Element of Surprise

Part 7: Checking In

Dick's eyes opened slowly as he heard Tim's voice. He noticed that Caine was in the bed with them. That reminded him that he needed to check on his daughter. He haven't seen Haley in a day and a half. He slipped out of the bed and went to go find Haley. 'I'm still tired. So, so tired.'

Dick walked into the sunroom and saw his baby girl lying on the floor with her other cousins. He picked her up and moved away from the group. He grabbed a blanket and pillows and made a nest for him and his daughter to lie in. "Hey princess," Dick yawned.

*Daddy,* Haley cooed. *You look tired.*

"I am tired. Wanted to nap with you. Is that okay?"

*That's okay, but why are you tired?*

Dick yawned again. "Remember that trick I did for Mommy when she had a bad dream? I did it for Uncle Tim, but it involved memories and it took a huge chunk of my energy."

*Oh. Is Uncle Tim okay now?* Haley asked.

"Yes, he's doing okay."

*Daddy, don't hide the truth. I know you want him to be okay, but I can tell, you are scared for him.*

"I am scared, Hales. Daddy, almost lost his brother. I wouldn't know what to do if he died."

*You have Uncle Jason and Uncle Damian, but Uncle Tim is special to you. He is like you, a Flying Grayson.*

"Yes," Dick gently pressed his head against his daughter's forehead. "I don't want to lose another. My heart won't be able to take it."

*You have me. I'm a Grayson. I'll take care of you.*

"I don't want to lose you either. Here I know you are safe." Dick lifted his hand to rub his daughter's chubby cheek. "I know you'd take great care of me, Princess, but right now, let me take care you."

*You can teach me to fly, too. Like Uncle Tim and Uncle Jason.*

"I will, when you're bigger. I bet you'll be great at it."

*I love you, Daddy,* Haley said. *Now sleep. I have a feeling Uncle Tim is going to need you.*

"Love you, too, Princess." Dick held onto his daughter and snuggled down into the pillows and blankets to sleep.

***

"Okay students, turn in your lab work," the lab instructor stated. "If you haven't finished by now, you will have tomorrow. In fact, you will receive your first real assignment. Take blood samples from your family members and run a simple blood typing test and record the results. It's important to know a patient's blood type to know what type of blood they are going to need. Follow each step carefully. Afterward, I need you to look at the difference between a normal human, and a meta human. Since we do have a few of those. You could be treating either one or trying to discover what the problem might be. You will need to know the difference."

Jason got up with the rest of the class to turn in his papers. 'The difference between meta and normal human blood. Hm. Well, I guess I could take a look at Iris's blood. If she's visiting Damian. I wonder if Sammie's blood is like a meta's.'

"Before you leave, remember meta powers can either be inherited or created by some sort of change in the body's system," the instructor said. "There has to be something extraordinary about that person for it to occur and the conditions. You need to determine what that might be. Now, this is an optional part of the homework because metas might not want be willing to be interviewed. If you don't know a meta, that's all right. Your main homework is doing the blood typing of your family."

"This is going to be fun," Jason mumbled to himself. He grabbed his backpack, stuffed his book and notebook inside, and headed out of the classroom with the rest of his classmates. He made his way back to the car and headed home. He was excited about doing the assignment. It wasn't long before Jason pulled up to the gates of the manor and went and parking in the garage. He entered the house and made his way to the kitchen. He was usually hungry after class. Sasha was there feeding Jax and Jaylyn. Jason went over and kissed her cheek.

"How were your classes today?" Sasha asked.

"They were pretty good today. We got an assignment today. I have to take blood from family members to see their blood type. I need to be able to tell the difference between normal and meta."

"That should be interesting. Sammie, and Caleb should be different. Did the teacher included aliens in that?"

"Just our families," Jason said. He went over to the twins and kissed their heads. "How were these two?"

"Good, but something strange happened earlier today."

"What happened?" Jason asked. He noticed there was a plate of sandwiches on the table. He went and grabbed one.

"All the children sat in a circle today," Sasha explained. "They were sharing something very secretive. Oh, and Tim wants to talk to you. He became every freaked out. Dick was really worried about him."

"Ah, the secret circle."

Jaylyn looked at her brother. *You have to tell them. We won't be able to keep it. Secret for very long.*

*I'm not ready yet.*

"I better go and check on him before i start my homework," Jason said.

Tim was mumbling in his sleep then started thrashing about. "No . . . No . . . NO! I Can't get out! . . . NO!"

"Dada . . . Dada . ." Caine was woken up. He started patting his father. *Daddy . . . It's okay.*

"NO! . . . I CAN'T GET OUT!"

Continues with Part 8