Less than 24 hours later Dick sat at his desk in a corner of Bruce's private office. His guardian had brought it in years ago as a way for them to spend more time together. Bruce had decided to keep Dick with him for the next few days, just to be safe until Two Face was out of the jail and back at Arkham and the prototype with the League. He briefly glanced down at the folder that contained the adoption papers before turning his attention back to his partner. Dick was lost in his work, eyes focused on the screen, fingers running across the keyboard in a blur. Currently he was hacking the Lex Corp main frame to get the full schematics of whatever Lex was building. "Oh man" he groaned leaning back in his chair "this is bad".
Bruce put the folder down and walked over to look at the screen "What is it?"
Dick waived his hand over the image "This is one nasty robot, he needs the prototype to sync all the systems together, right now the operating systems is too complex for anything else to handle" he said gravely "seriously, only Lex Luthor would build something with a Kryptonite Cannon and pure Yellow energy beams, by the way you might want to let GL know Lex got his hands on a yellow ring. And those are only the tip of the ice berg, there seems to be something on there to specifically handle each of the heavy hitters...well except for you, though the rockets and guns may be what he had in mind. He has a downgraded model that he has manufactured either to sell or as his own person army. If he decides to sell one the black market there would be plenty of interest Queen Bee, every nut in Arkham, and various other militant groups or hostile countries just to name a few. Do you mind if I send this to KF so he can take a look at it too?"
Bruce nodded "Send one to the Watchtower as well just make sure the connection is secure and can't be traced back here". His ward gave him an annoyed look before working on stealing the files and eliminating his trail. "Will you be okay here? I have a meeting with Lucius and the Attorney's about the buyout, oh, can you call Alfred and let him know we might be late getting home. After last night he may send the army out after us."
"Sure, and I'll be fine…don't you have guards outside you tried to hide from me on the way in…a virus! A virus is how we take this thing down" he attention fully back on his new project. Bruce smiled; he was getting good, and returned to his desk gathering the necessary papers for his meeting.
Lawrence Crock looked around the foyer of the grand manor with a growl of frustration. He had come to fetch the boy, who as of now still proven elusive, despite repeated searches of the house and tearing everything he could get his hands on apart. He knew he wasn't at school; they were closed for teacher enrichment. The aging butler had put up little fight when he opened the door for a "parcel" delivery, merely yelling "Intruder" before he was knocked to the floor. With a growl he remembered the old man tied up on the floor. "Where is he Old Man?" he questioned pulling a vicious looking knife from his jacket.
"Master Bruce is not at home" he said calmly not at all phased by the knife.
"I don't care about where Wayne is" he shot using the knife to lightly scratch his face, leaving an angry red line that seeped blood. "The boy, where is the boy?" Alfred's gentle eyes hardened "I will tell you no such thing, the Young Master has been through enough without the likes of you getting near him". Lawrence raised his arm, prepared to deliver a vicious blow when the phone in Alfred's jacket pocket began to ring. The mercenary snatched it, looking at the ID: Master Grayson. "See that wasn't so hard" he said patting him on the cheek, wiping the blood on his crisp white shirt before walking out the door. He waited patiently as the phone finally went to voice mail and a message was delivered.
Greedily he played it back "Hi Alfred, hope you have started dinner yet, Bruce just wanted me to let you his meeting may run over and to not worry if we were late getting back from the office…" Not needing to hear anymore he dropped his phone into a pocket inside his vest and easily hopped the wall surrounding the manor and retrieving his bike from the bushes.
Kid Flash bolted inside the mountain, vibrating with excitement to get his hands on the file Robin had sent a few hours ago. Since getting the text at school he had nearly been thrown out of class 4 times for not paying attention. Skidding to a halt in front of the computer he began to decrypt the file, and considering it was Robin that encrypted it this process alone was going to be a challenge.
