Disclaimer: Since it's Pi day and I don't own pi, I'd think it's reasonable to say I don't own young justice either.

YAY! finally got this chapter done. the flood gates may be opening again too. taking a break and playing with Misplaced was a lot of fun really. So here we have it, people are coming to Gotham city! Enjoy!

Where's Robin?

Ch. 12 – Welcome to Gotham

Bruce rubbed his eyes, looking away from the screen for a moment. Though Joker and Scarecrow were still out there, there was little to go on. Leg work wouldn't help unless he could identify the substances used for their escapes. He had no doubts the other escapees would be with one of the two; some were old lackeys of Joker.

You had to be mad to work with that madman, Dick observed one night many years ago. The boy would often spend his free time down in the cave, watching Batman work as he pulled acrobatic stunts around the place. And talk. It didn't matter what guise the kid used, Dick was a chatterbox. Bruce had no idea how many times he used minor concussions or headaches as excuses to make him shut up.

Hearing the silence now on that night only reminded him how much he missed his little bird.

Telling Alfred what happened was the second worst part of this fiasco. Though the older man was able to keep his face still, slight changes had shown in his eyes. Worry, distress, overwhelming concern, and the grim understanding that they could do nothing but wait. They were the same feelings Bruce tried to bury, and failed miserably. Alfred was just better at controlling it. After all, he buried them every night since Bruce donned cape and cowl.

"And you are certain Master Richard will be home by the end of the week."

"Undoubtedly."

The butler nodded, recomposing himself in an instant. Well, as much as he needed to at least. "Then I believe he has come down with a cold sir. And considering the last time he had one it turned into pneumonia, it is best we keep him home for observation. Master Richard does enjoy playing in the snow after all."

"Indeed he does," Bruce had joined in, both creating Dick's alibi for school and other events. "I'll have him shovel the walk every afternoon for a week once he's well again because of his latest misadventure."

"Hmmm… might be best to call Doctor Tompkins for a check-up," Alred added as a side note. "So his absences do not account against his record at school. And there the matter of his homework."

"I'm certain we can all come to an arrangement," the billionaire concluded. The matter was settled. While Dick was MIA, to the world he was merely being kept home for a cold by his paranoid father. May last longer than when Robin returned, but that was the price for their safety.

The old butler nodded, satisfied. Before retrieving what he came down to the cave for, he looked back to his employer and gave him a stern look. "One child's illness though does not provide an excuse for missing Mrs. Hill's dinner Sunday night sir. Whatever terrors Gotham and its residents have planned for you of late, cannot interfere with a public appearance of Wayne Enterprise's CEO. There is talk of you preferring Master Richard's company over any other mortal on this planet."

He had given a short huff of a laugh, mentally agreeing with the statement at times. Those drab parties were always inconveniently timed, and entertaining the high class of Gotham with his 'dull wit' humor was tiring. He'd rather face Joker or Scarecrow than listen to another of John McMillan's passes at the college caterer.

Joker and Scarecrow.

Both of them were still on the loose and he'd spent nearly all of that day and night trying to come up with leads towards finding them. Before there were victims. Or corpses. But all he could come up with was possibilities of where Joker would strike. Nothing on Scarecrow.

Since Joker had a flare for the dramatic, he would attack some event, public or private. Either way it had to be something big. Something to attract as much attention as possible, and make the largest amount of corpses. Unfortunately there were numerous events going on in the next few weeks around Gotham. Charity parties, park openings, a new reality tv show starting to film on Park Row, movie premiers, competitions, all sorts of events. Most events would be televised. Joker wouldn't stay hidden long.

This meant a lot of Bruce Wayne's time would be taken up with TV viewing and going to said events. It was Joker's move, but once he made one, Batman would be in control. And right then, that was exactly what he needed.

Unable to think clearly, Batman left his chair to go for a late night/early morning patrol. It'd clear his head at the least. And he really needed to hit somebody.

The east end of Gotham is not a place most people would visit. Maybe once upon a time it was a nice neighborhood, but right then it was one of the worst places on earth. Not only was it owned by one of the Italian mob families, no one wanted to take care of it. If the police ever got there in time to help someone, it was a miracle sent from above. If anyone wanted to pick a fight though, that was the place to start.

