High rooftop? Check.

Perfect view? Check.

Comfortable position? Check.

Peaceful night in Bludhaven where all of the criminals in the city decided to take the night off? No such luck.

Nightwing had just settled onto a rooftop and prepared for a night of quiet observation. The cold winter air had lingered in Bludhaven, covering it in a light layer of snow that had most average people clinging to blankets in their own cozy homes. Next to a warm fire. Watching the Late Show. However, Nightwing was far from a normal person which was why he was standing out in the cold and not sipping hot cocoa on his couch. He was hoping, in vain, that the lowlifes of the city had more sense than him at that moment; he hoped that they had decided to stay indoors for the night, keeping warm and planning on committing their crimes at a warmer temperature. Only then, when Nightwing was sure he wouldn't be desperately needed, would he even consider going home himself.

Unfortunately for him, there was no rest for the wicked.

A shrill scream tore Nightwing's attention to the north. His mind was already calculating the distance while his eyes pierced the darkness to scale the area. It took him less than two seconds to assess the route he would take and what kind of tricks he would perform to get there.

"Well, at least this will warm me up," he said to himself before taking off at a run across the roof. When he reached the edge, he sprang off of the side. He soared across the gap between the buildings and landed on the next roof gracefully. There was no hesitation between his feet touching the roof and then taking off again at a run; his moves were fast and fluid, like rushing water. He jumped across two more gaps and landed each one perfectly, following the sound of a now muffled scream along with voices mocking and laughing.

The closer he got, the clearer the noise was to make out. There were several distinct male voices - Nightwing counted five - and then the high-pitched pleas from a woman whose voice matched the scream. Nightwing stole a peek over the edge and into an alley where he saw that five men were holding a young woman hostage. Already, part of her shirt was torn in several places, revealing her bra underneath. The largest of the men had his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her against his body as she struggled to get free. The others taunted her from all sides, taking their sweet time since they believed no one would be rescuing her. The streets were empty and most people had already locked themselves in their homes for the night.

Luckily for the girl, help was there; he was just picking the right moment to strike.

"Don't worry, baby, it won't hurt THAT bad," said one as he moved in closer, reaching out to touch the woman inappropriately. She begged him to stop while the others chuckled and waited their turn.

"I believe the lady said no," Nightwing projected his voice into the alley, watching as all eyes suddenly shot up toward the rooftops and searched frantically for the source. A smirk appeared on Nightwing's face at the looks of confusion and sudden panic in all of their eyes. That's when he decided to make a move.

Swinging down on one of the many ropes he possessed, he brought his legs up high to strike the criminal on the edge of the group. Slamming his feet into the man's left side, Nightwing sent him flying into the alley wall before dropping from his rope and landing nicely on both feet.

"Kill him!" Nightwing didn't get a chance to see who shouted the words before several clicking noises told him that the small gang of criminals had a few guns and were about to fire. As soon as the bullets were released, Nightwing was turning flips into the air and using the building walls to spring off of and dodge the gunfire. As he moved, he drew one of his batarangs and threw it at the three armed men, watching as it knocked the guns out of their hands one at a time. Cries of pain were uttered as they pulled their hands back to nurse, but Nightwing was already moving in to finish them off.

As he approached them again, head on, Nightwing's radio transmitter in his mask started going off and he reached up and answered it. "I'm a little busy right now, pretty lady," he said as he ducked beneath a punch before sending one of his own into the man's ribs. The large one that had been holding the girl threw her on the ground to help his three remaining comrades surround Nightwing. He let it happen for the sake of allowing them believe that they had the upper hand; it made kicking their asses all the sweeter when he saw their defeated faces. These guys were small game, lowlife gang-bangers that posed no real threat to Nightwing at all. He would have fun humiliating them after all that they had probably already done to others.

"Was that sarcasm? 'Cause this is really important," Oracle's voice responded and Nightwing could hear the serious tone in it. Normally she came back with a witty remark or some cute pet name for him, but this time she was very forward with her words.

"Yeah, go on, what's up?" As he spoke, he dodged punches, delivered his own and overall just had no problem keeping up with the four men surrounding him.

Oracle got straight to the point. "Batman is missing."

Her words were enough to make Nightwing freeze for a moment, his eyebrows quirking up in a confused expression. That moment of distraction earned him a straight shot in the cheek, throwing him off balance. He allowed himself to fall into a back handspring, putting some distance between him and the gang-bangers. Once back on his feet, Nightwing tilted his head to both sides, popping his neck. "Wanna say that again?" He continued his conversation with Oracle as he prepared himself to strike again.

"He hasn't been home, there hasn't been any radio contact...and the Batmobile hasn't left the Batcave. He hasn't talked to anyone." The more she spoke, the more Nightwing noticed the distress in her voice.

"Wait, wait, wait," Nightwing said as he dodged a blow meant for his stomach and elbowed the largest of the men in the nose. "Is Batman missing or is-" Nightwing heard the man that he had kicked into the wall coming up behind him, so he immediately sent a back-handed punch right into the guy's face without even looking.

Fortunately, the Oracle got what he was saying. "We're not sure. The Lamburgini and one of the costumes is gone, so he could be either one..."

"How long?" Nightwing sent a kick into another man, knocking the guy's breath out of him before punching him in the face and sending him to the ground.

"Since around six o'clock last night."

