Mending Wounds Chapter 2

Chapter 2: With Tender Hands

A figure stood on the ledge of Wayne tech tower.

Red Robin, Tim Drake, was currently on patrol in Gotham City. It was only 8 p.m. and the sun was barely beginning to set. Why he was out so early was beyond him. It might have been due to the fact that he only got about three hours of sleep in the past week. Or maybe it was the fact that his OCD had gotten worse after the disappearance of his little brother. But perhaps the biggest reason why he was out on patrol so early was because he couldn't stand sitting at home and not being able to find a single clue on the whereabouts of his brother. Whatever the case, Tim felt like he needed to patrol the streets of Gotham.

It was better than being at home anyways. Home was just a place full of anger and regret. But it may have been the 147 messages on his answering machine, most of which were from Conner.

Conner. He was the first person from the team who offered to look for Dick. Like everyone he was expecting a simple search but when a week turned into months, his patience got the best of him. One conversation turned their loving caring relationship into an angry sparing and shouting match.

The conversation rang in his ears.

"Tim. He's gone. We just have to accept it and move on. Dick's gone. And he's never coming back. Let's just give up, he's not worth it."

Not worth it.

It hurt.

It hurt that Conner told Tim that the one person who helped him get through his OCD, the one person who could understand what he was going through, the one person he cared about more than Conner, was not worth it.

Granted it may have been the lack of sleep that caused Conner to say such a thing, but Tim did not know how Conner could have thought, let alone say what he said.

Their relationship went downhill from there. Tim made sure he would disappear from Conner's reach. He left the team, he never called, and he made sure Conner was always at least hundred feet from him.

Even during patrols. Tim made sure Conner was in another state before he went out in costume. He could not forgive him for what he said about Dick.
He couldn't even forgive himself for being so useless in the search.

But he would continue searching. Even if it was the last thing he could ever do. He had to find his little brother.

He just had to. Not for the sake of his own psyche but for his family's.

Tim sighed as he pulled his cowl over his head. He shot his grappling hook and began his patrol.
******

"Shit." Wally muttered. "Dick. Dickie?" Wally asked as he shook the unconscious ebony in his arms. He gently laid Dick against the alley wall. He placed two fingers on his neck, checking for a pulse. It was weak, but that was better than no pulse at all.

"Aw man. Dickie please wake up." He said as he gently tapped his hand on Dick's cheek. The ebony just laid there, unmoving. And that scared the crap out of Wally. Dick hands were now on his sides, and because of that Wally finally noticed it.

Blood.

A blotch of red was slowly seeping through the left side of Dick's rib cage. Dick's entire right hand was cover in the bright red substance. As his eyes roamed down the rest of Dick's body he could see that it was covered in many tiny and fresh cuts. Even in the dark he could see there was something wrong with his little bird. Wally cursed under his breath.

He was never really good with this type of stuff. After all, he was a speedster. His cuts and bruises healed abnormally fast thanks to his powers. But Wally did know the basics. First things first, he would have to at least apply pressure on the larger wound located near Dick's rib cage. Problem was, he didn't have any first aid material on him.
Then a light bulb went off.

Dick's utility belt.

He always carried his utility belt. It was Batman's number one rule: Always have your utility belt on you at all times. Wally knew he had some sort of first aid items in his belt.

He started to rummage through Dick's pocket until he finally found what he was looking for; a piece of gum. To the naked eye the yellow item would just look like a regular piece of gum. But Wally knew better. He applied just enough pressure to the middle of the gum like item and sure enough the tiny piece of gum transformed into a large yellow utility belt.

Wally hoped that Dick had not changed any of his belt slots because god knows how many traps were hidden around the slots. Last time he tried to grab a smoke pellet from one of the pockets he ended up knocking himself out with Dick's knock out gas.

Wally remembered Dick showing him which slot had what. If he wasn't mistaken, first aid materials would be in the third slot to the left. To his relief none of the slots were changed and he found exactly what he needed.

Bandages.

He carefully unwound the roll of bandages and wrapped them loosely around his arms. He then proceeded to carefully take a birdarang out of Dicks back pockets and slice open Dick's jacket as carefully as possible. Wally winced when he saw what was under Dick's shirt.

There was a long gash about the length of a ruler running from the middle of dicks chest down the left side of his ribs. The gash looked fairly new and by the amount of blood seeping from the wound, Wally guessed it had to be pretty deep. He knew the wound would obviously need stiches. He began working right away. He knew he wouldn't be able to get much done in an empty alley way, but he had to try.

Wally used what was left of Dick's undershirt to try and soak up some of the excess blood. This action caused Dick to wince at the pain. He squeezed his eyes shut, causing Wally to hesitate.

"Shh. Dickie. I'm sorry but this is going to hurt a bit. Just. Just hang on okay?" Wally whispered, tears threatening to fall from his bright green eyes. He hated seeing his boyfriend like this. He would've given anything to be in his place right now.

Dick opened his eyes weakly to stare at Wally.

"I promise. Okay?"

Dick nodded weakly and Wally began to patch him up once again. He tried to be as careful and tender as possible. That was extremely hard given the fact that Wally was always rash and impulsive. Wally was done in an instant, but he knew his work was only going to help temporarily. He knew he had to get Dick some real medical attention. He thought about taking him to the hospital, but he remembered the first words Dick had said to him.
Don't tell Bruce.

Wally clenched his fists as he thought about Bruce Wayne. Wally knew what he said to Dick that night, the night the love of his life disappeared. How could he even think about taking away Robin from Dick? Robin was probably the best thing to ever happen to Dick after the death of his parents. When Dick was in his Robin suit, nothing could stop him.

It was his fault Dick left. It was his fault their team broke up. His fault that Wally refused to talk to any of his old friends. His fault that Dick was currently lying in an empty alley way with numerous injuries. It was his fault. Everything was.

Wally West would never forgive Bruce Wayne.

But he didn't have time to loath Bruce. What mattered now was getting Dick some real medical attention.

He began to go over his options in his head.

He could call Tim. Tim was probably just as good as Alfred when it came to medicine. But he knew that Tim would tell Bruce. And there goes the option of going to Damian as well as Barbara. After all, they were family. Emphasis on the were.

Wally was stumped. He probably couldn't even go to his uncle Berry. Flash wasn't exactly the hero who was known for keeping secrets.  He was beginning to run out of options. He would have use his last resort.

He carefully picked Dick up, bridal style. This caused the younger boy to let out a small whimper of pain.

"I got you. Your safe now Dick. I'm here." Wally whispered as he pressed a soft kiss into Dick's hair.

Wally knew he was in worst condition than meets the eye. Dick was Robin, the Boy Wonder meaning he never let pain get in his way, unless it was something really big. And judging by the way Dick held back a whimper every time Wally adjusted himself slightly showed that he needed the medical attention and fast.

Wally carefully laid Dick onto the back seat of his car and gently placed his sweater over his injured bird. Dick looked so small and frail in the back seat of his car. Wally jumped into the driver's seat and drove off as quickly as he could. He then proceeded to take out his cell phone and call the one person he knew would be able to help. After the second ring a tired voice answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I need your help. Meet me at our place as soon as possible. Keep this a secret."