Parental Bat Moments

Bang! (Part Two)

In the few weeks that followed the team and Static were able to round up nearly all the dangerous bang babies and contain them while Flash and Batman worked on finding a cure for their powers. But there were 3 that were still eluding them.

'Talon will properly be the easiest of the three to capture.' Said Static showing them a picture of a girl covered in orange feathers with wings for arms. 'Hot streak is powerful but he's also hot-headed, you find a way to wind him up, he'll let his rage consume him and will lose concentration.'

'Well we know how to deal with someone like that, don't we Super Boy,' laughed Kid Flash but he soon shut up when Connor gave him a challenging look.

'Ebon will be the hardest, he is quite literally a shadow. The only things I've found that works on him are either my static or ice. Seeing as we're all out of ice, I'll have to do,' he let out a nervous laugh.

'Ok,' said Wally. 'So we'll split up and deal with the bird girl and hot head and you deal with shadow guy if you need any back up just holler!' He made it sound so easy.

'In theory,' said Nightwing, he was sat at the table adding his input into their plan; today seemed to be one of his good days but everyone could still see he was fading.

'It's a shame you can't be out there with us, Nightwing,' said Static, 'from what I've seen in the past you're a force to be reckoned with.' 

Nightwing shrugged as his friends looked at him sadly. 'It won't be long before I am back on my feet again.'

Robin frowned and bit his lip. 'I still think you should go to see...'

'Please don't start that again,' Nightwing snapped at his brother who returned his shrug, it was an argument they were all getting tired of.

'Right then, we should all go get some sleep, we'll set off in the morning.' They all agreed with Artemis and dispersed from the room, Static hung back for a moment until it was only him and Nightwing in the room. Nightwing stood and steadied himself with the table, allowing the world to spin for a moment before it started to still again.

'You know there were quite a few of us who were affected by the bang,' said Static almost to himself. Nightwing didn't look at him, not wanted the new hero to see the sweat forming on his forehead from the simple act of standing.

'I know,' said Nightwing. 'I had to input them all into the database.' He wondered where the other hero was going with this; it didn't sound like simple small talk.

'Did you know some of them tried to ignore their new powers? They tried to hide them.'

 Nightwing took and intake of breath before straightening himself fully and trying to walk from the room, but the New Yorker followed him. 'At first,' he continued 'it was like a common cold, but then after a while, their powers started destroying them from the inside.' Nightwing was moving faster now trying to get away from the words that were coming from the other man's mouth. Finally, he turned to face him with a mild version of the bat glare on his face.

'As interesting as that all is that doesn't really help us to capture the three outlaws does it.'

 Static looked sad. 'No, it doesn't, but I was hoping it would warn you.'

'I don't know what you're talking about.' He turned again and tried to walk away but Static grabbed him and pushed him against the wall. In his weakened state, Nightwing could not force the younger man off.

'A fever does not take over a person's body for over a year without a just reason. You are refusing to seek help even though it is going to kill you.' He grabbed Dicks chin and made him look him in the eye. 'It is going to kill you Nightwing.'

'Get off me!'

'Not until you tell me what you're hiding,' Static could see the body he held in place was beginning to get stressed, he could also see the man's lips were starting to turn blue. Shocked he stood back letting the man fall to the ground shivering.

'What's going on? Nightwing!' Wally ran forward, falling to his knees by his best friend, the younger hero was freezing to the touch.

'Static help me get him up, we need to get him warm.'

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An hour later, Dick was asleep on the couch covered in layers of blankets with Batgirl stroking his hair; the concern on her face evident.

'What were you doing before I came over?' asked Wally firmly not taking his eyes off the scene on the couch.

'I was trying to convince him to get help for his illness,' Said Static, it wasn't technically lying. Wally sighed

'Better men than you have tried, dude. Nightwing is stubborn; we've been trying to convince him for months.'

'Can't you just force him?' 

The ginger shook his head. 'He's over 18 and therefore we can't do anything without his consent. Batman is his next of kin and he won't disrespect Nightwing's wishes.' They were silent for a moment before Wally continued. 'But this symptom in new, for the last 9 months D...Nightwing has been complaining of being too hot, he was burning up. But now, he's freezing, verging on hypothermic.'

Static stayed silent, keeping his worries to himself. If his theory was correct then it wouldn't be long before Nightwing was past hypothermic. But he tore himself away from thoughts of the young hero, they had a mission to complete which needed their full attention. As the heroes started to leave for their mission Batgirl got up to stretch her legs. So far no one had noticed the blue tint to the boys' lips or the greying of his black hair.