Disclaimer – You recognise it, I don't own it.
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Superboy and Kid Flash stood in the doorway to the Hanger.
"He's not here." Kid Flash declared looking around.
"We knew it was a long shot." Superboy sighed, "He's not been here since I last was."
"Why not?" Red Hood cocked his head to one side, "Seen 'im in one 'fore."
"During the Battle of the Cowl." Kid Flash nodded, "We know. But it wasn't something he was looking forward to. Batman… Batman isn't a path he wants to tread."
"We don't need to tell them anything." Superboy glowered, "They don't deserve it. If they don't know, they don't need to know."
"We have the right to know." Nightwing stepped forward.
"You gave up that right a long time ago." Kid Flash snorted, "If you don't even know why Robs doesn't want to be Batman, you haven't been part of his family for a long time."
"We're leaving." Superboy declared, "There's nothing here for us. We'll just have to make sure all the locks are changed before Robs comes back."
"And fumigate." Kid Flash returned, "Don't want any Bats or lice left behind."
"That goes without saying." Superboy cast a glance at the Bat-Clan, his intent was perfectly clear.
"Back up, Clone Boy," Hood spoke up, "Ya known 'bout this since the start… Who isn't 'hind this?"
"We've got no evidence for or against anyone." Superboy returned, "Though the Church of Blood isn't a suspect. There's no motive for them. It's not something the Fearsome Five would do. Not public enough. And N.O.W.H.E.R.E. wouldn't keep him in Gotham."
"Ra's wouldn't either." Kid Flash shrugged, "Though we haven't ruled out the idea that he might have grabbed Rob before the police found where he was being held."
"Raven and Beast Boy are checking that possibility out." Superboy waved gently, "Bunk's doing San Fran again, in case he made it to us. And WG is covering New York."
"We'll cover the usual routes between here and San Fran on our way back." Kid Flash declared, "If he got away, he would be heading for us."
"The police will want to talk to you." Nightwing called out to their backs as they turned away, "As Tim's friend."
"We'll contact them." Superboy was blunt.
"Do you know Drake's password?" Robin motioned at the computer.
"Nope." Kid Flash fired back, "If you want to try hacking it, go ahead. Vic reckoned it would only take a couple of centuries brute force."
"If it helps," Nightwing tried again, "He was thinking of you."
"No," Superboy fired back, "It doesn't. We still haven't found him. But we are going to find him."
"And when we do," Kid Flash stated, "We're not letting him come back here, until he's ready for anything."
The two of them left in moments.
"They really hate us." Hood muttered, "Still surprised they called me. Why'd you try for the password, brat?"
"I do not know his password," Robin replied evenly, "I presume that the computer will have more information as to what Red Robin was working on. However, I am not confident in my ability to hack in. Particularly given that I am not certain what language the password is in."
"What do you mean?" Nightwing moved over to the computer, where Robin was standing.
"I mean, there are five keyboards attached to the computer." Robin elaborated, "Each one for a different alphabet. I can not be certain which language was used. Certainly he could utilize different letters from each set in order to increase security further."
"English, Cyrillic, Pinyin, Hebrew and Arabic." Batman pulled each one out in turn.
Hood noticed in idle interest that the keyboards were stacked one above another until they were pulled out, then they rose to the level required for typing, and it was impossible to pull out another until the first was returned to it's original position. It would probably make switching between alphabets a relatively slow procedure, but not impossible.
He also doubted that Tim needed to pull the boards out to work on them; certainly not for password input.
"Let me try." Nightwing stepped forward, "I've used his computers before."
Nightwing's fingers flew across the English keyboard.
The computer's declaration of a failed password was disappointing, but not unexpected.
"It was a long shot." Nightwing sighed, "Hold on, I'll connect Oracle up."
"Why?" Hood frowned, "Come on, Oracle's good, but Vic's half machine."
"It is still worth a shot." Nightwing argued, "Have you got a better idea?"
"No." Hood muttered, "Never was trusted enough. Ya were once though?"
"I set it," Nightwing sighed, "But it was just for a file. I hoped…"
"You hoped he kept it the same." Batman laid a gentle hand on Nightwing's shoulder.
"It was an in joke." Nightwing breathed, "Something only the two of us would get."
"Okay, boys." Oracle's voice came over, "I'm hooked up. I take it you want me to get into this thing?"
"You need to take into account the potential for multiple alphabets." Batman stated, "There are Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic and Pinyin keyboards, as well as the expected English."
