Chapter 8
Nightwing was basically tied to the med table on the sleek, silver JL ship. The ship was racing to the Watchtower. They had already gone through two blood bags of Nightwing's blood type. They had stopped trying to wrap the cut on Nightwing's arm after the third wrap had become too soaked with blood to stay on. Blood was beginning to leak from Nightwing's eyes and nose.
"Shit! What is this!" Flash cried. Nightwing tried to move, but the restraints held him down. Lack of movement kept his heart from pumping more, which kept blood pressure down, which would hopefully slow the bleeding until a cure for whatever was going was out of his system.
"Must… have been poison on Slade's…blade."
Damn… I'm so friggin' tired. Where's Bruce?
The machine had exploded, leaving everyone blinded for a minute. They had spent five minutes looking helplessly for Batman. They only stopped because Nightwing had passed out from blood loss. They had strapped him to a blood-bag and continued looking for the dark, broody hero. When Flash returned to find blood dripping form Nightwing's arm, faster than the blood came in from the bag, the heroes came back and started to the watchtower. Had they been in America, they could have flown to a zeta beam in under and hour. But they were in a mid-Atlantic small island miles from America's coast. At least a two hour flight. It was a gamble, but it was possibly fastest to fly straight into space and to the Watchtower, but that was still a half-hour to 12 hour flight, depending on the location of the Watchtower to the ship.
They were in luck. The Watchtower rested halfway between Earth and the moon. At the moment, it was hovering almost right above them. It took the League and Nightwing an hour to get to the Watchtower.
The younger heroes who had gone against Joker and Harley had returned, and the two nuisances were in Arkham. Captain Atom and Dinah greeted the heroes with worry at the ship dock.
"Where's Batman?" the Captain asked.
"No idea. But… I think we've… lost him." Clark forced the words out. His hands gripped the edges of his cape in anxiety. It seemed he might break down at any second. But this was Superman. He couldn't cry. He could break. Not with an audience, at least.
"Batman~" Nightwing gasped. Dinah's attention was ripped from Superman's hardening face to the injured hero.
"Fuck!" She almost screeched. Wonder Woman flew down. The alert for the med bay had been sent ahead, and the room, with the blood bags that were asked for, was ready.
"Shit." The Amazon hissed. She grabbed the gurney and didn't bother rolling it. Ripping Nightwing from the bed, she flew him to the med room.
"Was that Nightwing over Wonder Woman's shoulder?" Conner asked Tim. They were resting in the lounge with the view of Earth.
"Was it?" Tim asked. The slow march of the other heroes that had been on Nightwing's team caught their attention.
"Where's Batman? And Nightwing?" Tim asked Superman. Superman grimaced and turned away.
"Nightwing was just flown to med bay." Dinah interjected, seeing Tim's horrified face.
"Where's Batman?" Tim whispered. His throat was tight. Conner's sturdy hand supported hi, as he stumbled back when no one answered.
"No." Tim shook his head. "No. No. No. Nonononono." Tim tried to back peddle from the group, but Conner trapped him in a hug.
"It's ok." Conner murmured. Conner swallowed painfully. This couldn't be true. Conner closed his eyes as if he could close off the world. A large whining noise broke through his consciousness.
"What is that?" Hal cried out, squeezing his hands over his ears.
"Watch out!" Flash screamed over the rising pitch of the loud noise. A large, blinding light was focusing into a five by five meter box on the wall.
A couple of screams and shouts echoed through the Watchtower as lights flickered and alarms whirled. A dark shape shot out of the light and slammed into Hal and Flash.
The sound and light show ended abruptly.
"Oh, God, what was that?" Tim asked. He and Conner had fallen over, as had a couple of other heroes. Jaime, Cassie and M'gann raced into the area. Worried was painted across their faces.
"Is everyone alright?" Cassie called out. Groans and curses were their answers.
"They sound multa." Jaime grumbled.
"We aren't!" Flash rolled the two bodies off his back. "Right, Hal?" Two groans answered him. Flash looked at the two-man dog pile and squealed in excitement.
"Shut it zippy." Hal growled, rolling the bulky body off him. The grumble in response to the shove made Hal freeze.
"Batman?" Hal's voice was small. Batman sat up and glared at the Green Lantern.
