A/N this one picks up immediatly after the last one. 

I think I need a doctor

Intubation, emergency room, reluctant bedrest

"you know, the more I think about this the more it makes sense."

Dick gave a sideways glance towards Jason but brought his eyes back to the rough terrain.

"how so?" he asked.

"well, I mean," Jason shrugged, "when I was younger you never seemed like the detective type, or the hero type. I always thought you'd go do some masters in something tech related and invent crazy things or I don't know, whatever," he frowned at the ground, picking his way through the underbrush, "when I found out you were joining the police force and studying law and criminology I thought you must have been possessed or something."

"ah," Dick winced, "yeah, I had a huge one eighty after I found the bat cave, I guess my sense of duty kicked in."

"right, because a rich kid ward of Bruce Wayne is obligated to save the city every other week," Jay chuckled.

Dick shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you."

Cas blinked in a moment of realisation then signed, "what about the capture situation?"

"yeah," Jay looked to him, "was that like, a long mission or something?"

Dick winced and rubbed at the back of his neck, "long story."

"really dude?" Jay raised an eyebrow, "I think we have time."

Dick swallowed, nervous, beginning to think on those two years. They weren't fun.

"I was captured, yeah, that wasn't fake," Dick said, looking only at where he was walking, "it wasn't a mob situation though, or whatever."

Bruce frowned, "what happened?"

"oh," Jay near-gasped, "oh, wait, Bruce doesn't know?"

"Barbara knows, that's it," Dick said.

"oh, shit," Jay hissed, "what happened?"

Dick sighed, feeling the weight of Jay, Bruce's and Cas's stares.

"there's a mercenary; Deathstroke," Dick said, "he's..."

"that's the one we dealt with seven months ago?" Bruce asked.

Dick nodded, "we have a history. He and I ran into each other a few times, I stopped some of his hits, that kind of thing."

"so he tried to kill you?" Jay asked, confusion seeping through his voice.

Cas looked at Dick with a tilted head, she signed, "he tried to make you join him?"

Dick pursed his lips, avoiding their looks. He nodded, "yeah. He tried."

Dick took a deep breath, forging on through the forest. The three left behind in shocked worry seemed to take the hint- he did not want to talk about this right now.

They walked on, the ground sloping, following the creek. It got bigger and smaller as they went, large rocks springing up in some places, mere pebbles in others.

Dick kept a keen eye, gazing out, constantly trying to catch any shift in the distance.

Cas elbowed Jason in the side, pointed to a huge rock engulfed in tree roots, the side hovering over the edge of the creek, several other rocks beneath it, the only way up to the top would be a precarious parkour track, "bet you can't climb that," she signed.

"you're on!" Jay grinned, crashing through the sticks and branches as he approached the side of the creek where the rocks began. Bruce looked on with a tired expression, sighing. Cas grinned and followed Jay, intending to try and beat him. Dick face palmed.

"hello? Stuck in a forest? Looking for a way out?" Dick called after them, one hand on a hip.

"we can spare a few minutes!" Jay cackled.

"can we though?" Dick grumbled.

"just give them the moment," Bruce said, giving Dick a small smile, "not all of us are vigilantes who can prioritise."

"I think you can give them a little more credit than that," Dick said.

"they've had a lot of surprises today, let them work it off."

Dick sighed but gave in, watching as Jay and Cass wobbled and near-slipped, slowly climbing up to the top.

"you're right, I should have told them," Bruce said, "and I understand why you gave me the chance to explain, I thank you for that, and I'm sorry that me keeping my secret gave you the stress of hiding things from everyone else."

Dick sighed through his nose, "I should have told them anyway."

"shoulda, coulda, woulda," Bruce said.

Dick snickered, "okay, yeah, fair point."

Bruce pursed his lips, trying to figure out how to breach the situation.

"what happened with Deathstroke," he began, "you could talk to Dinah about it."

Dick glanced at Bruce, then trained his eyes back on his younger siblings, "I'd prefer not."

"that's fine," Bruce assured, "but she's there if you need to talk to someone, I know she'd be happy to help."

Dick nodded but Bruce could tell he had no intentions of considering it.

