Akright, next chapter, I decided I'd show how th team deals with their own being hurt. A little fluffy, but yes, it's necessary.
"Bruce... what happened?" Dick stared as his adoptive father shushed him, moving silently to stand beside him and peer at his sister's small form.
"Car crash with Roy and Wally. She'll be okay, they said, want to make sure she stays out of shock, though. We're supposed to keep her warm and quiet. I figured we put her in the cave's med bay, just in case."
Dick nodded and went to pull out the book that slid back the bookcase into the cave, following quietly behind Bruce.
"Is everyone alright? How are Roy and Wally?" Dick asked, looking nervous.
"Both have concussions, but they'll be fine, too. Barry's old car was totaled, it was a miracle they weren't hurt worse. That car was like an old tank..."
Sparrow stirred at the sound of Bruce's voice and Bruce quickly made his whisper quieter, if that was possible. "I need you to tell the team. Barry and Green Arrow have their hands full now, as you can imagine, alright?"
Dick nodded, grabbing his sunglasses from the table before heading to the Hall of Justice. He slipped int the secret entrance in the restroom and zetaed to the cave- it would confuse people if they saw a normal boy zetaing away.
Dick was dreading his duty just now, the rest of the team had just gotten back from the movies- he'd elected they leave Scarlet and Wally behind because Wally was dead-set on playing video games with Sparrow later, and Sparrow showed no signs of waking up soon. Besides, the movie was out of her age range, still...
Dick hated himself for that now, Even if the movie had been adult, it'd have been better to keep both Wally and Sparrow insight. They could've been killed in the crash...
Stop beating yourself up, Grayson. You did what you thought was best at the time. Your heart was in the right place. he though. That was the phrase Bruce constantly used, whenever Dick asked him about confusing feelings such as embarrassment and shame, as well as regret...
"That's a hard question to answer, Dick. The only thing you can ask yourself is, was your heart in the right place. Did you act on what you thought was best or because you wanted something."
Dick sighed. He knew he'd just wanted Sparrow to catch up on some must-needed rest and have a fun day with Wally, as well as keep her away from a movie he knew Bruce would barely let him see. He had had no idea Roy would zeta in and they'd decide to go for a ride...
Sparrow, do you always have to find trouble!? he though, slightly angry, but his anger melted when he remembered her scratched, pale face, cuts outlined and almost unnatural on the pallor of her skin.
"Robin, where are Wally and Sparrow? I thought you said you were going to look for Sparrow at home." Megann said, looking anxious.
The entire team had been anxious to find the two when they got home, and Robin had headed back to Wayne Manor to look for Sparrow.
"Guys... there's been an accident." he hated the taste the words left in his mouth, and everyone stared, silent, eyes wide with fear.
Instantly they burs into a chorus of exclamations and questions as to the state of the teammates...
"QUIET!" Artemis yelled, and everyone stared. She looked at Dick apprehensively, and he continued.
"They'll all be okay, Roy and Wally have minor concussions and Sparrow is just really doped up from the hospital and has a few cuts. They're all a little beat up."
And then the what happened. Dick explained the details as to what had happened and how things went wrong. When they were finished, Artemis was seething.
"That idiot Wally! I'm going to kill him!"
"Nothing you could do would be worse than what he's done to himself." Kadlur pointed out. "He probably already blames himself, and is wondering what would've happened if they'd all died..."
"Accidents do happen. Remember how I always break stuff?" Conner pointed out.
Artemis sighed. "Yeah, you're right, I guess... I just feel so... helpless!"
"So do I..." Conner murmured, studying the ground.
"On Mars, we have a custom of easing, where, when someone's hurt, we send them cards and make them meals and help them until they're better again..." Megann suggested.
"We do a similar thing in Atlantis." Kadlur said, brightening.
Conner shrugged. "I have no idea what Kryptonians do, but I want to help."
"We have that too. It's called get well cards!" Artemis said, getting excited as well.
