Don't Fear the Reaper

84) Well Call Bruce the Rock, Because He's Got a Game Plan

When Bruce got a call from Stephanie, he expected to hear that there had been a monster attack of something—bad, but not unexpected.

He was surprised to learn that there was a mugging, Nico had a knife to his throat, fought back, and then got shot—very bad, and very unexpected.

He drove so fast that he wouldn't have been surprised if someone tried to pull him over, however most cops in the area were probably responding to the fact that a Wayne-adjacent person was caught in a mugging that ended in someone being shot. Considering the fact that Bruce donated a substantial amount to the police department in an attempt to rid it of corruption, they were probably shitting themselves.

When Bruce pulled up to the scene, he immediately took notice to the crowd that had gathered. Steph hadn't given much detail—only that Nico had been shot and it was non life threatening—but there was a large gap between not life threatening and nothing at all. For all Bruce knew, Nico had been shot through the abdomen and Steph just knew that it didn't hit anything vital.

He jumped out of the car, wasting no time in not only running towards Steph and Nico, but calling to the police officers who weren't currently arresting the two muggers to keep the bystanders away. The people cleared the way for him, most of them pulling out their phones to snap pictures, but the police did their best to block the scene.

As Bruce sprinted over, he saw the look of pain on Nico's face and instantly felt sick. Steph held a towel that was turning red firmly to his upper arm, but the way Nico gripped on top of her hand and the way he was shaking sent a jolt of panic over him.

"He needs a paramedic!" Bruce yelled over his shoulder before quickly rushing to Nico's side. "Nico, it's okay. I'm here. The paramedics are coming over now. It'll all be okay-"

"Bruce," Nico said weakly through clenched teeth. "I... I need to tell you..."

The man instantly drew closer to hear the kid, terrified about what he was about to say. He knew consciously that the wound wasn't fatal, so it wasn't like he was about to hear Nico's last words or anything, but seeing someone you care for deeply bleeding in an alley made everything they said feel infinitely more weighted.

"I'm right here," Bruce said, resisting the urge to hold onto the kid tightly. "I'm so sorry this happened—I should have sent security or-"

"Bruce," Nico cut in quietly, his voice full of pain as the kid grabbed the front of Bruce's shirt and pulled him closer. The man waited with bated breath to hear what Nico apparently needed to tell him... and then the kid whispered, "I'm a pretty good actor, aren't I?"

Bruce sat straight up, looking at Nico with wide eyes as Steph muffled a snort laugh with a cough. Nico's face was still twisted in agony, but now Bruce noticed the spark of mischief in his eyes.

"You little shit," Bruce whisper yelled, making sure no one else could hear as the paramedics finally began making their way through the crowd with a gurney. "I thought- you looked like you were damn near ready to pass out from the pain. I felt terrible-"

Nico let a small smirk fall on his face before he returned to his facade of pain, muttering under his breath, "An opportunity to scare the Bat doesn't happen everyday."

Bruce sat back on his heels, running a hand through his hair as relief flooded through him. He huffed out a small sigh that was half a laugh before he pulled out his phone. "All my children are gremlins," he muttered under his breath before he clicked Dr. Thompson's contact and put the phone to his ear, still keeping a close eye on Nico and Steph and the paramedics began assessing Nico.