Wayne Manor, Batcave:
Superboy is lying on a gurney in the medical area of the Batcave, now being taken care of by Alfred. Said butler has an unknown tool inside of Superboy's abdomen, through the laceration, trying to repair the damaged liver. He is using a special dissolvable glue compound created by Batman for just such emergencies. Thankfully, the boy hasn't shown any signs of waking up.
Alfred removes the tool from Superboy's abdomen, the hole in his liver no longer oozing blood. He then applies the same technique to the outer laceration, covering that with a bandage. His chest would need to be wrapped later because of the broken ribs, but there were more pressing matters to deal with.
"He's going to need a transfusion. His blood volume is very low and he's dangerously close to going into hypovolemic shock." Alfred states to the league members outside of the separation curtain. He turns to Batman, with the cowl off. "Have you finished analyzing his blood sample?" Bruce walks over to the medical bay's computer and pulls up the results of Superboy's blood analysis.
"No, Alfred. So far, his blood is like nothing I've ever seen. It's an amalgamation of human and alien DNA. I'm running a DNA comparison to see if we can get at least a partial match for a transfusion." Bruce says. Alfred goes back behind the curtain. He grabs an intravenous line kit to start up on the teen. Fluids are a must at this point. Until they can get the blood he needs, a saline drip will help stabilize his blood pressure.
Alfred takes the tubes, needle, and pouch out of the plastic. The pouch goes on the IV pole and the spike at one end of the tube goes into the pouch's port. Next, Alfred takes an alcohol pad and wipes the crook of the boy's arm. With his experience, it takes him almost no time to spot the vein. Lastly, the needle is unpackaged and Alfred puts it up to the spot he sanitized.
As this is happening, the Batcomputer dings with the complete results of the blood analysis. Bruce opens the full page and... he could say this was unexpected, but the boy looked too much like a certain hero that it really wasn't.
This kid shares at least fifty percent of his DNA with Superman. This is a mystery to all members of the league looking at the results, especially the blue boy scout himself. At no point in time did he have relations with a woman before Lois Lane came into the picture. He was more preoccupied with his journey of self-discovery and before that his education and family issues.
How?
"Master Bruce." Alfred beckons as he comes out from behind the curtain. Bruce turns around to face the butler.
"We were just looking at the results of the blood analysis, Alfred." He says. Alfred looks at the computer before sighing.
"Well, that certainly explains this." He holds out his hand to let the heroes see something. It's the IV needle, but it's broken in half. "I was trying to start an intravenous line but the needle would not penetrate his skin." This occurrence only solidified the truth. The same questions from before are still at the forefront of their minds, but now there are many more that need answering.
Meanwhile, Superboy is beginning to regain consciousness, and he doesn't feel good at all.
His eyes crack open to bright LED lights. Screwing his eyes shut for a moment, he slowly opens them again. Superboy doesn't know where he is. There's no deja-vu like he had earlier. He tries to sit up to find out where they've taken him, but pain across his chest and in his left shoulder stops him. He barely restrains a grunt; however, he knows a certain someone still heard it.
The second thing he realizes is that he doesn't have his shirt on. Superboy sees a lot of black and blue and the white of a bandage almost in the middle. His ribs and the site under that bandage are very angry. It's not just that, though. Superboy can tell there is something very wrong with his shoulder. Besides the pain, it's sitting much lower than normal and there are pins and needles dancing from his upper arm to his fingers.
The curtain parts to his right and reveals the Justice League, or their doppelgangers at least. Superboy schools his face as to not portray any trace of fear. On the outside, it just looks like he's angry. The people in front of him seem to be doing the same thing, only their expressions are unreadable. An old man is the last to enter and the only one to fully approach Superboy. He begins prodding at the boy's injured shoulder. The firm pressure is unpleasant, like an ache that won't go away, but is only enough to make him wince.
Superboy is surprised that Batman hasn't tried to question him yet. That would probably be either Superman's or the old man's influence. He doesn't know who the non-hero is, but there's no doubt that Superman's moral compass could have had some influence on the situation.
The unknown man turns to Superman.
"You said his shoulder is dislocated?" He asks. Superman nods in confirmation. With that, Superboy's arm is manipulated upward. It feels like lightning is shooting from his shoulder all the way to the tips of his fingers. Superboy winces heavily but manages to refrain from making any audible sounds of discomfort.
