YJ* (All chapters to follow that have this in the beginning will follow in the Young Justice world)
Well, some of you have been asking for a Batman/YJ chapter and it just so happens I planned to write them every sixth chapter...so your wishes have come true!
I'm your fairy God mother now, I will do my best to make sure you enjoy this new chapter!
Trickles of water were all that was heard. The lone, dark figure that sat hunched over a powered down super-computer was the only inhabitant. Everything was still, as even the bats that hung in the stalactites above seemed to feel the absence below them.
The only sound being emitted by the shadow draped over the dead keyboard was deep, almost strangled breathing. Gauntleted hands seemed to be plastered to its face, not having moved from the position in nearly three hours.
It was all wrong. The Batcave should never be this quiet. How in the world had he ever lived like this before? It was torture.
Bruce raked his right hand through his disheveled hair, the first movement in what seemed like an eternity. His eyes remained sealed shut, the hand moving to rest behind his neck where his cowl was pooled.
Nothing made sense anymore. It didn't seem important to eat. Or sleep. Or train. Or do anything, really, besides look into any lead he could find to locate his lost partner.
Alfred tried to get him to eat many times. At first, Bruce listened to his reasoning. But when Alfred started slipping sedatives into his coffee to get him to rest, it was decided that eating was not necessary in order to find Robin.
Many Leaguers tried to get involved. They would simply get in the way. The Team was especially persistent in trying to help, but a visit from Batman quickly silenced their requests.
Well, not all of them. Kid Flash seemed to be the most stubborn and rebellious of them all.
It had seemed that the teen was reluctant to obey a direct order that even his superiors followed: No other heroes in Gotham. Especially meta-humans.
Now it was an almost a regular occurance to find a black streak topped with red blazing through the streets of Gotham while Batman was on patrol. It had been a month, with the instruction to 'Keep out' very clearly stated (multiple times), yet he still found a wayward speedster in his city at night.
He had visited the Allen household after the third time, and thought he made it perfectly clear to the Flash to keep his partner on a tighter leash. Kid Flash was getting in the way.
Yet, even though the elder speedster (fearfully) agreed to keep Wally contained at night, it still had yet to happen.
The hand on his face clenched into a fist, and he let out a grunt of frustration.
Why was it, that when he told children to stay put, they always disobeyed him? The Team had done it numerous times in the past, on almost all of their missions. Kid Flash was doing it now. And Robin...
The hand resting on his neck slammed down onto the console Bruce rested his elbows on, making a small crack appear on the surface from the pure strength behind it.
It wasn't anything new for Robin to be kidnapped. Both in uniform and out of it. But when out of uniform, there was always a ransom demand sooner or later, asking for an insane amount of money he would no way be able to produce in the amount of time given, and then Batman would come and save the 'civilian'.
There wasn't much difference in uniform, either. One of Gothams villains would nab Robin while on patrol, and, depending on the villain behind the scheme, Robin would either take care of it himself or Batman would track him and take whoever it was down.
No matter what happened, Batman was always going to be there to protect his bird.
That is, until he had no idea where he could have gone.
Alfred assured him that Dick was safe in bed when he was on patrol, and he had no reason to doubt him. Of course, the teen had been following his orders for a while at that point. And, knowing him, was itching to get back out on the field. But he shook off the doubt of him running off on his own and continued with patrol.
The only thing that tipped him off that something was wrong was Black Canary. Robin was supposed to arrive at the Mountain early in the morning, and when no one saw him when they awoke, they all assumed he was either not coming or was hiding somewhere. It was only when their scheduled training with Black Canary in the afternoon started, and the bird was still no where to be seen.
The Team scoured the Mountain first, then, when finding hide nor hair of him, Black Canary messaged the Batcave via holocomputer.
When she started asking where Robin was, Batmans heart seemed to stop beating. After patrol he had simply collapsed into bed for the few hours of rest he could manage, then trudged back down to the Batcave, as it was his day off from any business related issues.
Canary immediately saw that something was wrong, but before she could comment Bruce was thundering towards the elevator. He ignored Alfreds complaints about 'No Suits in the Manor' and ran towards Dick's room, only to find crumpled sheets and a empty bed. He remembered the utter fear that swamped his mind at the sight, and proceeded to run around the entire Manor shouting the teens name.
It yielded no results.
Bruce then sprinted down to the Batcave, Alfred following him, wanting to know 'What in the kings name is going on?'.
There was no sign of Dick in the Cave, either, and because his Robin uniform was still in its container he had no way of possibly tracking him.
From then on it was an endless cycle of patrol, thugs getting beaten to the ground, and harsh interrogation in order to find a lead. The news was commenting on Batman's darker and more brutal means as of late, and the now seemed to realize that his usual partner was not simply sitting at home.
Gordon was the one who asked the most questions about him. The man seemed genuinely worried for the vigilante, and caught on quicker to the lack of Robin.
It soon came to the point that Commisioner turned on the Bat signal not for a crime, but to see how Batman was doing. And every time it happened, Batman would not give an answer, simply melting into the shadows and continuing his patrol.
Calculated foot steps echoed from behind him, and Bruce slowly turned his head to glance at the man behind him.
"I would say, Sir, that this is about that time of night you are to begin patrol?" Alfred said, raising a speculative eyebrow. Bruce simply grunted and pushed out of his chair, standing before the black screen.
"Any leads on the young Master's whereabouts?" the Englishman continued, trying to make some sort of conversation with his ward.
Bruce turned back towards Alfred, taking in the pristine suit and the way he folding his hands politely behind him. To anyone else, it would seem as though the man was not troubled at all about Dick's disappearance. Bruce knew better. He could spot the way his shoulders tensed, and the slightly dishevelled hair that another might see as still a well combed head.