"Nice to see you too Baywatch" Artemis said, still annoyed he'd gone completely nuts last night, raging about going to Gotham and helping rescue Bruce Wayne's Ward, resulting in them getting locked down for the majority of the night. "Oh sorry, hi" he said fingers flying across the keyboard "Where is everyone?" he asked realizing they were alone "Well Megann has an away game to cheer at something about playoffs, Kalder is in Atlantis for some extensive training with the Queen, the den 'mothers' are at a briefing at the Watchtower, and Superboy is out with Superman". The last statement actually got Wally to stop and turn to her "Seriously? You made sure it was really Big Blue right and not some sort of evil alien coming to kill us" Artemis actually offered a small smile "Yeah he was pretty shocked too but went, what is this?"
Wally began working on the decryption again "Something Robin sent, he and Bats found it wherever it is they find things when off doing the dynamic duo thing". Curiosity spiked she pulled up another chair and allowed the red head to work. It took another 10 minutes and a lot of frustrated grunts before the file finally opened.
Artemis felt the breath leave her lungs "Oh God" she said.
The speedster found himself speechless allowing the archer to pull up the various files. The poured over the notes for nearly a half hour before rubbing his temples "I think Robin is right, a virus may be the only way to go after this thing if Luthor is ever able to get it operational, his phone suddenly vibrating causing him to jump. Pulling it out he went to decline the call stopping when he saw the name, oh this can't be good. "Agent A?" he asked tentatively feeling as if he was on very thin ice in front of Artemis, hearing the sounds of a struggle in the background. Pressing the phone to his ear "Agent A, are you okay?" he pressed. More struggles and furniture breaking made his heart speed up grabbing a pad of paper scribbling a message "Call Batman!"
She moved to comply a voice finally booming over the phone "One way or another you are coming with me Grayson!" She spun at a speed that made Wally take notice "Dad?" pulling the phone to her ear as well. They were rewarded with a familiar voice "Like hell I am" and with another crash and the line went dead.
"Rob!" Kid yelled forgetting himself shaking the phone as if it would get the call back "Robin!" he cursed something else hitting him like a truck "…wait dad!"
Artemis cursed her own slip of the tongue "Fine, Sportsmaster is my father, Cheshire my sister, the League brought me here to protect m…wait Grayson…that was Robin's voice, you said Robin, I heard Robin…and how you were acting last night when you saw the coverage about Wayne's Ward..." she stopped putting the pieces together.
"Right, yeah so since Batman is going to kill me anyway" Wally said pulling the phone up again, calling the number he had been told to never call unless the world was ending. The first time it rang and rang, eventually going to voice mail. He hung up dialing again "This time a gruff voice picked up trying to sound pleasant, "Wally Dick has his own…"
"Dick is being attacked by Sportsmaster…"
"My office, Gotham now!" and the line went dead. Wally obeyed "Come on beautiful" scooping a startled Artemis up and running towards the Zeta tubes.
Rubbing his tired eyes Dick got up to stretched; hopefully the meeting would be done soon. He had made great strides on the virus anxious for Wally to call him with his input. Though unable to completely shut down the robot if it were ever activated, would be enough to take out its major weapons, giving the League a fighting chance at it. Though getting the Kryptonite out would be a key, with it Superman and Superboy wouldn't be able to get near it.
Outside the office doors he heard what sounded like a scuffle and muffled shouting. Concerned he began to walk to the door, forced to dive to the ground with the doors shattered and the body of one of the security guards flew through. Dick looked up in time to see a large, menacing shadow fill the frame "Sorry, I forgot to make an appointment, I hope you can see me now" Sportsmaster said.
Dick cursed; no doubt Luthor had worked fast and had sent the mercenary after the prototype. Remembering he had cover to maintain "Who are you and what do you want?" he asked moving away slowly. Crock turned finally spotting his quarry "You" he said simply.
There is NO way this is happening twice in 2 days Dick inwardly seethed making a mental note for Dick Grayson to start taking some very public self-defense lessons. Unable to fight he went for one what he had on hand, eyes falling on a bookcase full of awards Bruce had received over the years…very heavy awards. Diving he grabbed of the large crystal ones, hurling it as hard as he could, hitting Sportsmaster in the chest. The award hit his chest with a thud, before falling to the floor "Cute…One way or another you are coming with me Grayson!"
