ISOH-Chapter 2
Legal Disclaimer-I own nothing. Seriously, I don't own these characters at all. DC and Marvel own them, I am just playing in the universe.
Author's Note-Reviews are always begged for. Knits-You don't know how hard it was to put the cliffhanger at the end on this one...(evil grin). This is a Chris O'Donnell/Val Klimer Robin/Bat situation, I am a huge fan of Batman Forever so this was my favorite combo-but then, there's Christian Bale...
If you guys want more, tell me...
Chapter 2
The memories of the past few hours played behind Bruce Wayne's eyes like a mirror shattered on concrete;
He and Dick discovering the biotoxin
The discovery of who was behind it, and the riddle that followed it 'Riddle me this, riddle me that, what's a great hiding place for a large bat'
The cave and the cave in.
Darkness
The smell of antiseptic
The oxygen smell that you only smell in a hospital or med lab
He opened his eyes to the green walls that surrounded him. He quickly closed them. The simple presence of light made his head pound. He sighed, put a hand to his forehead and covered his eyes as he opened them.
"Hey there, try that slowly," a voice that seemed eerily familiar suggested, "It will probably hurt."
"Yep, sure does," Bruce's answer sounded like someone else was speaking.
"You feel like water?" The familiar voice continued, "Your throat must be killing you."
Bruce nodded. That hurt more than just lying there.
The bed he was on slowly kicked in a motor that lifted him to a sitting position. A hand placed water into his free hand which Bruce sipped. After taking a second to regain his place on the planet, Bruce opened his eyes. He was staring at the face of an old friend, Adam Kane.
"Hi Bruce, how are you feeling?" Adam asked, checking his blood pressure.
"Like a jackhammer is running in my head, I guess you got the beacon," Wayne met the concerned gaze of his friend, "Thank you."
Adam turned from him.
"No need, Bruce, I know you would do the same for me," Adam continued checking readouts, "The jackhammer is normal for a concussion like yours. The lung damage has me concerned though. Any idea what you two were breathing down there?"
"You two..." Bruce sounded confused, "Dick, how is he?"
"Perfectly fine," Adam continued, "He was reluctant to wear the blinders we use when we bring people here, but, we convinced him. He's also in regular clothes, hanging with my team. They are good people; they won't let anyone know who you are."
Bruce leaned back and closed his eyes, not replying to Adam's comment. It was good to know that they were among friends, but it hurt too much to think.
"I know I can trust you Adam," Bruce continued, "How bad is the lung damage?"
"I want you to rest," Adam checked the readings again, "Something is not right about your oxygen intake."
He tried not to cough, but the need overcame him. He hacked and Adam came up to sit next to him.
"That's going to happen, from what I can tell, do you remember how you got in that cave?" Adam asked.
"The Riddler," Dick Grayson interrupted, "He sent us there to find parts of the biotoxin."
Bruce looked up at the doorway that led to the lab. His ward was dressed in regular clothes, a 'gene loves jezebel' t-shirt, blue jeans, and Birkenstocks.
"Nice wardrobe," Bruce smiled, "You okay?"
"Fine, according to Adam, wish you would have told me about him," Grayson continued, sitting in the chair that Adam offered, "They're taking good care of me here, but, I'm worried about the Riddler and funny enough, Alfred."
"Alfred knows what to do, Dick, as for the Riddler, I don't know what we will do," Bruce closed his eyes, it was hard to focus, "We don't have long with him though."
"The Riddler?" Adam asked, "I thought he was locked in Arkham."
"Out on parole," Dick replied as Bruce coughed again, "Is he going to be all right?"
"I recommend at least three days of bed rest," Adam said, keeping an eye on his patient, "The concussion isn't horribly severe, but bad enough for the usual double vision. He also inhaled something, and I am still running a scan on that."
"It might be the biotoxin that we were looking for," Dick looked at Bruce, "Nothing was in that cave though."
"I didn't see anything," Bruce said softly, his voice cracking, "But the air did smell very weird."
"Yes, it did," Dick added, "But you got more of it than I did."
Bruce nodded. It was getting hard to talk.
"Bruce, you want to go back to sleep?" Adam asked, looking for the syringe he knew would put his friend back into a healing sleep.
"I would love that," Bruce admitted, "It's getting hard to follow you guys."
Adam obliged, finding the syringe and plunging into the IV he had set up when the team had brought Bruce in. Bruce's eyes shut slowly, and he faded into oblivion.