Disclaimer – Own nothing.
To Mihasel – Thanks for your review! Glad you liked the last chapter, and I hope you like this one!
To missmartian369 – Thanks for your review! Sorry, but the Court's not done causing trouble. Hope you like this chapter!
To azrael09876 – Thanks for your review! Yeah, I'm not big on reading fight scenes either. But there's no fight scenes in this chapter, so I hope you like it!
To Asilla – Thanks for your review! Nope, this isn't over yet. Hope you like this chapter!
To IAMMAYAN – Thanks for your review! Updates are ever Friday. Hope you like this chapter!
To Zelda – Thanks for your review! Dick will be waking up soon. Hope you like this chapter!
AN – Hey guys, I'm back. I hope you all had a good first full week (almost) of the New Year! Hope you all like this chapter!
Enjoy!
The second the bioship landed, Batman scooped his son into his arms. There was not a moment to lose. Filled with worry and fear of losing another chid, he carried him out of the ship the before the door was even fully open. The rest of the Team followed close behind him, also filled with worry about their teammate.
Dr. Mid-Nite, Superman and Wonder Woman were waiting for them in the large open room where M'gann set down her ship. Once they saw Batman rushing off the ship carrying Nightwing in his arms, they ran alongside him towards the infirmary. Since Dr. Mid-Nite was the only League member that was a doctor at the Watchtower right now, he had asked Superman and Wonder Woman to help him as he wasn't sure how badly injured Nightwing would be. And the two heroes were completely willing to do anything that would help the young man that they had known ever since he was child.
As soon as they reached the doors that led to the infirmary, the doctor, the Kryptonian, and the Dark Knight ran inside. The Amazonian however paused for a brief moment to address the other heroes who were apart of the rescue mission.
"You all wait here." Wonder Woman quickly ordered the Team, only sparing a glance at them before she followed Dr. Mid-Nite, Batman, Nightwing, and Superman through the doors.
"But," Wally started to protest but Artemis grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to turn to look at her.
"Wally, they need space and no distractions. Let them take care of Nightwing." Artemis told him. Wally looked back at the doors for a few seconds, then nodded and went to sit down on one of the chairs in the hallway, which the others were also doing.
Cassie took the seat next to Tim, who hardly seemed to notice. She reached over to grab his hand and said quietly, "I'm sure he'll be okay."
"Yeah, yeah he will be." Tim replied, though he didn't sound so sure and he didn't look at her. He kept his eyes on the floor, but he did squeeze her hand back. When he noticed that Barbara was sitting on his other side, he looked up at her and saw her tense face, as though she was struggling not to show any emotion, or was struggling not to completely break down.
"You alright?" Tim asked. Barbara glanced over at him, then turned her attention to the doors and said, "I'll answer that once I know how Nightwing is."
After that, the place fell silent. Not a word was said, not a word needed to be said. All of their minds were thinking the same thing. Worry for Dick, guilt for shutting him out for seven months, and fear that they wouldn't be able to make it right.
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"Bring him here." Dr. Mid-Nite directed them to the metal examination table as he, Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman entered the nearest exam room. Batman immediately strode across the room and laid the young man down on the table before he took a few steps back to let the doctor work. As much as he wanted to stay by his son's side, he didn't want to get in the way.
"Batman, you should go wait outside." Dr. Mid-Nite told him when he saw the Dark Knight was still there. He wasn't sure how badly injured Nightwing was and he didn't think it would be a good thing to have the overprotective father in the room.
"No, I'm not leaving him." Batman replied, keeping his eyes on his son.
"Bruce -" Diana tried to intervene as she put a hand on his shoulder, but stopped when Bruce turned his head to glare at her and said, "I am not, leaving."
The Amazonian looked over at the doctor, who sighed and nodded. Turning her gaze back to Batman, she removed her hand and said, "Alright."
