Every minute that passed after Superman's departure was an eon in purgatory. They couldn't land thanks to the still-thundering water that was giving new birth to Asperity Falls, so Batman was forced to wait for news a hundred feet above the flooded earth. To his right, down the river and out of sight, lay Dick; on his left, underground and status unknown, was Tim. Only Damian was safe, but his physical health was all the caped man could guarantee at the moment; judging from the way the boy was shaking silently in his lap, his emotional well-being was very much under attack. "Hush," he soothed quietly, speaking as much to his own tortured soul as to that of his youngest. "...We'll know soon."

A door slammed out in the main chamber of the plane. All three of the figures in the cockpit raised their heads and looked at one another, their fragile expressions hovering somewhere between hope and disbelief. Then as one they rose and rushed for the narrow passageway, paying no heed to who they elbowed in the process.

Batman would never know how he beat Flash to the closed portal of the medical bay. "Keep him out here," he ordered as Robin hustled to catch up.

"You're shitting me, Batman! My best friend is in there!"

"Yes." Bending down, he swept the sneaking pre-teen clear of the latch and into the air. "So is his brother," he went on, passing the struggling youth off to the redhead, "and my son."

"Let go of me, West!"

"Batman-!"

"Keep. Him. Out. Here," he growled. I don't know what I'll find in there, he gulped. If it's...if it's bad...he doesn't need to see. And if it's terrible, then he doesn't need to see me, either. "It's what Dick would want," he added, knowing it was a trump card.

"Oh, you asshole. Fine, I'll keep him out here. For a minute," Flash warned, his limbs blurring as he worked to keep his captive under control. "One minute, Batman, and then we're both coming in."

His mouth tightened. It wasn't what he wanted, but it would have to do. "Fine." With that he flicked the latch, stepped backwards, and locked the door behind himself.

For a moment after he turned he couldn't draw breath. The body on the cold metal table was so still, and so pale... No, his heart stuttered in his chest. No, baby. Please, please no...

"Bruce," Clark spoke, coming forward. A hand gripped his elbow, but he couldn't tear his eyes from the red-wrapped figure he had ached for for days. "...It's all right, Bruce. He's alive. He just passed out again on the flight back." The combination of that reassurance and a squeeze to his arm shook him partway from his stupor. "He'll be okay. He's banged up pretty good, but he'll be okay."

"...You're certain?" He didn't like the way the question trembled, but he couldn't do anything about it.

"Yes. He needs attention, but I wouldn't have taken him anywhere other than the Watchtower if I thought he was in immediate danger. You know that."

"I..." Yes. I know that. His knees tried to give out, but he caught himself. Dick is safe, he wept silently. Safe...but... A second face swam into his mind's eye. Tim... "...I regret that the circumstances require me to ask a second favor of you tonight," he managed.

"...Tim?"

"In the cavern somewhere."

"I'm on it."

"Superman!" he called him back before he could open the door, through which the sounds of a fantastic fight were bleeding. "...Collins?"

There was no answer for a second. "She's on the list," came finally. With that, he was gone.

Batman reached back and re-locked the door blindly. Then he stumbled forward, stripping off his gauntlets and tossing them aside as he went. His bared hand hovered over his firstborn's mud-splattered brow for a long second, unable to make contact. "You can't be real, chum," he breathed. If I touch you, you'll disappear. You'll disappear, and I'll wake up to find that Superman was too late...

He could only hold himself back for so long no matter how deep his fear ran, though. Finally his fingers made contact and spread, ghosting over the pain-lined flesh and trying to wipe it smooth. Wake up, he begged, pushing back dirty, tangled locks. Finding a half-healed split in the uncovered skin, he winced. Wake up. Let me see you...

"...You're so good at that...always been so good at that..."

His eyes closed at the sound of his voice. "Dick," he murmured, his grip tightening possessively. "Just...hush..."

Faint, brief pressure was applied atop his eyelids, and when he looked he found that his lenses had been lifted out of the way in order to give the man staring wetly up at him an unrestricted view. "Why are you crying?" Bruce moaned, moving to brush away the tears dampening his child's cheeks.

"Because you are," Dick answered sadly. "I can't help it."

"Oh, kiddo...stop..." Mindful of the injury he'd found, he bent down until their foreheads connected. "Just stop..."

A long, private moment passed. Dick's hand slithered across his shoulder and under the edge of the cowl, coming to rest against the back of his neck. Bruce ached to climb up onto the bed and hold his son properly, but the weight of his alter ego held him back. He made do with cradling his head and stroking his hair, promising himself that when they got home and he could take off his armor he would provide better comforting. You're safe, a joyful choir litanied in his head. You're safe...

"...Where's Timmy?" was spoken finally. "Is he okay?"

"Clark's getting him now. We can't land yet, everything's shaking too much down below."

"Hey...don't be mad at him, okay?"

"Mad?" Pulling back a short distance, he frowned. "Why would I be mad?"

"Well..." A hint of amused color rose into Dick's cheeks. Amidst the pallor of the rest of his face the high spots looked like they'd been painted on. "He kind of fell for the bad guy's – or bad gal's, in this case, I guess – daughter. She's okay," he assured, "he got her over to our side without too much hassle, and she stayed back to help him while I chased her mother, but...just so you know, he's a little lovesick."

An unbidden rumble sounded in Bruce's throat. "If you're vouching for her, chum, then I can live with it. Even if she is related to Dr. Collins."

