I would like to apologize for my absence in posting & updating this fan fiction. I've been unbelieveably busy, but I feel like I'll definitely be back for good. The story is far from over.

Chpt. XXI: Where Were You

Dick walked out of the bathroom after having just taken a long shower. He felt clean from the workout he had just done, & was ready to take a long nap. Dick readjusted the towel wrapped around his waist & walked to his nightstand, where he had left his phone. He saw a few texts from Barbara.

Dick & Barbara had begun to forget about the coffee shop bombing the week before. They were both still phased. Barbara believed it was a horrible thing & felt deeply sorry for the victims. She didn't know what had really happened. With that boy, with his chant, with his message. "Hell is home."

Dick had done his best to keep Barbara out of the dark about Nolan Drake & the threats he had made to the city. Dick kept his nights he spent searching for answers a secret. The Old Gotham underground, Chinatown, Olympus, all of those, he made sure Barbara didn't think to ask him OR her father about those. It didn't feel right, though. It felt so disgusting to lie about that to her. Dick wanted to tell her so badly.

But then Dick remembered what Gordon had told him. His life would bring danger to her. He had to learn to accept that truth.

Dick opened the texts from Barbara. They were just a few selfie photos & one asking Dick which she should post on Instagram. He wasn't sure how Instagram worked, but he didn't know what photo to pick; they were all beautiful photos of her. Dick sighed and told her he loved them all. She sent a reply back saying "Aw! I guess I'll post the one with less boob lol."'

Dick laughed softly to himself. He sent his phone down and sat on his bed. Dick swung his legs up onto the bed & crossed his legs. He turned his body towards the foot of the bed & shut his eyes. He began breathing deeply. He used to mediate. He started after Cheyenne left the orphanage, & a few times in Old Gotham whenever he got a chance. He found it never really helped. He wasn't sure if he was doing it wrong or not. He didn't feel calmer, he didn't feel relaxed. Over time, it became more of just a thing for Dick to do.

Dick's phone vibrated. He opened his eyes and reached back for his phone. Dick opened the text & realized it wasn't from Barbara. It was a text from a blocked number.

"Riddle me this: We're five little items of an everyday sort; you'll find us all in 'a tennis court'. What are we? - Enigma"

Dick raised his eyebrow. He reread the text a few more times, confused. Who was this, & why were they sending him a riddle?

Dick shook his head and replied saying "Who is this?"

The response was the same message forwarded again. "Riddle me this: We're five little items of an everyday sort; you'll find us all in 'a tennis court'. What are we? - Enigma"

Dick noted the last part of the text. It said "Enigma." Like a puzzle, or a cipher. Or a riddle.

Dick reread the message for the second time. Five little items of an everyday sort. Found in a tennis court. Dick thought about tennis. Tennis balls, tennis nets, tennis rackets. There were also tennis players, along with the audience. But those weren't items of an everyday sort.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door that startled Dick. "Shit," Dick mumbled to himself. "Come in."

The door cracked open & Alfred's head popped in. "Evening, Master Grayson. I've just made an excellent pot of Cajun style gumbo for dinner if you're interested."

Dick grinned softly. "Oh, I love gumbo. My mom got me some for the first time when we traveled down to Louisiana. I'll come down for some in a bit."

Alfred nodded. He had begun to pull his head back from the door when Dick called out his name again. "Alfred, wait!"

Alfred looked up at Dick. "Yes?"

Dick looked down at his phone. "What are five everyday items found in a tennis court?"

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Beg pardon?"

Dick shrugged. "I dunno. It's a riddle. 'We're five little items of an everyday sort; you'll find us all in 'a tennis court'. What are we?'"

Alfred smirked. "Well, it's vowels, obviously."

Dick stared at Alfred. "What?"

"Vowels, in the alphabet. You said five everyday items in 'a tennis court.' A, E, I, O, U. Vowels."

Dick stared dumbfoundedly at Alfred. "Oh," he said softly. "I thought Y was a vowel."

"On occasion, yes, but not in this instance," Alfred said, stepping inside.

Dick looked down to his phone and began typing the response to Enigma. "Vowels."

