"I won't do anything, I promise.", Waylon promised. "Alright then... now, at the very least, let's see if we can get you some clothes; be rather awkward if we had car trouble on the way to the manor and we have to go out into the streets even for a few minutes with you in just a pair of boxers.", Bruce then replied.
Martha replied, "Let's see if Thomas' old clothes and such still fits him. Are they still folded and waiting behind the privacy screen?", and Waylon nodded, "Yeah, they are.", and so, the family got out of the chamber, as Waylon got to the privacy screen while Poppy went to grab the chimes off the floor lamp light, wrapping them gently with reverence.
To their relief, Thomas' old clothes still fit Waylon, maybe a bit more broad-shouldered like Bruce, but well enough, and they thanked Leslie happily, inviting her for Waylon's birthday, after an anniversary party of remembering Caroline and Jane in private.
Waylon took a while to adapt to the fact that he can be approached by weekly staff asking him if he needs help or anything, to swim and explore the woods without fear and anxiety, and to spend days starting to learn how to be a gentleman in his relationship with Poppy, discovering that with extreme emotions like hearing the cases from Batman that he changes into his Croc form, becoming a sparring partner more often with Bruce and Kel, while playing mind games with Martha, and of course, cooking with his father, becoming even better in his knowledge of food.
He realized that while being in Croc form, his instincts of protecting and taking care of his family, and his female are making him territorial, but not too much territorial thankfully otherwise he'd have problems if the weekly staff or the people in the gymnastics practices that he attended to observe along with Bruce, saw him.
Waylon slept easier than ever, with the chimes on his own balcony, with a view, just like Poppy said, and yes, they visited still to the shack down to Louisiana, just slightly less often, but made sure to pay respects and have holiday dinners with empty chairs in honor of Thomas, Caroline, and Jane, lasting for a year.
Batman became more known and famous as much as She-Hulk is, and even on separate patrols, they make quite a good cleaning of Gotham almost every night between school and such, with Poppy becoming even far proficient at the computer, though she switches roles of being Oracle with Bruce every other night or so, and of course, Waylon is considering if he's ready for fighting in Gotham as Croc, since bad guys are terrified of She-Hulk, and Batman.
Once again, the Jones-Pennyworth-Wayne family went again to Louisiana for Waylon's 18th birthday and the anniversary of Caroline and Jane in August 2010, having a peaceful and private time, unknowing of the terrible event until the last day they were leaving Louisiana in their private plane.
Alfred's cell phone vibrated as he was reading a book, while Martha, Kel, and Bruce were talking some of their patrol routes for the weekend, with Waylon cuddling with Poppy on the couch, and he picked it up, seeing that it was from the manor.
He pressed it, speaking, "Alfred Pennyworth speaking. Ah, hello, Daniel. Yes, we're on the plane, having finished our last day in town. What is it, Daniel? Somebody bypassed security and you don't know how?", sitting up straighter, "Have they stolen any valuables? They didn't? What did they steal? THEY DID WHAT?! Please, Daniel, please tell me this is a cruel prank!", his eyes widening.
"I don't know what to tell you, sir...", Daniel told him on the other side of the phone. "I don't even know how they did it, but someone came around and... broke into the crypt. The coffin is gone...".
"Wh-who...?", Alfred had so many questions, but he felt sick to his stomach. Daniel sighed wearily, "Whoever it was, it clearly had to be more than one person, and they were apparently a well-oiled machine, didn't trip any alarms around the property, were as quiet as night... they must have done it hours before anyone even noticed.".
Alfred exhaled deeply, looking at the others who was concerned and starting to look confused, and he spoke softly, "Have you contacted the police?", and Daniel replied on the other side of the phone, "Yes, sir. No traces of the people who did it...Commissioner Gordon said that he'd do his best, but honestly, I don't know...They were through, sir...If it was snowing, it would possibly give them away, but this...I'm truly sorry, sir...We arrived this afternoon to resume working since you specified your leave time with us...The groundskeeper is quite upset, sir...He saw it all when he went to check the crypt...".
"Saw it all?", Alfred asked as Daniel sighed, "Sorry, didn't mean to phrase it like that, I meant that he was the first one to see everything after it was all said and done. We learned of the break in through him...".
Alfred replied, "I understand...Did they...they ruin anything else?", and Daniel said, "No, sir, the gravestone has been untouched, and the rest of the crypt has been in pristine condition...It's only him, sir...I just can't believe it...The master would be upset if he's looking down from heaven...", with a morose sigh.
"I can believe that...Thank you, Daniel...I will tell the mistress of the news so you won't...", Alfred said heavily, and Daniel's voice replied, "Of course, sir...We will have a limo ready for you when you land sooner or later...Bye, sir...".
