Batman crouched on the edge of a building, his eyes narrowed at the scene before him. According to his intel, the men he was watching worked for Pierce and whatever was in the crates they were placing onto a truck was Pierce's latest project.
With a growl, he launched himself down while simultaneously throwing down smoke pellets.
The sound of gunfire, flailing fists, and panicked yells filled the air. Once the smoke cleared, Batman had dispatched of everyone – or so he thought.
On instinct, he whirled around with ready fists only to see a sneering man several meters away and holding something that looked like a gun.
"Bye Bats."
He pressed the trigger and Batman instinctively thrusted his bulletproof cape around him but a bullet wasn't what hit him. Instead it was some form of pink powder that splattered on his cape and nicked his jaw.
The man was now in the truck, "I'd check that out if I was you - after all, I'm sure you don't have a death wish." His mocking laugh was drowned out by the screeching of tires and Batman was able to shoot a small tracker at the truck before it disappeared from view.
He growled and wiped his jaw but didn't follow pursuit - he had to analyze whatever he'd been splattered with. He could not afford to be careless and end up incapacitated later.
He pressed a button on his belt and within moments the roar of his car could be heard. He jumped in and immediately began analyzing the substance as well as performing tests on his own body with what technology the car allowed.
His eyes narrowed at the results; the substance being labeled as unknown was more or less expected but the tests showing nothing was wrong with his body were not.
Unless… the pink powder had simply been a decoy. Of course the other option was that the symptoms were simply delayed. But as he arrived at the cave and still the tests were negative for any unusual occurrences, he became more and more sure of his conclusion.
He performed several more tests but they too showed he was fine.
Opening a window on his computer, Bruce glared at the blinking dot, debating on whether or nor he should follow pursuit and wrap up his case tonight. He ultimately decided against it; it was already late and Rebecca would be arriving sometime in the afternoon
The tracker wasn't going anywhere and he needed to be ready for what the day would bring. With a sigh, he discarded his cape and headed for the showers - if only all his problems could be washed away as easily.
ooo
As was the normal occurrence in Bruce's life, things didn't go as planned. When Alfred left to retrieve Rebecca and Mia from the airport, there was a major car crash on the highway and he had to call to inform Bruce he was stuck in traffic.
Afterwards, Bruce called Mia and explained the situation; she assured him they would rent a car. Then it was a matter of facing Dick who'd shut himself up in his room after breakfast.
Bruce knocked twice and suddenly the door swung open. Dick stood there, his backpack slung on one shoulder and his other arm dragging his suitcase.
"You finally knock," He softly said.
Bruce's response was to pick up the suitcase and head downstairs. Behind him, he heard a sigh followed by echoing footsteps. They settled to wait on the couch and Dick pulled his hoodie over his head and tucked his feet in.
Bruce brought out his phone, unsure if he should speak and not even knowing what he would possibly say if he did.
In the end, both sat in silence until the doorbell ringed. Bruce stood and opened the door to reveal Rebecca but no sign of Mia. Large bags rested under Rebecca's eyes but her tiredness did nothing to stop her from directing a hateful glare at Bruce.
Once she caught sight of the boy coming up behind Bruce however, her brown eyes defrosted and she pushed past Bruce to wrap her arms around her nephew.
"Oh sweetheart…"
"Hey, Aunt Becca." Dick burrowed his head deeper into her shoulder which caused his next words to be muffled, "S'rry"
Rebecca just squeezed him tighter, "It's okay, it's okay" she repeated.
Bruce stood awkwardly to the side, giving the duo their space.
Rebecca finally stood but one of her arms remained tightly wrapped around Dick's shoulder. Addressing Bruce, she tersely said, "Mia's at her place, she said she needed to take care of some-"
At her side, Dick suddenly lurched forward and only his aunt's arm kept him in place.
Rebecca cried out in alarm and Bruce took an instinctive step forward.
"Dick, what's wrong?"
The boy shook his head, "M'fine. Just… dizzy." As if on cue he swayed on his feet and Rebecca picked him up.
Bruce moved to carry him instead but Dick gripped his Aunt's shirt tighter and turned his head away. This caused Bruce to falter but he shook himself out of it and looked towards Rebecca's panicked gaze.
