A/N: Welcome to my world, TheWritingHood! As always, thanks for commenting, VintageRoseTaylor and JessicaRae95! :)
The Batcave:
Batman had written down everything he could think of that had anything to do with a pen or a state. Alfred had joined him, but none of their ideas made any sense. The State Pen was, in fact, the only thing that made sense. But that was obviously wrong.
"Good heavens," Alfred suddenly whispered.
"What?" Batman demanded.
"Sir, it's Saturday."
"Yes."
"What happens on Saturdays in the fall, Master Batman?"
"Just get to the point, Alfred!"
"We are assuming that Master Dick heard or saw something that caused him to emphasize the words 'pen' and 'state'."
"It wasn't the siren," Batman grumbled. "Maybe he didn't see or hear anything."
"Or, perhaps he did, sir. Perhaps he heard a band playing a fight song during a college football game, or saw a stadium that he recognized."
"Penn State!" Batman exclaimed. "He's in Pennsylvania?!"
"We thought he put the words in the wrong order, sir, but it was actually us who did that."
Batman was already sprinting toward the Bat-jet. Six minutes later, the plane was in the air and heading for Happy Valley, Pennsylvania.
Somewhere on the road between Radiance and Happy Valley, Pennsylvania:
Dick had stopped running after only five minutes. He was cold – Shorty's clothes weren't made to be outside without warmer clothes covering them – and he only had socks to protect his feet. And he was beginning to feel lethargic. The teenager knew that if he glanced back he would see large droplets of blood instead of small, scattered ones.
He could feel the stickiness everywhere on his body. Dick didn't know if any of the wounds had stopped bleeding, but he also hadn't taken the time to sit down and check. Knowing that Scruffy was looking for him – and probably mad enough to take an arm and a leg – was enough to keep him from trying to stop small amounts of blood leaking from his body.
A sound Dick had been hoping to hear filled the air. The Bat-jet raced over his head and disappeared behind the trees that blocked Dick's view. Batman had figured it out, the teen concluded with a tired grin. All he had to do now was make it to Happy Valley.
An apartment building somewhere outside Radiance, Pennsylvania:
"How in the heck did he knock you out, idiot?!" the leader of the group yelled. "He's a weak little teenager!"
"He has a hard head," the smaller man mumbled as the largest of the three taped a piece of gauze over the former man's bleeding nose.
"A hard…you're an idiot," the boss replied. "You two stay here. When I bring him back, we're going to beat the heck out of him. Then you are going to keep him awake while I cut off one finger at a time, nice and slow. Clean this mess up before I get back," he threw over his shoulder as he strode out the door.
Somewhere between Radiance and Happy Valley, Pennsylvania:
Dick was leaning against a tree, trying to convince himself that standing was better than sitting. His body was telling him to sit down – he was so exhausted – but his mind knew he should continue walking. All he had to do was make it to Happy Valley. There were stores there, which meant phones.
The teenager was no longer worried about being caught. He had decided to travel away from the road, into the trees that grew thick on both sides of that road. Scruffy wouldn't find him; the man would expect Dick to be walking on the road.
Just a short rest, just to stop the blood.
That was important, stopping the blood. So, the fifteen-year-old sat down. And then he couldn't remember what he was supposed to be doing. Something about stopping? He had stopped, so he must have accomplished what he had decided to do.
But something was pricking his brain in the back of his mind. He was supposed to be doing more than just stopping. Dick lifted his right hand and noticed a bunch of red spots on his wrist and arm. Great, he had chicken pox. Why was he out here in the cold, in a forest, if he had chicken pox?!
Maybe he was wrong, maybe he just had a rash from a plant he had brushed against. Moving ever so slowly, the teenager slid one side of the pants up his leg. Definitely chicken pox, since there were red spots and tiny crimson rivers all over his leg. On his torso, too, he discovered when he carefully lifted the shirt.
Great, just great. Where the heck are my parents and why the heck did they allow me to leave the house with chicken pox?!
An image of a white-haired man flashed through Dick's brain. The old man was being chased by a bat, which was weird, but perhaps he was dreaming because of the chicken pox. Maybe all of this – being in a cold forest, thinking he was supposed to be doing something else – was all just a result of having the disease.
