Chapter 03: straight forward is the new roundabout

'every man and woman has a mission in life, a vocation if you will' at least that's what people say to themselves to feel a sense of self worth… I have multiple missions. In some I succeeded. At some I failed and at some I've yet to complete'.

That was what Batman told himself while speeding in the bat-mobile through Gotham's downtown towards the city limits after an otherwise fruitless patrol of the city, usually a fruitful patrol would have provided a few useful clues which he could turn into facts, however there were no such clues this time, which prompted him to send the following transmission

"Alfred prepare the cave, I'm coming in"

From with in the bat cave itself came the response of Bruce Wayne's confidant and care taker to the Wayne's estate, Alfred pennyworth the second, a gentlemen in his mid 30's to early 40's.

" if I may say so sir, it's 04:30 am….. must be a slow night out in Gotham."

Batman known fo his chattiness replied with "not much as slow as in simply dry"

Without skipping a beat the comm links have cut out and the revving of the bat-mobile, modeled after a Terrell p34 formula car, could be heard with in the caves wall as it is being docked in it's designated area. Not before the car completely died down, batman leaped from the driver seat and headed straight to his office area/forensics lab, focused solely on his task at hand he sat himself near the main computer and started typing in such rhythm that would make Beethoven look heavily coordinated, started a thorough research on Gotham's new arrivals the woman in the jag and the girl with the eye fetish.

For a few long moments the bat cave became deathly quiet expect for the odd typing patterns of the keyboard's keys, that is until Alfred made his re-entrance this time carting along a service trolley with light snacks inside.

"Your cowl sir", Bruce laser focused as he has inquired, "what about it Alfred?

"You forgot to remove it again sir" catching his mistake he removed his headgear, gave a curt nod to his friend and went on to continue with his work.

"Dare I say it master Wayne but I never understood you being social with what might be quite the most anti social women you've met" Referring to what was currently displaying on a standard computer screen.

Bruce Wayne, never one to miss on a good verbal jab replied with, "you know me all too well to say and mean it. Besides it's not either of the two women, rather their connection that unnerves me…. add the joker into the mix and whatever will happen, you can be sure it will end in tears."

Alfred in an attentive and alert state of mind surmised that coincidence is out of the question served master Wayne his meal for the day, Bruce being the ever proclaimed greatest detective of his generation understood the subtle gesture and lifted the lid to be greeted by a sandwich made out of sliced white bread with a strange gray/brown paste in the middle and sliced tomatoes and cucumbers tossed into a basic salad. The following exchange consisted of Bruce giving a long dead pan stare towards Alfred and in return said butler gave him a raised eyebrow laced with sarcasm 'yes sir, as you suspected it, I'm serving you poison'

Not one to prolong a good comedic moment to the point of redundancy Bruce started eating and surprisingly it was delicious, however he could not savor the taste because his mind was in a constant state of thought so looking at the computer screen again a train of thoughts was set in motion, 'maybe I need to shift my focus from the boss to the courier… so what do we have here…. rose Wilson aged 17 daughter to Slade Wilson from previous marriage… Slade Wilson? former military combatant turned professional hunter…. recently outed as death-stroke a highly revered mercenary…. wait death-stroke, why does it sound familiar?'…. before finishing the question, every thing fell into place, well enough to get an educated guess.

In a rare state of mind batman/Bruce Wayne leaped in anxiety from the bat cave's computer and towards the upper levels of Wayne manor however at that precise time Alfred stopped him resting his hand on the master's shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Whatever scenario runs through your head at the moment, may I remind you that master Richard is a capable and resilient young man?…. I can assure you he's more than capable of managing on his own two feet?"

A deadly silence followed ensue with even a deadlier whisper in response… "like Jason Alfred?

"Not at all sir, with all due respect for master Todd, he was reckless, insubordinate and at times quite infuriating."

Seemingly pointless to argue with a man who apparently has an answer for anything batman relented from the argument, finished his meal and came to a silent agreement with Alfred that a rest was in order as well, not before asking the last thing on his mind

"oh by the way Alfred, what did you serve me? I don't believe I had it before"

It's a Romanian delicacy sir, pate de ficat, otherwise known as liver pate, and for the follow up question indeed you have sir, you were just too preoccupied to notice".

With that said Mr. Wayne took off towards the infirmary wing of the bat cave for a well deserved rest. One might find it odd to say the least but in Mr. Wayne's own words regarding his house 'some parts of it isn't me and some parts of it is very much so'

A few hours later…

Bruce Wayne as Bruce Wayne, now well rested and on the higher levels of Wayne manor. was busy packing a few essentials for an overnight trip, while in the current room recordings of various older news reports, regarding the teen titan's exploits were playing both on a computer screen and a t.v monitor, studying them under a watchful eye while Alfred pennyworth steps into the room waiting for the opportune moment to speak while surveying master Wayne's luggage.

"may I assume that it will be a business trip sir?"

Bruce gives him an affirmative nod as he continues

"may I remind you that master Richard isn't fond of surprises, certainly not to mention surprise visits?"

Bruce pauses the recordings for a few moment, now addressing Alfred.

"it's not about what he likes or doesn't, it's about me doing what I can as a parent, even if we're no blood relatives."

With that response Alfred sighs in frustration, seeing that his master in any shape or form will always taking blame and responsibility, had just one query in mind, bruce now returning to the recordings signaled Alfred to continue.

"why exactly flying coach?, you did specify this 'business trip' is of most urgency?"

Again not missing his Que.

"Well first, thank you for reinforcing the obvious, second, I intend to try and not attract unwanted attention, using company assets will certainly defeat the purpose in that, both of them by the way"

Taking it as a sign to continue " well sir you'll be glad to know that I already booked you a flight to jump city, leaving with in a few hours, but I had a feeling you already knew that", the latter part of the sentence was said almost venomously however Mr. Wayne promptly ignored that, leaving with a couple of suitcases all packed up with only one question in mind.

I trust you'll have everything under control Alfred?

Like clockwork sir.

Gotham international airport, a few minutes later….

'flight number 1180 from gotham to jump city has now begun boarding from gate no 78, please make sure to board on time' without missing a hint bruce wayne followed as instructed while ignoring various live news reports regarding the latest incidents of super villains in jump city.