Haggle with the Hag was a pillar of the Gotham mystical community. The pillar located behind the rest of the column of the mystical community that had never actually borne any of Gotham's weight. The last possible place a person with connections to the mystical community would go for any reason whatsoever. Usually.
There was another side of the Haggle with the Hag. While the shop was the last stop. In Gotham, Haggle with the Hag was the place for normal folks to go to for mystical advice, charms, curses, and other wares.
Zatanna's first trip to the shop hadn't been with her father. A group of her school friends had decided they needed mystical aid for passing an exam. One of the girls had heard of Haggle with the Hag and suggested a trip to see if the rumors were true.
Zatanna had heard of the shop from her father. His opinion on the moral integrity of people who sold magical items indiscriminately to the unaware was less flattering than the ones he had on soul-stealing demons. Instead of warning the other girls of the potential risk, Zatanna decided to go with them to keep them out of trouble.
Zatanna had always been intrigued by the idea there were other people out there publicly using magic, like herself and her father. The other magical users she'd been exposed to lived in secluded manors, isolated towers, hovels in forbidden woods, and the occasional dark dimension. The shopping trip for exam charms was the perfect opportunity for her to see if there was more to the magical world than isolation and responsibility.
As mystical shops went Haggle with the Hag's storefront had been on the underwhelming side, for Zatanna. The rest of the girls were enchanted by the shops spells. The enchantment weaved around the building whispered to potential customers that within the establishment all their wishes could come true. There was also a feeling they had been specifically called to come to this very location and no other would have answered the calling.
Zatanna had rolled her eyes a little at the other girls squeals as they had been taken in by the harmless advertising spell. Even being affected by magic Zatanna hadn't seen how you could be influenced by a chosen one spell when there was quite a bit of traffic coming in and out of the store.
While she hadn't been taken in by the spell, Zatanna had admired the craftsmanship of the spell. It design was simplistic, yet elegant.
When they'd made it inside of the shop, Zatanna had been even more impressed. The shelves were high enough that you couldn't see over them no matter your height and they were close enough you couldn't see any of the other patrons.
Zatanna had seen enchantments of a similar nature before. They'd been much grander and complex. The spells on Haggle with the Hag were more simplest, yet, were about to perform the same function.
Like her friend had told the group, like Zatanna's father had complained to Zatanna, there was real magic on the shelves of the shop. Nothing as impressively crafted as the shop's own enchantment. Most of the mystical items and charms were cheap knockoffs of actual items and charms of power. The mystical products were mixed in with the rest of the shops stock of entirely fake items and varies clothing items. There were a whole lot of cloths in the tiny shop.
In the end Zatanna had just as much of an outing as her friends.
Her father had been completely wrong about the potential dangers for her. Her friends almost had the misfortune of purchasing an item with potential lethality. She'd been able to win them over with the much cuter charms that would play each girl a unique study reminder song.
Before she'd left, Zatanna was stopped by the Hag herself. She lived up to her title. She had to have been the oldest, ugliest person Zatanna had ever laid eyes on. "Those little trinkets aren't going to teach your friends any real lessons," The Hag had chided Zatanna.
"I don't think that was a lesson they needed to learn." Zatanna stood her ground not entirely sure what to expect from the Hag. People from their community didn't like it when you interfered with their plans. The Hag wasn't exactly teeming with mystical might. Zatanna hadn't been stupid enough to know if the Hag wasn't a magical user, she had to have had a powerful backer.
All the Hag did was laugh a sharp bark that made Zatanna wince and slapped Zatanna on the shoulder. "Dear, we all learn those types of lessons sooner or later. You're one of those hero types aren't you. Next time you come to Haggle with the Hag I'll show you my back of the house collection. I think I've got a few items you would be interested in."
Meeting the Hag hadn't been the beginning of a beautiful friendship. It had been the beginning of Zatanna working outside of her father's circles. Usually Zatanna picked up items from the shop as gifts. Zatanna wasn't terribly fond of enchanting items herself. Enchanting was time consuming with monotonous spell work and hunting down the components. Go figure most people expected magical items as gifts from a magician. Haggle with the Hag was the cheapest place to get magical birthday gifts in the five closest dimensions.
Other than the occasional gift for a friend, Zatanna used the shop as a source of information on cases when the magical world had inadvertently effected the normal one. Most of the magical mishaps in this area either started as a purchase from Haggle with the Hag or the person involved had asked about the Hag about a certain item or spell before looking somewhere else.
After getting less than three hours of sleep, Zatanna spent her entire morning calling every contact she knew who might have a passing knowledge of the Flame-Bird's Lament. All that she had gotten was a stressed out Mikey. While Zatanna's grand finale had been the crowd pleaser she'd hoped it would be, the Iceberg's show room would be inconveniently shutdown by the police investigation for the next few nights. Inconvenient for the show; but, very convenient for Zatanna trying to figure out the mess of the enchantment on Dick.
