January 11, 2001
10:02 PM
Gotham City
Robin
"How's the view?" Nightwing said into his microphone to me.
"Peachy." I grumbled back lowly.
"Hey, we need a lookout." Batgirl replied.
"Get Superman to do it." I replied roughly. "I should be in there with you guys."
For the last year, I had been Robin. However, unlike the last time there had been a Robin, I wasn't the only sidekick to The Caped Crusader. Now, he had Batgirl and Nightwing with him too. They were both older and more experienced than I was, which led to me being used as a spotter more often than either of them had ever been.
"Quit complaining." Batman said from behind me. "He's in there with half an army. We can't afford to go in blind."
"Why can't we case the place and then all go in together?"
"What happens if something changes between then and now. We can't afford to have that happen."
"He can't be that dangerous, can he?" I asked him.
"You have no idea."
I turned to see that Batman had vanished from sight, something that he did to everyone. Unable to convince him otherwise, I turned back to the warehouse and pulled up my binoculars.
"Any sign of him?" Nightwing asked.
"Negative." I replied. "Going to thermal."
Instantly, I flipped a switch on my binoculars, changing from regular vision to heat vision. The place was lit up in a variety of colors, each indicating a particular heating level.
"What do you see?"
As I scanned the building, I noticed a large group of men congregating near the main office at the top of the warehouse. The office windows overlooked the harbor on one side and downtown on the other. Quickly, I pocketed my binoculars and with a flash, I shot a line to the other side of the warehouse. The grapnel quickly pulled him across and now I had a perfect view of the men inside the office.
Sure enough, one of them had white face paint and the most hideous purple jacket you had ever seen.
"Visual confirmation." I barked into my microphone. "Joker is inside."
"Fantastic." Nightwing called out.
"Top floor?"
"Yes." I answered. "The room that he's in is mostly empty. Only three guards."
"That's not bad." Batgirl replied.
"No, but I'm counting over forty men in the rest of the warehouse."
"That won't be a problem." Batman answered. "I just talked to Gordon. The power is going to shut off in the building in five minutes. When that happens, Nightwing, you're on the north entrance and Batgirl, you hit the south. I will enter the second floor through the west windows and make my way up. Nightwing and Batgirl, your job is to disable as many of the men downstairs as you can before moving up to follow me."
"What am I doing?" I asked.
"Exactly what you're doing right now. If Joker moves, I want to know about it. If he leaves, meet up with me and we'll follow him together."
"Fine."
I was getting sick and tired of being treated like a baby. Batman let Batgirl handle The Mad Hatter, a new criminal who was obsessed with Alice in Wonderland, all by herself last week. Nightwing didn't even act like a subordinate to Batman. He only took his orders in situations like this where someone had to be in charge. Personally, I thought that Batman had a little bit of an ego issue that he needed to work on and it was affecting my development into his top protege.
But, I knew that part of the reason I was on edge was that it was the Joker we were after. While I hadn't been particularly close to my father, due to his time spent in jail, I had been looking forward to getting to know him better. However, once the Joker ordered him dead, that possibility ended. Here I was, looking across the road, at the man who ordered the murder of my father and there was nothing I could do about it. Part of me thought that was the reason I was here instead of running in with Batman. He didn't trust me not to go off the deep end.
Well, I was going to show him wrong, just like I did every other time. Batman thought I wasn't as good as Nightwing had been. He was wrong. I liked Dick and he had helped me through a lot but he hadn't had it like I did. He'd had Bruce there to adopt him. He didn't live on the streets when his mother couldn't pay the bills. For god's sake, he'd had a butler for most of his childhood! He didn't need to be Robin, he chose it. I needed it and come hell or high water, I was going to prove to Bruce that he had made the right decision.
I reached into my pocket and withdrew a spy mic, a new piece in my arsenal. It could be fired using my grapnel gun and it would stick to a wall. From there, I could listen in to any conversation that the mic would pick up.
Removing the end of my grapnel, I placed the mic inside the pistol it came in and fired it across the way, hitting a point just inches from the window where Joker sat. If he heard it, he gave no mind to it. Once I was sure that it was in place, I grabbed my Palm Pilot and turned the signal to the mic. Since the mic was outside, I had to crank it up to hear anything. Finally, I was able to get it so that I could hear the conversation going on inside his room.
