Searching for a Trail

There were times during the day where it felt like time itself was moving way too slow or way too fast. At first it was morning, then it's after noon. Not afternoon. After noon. The sun was still too close to the middle of the sky, but judging by all the smells, the one time it was certain was lunch time.

Beast Boy calling in a short break, feeling popped. For at least three nights and two days, this being the second day, it had been nothing but searching, searching, searching, and finding nothing. Not a trace of Raven, not even some left behind fart. Right now he was hoping to find that fart because at least it would be something to try and trace her scent from.

Bupkis. Both Cyborg and Red were certain that Raven was in Gotham, but Gotham was very big. Like, bigger than Jump. Probably because it was older and had more time to really spread out, and that was working against them to make with a speedy rescue. Why did whoever have her have to be so smart and know how to hide people?

With a dumpster being the only thing blocking sight of him from the alley, the green shapeshifter sat on the ground with his back pressed against the…well, it wasn't bricks, couldn't call it sheetrock, and concrete didn't seem to be the thing to cover the outside of one of these tall buildings. Not a skyscraper, but it was big, had a loading dock around the corner and all. This was downtown, or he assumed it was, which meant none of the locations that Cyborg was using and comparing were anywhere near here.

Let's just say he was making his way back to where home base was. Couple warehouses by the docks—no, not docks. That place was way too big to be called the docks. Harbor, maybe? Anyway, it was lunch time, and a trade off on who would be next to get some shut eye, though how you could get some this late in the day was—yaaaawn. Okay, it was going to be possible.

No sooner had his jaw stopped popping when Kid Flash raced by then doubled back. How did he know that part? Maybe because Kid Flash told him that's what happened. Two superheroes like themselves standing or sitting around like this might draw a little more attention than one, so it was going somewhere else for some privacy. There was something about rooftops that was so cliche at this point.

Cliche or not, people weren't going to go out of their way to go up to one even to satisfy curiosity. In fact, the only ones would be able to do that last one knew how to fly, and Starfire happened to be doing a flyby at the time.

"Greetings, my friends. How does the search venture?" the Tamaranean asked, and how could she sound so energized and perky? She really knew how to hide how tired she was pretty well.

"Double-checked a few places, made sure there weren't any secret passages, and haven't found anything," Kid Flash told her, also not looking tired in the least. Hey, these two were starting to make him look bad!

"Nothing for me." Body felt heavy but at least he was standing on his two feet. "No scents to follow either."

"We're kinda running out of places," the speedster remarked, rubbing a check. "Where else can we look if we don't have something to follow?"

Too important a question. While Beast Boy would like to suggest maybe Raven wasn't in the city, those monsters that kept appearing said otherwise. She couldn't be too far away…though what all their missing teammate could do was unknown. Seriously, none of them knew everything Raven could do or how big an explosion she could make. You could really judge how powerful someone was by how big an explosion they could make. Sure, that could be anime talking, but it didn't take away how impressive it was or the fact that he got excited by explosions.

"We just gotta find her," Beast Boy said, some of his tiredness leaking out, shoulders slumping a bit. "There's more of those monsters showing up. She's gonna lose all control at this rate."

Both Starfire and Kid Flash hadn't seen how everything ended when something like this broke out in the Tower. Both had been captured, held in some kind of freaky flesh sacs, and were unconscious during the big battle. They didn't get to see the numbers, all the different shapes and forms, and how ugly some of those freaks could be, and didn't have to see what Raven looked like when she began losing control.

He still remembered how dark Cy's garage was, how it was just the two of them there, Raven crouched on the floor, him as well but legs bent in such a way to give him a little height, and he remembered too well her eyes. Eyes being windows and all, he had only been able to read a pair that were always blank, never giving anything away. Beast Boy knew he wasn't the brightest or paid attention to everything like everyone else seemed to be able to do, but he couldn't miss the difference.

You could never forget what Raven looked like when she was afraid.

"I don't know why, but I don't want to find out what happens if that happens," Kid Flash said, interrupting the shapeshifter's thoughts.

