metalogs | Aw shit, get your towels ready it's about to go down

On it, SB!

[He's doing his best not to run the statistics. How long given the average temperature of the lake at this time they have before hypothermia sets in, the odds of finding something as relatively small as a floating person on the vast lake. And Robin was stripped of his costume, and with it all the gadgetry that might help.]

Grid 5 clear, starting 6...

[They had to have this covered, because the alternative was impossible to think about. He remembered losing Kon, how bleak things were, and how his own experiences had sent him into a spiral. He couldn't lose Tim.]

[ From the moment the livestream started, Tim knew who would be looking for him. He might not know everyone involved, but he knows that Batman, Superboy and Kid Flash are looking for the boat. He knows their priority order (neutralize the threat to the public, rescue Robin, capture the Joker). Suspects that the other Batman will do likewise. He knows who's at risk of reordering that list, and he outright knows that Red Hood is operating with the exact opposite hierarchy.

But he also knows how good Kryptonian hearing can be. Good enough that, really, if Tim or any of the other heroes needed help - he could shout for Superman and, if he wasn't already saving someone, Superman would come. It's happened once or twice, outside of Gotham. It's not the sort of thing anyone does lightly - there's four of them and billions of people. And vigilantes shouldn't be the priority because they should be able to save themselves. Completely last ditch effort.

He is miles from shore. ]

Superboy!

[ He gets a mouthful of water for the effort. He's been in murkier water than this, but the taste makes him kick harder to keep his head out of the choppy water. He does not want to drown here.

[The thing with Supers is they can place the exact location of a voice. They can tell the direction and the distance. So Kon knows that getting to Tim's exact location is the first priority.]

[There is no time to yell for Bart. He'll do it once he gets there. And Bart won't hear Kon's voice over the rush of wind anyway.]

[He can't break the sound barrier due to the hit his powers took, but he gets as close as he can at his current levels of speed. The sheer force of the air rushing away from him causes a wake in the water below, waves parting on each side.]

[He sees something on the water in the distance. He switches to x-ray vision and sees a skeleton thrashing in the waves.]

[A large wave swamps Tim and drags him under the water, one hand grasping above the surface. Fortunately, it's the good hand, not the one the Joker broke, which makes grabbing him easier.]

[Just before Tim goes completely under, Tim will feel a large, strong hand grabbing onto his own. TTK spreads from the hand around him, so that when he pulls him up, his body is supported. That way Kon's strength doesn't hurt his shoulder.]

[He's pulled upward in one hard pull and then he's in the air and strong arms are wrapping around his torso, the teke still supporting him.]

I've got you! I've got you! I've got you!

[It's a litany.]

[Kon listens for his heart and breathing, looks at his lungs with X-ray vision, making sure he hasn't inhaled water and stopped breathing, because then he'd have to use his teke for leverage and start CPR or something.]

[The second he's sure he's breathing, he'll tell Bart to meet them at their launch point.]

Edited 2022-07-17 23:18 (UTC)

[Bart sees Kon dive from where he's doing his run of the grid, and, leaving a scout to continue the pattern in case it's a false alarm, he heads in that general direction. He can't stay where he was when it could be Tim.

It's just a little slower because he's still working not to send up a giant rooster-tail of spray, but moments later, he's running beside Kon.]

What've you got, Kon?

[His eyes stop glowing from the X-ray vision and he looks at Bart with a horrified expression.]

[The words wrench their way out of him.]

His heart's beating but he's not breathing.

Get us back to shore!

[He flies down to Bart, grabs onto a shoulder so he starts getting dragged along behind him, his teke securing him and helping him hold onto Tim.]

[He can fly fast but Bart's faster.]

[A hospital is next, but he knows how important it is to get oxygen into his body even before the hospital. Especially while his heart is still pumping. He might start breathing again and even if he doesn't, at least his heart might pump some oxygen to his brain before it starts getting too weak. So a few breaths of rescue breathing when they can get him on a flat surface and then Bart can carry him to the hospital.]

[Kon's words are like a jolt of ice water, colder than the lake beneath his feet, but he doesn't hesitate, trusting Kon's grip and TTK to keep them together and Tim shielded from the force as he forgets about managing his wake and just pours on the speed.

Hardly a moment later they're there, on the thin strip of cultivated beach that lines Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, and he's doing a careful skid to bleed off momentum so he can just step off the water onto dry(ish) land.]

I'll back you up, but you've got the super-senses.

