Sorry for the delay, but I'm glad to see so many views :) I've been trying to figure out which climax to go with and originally wanted to wait until I had figured that out. This is a little shorter than normal (actually should have included this in the last chapter, but it's a little late for that), but I thought you would enjoy a cliffhanger (if you didn't see Batman Under the Red Hood) for once :)
What do you think: a sequel starting with a world-wide thunder, one starting with moving to a new universe, or none at all?
"So, you're..." startled, I whipped around in my chair, prepping a plasma blast.
"Oh, sorry," I mumbled, swallowing the gas when I met Dick's eyes. "I'm half-dragon, bewilderbeast to be exact."
"Well that explains a few things," he sighed, seeming almost relieved. "You found anything?"
I nodded, glad to change the subject, "While the initial explosion was caused by the lighter, the Hood had placed a bomb in case we tried to follow him. But... it would be impossible to leave this much of the bomb in tact by accident. The Hood used a new type of explosive, C5S10, that Wayne Enterprises developed so the military could recycle more bomb parts. By mixing it with regular C4 the Hood still made it hard to read the plate, but not impossible if he sets off another explosion."
"So he's rich or knows someone good. Real good. He wanted us to find it, to find him. We should tell Bruce?"
I shook my head, "He's already too deep. What you can read... it's not good." I pulled up a model of the reconstructed nameplate on the screen. Only three raised letters hadn't been blown or swept away too far by the blast:
Ja T
"I don't see... oh, well, it could mean nothing," Dick stole a glance at Bruce, who was still reviewing footage from traffic cams and the batmobile.
"I don't see how; it fits," Dick cocked an eyebrow. "The taunts, the wordplay... only the Joker has even attempted to get to Bruce like this. Besides, coincidences don't exist in this world - however cliche that sounds."
"Still, look for bomb makers with aliases with those. We don't want Bruce suspecting-"
"Suspecting what?" we both jumped as Bruce seemed to just appear behind us.
"Okay... I guess I haven't been getting enough sleep," I chuckled, earning a glare from Bruce and another cocked eyebrow from Dick. "We thought you could use a night off. Just something to get away, relax for once."
Bruce sized me up for a moment before sighing, "Not until we catch the Hood. Then I'll leave you two lovebirds for as long as you want."
Dick's face turned red as a classic monstrous nightmare, making me laugh, "Okay, Bruce, whatever helps ya sleep at night." Dick lightly punched my arm, rocking slightly from my return.
"You get too many of those from Bruce," he chuckled, rubbing his arm slightly.
"Or maybe it's just my girlish charm," I batted my eyelashes, finally getting the length right to look flirtatious but not quite sexy. This time I even wrenched a laugh from Bruce.
"Oh, I think there might be more of the 'dragonness' charm in that one," Bruce smiled as we recovered somewhat. A beeping from his station flocked us to his black swivel chair. "He's back."