Dick mentally cursed himself as he opened his eyes. He managed to stumble to his feet, only for his vision to immediately be filled with black.
The ground was surprising close to Dick's eyes when he opened them again. He quickly dragged himself to his feet, and stumbled to the shower.
After a long, warm shower Dick felt marginally better, so he made his way downstairs where he curled up on the couch with a blanket.
"Dick? What are you doing?" Bruce asked when he walked into the room.
"Just... resting. I don't feel too hot today," Dick whispered, not wanting the pounding in his head to get any stronger.
"Well, I have some cases in the cave that I'd like you to go over if that wouldn't be too much trouble," Bruce replied before walking away.
Dick let out a breath before standing and shambling towards the entrance of the cave. He made it most of the way down the stairs before stumbling and falling down the rest of the steps.
There was nobody in the cave to see or help, so Dick dragged his aching body over to the nearest wall and used it to stand. He shivered from the cool, damp air of the cave.
A sudden wave of nausea had Dick on his hands and knees again, at the edge of the drop-off, watching as his vomit fell towards the water below. His body shook like a leaf in the wind as he crawled over to the computer and began to look over cases despite the pounding of his head.
—
Dick was awoken by the feeling of a cool hand pressing onto his forehead. "Huh?" He asked groggily as his eyes opened slightly.
"Grayson, what are you doing in this cold cave? It is obvious that I have passed my illness on to you," Damian scolded.
Dick didn't respond, instead he simply stared at Damian.
"Come on," Damian said, pulling Dick to his feet and helping him up the stairs to the manor.
Dick leaned heavily on Damian as sweat pored down his face and back. His vision was blurring and his stomach churned. "D-Dami..." he slurred.
"We're almost to the couch Grayson. I will help you get comfortable and then make you a cup of herbal tea," Damian said, dragging Dick to the couch.
When Dick was sitting moderately comfortably on the couch Damian left the room to make the promised tea.
—
"Did you finish going through those cases?" Bruce asked Dick as he walked into the room.
"I... I don't think so," Dick said tiredly.
"Could you please do that? It doesn't look like you're doing anything right now."
"Y-yeah, sure," Dick said, standing unsteadily and starting towards the entrance of the cave.
Damian walked into the room a few seconds later with a cup of tea in his hand. "Father, where's Grayson?" He asked, concerned for his brother.
"I sent him back down to the cave to finish some cases," Bruce replied.
"WHAT?!" Damian shouted.
Just then, there was a loud thud in the hallway.
Damian shot a glare at Bruce before running into the hall, his father at his heels.
Dick was lying on the floor, a bump swelling up on his forehead.
Bruce reached down to brush some of the hair away, but quickly removed his hand when he felt how hot Dick's forehead was.
"Has he been this sick all day?" Bruce asked worriedly.
Damian scoffed. "I don't know, but I am sure that being in a dank cave for hours didn't help him any."
"Ugh! He told me he wasn't feeling well... I should've made sure he was ok before sending him to look at cases," Bruce mumbled, angry at himself.
Bruce held open Dick's eyes and checked his pupillary light reaction while Damian ran to get Alfred.
The butler knelt at Dick's side, repeating what Bruce had just done, this time with a penlight.
"It looks to me, like master Dick may have a concussion," Alfred said, looking at the uneven way Dick's pupils reacted to the light he was holding. "We'll need to wake him, and keep him up for the next six hours to monitor."
Alfred stepped away, and Damian gently shook Dick's shoulder until he groggily opened his eyes.
"Are you alright Grayson?" Damian asked, pulling Dick up into a sitting position.
Dick groaned and held his head. "M' head hurts," He said, wincing at how loud Damian's voice had been.
Bruce snapped his fingers in front of Dick's face when the younger started to drift off again.
"You need to stay awake for the next six hours so we can make sure your fall didn't cause anything worse than a concussion," Bruce explained, pulling Dick to his feet.
Damian and Dick settled onto the couch, the youngest Wayne giving himself the task of keeping Dick awake for the next six hours.
—
172. Damian added a number to his total count of times Dick had nodded off and had to be woken.
"Grayson. You need to stay awake for just a bit longer," Damian said.
"With your bowler hat, and my unicorn horn... we can rule the world." Was the reply that Damian received.
Damian's brow furrowed at Dick's latest strange comment. Choosing to ignore it, he simply asked, "How are you feeling?" And hoped he'd get a coherent answer.
Suddenly, tears began to well up in Dick's eyes. "I want to be a social butterfly, but I'm just a moth!" He sobbed... "and I need my leg to be vacuumed," he added with a sniffle.
A loud laugh from the doorway caught Damian's attention, and he turned to look at the doorway, where Jason was standing with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Well, I guess Dickie's a coo coo bird now. You better be recording this lil' D," Jason said with a smile, walking towards the couch where Damian and Dick had been sitting for the past few hours.
"Don't get too close Todd. He's sick," Damian warned, despite being totally happy to let Jason catch whatever illness he'd passed to Dick.
Jason sighed and rolled his eyes, walking out of the room for a few minutes and returning with one of Alfred's face masks covering his mouth and nose.
"So Dickie. How'd you loose your marbles?" Jason asked, sitting down a few feet from Dick on the couch.
"Marbles?" Dick asked confusedly. "I don't play with marbles, that's for old people like Bruce."
Jason snickered. "Oh really, what do you play with then?" He asked.
"I play with the hearts of men Jay Jay... and legos. Legos are so much fun," Dick said, completely serious.
"Interesting." Jason replied. "Back to my original question... Damian, what happened to Dick?"
"Grayson contracted an illness from me, and Father decided it would be a good idea to make him go work in the Batcave for who knows how long... then he got a concussion," Damian said, summarizing the story of their eventful morning.
"Mermaids are constantly showering... as they flow through the sea with their soap in their hands," Dick blurted randomly. "That's why the ocean's always so foamy... and why mermaids are always so shiny."
Both Jason and Damian shared a look.
"So how much longer does he have to stay awake?" Jason asked.
Damian looked at the clock on the wall. "He should be fine to go to sleep now," he replied.
"SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!" Dick shouted. "Goodnight. Time for the beds to have the children in them."
"Do you need help getting up to your bed Dickie?" Jason asked gently.
"Nope," Dick said, standing, and almost immediately falling into Jason's arms.
"I think that's a yes," Jason muttered, scooping Dick up in his arms and carrying him to his bedroom.
—
Jason tucked Dick under his covers, hoping the warm blanket would help Dick stay warm.
"Like a hotdog in its little cave," Dick muttered.
Damian and Jason shared another look before continuing to get Dick situated.
—
Jason left once Dick finally fell asleep, leaving the eldest to get some much needed rest.
Damian on the other hand, settled into a chair next to Dick's bed, watching his brother as he slept, not realizing that he was analyzing Dick's breathing until he subconsciously reached forward and felt the pulse on Dick's wrist.
The youngest Wayne let go of Dick's wrist with a sigh and walked into the bathroom to grab a wet towel to put on Dick's sweat-covered forehead.
Damian continued to watch over Dick, just like the older had done for him. And if Dick had been conscious and coherent he would've been proud of his youngest brother.
It takes someone like Dick Grayson to turn a cold-blooded assassin into a loving brother. And though Damian would emphatically deny any such accusations, that's exactly what he was becoming.