Wow. Glad you all are liking this. Now we're gonna have a brief cameo of a few Gothamites and see what else the kids have learned from dear old dad. Enjoy!
Dick-16/17 Jason-13 Cass-11/12 Tim-9 Damian-3
Sacrifice
4 – Scene of the Crime
He hadn't slept. The whole night and morning consisted of phone calls, driving, and running around known haunts and safe houses Dick would use. Nothing had turned up. Bruce was at wit's end when he stopped to knock on the Gordon residence's door. Jim was among the first people he called to tell the truth, and the commissioner had offered to lend his taskforce to help find the young man, but Bruce had declined, saying he hadn't exhausted his leads yet.
Now he had.
"Mr. Wayne!" Barbara was the one who opened the door, quite surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"
"Have you seen Dick?" As always, he cut straight to the chase. Frankly he was tired, cold, and frantic for some sign that the boy was alright. "He didn't come home last night."
"What? You think I have him?" The redhead gave him a shrewd glare. They weren't on the best of terms since he and her father had compared notes about their children. Learning of their budding romantic relationship made both fathers defensive and protective over them. Dick was still forbidden from dating last she heard, and her father's main objection (only one really) was that he was jailbait and she a young adult. Who cared if it was only a two year difference max? Age didn't matter to the couple, but made all the difference in the world to the helicopter parents they dealt with.
Bruce shook his head, his exhaustion starting to show. "No, that's not it."
"Then why are you asking me?" She folded her arms defensively. She didn't note how worn the man was, nor did she care. She really liked Dick and his man kept getting in the way! Even got her dad in on it! "I don't—"
"Barb! Close the door!" Jim Gordon shouted behind her. "You're letting the cold in!"
"Sure thing Dad!"
Before she could slam it on the man's face, Bruce charged forward, grabbing the edge of the door and calling in. "Jim! Have you called in to work this morning?"
"Bruce?" Commissioner James Gordon came out around the corner curiously when he heard the younger man's voice. One look at him was all he needed before he ushered the man inside. "Dear lord, you look terrible! Have you slept at all?"
"No, not a wink." He gladly came in, earning a slight glare from Babs as she shut the door behind him. But the conversation quickly perked her interest and concern. "Dick hasn't checked in with anyone. I can't find his phone or motorcycle—"
"You let him drive that contraption in this weather?" Gordon led him into the kitchen, pouring a hot cup of coffee and handing it to the weary man he set at the table.
"I told him to take a car instead," he shook his worn head, "but he insisted. I've checked friends, old teachers, places he used to visit, everything in Gotham I could think of."
"What about that old circus of his?" Jim offered, trying to help.
"Haly's doing a tour in Europe." Bruce sipped the cup, cringing slightly at the excessively bitter taste that came with it for a moment, but otherwise didn't complain. "Unless Dick's stowed away on a boat, there isn't a chance he went there."
"Wait," Barbara stepped into the conversation, a pit growing in her stomach. "Are you saying Dick's seriously missing? As in gone gone?"
"As far as I can tell." Both hands ran through his hair in desperate frustration, worry continuing to eat at him. "I've been looking all night for any sign of him, any hint of where he disappeared to."
"When did you notice he was missing?" Jim asked, almost as if he were back at the office with a regular worried parent. But this wasn't a normal case. This was Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. They'd been through so many kidnappings it was embarrassing. Often times they had to save themselves. Dick being missing overnight couldn't bode well.
"He left around four yesterday afternoon. He was supposed to be back for dinner… Promised to be back…" Bruce closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the inquiries, the promises. "I should have checked in on him before going into my office. Work kept me busy until about one and when I checked on everyone…"
"You check on your kids at night?" Barbara asked, slightly upset by the idea.
"When I'm up," he answered frankly.
"It's not that uncommon Barb," her father reminded her. He looked back to Bruce as the young woman turned away guiltily. She really was being too harsh on the guy. "Is that when you started calling around?"
"Yes." The defeated tone in the man's voice struck at both of them. They never heard him quite like this, and they'd known him for years.
