Chapter 7

Hi! Welcome if you are new, and welcome back if you are a returning reader. Hopefully, the cliffhanger didn't leave you in too bad of shape.

Dick heard yelling but only distantly. Like when he and Wally tried to make the world's longest-string phone. It had sounded like a single angry bee each word indistinguishable. Just humming like a bee… an angry bee.

"Fuck you! You are a fucking asshole!" Dick heard that one clearly.

Damn, his head kind of hurt.

Was that the TV? Nope, it wouldn't be that. His safe houses didn't have a TV. Wait? Safehouse? D.C., He remembered. Then the real pain hit him like a firing squad; his body, head, and being wanted to writhe on the floor.

No, scratch that; Dick was already on the floor, lying on his side, breathing like he'd run a marathon. Sweat covered his whole body. Dick shivered and curled in on himself. Warm hands were grabbed him carefully, keeping him on his side and sliding a jacket he had not noticed before back under his head. He felt something smear across his face from the hand, but he desperately didn't want to open his eyes to see what it was.

What just happened?

There were fire ants in his skull. He'd never had a migraine like this before. The hand stayed firm on his shoulder, and the other started slowly and hesitantly running through his hair. Some of the tension left him. His chest. His chest really hurt. A new presents came to his attention above him, and the hands holding him tensed.

"You see what you did, West?" A voice Dick finally recognized as Jason Todd said.

What is Jay doing here? What about D.C.? Dick finally got the courage to look up and open his eyes. At first, all Dick could register was light. It was unbearable. He closed them again. New strategy.

"No! Dicky, keep them open for us." Jason said, panicked.

Dicks heart ached. Jason sounded scared. Seriously, what happened? But Dick was not about to open his eyes again. In the immortal words of Shania Twain, 'there ain't no way.'

"Yeah, dude, can you say anything?" Wally? Did Dick finally go nuts? What a crazy thing to hallucinate.

Wait, that's right, he was with Wally in D.C., but what were they doing in D.C.?

"Bright," Dick grunted, curling in on himself more. Why was everything so painful and grating?

"Get the overheads. Leave the lamp." Jason ordered quickly.

Wally must have done what he said because Dick felt a gust of wind. Dick felt what must have been Jason's hand rerun through his hair until Dick relaxed. The world still wasn't settling correctly. It was messy and, most frustratingly, confusing, almost like waking up in a bizarro dimension.

"Dick, can you open your eyes again? The big lights are off." Jason said, slowly rolling Dick on his back gently.

Dick cracked open his eyes again. Jason was crouched over him on his toes, one bloody hand resting on his knee and the other on Dicks shoulder still. Jason examined Dick focusing on all the points Bruce drilled into them. Jason's face was white, and his lips pressed worriedly. Most worrying about his brother was his eyes; he looked like he was on the verge of pit madness - toxic green flecks burned in his irises. Blood poured out of a clearly broken nose, staining the man's shirt crimson. Then Dick saw Wally standing behind Jason's shoulder his nose also broken and bleeding, looking completely shell-shocked.

It did not take an intellectual to add up what happened while Dick was out. If he were a more responsible man, he would have said something, but talking hurt his throat and head. So, Dick decided to not comment on Jason and Wally breaking each other's noses and just settled on a slightly disapproving glance at Jason.

Jason just smirked, transforming the worried kid back into his brother.

Work here is done. Dick thought, letting his eyes slide shut.

"What's your full name?" Jason asked, looking into Dicks half-lidded eyes.

Jerk-face.

Why was it always 21 questions with Jay? Didn't he see it was clearly nap time?

"Richard John Grayson," Dick said, trying to convey without words how much he didn't want to do this with Jason right now.

"What day is it?" Jay was clearly not picking up what Dick was telepathically putting down. Figures. Jerk. Dick thought petulantly, but he knew he couldn't ignore Jason.

"March 24th, 2016," Dick said, closing his eyes again. Hurt feeling be damned.

"Hey, stay with me," Jason said, trying to triple check his brother was alright. Laying a hand on Dick's jugular, taking a pulse.

Dick groaned and shot a glare at Jay.

"How old am I?" Jason asked.

