A/N: Thanks for the favs and follows. They are super motivating!
Bruce felt an icy ball settle in the bit of his stomach as his senses began to run wild, something was wrong. Knowing there was only one thing that caused that ball to form he began to search the room for his son, oblivious to Gerty babbling next to him. Without so much as a goodbye he took off. He moved quickly across the dance floor, trying not to run, or shove anyone out of the way.
Oliver seemed to know he was coming, and turned to his friend a questioning look in his eyes. "Have you seen Dick?" he asked the worry evident in his voice. Oliver shook his head not liking where this was going. "I'm sorry Bruce I haven't seen him for hours, maybe he just stepped out for some air" Bruce shot him a withering gaze as he turned to survey the room again. "Lex, have you seen him?"
Luthor just scowled, he must have been desperate to ask him "I am not a baby sitter Wayne, besides Queen here has been by my side all night". In truth Lex was shocked, he had never seen Bruce Wayne so much as break a sweat before.
The lights went down and gun shots filled the air causing the terrified socialites to drop to the floor screaming. The three businessmen also dropped as glass shattered around them. "Now I remember why I hate coming to events in Gotham" Oliver muttered covering his head. After what seemed like an hour the gunfire stopped and the lights came back up. The room was in shambles, with glass, food, and destroyed furniture littering the floor. Every exit was covered by men wearing two toned masks and large guns.
"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen" a voice shouted from one of the balconies high above the ballroom, causing every head to turn upwards. There stood Two Face, casually flipping his coin, a maniacal grin plastered across his face. "So glad to see you are all here tonight".
"What do you want Harvey?" Bruce yelled the first in the crowd to stand, making himself an easy target. On the floor Luthor cursed, was the idiot trying to get them all killed? He also cursed that someone had crashed the party. It had taken great pains and money to convince the Joker to stay away for the night so he could make his case; he hadn't even considered one of the other crazies that seemed to infest the city would come out. Though none of it seemed to matter now, Wayne had won and he was most likely about to lose another good watch.
Two Face smiled, "Ah Bruce, how are you old friend?" Bruce didn't answer merely squeezing his hands into fists, knuckles cracking from the pressure. "Not chatty I see, you should be flattered we are here to see you…these lovely folks are all free to go…after they pay the toll that is". On queue the goons produced bags "No one needs to play hero, simply hand over any valuables or cash you have and you can be on your way".
Outsides the wails of sirens could be heard as the police began to close in on the scene "Bruce however we need to attend to some private business". Bruce sensed Oliver now standing behind him, knowing most likely that Two Face needed cash and a lot of it, he had been fending off attempts on his territory by Black Mask and Rupert Thorne for over a year now, each stint in Arkham depleting his resources and manpower. He stood firm as the other terrified guests started to file out the door. "Ah, we see" the former DA yelled watching the bags fill "you need some encouragement" he said dangerously.
He reached down below the railing of the balcony and hauled the struggling form of Dick Grayson into view. His arms had been bound behind his back and it appeared his tie used as a gag. Blue eyes found his surrogate father and mentor pleading, not to be saved but to not give him what he wanted. The crowd still in the room gasped, some screamed, but they were forced to keep moving by the armed henchmen.
"No!" Bruce shouted beginning to run only making it a few steps before feeling a restraining hand on his arm. "Bruce no" Oliver hissed grateful he was a civilian right now; Batman would have taken his arm off for stopping him. "I would let him go Mr. Queen and leave with the others" Two Face advised pulling a large gun and placing it at the boys temple causing his struggles to cease "I would hate for little Dickie here to get hurt".
Bruce turned to his friend and secret colleague "Please go" he said aware of Luthor's calculating gaze on him "please just go let Dick's Uncle what has happened, I would hate for him to sit at home and worry". Oliver met his eyes nodding in understanding. "Be careful my friend".
As Oliver walked away a goon took Bruce's arm guiding him down one of the darkened hallways.
Luthor sat back in his limo after giving his statement to the police "To the airport Merci" he said before pulling up the barrier between them. He couldn't wait to get out of this sad excuse for a city. She obeyed without a word, as always. He was surprised that after following him all night like a lost puppy, Queen had vanished nearly immediately after getting outside, no double to contact the League or Wayne's butler who he assumed was the boy's uncle he'd mentioned. The night had been a total disaster and now he had to inform his counterparts at the Light of his 'failure'.
Picking up the phone he didn't wait for a greeting as someone picked up "We have a problem" he said.
