Sick Bird.

73. Aliosum

_=_

"You killed that man to save me," was the first thing that spilled out of Dick's mouth the moment he regained consciousness. His body ached dully and his mouth tasted of bile but the dim lights didn't hurt his eyes anymore and there was only a quiet buzzing in his ear now.

This isn't my cell. He blinked twice to be sure, curiously scanning the ceiling he was staring at. Where am I?

Everything that happened replayed through his mind and he flinched, only to grimace when the movement made pain flare in his torso.

Sebastian was immediately by the bird's side, looking haggard with his white shirt smeared with blood and his hair scattered in all directions. The man raked Dick up and down with his eyes, before finally calming down and letting the dangerous air that surrounded him fall away.

Dick watched the whole process with amusement. He sort of reminds me of Bruce sometimes, he thought, I wonder what will happen when they meet each other.

"I was going to kill him anyway," Sebastian replied nonchalantly once he had settled himself on the chair beside Dick's bed—of course he had shifted the chair forward until his chest practically flushed with the edge of the hospital bed. "But he might have had his body intact if he hadn't laid his hands on you."

The thirteen year old smiled at that from beneath his oxygen mask, too aware of the needle sticking into his arm and the sensors scattered across his chest. "I've gotten worse, haven't I?"

Sebastian let a slow breath, his fingers having somehow found their way into Dick's hair. "Stop talking."

"Why did you poison me?" Dick asked, his eyes still trained on the man's worried expression. "You're too nice to do that."

"I'm not nice, I just killed a man in front of you remember?" Sebastian let his hands move down and removed the mask from Dick's face. "How is it? Can you breathe?"

Dick nodded, only to frown when pain exploded in his chest. "I want the truth," he said hoarsely and sunk his head deeper into the pillow.

"I've already told you," Sebastian sighed and fitted the mask back on. "You're the best option. Batman will put in his all if you're the victim."

"Why do you need Batman to put in his all?"

The man said nothing and leaned back into his chair, but the pain in his eyes spoke volumes.

"Where are we?" Dick decided to ask a different set of questions, trying to see if his guess would end up being correct.

"On my private jet."

"Why are we going to Gotham?"

At this Sebastian smirked, as though he was aware of something Dick wasn't. "Didn't you say you wanted to go home?"

"You're taking me back?" The bird's eyes widened at the man's question. "Why?"

"Didn't you say I should help your pathetic mentor?"

"Why do you keep saying things I said?!" Dick huffed in exasperation and Sebastian smiled. "You clearly don't want to answer my questions."

"You should sleep." he told the boy, "we'll be in Gotham in two hours."

Dick gulped and bit on his lower lip, contemplating whether he should say what was on his mind or not. After a minute of mental battle he finally decided.

He sat up with difficulty, batting away Sebastian's hands when the man tried to help him. "Does someone you care about have Aliosum?"

Sebastian stiffened and evaded Dick's eyes. He stayed silent and sank back into his seat, his hair shielding his face from scrutiny.

"The Light, they poisoned that river, didn't they? They were testing Cadmus's new bioweapon back then, right? Now they want the antidote because maybe one of them is infected. Or maybe they want to sell the drug and make profits," Dick rushed through his speculations. "You also want the antidote but you're currently the sole possessor of the WP17 virus, and I've been thinking about why. Is someone you know dying too?"

Sebastian let out a low chuckle and the silence that hung after Dick's words vanished and the boy waited nervously for the man's answer. "You," the man traced the stumble on his jaw. "You're a pretty smart kid. Maybe I should have poisoned your mentor and had you do the detective work."

"But. . ." Dick laid back down to stare once more at the ceiling, feeling content with piecing together more of the story behind his sickness. "Did you actually poison me?"

He felt Sebastian grip his arm in a light but firm hold. "Sleep," the man commanded quietly. "We'll talk more when we land."

Dick knew better than to resist Sebastian's hypnosis by now, so before he knew it he was already out like a light.

~.

It seems like we might be getting close to the end? Maybe? IDK.