Other than the news about the show, Zatanna had learned nothing. As for any information on the nature of the enchantment itself; Zatanna had expected little and had gotten less.
She'd known it was unlikely anyone would be able to instantly identify the crafting. Her own attempts had turned up little and unlike her contacts she had access to the enchantment.
Zatanna had hoped someone would have at least recognized the language used. Several of the people she'd contacted had been, well, saying they'd been alive would be a stretch. They'd certainly been active during the assumed time-frame of the myths surrounding the apple. All Zatanna had gotten on the language from any of them was no more than in the Flame-bird's Lament's brochures, that the effort felt entirely wasted.
Zatanna tried to tell herself, her efforts weren't entirely wasted. Remembering a long dead language often required a good deal of time. Especially if you hadn't used it in your own spell craft or defeated some grand sorcerer who used the language in thier spells. Someone was bound to remember the language eventually.
Learning nothing about Flame-bird's Lament from her mystical contacts was the reason Zatanna was entering Haggle with the Hag. When the mystical community didn't have answers for an enchantment Zatanna, would have to haggle with the Hag.
When Zatanna opened the door to Haggle with the Hag, she rolled her eyes, as the bells chimed with faux pixie voices; "Welcome, valued guest."
There was no one browsing in the front of the shop. As intended by the shops privacy enchantment shoppers were drawn into the maze of shelves they were unlikely to interact with other people. Seeing other costumers would hinder the shops efforts of telling the costumer this shop was here just for them.
From what Zatanna had gathered from her visits, the front of the shop was where the Hag preferred to do her "back of the house" business. The Hag liked to tell Zatanna at every available opportunity that the back of Hag with the Haggle was filled with top of the line merchandises. Since there wasn't any space back there for business, the Hag preferred dealing at the front of the shop.
If that was even the true reason, Zatanna knew the Hag wanted Zatanna at the front of the shop to draw business.
No one was manning the front of the shop in case a high roller like Zatanna showed up for back of the house business.
Usually the lack of a timely reception didn't bother Zatanna. She was a believer in giving all your customers the preferential treatment regardless of their circumstances. So if the Hag was lost in her shelves spending an hour helping someone pick out the perfect good luck charm, Zatanna understood.
When Zatanna was here on a case, all she could wonder was if the Hag actually wanted to have "big time" clientele like the Hag was always insisting on. Again, why didn't the shop have a clerk working the desk. Big time clients in the mystical community didn't enjoy being treated the same as normal people.
Thoughts like that reminded Zatanna why she should be patient. She didn't want to be in that category.
Besides it wasn't as though whatever the Hag told her would immediately solve Dick's situation.
Zatanna examined the merchandise at the front of the store while she waited. Calling for the Hag wouldn't help. The Hag would get to Zatanna when the she was good and ready.
The Hag had changed the storefront again. Going from Gothic to a more Earthbound style. The Hag had even brought back the crystals from the shops hippy days.
Most of the storefront was filled with little enchanted souvenirs to entice others to come to the shop. There were a few other knickknacks, mostly crystals with the shops current style and a few little curses to show off the validity of the shop.
"Zatanna!" A shrill shout came from somewhere at the back of the shelves. While the shop was filled with enchantments keeping customers from hearing each other, Zatanna was sure every single person in and around the shop heard the greeting. "How did the egg work out? Oh, don't tell me it worked out wonderfully. You always find the best children for that sort of thing. I don't know why you haven't gotten any yourself."
Zatanna took a deep calming breath; reminding herself Dick was in trouble if not mortal peril.
"Don't you mind that. I've got just the thing you need, Dearie. I've just gotten in this bodice from...we'll you don't want to know where its from. It will look perfect with you-" With a dramatic flourish Zatanna, hoped she'd be able to pull off when she was the Hag's age, the Hag appeared from out of the shelves with a rather spectacular bodice outstretched for Zatanna to be wowed by. If the circumstances were different wowed, Zatanna would have been.
"Why aren't you in costume, dear?" The Hag said with a frown as she took in Zatanna's non-working outfit with disappointment and a little bit of hurt. Usually Zatanna would have been in costume when coming to Haggle with the Hag. The Hag had offered Zatanna a pretty hefty discount for the advertising value of a celebrity coming to her shop.
"Can't a magician be incognito when she's working an investigation?" Zatanna teased. She'd completely forgotten about the "deal" with everything that had been going on.
"Well changing your costume isn't enough of a disguise when you've got your face plastered everywhere, now is it." The Hag chided Zatanna while placing her hands on her hips and looking at Zatanna with intense concentration. "I've got just the thing you need, a Hag charm. No one ever suspects the Hag. Now it will take me a while to find it. Why don't you look around a bit."
"Why look around?" Zatanna smirked. "Aren't you wearing that particular charm?"
The Hag threw back her head in a cackle that would have made a Disney villainess jealous. "Oh, you've got me, Dearie. If you wanted to get to the point you should have started that way. Now if you aren't here for my most esteemed wares, what can I help you with."
