Bluejay: The Protégé of Black Canary

The Boy Wonder can Dance?

I stared at the paper in front of me on the counter, a bowl of melted ice cream next to me. I'd read through the instructions probably three or four times, but my brain wasn't processing any of the words. I glanced again at the clock on the wall, but it seemed like the hands hadn't moved an inch. My finger twitched, and I had to stop myself from flinging the glass bowl into the wall.

It had been twelve hours since Dinah's special team of doctors had teleported into the Cave to examine my dad. They poured over the medical file I stole while she and Batman supervised them. Against my protests, I hadn't been allowed to join them as they tried to figure out whatever George Linh had done to my dad. 

Dinah insisted I try and get some sleep, but that proved to be impossible. My mind and body were restless to the point where I was nauseous with all the thoughts swimming through my brain. 

Once my father had been safely transported to the Cave early this morning, Dinah, Batman, and Green Arrow called in a team of trusted neurologists to come and take a look at my dad. While they did everything I requested- switching out the air in my dad's tank and the fluid in his IV, I explained. Through salty tears, I described everything from the very beginning...

How Dr. Linh had offered to treat my dad in exchange for help with the Intergang, and what kind of brain damage he claimed my father had. I explained how I was entrusted to transport a hard drive to Bruno, although I never found out what was on it. I confessed to lying about who my accomplice was at Gotham Hospital, admitting I had been the reason an innocent man was arrested in place of a sociopathic doctor. And then I told them about my newly discovered suspicions that George was more involved then he claimed to be, and how I broke into his house and discovered my dad's medical file. 

Dinah remained silent the whole time, her blue eyes avoiding me. She made a phone call, instructing someone to seek out Dr. Lawrence and set to release him from jail. I felt utterly ashamed. Just a week ago Dinah claimed she didn't trust me anymore. I knew she was mad and disappointed in me- I'd yet given her another reason I wasn't trustworthy. The thought of it tore me up, but now at least I knew the truth about Linh, and I had come completely clean.

There wasn't anything left for me to hide.

So to speak of Dr. Linh, we didn't catch him last night either. Batman himself went up to the penthouse after Robin described the severity of the situation, but George had vanished. It seemed he hastily packed a briefcase of things and left without a trace. Batman even checked at the hospital he worked at. No one knew where he went. 

My teeth ground together at the mere thought of him, my finger tapping against the counter. 

The Team returned from the party this morning few hours after we had brought my dad to the Cave. M'gann had loads of stories to tell about the party, but as much as I tried to match her enthusiasm, I just couldn't. She, Kaldur, Wally, and Connor must have figured that something was wrong and didn't press me, which I was grateful for. 

The rest of the day dragged on, every hour feeling like a week. Someone would occasionally come out of the room to give me updates, but other than that, whatever Linh had done to my dad was still a mystery. Training resumed that night as usual, but I opted not to participate. Robin was my only source of comfort in this whole ordeal, he being the only member of the Team who knew what happened last night. 

After sparing, my friends all migrated to the kitchen where I was attempting to work on some homework to kill time. It wasn't working. From behind me on the green couches, I could hear my friends having a discussion. 

"If I had a theme song it would be: the snack that smiles back, Wally!" I didn't even need to look behind me to know he was grinning. 

"I think that's already patented." Robin laughed.