"Are you sure they're alive?" Jason wanted Dick to say yes, he was certain, no doubt about it.

Instead, Dick frowned in concern. "Probably. Anyone wanting to keep up a Bruce Wayne simulation for any length of time would need access to the source material."

"But Alfred -"

"Also has a lot of useful information." Dick hesitated, then added, "And could be used as leverage against Bruce. He's very valuable alive."

Jason might have been reassured if Dick wasn't trying so hard to convince himself. "But I'm not."

"Not in their eyes," Dick admitted. He gave Jason a grim smile. "They underestimated you, Jay, and they'll pay for that mistake. Now let's find out where these things came from."

Robotics were way above Jason's pay grade. He struggled with the assembly language Bruce attempted to drill into his head. Dick admitted he didn't know where to start, either. He called Cyborg, but Vic wasn't available.

"Who's gonna help us, then?" Jason asked. He lounged back in one of the Batcave's giant desk chairs and flipped through a textbook on artificial intelligence. He had his leg propped up on a foot rest and a bag of ice on his bum knee.

He smiled. "A librarian," he said.

Jason scoffed at that. "More books won't help."

Dick's smile widened into a grin, but he didn't say anything at all.

Dick called her Barbara. She showed up wearing a long, patchwork skirt, a cotton blouse and glasses; her red hair was tied back in a bun. She carried a bag of reference books from Gotham Library's cybernetic collection. Jason remembered seeing her on a couple of his visits to the library.

She also walked into the Batcave on her own, without setting off any alarms.

"You're Batgirl!" Jason accused, when she joined them by the Batcomputer.

"I retired," Barbara said. "Not that you Bat-guys ever remember that." She grinned at Dick.

"We'd be lost without you," Dick said.

Barbara rolled her eyes and bumped his shoulder with her own. "C'mon, show me the tech. I have to get up for my real job in the morning."

"It's upstairs," Dick said.

Jason started to get up, but Dick put a hand on his shoulder. "Stay here and rest up your knee, Jay. We'll be back in the field soon and we need you in good shape."

"I'm good," Jason objected.

"Walk around while you're watching the monitors, and rechecking all the perimeter alarms, then," Dick said. "I don't want someone sneaking up on us."

Which was a dirty trick, because Jason couldn't say no to that. He grumbled but stayed seated, foot propped up and waited, wondering what was going on upstairs. Wondering how much Kory knew about Dick's "friend" Barbara.

None of the alarms had been damaged, but several had been manually disabled from the garage computer. Jason ran the checks twice, to be sure. Bruce and Alfred must have been compromised while at the party last night and the bots had come home in the limo. Jason tried to run a simulation to guess where the captives had been taken, but there were just too many variables.

Dick and Barbara came back about forty minutes later. Barbara plugged a small black box into the Batcomputer's control panel and sat down in front of a terminal.

"No calling card, no overt identifiers," she said, typing rapidly on the keyboard as data streamed across the screen. "Not a surprise; wouldn't expect them to sign it. Let me cross-reference the main AI algorithm with some of the ones we have archived and see if any patterns match."

"You do your thing," Dick said cheerfully. "I'm going to make sandwiches." He went upstairs.

"Um," Jason felt he owed Kory this much, at least. "You know that Nightwing has a girlfriend, right?"

Barbara gave him a sideways look and smiled. "I've met Kory. I like her quite a bit."

"Nothing's happening with you and him, then?"

"Nothing more than friendship," Barbara assured him.

"Good," Jason said, and then considered this. "So you're available?"

She grinned at him. "How about we revisit this subject once you're out of puberty?"

Jason grinned back. "I'll put it on my calendar."

Jason watched Barbara for a bit, asking a few questions and he was surprised to find he understood a little of what she was doing. Computers, even sophisticated humanoid robot ones, ran on an explicit set of instructions. Creating these instructions was hard work and so it made sense to reuse the code wherever possible. It also made sense to keep your code secret, especially if you were a paranoid, evil supervillain. If they could match the code used here with code used for similar androids, they might be able to trace it back to the original creator.