Zatanna offered the Hag a picture of the Flame-Bird's Lament. "I'm looking for an apple."
The Hag leaned in to look at the picture, eyes squinting rather melodramatically as she examined the picture. "I've got a lot of apples around here. Nothing quite like this one. Gold-plating isn't good for the teeth." The Hag flashed Zatanna a toothy grin. "I prefer a nice touch of poisons on my fruits; The floral kind, mind you, metals always seem so unintentional. You want people to know your victim didn't just lick the wrong thing. I'd never bother with knowledge curses. They're too messy for my taste."
"You seem well-informed," Zatanna said dryly, as she leaned against the display stand behind her. The crystals and cheap trinkets shook slightly at the disruption.
"You know, Dearie, I don't think I ever told you this, but apples are my thing. Back when I was...probably around twenty, you know, I don't actually remember-" The Hag cut off when she saw Zatanna's raised eyebrow.
"I had a customer asking about this very apple a few weeks ago," The Hag muttered with indignation as she pulled away from the picture with her arms folded.
"How fortunate for me," Zatanna pointed out as she flashed her brightest smile to the Hag. "You're the only person in the community who's even heard about this apple."
"Don't say it like that," The Hag protested. "You know, if there is anything of a mystical nature in Gotham, Metropolis, or even that wretched place Bludhaven; Haggle with the Hag will have the information you need to know about it. I've spent my career going to every single museum, art show, pawn shop, and yard sale in every single one of those cities. Of course, I know about an apple you can read about in the paper."
"Who was doing the asking?" Zatanna pulled out a wad of cash from her jacket pocket. One of the benefits of working an investigation with Bruce was that Zatanna never had to pay a favor for a favor. Even the most traditional of mystical beings could be bought with Bruce's nearly endless supply of cold hard cash.
"You think you can buy me off with a little bit of money." The Hag turned her nose up at the bribe, even as she kept her eyes firmly fixed on the cash. Zatanna tried not to smirk. "I'm from the old blood, Dearie. It takes more than cash to blight my integrity."
"That's why on...the second to the last shelf you have a selection of combs that lets customers forget their troubles," Zatanna insinuated.
"Are you implying I'm a drug dealer," The Hag bristled. "People don't buy those combs from me to make their troubles… I see your point. Let me think…" The Hag trailed off putting a figure under her chin.
Zatanna looked away from the Hag while the Hag attempted to toy with Zatanna's patience to in the hopes of getting more cash. That wasn't going to happen. The Hag wasn't going to get a dollar until she'd given Zatanna the information she wanted.
Zatanna had already avoided asking about the apple itself to save herself from having to pay more than was necessary.
Knowing more details about Flame-Bird's Lament would have been helpful in confirming it was the source of Dick's enchantment. The price for that information, however, was likely to cost more than the information was worth. If the Hag had known more about the apple than Zatanna could have gathered from the brochures, then the Hag would have attempted to sell the information first.
Zatanna also trusted the Hag's willingness to sell out a customer over the Hag's magical "expertise".
Less than two minutes later and after a few long looks at Zatanna, the Hag snapped her fingers. "She was a professor. Well, she didn't say she was a professor. Her type never does when they're looking for wares from me. Too good for the Hag. Too academic to see what they're getting themselves into. They always do find out," the Hag gave a dark chuckle, "always a little too late. Seeing the high and mighty on their knees begging always warms the heart."
"Did this professor leave you with a story, a name, maybe a credit card number?" Zatanna asked as she idly started flipping the wad of cash around in her hands.
"A credit card as if I'd deal with cheap plastic," The Hag shrilly protested.
Zatanna gave a pointed look at the card reader sitting front and center on the counter.
"That's for the trinkets," the Hag explained dismissively. "I use the old methods of payment for the real stuff. You know that."
"I didn't know you considered magical mirrors leading to the fey trinkets."
The Hag shuttered at the mention of that buyer's mishap. Having Doctor Fate arrive at your humble, benign shop with the intent of wiping said shop off the face of existence, would shake up most shop owners.
"Now none of that." The Hag took a quick fearful glance around her shop as if mentioning the event would return Doctor Fate and his wraith. After making sure her livelihood was safe from the Lords of Order, the Hag threw up her arms and inadvertently dropped the bodice on the ground. "Fine. You don't want to haggle with the Hag then I'll just tell you want you want to know."
Zatanna held in the response she wanted to give to the Hag's declaration. Even when she looked defeated, the Hag never gave up on an opportunity for a bigger profit.
"The professor didn't leave her name and she didn't pay with a credit card or a check," The Hag conceded the information with a sullen pout.
"That's too bad." Zatanna pushed off of the display. "Don't worry, you'll get paid what your information's worth."
The Hag's eyes widened as Zatanna started to undo the wad of cash. When Zatanna started removing a few bills the Hag made a shrill sound of distress.
"The professor did pay with a rather interesting artifact," the Hag revealed with just a touch too much desperation in her voice for it to be real.
