A quiet groan escaped Batman as he stirred awake from under the pile of rubble. His eyes opened slowly, remaining half closed as his mind took a moment to comprehend that it was waking up. After a brief moment of silent contemplation and assessment of what was going on, Batman knew exactly where he stood - or in his case, lay.
His body was in pain. That was the first thing that registered in his mind; he felt a few ribs cracked, one or two even broken. He was getting a sharp pain in his left hamstring, the feeling as if something was jabbing him from underneath, so he knew that he must have been laying on something sharp. Other than that, the bruising on his body was immense, for he could feel the tenderness of his skin underneath the debris. He'd be sore for a while. That was assuming he would even get out of his predicament alive.
His current situation was a difficult one. Already, he had tried to move, but the debris held him in place. His arms were pinned underneath a beam and several attempts to pull them free proved to be useless. He couldn't even send off a distress signal to Alfred or Oracle, for he couldn't get to his transmitter. Help wouldn't be coming, and from the look of how empty the church was, nobody was going to be passing by on a stroll.
Sighing and laying his head back, Batman stared up through the hole in the ceiling at the night sky. How much time had gone by since he blacked out? Was it the same night? Judging by the raging hunger and thirst he was feeling, his first guess would have been that at least twenty-four hours had gone by since he went unconscious. The sharp pain in his head suggested that a blow to it had been what knocked him out, and the stickiness on the side of his face had to have been dry blood from the previous day. At least he was thinking clearly; that meant that no damage had been done permanently. To him, it was just a scratch and it was the least of his problems.
Batman grunted quietly, knowing that his situation was bad. In pain, unable to move and help nowhere nearby had him counting the days that he could make it without food and water. The average person could go several days without water and even more without food, but Batman was no normal man; he could probably stretch it a little bit longer by sheer willpower, but his body could only take so much. He was going to need a miracle.
"I just don't get it, Al," Dick said for the third time, standing in front of the large bat computer and staring at the screen as if it were some foreign object. The screen was covered with several different files on random criminals that were in no way related to each other on any level. Their profiles were displayed, complete with a picture and basic information like their names, ages and crimes committed. Staring at them gave Dick no further insight to Batman's whereabouts. "Are you sure these were the people he was investigating?"
"Yes, Master Dick. He was actually just starting to build a case on them, but then this happened," Alfred replied, looking over the profiles themselves before returning his eyes to Dick. "Perhaps they realized early on that he was snooping?"
"If these guys noticed anything, it had to have been punching them in the face. None of them seem organized enough to pull off a successful heist, so I doubt capturing the Batman was even on their minds. Nah, whoever did it knows what they are doing." Crossing his arms over his chest, Dick tapped his chin lightly with his index finger and continued to look over the screen. "Hey Babs, can you pull up any recently released Arkham patients? No more than a a few months back."
"As you wish, Man Wonder," Oracle's voice came from the speakers on the computer and the small image of her in the corner of the screen moved as she typed away at her own computer. "Only one was released on probation, but several others have escaped recently from what I heard on the news. Give me a sec."
"Please tell me they're small fries. I'm in no mood to deal with the Joker or any of the other major nutjobs," Dick mentioned. He also didn't want to have to call in backup for the sake of dealing with one of the big wigs; sometimes it was best to be more safe than sorry, especially when handling some of the maniacs that they dealt with.
"Well, I can tell ya it's not the Joker," Oracle finally answered after what seemed like minutes. Dick perked up, his eyes returning to the screen as the former Batgirl sent the information to the bat computer, showing who was out. Dick's expression remained serious as his eyes crossed over several familiar faces. Two-Face, Penguin and Bane were the three that stood out the most. "Go ahead and wipe Penguin off of your list. He's in Europe on "business." Has been for two weeks."
"So that leaves Bane and Two-Face. Lucky me."
"Bane is the most recent escapee, but that was a week ago. Two-Face has been out for three."
"Both of them have had plenty of time to come up with something for Batman," Dick added matter-of-factly as he glanced at Alfred. "Guess I'll start with those two."
