I had the prompt for this written in the Notepad app on my phone and I need to clear some memory. I was watching Criminal Minds (officially caught up, so if you want to geek out about Penelope or Spencer or Derek please by all means have at me) and I was inspired to make this. I can't remember the episode to credit, but if you're a fan of the show, you'll probably remember crying over it.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own.
Red Tornado was book smart about emotions. His programming had a 96% success rate in identifying them on people up to three miles away and he understood the basics of why someone had have such emotion. A tragic event, loss, or painful memory could have someone feeling sadness. Things not going as planned or repeated verbalization of a phrase or noise could have someone feeling anger. His software updated frequently to help him understand and identify, all in the hopes that he could be of better help to the team of young heroes at Mount Justice.
That being said, there is no existing software out there that can understand the emotions of teenagers.
As he made his way into the infirmary to check on the six heroes, he found himself rerunning their facial expressions when they didn't run up as happy. On a third run, he came to accept that they were indeed upset, and even guilty to some smaller extent.
The report he had received told him that they had saved nearly 60 hostages and arrested the perpetrators with no fatalities. That seemed like something to celebrate, especially in their case. He had witnessed a celebration when Miss Martian had made a batch of cookies that hadn't nearly burnt down the kitchen. No lives were lost there either, and he assumed that the cookies didn't count as hostages. If they did, the job was a failure, seeing that the hostages were eaten. Maybe that's what had them so grim; they had eaten the hostages by mistake. The probability for that was impossibly low, but the Kid Flash's eating habits were something to be feared.
The six were all scattered around the room, no one saying a word to anyone.
Artemis had Megan's leg pulled up onto her lap and was gingerly pushing small sections to gauge a reaction from the Martian, looking like she was trying to find the exact spot of soreness. Conner was unraveling a length of bandage to wrap his knuckles in, the bruises looking like they had just been washed. Kaldur was reclined on one of the beds, mouthing silently to himself as the tattoos on his arms lit up and dimmed in lazy fluctuations. Dick had his back to the large scale mirror, head resting against it while his hand carefully searched his hair for the source of pain, a smaller hand mirror laying against his lap. Wally was hunched over in one of the metal chairs, hands folded to reach his back where they vibrated discretely against the troublesome muscles.
"Shouldn't you be celebrating?" the android asked when no one acknowledged him.
No one acknowledged him after the question either, but they had obviously heard him. He detected no extraordinary throat damage on any of them and from their breathing patterns, there didn't seem to be any throat problems. They just didn't want to talk to him, it seemed.
"The Batman sent me in to check on you. He was worried," he went on.
Dick shifted against the mirror and rolled his eyes, but he didn't get anything else. Red Tornado gave his closest imitation of a sigh, feeling it appropriate.
"I see why. Was the report missing something? I was informed the mission was a success."
Again, no one moved, but this time he got a response.
"There was a kid," Wally said quietly, fingers pressing harder against his back.
The android looked his way and took a step closer, "18 of the 60 hostages were kids. All 18 are unharmed."
"He wasn't one of the hostages," Artemis pitched in.
He stepped towards her.
"He must have run ahead of his parents. He came in through the front door and the closest gunman shot him," Kaldur finished, voice lacking the usually reassuring steadiness.
Red Tornado stood still in a silence for a long moment, eyes lighting up in a way that made the team think maybe he was trying to process it, before he spoke up again, "Dennis Tarquena, eight years old, administered to Blue Ridge Hospital up in Manhattan with a gunshot wound to the stomach at 3:26 this afternoon. Immediately admitted to the OR and is expected out within the hour."
The news hit the teenagers and they all sat up eagerly, a certain desperation in their eyes, one that Red Tornado only had to run once.
"It would seem there's a malfunction in the power grid here at the cave. I'd better go take a look," he said slowly with his closest resemblance to a wink.
