Chapter 7 : Taken pt 2

Dick's POV

Dick listened as the sound of Bruce ran past, still dodging the bullets of their pursuers, but oblivious to his sons fall.

He couldn't find the voice to call out, his tongue was saturated in coppery blood, but his mouth felt dry.

He couldn't struggle as his arms were forced from holding the blood in to being tied behind his back. Dick felt as though his stomach may fall out.

He may have been shot many times before, but that didn't mean each time didn't hurt. This particular wound could be the worst one yet. It felt as if the bullet may have punctured his lung, which would certainly explain the blood in his mouth. He had a couple of hours before her either bled out or choked to death on his own blood.

Both great ways to go, I wonder which one I'll get. Dick thought to himself.

The men were speaking English, at least. It was reassuring in the way that he now knew that they hadn't been taken to some other country or something while they were knocked out.

"Kid's failed." One of the men spoke into a communicator on his wrist.

"Waddaya mean...?" Dick slurred. With a jolt, Dick realised the bullets could have been poisoned, like deadshot's. It would certainly explain why he was slurring his words and finding it harder and harder to articulate the situation. That added death by poisoning to the growing list.

"Okay kid-"

"Name's... D-Dick." Said Dick.

"Well ain't that a dumb name. Well okay, Dick, the boss wants to see ya. Seems we're gonna have to keep you barely alive." He commented, hoisting Dick onto his shoulder, showing a complete disregard as he wedged his shoulder into the vigilante's bullet wound.

After wheezing and coughing some blood onto the lovely mans camo jacket, he spat, "Sssounds good, t-me... It's a...a date."

The man laughed, his shoulders shaking and further irritating Dick's bullet wound. "You're funny. I'm gonna use my best torture equipment on you."

"I hope for... for your ssake you're... bl-bluffing."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, mate." The man remarked, before dumping him unceremoniously into the back of a dark pickup truck. The men had hidden it under a bunch of trees with low branches. Dick's eyes were sliding shut, but he felt the engine vibrate the vehicle and he assumed they were driving somewhere.

From the mans comment about keeping him alive, he guessed he wasn't poisoned, but perhaps sedated.

With his last tendrils of consciousness, he hoped that Bruce didn't come back for him, he hoped that he took the people and got the hell out of the forest, but he knew Bruce too well.

He would definitely come back for him, and beat anyone who got in his way to a pulp for what they did to his ward.

Bruce's POV

Bruce hated running. He hated running because he felt torn, he was a civilian currently, which gave him an excuse to run, but he should be fighting. He was strong enough to defeat them, and if it'd just been him and Dick, he would've taken those men out with no problems. But it wasn't.

He had to keep the people safe, while keeping up appearances as Bruce Wayne. It took him a while to realise they'd lost their pursuers, but he heard the roar of an engine and the headlights on the vehicle told him that it was headed in the opposite direction. They were safe for the moment.

Bruce called the group together and leaned against a tree. All this running might not be tiring the Batman, but it should have been tiring Bruce Wayne.

"Where's the kid?" Ian asked, squinting into the darkness.

Wendy gasped and stammered, "H-he didn't get shot, did he?"

Bruce's heart jolted. Dick wasn't here, and the only thing that could've stopped him running was a bullet to a vital point such as the heart or a lung. Bruce hoped to god it was the latter, it gave him more time to get to him before he bled out. A bullet to the heart would have been fatal. A bullet to the lung was dangerous, but Dick could take it.

"I need to find him." Bruce trudged into the darkness.

"Mr. Wayne! You can't just go out there on your own, they'll kill you!" Jensen yelled, stopping Bruce from walking on.

"Yeah, the kids not yours anyways. Let him go." Ian said bitterly.

Bruce whirled on the eldest man, his eyes wide with anger. "He's my son." He spoke calmly and quietly, but it was the most intimidating voice the man had ever heard. "I'm not letting him die."

"Let us come with you, Mr. Wayne, we can help." Wendy pleaded, pushing Ian out of the way.

Bruce wasn't listening anymore. He forged his own path through the night, back the way they'd run. He heard the trio follow him deeper into the forest.

He followed the trampled greenery as a walkway to tell his where the men may have taken Dick.

If they took him, they must've wanted him alive. There was a great chance that Dick would still be alive when Bruce got to him. The billionaire shoved aside his heavy emotions and concentrated on finding his ward. As his detective skills came forward, it was like he switched into a completely different person. He shed the panic and anger like an old coat, and slipped into his Batman persona. It was much easier to handle the situation that way.

A few meters later, and the dense vegetation split to reveal a set of deep tyre tracks leading into the distance.

If these men were good at their jobs, which he guessed they were since they managed to capture the Batman himself, he knew they would dump the truck a while before their destination to prevent him from following the tracks all the way to their doorstep.

Still, the tracks were a start and led him in the right direction.

"Mr. Wayne?" He heard Wendy pipe up from behind him. He'd forgotten the civilians were still following him.

"Please, call me Bruce, I believe we're bonded by trauma at this point." He said calmly, trying to sound slightly cheery.

"Uh, sure, Bruce... I just wanted to let you know that I would've given anything to have a father like you. I mean, I know that Dick isn't your real son, but it's admirable that you care about him so much."

"Of course I care. I know we may not seem like it, but we really understand each other. We're both orphans trying to make the best out of a terrible situation." He said. He honestly didn't know why he was opening up to this woman, but he felt as though it was important.

"I didn't know my parents at all, since they died when I was very young, but I think I understand." She gave him a small smile, "Like I said, Dick's lucky to have you, and vice versa."

"Wait, so you're an orphan too?"

"One of the many born by Gotham city's corruption."

After Wendy confirmed it, Bruce's mind started racing. Was it a coincidence that three people brought to the same forest were orphans? Could it be the thing in common that Dick was talking about? Something that would explain why all of them were brought here. It may not be a big lead, but at this point, any lead was welcome to Bruce. There was just one more thing he had to check.

"Ian, Jensen." Bruce waited for the two other men to catch up to him.

"Look, what I said earlier-" Ian started to apologise, before Bruce silenced him.

"I need to know, are either of you orphans?"

"What the hell kinda question is that?" Jensen spat.

"Just answer it, we're running out of time." Bruce demanded. His patience was wearing thin with each stall, and he had to work out who these people were before going after them. It always pays to know your enemy.

Jensen nodded pitifully, while Ian frowned and said, "Yeah, but why'd you want to know that?"

"We're all orphans." Bruce said simply. "But why are they taking orphans?"

Short chapter, sorry, more next time. Three parts though, yay!