"No." Bruce answered tersley, pulling up his cowl to cover his eyes. The blood shot eyes that got barely two hours of sleep in two days. And only when he passed out from exhaustion.
Alfred nodded slightly as the man passed him, empathy showing clear in his eyes.
Batman was almost to the Batmobile (which Dick named...) when Alfred spoke again. "Master Bruce." was all he said, but the tone made Batman halt in his steps, just three steps away from the vehicle.
It was a tone he hadn't heard since he brought Dick into the business, when he was exclaiming his adversions to letting a child out onto the street of Gotham at night. It was cold, concrete, as if nothing would ever be able to break it's resolve.
And the League thought he was the most formidable Bat of them all.
Bruce turned halfway so he could see the man, and instead of seeing the glare he was expecting from that tone, he saw a mournful smile. And if he looked hard enough, maybe even the beginnings of tears welling in his eyes.
Bruce's eyes widened behind the cowl at the sight. Alfred never cried. The only time he had ever seen the man shed even a single tear was the night his parents were murdered.
It was then that it hit him. Bruce was so caught up in his own grief, he neglected to recognize how Alfred felt.
His ward and butler were no doubt close. In those first few months where he was stumbling about, trying to figure out how to comfort a grieving child, Alfred was there. He was the first to really connect with Dick, and even though Bruce grew a much stronger connection, Alfred was a very close second. The disappearance of the little bird must have hit the Englishman hard.
And Bruce had done nothing to console him. It was always Alfred doing that, and Bruce felt an immeasurable amount of respect for the man.
Even through his grief and sorrow, Alfred took care of him, nursing Bruce and his own grief so he could carry on with his own work in trying to get Dick back.
Alfred was the true hero that stood in this cave, not him.
"I have the strangest feeling you will find something this time, Sir. In fact, I am sure of it."
Bruce couldn't stop the miniscule smirk that landed on his face. Alfred optimism seemed to be contagious.
"I sure hope so." was all Bruce replied with as he jumped into the Batmobile and screeched out if the cave to yet another night of beating criminals to a pulp.
He only wished a certain bird was with him.
OoOoOoO
The night turned out to be, so far, pretty ordinary.
Most criminals had figured out that Batman was on a bit of a rampage, and made sure to stay out of his way. Only the truly stupid or criminaly insane were seen out on the streets anymore.
Which, in all aspects, should have brought about the Joker. He seemed to have an uncanny ability to show up when the crime rate was incredibly low, and then after his capture it would turn back to normal.
But, unusually, the Joker seemed to have also skipped town. It grated on something inside of Batman and made him incredibly suspicious.
It was the Joker, after all, who had first talked to Batman about the bounty. And he always knew that the psychopath had his heart set on ripping Robin away from him. Yet, it didn't add up. Dick seemed to have been taken away when he was a citizen, and that would be impossible unless the madman knew their identities. The Joker would have also been bragging to the entire city if he had Robin in his clutches.
Therefore, the Joker was quickly crossed off as a suspect.
But there came the problem. There seemed to be no one else that would want Dick Grayson, other than for ransom. So, Batman had to assume Dick really was taken as Robin, in some kind of spare uniform, and that increased the list of suspects immeasurably.
Before Batman's train of thought could continue, a ruckus could be heard from two alley's down. Quickly snapping to attention, Batman ran across the roofs until he was at the ledge, looking down onto the scene.
There was three men, all burly, wearing long sleeved leather jackets, cornering scraggly man in a business suit, counting a brief case to his chest. The victims eyes were wide with fear, flicking down to the other threes armed hands periodically.
The assulters all bore chains in their fists, with the one in the middle also sporting a metal crowbar. Batman immediately zeroed in on him as their leader, and tuned into the words being exchanged.
"L-look," the victim sputtered, attempting to back away. The three others simply took a step with him. "I don't want a-anything to do with this-this...'TT' Gang, or wh-whatever you're called."
The one in the middle, the leader, tossed the crowbar in his hand with a cruel smirk. "See, ya' don really hav'a choice." he snarled, his smirk growing as the other man cowled back once more in fear. "We need fundin', to keep the two projects livin', and you seem'ta have some money in ya' pockets."
Batman's eyes narrowed. Whatever he had just walked into, it was a bit bigger than it seemed to be. He automatically started to memorize the thugs appearance, one by one.
Leader: Short, blonde hair. Green eyes. About 5'7. Small scar near upper left corner of top lip.
Then came the leaders lackeys, who looked to be twins: Long, brown hair. Light blue eyes. About 5'5. Both held weapons with left hand.
"I have a sm-small business! Nothing more! Not n-nearly enough to support what you proposed!" the man in the suit quivered, his knuckles white and face pale.
"That don matta'. " the leader stated, and started prowling towards the man, who whimpers at the approach. "Boss wants money, he gets money, so we get paid."
The leader, in a supposedly intimidating gesture, cracked his neck. But while doing so, the lower side of neck became exposed from the collar of the jacket, and Batmans eyes widened, his breath halting.
Tattooed on the man's neck was the outline of a bird. A Robin.
And you can bet Batman didn't believe in coincidences.
Yep, that's it! That's what's going on in the YJ universe, while Robin's making friends on the street.
Next chapter will go back to Robin, and I have a feeling I'm going to get yelled at for what will happen...I'm a bit scared (•ω•) You'll all know why when I get started on it...
With that foreboding message, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Not much action, mostly just saying what's been going on with Batman.
See Ya Later!
~Atatami
