Sick Bird.

71. Gunshot.

_=_
warning: things get a little dark.

Dick didn't know what had been harder to swallow, the cup of pills Sebastian had just shoved down his throat, or his job description.

"Your bodyguard?!" the boy spluttered, reaching for the glass of orange juice in front of him.

"Is there a problem?" Sebastian switched the juice with water then stood up. "If there's nothing else, let's start going."

Dick hurriedly gulped down the water, washing down the tablets that had nearly choked him. "Are you out of your mind?" he hissed and grabbed Sebastian by the arm.

"Some have told me." the masked man replied, amused.

"Doesn't matter," Dick shifted out of his chair and immediately threw his hands into the air. "I'm sick."

"You can still throw tantrums, you're fine." Sebastian started walking out of the breakfast hall, his red cloak swishing dramatically behind him.

Dick took a moment to roll his eyes, then jogged after the man. "I'm dying, Sebastian." he whispered, tugging on the man's sleeve.

Sebastian paused then turned to face the masked boy. "You have a little more that a week left, don't look so glum."

"If you were me, how would you feel?" The bird croaked and let his arms drop to his side. "I'm going to die."

"Everyone dies."

"But this is your fault." Dick looked up at Sebastian's blood red mask helplessly. "Do you really think there's a cure?"

Sebastian stayed silent then ran a hand through his jet black hair. "If you want to blame anyone, blame The Light."

Then he started walking again, leaving Dick alone in the empty corridor.

The boy sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Why did I get a virus from Uganda?"

Somehow, Deathstroke and Talia's explanation didn't make sense. And even though Sebastian claimed the same thing, Dick still felt like he was missing something.

If Sebastian wanted a cure, he could just poison someone in the Justice League. Everyone would still work hard then, Batman would still give it his all. Why did he poison me?

Is it because it was easier? No, he had to plant a nurse at my school. That takes a lot of time. It's too much effort just to slip me a cup of water.

Talia said that I'm the key to everything, why? It doesn't make sense even if I'm Batman's apprentice. Sebastian knows my secret identity, that means he also knows who Bruce is.

Why would he say that he admired me when he knew that Bruce adopted me? I didn't tame the bat like he implied, so what makes me special?

Dick sank to the floor, his back to wall and his knees drawn up to his chest. He hugged himself, caught up in his deductions.

Sebastian poisoned me and kidnapped me but he's good to me, too good. I'm getting better treatment here than I did at home. He obviously knows the symptoms well, I haven't passed out in days and I only need to wear the oxygen mask through the night.

Is this all to give Bruce better chances or is it something else?

Does Sebastian really want the cure? Is that why he chose me, to be the middleman in this collaboration with Batman?

The thirteen year old threw his head back against the wall, the little knock helping him focus. He needed to figure things out once and for all.

Right, he continued, Sebastian said I should blame The Light, why? Talia said that someone infected the river in Uganda. What if that person was Sebastian? No.