Recall chapter 2
The speedy ride back to Gotham was still going to take a good half an hour and everyone who knew Dick Grayson the slightest bit, knew that he didn't like awkward silences.
Damian Wayne, on the other hand, was completely comfortable with any kind of silence, awkward or otherwise. There was one type of silence he couldn't fathom or grasp though.
And that was any kind of silence while in the presence of his eldest brother, especially when the fool was completely and clearly conscious!
"Grayson, would you talk already? Your silence could wake the dead."
The elder hero chuckled under his breath as the younger rolled his eyes in annoyance. Why the idiot found near everything he said was worthy of a laugh or smile, he didn't know.
"Sorry Kid."
"OK I'm going to rip out the throat of the next person who calls me that!"
THAT only caused Dick to laugh.
"Grayson, is it possible for you to EVER take a death threat seriously?"
"Um, nope, I never have and probably never will."
The awkward silence returned and the younger began allowing his eyes to roam among the controls of the Batmobile in front of him. He didn't know what else to do while Grayson was this quiet.
"That cop."
"Hmm?" Dick mumbled as his head turned slowly to stare at Robin.
"She's…irritating but not inadequate for her job."
Nightwing raised an eyebrow under his mask; did Damian just indirectly compliment someone?
"Uh, yeah. She's good."
"You obviously had more sense than my father when it came to choosing partners."
OK. Had the demon child just given him a compliment or did he still have a concussion?
"You mean Red Hood and Red Robin?"
"Among others he worked with in the past. How he managed to work with such ignorant underlings is beyond me."
Dick closed his eyes; he MUST still have a concussion. Good thing he'd let Damian drive and besides, needless to say, the Boy Wonder had gotten much better since the last time he had gotten behind the aerial controls of the Batmobile. Guess those driving lessons out in the Sahara had helped a lot. Though, he hoped that no one ever found or questioned the giant crater there-
Well, that was trouble for a different day.
Awkward silence returned to the two of them again
"Any theories about what the hell is going on?" Damian asked after another uncomfortable minute.
"Aren't you supposed to be the detective here?"
Robin growled under his breath, "Nothing has any connection."
"Why don't you start with what we already know?"
"I thought you weren't a detective?" the younger said with a raised eyebrow.
Nightwing waved off the comment and began speaking, "As far as I can understand, a week ago-"
"Was Scarecrow's city-wide bombardment," Robin finished for him.
Where was this going?
"Where upon the whole team began focusing on calming down the city. You and Batman were with Catwoman and Catgirl and trying to capture the Red Hood. He shot you and ran off-"
Robin pressed his lips together tightly to keep from commenting. He'd made a mistake and let that maniac get away…
"It only proves that there's more than one bad guy. No one could single handedly keep you down and fight off your father at the same time. You're both too good for that."
A compliment, very common from the acrobat but still, Damian turned his head into the shadows to slightly smile out of sight.
"So answer this Nightwing," Robin said, turning his head back now that his face had returned to a neutral display, "Jean-Paul Valley, the first Azrael, it's obvious he would know my father, you and Drake but what about the rest of us?"
"Robin, it's not that Azrael has knowledge of all of us. It's the fact that he has the knowledge and therefore the ability to get a hold of the information about all of us."
"The Bat-Computer?" Robin asked and received a nod.
"But how could he have gotten past all of the defenses in the Cave?"
"You forget, once upon a time Azrael was Batman."
"No I haven't, my Father reviewed the case with me just days before Scarecrow's attack."
"One week and you didn't recognize that eye plate you found at the Manor?"
"…"
Nightwing raised an eyebrow in the silence.
"Shut up Grayson."
Dick laughed before slumping back in his seat, "If it's Jean-Paul, than he would've known a lot of entrances to the Batcave. It shouldn't be surprising; and there are direct communication connections to the Bat Bunker and safe houses on the computer as well. As well as all the information your Father stored on it about our team."
"Alright, so it's this Azrael guy and he's working with someone."
"A few dozen someones actually," Nightwing responded, glancing right to look out of the window.
"Do you have any theories for that? I highly doubt that Scarecrow could be behind this."
"I have one theory that would explain part of this coordinated attack, but I'll need the ID from Doctor Leslie to be sure if Jean-Paul is indeed involved. After that I'll need to go to S.T.A.R. labs in Metropolis. If Superman isn't busy, maybe we could get his help as well."
"Why Metropolis?"
"They have a nuclear micro analyzer, which no other branch has because they don't have Superman to install the components without dying from the expelling radiation of the decapolonium-210 core."
"What kind of idiot thought powering the thing with decapolonium-210 was a good idea? It's more deadly than that trihydrogen dodecacyanide Kryptonite mixture that Lex Luthor thought was a good idea three years ago."
