Disclaimer – Own nothing.
To vi – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you are enjoying the story! A little bit of tension in this chapter but also some sweet Gar moments as well. I hope you like it!
To CrazyMulan52 – Thanks for your review! Yeah, I needed to see some Kory and Gar comforting each other too. And yeah, Alfred is not going to be happy if/when he realizes that Dick isn't eating very healthily. I'm glad you liked the chapter and I hope you like this one as well!
To Alex martry – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you are enjoying so far! No, the Justice League will not be playing a part in this story. They don't really know what's going on and aren't really willing to risk Batman's wrath if they set foot in his city. And since the Titans will soon be taking care of the city, they probably won't bother unless specifically asked. Hope you like this chapter!
To Guest – 1. Depends if Dick tries to get a hold of him at all. 2. Well, Rose and Jericho aren't going to be coming in. Sorry if that upsets you. Hope you still enjoy the story though.
Enjoy!
Dick walked through the Manor towards the living room. He had just finished making sure the guest rooms were ready for Kory, Conner and Gar, and was now waiting for their arrival. According to the flight logs, they should have landed half an hour ago and were probably on their way to the Manor by now. He would've gone to meet them, but there were a few things he needed to take care of that, aside from preparing rooms.
One of the first things he did was head to the police station to talk to Barbara. Vigilantes and heroes don't tend to really inform local law enforcement of their coming presence, but he felt that she deserved a heads up. Not only had she been a vigilante herself, but her involvement would greatly help them solve cases. Regardless of how smart Bruce was, and how many resources he had, working with the police made things much easier.
That conversation with Barbara was… interesting, to say the least. She didn't try to dissuade him, or convince him to go back to San Francisco, but he could tell she was disappointed that he decided to stay. However, she agreed to have her officers work with the Titans once they arrived, with a few conditions of course. One, was more open communication, something Batman completely failed at. Another, was that when police and heroes were on the scene together, to not ignore the head detective or interfere with their jobs unless it was discussed and agreed upon. That one could be hard to do as situations could change so quickly, and some cops could cause more problems, either unintentionally or intentionally. That condition, both Dick and Barbara to decide to play it by ear, as neither wanted any interference in their jobs.
The last condition was one that Dick agreed with, but was also confused by. The Titans would only stay in Gotham until crime was stabilized. Then, they would head back to San Francisco and only return if asked. Dick didn't have any desire to stay in Gotham, nor did he want the Titans to stay. Gotham was a different kind of dangerous and he didn't want Gar and Conner to have to deal with that in the long term. However, he couldn't help but feel a little sting by the fact that Barbara wanted him gone. He knew that it wasn't him personally, it was just heroes in general, but it was never pleasant to hear that a close friend didn't want you to stay.
A quick glance at the clock reminded Dick that not only would the others be here any minute, but that it was nearing lunch. He had skipped breakfast already, so he was starting to get a bit hungry, and there was no doubt in his mind that the others would be too by the time they arrived. Especially the two teenagers. It seemed like they were never, ever full.
He had just placed a large pizza order when the security system alerted him to a car coming up to the gate. He quickly pressed the button to open it and rushed to the door to greet them.
"Hey, it's good to see you guys," Dick said with a smile as Kory, Gar and Conner climbed out of the black SUV that Bruce always left at the private airport. The smile slid off his face though when two others exited the vehicle. Hank and Dawn.
The acrobat hadn't talked to the two of them in at least two months. After Deathstroke was defeated and Donna had died, there was a strange kind of tension between the remaining three original Titans' members. They did have a talk about everything that happened during both of the times they went up against the assassin, and apologizes were made, but things were still awkward. They then left San Francisco to Washington around a month after Donna's death. That was the last time he spoke to either of them. So, why were they here?
Seeing his obvious confusion, Kory walked over to him and said, "I called them. It sounded like you needed more help than just the three of us."
Dick clenched his teeth for a moment, then forced himself to relax. He was a bit annoyed that Kory had invited them without giving him a heads up. While he was working on asking for help when he needed it, he didn't like someone else asking for help for him. It made him sound weak. But he knew that Kory didn't mean it like that, and it would be good to have some more hands to help out.
"Thanks for coming," Dick told the two blondes as they approached with Gar and Conner.
"Of course," Dawn replied, a sympathetic expression covering her face. "We're happy to help in any way we can. How are you doing?"
"I'm doing alright, come on in. Pizza's on the way," the brunette informed the newcomers as he opened the door for them.
"Sweet," Gar said with a half-grin, excitement in his eyes as he walked past the leader and into the Manor. Conner followed close behind him, also clearly thrilled. It gave Dick the feeling that he was going to have to keep a close eye on those two.
2018TITANS2018
The teen boys proved Dick's hunch correct. The second he let them all into the Batcave, chaos ensued. Though in all fairness, it was mostly caused by Gar, but apparently they had to try to touch everything. Dick had somewhat forgot that Gar was a big fan of superheroes, and he had a tendency to get overexcited which made him clumsy. Thankfully, the weapons were all locked up at the moment. As mature as Gar could be when the situation called for it, he was still a kid at heart.
