Chapter Text
Bruce had gone back to Gotham that night. He'd been keeping an eye on the Luthorcorp Gotham branch, watching for any suspicious activity - any activity from Luthor was suspicious in his eyes. When he couldn't patrol in person, he'd placed Red Robin and Nightwing on duty.
Earlier that night, after walking Eve back to her room, Nightwing reported movement from the loading bay of the back of the building. Someone had pulled a truck around back. The doors of the bay had been shuttered open. Nightwing and Red Robin watched as a group of men carried something human shaped between them. Rather than charge in unaware of what was happening, they called it in to Batman.
Nightwing stayed on watch as Red Robin went back to the cave. Bruce found him looking through the case files on the computer as he was transported in. He joined him, standing at his side. They shared a knowing look.
"Nightwing, any changes?" Bruce spoke through his comms unit.
"Nothing in the loading bay. I can see a light on the tenth floor. No visible movement though."
"Alright. Keep watch, we're heading over there." Bruce said, ending the call.
The pair sped through the rainy Gotham night. It was late enough that the city was finally asleep, only street sweepers and the most devoted criminals out at this hour. Bruce knew that tonight, they'd find one.
The Lexcorp building loomed in the night, shining like a blade in the sodium streetlights. The giant "L" at the top pointed towards the sky, illuminated by red lights. Bruce had always found it slightly foreboding. Then again, everything in Gotham was.
The pair joined Nightwing at his stake out point. Bruce watched through the lighted window with a pair of micro binoculars pulled from his belt. He zoomed in, looking through the glass. A humanoid shadow passed by the distant light, a gun resting over their shoulder. A guard.
"You two, keep watch. I'm going in." Bruce said, running off the edge of the building.
He was out of earshot of their protestations. He knew Robin and Nightwing would want to help, but he needed them out here to keep watch. Who knew where Luthor's men could be?
He grappled to the top of the building, using the cool spring wind as a guide for his cape. The updraft carried him to the flat roof. Thirty storeys up, the access door was locked. He didn't have time to pick locks. He took a good running start, bracing himself to kick the door in. The flimsy handle gave way, and Bruce rushed in, taking the stairs down a flight at a time.
He knew he didn't have time to waste. Whatever was happening, he needed to get there quickly.
He arrived at the tenth floor, taking a moment to gauge his surroundings. It wouldn't do to rush in unprepared. He wouldn't be any help to anybody if he were injured. Or killed.
No one stood guard at the stair access door. Good. He opened it silently, moving swiftly down the dim hallway. He could hear shouting coming from a conference room down the hall. The light shone dimly in the dark, a pale yellow streak across the carpet.
One guard stood at the door. He was looking away, towards the large window at his left. Bruce couldn't risk detection. He backtracked down the hallway, coming around to the other side of the conference room. The guard was in front of him now, to the right, leaning against the wall.
Bruce moved swiftly, pulling the man towards him in the darkened passage. He'd clamped a hand over his mouth. A quick pinch to the artery in his neck blocked blood flow. The guard slumped in his arms, unconscious.
He set him down, turning to look through the crack of the open conference door. A group of four men were interrogating someone. If interrogate could be synonymous for torture.
Bruce watched as a tall man in a balaclava swung a bat down onto the prone form of an elderly man. The man had curled in on himself, shielding his head from the blows. His ribs were taking the brunt of the violence. Despite the other man's savagery, he remained quiet, only grunting.
"I'm gonna ask you one more time old man, where's the woman?" The masked man yelled.
Bruce watched as he handed off the bat to an onlooker. As far as he could tell, only the guard had a gun. The others were armed with bats and blunt force weapons. That didn't mean they didn't have concealed firearms.
"I don't… know what you're talking 'bout." The beaten man said.
He'd kept his curled position despite the pain it must have been causing him.
"Yes you do! You slipped up, geezer. You called her. We wanna know where she's at, and you're gonna tell us." The torturer had leaned over him.
"No." He ground out.
The man had raised his fist to hit him, lifting him up by the collar to get a good blow in. Before he could move, Bruce rushed through the door.
A well thrown batarang shattered the light, casting the room into darkness. Chaos broke out as Batman tackled the masked man, knocking him unconscious. The others fell just as quickly, backed into the corner of the room as they blindly reached out into the dark with their weapons.
Bruce shot to the old man's side. He needed medical attention, and quickly. Bruce examined him in the dark, checking to see if it would be safe to carry him. He didn't seem in too bad of shape. Bruce went to lift him, sweeping his arms under his legs, when the man spoke.
"There's a guard…. down the hall." He gasped as Bruce lifted him.
"I got him." Bruce said.
