CHAPTER SEVEN

Alfred gently knocked on the door to the master bedroom. The clocks in the house just chimed ten times, indicating mid-morning. He wanted to let his charges sleep as long as possible, but the boy's injuries needed to be looked at again, along with some liquid and nourishment put back in the thin body.

Hearing no response he shifted the breakfast tray around to one hand, balancing it like a server does in a restaurant, and slowly opened the door. The sight before his eyes was one that brought joy to his heart. Bruce was still slumbering while in a semi-erect position against the head board, his arms wrapped protectively around Dick's curled up form. Dick was using Bruce's arm and leg as a pillow. The rest of his body spilling over onto the surrounding bed space.

Alfred lightly put down the serving tray and walked quietly over the bed. Putting a gentle and well worked hand on Bruce's should he spoke quietly. "Master Bruce. It's time to get up, sir."

The reply was more of a noise than coherent words.

"Master Bruce, you know we need to get something into the boy or else he will not recover or gain strength. I really don't want to put an IV into him," the older butler spoke kindly while still shaking Bruce's shoulder.

Bruce finally opened his eyes and with a painful grimace cracked his neck. "I will not recommend sleeping propped up like that without proper support, my back is killing me."

"Would you say the pain wasn't worth it, sir?" came a chortled response.

The glare and frown that followed made the Butler realize that the pain of last night had just came crashing back down. "Sir, may I recommend setting the boy down and getting something to eat first? I never did get to look at that bite mark from yesterday."

Bruce waved his injured hand in an annoyed fashion. "It's fine. I now when something is damaged."

Alfred frowned and crossed his arms. "Sir, I insist. I will not have you be sick when you need to be here for your son."

The last comment snapped Bruce out of his placid attitude about his own injury and grumbling he disentangled his body from Dick's, gently setting him down in the warm divot he made and placing a kiss on his forehead. Straightening up his brow wrinkled in worry.

"Alfred, he's warm. He's has been through so much, a fever on top of it all would be…"

Alfred placed a hand on the back of Dick's neck and his tight mouth turned down at the corner. "He is slightly warm, but nothing a fever reducer shouldn't help fix. There is some in the kitchen along with the first aid kit. I'll go and grab it. Try to wake him up."

With that the butler walked briskly out of the room and could be heard quickly descending the master staircase that was the fastest descent to the kitchen. Bruce turned back to Dick and placed a hand on his shoulder. Leaning over he gently shook the sleeping child.

"Dick, come on. It's time to wake up. I'm sure you're hungry. Alfred brought breakfast."

Dick frowned and rolled away from the gently coaxing of his guardian. Bruce sighed and tried again. Sitting on the bed he pulled the boy back to the edge and started over. "Dick, come on buddy. If you get up and eat, I promise I will let you sleep for a while after."

Finally Dick opened his eyes, slowly coming into focus and looked up at Bruce. He opened his mouth to respond but instead a yawn came out. Chortling Bruce ran his hand through Dick's hair and let him get his bearings.

"Hey there sport."

Dick stared up with his big cerulean blue eyes and gave a mewling yawn again before responding. "I'm so tired."

"I know chum. But we need to get you something to eat and drink."

Dick lipped his lips, his tongue dry. But he didn't want to share his water. Something nagged in the back of his mind that Bruce would never take anything from him, but he couldn't shake the fear of not having enough. Thinking quickly he looked up at the man hovering above him and smiled. He was so thirsty, he just needed to be left alone.

"Can I have a few more minutes of sleep? Maybe you could take a shower? I promise to be good when you get back."

Bruce stared at Dick in concern. Something seemed off. He was always a caring child but he was acting as if in discomfort at the thought of him being here. Sigh and not wanting to upset him even more Bruce took his hand off Dick's head and stood up.

"Are you sure? I can wait till Alfred gets back. Or maybe eat first."

Dick's nostril's flared and his eye's dilated slightly. But he quickly calmed down. He was fighting a strange urge to be held and to run and hide. He needed time alone. So much was happening.

"I'm okay, I just need some time to think is all. Please? I'll call if anything is wrong."

Bruce still frowning in concern just nodded and headed off to the bathroom. As soon as the door was closed Dick leapt up and ran to the food tray. He pulled off the lid and threw it on the table with a clatter. He quickly saw the glass of water and gulped it down.

