Making Waves

Chapter 9

Dick raised his wrist and glanced at his watch. 8:58 PM. After tugging the knot of his tie loose, he yanked it down a few inches and unclasped the top two buttons of his uniform. He stretched his neck to release some of the tension and slumped down into a chair at his dining table. He slid his laptop closer to the edge of the table and flipped it open, pressing his right thumb into the letter 's' on the keyboard, and then his left ring finger into '7' to bypass the fingerprint locks. The camera at the top of the screen scanned his features and irises and, after recognizing him as a user, allowed him to enter his password.

"Gotta love B's security measures," he muttered under his breath, fingers flying over the keys as he completed the last step of the process.

Once he was granted access, he leaned farther back in his chair and counted down the seconds. The numbers in the top right corner of the screen blinked. 20:59:57, 20:59:58, 20:59:59...

The clock had barely just reached nine when Dick received the alert for the incoming call.

Right on time, he mused, hitting accept. Dinah Lance's face took a moment to fully focus, but once it had, she quirked her lip up in the form of a greeting.

"Dick," she nodded.

"Hey, Dinah," he replied, smiling tiredly at his old instructor and counselor.

He had forgone the mask and she had done the same, both knowing each other's true identities.

"He's stable," Dinah said immediately, addressing the purpose of the call, "He's been in and out of consciousness for the last couple of hours, but we're monitoring his vitals. He just needs time."

Dick breathed an audible sigh of relief, a fraction of the tension he'd been carrying around all day melting away.

"Did you get an ID?"

Dinah frowned minutely, but it was out of sadness, not frustration, and Dick knew she had news, but it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Kai Rivera, aged ten," she revealed, and Dick sucked in sharply, "He was placed in Haven Orphanage when he was about two after his parents passed and was sent to his first foster home when he was six. It looks like he was in and out of a couple of different homes for about two years. At his last one, it says they took him back to the orphanage after a month, but there's no record of him staying there, so I assume he's been on the streets since then."

Dinah's jaw ticked with anger, but she was careful not to show too much of it. Dick, however, did not attempt the same.

"They just kicked him out?" he ground out, his voice rising.

Dinah nodded solemnly but didn't reply, letting him express his anger.

"There's also no record of his meta-ability in the database, so we've given him one of our training collars for the time being," she said, after a beat.

She didn't need to explain further. Dick knew that collar was just a safety measure, in case the boy woke up, or panicked, or just accidentally triggered his powers in his sleep. And his abilities were proven to be worth Blockbuster's attention, so Dick wouldn't be surprised if they were destructive.

Dinah sighed, the weight of the situation affecting her, and Dick understood. Even with years of experience, situations like these never got easier to stomach.

"He's beyond malnourished and has various vitamin deficiencies. It's why he looks so much younger than he is," the blond superhero said softly, slumping her shoulders, "We're trying to re-introduce his body to, well, everything, but the doctors predict that he's going to have long term health issues. Almost definitely anemia, but there's also a chance for hypotension. It's a miracle he hasn't gone into hypovolemic shock."