CHAPTER 14

BATMAN'S JOURNAL

Alarms were going off all over the board when a group of intruders came running out of the zeta-tube. I had grabbed a pair of batarangs and Alfred had his trusty shot-gun when I realized who they were.

"Wait, Alfred!" I shouted, and aborted the throw I was about to cast. "It's Young Justice." I stalked towards them, furious at the intrusion. I did not have time to nurse a bunch of teenagers who were missing Rob...Phoe...my son! Dick was missing; he'd been missing for hours and I had no clues to follow up except that one grainy piece of film. The first twenty four hours of a kidnap are golden. The likelihood of getting back a victim after the first day diminish exponentially.

"What do you want?" I demanded in what I know was a harsh tone. Wallace stalked forward in front of his team.

"We found out about Rob by watching television!" he snarled. "You never bothered to tell us that our friend and teammate had been kidnapped. We have a right to help search for him. That is what we want!" I saw that his chest was heaving and he looked ready to cry. Then I remembered just how young he was, how young they all were. Just a little older than Dick. I let my hands drop the batarangs.

"I'm sorry," I said, realizing now that I was wearing only a bathrobe. I'd been taking a shower when the intruder alarms went off. I turned, to find Alfred already at my elbow with a tray of coffee and pastries.

"Perhaps they would enjoy breakfasting with you, sir," he said smoothly.

I nodded and said to Alfred, "Take them to the lounge, in the cave. There are police upstairs and they can't go there. I'll join them in a few minutes. We need to plan strategy."

I turned to the team, arms folded. "Can I expect any more of you? If so, I should probably disable the intruder alarms."

Wallace had the grace to look embarrassed. "Uh, yeah. We left a message for the others. Kaldur, Rocket and Zatanna will be following us later."

I nodded and moved to reset the alarm system. It looked like I had a team whether I wanted one or not.

Ten minutes later, I found four teens devouring one of Alfred's breakfasts. They all stopped eating when they saw me, with the exception of Kid Flash, who continued to stuff himself. Wallace has been a guest at my home before, since he's Robin's best friend, so I'm accustomed to his eating habits as he seems inured to my glare. I sat down at the table and Alfred smoothly poured me a cup of coffee and slid a plate of toast in front of me.

"All right," I said after a sip. "What do you plan to do?" The caffeine helped, so I drank more.

They all stilled. Finally, M'gann said haltingly, "We, um, thought that you would tell us what to do."

Superboy nodded his head vigorously. "Yeah, Batman. We're only here to help find Robin. Anything we can do, we will."

I pulled back my cowl and rubbed my eyes, feeling a headache coming on. "If I told you to go home, would you?" I heard Alfred smoothly refilling my coffee cup.

"Please, B...Bruce," Artemis stumbled over the names. "I've only known who Robin is a really short time, but he's been my friend for years. We really want to help bring him home. Isn't there anything we can do to help?"

I cradled my mug in my hands. "We have very few clues. There has been no ransom demand yet, although the Gotham P.D. has the phones tapped. I didn't witness the kidnap myself, I was in a different part of the opera house. I have some video footage of the van that took Dick away, but haven't been able to clarify the markings on it. The closed circuit televisions lost it a block away."

"Maybe I could take a look at it," Artemis said softly. "Robin and I were cross-training, before...before Two-Face."

I stopped and took a longer look at Artemis Crock. She had been added to the team at her mother's request. Both of Artemis' parents had been costumed criminals, a lifestyle that put Artemis' mother into a wheelchair and her father in prison for long stretches. The girl was bright and dedicated to not following her parents', and her sister Cheshire's, example.

"All right, I'll call it up for you," I said and stood up. "The rest of you, come with me."

I led them to the garage level, where the batmobiles and other specialty vehicles are parked. Wallace, who has never been to this level of the garage, stopped dead in his tracks and whistled.

"Wow! Rob said there were multiple batmobiles down here, but I never believed him. Just...wow!"

"You will take the SUV," I pointed to the row of vehicles just beyond the row of batmobiles. "And you will drive through Gotham. M'gann, you have had a telepathic link with Dick in the past. I want you to telepathically look for him now." I handed the keys, reluctantly, to Wallace. "You will not exceed the speed limit, Wallace. If you bring the car back with a dent, you'll hear from me."

I heard the other two youngsters snickering, but I could tell by Wally's pale face that he'd understood my threat.