The six looked amongst each other in a slight confusion before they realized what the android was doing and grinned largely, all climbing to their feet. There was a moment where no one moved, as though they weren't entirely sure anymore, before the younger three took off running down the hallway. Megan and Conner ran off after them when they seemed to notice, leaving Kaldur alone with Red Tornado, grin holding.
"Our sincerest gratitude," Kaldur spoke for the team, looking down the hallway after them. "We are in your debt."
Red Tornado held up a hand, a motion he had learned meant 'no need', knowing he would smile if he were capable.
"Go," he insisted, and the Atlantean took off.
Once they were all gone, he stood in the silence of the infirmary for a long time, knowing that he would be feeling some form of fear now as he ran through the options of what he could tell the Batman.
Megan waited until everyone was done changing into their costumes and into their seats before she brought up the walkway and piloted the bioship out of the hangar. When they were free of the mountain, she willed it fast enough to blur the world outside of the windows. It couldn't have taken more than 20 minutes from their speed, but it had dragged on for every passenger to the ride.
When they touched down in Manhattan, Megan cloaked the bioship and the six jogged across the street to the hospital, drawing some interested stares from passers-by. It was obvious that they all seemed to think the six were impersonators coming to cheer up the children, and it made getting inside the building much easier.
Robin hopped up on his tiptoes to look at the woman over the counter and asked her what room Dennis was in. She too must've assumed that the hospital had ordered some impersonators for the afternoon because she didn't waste any time in finding out for him. Giving her a smile, the youngest hero relayed the information and the six took the elevator, making their way into what would be his room when he was out of surgery.
The only light inside came from the open window, and all three of the available beds were unoccupied. A single camera was in the corner beside the door, its red light as constant as its positioning. Dick and Artemis wondered if it was functioning. Wally wondered if it added ten pounds.
After the first few minutes passed, it became apparent that the six would have to be patient, so they busied themselves around the room. The curtains around the beds were drawn and tucked back in a few times, testing to see how well they worked. The beds were all tested, smoothed out, and tested again. The blinds were pulled and released on frantic repeat from an impatient speedster, causing a strobe like effect in the room until a pillow collided with his head and he took the hint. The bathroom was inspected and tried out, Dick hacked into and played with the camera, and machines were wheeled around until the door was opened and they all straightened up.
A nurse was guiding the gurney in through the door, an assistant pushing the IV drip right behind her. On the bed was a small child, nearly without all his color, unmoving aside from the occasional lift beneath the white sheets. The team held a respective silence as the gurney was moved beside the first bed in the line, and as the nurse lowered the guard rail, Artemis came up and pulled back the sheets from the child's body. His gown seemed to have been hastily put on, lumping heavily around the thick bandages. As the assistant turned down the sheets on the hospital bed, the nurse gave Artemis a little look.
"I have to do this nearly every day at home," she insists quietly, and the little aversion of her eyes is all the nurse needs to see to give a little nod and accept the help.
Together, the two gracefully move Dennis to the more stationary bed, and the assistant brings the sheets up to his chest, leaving his arm exposed. The IV is adjusted and the heart rate monitor is clipped over his finger, held until the machine behind corresponds with a slow, constant pattern.
After promising to call in a member of the hospital staff when the boy woke up and demonstrating that they knew how to signal an emergency and fix the IV if things were to go wrong, the nurse and her assistant left the room to the seven of them. Dennis was fast asleep, and it was almost assuring to see him like that.
"We're going to be here a while," Wally told the others with a little sigh, hiking a chair from beside the windows over his shoulder and setting it next to the bed. "Might as well get comfy."
No sooner had he sat down had Dick laid himself horizontally across the arms of his chair, resting his head on the beside dresser and leaving his legs to dangle off in space. He folded the arm closest to Wally over his stomach to keep from elbowing him and let the other dangle off beside the chair. The panes on his mask grew smaller and it was safe to assume that he had shut his eyes. Wally reached the hand closest to the dresser up and idly played with the ebony's hair to busy himself, foot tapping out softly.