Zatanna shook her head in amusement at the Hag's antics. "Let's see it."
"You'll be impressed it's a one of a kind," the Hag pitched over her shoulder as she ambled over to the safe under the counter.
Zatanna didn't entirely believe the Hag's boast, though if the Hag was telling the truth, a one of a kind item would make tracking down this professor a simpler matter than Zatanna had imagined earlier in the day.
The Hag spent a few minutes struggling to remember the exact incantation to unlock her own safe and then she spent a few more minutes rummaging around the safe for the interesting artifact the professor paid with. All while taking a few backward glances at Zatanna.
Zatanna gave the Hag a patient smile when they made eye contact. The Hag didn't look away fast enough to hide her scowl. While Zatanna didn't have all afternoon to play games with the Hag, she certainly had more time than the Hag did. Gotham Academy should be getting out in a few minutes,. If things hadn't changed from Zatanna's days then this shop would be packed in thirty.
"Here it is, Dearie. A fee for the ferryman," the hag pronounced dramatically raising her hand to reveal a bronze coin from antiquity.
"That is an interesting piece." There was no questioning the validity of the Hag's claims about the coin. Death enveloped the coin along with a few fragments of whoever had carried the coin with them on their last journey. Not a unique item to encounter in their business. Still there weren't too many places in Gotham or Metropolis, to find an artifact like this one.
Zatanna took the coin from the Hag with a shiver from contact with the essences clinging to the coin. As Zatanna examined the coin, she realized she recognized the marking on the head of the coin.
"Now that I have your attention, Dearie," the Hag gave Zatanna a sly grin from over the bills she was in the process of counting. "I also happen to know where that particular coin comes from."
"Thanks for the offer. I think I've used up all my spending money for the day." Zatanna slipped the coin into her pocket before turning to leave the shop only stopping when she'd opened the door. "That's it. No more new accessories to sell me, no cryptic warning about the apple, no juicy bit of last minute information to barter for? Are you having a bad day?"
"Dearie I didn't know you cared," the Hag cackled with delight. She placed a fist full of cash against her heart. "As it happens I'm having a magnificent day. Your dark knight knows how to pay an informant." The Hag gave Zatanna a judgmental glare that Zatanna returned with a playful smile. "I've spent the last few months trying to figure out how to help a friend with their troubled children. Just recently I've come up with a solution that seems to be working rather well, if I say so myself."
Zatanna hesitated. A friend to the Hag didn't necessarily know they were a friend of the Hag. In that one regard, the Hag did follow the ways of the old blood. To Zatanna's knowledge the Hag's attempts at helping friends were benign compared to her sales practices. Still.
"You didn't bake them into a pie."
"Oh Dearie, that's too much even for me." The Hag whipped a tear of laughter from her eye. "Baking me. No worries I just gave the children the tools to solve their troubles."
Zatanna stood in the doorway a moment longer. If there was a problem here, Zatanna was going to hope she could deal with it later.
Jason had the Titan's line pulled up on the Batcomputer. All he needed to contact the Tower was a click of the mouse. An hour after coming down here, Jason was still hesitant to do so.
Calling the Titans was going to blow the situation out of proportion. Jason had enjoyed working with the team a lot even… even if that had gotten him into his current situation with Bruce. He'd even worked with them once before to save Dick. That hadn't been in Gotham.
Zatanna and Kara could mostly follow Bruce's lead. They both were inclined to keep as low as they could. They were also able to save the day without causing any major property damage.
The Titans didn't know how to operate without showing up on every single social media platform. According to those platforms and the Justice League database, they couldn't even go on vacation without a few buildings being destroyed.
The actual problem was they sure weren't going to follow Bruce's lead when they got involved in the case. They were going to be fully involved. Jason wasn't naive enough to believe he'd be able to talk Donna or Kori into letting Batman and Zatanna handle the Dick situation. Kori was going to be the worst to deal with.
Jason had put off the call to do a quick run through of Dick's cases. If the Titans had any information on the situation, wouldn't they be here by now? Any clues available at the Tower would be in Dick's files. Going about the investigation this way would save Bruce the headache of dealing with Dick's team.
The Titans apparently, updated their files as often as the Metropolis PD. Probably for the same reasons. Jason could admit that an alien invasion trumped the theft of a seemingly worthless relic. At the rate the Metropolis PD was moving, Kara will have finished her interview with Detective Sawyer.
With a frustrated sigh, Jason returned to skimming over Nightwing's last entry, still nothing helpful. At least, Jason didn't think seeing how much Dick's mental state had deteriorated before getting re-indoctrinated into the Cult of Blood was relevant to the case.
Jason didn't understand why Dick still had access to the Bat-computer.
In Gotham crime fighting lead to a few messed up memories, maybe some out of character impulses, and hallucinations. Jason shuttered just thinking about those. With the Titans going "turn on everything you know and love" appeared to be the norm. A problem shared with the other Justice League heroes. Unlike with the Titans, there wasn't a link between the Bat-computer and the Justice Leagues system.