"Like Hell I am" Dick shouted back throwing another award. He knew that a trophy wouldn't do much against the man but he needed to buy time to get to the Panic Room at the back of the office. The Board had it installed for Bruce years ago; after a team of terrorists had stormed the building after new technology they were developing.
Sportsmaster ran at him with a cry, Dick tipping two receiving chairs into his path while easily flipping over the couch and up to the top of one of the bookcases that lined the walls, well out of reach. "I grew up in a circus, don't look so shocked" he spat flipping to another bookcase farther from his attacker and closer to safety.
The Mercenary took a moment compose himself and study the room, the boy was clearly moving somewhere, interestingly away from the main door…meaning there had to be some sort of refuge at the back of the office. He subtly followed the boys eyes to what seemed to be a closet door. Smiling under his mask he began taking slow measured steps forward the boy mirroring his moves keeping a healthy distance. As he walked he laughed "You're stalling, if its help you are waiting for its not coming. I disabled the elevators and blocked the stairwells". Sportsmaster slowly reached behind his back and into his vest pulling out his Javelin, extending it with a soft click.
Dick saw the weapon and decided it was now or never. Leaping with a final flip he landed on Bruce's ornate desk, flinging the computer monitor at his attacker. Sportsmaster was forced to swat it away allowing him to dive for the door, his hand hitting the button. The metal door easily opened as the Javelin imbedded itself in the wall a mere inches from his fingertips. Grateful he had missed it only took seconds to realize he hadn't missed, a soft hissing followed by gas. Dick coughed as it invaded his lungs, making him dizzy almost instantly he tried to make it into the safe room, only to collapse in its doorway in a heap.
"Not so springy now are we?" he taunted placing the message from his employers and driving a dagger into the desk, just as Ra's had instructed. Turning to leave, a piece of paper caught his eye "Petition for Adoption…" Smiling he took the paper and placed it in his pocket. "You are a nice little bit of leverage aren't you?" He said easily gathering the boy, heading for the large balcony outside the office. As he walked he could hear the barricade start to give way and the explosives he had set there went off, shattering the windows of the office's lobby, stopping any would be rescuer. Once on the balcony a helicopter approached, Cheshire at the controls.
He tossed the unconscious boy ahead of him climbing in the door "Time to go Little Girl" he shouted just as Bruce Wayne came running onto the balcony shouting something that was lost to the blades of the chopper. Wayne ran forward, Lawrence first surprised the exposition didn't stop him and second if he didn't know any better the playboy fully intended to jump for the chopper. Not wanting to risk it after seeing the boys little display of acrobatics he threw a handful of his discus disks just before the frantic billionaire, Lex needed him alive. They exploded on contact, blasting Bruce back and he crashed to the ground laying still. Had the mercenary looked back he would have seen a yellow and green blur arriving at Bruce's side.
As they flew away Sportsmaster picked up the headset "Took you long enough" his daughter chided guiding them through the maze of buildings as fast as she could get the craft to go, heading to a wooded area just outside the city. "Took me awhile to find him" he grunted back suddenly noting the second passenger with flaming red hair "That doesn't look like your sister".
Cheshire landed the craft hard getting out before the blades stopped spinning, throwing the doors open. "She never came home; Mom said she had a 'project' to work on". Translation she was with her new little team, the location of their base still unknown to him and his employers.
"So who is this then?" he asked pulling the unconscious Dick out, binding his wrists and ankles before putting him in the waiting van. Cheshire repeated her father's actions revealing Roy Harper as she flipped him over to get his wrists "Look Ra's and Lex wanted one of Arrow's and seeing as our first choice was unavailable I went to plan B". Once the hero was secured Sportsmaster threw him in the back of the van, before jumping into the driver seat and pulling off his mask. "Fine, but don't expect me to cover for you if they are displeased, now take off your mask and get in, it's time for a little family trip".
