I was watching an episode of Bones called 'The Shot in The Dark' and it gave me the idea to write this. If you don't watch Bones, you should! Especially the 7th and 8th seasons.
Wounds, old and new
One bullet. One gun. One person. Why were people Bruce Wayne loved always being shot? As a businessman, he was always making enemies. As Batman, he had even more. It was the opening of the new children's ward of Gotham City General Hospital. Dick was standing next to Bruce as he took the scissors and cut the ribbon. Bruce put his hand on Dick's shoulder as he shook hands with the head of the hospital's board of directors. There were camera flashes and they smiled for the pictures. Then there was the screech of tires as a car skidded around the corner. People turned to look and, in a blink of an eye, there were bullets fired.
A second after it started, Bruce and Dick were pushed to the ground by security. The car drove away and everyone were checking themselves and others. Dick was crouching over, one arm around his waist and the other extended forward to support himself. Bruce went on one knee with his arm around his son.
"Dick, are you alright?" he asked.
Dick took his hand out from around him and looked at his hand. It was covered in blood. Dick looked to his dad with wide, painfulled, eyes.
"B-Bruce?" he croaked.
Dick collapsed to his side, a pool of blood forming under him...
Dick blinked. He was in a trailer with walls covered in pictures that looked like they were done by a child. Dick put his hand to his abdomen, feeling the hole in his suit jacket where the bullet hit him.
"Where am I?" Dick asked.
"Really, little Robin? You don't remember where you grew-up?" a voice asked.
Dick turned around and saw people he hadn't seen in years.
"M-Mother? Father?!" he exclaimed.
Dick was wheeled through the corridors of the hospital.
"Nurse," Doctor Leslie Thompkins said, with the one word asking for a break-down of Dick's condition.
"Um, 14-year-old Caucasian male. Shot 5 minutes ago in the abdomen. One bullet wound, through and through. Has lost a lot of blood," the nurse said.
"Who is he?" Doctor Thompkins asked, she moved his hair away and instantly recognized him "Dick!"
"H-How? W-What?" Dick stuttered "Y-you're... but you're... dead..."
Mary Grayson smiled and laughed. She stood up from the table and walked over to her son. She put her hands on his shoulders and Dick tensed up.
"We are, little Robin," she said, then she smiled with tears in her eyes "My baby!"
Mary hugged her son and Dick, cautiously, hugged her back. When she pulled away, Dick put both hands on where he was shot.
"I- I was shot," he said "Am- am I dead?!"
John Grayson got up and walked over to them.
"No," he said, putting his hand on his son's shoulder "But you're dying,"
"What?" Dick asked "But- but-"
"Now calm down, Dick," Mary said "You're making your heart race which isn't good,"
Dick kept panting and collapsed.
"Richard!" Mary exclaimed.
Bruce paced in the waiting room. Lucius sat in a chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had known Bruce since he was young so Dick was like family to him. Alfred was in a chair, clasping his hands together. Dick had been shot several times before but, not knowing what was happening and the fact it happened as a civilian, this time was even worse.
"Bruce, sit down," Lucius said, standing up "You pacing won't help anything,"
"It should have been me, Lucius," the worried parent said "They were aiming at me... Dick was just standing next to me,"
"Bruce... You can't blame yourself. Jim's got the entire police force searching for the shooter," Lucius said "And Leslie'll save Dick, she always does,"
Leslie walked into the room in blue scrubs and crimson blood splattered all over her. She pulled the mask down to reveal her face. They all stared at her and she gulped.
"He crashed..."
Dick blinked and was in the trailer again.
"You should be careful, Dick," said John, looking to his child from where he was sitting at the table "You crashed,"
Dick ran his hand through his raven-hair and noticed he was wearing his usual civvies.
"Come," Mary said, tapping a chair at the table "Sit and tell us about your life,"
Dick sat down and looked at his parents.
"What do you want to know?" he asked, looking down.
"Everything. Who took you in to who you're dating," Mary said, resting her head on her hands as she looked contently at her son.