"...boss, lookout says that Gordon is outside..."
"...so?..." he heard the Joker cackle.
"...well, what are we gonna do?..."
"...don't you worry your pretty little head. I always have a plan..."
"...I know, boss. I just can't go back to jail..."
"...Why not? Are you afraid? Can't handle the heat? If not, there are ways around it..." The Joker growled menacingly.
"...No! I can definitely handle the heat. It's just that after what happened with Todd..."
"...Oh yes, Willy! Well, we needed to get him out of the way. I wouldn't have wanted Big Bad Harv to get ahold of him..."
"...I know. He would have turned us in. It's just that he was a pretty popular guy in Blackgate. They'd kill me if I went back..."
I couldn't breath. I had ignored everything in the conversation after the mention of my father. I tried as much as I could to pull myself back but it couldn't be done. I would have to tell Batman afterwards that my father had wanted to talk to Dent. He would want to know that.
Slowly, I stood up and began pacing around the rooftop I occupied. I did everything that I could to stop myself. I set my grapnel down across the rooftop but nothing could be done. The power of my rage just couldn't be stopped. Suddenly, I raced back to the grapnel and picked it up. With trained precision, I fired it, burying it into the wall just above Joker's window.
With a running start, I leapt from the roof, allowing the grapnel to reel me in. Tucking, I crashed into the window and rolled once I hit the ground. The moment I was up, I struck one of the guards in the back of the tear, knocking him to the ground. With a turn, I punched another directly in the stomach. As I rolled off of that punch, I turned and hit the last guard directly in the forehead, knocking him out of the window and onto the awning below.
I knew there were only three guards and so I turned, ready to deck The Joker. However, just as I rotated to hit him, I turned a gun cock. Instantly, I stopped moving and then slowly stood up straight. Once I was upright, I found myself staring at the end of the barrel of a massive revolver.
The look on Joker's face was terrifying. He had never been this close to the madman before and instantly he had known that he had made a terrible decision.
"My we are in trouble, aren't we?" we growled. "Nighty-night, Bird Boy!"
Suddenly, something very solid hit me in the back of the head, forcing me to the ground. The last thing I remembered before passing out was the blood sticking to the side of my head as the maniacal madman roared with laughter.
Batman
"Robin! Robin!" I shouted into the mic after seeing Robin launch himself across the road and into a window. "Robin! Respond!"
Nothing.
"Nightwing and Batgirl, pull back. Regroup at Robin's lookout."
The moment I was done giving the orders, I sprinted across the rooftops near the Laughing Stock Inc. Warehouse we had been casing for the last two hours. Within a few moments, I was able to get to where Robin had been. Instantly, I looked up and saw my worst nightmare. Robin was draped over the shoulders of one of the massive bodyguards the Joker had employed, clearly unconscious.
Suddenly, my intercom came to life.
"Oh, this is gonna be fun!"
That voice. I quickly reached to the back of my belt and grabbed my binoculars. Bringing them to my eyes, I zoomed in on the room opposite me to see that The Joker had taken Jason's mic and was holding it up to his mouth.
"Give him back." I said as Nightwing and Batgirl jumped up onto the roof next to me.
"Oh, I don't think so! I'm having too much fun with the Boy Blunder already! No, instead, I think I'll just take him with me! Hoo hoo ha!" Joker cackled over the intercom.
Slowly, I started to reach for a tracer dart that I could fire at Jason. That reminded me that I needed to start equipping everything with a tracer on it. Just as a grabbed the tracer dart, a gun went off. Quickly, the three of us hit the deck. The moment I hit the ground, I looked up to see one of the Joker's henchman had a gun aimed directly at the ceiling of the room they were holed up in.
Just as I started to get up, my intercom lit up.
"No, no, nooooo, Batty! I don't think so!" Joker squealed. "In fact, I think we're gonna play a little game! I'm going to take the Wounded Wing here and go home! And you, little Bat, will notfollow me! Because if even catch a hint of Bat Breath, little Robin here is going to lose all of his fingernails."
"What do you want?"
"Want?" came Joker's incredulous cry. "What do I want? I don't want anything! I just want to play! And we're gonna play! In twelve hours, Channel 12 is gonna get one funny video! From then, you will have twelve hours to find your partner here! Let's just say that if you don't find him, it's going to be a sticky end for the little birdie here! And don't even think about following me! If I smell Bat or Bird Breath, I'm afraid that one of my guards here may slip and this little bird would end up as the Wingless Wonder!"
