Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Chapter Six

Dagget likes to be the center of attention. It makes sense that he'd like to sleep in the center of the house. I'll find out if that's true in a few minutes.

Carrying around this much ammunition reminds me of my friend, Roy Harper. He lives in Star City and works for their police department. He's in charge of the bomb squad there and knows a lot about pretty much every weapon known to man.

He first introduced me to Kory and Donna at one of Bruce's parties. At that time, he and Donna were dating and he was Oliver Queens' ward.

They ended up in a fight after that and Roy cut himself off. For a while, everything started to crumble around him. He and Donna broke it off, he had to sell off almost everything he owned to get by, and his friends in Star City were trying to pressure him into drugs.

I remember him explaining it to me. What had changed him and made him decide to pull out of that downward spiral of his.

"I ended up going back to the reservation," Roy whispered to Dick as they watched the building across the street. "I guess I just needed to go back to my roots to realize that I could do some good for myself. Going back was great! I was able to just think about my life and realize my mistakes, and finally I had the time to really think about them and learn from them. From there, I was able to take control of my life again, and figure out what I wanted to do with it."

"How'd you figure it out?" Dick asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I just asked myself, do I want to just stay around the manor all day, doing nothing but getting older and watching girls come in and out of my life, or do I actually want to do some good?" Roy replied. He smiled and turned his gaze to Dick. "In other words, did I want to be like Ollie, or like my dad?"

Dick smirked.

Roy's smile disappeared. "To bad my decision came too late. To bad I decided to wait too long."

That was the last time I had spoken to Roy. We were on stakeout here in Gotham. One of Star City's most wanted ended up trying to hide out here, so Roy was sent to come look for them. I ended up partnered with him.

That had happened only eight months ago.

It was around that time that Donna had met her new boyfriend, Terry Meltzer.

She was happy, and Roy was happy for her, but I can tell he still loves her. Whether she feels the same is something I don't know. Kory probably does, but that's Donna's business. I don't usually try to figure out my friends love lives; things always end up getting complicated. If you try to butt-in where you're not supposed to, you end up in the middle of a huge mess.

Anyway, Roy always likes to carry at least three guns on him.

Maybe it's because of his knowledge of weapons. Maybe it's because of unpredictable situations. Why he carries three, I don't know. What I do know is this. While he needs three, I only need one.

The other ones that I had grabbed from that guard in the kitchen, those I'm saving for backup. All three of the ones I'm carrying are different, and I have no clue how many guards will be around Dagget.

I hide behind the stairs as I hear one of the guards coming down. They stopped talking through the talkies a few minutes ago.

If this guy is heading in the direction I came, I have to take him down. I don't want him alerting the others when he finds the blonde-haired guard.

Just as he's about to walk past me, I kick him in the face. He hits the floor and I hold my gun down at his face.

"Try saying one word and I'll shoot," I warned him. His eyes turned to slits. This guy would give me trouble.

He put his hands next by his head. He was going to flip himself back onto his feet. I'd get one chance, and I have to make the most of it.

Just as he hoisted his body off the ground and shifted his weight to his hands, I kicked him at the base of his neck. He immediately collapsed to the floor.

Roy may be good with weapons, but I'm the best at hand-to-hand combat.

It's all about timing and skill from here. Since they all stopped communicating through the walkie talkies, they had to check in at a certain time.

I glanced at my watch.

4:41 AM.

Nineteen minutes. That's all I have.

I run up the stairs as quickly and quietly as I can. When I reach the third floor, I open up the nearest door and jump inside, just before a guard walks by.

I open the door again to watch him walk down the hall on the other side of the stairs. I slip out of the closet and down the hall in front of the stairs. One door is at the end. Behind it could either be Dagget's room, or a bunch of guards keeping watch.

Either way, it has to be an open space. There won't be too many obstacles to hide behind. For them or for me.

Walking through the door could signal guards on the other side and they can start shooting at me, which will signal all the guards on this floor and every other one, and end up signaling Dagget. Bursting through the door can do the same.

I ram at the door and it falls with one hit. I roll on the ground for a moment and, when everything finally stops spinning, I spot a few pairs of shoes with legs attached.

Guards.

I roll to the side as they start firing bullets. One couch set up farther to my right and the door to Dagget's room just a few feet farther than that. I flip back up onto my feet and take a few shots. Three of the guards drop. No time to count how many there are.

I have to do this fast. Before the others come. I keep shooting, but I'm not really aiming at them. I'm aiming at the door they're guarding.

Being an acrobat for a good amount of my childhood makes this next part easy. I just need the right amount of force now.

I back flip and hit the side of the wall behind me; from there I flip off the wall and a few feet ahead of me, onto the next one. I can hear the bullets, but I don't have time to pay attention to how close they are. I have to keep moving. From that wall, I flip onto the couch, use it cushioning and the back of it to flip off and over the heads of the guards. I land on my feet kick the door open and race into the room. Dagget's at the window already, trying to get away. He'll get out alright.

I ram into him, sending us both crashing through the window and down the ground below.

"Do anything and I'll blow your head off," I warned Dagget as I dragged him into the little forest he had grown in his backyard.

I threw him up against a tree, but made sure to keep my gun on him.

"What happened to Tim Drake?" I demanded once we were in far enough.

"I don't know what you're talking about Grayson, but I'll make sure you lose your badge for this," Dagget threatened me.

I tucked my gun back in its holster and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"My little brother's missing. You think I care about a stupid badge right now?"

His eyes widened and he gulped.

"We just talked business," He told me.

"You're a liar and a cowardly snake. Give me one reason to believe you don't know anything that's going on. Now, tell me what you know?"

