Avoiding Past And Future

(33)Intermediate

Things were, in fact, not fine.

Patrol had been going great, a bit too great. They had gotten a little too sloppy and accidentally walked right into a turf war. With the three of them, it wasn't that hard to handle. The worst part was Danny's control over his visibility failing at just the right time for Dick to witness the sloppiest punch he has ever seen in his life. Alley toddlers quite literally threw better punches than whatever that was! Dick had immediately demanded the rest of the patrol would be combat training. They really needed to work on that more than improving Danny's power control.

But of course that couldn't just be their only issue.

Like agreed before he left to suit up, Dick had gone home with Batman after patrol. In part to get some supplies for training but also to go see Alfred after leaving the poor butler alone with Bruce for 3 days straight.

And lucky that he did.

As he was gathering supplies down in the Cave, Dick had seen a note that Bruce failed to talk to Selina yesterday since she wasn't home. He had planned to go in the morning to check again. He tried to call Selina's cell but she didn't pick up.

So here he was, racing across Gotham rooftops like a bird out of hell. Hoping he'll make it to the apartment before Batman did. By some miracle, their favorite window was left open, giving him an easy entry. "Selina?" He called out, trying to catch his breath while Shiro screamed at him. "Mama! Are you home?" Frantically he knocked on her bedroom door, worried about not seeing Danny in a pile of pillows and cats by the couch.

After what felt like an eternity, a very groggy Selina opened the bedroom door. "Honey? What's wrong?" She didn't hesitate to check him over for injuries, mind suddenly wide awake as she realized Dick showed up in his Robin suit from the night before. Had Dick even slept?

"Batman! Where is Danny? I didn't see him by the couch." Dick was zooming around the room, trying to find Danny in whatever spot was appropriate to look.

Selina grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to stop. "Dick, breathe. Tell me what happened, slowly."

Dick took a steading breath, the stress tremors in his arms subsiding slightly. "Batman is coming, here, now. He was supposed to talk to you last night but because you were out with us he couldn't. I tried to call you but you didn't pick up and, god, I really need to get Danny a phone, don't I. But I need to get him out of here before B gets here to talk to you." He wasn't sure how many words he jumbled together but there were still a few as his mind was racing.

Selina forced him to look up at her with a gentle nudge. "Dick, go pack the spare stuff from your bag and go back to the manor. If he asks, you say you forgot something for school. Danny is sleeping in the bathtub-don't ask. I'll go wake him up, you focus on the bag and the stuff Danny used." Dick nodded a few times, needing a minute to take it all in before he set off to pack the bag.

Selina quickly plugged in her phone and let it start up as she walked over to the bathroom, calling over Danny's favorite walking alarm clock. "Enjoy yourself, Nanaki." Right on cue, Nanaki rushed into the bathroom and started singing his favorite song for Danny. However the boy had managed to get in a position that made pretzels look straight, she didn't know and she also feared knowing how so it was best to just not even think about it.

"Oh my god, Nanaki, why." Danny whined as he tried to contort himself even more to escape from Nanaki's screaming.

"Danny, darling, we need you to wake up, preferably right now." She called out to him. With clear reluctance, she watched Danny untangle himself and sit up straight. Shiro hopped out from wherever he was hiding and ran out. Only a moment later, Shiro was screaming at Dick, probably winding up the poor boy even more.