Gala Gone Wrong

Did You See What I Did?

The wait for the ambulance was unbearable, excruciatingly slow. When it finally did arrive there was a flurry of motion, instructions, and the determination that rides on the shoulders of EMTs and paramedics. They carefully picked up Matt and put him on a stretcher, a stretcher that was quickly changing its color to red. Matt was brought to consciousness only for a second where he gave a cry of pain only to fall back again. Reminding the Bat-family what they could lose that night.

They all knew that ambulance ride was going to be horrible and that it also might be Matt Murdock's last ever car ride. Only one passenger could ride with Matt in the car and Bruce would not, could not, allow either of his sons to be the one to go. He couldn't let them possibly watch a close friend die without being there to comfort them. If he could shield them from that pain, he would. Also, Bruce felt that it was his responsibility to watch Matt as others tried to save his life. He'd failed as Batman, if Matt died it would be his fault and he would deserve the pain of having to helplessly watch him pass on without being able to do anything to help. Damian and Dick shouldn't have to experience anymore pain today. It was moments like this that made Bruce remember that they were only children.

Dick and Damian rode on Dick's motorcycle at breakneck speed, weaving in and out of the traffic. They arrived at the hospital minutes before the ambulance. Those were horrible, unbearable minutes, filled with the anxiety and guilt that the two brothers just seemed to be breathing. And all they could do was wait.

Dick looked as if he was going to collapse on the spot. His face was red and blotchy, screwed up in indescribable emotion, but there were no tears. Tears would not help Matt, so they did not fall. Dick teetered as he stood, overwhelmed by the downpour of the thoughts 'what if' and 'if only' as well as the image of the little, harmless looking, red laser that was now forever etched into his mind's eye. That image would never go away now. If guilt could take human form, it would take the form of Dick Grayson. There was no doubt about that.

Damian, on the other hand, was never one to show great amounts of emotions and when he couldn't hide his emotions from the world, he turned to anger. He had been taught that it was weak to be sad, but that anger could be used as a tool to complete any goal he had. So, Damian felt the anger bubble up inside of him. Boiling hot anger. Anger at himself. Anger at his father. Anger at the damn sniper. Anger at whoever was pulling the strings. Anger at the whole, cold and unforgiving world. Maybe it was his destiny to lose all those that saw through his mental barriers and sought to comfort him.

His fists were clenched as though he was prepared to fight the biggest baddie out there, which he probably was. Anger would not serve Matt, it would not help him. All Damian could do following his devastating failure was to turn his anger into motivation for finding the 'who', 'how', and 'why'. He'd failed before, he would not fail now. He would find why this happened and make all of those involved pay.
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They lost Matt three times on the way to the hospital. He barely came back the third time. Upon arriving at the hospital, Matt was immediately whisked away to surgery. He needed heart surgery because of the shot that hit his chest. The second shot did a lot of damage to Matt's organs, but hopefully he wouldn't need a transplant. Doctors said that it would be a very difficult operation, and that was all that they said, leaving the Bat-family alone where they stood, to dwell with their thoughts and emotions.

It was silent for a long time. One of their dear friends had just been shot in front of them by a sniper at a party they were hosting. They were heroes and their friend had been shot while they stood, not even being prepared for anything to go wrong. What else was there to say?

Damian was the first to speak. "What do we do now? We can't help Matt, but we can find out who did this and why? We need to. Where do we start Father?"

Bruce's demeanor changed, he was in full on Batman mode now. "Damian, you go back to the ballroom, see what you can find. Dick, you stay here and keep us updated on Matt's condition. While you wait, hack into the security feed and relay to Damian or me anything useful. I am going to look at Matt's office, I have a feeling that this all has to do with a certain case."