Rage blinded me as I backed away from the window, knowing that I was cornered and had no other choice. All I wanted to do was jump across the street and beat that clown to within an inch of his life. However, I knew that there would no way to stop him from killing Robin before I got there.
"I will find him." I growled back at The Joker. "I will find you."
10:01 AM
Dick Grayson
Wayne Manor
Twelve hours later, after watching Bruce tear through hours of thugs who had been helpless to defend themselves from the rage of the Caped Crusader, we sat in front of the TV, waiting for the news. Sure enough, the first story on Channel 12's 10AM News was that they had received a video from the Clown Prince of Crime.
"I warn you." the news anchor said softly. "The images you are about to see are incredibly disturbing."
The moment the words left her lips, the image changed. Now, the scene was what appeared to be in the office of a skyscraper with the image of the early morning sun blazing into the camera. The only thing in the scene was an empty chair. The second I saw it, I worried about what would fill it, knowing the answer somewhere on the inside.
Suddenly, the answer to my question appeared. A drugged Robin was thrown into the chair by two of the Joker's henchmen. His armor was torn from what appeared to be several beatings already. His mask was peeling at the corner and I was worried that with a single wrong move, it would fall off revealing his identity.
As I stared at the bruises and marks on Jason's body, I didn't even notice Joker was in directly behind him.
"Gotham City, I believe that I have found the Boy Wonder, Robin." he said solemnly with an evil grin that betrayed his voice. "You see, he made an attempt on my life last night. Now the rest of the world or, "normal people" as you call them, would probably turn him over to the police to be prosecuted. Now, do you know what the only problem with that is?"
In a flash, Joker withdrew a knife and slammed it into Jason's hand. Jason barely registered the pain and a mild grunt escaped his lips.
"I'm anything but normal!" Joker growled menacingly. "Now, Batman, my dearest friend, you are probably wondering what you can do to get this little cupcake back? Well, to answer your question, we're going to have ourselves a little scavenger hunt!"
I looked across the room to see Bruce's knuckles tighten against the arms of the chair that he was seated in. I had seen Bruce upset and even angry but this was beyond anything that I had ever seen.
"All across our corrupt city, I have left you clues! I've seen my pally Eddie do this to you over the years and it looked awful fun, so I thought that I would give it a try! Hooo!" Joker giggled as he reached down and grabbed the knife, twisting it in Jason's hand. "Batman, if you want your Boy Blunder back, you are going to have to get moving to your first location, the spot where you and I first met. I only have one question for you?"
Quickly, Joker walked around Jason and sat down on his lap, withdrawing the knife from his left hand before taking it and slamming it into Jason's right.
"How does a bat operate during the day?"
Seconds after his last line, the video returned to the news desk. However, none of us had interest in that anymore. We all looked at Bruce, who appeared to be on the verge of passing out because he was gripping the arms of his chair so hard.
"Bruce..."
Instantly, the wood in the arm of the chair cracked under Bruce's grip as he stood up and faced the rest of us.
"Barbara, I want you working the computers all day. I'll have Dick and I wear our comlinks so you can communicate with us and we can use your abilities to do whatever is going to require of us."
"What are we going to wear?" I asked Bruce. "Costumes?"
"Sort of, actually." Bruce replied. "I have two matching bike suits with helmets. All black. I've managed to procure two Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R. Also, all black and souped-up to the top of the line. But, it's the helmets that are the key. They have a HUD system with a full link to our comlinks and a minor link to the computer. Basically, if it's active on the desktop, you can bring it up via voice command."
"Nice. Going for a stealthy look today, huh?" I joked.
"Look, yes. Actions, no. The first place I'm going before I head to Axis is Gordon's office. I need him to know that we are out and that we can't be stopped."
"Sounds good. By the way, what call signs do we use today?"
"Blackbird." he replied, pointing at himself. "Redbird."
"Nice." Barbara replied next to us. "What am I?"
"Oracle." I said suddenly with a uncomfortable giggle.
"Oracle?" she asked.
"The Oracle of Delphi was used as a source of information in Ancient Greece." I replied. "You're our source of information. Thus, our Oracle."