"Hold on a sec," Nightwing said fast, planning to finish the small gang off so he could concentrate better on the conversation. After a series of punches, kicks and dodges, the criminals were all on the ground groaning and moaning from pain. "Now what's the lesson we learned today, boys? When a lady says no, it means no. It doesn't mean, "Hey go ahead and do it now." Understand?" Nightwing went to work binding all of the mens' feet and hands and dragging them to a corner until the police arrived. He pretended to dust of his hands as he made his way over to the girl who was curled up in a fetal position on the ground, shaking. Nightwing offered a hand which she accepted and he helped her to her feet. "And the lesson for you, ma'am is not to walk around alone after dark, alright?"

Nodding, the girl replied shakily, "Th-thank y-you."

"Now go on home, I'll make sure you make it back safely." Without another word, Nightwing shot his grappler to the roof and waited for it to hook on before pulling himself up. The girl stared after him with wide and watery eyes before rushing out of the alley and down the street. Her pace was swift, but Nightwing was able to keep up with her on rooftops until she made it home a few buildings down. Stopping on a roof and taking up a sitting position in the corner, Nightwing continued his conversation with Oracle. "Alright Babs, so he's been missing a little over a day. You sure Bruce isn't just being...Bruce?"

"Positive, Dick. He would have at least contacted one of us by now. You know that." She sounded tired by then, as if she had been up all night searching for him herself.

Sighing, Nightwing nodded to himself before leaning his head against the wall and looking up toward the night sky. "I'll be there in a few hours."

Oracle's tone seemed to brighten up just slightly at the statement. "I'll let Alfred know you're coming."

"No, that's okay, I'll call him myself. Any chance I can hit you up for a date when I come in town?"

"No chance. How can you joke at a time like this?"

"...who said I was joking?" Nightwing smiled before telling her goodbye and turning off the transmitter. He took a moment to himself, gathering his thoughts while he sat in the corner. Who was it this time? Two-Face? The Joker? Who could have possibly gotten Batman and been able to hold him for that long? Concern for his mentor was slowly beginning to creep up on him, causing him to finally stir and get up from where he was so that he could be on his way home.

It didn't take him long to get back to his tenement house, swinging through the window of his room and immediately beginning to strip off his costume, becoming Dick Grayson again. He was quick to change into a casual outfit - just blue jeans and a loose white t-shirt - before grabbing a small bag and stuffing his costume, gadgets and extra clothes inside. He wasn't sure how long he would be gone, but he was sure Alfred kept some spare clothes for him at the Manor; packing light was acceptable. He was ready to go in less than ten minutes, moving toward the door and reaching for the handle just as loud knocking made him jump in surprise.

"Mr. Grayson? It's Clancy!" The Irish accent of his landlord came muffled from the other side, drawing a smirk from Dick. He answered his door with an innocent expression on his face, playing the part of a naive tenant like he always ended up doing.

"Huh? Oh hey Clance! I was just leaving," he said as he stepped out and locked the door behind him, turning to talk to her face-to-face. "Is there something you need?"

"Oh...well I was hopin' ta catch ya for a movie night, bu' I guess I was too late," she replied, seemingly a little disappointed. Dick hated doing that to her. She always seemed to want to spend time with him, and all he ever had time for was running around the city at night catching criminals. One of those days, they would be able to go through a "date" without being interrupted.

"Yeah, sorry Clancy. Maybe next time?" Dick wasn't sure why he even bothered to add the last part; chances were that there wasn't going to be a "next time" whether he wanted there to be or not. The look on her face told him that she believed the same thing.

"A'right, Mr. Grayson, I'll be sure ta hold ya to tha'," she said with a smirk turning up the corners of her lips and as she strategically placed her hands on her hips. Dick knew that stance; she meant it. If he didn't follow through with it, she would have his head. She could be a vicious little Asian-Irish woman when she wanted to be. Her wrath was only rivaled by that of Barbara's. He didn't want to be on her bad side.

"Sure thing, Clance," Dick said cheerily, smiling and waving as he walked by with his bag slung over his shoulder. He left the building casually before speeding up his pace to get to his motorcycle parked beside it. He was on it and speeding off before long, traveling through the streets and dodging cars on the way to Gotham. He was barely five minutes away from his tenement house when he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and speed-dialed the Manor's phone number.

It took a few rings, but Alfred finally picked up the phone. "Wayne Manor, Mr. Wayne is not in right now, but I'll be glad to take a message for y-"

"Al, is that how you greet family?" Dick interrupted, unable to keep from smiling. It had been a while since he had seen Alfred in person, so that was something he would look forward to. Otherwise, he was still feeling the heat of having to find Batman. Or Bruce, depending on who he was when he went "missing." At that point, Dick wasn't sure who he was hoping was the one captured; if it was Batman, that meant that it had to be one of the many sadistic villains. And with him missing for so long, then it was hard to imagine what kind of horrible things were being done to him. On the other hand, if it was Bruce, then perhaps someone was just holding him hostage for money. Wouldn't they have heard demands by then, though?

"Master Richard! It's good to hear your voice, sir. Miss Gordan informed me that you would be coming." Eyes widening for a moment, Dick had to chuckle a little to himself. Of course Babs had gone ahead and told Alfred anyway, even after Dick had said he could handle it.

"Yeah, I'm actually on my way right now, Al. Should be there in a few-"

"Are you driving while on your cell phone, sir?" Even over the phone, Dick could pick up the signs of disapproval in the butler's voice.

"...of course not, Al. I wouldn't dare." Unfortunately, the revving of his engine and the sound of rushing wind completely overpowered that lie. Dick knew it wouldn't have worked on the old man anyway, but it was always fun to joke around with him - even if he wasn't joking back. "I'll get all of the details from you when I get there, but see if you can find out anything."

"Right, sir. I'll have everything ready for you upon your arrival. Planning on staying long?"

"I'm hoping I won't have to, Al. See ya soon." With that, Dick hung up the phone and sped off into the night.