-A thank you part for my favorite person on earth <33-
"Yep, 101.9, you're burning up." She set the thermostat down. "You better head home and get some rest."
"No," He croaked around his clogged nostril. "it's fine. B wanted me to get out of the house for a bit."
"Is he trying to commit biological warfare on happy harbor?" Dinah remarked humorlessly, rinsing the thermometer before putting it away. "We'll, consider this your doctors note to get back in the house for a bit."
"Nah, it's fine. I need to get some work done."
"What would you need to do here that you can't do at home?"
He shrugged. "Stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Just stuff." He smiled, disappearing around the doorway.
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"Well I know about Pie, and I know of graphs, but I don't know what pie has to do with graphs?"
"Pie graphs?" Dick slid onto the couch, sniffing hard. "So you take all of this data and you make it into portions, like slices of pie to represent how much the number is of the complete number." He analyzed her workbook with squinted, watery eyes under his mask.
"I don't know what that means." M'gann said. "Your voice sounds weird."
"I'm fine." He grabbed a dull pencil nub "You put the degrees on the chart, not the numbers. so it's fifteen divided by a hundred, times three-sixty. That's your degree. Then you just use a protractor."
"What's a pro-tractor?"
"I'll get one from my bag." He rubbed his mask in vein, unzipping his rain-splattered backpack. "So take your calculator, and put in one-four, and then the line-with-two-dots button, and then one hundred; one and two zeros, and then the equals button..."
"Okay..."
"and then the cross button, and put in 360. what do you have?
"three-six-zero-dot-one-four?" She asked.
"Yeah-- uh, what?" He straighten up with a wince. "The other cross button, sweetie. The times one, not the plus one."
"Oh."
"So, point-four-five times three-sixty, and the equals button..."
"Five-zero... fifty?" she asked
"Yeah, there you go. I think." He tried to read of the tiny screen. "Now just do that same thing with the other numbers. write it down first though. And how you solved it."
"Uh... how did I do that?" They asked quietly. "Sorry."
Robin groaned as he bent over. "Yeah, here, let me write it for you." He rested his eyes barely open and started scribbling, clearing his throat of phlegm a few more times until breathing was uncomfortable, but possible.
"Uh, Robin, I cant read that..."
"What?" He looked it over, usually neat small lettering reduced to chicken scratch. He closed his eyes for a second and cursed himself. "Sorry."
"Are you sure you're you know?" The Martian asked. "Cause, like, there's this episode of Hello Megan where Megan..."
"I'm okay." He snapped. "Sore throat. That's life."
"It is?"
He nodded, his voice too hoarse and painful to use unless necessary.
"Well, in the episode, Megan's friends made her hot tea and--"
"Math." He croaked
"Oh, right." She watched over his shoulder, but it was obvious that it hadn't really clicked in her head.
'We can do this if your voice hurts?'
'Thanks, but I'm good.' He pushed her mental reach back a little, he always felt the need to minimize mental intrusions of any kind. 'I thought Conner usually did your math for you?'
'uh, yeah. But he doesn't want to go to school anymore so he doesn't want to.'
Oh great. He should check on Conner too.
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"I hope you aren't busy..."
"I am busy, what is it?" Bruce growled over the line.
"I'm trying to send Robin home, he's not well today."
"Dick? He's fine."
She allowed herself an eyeroll. "He's running a fever."
"That's crazy, Dick's never had a fever."
"Huh." She lowered the phone for a second and directed her focus to a spot on the wall, trying not to change her tone of voice at all. "Well, it is possible to experience a physical malady you've never had, otherwise there wouldn't be any viruses or injury or illnesses."
Okay, she acknowledged that was a bit much on her part.
"I would know if he was sick, I wouldn't let him leave the house if he was sick. I'm busy."
As the other line beeped and went dead, she lowered the phone slowly. She always told Conner to use breathing exercises and redirect his frustration, but it was so much easier to say than to do. She always told him; in for four, hold for five, out for six, but the amount that she'd rather throw her phone was unfathomable.
Why did she have to work with such idiots?
"World's greatest detective." She snorted.
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"M'gann says you don't wanna do school anymore?" He nearly gagged on his lozenge and redirected it out of his throat.
"What's wrong with you?" Conner asked.
"Sore throat."
Conner looked him over, as if expecting to see buboes on his skin. "Why?"