"Well… He has never been in the habit of making things easy." Oracle's voice was tight, "Why would he start now?"
"Vic estimated it at a few centuries work, apparently." Nightwing put in.
"Brute force, probably." Oracle agreed, "But I doubt it's a random password. Tim never does anything without a plan. Not even passwords… Besides I doubt even Timmy can remember a seventy eight random letter password."
"What?" The cry came from Hood and Nightwing at the same time.
"That is an unusually long password." Batman frowned slightly, "Are you certain about the length?"
"Don't question me with regards to computers, B." Oracle snapped, "The only reason it's so long is that the system hasn't been accessed in over two weeks. There are multiple levels of security. The base password can be voice activated. But if it's not used in six hours a secondary password sets in. Then after twenty-four hours another password engages. A week engages another level of security. This level kicked in yesterday. From what I can see there's an even longer password set to kick in after two more months."
"He doesn't take chances." Batman muttered.
"He does not take chances anymore." Robin stated, "This level of paranoia was most likely caused by my actions."
"Most likely, yeah." Nightwing sighed, "Not your fault though. That file…"
"Was a reasonable precaution." Robin interrupted, "My mother managed to control me. I interpreted it not in the manner it was meant. However, I will concede that Drake's words did not help the situation. I also should not have retaliated in the manner I did."
"You tried to kill him, didn't you?" Hood snorted.
"Yes." Robin agreed.
"Back to the Cave." Batman instructed, "This is something we will discuss later, Robin. Nightwing, Hood, did you discover anything pertinent at the crime scene?"
"Someone was watching." Hood replied.
"Timmy left a message." Nightwing added, "Although I confess I have no idea what it means."
"We'll look at it at the Cave." Batman reiterated, "Straight back. No side tracking."
A chorus of nods and agreements, before all four of them set out.
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Back at the Station the detectives were going over their findings.
"I don't know how Drake has time to breathe, let alone sleep!" Montoya hissed.
"What have you found?" Allen asked.
"He's CEO at WE." Montoya started to list, "He's Majoring in Business, with a Minor in Art History. But he's also putting credits towards an Engineering Degree and a Forensics Degree. He's top of his class in all fields. He spends time in the R&D department at WE on a regular basis. Why's he doing all this? He'll kill himself with the stress."
"I can explain the Business degree." Allen shrugged, "Damian Wayne has attempted to throw Drake out of WE on six occasions that I have found records for. There are some very nasty proposals that have been put to the Board regarding "Drake's future with the Company". That's a direct quote. On at least four occasions there has been a mention of Drake's education being lacking for the position."
"Who does he suggest take control instead?"
"Himself."
Montoya opened her mouth to respond, even drawing in the air she would need. Then she closed it and let her hand hang in the air, not quite sure how to reply to that.
"I know." Allen nodded, "He doesn't seem to get the hypocrisy there."
"He's acting like every stereotypical rich kid that you love to hate all compressed into one tiny little package, isn't he?"
"Not so tiny. Nearly Drake's size according to records. He's going to grow up big. And if someone doesn't kick the entitlist bullshit out of him quickly, he's going to end up a criminal. One with enough power and money to get away with serial murder. I don't believe the codswallop he was feeding us back at the house."
"Any of the other brothers try anything? Or even Wayne himself?"
"Not with the Board. And strangely there's been no new motions for over a year."
"Got a message back from Forensics, they got Drake's voicemails. All of his registered cell ones anyway."
"And?"
"Lots of messages. Including a very recent one from Grayson. The rest seem to be his friends. Two main callers are a Bart and a Con. Bart talks very fast. Possible people to interview. Both of them were worried about him."
"Noted."
"Did you get anything from the sister? What's her name anyway?"
"Cassandra. And no. I actually got the impression that she likes Tim a lot. She just spends most of her time in Hong Kong. And she doesn't keep the best of contact with people."
"Anything else?"
"She's not got very good English."
"Ah, what is her native language then? Chinese?"
"I don't think so. She came across as… Bright but disabled."
"Might explain why Wayne shipped her off to China. Someone like that is good have around when a kid… Gives a good image, but when older… Becomes a nuisance for people like Wayne."
"I'm not so sure. She… I think it's just language she has a problem with."
"Anyway, she can't be involved. I don't see any motive for her. Not like some of the others."
"No way Cass would be involved." A voice joined them, "Detectives, I understand you wanted to talk to me. I'm Con. Conner Clark. Tim's friend."