"Tracy..." Dick's eyes went wide. "Did Uncle Clark get her?"

"...He says she's on the list. Don't get worked up over it," he commanded, holding him down as he tried to rise. "He'll go after her once Tim is safe."

"We can't let her die, Bruce."

"I know, son. Relax. If she can be saved, she will be."

"It might already be too-"

"Dick, hush," he cut him off. Shaking his head, he ran his hand back through wet locks once more. "Just hush. You're injured, you're worried, you're exhausted – don't object, there are circles under your eyes – and you're freezing. I can't force you to sleep or to stop worrying, at least not without drugs, and I know you'll be upset if I knock you out before you know Tim's safe so I won't do it. But I can insist on getting you warm and looking at your injuries, and I'm going to insist on it. Understood?"

"...You're funny when you get stuck halfway between yourself and Batman, d'you know that?" Dick asked, wearing a tiny smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about," his lips twitched back. Fresh tears were threatening to loose themselves, bu he couldn't make them stand down. How many times in the past week had he felt certain that he would never exchange another word with this man, his precious and irreplaceable firstborn? And yet here they were, already bantering and teasing as if they'd just been in the next room from one another all along.

If he didn't turn away soon he was going to lose his last shred of control, and he didn't dare do that. It would only set Dick off again, and the last thing his boy needed was something else to worry about. Besides that, his minute of solitude was more than up, and while the flailing in the hall had ceased he expected the waiting pair to make an incursion at any moment. He could hold everything back a little while longer, he grimaced as he turned from the bed and slid his lenses back down. He didn't like it, but it could be done.

Dick began to shiver the instant he pulled Superman's cape away from him. "Here," he replaced it with a thick blanket that he'd pulled from the warmer. "Just give that a minute."

"'Kay."

The agreement was so pained that he flinched hearing it. "...Dick?"

"I'm okay," he ground out, his face pinched. "It's just that my legs have thawed out enough now that shaking is, uh, mildly unpleasant."

Your legs... Moving towards his feet, he uncovered him from the knees down. Massive bruises and the beginnings of lumpy swelling were visible under the shredded fabric of his pants, as was the end of what appeared to be a deep, nasty gash in his left calf. "...Broken?" he asked, glancing up from the destruction.

"That's what Supes said, yeah. Joy of joys. I'm miserable with one broken leg, let alone two."

"Well, at least this way we don't have to worry about you trying to get out of bed too soon."

"Don't count on it. I still have arms, and we both know I'm a world-class hand-walker." Dick lifted his arms to wave them teasingly, but before he could be shot a warning glare he hissed and reached for his right shoulder. "Ow!"

Hastily throwing the covers back over his feet, Batman stepped closer. Broken bones were annoying, but fixable; joint damage was a far more concerning complaint. "Careful," he advised, taking the offending limb and lowering it carefully. "Where did it hurt?"

"It wasn't the actual joint so much as above it. I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting it..."

"It's fine. Relax, I'm not going to search for it now," he promised. "I'll leave that for after you've had a healthy dose of painkillers." A beat passed. "Anything else?"

"Mm...starting to feel those couple of ribs Uncle Clark mentioned, too."

Broken ribs and two broken legs, the cowled man's mouth tightened. So we're on full pneumonia watch. Alfred will be delighted... If Tim's was this busted up, too, they were going to have their hands full. "You're not having any trouble breathing, are you? No tightness or sharp pains?" It wasn't too late to ship him off to the Watchtower if the answer was yes, and as little as he wanted to be separated from him right now he would deal with it if distance was necessary for his health.

"Nah." He winced anew as he spoke. "They're just annoying."

"...Are you sure you don't want something for it now?"

"If I wasn't waiting to make sure my little brother is okay, I'd take you up on the offer. As things are, though...I'll wait." Dick frowned. "Speaking of little brothers, where's Dami? You didn't send him home after we saw him, did you? I know you were probably ticked that he took the plane, but-"

"I didn't send him home," Batman calmed him before he could get worked up again. "He's here. I told him and Flash to wait outside while I saw you."

"Wally's here too?!"

"Yes. I couldn't keep him away once he heard you were missing." And I'm glad I didn't try to, he added silently, reflecting on the counseling the speedster had provided both him and Robin. "Are you ready for me to let them in?"

Dick studied him knowingly. "Are you ready to let them in?" He held out his good hand. "It's okay if you need another minute, you know."

Gripping his fingers, Batman turned the proffered arm over, examining it. "...Where did all of these cuts come from?" Tell me Collins wasn't slicing you up down in that cave. I'm having a hard enough time wanting her to still be alive as it is.

"I slid down a couple mountains. Figured you'd rather clean up my arms than my ass, so I moved accordingly."

The joke was so unexpected that it took him a moment to register it. When he did his laugh came out as a choked bray of disbelief. "Jesus, Dick..."

"Hey, I had to find some humor in the situation, didn't I?"

"Yes," he nodded. "But then, you always do." Leaning in, he brushed their foreheads together once more. "...I'll get the others and see how Superman is doing with rescuing your brother." The latter was taking longer than he'd expected it to, but he kept his concern to himself.

"Then you'll come back, right?"

He turned at the door and observed him. You're alive, he marveled again. You're alive, and you're laughing through your pain, and...and you're just so goddamn marvelous, Dick. How could I ever think of staying away? Letting his lips hoist themselves upwards into a smile that would be visible from the bed, he nodded. "Of course I will, chum. You can count on it."