"Goodbye...", the phone clicked as the dial tone ran before Alfred hung up. His mind racing at both what the hell they were going to do about this situation but also wondering why on earth anyone would do this? For what gain would someone have with taking Thomas' body?
Were they just simple grave robbers who thought that Thomas might have been buried with a number of valuables? Not out of the realm of possibilities, it had been known to happen in the past. But that was something that was a thing many decades ago, practically unheard of in this day and age.
Plus, it had been 10 years plus since Thomas's death...Alfred would think that anybody would want to rob a decently recent grave in a year or so, but now...
He closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead against his hand, hearing Kel's voice rumble in concern, "Alfred, you're starting to scare us.", and Alfred opened his eyes to see that the others are closer to him now, looking very worried now.
Alfred looked at Kel and Martha, knowing that they had deeply loved Thomas, through life for Martha, and memories for Kel, and of course, his spirit visitation that Halloween on Poppy's birth for them, glancing at Bruce and Poppy who is more confused than concerned, but still concerned just the same, and Waylon was worried for him along with confusion.
"Dad?", Waylon asked gently, "What happened?", and Alfred took a deep breath, fighting back the tears as he felt sick all over, but he knew he had to tell it all, "That was Daniel at the manor...There were robbers who bypassed security without triggering alarms or even the dogs, and they didn't steal any material valuables...But they still got away with...with someone valuable to us in the dark of night.".
Bruce replied, "What do you mean, Alfred? We are all valuable to robbers, for god's sake since we are all rich, and yes, even you and Waylon in relation to us as well...They didn't know that we weren't there...or did they?", with a frown.
Martha whispered, "Alfred...what kind of robbers were they?", clenching a hand with Kel as she is starting to realize the horrible news.
"Grave robbers.", Alfred got right to the point. "And I think you can figure out who they robbed.". Everyone's blood ran cold by hearing that, especially Martha and Kel.
"W-why?", Martha whispered as Alfred shook his head, "I have no idea. Maybe they thought we buried him with valuables perhaps... I can't imagine what else. But if it was for valuables, why not just open the casket and check... find nothing and then leave? Why take the whole coffin with them?".
Bruce replied, "But he was adamant that he'd be buried casually if formally in a way, and besides, all the valuables he had is family heirlooms, which is inside the manor, not the casket...", with a frown.
Poppy sniffed as she leaned into Waylon's side, "And why now? I mean, in all the books of another age and time, grave robbers would have done it at least a week or a year within someone's death...God, what if...what if Daddy's body was...?", knowing of the occasional horror she happened to find within a case, through the pictures were off-limits to her, secured by Bruce or Martha's super blocked codes.
"Was what?", Waylon asked before it clicked for him, and he almost instantly vomited at the thought. "Oh... I get it...", he groaned with disgust.
"I... I can't even dare to imagine...", Alfred said. "Look, let us just get back... the thieves might have not left much of a trail... but I could certainly sniff one out...", Kel said.
Martha nodded, "Right. I will get the pilot to put a bit of rush to the flight if we're not too far from Gotham.", getting up to her feet, and Kel exhaled, zooming back into Martha's body and mind, and they both knew they will need more privacy to rant and grieve, meaning their bedroom in the manor as soon as they get home, that is, after sniffing out and getting Thomas' body back.
Martha went to the cockpit to do the desperate request, and Bruce exhaled, "A bit of fortunate timing there...We would have been worried and distracted from the shack to the airport and all. Those thieves may have bypassed security, and without triggering any alarms or the dogs, but they are bound to leave a trace, even if the police couldn't find it, it's Mama.", with a determined nod.
"But still... for what purpose would someone go to all that length for Thomas?", Alfred asked which no one could provide a decent answer. Of course, all of them were unaware but the theft was all part of a sinister plot that they would all find themselves at the center at.
The plane soon landed, and it wasn't too long before the group arrived back at the manor. Kel was keeping to the shadows to make sure that no one at the manor could see; Alfred thought it was better to at least keep things as they were with the staff for now.
"I've got their trail... but I can't make sense of it...It's like they wiped it with a duster, and their scents lead to the road, but the vehicle, it's like dosed with engine smoke or something, no human scents at all on it..." Kel admitted as she tracked on, with the others following, with Alfred behind to distract the staff in the manor with doing other stuff on the back or other side of the manor.
Waylon took a deep sniff as he slightly took upon Croc to use his superior smell, "Kel's right...It's muddled too for me...I couldn't even tell if there are separate footprints, like they were in a formation to single file somehow with the coffin between them...", with a frown, desperately wanting to help Poppy as he absolutely hated to see his girlfriend, his female being emotionally hurt by this.
