"Oracle to Nightwing."

"What'cha got?" He had stuck around until the police collected the victims…though they had put up a good fight, he knew they were victims…and was now on a rather unstructured patrol of the surrounding area.

"I've got some action for you down at the Laffpro toy factory."

"Joker?" Her hesitation told him everything he needed to know. "Have you told…"

"Not exactly. He…"

"'Not exactly'! What 'not exactly'! If this is it, you have to tell him! You…"

"Will you chill? I didn't tell himhe told me…sort of." When he didn't comment she took that as a good sign and continued, "I intercepted a call from Robin. It seems that he and Batgirl have stumbled upon Joker's lair…or one of them, anyway. Batman told them not to do anything until he got there." She paused, waiting for his reply. He didn't say anything for a moment. Instead he looked out over the city, pondering the wisdom of showing up at the "big showdown". Batman and Robin, not to mention Batgirl, could probably handle Joker on their own. And Batman didn't want him around…he had made that abundantly clear.

"Sound's like everything's under control, then." There was, if it was possible, an even longer pause than his had been. He could have kicked himself. He knew that she may not be willing to admit it, but she became more and more tense when Joker was on the loose. She wouldn't be comfortable until he was back in Arkham.

"It couldn't hurt to have more people there." He winced at the coolness of her tone.

"I didn't mea…"

"Just go check it out, ok? I have a bad feeling about this. Especially with Batgirl and Robin's disappearing act earlier." He could tell this was to be the end of the conversation. He stood for a moment on a protruding ledge, looking out over the city. The Laffpro toy factory had produced all kinds of toys, from dolls to toy cars and trucks, to mock weapons for little boys playing cowboys and Indians. Any of which the production machinery could be corrupted to make weapons, traps, and other forms of twisted torture.

There really was no question. He would go and he would help… whether he was wanted or not.


"So…I guess we just wait for now." Robin frowned as Batgirl simply shrugged. He had told Batman their location, Batman had told them to hold off until he got there, and that was that. "Um….you're cool with that, right?" He was usually good at stakeouts, but there was a tension between them that hadn't been there before…not recently, anyway. He sighed.

"Hmmm." At least that was some sort of response. He watched as she shifted positions, apparently trying to get a better look at…something or other. He didn't see anything interesting, just flashing signs and empty alleys. She lowered her head against her knees and he felt a twinge of guilt. He should have insisted they return to the cave when he had first recognized her symptoms. He should made sure she was all right again before following their lead.

At the very least he should have been a little more understanding when she was so curt earlier. Sure, she had been acting a little odd…well, ok a lot odd…but that could be attributed to the migraine and the whole situation. Not to mention this was Batgirl for crying out loud. She could do anything…except read, but they were working on that!...and to have to call backup would have irritated anyone. Even he was annoyed, though he knew it was necessary, so he couldn't blame her…not really.

Then again...she had been evasive. She had never been evasive before. True, they hadn't been close enough to know if she had a tendency to get that way every once in awhile. It shouldn't have…have…hurt. That was the problem. Robin glanced at her to make sure she wasn't looking at him, then grimaced. That was the real problem, wasn't it? She had become elusive, hiding her thoughts and feelings inside herself and it had hurt. They had become so close over the past few weeks…

"Look." He turned, surprised out of his ruminations by her short command. He looked. A door on the side of the factory was swinging closed…and a flash of purple-clad leg was disappearing through it. "Joker!" She moved as if to leap from the building after him, so Robin latched onto her arm.

"Batman wants us to wait." She scowled at him. She did. Really. He thought it was quite effective, even through the mask. He had always thought that her cowl hid expressions…but not this one. Nope. Her irritation was clear, even before she pushed him back, almost knocking him over. She stayed put though.

"Hate waiting." He grinned at her grumbling. Hopefully it meant she was done being so peevish.

"We all do. It's probably why we're out here playing vigilante-hero instead of waiting for the 'system' to fix stuff for itself." She just shrugged…again. Apparently she wasn't. She started to move again, and again he stopped her. This time he thought he'd be safer grabbing her cape.

"Not…going…anywhere." Her words were short and choppy, and said as if she were trying to teach a three-year-old. Robin grinned once again.

"Can't be too careful, you know." She studied him for a second.

"You don't…trust me?" This time he was surprised enough to drop her cape.

