Birdflash oneshots 2

Good old Human Testing

Dick wasn't sure where he was. He wasn't sure of much, really. He did know a few things. One: His body hurt like hell. Two: Some mad scientist was injecting strange things into his arm and it made him feel sick. Three: He was pretty fucked. He was currently bound to a wall, hands above his limp body. He could vaguely see his blue emblem on his chest, so he must've been in his human uniform. This guy was testing on Nightwing, not Dick Grayson. Whatever he was doing, Dick hated it. He didn't remember the last time he'd eaten. Food felt like something he'd dreamed of, like it wasn't real. Like it was something he'd fantasized about, but could never reach. He needed help. He needed someone to come rescue him.

One day, the scientist came flanked by two guards.  Dick felt a weak chuckle erupt from his throat. "Finally get tired of me? Come to kill me off?" The scientist grinned. "Not quite. I'm afraid I've put many expensive things into you, which means it'd be a waste of my money to kill you. No, I've come to activate you." "What, like the Winter Soldier? Gonna cut off my arm and replace it with metal." "Maybe, but that's not the objective for today. Now, be a good boy and come along. No time to waste today!" The guards unlocked the shackles around his wrists, yanking him to his feet. Dick just barely stayed upright. "This how you treat all your test subjects?" "Just the interesting ones. If this succeeds, I may see about slipping you some scraps." The guards started pulling Dick out of the chamber, not caring whether he managed to walk or not. He was dragged through several dark hallways, all caked with moss and...some weird purple substance. Dick didn't even want to imagine what it was. For all he knew, it could be liquefied humans. 

They finally tossed Dick into a glass cylinder, similar to those that meta-human traffickers used. "Hate to break it to you, but I don't have a meta-gene. If you're trying to activate that, it won't work." Dick croaked, forcing himself to stand up. He was exhausted. The scientist sighed. "Everyone these days is so obsessed with meta-humans and meta-genes, they all forget where this came from: science. The desire to produce humans beyond anything we could've imagined has always been a concern, but we didn't use meta-genes then. We used human testing. And you, my dear fellow, are going to be the first of a new age. No meta-human will be able to stand against you." He pressed a button on a console, and Dick noticed a thin yellow liquid start to trickle into the cylinder. It was hard to breathe. "You may notice that you're feeling extremely tired, or that the strength from your body seems to be disappearing. That's perfectly normal. The best thing for you to do is sit down and just let it happen. The more you fight, the longer it'll take." Dick just glared at the man, forcing himself to stay up. What? He was a college kid fueled by coffee, ramen, and spite. Like hell was he going to amuse this madman.

The water had reached his waist when he started feeling weak. It was exactly like that guy had said: the strength was just draining from his muscles, although he wasn't sure where it was going. Still, Dick forced himself to stand. He wasn't going to back down now. The scientist looked at his watch and grinned. "Lunchtime. I'll be back in a few minutes. Try not to die, alright? I'd hate to lose such a valuable test subject." He left Dick alone, and it didn't take long for his legs to give out. He couldn't stand anymore. He could barely draw in a breath. He really needed help.

Dick blacked out. He just didn't have the strength to try and save himself. If he drowned, he drowned. Bruce would understand. He'd understand that Dick just couldn't do it. He'd tried, though. He'd held on as long as he could. Wally would probably take it hard, but he'd get it. He'd know Dick loved him. He'd understand that Dick tried, that he'd attempted to return to his lover. It just...it hurt too much to do anything else.

When he woke up again, he was in some sort of hospital room. He felt wrong, though. Something wasn't right. Where was he? The scientist usually just threw him back in his cell. Dick forced himself to sit up, although it made his head spin. He needed to get out of here. He needed to find Wally. He was scared. Something was wrong, very wrong. Dick tossed his legs over the edge of the bed, forcing himself to stand up. That turned out to be a bad idea when his knees buckled from under him. The monitor next to him started screaming, and he realized it was a heart monitor. He must've had wires on his chest, and they probably disconnected when he fell. He ignored it, though, and tried to stand up again. His legs gave out again, but strong arms caught him this time. "Hey, easy. I've got you, Dickie. I've got you." Wally whispered, pulling Dick to his chest. "Wally?" Dick asked quietly, digging his head into Wally's neck. "Yeah, it's me. Come on, let's get you to bed." "What happened?" "We rescued you from Thomas Wickerson, the scientist who kidnapped you. Just lay back, okay? You're still very weak."

"What did he do to me? There were so many needles, I know it did something." Dick asked as Wally helped him back into bed. "We're not sure yet. However, that does not mean panic. There hasn't been anything weird recently, so just breathe and focus on that. So far, we've found that your skin is a lot tougher. Leslie had to use a stronger needle to actually get your IV in. So, hopefully the injury count will start to go down." Wally slid in next to Dick, pulling the acrobat to his side. "How long was I gone?" "A little over a month. Wickerson likes to hide his tracks well. We managed to find you a few days ago, when he was pulling you out from the really tall chamber. We were worried you'd drowned for a bit, but you were breathing, so we ruled it out. How do you feel?" "I don't know. Something feels wrong, though. I don't know what it is." "Well, that's okay. As long as we're together, we'll figure it out. I promise you." "Never leave me." "Don't plan on it any time soon. Now, get some sleep. Leslie will be by soon to check on you." "What about the monitor?" "I've already told them it's a false alarm. Let me turn it off." Wally pressed the button, waiting until he heard a beep to let go. "Thanks." "No problem, Dickie. Now, sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." "Promise?" "I promise. Now and forever."