"Don't tell me" Ra's Al Ghul drolled in his infuriatingly superior tone "you failed, Gotham's Prince turned on the charm and your sparkling personality was no match for him…or is it even worse and Queen managed to best you". Luthor bit back a retort but if anyone could understand what happened it was the immortal that seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with the billionaire. "He brought his ward and the boy apparently played the sad little orphan card, and that swayed our blubbering friend to accepting Wayne's Offer. Not to mention I had an unwelcome shadow in the form of Oliver Queen, the stupid archer wouldn't give me a second alone with the guy".
Ra's paused surprised Bruce had brought the boy out "Yes, the boy can be excellent motivation". Ra's knew this all too well, his years of watching Bruce showed time and time again the boy was considerable leverage against his civilian and vigilante forms. He even had considered using the boy himself to get the Detective to finally join him. Talia had of coarse disapproved of using a child in his war but he needed an heir, the Detective was who had had chosen as the one….and he was tired of waiting
Luthor snorted breaking the Demon from his thoughts, "You have no idea, and Two Face crashed the party and somehow procured the boy. Last I saw of Wayne he was going to trade something for his life".
Ra's felt an ever so small twinge of pity for the villain; Batman didn't take well to anyone hurting his little Bird, even if it was unknowingly. "Wayne will be fine, no doubt Batman or the League will save him seeing as Green Arrow was present at the incident, and that still leaves us with our little issue of not having what we need to complete the project. Wayne will have it and secret it away to his friends at the Justice League, where we won't stand a chance of finding it anytime soon".
"Well if tonight has shown us anything, Bruce isn't the man he used to be and just needs the proper motivation, we can still get that prototype yet" Luthor said lacing his fingers together. Narrow minded Fool Ra's inwardly shot keeping his face impassive as their alliance was still delicate at best. The defeats handed down by the children were humiliating and the Justice League wasn't going to let them continue to operate unchecked much longer. They needed to move now. However, he though a smiling gracing his regal face, could get everything he wanted out of this. A plan before to form in his brilliant mind, it would be perfect "The others are off world so meet me here as soon as you can, I am calling Sportsmaster, we must work quickly".
Oliver shut the door to his car tapping his communicator the second he was in "Green Arrow to Watchtower" he said unsure of who was on duty.
"How was it?" the silky voice of Black Canary replied, had it been any other night he would have happily flirted with her for a few minutes before getting down to business. "I need Superman now" he barked his voice harsher than he wanted with her, he was one of the very few that knew Dick referred to the Man of Steel as 'Uncle Clark'. "What's wrong?" she said instantly her playful tone evaporating, the clacking of keys telling him she was summoning Superman.
"Richard was taken hostage, Bruce went willingly to get him back" Oliver said quickly now working on getting his costume on. He could hear Canary cursing, shocked at her language, though it solved the mystery of where Roy had picked up some of those phrases.
"When? Who?" Superman demanded his voice strained with worry hearing the explanation as he arrived. It was no secret within the League that Superman was fond of the kid. If only he gave some of that concern to Superboy.
"Now thirty minutes, and Two Face…meaning it's going to come down to the toss of a coin after he gets what he wants" Green Arrow spat pulling his bow and quiver from a hidden compartment on the floor "I couldn't shake the police, Bruce said to call Dick's Uncle and tell him he would hate for him to 'sit home and worry'" The hero knew it was some sort of code that the two had worked out no doubt for just such an occasion and was curious to see what it was himself. Superman didn't give it away "I'll be there in 5 minutes, I need to make a quick stop first, Dinah activate Bruce's tracker and relay the coordinates the Green Arrow".
In the background he could hear another transmission coming in, Black Canary taking it as well as she brought up the tracking"…Kid slow down…yes, I heard…no absolutely not…yes I know you are his friend...I don't care how fast you can get there…no you may not call Red Arrow either…I know you are worried…Superman and Green Arrow are on it…remember the team and most of the League doesn't know who he really is…" Oliver ended the transmission as the tracking data came in; he could only imagine what the other half of that conversation sounded like.
Dick sighed through his gag as he found himself in the all too familiar position of being tied to a chair in a dark warehouse somewhere in the slums of Gotham, waiting for a ransom to be delivered or Batman to break through the door, though Batman breaking down the door was highly unlikely this time. Bruce was going to coop him up in the house again and he'd have to endure another round from Wally on being the most kidnapped person in the world. They were bringing Bruce and were going to force him to give them something, most likely money considering Two Face's recent struggles and turf wars. He allowed himself a few moments of fantasy, that if he was Robin right now he would be through these bindings in seconds and have Two Face in cuffs before he could get anything from Bruce.