The next hour or so passed in a tense and near silence. The only time someone spoke, was when Dr. Mid-Nite asked Superman or Wonder Woman or Batman something. He had Superman use his x-ray vision to find out about all of his injuries as that would be faster and easier than using an x-ray machine. Wonder Woman helped clean Dick's cuts and stab wounds as Dr. Mid-Nite put in an IV and ran some other tests. Once he got the all clear, Batman started stitching Dick's injuries.
Finishing the stitches, Batman looked up at the League's doctor who was whispering with Superman while looking at the test results.
"What is it?" Batman asked, seeing the confused expression on his face.
Dr. Mid-Nite looked up at him but instead of answering his question, asked, "He was only kidnapped four days ago, right?"
"Yes." Batman answered.
"Was he in good condition before that?" The doctor then questioned.
"Haven't heard otherwise." Batman replied, still waiting for Dr. Mid-Nite to tell him what was happening. When he didn't, the Dark Knight took a step a closer to him and asked with a no-nonsense tone, "What's going on?"
"From the tests and what I saw when I used my x-ray vision, he should be a lot worse than he is." Superman told him. Knowing from the way Batman was looking at him that he wanted more information, he continued, "His ribs had been broken, but they are healing at a much faster rate than normal. And it looks as though he had been stabbed, several times, but those have nearly completely healed."
"And I'm finding a strange chemical in his blood that I haven't seen before." Dr. Mid-Nite added.
"The electrum." Batman realized. It was the only thing that made sense. Dick should not be healing like that unless the Talons activated the electrum that was in his body. They had taken the tooth the put the electrum in his body out once they found it, after discovering how Dick was connected to the Court, but they didn't know for sure how long it would take for the chemical to completely get out of his body, if it ever would.
"The what?" Dr. Mid-Nite wondered, which reminded Batman that he hadn't explained any of this to the doctor yet.
"The chemical that gives the Talons their abilities, including extremely fast healing. Dick has it in his system. They must've activated it." Batman explained.
The doctor/superhero stared at him for a few seconds, then said, "I'll run some more tests."
"He will be okay though, right?" Batman then asked, needing the confirmation that his son would be alright.
"I think so, but I'd like to run more tests to be on the safe side." Dr. Mid-Nite told him, then walked back over to the injured hero. Batman relaxed slightly, but stayed still and kept his eyes on Dick's limp form, hoping that Dr. Mid-Nite was right, that he would be okay.
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Outside in the waiting sat the entire Team, except for those that were on different missions, and some of the Justice League members. Knowing they wouldn't be allowed inside, the younger generation of heroes made themselves comfortable in the hard seats and waited for news. Green Arrow and Black Canary arrived about 20 minutes later but Black Canary quickly saw that Beast Boy, Robin and Batgirl had a few cuts and bruises and dragged them off to a different infirmary room to get them cleaned up. They didn't want to, and insisted they were fine but Black Canary wouldn't hear it. Besides, it would probably be awhile before they heard anything about Dick. By the time she patched them up, luckily their injuries weren't serious, the Flash was standing by the chair his nephew sat.
Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado showed up about two hours later and asked if there had been any news, but there hadn't been any. They did their best to assure them that everything would be fine before they left as they were the ones on monitor duty. As they walked away, Aquaman arrived.
It was the first time they had seen Aquaman in four months as he had been called to Atlantis and hadn't been able to return until now. He also asked how Dick was and after assuring them that Dick was strong and would be alright, he revealed that he wouldn't be staying. He had been informed of La'gaan's injuries and his disregard for orders. After talking with him himself, he decided that it would be best to take La'gaan back to Atlantis for the time being. He then wished them well and headed off to get Lagoon Boy.
Again, there was nothing for those remaining in the hallway to do but wait. By the time that hour four passed, Wally was pacing up and down the hallway.
"Wally?" Artemis called out when she heard her boyfriend almost growl in frustration after checking his watch again.
"It's been four hours." He told her, stopping his pacing to look at the blonde.