It was probably the twentieth drug dealer he'd thrown into the garbage that night, and he was getting tired of it. These guys were literally everywhere! And the general populace did nothing to help themselves or him. Some were willing to just watch. He swore he heard others place bets. At least three people tried to help the man who sold them crack, and each now laid unconscious in the snow.

The show being over, everyone able around him fled. He gave out infuriated looks before sighing heavily and dragging each of these morons out of the snow and onto the concrete stairs nearby. After making sure each person was wrapped warmly, he took out some makeshift rags and tied their hands together. The drug dealer was soon bound and gagged, his product filling his pockets as he was hauled onto his shoulder and carried over to the nearest police car.

Course the trip was no fun for his passenger. Being jostled every which way just because the person holding you couldn't fly wasn't very comfortable after all. The man would have bruises all throughout his torso after this. Their sudden appearance next to the police car and the man being tossed onto the hood didn't help much either. The officers' shocked expression though was quite humorous. That is if the vigilante wanted to see them. He ran off as soon as the package was delivered. Had to keep a low profile after all.

As he ran back through the allies, he strained his ears to hear every sound he could. It was several hours until sunrise and he wanted to do everything he could before it came. He could rest during the day, if he needed any.

Within fifteen minutes he heard the ringing of an alarm and started running for it. It wasn't a smash and grab robbery like the other three he foiled that night. Someone was trying to up the value of the area and opened a pharmacy. This theft was more organized and involved more people than the previous encounters. Plus they were packing heat. Never a good combo.

Quickly he jumped in to the fray and set to work. He caught two men unawares, throwing them into one of the shelves before the first shot was fired. Thankfully the bullet bounced off of him and into the skylight. His new jacket had a hole in it now. He growled at the gunman before launching himself at the guy, ramming him into another wall.

"That's not the Bat!" one of the thieves shouted in surprise.

"Who cares! Shoot him!"

The leader's command made each of his gunmen take aim before the vigilante could raise himself from the knocked out villain. Before they fired though, a red blur zoomed in front of them all, taking the front ends of their larger guns off and removing the firing pins off the smaller ones. Several of the weapons blew up on themselves while others simply refused to fire.

The red blur settled next to the first interloper, smirking and dropping the pieces at their feet. "Looks like I'm not the only one guilty of insubordination," he joked.

The leader of the gang paled instantly, knowing he couldn't win. "Metas."

"Maybe," the first stated. Both boys ran forward together, knocking each man out before they could make another noise.

"Conner?" M'gann searched the cave for her boyfriend, worried. He didn't show up for breakfast this morning. He wasn't in the library reading. He wasn't watching static on the TV. Most of all, he wasn't anywhere she could think of. Far as she could tell, he was gone!

"Conner, where are you?" she whined, clenching her hands to her chest. This was not good. Not good at all.

"Dude," Wally started, yawning a little, "when did you get to Gotham?"

"Around ten," Conner explained. He looked the speedster over, surprised to see him acting up outside of his uniform. Wally wore a red hoodie and sweats instead of his usual getup. He still had gloves for the cold, but really he looked like a Flash fan instead of his regular self. The black jacket he threw on after the fight and the black ski-cap made him look more like Robin too. "What about you? Everyone told you to stay home. Shouldn't you—"

"Talked it over with my dad," the speedster explained. "Well, kinda. He said so long as I had my homework and chores done, I could do whatever I wanted. Told him and mom I'd be staying at the mountain until Rob came back. Not too far off. Still need to find some corner to sleep in around here."

"And Flash?" the clone started. "What did you tell him?"

Wally looked away sheepishly. "Well… didn't really. Told him I needed some space so I'm off duty in Central for a bit. And he's pretty busy with my aunt and cases back there so…"

He shrugged, praying internally his uncle wouldn't find out about him being in Gotham. So long as Kid Flash wasn't seen and he kept off Batman's radar, he should be fine. That and not miss school. As soon as he crossed those lines, he knew his time in Gotham was over. "What they don't know can't hurt us. What about you? I mean, you and M'gann have Red Tornado in the cave. How'd you get here?"

