chapter 2

Tim sat in the cave; he had already changed out of his costume and back into his street clothes, watching Dick pace back and forth in front of the huge computer station. Dick still wore his costume, but had removes his gloves and mask. He ran his fingers through his black hair. What was he going to do? Bruce had been kidnapped in broad daylight, on live TV, at that charity ball. Obviously he couldn't fight them off there, but why hadn't he gotten out? Where was he now? Was he even still alive?

"What's next?" Tim asked

"I don't know, he should have made contact, but Barb has nothing" dick answered

"I mean about this Gray Ghost, he just disappeared. What do you think?"

"Well, first of all, he's ticked me off, I hate losing them like that, especially him popping in and out like that, leaves us vulnerable."

"So, what do you want to do?"

"Business as usual. We got a lot of work out there to do, if he wants to help, let him. But, we keep our eyes open for him. I don't trust him, and I don't want him pulling anything over on us. If we have to, we put him down"

"Got it, but how, he keeps teleporting?" Tim asked,

"He what?" dick was confused

"Teleporting, like in Star Trek. He could teach Bruce a thing or two. He has to have some great technology, way better than ours, or the JLA's or maybe he's a Meta." Tim added

"Good point, track down what you can online, see who could possibly have that kind of technology, not Waynetech, I think Bruce would have already put it to use, what about Lexcorps?" Dick asked

"I'll get on it, but it'll have to be tomorrow, dad is going to freak if he finds me out again."

"Got it, go ahead and go, I'll see what me and Alfred can come up with." Dick said as Tim walked down the lone cavern that ran under his house on the next estate.

Dick sat in front of the Computer and called up Barbara on the private line.

"Oracle, this is Nightwing"

"Go ahead" she answered

"I need a list of known Metas' with teleporting capabilities, particularly those that may have crossed pathes with Batman" Dick requested

"Anything else?" Barb asked

"Not for now, I'll see you when I get home" Dick replied

"Don't wake me up when you get in. on second thought, maybe you can" Barbara teased. "Nightwing out" as he blushed

Dick called Alfred down to the cave. The long time servant brought down a hot breakfast for the young crime fighter, and the morning paper headlineing the continued disappearances of Bruce Wayne and Batman.

"What shall we do about this, if either one of them don't show up soon, people shall start drawing their own conclusions, Sir?" Alfred asked

"And if they both show up at the same time, there will be even more speculating" Dick added. "The only answer is for me to double for him, I've done it before; I should have done this sooner. Do we still have those costumes in my size Alfie?" Dick asked

"Of course, Master Bruce wouldn't think of letting anything like that go. He still has Jean Paul's Costume in storage as a reminder of his past failures."

"Good, I'll need it, I thought driving around the batmobile would be enough to announce his appearance, but it looks like the crooks need a silhouette or two, I'll go out tonight."

"Very well, Master Dick, but do remember to keep your visibility down, some have seen the Batman enough to pick up on the differences." Alfred cautioned

"Good point, Commissioner Gordon wasn't too happy the last time I played dress up." With that, Dick and Alfred took turns at the computer looking for teleporting technology

Across town, Jason Woods was laying in his bed. He was tired from the previous evening in Crime Alley. He had stopped two would be rapists from attacking a young single mother in front of her two children, and had fought the temptation of teleporting their genitals into orbit. Instead, he thought of what the Bat would do, and left them tied to a lamppost while he called 911 from a pay phone, he had to get a better system that this.When the police arrived, he "jumped" to his bike, two blocks away and rode on.

Jason stared at the little bat shaped beacon in his hand. It was about half an inch in from wing to wing, maybe a quarter of an inch from ears to tail, with a red light bulb in the center that was blinking when he found it on the back of his bike. The kid did a good job of hiding it, Jason wouldn't have known it was there, but he did watch the Boy Wonder place it there. Now, the tracer sat in his hand, lifeless. Jason marveled at the ingenuity of the tiny device. Part of him worried about the device coming back to life and giving him away, maybe that had been their plan, to let his curiosity be his undoing. Then again, maybe the recent loss of their leader had them losing their edge and getting sloppy from the stress. Whatever the reason, Jason couldn't let himself get rid of the device. Besides, maybe he could rewire it some how into a distress signal of sorts. He knew a guy he could get to do it, the old man that ran the electronics store down on Broadway. The old man, Mr. Martinez, lived in an apartment above his shop. He heard a break in and went to check it out. Three young punks were swiping MP3 players and Cds. They jumped the storekeeper when he confronted him. The Gray Ghost had been working the streets for a couple of days when he saw the attack from a nearby roof. He "jumped" in and put the teenagers down with little fuss or muss. Mr. Martinez had been very grateful when the Ghost had called for police and an ambulance that he told the gray vigilante about his electronics history and offered his services anytime the Ghost might need them. This looked like the perfect opportunity the Ghost needed to build up his arsenal. Currently he only had the clothes on his back, his "gifts" and his recently acquired motorcycle, which he still wanted to customize. Jason decided to pay the old man a visit that night before beginning his patrol. Jason put the bat tracer in his secret closet and returned to bed, and slept for the next five hours.