"Surgeries can take a while." Tim reminded him in a quiet, empty tone. He was doing his best to remain calm when his stomach was actually clenching up painfully in worry. He wanted answers just as badly as the speedster did, as badly as everyone in the room did.
"But we still haven't gotten any update." Wally responded.
"I'm sure we will soon." Kaldur tried to assure Wally as well as the others who were also starting to show signs of impatience.
Wally continued his pacing back and forth down the hall, wondering if he could actually run inside, find out what was going on and rush back without anyone noticing. He was pulled from his thoughts when the door finally opened and he heard Kaldur say, "Dr. Mid-Nite."
"How is he?" Wally asked, rushing to stand in front of the doctor who had just come through the doors with both Superman and Wonder Woman. Everyone else who had been waiting, stood up and also came over to them.
"He's stable. I believe he will make a full recovery." Dr. Mid-Nite informed them, causing all of them to sigh in relief.
"Can we see him?" Barbara asked, just as anxious to see the young man as the others.
"Not right now. We still need to keep a close eye on him. Batman is with him." The doctor replied, his words causing all the heroes to frown.
"Why do you need to keep a close eye on him if he's stable and going to recover?" Roy wondered, a confused look on his face.
"You know his connection to the Court and about the electrum they use to give the Talons their abilities?" Dr. Mid-Nite asked. The others looked a little confused but nodded, remembering what Batman had told them when they first learned that it was the Court of Owls who had taken Dick.
"They activated the electrum in Nightwing. He's healing at a much faster rate than a normal human should be." The doctor informed them.
"Isn't that a good thing though?" Conner wondered. There had been so many times he had watched his human teammates get injured and nearly die because they didn't have powers. During all of those times he wished that they did so they would be safer out in the field and now Dick apparently had that and they were treating it like it was a problem. He didn't understand what could really be wrong about that.
"While helpful, we still don't know what exactly they did so we don't know what effects it could have. We should know more in the next 24 hours." Dr. Mid-Nite explained. Glancing around the room and seeing how exhausted everyone looked, he said, "Meanwhile, you should all go get some rest. You look like you could use it."
As much as they all wanted to see their friend, they knew that there would be no arguing with Dr. Mid-Nite or with Batman. And if they were being quite honest, they were all exhausted. So they all headed to the bedrooms that were reserved for them whenever they had to stay the night at the Watchtower, hoping that they would be able to see Dick in a few hours.
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A few hours later, Superman quietly re-entered the infirmary room. His line of sight was somewhat blocked by the man sitting in the chair beside the bed, but at the moment, his focus was on the person on the bed. Dick was still out cold, but he was now wearing a light grey muscle shirt which hid all of the bruises and cuts he had on his chest, stomach and back and there was a thin white blanket covering his legs. There was an IV going into his arm and a bandage visible on his cheek. Though he knew that Dick was going to be okay, he couldn't help but wince at the sight, especially when he used his x-ray vision to get a clearer look at his injuries earlier, back when they first brought him in.
"How is he doing?" Superman asked as he walked over to Batman, no, Bruce Wayne. The Dark Knight wasn't wearing his cowl.
"Still sleeping. Dr. Mid-Nite said that though the electrum is causing him to heal at a faster rate, he needs his rest." Bruce answered, still watching Dick carefully, waiting for any sign that he was waking up.
"That's good." Clark responded, a little confused but glad by the news that the young man who adopted him as his uncle so many years ago was going to be okay. When he realized that Bruce didn't seem to be as cheerful, Clark asked, "What is it?"
"This never should have happened. If he had just told me what was going on, if I had didn't fight with him all those months ago, if I didn't let so much time go without contacting him," Bruce broke off, lowering his head so he could look down at the ground.