Right away, Dick got a second text message. "You're a real whiz, kid! Now riddle me this: What is the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end and the end of every race? - Enigma."

Dick read the riddle out loud. He looked up at Alfred. "It's E, isn't it? Like, the beginning of the word eternity, & the end of the phrase 'time and space?" It's all E."

Alfred nodded. "Yes, I suppose by that logic, it would be the letter E."

Dick responded to Enigma with "The letter E."

The next text came quickly. "Clever as ever. Riddle me this: What walks on four legs, then two, and finally three? - Enigma."

Dick read the riddle out loud. Dick raised an eyebrow and looked up at Alfred. "Help?"

Alfred sighed. "A human being, Master Grayson. It's a riddle derived from Greek mythology. The Sphinx would ask travelers a variation of this riddle. 'Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?' The answer would be a human being, seeing as a human crawls on four feet as a baby, two as an adult, & three as an elderly person with a cane."

Dick nodded. "Okay," he said as he began typing the answer to the riddle. He wrote "A human being."

Dick pressed send on the message. He had expected another riddle message, but the next text he received was an address. Dick read the address to himself, then a second time. A look of shock slowly rose over his face.

"Everything alright, Master Grayson?" Alfred asked. "This one stump you?"

Dick stared at his phone, then slowly looked up at Alfred. "Uh, yeah." Dick shook his head, & shut his eyes. He didn't want to go back. "Sorry, Al, I think I'll have to pass on that gumbo tonight."

Alfred nodded. "Very well, sir. I'll save the bowl for you when you return."

Dick nodded. "Thanks, Al."

Alfred left the bedroom & shut the door behind him. Dick got out of his bed and began to get dressed. He had to return to the site of the bombing.

Dick walked down the dark empty vacant street, towards the yellow tape. As he approached the tape, his chest began to fill with guilt again. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how many times he told himself it wasn't his fault, Dick knew it was. The attack was because of him. He could've stopped that boy if he had been more alert. He could've saved those 14 people.

Still, he couldn't help but hear Janet's voice echo in his mind. "Thank you."

Dick stepped underneath the tape & stared down into the crater. Flowers were placed around the site. Dick felt a tug in his chest. He sighed and pulled his phone from his pocket and looked back at the text from Enigma. The address was correct. He was supposed to be there. But why?

Dick surveyed his surroundings. "Fucking Christ," he mumbled to himself. "What the hell...is this a game to you? Another fucking riddle? Is this what you're doing to me? You're fucking crazy! This isn't right! It's a fucking memorial! People DIED here! There's spilt blood & tears here! And you wanna fuck with me with this shit! You are SICK, Enigma! No, you are INSANE!"

"Dick," said a low hoarse voice.

Dick felt his heart beat straight out of his chest at the startling call of his name. He turned around to find the Batman looming over his shoulder.

"God dammit, you fucking bastard!" Dick cried as he backed away.

The Batman stared right at Dick. Dick couldn't tell what the Bat's facial expression was. The Bat took one small step forward. "What are you doing here, Dick?"

Dick rose an eyebrow. "Paying my fucking respects, what's it to you?"

"You were crying out curses about someone named 'Enigma.'"

Dick brought his middle finger up to the Bat. "Fuck off," he said & turned to walk away.

The Batman reached out & grabbed Dick's arm, pulling him back. Dick yanked his arm back & swung a fist to the Bat's face. "DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Dick growled as he began to walk off once more.

As Dick walked away, he suddenly felt his blood boil & his palms clench into fists. His heart pounded hard & his head began to throb. He stopped in his tracks & turned back around, stomping towards the Batman.

"Where were you, huh?" Dick started. "Where the FUCK were you?" The Batman stood there in confusion. Dick scoffed, and continued. "14 people died that day. They were blown up. Police couldn't stop it. It was a surprise attack. But you're THE BATMAN. You're a fucking legend. You're supposed to be a hero, man. You save lives. You've done it, I've seen it. You've saved my life. So why didn't you save them?"

Batman stared at Dick. His expression was blank. Dick felt his anger grow as the silence between the two droned on. Dick rolled his eyes the began to turn away when the vigilante spoke. "I was busy."