Conner looked them over for a moment, considering the idea before making his way over to the window and sitting on the sill. The glass was cold and seemed comfortable enough for him. Kaldur seemed a little concerned for their youngest member's position, but he didn't let it stop him from moving the lamp on the dresser beside the second bed in the line to the floor and occupying the emptied wooden surface. He rested his head against the wall.
Megan and Artemis seemed inspired by the younger boys and they moved the remaining two chairs by the window over in front of the bed. The Martian sat properly, keeping watch over the little boy, but Artemis didn't hesitate to try and get comfy. She hooked her legs over the arm farthest from Megan and used the redhead's shoulder as a pillow.
"There's no way you're comfy," she shot towards Dick.
His reaction was delayed, a small smile tugging over his lips. He gave a contented little hum, and then nothing else. In little to no time, he was breathing heavy with his chest rising in time with Dennis'. The blonde gave a little smirk.
"He's not asleep," she insisted.
Dick didn't twitch. Wally just kept gently running his fingers through his hair.
"He's had family on life support for the last couple years," the speedster confides, watching his friend with a look that meant he clearly knew he shouldn't be saying anything about it. "When you visit a place like this long enough, you learn. I'm liking his idea though- Dennis is probably pretty heavily dosed. Pretty sure there are pillows in the bathroom closet."
When no one else went to move, Kaldur seemed to volunteer and made his way over, keeping a silent step.
"I'll call Green Arrow and tell him where we are. Then we'll have told someone and we'll be able to stay and see that he's okay," Artemis said on a sigh, forcing herself up and out the door to make the call.
When Kaldur returned, a brief negotiation was exchanged and the girls ended up getting the beds, the boys making pallets on the floor between the beds. Megan took the middle bed and Conner made his pallet beside it. When she fell asleep, hand hanging over the side, he opted to sit with his head resting against it gently. Artemis protested to having the bed when she came back, saying she didn't need special treatment, and Kaldur switched with her to make sure she didn't wake Dick or Megan. Wally just shifted down in his seat so he could loll his head to rest on the seat back and he was out in moments, snoring a little louder than preferred.
Conner was the last asleep, probably having something to do with the super hearing, and then a pleasing silence fell over the room, if one could disregard the repetitive track of the heart monitor.
No one had bothered to check the clock before they fell asleep, but it was safe to assume that it was nearing eight when Dick woke up. He gently eased Wally's hand from his hair and got up without disturbing the speedster, popping what needed to be popped with a small sigh. When he was standing comfortably, he made his way over to Dennis, looking him over softly. He leaned forward and ghosted his hand through the kid's dark hair with a sore smile, jerking back when he began to stir. Remembering what the nurse had said, he pressed the button that would call her in.
"Hello," Dennis said, dry-mouthed and groggy when he got his eyes on him.
He seemed to be trying to blink the hero into focus, lips tearing up into a grin when he decided he wasn't imagining Robin standing over him.
"Hey," Dick found himself grinning, too, taking the hand that reached up for him and squeezing it reassuringly.
The awe spread quickly through his face and it held in his eyes even as a new nurse came in. The ebony had the sense to move out of the way, watching him nervously as he checked the IV and the monitor, and eventually the kid's vitals.
"How are you feeling?" the nurse asked when he pulled back, smiling down at the eight year old.
He managed a smile, but he was obviously in a lot of pain. When the nurse increased his morphine, his eyes fluttered, and then he stilled, smile seeming more genuine. The nurse finished up before long, asking a few questions just to be sure, before making Dick promise to call someone in if anything was wrong. The hero agreed without a second of hesitation and the nurse left, allowing Dick to lower the guard rail on the bed and sit on the edge next to Dennis. The boy looked around the room, seeing the sleeping heroes, and Dick made sure to point out Conner and Artemis who were hidden from view at this angle.
"You all... came out... to see me?" he asked weakly, eyes returning to the domino mask.