"Last one, I promise then we can let you rest while we take you to Leslie," Jason said, leaning in closer to hear Dick's answer.

"Seventeen," Dick said, sucking in a careful breath.

"Yup, you old man," Jason said, clearly trying to collect himself.

"What is going on?" Dick rasped.

Then it hit Jason like a brick. His brother didn't know what happened to him.

Dick needed to get to Leslie ASAP, but at least he seemed to know who he was and when.

"You spazzed out on us and had a seizure." Jason said, scanning Dicks eyes and looking for anything other than the glassy confused look he'd been getting since Dick woke up.

Dick looked scared. He squeezed Jason's hand, closed his eyes, and hummed.

"Wally, do you think you can get us a car?" Jason said, glaring at Wally, who still seemed to just stare through him at Dick.

He nodded at the wall and was off at super speed to who knows where. And Jason just sat beside his seized-out brother in an abandoned apartment in the nation's capital. Today really had been a dumpster fire. He reached out with his free hand and started running his hand through Dicks hair again. It made the crease between Dicks eyebrows soften, and his breathing even out.

"You are so dramatic." Jason teased, trying to make his voice light.

West arrived quickly, even with super speed.

"Did you jack a car?" Jason asked, lifting an eyebrow, surprised.

Wally looked sheepish.

"No, I didn't steal it. Dick had one stashed at the Hall." Wally finished kneeling next to Jason.

Jason nodded. This made everything a whole lot easier. He was not looking forward to driving a jacked car to Gotham.

"Help me get him in the car. I'm going to take him to Gotham." Jason said, hauling Dick into a sitting position.

Wally grabbed Dicks other side minding his friend's arm that he could tell from the blocky spot under his suit was bandaged. Carefully they pulled the half-coherent man out of the apartment, apologizing as they jostled his ribs and knee on the steps leading down to the street. Parked just outside the door was a tiny black Honda Civic.

"You're kidding me, Wing; a Civic?" Jason said, shaking his head. Of all the vehicles Dick could buy for a spare, he chose a commuter vehicle!? What a nerd!

Wally smiled a little.

"Gotham is 4 hours away with traffic. Why can't we take him through the Zeta Tube or to the Hall of Justice." Wally asked after the two had settled dick in the back seat of the running car.

Jason walked around to the driver's side and slid into the backseat, resting Dick's head on his lap carefully. Jason shot Wally a pointed look, and Wally got into the driver's seat.

"Dick just had a seizure. Do you think it's a good idea to teleport right now? I also don't have clearance for the Zeta Tubes either, and I already hacked the Tubes once to get here. I don't want to do that again. Also, after seeing you act like a prick, do you think I'm just going to let the others get a piece of him?" Jason said hotly. Glaring at Wally in the rearview mirror.

"Drive to Gotham or get lost." Jason finished breaking eye contact in the mirror and looking back at Dick's pinched face on his lap.

Jason ran his hand through Dick's hair again.

"Be nice." Dick mumbled, rolling over onto his side and pressing his face into Jason's stomach.

Jason smirked, looking back at Wally catching his eye.

"You heard him 'Be nice.'" Jason said, pointing at the speedster.

"Ditto, you little punk," Wally said, rolling his eyes, exasperated.

"To think I missed you," Wally said, loading his GPS on his phone.

-#-#-#-

Dick slept fitfully on the car ride to Gotham. Other than the occasional squabble between Jason and Wally, the trip was silent. A radio station was playing softly in the background. To his and Dick was sure Wally's surprise, Jason wanted to listen to the oldies station. Dick mentally shook his head. His little brothers were so weird sometimes.

Dick hoped Tim was okay. He was thankful he wasn't in the mountain yesterday. Something Dick had checked 100 times before the raid started. How was the team taking the loss of their base? If they were anything like Wally, then… Dick didn't want to think about it. He was feeling bad enough about the plan before making his friends homeless. Hopefully, that convinced the Light that he was utterly devoted to the invasion. But Dick didn't really want to think about that too much. He did too much of that these days. Dick felt his mind start slipping and let himself fall back into sleep. He'd deal with tomorrow later.

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