Brothers?

Little brother

I stood behind Bruce, as he typed away at the bat computer in the cave, tapping my foot impatiently. "Dick" Bruce starts getting annoyed. "You know I can't get this going any faster." "The League is going to investigate, especially with the new evidence you gathered, but we have to be smart about it." "We can't just storm the town, people would think the League thinks we are above the rules."

 "I know" I sigh running a hand through my hair. "I'm worried about Danny."Bruce cuts his eyes at me and says "He's been defending the town by himself since he was twelve years old, I think he will be fine for a few more days." I just give Bruce a look that says clearly what I think of that statement. Bruce ignores the look and says "Why don't you tell me more about Danny, so I have some idea what he's like before we go back to Amity Park?"

 I smile fondly even though I recognize the distraction for what it is. "He's a good kid Bruce." "I mean a really good kid." "He could use his powers to rob banks or take whatever he wanted, instead he helps people, even when they're afraid of him." He loves his family, and would do anything for his friends." "I worry about him though, he doesn't get enough sleep or enough to eat, I'm pretty sure he has a fast metabolism, not speedster fast but faster than most peoples."He heals quickly too." "Which is probably the only reason he hasn't been to a hospital, you should see his scars, and I only saw a few, when I treated his arm."

 A thought occurred to me. "His arm, did we get the results back from his blood sample?" Bruce nods "We did, I used the advanced technology on the watchtower to analyze it." "It seems as if somehow his DNA was infused with a foreign substance, the structure itself was the same, which is why a basic DNA test showed your relation, however, the foreign substance coated his DNA and now his body produces it in small quantities, although, you said he has another form, I'm guessing you would see more of the substance when he's in that form." "However, that is just guesswork without further testing." I sigh and nod "What do you think that means for Danny?" Bruce shakes his head "I don't know, but considering he has had his powers for at least two years without complication, I would think he's fine for now." "Maybe we can discuss testing with him once we figure out the situation in his town."

 I hear Alfred enter the cave just as I was about to tell Bruce goodbye for the day and head back to Bludhaven. "Master Dick" Alfred starts "would you care to join us for dinner?" No sane person turns down Alfred's cooking so I nod with a smile. "Excellent" Alfred says "Dinner will be ready shortly, I expect BOTH of you to be washed up and at the table." Alfred levels a look at Bruce that would make Darkseid quell, and calmly walks away. "You know, next time we should just send Alfred after the bad guys, save us a lot of hassle." I say as I walk away to do exactly what Alfred said.   I hear Bruce slide his chair away from the computer, and follow me out of the cave. 

Dinner was nice, good food and easy conversation with my family, well as easy as it ever gets with the Batfamily, of course none of us mention the missing member of our family. Everyone thinks I'm naive to think so but I think some day we'll get Jason back. He is and will always be one of my brothers. I'm chuckling at Tim and Damian's bickering when I hear my phone ringing. I recognize the ringtone I had set for Danny. "Master Dick" Alfred admonishes "no phones at the table." I give him my best puppy dog eyes, "But it's Danny." He sighs knowing how much Danny means to me, and I pick up the phone. 

"Hey Danny" I say cheerfully "Dick" I hear a soft female voice say "Mrs. Fenton" I say uncertainly. "Yes, I'm calling because there's been an accident." I hear her breath hitch and a choking sound I recognize as someone trying not to cry. I look up and realize my entire family is watching me silently. I put the phone on speaker and put it down. "What do you mean accident?" "Is Danny ok?" "Dick this is Jack, Danny's dad." I....we don't know how to tell you this but Danny was hurt, badly." He's at Amity Park Memorial Hospital, he's.......I can hear him take a shaky breath. It's not good Dick." "You should come if you can, I think he would want you here." I stare at my phone for a minute before asking "What happened!?" Jack sighs "I know people think the town is a hoax, but we really do get attacked by ghost and occasionally other supernatural creatures." "Phantom our local hero, was fighting some type of creature, and...Danny...Danny got caught in the crossfire." "I see." I say mind numb. "I'll be there as soon as I can." After I hang up I look at Bruce.

 "They called Phantom a hero just now, before it was ghost scum, and how they were going to tear him apart." "They know." I look at Bruce worry clear on my face. "They sounded upset about him being hurt" He starts " I don't think they have any intentions of hurting him." I'll call ahead and have the jet ready for you." "You go ahead as Dick Grayson, I and the team that was going to investigate will follow soon as we can." "Now that there has been a serious injury we are justified in not waiting for there local government to give us permission." 

I'm still just standing frozen trying not to think about just how bad Danny was hurt for his healing abilities to not be enough, when I feel Alfred put a hand on my shoulder. "I will get you a bag ready, you still have some of your stuff here, and I will drive you to the airport myself, try not to let your mind wonder to the worst case scenario Master Dick it will not do you or your brother any good." I shake my head to clear it. "Your right Alfred, thank you." 

It took a little over two hours to reach Amity Park from Gotham in Bruce's private jet. I went straight to the hospital. The older man at the front desk directed me toward ICU. I went up to the fifth floor and had to use a phone to call back and ask permission to go in. I was allowed in, apparently the Fentons had told the staff about me being family. I was glad I would be able to see Danny without having to sneak in. I saw Jack, Maddie, and Jazz waiting outside Danny's room. I got closer and looked at them questioningly. Maddie gives me a watery smile and says "they are doing test right now, they'll let us back in, in a minute." Jack nods and rest his hands on Jazz's shoulders, but we are only allowed in two at a time, so I'm going to take Jazz home for awhile. Jazz's shoulders hitch and tears well up in her eyes. I hug her and whisper "he's strong, he'll fight." "I know" she says"but I've never seen him this hurt." Jack leads her away and I turn to Maddie and ask quietly "How bad is it?" 

Her eyes are red and puffy and her skin pale, but she takes a deep breath and answers, "He has several broken ribs, his right leg was broken in three places, his left lung was punctured by a broken rib and collapsed, so he has a chest tube, he has a severe skull fracture, his jaw was severally bruised but not broken, he was burned in several places, he had several internal injuries, his spleen had to be removed, his liver was lacerated but the doctors assured me they were able to repair the damage. His kidneys are bruised, so they are watching his output in case they shut down." At that point she stopped talking and broke down completely. I hugged her and waited for her to compose herself. "He is in a medically induced coma, so he's intubated, he has the chest tube I mentioned before and he's hooked up to heart monitors and other monitors to watch his vitals." "He looks terrible if you don't want to go in that would be understandable."

I shake my head, "I can handle it, I want to see Danny." She nods and turns toward the door waiting for the doctor to come out. She steps out a few moments later. I am finished with my assessment for now, you can go in. I nod and say thank you. I step into the room and am still shocked by Danny's appearance despite the warning Maddie had given. She was right he looked terrible, he had bruises covering every inch of skin I could see,bandages from head to toe, a cast on his right leg, a tube coming from his chest, and one down his throat helping him breath. I took a breath and sat in a chair close to Danny being cautious of the wires. "Why is he in a medically induced coma?" I ask "I mentioned the skull fracture before?" I nod and she continues "His swelling on the brain, they put him in the coma hoping it would keep it from working so hard and the swelling would go down." I nod showing I understand what she's saying. We lapse into silence and I just watch the steady rise and fall and Danny's chest as air is forced in and out of his lungs. 

Oh little brother, I'm sorry, this shouldn't have happened to you. I'll make it up to you, somehow.