My Sons' Eyes Are Blue, Too
By
AJ
Part 8 – Analyzing the Affects
Alfred arrived ten minutes later and pulled his car into the garage. He made certain to take a car that didn't imply an exorbitant amount of wealth. The neighborhood that the safe house was located was considered a middle class neighborhood and someone with wealth was often sneered at.
Alfred came into the house with a few bags in tow, two of them contained a couple changes of clothing for his charges, one that contained the medical kit along with a small cooler. Alfred went back out to the car and came in carrying a large covered pot. He placed it on the stove in the kitchen area, and then turned the burner down on low. He stirred the contents then started on the other bags. He took one of the suitcases to one of the other bedrooms then entered the room where he found Bruce sitting by his son.
"He needs that medical kit now," Bruce said.
Alfred went back out to the kitchen and came back with the cooler and medical kit. He moved to the bed and proceeded to open the medical kit and pull out a suture. When he saw the wound, he nearly blanched.
"My word, what happened?" Alfred asked. "His collarbone didn't look like that when the paramedics picked him up at the Manor."
"He was struck from behind and fell. He must have hit it against something and broke it further. I tried to reset the bone . . .I've kept the wound packed, but he's lost a lot of blood. I didn't want to leave him."
"Allow me, Master Bruce," Alfred said, and he probed the area of the injury, checking Bruce's handy work. "Don't look so worried Master Bruce. Your manipulation was successful. The two parts of the bone are perfectly back together. We just need to close the wound. There is an IV stand in the hall closet. As soon as I am done suturing up the wound I shall set up the IV. There is a sling in the first aid kit in the bottom drawer in the kitchen as well as bandages. The shoulder will need to be wrapped to keep the bones and stitches in place."
Bruce helped Alfred to apply the bandages and to wrap Dick's shoulder after the butler finished suturing up the wound. Once everything was covered Dick was laid back onto the bed. Alfred added the IV, giving Dick a pint of blood. The look on Bruce's face questioned whether one pint was going to be enough.
"I brought a second pint of blood just in case," Alfred stated.
Once the second pint of blood was gone, it would be switched out for saline. Alfred also injected an antibiotic to prevent infection. Bruce placed a blanket over his wounded son and brushed the hair from his eyes one more time.
"No more nightmares," He whispered, but he knew that wasn't possible, not while the fear toxin was still in his system.
Bruce felt the soft leather case in his pocket and remembered the reason why Nightwing had gone to the house. They both thought about that night and they each tried to correct a grave mistake. Bruce's mistake was to think that the fear toxin was the same as last time. It became more apparent as the week went on. Nightwing's mistake was not watching his back and thinking the house would be totally abandoned. Even so, if Bruce hadn't gone after Nightwing, Dick would have bleed to death. And the biggest mistake wasn't even their fault. Matthew Malone and Jasper Cage were the ones that made that one. Their mistake was leaving them alone. That gave Bruce time to act.
"Alfred, keep an eye on him. I'm heading back to the cave."
"I have your uniform, Sir," Alfred stated.
"Thanks, but I have to return not only to check on Damian, I have to analyze these vials," He pulled the soft leather case from his pocket. "The sooner I can create an anti-toxin the better for Dick. I'll return as soon as I can."
"Very good, Sir," Alfred replied.
"I'll take your car."
Alfred tossed Bruce the keys to the car he had driven into the city. Bruce left Dick in Alfred's capable hands, knowing that the butler would take good care of his eldest son and headed back to the Manor. Once he arrived he went straight to the cave. In his left hand, he carried the soft leather case containing the vials and the syringe. Bruce moved to the lab area and opened the leather case. He pulled out one of the vials and poured the contents into a test tube. He placed the tube in a rack then took a long narrow eyedropper and squeezing the rubber top, he took some of the liquid and placed that on a glass petri dish. Bruce then placed the dish into a drawer and pressed a few buttons. By analyzing the liquid he hoped to learn its components in order to compare them with Scarecrow's other fear toxins that he had on record. Once analyzed, he could begin to find an antitoxin. Hallucinogenic drugs weren't easy to clear from the body's system. Bruce remembered the times he and Dick ran into the Scarecrow and his fear toxin. Most of the time he used a powder or a gas that he developed. The affects were usually transitory. Bruce found ways to counter act the drugs with anti-gas pills to minimize the affects. When Dick was 15 that was the first time he had to develop an antidote to a fear toxin that was injected into the system. The antidote acted like a detox, but it could not prevent the flashbacks that Dick had. Only time and counseling did that. Bruce hoped that this time he would get it right.
