I do not own Young Justice

Chapter 4

The box came Tuesday afternoon, five days after Dick was snatched. The delivery boy brought it to Wayne Tech and a secretary signed off for it. She scanned it to make sure there was nothing dangerous. Not finding anything alarming, she brought it upstairs to Bruce and Jason, who Bruce hadn't allowed to leave his side outside of the manor since Friday morning. Bruce didn't even leave Jason alone with Alfred if they were outside the manor. That's how terrified he was to lose his second son to the terrorists who the police were convinced had taken his eldest. Nodding to the policeman standing guard outside the door, she entered.

"Expecting a package, Mr. Wayne?" She questioned.

"No," Bruce said rising out of his chair. Jason looked up from the corner, where he was doing homework from school. It was make-up work really, as Bruce was too afraid of letting Jason out of his sight to let him go to school. Artemis had dropped off the work when she stopped by to get an update on the situation. "Who is it from?"

"I don't know. There was no return address, but the scans didn't pick up anything dangerous." She bit her lip. Personally, she thought it may be from the kidnappers, but she did not want to bring up the possibility only for him to find out that it was not and then be crushed. The man was losing enough sleep as it was.

Even so, it seemed that Bruce was well aware of the possibility, no, likelihood, that the package was from the people who took his kid. He took the package with trembling hands and set it down on his desk. Jason got up and came over to look as well. The two stared at the package for a moment, and then exchanged looks. Finally, Bruce looked up at the secretary and said, "You can go."

She left, although her curiosity was sparked. This was not a moment for her to intrude upon.

Back in the office, Jason and Bruce were staring at the package as if it waiting for it to explode. Well, Bruce was. Jason was alternating between staring at the package and looking up at his father to see if he was going to open it. After five minutes of this, Jason burst out, "Well, if you're not to open it, I am!" He grabbed the package and a letter opener from Bruce's desk and cut open the package labels. He then opened the box.

Inside, wrapped in wrapping paper as if they were a present, were Dick's clothes. They were neatly folded. Knowing this was probably against police procedure but needing to do it anyways, Bruce reached into the box, shaking, and pulled out his son's blazer. He reached into the inner, hidden pocket, and found Dick's utility belt. He breathed a sigh of relief. That was one weight off his chest, and it didn't feel as if the inner pocket had been messed with at all. Bruce hid the belt in the Batman drawer. He didn't want the police seeing it.

There was blood on Dick's white uniform shirt, which was much less of a relief. Not much, but enough to make a point. It looked like it had been made from a deep cut on his arm, based on the splatter pattern and the slice in the sleeve. Someone had drawn a skull face on the shirt, in Dick's blood, with gloves. Jason shivered and looked away as Bruce removed the shirt.

Underneath the shirt was a black VCR tape, old fashioned and slightly dented in places, but useable. There was a beeper as well. Bruce paled a little, but felt slightly relieved as this was looking less and less like a terrorist case as he continued to remove things. He handed the tape to Jason, who was still staring at the shirt with trepidation. Bruce gently raised Jason's chin to meet his eyes, and gave him a meaningful Batlook. Jason snapped out of it and raced to the closet to try to find an old VCR player.

His younger son no longer watching, he continued to pull items out of the box. Dick's pants were in reasonably good condition, with only a small bit of dirt at the knees, as if he had tripped and scrambled back up. Dick had probably been keeping up the helpless rich kid act that Bruce regretted ever insisting on. Dick's shoes had a few more scuffs than usual, but, like most shoes, held no evidence of a fight. His socks were balled up inside each shoe.

Dick's watch, normal belt, and tie sat at the bottom of the box, as well as several crushed trackers. Bruce suspected that the trackers had been crushed immediately, given that he had been unable to find any signal, but the other objects may have been placed in after the ransom video, as Bruce hoped that was what the VCR tape was, had been made.

The only things missing, besides Dick himself, were Dick's boxers and Kid Flash's goggles. According to Kid Flash, the two teens had determined Dick would take the goggles to school that day so that he could gloat from the second he saw Kid Flash to when Kid Flash left on Saturday, and likely a little bit afterwards.

Bruce sighed, as Jason returned with an old, usable, VCR player.

"Tell the police officer. I'll call Alfred." Jason nodded, and ran to the door as Bruce picked up the phone and dialed Alfred. The phone rang only one and a half times before the line picked up.

"Alfred. I think we just received a ransom video."

Zantanna lay on the couch with her knees bent over the arm rest, staring at her phone. She called Robin 20 times in the last week and left 5 voicemails, but he had not called back. She also sent him at least 50 texts asking where he was, but he had not replied. There was the possibility that he misplaced or lost his phone, but he had not answered her hails on the Justice League communicators either when she turned to that. Plus, Robin would never have gone this long without his phone, at least without visiting the Mountain.

Maybe Robin was grounded. That would also explain why he wasn't answering emails. However, that did not explain why Artemis and Wally had only been to the cave once in the last week, and just to pop in to use the equipment. Artemis said that she, Wally, and Red Arrow were on a special mission in Gotham. When Zantanna asked, Artemis was surprised that Robin had not been by the Mountain, especially since he had not joined in their mission, even though it was his city. She was even more surprised that he had not answered any messages. It wasn't like him. She said she'd ask Batman about it.

Wally, however. Wally stiffened at the mention of Robin, wouldn't meet Zantanna's eyes, and rushed off when she asked him about it. Artemis stared after him, and then told Zantanna she'd find out what was up with him as well. Then, Artemis left, following after Wally with furrowed eyebrow as if attempting to figure something out.

Black Canary also wouldn't meet Zantanna's eyes when she asked about Robin. Thankfully, Black Canary, at least, composed herself and gave Zantanna an answer. She said that Robin was on a secret, undercover mission for Batman and should be back soon. Batman hadn't given him much warning, which was why Wally was so upset. Most of the other league members said something similar, although they sounded slightly unsure.

This brought Zantanna back to her current situation. Trying to contact the MIA boy wonder, or at least get an answer from his best friend, Wally, who would be coming by soon. She could tell something was wrong and a knot of worry that had wedged its way in earlier that week not long after Wally, Artemis, and Robin had not joined them at Six Flags refused to budge.

Conner sat on the other side of the couch, watching the static. He cast a worried glance towards Zantanna. He, M'gann, and Kaldur were slightly worried as well, but they understood that the League, well, mostly Batman, would likely keep anything that happened to Robin in his civilian life a secret as long as they could. They were able to stay traught, unlike the distraught Zantanna. Conner hoped Robin would return soon. It was unlike him to go radio silent without letting them know, and he needed to come make Zantanna feel better. She was too mopey.

"Recognized: Kid Flash B03, Artemis B07, Batman 02, Red Arrow B06."

"Team, report to the mission room."

A/N

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Enjoy this new, but unfortunately kind of short chapter. I'm back! With Internet!