Painkiller

▪TWENTY FOUR▪

The voicemails were painful to listen to again, the whole time my head hung and my eyes were focused on the ground. A clicking noise was heard, signaling that the last voicemail was over. I lifted my head up and saw that both Bruce and Azreal were looking right at me. I still don't know the guys real name, he knows mine; so why shouldn't I know his? How did Bruce even start working with this guy?

"Where do we start?" I asked, snapping out of thought,

Bruce leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath, "First we track the call, see where she was calling from. Once we know we can go to that location. There is at least 6 more hours left until sunrise, I suggest we go right away."

"Okay, I'll go gather my things." I said then jogged off to get myself prepared for going out while Bruce and Azreal tracked down the call.

I grabbed my two gun holsterers and strapped them around my upper thigh. I slipped my guns into place and I grabbed a few extra clips of rubber ammo and tucked them into my utility belt. Kinda lame I have to use rubber bullets, they still pack a punch though. I grabbed my utility belt and a few extra things like smoke bombs, a hunting knife; that I tucked into my boot, batarangs, my phone, and snacks; of course.

Once I made sure I had everything I needed; I made my way over back to Bruce and Azreal,

"Ready?" Bruce asked,

I nodded, shifting my weight to my other leg. My knee was hurting bad, but I can't let that keep me from finding Kiara, "yep," I finally answered, "I'm all set."

Bruce nodded and looked to Azreal, "JP, you want to come along?" Bruce asked, turning towards Azreal,

"I'll hold down the fort; for now." He replied and Bruce gave a small nod.

Bruce stood up out of his chair and gathered up a few things. He walked over to me and placed a small black earbud type thing. It looked like if someone would rip off one of the buds off a pair of earbuds and then painted it black,

"Put this in your ear, we'll be able to communicate with both each other and Azreal." Bruce said, pulling his cowl down.

I put the bud in my ear and put on my mask, "Good luck, Batman and Robin," Azreal spoke up, "I'll see you when the sun rises."

-

I lost Bruce in the foggy night sky. I wasn't at my top peak, which slowed me down. I wasn't able to keep up with Bruce, I probably wouldn't be able to keep up with him even if I was in my top shape. He's a fast dude.

I eventually caught up with Bruce, who was perched up on a billboard for a new radio show hosted by some asshat from the radio,

"What's our position?" I asked, looking around the area. It was kinda hard to see, with it being dark and the fog. I heard water and smelt something burning, like rubber,

"We're near The Narrows," Bruce responded, "The phone signal we picked up in the cave came from this area. We'll have to slip through up to cover more ground.  Keep an eye out for a motel, the number was traced to a motel phone room number."

"How will I know we're to look?" I asked,

"Bruce handed me a smartphone like device, "If you run into any trouble, radio in. You still have that ear piece right? If you fingers the signal, radio it in. Don't get hurt or lost." Bruce said then shot his grappling hook into the darkness, "if we don't find anything in two hours, meet back here." He said then flew off into the night.

I looked down at the screen of the GPS, it showed a small green arrow that sat a top of a map. I grabbed my grappling hook and shot it off; i took off through the sky, the wind feeling like heaven on my face.

I've never been to Blüdhaven and this is a whole new experience for me. I had no idea what would happen after we find Kiara. Do we go back to whatever we were? Or do we just move on and never talk to each other again? Would I move back in with Bruce or would I stay with Jason, would Jason even let me stay with him anymore? A sudden beeping cleared my mind.

I looked down at the GPS and grinned when a red ring formed around a building that was near,

"Batman, this is Robin. I picked up a signal." I said as I landed on the roof of the building that the GPS highlighted, I gave Bruce the location and slipped the GPS into my utility belt.

The building looked deserted. Only two cars parked in the parking lot, the sign that stood tall over the roadside motel was a bright blue. I walked along the roof top, hearing faint argument coming below me.

I felt a big thump and turned around and saw Bruce standing a few feet away from me,

"I've picked up a strong signal, this must be the place." He said

"I've picked up something too, good job at locating Robin." Azreal spoke up over the com.

Bruce walked in front of me and leaped down to the side of the building. I hopped down after him and he opened a window,

"Let's hope we don't barge in on anyone." Bruce muttered before sending me through the window.

I looked around for dark room, it was small. From what I could see, there was a queen sized bed pushed up against one wall with a bed side table next to it. Bruce climbed in and looked around,

"Its dark, toggle on your night vision." Bruce said to me and I raised my eyebrow in confusion,

"What?" I asked,

"Its programed into your mask, those things aren't just pieces of fabric covering your face." He said and walked forward.

I toggled on my night vision and got a better look at the room. There was no was this was the room Kiara was in. It was a room occupied by more than one person,

"Not the room," I said

"Let's push forward." Bruce said then looked down at the GPS, "our room should be two doors down." He said and we climbed back out the window, remembering to close it.

We walked behind the motel and opened up a window that was a little further down, I climbed through and gave the okay to Bruce. Bruce climbed in after me and I looked around the thrashed room.

Clothes were scattered everywhere, a lamp was broken and thrown onto the floor. I walked forward a little and looked at a wall with two words scribbled on it;

DEAD END