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Batman and all related and recognizable acharacters belong to DC Comics, not DC
Luder.

^V^

"All fathers are invisible in daytime; daytime is ruled by mothers and fathers
come out at night."

Margaret Atwood

^V^

Losing my battle with exhaustion and personal fear, I finally followed Alfred
upstairs to the Manor a little after noon.

We had searched all through the night alongside a several members of the Justice
League for Bruce or at last evidence as to what might have happened. After quite
possibly the longest night of my life, we had turned up nothing more than the
remaining parts of his costume but more disturbing had been the presence of
blood in the water, as detected by Superman. At one point in the night, just
before we called off the search, I recalled J'onn's voice in the corners of my
mind, "If there was something to find, Nightwing, we would have surely found
it."

As much as I hated to, I was forced to agree with him.

Although most of the Leaguers returned to their daytime duties, Superman, Wonder
Woman and J'onn had returned to the Batcave after the search. We sat in the
various chairs at a granite conference table, the Bat-tle Table as Tim had
nicknamed it. Usually, it was only used whenever Bruce had important information
or strategic plans of action to share with us.

But his chair was empty.

Well past sunrise, we reviewed what little clues we had recovered, both from the
ocean site and the electronic records of the night's activities. Nothing of his
routine patrols stood out, even when I had Oracle review the last week's logs.
The site at the buoy was practically useless, the saltwater ruining any chance
of collecting fingerprints or any viable evidence. As my mind combined all of
the factors, it came about the same result each time.

Bruce was gone.

Although still only a worst case scenario, the thought of losing him seemed
alien, perhaps as a result of him overcoming all odds, time and time again. As I
sat there, trying to focus on the conversation, I couldn't help but let my mind
drift. Deep down, I began to expect him to suddenly appear in the Cave's dim
lighting, playing it all up as a training exercise. I would fake knowing, Alfred
would mutter under his breath and Tim would stare at him in awe, "He got us
again…"

"Master Dick?"

I jerked awake in my chair, glancing to the left then right before spotting
Alfred. After making eye contact, I looked back over the empty chairs, "Where is
everyone?"

He paused, "They left some time ago, sir. Mister… Kent said he would return
around one this afternoon." I asked him what time it was and he replied, "Nearly
noon."

Letting my eyes close, I fought a yawn before standing and making my way to the
computer bay.

"Master Dick?"

Looking over my shoulder, I replied, "Yeah?"

"Would it be safe to make the assumption that you are about to endeavor on a
relentless computer exploration that will no doubt last well into the afternoon,
if not evening?"

When I was a mere yard from the computer bay's single chair, his chair, I paused
and turned to face Alfred, "Yes. Why?"

He closed the distance between us with long, smooth strides and when he stopped
in front of me, I finally saw the pain in his eyes. What was this doing to him?

"Sir, might I suggest refreshing yourself first?"

Before I could tell him that I was fine, I heard Barbara's voice over the
speakers, "He's right, Dick. Go eat. Or at least shower, I bet you smell like
the catch of the day."

I glanced at her image on the display before looking back to Alfred, "Tag
teaming me already, jeesh…"

"One can never intervene too soon, young sir."

Knowing it would only make Alfred upset, I opted against refusing him and
followed him up the cold granite steps to the Manor's study. Alfred followed me
upstairs to my old bedroom and saw to it that I had fresh towels and clothes. As
I showered off dried on saltwater and a long night of anguish, I did a mental
replay of theories I had going. First, Bruce was kidnapped; no doubt by any one
of the egomaniacal super-criminals that plagued the city. Whoever it was, they
had to have been trailing him or even tracking his patrol routes in order to
intersect him at the right moment: his ritual moment of rest on the roof of
Wayne Tower.

Or maybe there was another reason.

Maybe whoever it was had known that Batman was really Bruce Wayne, of which
certainly narrowed down the list of suspects. But it upped the level of concern
for the situation.

Next, it might be Bruce keeping us on our toes. He had run off before, leaving
us behind to take care of his city while he tended to personal matters. In light
of the Jet and Boat being in place, as well as the pricy toys that billionaire
Bruce Wayne owned, he had to have secured another mode of transportation. And
whether it had been by sea or air, something had happened. Something bad.