"Can we try on the Batman suit?" Gar asked as Dick started pulling up the police files of everything that went down in the city last night.
"No, you cannot," Dick immediately answered, not even bothering to look at them. He didn't need to see Gar's pleading eyes. "You guys wouldn't even fit in that suit anyways."
"It would still be fun," the green-haired teenager grumbled.
"Well, behave and I might let you guys see the Batmobile," Dick offered. As long as they didn't press any buttons or actually try to drive the vehicle, they should be okay.
"Really?" Gar questioned with a hopeful voice.
"As long as you guys don't touch anything without permission," he replied, then leaned back in the chair as the files now appeared on the largest computer screen so the others could see the files. "Here's what we're dealing with.
Kory frowned as she scanned the records. "The Joker had fans that loved him enough to do all this damage?"
"Some people just want to watch the world burn, and they idolize those who do it publicly. It's disgusting but it's a sad truth," Dawn explained, shrugging her shoulders.
"The police managed to arrest two of them. The others scattered, but are promising to cause more chaos tonight. We need to track them down and put a stop to that," Dick informed the group.
"Doesn't sound like you need a lot of help to do that," Hank commented.
The police detective bit back the desire to remind him that he hadn't asked for his or Dawn's help, and said, "It's not just that. Already there's been an uptick of gang activity. Though no one knows who killed the Joker, his death, and Robin's death have shaken the city. It doesn't help that rumours are also flying that Batman is gone. Criminals are going to be jumping at the chance to continue their activities without the Dark Knight stopping them."
"He's only been gone one night," Conner pointed out.
"Batman was never one to really take a night off, especially if things are as crazy as they were last night. And with Jason being killed, and the Joker's murder following right after, it doesn't take much to connect the dots," Dick responded.
"So, we catch the Joker's fans, take out the gangs, and then we head home? Wouldn't more criminals just pop back up?" Gar wondered.
"It's possible," Dick conceded. "Hopefully at that point though, the police will be able to handle it themselves."
"I thought the Gotham police was corrupt?" Conner said, his voice filled with confusion.
"They are. So if we happen to come across on caps that are looking the other way and taking bribes, then all the better," Dick responded.
Dawn nodded, completely agreeing with the leader of the Titans. "Do we have the identities of the Joker fanatics?"
"Only one, who the police are currently searching for. We, are going to be going through any footage, security, traffic, ATM, to get a look at the criminals and try to ID them."
Gar groaned at the task. He hated it when they had to do things like this. He hated it when they had to do things like this. It was so boring. It was almost as bad as doing long stakeouts where nothing happened. The only good part about searching through files was that you could take a break and eat. It wasn't really fun to run and find a bathroom when you were out on patrol.
Hearing the groan, Dick looked over at him and said, "If it helps, we have pizza coming."
"That definitely helps," Conner confirmed, smiling widely.
"Great. It should be here in about 10 minutes. We can get started now, and I'll bring the food down when it," Dick broke off when something started beeping from the computer behind him. He turned to look and realized it was a call coming from Barbara's office.
When Batman first started to work with the police force to solve crimes, he had installed a two-way connection to speak to the police commissioner James Gordon at the station from the Batcave. It could also be used as a one-way face call. Batman could see James's face and office background, but he couldn't see his. Even though the late commissioner dropped many hints that he knew Batman was Bruce Wayne, Bruce insisted on doing everything he could to keep his identity secret.
"Who's that?" The clone asked.
"It's Barbara," Dick told him as he answered the call. Seconds later, the screen was filled with the image of the redhead in her office.
Kory leaned closer to Dawn and whispered, "Who's Barbara?"
"She's the police commissioner. Her Dad was the commissioner before her," the platinum blonde explained.
The alien nodded, but she got a gut feeling that there was something more going on. Both Dawn and Hank were standing pretty stiff, and hadn't looked comfortable since they not at the Gotham airport. Though, that might have more to do with the strain in their relationship with Dick. Maybe it was on bad idea to call them and ask them to come. Things had still been a bit weird and tense between the three of them between, but she had hoped that the time apart would have helped them process, heal, and get over their issues. Based on the short amount of time they've though, that was not the case. It made her want to bang their heads together and tell them to grow up. Like, she knew that there was a lot of hurt and damage done, but it was starting to get ridiculous at this point.
"Hello Barbara."
Dick's voice pulled Kory back to what was happening.
"Hello Nightwing," Barbara said in a professional tone of voice. "The Titans are with you, I assume?"
"How did you know we were here?" Conner inquired, sounding both suspicious and confused.
"Nightwing told me you were coming and according to my sources, you landed by plane about 25 minutes ago, giving you enough time to arrive at the Batcave and be filled in on the situation," she informed him.
