AN: It's the countdown to Christmas! So I'm going to post a chapter a day till then, slowly catching up to where we're currently at before swapping to ThreeBlackCats' and my regular fortnightly update! Hope you enjoy!
Castling Part 6
"Well, that's definitely some of the fastest healing I've ever seen, though I suppose, with you it's normal." Bruce made one last note on the hospital chart he had made for Dick. Dick found it a bit odd that he had a hospital chart when he wasn't in an actual hospital but he supposed Bruce and Thomas needed some way to keep track of his recovery. "I suppose you'll be fine to leave in the morning. I'd still recommend you keep off of that leg for several more days. Would it be possible for you to come back here for a follow up check up?"
"I don't think that would be a good idea," Dick said. "You've already taken a big enough risk helping me. Besides, you've seen what my healing factor can do now. You don't need to worry."
"No matter how good your healing factor is, you shouldn't put a lot of strain on something right after getting shot." Bruce looked up and frowned. "Especially not by chasing after the people who shot you."
"I'm not going to be chasing after them."
"Sure. And you just happen to be in the right place to stop an assassination attempt by a secret group you knew about."
"Just because I'll be investigating them doesn't mean I'll be chasing them."
"And if you find out they're going after someone else."
There was a long stretch of silence as Bruce gave him a blank stare. A part of Dick bristled at it. He was grateful for Bruce's help and glad he was alive but Bruce had no authority to tell him what to do. And he couldn't stand by while more people got hurt.
"Someone has to stop them," He finally said.
"I know," Bruce sighed. "I just don't think it should be you. You're a teenager. " He ran a hand through his hair. "But I suppose complaining about it isn't going to change anything. You at least have Tobias and his group to help you."
"They've been really great." A thought suddenly occurred to Dick. "You guys didn't tell them what I told you, right? About the Owls?"
"No? Why..." Bruce put down the pad he had been working on. "They've been helping you but not with fighting the Owls. You really are going at this alone, aren't you?"
"I've told you how dangerous they are. They value their secrecy so much even knowing about them can put you at risk-"
"Yes, yes. You've put us all in danger and you can't keep risking us." Bruce groaned. "There has to be something we can do. You can't just keep going after them alone. We can get you some kind of equipment or aid. You have to at least promise us that you'll come back to get treated if you get injured again."
"I'm really not sure that's a good idea."
"This whole property has state of the art security around it. No one in the family would let anyone know you were here."
"Security can be hacked. And there is always the risk of someone seeing me arrive here. I am very good at being stealthy but there are a lot of people keeping eyes on you. You're the famous Gotham Waynes after all. If someone noticed me they'd definitely be curious enough about what a random teenager is doing here to try digging for information about me. I can't risk that or they'll find me. And if the Court finds me when I'm connected to you that means trouble for you too."
"There always is something, huh. I highly doubt our security could be hacked though I understand why you're worried. Unfortunately you are right about how closely we're watched; especially by journalists. Some of them I hesitate to even call journalists, they're really more professional gossips. We don't even run the company anymore. They could be going after more interesting and important stories. Lois says-" Bruce suddenly stopped and shook his head. "Sorry, I got off topic. You're right about the risks of being seen but if we had a way for you to get in without anyone noticing…" His eyes suddenly lit up. "I know! How'd you like to get out of that bed for a while. It's not too far a walk. With how healed you are, this shouldn't be too strenuous."
"A walk? Where are we going?"
"To the wine cellar. I've got to show you something."
The wine cellar was surprisingly bright. Overhead lights lit up racks of shelves, only half of which housed wine. The others appeared to used for general storage, with a wide variety of boxes balanced on them.
"The main body of this manor was built in 1902, though the land has belonged to the Wayne family since the early 19th century. As you may have noticed, it was built to impress and show off the family's wealth, so naturally, they built a large wine cellar. It was built to hold enough wine to host several large social gatherings a week."
Bruce led Dick to the far wall and gestured to a set of shelves that looked exactly the same as all the others except for a small carving of a bottle in the top left corner.
"Of course, in the 1920s, when the government brought in prohibition, they were made to pour out their, quite frankly, ridiculous collection. The cellar was converted to general storage. But Edward Wayne, a great uncle something-removed, decided to follow the example of many others and make prohibition a business opportunity. You've been cooped up inside since you got here so I'm not sure how much you know about where we are." Bruce turned back to Dick.
"I know we're about an hour outside the city and that the grounds are extensive."
"That's true. And the eastern edge of the property is at the top of some cliffs. Cliffs with a series of caves. Nothing that's at risk of caving in, we have them checked regularly, but some of them happen to go quite near the house." Bruce grabbed on to the edge of the shelf and started slowly dragging it out. Dick reached out to help but stopped at Bruce's glare. "Anyway, Edward hired some people, paid them well for their silence, and began a tunnelling project."
When Bruce got the shelf pulled away it revealed a wall covered with the same off white paint the rest off the cellars walls were covered in. Only the faint outline of a door was visible. Bruce pushed against the door leaning his full weight into it but it didn't seem to move. Dick opened his mouth to offer to help but before he could, the door started sliding open with a groan.
"There we go. Follow me." Bruce pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on. The beam of light revealed a corridor carved out of smooth stone, wide enough for two people to walk side by side if they didn't mind their shoulders touching. "There are three entrances to this cave: The natural one, this one going into the house, and one on the western edge of the property. Back in the day alcohol would be dropped off and picked up by various bootleggers at the western edge of the property where the entrance is hidden by a bunch of trees. Edward made most of his money renting the storage space for it. The set up still allows someone to travel on to the grounds and into the house without being seen by any of the security systems or people. Naturally, the western entrance has been bordered up and you saw that we keep the one in the house hidden.
"But if you need a place to stay, a home base to fight these Owls...This will give you something that is completely hidden that almost no one knows about. You'll be right by us in case you need our help. Or medical attention." They stepped out of the corridor into a large open area. Any furniture or crates that used to occupy the cave had long since been removed, but the floor was mostly flat.
"I'm not saying you should stay down here all the time. I know you've got a place to stay at the Center. But since you are so insistent on not putting anyone else in danger, I think a secure base where no one can track you makes sense." Bruce swung his flashlight around so that Dick could take in the full size of the cave. "We can get some wires down here from the main house so you can have lights and some heating. I'll ask Mom to help me look into it tomorrow morning. What do you think?"
If they moved some furniture down here and added a power connection to the house DIck could easily see how someone could stay down here. It could hardly be a permanent base since the Wayne property was outside the city. But if he ever needed a bolt hole of sorts, if the Owls ever caught wind of him again...Dick grinned. "It's perfect. Thanks. I really don't know how to repay you. Any of you."
Bruce shrugged. "You saved my life and are actively trying to stop a secret society from hurting people. Of course we're going to help." He suddenly frowned and lifted the flashlight, flicking it around the stalagmites that hung from the roof of the cave. "Don't thank me yet. They're all out right now since it's nighttime but if you do decide to use this place you're going to have to get used to the residents."
"The residents?"
"Bats. This cave is full of bats."
AN: Thanks once again for reading! If you'd like to contact us via tumblr, my handle is eastoniablogs! Reviews appreciated!