"I like it." she replied before turning back to Bruce. "Get moving, will ya?"
"Right." he replied, using his "Blackbird" voice. "Let's move."
10:45 AM
GCPD Headquarters
Bruce "Blackbird" Wayne
"Why no Batman?" Gordon said as he approached the Bat Signal on top of the building. I couldn't remember the last time that I had seen Jim Gordon during the daylight. It had been a long time. In this kind of light, I could see better the strain of his job on his face. His hair was almost completely grey going on white and there were permanent creases where he had spent hours furrowing his brow. Years ago, eleven to be exact, he had been a much younger man, relatively new to the department from Chicago.
Now, he had evolved into a surly older man who looked even older than his actual age. Sometimes, I wondered whether or not that was my fault.
"Batman doesn't come out before sunset." I replied, refusing to use the gravelly growl I usually used. Instead, I went with a much smoother voice, one that would hopefully throw him entirely off the trail.
"Figured." Gordon replied. "What did you need to talk about?"
"There will be two of us today. All black, like I'm wearing now." I informed him. "I need total clearance. I know that Joker is going to push us right to the very edge of our time. I can't afford to be stopped by any police officer. I won't be stopped."
I added the growl in at the end of effect.
"I can't do that. I may have deputized Batman a few years ago but I don't even know if you're him."
I had been worried about that. He was afraid that I wasn't who I said I was. It was a problem that I had seen and I was willing to do everything it took to get Jason back. As I began to lift my visor to reveal my identity, Gordon turned around.
"You are him. You would do that for one of your own, wouldn't you? You wouldn't give yourself up, let me know everything to get him back."
"I can't fail him." I said, switching the voice of my more powerful alter ego.
Suddenly, Gordon turned back around, a determined look on his face.
"I suppose you won't take a police escort with you." he replied with an aged smirk.
"He'll already know that I'm moving around town. I can't be broadcasting it more than flying around town at 100 MPH will already do."
"Fine." Gordon replied. "Just be careful."
"I always am." I replied as I jumped off the roof in plain sight of him.
9:50 PM
Gotham City
Batman
Dick and I had spent the last twelve hours driving around town. First, we stopped at Axis Chemicals, the sight of my first "meeting" with the Joker. When I asked the receptionist if a message had been left for me, she reached below the desk and withdrew an envelope. As I expected, I was complete with another message.
This one led us to the Iceberg Lounge, just next door. After a rather brutal encounter with Oswald Cobblepot, we got another message telling us to go to his favorite vacation spot. After a bit of thinking, we finally figured it out.
After racing to Arkham Asylum, we discovered that the new warden of the mental hospital had been tied up with a message written on his forehead. Again, we followed it and discovered another message. For hours, we drove a breakneck speed through downtown Gotham City, searching for the clues that could bring us back to Jason. I could not fail him. I wouldn't fail him.
At nine PM, we entered Wayne Enterprises Arena, the location of Joker's attack on Dick's family. Dick had only been able to bring himself to return to the arena a few times over the years and even then only for minutes at a time. However, he walked with me through the front door, striding strongly next to me. To say that I was proud of my oldest son was an understatement. I only wished I could tell him.
We walked to center-court where an envelope was placed over the Gotham Guardians logo. Picking it up, I read it carefully.
"The guardian of Gotham looks down from his ivory tower and smiles on us." I read aloud, noticing that 'smiles' was written much larger than the rest of the text. "Find his home and enjoy the view. P.S. Bats, this is your last one. Hope you make it on time. Wouldn't want you to miss the party."
"The guardian of Gotham?" Dick repeated softly. "What can he mean by that? He can't kn-"
"No. He can't." I agreed. "He must mean something else. Someone else."
"Who though? We don't have any other superheroes in Gotham. None that aren't part of The Family anyway."
"Maybe, maybe he doesn't mean a cape." I replied softly. "The guardian of Gotham? Guardian."
Dick and I sat there in the semi-darkness for minutes on end, simply thinking. Finally, I radioed Oracle for help.
"O, do you have any ideas?"
"Sort of, B. What if it isn't the guardian that you need to worry about?" she called over the radio.
"Go on." I encouraged.
"What if it's the ivory tower?" she answered slowly. "Namely, your ivory tower. I just checked and The Wayne Foundation provides more money to the homeless and to the police than any other charities combined. You are the Guardian. It's just Bruce Wayne, not Batman."