Wally cursed as he collapsed on the ground next to Bruce Wayne, his legs spent after he pushed them to the limits. "We're too late" Artemis said sadly lowering her bow, the chopper disappearing behind a building before she could get a shot off. "Mr. Wayne" she said gently looking him over for injuries. He appeared to have some minor burns and scratches from being thrown back "Mr. Wayne can you hear me?" Blue eyes blurrily opened and his training kicked in forcing his mind out of its stupor "Richard? The guards?" The poor men had pulled him back and proceeded to break down the doors themselves, getting caught in the explosion.
Artemis shook her head "I'm sorry sir, we were too late for your ward, I don't know about the guards". Bruce dropped his head "And may I ask who you are…"
"No need for that B, she knows" Wally said bracing himself as he felt the "Bat Glare" upon him, hoping he would make it quick. Artemis hurried to his aid helping them both stand, Wally's legs still wobbling "It was an accident", she said quickly "he was just worried about Robin…he knows about me too".
"I see" Bruce said his voice now dark "Inside, you have a lot of explaining to do"
Consciousness returned slowly and painfully to Roy Harper the last traces of the gas and the blow to his head beginning to lose their hold on him. Slowly opened his eyes to take stock of his surroundings, realizing with a start he was in a van…never good to wake up in a van…with your hands and feet bound. Brain still fuzzy he tried to piece together how this had happened. He was downtown, meeting Ollie for coffee, his former guardian insistent on seeing him to talk things over, the events at the charity event apparently stirring his protective streak again. He was waiting when he'd seen something in the alley across the street…Cheshire! He'd seen Cheshire across the street, and like a cocky idiot went into a dark alley looking for her, and right into a trap. Craning his neck he could see two figures in the front seat.
Next to him he heard a groan, Ollie? It didn't sound like Ollie, but had she taken them both? What was it; all the villains suddenly short on cash? How he loathed being used as an ATM card to his former guardians bank account, though it had been years since the last time this had happened. His secret life wasn't nearly as secret as some of the other heroes and he was able to defend himself better. Or had Red and Green Arrow been taken? Rolling over he was met with a familiar pair of blue eyes, though not who's he expected to see, "Dick?" he asked shocked. It had been awhile since he'd seen his young friend, his estrangement from Ollie preventing them from running into each other as much.
"Hey Roy, long time no see" he said groggily their voices eliciting their captor to turn form the passenger seat. "I see the bait is awake" she purred.
Anger bubbled inside of Roy "I am not bait, besides Ollie could care less what happens to me now" he said hotly pulling at the bindings. Sportsmaster chuckled "Our employers and I would beg to differ Mr. Harper, besides we felt a little insurance was necessary our employers are very busy men and don't want to be bothered by your mentors friends in the Justice League or your own little friends and the their sad excuse for a team. Roy knew that there was no point in denying anything right now, "Then let the kid go, you get everything you need with me".
Dick shook his head "Roy no" he said quietly. If they knew who Roy was, did they know who he was?
"Such a noble act, sacrificing yourself for the boy, I understand you are friends…once almost like brothers" Sportsmaster said the look on Roy's face telling him everything "No, the kid is needed for his own special purpose. Mr. Wayne is in possession of a very important piece of technology that we need his assistance in obtaining, worth a great deal more money than you, and should keep you from doing anything…foolish".
They didn't seem to know about Robin Dick realized breathing a small sigh of relief still mortified that he was being used as barter for the final piece to activate an army of killer robots and to keep Red Arrow in line. "Didn't you see what happened to the last guy that tried this, it didn't end well, not for any of them" he finally shot. Pulling himself up slightly to see out the front window anxious to see where they were going. They appeared to be on a highway, a road sign just coming into view "Welcome to Metropolis". Making sure no one was looking back he mouthed the destination to Roy.
Cheshire turned back with a wicked smile on her face, "We are not them…" holding out 2 gags "you really think we'd drive into Metropolis without making sure Superman couldn't find us".
