Fic: Coming to Roost
Title: Coming to Roost
Disclaimer: Don’t Own, wish I did
Rating: PG
Series: Robin’s of Gotham side story. Previous parts here.
Summary: After finding Tim’s apartment, Batman calls in the troops
A/N: A thousand and one thanks go to pervyficgirl who beta’ed this for me. Any mistakes left are my own
“Master Bruce, it has been forty eight hours,” Alfred commented as he carried away another mostly uneaten plate of food with an internal sigh. “Perhaps it might be time to call in reinforcements?”
Neither expecting nor receiving a reply, Alfred walked upstairs with a sigh, shaking his head at the flicker of eggplant. He hoped Master Bruce would eat more than a bite of everything on the plate next time, and call at least Nightwing in to help. Master Tim was Master Dick’s younger brother, after all. Miss Barbara would also be helpful, and would likely put their occasional animosity away for the investigation.
****
It had been a good couple weeks for Dick. He’d made it back to Gotham for a whole week, and spent some of it with his little brother. It had been nice to see Tim, even if duty had called him back to the Outsiders. Outsiders’ business was the usual, and he felt like they were really starting to make a difference. Okay, sometime he felt a little uncomfortable with what they had to do in order to get the job done, but not everyone could be boy scouts. Sometimes the Outsiders needed the ones who were willing to bend the line a little. Moreover, despite what the others thought they were doing, that’s all they did, bend the line. They didn’t cross it. He just wished the tension at the back of his neck would go away for longer than the time it took to work out the knots and the nightmares would stop flaring up.
“Daddy wants to talk to you,” Grace smirked and held out a phone. Great. What did he want?
“I’m busy.” Nightwing didn’t even look up from his exercises.
“I told him that,” Grace replied. “He wants to speak with you now.”
“Fine, what line is he on?” Nightwing dropped off the bars and took the phone.
“Two,” Grace replied and left the room. Nightwing leaned against the wall, towel over his bare shoulders, and pushed the appropriate button.
“What?” Nightwing demanded, cradling the phone on his shoulder and unwrapping his hands.
“You’re needed in Gotham now,” Batman replied.
“Batman-” Nightwing leaned against the wall as the line went dead. He hated it when Batman did that. He wasn’t a kid to be ordered around anymore. He had his own responsibilities and his own team to lead. Nonetheless, it looked like he was headed back to gloomy Gotham City , New Jersey .
***
Things were really starting to pick up all over. It seemed like the criminals were recovered, the heroes mostly so, and everyone had enjoyed their breather. Unfortunately, that meant Oracle had been busier than ever, as more and more heroes were getting her contact numbers. It was her fault for being as good as what she did as she was Sometimes she missed when she had been only working with the top names, and her own team. It had occasionally stopped the stupidest of questions from the younger set. However, she’d be if she went back to her smaller circle bored, and she enjoyed helping people. Most people anyway.
“Oracle,” Batman growled through the comm link.
“What is it?” frowned Oracle, rerouting Green Lantern to Metropolis to help with a giant killer robot.
“You’re needed in Gotham,” Batman replied.
“Try again,” Oracle sent some information over to Black Canary about their case and an investigation she had been asked to run for Dinah.
“Robin’s gone missing, you’re needed in Gotham now,” Batman rumbled.
“Alright,” Oracle frowned. “How did Tim go missing?” Nightwing went missing often enough that it wasn’t a surprise, or anything that usually needed investigation. Batgirl had gone missing a few months ago, but Batman knew she could take care of herself. As for Tim going missing? That didn’t happen. The kid was still to too conscientious about letting them know if he had a school field trip, let alone disappearing off the face of the planet. Moreover, all of his friends who had occasionally been able to get him to relax were goneor dead.
“I’ll tell you when you get here,” Batman replied, terminating the connection.
“Batman,” Oracle spat venomously as she wheeled around and started gathering her portable gear, sending out the hiatus notices and finally, grabbing some clothes. She’d need to start running a few tracer programs and probably ought to call her father to go to dinner with him while she was in town anyway.
***
They took their usual seats, with Tim’s empty seat glaring almost malevolently at them. Alfred had provided drinks and a few tasteful tidbits before taking his place dusting the computers and not listening, seemingly absorbed in his war against guano.
“Due to the losses Robin has suffered recently, I have been granting him nights off, and did not, perhaps, keep as close an eye on him as I should have,” Batman stated. “Two nights ago, when he did not arrive for his scheduled patrol, I went to his apartment to investigate the cause of his absence.” Batman explained completely and unemotionally, or so it would seem to anyone who didn’t know him as well as Nightwing and Oracle did, almost everything he’d found, from the blood stains, to the seeming lack of a forced entry, even the clean dishes in the dish rack and the computer open on his kitchen table.
Nightwing sat back after Batman set out all the information he had so far found. Frowning, he went through it in his head. Evidence pointed to either kidnapping, or murder. Possibly attempted murder and kidnapping. On the plus side, there was not enough blood to be assured of Tim’s death. On the minus side, however, was to the Bat family, there were clear signs of a forced entry, even though most cops would catch it. Whoever did it was good - caped good. That did narrow it down to only a handful of people.
“So, do we have a suspect?” Oracle frowned.
“One,” Batman said flatly. Oh, that did not sound good. Batman sounded more constipated than usual. He set one last piece of evidence on the table.
“Jason Todd,” Batman stated. On the table, bagged and tagged, lay a familiar wavy knife.
