Signal in the Sky
Dusk was settling in, morphing the last glows of evening into the darkness of night. The underbelly of Gotham was about to become active, revealing itself onto the streets.
At least, that was how things usually happened. Because of all the recent events in Gotham, it was quite likely many of the criminals that infested this city were going to keep a low profile. The appearance of monsters recently factored into this.
Bruce was making final adjustments to his armor, making certain each piece was in place, each buckle and strap secured. He was in the bunker, the main computer compiling all the data it had on the Raven constructs. From what he could gather, the last appearance had been city-wide. People had been hurt and killed. Even vigilantes had been attacked, even the Batclan, much to his chagrin, but thankfully they hadn't taken any casualties.
There was also the League of Smiles, who had an attack that occurred before the latest construct attack. They couldn't be ignored either, but they were simply people, sick people prone to violence, but people he could take down without much difficulty. The constructs, however…
Red Robin and the Teen Titans had to have made some progress by now. They had been in his city the last couple of nights and had fought these constructs whenever they appeared. That had saved lives no doubt, but their primary object was to locate their missing member and put a stop to this.
More and more, it seemed he was going to need to involve himself to speed the process up. Never had he thought he needed to sideline a case with the Joker involved, but what choice did he have? A difficult decision needed to be made and he was the one that had to make it.
Yet, he couldn't turn a blind out to the League of Smiles, not after the data file he had received from Oracle. She had found a potential pattern in the crimes that had occurred during the clown-obsessed criminals' attacks.
During an attack, be it the Homestead Youth Center or the Thompkins' clinic, there had been a murder committed at roughly the same time. The victims were linked together, one being Emily Merideth and the other being her divorce attorney, Derek Sycamore. Each were linked to the earliest murder by the League of Smiles, Byron Merideth.
Once was happenstance; twice was coincidence; three times was a pattern, or so the saying went. Aside from Byron Merideth's murder, the other two victims were killed at the time of a League of Smiles' attack. Each had gone relatively unnoticed because of this, which seemed like the intent. What better way to hide a murder than creating a headline-grabbing attack?
Were Emily Merideth and Derek Sycamore killed by the League of Smiles? That was possible due to their proximity to the League's attacks. Yet, the manner in which they were killed didn't match the M.O. For instance, Emily had been bound and stabbed, left to bleed out. Sycamore suffered a similar fate. These were not the brutal murders committed by the deranged clowns.
Byron Merideth had met that sort of fate, so much so that he had to be identified by his dental records…
Bruce paused.
Dental records…and there was a known member of the League of Smiles that was a dentist…
"Father!"
On instinct, Bruce scowled. He had been onto something and his thoughts being interrupted was irritating. He relaxed his expression into a neutral one as he turned, finding Damian—
"What are you doing?" he immediately demanded.
Damian was dressed in his uniform, which flew in the face of his previous order. He even had on the utility belt he had been given the previous night. It was quite clear the boy thought he was going out on patrol.
"I am prepared for this evening's activities," Damian answered him. "I will do as instructed—"
"You are not going out there." Bruce turned to fully face his son, crossing his arms over his chest. "I made that clear this morning."
"But Father!" Damian protested. "You can not punish me for being concerned over your safety! I was only trying to help!"
"We are not having this discussion again. You are staying in tonight. That is my order and you will obey it. Or do I need to review the rules with you again?"
A scowl was on the boy's face as he lowered his head. He was clenching his fists tightly, a sign of how he felt about those words. "No, you do not," he spat out.
"Now get out of your uniform. If you want to practice with the equipment, you'll need to dress accordingly, preferably in a gi. That is the only allowance you're getting." Bruce took a step closer to the boy, causing him to look up at him. "Do not disobey me again, Damian, or there will be severe consequences. Do you understand?"
There was a moment's silence before Damian sullenly replied, "I understand."
Bruce just continued to stare the dark-haired boy down. He was quite aware of how spoiled he was, so an ultimatum might not work. Then again, Damian hadn't been opposed by someone like him, save for maybe Ra's al Ghul. His lack of discipline indicated he hadn't faced much opposition before.
Bruce would have continued to stare his son down had it not been for the computer sounding an alarm. Turning his attention to it, he saw a new window had appeared, one that reported the activation of the Bat Signal.
Now what?
It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! He was trying, damn it! He only wanted to help his father in his mission!
To be turned away and forced to remain behind, it was intolerable! Why was he being so unfair!
