A/N: Wow I can't believe the number of responses this has gotten. I'm soooooo happy! Honestly to everyone who reviewed, you made my day, and my days haven't been so great lately.
Also, I got a lot of guest reviews. I think I got more guest reviews than reviews from people with accounts. That's totally fine, I'm not trying to discourage anyone, but still... weird.
Dick couldn't believe his luck. What were the chances that the woman who's purse he stole was knew some guy who worked for this really scary lady?
What was her name? Some kind of... bug. Oh well, not important right now.
Dick was much more concerned with the gun pointed at his chest and running to avoid being shot. Yeah, not getting killed sounded like a great idea right now. Especially when he already had a sprained ankle and man, that was making running hard.
And as he heard the gun ring out again, all Dick thought was that he wished he'd run faster. Maybe he'd have made it to his original destination.
And someone there would have helped him. That's what super heroes are for right?
A week and four days after his encounter with Batman, Dick was finally able to leave the cave.
The snow had come down hard and fast, blocking off most of the exits overnight. That was fine by him, as Dick had all he needed with him.
Mangy, moth eaten and threadbare blankets did virtually nothing to stave off cold unless you had twenty of them piled in a jumbled nest that trapped heat pretty well. As for food, Dick had enough to keep going for another week or two, maybe three if he ate less than normal, which was already much less than was healthy.
Water had been Dick's main concern for a while, after all he was staying in a cave untouched for years. Any and all water puddles were sure to be deadly or at least make Dick too sick to move or eat, which would just mean a slower death.
His solution came in the form of an accidental (really, it was a total accident) explosion. Dick had stolen some punk's bag, which had been full of things he didn't need. The cash and food was quickly taken out and that left the drugs (there was no way that Dick would even think to try them. He knew what would happen) and the dynamite.
What that idiot was doing with dynamite, Dick will never know, but apparently it wasn't safe in Dick's hands either, because when he was holding up the dynamite to get a closer look at it, he hit it off the wall.
The resulting explosion knocked him backwards and gave him several bloody scrapes and a ringing headache, but the reward was totally worth it.
Water burst out of the wall where it had been cracked open by the dynamite. As far as Dick could tell, there was some sort of underground spring, deep enough that it hadn't been polluted by building crews working on the subway.
Essentially Dick had everything he needed to live on his own for weeks at a time. Unfortunately, Dick wasn't the type of person who could do nothing. He had to be moving, moving, moving all the time.
The cave was probably big enough to fit four school buses side by side in it and have a little extra room on top. The debris was scattered around the room and was fun to climb on and in. There were tunnels in the walls, but those were a bad idea. Some of them lead to nowhere, others to places no human should be.
So at some point, Dick was going to have to get up and move.
Today was the day that Dick had to get outside. He had gotten so bored in the cave, that he started talking to himself. That was usually the point at which Dick would go out on the streets. He didn't want to go crazy(er) and being around strangers always made him quiet.
Dick poked his head out from the tunnel, the one that opened into the current subway. The opening was pretty close to the subway entrance so Dick could slip out onto the streets unnoticed, just another person taking the subway.
The streets were unusually crowded today, and Dick kept getting bounced around the crowds. Dick cursed under his breath while wishing he was taller. Usually he was happy that he was small, as it helped him get away but now that he was being bounced around people like a ping pong ball, Dick just wanted to be tall enough for people to actually notice him. Or at least tall enough that Dick could figure out what was going on.
Finally, Dick broke free of the crowd and dashed into an alley nearby. The fire escape provided a means to get to the rooftops and Dick could see why so many people were gathered here today.
A large stage had been set up in the heart of Gotham park, oddly clean and bright in contrast to the dark city around it. The stage had only a few people on it but everyone here knew who they were, including Dick.
Superman stood in the center of the stage, behind a podium. From here, Dick couldn't hear what he was saying but he seemed unusually serious. The man of steel was usually all smiles and light, but today he was somber and determined. On the stage around him stood four other heroes.
Green Arrow and Black Canary stood on Superman's left and the Flash stood to his right. Dick frowned. Had he miscounted? Then he saw the fourth hero, standing in the shadows on the far right of the stage.
Batman stood with his arms crossed, looking dark and terrifying even without the night's shadows to aid him. Almost everyone thought he was probably just as terrifying in the sunlight, but Dick thought he seemed almost uncomfortable to be on stage in the middle of the day. To his surprise, Dick found himself grinning at the thought of Batman having stage fright. Dick had never had stage fright, because being an acrobat that's afraid of performing just doesn't work.
Dick shook himself, trying to erase the images of his family that sprung up unbidden at the thought of performing. Instead, he tried to figure out what Superman was saying. Dick was still too far away to hear very well, and only caught a couple words here and there.
"Dangerous... infiltrated Gotham... watch out for..." Dick frowned as he tried to figure out what Superman meant. Unable to piece together the information, Dick ran until he was on a rooftop right in front of the stage, probably a hundred feet away.
Now Dick could clearly hear what Superman was saying, and it wasn't anything pleasant. It explained why Superman looked so somber today.