The ebony gave a breathy laugh and nodded, tousling the other's hair carefully. He brought his legs up beside him and laid his back to the wall, folding his arms over his stomach.
"Of course we did. We all came over as soon as we heard you were in surgery," he promised, pressing his lips as he looked out over the room. "Where's your family?"
When he looked back down, he noticed the brunet was pressing his lips, too, fidgeting with his sheets. He didn't need to have been trained by as great a detective as Batman to figure out what wasn't being said. This kid didn't have family, and from the tight hold he put to his fidgeting, it was safe to say they were dead. Dick shifted and gently touched a hand to his shoulder. When the nervous brown eyes aimed in the general direction of his, he gave a flicker of a smile.
"Mine, too," he confided quietly.
The eight year old tensed and his brow drew in tightly. It wasn't so much surprise as it was an accusation of him lying.
"You can't be a hero and an orphan," he said it like a fact.
There was a sore twinge to the breathy laugh the fifteen year old gave and he looked upwards at titles given, the smallest of a smile on his lips as he looked back down.
"I don't know, I'd say I'm doing a pretty good job," he teased, nudging the other with his elbow when he looked away. "You did, too, you know. If you hadn't come in and distracted them, we never would've arrested those men and we'd have lost all of the hostages."
A grin returned to Dennis' face and it grew with the pink twinge in his cheeks, leaving all at once as he turned and fell into a thick coughing fit that had Dick grabbing his hand on impulse. The brunet squeezed his hand tight enough to hurt as he hacked, tears burning in his eyes as he straightened. When Dick went to call in the nurse, Dennis squeezed as tight as he could and wordlessly begged him not to, so he didn't.
"How did your parents die?" he choked out hoarsely.
He softened his grip so it wouldn't hurt the hero, but kept it tight enough to be noticed when he noticed the twitch in his expression. Dick looked around the room to make sure everyone was still asleep, dropping his voice to a breath before answering anyway.
"They fell. Yours?"
"Shot."
The hero took the words like a punch to the gut and his eyebrows furrowed, causing a dip in the mask. He couldn't begin to imagine how scared the kid was now.
When another coughing fit racked the boy's body, Dick didn't hesitate to hit the call button, but he didn't let go of his hand. He just moved down to give the nurse coming in some room. It was the same guy this time, and the concern flickered in his gaze immediately. He adjusted the pillows and propped him up, increasing the morphine just a little, murmuring what sounded like a prayer as he gently dabbed his lips. The nurse offered empty promises and stayed a moment longer after the coughing fit stopped, making a note in his clipboard and promising to be back soon.
Dennis let out a heartbroken sob before the man was even out of the room. Dick sat back up beside him and looked down at him with hidden watery eyes, pressing his jaw to stay strong.
"I'm going to die," the boy croaked and Dick did his best to hold him without hurting him.
Tears ran onto his Kevlar and he only wished the fabric absorbed them better.
"Not yet, Dennis. Don't worry, I've got you. I'm right here."
He repeated himself over and over, small encouragements and apologies, until the sobbing had stopped and he just had a shaking boy holding onto him.
"How?" came up muffled against his chest.
"How what?" Dick whispered back, not trusting his voice any louder.
The brunet lifted his head weakly, setting his watery brown eyes on the panes that hid Dick's eyes.
"How do you keep from being afraid?"
When the kid's voice broke, Dick's chin crinkled and he had to bite the inside of his lip for a hard moment. He had to bite harder than he thought, swallowing down tears of his own as he brought up his arm and wasted little time in hacking into the camera trained on them. In a matter of seconds and three grinning Robins, the red light flickered off and they didn't have eyes on them anymore.
"We don't," he whispered, looking back down at Dennis.
Then, as carefully as he could, he lifted the domino mask up off of his face. His watery blue eyes held the browns and he watched all of the hurt leave the eight year old's face for a long moment.
"Why...?" he asked in awe.
Dick gave a watery laugh and set the mask back behind them on the dresser, rubbing his eyes weakly. "I'm trying to show you that heroes are human, too, and we get scared just as easily as you do."