Dick almost chuckled, but it was too painful. "It's not contagious, big guy." He let out a few coughs that had been building up. "What's up with school?"
"I don't like it."
"Why?"
"I don't."
"What don't you like?" He winced at the stabbing in his throat.
"I know everything and I don't like the people and I have to be there all day and it's loud."
Dick nodded, those were valid reasons. "But you have to go."
"Why? If they're making me a fake ID just make a fake Diploma!"
Dick couldn't even argue with that point right now, trying to process any of this just made his temples throb. "Okay! No more school!" He threw his hands up in defeat.
Conner stared at him a few more seconds, assessing. "Sore throat is a symptom of pneumonia."
"Thanks, Conner."
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"Robin?"
"Uh?"
"Are you alright?"
He groaned, sitting up. "I don't have pneumonia, Con's just beIN--" He dry swallowed, hard, but his voice refused to return.
"Robin?"
He signed at his neck, scrunching his face.
"Do you need water?" Kaldur asked, it was pretty much the only remedy he knew. Dick shrugged, it hurt to breath and hurt to drink, but he didn't want to say no to Kaldur.
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"Kaldur, are you alright?"
"I believe so?" He replied, though there was a raspy quality to his voice.
"You need some water." Dinah remarked, watching him closely.
"I just had some." He said, swallowing hard. "I can have more if you think it's appropriate?"
"Maybe just a bit." She forced a smile. "Can't be too careful."
He nodded, thoughtfully. "I'm worried about Robin. The air tastes different in his presence, it's... heavier?"
"Congested?" Dinah offered. "Like, thicker and unpleasant?"
"Yes, that's it." He agreed. "It doesn't seem healthy."
"It's not." She agreed. "He's running a fever, he's too sick to be here but he doesn't want to go home."
"Why not? We don't having."
"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Dinah muttered, filling a glass and passing it to the teen. "Remember when you had a severe allergic reaction to a cologne and still tried to make it through the mission?"
Kaldur took a moment of silent shame before replying. "Do you say that I am causing Robin to neglect himself?"
"No." She replied quickly. "But it's the same concept. He also feels like he has to push through it."
"Oh." He said. "I'm sorry."
"It's not you're fault, Kaldur." She said. "Take Robin some water for me, will you please?"
"Of course."
"Thank you, Kaldur."
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"Finally." Dinah muttered. "Hey, Robin just threw up, we need you to come get him now."
"What? Why didn't you send him home."
"You didn't want--"
"I'm on my way."
"We're worried he might have--" The line went dead again. "...okay."
Bruce arrived about seven minutes later, he was unshaven and irritated. "Where is he?"
"the gym. he's--" The Bat had already taken off down the hall. "Respect my speech why don't you..."
Bruce strode to the gym, throwing the door open. Dick looked up from the corner, he was dressed in gym clothes huddles over a garbage can. "Robin?"
Dick squinted up at him, he'd removed his mask and was drizzling with sweat. "B?"
"Why didn't you say you were sick?"
"I said I didn't feel goo--uehgh" He crumpled over again, heaving.
"You're coming home." Bruce said, lifting Dick off the floor by his shoulder. The boy was limp by his side, allowing himself to be half-carried back to the batcave. "You're going to bed. Alfred and I can get you anything you want."
"I'm fine."
"No you're not." Bruce told him. "Dick, why didn't you say you were sick?"
"I di--" He sighed, wiping sweat off his aching forehead. "Sorry, Bruce."
"It's okay. just please tell me next time." He said, softly. "I don't' want you to get hurt."
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"Bruce?"
"What?" He asked. "Dick's safe, I took him home and we're taking care of him. What do you need?"
"I just wanted to tell you that next time Robin is sick, pay attention and keep him home before he comes out here." Dinah said curtly.
"It wouldn't stop him from being sick." Bruce replied. "Besides he's home now and he's fine."
"It wouldn't stop him from getting sick, but it would stop him from getting other people sick." Her voice wavered faintly with agitation. "You know, not let the kid with underdeveloped lungs and a weak immune system catch a virus? Maybe just keep him at home when he's sick, so Kaldur doesn't end up on a respirator?"
"Is he?"
"He's fine. Arthur's here keeping him company. But you know, maybe take care of your kid before we have six sick kids? Just an idea."
"Is aqualad--"
"He's fine, Bruce. Just stay home and isolate the virus."
"But Gotham--"
beep. beep. beep.
Dinah hung up on him.