"Yeah, and both Japan and France are still recovering from it," Nightwing mentioned, "I know it's deadly, but it's the only way I can know for sure if my theory is correct."
"What theory? While we're stuck together again I'm your partner so you better tell me what the hell is going on!"
"It's difficult to explain Damian. If you glanced through Arkham's files I bet you'd find that after their releases, Poison Ivy and Penguin haven't made a single public scene or robbery."
"They're behind this?" Robin raised a questioning eyebrow.
The idiot couldn't seriously be suggesting that Scarecrow, Ivy and Penguin were behind the entire attack? How in the world would they have gotten into contact with the original Azrael, who was supposed to be dead, anyways?
"Grayson, you're making absolutely no sense. Which isn't surprising in-"
"Before you insult my detective skills listen. Who do we know that can bring back the dead?"
Damian's eyes widened behind his mask, his foot hit the break and his breathing shortened into gasps, "Grandfather."
"It's possible and if the DNA ID from Leslie confirms that it was Jean-Paul we fought, then using the nuclear micro analyzer in Metropolis will either confirm if Ivy is involved or not. I suspect that there are micro-plant spores in the Batarang; specifically, the mind altering kind that could synthesize successfully with Scarecrow's fear toxin, causing the unusual state you were in."
When Robin glanced over, he noticed that Nightwing had pulled out a clear plastic evidence bag and inside it, were half a dozen mercury coated Batarangs.
Silence.
"You really should keep driving, Damian."
The boy nodded silently and reached for the control to the hover engine, and stopped, but only for long enough to mutter.
"He would have known the Manor too. That's why they found Bruce Wayne and not Batman there."
The elder hero swallowed the air in his mouth that suddenly felt like salt water.
"Don't worry, we will find out what's happening, who's behind it, we'll find the team and Bruce will wake up."
Looking at the silent boy, Nightwing could almost see tears peeking out from the bottom of the mask. The reality had hit him. They knew nothing about what had happened to Bruce or Alfred. It was a strong possibility that they would never wake up. Heck, they could already be dead.
Nightwing made a mental note to see if he could contact Barry Allen and Wally West when he headed for Metropolis, if anyone could help with a toxin; it was the chemistry Einstein Duo.
But for right now…
His right hand went to the compartment in his left glove and pressed a button on the side. By the time he got Robin back to the others, his motorcycle would be at the high rail train station he had rode in on. After a quick talk with Leslie to confirm or deny his theory about that DNA ID from his broken grapple he'd be able to head to Metropolis and hopefully contact some friends.
Now assuming that the others got enough sleep it would only be advantageous that the Cats and Robin head out into the city to track down the Scarecrow. If they could get the answers out of him they wouldn't need to go through so much trouble. Given the mad scientist was actually involved or if the toxin had simply been stolen.
Well, he wouldn't have to wait much longer. Gotham city was now in sight.
Was it truly Jean-Paul or an imposter? And if he had been brought back from the dead, was he working for Ra's and what was the guy's plan or motive for doing all this?
Well, no one said that living in the ranks of the Bat-Family was easy to endure or understand.
That last thought crossed Dick's mind when Damian spoke up again.
"What was Deathstroke doing there?" he growled.
The kid sounded like he wanted to tear the guy to pieces…
"That's-"
Nightwing didn't get to finish his sentence because the communicator in his ear let out a shrill beep.
"Nightwing here."
"Thank goodness."
"Dr. Leslie? What's going on?"
"It's the Penguin, he's attacking. The Cats and Spoiler went out to stop him."
Dick grimaced, "Stay with Bruce and Alfred. Robin, step on it. We may have another lead."
Forgetting and bypassing the security of the perimeter of Gotham City, the Batmobile flew towards the hospital that had become like a second home for all of them. They could already see the ice forming on the building across from it.
"Let's go!" Nightwing said.
Robin nodded and the vehicle made a quick descent to the iced rooftop.
Whew, finally. Sorry this took so long, my studies have kept me busy for a while.
By the way, I'm having a little indifference about the plot line. There's two directions I want to take. I'm simply saying this because I will answer any questions I can, but I need to decide on which direction I want the plot to take, before I begin making some things clear.
OK, now that that's taken care of, I just wanted to take this opportunity to again thank everyone for reading, favoriting and reviewing this series. I originally started in the Nightwing forum with the idea that I would just write one or two one-shots and then leave, but look what that's turned into. Also, I do have some few one-shots in the Batman forum which I could use some more feedback on, given that one was actually a request on DA. If you don't mind or aren't too busy.
In the meantime, I will start typing the next chapter tonight and attempt to finish it and post it tomorrow since this update took so long.
~Moonsetta