*Comments and critcism are welcome, appreciated and taken into consideration.*
Disclaimer: Don’t Own, wish I did
Rating: PG
Series: Robin’s of Gotham side story. Previous parts here.
Summary: After finding Tim’s apartment, Batman calls in the troops
A/N: A thousand and one thanks go to pervyficgirl who beta’ed this for me. Any mistakes left are my own
“Master Bruce, it has been forty eight hours,” Alfred commented as he carried away another mostly uneaten plate of food with an internal sigh. “Perhaps it might be time to call in reinforcements?”
Neither expecting nor receiving a reply, Alfred walked upstairs with a sigh, shaking his head at the flicker of eggplant. He hoped Master Bruce would eat more than a bite of everything on the plate next time, and call at least Nightwing in to help. Master Tim was Master Dick’s younger brother, after all. Miss Barbara would also be helpful, and would likely put their occasional animosity away for the investigation.
****
It had been a good couple weeks for Dick. He’d made it back to Gotham for a whole week, and spent some of it with his little brother. It had been nice to see Tim, even if duty had called him back to the Outsiders. Outsiders’ business was the usual, and he felt like they were really starting to make a difference. Okay, sometime he felt a little uncomfortable with what they had to do in order to get the job done, but not everyone could be boy scouts. Sometimes the Outsiders needed the ones who were willing to bend the line a little. Moreover, despite what the others thought they were doing, that’s all they did, bend the line. They didn’t cross it. He just wished the tension at the back of his neck would go away for longer than the time it took to work out the knots and the nightmares would stop flaring up.
“Daddy wants to talk to you,” Grace smirked and held out a phone. Great. What did he want?
“I’m busy.” Nightwing didn’t even look up from his exercises.
“I told him that,” Grace replied. “He wants to speak with you now.”
“Fine, what line is he on?” Nightwing dropped off the bars and took the phone.
“Two,” Grace replied and left the room. Nightwing leaned against the wall, towel over his bare shoulders, and pushed the appropriate button.
“What?” Nightwing demanded, cradling the phone on his shoulder and unwrapping his hands.
“You’re needed in Gotham now,” Batman replied.
“Batman-” Nightwing leaned against the wall as the line went dead. He hated it when Batman did that. He wasn’t a kid to be ordered around anymore. He had his own responsibilities and his own team to lead. Nonetheless, it looked like he was headed back to gloomy Gotham City , New Jersey .
***
Things were really starting to pick up all over. It seemed like the criminals were recovered, the heroes mostly so, and everyone had enjoyed their breather. Unfortunately, that meant Oracle had been busier than ever, as more and more heroes were getting her contact numbers. It was her fault for being as good as what she did as she was Sometimes she missed when she had been only working with the top names, and her own team. It had occasionally stopped the stupidest of questions from the younger set. However, she’d be if she went back to her smaller circle bored, and she enjoyed helping people. Most people anyway.
“Oracle,” Batman growled through the comm link.
“What is it?” frowned Oracle, rerouting Green Lantern to Metropolis to help with a giant killer robot.
“You’re needed in Gotham,” Batman replied.
“Try again,” Oracle sent some information over to Black Canary about their case and an investigation she had been asked to run for Dinah.
“Robin’s gone missing, you’re needed in Gotham now,” Batman rumbled.
“Alright,” Oracle frowned. “How did Tim go missing?” Nightwing went missing often enough that it wasn’t a surprise, or anything that usually needed investigation. Batgirl had gone missing a few months ago, but Batman knew she could take care of herself. As for Tim going missing? That didn’t happen. The kid was still to too conscientious about letting them know if he had a school field trip, let alone disappearing off the face of the planet. Moreover, all of his friends who had occasionally been able to get him to relax were goneor dead.
“I’ll tell you when you get here,” Batman replied, terminating the connection.
“Batman,” Oracle spat venomously as she wheeled around and started gathering her portable gear, sending out the hiatus notices and finally, grabbing some clothes. She’d need to start running a few tracer programs and probably ought to call her father to go to dinner with him while she was in town anyway.
***
They took their usual seats, with Tim’s empty seat glaring almost malevolently at them. Alfred had provided drinks and a few tasteful tidbits before taking his place dusting the computers and not listening, seemingly absorbed in his war against guano.
“Due to the losses Robin has suffered recently, I have been granting him nights off, and did not, perhaps, keep as close an eye on him as I should have,” Batman stated. “Two nights ago, when he did not arrive for his scheduled patrol, I went to his apartment to investigate the cause of his absence.” Batman explained completely and unemotionally, or so it would seem to anyone who didn’t know him as well as Nightwing and Oracle did, almost everything he’d found, from the blood stains, to the seeming lack of a forced entry, even the clean dishes in the dish rack and the computer open on his kitchen table.
Nightwing sat back after Batman set out all the information he had so far found. Frowning, he went through it in his head. Evidence pointed to either kidnapping, or murder. Possibly attempted murder and kidnapping. On the plus side, there was not enough blood to be assured of Tim’s death. On the minus side, however, was to the Bat family, there were clear signs of a forced entry, even though most cops would catch it. Whoever did it was good - caped good. That did narrow it down to only a handful of people.
“So, do we have a suspect?” Oracle frowned.
“One,” Batman said flatly. Oh, that did not sound good. Batman sounded more constipated than usual. He set one last piece of evidence on the table.
“Jason Todd,” Batman stated. On the table, bagged and tagged, lay a familiar wavy knife.
*Comments and critcism are welcome, appreciated and taken into consideration.*