That was just another part of Bruce and Dick Grayson's relationship Jason couldn't understand. Jason knew if he'd been the one who'd left the manor after...whatever happened between Bruce and Dick Grayson, and if whatever happened was so terrible Jason decided to never contact Bruce again, then Jason wouldn't be using Bruce's computer for superhero work.
Then Jason wasn't Dick Grayson. Who knows how Bruce would react to Jason Todd storming out of the manor? Jason sometimes wished he knew.
"Awesome costume! Is that me!" Jason closed all of Nightwing's files before baby-bird Dick finished exclaiming his awesomeness in Jason's ear. How baby-bird Dick could possibly think the Nightwing suit was awesome or even acceptable was something Jason really, really didn't want to think about, ever.
"Not yet." Jason didn't bother to glance at baby-bird Dick as Jason chided him. "You know you aren't allowed down here."
Apparently, even going to a baby-bird Dick restricted area wasn't enough for Jason to get away from him.
"Bruce didn't change my codes to the Cave. Doesn't that mean I'm allowed," Dick attempted to reassure Jason with his brightest smile. Yeah, that wasn't happening. After last night, Jason wasn't going to get talked into anything by baby-bird Dick ever again.
"I think Bruce left you a list of approved activities and hanging out in the Cave wasn't one of them," Jason reminded Dick; even though it wasn't entirely true. Bruce had left Jason a list of baby-bird Dick approved activities. A nice long comprehensive list they'd already run through by lunch. Baby-bird Dick didn't have the attention span of a goldfish or any appreciation for quietly reading in the library. At least now, Jason understood why Alfred seemed so astonished whenever he came across Jason reading in the library like an ordinary person.
"He said I could help." Baby-bird Dick didn't beg like a normal person either. He chirped with excitement and looked expectantly at Jason.
Jason glanced over his shoulder towards the holding cell.
The barrier of various loose equipment and old costumes Jason had put up to shield the Batcomputer from the cell was still there. Not that Jason was worried if Talon could see the baby-bird version of himself. If you weren't a meta, there was only one way out of that cell; someone on the outside letting you out.
Wasn't that the reason Jason had put up the barrier in the first place.
When Jason had come down here to work on the Batcomputer, he'd intended to just ignore Talon. That was what Bruce had been doing. Ignoring Talon had been difficult when Talon had seemed so pleased to see Jason. Jason knew why Talon had given him a bright smile that looked strikingly similar to baby-bird Dick's smile and the friendly wave. It wasn't that Talon was glad to see Jason, Talon wanted Jason to let him out of his cell.
For the first few minutes down there, Jason had mostly been thinking about how disturbing it was to see adult Dick looking so open, than seeing him as a zombie. It wasn't long before Jason realized he was sneaking glances at Talon. That's when Jason put up the barrier. Talon had watched Jason move every free-standing object in the Cave between the two of them with bemusement.
Jason wasn't going to be the one who got duped into letting out the zombified smiling serial killer version of Dick.
"Help with what exactly." Jason sighed. Talon defiantly couldn't see baby-bird Dick at the Bat-computer with Jason. There was no reason to worry.
"Calling my friends," Dick chirped as he pointed to the Titans symbol on the Bat-computer's monitor.
Jason rolled his eyes. "You're going to get a whole lot smoother when your older."
"You haven't even called them yet." Getting called out didn't even slow Dick's attempt at an argument down. "I'm sure my friends could be your friends too."
Jason felt himself involuntary stiffen.
"I don't need your friends." Jason didn't snap at baby-bird Dick. Working with the Titans, maybe even joining the team at some point, were things Jason wanted to do. Would probably do when he proved to Bruce that he could handle himself. Being friends with them wasn't going to happen. Donna had been the worst. Jason knew when they were talking to him they were just seeing Dick Grayson.
"Kara is pretty awesome but you can't be like Bruce. People need more than one friend. You should at least pick a friend from a different family than Bruce's."
Jason worked his jaw trying to figure out how to respond to this. baby-bird Dick wasn't just sounding earnest to manipulate Jason into revealing more of the future.
"Bruce asked you to contact the Titans to find out where I've been and if I have...villains after me." Dick whispered the last part with more than a little glee; because, he was kid who didn't know any better. Jason needed to remember that.
Jason leaned back in the chair considering Dick. "You haven't made a good case for why you'd be helpful."
"Come on, Zatanna is just going to mind-wipe me anyway. I can help." Dick's inability to articulate how he could help in the situation was starting to amuse Jason. That would be Bruce's fault. Being moral support was the one way Dick clearly thought he would be able to help. And that type of help was entirely unwanted by Batman.
"You know," Dick started before shyly looking away from Jason. "If I'm regressed then that means I'm your Dick Grayson."
"I don't have a Dick Grayson," Jason stated flatly. That refusal would be the one to shut Dick down. Jason could see it in the way Dick's shoulders hunched over and how he pulled his arms around himself. Followed by the quiet.