Ever since Bruce learned about Dick's kidnapping, the guilt he had always carried with him got 100 times worse. None of this would've happened if he had gone to talk to Dick, if he had swallowed his pride and said sorry, if he had asked him to come home, if he had explained that he didn't have all the information when he yelled at him. But he didn't. He didn't seek him out, didn't apologize, didn't explain, didn't tell him the truth. That when he arrived and found out the bare minimum of what happened, he was terrified. Terrified at how he had almost lost Dick, Tim and Barbara during the invasion, especially after losing Jason only a year ago, and terrified that it was actually Dick who planned the whole thing. He took Dick in so that he wouldn't become like him, and that's exactly what ended up happening. So he did what he does best, push people away and now his son was lying on a hospital bed in front of him with only himself to blame.
"Bruce, stop. This isn't your fault. You made your mistakes, but so did all of us. We all let him down. But it was the Court who did this to him, not you, not us, no one but them." Clark told him, putting a hand on the billionaire's shoulder.
"Maybe, but what we did was worse." Bruce turned his head to look Clark straight in the eyes before he continued, "I talked to the entire team, to the entire Justice League Clark. No one knew what was going on. Ever since the invasion, no one had talked to him besides Alfred and Kaldur, and only twice, for each of them. We left him completely alone, thinking he had no one. What affect is that going to have on him?"
Clark didn't really know what to say to that. He didn't know anything about any of this, or anything about the Court and he felt guilty about it. True, it wasn't really his fault as he had no idea what was going on, but he couldn't remember the last time he actually talked to Dick. He had been apart of his life ever since he started out as Robin, was around enough that he had started calling him 'Uncle Clark' and he had started considering Dick as his nephew. But as he got older and more independent, Clark wasn't able to spend as much time with him. Now knowing everything that had been going on during the last seven months, he wished that he had tried harder to stay in touch with him.
Opening his mouth to say something, he quickly shut it when the figure on the bed groaned and turned his head to the side.
"Dick? Are you awake?" Bruce asked with a hopeful tone, putting his large hand over Dick's smaller one.
Slowly, blue eyes, normally bright but now exhausted and dim, opened. Looking at the Gotham vigilante, he croaked out, "B?"
"I'm right here." Bruce told him, giving the young man a small, rare smile and a gentle squeeze of his hand.
"Where," Dick started to ask but was forced to stop when he started coughing. Bruce moved to put his arm under Dick's shoulders and helped him up so he'd be able to breathe more easily while Clark went over to the table on the other side of the hospital bed where a cup and a jug of water sat. He filled the glass half-way and handed it to Bruce.
Once Dick stopped coughing, Bruce helped him drink the water before giving the empty cup back to Clark to deal with. As he laid his son back down on the bed, he said, "You're in the Watchtower infirmary. You were injured but you're going to be okay."
Dick clearly tried to keep his eyes opening, fighting against his exhaustion. Bruce knew that he wanted answers, that he was still confused but he also knew that Dick needed his sleep. Lifting a hand to brush away his oldest son's black locks of hair away from his face, he whispered, "Go back to sleep Dick, it's alright. Everything's alright."
Clark waited until his saw Dick's eyes close and heard his breathing even out before he turned his attention to his friend. While Bruce was better at hiding it, he could tell that he too was exhausted. He knew that ever since the Dark Knight learned of Nightwing's abduction, he spent every moment he could searching for him. Clark doubted Bruce got more than a few hours of sleep in the last several days while they looked. While he knew that the older man had probably gone longer with less sleep than he had, it still wasn't healthy. And now that Dick was found and safe, it was time that he started looking after himself as well.
"You should get some sleep too." Clark told Bruce, who immediately shook his head.
"I'm fine." Bruce insisted. He had left his son alone for months. He wasn't going to do that again. Sleep could wait.
"Bruce," Clark started but stopped when the door burst open and a figure in red appeared out of nowhere.
"Superman, Batman. You two need to come and see this." Barry Allen told them with a worried expression on his face. The two heroes exchanged glances before Bruce looked back over at Dick. Seeing that he was fast asleep and knowing that Barry wouldn't have come in unless it was important, he put his cowl back on and left the room with the Kryptonian and the original speedster.