Prologue:
After taking in Dick Grayson, Bruce created a disaster code, in case something went south during a patrol, and or someone in his family was taken. Upon something going south, a code was to be presented thus causing all of the Wayne family to regroup to discuss how they would proceed. Each family member has their own color, with Bruce's, the most complex and technical code, being black. In all of the years Bruce had been Batman, only one code has ever been activated...until now.
Serena's POV
I rolled onto my right side and reached for my pager that was going off on the bedside table. The first thing I did, before checking my pager was to see what time it was. I quickly glanced at my watch and saw the time: 3:30 am. While I love being a surgeon (seriously I do), I hate doing 24-hour shifts...it reminds me too much of my childhood. After glancing at my watch, I looked at my pager, and my eyes widened. 911. My patient was coding.
I practically jumped out of my bed (thankfully I had my shoes on) and ran out of the on-call room. I sprinted down the hall toward my patient's room. As a fourth-year surgical resident, my job on these 24-hour shifts mainly consist of managing the floor, making sure the patients who need surgery the following day are prepped and ready for surgery tomorrow, making sure the patients who already had surgery are comfortable and are monitored regularly, and to making sure that nobody dies...which right now, might be a possibility, depending on how fast I can make it to the patient's room.
The patient that was coding was a 70-year-old female who was due tomorrow for an aortic dissection, she had a large tumor around her aorta which was causing inadequate blood flow to her heart. I rounded the corner of my patient's room to see her O2 levels dropping, and the nurses were already grabbing a crash-cart.
"Talk to me." I ordered, as I quickly washed my hands and grabbed gloves.
"Her O2 levels are dropping along with her BP." One of the nurses explained.
I glanced over her vitals on the screen to her right.
"She's in V-tach, and she has inadequate hypoventilation. She needs a trach-intubation, start chest compressions, and give me a chest tube!" I explained quickly.
The nurses around me acted as I told them, and handed me both a laryngoscope and an endotracheal intubation. I stood at her head and began to open her mouth with the laryngoscope, while one of the nurses started chest compressions. Once I visualized her vocal cords, I inserted the tubed down her throat until it reached the end of her trachea.
"Start bag masking her, I'll take over chest compressions." I explained to the nurse beside me.
The nurse who was doing chest compressions moved aside as I took over chest compressions.
"Get the paddles ready." I told the nurse who was originally doing chest compressions.
The nurse did as I instructed and placed the paddles on the woman's chest. She handed me the paddles and turned the machine on.
"Charge to 200." I explained and she nodded. The nurse who was bag masking the woman stepped away.
"CLEAR!" I practically shouted before placing the paddles on the woman's chest. The woman's entire body jolted. I glanced at the vital monitor. No heart rate, or BP.
"Charge to 300." I told the nurse, and once again, she nodded.
"CLEAR!" I shouted again, and just like before, the woman's body jolted, when I placed the paddles on her chest. However, unlike last time, this time, her heart rate appeared on the screen, slow, but somewhat steady, along with her blood pressure, which was also low.
"Heart rate stable." The nurse who was bagging her explained as she grabbed an O2 tank about to hook her up to a ventilator.
I shook my head. "She's not stable. Her chest is slightly puffy and there is redness surrounding her thoracic cavity."
"We are bag masking her Dr. Wayne, it's characteristic of it." The nurse who operated the Defibrillation machine explained.
"No, her chest is slightly puffy with redness, she was just in V-tach, and she has been complaining of shortness of breath when she came in." I explained quickly as I put the guard rails up on both sides of her bed. "She's not stable, she's in Cardiac Tamponade."
Both of nurses' eyes widened.
"Call the OR, tell them we are coming up now, she can't wait until tomorrow." I explained as I started to guide the bed out of the room.
"But Dr. Petters isn't on call." The nurse who operated the machined explained as she grabbed the phone to call the OR floor.
"I don't care. Get me a cardio attending who can do this surgery with me, or I'll cut her open myself!" I shouted at her as I wheeled the bed down the hall, with the nurse following the bed, using the bagger, to give the woman some sort of oxygen flow. To me it felt like hours before we reached the OR floor, but it was a matter of minutes. Awaiting our arrival at the door of the elevator was the attending on call, Dr. Cleaver.
"Petters isn't going to like this one." He explained.