After a while, Jason ran out of questions. He relaxed in his chair and watched waves of text flow across the computer's screens. It was a simple, soothing sight.

He woke up to find a blanket covering him and a plate of sandwiches and bottle of Zesti soda on a tray nearby.

"Have a good nap?" Dick asked.

"How long did I sleep?" Jason asked, sitting up sharply.

"You didn't miss anything," Barbara cut in. "It's taken a while to analyze all the algorithms, but we'll hopefully have an answer soon."

Jason picked up a sandwich and bit into it - peanut butter and honey. The scrolling text dwindled to a few lines, spat out one last sentence and stopped.

"Well," Barbara said, after a moment. "That explains a lot."

"It does," Dick said, with grim satisfaction. "Head up to bed when you finish eating, Jason," he added. "Tomorrow we're going to pay Lex Luthor a visit."

Jason didn't want to go back to his room to sleep. He'd already been attacked there once and it didn't feel very safe. "I don't know if my room's the best place for me to stay tonight. Strategically speaking."

"Yeah, it's better if we stay close to each other," Dick said. "My suite has plenty of space. Babs, are you staying over?"

"I'll be down in the cave for a bit longer. Want to run some scenarios; see if I can figure out what his plan is," Barbara said.

"Jay, I can take the couch and you're welcome to the bed," Dick said.

Jason felt like he ought to object to the special treatment, whether it was because of his age or his injury, but sleeping in a full bed sounded really appealing at the moment. "Babs, if you finish up quick, you can come join our slumber party in time for the pillow fight."

Dick shook his head. "No, we don't want that." He leaned close to Jason's ear and lowered his voice to a stage whisper.* "She'll kick our butts."

*"And you better remember that, Wonder Wing," Babs said.

Wayne Manor had plenty of spare rooms, so Dick's old bedroom hadn't been touched since he'd moved out. Alfred had been in to clean, of course, but all the posters were the ones Dick had left on the walls. Jason knew about the Flying Graysons and the Superman poster needed no explanation. "Who's Great Frog?" Jason asked, as they made up the couch with spare bedsheets.

"Band Speedy was in for a bit," Dick said. "He was their drummer."

"Awesome," Jason said, studying the poster. "You ever do anything cool like that?"

"Nah, I'm not musical," Dick said. "I'm pretty busy fighting injustice in multiple star systems and having a relationship with my beautiful girlfriend, the supermodel."

"Being in a band's cooler," Jason teased.

"Nope," Dick said. "It's not. I'm your big brother; would I lie to you?" He grinned. "Did you know that Tamerarians are descended from cats? How cool is that?"

"But Kory's only got two breasts," he said without thinking.

"And you don't throw feces, monkey boy," Dick said. "Or if you do, I think you'd better stay in your own room tonight."

Jason blushed. "I guess cats are pretty far back in the family tree." He gave Dick a sly look. "Is that why your costume has all those feathers? To attract a cat-lady?"

"My costume attracts all the ladies," Dick grinned. He tossed a pillow at Jason. "Way past your bedtime, chum."

Jason caught the pillow and flopped backwards onto the bed. "Past yours, too."

"Yeah, it is." Dick switched out the lights and sat down on the couch.

Jason sprawled out comfortably, but before closing his eyes, he noticed that Dick wasn't lying down and he had his escrima sticks across his lap. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Just keeping an eye on things," Dick said. "Sleep tight, Jay. You won't have any surprises tonight."

Lex Luthor stepped into his office in LexCorp's Gotham building and his hand went automatically to the lightswitch. A batarang flew across the room and pinned his jacket to the wall, keeping his hand just out of reach of the switch.

"The lights are automatic, Luthor," Nightwing said, stepping from the corner of the office as the ceiling panels brightened and cut through the pre-dawn gloom "And we don't need any company."