When he awoke, Jason stepped over to his kitchenette, poured a bowl of cereal and sat down in front of the TV to watch the local news. No new sightings of the Batman, but the reports were running wild over the Gray Ghost. Some theories on the street were that the Batman was dead and had returned with help from the Spectre as the Gray Ghost. Jason chuckled to himself. The thought of him as the reincarnation of the World's Greatest Detective/Gotham's scariest boogey man tickled him pink. But, it also told him that people were taking him serious, and some were scared as hell, and that was all the worthwhile. He had to do something about the Bat clan though. He needed to get them on his side. Earn their trust. Especially if the Batman were to return, Jason knew he needed the blessing of the Not-So-Lone protector of Gotham to continue his work. In their last meeting, the Batman told Jason that he didn't want any amateur vigilantes running around his city. Jason had promised to give up stalking the night; the same night the Batman saved his life, for the second time. Jason was now breaking that promise, only because the Dark Knight was nowhere to be found. Gotham needed protecting, and Jason believed the Bat clan needed help to do it. Besides, Jason was a kid when he made that promise, barely out of high school. He now had almost complete control of his powers. Almost, because he still didn't know the extent of them or if any others were lying dormant that still has yet to be discovered and mastered later, as he had mastered his known powers while studying under a martial arts master in Japan, during his college studies, having won a total ride scholarship from the Wayne Foundation, not long after meeting the Bat face to face.

Jason snapped out of his reminiscent daydream and refocused on the task at hand. He looked at his clock on the VCR; the time was 12:20, eight more hours until dark. He took a shower, shaved, and placed a call to his manager. Being a freelance writer gave him the liberty to work from home at his leisure, without having to report to anyone about his comings and goings. It also gave him the opportunity to learn about the problems of Gotham, and many large cities. Not just from his Gray Ghost activities, but as a citizen walking the streets of his neighborhood. Witnessing the plight of the common man and woman from their perspective. He made several points to his manager, Kaye Allen, about his current stories and articles, emailed the files to her, and made notes with her about future projects. When he got off the phone he sat down at his laptop and began writing about nothing in particular. It was just good practice for that number one best seller he, like many writers, was planning to do before he died. He spent the evening doing stretches, exercises, and eating to get his energy up for his "jumps". When the sun set, Jason showered again, removed his costume from the secret closet and suited up with the same religious routine he had practiced a lot of lately, saving the hat and goggles for last. When he was ready, he looked into his mirror, psyched himself up and "jumped" to the hidden motorcycle in the back alley. He mounted the bike and "jumped" to a clear road two blocks away, started up the bike, and rode to Mr. Martinez's shop.

At the same time, in the Batcave, Dick Grayson was using the same meticulous routine to don the Batman costume before him. He kept the cowl pulled back off his face while he scrutinized the contents of his utility belt, and made sure he had his Nightwing gear packed into the Batmobile. He felt that both Nightwing and Batman needed to be seen, to keep up the illusion. Finally, Dick pulled the mask into place and looked at Tim, who was already dressed out in his Robin costume.

"Well, how do I look?" the new Batman asked in the same deep sounding gritty voice.

"Passable" was Robin's only response.

Both Crime fighters checked their comm. links, climbed into their respective vehicles and raced along the cold dark road through the cave to the secret entrance outside Wayne Manor's estate, and towards Gotham.

As Dick drove through the mean streets of Gotham at a speedy pace, he called up Oracle.

"Oracle" The gritty batman voiced sounded

"Go ahead, Batman" Oracle replied, sadly knowing that it was really Dick on the other side.

" How's that list of Metas' coming?" Batman asked

"I just sent it to the cave computers, you–know-who is already working on them.

"Thanks" Batman replied

"Anything else" Oracle asked

"I need to know if any of the big bads aren't safely tucked away behind bars tonight."