Damian bet that the usurper wasn't treated like this. Probably given the run of the city the second she turned those whorish eyes on him. Father was too soft on her and too hard on him.
All of his life, he had been training for the day that he would not only meet but stand at his father's side, taking the world for all it was worth. To be his father's equal, to have his respect, to be his son. Grandfather was a great man, but he wasn't Father. Neither was Mother.
Tutors, assassins, and servants were what he knew. None of them could give him what he wanted, and the best that could be offered was the tools and training to get it. In the end, none of it had been enough.
Those creatures, whatever the hell they were, they were responsible for this current situation. Damian also realized how dangerous they were; these weren't man-shaped and they were incredibly durable. Not only that, their speed could not be underestimated. See, he could learn! He would learn. But how was he if he was not out there at his father's side?
Father needed to see his strength. He needed to see that he was not some rank amateur. He had been trained by the best Mother could find and Grandfather provided. His swordsmanship was peerless; if only he was not restricted from using it. Well, those monsters could provide a chance to show off, could they not?
But wait, that signal in the sky, the one that Father would respond to religiously barring an exception. Damian had noticed the alert while leaving his father's sight. The true heir knew where that signal was created from. It would be simple enough to follow, if not arrive before Father did. The matter of urgency may afford him the opportunity to remain hidden until he spotted a chance to display his skills.
How to follow, though? Tt, he had a way. Father had quite a few spare transportation methods here, it would be simple enough to acquire one.
Father needed to see what he could do. Then he would change his mind, Damian was sure.
Waiting for school to end had been intolerable. The entire time, Helena could only think about Colin's AMBER alert.
Colin was an orphan, so the chances anyone was looking for him were damn near nonexistent. The police would do what they could, but let's face it, there was a reason there were so many vigilantes in this city. She wanted to be out there, finding her kid, making certain he was alright.
Of course, she couldn't just leave once the final bell rang. No, she had to help make certain all the other children were loaded onto buses, or left in the correct care with the correct parent or guardian picking them up. The school was on high alert and it wasn't going to allow another one of its students to vanish.
It wasn't a bad decision; in fact, it was completely understandable. But that was time she had to waste before she could go out to find Colin. Even after ignoring her work, worksheets and papers that needed to be graded, Helena got stuck in late-afternoon traffic. What should have been a thirty minute drive to the Roost had taken over an hour—just more time wasted, leaving Colin in the hands of his kidnappers.
So it was entirely reasonable that she would be in a bad mood as she strapped herself into her armor, roughly buckling herself in. This was the scene the other Birds walked into when they finally arrived.
"Helena, the sun isn't even down," Dinah remarked, a frown on her face. "What's—"
"Someone has my kid," Helena interrupted, nearly snapping the blonde's head off. "I'm not waiting for the damn sunset to finish to go look for him. The first twenty-four hours are almost up."
Three heads perked up and clearly a connection was made. "The AMBER alert," Dinah murmured, but might as well shout at the top of her lungs. "That was one of your students."
Helena was done with her buckles by now, snatching up her utility belt as she wrapped it around her waist. "You're normally not this slow, Dinah," she spat out. "Is your hair color finally catching up to you?"
"Hey, I get it, you're stressed, but that isn't a reason to go for the insult." Dinah closed the distance between them and stood next to the dark-haired woman, crossing her arms beneath her bosom. "We can help so long as the League of Smiles doesn't get in the way. They're still out there."
"I don't give one flying fuck about some mentally ill Joker fans!" Helena blew up, whipping her head around to glare at the Birds' glorious leader. "If it turns out they're the ones to take Colin, they're never gonna walk again! I'll break them into so many pieces, they'd wish I'd kill 'em!"
Oh, she wanted blood. She was really reconsidering the no-kill policy of Batman's—and then all of her years of indoctrination kicked in. God damn it, did morals really have to be such buzzkills?
But wait, while Batman was against killing, he had no problem with maiming. Maiming was good. Maiming she could do. She could break a leg in five different places. She could sever a spinal cord. She could break every bone in a hand. Yes, she could do all of those things.
This must have been the anger Batgirl had been dealing with just a couple weeks or so ago. The way the teen girl had nearly bit her head off when she stopped her at Gotham Chapel had been alarming. And now she was in the same spot, wanting blood to be spilled.
"You need to stop," the soft voice of Tatsu spoke. "You are not calm. This can only lead to a poor outcome."
