For disclaimer and summary, please see Chapter 1.

Chapter 4

Cold.

All he could feel was the cold.

A cold that seeped deep down into his bones.

Blackness.

Dark.

He opened his eyes. It was so dark that, for a moment, he wasn't sure if he had.

He was outside; he knew that. He also knew he was partially covered in snow.

Where..?'

What...?' He thought to himself.

Slowly he began to sit up, wincing at various nagging pains.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember.

The trip to Canada..., the rented car..., headlights... ice on the road..., Dick screaming 'BAIL OUT!',…. the cliff...,

wait…

Dick! Where is he?!?'

Bruce pushed himself off the ground and stumbled to his feet. It wasn't until then that he noticed the pain in his arm.

Bruce unzipped a pocket of his coat and removed a miniature flashlight. Although it was small it had many different beam settings. He turned it onto a low setting to conserve the batteries, placed it between his teeth, and pulled up the sleeve of his coat.

'Broken. Damn...' He thought to himself. At least it didn't appear to be too serious. He'd have to splint it but not now. First he had to find Dick.

Bruce turned up the beam on the flashlight and looked around for a moment to try to get his bearings.

'Dick was in the passenger seat, the slope is behind me... so he has to be off to my right somewhere.' Bruce calculated.

"Dick!!...Diiiiick!!..." Bruce called out. He strained to hear any hint of a response. The only thing he heard was the wind as it whirled around him.

Bruce maxed out the flashlight and slowly started to move in the direction he thought Dick should be. The snow storm had covered up any telltale disturbances in the snow that would have shown him which direction to go.

"DICK!... CAN YOU HEAR ME??" Bruce called out again.

Nothing.

Bruce picked up his pace and broke into a jog, "DIIIICK!... ANSWER ME... DIIIICK..." Bruce called out before he stopped again and urgently moved the beam of the flashlight in the distance as he searched for his son.

Bruce could feel a sensation that he hadn't experienced in a very long time. He was beginning to panic. His breathing was too fast and he was frantically darting the flashlight about.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 'DAMN IT. Get a grip on yourself.' he commanded. 'You're not going to find him if you don't have a clear head.'

Bruce steeled himself and switched on the calm, cool and collective nature of the Detective.

Slowly he scanned the area that surrounded him. Bruce turned around to see how far he had come. 'Dick couldn't be any further this way..., alright..., then we start to look more to the left...' He coached himself.

"DICK?... DIIIIICK... CAN YOU HEAR ME??... DIIIIIICK..." Bruce scanned the beam of the flashlight back toward where he had come from when something suddenly caught his eye.

A sharp glimmer.

Bruce quickly snapped the light back.

"DICK!... Bruce called as he broke into a sprint when he realized the flashlight had picked up the reflective piping on the back of Dick's ski coat. His son was lying on his side, at the base of a large pine tree. Bruce covered the distance between them as fast as he could in the three-foot-deep snow and fell to his knees at his son's side. He was unconscious, but was starting to come around.

"Dick, can you hear me?"

"Hhmm..."

"Talk to me, Dick." Bruce coached as he began to gently push the snow off his son.

"nnngggghhh"

Bruce reduced the beam on the flashlight before he made a quick assessment of any obvious injuries. The only thing he could be sure of was a large cut to the side of Dick's head. He could tell that it had been bleeding quite a bit. However, the cold night air had slowed the flow to almost a stop.

"Dick, can you move?" asked Bruce.

There was no answer.

Bruce placed his hand on Dick's shoulder and gave it a gentle shake, "Dick, can you..."

"Aaarggh!!" Dick cried out.

Bruce removed his hand. "What? What's wrong?? Where are you injured?"

"nnnnnghhh" Dick grunted and rolled onto his back.

"Hey. Stay still. Don't move until I check you out." Bruce said. He began to gently pat down Dick's torso and squeezed random areas on his arms and legs, searching for other possible injuries.

"Where, are you injured?" Bruce repeated.

"My shoulder!" Dick answered through clenched teeth.

Bruce looked to Dick with concern. He didn't like his breathing. "Are you injured anywhere else?"

Dick didn't answer right away.