"Well... I was taken in by Bruce Wayne and he's practically my dad now," John scoffed "Father, when you were teaching me English you said the English word for Tata was 'father' so, to me, the words 'dad' and 'father' have different meanings. You're my father and Bruce Wayne's my dad,"
"We were horrified when we found out that playboy billionaire had fostered you," said Mary, John nodded "But, then we saw he was Batman and we-"
"You know Bruce is Batman?" Dick exclaimed, looking at them.
"You're our son, Richard. We've been keeping an eye on you," John said "By the way, good work as Robin,"
Dick looked down at his lap, fiddling with his fingers on the table.
"So, tell us more about your life. We want to know the teenager our son has grown into," Mary asked.
"Well... I have a girlfriend. Her name's Zatanna Zatara," Dick said.
"How long have you been dating?" John asked.
"Almost 6 months. It's our 6-month-anniversary in a week," Dick said.
Mary smiled at her son.
"Just don't break her heart, little Robin. Don't be that much like your mentor," she said.
"I won't..." Dick sighed "If I don't survive this, I'll never get to see her again and I'll never be able to-"
"To what, Dick?" John asked.
"To tell her, I love her," Dick sighed "And I really do,"
Mary smiled. Dick had his hands clasped together and she put her hand over his...
Bruce looked out the window of his son's hospital room. Someone forced a cup of coffee in his hands. Bruce turned to see Clark Kent beside him.
"When'd you get here?" the Dark Knight asked.
"Just flew in, if you know what I mean," the Man of Steel said, smirking "Bruce... Dick will be okay. He's the Boy Wonder and he'll die when hell freezes over,"
Bruce took a sip of coffee and turned to his son. Dick was as white as the hospital sheets from blood loss and there were grey circles around his eyes. He sat in a chair, looking at his son. Clark sighed as he looked at his nephew.
"Perry asked me to come here and get the scoop with Lois. She's interviewing people outside the new children's ward," the reporter said "I've got to get pictures... Perry asked me to come here and get a scoop from you because we're friends..." Clark sighed "I've got to go. Dick'll be fine, Bruce,"
Clark left and Bruce looked to his son.
There was a knock on the door and Mary answered it.
"Hey! We heard a certain Bird-Boy is here!" came a voice.
"Joe! Karla! Come in! Come in!" Mary exclaimed.
The 2 redheads came in.
"S'up, Dick?" Joe said, walking over to them.
Dick and Joe looked quite alike, save for the red and black hair. Joe sat down and Karla sat next to her son.
"How's my father?" Joe asked.
Dick looked sad.
"In a coma... sorry," he said "Uncle Rick isn't going to be making a recovery soon,"
Joe sighed.
"So, you're a super-hero? That's awesome," he said "What's it like? Fighting alongside theDark Knight?!"
"It's... totally asterous..." Dick said "But, he's like my dad and I... I don't want to leave him or anyone in my life,"
"Sadly, Dick. That's not your decision," said Karla.
Dick looked down, sadly.
It was late, about 10:30 p.m, and Dick was officially in a coma. Bruce looked at the T.V screen a *candystriper had rolled in. On it was a news report done by Bruce's ex-girlfriend, Vikki Vale...
"It was only hours ago Bruce Wayne and his adopted son, Dick Grayson, were standing here for the opening of the new children's ward ceremony. Shortly after the ribbon was cut, witnesses say a car came screeching around the corner and shots were fired," said the redheaded field reporter "Father and son were pushed to the ground by security but it was too late as 14-year-old Dick had already been shot. Grayson was rushed into hospital and his current condition is unknown. We warn you, if you have children in the room or are easily distressed, you may want to look away for the following film..."
Bruce shook the head of the board of directors' hand with his free hand on Dick's shoulder. They all had fake, press, smiles on. Then there was the screech of tires and everyone turned to see what was happening. Then the bullets started flying.
"We were able to find the moment Grayson was shot," said Vale.
The camera zoomed in on Dick, who had his arms over his head. He turned to Bruce and a small, grey, quick-moving blur shot into him. Dick wrapped his arms around his waist and security pushed him and Bruce to the floor.
