"…did that on purpose!"
"Come on, Cass, I did not!" They entered the cave squabbling, disturbing the bats in the darkness above. Deciding that it was too far a distance for Robin to try to make on his own, Batgirl had made him show him where his motorcycle was stashed and then insisted on driving it. Needless to say, the ride had taken years off his life, he was sure. It had also played havoc with his innards…a fact which was now at the base of their argument.
"Did too." Batgirl had removed her cowl as she had brought the 'cycle to a screeching halt, and was now in the process of helping him to the cave's infirmary. Alfred looked up as they entered, and Cass pushed Tim towards a bed none-to-gently.
"Oh my. What's this?" Alfred put down the supplies he'd been organizing and turned to see what type of bodily harm his charges had come to this time.
"Tim's gross." Alfred raised his eyebrow, taking in the soiled status of Batgirl's costume and the rather greenish hue on Tim's face, and easily deducted the rest of the story.
"Ah. I see. I suggest, then, that you take yourself off to the showers." With one last scathing glare at the culprit of the unspeakable crime, she stalked out to do just that. Alfred turned towards Tim, who, having slouched down, only half on the bed, was quickly turning colors from green to a rather ashen grey.
"I din't mean ta…" his words slurred a bit and he closed his eyes against a dizzy spell, his head falling back against the mattress.
"Of course you didn't" Alfred soothed, laying a hand against Tim's forehead as a quick measure of his temperature. He was burning up! Working quickly, but gently, Alfred positioned Tim in the bed, removed his outermost layers of his uniform, and started gathering supplies. He noted the reddened area on the boy's arm and frowned down at it. It looked like a scar from a gunshot wound, but he was positive that there hadn't been any such wound on Tim before his patrol that night…Tim had come to the cave to pick up his motorcycle, obviously frustrated from his home life, and hadn't had any trouble moving that arm. In fact, he had asked Alfred for some assistance with a pulled muscle on that same shoulder the night before after a vigorous workout and there had been no sign of damage.
Yet the scar was far too healed to have been received less than three or four days ago. Glancing at his patient's face to ascertain if he remained conscious or not, Alfred probed gently at the scar, managing to break the thin layer of skin that had sealed over it. A clear liquid started to ooze out. Hmmm…infection?
"Never you fret, young man." Keeping his tone light he continued such mindless commentary as he worked. He worked quickly, cleaning the wound, forcing it further open to make sure he got the whole area sterilized. It was after he had swabbed the affected region that he noticed the same object that had caught Robin's attention earlier that night. Unknowingly echoing Batgirl's assessment of the object, he concluded that it was not a normal bullet. But, as it was not in very deep, he simply followed the procedure he'd performed too many times over the years and carefully removed it, keeping it in a little specimen jar as he was sure that Batman would want to scrutinize it later.
"There now. All that remains is…"
"What happened?" Batman's gravelly tone threatened grievous injury to whomever had dared to harm one of his "family". Alfred, well used to his employer's habit of sneaking up on people, simply continued his task of stitching up Tim's arm.
"I'm not entirely sure, sir. Miss Cassandra brought him in…he was mostly conscious at the time, but, as you can see, has fallen insensible since that time. I do believe…ah, here we are." He nodded at Cassandra, who had entered behind Batman. She had changed into simple workout clothes and showered, and was even now trying to work her damp hair into some semblance of order. Her earlier disgust was gone now, replaced by a worry Alfred himself could readily sympathize with.
"How…how is he?" the hesitancy with which she approached the table spoke volumes for her state of mind…she had never been one who wasted time worrying about things but always jumped right into the action. Alfred assumed that it was Tim's stillness that bothered her, after all, she did communicate best through movement, but he wasn't blind, either. Though neither had done anything to indicate otherwise in his, or any of the other family members', presence, he strongly suspected that the two young people were moving steadily towards a serious relationship.
"He is feverish and, as you can see, unconscious. His heart rate is also elevated, though not to an extremely dangerous extent at present. I took the liberty of removing the bullet and cleaning his wound, but I must say, I've never seen a wound heal in just that particular way before. Perhaps you could enlighten us as to what happened?" His query was gentle, exactly the type to put tense nerves at ease, but Cass hated it when people tried to tread carefully around her feelings. She threw him a little grimace, not enough to be disrespectful, but just enough to let him know that she wasn't some silly twit of a girl who might burst into hysterics at any moment.
"In the lab." Batman had picked up the specimen jar Alfred had placed the odd bullet in and was scowling down at it as if the bullet itself were the perpetrator. Cass glanced at him, then back at Alfred. He gave her an encouraging nod and she rolled her eyes.
"Will Tim be…ok?"
