"Nooo!" Nightwing shook himself out of his stupor. A small corner of his mind noted that he hadn't heard his own scream…a byproduct of the explosion. He would, hopefully, regain hearing within a few minutes or hours…there was a slight chance he wouldn't regain it at all. But all that went through his mind in a heartbeat, not even registering on his consciousness. He scanned the flames, searching for some kind of movement, any indication that…wait. That was it!

"Oracle?" Nothing. Oh…yeah. She had turned their lines off…he'd have to switch to a different channel...not to mention he wouldn't know if she answered anyway, without his hearing. He flipped open the communication panel on his glove…there was a little screen there…he could get her to type her answers or something. He typed in the commands to connect him to her computer. Nearly instantaneously her face appeared, concerned. She said something…looked like "what is it" or "what happened" or…well, something. He shook his head.

"Can't hear you…explosion." He motioned to his ears, just in case his words weren't actually coming out right. She nodded, and reached off screen to fiddle with something. A black box appeared across the bottom of the screen, with a little icon-version of her Oracle hologram. Green words appeared.

:What happened:

"Xplosion." He didn't think that came out right, and frowned. She was fighting a smile, so it must have come out wrong…she sobered.

:You ok: He nodded. She thought for a second then… :Batman? Robin? Batgirl? What happened: He closed his eyes briefly, gathering strength.

"Don…know. Need you to…check on Bam..t..Ba-t-man." She nodded, fingers flying across her keyboard. She scanned something off screen, frowning. She considered carefully…too carefully…before typing again.

:He's always been difficult to track. He doesn't like people knowing what he's doing. He…:

"He's dead, isn't he?" Her eyes widened, and she shook her head vigorously.

:No! No, I'm not saying that at all:

"But, it's true."

:Not necessarily. He's always been changing the codes to the subdural chips…Alfred might know…but I may simply not be able to get access right now.: Nightwing glanced back at the now-smoldering building. He didn't really think there was any chance Batman had survived…he'd been too close. Right in the heart of the explosion. Babs was typing away, though he could see her hands shaking.

He stared at the Batmobile…it was locked up tight, with Joker and Harley still inside. He couldn't let them think…let them know that they had succeeded. But what could he…

"What's going on?" Nightwing jumped. Never mind the facrt that his hearing had decided to return suddenly and without warning…but…

"Buh-Batman!" He was hard-pressed not to leap for joy and give him a hug…not only were hugs not an approved method of showing feelings in the Bat-clan, buthesuspected...ok heknew... thatBatman enjoyed scaring people…even his friends and allies. Since the members of Team Bat were harder to scare than most…

"Y'know if you wanted to scare me there were easier ways to accomplish it than a near-death experience." He kept his tone light, but his eyes took in every detail of Batman's appearance. He hadn't escaped unscathed… his cape was definitely scorched, and there was blood running out from under the cowl…Nighwing wondered if that would be blood from the ears, since he had been closer to the center of the explosion, or some other wound. Since Batman didn't reply to his query, he suspected he had at least a similar amount of hearing loss as he himself had had…if not more.

"See, I told you he wasn't…"

"That's enough, O. Thank you." She huffed, irritated at his cutting her off, but accepted that they needed to get back to business. Nightwing turned back, examining the man he'd called "partner" for years, the man he'd come to think of as a father…the man, who at this moment was looking dazed, slightly disoriented, and yet all too pleased with himself.

"You need to go home." He wasn't sure if Batman could hear him…but he knew he could read lips if he wanted. A slight twitch at the corner of his mouth was the only indication that he had chosen to pay any attention. Nightwing narrowed his eyes. "I mean it. Joker's in custody…I can handle it from here. You need medical attention." Batman frowned.

"I need to find…"

"I will find Robin and Batgirl…if they haven't already managed to extricate themselves from their situation, that is. Oracle will help…I'm sure we can get others if we need to." He threw a cocky grin. "I bet Superboy and Kid Flash would love to…"

"No." Nightwing's grin broadened. Batman's anti-meta policies were infamous, and Robin had been hanging out with the two super-powered teens more and more often. He could see the resignation in Batman's shoulders, though. "I'll take in Joker and Quinn…then…go back to the cave. Keep me informed." Nightwing nodded. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let Batman drive in his current condition…but that was probably the most he'd ever given in, so he was willing to let it go.

