Dick

Nightwing sighed heavily, lying precariously over the edge of the dirty brownstone that he had made his perch. All in all, the night had been, so far, uneventful; it seemed as if the petty criminals and drug lords of Blüdhaven were finally getting the message that their… activities were under strict surveillance… or, perhaps, they decided to have an underworld poker night. As much as he was glad that crime in the city was decreasing, Dick hoped for something at least to entertain him during his patrol. Was a purse-snatching too much to ask for? A convenience store robbery? Hell, he would take some littering at that point. He picked absentmindedly at the crumbling mortar and bricks, disturbing a mourning dove which, after giving him what he imagined to be a heavily judgmental once-over, flew from its roost into the foggy night.

The communicator crackled in his ear, and he winced at the sudden noise. Tapping, his earpiece, he opened the channel. "Go for Nightwing."

"Nightwing," Barbara's voice sounded down the line strong and clear, "this is Watchtower. Have you had recent contact with Artemis?"

Dick rolled onto his back and stared at the starless sky. "Arty's at her mom's by this time. Is she not answering her cell?" There was a beat of silence. Dick could not tell if it was because of sound delay from the satellites or Batgirl's hesitance. "Batgirl?"

"No," finally came the response, "and her mother called Watchtower to ask if she was up here."

Dick sat up. "Green Arrow? Her sister?"

"Negative on both accounts," Barbara reported. Dick leapt to a lamppost, swinging off of it like a parallel bar to land on a taller building across the street.

"Zatanna had lunch with her, and Artemis was supposed to go straight home, after," he muttered into his communicator. "You've asked everyone? Called her doctor?" He dropped into a narrow alley, folding into a roll as he landed.

"Dick," Babs' voice sounded strained. He opened the door of the decrepit phonebooth and stepped inside. "No one has seen or heard from Artemis in what's coming up on fourteen hours."

"B01 Nightwing."

Dick strode onto the bridge and met Barbara's somber stare. "Let's get cracking, then."

Babs nodded, swinging back to the computer. "I've also contacted the Wests, but they haven't seen or heard from her. They talked to Barry, and he's now zipping around doing God-knows-what."

Dick placed his hands on the back of the chair, reading the computer screen over Batgirl's shoulder. "No one's suing for ransom, no ultimatums, no monologues on world domination?"

"Silence from everyone. Not even a whisper of large-scale criminal activity."

He stilled, pondering over the young woman's words. "What about the Shadows? We were tracking their actions in Manila; have they had any recent movements or developments?"

Babs' fingers flew across her keyboard. She furrowed her brow and twisted her lips when nothing appeared out of the ordinary. "No, nothing. Absolutely no activity." She spun around, forcing Dick's hands off of the chair, and crossed her arms across her chest. "Do you think Ra's has something to do with this?"

"He does have a score to settle with Artemis, what with the infiltration and destruction of the summit meeting," Babs clenched her fingers, drawing her nails into her biceps, "but he will not harm an innocent. If he did take her, he will have noticed her condition by now, and he will take the appropriate measures not to harm her." Dick bit the inside of his cheek. "Artemis and her sister were raised as Shadows. There is a likely chance that Ra's will want to do the same with her kid." The pair locked gazes, their unspoken fear and worry resounding between them. "We need to find them, Babs," he murmured quietly, placing a hand over one of hers. She released her grip on her arm to thread their fingers together and squeezed firmly.

"I'll check satellite imagery around Infinity Island… it'll show if the last activity there falls within our timeline, and then we'll go from there," she soothed, "but we can't go in without definitely proof." Dick scowled, a trait he picked up early on from his mentor.

"I promised Wally that I'd take care of her."

Babs claimed his other hand. "Dick-"

"I promised," his voice cracked, and he swallowed quickly to reign in his emotions.

"Hey." When he ignored her, lost in his thoughts, she tugged on their joined hands. He looked up from his feet and met her startlingly blue eyes. "We'll get them. Artemis is smart, she knows how to take care of herself. But, until then, I need your head in the game, alright?" Dick nodded, clearing his throat and straightening his shoulders. "Good. Don't get sullen on me again, it's not a good look for you," she teased with a smirk.