"How did you know we wanted to talk to you?" Montoya frowned.
"I was contacted." Conner shrugged, "Look, I'll be blunt, I don't know much about what has happened to Tim. But I want… No, I need to find him. Tim's my best friend. My rock, when everything is falling down around me."
"Montoya," Allen looked up, "Take him somewhere private."
It didn't take but a moment to find a spare interrogation room.
"How did the two of you meet?" Montoya frowned, "I'm sorry, but it seems unlikely given your backgrounds. You're not a rick kid."
"My cousin is Clark Kent, a reporter for the Daily Planet. I was spending a weekend with him, when he got told he had to go to a Charity Gala thing. Can't even remember what it was for. Clark couldn't find someone to babysit, and I told him I didn't need a sitter, but he wouldn't agree to that. He decked me out in a borrowed suit and dragged me along. Despite it being a Metropolis thing, Mister Wayne was there. And so was Tim. We were basically the only two kids there. All the others were much older. We met. We clicked. We kept in contact."
"Okay. Why didn't you report Tim missing?"
"We didn't know we could."
"What do you mean by that?"
"We're not his family officially. Although Ma and Pa would adopt him tomorrow. We thought only family could report him missing. And technically Tim wasn't missing."
"But you were worried? You were looking for him? We've heard the voicemail messages."
"Yes. But Tim's not exactly unknown for going off on his own at the drop of a hat. And not making contact for a long while. I mean… There was the whole therapy business…"
"Therapy?"
"Yeah. You heard how Mister Wayne went a little off the rails a while back?"
"I heard."
"Well, Tim started making some statements about the same time. Crazy sounding statements. Dick wanted Tim to see a therapist. Tim didn't want to. Said he was right. Dick managed to persuade some of Tim's friends that he wasn't. They tried to talk Tim into seeing a therapist. Including my girlfriend… Tim just disappeared on us. Didn't reappear for some time… The thing is… He told me that he'd see me on the weekend. And usually if he changes his mind at the last minute he gives me a heads-up. Or messages me after whatever business disaster he's had to deal with has died down… Only he never did. So we started looking."
"We?"
"Our friends. Me, Bart, Cassie, Gar, Rave, Miguel."
"Why didn't you contact his family?"
"What family? Last time Dick contacted any of us it was to try to talk Tim into therapy. I don't even think the guy knows that Tim lost his spleen. I don't trust him with my friend. I don't trust any of them with Tim… I'm not sure I trust anyone with Tim."
"Except yourself?"
"Especially myself… Look, I've hurt Tim. I know that. The thing is, he forgave me. I don't know why. I didn't deserve it. But he's my best friend. The one person in the whole world I can trust to be on my side. No matter what. And sometimes I haven't liked the way he's got my back. But he's never betrayed me. I don't think he even knows how. It's the three of us. Tim, Me and Bart. Best Bros. For Life."
"So what have you tried to find him so far?"
"We've checked his usual websites, see if he's updated anything. Checked his home. His usual haunts. Been round those several times. Just in case we missed him. I've checked in with his Uni. Tried to use Clark's contacts. But I don't think he realized what I was asking. I was trying to be obtuse about it. Didn't want it to become a big news thing. Tim hates that."
"Do you know if Tim had any enemies?"
There was a pause.
"I don't know of anyone who would harm Tim. He's like the nicest guy there is."
"What about his family?"
"Bart keeps telling Tim to just walk away. I mean he can. He's emancipated and everything. Even has the money to do so. We've offered him space with us until he finds somewhere else to go. But until the Waynes tell him to go… He won't. And yeah, they've ignored him. And they've used him. But Tim doesn't understand how family works. So he's happy with what he gets… I think. He certainly doesn't complain. He's let them push him out of their day-to-day lives. But he still wants to be useful. So every time they need him, he goes. He does what they need. Because even if they don't love him… He loves them."
"He's told you that?"
"No. I've seen it. I've seen him pick up his phone and ask "What do you need?". Then he drops everything and does it. I used to think that Dick was the best big brother in the world. Now, I'm not entirely sure that he isn't the worst. He turned all of his focus onto Damian. And dropped Tim like he was yesterday's news. They don't have to hurt Tim to get him out the family. They just have to inform him that he's not wanted."
"I rather believe that Damian has been doing that for them."
"Telling him to leave the company? Tim would do that, if someone, who was actually legally allowed to, told him that they would take over. Tim's just waiting for Bruce to say he's ready to take it back. He even told me once, that he's got all the paperwork ready. It just needs a signature."
