A lone shadow moved silently through the Gotham rooftops. His steps light and nimble as he effortlessly landed beside Gordon on the GCPD rooftop.
"Commissioner."
Years ago Gordon would have jumped, but now, after almost 10 years of working with the dark knight, the police commissioner seemly turned around.
He hid a wince at Batman's missing second shadow.
"Is Robin still..." missing? The words went unspoken but Batman nodded nonetheless.
Gordon looked downward, his frown deepening. The newest Robin had been by far the most...excited, the kid seemed to always be flipping around and cracking a joke.
It had been almost five-months since the boy wonder's disappearance, no one knew where the cheery partner of Batman had gone.
All except Batman that is.
A single gunshot sounding in the distance made the duo straighten, knocking Gordon from his thoughts.
"Right." The man stepped forward, handing Batman a painfully small file. "A pattern has been detected between a recent assassination and numerous 'accidents' in the past resulting in death."
The Batman's trained eye skillfully grazed over the file's contents, a frown appearing as he realized he would now have to dodge the police as he worked on his already inhaling case.
"I know." Gordon shook his head, unsurprised. "Of course you do. When were you planning on letting us know?"
He knew the answer to that question yet he asked anyway.
"You need to stay out of this Gordon, I've been working this case for months now. You don't want to get involved."
"Wait months? This doesn't have to do with Robin's--" another gunshot sounding made him break off, glancing off into the distance only turning back to find an empty roof.
"Why do I always do that?"
-•-
"Would you like some tea Master Bruce?" The butler was met with silence as the dark knight keep his glare fixed on the large screen.
"It is not your fault sir... you will find him."
Finally Batman reached up, pulling off the cowl to reveal tired eyes from countless nights of no sleep. "I know I will Alfred." He turned back to the screen staring at the photo of the grey feather on the screen, "because I don't know what I will do if I don't."
The kind old butler took a step forward, "perhaps if I sent for Masters--"
"No. I don't want them involved...not yet."
Alfred let out a sigh before slowly turning to make his way back up to the manor, "very well sir."
A sigh escaped his lips, his feet kicking out into thin air as he watched from the rafters above. "When can I go out." He wined, his lips bent downwards in a pout.
The one-eyed man down below let out a low chuckle, his grey eye twinkled in amusement.
"You still have not fully adjusted to your...new circumstances Richard."
The teen sighed heavily in exasperation, "I'll be fine! It's not like I'll be fighting Bane or something! I just want to go out. Besides I know his routes like the back of my hand, I won't run into him."
The mercenary raised an eyebrow, "are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Fine, but only if--" He was cut off by a jovial shout followed by the teen flipped off the rafter and down in front of him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Richard shut his mouth and had the decency to look sheepish at the man's narrowed eye. "As I was saying, I'll allow it as long as you remain inconspicuous. I have work to do, and I don't need to go saving idiotic teens from their cape fathers."
The teen nodded enthusiastically, his mouth pinched together in a sad attempt to hide a grin.
"I will."
Yet before the man could respond the raven-haired boy began to cartwheel out of the large room, a jovial laugh escaping his lips.
The one-eyes man watch the boy leave, shaking his head at his antics.
Turning back to the large screen with a sigh the man scanned the blueprints on the screen with a skillful eye. Already noting the best entry points and possible exits.
His train of thought was cut off by a loud crash sounding in the room over, which happened to be Richard's, followed by an 'oops'.
"That kid is gonna be the death of me."