CHAPTER 25

The Batcave

Batman put down the phone, his face stony. At last there was some action he could take. He turned towards the batmobile, only to see Jason and Tim parking their motorcycles.

Both young men caught the expression on Batman's face as he ran to the car.

"Hey! What's going on?" Tim shouted and leapt off his cycle, running after Batman. The boy cornered his mentor at the driver's door. "You have a lead?"

"Yes," Batman said curtly and shoved Tim to one side, flinging the door open.

"We'll back you up!" Jason, scrambling after Tim, thumped a fist on the side of the car. "Where do we go?"

Not now...Not now! "You will not follow me. You will stay here, in the batcave until I...we...get back. Do you understand?" He growled at them both, noting the rebellion brewing by both their expressions and their stance of their bodies.

"We're coming with you," Tim shouted back. "He's our family, too! We're a team, remember?"

"No, you're not," Batman insisted, wishing he could, just once, train a Robin who obeyed orders. "I told you, Owlman is dangerous. He is my counterpart on the other Earth! I don't want him getting his hands on either of you. It's bad enough that he's had...I have to go!" Batman slammed the door shut and gunned the engine. Both Tim and Jason moved fast to avoid being hit and watched the car scream out of the cave.

Tim and Jason didn't need to communicate on this one. Each ran for his motorcycle and raced out of the cave, following the batmobile.

A mile down the road, Batman confirmed what he had suspected. They were both following him. He sighed, wishing that his sons would listen, but proud of them just the same. He squared his shoulders and began to drive erratically. He would just lose them on the way.

"Batman! Don't do this!" Tim's voice rang in his ears. "If he's that dangerous, you need us as backup. Who's going to take care of Dick while you're fighting Owlman? For all we know, he's been torturing Dick all this time and he'll need medical care."

"Yeah," Jason chimed in over the comms. "And what about that weird butler? You think he can't fight? Our Alfred is dangerous in a fight, and I'd bet that Owlman's Alfred is even worse. You're lowering Dick's chances by trying to lose us!"

Batman shook his head. They were persuasive, but he knew what Owlman was likely to do to any hostage that wasn't Dick Grayson. "No. And that's an order!" he barked back over the comm and hit a button. The radio cut off and he felt the lift as the batmobile became airborne. The boys and their motorcycles came to a stop below. Good thing he'd never outfitted them for flight. He smiled tightly and banked to the left, flying into the night.

Tim and Jason stood in the dark, staring into the distance with mouths hanging open.

"Well, shit!" Jason said.

Tim smiled a little bit and opened his comm. "Batgirl? You there?"

"I have you loud and clear, Red Robin. What's up?" Barbara Gordon's voice came through loudly.

"Do you have Batman on your scope?" Tim asked. Jason eyed him, spotting a slightly smug expression on the boy's face. What the...?

"No, I don't. He must have shut his tracer off," Batgirl replied, irritation in her voice. "That means something is about to break and he doesn't want us involved."

"Got that right," Tim said. "Go to channel two and see what you have."

A laugh broke over the airwaves. "Ha! Got him!"

Understanding dawned and Jason grinned at Tim. "Replacement, you are a sneaky little weasel! You bugged his car! I'm beginning to think that you'll do after all."

"Glad you think so," Tim bit back a sarcastic remark, reflecting that, for Jason this was a compliment. "He's ditched me too many times in the past and after all those warnings about Owlman, I had a feeling he'd try it this time too."

"Heh. Well, in my day the batmobile didn't fly, so I just had to tail him on my own," Jason said and grabbed Tim's wrist. "So, what's our course, Batgirl?"

"Looks like Old Gotham, near Front Street...he's landed between the Epsilon Building and the Eagle Building. You didn't put anything actually on him, did you RR?" Barbara asked breathlessly. They heard the sound of her motorcycle engine starting.

"Couldn't," Tim said. "I couldn't get close enough. Think we'll need backup?"

"We can do this on our own," Jason said, donning his red mask. "There's just one bad guy."

"Not so fast, Jason," Batgirl answered. "We don't know whose side Dick is on. We might have to fight him."

"Yeah, and he won't be pulling any punches," Tim added.

"Okay, okay, if you want backup, you go ahead and call whoever you want to this party." Jason said. "I'll have it all taken care of by the time you get there!" With that he gunned his engine and flipped off his radio.

"Dammit! I hate when he does that! Jason may be back but he's just as much an *sshole as he ever was!" Tim spat and gunned his own engine.

Eagle Building

Batman smiled as he left his young partners behind. He hated to frustrate them, but this had always been his mission and his alone. He frowned, remembering the boy he'd raised into a strong, intelligent and well-adjusted man. Dick was everything that Bruce could never be and he was grateful for it. Dick shouldn't live under a cloud like Bruce had, and he'd taken care to make sure that the boy had people, good people, in his life. Dick trusted easily, as Bruce never could.

Batman breathed out a long sigh. 'Trust no one' had been his motto for so long, along with 'Make no connections'. The only people he would trust unreservedly he could number on one hand: Alfred, Kent, Diana and Dick himself. Tim and Damian, no...only Tim now, had a high degree of his trust, but always within limits; he was too young and fragile to be risked. Jason? Yes, but within stricter limits. Jason himself needed be confident in his own redemption before Bruce could rely on him fully.

But Dick...? Owlman had begun working to suborn him the minute they met. The trouble was, Owlman's emotions for Dick were real. That interior truth salted the lie and made it believable. Dick would see the genuine feelings in Owlman and might...might be coaxed into believing him...under the right circumstances. If Owlman's training had been even half as rigorous as Batman's, he would know that the best deception was rooted in truth.