"That seems a little… Extreme. You must be exaggerating. Everyone knows how family works."
"Detective, you have access to a lot of records. Go back to the day Tim was born and calculate the amount of time Mr and Mrs Drake spent in Gotham from that day to the day they were kidnapped. Then tell me how Tim was able to form his idea of family."
Montoya decided to shelve that for a moment.
"So you have no idea what could have happened to Drake?"
"No. And I wish I did."
"Hold on," Her mind whirled, "Drake doesn't have a spleen? How did that happen?"
"Never got the full story." Conner shrugged, "I just know it happened in Iraq. During the time he dropped off the grid when Mister Wayne went kinda crazy and when Dick was trying to get him to go to therapy."
"What do you know about it?"
"I know that he has a scar. It isn't pretty. So I don't think it was an operation in a hospital. And I know he wasn't ill. Apart from that… He doesn't talk about it. Just takes antibiotics regularly and gets his flu shot every year. It's a condition. He manages it."
"So he could be seriously ill?"
"If he isn't able to take his medication? Possibly. I don't know. I'm not a doctor. I just know what Tim tells me. Bart knows a bit more. He actually went away and looked it all up… I did too, but I've forgot all but the highlights, which Tim hit anyway. Bart's got an eidetic memory."
"Who is Drake's doctor?"
"I don't know. We don't talk about stuff like that."
"Who would he have talked about that with?"
"None of us. Yeah, if he was run down, we'd badger him about taking better care of himself. I'd bring some food and Bart would cook… He's a good cook. And the others would do what they could. Cassie can't cook for anything. But she's pretty good at chess, so she gets Tim playing that and watch sci-fi stuff with him. Rae talks philosophy with him. Talks round in circles. I can't follow it half the time. But it calms his head down. We do what we can. I don't know what happened out in Iraq. But I know he has nightmares sometimes. We can't do anything really. All we can do is be there. And we dropped the ball. We should have found him by now."
"You should have gotten the police involved." Montoya reprimanded gently.
"Which police?" A shrugged response came back to her, "We didn't know where he had gone missing. We didn't know if he'd left Gotham or not. Besides, we didn't think friends could report him missing. Not when we don't see him every day. And, as I said, this isn't his first time going off the grid."
"And you weren't worried those other times?"
"Of course I was worried! We all were. But he always came back. Talking about this deal or that issue he'd sorted out. Tim has always been an overachiever. Even when I first knew him he was smart."
"You're close."
"He's my oldest and my best friend. Bart comes in a close second. As I told you, it's us against the world if need be. When we were younger someone once said we were like a single mind. Bart was the ID. I was the Ego, and boy did that that fit back then. Tim was the Super-Ego. Bart's gotten better with his impulsive nature. And I've managed to grow up a bit more. Tim though? He's not really changed. Still thinks five steps ahead on a bad day, and into double digits on a good one. But that's Tim. Once he's set his mind to a task, he'll complete it to the end, unless there is a really, really good reason for him to change his mind. Quite honestly if Tim told me to walk off a cliff, I'd probably do it without asking why."
"That's blind loyalty."
"No. That's putting my loyalty in the hands of someone who would do everything in his power to make sure that I come back alive and unharmed. Even at the cost of himself."
"That seems awfully precise. You're just kids."
"Tim's never been just a kid. He's got Gotham in his blood, in his bones. No one from Gotham is ever just a kid. Tim is tough. And he's helped me through tough times in my life. Bart too. If I ever need a place to stay, Tim would offer it to me. Without thinking twice. And it wouldn't be the spare room. I'd get the best of the best. The best he could offer me."
Teenage exaggeration, Montoya decided. But whatever it was, Conner wasn't involved in anything dangerous.
He also didn't know anything useful. Nothing that they hadn't gathered from other sources, apart from the spleen thing.
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Please Review.
I write stories because I can't draw. I have all these images in my head that I cannot reproduce. So I try and describe them with words. If anyone else would like to try to translate what I have written into what they think I saw in my head, they have my permission. I only ask that I be notified of it, so that I may look and go "OOoooh!".
Many thanks to my reviewers:
Loftcat27 – ;p
Rehabilitated Sith – Sometimes Tim finds it useful to be someone else. Sometimes someone else would get a different response.
Inthenightguest – Yes, the family are working together for the moment. But there's always differences of opinion.