"I'll treat it like it's my own," he said.

"No, you'll treat it like it's mine," I corrected him. "Keep in touch and let me know if you find anything. And you are NOT to approach, understand? If you find him, give me the information."

All three nodded and got into the SUV. I watched them drive out of the cave exit and went back to Artemis at the computers. Why was the ransom demand taking so long?

STATEMENT OF: JASON PETER TODD

Dick Grayson: Okay, Jason, I've turned the recorder on. Can you state your name?

Jason Todd: Jason Peter Todd. This is stupid, Dick. Why does Batman need all this?

DG: (sighs) He really likes to keep records and he prefers witness statements if he can get them. He's making everybody from the team write reports. Just be grateful that your typing is bad enough that he didn't make you do one! So, are you gonna cooperate?

JT: You know I will. You know why I signed on for this. And anyway, that yellow cape looks better on me than it ever did on you!

DG: (Laughing) You still gotta earn it, y'know! Anyway, so start talking.

JT: Okay, okay. This is so freakin' weird…

….After my Dad called me out of the room, he pulled me away from the doorway and lowered his voice.

"Whatcha doin'? Makin' friends with the kid?"

I scowled back at him. "What's wrong with that? He ain't makin' no trouble. He's tied down and he's BLIND, for goodness' sake!"

Dad ran a hand over his face. "Jay, you gotta stop pickin' up strays. First, it's with the stray dogs and cats; you bring 'em home an' ask me to keep 'em. Then you go around makin' little kiddy frien's and you want me ta feed 'em. What we do is secret, kid! We don' tell nobody about what we do and where we go!"

I answered. "Yeah, Dad, I know. We're lone wolves on the prairie. We work for the Boss an' we don' ever, ever make 'im mad at us an' we never give away his secrets. I know all that. So what's wrong if I gotta frien'?

"We don' tell the Boss' secrets, Jay. If you got frien's who aren't in the gang, you could tell 'em things about the setup. They tell somebody else an' other gangs horn in on our business." He crouched down and put his hands on my shoulders. "An' most important business, that Wayne kid isn't a frien' for you. He's merchandise. The Boss is expectin' a big payout when Wayne ponies up the cash. When that's done, he'll be disposin' of the kid."

"Yeah," I said with confidence. "Boss is gonna give him back."

My Dad gave me a long, sympathetic look. "Jay, you remember what happened to all those mutts you dragged home with you?"

I looked away, not liking the memories. "Yeah, they all died. Some of 'em got sick, others got hit by cars."

"Well, this new kid is goin' the way of the mutts after Wayne pays off. So don't you go gettin' attached to him, all right?"

"Why don't they just give him back? He don't have to die, Dad. He's a nice kid," I said with a whine.

"I don' care if he's f***ing Mother Theresa! It's too dangerous to give him back and the Boss won't take chances. So as soon as the money's paid, one of us'll off him." He gave me a kind look. "An' when it happens, I'll give you some money for ice cream. You don' have to be here when it happens."

"Dad," I remember kicking one of the crates with the toe of my sneaker. "Why does the Boss need so much money? We were doin' fine before we took the kid."

Dad shrugged. "Boss is back in jail again. He wants to get out, make bail. But this time, it's really high, about three mil'. Boss bails himself out, he'll need the rest of the money to pay us. So keep your yap shut and stay away from the kid."

Pete and Mickie were eating pizza at the table and had saved me a couple slices. I sat down and ate, but felt guilty and not just because Dickie was going hungry. They were gonna snuff him, even after his dad paid up. That just wasn't right, but I knew better than to argue. While I ate my pizza, I heard Jake talking to my Dad.

"Okay, the Boss just called and says he wants ten million cash, delivered by Batman. He's s'posed to drop it at that warehouse on Front Street at midnight where the Boss iced Robin. We'll deliver the Grayson kid the next day in a public place," Jake said. "Man, the Boss really has it in for Batman, doesn't he? Makin' him go back to that place after the Boss killed the kid?"

Dad snorted. "He's rubbin' Batman's nose in it. Everybody knows the Bat is Wayne's friend. Batman'll feel really bad when a second kid gets killed on his watch!" He grabbed a piece of pizza and started chewing. "So who makes the phone call?"

"I'll do it," Jake said. "I got the burner phone ready. Life sure is weird when you work for Two-Face."