Dick snorted lightly. "Whatever would I do without you, Babs?" he grinned.

"Probably wallow in a corner somewhere until someone came to kick you in the ass. Come on," she released his hands, and Dick found himself immediately missing the contact. "Make yourself useful and pull up a chair. It'll go faster with more eyes."

After a few hours of reviewing satellite footage, Babs sat back and rubbed her eyes. An unbidden yawn worked its way up and out of her throat, and she shook her head to clear the sleepiness that fogged her mind. "I'm not seeing anything on my end. We should get in touch with oceanic research programs in the region, see if they have any significant readings on sonar. If she's on that island, Dick, she didn't come by boat or air."

Dick remained focused on his monitor, replaying frames. He narrowed his eyes. "You may be right. See this here?" He pointed to a shadow on the screen. "It was already dark when this photo was taken, so we can't be certain, but that shadow is heading toward Infinity Island, and its size indicates either a whale or-"

"A submarine," Babs finished.

"Exactly. Get in contact with who you need to; we need those sonar readings." He pushed away from the desk.

"Where are you going?"

"Full report on suspicions and activity to primary Leaguers. And most likely Green Arrow, as well."

"Keeping everyone in the loop, hm?"

"Not everyone," he sighed, running a hand along his neck and massaging to work out a kink. "If Cheshire gets wind… any potential rescue plan could be compromised. Which means Roy's out, as well. At least until we have valid information to build off of."

Babs nodded in agreement. "Do you think Sportsmaster would be of any use?" At Dick's confused expression, she rolled her eyes. "It is his daughter – and grandchild – at risk, at all."

Dick frowned. "Maybe. I don't even know if he knows that Artemis is pregnant. Even then, he's unpredictable… granted, his reaction to her 'death' would indicate he would assist us, but we can't rely on that alone. Obviously, he has no rejection to raising his children as Shadows, so we can't really predict what he would think of for Arty's kid. The possibility's still good, though, so we'll put a pin in it for now."

He gave Babs a wave and directions to keep him updated and retreated to one of the offices on the lower levels to compile his report. After he sent off copies to his mentor and other Leaguers, he sat back and folded his hands in his lap. The blue light of the computer illuminated his face in the otherwise dark room, making the creases of his frown seem deeper than they were. A dialogue box appeared onscreen, announcing a call from his adopted father.

"Computer, accept transmission," he murmured tiredly. He ran a weary hand over his mouth as Batman's face filled the screen. "This is a quick response, Bats."

"I decided to talk directly with you. What's the situation?"

Dick scowled. "Didn't you read the report?"

He could feel Bruce's impatience even through space. "Nightwing."

"Batgirl is contacting institutions with oceanography and marine biology programs in the vicinity of Infinity Island to determine the nature of our shadow. Honestly, the chances that it is a submarine is pretty low, but it's the only lead we have right now. We have no other suspects, no surveillance of her abduction, and no witnesses. We're working off of a hunch."

Batman was silent for a moment before sighing. "It's better than nothing. I will check with come contacts, see if there's any chatter."

Dick smirked tiredly. "Uh-huh. Give Selena my best." Batman glared at him through the videofeed. "Batgirl is letting me know of any new developments. In the meantime-"

"Get some sleep."

Dick froze before leaning forward slowly. "Excuse me?"

"You'll be useless if you investigate this all night. You have nothing to go on, no leads to chase down. Go. To. Sleep. If you really want to help Artemis, which I have complete faith that you do, you will rest so that you can focus on her investigation to the best of your abilities."

The young man fell back into his chair once more. "I don't live with you, anymore. You don't have to treat me like a child."

"Then don't act like one. Batman out." The feed closed, leaving Dick staring at a blank screen. He yawned, and, grudgingly acknowledging the wisdom of Bruce's words, sent a transmission to Babs and retired to the on-call bunks. If he wanted to find Artemis, he would have to be fresh and awake, to focus his entire attention on his work.

And he would find Artemis.