Mask of Glass

Ch 17

Nightwing balanced on the edge of an apartment rooftop. The entire bat family was patrolling together, which meant that the comms were constantly filled with angry banter between the three younger siblings.

A sigh escaped Nightwing's lips as he tried to tune his brothers out. They were spread across the city, all looking out for any trouble. So far the night had been reasonably quiet with only a few muggings here and there.

Nightwing thought back to the evening he had spent with Babs. After he'd showed his Nightwing costume to her she'd decided to stay and hang out.

A cry over the comm brought Dick out of his thoughts. The past few hours Jason, Tim, and even Damian had been shouting for help over the comm. Nightwing of course, would rush to their location, and there they'd be, laughing hysterically at their little joke.

None of the boys had yet to actually use the emergency button on their belts, that was something Batman would never allow them to misuse, but it still annoyed Nightwing to no end.

"Help!" Robin's voice crackled over the device set in Nightwing's ear. The cackles of Red Hood and Red Robin could be heard afterwards.

'They're all just enjoying their little joke aren't they.' Nightwing thought wryly as he grappled through the city to Robin's location. He had to check, just to make sure.

Nightwing was actually startled by what he saw when he found Robin. The young vigilante was lying in an alley with people surrounding him. There were a few knives laying on the ground, but the thing that nearly stopped Nightwing's heart was the bone white masks that covered the faces of the people surrounding his little brother.

Robin was struggling to breathe, and there was a gaping wound in his chest.

Nightwing didn't hesitate, jumping into action and taking on everyone in the alley at once. These were the lesser soldiers of the court of owls, and Nightwing was able to take them down easily. Their masks shattered under the force of his kicks and punches.

When everyone was down, Nightwing turned back to Robin, pressing the small emergency button on his own belt before kneeling next to his brother and starting first aid.

Robin's nose appeared to be broken, and blood slowly dripped from it, running down Robin's face and off his chin.

Nightwing ripped Robin's cape into strips, quickly binding the gushing stab wound as tightly as he could.

Robin coughed up a bit of blood he'd accidentally inhaled from his broken nose, and Nightwing quickly moved him to a sitting position, his back propped up against Dick's chest, and his head tilted down so he wouldn't accidentally breathe in more of his own blood.

Batman descended from the rooftops, taking in the scene around him.

Red Hood and Red Robin weren't far behind, both looking sheepish as they stood to the side.

Batman scooped Robin up into his arms, holding him carefully. He nodded a thanks to Nightwing before turning and glaring at Red Hood and Red Robin.

The bat clan followed behind Batman on the way towards the Batmobile. Batman carefully laid Robin inside, closing the door and turning around. "Red, get in the car. Hood you go finish patrolling with Nightwing." Batman's glare intensified when Red Robin opened his mouth to protest. "It was your silly joke that got us in this situation in the first place... if Nightwing hadn't gone to check on Robin he could have died, so no arguing." Batman turned and walked around the car being followed by Red Robin.

"Let's go back and tie up those owls." Nightwing said, walking back towards the alley he'd found Robin in.

When they got back to the alley it was completely empty. Every last owl was gone. "We better stick together, Hood, we need to find these owls." Nightwing said. He turned, expecting to see Red Hood standing behind him, but all he saw was the empty alley.

Nightwing groaned in annoyance, face palming at the stupidity of his brother. He quickly shot out a grappling hook, propelling himself through the air. He now had a half crazed red helmet wearing brother to find along with a bunch of owl soldiers.

—

Nightwing had no idea where Red Hood might be, until he heard a scream. He swung to where the scream came from, seeing a scene all too familiar to the one he'd seen earlier that night.

This time the owls were on a rooftop. They clustered around Red Hood, getting closer and closer to him.

Nightwing landed in front of his brother and started viciously fighting off owls. Many of them were missing their masks, which made Nightwing smirk just a bit.

Once the owls were knocked out and securely tied up on the street, Nightwing contacted the police before rushing back to his brother's side.

Nightwing carefully removed Hood's jacket and shirt, examining the fresh wound. Hood had been stabbed in the shoulder, and there was no doubt in Nightwing's mind that it needed stitches.

"This really isn't the best place for this." Nightwing muttered, quickly pulling supplies from his utility belt. He carefully cleaned Hood's wound with alcohol wipes before slipping on some sterile gloves and grabbing his pair of needle holding forceps and a suturing kit.

Nightwing worked quickly and efficiently, stitching up the gaping stab wound on Hood's shoulder before cleaning up and hauling Hood's unconscious body back to where their motorcycles were parked. Nightwing pressed a small button on Hood's motorcycle, watching as it started up and sped off towards the Batcave on its own accord. He then managed to get himself and Hood onto his own motorcycle and start their own drive back home.

—

Dick rushed Jason into the cave, both heros' masks lay discarded on the floor next to Dick's Nightwing motorcycle.

"I think he needs a blood transfusion." Dick called to Alfred as he half dragged Jason over to a spare medical bed.

Damian was lying in another medical bed. His eyes were closed peacefully, and there was a bag full of blood draining into his arm.

Alfred quickly moved to Jason's side, inspecting the stitches on the boy's shoulder with a bit of pride at Dick's handywork.

"His blood type is B-." Bruce called from a small table where he had just completed the quick test.

"None of us have a matching blood type." Tim frantically called, pacing back and forth in front of the bat computer.

"Mine might work." Dick called uncertainly. "It's O-... the universal donor. I don't know if the electrum will mess it up though."

"We'll just have to take that chance." Bruce said, guiding Dick to a chair and quickly inserting an IV catheter into his arm while Alfred did the same to Jason.

Soon enough the contraption was working. Blood flowed from Dick's body to Jason's.

Jason's eyes fluttered open. They stayed half lidded for a moment, his eyes unfocused. Suddenly, his eyes glowed golden. The wound on his shoulder began to heal itself, the redness fading along with small scrapes and bruises that were scattered across Jason's skin. As abruptly as it had started, it stopped. Jason's eyes faded back to their original color, and slid closed again.

"Was that?..." Bruce trailed off.

"The Electrum." Dick slurred, his head slightly spinning.

Alfred removed the catheter from Dick's arm, replacing it with a small bandage, and doing the same for Jason's arm since he had already started another IV for fluids.

Dick groggily leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. His eyes drifted closed, and his exhausted body quickly fell into the comfort of sleep.

2 updates in one day... Hopefully this makes up for the slow updates recently. Heh heh... Let me know what you thought, as well as how often you'd prefer me to update. I usually try to work ahead so I generally have another chapter done I just don't get around to proofreading it, but I'll try!

-McBrube