"What exactly does that mean?", Poppy asked. "That someone might have prepared for any sort of tracking?", with a frown. "Maybe they suspected that dogs could be used to follow them.", Bruce suggested. "That's the only reason why anyone would do things like that. There's no way they could've made a connection between the She-Hulk or Batman and the Wayne family...".
Poppy exhaled, "So, Chess and Bandit couldn't know similar things of this tracking like Mama and Waylon?", and Bruce replied, "That sums it up, yeah...", with a sigh of concern.
Kel frowned, "And they were smart enough to not leave wheel tracks through the dirt as they would be deep, and impossible to sweep until a snowstorm covers them from sight, which is not until late November or December...The road is used by other cars up and down through the countryside from and to the city all day and yesterday, including last night...I'm sorry...They are almost like ghosts, but they were certainly humans, alive...I failed all of you...", devolving back into Martha as Kel went back to Martha's mind, devastated to have failed her pack, her family.
Martha knew she would have to argue and convince Kel that it wasn't her fault tonight as she sighed deeply, looking at her children and Waylon, "Come on, let's go back to the manor to eat some food...I know you might not have much of an appetite after this, but the staff would be suspicious if we don't eat something tonight...even when Alfred's cooking is delicious...".
Waylon sighed, "Dad is going to be wrecked more after he hears about this...I know the security got bypassed, but maybe he found something with the secret entrance cameras, even if they don't know they existed at all.", knowing that there is a secret route from the now named Batcave which has been updated from the 'Cave', to the right of the bridge that is the way across the narrow waterway of the bay into the city, and of course, more other secret routes through the city.
Bruce exhaled, "There are many types of vehicles that can fit a casket, Waylon, not just those funeral cars...And we don't know when the exact time it happened...", as they turned around and headed to the manor.
"I hate this…", Poppy moaned. "Why did anyone have to do this?". She was being rhetorical; she knew no one had the answers.
Martha frowned as she wrapped her arm around her daughter, not having any idea what to say to her, as she's also stupefied and confused and hurt, only squeezing her shoulder gently to remind Poppy that she isn't just alone in this.
With a meal of decent, delicious cooking thanks to Alfred, with the staff sent off for the night to their homes or the servant apartment, the family headed down to the Batcave, and indeed, Alfred really searched through the secret route cameras, but even with the family's help of their fresh eyes, it was clear that there was no signs of any weak vehicle sagging under the weight of the casket or any standout cars that would give somebody a question of why including a funeral car in the early morning hours or earlier.
Martha and Kel grieved and ranted between convincing Kel that it wasn't her fault that the scent fouled up on her, that it wasn't just her, but Waylon as well, and comforting Martha that they can only hope that Thomas' body was unharmed, not used in any horrific situation in the seedy underworld of crime.
Commissioner Gordon who had gotten promoted from his Captain rank within last year, a week later, is at his desk, facing Martha Wayne, as he sighed deeply, "I'm terribly sorry, Mrs. Wayne...My cops are starting to think that it's looking like a cold case, since there were no fingerprints or anything in the crypt...And the traffic cameras in the city wasn't of much help since this group didn't rush and run like bank robbers...".
"I understand.", Martha sighed. "I know you've tried your best.". Commissioner Gordon looked worn yet sincere as he spoke, "It's just… everything about this case screams strange. We don't have any leads or motives, and the evidence is almost nonexistent. These people who did it were like ghosts; it's almost spooked a few of my detectives.".
Martha nodded, "I see...It's just...It's my husband's body, and my children are angry and hurt and confused...I...I heard a rumor that Batman comes here after you declared that he's a good guy, especially after seeing that newspaper article of him saving some people from a burning building while taking down a teenage arsonist last year together. Some people says that he's a detective too.".
It was Batman's patrol that night, and Martha screamed at him like a worried mother, checking over any injuries or anything, but his suit and fireproof cape was a lifesaver.
Commissioner Gordon nodded, "He is an excellent detective, ma'am, he certainly has helped me out privately on some cases here and there...And I called for him to check this out, as I wondered if there might be some other cold cases of this in connection through Gotham over the years or something of the sort, to narrow it down...But unfortunately, even with pulling out similar cases from other cities and here, it's barely random, no repeating situations or such...He had grudgingly admitted that he found the same unfortunate dead ends as me and my cops and detectives and told me that he would keep an eye out, but he is busy with other cases and all...Hell, he is even convincing me that She-Hulk is a good vigilante too, and that she is having an eye out too, but you don't hear me saying this, out of this office, Mrs. Wayne...", with a gesture to the office chaos of the main police from his commissioner office through the windows in blinds.