Jason didn't regret saying what he had. He didn't feel bad at seeing Dick's reactions either. All Jason had stated was the truth. Wasn't it a truth too. Right now baby-bird Dick wanted to follow Jason around like a duckling. That wasn't going to last once the enchantment was broken. Everything would go back the way it was. Other than the way things were with Bruce, Jason hadn't minded things the way they were. Jason didn't need or want a brother.
Dick's shoulders started to hitch. What Jason wanted was a bit irrelevant. He'd been assigned to watch baby-bird Dick. Right now, maybe Dick wanted a brother. Why wouldn't he?
"We'll call them." Bruce hadn't said Dick couldn't talk to the Titans. Now that Jason was actively considering using Dick for the investigation, he was starting to see how Dick could be helpful. Seeing cute, baby-bird Dick safe and sound in the Bat-Cave would possibly keep the Titans from storming Gotham; especially, since Dick would be vouching for Bruce to deal with the enchantment.
"You're going to let me stay," Dick questioned hesitantly; still not quite looking at Jason.
"Are you going to follow my directions this time?" Jason growled using his best Batman voice.
Dick giggled. "Can I make the call?"
Jason nodded, not at all surprised when Dick didn't make any promises. At least, he was trying not to be a liar. Did it actually matter. What trouble could Dick himself into.
Seeing the "Titans" hadn't been as enlightening as Dick had hoped they were going to be. Jason had been pretty happy when Beast Boy had answered the call. When Beast Boy said the team was out of the Tower, mentioning a Kori by name, Jason's tension had gone away.
Dick hadn't liked the conversation with Beast Boy. First things had started out like Dick had expected. Beast Boy telling Dick how cute he was. Everyone always said things like that to Dick. Most of the time Dick enjoyed the praise and this time wasn't any different.
After the introductions, Beast Boy started turning into animals, every kind of animal. Dick had been amazed. Bruce hadn't let Dick talk to any of the meta humans in the Justice League. Other than Superman. Superman had some cool powers but none of them were as cool as Beast Boy's powers.
Dick had started getting excited about the team; really, really excited. Before the call, Dick assumed his team was made up of the sidekicks. Dick wanted to see Roy more than anything. Now though Dick Grayson's team had other people on it, people with cool powers, and who were really funny. Beast Boy had even slipped that Dick was the leader. Bruce wasn't the leader of the Justice League.
Everything changed when the conversation started shifting to Dick's similarities to older Dick.
Older Dick who didn't sound like Dick at all. Beast Boy's jabs made older Dick sound worse than Bruce was with the League.
The worst part of all was that Jason didn't disagree with Beast Boy. Dick knew Jason didn't like him, even a little bit. That had been okay because Jason had to have been missing Dick Grayson. They were brothers after all.
I don't have a Dick Grayson.
Just a year ago, Dick had asked his parents when they were going to get him a little brother or sister. He promised how he would share Zitka. Dick could still remember how happy his parents had been when he promised to be the best big brother ever.
Dick had never doubted he would be a good big brother. Anyone could see how well he took care of Bruce. Alfred told Dick all the time how good he was with Master Bruce. Dick would do even better for a little brother.
Jason hadn't even cared when Dick said wanted to go exercise on the parallel bars.
Dick wasn't going to the parallel bars.
Everyone had done such a great job of not letting him know how far in the future he was. Dick had been so pleased Jason, Bruce, and Zatanna had thought he was clever enough to piece things together from the littlest of hints. Until Dick had started to get frustrated because parts of the future made sense like Jason and the Cave. Some other things didn't make any sense, like how Dick Grayson didn't have a room in the manor anymore.
Dick had gotten a few scraps of information from Kara, like how he was part of a superhero team. She'd been on a few adventures in the far future. Unlike everyone else she hadn't seen the harm in letting Dick know a few tidbits about the future.
Nothing Kara had told Dick or the little bits of stuff he had figured out from following Jason around all day seemed to matter anymore.
Why did Beast Boy think older Dick was worse than Bruce? Why didn't Jason like older Dick? Why didn't older Dick have a room if Bruce wasn't mad at him? Those questions were a lot more important than the one's Dick had been focusing on. Was Gotham Academy the same? Did Dick's new costume look cool?
The answers to these questions about older Dick. Dick should have been looking for.
Bruce had already lied to Dick. Jason didn't care for Dick. Zatanna and Alfred wouldn't help him because they didn't want to affect the future. Kara had already told Dick she didn't know older Dick well.
There was still one person here who could give Dick the answers he needed.
Dick was pretty sure nothing at all in the Cave had changed since Dick's time. Things were updated. All the cameras were still in the same places even though they were different or more likely improved. On the outside, the Batcomputer looked the same. Only the display was totally different from what Dick had seen over Jason's shoulder. Dick hadn't been allowed around the gadgets. Then he hadn't needed to. He saw the patterns forming. Even the exercise equipment was the same, only updated.
