"…Woodward, what the hell?" Gordon asked when they were alone. "I've never seen such erratic behavior from an agent of your level!"
"Those two," he hissed, "are hiding something important from us. Something happened down in those tunnels that they aren't talking about, and if my suspicions are correct, it could be a serious problem."
"What can you possibly suspect that would make it worth antagonizing Batman? He's the only reason you even have Sawyer! Well," he amended, "Robin is, ostensibly, the reason you have Sawyer. But the point remains the same. They're on our side."
"Like you said, Gordon. Robin's the reason we have Sawyer. So where was Batman? You say the kid's his son, right?"
"Well, he certainly treats him as such. I don't know anything for certain about them, really. That's how he prefers it."
"And you let it ride."
"Yes, I do. I let it ride because he's done great things for this city, things that we can never fully repay him for. My…bending the rules enough to let him operate in his own way is the best I can do to try and lessen the debt we owe him."
"You call him a savior. I call him a potential threat to national security."
"Believe it or not, I've heard this line before from your office. We both know that there is a large body of government types who think all the vigilantes and metahumans should be given the choice to either retire to their civilian lives or be locked away. You're not the first, and you probably won't be the last, to try and apply that label to him."
"I didn't have a problem with him when I first met him, Commissioner. Hell, I don't want to have a problem with him now. He's pretty out there, but it works for him. I respect that. And the kid…the kid blows my mind."
"So what's the problem? You were threatening to all but arrest them a few minutes ago!"
"I took an oath, Gordon. An oath I take very, very seriously. I swore to do everything in my power to maintain the safety of the citizens of the United States. So long as Batman is interested in the same end, I have no problem with him."
"He's interested in the exact same thing we are, damn it!"
"Sure, right now he is. But I believe that could all change in an instant." He took a deep breath. "I think Sawyer got that serum into him somehow."
"…You have no proof of that." Oh, hell.
"No, but I've got a damn strong suppositional argument. The kid's as good as his son, but he ended up fighting all those goons, apparently only with another child to help him. We found guards downstairs, clearly not associated with the heroin but knocked out all the same. We've got shots fired and blood on the floor, but no one's talking about that. Someone yanked those cuffs clean out of the wall, and even with half-rotten concrete, that's the kind of feat I'd expect from, oh I don't know, an angry, worried, parental-mode Batman, maybe? Then you've got the fact that he's still working this case when his part is done. In fact, not only is he working the case, he seems to have some special in not only with the guards but with Sawyer. Don't tell me that doesn't all scream to you that he's got something personal on the line."
Woodward gave a short laugh as the other man shifted, not answering. "You've been working it out, too, haven't you?" When he got no answer, he continued. "Sure you have. You've seen all the same evidence that I have this past week. You're a smart guy. You've been thinking the same thing, but you're defending him."
"You don't know him."
"Neither do you. You said it yourself."
"Yes, I did. But I'll tell you one thing I do know, Woodward; if he can be controlled, he's doing everything he can to figure out a way around it."
"What if that's not enough, Commissioner?"
"…What?"
"If the wrong person manages to get a hold of him before he 'figures out a way around it,' what are you going to do? He won't be defending your city then; he'll be destroying it."
I was trying not to think about that, thanks. "Be that as it may," he said slowly, "I will not try to have him arrested pre-emptively. We don't know that he was injected – he's been involved in other big cases after an arrest was made, after all, so this isn't a new phenomenon – and even if he was, I don't know of anyone more likely to find a cure for those men upstairs than Batman. No matter what Sawyer may have said about it being irreversible."
Woodward's ears perked. "Did he say that?"
"Yes. If you'd been listening to the interrogation instead of pestering Robin, you'd know that." He paused. "Look, I know he's not always the easiest person to work on an investigation with, but…sometimes you just have to come to terms with the fact that he know things you don't, and let him run with it. It's hard to do, especially when it's a big case like this one, but I've never once been disappointed in the end when I've done so. Besides," he added, knowing that the duo had had plenty of time to exit the building, "even if you could think of some reason to arrest them, you'd have to find them first. They're long gone by now, and to be frank, I'm not even sure Seal Team Six could find and infiltrate wherever it is that they call home."
Woodward was still ireful, but part of the reason he was in a position that carried as much responsibility as it did at his relatively young age was that he had a knack for learning from the experiences of others. Listening to Gordon, he forced down his urge to follow the letter of his oath, and focused instead on its intent. If Batman's capable of being controlled, he could be a danger to national security…but only if someone with the right knowledge and tools was free to control him. And if Sawyer's in custody and no one else knows how this system of Sawyer's works – except maybe Batman himself - is he really any more of a danger then than he is normally? If I wanted to hold him, just in case, I wouldn't technically need proof, at least not under the current Patriot auspices, but…taking Gordon's words at face value, it would do more harm than good at this point to bring him in. "…You say he's essential to Gotham's security?"
"Yes. I believe that he is. You glanced through his file, you know the kind of people he's captured for us in the past. This city would be pure, unbridled chaos were it not for him."
"…Well. Like you said, he's gone now, anyway." There's nothing saying I can't keep an eye on things from Washington, he mused. Besides, the man's no fool. He'll be expecting me to go after him, especially once he talks to the boy. So long as I have Sawyer, I can put a check on Batman. He'll still be under monitoring, the main threat to national security will be as neutralized as it can be barring one of them dying, and it gives me a better chance of getting my hands on him if things do go bad in the future. He grimaced, not entirely happy with his plan but forced to admit that it was the one most likely to succeed.
The Commissioner watched him warily. You're supposed to worry about national security, Woodward. I understand your point about a mind-controlled Batman potentially rampaging around Gotham, and trust me I don't like that idea, but it would be my town he'd be likely to start with. And if it comes to that, believe me, I'll take action. But it won't come to that. "We recorded the interview, if you want to watch it." Please, don't let it come to that.