When examining the underside of the joint (the armpit), Alfred immediately notices something wrong. There's a bulge in the crevice's center where it should be smooth.
That's not good. With this form of dislocation, the arm will need to be pulled upward for the joint to pop back into place. It'll be one painful ride, one Alfred is ill-equipped to handle. This boy is at least half Kryptonian; his body structure is very dense and has a lot of tensile strength. Someone will need to hold him still while another works with the shoulder, both have to be VERY strong.
Luckily, there is a superhuman and a demi-goddess that fit the job description.
"Would you three meet me outside for a moment?" Alfred gives no explanation as to his motives, just points at Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. All three heroes glance at each other, then follow Alfred behind the curtain, but not before Bruce says something to Cyborg and Flash.
"Watch him." Those two simple words hold a double meaning. It's either 'watch over him' or 'make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious.' Previous assumptions about Batman still standing, Superboy is inclined to believe the latter.
Outside the curtain, Alfred is telling the three leaguers what needs to be done.
"That shoulder of his needs to be put back into its socket, but there's a problem. It's dislocated in such a way that the end of the humerus is detached from the supraspinatus and is in front of the scapula." As Alfred's explaining, Diana has a question.
"How was he not in agony?" Being a warrior, Diana is familiar with a number of injuries. One such as this is not a joke and is especially painful when disturbed.
"It's highly probable that the bone is pushing on the bundle of nerves running through the shoulder. He would be in a lot more pain if not." Alfred explains.
"How can you tell the extent?" Bruce asks next.
"When I raised the arm the joint was loose but also tense when the humerus angled further down. I am surprised that his biceps' tendon is still attached considering the strain."
"How do we fix it?" Superman asks, completing the trifecta.
"Under normal circumstances, I would pull the arm up and pop it back into the socket. Here, I do not have the strength to pull the joint back where it belongs. One person would need to restrain him while the other fixes the boy's shoulder. I believe you two are the best candidates in that respect." Alfred finishes by pointing at Wonder Woman and Superman. Both are apprehensive about being put on the spot like this, but they understand the situation.
"Considering my experience, I should fix the boy's shoulder." Superman agrees with Wonder Woman.
"I'll hold him still." With that, the four go back where Superboy is glaring at Cyborg and Flash. The Flash looks slightly afraid while Cyborg, on the surface, is unphased. Batman moves to stand near them while the three others surround the bed.
Superboy heard what was said behind the curtain, of course. He understands that his shoulder is messed up, he's not an idiot. Superboy just doesn't trust these people.
"Alright, young man. If you would, please move forward a little." Alfred says, nudging the boy forward. Even though the man was being polite, Superboy doesn't feel like cooperating. His butt stays planted right where it is, giving Alfred a look of defiance and moving his arm away from the nudge. The old man sighs, used to years of that same look from Bruce when patching him up after his nightly escapades. He crosses his arms. "We need to put that shoulder of your back in its proper place, or else you'll be in even more pain in the future. Dislocated limbs are not something you can just leave be. Understand?" Alfred finishes admonishing Superboy.
The superpowered teen knows the man is right. It's difficult for him to let go of his stubbornness and pride, but he'll have to if he doesn't want to suffer lifelong repercussions.
Superboy frowns and, with Alfred's help, painfully scoots forward to the right edge of the bed. Superman and Wonder Woman take this as their cue to get to work.
Wonder Woman gets on the bed and positions herself to Superboy's left, behind the bad arm. Superman sits on the boy's right and envelopes him in an awkward, and very tight, side-hug to keep him in place. Superboy himself is not comfortable with this one bit, but he doesn't have any other logical choice. So, he withstands the man-handling from the two superheroes.
Diana firmly grips the misplaced limb at a ninety-degree angle and begins slowly raising it, trying to aggravate it as little as possible.
To Superboy, it didn't feel this way.
What he's feeling as Wonder Woman pulls the arm upward is almost dizzying. The pins and needles feeling intensifies, pulsating from the tips of his fingers to his collarbone in sync with his heartbeat. At the same time, the pain from the torn tendon feels like fire going from his clavicle up his neck. Superboy takes deep breaths through his nose to stay calm, which only makes his chest hurt more. No matter what he does he's in pain and it's getting to him.