"Criminal mastermind and her minions are Biyalian soldiers typically. They have a tattoo on their arm in the shape of a hornet. If you see any of these men, do not provoke them. Immediately report to the police and return to your house or another safe building. Thank you for listening."
As soon as Superman stopped speaking, reporters swarmed the stage, screaming out questions over top of one another. Dick was about to turn away and disappear back into the streets when he noticed that Batman was looking at him.
Dick jumped back away from the edge of the roof before cautiously sneaking forward again. This time, the Dark Knight was looking at the reporters, answering one of their questions.
Of course Batman wasn't looking at him. Dick jumped down onto the fire escape and flipped to the ground. Mentally berating himself, Dick sprinted away from the park, back towards the subway he came from.
Hours later, Dick was sixty-three dollars richer and had a hot dog in his stomach. The hot dog was a lucky find. The previous owner had just bought the hot dog when he dropped it on the ground. The guy cursed and went back to buy another and Dick swooped in and took it. The dirt just added texture.
Dick was just finishing off the bun when he saw an almost comically easy target. A young woman was drinking coffee in front of the cafe across the street from Dick, her purse on the chair beside her. She got up to throw away her cup and Dick moved.
Before he knew it, Dick was hiding in an alleyway with the purse clutched tightly to his chest. The enraged screams of the woman were fading and Dick let out a relieved sigh.
The late afternoon sun shone in Dick's eyes as he left the alley, blinding him to the impending attack. The knee hit his stomach hard and Dick doubled over, putting up one arm in a weak attempt to defend himself.
Another blow came, this time to the back of his neck and Dick collapsed. The world spun as Dick felt himself being picked up and shoved against the wall. The brick scraped his back and made his already tender neck throb.
"Di pus titel ti feth." The man spat the words at Dick, confusing him even further. A man he didn't know was shoving him against a wall and speaking gibberish.
The man spoke more garbled sentences and Dick sputtered, trying to find words to reply and failing miserably. All his attempts to speak immediately halted when he saw the man's arm.
The man's shirt sleeves had been torn off, and now proudly showcased a black hornet. The ink stood out against the man's tan skin, startling in it's clarity. Suddenly the man spoke one horrifying sentence in English, broken as it may be.
"You dare steal purse from sister?"
Dick groaned, both from pain and in exasperation. This sort of thing always happened to him. Steal a woman's purse and she's related to a crime boss or underling or soldier or cop.
For now, Dick had to focus on escaping the man that was dangling him off the ground. His sight had come back and the first thing Dick did was kick the man hard in the ribs.
The man howled and dropped him, allowing Dick to get two punches in before he hit the ground running. Dick stumbled and hissed as he sped away from the disoriented man. Cursing, Dick realized he must have twisted his ankle when he fell, probably spraining it.
A loud bang distracted him from his ankle, forcing Dick to dive to the left to avoid a bullet aimed at his leg. Of course. The insane Biyalian had a gun. Just his luck.
Doing some quick calculations in his head, Dick figured he was probably three minutes from the park where the heroes had been earlier. He had no idea if they would still be there, but Dick knew he had little chance of actually beating an armed, highly trained soldier with a sprained ankle and possibly broken ribs.
So he ran. Ran until he forgot how to breathe, until he saw stars, until his legs felt like giving out. And then he kept running.
Four more gunshots went off by the time that Dick could actually see the park. Two had completely missed him, one had grazed his left arm, and one had gone straight through part of his calf. It burned like his leg had been dropped in lava and left there for a few minutes, although the blood wasn't flowing as fast as Dick thought it would.
Funny, it flowed so fast when they died. He couldn't even begin to try and keep in all that precious red by the time it was too late.
Swallowing hard, Dick pushed himself faster. Always faster. He had to be faster now, because he'd always been too slow. And he was still too slow now.
This time Dick saw the attack before it hit and managed to throw himself to the side to avoid it. Unfortunately, he lost his balance when he did it and ended up on his back with a gun pointed at his chest.
It was as if everything had been plunged underwater. Noises were muted and everything moved slower, including the soldier's finger on the trigger. Dick watched as the man pulled the trigger, not shrinking away.
If he was going to die, he was going to stare death in the face and say, "Come get me."
The bullet never came. The gun went off for sure, and the bullet left the chamber, but it never pierced through Dick's chest.
Instead, it harmlessly crumpled against something harder than steel. Dick was also nowhere near the bullet's path. He was actually on the other side of the street, utterly bewildered. The scene in front of him made no sense. Just the fact that there was a scene in front of him made Dick absent mindedly put a hand to his chest to feel for a bullet wound that wasn't there as he watched the action.
Superman was standing in front of the soldier, one hand casually on his gun. As Dick watched with surprise, Superman bent the gun back towards it's owner and then slammed his fist into the man's chin.
The soldier collapsed with no more than a small grunt and laid there unconscious. Pity. Dick wished he'd suffered a bit more before he passed out.
Dick's vision was suddenly filled with red and he jerked back in surprise.
