Part 14 of de aged Bruce part 1
The Arkham island was as dark and gloomy as always. When sneaking in, Damian counted three sleeping guards and two unguarded open windows. Through the camera in the cowl, Tim followed along and logged the names and footage to report it. "Good to see this place is so hard working."
Damian clicked his tongue as he watched below them from the ventilation, "They're disgracing our efforts." even without seeing his face, a deep scowl was obviously present.
For every unlocked door, sleeping guard and unwatched prisoner, it was another fight for Gotham. It was another fight the team had to redo all over again. Blood, sweat and tears, injuries that could take days or weeks to heal. All that work could be undone because two guards would rather take a smoke break than pay attention to the guy who almost blew up a train station.
"Not our focus right now, log any disruptions and we'll figure it out later." They began picking up the pace once again. Just getting out here was wasting precious time even if it was rather easy, but they also couldn't waste time going through their usual channels. Tim was contacting Gordon as a fail safe so they wouldn't be getting held back by the guards when discovered, since the time to get permission was already long over. "We're here."
The common area was below them.
Littered in smaller groups were the 'human' prisoners, who's timeslot to loiter around and stretch their legs were now. After several bad episodes, and even more complaints from Batman, it was finally decided that the prisoners with powers, probably shouldn't linger with the ones without, both for the safety of the prisoners, and making it easier to manage for the guards as metas were still a smaller percentage.
The two vigilantes watched from above, comfortable even as they knew they were responsible for 99% of the people being locked up in here.
The prisoners were all huddled in smaller groups throughout the room, but their attention were pointed in the same direction all the same. The television.
After this many hours, it seemed even the GNN channel had gotten ahold of the news of the clown's newest plan. They hadn't even bothered to blur the still unknown masked boy.
Something was different though.
Bruce was awake. Fully awake.
He stood on wobbly feet, stumbling towards the only door visible just on the edge of the view that camera angle showed. Both Dick and Damian were frozen as they watched small Bruce desperately trying the door handle.
When it wouldn't even budge, he fell to his knees. Slamming his body against the door helplessly.
The image shifted and a distressed news anchor appeared, seemingly just as shocked that this was being aired, as the people watching this torturous show.
The sound of their teeth grinding seemed so loud that Damian wouldn't be surprised if the comms had picked it up. He could even feel a vein straining against the skin in his throat.
Their father was suffering, and they weren't any closer to find him.
A sneering laugh snapped them out of their thoughts.
The want to snap the neck of the person daring to laugh in this situation was all consuming, and it wasn't hard to spot who would dare utter such a death sentence.
Jonathan Crane.
Scarecrow.
The professor was seated alone at a table located against the far end of the wall, a large circle of the other prisoners keeping away made it easier to spot as well.
The man sat hunched, hiding his smirking face behind his hands, small giggles escaping as he unblinkingly watched the screen. The haunted look on the news anchor still played as she tried to continue on with her script. Clearing her throat multiple times and fiddling with her papers. Each scared shift and fidget elicited a new giggle from the man.
Like he was feeding on her anxiety.
"He seems to know more than he's letting on." Robin commented, clenching so hard on the handle of the katana on his back that the gloves whined under the strain.
"I would agree," Tim's clicking continued as his voice picked up. "Crane and the clown had cells beside each other, it wouldn't be out of their norm to talk."
"Good enough for me." Dick swiftly moved further in the vents, making sure to keep his weight evenly distributed so it wasn't obvious a fully grown adult was sneaking through. This was clearly also something to change, why did this place think it was a good idea to have vents big enough to fit a person?
Luckily for them, less so for Crane, the professor was close to a locked hallway. From memory, Dick remembered it was simply leading towards a storage for the kitchen, filled with mostly paper plates, paper bowls and utensils. Perfect.
Finding the best spot, right above the man. "Red, unlock LR6, in ten seconds."
"Affirmative, ten from now."
Dick kept his hands on the vent cover, mentally keeping track of time, and physically positioning himself for the best way to jump down. The guards already accounted for, as they were sitting on their ass, seemingly just as invested in the news as the prisoners.
When the countdown ended, Robin dropped first, opening the door, while Nightwing swiftly followed behind, grabbing Crane from behind and dragging him with them.
It seemed even the walls of the prison gave the prisoners a sense of safety, as the man barely had time to struggle in his shocked state.
Nightwing slammed his hand over the man's mouth, effectively keeping him quiet while also steering him even further down the hall, further out of sight. "You don't seem surprised by the current news Crane." A squeak escaped the man, struggling to both keep upright while walking backwards, and fighting for his breath beneath the hand of his attacker. "Why don't you share with the class."
The prisoner was now caged in even more, even as the hand released him. It was immediately replaced by the blunt end of the vigilante's escrima stick pressed into his thyroid.
Robin stood by his other side, a hand laid ready on his sheathed katana. "What do you know?"
Immediate denial was expected, the professor violently shook his head, but stopped the second the movement pushed even more on his throat. His mouth shifted quickly between nervous smiles and terrified frowns.
"Fucking hell Crane. We know the clown blabbed." The escrima stick was pushed further into the flesh of his neck, the professor's ragged breathing could be felt all the way through the weapon.
His nervous smile and giggles was choked out as he was met with the white lenses of the mask. "He... he didn't say who. Si-simply, simply that the view was a-always best-best from the sky. That wa- that's all he said."
"A riddle?" Robin said, a scowl settling on his face as he tried to think of an answer.
