Batman's secret identity I can figure
that much out...plus they didn't make it that hard. Doctors say a lot when you're around
if they think you're sleeping."
Dick rubbed his forehead with his hand.
What the hell was he supposed to say?
Not even thinking, he stood up.
He didn't even get a chance to walk one step when he felt something latch on to his left
bicep.
He looked down and could see the boy's eyes widened and glistening with unshed tears.
He had a death grip on Nightwing's arm and wasn't going to let go anytime soon.
"You-You're not going to leave me...are you?"
Dick was taken aback when he realized he wasn't dealing with the Dark Knight's new
fearless partner. He was in the presence of a terrified kid who wanted someone...anyone
to be there for him.
Dick immediately bent down and sat at the foot of the bed.
"Never."
Only then did Tim release his grip on his arm.
Dick helped him lay back down on against the pillow and positioned himself alongside his
little brother with his legs dangling off the side, blue and black clashed horribly with
the white the room was composed of.
His little brother's head rested against his shoulder while Dick ran his fingers through
the mess of black his hair had been reduced to.
"Dick."
"Yeah?"
"Was I a good soldier too?"
"What?"
"In the Batcave, where...Jason's...costume was, the glass case, it said Jason Todd-A
good soldier."
Dick did recall Bruce having that engraved on the plate where his costume was placed
almost immediately after he died.
"So do you think Bruce would think of me as a good soldier..too?"
Dick nodded. "A damn good soldier at that. I totally see you kicking my ass in training
one of these days."
Tim bowed his head. "Dick. You know thats not gonna happen."
Dick smirked. "Fine, Fine. But I'll bet you a whole batch of Alfred's cookies that you
would have dropped me next training session. Babs even said you were gonna put my face in
the ground soon. Man, I'd never hear the end of that from Wally."
The smile on the boy's face returned for a moment before he winced from too much
movement, even so, a ghost of the happy expression stayed.
Tim ran his fingernails along the sheets. "Do you think..do you think this is how Jason
felt when..." He cut himself off and stared at the wall.
Dick rubbed the back of his neck. "I couldn't say Tim..Bruce foun-picked him up...after
it happened. I wasn't there."
"Oh."
Dick continued to ruffle his hair, pretending he didn't notice his little brother trying
to stay awake.
Suddenly he raised his head. "My belt..my belt! Dick, where is it?"
The urgency in his voice was evident.
Dick put a hand on his shoulder. "Easy Tim, it's right over there."
Sure enough it was hanging on a rack along with the remnants of his costume that wasn't
covered in blood and bagged elsewhere for safe keeping.
"Can you bring it over here, please?"
Dick nodded before removing himself from the bed as gently as he could.
He slung it off the rack with ease and laid it over the blankets on his brother's abdomen
before sitting beside him once again.
He looked to his brother pleadingly a moment. "Can you reach into the left side pocket
for me?"
Nightwing did as he was told and pulled out a scrunched up envelope.
Tim sighed. "Good. I didn't lose it."
Nightwing turned the envelope over in his hands until he came upon the word "Dad" written
hastily on it.
"What is thi-"
"I need you to give that to my dad."
"What do you-"
"He didn't know about this part of my life...and I figured I might as well give him
something to hold on to..."
"You mean-"
He weakly reached out and clasped Dick's gloved hand. "I need you to give this to my
father for me. Please."
"Tim..."
"Please. You have to."
He took a breath and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly before gently placing the letter
in his own utility belt.
"Of course I will."
Tim's eyes were lidded now and his grip had completely loosened on Dick's arm.
"Thank you."
Nightwing nodded solemnly before resuming removing the hair from his little brother's
eyes.
"Do you think Bruce was proud of me too?"
Dick smiled. "Hell yeah he was! You figured out his identity all by yourself and
everything, Tim. You're a freaking genius."
Tim scrunched his eyes and managed a grin. "You're pretty awesome too, I still can't
"hack the motion sensors like you."