Helena slowly turned around to face the Asian woman. "What's that supposed to mean?" she growled.
Tatsu wasn't the least bit taken back. She just stared her down, her dark eyes penetrating. "You know," was all she said.
"And if it was one of your—" she cut herself off. She was familiar with the woman's story, the way her family had been slaughtered by her brother-in-law. To bring that up, even in a moment of anger, was like pouring freezing water all over her.
Tatsu, bless her soul, didn't look the least bit offended. "I wouldn't let anyone stop me from finding my children," she said succinctly. "But I would do so with a calm head. Letting your anger overcome you will only slow you down."
And now she felt guilty. Goddamn it. "Hey, I'm sorry," the purple-clad woman apologized. "I didn't mean—"
"I know," she was cut off. That was perhaps the closest she was going to get in any form of apology acceptance. Helena had crossed a line, she knew it; they all knew it.
"I might be the last person that can weigh in on this, but why can't we do both?" Kate suggested. "There's a missing kid and there's the League of Smiles. Both need to be found either way."
"And if we find the League of Smiles before the boy?" Dinah brought up. "Can we afford to have our heads in two different places?"
And the anger was back. Helena scowled at the blonde woman. "You think I can't handle two things at once? Need I remind you I've been doing this longer than any of you?"
Dinah just gazed back at her coolly, the bitch. "We just had this happen, remember? That co-worker of Kate's kept her distracted enough that people got hurt. We don't need a repeat."
"Low blow," Kate grumbled.
"So what does that mean? You don't think I can—"
"It means you're not in any frame of mind to be effective fighting the League," Dinah interrupted. "And I really don't blame you, I don't. I don't think I could stay focused in these circumstances. What I'm saying is that it would be better if you focused on finding your kid. The rest of us can give you support as long as we can, but if the League of Smiles shows up, we will have to stop them."
Oh, so that's what she was saying. If she were in a better frame of mind, Helena would have understood it. She did in a way, but she didn't like the idea of losing her help should some maniacs appear. Huffing, she looked away, finding her eyes on a nearby window.
One that was showing the Bat Signal lighting up the sky.
Well, now that offered some possibilities. If she couldn't get the help she needed from the Birds, maybe she could get it from a Bat.
Two of the Titans stood with their heads craned backwards and staring up at the sky.
The shorter of the two, Beast Boy, said in a hushed voice, "You taking the picture?"
The taller, Cyborg, answered, "Oh yeah. I'm locking this one down and backing up to multiple harddrives."
Safe to say, the two were adding to their personal collection.
Nearby, a certain speedster had the same posture, head tilted back, and with both hands on his hips. Kid Flash tilted his head and wondered out loud, "Why doesn't Flash have something like that? It's kinda obvious, now that I think about it. Let everyone know Flash is in town, bad guys stay home—oh wait, Flash is always home and can be there in a flash. Right."
A sharp whistle let them know that their time being distracted was up. In case that flew over their heads, Wonder Girl called out, "Heads in the clouds, get your asses back to earth and over here!"
In a soft whisper, "Dude, I think she's mad at us."
"She needs to learn how to appreciate the atmosphere." A rueful shake of a half-titanium head.
Nevertheless, they assembled with Red Robin as the focus. On either side of him were the girls, Starfire waiting patiently while Wonder Girl looked like she was able to fall back into old, grouchy habits. The armor-wearing blonde was under enough stress as it was, so he was giving it a pass so long as she did her best out there.
Still, he did understand the mystique. It felt like another lifetime ago, but once he had been another person who looked up at the sky and saw that signal. There had been awe, of course, and a sense of pride. What other city could say they had something like this? Or would? Jump City wasn't going to be doing a Titans Signal anytime soon.
Nostalgia needed to be put aside for now. Night was falling with just the last bit of sunlight sinking down in the west. Thanks to light pollution, there was no way to see the stars above, not that the night sky was what they were here for.
"Quick recap, we've at least have the majority of Gotham searched. Based on Starfire's suspicions compared to the data Cyborg has, we have a lead: Sacred Heart Convalescent Hospital," Red Robin summed up. "According to all public information, it is allegedly undergoing some renovations. However, to shut down a whole hospital like that is rare and not done unless the renovations are extensive or the place is on the verge of collapsing on itself. Cyborg?"
