Dick didn't scowl, that was saved for old men who spent far too much of their time in dank caverns, but his expression was decidedly pinched with worry watching Bruce being carted off by the new kid. He hadn't lied when he'd told the old man that Blüdhaven's problems were leaking into Gotham, he just neglected to mention that this case had a personal note to it.
He wondered how long he could work in Gotham before Bruce and his latest reincarnation made this delicate situation, even more precarious. He knew that Bruce would be Bruce, he was steadfast as the rising and setting of the moon. But this new kid, McGinnis, he was an unknown in Dick's world, no matter how much Bruce trusted him.
McGinnis had a record, it was easy enough to learn with a little snooping. Petty robbery, something that landed him three months in Juvenile Hall. He'd been connected to smaller stuff before that, vandalism, fighting. He'd been an unhappy child in the midst of his parents divorce.
Still, besides his father's murder, he wasn't the type of kid Bruce usual tapped fro his crusade.
With a shake of his head, he flung a leg over his hoverbike.
He still had one more person to talk with before he got to work.
hr
"Hey, Sam," Dick greeted, shaking the hand offered to him.
"Richard," Sam Young boomed, pumping his hand enthusiastically. "Pleasure to see you. Won't you come in?"
For a moment, Dick blinked in confusion. Sam was quite different from anyone he'd ever met. He was openly jovial and friendly, and carried optimism like a torch through this city. The broad smile on his dark, distinguished face was completely genuine. He was very different from Bruce and if Dick was honest, different from himself. Probably why Barbara married him.
"Thanks," he said, breaking the threshold. "Barb in?"
"Yes. I'll go get her," Sam said.
He disappeared down a hall leading out of the front room, leaving Dick alone in a mass of memories that he had no place in. Pictures ringed the room, of Barbara, Sam and their family. Sam had a daughter with his late wife, Alina, who lived in Metropolis working as a Public Relations officer, and then there was James, who had Sam's dark handsome features and Barbara's smile.
It all could have been his, but he'd left it behind, like so many other things, when he'd stopped being Robin and went to Blüdhaven to start his own life.
He was a relic of the past, a ghost caught in a time line he had no right to be in. \
"Dick," Barbara's voice interrupted his reverie.
She was dressed simply, brown slacks, black shirt, laser gun and holster slung over her shoulders. Over a pair of glasses, her blue eyes still regarded him with warm mirth, dispelling the yellowing bruise over one eye.
"Hey gorgeous," he greeted her with a crooked smile.
She shot him that grin that used to lead to him either getting slapped up side the head or kissed. Neither happened. She just rolled her eyes.
"It's been a long time, Dick."
"Yeah."
Succinct words to mask what was left unsaid in the spaces between. The type of communication that didn't need words.
'Missed you.'
'Glad your safe.'
Silence followed, each waiting for the other to break it.
"What brings you to Gotham?" she asked.
"Business," Dick answered. "I'm going to be in town for a while. And since I'm out of jurisdiction, I'm going to need your help."
"What do you need?"
"Information, mainly. I haven't played in these parts for a long time. I'm looking for a gang. They'd be new to Gotham, call themselves the Leather Wings."
Barbara's face wrinkled in concentration. "Haven't heard of them. I'll get my people on it. What have you got for me?"
From his jacket pocket, Dick pulled out a datadisc, tossed it at Barbara. "Has everything I was able to get on them from Blüdhaven. Couple names, cash card IDs, basic run down."
She caught it deftly, looked at it with a sharp eye. "Okay. One more thing. You talk to Bruce?"
Dick gave a tight grin, slumped into an arm chair and tossed one let over the other. "We exchanged pleasantries. Even met the new kid. He's like the mutt, all teeth at me, but simpering at Bruce's command."
"He's pretty protective of Bruce," she said.
"Yeah, really? Hadn't noticed," Dick replied with feigned innocence. "I'd thought he'd given up on brainwashing innocent kids."
"Terry pulled him out of retirement, got him to take an interest in life. He has full control of Wayne Enterprises now," Barbara informed him.
"Terry, is it?" Dick sneered.
"A lot of things have changed since you were last in Gotham."
He shook his head. "Doesn't sound all that different. Batman trouncing criminals and Commissioner Gordon making allowances. In fact its right out of the past."
"Listen to me, Dick. You and Bruce can go ahead and have your usual pissing contest, but don't bring Terry into this. The kid's had a rough time of late and I won't have him stuck in between your and Bruce's personal war."
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you liked this kid," Dick said leadingly.
"I do," she agreed.
Dick clapped his hands onto his knees, pushed himself to his feet. "I'll play nice. With any luck, we won't have to run into each other."
"I hope you don't. McGinnis is supposed to be hanging up the suite. Batman's no more."
There's something in her voice, the way the McGinnis' deep blue eyes burned with azure flame, that told him otherwise. "You don't believe that."
"Not really," she admitted. "But even after all these years, I can hope."
He knew some of it. That a new dreg had made his appearance in the crime scene, had disrupted the Gotham University graduation ceremony. That half of Barbara's force was now being questioned for their affiliation with Penumbra. This Penumbra had been responsible for putting Bruce in a hoverchair and the bruise on Barbara's forehead. Batman had come in, beating back the crooked cops under Penumbra's payroll, but hadn't been seen since.
Dick had half expected Gotham to be overrun and for a few days he worried that the new Batman had actually been killed, but someone was still beating the streets. Either McGinnis was being more discreet or he wasn't putting on the suit. Either way, the Knight of tomorrow still protected Gotham in his shadow.
"It's bad, isn't it?"
"Both have been unmasked," Barbara answered, pulling her glasses off and rubbing the space between her eyes. "Whoever Penumbra is, he's making it personal, like he has a vendetta against Batman."
"How much of this does Sam know?"
"Very little. He knows I used to masquerade in tights, but beyond that, he's in the dark. Safer that way. And he knows not to come in until I've come and got him."
He wondered how Barb did it. With two failed marriages behind him, he hadn't found the right balance between his work and his family life. Of course they came from two different families. Bruce had been a strange combination of father, older brother, and drill sargent, the first two often sacrificed to the last. But Barbara had been gifted a father, who was only occasionally ally in her night work. She'd seen how it was done.
There were a thousand more questions he wanted to ask, old instincts never died, but with Barbara answers were quid pro quo. Whatever he got about Bruce and McGinnis, she'd give that much about him to them. And he wanted them as far away from this as possible. This was his case.
"I better go," he said, stepping to his feet. "Still need to check into my hotel. I'll check back later tonight."
He walked over to her, felt the awkward moment before they allowed themselves a hug. "Too bad you didn't bring John, I haven't seen him in years. He's got to be sixteen now."
"Seventeen. Hopefully, I can bring him by next time."
"I'm glad you came," Barbara said, leading him to the door. "It'll be like old times."