[Which, in this case, is easily as good as any monitoring equipment that would be ready to go if they continued to the nearest trauma center. And Bart was hesitant to do that, with how this world keeps tabs on known metas.]

[As he puts him on the ground and positions him, the words come out in a breathless ramble, as quick as he can say them.]

Keep taking his pulse and tell me if it changes so I can focus. I'm going to do rescue breathing. If we can't get him breathing in a few breaths, you need to rush him to a hospital.

[He starts rescue breathing on Tim, tilting his head the right way, pinching his nose and doing a head-tilt, chin lift, mentally thanking every person that ever emphasized the importance of knowing how to do first aid for victims being rescued.]

[He mentally counts the seconds between breaths, tries to focus on the numbers instead of the fear.]

Edited 2022-07-19 04:33 (UTC)

[ There’s nothing coherent -

And then there a chaotic jumble of mixed signals - Kick to get his head above water. Breathe. No. He’s grabbing him; get him off. His lungs are burning. Make it stop. Pain. Get it out - resulting in Tim trying to fight, breath, cough, swim, lurch upright all at once.

He doesn’t really have a thought until he’s somehow twisted to one side, allowing for the coughs interspersed with the wretched gasps for air to start clearing the aspirated water. And even then, it’s just that he can’t breathe deeply enough around the coughing. Tim tries to hold back the coughing for fear that he’ll black out again if it doesn’t stop, but can’t. He slumps against the ground, hacking and heaving. ]

Edited 2022-07-19 05:18 (UTC)

[ Welp that sure was coughed up water in his month but what's a little backwash between friends? Kon spits it off to the side. All that matters is Tim's breathing - and also panicking and trying to fight which means his brain is probably working okay. Kon would be a lot more worried if he'd coughed it up but wasn't fighting for consciousness or trying to move. Tim trying to react five different ways is normal. Tim being dazed after oxygen deprivation might be a sign of damage.]

[If Kon caught him as he was going under, it probably was only about a minute that he'd gone without oxygen. People could recover from that completely.]

Tim, it's okay! It's okay! Stop - just stop okay? You need to get in the recovery position.

[Kon tries to nudge him gently in the direction of being positioned that way but it's gentle and not overly forceful, and involves a lot more comforting rubs of his shoulder than an attack would. The way he touches him is too easy to fight against to be someone trying to force him into something painful.]

[And he doesn't just try to move him. The hand not trying to guide his shoulder so that he turns on his side is at his brow, pushing his wet hair out of his eyes, far too tender to be an enemy. It's far more shades of "Waking up in the Batcave after an injury to Alfred taking care of me when I'm sick or hurt" than "being hurt by the clown."]

It's okay, it's okay. You're safe. He's gone. You're safe. It's just me and Bart.

[His voice stays calm but firm. Tim needs to hear someone familiar, and needs gentleness, but needs his security reinforced.]

Breathe. You need to breathe. Try to get it all out.

We've got you, Tim.

[He's safe to cough until he nearly blacks out. He's safe to curl on the ground and try to calm his breathing. There is no immediate fight waiting for him. They're near Chicago but miles from the blast zone and this is just a pit stop anyway. Bart's fast enough to get them away from any trouble anyway. (Plus it's only registering now but there'd been chatter earlier about the other heroes dealing with the boat right before Kon had spotted Tim.)]

It's just us, okay?

It's just us.

[He's not crying in relief, that's just some spray from Bart running on the water in his eyes.]

[Bart moves back as Tim starts to cough and struggle, a startled sound escaping as one of the attempts to move nearly gets him hit by a flailing arm. He was too focused on the pulse and the sounds to be ready to switch gears, but as soon as he does, he blinks out for a split-second, returning with a stack of towels, but not draping them yet.]

We've got you, you're safe. Kon's right, it's just us.

[There's a moment where he wants to run a basic assessment since getting Tim breathing had been way more important than checking for other injuries, and Kon had probably looked for anything serious. They had a little time, and he absently tapped his ear to let him listen in on the other channel where those going for the boat were, even though his main focus was on his friends.]

Take all the time you need to breathe. We're good.

[ It’s not. It’s not okay. How can it possibly be okay when there’s so much wrong - he knows there’s so much wrong that needs to be relayed, but Tim can’t call up the information. It wouldn’t matter anyway, lost in the kaff kaff hnnnnnh kaff kaff hnnnnh.

He stops resisting the manipulation and only tenses twice. Once when he turns and a broken rib shifts. Most of the injuries can’t register simultaneously; too many nerves are screaming for attention. Again when the hand goes for his head. He doesn’t want to be hit, doesn’t want anything touching his face or head without the meager protection of the dumb ball cap. Where did it go? Presumably lost in the water.