"Neither would I," Starfire agreed. "Our friend's distress indicates that where she is held, she is not being treated well." Orange-skinned fists balled up and tightened. Speaking of not noticing things, Beast Boy certainly did notice how much Starfire blamed herself and was continuing to blame herself.

She had been left in charge, and it was during a fight with H.I.V.E. that Raven had been abducted. The Tamaranean was still blaming herself, even if she was trying to maintain hope for them all. It hadn't been her fault, he knew. H.I.V.E. just been smarter than them. They'd be better from this once it was over, he felt.

But first, find and rescue Raven.

Kid Flash punched a fist into the palm of his hand. "All the more reason to speed this up and give the bad guy what's coming to him. Anybody got anything? Something that doesn't feel right?"

Beast Boy found himself looking down. "Nothing." He'd kick his foot into the roof, but he wasn't wearing shoes and didn't want to stub a toe or scuff a heel. Skin was kinda sensitive about that kind of thing. It sucked that after all this time he had not been able to find anything.

"Many of my surveyed locations presented no promises," Starfire said. "There is one that attracted my attention; however my confidence is similar to our current success rate."

"It's still something," Beast Boy said, looking over to her. "Worst case, we check it out and find nothing. Best case…we end this. So, um, where is this place? Maybe we could check in out on the way back?"

"It is a large complex, I noticed. It was also labeled," Starfire began explaining. Labeled? What kind of building had a label on it? "I do not know the significance of Sacred Heart, and my understanding of convalescence needs to be further developed. However, I do believe I know what a hospital is. It is a center for healing and improving one's health, is it not? Unless my understanding of Earth nomenclature needs refinement."

Oh, okay. A hospital, probably had large letters bolted to the building itself. Okay, now he understood what she meant by labeled. A Sacred Heart hospital, though. Wasn't that from a TV show? Anyway, Starfire did mention it was a big place, and hospitals had to be big because there were a lot of sick people getting sick. You needed room.

But…shouldn't there be people in a hospital? Why would Starfire think there was something wrong going there? It should be normal for there to be people.

"What do you think, BB?" Kid Flash asked, arms crossed. Of course, the kid from the future and the alien needed a human in the present time to consider what they should do. Neither would know about hospitals or how they worked or what was normal. Sad to say, neither did he. Sure, green skin should have him there twenty-four seven, but he really thought he pulled this particular shade off.

Hmm, what to do? What to do? What could he say that wouldn't make like he was in over his head? Oh wait, he knew!

"Let's bring it up to Red and Cyborg, see if we really need to, you know, look into it. Might be it's doing what it's suppose to be doing, and if not, we'll need the rest of the team to explore it because…um…because Star said it was a big place! We'll need all the eyes we can get!"

He got blank looks from the other two and he wondered if he had blown it. Then two pairs of shoulders shrugged. "Sounds like a plan to me," Kid Flash said.

Nailed it.

"So…any ideas for lunch? Might as well kill two birds with one stone," Beast Boy said, changing the subject.

"Why would we want to use one piece of hardened earth to kill two avians and why at the identical time?" Starfire asked.

Annnd walked right into that one.

Emily Merideth was found dead in her home, throat slit and her hands bound together with rope. She had been restrained, and based on the autopsy, the skin was rubbed raw under the rope meaning she had been rendered helpless before her death. She had bled out from her wound and had been left in the resulting puddle.

That had been how she had died. The where, on the other hand, had Barbara all the more curious. She was living in an apartment, like many people in Gotham did. Hers was located across the street from the Thompkins Free Clinic, one of the locations targeted by the League of Smiles. A coincidence? Perhaps. She on the other hand smelled a rat.

This prompted more digging on her part, digging that had to occur while also helping out with the normal responsibilities she had. What she had found out was that there was indeed a connection between poor Emily and another of the known victims of the League of Smiles. Emily had once been married to one of the original victims, Dr. Byron Merideth.

On a hunch, she had done another search, one for another murder that may have happened within the last two days. She made sure that the death in question was currently not related to the Joker fanatics that were haunting the streets, something that would have been swept up and then covered up by all the frantic activity the department was doing to try and stop them.