"I didn't have another option." I explained. "She has Cardiac Tamponade, if we don't operate now, she won't see tomorrow."
"Fair point." He said with a nod, as we assisted getting the woman into the OR where an Anesthesiologist and a whole team of scrub nurses were waiting.
Cleaver and I both put on our scrub caps and scrubbed all the way up to our forearms to disinfect any bacteria we may have had before entering the sterile field. The team of scrub nurses gowned and gloved us and made sure that our gowns were tied and we had surgical masks on, before we walked to the woman, who was now under anesthesia, and her oxygen was being given to her via a ventilator.
"Ok, we can't do anything until we drain the fluid." Cleaver explained and I nodded as he handed me a 10-blade.
I slowly, and carefully, once the woman was open, and her heart was visible, I made a pericardial window, which would allow for the fluid to drain from her heart and into her chest cavity.
"That should be all of the fluid." I explained.
"Time for the hard part, removing the tumor." Cleaver replied.
"It's one of the largest I've ever seen." One of the scrub nurses said in shock.
I nodded. "I'm surprised she lived this long without it bursting."
Cleaver nodded in agreement. "It's crazy. We have to be extremely careful."
We then proceeded with intense caution as we continued to work. Eventually, the tumor was dissected out, and we placed a synthetic graft on the aorta to allow for adequate blood flow to occur. Once the aorta was closed, we grabbed a set of paddles, which allowed for the heart to beat on its own, without the use of the bypass machine. Thankfully, the woman's heart started on its own, and had a steady rhythm. The entire OR clapped in glee, and I had the biggest smile behind my mask, this is why I love this job...I get to save people, every single day...legally. Gone are the days where I'm constantly getting shot at, running from the Joker, the Penguin, and the Mad Hatter, and in place are the days where I feel the same kind of adrenaline high in the chilling OR. I love my job.
Once the incision was closed, I walked into the scrub room and once again cleaned my forearms to get rid of any blood that might've gotten on me...even though there wasn't any. I grabbed my white coat that was hanging on the coat hook which said on the side Serena Wayne, M.D. and I also grabbed my stethoscope. I also took off my scrub cap as well. As soon as I walked out of the scrub room, I was met with my attending, Dr. Petters, who I didn't call for the surgery.
"Why didn't you call me?" She gritted through her teeth.
I sighed. "I didn't have a chance; I was saving my patient."
"Your patient, you mean my patient!" She shouted.
I shook my head. "No, I mean my patient. My job when I work a 24-hour is monitor the patients on the floor, and make sure nobody dies."
"You didn't consult with anyone!" She shouted again. "You have no appreciation for authority!"
I rolled my eyes in annoyance and was about to respond, but Dr. Cleaver, who noticed the exchange from his spot down the hall, stepped in.
"She did exactly what you asked of her. You told her to monitor the patients and keep them alive. She did just that. She decided in the heat of the moment, and it paid off. She saved her patient's life, and her patient will probably live another 20 years with the work she did. Did you know that she was in Cardiac Tamponade?" Cleaver asked.
Petters stumbled with her choice of words as she was shell-shocked on what I found without her.
"Exactly my point." Cleaver answered for her. "Dr. Wayne did an excellent job saving that woman's life. Instead of degrading her, you should be proud of her."
On that note, Dr. Cleaver walked away to finish his Post-OP chart for the woman we just operated on. I smirked at Dr. Petters before I walked away from her, heading towards the elevator, knowing I did a job well done on my patient.
I glanced at my watch, once again to see the time, and this time it read 9:45 am, which indicates, that my shift is over. Just as I was about to go and get my things so I could go home, I was stopped by one of the nurses.
"Dr. Wayne, can you take a look at this?" She asked.
"Jackie, I was just about to head home." I said with a small smile. "I just finished a 6-hour surgery."
"I know, I'm sorry but I think you'll be interested in this one. This just came in about an hour ago." She explained handing me an iPad that had X-rays on it. "18-year-old female, beaten to a pulp, her boyfriend found her lying in the street."
I started to walk down the hall toward the room.
"Any sign of foul play from the boyfriend?" I asked.
She shook her head. "He checks out clean, the cops ran a search on him, nothing came back. The girl has signs that she went through childbirth."
"Did you page OB?" I ask still looking over the scans on the tablet.