Jay got to the top of the rock. He grinned, laughing, then pointed at Cas, "suck it, Cain!"

She quickly joined him on the rock, poking her tongue out at Bruce and Dick.

Jay seemed to freeze, going tense. "uh... Dick?"

Dick frowned, "what?"

"I think I see someone," Jay said, pointing into the distance, "or a few someones."

Dick froze, turning around to look through the underbrush, he couldn't spot anyone yet but he thought he might have heard the crash of someone's boot thumping in the undergrowth.

Dick waved a hand, "get down here, be quiet," he ordered, the words flying out through his teeth.

Now that Jay and Cas knew the pathway to take they were quicker, jumping across the rocks to get back to the ground. Dick looked around, trying to find any sign of their presence here. There were snapped twigs and branches skewed in some places, he didn't have time to fix things, to create a false path.

"they could have trackers on us, possibly dogs," Bruce said.

"we need to cross the creek," Dick said, racing over to meet Jay and Cas by the creek side, Bruce following him.

"what do we do?" Cas signed.

"get in the water, quick but quiet, we need to cross to the other side," Dick said. Jay and Cas nodded, doing as told. They took off any extra layers first, climbing the rocks and dropping the clothes into he water where Dick told them to. They were swept into the current and carried away downstream. They lowered themselves into the water first, Bruce followed once Dick made a gesture to do so, having gotten rid of his suit jacket as well, Dick would take up the rear.

He took a quick look at what he had in his jacket, taking the essentials and clipping them to his belt. He had a few shurikens in a compartment, a line of grapple hook wire coiled up inside a compartment, sans the grapple of course, which he kept because one could never guess when they'd need rope, his communicator- water proof thank god- a small first aid kit, emphasis on small, and- he almost sighed in relief- his escrima sticks. He hadn't taken them out, they were hidden in the lining of the jacket. The strap he usually clipped them to was hidden as well, he clipped them on and slung them onto his shoulders, they sat just as they would over his Nightwing suit. He disposed of his jacket, far too heavy for him to have a chance at swimming with it on. Then he joined his family on the other side of the creek.

"dude, even my jacket floated, what was in that thing?" Jay asked.

Dick just laughed lightly and guided them on, they continued walking along the creek, upstream, this time sticking a further distance away from the water so they were hidden more by the tree line.

They picked up their pace, the creek becoming bigger and bigger, joining up with a larger piece that one could definitely call a river.

"well, would you look at that," Jay said, "what now?"

"'What bed is not slept in, what runner has no track? Sound moves well through air, but better through what else?'" Dick muttered to himself, staring at the river. He strode to the side, the bank was eroded away, tree roots holding together a metre's worth of dirt that dropped off, the river running fast, "what would be here?"

Bruce stared further upstream, he spied a waterfall in the distance, they could hear the water crashing.

"'what bed is not slept in?' he's talking about the bed of the river," Dick muttered.

"no duh," Jason snorted, sitting on the bank with his legs dangling. Dick made no movement to show he'd even heard Jason. At this point he was deep in his won mind.

"a runner with no track," Cas signed, sitting next to Dick, "a running river. This one is fast because of the waterfall."

Dick looked between the waterfall and the river.

"the river bed," Dick muttered, "sound moves better through water than air. But it's not better it's faster."

Jason looked over at the waterfall, "is it just me, or does the cliff face cave in on itself?"

Dick's head snapped to Jason, "what?"

"the cliff," Jason pointed it out, "can you see where the rock caves in? the water isn't running down it, it's tipping over the edge, there's space behind it."

Dick stood, staring, "no way."

"what?" Jason asked, standing, "what are you thinking?"

Dick bolted, running towards the waterfall, the three left behind following in confusion.

By the time they caught up to him he was picking his way across the rocks, creeping closer to the base of the waterfall.

"Dick, what have you figured out?" Jason asked.

"it's behind the waterfall," he said, turning back and pointing out the pathway to follow, "whatever is here, it's hidden behind the waterfall."

"oh, of course," Bruce sounded like he was genuinely disappointed he hadn't figured that out. Jason was a little disappointed himself.