"Are you sure you can handle this, Master Dick? Bane and Two-Face are..." Alfred hesitated for a moment, trying to think of the right words. He didn't even have to finish; Dick knew exactly what he meant. They were extremely dangerous and the old man was actually expressing his concern. Dick smiled just slightly.
"I know, Al. I'll be careful," he said as he brought his hand down on the old man's back lightly. Alfred was always good at playing the part of stoic butler when he needed to be, but now his surrogate son was missing without a trace and two of Batman's most notorious villains were loose. Bane had already broken Batman's back once and Two-Face had done his share of damage over the years as well. Dick was not thrilled about dealing with either one.
"Okay, so I get that you two are having a moment and it's beautiful by the way," Oracle's voice cut-in. "But do I need to remind you both that Bruce is still out there?"
Dick didn't even hesitate. "Oracle, find out where Two-Face and Bane could be and have all of the information ready by the time I come back down." Dick patted Alfed's back a few times before moving toward the Grandfather Clock entrance to the batcave. "I won't be long."
"Sure thing, Former Boy Wonder," Oracle replied and began to type away at her computer.
Upstairs, Dick was in Bruce's study going through all sorts of documents and receipts, trying to figure out if there was anything going on at Wayne Enterprises that would have made him enemies. Unfortunately most of the business and finances were taken care of by Lucius Fox, so the possibilities of paper trails would be limited at the Manor. If he wanted anymore information, he would have to go straight to the source. Sighing, Dick plopped down in the large chair behind Bruce's desk and ran his fingers through his long black hair.
"I've already talked to Lucius and he says that Master Wayne hasn't made any major decisions regarding Wayne Enterprises of late," Alfred's voice seemed to come out of nowhere, drawing a weary glance from Dick. He was already losing nightfall and still had no leads save for the possibility of two maniac criminals on the loose. However, that was hardly a lead. In fact, that was the story of Gotham City almost every night; criminals reeking havoc in the streets causing chaos - it was a mess. "I think it's safe to assume that he is Batman out there."
"I figured that too. If someone had Bruce, I think they would have made it known by now," Dick mentioned, eyes still pouring over all of the papers on the desk as if the answer would pop up right in front of him. "You said he took the Lamborghini out?"
"Yes, sir," Alfred mentioned, eyes quirking up in interest. He knew where Dick was going with that.
"Track it, I'll start there. Though...I'm sure if Bruce left it behind, it's probably nowhere near where it was, especially after a day." Dick mentioned. If he was lucky, it was still in the last place Bruce left it, but Dick had a feeling it wasn't going to be that easy. Gotham was too corrupt a place for a car like that to stay idle for too long.
"I'll set up the signal for the homing device on your motorcycle. I'm assuming that is what you're taking tonight?"
"Yeah, what'd you expect? The Batmobile? Not my style." A smile crept onto Dick's face as he stood up and moved toward the only bag he had brought with him. He stole a glance at Alfred and noticed the old man's tired features. There was a hint of dark circles forming below his eyes and he was also actually looking his age for the first time in years. The worry and stress from Bruce going missing was beginning to take its toll on him and it had only been one day. "I'll find him, Al. Don't worry."
"Be careful out there, Master Richard," Alfred replied, and Dick caught the silent implication of, 'I don't want to lose you too.' Nodding, Dick pulled his Nightwing costume out of the bag as he made his way back into the batcave. Oracle was still up on the screen typing away diligently while he slipped into his costume and put on his mask.
"Oooh don't tease me, Man Wonder," Oracle said, the sounds of her typing still evident. She hadn't even looked up from her own screen.
Dick couldn't contain a smile. "You know you miss it." As he spoke, he made his way to his motorcycle, ready to head out in search of his mentor.
"I'll send the information to your computer while you're out. Be careful out there, Dick."
"Always, Babs." Dick slipped on his helmet and revved up his motorcycle before speeding out of the cave.