"Oh geez! I'm sorry I totally didn'tmeantodothatandI'mreallysorrykid-"
"Shut up Flash." Batman glared at the man who abruptly shut his mouth. The glare then turned to Dick where it changed from anger to... concern?
"I thought we agreed this wouldn't happen again." Ah, nope. Definitely anger.
In response, Dick glared back and hissed, "Do you want me to apologize for being attacked by some crazy guy who doesn't even speak English to explain why he's attacking me?"
Both Superman and Flash seemed surprised at his retort, but Batman kept up his mask of indifference. "I think you knew exactly why he was attacking you."
"Nope. Was he on drugs? Or maybe he was an Arkham escapee. They like to speak nonsense and attack random people on the street." Batman's eyes tightened at Dick's offhanded comments and he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Do you know this kid Bats?" Flash asked as he peered around the Dark Knight to get a look at the kid who would willingly stand against Batman. Even Superman flinches under Batman's glare and this kid just returned it tenfold.
"We've met." Batman and Dick say at the same time, prompting a smile from the Man of Steel. "What's your name?" Cobalt blue eyes turned towards Superman and the gaze seemed far too old for a child.
"Dick." Superman jumped and was about to reprimand the boy before Batman interjected, "It used to be a common nickname for Richard."
"Oh. Well, nice to meet you Dick. I'm-"
"Superman. Man of Steel. Faster than a speeding bullet and not a bird or a plane." Dick interrupted as he pushed himself to his feet, swaying slightly. "I've heard about you."
"Are you alright?" Batman asked, before Superman had a chance to reply. Dick leaned hard against the wall behind him, fighting to remain standing as the adrenaline left his system. All he wanted to do was go back to the cave and snuggle in his pile of blankets. Instead, he said the first reaction he always has when someone asks him that. "I'm fine."
Batman looked over him and then bluntly said, "I've seen a lot of people who are fine. You are not one of them." Dick opened his mouth to argue but Batman just kept talking over him. "You have been shot twice and judging from how you're standing, your ankle has been hurt as well as your ribs. You are not fine, okay or," the Dark Knight paused for a moment before leaning in closer to Dick and muttering, "asterous, as you put it last time."
Batman stood again and glared at Dick. "You are going to come be treated for your injuries and then you can go." Dick was going to protest but he did feel really awful. With a sigh, he pushed off the side of the building and walked up to the Dark Knight. The mini-war that occurred between their glares went unnoticed by the other two and after Dick lost, he found himself being led towards the park.
Instead of going up to the stage, the heroes and Dick walked behind it, and Batman pressed a button on a fob he had pulled out of nowhere. The sound of roaring tires suddenly filled the air and the Batmobile came flying out of a side street to stop in front of the heroes.
Batman opened the hatch and pulled out a medical kit, which opened to reveal gauze and bandages, among other medical supplies. He handed the pain pills to Flash and told him to get two and run to find a bottle of water. Instantly he was gone and Batman turned to Dick and told him to roll up his pants.
Luckily(or not depending on how you look at it), the bullet had gone through the calf of his right leg, the same one that had the sprained ankle. Batman flushed the wound and quickly gave it a few stitches before wrapping Dick's ankle. He did the same for his arm before asking Superman to check for broken ribs.
"None. And your ankle definitely isn't broken." Batman nodded and just then Flash reappeared with water and handed both the pills and water to Dick. He swallowed them quickly and then guzzled the rest of the water.
"Can I go now?" Dick was getting uncomfortable being this close to people for so long. Aside from fights or random conversations, Dick had barely interacted with anyone for the past years he'd been on the streets.
Batman seemed to sense his discomfort and nodded, allowing Dick to once again vanish into the streets, becoming one of many shadows that filled the alleys as the sun finally set and gave way to the night.
As he left, he heard Superman and Flash arguing with Batman over letting him go.
"He's a child and he's wounded and you just let him wander off?" Batman fixed the other heroes with a cold stare and then turned towards the Batmobile and hopped in. Before the hatch closed over him, Batman said one last thing to the fuming Superman.
"I trust him."
Dick made it back home in one piece and as he flopped into his nest after stashing the money, the painkillers kicked in, muting the screaming pain in his leg and chest to a dull roar.
The day could have gone worse, all in all. He wasn't dead for starters, and he had actually held a conversation with someone.
And although he'd never admit it to anyone, Dick was ecstatic that he had talked to the heroes.
To him, it meant that maybe, someone actually cared whether he lived or just dropped dead in an alley. No one had done that since the circus, and that was years ago
Years of being alone made him jaded and cold, but the thought of seeing Superman or Flash again made him feel a little lighter. The thought of Batman's parting words brought memories of his father, so Dick pushed all thoughts away and let his mind drift.
Dick finally fell asleep with the thought of gentle hands on his chest. The hands that were so similar to his father's but had the scent of battle and shadows on them.
He didn't dream.
A/N: I really need to stop posting things at eleven. Especially when I have school tomorrow. And should be sleeping. Ugh. Someone save me!
I might include Queen Bee(that's the scary lady) sometime later, but I couldn't work her into the story well so I'll save her for another time.
Please review! It makes me happy beyond words!