He was about to turn his attention to the pile of scrambled eggs and freshly made toast when two doors slammed open simultaneously. The clatter of the lid had startled both Bruce and Alfred at the same time. Bruce had his shirt off and was rushing into to see what caused the noise. Alfred, who was just behind the door and was just about to enter, heard crashing clang of metal that made him quicken his pace and put more force into entering that was necessary.

Dick stood there with the plate of eggs in his hands, his head moving between both Bruce and Alfred as he bared his teeth in anger and fright.

"Dick, what's wrong," Bruce barked out more harshly than he intended. He stopped several feet away from Dick, not wanting to hurt the child. Dick didn't answer but instead started wolfing down the eggs so fast he looked prone to chocking. Alfred seeing that he needed to slow down ran over to him to take away the food. As soon as his hand touched the plate Dick yanked it away and ran to the door, his only thought was to keep his food safe. But eating too fast did cause the thing Alfred feared and he only got two steps in before he started gasping for breath and clawing at his throat.

"Alfred, he's choking," Bruce yelled while moving towards Dick. But the butler was ahead of him and had quickly grabbed the child around the middle and thrusted up, dislodging the food that was stuck. Dick gulped air greedily and stayed slumped in the arms of his savior. Too much too fast. Dick could feel the room closing in on him. He closed his eyes and started to feel blackness close in, but he felt the urge to get away and he kept trying.

Alfred felt the boy's accelerated heart rate and hot skin and knew he was sick. He reached down and picked the boy up and carried him back to the bed. Dick was still struggling to be let go, but he was mostly not there and his attempts were frugal at best. Setting him down Bruce rushed over and stared dumbfounded at what he just witnessed.

"Alfred, what happened?"

The butler was feeling the forehead of Dick. "I don't know Master Bruce. I heard a clatter and it startled me. So I rushed in a little more forcefully than probably necessary and saw Dick wolfing down eggs like no tomorrow. I was afraid he was going to choke so I rushed over to make him slow down, but as soon as I touched the plate he got panicked at something and made a break for the door."

Alfred then looked disapprovingly at Bruce. "Why did you leave him alone if he was hungry?"

"He told me just wanted a few minutes to himself and more time to wake up," Bruce retorted confused. He looked at Alfred upset, his hands running through his hair and pulling at it distraughtly. "I didn't know he was going to get up and speed eat the food you brought."

Alfred's face softened. "I'm sorry Master Bruce, I just don't know what is going on."

"That makes two of us, old friend." Both looked down as Dick's restless form for a few seconds and then back at each other.

"He is burning up, Alfred. Did you get the medicine? I know a fever can mess with the mind, and I am hoping that is all this is…." But Bruce had another fear. He knew something wasn't right and he chewed his lower lip in thought. I need to do a blood test and start tracking down the SOB that did this to you. Oh, Dick, I'm so sorry.

Alfred walked over to where he dropped the supplies he went downstairs to fetch. "I did, sir, but I would want to treat your own injury first. I have a feeling Dick may be uncooperative with taking this, he never liked medicine."

Bruce was about to argue, but the stony look on Alfred's face made him stop and just nod. Holding out his hand Alfred quickly examined the wound and giving a satisfying click of his tongue, covered the area with some disinfectant ointment and then a large gauze bandage.

Bruce thanked Alfred while still looking at Dick. He could feel heat pouring off his body even from the foot he sat away from him.

Alfred put down the first aid kit and picked up the bottle of fever reducer. Turning to Bruce he sighed heavily. "We have to try to get him up again."

"What about an IV? Wouldn't that work?"

"Yes, but needles seem like a unnecessary trauma at this point, wouldn't you agree?"

Bruce sighed and nodded. Then turned so he could better adjust Dick and help hold him if needed. Gently rubbing his hand through the black hair, Bruce started trying to get him up.

"Hey, Dick. I know you don't want to get up, but I have something that will make you feel better. Come on buddy. It will just take a few minutes and you can go back to sleeping."

Dick scrunched his face as if in pain than slowly relaxed and opened his eyes. He looked up at Bruce and gave a slight smile. "Just five more minutes."

"No, come on chum, we need to get some medicine in you, then you can have multiple five minutes."

Dick started to frown. He didn't want to get up. He was cold and tired. He just wanted to be left alone and to sleep. Giving a humph he rolled back over and closed his eyes.