A loud, banging sound assaulted his ears. Would he hear that horrifying noise in a dream? Dick couldn't remember ever hearing things in his dreams. Another image, this one of two people flying away from him, skipped through his brain. These people were also being chased by a bat, and the teenager decided that the bat was very rude to be chasing random people in his dream.
The bat yelled at him, something about walking, but Dick was too sleepy to get up and walk. His entire body was trembling; he was too cold and shaky to try to stand up. The bat kept yelling at him, and the banging noise increased in volume, and the teen knew that none of it would stop unless he started walking.
With a strength that his mind didn't remember having, Dick suddenly found himself on his feet and leaning against a tree. Were people with chicken pox supposed to be traveling by themselves? In cold forests with no idea of where they should be going?
Dick internally shrugged and began walking away from the loud, banging sound. He would eventually find someone who could tell him something, right?
As the Bat-jet flew toward a landing spot near Penn State's football stadium, Dick began stumbling back the way he had come. Unknowingly, he was now headed away from safety and toward the danger from which he had just escaped.
Happy Valley, Pennsylvania:
The Penn State band finished their rendition of the fight song just as Batman exited the Bat-jet. He had no idea where to go next, but figured that Dick must be close. His partner had either heard or seen something, which wouldn't have happened if he wasn't near the stadium.
Batman was suddenly surrounded by a large group of excited children. A cacophony of chattering voices blocked every other sound, and the Caped Crusader held up his hands. He expected silence, but the kids were too excited to understand the gesture.
"Where's Robin? Can I have your autograph? What are you doing here? Are there bad guys trying to catch us? Why isn't Robin with you? Are you chasing the Joker? Can you do flips like Robin?"
"Quiet!" Batman finally demanded loudly.
Immediate silence followed, and the hero signed in relief. Suddenly, adults joined the crowd and began ushering the children away from the somewhat-angry-sounding man everybody had heard of but only seen in print or on screen. A tall policeman strode up to Batman, introduced himself, and asked for information.
"I'm looking for a teenager. He was taken out of his school yesterday and I have reason to believe he is somewhere near here."
"We have lots of teenagers around here, Batman. I don't think I can help you with that," the officer admitted.
"Are there any warehouses in the area?"
It was almost always a warehouse, sometimes a remote cabin, but almost always a warehouse. Abandoned warehouses by docks, more often than not.
"Of course, but they all belong to reputable companies. We're not Goth…uh…"
The officer trailed off when he remembered that he was talking to an actual citizen of Gotham City.
Realizing that the man would be of no help to him, Batman whirled around and returned to the Bat-jet. Pulling up a map, he began carefully studying the campus and surrounding area. The warehouses all had labels – of reputable companies just like the officer had said – but there was a forest separating Happy Valley from some tiny town called Radiance. Forests sometimes had remote cabins.
There was no place to land in either Radiance or the forest so Batman took off on foot. Radiance was several miles away, and he doubted it was close enough for Dick to hear or see any part of Penn State, but there had to be a cabin or shack or something in the forest.
Somewhere in the forest between Radiance and Happy Valley, Pennsylvania:
Dick was sitting down again, his back against a tree and his eyes closed. The banging had stopped, which was nice, so the teenager had decided to take a short nap. Maybe the sleep would help him remember what he was supposed to be doing. Or maybe he really was dreaming and going to sleep would help him wake up.
Clouds were gathering in the sky and beginning to playfully bump into each other. Snow was threatening, but Dick had no idea that was happening. He just wanted to sleep. The stupid bat was still yelling at him, but the fifteen-year-old was ignoring the sound. It wasn't helping him sleep, but it was just background noise that he could deal with now.
Dick couldn't feel any part of his body. He couldn't get up even if he wanted to, which he didn't. There was nothing else to do but go to sleep. His mind wouldn't shut off, wouldn't allow him to slip into unconsciousness, but he kept his eyes closed and hoped it would quiet down soon.
The snow began drifting down instead of just threatening, but the flakes landing on the teen didn't even phase him. He didn't feel them, but he did hear a noise that wasn't the bat in his mind.
Pounding footsteps and a voice yelling something about a gray son. Whoever was shouting must be looking for his son with gray skin. Dick didn't think he had gray skin, so he ignored that noise, also.