"Yes, you incompetent fool. Where's Nightwing?" Batman growled.
"Med bay." Hal whimpered as Batman, steadying himself momentarily before hurrying to the med bay.
"What just happened?" Cassie asked.
"I think I should follow him." Superman sad, following the Dark Knight.
"I wanna watch!" Flash said.
"It's my brother! I get dibs!" Tim shouted, running after Batman.
"Flash." Hal stopped his friend. The red-clad hero frowned. Hal frowned with worry. "Call Jason. He'll come hearing his bro is hurt." Flash paused then nodded.
"I'll also call Wally and Roy. They'll want to know." The call was sent. Five minutes later, three angry red-heads burst into the Watchtower and stormed towards the med bay.
Bruce was looking at how pale Dick was when Wally, Roy and Jason almost broke the door down to see their friend. Tim was squished to the corner of the room, and Superman was pressed against the door.
"Come in more if you're coming in." Batman growled. Everyone raised eyebrows. Usually, batman would force everyone out.
"What happened? I heard you guys were just doing an intervention style mission. The risk was low!" Wally started. Batman held up a hand. It was then the group noticed Batman was dressed differently.
"Tim, grab me a spare suit. Jason, I'm glad you're here, Damian is in danger. Go defend him in the house." Tim nodded and ran out.
"What?" Jason sputtered. "You want me to go defend demon spawn? Now?"
"Tim will join you soon. As soon as I get my spare suit on… I'll be there as soon as I discuss Nightwing's situation with Dr. Fate, Dinah, J'hn… and whoever else experienced in doctoring." Batman growled.
"What happened?" Roy asked. Batman paused.
"Slade had a new poison coated on his blade. It prevents coagulation and even induces heavy bleeding."
"He must have an antidote!" Wally insisted. Batman didn't say anything.
"He doesn't have an antidote! What the fuck!" Jason cried.
"Please, Jason go protect Damian." Batman let out a sigh.
"Why?" Jason barely kept from yelling.
"Ra's a Ghul. He wants to get Damian back… but not in any way I'm comfortable with. It has something to do with the Lazarus Pits. I can't let Damian be dragged back into the hell of living with that crazy bastard just after his mother got him out of there. Batman's voice was unusually emotional.
"Fine." Jason snapped. Giving Roy and Wally a hard look, Jason said, "Don't let him die." Jason's own bat-glare was terrifying, and the rogue hero left.
"What can we do?" Wally asked, sitting next to the bed Nightwing was passed out on. A third blood bag was almost empty.
"How many more blood bags of his type do we have?" Batman asked. Dinah, who also stepped in, checked the bag and went to a fridge. She lifted out some bags.
"We have about ten 'type A' blood types."
"About?" Batman's voice was hard. Dinah rolled her eyes.
"Ten. We have ten bags of 'type A'." Batman cursed under his breath.
"Here, Batman." Tim had a black bag that must hold a Batsuit. "What can I do?" Tim asked.
"Go to Gotham. Make sure Ra's a Ghul doesn't get Damian." Batman answered. Carefully, Batman disconnected the empty blood bag. Wally handed him a fresh one.
"Warm it, quickly." Batman ordered. Wally vibrated his hands, and quickly heated the bag. Batman attached the bag to the IV, and set the drip on high.
"What?" Tim asked.
"Ask Jason. Just don't let Ra's get his hands on Damian. The bastard most likely wants to sacrifice the kid so that the Lazarus pit will be easier to use. Give and take, some shit like that." Batman grumbled as he took off the fresh bandages and examined the cut on Dick's arm.
"What?" Tim asked.
"To receive life, the Lazarus needs to take it from someone else. "Batman said simply.
"I know that!" Tim said. "But… how do you know? That has almost nothing to do with what our missions were preventing!" Tim said. Batman sent a glare to the young Robin.
"Please, Tim." Tim paused. He saw how shocked everyone was. Batman never said please. Tim's brain was whirring. Batman had shot out of a light… the team had thought he had died…they were dealing with a laser…In actuality, Tim thought he should have realized this much sooner.
"Ok." Tim said. Batman had either time-traveled, or dimension traveled. Dimension seemed more likely because of the laser. It could have possibly torn a hole into another dimension, if it had been altered with. It was powerful enough on paper to do so. Tim decided he could think more on this later. He left the room to go help the demon spawn.
