Crescendo
Tuesday, September 22nd, 08:20
On the fly between Alaska and the Alps, Clark dropped by the MetroTower to see Flash, only to run into a conversation he could not follow.
"Coli." Wayne spat out.
The other two men standing in the lab breathed out resigned.
"Antibiotics?" Terrific offered.
"Liver and kidneys." Jonn was grave.
"Dialysis." He countered.
"Lazarine." Wayne added.
"Tumors." Jonn warned.
"Surgery?" Terrific was grasping for straws.
"Without immunity?" Wayne looked at him as if he were a moron.
"Phages?" Jonn suggested.
"Initial infection." Terific reminded. "Antivirals." He elaborated.
Jonn looked defeated. "We're stuck in a loop."
"Time to deal with the elephant in the room. Jonn?"
"I have eavesdropped on the human autonomous system during captivity, you?"
"Self taught – developedantidotes for Smilex and fear gas." Wayne stood rod-straight.
"That doesn't give either of you knowledge on germs." Teriffic criticized.
"Two doctors and a medic in the family. You know better?"
"A formal degree better – Took remote classes during monitor duty."
Wordlessly they conceded.
"We take him of antivirals and on both kinds of pre-emptive dialysis. Pump him full of antibiotics and phages - kill off all the bacteria, good, bad and neutral. Once he's a clean slate we inoculate him with the good ones again. If there's organ damage we give him a target shot of lazarine, restart the antivirals and keep our fingers cros-."
Jonn froze. "I've lost Lantern."
Teriffic frowned. "What do you mean lost... Wait." Reaching for his ear he listened to a frantic voice on the other end. He broke into a sprint, tailed by the other two. "Booster's flying him in, said he just fell out of the sky in mid flight."
They arrived at the medical level in time to see Shayera gently deliver Stewart into a cell next to Wally's. Clark was already there, having passed them in a flying blur of purple. The three resident healers bustled around under their colleagues' anxious watch. In minutes, the main screen revealed the answer.
"Same freak cold." Teriffic looked between Wally and Stewart, tended by Shayera. "Must have caught it on a joint mission, but in Flash it developed earlier due to faster metabolism."
"Why did he faint?" Shayera asked from Stewart's side, never taking her eyes off him.
"Dehydrated because of the stomach flu."
"Thick headed soldier wouldn't stop for a drink..." Scolding and worry blended seamlessly in her voice.
Wayne squinted, cogs working. "Flash, which leaguers have you spoken to yesterday."
"All of them?"The speedster replied sheepishly.
Batman raced into the adjoining lab, all but Shayera hot on his heels. He shuffled the drawers for a needle. "Blood works for all non-meta human leaguers." He proceeded to take a sample of his own.
"You think its spreading?" Worry was obvious even in Jonn's alien features.
"Better safe than sorry." He handed a vial of dark red fluid.
"I'll arrange a schedule." Teriffic spoke as he and the manhunter went their separate ways.
Clark approached Wayne. "Do we tell Waller?"
The dark knight remained expresionless. "No point in raising panic until we've got something to tell." He watched Clark return to their ill coleagues.
Remaining behind, Wayne reached for his communicator. "Get some rest before you start sleeping on the job." He spoke in a soft voice.
"No time." Diana almost yawned her reply.
"Stewart just fainted in mid flight for not drinking. You've been up 26 hours, last 14 of which you were intensely active physically."
"Afraid I'll break your record?" She teased.
Silence alone told how laughable that idea was.
"You're worried." This time there was no levity.
He swallowed. "Yes."
"I'll be right back."
"Thank you." Wayne finished the call.
Returning to quarantine he was welcomed by looks of sad sympathy from everyone present. As the realization set in, it started a n avalanche of a thought process in his mind. "Call off all teams." He barked.
Confused faces stared his way.
"Why?" Clark risked asking.
"We've taken the infection the wrong way around. It wasn't didn't brought into the tower, it's spreading from here."
Blank faces anticipated explanation.
"You said it yourself."He turned to Terrific. "A freak cold - a hybrid. Ra's wasn't in Africa to sabotage oil rigs, that was just a diversion, he was in it for virus samples. Africa is an AIDS disaster zone."
"We've already ruled it out."
"The standard one - yes, this is something new."
Terrific shook his head in dismissal. "That's stretching it."
"You know standard germs, but I dealt with new diseases. What are the symptoms of an immunity repressing illness?"
"None. Patients present with whatever opportunistic infection strikes first."
"What if it's airborne?"
"Lots of people simultaneously showing unrelated symptoms. It would be like several minor outbreaks of various treatable diseases. It would take fatalities to alert… you mean-"
"Yes. What if there are dozens of such outbreaks scattered worldwide?"
"Pandemonium. Where?"
"Where would it be easiest to hide a several minor outbreaks? Where would they be expected?"
"Anywhere with poor living conditions – lack of food or dirty water or overcrowded-" Terrific froze with an expression of sheer shocked disbelief.
Jonn phased through the floor to do as Batman requested before Terrific could utter. "…disaster areas."
"Bats?" Wally called out. "He used us as WMDs?"
"He tried.No one else reported malaise. We better hope this thing isn't infectious until its symptomatic, otherwise…"
"You sure it's airborne?"
"It looks like cold because it spreads like cold - same adaptation to aerial environment." Terrific validated Wayne's assumption. "Even it isn't, better to assume the worst."
"How did it get in here?" Clark was bordering on angry.
"An infected zealot with a mask a stolen janitor ID and uniform would easily slip by bio sensors." Wayne spoke calmly as if the thought of Ra's busting his security didn't bother him at all. "All he had to do is walk up to Flash and say 'Good Morning.'"
Clark leaned heavily against the lab table. "Superman to all leaguers, return to the tower immediately."