If this idiot didn't start talking, I was going to start throwing punches.

"I. Don't. Know. Anything," He persisted. I sent a right hook straight to his face. This guy has a glass jaw. One hit and I broke, I can tell by the way it's hanging now.

"I don't mind staying here all night," I told him. "Your guards can't do anything without risking to kill you, and if the cops come around, they won't be able to do anything either. You have one way out, Dagget. You tell me about Tim and I'll let you go."

His hand was holding his jaw and he didn't say a word. He just glared at me.

I'm done talking to him. I pulled out my gun and aimed it down at his foot. His eyes widened as he finally caught on to what I was going to do.

"You have until three," I informed him. "One…Two…Thr-"

"Alright!" He shouted. "I got a call on my cell phone a few minutes before Drake left. The person told me to keep him busy for a few minutes and they'll send a load of cash into my account."

"Who was it?"

"Some chick."

"Not good enough." I was about to pull the trigger when he spoke again.

"Hold it! There was something else I had heard in the background. A guy with a deep voice, and from the sound of it, he knew few words."

Baran Flinders. The girl on the line must have been his sister, Selinda.

I grab his head and ram it into the trunk of the tree.

I run to the edge of the forest to find the guards already combing through for me. It's all open land from here to the front of the mansion.

Everyone is looking in the opposite direction. I make a break for it.

Baran is stupid. His sister is the brains and he's the brawn. They always stick together; which is why it has to be them.

Gunfire starts cracking through the air. They spotted me. I duck and roll myself down the short hill to the front lawn. Now I have some cover.

I jump over a bush and move behind a tree.

The gunfire stops and I slowly glance around the side of the tree to find them all glancing around. They must have just been shooting, not taking aim.

I feel pain, but I ignore it. Someone hit me on the way down.

I check the number of bullets left in my gun.

Two.

That's more than enough.

I glance back around the side of the tree to see they've fanned out. I have to take out the one closest to me to get to the car. I just have to wait until he gets a bit closer.

I duck down to the ground, get on my hands and knees and behind a bush. I try my best to move the branches on the bush away so I can take aim, without making too much noise.

I have to hit him in a place where he'll need quick medical attention. Some of them could stop to try and help him, or they could just leave him to die. Either way, it's a chance I'm gonna have to take.

Sorry buddy, it's you or me, and right now I'm the one with the higher stakes. I have to find Tim.

I shoot him just under his heart. I see the bullet fly clear through before I take off.

I keep moving, ducking behind a tree here and there, and I hear less gunfire behind me. Some must have stopped to help the guy I shot.

I grit my teeth as I feel the pain of my injuries, new and old. Gotta ignore and get back to the car.

Finally, I leap over the bushes hiding my car. I fling open the door and jump in.

I pull the keys out of my pocket, start it up, the engine immediately roars to life and I take off, driving through the bushes in front of me. I take a sharp turn that causes the guards coming after me to stop. Now's where I keep my head low so I don't get shot there. That would be a messy ending.

I glance above the wheel to make sure I'm going in the right direction. The action reminds me of when I was a kid. I used to love working on cars, and when I'd sit inside one I'd only be able to glance above the wheel as I pretended to drive.

Now I'm not doing it for fun. I'm doing it to stay alive. There's a big difference.

Once I'm on the street I'm clear. But I have to make sure it stays that way. I drive down a few side roads to confuse them in case they're trying to tail me.

I glance at the car. A few cracks in the windshield from stray bullets. There are most likely a few dents on the outside, but it hasn't fallen a part on me, so it's still good.

My arms are starting to become numb and the pain is getting to me, but I can't stop now. I have to keep going. I finally look down at my new injuries fro the first time. A few cuts from bullets barely missing my arms, It feels like I've got one lodged in my left leg by the amount of blood I feel seeping onto the seat. It feels like I've broken a few stitches from the blood that's running down my stomach. Alfred's not going to be too happy about that. Of course, compared to Kory he'll be like a fat guy eating a box of Belgium chocolates.

She'll either be yelling or crying. My money's on both.

"Are you insane?" Kory yelled at me a half hour later. Bruce and Alfred helped bring me up to the old Carriage House so the kids wouldn't see my injuries. "What the hell do you think you were doing, going in there on your own like that? You're not a one man army, Richard John!"

Uh oh. Her calling me my first and middle name is not a good sign.

Her fists were curled at her side, and I could tell it was taking all of her willpower not to just slap me right then and there as Alfred stitched up the hole in my leg, after pulling out that bullet.

Finally her emerald eyes began to shine with unshed tears. Kory is a strong woman. Both emotionally and physically. Usually, it takes her a bit longer to get to this stage. Like a day or three. But, it always comes sooner when she's pregnant.

She turns her back to me as she lets the tears fall. Her shoulders are shaking as she silently sobs and holds her arms against her chest.

I reach out to touch her arm with my left hand. All it takes is for my fingers to graze her arm before she turns and latches herself onto me. I hold her close.

It's always easier for me to ignore any type of pain when I have Kory, Ryan, or Mari in my arms. When they're in my arms, they are all that matters to me.

My family is the most important group of people in my life.

I'll do anything for them.

I'll do anything to make sure they're safe.

Tim's my little brother. I have to find him.

A/N: I know my schedule said that I was supposed to post this yesterday and be posting chapter 27 of Year 3 today, but I had to fine tune it after I got into some trouble yesterday afternoon and wasn't allowed onto the computer until later that night. That pretty much set back my writing time and I had to move some stuff around. Sorry about that.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading, and I'd really appreciate it if you reviewed and let me know what you thought.