Vigilante Justice - A Young Justice Fanfiction

Chapter 16: A Detective Gets Help (Finally)

As soon as the words left Dick's mouth, the surrounding officers exploded.

Angry shouts whizzed through the air like tiny fighter planes, fists brandished and egos in full swing as the men began to protest.

Even the junior heroes were looking at him askance, KF going so far as to press the back of his hand to Dick's forehead.

"You feeling alright? Sure you're not running a fever?"

"I'm fine." He slapped the hand away, bristling as much as his injury would permit. "Now bring me outside, we have to make sure Ida's okay." He warbled, his next word making him want to claw his own tongue out, "...please."

One look at Addams, and he knew the oily man would comply with his request no matter how mad it made his little underlings. Apparently, that threat of reporting his actions to the higher ups had done some serious damage.

Later, the on-scene investigator might have something else to say; but right now he still feared Dick enough not to question things.

KF had the gall to smile and mutter, "If you say so, little man."

Dick was going to flay this speedster alive.

He seethed in silence as they made their way towards the door, having no choice but to bide his time. Later, when he wasn't using KF as a crutch, he'd have to commit his first ever homicide.

Stepping through the bar doors felt like a slice of heaven.

The acrid stink of clingy cigarettes and awful liquor faded behind them, giving way to the still-not-so-pleasant-but-better-than-rotting-dead-bodies stench of the city.

The clouds had swirled above, blocking out the sun, and it looked as if it might rain later. The damp scent of it carried in the chill wind, tempting Dick to just stand there and breathe it in until the iron tang of blood was no longer caught in his nose.

The detective knew from experience that it would never really leave. It was the kind of smell that simply lingered, even when one was standing in the middle of a Target candle aisle.

It would linger forever, just like a memory. Snapped bones. A red-stained mouth—

He yanked himself out of his thoughts, quickly pulling back to the world around him.

Ida was outside standing next to the door, arms wrapped around her chest as she shuddered. Addams never had gotten her that shock blanket.

Miss Martian, who'd escorted the woman out earlier, was gently rubbing circles into Ida's shoulders. She didn't even glance up at them when they exited the bar, too intent on comforting their witness.

Letting out a few choice curses under his breath that caused to Wally side-eyeball him concernedly, he shucked off his dust covered uniform jacket and got Miss Martian's one-track attention.

He figured she'd be the least likely to comment on his behaviour, and his theory proved correct when she wordlessly took the jacket from his outstretched fingers.

Ida hesitated a second too long before taking it, makeup smeared eyes wide when they met Dick's.

He merely shrugged in response, subconsciously leaning into the speedster's warm body at his side. "We can't have you catching cold now, can we?" There was smile on his lips, and he knew she saw it.

"R-right," Her voice trembled in time with the shivers wracking her body, unsteady arms slipping the jacket over her shoulders.

He noted that it nearly fit her petite frame perfectly—except for where it sagged a bit on her arms and shoulders—and frowned.