Dennis shook his head firmly, blinking another few tracks of tears down his cheeks.
"Heroes aren't afraid of anything," he said in a tight voice, reaching up and feeling Dick's face with a soft hand. "My daddy told me so."
The fifteen year old reached up and took his hand, bringing it to his waterline so the kid could feel a tear fall. When he let go, Dennis stared at the tear on his hand as though it were something he'd never seen before.
"It's alright to be scared," Dick promised, wiping at his eyes again. "Heroes are scared all the time."
The brunet wiped his hand off on his blanket and shook his head, bucking with a little cough.
"You're just saying that," he whimpered, hugging his stomach painfully.
"No, we are. I mean, think about it. I don't have powers. Every day out there... I never know what's going to happen. I can't outrun the bad guys, I can't deflect their bullets, I can't throw them back with my mind- there's not all that much that I can do out there that you can't. I'm always afraid. That's what the mask is for. Even stuff outside of... 'battle'... scares me. Like frogs. I don't know what it is about them, but I just... I don't trust them."
At the genuine little shiver the hero gave at the thought, Dennis managed a little laugh, but it didn't last long. It branched off into another bout of coughing, his hardest yet, and dipped into a hard sob that had him clinging to Dick for dear life.
"Hey, hey... it's okay. Look, you're not alone," Dick said softly, noticing that the others were all starting to wake up. "We all came to see you, and we're not leaving. Take a deep breath... can you do that for me?"
The kid managed a shuddered breath, obviously needing a moment, and Dick let him have it as he rubbed his back softly. As he looked around at the team, it was clear that Conner had been up for a while, but the others were stirring for the first time and the concern was fresh in their face. There were a few curious glances to his eyes now that they were exposed, but everyone had the decency to save that conversation for another time.
Wally pulled the cowl down off of his face and hung his goggles around his neck to follow suit, standing up beside his friend. Artemis did the same, letting her hair down and letting Megan attempt to brush it somewhat even again with her fingers. They didn't so much crowd as support the boy as they all gathered around his bed.
"I'm so scared," Dennis whispered as he lifted his head, wiping his eyes furiously as he looked around at the others.
Dick kept an arm around him softly, seeing that he seemed to need that, and rubbed his shoulder.
"It's alright to be scared. Look... Sometimes... when I'm fighting... I know I'm not going to make it. They're bigger than me, and I'm not strong enough... and you know what? That's okay. I know it's okay. I've got family waiting for me up there and around here. I always know I'm going to see one of them when I wake up."
Dennis gave a little hiccup, eyes big and wet as he looked up at him. "Do you think my family's up there, too?"
"Yeah, I bet they're up there waiting for you."
The boy was quiet for a long time, looking from the IV to his stomach, and a sense of peace seemed to drift over his feature.
"I think I want to go see them."
Dick gives a shuddered breath of his own, his tears making it impossible to see anything, and he pressed his teeth to try and keep it together for a moment longer.
"Yeah?" he barely manages out in a breath.
"Yeah," Dennis decides, seemingly proud of himself. "I'll tell your family about you when I see them... about how you're a hero, too."
A few tears spill past Dick's eyes and he manages a little smile, giving a small sniffle. "Thank you. I-I'd like that."
He has to press his free hand into a light fist and set it over his lips for a long moment, blinking another set of tears down his cheeks as he fought to try and stabilize for a moment. When he could breathe even, he leaned back behind him on the dresser and grabbed his mask, offering it to Dennis. The brunet fit it in over his eyes and gave a weak smile, looking up at the others.
Megan was the first to move. She came forward and leaned over the edge of the bed, gently kissing his forehead. At the touch, all tension faded out of his forehead, and it was safe to assume that she had gotten into his head for a second. Dick scrubbed furiously at his face, looking back at Wally with a face that said 'shut up', but the speedster didn't have a teasin remark on him.
