Bruce Wayne arrived at the school thirty seconds after Commissioner Gordon. He immediately joined the man near the front door.

"Do you have any more details, Jim?"

"No, but I'm just about to call Principal Lasky."

The commissioner picked up the portable phone given to him by a nearby officer and dialed the number of the front office.

Bruce waited impatiently while the commissioner listened to whomever was on the other end of the line.

"Who are the students?" Commissioner Gordon finally asked.

He can't reveal identities, stupid bylaw.

Bruce, as a member of the school board, had recently lobbied to have that bylaw removed for situations like this. The principal was not allowed to tell anyone – including the commissioner of the Gotham City Police – the identities of kids who were in trouble. Not even during a lockdown.

The millionaire knew how the principal was going to answer that question, so he began searching the crowd for other members of the school board. If he could call an emergency meeting because of the lockdown, maybe he could get enough votes to at least place the bylaw aside for now.

"Rounding up the school board," Bruce stated in the direction of the commissioner as he walked away.

There were seven members of the school board, and five of them were present. An emergency meeting was held and the vote to place aside that particular bylaw for this situation was unanimous. Bruce quickly returned to the commissioner's side and let him know that he was now legally allowed to find out the identities of the students. Jim Gordon picked up the phone and re-dialed the number.

"The school board has voted to place aside that bylaw for now. Who are the students?"

Commissioner Gordon listened while Bruce again waited impatiently. Closing his eyes, the latter man leaned toward the phone and focused on his hearing.

"Nick…Grayson…weapon…arm…wrist…where…protocol…weapon…Grayson's…locked…Scanty…office."

Bruce tried to make sense of the scattered words. Some kid named Nick was involved in the fight – he still didn't know if it had been an actual fight – with Dick. Somebody had a weapon, an arm and/or wrist had been injured, and Dick was locked in…candy?...in an office. Maybe. That was the only explanation Bruce could put together, and he knew he was probably way off base.

"Let me talk to Dick if he's there," the millionaire whispered.

"Bruce Wayne might be able to get more information out of Dick. Put the boy on the line," the commissioner commanded.

Bruce grabbed the phone and waited. The only sound he heard was the annoying music that indicated he was on hold. Glancing at his watch, the millionaire frowned. If Dick was with the principal, he should already be on the line. It had been almost thirty-five seconds.

Principal Lasky's voice was the next sound he heard, and Bruce didn't even let him begin to explain.

"Why am I not talking to Dick right now? He's right beside you, right? If not, where is he?" Bruce demanded, ignoring the principal's obvious attempts to reply.

Finally the frustrated principal yelled at Bruce to let him talk, but the millionaire didn't care about what the man had to say.

"Put. Dick. On."

There was a 'slam' and then Bruce was listening to a dial tone.

"Jim," the man growled, "Lasky just hung up on me without allowing me to talk to Dick."

The commissioner almost rolled his eyes as he took the phone away and, for the third time, dialed the office number. When the principal answered, Jim skipped the greeting.

"Do you need some help in there?" he asked, attempting to remain professional even though he was frustrated. "I have some officers here who can take over the search."

Commissioner Gordon knew that Gotham Academy was a K-12 school, so he wondered why the principal was wasting time telling him about it.

"I'm sending them in," Jim stated, then paused to listen. "Front is closest," he continued, then immediately hung up.

"He's lifting the lockdown?" Bruce asked, but the commissioner shook his head.

"He's accepting help from GCPD. I'll go in with them and figure this out. I have twelve very competent officers here, it shouldn't take too long."

"Are you going to call Batman? He could help with the search, maybe the kids…"

"Would be terrified if Batman began commanding them to do things," the commissioner quickly interrupted. "I think I'll keep the Caped Crusader out of this one."

Batman internally yelled at the man, hating the fact that the commissioner was probably correct in his assessment of the situation. The front door suddenly opened and Jim Gordon led his police officers into the school. Bruce wanted to follow, but knew that wouldn't help whatever situation Dick had gotten himself into. So, he began pacing.


This time it was Commissioner Gordon who crouched in front of Dick Grayson. The boy didn't lift his head to see who was there.

"Dick," Jim said softly, "I need your help. I need you to tell me what happened here. Can you do that for me?"

The nine-year-old ignored him, and the commissioner briefly considered bringing Bruce in. However, if he did that then all of the other parents would want to come in, which he obviously couldn't let happen.

"Can you at least look at me, Dick?"

He didn't receive an answer, or even some type of acknowledgement, so he stood up and strode across the room to where Nick was seated.

"What happened, Nick?"

"We were at lunch, and I got up to go to the bathroom. Grayson over there followed me, and caught me unawares. He sucker punched me, gave me this!"

Nick pointed to his swollen eye, as if the commissioner had no idea it was there.