"Not yet I was waiting for you to examine her before we call OB. Her boyfriend told us that when she was 16, she had a baby, but she gave it up for adoption." She explained.
"Was he the father?" I asked glancing at her slightly.
"No, she explained the father died in a car accident." She continued.
"Any parents we should call?" I asked stopping in my tracks just outside the room.
"No." Jackie said with a shake of her head. "She said she doesn't want anything to do with her parents. That's one of the reasons why I wanted you to take this case. This girl had a troubled childhood. She explained that her father was abusive, and her mother is an addict...I know you didn't have the best childhood..."
I rolled my eyes. "It had its moments."
"Serena, I know you're good with kids...you should be in Peds." Jackie explained.
I sighed. This part of the job, I hate. I do love working with kids, but seeing kids beaten like this, has always made my blood boil. I guess that's what I get being thrown into fights as a kid by my parents.
"I'll go talk to them." I explained as I continued to walk down the hall. As I rounded the corner to the room, I knocked gently on the door before entering. My eyes didn't leave the tablet, as I was still amazed that this girl was alive.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Way-" I began,
"Serena?" A familiar voice practically shouted in disbelief.
I quickly looked up in disbelief and saw two people I knew all too well sitting in front of me. Lying down in bed was none other than Stephanie Brown, and sitting to her left in a chair was none other than Tim Drake.
"Steph, Tim...what are you both doing here?" I asked in disbelief.
"What does it look like we are doing? I got the shit beat out of me last night." Stephanie explained.
"What were you two doing?" I asked closing the door so that the rest of the floor couldn't hear our conversation...and to conceal the fact that I was standing in front of Spoiler and Red Robin.
"What do you think?" She asked with her eyebrows raised.
"Steph, I know you're annoyed from being here, but stop." Tim scolded before turning to me. "We were going after The Penguin."
"Os beat the shit out of you?" I asked in disbelief, knowing for damn sure that Oswald Cobblepot couldn't do shit in my opinion.
She shook her head. "His goons. They got some new moves on them."
"I'm sure." I explained as I sat down on the stool in the room. "Was my dad with you at least?"
Tim shook his head. "He was with Damian across town. They were taking down Clayface."
I moved closer to the bed, then activated my pen light to look into Stephanie's eyes. "What about Jason?"
"He's being Jason." Stephanie explained. "You know the drill. Chasing leads on the Joker using one bullet at a time."
I let out a small chuckle. "Sounds like he hasn't changed. I'm sure if you called Dick he would've come running."
"Doubt it." Stephanie said with a smirk. "He's busy working on a missing person's case."
"Missing person's case?" I ask in confusion. "What do you mean? There have been no reported abductions, but then again, I'm always in the hospital, so I wouldn't know."
"A couple of adults and a couple of kids went missing." Tim explained. "You know how Dick is...always getting into things he should be getting into."
I gave him a small smile. "Fair."
I continued in silence with my exam on Stephanie, and surprisingly, it checked out clear, although she has a minor concussion.
"So, you have a minor concussion, so I would take it easy for the next couple of days. Maybe not going on patrol and being under Alfred's observation." I explained.
"Sere, you know how difficult you are being?" Stephanie began in annoyance and frustration.
"Steph, you know how difficult you are being?" I asked in the same tone.
Tim let out a small laugh making me smirk knowing I was right.
"You know I'm technically not even allowed to examine you, since you are family." I explained standing up from my chair. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home, I've been up for 24 hours. Tell Alfred I said hi and tell my dad that I better not see him on my surgical floor!"
They both waved me out of the room, which indicated that I could finally go home and get some sleep. I walked into the locker room, changed my clothes into the clothes that I wore the day before, which were a pair of black leggings, a black nike sports bra, and a grey Stanford University sweatshirt. I glanced at myself in the mirror, as I took down the ponytail I had in my light brown hair. I looked exhausted. My green eyes which were usually shining and lively, had deep dark circles underneath them indicating my exhaustion. I quickly grabbed my bag and headed out of the hospital. I couldn't wait to get home, and I'm honestly surprised I made it to my car (a black Porsche 911 Carrera GTS that I paid for with my own money) without passing out. I'm surprised I made it through downtown Gotham without getting into a car accident.