He watched the Batmobile as it headed towards Arkham…the fire crews had arrived and had everything under control as far as the blaze went. After the car was out of sight, Nightwing sighed and pulled out a decel line. He really should have had his motorcycle out with him tonight. Well, that's what he got for storming out of the cave…he had taken one of the other 'cycles…one not equipped with a homing device and auto-piloting function.

"Hey gorgeous," he grinned as he opened a channel.

"So?" He could tell she was still miffed at being cut out of the conversation earlier. Hmmm. Maybe flowers and a nice dinner…candles… "Hel-loo? Earth to Nightwing!" He smiled as she sighed loudly. So his mind was wandering…so what? Joker was caught and…oh, well, yeah, he needed to find the kids.

"So…any more bright ideas as to the location of our AWOL teens?" he asked, getting down to business. She was silent for a moment, and he wondered if that were a good sign…or a bad one.

"You're sure they weren't in, or near, the factory?" He pulled himself up towards the roof, considering how to answer.

"Yes. I'm sure." He said it as firmly as possible, trying not to recognize that he was attempting to convince himself as much as her. He reached the roof and crouched there, scanning the skyline and wondering where to begin.

"What about the other factory?" He frowned at her question. Why hadn't he thought of that?

"Laffco? Good idea. I'm heading out." He cut the connection and prepared to swing out. It made sense…that's where they had disappeared, and there was no written rule that Joker would transport them from that spot! Nightwing grinned as he leapt out into the night...things were finally looking up.


Cassandra sighed. She had known from the start that the mind-controlled people had retained their skills. And she had known Robin was a very skilled person. He'd have to be, to be partner to Batman. But even knowing all this she had assumed that all of Robin's skills were mental, and would therefore be inhibited by Joker's interference. How silly. How stupid. She glowered at him. Everyone was always making her feel stupid. And she could see now that she probably was…for her not to have realized Tim would be just as functional under mind-control. As far as athletic abilities, well, there was no question as to her being the best…but Tim was devious. And he had nearly gotten the better of her numerous times now! It should have been so simple to just knock him out with a quick nerve strike…or, if that wasn't an option, then at least she should have been able to land a good solid blow to his head so that he was unconscious long enough to get them both out of here!

But noooo. They had been struggling against each other for nearly half an hour now, and she had yet to get in a good strike. The water continued to pour in…now up past her waist, making every move sluggish, uncoordinated, and simply ineffective. In this, Tim had the advantage. He had the brain power to figure out good moves to use the water to his advantage…putting Cass on the defensive. She had nearly been pulled under more times that she cared to count…of course, she really wouldn't be all too willing to admit that Tim had gotten the better of her even once...and was having to concentrate too much on simply keeping her footing.

It wasn't that she couldn't swim…that had, of course, been part of her training. But one always had to be aware that one could only spend so much time under water before one found oneself dangerously short of air. And without her utility belt, she had no access to a rebreather.

"Stop that!" Tim had started splashing her…much as she'd seen kids at swimming pools do…but with much more vicious intent. She glared at him. Two could play at that game. She considered her options. Tim probably had at least fifty pounds on her…once the water reached a level where they couldn't stand all he'd have to do was shove her under long enough for her to lose consciousness and drown. She could let that happen…at least she would finally be able to get close enough to try a nerve strike…but there was always the possibility that she would end up in a position in which she couldn't make that strike.

Tim managed to hit her right in the face with a blast of water, causing her to choke a bit…and blink rapidly, trying desperately to clear her eyes. With the roar of the water she couldn't place Tim's movements by sound alone. She blinked once more and opened her eyes…only to discover Tim had disappeared! She started to turn, instinctively anticipating his attack, but she didn't possess the same thought processes as he.

He caught her at the knees. He had gone under the water to knock her down, instead of moving around behind her. She barely had time to gasp in a quick breath before the water closed over her head. She fought towards the surface, trying to regain her footing. But, just as she had predicted, Tim was able to keep her under, almost by sheer weight difference…though she had to admit that he was pretty talented at keeping his own footing and outmaneuvering any attempt on her part to hit any vulnerable spots on his body.

Spots began to flicker in her eyes as the lack of air began to take its toll. She felt a shudder run through her body with the knowledge that she couldn't do anything…that this really was the end. She was just succumbing to the darkness when the pressure holding her down suddenly eased. Without thought she propelled herself to the surface, idly noticing that the water level had reached a point where standing was no longer an option. She gulped in great gasps of air as she tread water…it wasn't until she had convinced her lungs that, yes, they had plenty of air that she thought to wonder what had happened to Tim.


To be continued…