Another reason he'd left the boys behind? Nobody could know what state Dick Grayson was in at the present time. If Dick had become an enemy, it was Batman's responsibility to take him down and nobody else's. He would not allow either of Dick's brothers to hurt him, nor would Dick be responsible for the death of Tim or Jason or, God forbid, Barbara! Whenever Dick recovered, he would never forgive himself for having killed a loved one. And if Dick was himself, he'd be grateful not to be endangering anyone he loved.

He didn't want to admit to himself the primary reason he was handling this alone. He'd had a feeling, something in the air, that tonight was different. He had dismissed it as his imagination, but all his life he'd known that the only person who had a reasonable chance of killing the Batman was Dick Grayson. Even to defend his own life, he could never kill his first and oldest son. The years of trust and yes...love...meant that Dick himself occupied a sizeable part of his heart. In the silence of his own mind, Batman admitted to himself that Dick was the perfect weapon against him.

Of all things, Owlman would know that and use it against him.

Gotham's Old Town drew closer and he spotted the Eagle Building. Landing on the rooftop would let everyone in the neighborhood know that the Batman had arrived. Despite his sense of urgency, he settled the car down on the roof of a neighboring building, parking it in shadow. Now to business!

Stealthily, Batman moved from shadow to shadow. He had worked his way through the building, finding nobody there. The building was empty, even of furniture. At the floor just below the penthouse he stopped and checked his weaponry again. Owlman was waiting and he was ready.

He slipped through the door, finding himself in a large dark room with only a puddle of light in the center. A chair, and on it slumped familiar figure in unusual clothing. Dick's hands were behind the chair back, shoulders pulled tight. He was dressed in the uniform of a talon, except that he wore no mask at all. Was he conscious? They were being watched, of that he was certain.

He crept closer, keeping his eyes away from the light so that he could peer into the shadows for Owlman. Nothing. He glanced up and saw, next to the overhead light, a camera trained down at Dick.

A good ten feet from his son, Batman stopped. "Dick! Dick? Can you hear me?"

Dick's body jerked and his head lifted slowly. His body trembled as he squinted into the darkness. "Batman?" he called out hoarsely. "Is that really you? My God, tell me it's really you and I'm not hallucinating this!"

His voice sounded so young and frightened that Batman was forced to remember just how young Dick still was, and how much had happened to him since the crime syndicate had arrived. He broke into a run, slowing when the light caught him. Dick could still be booby-trapped.

"I'm here," Batman said, remembering all the times he'd said it to a young, frightened Robin, then to Nightwing. "It's okay. I'm here." He approached Dick slowly. His boy's face was pale and sweaty. He was thin and it didn't look like he'd seen the sun recently. In the harsh light, his deep blue eyes glittered.

As though he were gentling a colt, Batman kept his voice and his stance low. "Is there anyone guarding you? Where is Owlman?" He moved to within a few feet of his former partner. "How about I untie you?"

He was moving around the chair when abruptly Dick shot to his feet and grabbed the chair by the back and swung it at Batman's head. But his target wasn't there, he'd landed six feet away and faced Dick in a defensive stance.

"Dick! It's me, remember?" Batman asked urgently. "Whatever Owlman has told you, it's all a lie!"

Dick laughed and plucked two handfuls of tiny knives from the bandoliers on his costume. "Owlman is my partner and always has been! He told me what happened to your Dick Grayson and how you've been trying make me replace him. Now I can get some revenge for myself!" As Batman tried to evade, he tossed them one by one, just missing him.

"Dick, listen to me," Batman called to him. "Owlman has had you under his control for weeks! Don't you remember growing up at Wayne Manor? You must remember something."

"Oh, I remember Wayne Manor, all right," Dick grinned and threw more knives. His aim was getting better. Batman ducked and dived to avoid them. "Owlman took me in after my parents were killed. I've been his partner since I was nine years old. He and Alfred are my family" Dick stopped in a crouch and charged Batman. "I killed my first six men when I was ten and I've lost count of how many I've done since. I don't want to sit on your death row because I took out Harvey Dent too!"

Batman began to retaliate, returning fire in batarangs. He watched with pride and frustration as Dick dodged them all. "You didn't kill Harvey Dent! Owlman did. After Dent hit the fencing, Owlman put a hand on Dent's neck. He injected a curare-based poison! Dent died of suffocation when his lungs became paralyzed! They found the wound and a tox-screen turned up the drug!" Batman danced out of the way as more tiny knives materialized in the wall beside him.

"Haven't you even asked yourself why your aim is so good with a batarang but not with those knives?" Batman somersaulted over the boy, aiming a kick at his right shoulder. Dick ducked and grabbed where he'd been hit.

"My aim is bad because you held me for months!" Dick shouted in anger. "You made me learn how to use your toys! Owlman was searching for me the entire time I believed I was your son!"

"You are my son!" Batman returned and noted that this flight of knives went even farther afield. "And no father was ever prouder of his child than I am of you!" Trying not to hurt him, Batman flipped again to face Dick. "Search your memories of that other Earth. You'll find nothing but holes!"

"You...!" Dick was trembling now, his face red with rage.

"Not me," Batman said firmly. "Owlman has drugged you and given you new memories. What does your gut tell you, Dick? You've always been the intuitive one. Inside, you know the truth!"

"The truth?" Dick said in a near whisper. "The truth is that I want to go HOME!" With that, he pulled a large knife from his bandolier and threw it with deadly accuracy. He was too fast for Batman. The knife embedded itself in Batman's armpit, where the pieces of body armor were separated for ease of movement. Batman went down, trying to pull the blade out.

Dick landed atop him and stabbed it in even further. As the blood flowed, Dick grinned, blood spattering his teeth. "And my name isn't 'Dick'! It's Richard. Richard Grayson, also known as Talon!" He looked over into the shadows. "See, Thomas! I did it! I killed Batman!"