"I'm going to see what I find," Dick said, unclipping the compartment on his belt with the grapple-hook wire. He unwound it quickly, handing one end to Jason, "if I tug this twice, pull me back, if I tug it once I'm safe, if I don't tug it for three whole minutes, pull me back."

"isn't three pushing it a bit?" Jason asked, staring at the wire with mild worry.

"I'll manage," Dick said, slipping his shoes and socks off.

They were to the side of the waterfall, so Dick wouldn't immediately get swept up and pushed backwards. Even still, he couldn't hope to swim against the current.

He held the rope tight, picking his way across the rocks as close as he could get to the water. He was close enough that he was only about two arm lengths away. He turned, mock saluted, and dove on in.

Jason grit his teeth and held the wire tight, his gut told him this was a terrible idea.

He was counting in his head, Bruce staring at his watch and chewing on his lip.

"a minute and a half," Bruce said. Jason fought the urge to snap 'I know' at him.

Fifteen seconds later and there was nothing.

"pull him back," Bruce ordered.

"he said three minutes."

Bruce was tense, staring at his watch, but he stayed quiet until he announced that two minutes had passed.

Cas was pacing as best she could across the rocks.

Jason was bouncing on his toes.

"two and a half minutes," Bruce got out past clenched teeth.

"I know," Jason hissed.

Ten seconds passed. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen.

Jason felt a tug.

He sighed, shoulders caving as he felt the tug, "oh thank god."

Not long after a head popped up out of the water. Dick took a deep enough breath that they all heard it, he flicked hair out of his face and grabbed onto a rock. Jason jumped across the rocks to get closer, reaching a hand down to help Dick up onto the rock.

Dick pushed his hair back, the water dripping down freely, he blinked it out of his eyes.

"okay, I found something, didn't get a good look, but I think I saw some computers, there's definitely something there."

"okay, is it easy to get there?" Jason asked, hopeful.

Dick snorted, "It'll be easier knowing how to get there, now I've done it once, I can guide someone through," he took a deep breath, still a little out of breath from the swim, he looked at the wire, "better yet," he grinned, "I can find something to tie this to, then you just have to keep hold of it."

"oh, great, let's do that again, brilliant," Jason said.

"aw, were you worried for me?" Dick snickered, tense from the breeze hitting the water he was soaked with.

"shut up and get back in there Grayson."

He did so, jumping in. the tug was quicker this time, the rope stayed taught, Dick appeared out of the water with a grin.

"okay, Cas, you wanna go first?" Dick asked. Cas nodded, smiling, she seemed almost excited.

They both got in the water together, holding onto the rock, then grabbed the rope and ducked into the water. Two minutes later and there was a tug, after that Dick appeared within thirty seconds.

"okay, Jay, you're next," Dick said, not even bothering to get out of the water this time. Jay passed the rope to Bruce then got into the water. A minute and a half, a tug, twenty seconds and Dick was back.

As Dick surfaced, Bruce heard a shout in the distance. He turned, seeing movement in the underbrush.

"shit!" Dick hissed, climbing out of the water, "okay, get in, go."

"what?" Bruce asked.

"they haven't spotted us, go!" Dick ordered.

The shout was echoed, Dick's statement about them not seeing them was about to be false.

"Dick-"

Dick turned, eyes alight with fire, "go!" he ordered, and Bruce had turned to the water before he'd even thought. He got in the water, hearing the people following them shouting, Dick was watching them, holding the rope, Bruce readied himself for the journey through the cold water.

As his head went under he heard a gunshot.

Dick landed in the water next, no red was blooming into the water, Dick was fine. Dick pushed Bruce forward along the rope. Bruce figured he must be fine, he forged on.

It wasn't till he climbed out to where Jason and Cas were that he realised Dick wasn't behind him.

Dick made sure Bruce left, then got back up onto the rocks. They'd only seen Bruce and Dick, he could move suspicion off of them.

The rope would make that difficult though. He let go of it, it disappeared in the river immediately.

The gunmen stormed over, firing wildly. Dick parkoured across the rocks, missing the bullets. They weren't aiming well anyway.

