Rising Robin

Chapter XIX: Capital of Crime

Dick sat beside the hospital bed at Gotham General. He looked down at his leg. He had fractured a bone in his leg, the same one that he hurt in Old Gotham & in Chinatown. According to the doctor, it would heal soon. All that was required was icing the leg, keeping the leg elevated, & relaxing. That was garbage.

Dick scoffed at the idea. He had endured worse pain in Old Gotham. He could push passed it.

The hospital room door opened, with Bruce Wayne & Detective Gordon entering.

"God dammit, Dick!" Bruce groaned.

"Yeah, fuck you too!" Dick snapped back.

"Hey!" Gordon called out. "Wayne, Dick, calm down."

Dick breathed inward heavily as he stared Bruce down. His fists were clenched, but he quickly relaxed his hands & adjusted the collar on his blazer.

Dick rolled his eyes. "I only have a fractured leg. I'll be fine."

Wayne nodded silently. Gordon eyed him, then turned to Dick. "That's good."

Dick slowly nodded, then looked down at his leg. He wiggled his foot around. It sent sharp pains up his body. Dick winced at the feeling, then stopped. He kept his eyes shut for a moment, and breathed deeply. "Gordon, tell me, how many people died?"

The question hung in the air with tension & silence. The billionaire & detective quietly glanced at one another, then to the ground. "14," Bruce Wayne said, breaking the silence. Dick turned to him. "Roughly 20 others were injured. The bomb's blast radius wasn't that big. It didn't go passed the intersection."

Dick shook his head. "Tell that to the 14 dead people."

Gordon stepped up to the bed, towards Dick. "The intersection is contained. We blocked it off, so right now there's not a lot any of us can do. People are resting, trying to recuperate. The coffee shop & the boutique next door have to repair some of their damaged property, but it's not that bad right now.

Dick felt his hands grow numb as he listened to the cop. "I don't understand how you two can talk about this so...nonchalantly. People died. INNOCENT people. They BLEW UP. No one died when the Old Gotham subway blew up. A few kids broke a few wrists, but they had it coming. They were adolescent animals. The Olympus building had NO casualties either. A few gunmen, & that's it. THOSE, you guys gave shit about. But this, you two can brush off like it's nothing? What the hell is wrong with you two?"

"Dick," Bruce started. "We live in a world run by chaos. Since 9/11, there have been roughly 200 deaths in terrorist attacks on American soil. If you're looking at the country's crime rate in general, there are over 1,100,00 crimes reported each year. Over 30,000 people die every year from these violent crimes, & you know what? That's what our country is built on. Gotham City is just the capital of it all."

Gordon sighed. "I had to agree, but he's right, Dick. The city just gets more & more violent. Sure, we have our occasional dry spells of violent crimes being committed, but at the end of the day, Dick, we are the capital of crime in America. Tons of people die. We as Americans have just become...I guess numb to it."

Dick stared at the two in disgust. "God, you guys make me sick."

Bruce cleared his throat. "But the Batman is definitely helping out, isn't he, Detective?" he said with a grin.

Gordon groaned. "Bruce, you know that's a difficult subject for me."

Dick eyed the two for a second. "Um," he said softly. "I met him."

Bruce & Gordon both looked at Dick. "What?" Gordon said.

Dick scratched his neck. "I, uh...met him the night before."