"What! No! I mean, yes! I mean… Ca…um, Batgirl, of course I trust you. I mean, I know myself how hard it is to wait, but I know you wouldn't…I mean, Batman said to stay here, but I know we weren't exactly following orders just by being here, so it's tempting to just go ahead and nab Joker to prove we can, but we can't…I mean, I'm sure we can but we can't because…" at this point he shut up. More because Batgirl had moved so that she could clamp a hand over his mouth than because he was done rambling…but the effect was the same. Silence. Blessed silence. A sound so beautiful to her throbbing head that…well, it was lovely. She could tell he was uncomfortable, though, so she let him go, though not without a warning.

"Don't talk." He nodded, and even in the not-so-darkness of a city night she could see him flush with embarrassment. "Sorry." He didn't understand. Why was she apologizing? She sighed. "I know you…trust me. I'm…in a bad mood." He laughed at that. He actually laughed! Not out loud, of course, but she could tell. "What's so funny?" He didn't answer and she wished, as she did sometimes, that she had a half-mask so she could stick her tongue out at him. "You can talk now."

"…ummm…" he wasn't sure what she wanted him to say.

"You were going to tell me…what was funny?"

"Nothing."

"You laughed!" He grinned at that. He couldn't help it. He had feared that, after the way she'd been acting all night, they wouldn't ever get back to the easy camaraderie they'd had before.

"No, really. It's just…you said you were in a bad mood…and that was kind of obvious." She cocked her head to the side, as if considering his words. Her silence lasted long enough that Robin was starting to worry. But she seemed to relax and even chuckled a little.

"Yeah. Obvious…" her voice trailed off and he realized she was staring at something behind him. He turned to see and everything went dark.


The area was lit with glaring neon signs declaring Joker's residence. But there was no sign of Batgirl or Robin. Batman scanned the surroundings. No sign of a struggle, either. They would have put up a fight if they had run into trouble. He frowned, considering. Robin wouldn't have called for backup and then disappeared. A movement caught his eye and his frowned morphed into an all-out scowl.

"What are you doing here?" Nightwing landed easily beside him and took a deep breath, telling himself that he was here to help and not fight with Batman. Then again…who could resist?

"Nice to see you, too."

"I told you…"

"I can clearly recall what you said. I also seem to recall that two teenagers were also included in that ludicrous ultimatum, and yet they were out here and…" he broke off, his ire fading as he took in the situation. "They were here, weren't they?" Batman gave a curt nod. "So where'd they go?"

"Good question." But it didn't appear to Nightwing that Batman had any more notion than he did. He considered his options. Try to find Robin and Batgirl. Assume they could take care of themselves and search for Joker instead. Or…he supposed he could always look for Joker and the kids. Which, unfortunately, seemed to be the best option at the moment. He couldn't imagine how… but their disappearance was all too likely some trick of Joker's.

"I…"

"Not now." Nightwing glowered at the back of Batman's head. Batman hadn't even known what he was going to say, for crying out loud! He opened his mouth to retort, but the voice of reason, sounding suspiciously like Babs' voice at the moment, came back to him…reminding him that now wasn't the time for arguing but for finding Joker and Robin and Batgirl. Besides…he had finally noticed what Batman had found.

Nightwing told himself not to jump to conclusions. They hadn't seen any sort of obvious signs of a fight. Robin was fine. Batgirl was fine. Everyone was fine. He was sure of it. They had probably just gotten nervous at facing Batman after disobeying his order to stay off the case. But he couldn't quite account for the current situation.

Batman was holding a razor-sharp playing card, one of Joker's trademark weapons. There was blood on the edge. Someone had gotten hurt, and recently. Batman was already pulling out a micro-analyzer, a tool he had developed to check out common clues like blood so that he didn't have to return to the cave. As he worked Nightwing looked around. There had to be more than just the card to work with. Maybe Joker had planted the card, trying to confuse Batman. Perhaps there had been a fight, but Joker had cleaned up the scene…doubtful, given the amount of time that had passed between Robin's call and their arrival.

"Damn!" Batman simply looked over at him, as if admonishing him for the outburst. But Nightwing ignored him and crouched down next to a vent and reached through the opening to the tiny gap. A flash of color had caught his eye. Unfortunately his hand was too big to fit into the restricted space. He withdrew a pair of tweezers and this time managed to snag the object in question. It didn't come easily.

After a lot of tugging he finally had the object free of the vent. It was yellow. And black. And about five feet in length. It looked suspiciously like Robin's cape. Nightwing exchanged a glance with Batman. Even after the years working apart they had that connection…as if each knew the other's thoughts. Batman gave a slight nod, causing Nightwing to crush the fabric in his fists.

This wasn't just a ploy. This wasn't just a cape that looked like Robin's. This was for real. The blood on the card had been Tim's.


To be continued...