The ride to the Manor had been terrifyingly fast and tense for even the speedster, making Wally wish he had just run, but his legs were still recovering and he desperately needed to eat. In the driver's seat Bruce was gripping the steering wheel so tightly his hands were white. They had left the building as soon as they could, Bruce checking on the security guards and telling the Commissioner he had to get home to check on Alfred. Had it been anyone else the commissioner would have insisted on him staying. In the passenger seat the dagger and envelope sat unopened and two teenage heroes in the back. He darkly eyed the envelope and dagger, the dagger giving him the most pause as it belonged to a member of the Demon's Head, Ra's Al Ghul was sending him a personal message.
"No one at the Watchtower is responding but I was able to reach Superman, he is dropping Superboy at the Mountain and will meet us there" Artemis said. "Good" Bruce snapped taking the final turn too fast. Strong arms wrapping around her to keep her in place, Wally's eyes wide at Bruce's aggressive driving "I've got you" he whispered really wishing he had run now.
The car skidded to a halt by the front door, Bruce cursing when he saw it was wide open. "Alfred" he called running up the steps, terrified he had lost 2 of his family members in one day. He ran in the foyer, nearly tripping over the man he had seen as a father for so many years. "Alfred" He shouted "Wally, get some water, Artemis help me get him undone".
"Master Bruce" Alfred said weakly before starting to sit up in a panic "Master Dick, he was after Master Dick!" Bruce tried to get him to lay back as Artemis worked on the knots recognizing her father's handy work anywhere and Wally returned with the water. Seeing the two heroes Alfred fell back slightly "He found him didn't he?"
Bruce could only nod, gently undoing the coils around his wrists, revealing angry purple bruises. "Sir it was the Sportsmaster, I'm sorry, the phone he heard my phone it was Master Grayson…" He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as he guided him to one of the chairs still intact and gestured around the destroyed room "You seem to have held him off pretty well my friend, if anything it is my fault since I told Dick to call you".
"He would have found him not matter what any of you did" Artemis said pulling a small first aid kit from the bottom of her quiver beginning to gently clean the cut on his face "Once dad has a job he doesn't let it go…to be honest Alfred is lucky to be alive as are the people at Wayne Enterprises".
Wally gestured to the envelope and dagger momentarily forgotten on the floor "Why was he taken though?"
A gust of wind announced Superman's arrival and Bruce picked them up satisfied Alfred was okay. "I have a hunch" the Man of Steel said his eyes falling on Wally and Artemis "Oh thank heavens, they are with you…" Bruce had an uneasy feeling beginning to build as he opened the letter.
You have lost your touch Bruce, shown weakness in a world that can tolerate none. I want what is rightfully mine, prototype for your son. Come alone, NO police, NO Batman, NO Justice League, NO children or you will never see him again. 9am my office- Lex Luthor
"Cocky much?" Wally said "how does he know you won't go public or to the police with this?"
"He knows I won't risk it, not with Dick's life…and if I were to go public after getting him back there is no way I could prove this came right from him, Sportsmaster was the one that took him with a number of witnesses and on tape, he could say he was a victim as much as Dick was" Bruce turned and fixed a penetrating glare on his friend "Superman, why were you so relieved to see Wally and Artemis? What else happened? "
With a heavy sigh he responded, not wanting to place any more pressure on his friend "Roy was taken approximately 45 minutes before Richard, Ollie has been frantic with worry they were supposed to meet and a waitress delivered a note stating "we will be in touch"…even worse when Black Canary returned to the Mountain and found Kid and Artemis missing. She assumed a coordinated attack on our side…partners". Wally's face fell and he took a step back as if someone had punched him in the gut, two of his best friends taken in the same day. Artemis quickly squeezed his hand in a show of support, Roy wasn't her favorite person in the world but she didn't want him in danger, especially in the hands of her father and Lex Luthor. "Wally, Artemis, go call your mentors, they are worried". The two immediately obeyed stepping outside for some privacy, Superman waiting until they were gone "This is about more than a weapon isn't it".
"This is about revenge" Bruce said "Oliver kept Luthor away last night so Dick and I could close the deal, we hit him where it hurts most…his pride…he is returning the favor knowing we have something far more valuable".
To Be Continued….