"My … my..shoulder.." Dick said a little weary, everything around him was spinning, he couldn't focus his vision and his head pounded with a brutal force. He was pretty sure it topped the hangover Roy had after Wally's New Year's Eve party.

"Ok, I'll take a look at it in just a second... but first, I want you to squeeze my hands as hard as you can." Bruce said as he took Dick's gloved hands in his own.

Bruce didn't feel anything.

"Dick..." Bruce moved the flashlight's soft beam to Dick's face and tapped his cheek. "Dick."

"..huh...wha.." Dick mumbled.

"How hard did you hit your head?" Bruce asked as he inspected the cut to Dick's head, "Did you blackout just now?"

".. no ... I was just ... staying still.., like you told me to." he answered without opening his eyes.

Bruce frowned, "Right... Well .., here. Squeeze my hands." It took him a second or two but Dick did as he was instructed. Bruce noticed his right hand had a significantly weaker grip, but with an injury to his shoulder, it was to be expected.

"Good. Now, slowly, move your legs for me." Satisfied with his movements, Bruce decided it was safe to allow Dick to sit up.

"Ok, let's see what's wrong with your shoulder. Can you try and sit up so I can take a look at it?"

"…yeah…" After a couple minutes, with help from Bruce, Dick sat up. Bruce took note of how slowly he moved.

Bruce took off his left glove and unzipped Dick's coat just enough to reach his hand inside. Dick moaned some as Bruce inspected his shoulder.

"It's dislocated, Dick." Bruce said as he continued to feel the shoulder. He was blindly trying to assess the damage when he felt a sudden muscle spasm.

"Is it a par.. nnnghhh... partial or complete separation?" Dick asked through gritted teeth.

"It feels complete." Bruce answered as he repositioned himself to be able push the arm back into the shoulder joint.

"Alright, Dick, you know the drill." Bruce said.

When Dick didn't answer, Bruce looked down at him. Dick had his eyes shut and gave a weak nod.

"You know, I did want to ask you something while we were away." Bruce thought about how he was going to do this with a broken arm.

"I'm working on a case and I could use your help. Tim is away at the moment with the Titans and, well, you know how it is. You could come in and take one look the evidence that I've been starring at over four days and piece something together. Wouldn't be the first time you did that to me. So, what do you think... can I count on you, partner?" Bruce asked

"…You know that… that you can always count on me, Bruce.." Dick said and opened his eyes a little. He wondered which of the two Bruces in font of him he was speaking with. "And.. you don't even… have to asAAAaaHHHHhhgggg!!!"

At that moment Bruce had snapped his arm back into place. Dick's cry seemed to echo for miles. He knelt forward and hugged the arm of his injured shoulder to this chest.

"….nice little …game …of decep...tion…" Dick said between gulps of air.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Control your breathing, otherwise you're going to hyperventilate."

Dick focused and a short while later, though still irregular, he had it under more control. He opened his eyes and tried to focus on Bruce. He was still seeing double.

Great.., just what I need, another concussion' he thought.

"Are you better now?" Bruce asked him.

"….yeah…thanks. What about you? Are you hurt?" Dick asked.

"Not really." Bruce lied. He took Dick's chin and lifted his face before he took the dim flashlight and briefly shined it at Dick eyes to determine the reaction time of his pupils.

"Damn it Bruce!! Can you focus that light somewhere else?!!"

"Dick. You have a cut on you head and it's bleeding. I'm pretty damn sure you have a concu..."

"Leave me alone, ok??" Dick said, pushing Bruce's hand away.

"Dick, I need to see your injuries. You could have something serious and…"

"I told you I'm fine! Just give me a couple of minutes, alright?" Dick cut Bruce off.

"Alllllright, let me help you get up. Then we can…"

"Why do you always think I need your help with everything??" Dick cut him off again, "I can take care of myself! I've been doing that for a while now, Bruce." Dick snapped as he started to get to his feet.

Bruce was a bit taken back by Dick's abrasive responses. He had his suspicions, but gave Dick some space and let him stand up on his own. Bruce observed the difficulty Dick experienced with the simple task. He shined the flashlight in Dick's general direction and saw how he squinted, then blinked his eyes often; no doubt trying to focus his vision.