There had been another death. This one was of Derek Sycamore. Never heard of him, and his background revealed that he was a lawyer. More specifically, he was a divorce attorney. Interesting, but did it have anything to do with his death? Well, it just so happened he had been found in his office the following morning, and guess where that office was located? About one block away from the Homestead Youth Center. Hell, you could probably see the center from the office window.

Two deaths and both were within throwing distance of two targets of the League of Smiles. Oh, there was definitely a rat here.

But was there a connection between Emily Merideth and Derek Sycamore? Get this, Derek Sycamore had represented Emily in her divorce from her former husband, Byron Merideth. Having to do a little…Oracle-digging if you catch her drift, and she found out that the divorce was highly contentious. Byron argued over everything. Not that Emily was a saint herself, she did her own fair share of arguing, but once you found out about what was happening beneath the surface…

Everything she was finding out about Byron was that he was an egomaniac. Thought himself the smartest person in the room. Just another raging narcissist, you had to wonder how he got into a position that was based on helping people recover from mental illness. There might be some irony in that he was killed probably by one of his clients.

But then why was Derek Sycamore killed? Why then Emily next? Why that order? Why at all?

Some more digging. Byron was not as savvy a money man as he might think he was. A lot of bad investments, a lot of debt, and then a divorce where his ex is granted alimony. The man's life was heading down the toilet. You might even say he benefited from being murdered.

Maybe that was the point.

Nevertheless, time was kinda of the essence. It was getting to late afternoon, which meant it was going to be dark out and there was a huge risk that the League of Smiles would strike once more. She still had work that needed to be done. Yet this felt too important to follow up later. This needed to be sent to another pair of hands, one that could continue following this to its bitter end.

At least she knew someone who would more than willingly do it.

It didn't take much to compile everything into a single file. By that, she meant a digital file, thank you. It was simple to hide what she was doing by shifting from window to window on her computer, adding in any and all data that was needed to be inputted into the department's system, all data related to last night naturally. People would pass by and wouldn't even know what she was up to.

Once everything was done, Barbara patiently waited until she opened up a new program, one that required her to insert an innocuous flash drive into a USB port. Once the program was up, she opened up a secure email account and then uploaded her file into it. Composing a new email, she sent it off, and then quickly removed all traces of the program and email from her computer. After that, it was ejecting the flash drive and pocketing it, then going right back to work.

You might be wondering just what that was about. Where did that email go? Well, there was a lot more to the Network than just a union of various vigilante groups. You could say that it was also a very private network as well, one that allowed her to pass on information to interested parties, Birds of Prey primarily, some to the…Batclan, and of course another of the mantle of the Bat was included. There was no need for a responding email, in fact it was highly preferred that there was no response.

She was trying to keep Nightwing involved, if only so that she could send out Blüdhaven related content to him, maybe one of his bad guys heading over here or one of theirs going his way. Now that she was thinking about it, maybe get Red Robin to join it as well if only so that more Teen Titan related materials did not sneak up on anyone again.

Thoughts to make into a reality later. For now, she needed to return to being Barbara Gordon, forensics analyst. The day was still long, there was so much to do, and night waited for no one.

The screen to his cell phone lit up, the device vibrating where it laid on his desk. Bruce spared a glance at it, a hand holding up a document he needed to review. The moment he recognized the Caller ID, he picked up the phone. "This is Bruce," he greeted as he accepted the call.

"Beloved," Talia returned, her voice warm, inviting.

"To what do I owe this call?" the billionaire asked as he set the document down, leaning back in his chair. It wasn't often he received calls like this. Then again, he was making certain he was familiar with Selina Kyle's power plant proposal. The scant information he had he wanted to be knowledgeable about for Monday's meeting. He only had what he had managed to obtain from the City Council when the blonde woman had approached them for approval to go ahead with the project. Seeing as it was the weekend, he wasn't in his office, instead working from the home office in his penthouse.

"I spoke with Damian not too long ago."

That gave Bruce pause. He was quite aware his son wasn't on speaking terms with his mother, so this turn of events was new. Talia had been quite heartbroken over their separation, constantly calling for updates on his well-being. Not being able to talk with their son was weighing on her considerably.

"Did he now?" he replied after a moment.

"I must admit, you were correct that he needed time. I am grateful for what you have done to help him reach out to me."