Conner shrugged evasively. "I think M'gann will understand, and I won't get in trouble with Tornado. So long as I'm in class on time tomorrow morning, there shouldn't be any problems. Just have to keep a low profile."

"Don't I know it." Wally looked around, hoping the dark knight wasn't in this part of Gotham right then. "Bats hates it when metas are in town, especially from the League, and even more when we don't ask first. Flash said he was worse about it before Rob came around. At least now he doesn't get really grouchy and start putting bombs on your back if you visit."

"Seriously?" Conner only dealt with Batman as a near mentor and almost general. He paid more attention to him than Superman at the least and was trying to help him. But he didn't think the guy was so mean he'd blow up members of the League.

Wally scratched his head, thinking out loud. "Well Flash told me of one visit where Bats was pretty frustrated. I think Joker was involved somewhere. My uncle was trying to talk to him and the guy put a bomb on him and told him to run out into the harbor. Maybe it was bad timing? Either way, he ran, dropped off the bomb then barely made it to land before it started raining fish."

"Raining fish?" the clone cocked his head and raised an eyebrow confused. It never rained fish, right?

"The bomb blew up in the water," his friend explained. "Big boom in water sends fish upward and then gravity starts working. Raining fish."

"Huh," the boy of steel wondered. "Weird."

"Yeah, Uncle B has a lot of fun stories to tell." Wally grinned to himself, shifting his backpack as he looked towards the ground. "Only a few of them are about this place. He told me this was one of the worst parts of town. Crime Alley is next and then a few others. Figured I could disappear here easily enough. Even thought of a place to stay."

Conner hadn't realized where the speedster was leading him until they where there. Dock Street Rescue Mission. A homeless shelter. The clone raised an eyebrow. This is where Wally was planning on staying? "This place?"

"Yep." The speedster grinned as they walked up. "Free food, free lodging, and no questions asked. There's only the periodic weapon and drug searches and you're home free. And if we can dodge social services, there shouldn't be any problems."

"Social services?" He jolted his head around to the redhead, some alarm coming to his face.

"They go after orphans and runaways. Guess we're kinda one of them." Wally took a quick look around. "But since we're only staying for one or two nights, I think we can manage this."

"Think this place can take your stomach?" Conner jibbed.

His friend pouted. "I've got cash. I'll just go to all-you-can-eat buffets and change shirts between takeout places. Won't be that hard. Did you think about what you'd eat? Or where you'd sleep?"

The clone looked away, slightly embarrassed. "I don't need that much sleep or food. Just sunlight."

"Won't be much of that around here. Pollution here's pretty high, especially in the bad parts of town." Wally looked around again and found a couple of empty beds. "Come on space boy, the beds won't fill themselves."

It wasn't long before the two of them were laying down and dozing off. Conner turned his head slightly to Wally in the bed next to his. He was already sprawled out, nearly in dreamland. "This doesn't get you off the hook for Rob you know."

The speedster made a noise acknowledging the statement, but didn't move. The clone smirked then let himself drift off. Without much sunlight, he really would need more common ways of restoring his energy.

Batman returned to the cave just as the sun was rising. The East End was strangely quiet that night, but the Bowery made up for that. There were two arms dealers and they actually had some valuable intel on Joker. He was gathering explosives and had a large service van. He'd have to look at every other oddball theft for the next few days to figure out what the madman was planning.

In the mean time though, Bruce Wayne had a few meetings and a date to attend. Just what he needed. More busy work. He'd take an hour or two to rest then be out and about once more.

A/N: thank heavens for maps and locations online eh? Plus, No man's land Vol. 1 has a good map of Gotham too. Just need to do more research to make the city more believable here. ^^; if you recognize the shelter, I took it from BTAS season 1 ep 8 - Forgotten. Thought it'd be a good idea to get Gotham right at the least.

Love how both Alfred and Bruce immediately make an alibi for Dick and make plans for his return. If Dick were really gone for good, things would have turned out differently. Leslie Thompkins is another important character/civilian in the batfamily. I'm surprised she hasn't really shown up in any YJ fics yet. =/ Hmmm... may have to sneak in a few more batfam people later on. Brief camios and references only. ;) So much fun.

Still working on this one, not dead yet. Until then, have fun reading!