"Maybe it's hinting at his planned hideout when he got out." Tim said, already sharing the information around.
Or it's taunting Robin's death once again, the view is always best from the sky, a nudge towards the heavens maybe?
The lights shone red, and the sound of a loud horn blared throughout the building, they had noticed Crane's missing, and possibly their involvement.
Shit.
They didn't have time to explain everything and being held back by the numbskulls employed here.
Nightwing harshly threw Crane back towards the wall, making sure to turn his body so he couldn't run out into the hall again, not yet. "If you're not telling us everything. We. Will. Know."
He feigned a punch towards the professor, causing him to harshly flinch back, close his eyes and almost falling to the floor. When he opened his eyes, the two were once again gone.
A minute later, the door to the rooftop slammed open, a little more aggressively than the door could seemingly handle, and a deep foot shaped dent formed into it.
The sound of the still bellowing alarm silenced slightly as they walked towards the middle of the roof, better vantage point, and good room if they had to fight. More importantly, it gave them a chance to go over the new information once again.
Dick stopped short of the exact center of the roof, checking on the small audio device he attached to the collar of Crane's clothes, hoping to pick up more if the man uttered another word about the situation. Hopefully soon.
"'The view is always best from the sky'?" Nightwing mumbled again, chewing on the sentence. A riddle? Old poem? Location? Previous mission?
When silence was all he was met with, he turned and let his eyes fall on his partner, Robin. The boy standing eerily still, eyes shifting from one direction to the other. Seemingly trying to gauge the direction of something specific. But why?
Wait.
"Robin. Are you communicating with the cave without me?" Damian stiffened, freezing in step like a deer in headlights. The few seconds of silence confirmed it for the older. Either Tim was telling him what to say, or he's trying to think of ways to hide what he's now been told.
"Don't be paranoid, Big Bird." Jason's voice rang through. The pitter-patter of rain was audible even through the line, indicating the incoming weather they would soon be met with. "RR suggested going to the abandoned wing."
A rough hand grabbed ahold of Damian shoulder aggressively, shoving him forwards and towards the bigger man. When close enough, his other shoulder was tightly squeezed too, enough that Damian was sure there were exact markings where his brother's hands were digging into his skin through the suit. "Nightwing..?"
"You're not going there." It wasn't a question, it was a command. He seemed to snap out of it slightly and double checked if there were any prying eyes. Seeing nothing, he looked back towards Damian, letting up the pressure on his shoulders and letting them fall to his sides. "I'll-"
"You're not going there, Dickhead." Jason's voice stopped him in his tracks again, ripping him out of both his train of thought as well as making his heart pound so hard he could feel its sharp snaps in his fingertips. Jason's voice. Resolute. Final. Alive.
"You don't mean you'll-"
"I'm not going there either, hell no."
Dick felt a stinging of guilt as Damian brushed and massaged his suit where his hands had previously been, he'd have to ask for forgiveness when all of this is over, for now, he focused back on what Jason actually said. "Then who?"
"Me." Robin mumbled out.
"No."
"We don't have any choice, we don't have the time to waste if we have to wait for anyone else to get there." A loud silence followed, they all knew the person who wanted to go there the least would be Dick. Not that anyone wanted Damian to go either. Nevertheless; "If what Crane said has anything to do with heaven, or death. It stands to reason that maybe the old wing has something to do with it." Tim soundly concluded. Even Dick himself knew he was being more difficult than their situation could bare, even now he could feel the ticking of time and knew that every tick walked them closer to some unknown. Every tick accompanied by the image of Bruce laying helplessly on the floor, confused, anxious and scared.
But the image of another Robin walking those halls made bile rise up his throat. A Robin would never walk those halls ever again, if it wasn't for adult Bruce, he would have long since blown it all up, to hell with his logic about possibly reconstructing it. The man himself didn't even want to touch the rotted grounds with a 10 foot stick.
"I'll go." An indignant huff sounded through the comms, quickly followed by a groan, one being Jason, the other Tim no doubt. "I won't say that I don't know why you'd say I shouldn't go, but I think Robin going would make me actually panic myself to death." He stuck out his tongue playfully towards Damian as he looked up at him, trying his best to not let his concern for his older brother show.
Another sigh, "Fine. I'm sending Spoils though, I don't think I can get BB to leave my side right now." It seems like he was doing just as bad then. Cass' ability to sense their emotional states with no words needed, usually made her their designated stress meter. If she didn't want to leave Jason's side, or anybody's for that matter, it usually meant they were walking the edges of a mental break, or in Jason's case, a violent outburst.
"Fine, but as you said, we don't have the time, I'll get a headstart and send the Batwing to meet you halfway." He took a step in the direction of the old sanatorium, stopping when the shuffle of feet was heard behind him. Turning, he met Damian with a light smile. "Robin, please see if you can figure out the specifics of how the clown was able to escape."
Biting back wanting to argue, wanting to follow, wanting to help, the boy simply nodded and strode back towards the roof door.
Watching the small boy skillfully sneak down the stairs before the door closed again, the present caught up with Dick again.
It wasn't the same as back then, they were more than simply one or two. The family in the Gotham alone was eight. And even now he was sure if he checked his phone, Wally, Kori and Roy had texted him.
They weren't alone, in this.
Taking a deep breath, Dick began making his way towards the abandoned sanatorium.
The time read: 9:16:25
part 15
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It's good to be back
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