Dick stopped in his tracks. He let out a roar as he reached down & picked up a long wooden plank & swung it at the Batman in one swift motion. The plank shattered on impact with the Batman's armor. The Batman stared down at Dick, who was breathing hard.

Dick took a deep breath and spoke in between his heavy heaves. "How the hell are you too busy for the city, but you make time to fuck with me?"

The Batman shook his head. "You're missing the big picture, Dick."

Dick scoffed as the Batman walked around Dick towards the crater. The Bat continued. "This message you received from this 'Enigma' suggested that you return to this spot. I received the same message. Someone wanted us both here."

Dick nodded. "Okay, sure. Except I've already come here. I came to see the damage. I did my due diligence, conducting my own investigation."

"Your own investigation?" The Batman responded in his hoarse tone.

"Yeah, my own investigation!"

"What have you learned about the bombing, then?"

Dick opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it again. What HAD he learned about the bombing?

"Well," Dick started, clearing his throat. "It was an attack by Drake. He sent one of his guys down here with a bomb. The boy hadn't tried to avoid the blast."

"So a suicide bomber?" The Batman asked.

Dick looked back into the blast crater. "Yeah, I guess so…" Dick began walking up towards the crater, then stumbled down into it. He looked back up, where the Batman watched him. Dick turned back to the ground, where he surveyed it rubble. "Is it possible that the bomb was already in place by the time the kid showed up?"

Batman began to step down the crater. "What do you mean?"

Dick looked back down. "Well, I was thinking, maybe the bomb was already here, & it was only detonated when the kid arrived. Like some sort of cue to blast the block."

Batman nodded. "Interesting," he said softly. He bent down to the concrete where the trash can would have been. "In the reports, it says the boy dropped an empty bottle into the trash can?"

Dick shrugged. "Sure, that might have been the signal, right?"

Batman ignored the question. "That bottle might not have been empty."

Dick blinked. "Huh?"

Batman sighed. "Cadmus, a scientific research facility, recently made a breakthrough in a new chemical compound which can release toxic acids when exposed to oxygen. These toxic acids are similar to what's released in a chlorine bomb."

Dick nodded slowly. "Isn't that like a dry ice bomb?"

"Yes," Batman said, "but on a larger & more acidic."

Dick bit his lip. "Shit, ok," he said softly.

"The bomb was the compound inside of the bottle. The boy threw the open bottle into the trash can, where oxygen reacted with the compound, creating an explosion."

Dick sighed. "So a chemical weapon," he said softly. "Nolan Drake has chemical weapons."

The Batman bent down to peer into the crater. "But where did you even hear that this attack was a chemical weapon?" Dick asked

The Bat turned slightly to Dick. "With Oswald Cobblepot working as Nolan Drake's arms dealer, I decided to start tailing Cobblepot's movements. He's been visiting Cadmus for the past few weeks, most likely buying weapons off of them."

Dick nodded. "Cadmus," he said to himself. So Nolan had Cobblepot buy weapons from Cadmus. With Gotham in impending danger, the only logical thing to do was to stop Nolan from getting his hands on any more weapons. Find Cadmus, find Cobblepot, find Nolan, & put a stop to them for good.

"Where can I find Cadmus?" Dick asked the Batman.

"Oh, you don't," the Bat said before standing up. He looked down at Dick. "It's a military base, so there's virtually no way to get in."

Dick nodded. Cadmus was a military base that specialized in scientific research, such as chemical warfare. According to the Batman, Nolan had used Cadmus weapons to orchestrate this attack. And for some reason, Dick was sent back to the blast site by Enigma to learn about this. Enigma wanted Dick to find out about Cadmus. Maybe Enigma knew Cadmus was involved...maybe he wanted Dick to find Cadmus.

That's it. Dick was going to find Cadmus. And Enigma knew how to do it.

"Don't do anything stupid, Richard."

Dick turned back to where the Batman was standing to find that the Batman had disappeared. Dick stayed as the sun set behind the Gotham City skyline, contemplating how Dick would go about executing his plan. Dick was going to do it. Find Enigma, find Cadmus, find Cobblepot & Nolan Drake. It could work.