"…Yeah, I think I will. See what other bull Sawyer was shoveling." See if he gave me anything to add to my own file on the man you seem so determined to protect, Gordon. Better get one started on the boy, too…I get the feeling his is going to be just as thick as his mentor's before long.
"Please take this thing," Robin ripped the radio from his belt and handed it to Batman the instant that they were in the car.
"Sure." He tucked it away securely, then pulled out of the alley. "What happened while I was with Sawyer?"
"Woodward tried to get me to give up information. I didn't," he added quickly, "but he tried. I didn't get to hear much of your interview because he was talking to me. Did you find anything out?"
That bastard. "Other than informing me that a cure both is and is not possible and that he burned down his own lab, he said nothing that's useful to us for now." He paused, hearing the boy sigh beside him. "He seems to think he's going to get out of prison sometime in the relatively near future."
"…Is that likely?"
"No. I don't think it is. As invasive as Woodward was tonight, he didn't give me any reason to believe that he'll settle for anything other than seeing Sawyer behind bars for life."
Invasive…yeah, he was definitely that, Robin thought. As he stared out the window, his hand rose of its own volition to where the agent had poked at him. "…I guess I don't really get why he got so pushy about wanting to know everything after you talked to Reznik. I mean, I understand why he would want to be in the loop, and why we can't tell him, but…I don't know, Batman. It would have made more sense for him to work with us so he could get more information about Sawbones, you know?"
He was preparing to reply when he noticed the way his partner was rubbing at one spot on his tunic. "…Robin?" he asked, unseen eyes narrowing as they flicked back and forth between the road and his passenger.
"Huh?" he looked over at him. "…Oh." Realizing what he was doing, and that it was likely what had drawn his mentor's attention, he let his arm fall back to his side. Crud, if I have to tell him that Woodward touched me again he'll want to go back and make him apologize or…something. "I was just thinking it would have been better for everyone if-" he tried to cover, only to be cut off.
"Did he touch you?" he nearly growled. He wouldn't put it past the agent to use physical intimidation, even against a child; after all, he'd seen the man's colleagues do so on several occasions in the past, and after tonight's scenes there was little reason left for Batman to think Woodward was any better than his peers. What was Gordon doing, though? He wouldn't have just stood back and let that occur, surely.
"I…he just kind of stabbed me with his finger. It's fine," he insisted, legitimately becoming worried for the federal agent's physical safety as the lips beneath the cowl pulled back to reveal a flash of gritted teeth.
No, it isn't. He comes into my town, he blocks my access to Sawyer and the guards, and he seems more interested in investigating me than his prisoner. Then on top of that he lays his hands on you, not once, but twice, the second time not even on accident. And judging from the way you're acting, it wasn't a gentle nudge. He took advantage of an empty intersection to swing the car around, and began to head back the way they'd come.
"Aaaaah where are we going?"
"Back to the police station."
"Batman, no!" his eyes widened. "You don't understand, Woodward wanted us searched! He knows we're keeping something from him, he told me he does, and I think he's probably starting to get pretty close to figuring out exactly what it is we don't want him to know." To his relief, the man's foot eased off of the accelerator slightly. "You know he's just looking for an excuse to arrest you. Don't give it to him, please."
"…Fine. But Robin?"
"Yes?" he answered, slumping back in his seat as they turned around again.
"…If he ever touches you again, I want you to punch his lights out."
"He's a federal agent," he frowned. "And he wasn't trying to do anything…you know…bad to me. He was just angry. It didn't really hurt."
"I don't care if he's the head of Homeland Security next time. If he so much as brushes against you again and it isn't because you're hurt and he's trying to help, deck him. He has no right."
"…Okay."
"Good." He took a slow, deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Why didn't Gordon step in?"
"He did, once he realized what was going on. He was watching you talk to Sawbones for most of it. But when I backed up into him and he noticed that there was a problem, he was great," he noted. "He kind of saved us back there, actually. He told Woodward that he didn't have any jurisdiction in the police station, so we couldn't be searched under his order. You weren't exaggerating when you said he's an important ally to have." He paused. "I like him."
"He likes you, too," he informed him, remembering the Commissioner's expression on Christmas Eve when he'd heard that the boy had a hand in Sawyer's takedown. "You should have seen his face when he heard what you and Kid Flash did."
"Was he surprised?"
"Flabbergasted."
"…That's a fun word. Flabbergasted." They were both silent until the car slowed to a stop inside the cave. "…Batman?"
I thought you'd fallen asleep over there, chum, he thought as he glanced over. "Yes, Robin?"
"If the lab's gone, and Woodward won't let you try to get more out of the guards or Sawbones…what're we going to do?"
That particular quandary that had been pinging around in his mind the entire way home. "Well…Sawyer says there is and isn't a cure," he offered the best he'd been able to come up, the only vague lead he had left to follow. "We'll just have to find it somehow."
"…What if we can't?" he asked, a distinct note of fear in his voice.
'The receiving structures aren't sophisticated enough,' he recalled Sawyer's explanation. 'They'll take anything that comes in on that frequency, which does, by the way, sometimes lead to…unfortunate accidents.' It was important information, to be sure, but it made the situation all the more precarious. My god, I could be out on patrol with you, pick up some errant signal, and just…drop dead. No, no that can't happen. I can't let you see something like that, not again. If we were swinging when it happened, if I…fell…oh, what would that do to you. Not again. No, there's got to be a way…he said there was a way. Shoving his cowl back and putting on a determined face, he spoke firmly, trying to bolster his own confidence as well as his son's. "We will, kiddo. We will." Or I'll die trying.