Once I made it to my apartment, I trudged up the stairs and pushed open the door to my apartment. I slowly walked into my living room, dropped off my stuff, and slowly walked down my hallway to my bed. I quickly kicked off my shoes and climbed into my bed. I pulled the blankets up to my neck and turned the TV on. I started to flip channels until I stumbled on CNN. I turned down the volume and hit the button on my second remote I had, which activated my blackout shades in my bedroom...I liked to sleep in the dark...a thing I probably inherited from my dad.
The next thing that I remember was my phone going off that woke me up out of my deep sleep. I groaned in annoyance as I rolled over to check the time on my nightstand. 11:00 at night. I had slept almost 12 hours...which is more than I usually get these days...but that 24-hour shift really took the shit out of me. I grabbed my phone and answered it and didn't even both to look at the number.
"Hello?" I asked with exhaustion clearly trying to take over my voice.
"Good Evening, Miss Wayne." A familiar British accent explained over the phone. "I am sorry to wake you."
"Alfred?" I asked biting back a yawn. "You do realize that it is 11:00 at night and you are interrupting my sleep after a 24-hour shift at the hospital right?"
"I am terribly sorry Miss Wayne. I have important information to tell you." He continued.
"Alfred, can it wait until tomorrow morning, I'm exhausted." I explained.
"Code Black Miss Wayne." He blurted out making my exhaustion go away.
I immediately sat up in my bed not believing a word that came out of his mouth. "What did you say?"
"We have a Code Black Miss Wayne." He said slowly.
"I'll be there in 20 minutes." I immediately replied and hung up my phone and flung myself out of bed and into my bathroom.
After taking the fastest shower I've ever taken in my life, I quickly threw my hair up into a high ponytail, not even bothering to dry it, changed into a pair of black leggings with a white sweatshirt, grabbed my car keys and bag, I rushed out the door of my apartment and to my car to head to my Dad's house. I drove as fast as I could through Gotham, and I'm surprised I didn't get pulled over for speeding. It is in moments like these where I appreciate for having a car that goes over 100 mph.
As soon as I pulled up to the Wayne Manor gate, I entered my passcode allowing for the gate to open and letting me go onto the property. I drove around the water fountain in the center of the driveway and parked next to a black Lexus and a grey Audi. I grabbed my bag and headed up the front stairs to get in. I didn't even both knocking and barged through the front door.
I also didn't even bother with announcing myself as I walked into my father's living room and was met with my brother, Jason, Tim, Dick, Alfred, and Stephanie all looking at me.
"Welcome back Queen Serena." Jason said with a smirk and a laugh making my feeling of frustration and anger become heavily present on my face, which made his smirk disappear in a matter of seconds.
I stepped toward Alfred who engulfed me in a hug.
"Welcome home Miss Wayne. I wish it was under better circumstances." He explained as we pulled away.
"Is it true?" I asked in disbelief. "About Dad?"
He nodded. "I'm afraid so."
"I can't believe we have a Code Black." I said in shock as I leaned against one of the arms of one of the sofas.
"I'm still a little confused." Stephanie began. "What is a Code Black?"
I sighed. "When my Dick became Robin and when I was Batgirl my dad created a list of protocols or codes as he called them for what to do if something happens to one of us. For example, I'm Code Grey, because when I was a kid, the color of my room was grey. Dick is Code Blue, because his favorite color is blue, Tim is Code Gold, Damian is Code Green, Alfred is Code White, Jason is Code Red, and you are Code Purple."
"So do Codes indicate death?" She asked.
Dick shook his head. "No, Codes can mean anything, but in most cases, it means that someone is severely injured or missing."
"And in this case, someone is missing." Jason explained. "Getting a Code Black means that B is missing."
"And in the case that a Code Black does occur," I continued. "Standard protocol says that we all need to meet here to decide course of action going forward."
"Hence why I called you all here." Alfred explained.
"So, what do we do?" Tim asked in disbelief. "Tell the world that Bruce is Batman."
"We can't do that Tim, you know that." Dick said putting his head in between his hands.
"What other choice do we fucking have?" Jason practically shouted. "Batman is missing! Who the fuck is Batman again? Oh yeah, Bruce Motherfucking Wayne. It's not going to be long for people to figure out that Bruce is Batman based on the fact that both are MIA."
"Then we don't make them both missing." Damian explained.
"How?" Stephanie asked.