"The motive behind this attack is still unknown. Whether it was a random attack, an attack on Wayne Tech or an attack on the Wayne family is still up for debate," Vale sighed "Dick Grayson is a 14-year-old boy who lost his family in a mob hit over 6 years ago. Since then he has been living in Wayne Manor as the son of Bruce Wayne and the heir to the Wayne fortune. If anyone knowsanything about the shooting, please call the police," Dick's school photo was shown in the corner of the screen "This is Vikki Vale, reporting for the Gotham City 24/7 News Feed. Back to you in the studios,"
Bruce stopped listening and looked at his son. Dick was the only light in Bruce's otherwise dark life. If the Dark Knight lost the Boy Wonder now... he would surely go insane. Someone turned off the T.V set and Bruce looked away from Dick and at Selina Kyle, Bruce's girlfriend and the anti-hero known as Catwoman.
"Don't torture yourself, Bruce," she said "It wasn't your fault,"
Bruce looked back at Dick and the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Selina sat at the edge of the bed and took Dick's hand in her's.
"I'm sure he'll pull through. Have some faith in him, Bruce. You trained him to be extremely stubborn," the jewel thief said, letting go of Dick's hand and stroking the middle lock of his raven-black bangs out of the way "He'll pull through," she repeated.
"Leslie said the bullet may have been a through and through but it ricocheted when it hit bone. The bullet fragments are still in him but the doctors won't feel safe doing the operation to remove them until he's stable," said Bruce "But, Leslie said there's a 50% chance that... that Dick... that he might... that he might still die,"
"Oh, Bruce. Stop looking at it like a glass half empty. 50% chance of death means there's a 50% chance of life, too!" said Selina.
Bruce sighed and looked down.
"Your IQ is seriously 270? But that's super-genius!" Joe exclaimed.
"Now you sound like my best friend, Wally West," Dick said.
"So what's he like?" Karla asked her nephew.
"Well," Dick rubbed the back of his head "He's 2 years older than me but he doesn't act like it. We get in and out of all sorts of trouble together, especially with our friend Roy Harper," Dick looked down "They're like my brothers. Everyone in the Justice League calls us the Terrible Trio,"
"Tell us something the 3 of you did then? And how old is Roy?" Mary asked, even beyond the grave she didn't want her son hanging out with older people.
"Wally's 16 but turns 17 this year and Roy's 18 and turns 19 this year," Dick said "But we've been hanging-out since I was 10, Wally was 12 and Roy was 14,"
"Uh, huh," Mary nodded "So, what sort of things have you 3 done?"
"Well... we were in a car crash when Roy tried to teach Wally how to drive," Dick smirked at the memory "We got lost in Central City when Wally went chasing after something, I honestly don't remember what," Dick snickered "And we once stole a shopping cart,"
"Eh? Why'd you steal a shopping cart, hero?" Joe asked.
"Well, it was a few months after we all first met. Bruce, Ollie and Barry were in a coffee shop and had left me, Wally and Roy at Queen Mansion under Dinah's supervision," Dick smiled "We got bored and left. Next thing I knew I was underneath the basket of the shopping cart, Wally was in the basket and Roy was riding on the back of it. Ollie looked out the window to see the 3 of us just rolling down the street," Dick laughed slightly "The look on their faces! Priceless!"
Bruce looked at his son and didn't even look up when 2 people came in. His old friend Detective Ethan Bennett and Commissioner Jim Gordon. Ethan had a file in his hand as he looked a Dick with sadness.
"Bruce," Jim said, getting the Dark Knight's attention "We have some pictures we'd like to show you,"
Ethan took some pictures out of the file and handed them to Bruce. The billionaire flicked through them. They were mug-shots.
"We believe these men have something to do with the shooting," said Ethan "Do you recognize any of them from the shooting or somewhere else?"
Bruce gave the pictures back and shook his head.
"I didn't get a good look at the shooter and I don't recognize any of them," he said, looking back at his son "Do- do you know why they did this?"
The 2 members of law enforcement looked at each other, silently discussing if they should answer, then looked back at the worried dad.
"We believe it was a personal attack against you or Dick. We don't think the shooter cared if he hit you or him," said Jim "Do you remember if you let someone go who wasn't happy about it?"
"No one's happy to get fired, Commissioner," Bruce said "But I can't think of anyonespecifically who took it worse,"
"How about in Dick's life? Does anyone Dick's been in contact with have any specific reasons to want him dead?" Ethan asked, Bruce glared at him "Relax, Bruce, we're just covering all our bases,"
Bruce sighed.