When Dick finally accomplished a vertical position, he only took a couple of steps before he swayed and fell back into the deep snow.

Bruce quickly moved to Dick's side and placed his hand on Dick's good shoulder. "Dick?"

He noticed Dick tremble under his touch, but couldn't determine if it was from the pain, the cold or a concussion Bruce figured he had. Most likely all three.' Bruce thought.

"…oh, God... I think …I think, I'm... gonna.…" Dick moaned before he quickly lunged to his left and vomited. The pain from his injured shoulder and the merciless pounding in his head made it a challenge to keep from falling down into the snow.

Bruce crouched down and saw the arm Dick used to hold himself up was trembling. He wrapped his good arm under Dick's chest to support his weight as his son's body was consumed by violent heaving.

When Dick had finished, he coughed a couple times before leaning back a little with a groan. He used a handful of snow, to get the bitter taste out of his mouth. Bruce frowned with the labored breathing Dick experienced again.

"Steady your breathing again." Bruce said as he placed a comforting hand to his son's back. "That's it, you're doing fine." A couple minutes later, Dick had his breathing under control once more.

"Now. that you've demonstrated that you are fine..., would you allow me to see just how fine you are??" Bruce asked.

Dick gave him a glare that Batman could be proud of.

"It's just… the light... too bright" Dick said

"It hurts when you look at it?"

"Wouldn't it bother you if you' looked at it??!" Dick barked.

"Diiick...," Bruce warned with a glare of his own.

"Ok, ok,… it doesn't hurt. It's just very annoying." Dick said and hopped that Bruce would buy it.

"Look at me" Bruce said and focused the light to Dick's eyes. 'Unequal...only partially reactive... shit'. he thought to himself then put two fingers up, "How many?"

"Two?" Dick asked, then smiled when Bruce kept looking at him "What?? You never realized every time you ask that, you always hold up two fingers??" He said with a mischievous grin.

Bruce focused the light to Dick's head. "Let me look that cut. It's still bleeding some." said Bruce.

Dick gave a sharp hiss when Bruce placed his hand on the back of Dick's head to tilt it and examine the wound. Bruce removed his hand and saw the blood on his glove.

"Hold on a second." Bruce said. He leaned over and used the flashlight look at the back of Dick's head. He saw a trail of blood that had stained the back of Dick's coat. He gently parted the hair at the base of his head. He found a large gash created by the impact of an unknown object. 'Most likely either a rock or the side of the Jeep.' he thought to himself. This conformed what he already knew, a concussion, which explained Dick's abrasive behavior.

"Alright Dick, I'm going pack some snow and I want you to hold it to the back of your head. You have a large laceration and it's still bleeding." Bruce gave Dick a tightly packed ball of snow, then guided his hand to the wound.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm just going to walk off a few steps to see if I can tell which direction we need to head off in."

"... k.." Dick answered.

Bruce stood up and maxed out the flashlight again as he took in their surroundings. He looked back to the slope leading up to the road. With the multiple feet of fresh snow the storm had dropped, and the incline, there was no way they'd make it up there, especially in Dick's condition.

A couple minutes later, Bruce walked back over to Dick. He was still leaning against the trunk of the tree. Dick rested his head upon his knees which he had drawn up to his chest. Bruce could tell he was shivering before he crouched down, again, at Dick's side.

"How you doing?" He asked as he pulled Dick forward to see the status of the wound. Bruce was alarmed with the way Dick slouched against him from the movement, "Well, the bleeding's stopped for the most part."

"T..That must b..be because of.. the cuh.. cold" Dick said through chattering teeth.

"I know. We have to move. We can't stay here, exposed to these elements. We have to find some sort of shelter." Bruce thought out loud.

Bruce was satisfied with how much the bleeding had stopped. However, what he was not satisfied with was how quiet Dick had become. Between the concussion and the cold, he had become too lethargic. He needed to get Dick moving now.

"Come on, let's get you up and keep moving. We have to keep our blood flowing; create more body-heat. Maybe we'll be lucky and someone saw us or the truck leave the road." Bruce explained.

