Notes: If you must know, I've never tried kadaif. I just did some research on Middle Eastern pastries heh.
Grayson's condition didn't improve. Father decided to take Damian's demands seriously this time, running test after test to diagnose Richard's sudden illness. The boy had even offered the remaining portion of the kadaif that Mother sent him - even though he detested the loss of his favored treat, he realized that he valued Richard's well-being more. So he handed the container to Father for testing, ignoring the memory of his own voice telling his brother that to Talia, the older teen and Pennyworth were 'necessary casualties.'
But to Damian's relief, Father found nothing incriminating in the pastry. The container was returned with a quarter of the portion left uneaten, but the boy's worry had settled heavily in his abdomen and he found he had no appetite for the treat.
He carefully wrapped Richard tighter with the blanket. The teen's muscles had developed spasms overnight that left him in a constant state of shivering and twitching. So Damian had swaddled his brother in case the nerve spasms induce the teen into hurting himself.
And test after test regularly gave out negative results.
"I hate this..." Richard whispered underneath the blanket.
"Hate what?" Damian asked, pausing in the middle of helping his brother sit up. He had one arm around Richard's shoulders while the other brought a glass of water close for the teen to drink. It was an awkward position for the boy; he was strong enough to support the older teen but his arm felt small against his brother's back, and his other hand had to be kept steady to keep the water from spilling...
"I hate being like this..." Richard muttered, waving lazily at himself. "Weak. Can't stand without falling over. Everything hurts."
Damian gave him an assessing look and berated him, "If you recovered quickly, you wouldn't be feeling weak any longer."
"Tell that to my body."
Damian scowled at him. "This is not a time to take your illness lightly, Richard."
Fever-bright blue eyes glared back at the boy. "I am taking this seriously! I've been resting and drinking and-" Richard huffed, one arm flopping back on the cot. "I swear it's like I've been poisoned and I can't flush it out of my system."
Damian's scowl lessened into a frown this time as an idea occurred to him. He remained quiet as Richard drank the water and then carefully set the glass down on the table beside the cot. Then, he eased his brother back down and re-tucked the blanket around him.
"Thanks, Damie," Richard's voice was fading fast into sleep. "You're a great bro."
Damian watched his brother sleep for a few moments before he stood up and left the medical area.
He had research to do.
"Poisons," the instructor stated emotionlessly, "the most preferred method of killing by women. It is a vital weapon in the assassin's arsenal."
Damian watched the squirrel twitching on the table. He'd shot it full of the experimental EG-6 formula and now he was told to watch its effects.
"See how it spasms? This means the poison has reached the nervous system. Earlier it tried to expel the formula via vomiting, but the toxin has already been absorbed by the body. There will be no expelling for this target. But that isn't the best thing about this formula."
Damian glanced up at his instructor, curious. "Then what is the best thing, doctor?"
"Why, the fact that once ingested, this poison is virtually undetectable. Any and all laboratory testing merely shows the body's reactions, but none of the true cause. Only those who know what to specifically look for can the toxin be found. And there is nothing medical professionals can do but alleviate the symptoms - perhaps for the rest of the target's entire life."
The bank of monitors was busy scrolling through various analyses and computations of Richard's ailment. Father had made sure he didn't overlook any detail to find out what caused his brother's sudden illness - it made the teen irritable thanks to all the needle prodding he had to endure. But Batman was adamant that the cure must be found at all costs.
For his part, Damian had watched his Father closely and once in a while suggested possible toxins and poisons that could have been introduced to his brother. But as the negative results piled up, Damian realized the poison must have been something his Father hadn't encountered before.
Damian, on the other hand, did.
His brief talk with Richard made him recall a few choice memories he would rather forget for the demeaning way he was treated back at the League of Assassins' base. And those memories not only brought to mind a possible culprit for Richard's illness, but also a problem he realized would need to be addressed before he could search for a cure.
His time with the League of Assassins had taught Damian how to kill both with or without evidence. He had teachers who were masters of the sciences, of martial arts, of strategy - one of them had been one of the foremost authorities on chemical toxins, poisons, and venoms. If the League of Assassins concocted a new formula to silently eliminate their target without leaving a trace, Damian's instructor would know about it.
And the man, in turn, taught the al Ghul heir everything he knew.
Batman left early that night for patrol, leaving the Cave empty except for him and a sleeping Richard. Damian took his Father's seat and brought up his brother's latest blood sample analysis. He typed in a few search parameters and sat back to wait for the results. A few minutes passed before the Crays finished the analysis: positive.
If anyone glanced into the Cave, they would see a calm Damian rising from Batman's seat and erasing his search from the Cray's logs. Damian may not have spent years living with Batman, but he knew of his Father's methods and could accurately predict what the man's reaction would be if Damian presented to him this test result. And no matter what, Damian could not allow his Father to follow through on this lead; Batman had nothing to bargain with, but Damian did.
What he had would be valuable in his Father's hands, but at the same time it was the only thing viable enough to gain the al Ghuls' attention and Damian would willingly part with it if he needed to. He had just gained a father and brother for himself after years of instructors and Mother. He'd rather not lose the family he'd come to be fond of if he can help it.