And the key element that was haunting every scenario I could think of was his
tattered suit, firmly suggesting that Bruce was in a much worse condition…

Fifteen minutes later I was physically refreshed but mentally drained, making my
way downstairs on auto-pilot. I entered the breakfast nook where Alfred had set
out a bowl of vegetable soup and a plate of Reuben sandwiches. When I saw that
he had set the table for two, I asked who else was joining me.

"Master Timothy is downstairs."

I nodded as I sat down, the aroma of the food doing little to lighten my mood.
Although Alfred excused himself to tend to the kitchen, I knew he was listening
intently to me. I managed to eat a bowl of soup and two sandwiches before my
stomach said no more. I carried in the dirty dishes and was taken aback at the
sight of Alfred standing at the kitchen sink, his eyes fixated to his left. I
looked as well, seeing only a worn leather jacket hanging up next to the service
entrance. The slight sound of setting the dishes on the countertop caused him to
jump slightly and he quickly glanced over in my direction before busying himself
with the dishes.

"What is it Alfred?"

He shook his head slightly, "Master Bruce left his coat out…"

I looked over again and then back at Alfred, "Well, when he gets back, he can
take care of it."

Alfred's hands stilled momentarily, as if he needed all of his focus to be
directed at thinking when Bruce gets back rather than if Bruce gets back…

I patted his shoulder and said that I would run down and tell Tim to come up and
eat. As I made my way back down to the Cave, I had expected to hear the clatter
of keys or even the grunts of effort as Tim beat the life out of one of the
training dummies. What I hadn't expected to hear was snoring echoing throughout
the Cave.

Tim was slouched over the computer console, fast-asleep. Although he had taken
off his mask and gloves, the rest of his Robin suit was still in place. Instead
of rudely waking him as I usually would have, I simply picked him up and carried
him over to the medical bay.

I smiled, remembering my years as Robin and all of the times I had fallen asleep
on the way home after a long night of crime fighting. Bruce would carry me
upstairs after he changed out of his guise, and then see to it that I was put
into pajamas. Sometimes I would stir, catching glimpses of Bruce pulling the
blankets up over my body. Or sitting at my desk, going over my completed
homework assignments. Sometimes, I was lucky enough to see a slight smirk on his
lips. A look of pride.

As I returned to the computer bay, I felt tears brimming at my eyes. How many
times had I betrayed him or disregarded his words; yelled and cursed his name?
If he was truly gone, I would never be able to seek his forgiveness for my
errors against him. He had spent his life making sure that mine would be the
best it could be…

Sitting in his chair at the computer, I fought back the tears as best as I
could, trying to get my thoughts directed towards finding him, not losing him.

"Dick?" Barbara's voice came from the overhead speakers, "Are you okay?"

Looking up to see her image, I sighed and leaned back, "No, I'm not okay."

She offered a slight smile, "Well, Bruce may not take it lightly when he finds
out you're sulking in his chair."

I gave a slow nod, still trying to get my thoughts under control.

"J'onn met up with Arthur and went back to the buoy. They both agree that there
isn't enough blood in the water for him to have been attacked by something.
Also, none of the creatures will, um, confess to doing anything to a human in
last twelve hours."

"Always trust a sardine," I sighed.

She smiled briefly before saying, "I'd rather trust a sardine over a shark any
day… Either way, there is definitely not enough blood present for the amount of
damage done to his suit."

I studied her face, "True. It may have been ripped up while it was off his body.
Of which leaves one very naked Batman afoot…" I paused a moment before asking
her, "How much time have we spent looking for him?"

"Almost ten hours."

"That's one hell of a head start," I muttered. When she asked me to clarify I
continued, "What if it was just his suit that was thrown into the water, a few
drops of his blood on it for a final touch. Whoever this is knew we would search
for him exhaustively once we found part of the suit."

"Right," she replied, a slight grin on her lips, "Adding the involvement of JLA
members to boot."

I paused, my exhausted mind putting the pieces together, "Such an idiot… It was
a diversion." I closed my eyes, trying to picture the very last time we had
known Bruce's location. He had been standing on the roof of Wayne Tower…
Picturing the surrounding buildings, I asked Barbara, "Can you get into Hart
Corp's surveillance footage for last night?"

"Can I open a can of soup?"