They both chuckled before Tim winced again.
"I'm glad I was Robin. I wouldn't change any of this. I got a great older brother and
some pretty kickass friends. That's a victory in my book."
Tears were welling up in his eyes and he blinked furiously so the dying boy wouldn't see
them.
A smile ghosted over his lips and he closed his eyes.
"I'll be sure to tell Jason how much he's missed here."
Dick bit his lip in order to keep tears from spilling over. His voice came out in a
croak.
"No, Timmy, you're gonna stay right here with me, Alfred, Bruce, Ace, and the team."
"..."
"Tim?" He gently shook the boy's shoulder, hand still clasper around the pale form's
smaller one.
His only answer was the shrill whine of a heart monitor flat lining.
Dick bowed his head and finally allowed the tears to fall.
He wasn't sure how long he had been there, or how long he had been crying but when he
looked up again everything was still the same, only a motionless little bird awaited him.
His small pale hand was cold to the touch. Dick carefully unlatched his hand from his and
stood up.
Wordlessly he replaced his mask and leaned over to Tim before putting the mask back on
his little brother.
He sniffled and planted a kiss on the boy's forehead.
He walked slowly out of the room and came face to face with Mal.
Nightwing looked to his utility belt and remembered what he had to do.
"Mal, I have to-Tim wanted me to...he..."
Mal gave him a sympathetic look. "Go, we'll wait here with him, you go do what you need
to do."
Nightwing gave a thankful look before turning on his heel and heading down the hallway.
It was around 3:30 a.m when Nightwing made his way into the small Gotham apartment
complex.
His boots left indentations on the plush hallway carpet as he eyed every apartment number
before finally after what seemed like an eternity, came across the one he had scribbled
down earlier.
Drawing a deep breath he reached up about to knock on the door. He hesitated a moment as
he looked at his utility belt with that special parchment carefully placed inside. An
image of his little brother's still form flashed through his mind and he swallowed, his
throat suddenly becoming very dry. Even so he brought himself to knock.
A middle aged man with a receding hairline rubbed his eyes as he opened the door.
"H-Hello?"
He took a double take when he realized who was standing at his door.
"Oh wow! You're Nightwing, from Bludhaven!
Nightwing took a deep breath. "Y-yeah..that's me."
The man was genuinely surprised. "To what do I owe the honor of having-"
"Mr. Drake." He paused before fumbling with his utility belt and taking out the envelope.
He gingerly stretched his hand out to the man. Puzzled, Mr. Drake took the envelope and
eyed the word "Dad" scribbled on the cover.
Nightwing fidgeted and looked the man straight in the eye.
"Mr. Drake. I knew your son. He was like a little brother to me...and...well...There's
some things you should know..."
Batman stood at attention at the helm of the ship they were currently travelling the
galaxy in.
The other leaguers were long asleep while Batman agreed to keep watch for anything
suspicious as it rocketed through the skies on autopilot.
Who knows whether it was the fact he was missing his family or just his keen bat senses,
but something caused him to reach into his belt and pull out the family photo that
Batgirl had snuck in there before they had left.
He eyed it carefully seeing two of his "sons" and Batgirl and Alfred. Some unseen force,
however, caused him to glance back at the part of the picture where Robin was.
He took in how the boy was rested on top of his eldest shoulders, both their grins taking
up a majority of their faces.
Something was off. He didn't know what, but for some reason, he could not take his glance
away from Tim. When he finally did, he found himself thinking back to when he first met
the nine year-old.
Mr. Wayne, sir. I don't think you understand. Batman needs a Robin.
And something completely unconventional happened. The Batman smiled.
Sooo...did anybody cry? Yes...no...maybe? Not one of my best works, but eh, everybody needs practice...
I'll go back and try to fix up the wonky formatting later...heavy on the try part there xD
Now I'm off to the fair, have a good night all! :D
Anyway...you know what to do...that cute little blue button...The Bat-Family compels you to press it!