"I know, Ethan," he said "I can't think of anyone. Dick's a good kid, he doesn't get mixed up in anything illegal and he tries his best to do the right thing,"
"What about his money? Records show when the Flying Graysons died, Dick got $2 million in life insurance," Jim said "Who gets that if he dies?"
"That money is locked away in a trust fund and Dick won't have access to it until he's 35," said Bruce "If he dies before then the money will be donated to a charity for crime-victims,"
Ethan scribbled everything down in a notepad.
"Has Dick been acting strangely, lately? I mean, you know, not his usual self?" Ethan asked.
"He's been stressed because it's his 6-month-anniversary with his girlfriend in a week but that's it," Bruce answered, remembering how nervous Dick got whenever the date came up.
"What about his girlfriend?" Jim asked, knowing Barbara (with her crush on Dick) would not be happy to know he had had a girlfriend for 6 months "Anything about her?"
"No. I knew her father, that's how she and Dick met. She's a kind girl, wouldn't get mixed up with people who would do this to those closest to her for revenge," said Bruce "Her name's Zatanna Zatara if you want to check but she doesn't live in Gotham,"
"Where does she live and does she know her boyfriend's been shot?" Ethan asked.
"Zatanna and her father lived in New York for 14 years but she moved to Happy Harbour late last year," Bruce said "And, unless she's watching Gotham news channels, I don't think she knows Dick's been shot," Bruce took Dick's hand "Is that all?"
"For now," said Jim "I've got to talk to Doctor Thompkins about the bullet particulates," and the Commissioner left.
Ethan put his hand on Bruce's shoulder to reassure him before he left too. Bruce looked at his son's pale face.
"Please come back to me, little bird," he said "Wherever you are, please come back,"
As if to pull at Bruce's emotions even more, Dick's heart raced and he arched. Nurses and doctors rushed in but the last thing Bruce heard before being pushed out of the room was the heart monitor flatlining.
Dick was crouched on the floor as his heart sped up.
"W-what's happening?" he asked, panting.
"You're going into cardiac arrest," John said "You're on the edge of death, son,"
Dick panted, his hand over his heart then he felt a burning sensation in his abdomen, where he was shot. Dick groaned as he collapsed onto his side.
"It hurts!" he cried out.
"You're flatlining," said Joe "This might be the end of you, cous',"
Dick panted as he looked at them through his raven-hair.
Leslie walked into the waiting room, much like before, and looked at the worried family. They all looked at her.
"It was SCA," she said.
"And what does that mean?" Lucius asked "Sorry, not everyone here speaks medical,"
"SCA stands for sudden cardiac arrest, which means it was unexpected," she said "His heart stopped beating for several minutes but we managed to restart it,"
"Dick was shot is the abdomen, not his heart," Lucius said "How does that even make any sense?"
Leslie sighed, she wanted to be supervising the treatment they were currently giving the boy who was like a grandson to her but she had to inform the rest of the adults in Dick's life.
"A piece of shrapnel from the bullet has gone up to his heart, we didn't see it from the original x-rays because it was hidden by bone and we were more concerned about the bullet hole itself," Leslie looked at her feet "They're prepping him for surgery. We need to remove the shrapnel by his heart. He's still critical but we can't wait for him to become stable or we risk him crashing again," she said, then she looked up again "Dick's chances of survival are going down and fast," Leslie swallowed the lump in her throat "I- I'm so sorry," and she went off to prepare to perform surgery.
Selina squeezed Bruce's hand. Out of all the times Dick had been shot over the years, this was definitely the worse.
All Dick could see was whiteness...
Leslie put on her mask as she looked at Dick's pale face. This was the worse she had ever seen him. And she once bandaged him up after he was tortured by the Joker and Harley Quinn for 8 hours! Leslie looked up at the stands around the operation theatre and saw Dick's family, worried as heck, looking down at her. She nodded to them to signify she was about to start before turning to her patient.
"Alright... let's save this boy's life," she said "Scalpel,"
Dick stood with his head bowed and he looked up at his dead family.
"This is it, isn't it?" he asked.
Mary nodded and hugged her son.
"I'll either survive or die now," he said, looking at the family he had lost.