He was broken from is revelry as scarred hand grabbed his face looking at him intently, the other hand flipping the coin looking disappointed with the results. "You know I would have never pegged Bruce as a family man" Harvey clearly in control at the moment his voice softer "I figured he would have preferred his flavor of the month to the burden of a child". Dick shouted something through the gag, which came out more of a muffled grunt. The look in the man's eyes changed as Two Face took control "And what a burden you are…making such a strong man so weak, I have to say we were looking forward to beating Bruce into submission". Dick yelled even more his subdued pleas causing the goons to laugh and Two Face to sneer still holding his face "But who's to say we can't have a little fun with you before dear old Bruce gets here" raising his hand.
"Don't touch him!" Bruce roared as he was led into the room, attempting to run to Dick's side as the boy yelled something that sounded suspiciously like "No" through his gag. "No, no, old friend" he said pulling the chair away as a couple of the goons restrained him "You get what you want when we get what we want". He pointed to a computer on one of the desks, an account transfer up on the screen "25 million, now".
Bruce had expected this and only nodded "I just need to know he's okay first". Two Face looked angry but again flipped the coin "Fine" he growled seeing the results and pulling the gag away "Tell daddy you're okay so we can get on with his".
"I'm okay" Dick said looking Bruce directly in the eye, looking for any sort of direction on what to do next. Bruce merely moved his eyes up to the skylight. He gave the faintest of nods before returning to his show "but don't give him hmph…" getting cut off by the gag. Two Face now pulling a knife and placing it to the boy's throat "See, just fine…for now, now give us the money".
Bruce pulled himself free of the goons and moved to the computer "Okay Harvey, just don't hurt him".
Dick watched sadly as Bruce began entering the appropriate account numbers, slower then he knew he was capable of, he was stalling. For a few minutes the only sound that filled the warehouse was the clacking of computer keys and the rhythmic flipping of a coin. "What's taking so long" Two Face growled impatiently after inspecting the results of his latest toss, pressing the knife against Dick's throat hard enough for the blade to bite and begin to draw blood and cause him to whimper. He might as well screamed the way Bruce spun, eyes alight with rage, as he fought to keep control. "I'm going as fast as I can Harvey, please" he pleaded eyes fixed on the knife "I have to pull from multiple accounts to avoid it being frozen, just please don't' hurt him. Two Face grunted and relaxed the blade slightly. Dick couldn't help but be slightly relieved as shadow caught his eye running past the skylight…the cavalry had arrived.
Giving a slight cough feeling after having a knife pressing to his throat this would be an acceptable noise, alerting his mentor to the impending arrival. Bruce kept working but prepared himself to move.
He didn't have to wait long as the skylight shattered, a dark shadow in the form of a bat descending to the floor. Diving behind him he tackled Dick to the ground chair and all, covering his small frame from the shards of glass raining down on them and getting him away from Two Face at the same time. He could hear the villain roar with rage as he was forced to leap back away from the glass.
As the dust settled Batman stood in the center of the room on top of two thugs who had been unable to get out of the way. The remaining goons began to circle the Dark Knight, various weapons appearing in their hands. Bruce grabbed one of the shards of glass and began cutting Dick free "You okay?" the teen nodding and rubbing his freed wrists.
Two Face growled glancing at the screen seeing the transfers still required final authorization before pulling out his gun and pointing it at Bruce and newly freed Dick "We still need that money". Bruce pulled Dick behind him and Batman froze an uncharacteristic smile on his face as he looked up "Boy's kill the Bat!" he seethed advancing on Bruce not noticing the silent communication between the pair. He kept pushing Dick back until he heard his ward mutter "Running out of real estate back here" as they came upon the wall.
Two Face reached forward grabbing Bruce by the collar pulling him right up to his deformed face "The final authorization", the other arm firing the gun into the wall inches from Dick's head. Bright blue eyes were wide, the warning shot ringing in his ears, drowning out the sound of Bruce's enraged yells. . The twang of an arrow being released was the only warning he got, Bruce shoving him away as one of the Green Arrow's net arrow's collapsed around Two Face taking him to the ground with a thud. Bruce was immediately upon him delivering a vicious punch, knocking the villain unconscious. "Nicely done Mister Wayne" Green Arrow said dropping to the floor next to him "but you should really leave this to the professionals". Bruce glared knowing this was all for show should anyone have heard the interaction.
'Batman' still stood firm in the as the final goon tried to land a punch to his face, screaming in pain as it made contact. The Dark Knight merely looked annoyed as he delivered a punch of his own, sending the thug into the far wall were he collapsed in a heap.
Realizing the threats had been neutralized Bruce ignored the other heroes, rushing to Dick's side and pulling him into a tight hug. Dick gratefully returned it "I'm okay, really" he said burying his face in his father's chest, just enjoying the sense of security it gave. Green Arrow felt as if he was intruding on a very private moment and began to busy himself securing Two Face and his Gang, administering a round of knock out gas that was guaranteed to keep them out until morning as he went.