Finally they got close enough and Dick threw some of his shurikens, knowing he had only a limited amount. He danced across the rocks, missing bullets. He managed to get close enough to start fighting with them, they fell around him, knocked out. The group was only small, there were six where he was, another six at a distance trying to get a shot in. in a few minutes Dick had the men around him down, the other six charging him.

"move you idiot, now!" one barked at the men, "oh for the love of- I'll just shoot you too!"

Dick only had to knock out two of them himself the other three were shot in the cross fire.

And as soon as no one was on the way, the last gunman fired.

Dick felt the bullet thunk into his skin, he held back the yelp, instead lurching forwards as his opponent reloaded. He knocked him out. There was a patch of red spreading just above Dick's right hip.

Dick stumbled across the rocks, back to where he had dropped the rope. Maybe he could find it, maybe not.

He dived in.

The current seemed stronger, or maybe it was just the new injury. He was hit with cold, the sound of the waterfall loud in his ears. He kicked, lungs beginning to burn.

He'd done it before, he could do it again.

One minute. He didn't realise he'd been counting. He could feel the water pushing against him. his arms and legs burned hotter than his lungs did.

He was being pushed down, down, down. His muscles were tired, he couldn't make the trip again, the bullet wound screamed.

His feet hit rocks.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, fuck.

He bent his knees, using the river bed to allow him the chance to push off. It didn't help much and his entire body screamed as his wound was agitated by the movement.

He was sure that by now he had made it past the waterfall and was now just fighting to get to the top. He was losing that fight. his lungs shrieked, he could hear his heart hammering in his chest.

Maybe this was where he died.

Something hit his shoulder, he jumped, arms flying wildly as he tried to figure out what touched him. a grip appeared on his arm and tugged him up-

His head broke the surface. Jason heaved him up onto the bank, both of them panting wildly. Dick coughed, chest pained as he realised water had managed to get into his airway through his nose. He didn't bother getting up just yet, trying to catch his breath.

"you good?" Jason asked, shooting him a grin.

Dick didn't answer, wincing as he tried to sit up.

It was at that point that Bruce noticed the rad stain of his shirt.

"shit," he grabbed hold of Dick's forearm and helped him up, guiding him to a chair sitting by a desk.

The room was about seven by eight metres. Desks pushed against the sides that weren't the opening onto the waterfall, with old computers and radios, chairs and crates of spare parts.

"oh, shit," Jason stared at Dick as Bruce sat him down.

"what happened?"

"bullet wound," Dick said, wincing, "there was a small group, I just knocked them out."

"and got shot," Bruce said, "you shouldn't have-"

"coulda, shoulda, woulda, whatever, I'll be fine."

"got a first AID kit?" Bruce asked.

"you're not gonna drop this are you?"

"no."

Dick sighed, unclipped the small kit from his belt and handed it to Bruce.

Cas stared, wide eyed, Jason wasn't much better.

"shirt off," Bruce ordered.

"I don't think-"

"now."

Dick sighed, pulling his sopping wet shirt off and tossing it to the side. Jason and Cass's gaping looks only got worse.

Bruce seemed unsurprised.

Bruce rifled around, finding a pair of tweezers in the kit, "this is gonna hurt like a bitch," he said.

"didn't realise you were voicing my inner monologue," Dick snickered.

"dude, how, when?" Jay asked, gaping at the scars on Dick's chest.

Dick did his best to shrug without aggravating the wound. Bruce was attempting to get the bullet out with a mere pair of tweezers.

"this is why I always had Alfred patch me up," Bruce grumbled.

"oh for the love of," Dick sighed, "give me."

Bruce raised an eyebrow but handed him the tweezers.

"start trying to piece things together, surely we can make something usable for communications here," Dick said.

"you're gonna patch yourself up?" Cass asked.

"done it before," Dick explained, smiling, "believe me, I'm good, try and give Bruce a hand."

just had to get the bullet out, he had a small, folded line of bandages and a square of gauze, plus a small needle and about three metres of thread. He eventually managed to get the bullet and crap out- or at least he hoped all of it. there could be a few pieces left in, but for now he'd just have to deal. He could have someone check to make sure when they were no longer stuck in a forest being hunted.