Bruce was getting exasperated. "Dick, if you don't wake up and take this, I will have to put an IV in, and I know you hate needles."

The threat of needles made Dick open his eyes back up and snarl. But he was cold and his head was starting to hurt. Maybe what they had would be good. He slowly started sitting up, feeling hands help him into a reclining position.

Alfred had measured out the dosage amount and handed the cup over to Bruce who took it and then turned to Dick. "Okay buddy, one quick swallow and then some water and you can sleep, okay?"

Dick nodded warily and opened his mouth. Bruce tipped the cups contents into his mouth, giving a small mental sigh of relief something finally went right when he was hit in the face by a warm sticky spray. Blinking in surprise he saw Dick rubbing his mouth out with the quilt and hacking. "Dick what's wrong?" Bruce enquired quickly, wiping a hand across his face to clear his nose and eyes from the stinging liquid.

"That was gross and bitter and tasted bad. I don't want it." Dick went back to rubbing his mouth out on the quilt.

Sighing Bruce stood up and turned to Alfred who was frowning. "I don't know what to do Alfred, he needs to get his fever down. Do we have anything that will help?"

Alfred nodded headed toward the bathroom, motioning Bruce to follow. "Master Bruce, you may not like this, but I have a hunch that no amount of coaxing will get him to cooperate."

Bruce looked at the butler warily. "What are you going to do?"

"Give him a pill, instead. It might be easier than swallowing a mouth of bitter liquid." Bruce stopped in the doorway, crossing his arms as he watched Alfred rummage through the medicine cabinet till he found the adult pain reliever and fever reducer.

Alfred turned back to Bruce while reading the bottle. He then opened the lid, took out one pill, and broke it in half, putting one half back in the container and keeping the other one out. With determination he marched past Bruce, almost pushing him out of the way, and straight toward the now dozing form of Dick. Sitting down on the bed he gently rubbed the boys arm in an attempt to wake him up. While Dick was slowing coming around Alfred reached down and placed the pill in Dick's slightly open mouth.

Not quite sure what was on his tongue Dick opened his eyes and swallowed. The pill went down but scrapped his throat. He sat up gasping, tears in his eyes. Alfred was patting his back and reaching for the glass of water on the bed stand.

"Okay, no more. Let's get that taste out of your mouth." He handed Dick the water. Dick quickly grabbed the water and guzzled it, the only thought in his mind was trying sooth his throat. When the glass was empty Dick handed it back, licking his lips in satisfaction. His mind felt fuzzy and he wanted to find somewhere quite to sleep. Someplace where people wouldn't keep bothering him. He crawled to the edge of the bed and tried to stand up, but Bruce was there. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt strong hands gently pushing him back down.

"Let go," Dick slurred. The pain reliever starting to make him groggy. "Just wanna find some sleep. No sleep here, too much noise."

"You can sleep here chum, we'll be quite, promise." Bruce said gently as he guided the sleepy child back to the middle of the bed. Telling that Dick was losing the battle at staying awake be threw a blanket over him massaged his head and neck. Within moments the small form was still and breathing evenly.

Bruce got up and went over to the curtains, drawing them closed to block out the now mid-afternoon sun. Turning around, he notice Alfred had cleaned up the breakfast tray and was putting the lid back on. Eyes set in determination Bruce walked over and helped him carry stuff downstairs. Once out of the room he turned to his companion and sighed. "We need to draw blood. There are several toxin tests I need to run."

"Sir?"

"Somethings not right. I found a canister of some kind of new chemical spray near the spot where Dick was kidnapped. I haven't had time to run any test, but Dick is..."

Alfred glanced over and finished the thought. "Scared, I have noticed. He is acting more like a cornered animal, than our boy."

Bruce nodded in agreement. They had reached the kitchen and set both their loads down. Alfred started putting away the items.

"Go do what you must sir, I will watch the young master."

Bruce strode off the Batcave while Alfred paused his ministrations. Please God, help us solve this. Don't let our boy suffer because of the hate of a mad man. Sighing, Alfred resumed his duties, waiting to hear any kind of news from his elder charge.

Give me some ideas for where to go from here. Do you want to see Bruce working on solving the chemical? Dick trying to get better but struggling? Any thoughts just message my way. Thanks!