"Finally ready to accept some help, and let me do my job?" Bruce had kept others out of it to keep the whole thing quiet. Dick had suffered enough public humiliation to satisfy the tabloids for years. He hadn't even called in his friends at the League yet, hoping it was just a rebellious teenager thing. Maybe that was a mistake.
"Kidnappings aren't part of the major crimes unit are they?" His mind wasn't working right at the moment. He only had one thought on his mind: find Dick.
Gordon shook his head knowingly. Many panicked parents acted the same way. "Commissioners overlook many departments. I just personally get involved with major crimes. I'll put out an amber alert. It'll close down the busses, railways, and airports at the very least."
"May as well close state borders too." Bruce almost winced at the thought of how far he could have gone. "I haven't seen him on over fifteen hours."
Jim nodded in understanding, but continued. "I'll have men back tracking his movements from when he left your house. We should be able to find a lead from there. But we're going to need your complete cooperation, and you have to go home."
He jerked at him in alarm. "I can't just sit still and—"
"I know." The commissioner knew very well that Bruce Wayne couldn't sit still when one of those he cared about was in danger and wait. "But you have four others at home who need you too, and he may come home when you aren't there. Or you may receive a phone call or ransom note. Either way, it's best you go home, and get some rest while you're at it. You're exhausted."
"I'm fine!" He stood on his feet to prove it, glaring at him. "Alfred's at home with the others! I need to—"
His phone started playing a rock tune loudly, silencing him in an instant. As his hand flew to the cell in his pocket, the Gordons exchanged looks. Was that Dick's ring tone?
"Jason?"
Apparently not.
"Hi Dad."
"What is it? Is everything alright at home?"
"With Dickybird missing, would it be?" There was a pause on his end. "And I'm not exactly at home. We got Alfred to tell us what happened. Tim got this brilliant idea to try tracking Dick own with his credit and bank cards via your computer, you know, in case he was using them."
The man listened to his second eldest for a long time, his eyes widening. "That's… logical. Any hits?"
"Yeah, and lots of red flags."
Red flags? "How?"
"According to the records, he was supposedly buying beer in Chinatown. Coffee around there too."
Donning came to his eyes. "Someone stole his wallet."
"Stole whose wallet?" Jim was on his feet, wishing the conversation was on speaker. "Is he talking about Dick?"
Bruce held up a finger to silence him, alarm coming to his face. Jason continued, not hearing the commissioner on the other end. "Yeah, we figured that out too. So we tracked the guy who took it down and—"
Alarm and worry only grew on the man's face. "What do you mean we? Tracked who down? Jason, where are you? Who's with you?" The anger and worry in Bruce's tone was not lost on the kid.
"We're all at a warehouse on the southwest side of Gotham, near Brown Bridge. We found Dick's bike. And…" the teenager hesitated, not exactly happy to tell the rest of the story. "A dead body."
"What?" The breathless disbelief matched the teen's actual state.
"Yeah. Can you get over here? And bring the cops? Tim's having a full blown panic attack, Cass is keeping Dami from contaminating the scene further, and Alfred's trying to calm everyone down."
"Which warehouse?" The man demanded, becoming charged with energy with each passing second. Barbara took a step forward, worry now taking control of her face. She knew Jason, and heard plenty of stories about how reckless he could be. And with Dick missing, she was sure his siblings would do quite a few more extreme actions than usual.
"S14D3. Kinda hard to find. Had to talk to a security guard to find it. We've got the little thief from before tied up outside the building so it should be easier to—"
"Stay where you are. I'll be there in twenty with Commissioner Gordon. Don't touch anything."
"Wasn't intending to." And with the tone of the teen's voice, he'd keep that promise.
Bruce nodded once before clicking off his phone and giving Jim a determined glare. "Call in your men. We have a lead."
"I'll go. You go home and—"
"Jason and the others found a crime scene." His worried glare became shadowy and dark. He wasn't about to back down now. Never could. "A corpse."