John hugged his son.
"Yes," he said.
"What's it like... to die?" Dick asked.
"It depends if you're conscious or not... we were so we felt a second of tremendous pain then nothing. You're in a coma so you'll probably feel nothing," Mary said, putting her hands on his shoulders.
"If I survive, will I remember this?" he asked, as his cousin walked over to him.
Joe hugged his cousin.
"Last time I saw you, you were a 9-year-old squirt. Now you're my age, unfair," Joe smiled "You tell Wally and Roy if they do anything to you, they'll have a very angry ghost me to mess with," the dead 14-year-old said, smiling evilly.
Dick cackled and hugged his aunt.
"You'll remember this as if it was a dream," Karla whispered into his ear, seeing as Joe hadn't answered the Boy Wonder's question.
"Like a dream..."
Everything was black and Dick felt tingly. He heard talking but it sounded like he was underwater. Dick felt the bedcover under him and the blanket over him. But all he could do was breath as his hearing came back to him in a wave.
"I don't know what I'd do without him, Selina," that was Bruce's voice "I love him as if he was my own son,"
"He is your son, Bruce," that was Selina's voice "In every way but DNA. He's like the son I never had too,"
Dick moved his fingers slightly and moved his eyes under his eyelids. Then he opened his eyes in a tiny squint but all he could see was light through his own eyelashes. Dick wrinkled his nose and let out a groan before finally opening his eyes. Everything was a blur until it came into focus all at once.
"Dick?" Bruce asked, leaning forward.
Leslie had said not to get his hopes up if Dick moved slightly, made a noise or even blinked as people in comas sometimes did that. Dick took in a sharp intake of air as he came back 100%.
"D- Dad?" he asked, looking at him then he gained full control of himself "Dad!" he exclaimed.
Dick tried to sit up but instantly felt pain in is abdomen and put his arm around his waist, putting his hand over where he was shot. Then he started to feel sore over his heart and moved his hand away from his bullet wound and over his heart.
"What- what happened?" he asked, looking at his dad.
"What do you remember?" Bruce asked his son.
Dick pouted for a second as he stared into space as he tried to remember.
"I'm going to tell everyone you're awake," Selina said, but before she left she hugged Dick with tears in her eyes "Welcome back, little bird," she whispered to him.
"Thanks, Mom," he whispered back as he sorely hugged her back.
Hearing what Dick called her made tears of joy seep from Selina's eyes.
When Selina walked into the waiting room, the first thing everyone registered was the tears and they assumed the worse. Then they noticed the smile on her face and they smiled as they realized what it meant. Dick was awake!
"Dick, we know you must be tired but we need to ask you some things," Detective Bennett asked.
Dick had been awake several hours now and it was 5 a.m in the morning, looked like being in a coma had given him some much needed rest.
"Sure Uncle Ethan. Shoot," the Boy Billionaire said, a chirpy tone in his voice and a smile on his face.
Everyone cringed when Dick said 'shoot' but thought if he wasn't bothered by it, then why should they? Dick leaned back against the pillow, not as pale as he had been thanks to several blood transfusions. In fact, Dick was receiving a blood transfusion as they spoke.
"Do you recognize these men?" Ethan asked, him and the Commissioner holding up 2 pictures each.
"Well... that Donny DiToni guy looks familiar," said Dick "I think he's the guy I keep seeing every time I'm on my way home,"
Ethan put down his 2 pictures and scribbled down what Dick had said.
"Do you recognize any of the others from different places?" Jim asked, after Ethan had lifted the other picture, leaving behind Donny DiToni.
Dick squinted at the 3 pictures.
"Well..." Dick stared at the last picture, running through the memory before being shot again.
There was the screech of tires. Bullets began firing. Pain in the abdomen. Being pushed to the ground. The car screeching away. Crouching with his arm around his waist. Collapsing. Nothing...
Go back a few seconds...
The screech of tires. The car coming into view. Bullets start firing.
Wait a second...
The screech of tires. Car coming into view. The semi-automatic machine gun being drawn.
Go back again...
The tires screech. Car in view.
Hold on!
"That guy!" Dick said, pointing to the last one "That's the guy who shot me! I remember it. He pulled out a semi-automatic and began shooting,"
The Commissioner looked to Ethan to hear any evidence that supported Dick's theory.