"..'k." was Dick's only reply.

Bruce got up and helped Dick to get to his feet.

"What happened" Dick asked

"Don't you remember??"

Dick stopped and looked at Bruce for a moment. "... No."

" No matter." Bruce said, then gave Dick a run down of the previous events.

"Our cell phones??" asked Dick

"You have yours in your pocket, I think" Bruce told him.

Dick took out the phone from his coat pocket and realized why his side hurt. His impact with the tree must have crushed the phone into his side. They tried to put it back together, but it was not use. "Where's yours?" Dick asked.

"It was in the Jeep."

"In the Jeep... In the JEEP?? You always have it on you. Your phone and that stupid, annoying mini flashlight. And you choose now would be a good time to change your all-too-holy rituals?? He shouted, "Damn." Dick said as he threw his phone to the ground.

"I did have the phone with me, but when I'm driving, I always place it in the handless receiver." Bruce defended himself.

"So we can't call out…..What about the Jeep... and the other vehicle... oh Bruce, .. the people that were inside?" Dick asked.

"It went over the cliff ... there." Bruce said as he nodded off to his left. "I don't think anyone could survive that fall. We're on the second highest peak..., but let me go look and see if I can find something."

Bruce walked to the edge of the cliff, laid down on his stomach and looked down. It was too dark and even with the flashlight maxed out, he couldn't see anything; the beam faded to black. Calculating the distance the from where lightbeam ended, it must be a good 80 foot drop. There was no way anyone could have survived. He got back up and returned to where Dick stood.

"We're too high up, I can't see anything down there." He looked at Dick and saw that he was holding his side, "What hurts?"

Dick pushed Bruce's hand away,"Nothing, ... it's just sore is all." Dick answered

"Are you sure, you might have broken..."

"Don't you think by know I could tell difference between a broken rib and just a bruised side??" Dick cut him off "And other thing, you've got a bruise to your jaw.. and most likely more. Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"No, I'm fine, just the usual bumps and bruises you get from tumbling down a mountain slope... but nothing serious. You, on the other hand, took a nasty hit to that tree. I wish you'd let me check you over better." Bruce answered.

Dick stood and looked at Bruce.

Bruce sighed. "I told you, I'm fine."

"And I told you, I'm fine. Just cold. Can we get going already, so we don't freeze to death?" Dick asked impatiently.

"Wait. First we need to do something about your arm, try to immobilize it somehow." Bruce thought for a moment, then unfastened two of the snaps in the middle of Dick's coat. "Here, give me your hand..."

Dick made a deep grunt when Bruce placed his hand inside the opening of Dick's coat, then, fastened the snap just above his wrist.

"Well, it's not perfect, but it will have to do until we can find shelter. Let's go." Bruce instructed.

They walked for a little while before Dick started to lag behind. Bruce noticed that he was walking in more of a zigzag pattern than a straight line while they continued their search for shelter. He took a hold of Dick's good arm to guide him.

A little while later, Bruce had to stop; Dick kept losing his balance due to the dizziness he experienced. The two of them had been walking in silence for a while now. That sent off another silent alarm for Bruce, in all the years Dick had been in his life, he could NEVER stop talking. If Bruce insisted he stop, the closest he'd be able to come was mumbling, or humming a tune. Bruce felt a pang of guilt as he thought back Dick's attempt to strike up a conversation back in the Jeep; and the way he ignored him.

As their journey continued, the storm's furry showed no signs of mercy. Bruce stopped to take Dick's arm, and wrapped it around his neck. Bruce wrapped his good arm around Dick's back to help keep him up and on his feet.

Bruce could feel Dick's body tremble continually; his own shivering had stepped up a notch as well. He ignored the burning in this legs and the throbbing pain in his arm. He dug down to the pit of his resolve and trudged on with more urgency than before. They had to find shelter, and quick otherwise things were about to take a radical turn for the worse.

Ok, that's it for now. We hope you enjoyed this chapter and we'd love it if you us a line and let us know what you think. Chapter 5 is almost ready to post, so you won' thave to wait long.

Kanny & Christine