Author's Note: Hey, guys. Yeah, it's been awhile. I got a little lazy. So shoot me. Anyhow. Um... Yeah. This chapter was probably one of my favorites to write. Or, at least the first part was. The second part was one of those trudging-through-just-to-keep-the-story-moving kinda scenes. At any rate, though, this is going up much sooner than I anticipated, because there was supposed to be another scene at the end, but I realized that I'd better save it for next chapter because I don't know how much material I'm actually going to end up covering in that chapter. We're winding down toward the end here, and my plot is still making minor, subtle, unexpected changes on me. Got to one of my little minor plot points at the end here and went, "Huh... Well, I actually don't know how to do that realistically... Well, crap, now what?" But we're so far advanced in the plot now that nothing major is going to change, so don't worry. Just little technical things that keep it running smoothly.

I probably should have waited and revised the end of this chapter, but I'm way too lazy for that. But hey, at least I remembered that the opening monologue was still unfinished before I posted it! Shoutout time. Eavis and methegirl, you guys are amazing. Really. You make me feel so special with your reviews, and I'm so glad you both like my story so much. Literally, every time I post a new chapter, it's like waiting for Christmas morning. I think I await your reviews with almost as much eagerness and anticipation as you do with the new chapters. It's insane. Anyways, much appreciation and hugs and chocolate and whatever else you guys want. This one's for you! Btw, if you haven't burst into song by the end of the first scene, there's something wrong with you...

Chapter 12: Disappearing Act

Things really started lookin' up afta dat. Afta anudder month or so, da comments dey made started bein less accusatory an' more'a just an inside joke. Which, a'course, was perfectly a'right by me. My leg healed up in 'bout dat time, too. Man, it felt good ta be up an' about on my own two feet fer once.

'Bout dis time, too, da school year was startin' ta wind down to a close. It was hard ta b'lieve we'd been in dis city fer near to a full year already. So much'd changed in dat time. We'd all t'ree'a us grown a heckuva lot since dat first day we walked into da mansion. Whether in a good way or not, we's alla us much different from da kids dat'd left New York City wit' Cowboy outta curiosity. Course, me, I was still tryin' somethin' desperate ta hold onto my feelins'a betrayal an' all. S'just da way I am. Sure was gettin' hard, though.

We still gave Bruce all kinds'a trouble every opportunity we got. But even dat was different. It was less 'bout simply givin' him a hard time an' more 'bout maintainin' some sense'a familiar normalcy. For prob'ly da first time since we'd come ta Gotham – actually, since da strike, really – things was gettin' back to da way dey's always been. But, a'course, things don't ever really stay dat way…

There were any number of bathrooms in Wayne Manor that could be used for morning routines, but the boys insisted on using the same one every time – all at once, if they could manage it. The familiarity and habit seemed to have some comforting qualities. It was on the second floor, directly across the hall from Bruce's bedroom. The general rule of the house was that no one made any kind of noise anywhere in that vicinity before noon. Naturally, this meant that the boys had an unspoken mutual agreement to make as much noise as was humanly possible.

On this particular morning, however, that agreement was coming dangerously close to being broken. Spot hopped into the oversized bathroom on one foot, pulling on a sock and grumbling as he did so. After a long, late night of patrolling the Narrows, he'd been rather rudely awakened at the crack of dawn by a loud pounding on his bedroom door, followed closely by shouting and the sounds of a scuffle. The two crooks responsible were now jostling for position at the single sink. And raising quite a racket doing it.

"Dat's my comb!"

"It is not, either."

"I swear, if ya leave yer greasy, tangled mess in my comb again, I'll—"

"It's not your comb."

Race snatched the comb unceremoniously from Blink's grasp as the blonde moved to splash water on his face. "On da subject'a t'ings'a mine goin' missin'," the Italian went on pointedly, "I had a cigar on my nightstand last night dat weren't dere when I woke up dis mornin'."

Blink just shrugged. "Maybe Bruce took it again? Though I'm not sure why he bothers sometimes. You always find a way of snagging another one from who-knows-where."

"Tim, you know you ain't in any condition to be smokin' anyway," Spot muttered, grabbing his toothbrush and making sure to place himself well out of reach of any stray blows that might come his way.

"Who made you me mudder?"

"Nobody," Blink smirked. "He's self-appointed." Spot gave him a swift smack to the back of the head and he, in turn, smacked Race. "He is right, though," he offered by way of explanation. "You really shouldn't be smoking."

"Why don'tcha mind yer own business?" Race growled, giving Blink a shove to emphasize his point. Blink just laughed and pushed him back. Something had him in an uncharacteristically good mood this morning.

"Hey, break it up, you two. Tim, quit your whining."

"Nobody ast you, Spot."

With a shrug, Spot turned to Blink. "So Oracle's got me hunting down Catwoman after that museum robbery last night. Any clue where I should start looking?"

Blink answered with a shrug of his own. "Crime Alley, maybe? I heard she's been sighted down there a lot. Or maybe down at the docks."

Race shook his head, pushing the comb through a tangle of dark locks. "Park."

"What?"

"Wayne Memorial Park. She's gotta stash dere. Dat's where she goes ta hole up after a heist."

"Well there ya go," Blink said brightly. "The chief authority on underworld dealings has spoken. Smells like jackpot to me."

"That's if you don't foul it up for me."

"How's that?"

Race chuckled and shouldered Blink aside to wash his face. Spot grinned. "You're goin' with me, Jason."

"Seriously?" Blink groaned. "Ah, c'mon, Dick. I was gonna take Isabelle out for dinner tonight."