I would have snickered at her sly comment had it been any other time. Instead, I
simply watched her as she pecked away for a moment. When a smile of victory
spread across her face, she said, "They have nearly one hundred security
cameras, fifteen of which are external. I'll have to find the code grid to see
which is which… Ah, here. There's one on the helicopter pad on the roof that
should have a partial view of Wayne Tower…"

Her image was suddenly replaced with the night vision enhanced world of downtown
Gotham. Wayne Tower came in clearly. I watched on as she fast forwarded through
the afternoon and evening, returning to normal play just before one in the
morning when the display showed Batman's form arriving.

"Can you enhance that, zoom in."

She did, the screen moving in closer on Batman just as another figure came into
view. Nearly the same size and build as Batman, although garbed as a ninja not
as a caped crusader. I watched in anger as the assailant approached him from the
rear, using a slight window of surprise as he launched himself forward. They
fought vigorously for several minutes, Bruce nearly getting the upper hand until
another attacker arrived, this one much larger and stronger. It wasn't long
before the larger of the two men won, choke holding Batman until he lost
consciousness.

When a helicopter came into view, I asked Barbara, "Can you make the chopper any
clearer?"

"What do you think?"

I smiled as the screen morphed into a much nicer shot of the helicopter.
Passengers could be seen inside in surprising detail. Six men on one side and a
man and a woman on the other. My gut began to burn, "Focus on the left, Babs."

She did.

The screen offered a picture perfect view of Talia sitting beside her father,
Ra's Al Guhl.
I pounded my fist into the table top as I rose to my feet, "Damnit! He took
him!"

"Who took him?" Superman's voice came from behind me.

I spun around to see him as well as Wonder Woman, their eyes glued to the screen
above.
After taking a moment for my brain to realize that I was no longer alone, I
said, "He's not in the ocean. Ra's Al Guhl has him held captive."

Wonder Woman paused before asking, "Why would he do that? Why would he go
through the trouble of abducting him?"

"Only Ra's knows that," I said softly as my eyes returned to the screen just in
time to see Ubu load Batman's limp body into the helicopter. I fell back into
the chair as relief washed over me. This revelation changed everything. Ra's'
involvement made this something more than just a kidnapping. It very well meant
life and death for Bruce and for the rest of us.

The green computerized image of the Oracle appeared on the monitor, "I'll have
the rest of the group return so we can discuss some battle plans."

"Thank you." I closed the connection and turned to face Superman and Wonder
Woman.

"We will help you find him," Superman announced as he stepped towards me.

I managed to stammer, "I… I…" before my throat closed up. I had admired Superman
long before I had ever dreamed of becoming a superhero myself. Becoming Robin
and meeting one of my personal heroes had been a dream come true, let alone
working alongside him over the years. As a result, it was always hard for me to
push him away, unlike the ease that Bruce showed when he wanted nothing to do
with the Kryptonian.

Superman stepped forward, setting a hand on my shoulder, "Nightwing… Dick… After
all of the times that Batman has saved me or anyone of us… A ton of Kryptonite
couldn't keep me from helping bring him back."

Finally, I nodded, "All right. I guess super strength and near invulnerability
might come in handy."

Before I could say another word, I spotted Tim's groggy form approaching, "What
does it take for a guy to get some sleep around here?" I asked him how much he
had overheard and he replied after a quick yawn, "I tuned in right about the
time you started looking at the surveillance videos."

Superman appraised the newcomer before asking, "What's the next step?"

"We'll have to narrow down his mode of transportation, I would say by air over
being by sea but Ra's is always one for the unexpected," I turned to face the
computer, "Computer, access all airport logs within a one hundred mile radius of
Gotham City for the last ten hours."

As the crays hummed with its assignment, I felt a rush from the slight progress
we had made. If we searched for the rest of the day and studied flight charts,
satellite photos of the ocean where the buoy was located and then formed some
general ideas we might be able to find him with forty-eight hours…

I glanced back at Superman briefly before continuing, "I'm not exactly sure what
to tell you until we track down his physical whereabouts."

He paused, then replied, "Of course. Well, we're just a call away, Dick. If you
find anything, let us know."

I stood as I nodded, "Thanks," I said before shaking his hand.

After he and a silent Wonder Woman had departed, the crays brought up massive
lists of records on the monitor. As if aware of the daunting task of research
that was ahead, Alfred had brought down fresh coffee and sandwiches, fast fuel
as I had dubbed it in my pre-teen years.