"Got it, have it back to you in ten" Oracle replied, and then Batman switched off his comm. and turned to the police scanner. There was a gang fight going on about six blocks away, gunfire and civilian casualties. Batman called Robin to meet him half a block from the scene.

Robin parked the Redbird in an alley adjacent to the Batmobile and shot his cable to the nearest fire escape and made his way to the rooftop. Batman was watching the gunfight as he waited for the most recent Boy Wonder. When Robin arrived, Batman briefed his sidekick on the plan of attack. The most important part was to be seen. Gotham PD was pinned down outside the war zone perimeter. If the Batman were to be scene here, hopefully, many of the fighters would run off. The GCPD could round them up easily if they were disoriented. That should leave little trouble with entrenched gang bangers.

Batman and Robin swung to the riot and prepared to make their move when they saw gray shadow moving about the scene, disappearing in and out of the picture, grabbing gun men each time and returning them to the ground. They appeared to be drugged and passed out. In minutes, the Gray Ghost had almost half of the twenty opposing gangs members under control, if you can call unconscious under control, before the giant bat silhouette was seen on the roof. The fighting began to break up as cries of the Batman's return echoed through the riot. The fighters started running in all different directions.

Batman and Robin swung down to the street where GCPD and EMT services had moved in to control the scene. Batman called to the Gray Ghost as he was turning to leave. The Ghost stopped and turned to see the Dark Knight himself.

"Good to see you again, Batman" he called out cordially

"What are you doing here!" Batman demanded

The Gray Ghost froze, looked the Batman up and down and slowly approached the Dynamic Duo, in a low voice he said

"Your not him, but it's a good idea. The people need to see him, might clear up this mess. But you should stick to the shadows more, I've met the Batman, he's taller and thicker than you." With that, the Gray Ghost disappeared in a cloud of gray smoke as the Batman had thrown a bolo at the gray shadow only to meet smoke, which it scattered before wrapping itself around a lamppost.

Highly irritated, Batman and Robin shot their lines and swung off of the scene. The good part was that people would be talking of the Batman's return. The bad news was, they still had no idea who this Gray Ghost was. Maybe there was something in Bruce's secret files that they normally wouldn't have access to. Maybe Barb could hack into them and shed a little light on this mystery.

Batman made a call to Clark Kent's home phone. After insuring that the line was safe, he spoke up,

"Hey Clark, any luck with the search for Mr. Wayne?" Batman asked in his deep voice

Superman and the Justice League had been conducting their own search for Bruce Wayne since his abduction.

"Nothing, not even an idea as to who could have taken him. The attack was pretty clean and quick, some real professionals. I see your filling in." Clark added.

"Needs to be done." Batman replied before breaking the connection.

"More like the old man than you know, Mr. Grayson" Clark Kent muttered to himself before hanging up his phone. He kissed his beautiful wife good night and left her on the couch while he stepped to the bedroom. There he checked the JLA comm. link on his computer. Then pulled on his own costume and flew out the window. He had a few ideas to check out before heading to bed.

The Gray Ghost had "jumped" into the back room of the electronics shop. He rang the customer bell to get Mr. Martinez's attention without giving the old man a heart attack, plus, he didn't feel like dodging any more bullets. The gang fight really wore him out and he needed to eat soon. He pulled a power bar from his pocket and began to eat it. It wasn't much, but it would help.

The old man peered cautiously down the stairs, baseball bat in hand, and he called out "who's down there?"

"A friend" the Ghost answered in his eerie voice

"What?" the old man couldn't believe it, the Ghost had returned to his shop. Mr. Martinez approached the Ghost slowly and put his bat down on the counter. The Ghost quickly explained what he wanted and the old man asked to see the tracking device. The Ghost handed it over and the old man looked at it.

"Don't know if I can, it's pretty upscale, but I'll give it a shot, you want it to signal, right?" Mr. Martinez asked

"That's right, I could have some trouble and may need the help." The Ghost replied

The Ghost "jumped" out of the shop to his bike, and slowly rode out a fast food joint, he pulled some clothes out of the gym bag on the back of his bike and changed in an alley. He placed the tarp he had with him over the bike and entered the restaurant, ordered up his meal and relaxed in a back booth, not leaving his back to a door. He finished his meal and returned to the counter and ordered a dessert. He made a mental note about this new crime fighting life style was going to cut heavily into his grocery budget. He ate his pie and returned to his bike, donned his costume, and continued his patrol, feeling better, not great, but better.

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