The moment the words came out of her mouth, the picture focused. I had been so focused on how it related to Batman that I forgot entirely that there is the entire world that lives without a cape and a mask, one that Joker appeared to be playing very well.
Suddenly, I turned to Dick.
"Wayne Tower. We can suit up in the Satellite Cave underneath Wayne Tower."
"About damn time." Dick said as he turned and sprinted out of the arena.
That had been nearly an hour ago. After a quick trip across town, the two of us quickly suited up in the Sat-Cave before emerging and beginning the climb to the top. We thought that Joker would have all of the windows and elevators covered, making the stairs an inconvenient and unexpected move. By the 60th floor, I was wishing that we had chosen to simply fight them out of the elevator.
However, something else bothered me. As we reached the 80th floor, we hadn't seen anyone yet. I knew that we needed to get to the observation deck. When he spoke of "enjoying the view" and we finally put the pieces together, we knew that was where we had to go. However, we were less than twenty floors away and there hadn't been a single person on any of the stairs.
Finally, we reached the 103rd floor. At the top of the stairs were two doors, one leading left and the other right. I looked at Nightwing and indicated that he take the left door. Counting down from three silently on my fingers, I slammed my way through the door, batarangs in hand and ready to attack.
Strangely, there was no one there. Instantly, I raised Nightwing and Oracle on my intercom.
"Do you see anyone?" I asked.
"Nope." came Nightwing's reply.
"No. We just assumed there would be a ton of people up there. We never even thought to check."
Quickly, I sprinted around the observation deck until I got the far corner of the room. There, something horrible waited for me. I stopped instantly in my tracks as I slowly approached the object. When I reached it, I leaned down slowly and stared into the viewer of the telescope. What I saw was sickening.
9:50 PM
?
Jason Todd
WHACK! CRACK! BAM!
Again and again, I felt the punches hit my ribs. Over the last few hours, how many I had no idea, they had been beating me. Usually, they came in for a few minutes at a time and had their way with me. However, they had been hitting me for the last ten minutes, a sign that they were either frustrated or happy. Or both. All I knew was that none of those options were good for me.
"Stop." came the clown's voice.
Instantly, the guards stopped hitting me and stepped aside. Painfully, I lifted my head to see the Joker, still smiling, staring directly at me.
"Gentlemen, I believe that the rest of the script only calls for two men and as the director, I get to choose. But, it's really no contest, is it? Obviously, I am the best actor here. But, little Bird-Brain here comes in a close second, so he'll be staying as well."
"Are you sure, boss?" one of the guards asked nervously.
Suddenly, Joker turned and stabbed him with a knife that he had obviously had hidden on him somewhere. The Joker hooted and hollered as the pupils of his eyes fell limp like the rest of his body and he came crashing to the floor. Then, just as quickly as he had started, he stopped laughing and looked abruptly at the other four guards.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" he growled softly.
He did not. I could hear the four men practically tripping over themselves to get out of there. Once they were gone, Joker disappeared behind me.
"Batman will find me." I said as powerfully as I could with at least two broken ribs.
"Oh, I'm counting on it, my young friend." Joker replied from behind me. "I'm just not sure what shape you'll be in!"
Suddenly, Joker jumped out from behind me with a giant crowbar in his hands.
"Now listen here, kid. This is going to hurt you a lot more than this will hurt me." he growled as he raised the crowbar.
Any other time, I would have been expecting Bruce to be waiting in the wings, ready to save me at the last minute. This time, he wasn't there. Instead of being saved by Batman, all I could feel was the Joker slamming my head over and over again with the crowbar.
As he continued to beat me, the chair broke underneath me and I fell to the floor. However, that meant nothing to the Joker. He continued to pound and slam the crowbar against my body, leaving me unable to move or breath.
Suddenly, the world slipped out from under me and I was gone.
9:58 PM
Batman
Just as I looked into the viewfinder, Joker began to repeatedly pummel Robin with a crowbar. It was horrifying. Robin had been tied to a chair, probably the same chair he had been tied in on the news. Joker pounded Robin over and over again. The quality of this telescope was amazing and therefore, I could see every excruciating detail. Every time a tooth exploded from his mouth or pieces from his skull blew on the glass window behind.