The hat won’t be shoved back on, because it’s just us. Just Bart and Kon. It’s fine. He’s safe. He’s shivering, but that’s the breeze on soaked skin and clothes. He should do. do something. Take stock. Get through the pain and the shock and the laughing because the Joker’s not here. He’s not here. He’s on the boat and he’s going to take it out on everyone. ]

Chi-

[ Tim stupidly tries to sit up and talk and sinks back down again. Whatever muscles and bones just moved were evidently not supposed to, and the new coughing fit doesn’t stop until wretches up a mix of lake water and bile.

But after that, his breathing sounds better. Like he’s starting to get his breath back. Tim uses it on what’s important. ]

Chicago docks. Go.

[ It’s an order, despite being a whisper, and he absolutely expects them to leave him… wherever this is… to race off to Chicago. Like they said, he’s good. He can manage. He’ll call Oracle for backup. Good plan.

Shit. Barbara’s a chicken. He has his mask, right? He can walk. He got off the boat; he’ll manage. ]

No.

[He starts bundling him in some of the towels, just to start the warming process. Kon knows he needs a moment to rest and then Kon's going to suggest he loses the shirt and gets bundled in even more dry towels.]

Other people are handling the boat and the clown, and fresh water drowning is supposed to be worse than salt water. I remember that from all the first aid stuff we learned with the Titans. It screws up your lungs more than salt water. We're not leaving you to possibly cough up the inside of one of your lungs.

[He needs to go to a hospital.]

We're gonna take you to a get help and we're staying with you until someone catches the clown.

[They're not letting him get taken again.]

It's your choice where to go, though. We can all ditch the costumes and take you to a normal hospital, and come up with an explanation for what happened on the way there, or if you want to be more secretive we can take you to that clinic we found out about, where the unaligned heroes go.

I have a third option. I know a guy who can heal...well, anything. Friend of Prodigy's from his world. He's probably the only person I'd trust who could handle things if I ever got hurt badly.

[But it's not completely urgent now, even if Tim could have all kinds of complications from the near-drowning.]

I've got scouts out everywhere, acting as coordination as best as I can manage. B's organizing, and Red Hood is...well, you know how he gets on this topic. Nobody's going to let this go unanswered. And we've got the Coast Guard and everything called up, not to mention first responders on alert should things go boom in the wrong place.

[ Why aren’t they listening, now of all times? He can’t yell at them without hurting something.

He starts shaking his head at Kon’s first no. No to them not not going to manage the Chicago crowds and get the civilians out of the way. No to the hospital. No to the clinic. No to Bart’s friend.

Doesn’t stop shaking his head, although it’s more like he can’t.

They’re all too risky, and it’s not Tim’s risk. It’s not his right to make that call: it’s Batman’s decision. He has to okay it. ]

Take me to B’s office. Then go?

[ It’s a nice compromise. Batman can decide what to do with him later, and they can’t argue that it’s not the right call. If they were home, they’d take him to the Batcave. Take him there and go help, because what if the Coast Guard isn’t enough? ]

Please. ‘m not going to dry drown.

No.

[He won't. They won't. ]

Other people are handling the boat and evacuations, and thanks to you they had a lot of time to get people out. Bats is going after the clown. There's nobody like Nightwing or Alfred to drop you off with. Someone needs to take care of you.

So you can choose where to go for help but you don't have a choice on us getting you there and keeping you safe from him until they bring him in.

[Bart can't help the rueful chuckle that escapes him.]

If you think we're going to leave you anywhere, you're hiding more hits to the head than that video showed. That boat's not making landfall, more like escape velocity. Even Bats is okay with taking advantage of the power levels that can be brought to bear in situations like this.

So, we can go to find someone with actual medical expertise, or we can go somewhere out of the way, in which case we're staying close in case you relapse or something. Trust me, healing quickly isn't always a good thing.

[ There’s a suspicious pause because, yes, Tim took a significant number of hits to head and elsewhere before the stream started. He thinks. It’s foggy. Admitting that won’t help.

Oh, but Bart’s maybe added in an option for less notice and oversight. ]

Somewhere out of the way.

[ He’s not verbally agreeing to them staying with him. He’s just conceding. He’s exhausted, and the adrenaline is fading fast. They can do what they want - towels, moving him. Tim just wants it to stop hurting. ]

Aw shit, get your towels ready it's about to go down

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