Okay, he wasn't certain what that was about. In fact, he hadn't broached the subject of talking to his mother with Damian. The boy hadn't seemed ready yet; not to mention he was constantly vying for the dark-haired man's attention. "You're welcome," Bruce settled on. "Though, I have to ask, what exactly did he call about?"

"Oh, he was most upset with your discipline," the al Ghul woman replied flippantly. Clearly, she did not care about the means justifying the ends. "He believes you are being unfair in removing him from participating in your duties."

A scowl appeared on Bruce's face. Talia had better not be trying to undercut him. "He disobeyed me in the field, Talia. I told him to stay in the car and he ignored me."

"Do not fear, Beloved, I am not trying to undermine you in regards to Damian," the dark-haired woman was quick to respond. "I only wished to inform you of his displeasure. I am certain that whatever you are doing is for his benefit."

Well, that was good to hear. The last thing he needed was to have Talia contradict him when it came to patrolling Gotham. He didn't need Damian running to her every time he wanted to get his way when the two of them butted heads.

"With that said, I do need some context. I've already told Damian that he needs to obey you, but I would like to know what led to his 'grounding' as it were."

That was a reasonable request. "Last night, Damian and I were attacked by magical constructs," he told her. "Monsters created from a magic user. I assume you have heard of these creatures appearing and disappearing throughout the city. By this point, I'm certain there are videos of them circulating on the internet by now."

There was silence before, "I had heard rumors of such beasts. And these…monsters attacked you and our child?"

"They did. I locked Damian in my car to handle it, but he managed to override the security and tried to interfere. He's alright, just so you know. He still has all the correct number of arms and legs, fingers and toes."

"I appreciate the reassurance, Beloved." He could detect a trace of humor in her tone. Most of it was covered in worry, however. "Have you found a means of defeating them?"

"I have one I can use, yes. However, these monsters are just symptoms of the main problem. I have people looking into that, but I may have to become more involved."

"Even with the League of Smiles present?"

It wasn't a surprise that Talia knew of the Joker fanatics. Most of the city did by now. "So it would seem, though I'm hoping to resolve that sooner rather than later. The last thing we need is the Joker involved with these monsters."

"And what do you plan on doing with Damian for the duration?"

"Just as I told him, he will be allowed to practice, but he will not be participating in the current investigations as far as field work and patrol are concerned. Until he can prove that he will listen to my commands, he won't be an active participant."

"It is important he learns to heed the commands of his superiors," Talia said approvingly. "Perhaps you can succeed where I have not in that regard."

"I wouldn't sell yourself short," Bruce was quick to tell her. "Damian is…impulsive and headstrong. He's reaching that age where he believes he is always in the right and the world revolves around him—you know, being a teenager."

"Ah, a very tricky time." There was a sigh. "I do appreciate what you have done to help reconnect the two of us, even if it is an incidental result. These last few days have not been easy."

"I can't imagine they were. Look, Talia, I do have to go, but we can talk before I go out on patrol tonight."

"Of course. I won't take much more of your time. Before you go, I must ask—" at this, Bruce detected a hint of disapproval, "who is this woman you were seen with this afternoon?"

Hmm, it seemed the paparazzi were following him already. No doubt they had taken pictures of him with Selina. Either that, or Talia's assassins were keeping an eye on him and reported to her. Either way, his life in the media spotlight was rearing its ugly head again.

His name was Colin Wilkes. For most people, for anyone really, it was a name that meant nothing. Because of who he was, he merited an AMBER Alert, for all the good it would do.

In the grand scheme, Colin was a nobody. He wasn't related to anyone important, be it politics, business, or famous because they were famous. In fact, he wasn't related to anyone, or at least anyone who would want him. He was an orphan, parents deceased, and no real way to find or contact any living relatives.

He resided at the St. Aidan's Orphanage, was bused to school and back. No real way to put him into after-school activities or programs because the money wasn't there. At least four families had tried to foster him, and each one had returned him. Of course the kid would have some abandonment issues.

Maybe it did have to do with all of the mental health problems he had. More than one confirmed phobia. Afraid of strangers. Prone to aggression. More than one diagnosis of autism. The kid was a mess that somehow managed to hold it together, though his teachers might have a different opinion.