Bruce waited patiently for the analyzer to finish. He pulled out an old card from his filing cabinet and read the contents. Some of the information he still kept in hard copy form. It would take years to enter all of the information into the computer. Batman made it a part of Robin's job, starting with his first Robin, entering the information about a current case as well as any related cases from the past. It was tedious work, but it was also a way to help Robin become more familiar with his case files, no matter who wore the Robin uniform.
Reading the card, he filed in his mind the components from the previous liquid sample. That fear toxin was made up of extracts from peyote, ergotamine, and psilocybin. All were hallucinogens that lasted anywhere from a few hours up to 12. Ergotamine was the main substance found in LSD. Peyote was used by Native Americans to induce visions during a ritual, such as a sweat lodge, but what could cause the feeling that there was no escape? Bruce remembered Dick screaming those very words when the nightmares were at their worst. Just as Bruce was about to do more research, the analyzer gave out several beeps then spit out an index card. Bruce chose to use the old analyzer because of its reliability. With concrete physical evidence, it was able to pretty much analyze anything.
Bruce picked up the card and read the content. Strange, only one additional component was listed. Ayahuasca, a plant found in South America used by the native tribes, also for ritual purposes. Bruce moved to the computer and typed in the name. He read about its origin and then about its affect on the human brain, overwhelming misery, no one to help you, no way to escape, everywhere darkness, a powerful additive to an arsenal of terror.
'All right, how do I counteract this?' Bruce thought.
"Father?" Damian approached on silent footsteps, even though Bruce was aware of his presence.
"Yes, Damian."
"How is Grayson?"
How could he answer his youngest son? Dick was doing fine when he suddenly jumped out of a hospital window four stories above the ground, swinging from a tree and landing on top of a truck, technically running away to find the fear toxin and was caught and hurt again? Bruce gave out a sigh.
"Dick is . . . safe."
"Father that does not answer my question."
Bruce moved back over to the analyzer and set it to search for an antidote, this time adding more of the liquid for a larger sample. "How is the bird?" Bruce asked, changing the subject.
"The bird is healing," Damian stated. "Why did you have me take care of such a bird?"
"It is a means to help you heal," Bruce said. "I know you've been feeling guilty about not preventing what happened. You did what you could under the circumstances."
"But I did not prevent him from getting hurt. I should have tried to save him."
"You are well trained, Damian, but you didn't have any equipment to aid you. You were in your civilian clothes. As a civilian we can only do what we can with what is available to us. And even then we can't act in the same way. That could compromise our secret identities. You did what you could. And I gave you the bird to take care of because it needed attention and I did not want to see another Robin die." The last few words were nearly whispered.
"The robin is symbolic," Damian surmised. "Father, who did you see die?"
Bruce swallowed hard. Except for the obvious that Damian already knew, Bruce wanted to say, 'Too many,' but didn't voice the words. His son did not know the number of times he nearly lost all of his Robins, no he did lose one and that one was still lost to him. "Jason," Bruce replied.
"Todd?" Damian questioned. "But Todd is not dead. He is with the Outsiders."
"Yes, Todd is with the Outsiders," Bruce replied. "But Jason . . . Jason is still lost to us."
Damian looked at his father confused.
"You will have to talk to Dick. That is all I can say on the subject. I need to get this antitoxin completed and you have a robin to care for."
Realizing that he was being dismissed, Damian didn't push it. "Yes, Father."
Bruce leaned back to wait and to ponder once again, who bailed out Matthew Malone and Jasper Cage?
Continues with Part 9