Luthor grimaced. He shrugged his white linen jacket off and left it hanging from the batarang. He held his hands in front of his body and turned them palms up. "I don't appreciate you damaging my wardrobe, Boy Wonder. What do you want?"

"I've passed that title on, actually," Nightwing said. He stepped aside to reveal the boy perched on top of the mahogany file cabinet. Robin sat cross-legged, a stack of manila folders balanced on one bare thigh as he studied the contents of a particularly thick file.

"Sidekicks get sidekicks now?" Luthor asked. "Will you be putting toddlers in tights next?"

Nightwing leaned back against the large oak desk and folded his arms across his chest. "We've got questions."

"I didn't think you'd break into my penthouse office just to update me on your apprenticeship program," Luthor said. He took a few cautious steps forward, keeping his hands out in the open.

"We disabled the floor panels," Robin said, not looking up from his reading.

"Yes, you're very clever," Luthor said dryly. "Where's the big boss? Off cutting all my phone lines?"

"He's busy," Robin said. "Dealing with some villains who are actually scary."

"If I don't scare you, boy," Luthor said, "it's because I'm not trying." He took three strides across the room, enough time for a knife to drop from his sleeve into his hand. He had the knife to Robin's throat before Nightwing could step between them.

Robin let the file drop. He pointed a Colt .44 Magnum in his right hand directly at Luthor's chest. "Yes," he said coldly. "You've got lots of hidden weapons. Useful." Jason lifted his chin and looked Luthor in the eyes. He cocked the gun. "Kinda embarrassing if you got shot with your own gun, huh?"

Luthor didn't move. "If I cut your throat, how long until they've got another boy running around in those green shorts?"

"Nobody needs to get hurt today," Nightwing said, his voice calm and steady. "We just want some answers."

"I may have answers," Luthor said, his blade still at Jason's throat. "You haven't asked any questions yet."

"Put the weapons down and we'll talk," Nightwing said. He shot Robin a meaningful look. Jason lowered the gun.

Luthor shrugged and took a step back, keeping his knife ready.

Nightwing picked up a file from the desk. "Where's the lab for Project Golem?"

"There's no lab," Luthor scoffed. "It's purely theoretical."

Robin hopped off the file cabinet, scattering manila folders all over the floor; all but one. He opened the folder to show a technical sketch of an android on one side with several photos of Bruce Wayne on the other.

Luthor snatched the folder from Robin. "LexCorp and Wayne Enterprises have been working together on a few top-secret projects. And yes, one does include a potential android replica of Bruce Wayne. The man would like to have a stand-in at certain meetings and events that bore him."

"Bruce Wayne didn't sign off on the android project," Robin said.

Luthor waved a hand. "He has people for that."

"Of course he does," Nightwing said. "But, I understand it, the Wayne Enterprises board of directors is planning to end those programs soon." He looked over at Robin, who checked the file.

"They're meeting this afternoon, actually," Robin said.

Nightwing nodded his thanks. "Wayne Enterprises is pursuing several very lucrative military contracts that they don't seem to want to share with LexCorp."

"That's still in negotiation," Luthor snapped.

Nightwing gave Luthor a lazy smile. "I'm sure Bruce Wayne - or a highly believable stand-in - could still influence the Board's decision."

"Nightwing," Robin said urgently. He nodded towards the door. From the sound of the footsteps outside, they'd have company soon.

"Well, I'm afraid we must be going," Nightwing said. He walked over to the door and yanked out his batarang, letting Luthor's jacket fall to the floor. "Sorry about the tear. I'm sure it can be mended. Robin, give him his gun back."

Robin scowled. He emptied the bullets into his hand and stuffed them into a belt pouch. He tossed the gun onto Luthor's desk.

"Break in again and I'll see that you serve time," Luthor growled.

Nightwing popped open a panel on the floor-to-ceiling windows. "Have a nice day, Luthor."

Robin flipped Luthor the bird, slipped out through the panel and was gone. Nightwing followed directly after.