"Once of us pose as Father." Damian explained.
"No offense Demon," Jason began. "I get that you look like him, but you are not an adult."
"No." Alfred explained. "We can make it so that Master Wayne is working with one of his various charities in Africa and until we find him, we make it so that one of us is using a voice modulator, to disguise our voices."
"Who would run the company though?" Tim asked.
Alfred turned to me. "I believe it is stated within the protocol that Miss Wayne would be in charged until Master Wayne returns."
I immediately sat straight up. "No! Not going to happen!"
"C'mon Sere, take one for the team!" Jason groaned.
"No!" I snapped. "I am working 24-hour shifts in the hospital. I have a group of Residents that I am in charge of, and as a 4th year resident I am busy working in the OR left and right."
"Perhaps you can work less than 24 hours within the next week." Alfred explained.
I tilted my head to the side. "How?"
Alfred gave me a small smile. "Your father bought Gotham General this past week; the sale was finalized yesterday morning."
I sighed and crossed my arms. "I wouldn't be able to make every single meeting."
"I can make the board aware of that." Alfred explained.
"I want an advisor, someone to help me." I continued. "I want Lucius with me at my side to help me get through this."
Alfred nodded. "I will inform Mister Fox later today."
"Well, that solves one problem." Stephanie explained. "Now we have the bigger issue."
"What's that?" Tim asked.
"Who's going to be Batman?" Damian asked.
"Can't we just say he's on vacation when we patrol?" Stephanie asked.
I shook my head. "If Batman is missing, criminal activity will increase like no tomorrow, and you'll all be in over your heads with trying to catch criminals every night."
"You could come back, be Batgirl again." She offered.
I shook my head. "No, too much trauma." I explained rubbing the back of my neck, feeling the small scar I have there.
"I'll do it." Jason said with a small smile.
"You're too violent." I explained. "And you use guns. Batman does not use guns and doesn't kill. You know that's my father's number 1 rule."
"And yet every single person in this room, other than Blondie and Alfred have killed someone." Jason retorted making me sigh as I knew he was right.
"I believe the Code Black protocol states that Master Grayson is to take over the Batman mantle in Master Wayne's absence." Alfred explained.
"What?" We all asked in disbelief.
"That's impossible." Dick said in disbelief as he ran a hand through his short dark brown hair. "Why me?"
"He always believed that you had the sanest mentality out of all of his protégées." Alfred explained.
"He's not wrong there." I said with a slight head tilt.
My father knew us all too well, considering all the trauma we all went through caused us all to go to therapy...me especially due to all of the shit that went down with my mom...but that's a story for another time.
"I want to change the suit." Dick explained. "Give Batman an upgrade."
Alfred nodded. "I'll include that in the call to Mister Fox later."
"That leaves one problem." I interjected.
Dick turned to me. "How so?"
"Nightwing." I explained and he put his head into his hands.
"Sere, you are not helping the situation." Stephanie explained.
I shrugged. "I just worked 24 hours in a hospital and got yelled at by my attending for doing the right thing. Sue me!"
"Bludhaven has been quiet." Dick explained. "Nightwing can take a break...or we monitor both cities."
We all nodded in agreement before heading up the stairs to our designated rooms that we all choose many years ago as we all were too tired to drive back to our houses/apartments. Just as I was about to open the door to my childhood bedroom I was pulled aside by Dick.
"Are you ok?" He asked with concern.
I shrugged. "I guess. Are you ok?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. When Damian explained that they knocked him out and when he woke up Bruce was gone, I was concerned. I never thought a Code Black would happen."
"I know." I explained. "We already lived through a Code Grey though, right?"
I started to laugh, but the subject of a Code Grey was not something to joke about.
"Serena,"Dick began. "You almost died. I was there, I held you in my arms while you were bleeding out." He explained.
"But I'm not dead. Maybe there's some sort of leads on finding my dad." I retorted.
"Maybe we should call your mom." He began.
I shook my head. "Over my dead body."
He put his hands up in defense. "Fair point."
I nodded as I opened the door and stepped into my room. "I know."
After closing the door behind me I leaned back against it and practically collapsed to the floor, knowing the next steps into finding my dad were not going to be easy. And I finally realized that my life was about to change. For better or worse? I don't know. But I did know that nothing will ever be the same again.