"That foreign exchange student? Didn't you just meet her yesterday?"

"So shoot me. We hit it off really well. Tim, keep your arm to yourself where it belongs." Race ignored the comment and continued reaching across him. "I said, get your elbow out of my face!"

"I will, if ya pass me dat towel ya got hangin' overe dere!"

Blink shoved him good-naturedly and, grabbing the towel off the wall rack, jumped up onto the marble shelf beside the tub. "How much you willing to pay for it?" he taunted.

Spot laughed as he grabbed the towel and handed it to Race. Life was starting to get back to some kind of normal. And that was just fine with him.

The three boys finally tumbled out of the bathroom and made their way down the hall, shouting and tussling the whole way. When they reached the grand staircase that led to the foyer, Race slid down the wide banister. His left leg was still a little weak, so he usually took the service stairs that led straight to the kitchen, since they were carpeted. But on some days he simply made do with what he had.

When they burst into the kitchen – in much the same fashion as when they'd exited the bathroom – Alfred already had breakfast laid out for them. There was a fair amount of pushing and shoving as they settled in around the table to eat.

"Hey, Al," Blink greeted the old butler cheerfully, pouring himself a glass of orange juice. "You know where Bruce is?"

"We didn't hear no shoutin' from da bedroom dis mornin'," Race explained, reaching for the nearly-empty pitcher as soon as Blink was done. "Oh sure," he mumbled as he poured the remains into his glass. "Just leave me half'a glass, why don'tcha."

Alfred smiled and shook his head in amusement as he took out a second pitcher. "I'm afraid Master Bruce is out of town on business. As I understand it," he commented, turning to Spot, "you and Master Jason here are free as a pair of fish this evening after school."

Spot nodded. "Yeah, Oracle's got us goin' after Catwoman on our own. Tim here gave us the angle, so it shouldn't take too long."

"Speakin'a angles," Race said around a mouthful of his muffin, "anybody else havin' trouble wit' dis geometry test?"

"Of course not," Blink scoffed. "We all know Dick's a whiz with that stuff."

With a shrug and a modest smile, Spot turned his attention back to his food.

Nightwing kicked out as he reached the bottom arc of his swing, feeling the grappling cable tense as his weight shifted forward. Just before the cable reached the end of its arc, his thumb flipped over the retracting mechanism and he pushed his feet up over his head, putting himself into a backwards flip in midair. His breath caught in his throat as his head came back up and he waited to feel the familiar solidity of concrete beneath him.

For a moment, he just stood with his eyes closed and breathed deeply, feeling the harsh wind whip around him as it gusted over the buildings. There was the faint sound of stuttering footsteps as Robin made an unsteady landing beside him. He cracked a smile as he opened his eyes to scan the park below them. "Someone hasn't been practicing."

"Shut up," Robin muttered, crouching behind the ledge at the far edge of the rooftop, his eyes sweeping the streets below. Then he added, almost as an afterthought, "There was a gust of wind."

"Right. Sure." Nightwing rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the park. "See anything?"

"Not a trace. And it's getting pretty late. According to Tim's info, she should be here by now."

There was no response for a moment, just a small nod of agreement. "It's not like he'd set us up or anything," Nightwing mused to himself.

"But she might," Robin pointed out.

The uneasy silence was suddenly broken by a soft, electronic sound coming from the alert beacon on Nightwing's belt. The boys exchanged a glance, and then a moment later Robin's alert went off as well. The older boy let out an apprehensive breath. "Something's wrong."

It took them maybe fifteen minutes to reach the Clocktower. More than enough time for them both to think up various scenarios and to wish that Oracle had finished with the four-way communicators already. Coordinating was difficult when the only means of communication you had was an emergency alert. When they finally made it up to Oracle's computer room, they found Batman already there. Oracle was playing a recorded phonecall, which the boys missed the beginning of, and didn't acknowledge them as they walked in. But the urgency of the situation was immediately understood when they heard what Bruce was listening to.

"…didn't do it dis time, I swear. Ya gotta b'lieve me, okay? I didn't go lookin' for it. A'right? Dey… dey foun' me. Man… I told ya, Jason, I couldn't make no promises… Look, I'm… I'm sorry. Ya hear me, I'm sorry. Dey think… Dey think I's connected ta dis… dis Batman character somehow, an' I told 'em I ain't, but dey just ain't listenin'. Bruce, ya… Ya gotta get me outta dis, please. Look, I know I—"

There was sickening smack, followed by a muffled yelp, and then a harsher voice came over the speakers. "This sorry piece of street trash double-crossed me, Mr. Wayne. It's my understandin' that he's a close friend'a yours. Now the odd thing is, Batman's the one that picked him up the night I left him for dead in that alley. Any other street kid, an' he wouldn't'a bothered. So it stands to reason that you're pretty close friends with the Bat yourself.

"So here's my proposal. You ever wanna see the little runt again, you tell your Bat friend to bring the ransom money to the Gotham docks Saturday night at ten-thirty, on the dot. I hope you was payin' mighty close attention when the kid gave you the amount earlier, cuz if it ain't all there, I can't guarantee he will be, either." There was a brief pause for emphasis before the voice continued. "Oh, an' make sure he comes alone. Or things might get interestin'."

Author's Note: I was so gonna do the entire chapter as a mirror to "Carryin' the Banner", but it just didn't work out and I didn't want it to end up just being corny. As you will see next chapter, the little bits in there (namely the whole thing with chasing down Catwoman) actually fit into the plot, so anything else woulda just been silly. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! I can't wait to hear from you guys! And hopefully the next chapter won't be so long in coming. Sorry to leave you guys hanging...