"Bruce. What about Richard?" Diana asked. The kid was too pale. The white dressings were already stained completely red.
"The best solution I can think of, from what I know about this drug, is drain him completely and give him fully new blood." The room went quite.
"Are we thinking Fahrenheit 451, how Montag dealt with his wife's o.d?" Wally asked.
"Out technology isn't at that level, but yes." Batman replied. Wally dropped his jaw.
"That would kill him!" Wally exploded. Batman glared at Wally.
"His blood, what doesn't leave via his injuries or easy openings, will soon just leak into his body. Internal bleeding will kill him in an hour. He is only alive now because the multiple blood bags are providing fresh blood to be infected by Slade's poison.
"We can't just drain him. He'll have a heart attack!" Dinah argued. Batman nodded.
"Do we have any idea of how to do this?" Roy asked.
"We could artificially pump his heart, that isn't really a problem. This issue is getting all the blood to leave his body and not let his brain die, or any other muscles and organs." Diana noted.
"It is invasive, but I could host his brain in my body until the process is complete. I can seal off a blood supply that you provide me so my blood does not mix with his. That way, we avoid another Gar situation." J'hn suggested.
"So wrong. "Wally muttered.
"If it works." Batman said.
"Please let me." M'gann phased through the wall. "Please. Let me help my friend." She asked. J'hn looked over to Batman.
"Can you do it?" Batman asked. M'gann nodded. Batman just turned around and started setting up the fresh blood supply with Dinah.
"His other organs?" Clark asked.
"How long can the stomach, intestines and liver go without blood supply?" Batman asked the room.
"Most organs can last about 24 hours on ice." Roy said, looking at his Iphone.
"How are you getting coverage up here?" Wally hissed, checking his own phone.
"We're still in range of the satellite." Roy hissed back. Their banter was just to keep stress down. What Roy had unintentionally suggested was to remove every organ and just let sit on ice until they had drained the blood.
"I think I have it." Karen shoved her way into the room. She slid slightly on the blood on the floor. The newest bag was already half empty. It was as if they were emptying the bag onto the floor.
"What?" Batman asked. Karen took a deep breath.
"Dr. Strange and I were discussing this yesterday, and I heard you guys come in…"
"Get to it." Batman growled. Karen steeled herself.
"Let his body completely drain via the cut on his arm. Connected his heart to a synthetic pump so the heart is pumping, but isn't cycling the blood in the body. Make sure the heart pumps directly to the brain, keep it alive. Keep air going through the lungs, manually." Karen looked around. Worried eyes met hers. "It'll be minimal open heart surgery, just to connect the heart to the pump and the brain to the pump. The blood in his body will leak out, or we flush it out with saline solution, which would help keep the organs form collapsing. It's a long shot, but it is the best I can think of." Karen was shaking. She was terrified of the thought that Nightwing could die. He was already too pale. Blood was pooling on the floor. Batman looked around.
"I think we all prefer that plan." Clark said. He turned to Karen. "You and Dr. Strange are most qualified for this."
The group headed out as Karen jumped into overdrive to get ready. Dr. Strange hurried in and the two got ready.
"Shit, I hate doing surgeries like this." Dr. Strange said. Karen gave him a curious look.
"Do you have idea on how follow through on this?" He hissed.
Not to make Dr. Strange look incompetent, but surgeries without warning, and when it has never been done before? Hard. (I'm guessing)
Also, is Dr. Strange a good guy or a bad guy, because I've read both. (Adam Strange... Hugo Strange... am I getting my comic universes mixed up?)
Mainly I mean the doctor that Karen was working with in Young Justice that almost made her break up with Mal. Couldn't really find his name, sorry.
Apollo missions tookabout three daysto reach the moon. But the quickest trip to the moon was the New Horizons probe, which zipped past the moon in just 8 hours 35 minutes on its way to Pluto. However, the spacecraft didn't even slow down or approach lunar orbit.
I have this because I know my math seems ridiculous, but, the JL has alien techno and such, so I was guessing they would mix into their earth tech and have really advanced ships.
And Yes, Jason is red-heading in this story. Cause.
(2 chapter left-most likely)
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Love, Burning Bright