The trophy section had grown and grown. There was even a dinosaur in the Cave, a dinosaur. Dick still couldn't believe Bruce would have taken something like that home. Yesterday all Dick wondered about were all the adventures older Dick and Bruce, Jason and Bruce, had went on to get all those cool trophies.
Now, Dick was wondering if the Cave's layout hadn't been changed. Maybe Bruce's worries about intruders finding the Cave had been wrong.
The Cave's lack of change made it easy for Dick to sneak into containment cell without anyone knowing. Dick had memorized the security camera's blind spots on a dare from Roy a few months ago. While Dick had never hacked the audio feeds to this cell before, he had done it on similar cells during missions as Robin. It was pretty basic.
Dick sat on top of The cell forever watching Talon going through the routine Bruce trained Dick to do if he ever got locked up. Watching an older version of himself doing activities Dick did everyday was so weird. Bruce had based the routine on Dick's daily exercises to give Dick a sense of stability in a distressing circumstances. Dick wondered if Talon was scared of being in the containment cell.
Bruce had been very clear the night before that Talon wasn't Dick's actual future self. Talon was a possibility, one of many, and Dick didn't need to worry about turning into him. Dick believed Bruce. Even though Talon looked just like Dick's dad had… Dick believed Bruce.
Dick just needed to ask Talon his questions. Dick knew he'd tell himself how to avoid a bad future. He didn't understand why he wasn't asking. Jason could be ending his call with the Titans at any moment.
Talon finished the routine with a flip that Bruce would have criticized for being to showboating. Talon straight he looked up at Dick. Seeing the weird future eyes on his dad's face made Dick gasp. Bruce had said Talon had been physical altered. Dick hadn't been ready to see how much.
Talon tilted his head in curiosity as he examined Dick with those freaky eyes. "So that's what happened," Talon said under his breath before he gave Dick the "Bruce" smile and wave. "Hey mini-me."
Everything Dick had been going to ask felt like it had gotten caught up in his chest. Dick just stared dumbly down at Talon and Talon stared patiently back up at him.
"Hey baby-bird." Hearing Jason's voice made Dick jerk backwards almost causing him to loss his balance. "Roy wants to see you."
Roy. Dick pulled his equipment out of the cell's audio feeds. Roy, Dick really wanted to see Roy right now.
Dick jumped off the cell barely missing the cameras blind spots. His brain was filled with…things that he wanted out, now. Like those alien eyes.
Dick wasn't sure if he remembered coming back to the Batcomputer from the direction of the training area. Jason didn't react as he came up, so maybe, Dick had.
On the monitor was Roy, who looked so old. He was probably Bruce's age. "Hey Dick," Dick felt a rush of relief. Roy sounded the same even if his voice wasn't he same Roy was the same. "I'm glad I stopped by the Tower."
"Me too."
"You should have included me in the redecorating. The new look needs a woman's touch." Zatanna announced her arrival as she took in the mess between the Batcomputer and the holding cell.
"Jason needed some privacy." Bruce didn't look up from the Batcomputer to respond to her. Wasn't that just the way Bruce was during an investigation. With the stakes of this particular one so high, Zatanna was impressed he'd responded to her at all.
"That won't be a problem for much longer. I have a name for you. Regina Grimm." Zatanna smirked as she flipped the coin onto the keyboard for Bruce to examine. Examine he did, though, it took him a little longer to pull himself away from his work than Zatanna would have expected. With the information she'd uncovered after her visit to Haggle with the Hag, she knew Bruce's side of the investigation was a dead end. She would have thought he would have been more welcoming of new information.
While Bruce carefully turned the coin over in his hands, Zatanna took a nice long look at what he'd been going over. She frowned. Instead of information on Gotham's usual suspects or even the Titans there on the monitor were-financial records. The records appeared to be for several different people. Zatanna recognized few of the names. Talon's victims. Was he still working on the victims?
Zatanna wondered why Bruce would be obsessing over them. Finding out what happened to Talon wasn't relevant to getting Dick Grayson back.
"Viaticum, fitting method of payment." Bruce offered the coin back to Zatanna, who declined with a shake of her head. Keeping up with the evidence was Bruce's thing, not Zatanna's.
"It's also an easily traceable payment method. I didn't even have to dust off the crystal ball to find the professor." Zatanna was indulging her explanation a little more than was entirely necessary. What could she do? How often did Zatanna take the lead on the detective side when working with Bruce.
"I recognized the piece from a showing at the Metropolis Museum of Natural History I attended a few months ago. It came from the private collection of one Professor Regina Grimm. She studied as a numismatist with an emphasis on Charon's Obol. In practice she teaches a few ancient civilization courses at Met U and does "things" around the Museum." Zatanna shrugged.
Her contacts at both the museum and Met U weren't connected with Grimm's field of study. If Zatanna needed information on antiquity, she used her usual sources as several of them had lived back then. Wasn't that one of her problems with this case? After they got Dick back, Zatanna was going to have to expand her contacts.