"Then he pulled something sharp out of nowhere and sliced my arm open!"

"Was that before or after you retaliated?" the commissioner asked.

"After, because I'm stronger and he knew he was going to lose. I regret punching him back because I'm trying to do better at controlling my anger. Sorry I punched you back, Grayson."

The last sentence was louder and accompanied by a well-hidden grin.

"How's the arm, Nick?"

"The nurse said it's not deep, but he gave me a nice, long cut. She said if he had gone any further down, I could have bled to death. He practically tried to kill me!"

The exclamation broke through the silence in Dick's mind, and he suddenly stood up.

"I didn't do anything to you!" the nine-year-old yelled, his eyes burning with anger.

Commissioner Gordon immediately turned around, intending to return to the boy who was apparently ready to talk. But then an officer appeared next to the boy and gently pushed him back onto the chair. The commissioner returned his attention to Nick.

"Settle down, kid. Nobody else needs to get hurt," the officer said calmly.

Dick stared at the familiar wrinkled face of the man that had pushed him into Gotham Harbor, and he suddenly couldn't breathe. Scotty smiled as he sat down, hiding the boy from the prying eyes of the principal.

"Good job calming down," Scotty said loudly for the benefit of everyone else in the room. "Now, let's try to stay nice and calm."

Dick stared at him, fear in his eyes and lungs protesting the lack of air.

"That's right, kid, keep not breathing," Scotty whispered. "Tony sends his regards."

The name made Dick's entire body tense up, but he still couldn't remember how to pull air into his lungs. It didn't help that Scotty was now holding a wet cloth against his nose with one hand and pushing his jaw together with the other. Twelve seconds later, Dick slumped forward into Scotty's waiting arms.

"Commish, I think this one needs some air."

Commissioner Gordon turned around and saw the officer holding an unconscious Dick Grayson in his arms.

"Well you certainly can't take him outside!" Principal Lasky exclaimed.

"Officer, take him into the principal's office and open a window. Not wide open, just enough to let a breeze in," Jim stated.

Scotty the "officer" nodded, and took Dick into the other room. He laid the boy on the floor and noticed something sticking out of the bottom of his shirt. The man lifted the material and wondered why the kid was hiding a wad of paper towels under his shirt. Then he removed the wad, and what he saw made him grin.

There was a hole in the boy's stomach, small but deep. Removing the paper towels had caused the wound to begin bleeding again, although it was only some dribbles. Scotty completely removed Dick's shirt, then sat him up, propping his back against the desk of the principal. The blood slid out of the hole a little quicker, so Scotty left him there and slightly propped open a window.

"He needs to rest," the man declared as he walked out of the office and closed the door. "We should probably let him sleep until this is over."

"Are you a medic?" Principal Lasky asked.

The comment caused the commissioner to look at Scotty. He suddenly realized that he didn't recognize the officer. And he had sent all of his officers to search the school, so why was one still here?

"Officer…" the commissioner said, prompting the man to give his name.

"I'm going, sir, I just saw the boy jump up in anger and thought you might need help."

Scotty quickly left the room, but the commissioner was not convinced.

"Officer, I need you back here. I have a different assignment for you," Jim called down the hall.

But Scotty was fast, and he was already climbing out one of the back windows in the cafeteria. The old man climbed into an idling car, and Tony Zucco's driver quickly maneuvered the vehicle behind the school before speeding away.

When the officer didn't appear, the commissioner's suspicion turned into trepidation. He quickly strode to the principal's office and opened the door. The sight that greeted him was the last thing he expected to see, and he froze.

Dick Grayson was slumped against the desk, blood pooled on his lap and sliding off onto the floor.

"Get the nurse!" Jim yelled in the general direction of the principal.

It took him three long strides to get to the limp body. The commissioner took off his own jacket and pushed it hard against the boy's stomach.

"I doubt you were the one who had the weapon," he murmured. "This has been bleeding for a while, it didn't come from the man who was just here with you. Good heavens, Dick, why didn't you tell someone?"

The nurse entered the room, and she gasped as she knelt down next to the commissioner. Without a word, she dug around in her pocket and pulled out a roll of gauze.

"This will work better," she said, pushing Jim's hands out of the way and replacing his soiled jacket with some gauze. "Hold it there while I get some med tape. Push hard, please."

The woman disappeared but was back in the room within thirty seconds. She efficiently and expertly taped the gauze over the wound, then directed the commissioner to lay the boy down. Jim moved the unconscious nine-year-old away from the puddle of his own blood before following her instruction.

"What on earth…?!"

Principal Lasky was standing by the door, shock in his eyes. The shock turned into anger, and he glanced back at Nick.

"Where is it, Nick?" he snapped, marching over to where the teenager was still sitting.

"What?" Nick asked innocently.