When the security team finally arrived, Lex gave them a blistering lecture on the need to secure and patrol the exterior of the building, even at fifty stories. Then he made a few phone calls to check on Project Golem, just in case.

On the roof of Gotham's Luthor Towers, Nightwing and Robin listened in on the calls through a short-range bug they'd placed before Luthor's arrival.

Down at the Dixon Docks, Jason rewrapped his knee while Dick studied the warehouse through his binoculars. "What've we got?" Jason asked. They were perched on the rooftop of a crumbling brick apartment building across the street.

"Guards," Dick said. "Lots of them, and they're on a tight patrol. I don't see any holes we can exploit." He flipped open his pocket computer and studied the blueprints for the warehouse.

"What about a distraction?" Jason suggested. "I'll swing in, attack a couple of them and lead them on a chase; you sneak in and get Bruce and Alfred out."

Dick shook his head. "No, there's too many of them and we can't risk setting off the alarms."

Jason pinned down the knee wrap and got out his own binoculars. "The roof," he suggested.

Dick closed the computer and slipped it into his boot. "It's guarded."

"Yeah, but look," Jason pointed. "The door on the east side - it's only visible through direct line-of-sight. They're patrolling clockwise in a five-point pattern. When they reach one and three, we set off a quick distraction to make them look to the northwest and we can drop in and crack the door."

Dick studied him thoughtfully. "What kind of distraction?"

"A bang," Jason said, offering up a noisepopper from his utility belt. "Small one, could sound like a gun, but they'll assume it's a car backfire, when there's nothing else. There'll be nothing but a bit of burnt flashpaper, if they investigate."

Dick nodded in approval, but said, "The door's alarmed."

Jason knew Dick had seen the wires. Like Bruce, he was making sure Jason had thought the plan all the way through. "External wires. We can cut them," Jason said, proud that he had an answer ready.

Dick took another look through his binoculars. "We'll only have about thirty seconds to get in," he said, watching the guards.

"It's enough."

"And we don't know what - or who - is on the other side of the door," Dick added.

Jason grinned. "What's life without a little risk?"

Dick grinned back. "It's our best shot. Good plan, Robin."

Jason tossed the noisepopper and they swung in the moment they heard the bang. Dick cut the alarm wire while Jason picked the lock.

They spotted a guard stationed at the end of the hallway when they were inside. The guard held his hand to his radio earpiece. "Check again. I don't care if it's a car, we need to know for sure." He was distracted. That was a bit of luck, at least. Jason strode over to the guard and took him down with a quick nerve strike. Nightwing nodded in approval.

Nightwing lifted the radio off the guard. He listened to the guard's chatter for a moment, studying the hallway, then motioned to Jason and they headed through the southwest door to a stairwell. Two floors down, they crept up on another guard. This time Nightwing took him down.

Nightwing paused to listen to the radio again; he then led Jason through two more doors, down another stairwell to a heavily bolted door. Nightwing waved a hand and Jason stepped up to crack these locks while Nightwing monitored the radio feed and kept watch.

Jason had them open in less than forty-five seconds and he grinned a little. All that time with Bruce standing over him, watching a stopwatch while he'd fumbled with fifty zillion different tumblers had paid off. If he ever had to go undercover for a case, he could set himself up as a pretty passable cat burgler.

He pushed open the door and let out a sigh of relief to see Alfred and Bruce inside the room, tied up and gagged. Probably drugged, but he could see the rise and fall of their chests, so they were still breathing.

"Guard outside," Nightwing said in a low voice. Jason slipped into the room and Nightwing followed, quietly closing the door behind them.

Jason heard Nightwing use a word he didn't think Dick even knew and turned around to see a third figure tied up. Jason's own face looked back at him, with bright blue eyes and messy black hair, looking small and frightened. Jason froze. Nightwing grabbed his arm, but before they could move, they heard a series of soft *pops* and bluish-grey gas poured out of the eyes and ears of all the captives.

Jason didn't remember anything after that.

-