I am so very, very, very sorry this took so long to write. Life has happened to me in a big way this summer. I do promise to finish it but it'll be slower then I want it to be. I'm super, super sorry guys.
Hope it was worth the wait (probably not)
Bruce found Tim asleep on the Bat computer for the fourth night that week.
Dick had been true to his word. No one could find him, not Bruce, not Barbara, not Clark but he sent an email to Tim every few days and every time he did, Tim spent the whole day and the next night trying to trace it. While Bruce appreciated the gesture he was starting to worry about the overall effects of sleep deprivation on his younger son.
He put his hand on Tim's shoulder and gently shook him awake.
"Yeah?" he asked sleepily, lifting his head off the keyboard. Bruce almost smiled at the letter prints in the side of Tim's face. "Did you hear from Dick?"
"No," he said. "How long as it been since you slept in a bed?" Tim shrugged.
"Depends what time it is," he answered through an enormous yawn.
"Go to bed," Bruce ordered him. "I'll finish." Tim nodded, rubbed his eyes and stood up. The poor kid looked like his head was too heavy to hold up and he was obviously straining to hide another yawn. Bruce managed a paternal, if not affectionate, smile for the boy and then turned back to his work.
It had been almost three months since Dick had left the Cave. Bruce had thought there was nothing worse than loosing his son in a city decimated by a nuclear blast, but he was wrong. Loosing his son in the world, that was much worse. If Bruce could have devoted a hundred and sixty hours a week to finding Dick it might still not be enough, but that wasn't possible. Just because he sometimes felt like his world had stopped turning didn't mean it had for anyone else.
Particularly a very violent group of human traffickers.
The computer chirped at him. He didn't mean to sound as irritated as he did when he answered. "Oracle," he said. "What have you got?"
"Nothing on Dick," she said, sighing. Bruce didn't know what had happened between them, she still didn't want to talk about it, whatever it was, but the months without speaking to him were lining her face and weighing on her shoulders. "But if you're looking for a roster of shipping schedules that probably have kidnapped children being sold into sex slavery, I might be able to help you."
Bruce didn't sigh very often, and it came out more like a growl. It would be satisfying to have that situation sorted out and there would be more time to search for Dick, but it still wasn't really what he wanted to hear.
"Good," he said. Without realizing what he was doing, Bruce's hands clenched into fists. If he couldn't find his son, he'd accept punching faces as the most reasonable substitute as he was likely to get. "Send it over."
"Have you found anything?" she asked. Bruce shook his head and she nodded, swallowing shallowly.
"No," he said. "He emailed Tim last night, but as usual he didn't leave us anything."
"But he's alive," she breathed. Bruce could see her hands shaking. "He's alive."
"Yes," Bruce agreed. And that was what mattered. Dick was good, he was one of the best, but he'd make a mistake eventually and one of them would see it. The search was exhausting but it couldn't go on forever. As long as he was alive. If he died, they could be searching for a body that would never be found. "He's alive."
She looked at him. Her eyes looked tired, a little bloodshot and Bruce wondered if she was sleeping at all. He knew he wasn't. Never mind finding the time to actually sleep, most nights it took hours for his mind to slow down enough for it to be possible. "Well that's something I guess," she said softly.
"Can you see if you can hack his message?" Bruce asked.
"I'll try," she agreed. "But he's being really careful. I doubt I'll find anything." Bruce nodded. If it wasn't so irritating he would be proud of the boy for disappearing as well as he had. "I'll talk to you later then," she said. Whatever she was going to do, it was more important than uncomfortable conversations with him.
"Thank you Oracle," he said. She smiled.
That was it, there was nothing else to add.
After a few hours of getting nowhere with finding Dick and forming a practically perfect plan to take out the traffickers the following night, Bruce dozed off.
It didn't last long of course. He wasn't sure if it was Alfred moving around the Cave or if he just woke up, but the clock pointed out that he'd only missed about fifteen minutes.
"I assume it is pointless to suggest you sleep in a bed," Alfred said. He was worried too, and it was weighing on him, his patience was shorter and his wit somewhat crueler than usual.
"Yes," Bruce growled at him.
Alfred shrugged it off and continued with whatever he was doing. Cleaning. Bruce tried not to sigh. It wasn't Alfred's fault either, none of it was, but that didn't make it any more bearable.
Bruce checked the email again. It was short. "Dear Tim, hope that this email finds you well and without any broken bones. Just wanted to let you know I'm okay, travelling at the moment, and check in on you. I know this is probably driving you crazy, but I don't want you to feel like you're alone. If you need anything reply to this email. I'll get it. Take care."
He growled at it. Alfred raised an eyebrow quizzically at him but didn't say anything. Bruce stood up slowly and walked away from the computer. There was preparation for the raids to do and sitting around waiting for something was driving him crazier. Besides which, he was tired. He couldn't tell Alfred of course but he was.
"Sir," Alfred said quietly.
"What?" Bruce asked, turning back slowly.
"One of your computer programs has turned something up," he said, frowning thoughtfully.
"Which one?" Bruce demanded, suddenly not feeling as tired as he had. Alfred didn't have a chance to answer of course, before Bruce was looking over his shoulder. "One of Dick's known aliases picked up a hit at the Chicago airport."
"Really?" Alfred said a little breathlessly. Bruce sighed too, a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "When?"
"A few days ago," Bruce said, checking the time on the data.
"Well, at least he's back in the country," Alfred said.
"Yeah," Bruce agreed. "And now we've got something we can use to track him. Why would he go to Chicago?"
"Either there's something there he wants or it was the most convenient place to fly into," Alfred said. "Given that he hasn't used any of your money, that may have been a factor."
"Probably," Bruce agreed. "In which case he probably wouldn't stay in the city for long. Where would be go?"
"I would expect back to Bludhaven," Alfred said. "For closure of some kind, if nothing else. He still has friends there too."
"You're probably right," Bruce agreed. "And he could be there by now, depending on how he was travelling."
"Yes," Alfred agreed. "I will start looking at car rentals and buses, although he'll mostly likely be too clever to leave us anything there."
"No, probably not," Bruce agreed. "But check anyway. And let Barbara know too. He might go to her first."
"Of course," Alfred agreed. "But surely, if he wants us to find him we will."
"I want to find him, whether he wants it or not," Bruce growled. "But I have to go out tonight, to handle this smuggling ring."
"Never mind," Alfred said. "Master Timothy and I can handle the search."
"Don't involve Tim yet," Bruce said. "Not until we're sure." Alfred nodded.
"Perhaps that's for the best," he agreed. "Very well then, I will track down Master Richard, while you handle the human traffickers. Would you like Tim to accompany you?"
"Only if he's awake," Bruce growled. "He hasn't been sleeping much lately."
Alfred looked like he was going to make a snide remark but decided to keep it to himself . Bruce turned away from him.
As he dressed, Bruce admitted to himself that his heart was beating faster than it should be and his chest felt strangely light, like it was easier to breath. His hands were steady, he wasn't nervous, not really but still on some basic level, some part of his brain was dashing ahead madly.
Dick would be home soon.