New chapter! Hope you like it and thanks for the reviews on the last one, keep 'em coming!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I'd tell ya.


Recognized: Robin B01

Dick, dressed in civvies with his sunglasses in place, had barely two seconds to glimpse the inside of Mt. Justice before a red-headed blur tackled him and started yelling incoherent sentences in superspeed.

"Wally, you're going to squash him. Let the kid breathe," Artemis's said. She and the rest of the team had arrived and were watching the two boys with expressions of amusement and relief.

"Sorry!" Wally said, though he was grinning from ear to ear and didn't look sorry at all. Dick grinned and tried to regain his breath without Wally noticing. As good as he felt, having a speedster knock him to the floor without warning had taken his breath away faster than normal.

"How do you feel, Robin?" Kaldur asked. He looked extremely relieved to see Dick again.

Dick opened his mouth to say he was fine, but only a hoarse croak escaped him, and his throat seared with pain.

"What's wrong?" Wally asked at once, but Dick looked past him toward M'gann and gave her a pointed look. She understood and her eyes glowed green for a second before Dick's voice spoke in everyone's mind.

My vocal cords were damaged from laughing for so long. Batman says they'll be fine in a few days, but I keep forgetting I can't talk, he explained. Yesterday had been horrible for him, as he was usually so talkative, but Dick had been looking forward to coming to the mountain for more than just seeing his friends. M'gann's telepathy would be the only way for him to talk without sign language for a while.

"You can't talk at all?" Conner asked. Dick shook his head and added, No sound whatsoever. It hurts too much and might damage my voice permanently if I talk before my throat's better.

"It's gonna be a lot quieter around here for a few days," Artemis said with a grin.

"Why don't we continue this talk somewhere else?" Kaldur suggested. The others agreed and soon they were seated comfortably around the large TV in the cave, which was currently showing an ad for a stain remover. Conner muted it and turned back to Dick.

"So how do you feel?" he asked.

Dick hesitated before saying, It's not the worst I've ever felt. If not for my voice I'd be fine, but Batman doesn't want me training until it's better.

He was glad for the sunglasses that hid his eyes. He had had another sleepless night from the nightmares. There were dark circles under his eyes, and even their normal bright blue was dimmed with fatigue. He'd have to sleep eventually.

"What about your arm?" Zatanna asked.

In truth, Dick had almost forgotten about his arm. There was still a bandage tied around, hidden under his jacket, but it hadn't bothered him as much as the nightmares or his throat.

It's fine. It was only my arm and getting shot's nothing new. Despite his dismissive tone, his teammates seemed to think that getting shot in the arm was hardly a small deal. To avoid an argument about what's normal for a bat and what's actually normal, he said quickly, Honestly, I'm fine! It's-wait...Turn the volume up on the TV, now!

The advertisements had ended and cut to a reporter standing in front of a hotel and talking to the camera. The heading at the bottom of the screen read: Kidnapper Demands the Batman's Appearance.

Conner turned up the sound to hear the reporter say, "-unclear who the kidnapper is, but one victim had been confirmed as Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham City's Chief of Police, Jim Gordon. The identity of the other victim is still unknown."

Dick felt his stomach fill with lead. Barbara had been visiting a relative with her dad. Whoever kidnapped her had to be from Gotham if they were asking for Batman. Anyone other than Arkham crazies would demand ransom, not a caped hero.

"Do you know her, Robin?" M'gann asked, seeing the look on his face.

I-I've met her before. Her dad and Batman sort of work together. Well, Gordon more keeps the civilians and his cops out of the way so we can do everything, but they at least coordinate that, he said, trying to hide his growing dread from M'gann.

The reporter continued talking, "Authorities are unsure why the kidnapper is requesting Batman's appearance outside of his own city, but suspect they targeted the Gordons due to their work with the caped crusader." Obviously, Dick thought to himself. "Barbara Gordon and the other hostage are being held at the hotel where Gordon and her father were staying. Everyone inside has been evacuated and police have surrounded the building but are not advancing on threat of the victims' lives. The question now is, 'will Batman come to the rescue?' "

The screen cut to a view of the hotel. Dick glimpsed the sign in front, The Harvey Hot Hotel, before the camera moved to a window on the third floor, where a figure sitting in a chair was barely visible behind the curtain.

The reporter's next words nearly made Dick's heart skip a beat. "Hotel workers have confirmed that the victims are being held in room 222-"

I know who it is. This is a trap for Batman, Dick said. He stood up and ran to the mission room, opening up the holographic screen and calling the Batcave before the others had even stood up.

Bruce, fully dressed in cape and cowl, appeared on the screen as the team assembled around Dick. Batman spared them a glance before looking back at Dick. To avoid having M'gann speak for him, Dick used sign language to talk again. 'Did you see Barbara?'

"Yes, and I know what you're going to say, and no, you are not going. I can-" Batman cut off as Dick started signing again.

'It's obviously a trap. You know who it is? We can handle it!' To his teammates, namely the aliens and Kaldur, the seemingly one-sided conversation was extremely confusing. The three humans at least understood he was using sign language, but could only understand a few words here and there. However, it was clear what Dick was trying to do.

"Of course I know who it is, but you're not go-"

'Why not? I don't need my voice to fight!'

"Batman, we can take this!" Artemis said.

"Yeah, it's just a kidnapping!" Wally said.

"I hope you know what you're getting into..." Batman said.

'I do,' Dick signed, 'I'll brief them on the way.'

"Fine, go." With that, Batman cut off the signal.

In barely five minutes the team was in the bio-ship in full costume, ready to go. When they got in the air with co-ordnance set for Dallas, Texas, where the news report had come from, the others turned to Dick with looks of expectance. Dick, now Robin, let sighed and said telepathically, The kidnapper, he...has a grudge against Batman. It's better if they don't meet and Batman knows that. Otherwise he wouldn't have let us go.

"So who is the kidnapper?" Wally asked.

You're not going like it.


A/N: Any guesses as to who the kidnapper is? Leave your ideas in the reviews, I'd love to see if you get it right!

As always, tell me what you liked, didn't like, things I can improve on, what you had for dinner yesterday. Just kidding, don't tell me what you had for dinner. Just stick to the first stuff!