"Balistiques show that the slugs taken from the crime-scene and the fragments taken out of Dick come from a semi-automatic machine gun," Ethan said, looking back to his friend's son "Thanks Dick,"
Dick smirked like always and relaxed as Ethan and Jim left.
"Alright, I think Dick needs to get some sleep," said Bruce "Everyone out,"
When Bruce and Selina were about to walk out, Dick spoke.
"Uh, wait you guys," he said "I need to tell you guys some things about what happened to me while I was in a coma before I forget,"
Bruce and Selina sat down again, Selina on the side of the bed.
"What is it?" Bruce asked.
Dick beckoned Selina to lean in and he whispered something in her ear. Selina's smile dropped and she looked at Dick with wide eyes, tears around her green eyes.
"Really?" she asked.
Dick smiled and nodded. Selina put her hand on the back of his head, pulled him closer and kissed his forehead.
"You're one heck of a messenger," the jewel thief said "You're one heck of a son," and she hugged him.
"Thanks Mom. Can I talk to Dad now?" Dick asked, raising an eyebrow as he smiled at her.
Selina nodded, tears of joy sliding down her cheeks as she left.
On her way to the waiting room, Selina could only think of the thing her son had told her...
"My parents told me to tell you that your mother says 'I'm sorry, if I knew your father would drink until he died I would never have hung myself',"
And she hadn't even told Bruce her mother had committed suicide, let alone Dick!
"What was that about?" Bruce asked his son.
"I just relayed a message from my parents to her," Dick said "A message from her mother,"
"What about her mother?" Bruce asked.
"That's for Mom to tell you," Dick said "Dad, my parents told me to tell you that your parents say..." Dick sighed as he looked at his dad "Your parents say 'We're proud of you, son',"
Bruce was surprised at first. That was impossible... right? Could Dick have really met his dead family? And have them tell him something to tell his adoptive parents? No... it was probably just a dream Dick had while he was under... right?
"And, incase you were to rational to believe me, they said to tell you 'not to be afraid of bats anymore'," Dick said, fiddling with his fingers "Since when were you scared of bats?"
Bruce threw away all logical reasoning out the window. He got up and sat on the side of the bed. Dick looked up at his dad with worry, he knew how much Bruce hated talking about his parents. Bruce put his arm around his son's shoulders and gently squeezed.
"I agree with your mom," Bruce said, smiling down at Dick "You're one heck of a messenger and you're one heck of a son,"
Dick yawned and closed his eyes, leaning his head on his dad.
"Thanks... Dad," he yawned, falling asleep.
Dick put a bouquet of white roses on his mother's and aunt's graves, an origami crane made of a print out of the Flying Graysons poster on his cousin's grave (the type of crane Joe had been trying to teach Dick to make before he died) and a single lily on his father's. Bruce stood behind his son, having already visited his parents' graves, and put his hand on his son's left shoulder. Dick smiled up at him and put his right hand on his dad's, crossing his arm over his chest. Selina walked over to them, coming back after visiting her parents' graves, and roughled Dick's raven locks before putting her hand on his right shoulder. Dick looked at his family's graves.
"I miss them," he said, his voice croaking "Out of everything that happened, no matter what happened, I still miss them,"
Selina sighed, for the first time ignoring the glint of her engagement ring that once belonged to Martha Wayne, and went on one knee to hug her son.
"That's only natural," Bruce said, reassuringly squeezing his son's shoulder.
"But, it'll get better," Selina said, looking at her son's sparkling sapphire-eyes "I promise,"
"That's what Dad said when I first moved into the Manor," Dick said "He promised the same thing," Bruce and Selina looked at each other before looking back to their little bird "And, you know what?" Dick smiled "It has,"
Bruce and Selina hugged their son before they walked away from the graves...
*I think that's what you call people who do community service in hospitals to get credit for school.
This is the first fanfic I've written and have mentioned Chalant without it turning into a Chalant fic, so I'm proud of myself! How did you all like it? Was it good? Was it bad? Was it asterous? Was it terrible? ANSWER ME, PEOPLE! And, hopefully, this will make you all want to go read my other fanfics.