He dashed out of the door, the man tucked into his arms. He wouldn't have them free if any hidden guards appeared. He had to act quickly and stealthily. Nightwing's voice came over the comms.
"I secured the perimeter. No sign of any guards posted outside."
"Be ready to go as soon as I get there. I have a hostage who needs medical attention."
Bruce didn't try to backtrack through the building. Instead, he ran to the plate glass window. Grappling down the ten storeys with the victim would be a little difficult, but better than risking discovery by taking the stairs. He shifted the man's weight to one arm, carefully positioning his upper torso over his shoulder. He felt guilty for causing him more pain but knew he needed one hand free.
He dug into a compartment of his utility belt, pulling out a small roll of blasting jelly. He threw it at the window. It stuck, and Bruce readied the companion detonation device. He inched back into the conference room, using the cinderblock wall as cover. He had to adjust the man in his arms again, pulling his head against his chest as he knelt low. With his broad back to the wall, Bruce pressed the button.
While the explosion was small, it was still powerful enough to rock the room he was hiding in. He adjusted his cargo again, running out into the hallway.
Shattered glass sparkled across the floor. Bruce's thick soled boots crackled across it as he dashed to the now opened window. Readying his grappling gun, he braced for the tug of the steel cord as it pulled him up and out.
Nightwing and Red Robin waited below, the batmobile idling. They were shocked to see the injured man in Bruce's arms, faces grim with disgust at the beating he had taken.
"Nightwing wait here for the police. Make sure the suspects don't escape." He gently buckled the man into the passenger seat.
"Red Robin, go back to the cave." He swung himself into the driver's seat. "Wait for my signal."
Bruce rocketed towards the closest hospital. The man next to him had lost consciousness soon after he had saved him. He sat slumped in the seat, the harness the only thing keeping him from falling onto the floor. His breaths were gurgling and labored. From the sound, Bruce knew he'd have blood in his lungs. Internal bleeding. Most likely multiple broken ribs.
From his initial assessments of his injuries, Bruce knew he'd have a high risk of dying without immediate medical attention. He reached for the emergency radio on the dash. He used this to contact police and hospitals, alerting them of crime scenes or victims who needed swift medical attention. It came in handy on nights like this.
"Calling Gotham General. Calling Gotham General. Requesting immediate medical attention. En route, eta three minutes. Batman out." He alerted the hospital.
He'd paid to have radios like this installed in all of Gotham's hospitals; it helped police and ambulance units keep in effective communication.
Bruce pulled into the driveway of the emergency room. A team of nurses and paramedics were waiting with a gurney. He slid open the roof of the batmobile, undoing the straps of the man's harness. A doctor had reached in to help steady him. Bruce lifted the man out, stepping out of the vehicle. He laid him gently on the gurney. He stepped out of the way to let the professionals work.
The team had rushed him inside. Bruce reached out for a young nurse, keeping her just long enough to tell her his assessment of the man's injuries.
"He has a pulmonary hemorrhage, broken ribs. Check for more internal bleeding." He said.
The young nurse nodded gravely, looking through the window into the ER.
"Can you tell me anything else that-" She had turned back to look at him.
Batman, and the batmobile, were nowhere to be seen. Her heart leapt in her throat. How could a man that big move that quickly? She had no time to sit and contemplate. She was needed inside.
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Nightwing waited for the police in the ruins of the 10th storey conference room. He'd been trained to scan for clues and to collect evidence before the detectives could arrive on scene. He'd tied the men up in the heap in the middle of the room, watching for any stirring. The only light bleeding into the room came from the red fire exit sign. He turned his small pen light on, using it to scan the scene.
On the floor near the wall, underneath an overturned table, was a discarded wallet. Nightwing picked it up, looking inside. All the cash and credit cards were missing. The only thing left was a driver's license and a VA card. Assholes. He tucked it into his belt to examine later.
He did a quick scan of the room, careful to pick up any DNA he could use. The pulse of red and blue lights shining through the open door cut his investigation short. Any minute, the floor would be flooded with cops. He crouched down in a dark corner, waiting for Commissioner Gordon to arrive. He was usually the first to any Batman reported crime scenes.
He didn't have to wait long. The commissioner arrived, gun drawn, held up in both hands. He cleared the area, looking down at the groaning pile of suspects. Nightwing waited to show himself until after the last one had been bundled out of the room.
"Commissioner." He said quietly.
"Geeze!" The older man jumped, turning around to see Nightwing, his hand flying to the holster on his belt.
"Don't scare me like that, kid! God you'd think I'd get used to it by now." He wiped his hand down his scruffy face.
"Sorry." Nightwing said, fighting off the edges of a smile.