"W-Why don't I call in a pizza?" Artemis offered, voice shaking for a moment.
Dennis nodded eagerly and she ordered three, knowing Wally's appetite. As they waited on it, Wally suggested putting a movie on and Conner left to go find a TV they could borrow.
The nurse returned after some time, but he seemed in on the idea that they were just people in costume and told Kaldur that they were very dedicated as he exchanged the IV bag for a fluid that was slightly blue in tint. He explained that it would hopefully calm his stomach down enough for him to get to sleep tonight, and they're all plenty thankful. He left again, looking a lot sadder this time, but they all did their best to disregard it and focus on the TV Conner had wheeled in.
"Can you hack into it or something?" Wally asked Dick, knowing they didn't have movies on them.
Dick wasn't sure that he could, but he searched the TV for an outlet port all the same. When he couldn't find one, Wally was off running to find copies of the Ace Ventura movies after Dennis insisted they were his favorites. Kaldur and Conner worked together in moving the beds together, laying them head to foot to form a lengthy couch, eventually lining the walls with the extra pillows they had found in the bathroom closet. They put Dennis' bed, facing the way it originally was, in the middle of them and eventually hauled the TV out so it was more specifically in front of him than anyone else.
The pizza beat Wally by maybe a minute and it allowed everyone to get their pieces before he could eat everything. They set their pieces on torn sections of the pizza boxes and Wally set off with a whole pizza for himself, picking the one Dennis didn't want. They popped in the movie and everyone got comfortable on their newly made 'couch'.
Megan checked with the nurse beforehand, to see if Dennis could eat with them, and the nurse said there wasn't hope of the boy making it much further than tonight either way. She kept that news to herself, but everyone seemed to notice the excess of tears she had in her eyes.
By the end of the two movies, all three pizzas were gone and Dennis was fast asleep, fingers still wrapped around Dick's hand. He wore the mask proudly, even while asleep, and Dick didn't take it back. Wally put an arm around his friend to comfort him and Artemis popped in The Hangover to watch while they waited around, seeing that the speedster had had the mind to bring it.
The movie was just about done when Dennis flat lined.
There was a moment where everyone was silent with horror, and then everyone moved at once. Dick slammed the emergency button, hitting it over and over with one hand while the other lifted his domino mask from the boy's eyes. Kaldur and Conner hopped off to move the bed the girls were on back off towards the window and Megan had the bed Wally was on- and now Dick as the speedster lunged out and wrenched him back- lifting up and over Dennis' bed, setting it back down in the middle of the room.
The ebony thrashed in Wally's arms, desperate to try and do something, but everyone else had the mind to stay back as doctors came in quickly with a defibrillator in tow. One set it up while the other readied Dennis' chest, but it was already clear that they weren't going to do any good. After the first few unsuccessful charges, Dick stopped thrashing and just leaned back in the arms around him, losing all expression for a long moment.
Megan was the first to react. She gave a sob and sat back on the bed, burying her face in her hands. Conner was beside her in a moment, tucking her against his chest as his brows knotted forward, a particular sorrow pushing past the regular tough-guy exterior. Artemis knelt beside her on the bed and rubbed her arm softly, wiping at the tears that started on her cheeks. Kaldur sat on the other side of Conner and bowed his head in mourning, eyes watering strongly.
Every second the flat line carried on, Wally's eyes watered further until he stole a look down at his friend. Dick was sobbing his eyes out without making a sound, without trembling in the slightest, face stained a dark, dark red from the tears that poured down it. The redhead gave a broken little sound and crushed the ebony back against him and Dick gave a choking sound before allowing himself to let go.
By the time the doctor unplugged the heart monitor, there wasn't a dry cheek in the room.
The funeral was completely funded by Wayne Tech, no comments from the owner, and the casket was buried with six white roses on top. Weeks later when the tombstone was made and placed, its lettering was written so everyone who passed could read it- Dennis Tarquena, A Hero.
-F.J. III