Police lights flashed as both Gordon and Wayne's cars drove up to the warehouse in question. It took them a little time before they could locate the building, tucked away where most couldn't see it. There were no cameras pointed towards it from other buildings and the lighting around the area hadn't improved in that particular quadrant. They would have missed it entirely if Bruce didn't recognize Dick's motorcycle, one of his cars, and saw a man freezing outside it, zip-cuffed to a poll. With one small body running straight towards their cars as soon as they appeared, the location was assured.
Tim nearly floored him when Bruce exited his vehicle, his small form shivering and sniffling long before he made impact. The horribly sleep deprived father quickly gathered him up and tried his hardest to calm him. "I've got you Timmy. It's going to be okay. Shh… I've got you."
"She's dead…" The man heard through the panicked sobs. "She's dead… He's dead…. All gone… Cold… And… So much…"
"Shhh…. It'll be okay." Bruce could only guess what was going through the kid's mind. Occasionally Tim had night terrors from long buried memories of finding his father's body when he was three. Back then he was the one who called 911, soon found in a near catatonic state and covered in blood between the two bodies. Thankfully Bruce was quickly called up to help the then toddler calm down, but severe damage was done. Timmy suppressed all memory of his biological father, too young to remember much anyway. Finding this body, whoever 'she' was, must have brought the only concrete one he had back to the surface. "I've got you."
"Young Master Jason is still inside," Alfred explained as he came towards the two, carrying a very sleepy Damian and Cassandra tagging along silently. He had only a little more rest than his employer and yet looked no worse for wear. He still wasn't pleased though. He looked to the commissioner who quickly joined them as he updated them on what they found. Other sirens could be heard in the distance.
"They have touched nothing but the door handles and a few boxes. And this." The butler put a hand in one pocket, pulling out a USB port antenna wrapped in a handkerchief. He scowled at the device. "Until Master Jason had found and removed this offending device, we could not even call out."
Jim Gordon took the piece of evidence, wrap and all, looking it over as if it were a puzzle he couldn't solve. Very possible. His skills were in deductive reasoning, not technology. Thankfully his tagalong daughter was.
"Looks like a wireless router. Some of these guys have built in programs. What was it connected to?"
"Barbara," her father chided, "please, let me do my job." The redhead nearly rolled her eyes, but worry for her boyfriend took precedence over giving him attitude. The commissioner gave a slight sigh before looking back to the butler. "Okay, where did he find it? And didn't that phone call say something about a…" He hesitated saying more when he heard Tim's sniffling again.
"Miss Cassandra will lead you," Alfred informed them. He looked back to his employer who continued to comfort his stricken son, despite listening intently. "The entire warehouse is fashioned into a maze if one goes through the obvious door. We found another, but it only opens from the inside. There are tire tracks just outside it."
"Any you recognize?" Bruce demanded. Gordon was about to go to the door when he mentioned that bit.
"A common winter tread I'm afraid." He butler waved off towards the highways and the bridge beyond. "They quickly join traffic after leaving the lot. Miss Cassandra followed them for a time while we waited for your arrival."
"We better get inside," the billionaire started. The commissioner raised a hand to stop him.
"I'll go inside. You stay out here and take care of your family." He motioned towards Tim still shaking in his arms.
Bruce's eyes narrowed defiantly. "Jason won't leave the scene until I get there. I'll keep Timothy's back to it and he'll be fine. Cassandra."
The Asian girl nodded, swiftly turning about and dashing towards the building. Her father immediately followed, quickly tailed by Gordon, frustrated. "For pity's sakes! Why can't you just… Barb! You stay out here! The squad needs someone they recognize to help find the place!"
"But…" the redhead whined to no avail.
"The scene doesn't need any more contamination!" Both burned with fiery frustration as they went to their designated locations. Though Barbara didn't like being told what to do in this instance, she understood why. Let her dad to his job was all. So she had to keep the butler company, outside, in the cold.
Once the two men were indoors, the policeman gave the billionaire a low growl. "Don't touch anything. Just get your son, then leave the building. This is my territory."
"Understood." It surprised Gordon and Cass he gave in so easily, but the hard look in his eye and the way he continued to rub the boy in his arms back put that surprise to rest. Just this once he'd do as he was told. Probably.