"Give me the lowdown." Gordan grumbled.
"Batman broke up an interrogation. A group of men kidnapped an elderly man, trying to get information out of him. I don't know what yet." He said.
"Did Batman tell you anything?" Gordan asked, slightly skeptical.
"You know the old man. 'Need to know'." Nightwing said conspiratorially.
Gordon grunted in agreement. He watched as CSI started to cordon off the room, setting up lights to survey the crime scene. They moved quickly on Batman cases. He knew it would be hard to find any concrete evidence after the bats had called it in. It was the only thing Gordon didn't appreciate about their agreement.
"I found something that might be useful to you." He looked over at Nightwing.
He held a slim card in his gloved hand. A VA ID. The man in the picture looked vaguely familiar, his wire glasses frames just at least thirty years out of fashion. Gordon looked up at Nightwing to ask him something else, but the young man was nowhere to be seen.
"I hate it when they do that." He sighed resignedly.
At least he was able to get some evidence. Hopefully he could find out just who their victim was.
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Bruce met up with Nightwing and Red Robin back at the cave. They stood at the computer, already analyzing the evidence Nightwing had gathered at the scene. He felt a surge of pride flood through him. He squashed it. Now wasn't the time to lose focus. It went into the filing cabinet at the back of his mind. He made sure to leave the drawer cracked open; it wasn't a bad thing to be proud of his children.
"Have you found anything yet?" He said, taking the short flight of stairs to stand next to them.
"We're currently analyzing the blood samples taken at the scene. Nightwing found our guy's wallet." Red Robin said.
Nightwing turned to Bruce, handing him the leather billfold. No money or credit cards inside, only an Illinois driver's license. A Gotham address accompanied the picture of an older man. His graying hair had been combed over, his brown eyes shining in the camera flash. He'd looked vaguely stunned. Bruce could recognize the shape of his jaw and nose. He hadn't been able to see his eyes in the dark.
"Robert William Milton. Sixty seven years old, lives on Eighteenth Street. Apartment four thirty one." Bruce said.
"We checked the missing persons reports from the last week. His daughter called it in yesterday. He'd been taken from the parking lot of his apartment building." Nightwing said.
"We pulled the CCTV footage." Red Robin said.
He pulled up the grainy film of a darkened parking garage. An older man of average height was standing at his car door, four cars away from the camera. A white van was slowly inching down the driveway, stopping at an empty spot across from his car. The blinker was on, the driver acting as if he was going to turn in.
Robert's head shot up when he heard the door slide open, bracing himself against his vehicle. Bruce was surprised to see him remain collected as four men piled out of the van. Two ran around the sides of his car, two more approaching from the front. Robert knew he'd been cornered.
He dropped his keys, raising his hands above his head in surrender. He didn't fight as the men pulled him into the van. One stayed behind, looking up at the camera. He sneered up at it, raising a pistol. While his partners yelled at him from the van, he shot at the camera. The feed went black.
"That was uncalled for." Nightwing said.
Bruce grumbled in agreement. He went to stand beside Red Robin, gently taking the mouse from the young man. He scrolled the footage back, settling on the face of the man with the gun. Even with the balaclava on, he recognized those eyes. It was the same man leading the "interrogation" Bruce had interrupted.
"It's the leader." He paused the footage there.
Nightwing and Red Robin looked up at his face. Bruce saved a screenshot of the footage. He'd have to edit out the noise later for a clearer image, but he was sure.
The computer dinged, alerting the trio that the DNA analysis of the blood samples had finished.
"About time." Red Robin grumbled.
It had only taken all of ten minutes. Bruce watched as he clicked into the analysis program. Three separate strands of DNA had been identified. One was an amalgamation of different animals, possibly rodents. The other belonged to two separate people.
Red Robin clicked on one, pulling up the profile it had pinged with. The DNA belonged to their victim, Robert Milton.
"Retired FBI. Forty years on the force after coming home from a tour in Vietnam. One of the last groups drafted out, he'd been honorably discharged after the US pulled out." Bruce read aloud.
"He was awfully young to go to war…" Nightwing said.
"You don't get to choose what happens to you. Only your reactions to it." Red Robin said, somewhat distractedly.
He clicked to the other profile the rest of the DNA had matched with.
"Samuel Simeon." Bruce ground out.
"Wait, isn't he with Intergang? I remember something about an assassination attempt." Nightwing said.
"Superman saved him." Bruce clicked onto the picture of the man in question.
"What's he doing in Gotham?" Red Robin pondered.
"More importantly, what is Lex Luthor doing with Intergang?" Batman said.
Each stone turned seemed to uncover more and more questions. Just what was Luthor up to?