I stood in horror as the chair collapsed under the pressure. Despite this, Joker continued to beat Robin. A rage filled me as I finally looked away, instead looking at the building itself. I had recently created a new line launcher that could get me from two horizontal points, a problem I regularly had. However, it was still in the test phase and it would take several minutes for the BatJet to deliver it to me.
"How far away is that building?" I asked Nightwing, not even bothering to talk in my normal Bat voice as I pointed at the building Jason was being held in.
"I'm not sure, Bruce." Dick replied, also slipping out of character. "What did you see?"
"You don't want to know." I replied as Dick moved forward to look into the telescope. Quickly, I stuck out my arm and laid it out across his chest, blocking his path. "You really don't want to know. Now, how far do you think it is?"
"I'm not sure!" Dick repeated. "At least 900 yards, probably more. Why? What are you doing?"
"Jason's in there." I muttered. "I have to get him out. He'll die if I don't get him out."
"How?"
"Jump out the window. Fall a bit and then try and grapnel onto a building near it. Use the momentum to swing up towards the building. I sure as hell can't glide that far."
"Bruce, this is insane. You'll die too." Dick pleaded with me.
"Listen to him, Bruce." Barbara rang out in my ear. "I just ran the specs. He's being held in the old Powers Building now the St. Cloud Tower. It's 1300 yards away. The speed you would have to get in order to make that jump is totally unsafe. It would tear your arms off. Now, if you call Gordon, I'm sure that he can get a unit over there to secure the building, trapping the Joker inside with Jason."
I thought for a moment as Dick finally made his way around my barricade to look into the telescope.
"It'll take too long." I replied, making my decision. "Joker said something will happen to Jason at ten. If I'm not over there in two minutes, I'm positive that Jason will die."
Suddenly, Dick stood up and looked at me.
"You need to do it. A helicopter just landed on the roof. It's got to be for Joker which means something bad is going to be happening to Jason."
"Agreed." I answered, suddenly slipping back into the persona as I walked back across the observation deck and lined up my shot. I grabbed two Batarangs that I had equipped with sonic emitters and threw them at the wall. As they stuck to the wall of glass, the emitters went off, shattering the all the glass in the observation tower.
I walked back to the edge of the now open observation deck and looked at the area around Wayne Tower. I had specifically built new Wayne Tower here because there were no other tall buildings in the area, meaning that we were nearly ten blocks from the nearest building of any size.
"I have to run off the observation deck, glide several blocks before releasing my cape and going into a steep freefall. During this fall, I will need to pick up massive amounts of speed. Towards the end of the fall, I will fire my grapnel at a building several hundred feet ahead of me. Hopefully, I am able to use cape to slow myself down. Otherwise, if the angle is wrong, I will either drop the grapnel, at which point my cape won't be able to slow me down and I'll hit the ground, hard. Or, if I don't drop the grapnel, it will jerk my shoulder out of socket, making it nearly impossible to get to Jason."
"That sounds insane." Barbara replied.
"Do it." Dick said confidently.
I took two calming breaths before resolving myself to do this. I knew that Jason's life hung in the balance. If I didn't do this, then all the work that I did saving that boy from a life on the streets and bringing him into my home. All that work? That would be for nothing.
Finally, I let my fear power me and sprinted towards the edge of the bui-BANG!
Even from this far away, I could feel the force of the explosion. While it didn't knock me down, it certainly took me back. Terrified of what I might see, I averted my eyes to the floor. I couldn't bear to know. I couldn't know that loss. Not again. Finally braving a look, I raised my eyes.
I raised my eyes.
I raised my eyes to see the top twenty floors of the St. Cloud Tower burning. There was no helicopter on the roof, signifying that in all of the discussion we had had over my plan, he had gotten away.
He had gotten away.
"Bruce?" Barbara said softly over the intercom.
"Don't." I replied. "Just don't say a damn thing."
For what seemed like hours, I stood on the edge of that observation desk, staring as the flames burned higher and higher and knowing that Jason's body was burning in there. Knowing that I had failed him.
As I zoned out, I noticed a sound in my ear. When I finally returned to the world, I noticed that it was Barbara trying to talk to me.
"What is it?" I growled, but in a voice totally different than my normal growl.
"My father just called your emergency number. He said that you need to go to the morgue."
"Why?"
"They have Jason's body there."