"Then what are we waiting for!? Let's be useful!" Robin grinned as Megann started flying to make cookies, Conner helped Artemis choose photographs from her phone to print off for get-well cards, and Kadlur thought of messages to write inside the cards.
Robin, meanwhile, went to get some of Wally's choice video games from his room at the cave, since he'd no doubt want those to play while recuperating. It was amazing how the entire team could go from depressed to incredibly pressed (as Robin thought in Robin speak), hurrying to try and ease their teammates who were suffering.
_
Oliver (aka Green Arrow) looked down at Roy. The boy had no family to speak of who'd care for him at this time but him, and the justice league was really all he had. Artemis still lived with her mother, so it was safe to assume the boy would be living at his place until he decided to leave again...
He didn't just look at Roy, but at the things that had been piled up beside his bed. Cookies made by the Martian girl, some pictures of good times past, some get-well cards, a few hand held gaming systems, a vase of flowers, heck, even a teddy bear with a few arrows that needed tips beside it for the boy to keep him busy.
The arrows were no doubt from Artemis, and Oliver had to smile. Though they acted like it, Roy and Artemis really didn't hate each other. It was more simply sibling rivalry...
Still, Oliver had just signed the boy out of the hospital. He'd left for about five minutes to get the boy's medication ready for when he woke up, and when he'd came back, he'd found the gifts heaped on the bed-side table of the room.
Even more disturbing was the fact that he hadn't seen anyone enter his house or leave it- Robin had probably snuck in to do it- Oliver reminded himself to speak to Batman about this. Sometimes the boy's crazy stealth skills were disconcerting.
Still, though, Roy wasn't even officially on the team and yet they'd done this for him... Oliver had to shake his head in surprise. The team didn't express it verbally, but their actions spoke volumes about how loyal they were to their friends.
_
Wally moaned and opened his eyes. His head felt a little better, the painkillers were working, but laid up in bed made him feel so bored... Being confined to bed was the worst thing ever for a speedster...
Wally looked down at the foot of his bed and blinked. He must be hallucinating. But no! He scrambled as fast as his battered body would let him and found all his favorite video games from the cave here... at the foot of his bed!
"My babies..." he cooed, so happy tears sprang to his eyes. And he smelled something... Cookies! Megann had sent him some of his cookies! The entire team had been here, it felt like. There were get-well cards from everyone, including one skewered on an arrow from Artemis. He had to smile- that as a nice touch.
Conner had given him the teddy bear, he was sure, since Conner was slightly clueless about how to help sick people, and... no... The team had gotten him twinkies! Half a dozen boxes of them, to be exact! So even while he was in bed his super-fast metabolism wouldn't get the best of him!
Wally placed dead space 2 into his playstation and took a bite of Ms. M's cookies. He'd have twinkies later. Still, he couldn't help but think his team was awesome as he settled down to killing aliens.
_
Bruce left for five minutes to go see if Dick had come back yet. Honestly, did it take two hours to inform the team of what had happened? He was starting to get worried- it wasn't like Dick to dawdle when his sister was at home, injured...
When he returned, there were gifts showered around the bed. Cookies from Megann, get well cards from everyone, a teddy bear, even a book on forensic science and Mission Impossible like tactics... Bruce had to smile.
It was clear Dick had chosen the books, and the team had chosen the rest of the things, but there was at least several armloads of stuff. He wondered how Dick had managed to get everything past him and return to the Wayne Manor, and the Batcave, unnoticed. His worry was gone. It didn't take two hours to tell your team what had happened, but it very well could take two hours to help your team make these things and then run several mini covert missions to drop these off at the hoses of said injured teammates...
And Dick had managed to slip past him. Bruce allowed a begrudging smile to cross his face. Scarlet was still sleeping, of course- she'd always slept a lot, due to her excessive training and need to push herself to the point where Bruce forced her to go to bed, so he wasn't worried. He was glad his little girl would just sleep it all off...
And he was impressed. The team certainly did know how to care for one of their own.