'Batman' looked around the warehouse once more before removing the cowl "We are clear" he said turning to his colleagues. "I have to admit Bruce, I had my doubts about this contingency plan but it seems to have worked out very well" Superman said as he tossed the cowl to its rightful owner. "I'll say" Green Arrow muttered "gave me a heart attack when he showed up on the roof dressed like that". Bruce just nodded, telling both men they were now dealing with Batman.
"Tonight's difficulties aside, we were successful with our main objective. Wayne Enterprises will be in possession of the prototype by tomorrow, a security team is picking it up tonight". He reported keeping a protective hand on Dick's shoulder.
Superman smiled at his 'nephew' relieved to see him safe as well, "John is setting up a secure vault on the Watchtower, though it won't be ready for a couple of days. Will it be safe with you until then?" Batman looked slightly uneasy, Luthor was not known as a gracious looser and he suspected he would make an attempt on the prototype. "I will keep it in the Cave until it can be moved, though I will put a fake in at Wayne Enterprises as to not arouse suspicion. That will also give Robin time to study it".
Dick rubbed his hands together as the prospect of getting his hands on new technology. At once all of their communicators began to go off, Black Canary's slightly frazzled voice coming over the line "Are they safe?"
"We are fine" Batman said hearing her sigh with relief. "Good I'll get the others to stand down and please have Robin call Kid Flash to calm him down, I had to lock down the mountain to keep him there and the team is starting to ask questions".
Bruce scowled, once again questioning his decision to allow Dick to reveal his secret to the energetic speedster; the boy gave a sheepish smile with a shrug before taking the communicator. "…KF, yes I'm fine…dude you have to calm down…look I don't ask to be kidnapped and you are totally over reacting…what do you mean not over reacting, Canary had to lock you in…it was on the news, live…I told you I'm fine, didn't even get drugged this time…seriously…they used Contingency U…yes it was pretty whelming…" Only Superman could hear the rest as the boy walked to a quiet corner.
Oliver approached Bruce his voice low "Are you alright?"
Superman watched sadly a tired expression briefly cross his features "Yes, but instances like these are getting more frequent, escalating in the caliber of criminal. First Zucco, then two bit gangsters or desperate men trying to pay a debt most not succeeding in attempts to even take him, now one of the major players did it right under my nose…how many times has Roy been used like this against you?"
Bruce was searching for affirmation this was normal, normal for someone in their position, that he wasn't doing something wrong. "Three. Twice for ransom and once by a former employee out for revenge" Oliver said grimly, the third one haunting his thoughts, that had been the closest he came to loosing Roy as he was only out for revenge, to hurt him. And that was not counting the times Speedy had been used against Green Arrow, though even as Speedy the kid had nothing on the number of times Robin had been a target.
Bruce's face seemed to fall and the fellow billionaire quickly put his hands up "But Roy was/is different" he said regret seeping into his voice "our identities are widely known…his and my relationship is different…our city is different…worst of all no one ever really saw him as my son, I never officially made him my son, they always saw him as my ward. Look Bruce, I could never take him to a party like you did tonight to convince someone to choose me in a negotiation, hell I would be lucky if he didn't blow up the ballroom, and the residents of Star City don't adore us like they do you. They watched you grow up, shared your loss, and now your joy as you have found a family of your own".
"I haven't officially made him my son either…"
"But he is, a blind many can see how much you care for the boy and you will, knowing you the papers are already drawn up" Superman interjected and Bruce didn't argue, the papers in fact on top of his desk in his office "however you don't need a piece of paper to confirm what you have. I have to say, there are times where I am very jealous…"
"You know you could have it too" Dick said rejoining the men, causing Oliver to jump, they hadn't heard the boy approaching…he was getting good "With Superboy and Roy again, they want and need more than a mentor they need a father right now they just don't know how to ask". Bruce smiled the smallest of smiles as the Man of Steel squirmed at the weight of the teen's words and penetrating gaze. Seeing he had the upper hand Dick continued "And don't you dare say it's different…so what he's clone he didn't choose to be, he was going to be used as a weapon against you and the rest of the League, but he fought it finding the good that is in you in him…and do you think for one millisecond Batman would let him around me if he were dangerous". Clark just sat stunned, his head bowed and ashamed he had never seen it like that "I will talk to him".
"About time" Bruce shot hearing sirens begin to approach "You should go, Dick and I will handle the police, and we will regroup tomorrow".
The two complied, Oliver pulling out his cell phone as soon as they were a few buildings over. Despite the hour he just needed some assurances of his own.
To Be Continued….