A/N:Two words on the portrait drawn by Martha Wayne are most puzzling. What do they mean? Sammie is in her sixth month of pregnancy and she suddenly comes down with a mysterious illness. Tim is with the Titans talking to new recruits, and one of them is from a far different place. Does he hold the key to Samantha's mysterious illness?
Neptune's Daughter
By
Part 7: Strange Illness
Patrol in Gotham had been uneventful. It was as if all the criminals were taking a break from crime, a calm before a storm.
'San Francisco had been more exciting the past month than this night has been,' Tim thought, as he entered the cave and went to change, calling it an early night. Dick had taken a night off and Bruce wasn't home this week, a business trip to Germany. He hadn't even seen Jason or Damian.
After getting changed out of his uniform and showering, Tim dashed up to the Manor and up the stairs, ending up at Samantha's door. Even though they had breakfast together earlier this morning. He wanted to make up for lost-time with her. He knocked then entered when he didn't get an answer. He saw that Samantha was standing in front of her floor-length mirror. He didn't hesitate and walked up behind her, grabbed her around her waist and gave her a hug.
"Mmmm, I missed you."
Samantha was startled out of her own thoughts. "Timmy, you're home, and you're all right."
"I'm fine. Everything went well, no serious injuries," Tim replied. Even so, he noticed Samantha's face looked a little gaunt. She also felt a little warm to the touch. "Sammie, are you alright?"
"What do you mean?"
"You feel feverish."
"It's nothing," Samantha said, trying to deflect Tim's question.
"It's not nothing. What's going on? You've been deflecting my answers ever since I got back from San Fran and now this."
Tim looked at Samantha's arms, examining them with great care. When she moved them a certain way, he thought he saw small overlapping scales with rainbow colors. He saw white spots as well, overlaid on the scales, then the scales disappeared leaving only the white spots.
"Sammie, you need to tell me what's going on with you."
Samantha kept itching her skin and she tried to pull down the sleeves of her shirt so Tim wouldn't see the spots on her arms, but it was too late. He already saw them.
'I . . . I don't know," Samantha said before collapsing in Tim's arms.
"Samantha!" Tim picked her up and placed her on the bed. Her fever suddenly spiked up. Tim rushed from the room. "Alfred!"
Jason opened his door. "What are you yelling at Replacement! Sasha's trying to our twins to sleep!"
"It's Sammie, she's sick!"
"So, get her some medicine!" Jason slammed the door in Tim's face.
'What was eating him?'
"Don't let Master Jason's rude behavior bother you, Master Timothy," Alfred said as he exited the elevator and moved down the hall with a cart full of linens.
"But why would he do that?" Tim questioned. "I thought we were getting along so well."
"It's not you, Master Timothy," Alfred said as he opened the door to the linen closet and walked in to put the clean towels and sheets that were freshly laundered away.
"Why would he . . . "
"Master Jason found out some news that he's not terribly pleased about."
"And he's taking it out on me?"
"I'm afraid so," Alfred replied. "Do not be disheartened, Master Timothy. Master Jason will realize that just like Master Damian blood does not necessarily make a family."
Tim looked at Alfred, questioning what he was talking about and then it dawned on Tim. Dick mentioned last night that he and Jason's DNA test had been botched. Was that the reason why Jason snapped at him? Dick also told him about Bruce being Jason's father. That must have been a big revelation for both. Tim also remembered giving Dick a clue on how he and Damian could discover more information about Sheila Haywood and her connection to Bruce Wayne, but why would Jason snap at him? Because they weren't biological brothers? Why should blood make a difference?
Alfred looked over at Tim and saw the surprised and questioning look on his face. "Forgive me, Master Timothy. I misspoke. It is not my place to be the bearer of bad news. You were shouting out for help just a minute ago."
"Sammie, she's sick," Tim refocused on the issue at hand.
"I shall take a look at her immediately."
Tim led Alfred back to Samantha's room. Alfred went over and placed a hand on her forehead. "Oh my, we need to get her temperature down. It could damage the fetuses she is carrying. How did this happen?"
"I don't know. What are all those spots on her arms?"
"I've never seen anything like it."
"You've got to help her Alfred."
"Calm yourself, Master Timothy," Alfred stated with an air of authority. "I'll do what I can for her. She will need at least a fever reducer. We need to identify the spots on her arms."
"Please, do what you can."
ATSDATSD
Damian had been trying to discover what the two words were on the back of Samantha's portrait that his grandmother had drawn. The drawing also had Samantha depicted as a girl with seashells in her hair, like a crown. The image was just a bust, showing only from the shoulders upward. The side of one of her arms was visible and covered in what looked like a garment of rainbow scales.
Damian examined the words. The first letter looked like an "N." The rest of the letters were faded and difficult to read.
'I wonder if I can view them under the equipment Father has in the cave.'
Damian took the drawing down to the cave and placed it on a flat surface in the medical bay area . The X-Ray machine was known to enhance items that were difficult to view, even find hidden items that weren't visible. Then there was the spectrometer. Neither of them might help in this case. The text wasn't hidden and the spectrometer was mostly used for identifying chemical compounds.
'Maybe if I digitally enhanced the image," Damian thought. "I could scan the words and see if I can darken them to reveal their meaning.'
The first two words were clear. Island Girl were the very words that Drake had called Samantha Clark, the girl they brought back from the Bahamas, the girl who Damian has chosen to call Mother. She treats him with kindness, even love, something his actual mother has never done.
Damian set up the high-end digital scanner and placed the drawing face up. The words were written on the back of the drawing. He scanned the words and they appeared on the computer screen. He selected just the two words that were faded and switched their color so they looked like a negative. That seemed to enhance their appearance. He then darkened the image, which enhanced the letters even more. Slowly the letters and words took shape. Damian's eyes became wide.
'Well, they certainly fit well with the island girl theme. Looks like I can tell Drake and Mother what those words are now.'
Damian heard a noise behind him. "Pennyworth, what are you doing down here?"
"Miss Samantha is ill. I am getting a fever reducer that will not harm her children."
"Mother is ill?"
"Yes, Master Damian. Master Timothy is with her," Alfred said as he found something the girl could take that might not upset the delicate balance of her pregnancy. "She also has some unusual white spots on her arms. I'm at a loss as to what it is from. I want to take a blood sample and run an analysis of a possible allergic reaction to something she might have eaten or something in the home."
"She's been here almost nine months. We would have found something by now," Damian replied.
"Perhaps not, Master Damian. It could be due to something new."
Alfred grabbed what he needed and headed back upstairs to the Manor. Damian followed him, concern etched on his face. He followed the butler to Samantha's room and saw Tim holding Samantha's hand. He could see she was very pale and her arms were covered in spots.
"Mother," Damian whispered. "Drake, what happened?"
"I don't know," Tim said, swallowing his worry and the lump in his throat. "She collapsed. She's got these white spots."
"I can see that, what's caused it."
"I don't know that either."
"Well, do something!"
"Calm yourself. Master Damian," Alfred said. "We are doing all we can."
Alfred pulled out a couple fever reducer tablets and filled a glass of water in the bathroom. He gave both to Samantha assisting her to take the tablets, placing them in her mouth and having her drink the water.
Samantha drank down the water like it was the only water on earth. Then she laid back down on the bed and closed her eyes. Her breathing was somewhat labored.
Tim continued to hold her hand. "Are you sure that's going to help?"
"It will help to keep her fever from going any higher, Master Timothy."
'I just wish there was something else we can do."
"There is Master Timothy," Alfred said. "We can pray."
Continues with Part 8