"You know darn well 'what'. I believed you, Nick, although I couldn't understand why a small boy would want to start a fight with you. You punched yourself, didn't you."

"I…"

"That wasn't a question," the principal interrupted sharply. "Commissioner, I think we need to change directions," he stated loudly, causing the commissioner to leave Dick with the nurse in order to join the principal in front of Nick.

"You have something new to tell us?" Jim asked the teen.

"I have no doubt that whatever the weapon is, it belongs to Nick," Lasky stated, placing a heavy hand on the teen's shoulder. "Why he's framing Dick, I have no idea."

"Where's the weapon?" Commissioner Gordon demanded tersely.

"Don't know what you mean," Nick said, trying to stay with his story. "Grayson did…"

"Nothing to you," the principal interrupted. "Tell me where it is, Nick, or I will recommend that you go back to the center for the rest of your teenage years."

"I tossed it out the back window of the cafeteria," the teen admitted quietly, not wanting to return to that horrid place.

Jim Gordon was not only a very competent commissioner, he also had an excellent memory when it came to sending his officers out into the field. He took his walkie-talkie off his belt and clicked a button.

"Merrick and Jevel, search outside behind the cafeteria."

"Copy," came the answer.

Two minutes later, the commissioner was informed by Officer Merrick that a short, white stick had been found. It had been stripped of bark and whittled to a sharp point. There were brown markings on it, consistent with the look of dried blood one would find if it had been stabbed into something.

The guilty look on Nick's face confirmed everything. Principal Lasky ended the lockdown, and Commissioner Gordon strode out to inform the anxious parents.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the weapon has been found and is in GCPD's possession. Your children are out of danger, and will be released from school at the normal time. I need to talk to Mr. Wayne and Mr. Scanty, if they are here."

Bruce immediately stepped forward, as did a thick-necked, dark-haired man.

"Jim, what's going on?" Bruce inquired as they headed inside.

"Mr. Scanty, I need you to wait with Principal Lasky, please. Mr. Wayne," the commissioner said formally, hoping Bruce understood that right now he was a police officer and not a personal friend, "please follow me into the principal's office."

Bruce was kneeling next to the nurse three seconds after he and the commissioner walked into the office.

"What happened?" he growled.

"We don't have the full story yet," Jim replied, "because we need to hear Dick's side. He didn't acknowledge me when I talked to him, Mr. Wayne. I think he may have been in shock. Then he passed out and an officer…"

The commissioner paused, causing Bruce to turn his gaze from the gauze on his boy's stomach to the thoughtful face of the commissioner.

"An officer…" Bruce prompted impatiently.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne, I should not have said that. It's a small detail that needs to be discussed with my department before we tell the public."

"Jim," Bruce said, anger in his tone, "this is my son we're talking about. I deserve to know what happened."

"Like I said, Mr. Wayne, we don't have the full story yet. Do you want me to call an ambulance for Dick, or are you going to take him to the hospital yourself?"

A loud siren answered the question. Principal Lasky had taken it upon himself to call for an ambulance. It was now outside the front door, and two paramedics were entering the office.

"Ma'am, Commissioner, Mr. Wayne, we need some space to check him out," the taller of the two said. "We would appreciate it if you all could back up a little. Are you going to ride with him, Mr. Wayne?"

"Yes, of course," Bruce responded as he, Jim, and the nurse stood up and moved away from the boy's still-motionless form.

"Swollen eye left side, hematoma with contusion left side above the ear," the smaller paramedic stated. Carefully removing the gauze, she continued, "Stab wound to the abdomen, minimal loss of blood, edges moving toward infection. Nothing life-threatening. Has he ever had a head wound that has caused him to lose consciousness, Mr. Wayne?"

"Yes," Bruce said quietly. "He was kidnapped…"

"Oh, this is Dick Grayson," the woman commented. "Coma for a couple of days due to acute head trauma. Two or three weeks ago, I think."

The statements were directed at the taller paramedic, who nodded as he gently slid the boy onto the stretcher they had brought with them. Dick stirred at the movement, and the woman took out a penlight.

"Dick, hon, can you hear me?" she asked as she opened one of his eyelids and shined the light on his eye. "You're going to be okay, we're taking you to the hospital. Tell me your name, sweetheart."

The nine-year-old didn't respond, so the woman put the penlight away and nodded to the man. Together, they lifted the stretcher and took Dick to the ambulance. Bruce, as he followed them out the door, heard something he would never forget.

"Nick, you're going back to the detention center."

"But, Sam'll kill me!"

The boy sounded terrified, but Bruce didn't care. He wanted to turn around and beat the teen to a pulp for stabbing Dick, but he climbed into the back of the ambulance and grabbed the nine-year-old's hand.

This is becoming way too familiar.

"Wake up, chum," Bruce said, pushing the thought aside.