"This way," the girl ordered. "And watch your feet. There's a few traps here and there."
"Traps?"
"An obstacle course," she stated evenly. They turned a corner as she explained. "That's if you keep to the ground. We figured Dick only walked so far then went on top of the boxes to get to the end. Easier to solve."
"Agreed."
"I'm too old for that," Jim murmured, running a hand through his hair. Couldn't Gotham villains make anything simple? Maze and traps. This was looking more and more like a nightmare by the second.
Silently they maneuvered through the labyrinth, dodging trip wires and other simple traps before making it to the lit room at the end of it all. Jason was balancing on the edges of some crate walls looking at something high above them a bit closer, a digital camera dangling from his wrist. If the troublemaker wasn't so fond of rock wall climbing, Bruce would have been worried. Didn't stop the commissioner from telling him to get down from there. It was a good twenty feet off the ground after all.
"Just taking some pictures," the teen stated before pushing off and rolling into a backflip before reaching the ground. It was a maneuver Dick would be proud of, but not as graceful as the one he'd pull off. Practical. That was the way their dad would describe it. He landed about fifteen feet from the body in question, forcing himself not to look at it. "Haven't moved a thing. Why did you bring Tim back inside?"
"Had to see this for myself," the man explained, stopping his approach. Bruce didn't move any closer to the body, stopping just short of the neat pile of Dick's belongings. Neat. The only thing Dick kept neat was clothes, and that was for space purposes back in his circus days. What laid on top of the pile made him take a step back. Phone was expected. Watch, high possibility. The rings… "Someone took him."
"Get over here!" Gordon ordered sharply, making certain Jason left the crime scene for the professionals. The teen rolled his eyes briefly before coming over and joining his family. "Really… what is with these kids of yours?! Checking out crime scenes… Please tell me you didn't touch the body."
"Didn't have to," Jason insisted, still not looking at it. He inclined his head over to Cass. "Cass is good at reading people, living or dead. She just barely saw it when Tim was about to check and she stopped him. He put two and two together at the same time I did and started having his break down."
"How did you find this place?" the officer demanded, going over to the body himself. Yeah. She was dead alright. At least twelve hours judging by the rigor.
"Recent online bank statements from our joint accounts." He stayed near Gordon but kept his eyes far away from the lady. "Tim's idea. Dick doesn't keep his wallet on him at all times, but he was going out to get presents. Usually he keeps it in his saddlebags unless necessary. Stops him from overspending. Tracked the money, found a pattern, found the guy using his cards and then got him to talk."
Inside the commissioner groaned. "How did you get him to talk?"
"Alfred."
He looked over to the boy's father still looking at the pile for an explanation. "He used to be British secret service, paperwork mostly. Any idea who she is or what she died of?"
"No idea." Jim took out his cellphone and started taking pictures of the body before taking out a rubber glove to actually search it. "We'll know more after the autopsy. Now get back outside, all of you. There's enough contamination here to have all your prints taken as is."
A/N: X3 the plot thickens. Yeah, why didn't Bruce find it? because he was emotionally compromised and hadn't slept that night. Since he doesn't spend every other night without sleep like Bats would, he really wasn't thinking straight. Tim's the next best detective and at nine he figured out his and Dick's ID in the normal-verse so he was bound to come up with a few good ideas. Also get an idea of how exactly he got Tim here (love Identity crisis!). What a scarred three year old. X3 Jason's keeping his cool because finding ODed dead bodies wasn't that uncommon on Crime Alley and he's older. Had to keep his cool for the others too. Cass would know if someone's alive or dead at a glance. And Dami's sleepy, he doesn't know nor care what's going on. He's gonna be oblivious during most of this so don't be surprised if he seems to have no reaction to a lot of things. In the extended i'll handle his reactions a bit better.
Love Barbara here, but I think this is about all the cameo she'll be getting here. Too bad. her and her dad are pretty cool characters. I hope I got her right. 3X She and Dick's relationship is important in here, FYI. that's all I've got to say. laters.