"Professor Regina Grimm turned up during Supergirl's questioning of the museum staff, as well." Bruce spoke as he pulled Professor Regina Grimm's entire life history up on the Batcomputer.
"Really, Bruce," Zatanna said not even hiding her annoyance. "You already knew. Was there a reason you didn't tell me?"
"If you had alternative leans. I didn't need you jumping to conclusions," Bruce wasn't entire wrong with his point. Zatanna had skipped a few steps at the beginning of this case. "You usually don't care to have your bragging interrupted," Bruce finished with a smirk.
"I won't argue with that." Zatanna shook her head, at least, Bruce hadn't lost his wry wit. "Did Kara's interviews turn up any motives for Grimm?" A specialist in ancient coins steals a magical apple to enchant a vigilante who, presumably, she's never meet before. Zatanna couldn't see how any of this was adding up.
"None for why she would have had Nightwing enchanted," Bruce stated grimly. "The staff involved with Flame-Bird's Lament exhibit noted Grimm had an abnormal interested in the artifact. Grimm usually doesn't involve herself with museum exhibits unrelated to her fields of research: ancient coins and Rome. In the case of Flame-Bird's Lament, Grimm, went out of her way to assist with setting up the exhibit. Several of the staffers noted she had been seen around the exhibit multiple times each day. She was also asking a few of the researches if they thought the stories surrounding the apple were true."
"That does sound suspicious. Anyone have a reason why?"
"According to her coworkers at both the museum and the university, Grimm has been behaving cagey about her personal life recently. Supergirl couldn't find anything substantial other than a few rumors about a potential family crisis. So far I have not been able to find anything of note either." Frustration started to leak into Bruce's voice. Zatanna could see why.
The information Bruce had gotten on Regina Grimm was...substantial. The important data was there, such as her financial records. So was the least relevant info, like her third grade report card. Zatanna had been wrong about Bruce focusing too much on the Talon side of the case.
"Did your contact have any other information?" Bruce didn't sound optimistic when he asked. Zatanna hated that she was going to have to confirm his suspensions.
"No. If my contact had known more, she would have been trying to sell it to me. I don't think Grimm tried to contact anyone else in the community. No one else had even heard of Flame-Bird's Lament."
"Would that be unusual?" Bruce inquired.
"Maybe." Zatanna tried to voice the suspicions that had been nagging her about the apple. "I've asked the people I know who were around when the stories of Flame-Bird's Lament would have been told. They just hadn't heard the stories. They hadn't even recognized the language written on the apple. Ancient artifacts of power, like Flame-bird's Lament, being lost to time is as common as a person losing their keys. Missing languages aren't so common."
Zatanna rubbed her eyes. Her hang up with the language was as misplaced as Bruce's with Talon. "It's not important. We have a lead on where the apple should be. Did the kids get anything else?"
Bruce gave her a long evaluating look before speaking. "The Metropolis PD believe the robbery was an inside job. They'll contact Supergirl with more details as they become available." Zatanna hadn't worked with the Metropolis PD before. If they were like their sister city's police department, a statement like that meant never. Judging from Bruce's expression, he was in agreement.
"Jason was able to get Nightwing's last known location out of the Titans." The way Bruce stated that fact made it sound like Jason had accomplished a herculean task. "Nightwing has been tracking down the remnants of the Cult of Blood. According to Speedy, two nights ago Nightwing was contacted by an anonymous informant. Whatever was promised was enough for Nightwing to setup a meeting."
Bruce pulled up an old newspaper headlining one of Gotham's doomed nightclubs.
"At the Woods." Zatanna interjected. "Why there?"
If the stories were to be believed, then a week after the Woods opened Poison Ivy showed up to claim the club and all of its occupants as her garden. Zatanna didn't see how one of Ivy's rotting garden's would be a good meeting place.
"For the security," Bruce smirked. Before Zatanna could ask what exactly that smirk was about, Bruce pulled his cowl on. "Supergirl is upstairs with the boys. Take her to interview Grimm. I'm going to the Woods."
"Wait," Zatanna raised her hand to stop Bruce. "That's not how we're going to do things. If I can't go to both locations then I should be at the one where the magic may have gone down, Have Jason take Supergirl to see Grimm." Bruce's mouth thinned in protest at her suggestion. Before he could voice a protest Zatanna continued her argument. "You're going to need me. You know that. Nothing you have can CSI magic like I can. If you don't want the kids to interview Grimm, have them watch her until you can. Either way Kara will need backup on this. Magics been involved and since she's made a poor impression on the Metropolis PD maybe Robin going along will help."
Bruce gave her a hard nod before heading past her towards the Bat-mobile. "You're right I don't have the expertise."
Zatanna caught Bruce's arm, he turned towards her with a deceptively neutral expression. "Dick Grayson isn't going to end up as Talon. We're going to fix this."
"I know." Bruce broke away without another word. Do you Bruce, Zatanna wondered.