"He's tensing. I cannot continue until he relaxes." He hears Wonder Woman say, not realizing he had screwed his eyes shut at some point. And what's this about him tensing up? He's about to be in even more pain than he already is. How can he NOT tense up?
Superboy feels another hand grip his right bicep, firm enough to get his attention.
"Hey, you need to calm down. You're scared and you have every right to be.-"
"You don't know me!" Superboy growls, interrupting Superman, who is honestly surprised at this. No one has ever talked to him this way, other than Batman and sometimes Lois. He understands and takes it in stride as he tries to calm the kid.
"You're right, I don't. That doesn't mean you shouldn't at least listen to us. You want this to be over? You need to let go. Please, trust us for the moment." He finishes. Superboy knows this is not the same Superman he has come to know, but he can't help but draw parallels between the two. This is one of those situations Robin talks about; mind over matter.
Just this once, he'll trust them. Next time, they'll have to earn it.
Superboy takes some deep breaths, closing his eyes to block out any outside distractions. Slowly, but surely, his arm begins to relax while also clenching his good fist. Superman's grip on the boy's arm doesn't lessen, and somehow Superboy is grateful for it.
Wonder Woman feels the arm muscles relaxing and begins manipulating the arm once more. She starts slowly pulling it upward and twisting his elbow in the same direction.
The feeling from before intensifies and Superboy clenches his hand even more. His fingernails are digging into his palm so hard that he's beginning to break the skin. To make things worse, a new level of pain washes over him. Something between fire and lightning going up and down his arm. It has him seeing spots and his head feeling pumped full of air.
From Superman's perspective, the boy's gone pale and sweaty, and his eyes are glazed over. He looks like he's about to either pass out or toss his lunch; maybe both. Superman has to hold him steady so Diana doesn't lose her progress. From what he sees, the joint is no longer pressing on his arm's nerves. That means he now feels everything that's happening to it.
"His hand is bleeding." Diana points out. Clark looks down and she's right; there's blood dripping from between the boy's fingers. He doesn't think, just tries to pry the hand open to stop Superboy from hurting himself more. What he doesn't expect is for the bleeding appendage to latch onto his hand, the grip almost matching his own strength.
This realization makes the situation very much **real** for Superman. This kid shares his DNA. For all he knows, he could have a brother... or even a son. Maybe once this is over, the kid can explain where he came from and shed some light on the situation.
For now, Superman lets Superboy squeeze his hand all he needs to.
Finally, there's a VERY audible...
*POP*
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Superboy screams like he never has, eventually closing his mouth to stifle it. He then pants, still disoriented but relieved that his arm is where it's supposed to be. With that relief also comes a new sensation.
Alfred comes back in with a broad arm sling for Superboy. He undoes the velcro strap so he can put the arm into the pouch. But, when an attempt is made, the boy is not ready.
"Mm-mn," He says 'no' while keeping his mouth shut. Saliva is beginning to pool in his mouth. His stomach feels like it wants to cave in on itself. He doesn't know what's happening.
Superman manages to get his hand free, now splotched with blood. The boy is still pale, sweaty, and looks quite uncomfortable.
"What's wrong?" He asks. Superboy swallows to get rid of some of the salivae so he can answer.
"I don't feel right." That's all he can say before closing his mouth again, now swallowing convulsively. Alfred picks up on this and quickly grabs a small bucket from next to the gurney. By this time, Diana is away from the scene and talking amongst the other leaguers. So, Superman takes the bucket from Alfred and holds it under Superboy's head. The young man acknowledges it but still wants to retain some semblance of his dignity. He continues to hold down what he had for lunch before he came here, despite nausea getting worse by the second, making him tremble from the effort. His breaths are coming in faster.
With one heave from his stomach muscles, everything from a few hours ago is coming back up. Half-digested spaghetti and some liquified cereal spew out and into the wastebin. A hand places itself on his back, but Superboy doesn't pay attention to that.
The pain in his chest, his shoulder, his stomach rebelling against him, and the raw fear at the forefront of his mind. All of this together is very sobering.
Never has Superboy felt so human.