As I went about contacting Barbara, I smiled when I heard Alfred's whisper,
"Even in peril, you drive him, Master Bruce."

While I looked at flight logs, Barbara scored over shipyard records while at the
same time hacking into a number of six different satellite systems that covered
the Atlantic Ocean the night before. We totaled over a thousand different
aircrafts and sea vessels that crossed the ocean in the time span that Bruce
went missing, seventy-five of which left from Gotham. All of the satellites
corresponded and showed as the crafts progressed from the East Coast of the
United States to various locations in Europe, Africa and beyond. In Bruce's
files on Ra's, there was a list of known and possible lairs and base of
operations that the Demon used in his quest to cleanse the earth

A case of too much information and not enough time to work through it.

"Where do we even begin," I muttered.

Barbara put her glasses on, "Well, we can immediately knock out anything that
leaves Gotham and lands in any public airport overseas. Ra's wouldn't even
refuel at an open location."

"Right…" I sighed.

"This stuff is fun, Dick. It's like a puzzle. You just have to put the pieces in
the right order and then make something out of it." I looked up at her and
arched an eyebrow. "Fine, be that way."

We agreed to reconnect after an hour. When two in the afternoon came around, I
hadn't progressed far but Barbara had an impressive collection of results to
share. "Well, thirty-six crafts left Gotham harbors and airports last night
between the hours of one and four in the morning. Ten ships and ten commercial
airlines docked and or landed at commercial zones in Europe and Africa, so not
Ra's. He would go first class till his dying breath."

"I was doing the airplanes…" I whined.

She shrugged, "Sorry, I'm an overachiever… Anyway, we have six ships that went
south and docked in the Carolinas, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. I highly
doubt Ra's would go through all the trouble to kidnap him, get on a shipping
boat only to shack up on the Outer Banks."

I nodded in agreement, "Which leaves us ten."

"Six ships, four airplanes."

"Look up the rosters for…"

"Already done Boy Blunder. Four of the boats were private crafts, yachts owned
by billionaires who all check out, and the remaining two were cruise liners
making their way to the Bahamas. They docked in Gotham Harbor at eight in the
evening and set out a little after one."

"Well that cancels `by sea' out. What about `by air'?"

"All were privately owned by companies. Diamond Enterprises, TexTech, Triple
Technology and IbnCorp."

"I've heard of Diamond Enterprises and TexTech, not the others."

Tim leaned against the tabletop, "Triple Technology is a new service
conglomerate, offering high-speed internet, cable and phone services. But I've
never heard of IbnCorp."

Barbara added, "I couldn't find anything on it."

I rubbed my tired face, "Made up his own company to cover his tracks... Sneaky
little devil."

"You can say that again," Tim smirked.

"Sneaky---."

"Dick," Barbara interrupted.

"Sorry. So, where did IbnCorp's plane land?" I asked.

"IbnCorp refueled at a private airstrip in Portugal and then took off to Egypt
before disappearing off the satellite."

Barbara and Tim worked together and played with the letter arrangements, coming
up with very few successes that made any sense. Procnbi. Born Pic… All
jibberish.
"Ibn…. Wait," Tim spoke up before he commanded, "Computer, access multi-lingual
dictionaries."

The computer replied, "Word of reference."

I looked at him as he spoke loudly, "Ibn."

Within seconds, the computer proceeded to read aloud, "Ibn. Arabic, translates
as follows: German, sohn; French, fils; Spanish, el hijo, Latin, filius and
American English, son. Additional translations…"

"Stop, computer," I spoke quietly.

Barbara paused before asking, "Son? I thought Ra's had disowned Bruce?"

Tim shrugged, "Well, they've certainly had their spats… You know, fights to the
death and what have you."

Barbara offered to contact the others and tell them of our progress before
taking another look at satellites that covered all of northern Africa. "On one
condition, Richard Grayson and Timothy Drake."

"What?" we asked in unison.

"Get some sleep. I highly suspect that you won't be able to get any once things
get under way."

I grinned before stating, "Only if you come up and wake me with a kiss."

"In your dreams, frog prince," she winked before closing the connection.

My legs tried to refuse, but I stood anyway and stretched the muscles of my
back. The day had barely begun and I was nearly whipped already. And although I
would do anything for Barbara, I couldn't rest until a certain cowl-bearing
crusader was safely returned to his city.

^V^

Chapter Three: Bedside Visits