Dick could've just been sick but something in Bruce's gut was telling him that wasn't the case. With a knot growing in his stomach, he spun on his heel and told Rebecca, "Follow me,"
He led her to his study and from there to the cave, motioning for her to put Dick on a bed in the medbay. He ignored the muttered, "Mary was right" as Rebecca took in the cave and instead focused on getting out the materials needed to draw Dick's blood.
He gave them to Rebecca who quickly shook herself from her stupor and set about drawing Dick's blood with a fluidity that only came after year of practice. The boy winced at the puncture and Rebecca quietly soothed him.
Bruce took the blood and ran it in his machines, waiting for the various tests to be done. And in ten minutes, they had their answer.
Rebecca gasped at the result the hemoglobin test showed, "But that's - that's way too low! Dick isn't even injured! How could he possibly be losing that much blood?" Bruce could see the gears in her head turning, her medical expertise kicking in. "Unless his blood cells are rupturing and that would mean he's experiencing something similar to hemolytic anemia which would explain the dizziness but why-"
She whirled on Bruce, "You haven't given him any medicines lately, right? So it can't be drug-induced?"
Bruce shook his head, no, Dick hadn't been exposed to anything that would cause this reaction-
Bruce's train of thought abturptly derailed and he growled as he brought up the footage from when he'd come back from patrol. He watched himself disappear from view on the screen only for a smaller figure to emerge afterwards.
No…
He watched as Dickded silently towards the stained cape and stared at it for a minute or so before running out of view, probably to his room.
Bruce shook his head, not comprehending. How was it the pink powder had somehow affected Dick but not Bruce? Even now as the kid moaned about feeling dizzy and tired, Bruce felt fine. Dick hadn't so much as touched the pink powder!
And yet Bruce knew that exposure didn't just come through touch - it could come through smell. But why only affect Dick - why only affect children?
His computer chimed, the words Blood Analysis complete displaying in the top left corner. Bruce quickly clicked towards it, hoping for some good news.
Instead, he felt his stomach drop.
Estimated Time until Antidote Completion: 203 minutes
That was more than three hours! He didn't even know if Dick had that long!
How had he not seen this sooner? He looked back and his gaze remained locked on the suffering kid on the bed. How? This was all his fault, all his-
He shut his eyes and forced himself to look away. Pushing his emotions to the side, he put his com in his ear, pressed the emergency beacon that would notify Clark, and waited.
Less than 5 seconds later, his com was buzzing with life, "Bruce? Are you alright? Is-"
"Clark, I need you to be at the watchtower in five minutes and get Dick and his aunt to the medbay. She'll explain everything."
At this, Rebecca's head jerked up from where she was consoling Dick and she settled a heavy glare on him.
Bruce ignored her, instead answering Clark's flabbergasted "What?" with "There's no time to explain; just be there."
There was a pause and then, "Alright," before he ended the call.
Bruce quickly shifted his attention to his keyboard, his fingers flying across the screen as he added Rebecca to the Zeta-Tube system as a guest.
Then he disappeared to the changing room and moments later reemerged in his Batman uniform sans the cowl. Rebecca blinked up at him, her expression more or less resigned.
"I need you and Dick to go through these," he gestured towards the Zeta-Tubes, "There will be a man on the other side who will know what to do."
Rebecca gathered her now practically delirious nephew into her arms and eyed Bruce warily, "And where will you be?"
His mouth set in a grim line, Bruce pulled his cowl on. "Finding a quicker cure."
ooo
Less than 20 minutes later, Batman was slamming the man from the night before into a wall.
"Why are you targeting children?!" He growled.
The man raised an eyebrow at him, "Finally figured it out, huh? As to how you did it, I'm not sure-"
Lifting the man up by his collar, Batman roared, "WHY?!"
And for a second fear entered the man's expression and good, that was what Bruce wanted but then he smirked. "Because, when you hurt the kids of those you disagree with, they suddenly become quite compliant with your demands, which I'm sure is something my Boss wants. Afterall, what better way than biological warfare to get people to agree with you? Once they decide to play nice, you hand them the antidote and-"
At this, Batman slammed him down, "Give me the antidote!"
"Now, why would you need that?"