"I think I can send a message out, but it's going nowhere, I have nothing here to control frequency," Bruce said.

Dick's communicator crackled. There wasn't enough connection for anyone but Barbara to be calling him. he took it out and set it on the desk next to him as he started cleaning the wound with a ripped piece of his wet shirt.

"hey Babs," he greeted, managing to not sound like he was gritting his teeth past the stinging pain.

"we got to the tower, there's not much here, nothing I can send a message with, but it seems to be connected with something else on the island," she explained, "like a control tower for radio conversation, but someone's taken out the part where you input sound."

"yeah?" Dick said, looking at Bruce with a smile, "funny that, we just found a little something behind a waterfall, Bruce reckons he can send out a message but there's nothing to control the frequency."

"so this is a work together situation," Barbara said, "I'm not sure how strong it'll be, we'll probably only have a small range."

"any guesses on where we are yet?" Dick asked, taking the needle and thread out, beginning to get things ready. Jason stared at him like he was insane.

"not sure yet, but there's a dead guy here in a uniform, national wilderness protection type by the looks," she said, completely nonchalant, "the embroidery is frayed, but I think it says Maine."

"oh, great, I love Maine," Dick said, sarcasm dripping in his voice.

"know anyone within a short range?"

Dick considered, scowled, "unfortunately."

"oh," Barbara said, "I don't like the sound of that."

Dick worked his jaw, looking closely at the eye of the needle as he tried to get the thread through. There was an isopropyl soaked wipe that he had in his kit, he cleaned his hand, the needle, the thread, the wound, holding back a hiss as it hit the last one.

"Dick," Barbara said, "who are you thinking of?"

"there may be someone with a safe house here," Dick said, "and considering the time of year and what missions they've been on and other crap, they should be currently there."

Dick could practically feel Barbara's suspicion, "I don't like where this is going," she said.

"are any of you injured?" Dick asked.

Silence on the other end of the line.

"Babs?"

"quite possibly."

Dick sighed through his nose.

"so, stuck in a forest, no food or water unless we hunt and forage, minimal communications, and armed gunmen coming after us," Dick said, "how desperate are we?"

"please tell me the person you're talking about isn't who I'm thinking of."

"dunno, who are you thinking of?"

"Dick," Barbara said, her voice full of warning.

Dick pursed his lips. He needed to start stitching himself up so he could bandage the wound, now was not the time for this conversation.

"Deathstroke has a safe house, Wintergreen'll be around, he'd definitely pick up a signal."

"Dick, you know exactly what he'd ask for."

"I know," Dick said, "how desperate are we?"

"not that desperate," Bruce cut in.

"you sure?" Dick asked, "you wanna risk it?"

"We are not taking that risk, surely we know someone else in Maine."

"any names coming to mind?"

Barbara went quiet.

"yeah," Dick sighed. "trust me, I'm trying to think of any other possibilities, if you can think of any other than 'staying here and hoping to survive' I will gladly change my mind, but right now it seems the only option."

"we are not asking Deathstroke for help, especially in a situation when you're injured," Barbara said.

"how did you-"

"I can hear it in your voice, I'm not an idiot," Barbara hissed, "he could help us, and then immediately after he'd knock us out and take you with him."

"Babs," Dick said, trying to get across the nuances of this conversation, trying to make her understand that he did not want to resort to this, but they didn't seem to have a lot of choice, "what's our other option?"

Barbara was quiet. She was going from civilian mode to Batwoman mode. She was prioritising, taking a step back.

"okay," she said, "start figuring out what you're gonna say, I'll get the frequency ready."

Dick sighed, "yeah, Bruce, make sure the radio's ready, I've gotta sew my skin together."

"what's your injury?" Barbara asked.

"bullet wound, right side, above the hip," he said, then turned to Jason, "you wanna take the conversation, I'm gonna focus."

Jason nodded mutely, grabbing the communicator and joining Bruce by the radio. Dick bit his lip as he readied himself to do this.

This was not how he'd expected this family dinner to go.