"You'd expect there to be some electrical usage," the cyborg picked up seamlessly. "Compared to normal daylight operations, it's way below the normal usage which is to be expected. But like Red said, either it's in a real need for a facelift, or they're thinking of demolishing it. That means there shouldn't be any activity at night, but based on records from the last few weeks, it's been using more than its fair share."
"You think that's where Raven's being held?" Beast Boy asked eagerly.
"That's what we're gonna find out," Red Robin stated. "The place is big, so it'll take time to search it all. That means we're all going in. We'll split up into two groups, stay together at all times and no going off by yourselves."
"But I could check that place out in like two seconds!" Kid Flash protested.
"And if Raven is there, then so is the person who bought her. Raven's powers get out of control more and more with each passing day and you remember what happened in the Tower, right?" the teen vigilante explained. "You can bet that there will be constructs as well. That Raven hasn't broken out yet means that however she's being held, we will have to deal with that too, which means at the very least we need to capture the buyer alive and conscious."
It didn't need to be said to protect the bastard as well. Those constructs wouldn't stop unless this person had a way to protect themselves. Odds were that a confrontation was going to destroy whatever it was and leave them vulnerable. Plus, they didn't need any more scrutiny from Batman.
Looking over the group of six, himself included, "When we get inside, Cyborg, you'll have Starfire and Beast Boy with you. Wonder Girl and Kid Flash will be with me. You encounter any constructs, don't hold back. Go all out. Just…don't make the whole building collapse in case it is in that bad of shape. That'll put not only us, but Raven at risk too."
He received a lot of nods. They all understood. Not even a quip from Beast Boy or Kid Flash, meaning they were taking this seriously too. That was as good a sign that there was going to be no funny business on their parts.
Red Robin knew very little about Sacred Heart. The best he knew, it was a hospital where people stayed to recover from bad accidents or illnesses that weren't life threatening, but weren't walks in the park either. This was the place not for emergencies; those went to all the other hospitals. This place was all about recovery, so it took in those who weren't at death's door but still needed some around the clock care.
Maybe there were times when he had seen it during patrols with the Batclan—the original one—but it had never merited any attention. This was going to be a first for him as well, though not his first time in a hospital.
There was no expectation for there to be innocent people. Unless there were squatters, in which case they needed the confirmation first.
This had to be their last night. This time, they were finding Raven. Where else were they going to look for her?
This was…different.
Countless times, Batman had been summoned to the GCPD building via the Bat Signal. Each time, he had met Gordon, who waited calmly for him to appear.
Seeing the short blond hair and thinner frame of a much younger Sawyer instead of the heftier, older, white-haired Gordon seemed wrong.
Unlike her predecessor, Maggie Sawyer seemed to be ill-at-ease. She frequently searched the roof, as if trying to spot his arrival. She'd check her watch every couple of minutes before doing another search, ultimately looking up at the signal light in the sky. Batman watched this routine a few times, doing his own search in the meantime. The last thing he needed was for a couple of cops to be hiding on the rooftop as well, a few snipers with him in the crosshairs.
Perhaps it was paranoia that made him do that, but his relationship with the GCPD changed the moment Gordon stepped down. There was still that weakly enforced policy of capturing him should he appear, so he needed to be mindful of that. Never mind their criminal investigation into his secret identity, which would have made anyone weary of any sort of police presence.
That said, Sawyer was a good choice to replace Gordon. Her previous experience in Metropolis gave her a broader insight into the use of assistance outside of her precinct. She was also part of Gordon's inner circle as well. She was still trying to feel out the job, so they were in the rough-and-bumpy stage of her tenure. Hopefully she would settle in, much like Gordon had.
Feeling confident there wasn't a set-up, Batman glided over to the GCPD roof, landing behind the roof access. He used it as cover to approach Sawyer from behind, who had just completed her latest visual sweep of the area.
Coming to a stop behind the Bat Signal, he greeted, "Commissioner."
Sawyer whipped around, her eyes wide as a hand went right for her sidearm. She froze when she saw him, holding her stance for a couple of seconds before she stiffly relaxed. "You came this time," she remarked, fully turning around to face him. The trench coat she wore seemed to swallow her up.
Batman didn't reply to that. Because of his own incarceration, he had been unable to answer any sort of call by her. Cassandra had told him she covered for him once, even giving an excuse that he was with the Justice League at the time. That was admitting a good cover, so points for her. He could be gone for however long he needed to be and there wasn't anyone that would question his absence so long as he was with the League.