Immense fury erupted from the pit of Bruce's stomach, "GIVE IT TO ME!"
Because Dick needed that antidote! He had been Bruce's responsibility, his to care for and Bruce had failed!
A glint entered the man's eyes and he cocked his head to the side, as if he'd arrived at an astounding conclusion. "No way," He shook his head in wonder, "You have a kid - that's how you found out what the toxin did … who would've known? Tell me bats, do you have a boy or a girl?"
A boy. A cheerful, blue-eyes boy who deserved so much more. Bruce had never hated a man more in his life than he did in that second, "Give me the antidote NOW or I will -"
The man was as cocky as ever, "Do what? I know you won't kill me."
Batman leaned in close and this time when he spoke it wasn't a growl or a roar - it was a deadly whisper. "When I'm done with you, you'll only wish you were dead."
"Wow Bats, you really care about your kid, don't you?" Batman brought his fist back and landed several hard, fury-filled punches before the man abruptly yelled, "Wait! Look, the antidote we developed isn't 100% reliable, okay? It works sometimes but-"
"Do you have it or not?"
The man looked at Batman in the eyes, quickly looked away, muttered something under his breath and reached into his pocket to bring out a red vial.
"I hope your kid's a fighter"
And Batman was about to punch him into a bloody pulp right then and there but then his com buzzed and he heard Rebecca's desperate voice. "Bruce, get up here now!"
With a glare, Batman slammed the man into the wall again before saying, "If he dies, I will kill you." And the thing was, it wasn't just an empty threat - he meant it.
His let the man fall into a groaning heap and jumped into his car, stepping down on the gas as far as it would go. He had a kid to save.
Meanwhile the man lay on the ground, holding his ribs and moaning. "Huh. So he has a boy then." He shook his head and groaned some more, "Just my luck…"
ooo
Bruce arrived at the watchtower in record time and ignored the bewildered looks several League members sent him, instead making a beeline for the lab room. He'd already sent Dick's blood up here and it was just a matter of having the computer analyze the faulty antidote and using what is had already analyzed to develop a new one faster.
He inserted into the vial into the empty slot and immediately headed towards the med bay. Halfway there, he got a message on his wrist watch,
Estimated Time until Antidote Completion: 37 minutes
His relief didn't last long though for he entered the med bay to a machines beeping warnings about elevated heart rate, high temperature, and dangerously low levels of hemoglobin.
He stopped in his tracks and opened his mouth to speak, but Rebecca practically ran over to him and frantically said, "B or AB?"
Bruce blinked at her, "What?"
An angry frustrated tear fell down Rebecca's face as she asked, "Your blood type, Bruce! B or AB?!"
Bruce automatically responded, "B negative"
More tears fell but this time in relief, "Oh, thank God! He's a perfect match!"
The next few minutes were a blur as he was directed to sit next to Dick - who looked too pale, too much in pain - and the doctors began setting things up for a blood transfusion between them.
It was then that Bruce's muddled brain was able to sort through his thoughts. Rebecca had said he and Dick were a perfect match meaning Dick's blood type was also B negative - the second rarest in the world and one that only allowed for transfusion from B negative or O negative. The League didn't really stock up on donated blood since most of the members were aliens and what they had stocked up on had been used up a few days ago.
He watched the blood flow between him and Dick and could only thanks his luck.
As things calmed down however and it became just him and Rebecca in the room, Bruce remembered the question nagging at him from the back of his mind.
"How did you narrow down my blood type?"
Rebecca didn't remove her stare from watching her nephew's peaceful face as she answered, "It's simple genetics, Bruce. Mary's blood type was A and Dick's is B… meaning yours had to be either B or AB."
Bruce brain suddenly became very muddled again as he struggled to process the meaning behind Rebecca's word. "What?"
Rebecca's eyebrows furrowed in slight annoyance, "It's just genetics - as in punnett squares and probability and the way blood type is inherited?"
But- she couldn't possibly be implying- "What? Dick's blood… it's Mary's and mine?"
She finally turned to look at him, her eyes widening in understanding "Dick didn't tell you, did he?"
Bruce found he couldn't answer.
Looking at him straight in the eyes, Rebecca said, "Bruce, Dick is your son."
~LB