Nevertheless, Commissioner Maggie Sawyer was determined to find and save him. No child, be it orphan or not, did not deserve to be kidnapped and taken away. She already had several suspects, and based on some eyewitness testimony, the League of Smiles was involved.

Gotham Children's Hospital had little in the way of surveillance cameras. What they did have only showed the perps driving to and leaving the hospital. Eyewitness testimony reported that there had been several assaults, some serious injuries to the staff, and then the abduction. The wounded had been seen to first with a quick headcount of all the patients following simultaneously.

These people had just walked in. How had they fooled the security? Some assaulted the guards was the explanation there, blunt force trauma being the preferred method of assault. After that, the group of clown-themed goons vanished in and out of all surveillance until they were seen carrying their victim out. A couple had donned disguises made of hospital scrubs. Why? Who knew.

What were they thinking this time, hmm? What did they want with a child? Sickening and disgusting, who knows what they were doing to him.

It was getting closer and closer to the twenty-four hour mark, and still he hadn't been found. That was bad. Terrible. With each passing hour, the likelihood of finding him alive decreased exponentially. The first twenty-four hours in a child abduction case were crucial as that was the single window of time when the chances of finding them alive were at their greatest.

Unfortunately, they had no leads. Just because there were suspects did not mean they knew where to look. The League of Smiles were living up to the man they idolized and proving hard to track down. Those that had been booked came from all sorts of walks of life. Other than being mentally ill, nothing connected any of the members together, or at least there was nothing solid that connected them. For a small minority, there was a doctor they all saw, but that doctor was another victim in this too.

This left the commissioner in a difficult spot. Even with the AMBER Alert, Colin's case was not picking up that much attention. There was no one to interview like a parent. Neither were there any individuals who were well connected or possessed an iota of fame, and there was no one who desperately put out a video online that happened to go viral. There was very little to gain traction from, even with newsworthy worthy individuals like those deranged clowns involved.

To add one more insult, the file for this missing child, Colin, was frustratingly thin. At most, only one report from a school officer was in there due to one incident of restraint having to be used on the boy. Everything else was collected from St. Aidan's and the Gotham Children's Hospital. It was pathetic that all of this is what the boy's life amounted to. It was like no one cared.

Nevertheless, Colin would have her in his corner. She may not be a native to Gotham, but she had embraced it all the same, and every single person in it deserved her all. To get momentum rolling on the case was not going to be easy, even though there was a line running down the block to do horrible things to the perpetrators.

Wanting to do some horrible things to people who deserved it was not going to help Colin, though. What was something real? Something that would help?

As much as she preferred to keep her eyes focused on the future, Sawyer knew that sometimes the past could have that burst of inspiration, the kind that could make a world of difference provided you had the right part of the past. The past was full of mistakes, errors in judgment, and doing things because that was what was always done were not good enough. The threats in this city evolved, and doing the same thing over and over again was more risky than taking a risk.

Yet, she could not help but ask herself what Gordon would've done. Her tenure under the man had been unlike anything she had experienced before, and that was saying a lot since she came from Metropolis.

There was a kind of leadership that her predecessor had, one that she did not know if she was living up to. The man had left behind some pretty large shoes to fill, and at times it felt like she was struggling to do just that.

Right now, the commissioner wondered how the previous one would handle the situation, complete with the depressing file, lack of media attention, and the unknown whereabouts of the perpetrators.

A second later, her eyes rose upwards to the ceiling.

It was an option. Sawyer didn't like to ask for help. Like with most things in her life, she wanted to stand on her own two feet. Dan Turpin would have been quick to knock some sense into her and say do what you need to do and don't look a flying gift horse in the mouth, just go with it. The thing is, the last time she had turned on that searchlight, the man who was supposed to respond to it didn't. Someone else bearing his symbol did.

Would he show up this time? Sawyer doubted he would even though…

No. No, it didn't matter, because there was an innocent child who was missing and needed all the help he could get. Her reluctance was not going to interfere.

Fine, she'd turn on that damn signal and this time Batman better show up. The commissioner of Gotham City was not going to accept anything less this time.