Kory frowned at that answer. Sources? What kind of sources did a police commissioner have that could track people so quickly? Unless… on top of being aware they were coming, she knew which plane they were on. But they were on Bruce Wayne's private jet. So, did that mean she already knows their civilian identities? And since she knew they were on Bruce's plane, and knew how long it would take to get from the airport to the Batcave, wouldn't that mean that she also knew that Bruce Wayne was Batman? Kory thought that was a closely guarded secret. Why on earth did this woman know it?
She pushed those questions down for now though as Barbara said, "Now, let's get down to business."
2018TITANS2018
Valeska Nox confidently strode into the warehouse on the west side of Gotham. Being the leader of one of the several crime rings in the city, one might think that she should be more cautious, but she had two bodyguards with her, and had another who scoped out the place before she got out of the car. Technically, it could be considered overly cautiously as there should be no threat of attack here. To everyone else in Gotham, this place was abandoned and infested with bugs and mold. Hardly anyone tried to come here. And if someone did, they met an untimely end. For the other gang leaders, this spot was neutral territory. Whenever they met up here, it was under a white flag. No fighting or ambushes were allowed.
"I thought you called it?" The voice was loud enough that Valeska could hear it before she walked through the doorway. It sounded like Regina.
"I thought Perez called it," another crime lord, Marcus, responded. He glanced over at Valeska as she reached the table where all the other crime leaders were seated.
Perez also looked at her for a brief moment, then turned to Marcus. "Why the f**k would I want to see any of you? Especially tonight?"
"You hear anything, Valeska?" Selena, the leader of the gang that controlled pretty much the entire drug trade in the city, questioned.
"I hear plenty," Valeska answered as she got comfortable in her chair beside Selena.
"My guy says he cracked the Joker's head in two. One swing and the man's brains spilled out like wedding soup." Perez didn't need to clarify who he was talking about. The Dark Knight, Batman. While the police have reported that they have no clue who killed the Joker the other night, everyone believed it was Batman. The psychotic clown had just killed Robin, and there weren't that many people who had the resources to sneak into Arkham and kill someone without leaving behind any evidence.
"It wasn't him," Marcus cut in. "We all know the Bat doesn't do murder."
"He does now," Valeska told him, her voice making it clear that there would be no arguing.
"Well," Perez started as he stood up, "let's do this again when one of you dies."
Before he could take a single step, a large, black duffle bag dropped from the ceiling and onto the table. Immediately they all jumped up and backed away.
"What the f**k?" Marcus said in shock.
Everyone thought the same thing. This was supposed to be a safe place. Everyone at this meeting would've had the place searched just like Valeska did before they entered. That was just common sense. Where did the bag come from? What was going on?
"Open it," a male, mechanized voice ordered from the far south end of the warehouse, right near the rafters.
Instead of doing what they were told, Perez looked over at his bodyguard. "Jimmy."
Without needing any more instruction, Jimmy raised his gun and started firing in the direction of the voice. After several rounds, he stopped and waited. There was nothing but silence.
"Like I said, until next time," Perez said, assuming that the possible threat was dead. Unfortunately, he was wrong.
"Open the bag," the voice repeated before firing a single shot that went right through Jimmy's heart. His dead body fell to the ground with little fanfare.
"Sh*t. Who the f**k is this guy?" Victor, another crime lord, asked.
No one got a chance to respond as, at that moment, something shot through the air into Marcus's bodyguard, Anthony. It looked like some kind of harpoon. The rope attached to the opposite end jerked, and he was pulled up into the air. As that happened, another man, holding the other end of the rope, came down from the ceiling. He was wearing black pants, gray body armour, and a brown leather jacket. What really grabbed everyone's attention through was the red helmet that covered his entire head, and the semi-automatic gun in his hands, which was pointed at them.
"The bag," he, again, told them.
Feeling a little fed up with the situation, and a little curious as to what was so important about the contents of the bag, Valeska grabbed the strap and pulled it closer. Then, she unzipped it and looked inside. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw what the bag was filled with. Wordlessly, she grabbed the nearest decapitated head and pulled it out to show everyone. Loud gasps filled the room.
"That's Danny," Victor said with a furious tone of voice and tears in his eyes. "That's my sister's kids."
"All of your number twos' are in there," the intruder informed them as he walked up to the table.
"Who the f**k are you?" Perez demanded.
The man turned his head to look at the crime boss and replied, "I'm the guy you want on your side."
AN – The TV show writers might be okay with brushing over Hank and Dawn's actions is season 2 but I am not! Seriously Dawn? "Of course we'll help you, you're family". WHERE WAS THIS ATTITUDE LAST SEASON! *Cue heavy breathing*. Okay, I'm calmer now. But I will be bringing this up again throughout the story because I don't think it should be as easily dealt with as the show did it. On another note, while I love that the writers didn't pit Barbara and Kory against each other and make them crazy jealous over Dick or anything like that, I think it would've been nice to use Barbara to help Kory realize her own feelings a little bit. But, I can't wait for season 4 when we will finally get our DickKory! Hope you guys liked this chapter! See you all next time!