"For the time being. Until we determine what's wrong with him we can't so anything for him but let him rest and try to alleviate his symptoms. Your discourse could provide us with the key to his condition." He glanced at Batman as well, considering his next words. "Should I call Dr. Thompson, sir?" Batman pulled the cowl off, signaling his return to "Bruce Wayne", and frowned at Tim's still form.
"Not yet, Alfred. I don't want to bother her if it isn't an emergency. Since his wound is relatively minor, and you've stitched him up, I don't see what she could do for him at the moment anyway." Alfred nodded and picked up a few vials that had been sitting on the counter next to him.
"I also took the liberty of collecting some blood samples from Master Timothy, as well as a sample of a rather strange substance that came out of his wound when I first attempted cleaning it." Bruce nodded briefly, turned on his heel, and strode out of the room, assuming everyone else would follow.
Of course, they did.
"…and then he got sick on me and I went to shower." Cassandra finished her recitation and looked between the two members of her audience. Alfred was nodding at her, both as encouragement and as a way to let her know he was still paying attention. Bruce, on the other hand, was busily examining the various samples Alfred had collected. Yet she knew he was also retaining and considering every word she said…and probably many that she hadn't said.
"Hmmm." Seemingly satisfied with his conclusions, Bruce turned to Alfred, then paused glancing quickly at Cass. "Cassandra, would you go check on Tim please?" Knowing she was being sent from the room like a two-year-old, but also knowing she really had no choice, Cass did as she was told. But really! What did he expect her to do, anyway? She didn't know the first thing about doctoring somebody.
"Sir?" While outwardly calm, Alfred knew Bruce well enough to know something was very wrong.
"I need you to check out our antitoxin and antivenom supplies. The bullet he was hit with was a combination of a biodegradable plastic made to dissolve in human blood and a strong neurotoxin…I'd say a snake venom, from the genus Notechis, most likely a tiger snake, though whether it's from a common or black tiger snake is impossible to tell. It doesn't matter, as all the Notechis venoms can be treated with CSL Tiger Snake Antivenom. I wouldn't start out with much, maybe half a vial.
The bullet also had some kind of healing agent, to seal the impact wound so that it could have time to dissolve inside and release its poison. Luckily it wasn't inside him long enough to release too much of the venom." He stopped, staring into space for a moment as connecting to pieces of a puzzle in his mind. "There's been a rather unusually high number of experimental weapons in Gotham the last few weeks. I know there have been rumors that a call has been put out for such technology…at a high price, too. I want to keep my eye on this." This, apparently, was the end of the conversation, as he shook his head, pulled the cowl back on, and headed towards the Batmobile parked in the center of the cave.
Alfred shook his head, wishing, not at all for the first time, and most assuredly not for the last, that the members of his family didn't insist on putting themselves in harm's way quite so often. He turned, glancing towards the infirmary, but saw no crisis that would require his presence before he completed his task. Instead he went in search of the antivenom needed to save Tim's life.
Meanwhile, Cass had noted Batman's imminent departure, and Alfred's similar disappearance, and hurried after him.
"Batman!" He turned, and she slowed her pace, not really looking forward to the conversation that was coming. Her uneasiness must have shown, for the voice that emerged from behind the mask was more like Bruce Wayne's than Batman's.
"What is it, Cassandra?" She didn't quite meet his eyes.
"I…didn't tell everything before." His disapproving silence prodded her to explain. "I didn't…I don't know if I'm right! I…I didn't want to worry Alfred." Ok, so she lied. So sue her. She really just didn't want to admit her suspicion to herself because that would mean…well, she wasn't sure what it would mean. Which is why she supposed she had to confide in Batman.
"Well?"She sighed.
"The lady, in the alley, she got away…"
"Yes, you mentioned that."
"But…I don't think it was an accident!" There. She said it.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, she really was getting mugged, but when she was shooting…she wasn't just firing randomly…she wanted it to look like it was, but it wasn't. She aimed. She aimed right at him and not at his heart or any 'normal' place. She wanted to just hit him, but not let the bullet kill him." She glanced at him questioningly, hoping he'd explain it to her. It felt like it was important, but she wasn't sure why. After all, they got shot at all the time…why did this feel different? He considered her words, but didn't say anything. Alfred's reappearance caught their attention and Batman grunted.
"Go help Alfred. I'll work on this." And with that he was gone…before she could utter one word of protest. She glared after the retreating Batmobile. Fine. She'd figure it out on her own…though she knew that wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind. Well, she could be a detective too…hadn't she figured out how to get them out of Joker's death trap? Ok, that had been a lot of luck, too…but still.
Her decision made, she hurried back to the infirmary, hoping she could figure it all out before Tim woke up.
To be continued…