"I met your partner, Batgirl," Sawyer continued. "She said you were out of town with the Justice League."
"I was," he responded.
"I'm guessing that ended well?"
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't."
The blonde woman nodded. "Alright, sorry to waste time. This is the first time we've met like this, so I'm a little nervous."
"Why did you call?" he grunted. Perhaps if he gave her some direction, she'd get on track.
Sawyer straightened out her posture, rolling her shoulders back. "There was an attack on a hospital, Gotham Children's, by the League of Smiles last night."
Batman narrowed his eyes. Was this the third unrelated incident in the League of Smiles' latest attack? First, Derek Sycamore; then Emily Merideth…
"A nine year old boy, Colin Wilkes, was taken by them. A few of the hospital's security staff were assaulted, but nothing life threatening. My main concern is with Colin."
This…this was so much worse. A child kidnapped? What was his connection to Merideth and Sycamore? "How long ago?" he growled.
If Sawyer was taken back by his tone, she didn't show it. "We're nearing the twenty-four hour mark. An AMBER alert was issued this morning, but you wouldn't know about it based off of the media coverage—or lack thereof. Colin is an orphan, so no family is looking for him. As far as his background goes, he's been in-and-out of at least four foster homes, frequently is in trouble at school, and not much of a social life that I could find."
…this was not what he was expecting. Based off of that profile, there wasn't any connection to Merideth or Sycamore. If anything, it was resembling an opportune victim, one that wouldn't be missed should they go missing. According to Sawyer, they had chosen correctly.
That was when the Commissioner fished a hand into one of her coat pockets. She pulled out an envelope and it out to him. "Then an hour ago, we received this. It's for you."
Staring at the white envelope, he could see block letters had been glued to the front. "To BAtMaN" it read. Reaching a hand out, he accepted the letter, flipping it from front to back. There was a wax seal, obviously broken since the police had to see what was in it. The seal was still legible though, a large smile appearing along the lower half of the circle, the letters L.O.S. at the top.
Glaring at it, Batman then opened the already-opened envelope and pulled out a letter. The same blocked letter arrangement was present. "COme hERE if yOu WANT tO savE THE bOY. 5105-4445. ComE ALoNe."
Those were coordinates. A quick search would do the trick. Batman had to resist the urge to clench his hand, ruining this piece of evidence. There were things Forensics could do to further study the letter, further cementing guilt against the League of Smiles.
"I'll find him," Batman eventually said as he returned his attention to Sawyer. "I'll be in touch."
As he handed the letter back, Sawyer accepting it as she looked at the message as well, Batman silently left the way he had come. "I was thinking those numbers were coordinates, don't you…think…" she trailed off.
By the time Batman was back at his original vantage point, the Bat Signal was gone. Clearly Sawyer had realized the meeting was over and shut it down. In the meantime, the vigilante was heading to where his car was parked. He'd used the computer in there, locate the coordinates and—
Before he reached the other end of the building, a figure suddenly shot up over the edge. Coming to a stop, the dark-clad man instinctively reached to his belt, but didn't retrieve a weapon. He recognized Huntress the moment she landed, her eyes focused completely on him. "I've been looking for you," she called out to him.
"Now isn't a good time," Batman told her as he began walking towards her. "There's a child missing."
The purple-clad vigilante seemed to straighten up. "You're talking about Colin Wilkes, right?"
Batman paused as he came to the edge of the roof. Already, he had a bad feeling as to why Huntress would know about the case Sawyer had just told him about. "I am," he slowly acknowledged.
"Then I'm coming with."
The vigilante glanced over his shoulder at the dark-haired woman. "Because?"
"Because Colin is one of my kids and I'll be damned if he gets hurt."
One of her kids…she meant one of her students. He had a feeling this was where this was going. Already, he could think of how bad of an idea this was. Huntress was emotionally invested in the return of Colin, which wasn't a good thing. Emotions clouded judgment and if they wanted to save the boy, they needed to be as objective as they could.
Yet, he had been in a similar situation not that long ago, when the Riddler had captured Damian. Thankfully that had ended well, but he knew the turmoil that twisted his guts and left him quite impatient as the Riddler taunted him. He should refuse Huntress' demand.
Yet, he knew that even if he refused her, Huntress would still be looking for Colin, no doubt following him in the process. It was better if he kept an eye on her rather than letting her go half-cocked.
Pulling out his grapple, he said, "Follow me."