The Jest of Robin

15: Side Effects and Wall Breaks

Mount Justice, April 1, 2010, 03:22 EST

Wally sat, holding Dick close to him as he slept. It had only been a few minutes after Dinah had given him the sedative, and strangled laughter still managed to slip out of his lips. Wally didn't think he was going to be able to go back to sleep, no matter how insistent Dinah was. Hearing those laughs, those horrible, blood curdling laughs, he was sure he would have nightmares for weeks to come.

The laughs reminded Wally of Robin's cackle, just much more deranged and hurtful. Robin always calculated, figuring out the best time to use his signature laugh, for "optimal bad guy scarage" he had called it. Dick's laughter was all over the place, like he had no control over it. Once it started, good luck stopping it.

Pushing the black hair out of Dick's face, he sighed softly. There were small scars littering the poor boy's face, no doubt from whatever Joker and anyone else decided to do to him. He was scared to see the rest of the small body, knowing Joker had definitely added scars and burns and who knows what else.

Sleeping, Dick looked extremely peaceful, aside from the occasional yelps of laughter that escaped his lips. His skin was a lot paler than it normally was, but considering the conditions, Wally's just glad Dick isn't turning a sickly green or gray. He gently curled in on himself, even in his sleep to be careful of his wounds, and he snuggled closer to Wally. Wally smiled at that. It was nice to know that Dick trusted him enough to snuggle up. Or maybe he had no idea he was doing it, having been given a sedative mere minutes before.

The door creaked open softly and his team of heroes could be seen peeking their heads in the door. Wally nodded in acknowledgement and let them know they could come in. They had all heard Dick's laughter, but weren't allowed in until he was properly sedated. "Hey guys."

The team all nodded their acknowledgement to Wally as they filtered themselves in the medium sized room. They didn't say anything, not wanting to make too much noise as they entered, disturbing the quiet. Not that it was quiet. The beeping of the heart monitors and whatever the fuck Black Canary hooked Dick up to kept the room far from quiet. Wally couldn't help but remember one of the many conversations he and Robin had had whenever one of them managed to work their way into one of these beds.

"I just hate the noise of them? You know? Like if it was a constant, annoying noise, I'd be fine with it. Like if it was a fan blowing air constantly, or you speaking, it would be completely fine."

"Hey, c'mon. I don't talk that much."

"Right, and I don't have a caffeine addiction. Anyway, if the machines were like those noises it would be fine, but instead it is a stupid rhythmic beeping that I can't seem to make shut up, and it drives me insane! I need to focus on not punching out the heart monitor any time it beeps."

Kid Flash laughed at that. "Rob, you know if you did that, not only would you cause panic, but you'd receive a hell of a scolding from Batman."

Robin shrugged as much as he could at that, careful to not jostle around his recently relocated shoulder. "I've dealt with worse. If I can sit through Joker's jokes, I think I can take a bit of a scolding from the man who dresses like a bat."

"You don't do any better. You don't even dress as a robin, you're literally a traffic light on legs."

"Uh hello? I'm an acrobat. I dress like one. At least I'm not copying my uncle, Mr. Kid Flash."

Kid Flash huffed out a laugh at that. "Just because it is true doesn't mean you need to say it. Besides I think it fits a little bit doesn't it? I am a kid, and I've got the same powers as Flash, and I got my powers the same way as he did."