Vigilante Struggles

Chapter seven

Barbra's P.O.V.
The next morning
We are currently sitting in the upgraded Batjet, since Bruce is no longer a lone wolf. Lucius found a jamming device on the top of the main radio tower. Tim and I had worked all night to jam-proof our communications equipment. Hopefully it works but we haven't tested it fully. I look out through the window and look down to the land below. We were using a cloaking device making us invisible to the outside world. We had to make sure we got through the boarder unseen.

We contacted Damien to return to Gotham to keep watch, Alfred is overwatch.Tim and I are going to be tec support. I hope Dick is okay, not only because I care about him but because Bruce needs his help to take down the Joker and Deathstroke. Tim is injured and I have been out of the field for a while. I don't think I'll ever return to the field, unless Lucius finishes building a nerve stimulating chip to insert into my spine. I look towards Blüdhaven and the high buildings came into view.
" We will drop on top of Dick's apartment building. The Batjet will have to return to Gotham....Alfred this is a communication check. Do you read?" I hear Bruce's rough voice through the headphones.
" Yes sir, I do read, communications hold no interference so far" Alfred's British accent follows.
I feel the jet lower and hover over the building. The bottom opened and lowered us down like an elevator. We enter the building as the jet re-cloaks and heads back to Gotham. We are lucky Dick lives on the top floor. Bruce pulls out his key to the flat and opens the door. We are shocked at what we see. The place is trashed. There is glass on the floor from the window being broken from the outside. The coffee table is smashed and the wood splintered. The chairs were all on their side ripped, with bits of stuffing coming out. We all entered cautiously and Bruce closed the door behind us. We make our way to the other rooms to find Dick. The kitchen was destroyed, as well as the bathroom and his bedroom. There was no sign of him.
"GUYS!!! IN HERE" Tim shouts. Bruce runs into the kitchen to grab me before running to the bedroom. Tim had gone back to Dick's bedroom to search for clues.
"What did you find?"I ask.
" This" he replies holding up a joker card. It has his ugly little face on it.
" Do you think he has him or is it just a warning?" Tim asks. I look at Bruce.
" We can't know for sure. It just looks like someone trashed the place. Joker would leave blood behind. Dick must not have been home" Bruce inputs. That makes sense. Before we could say anything else, we heard the front door open and something drop. We all leave to see if it was Dick. Sure enough it was. It was almost comical to see his face, wide eyes and his mouth open slightly. He scans the room until his eyes land on us, then he sees the broken window.
" Didn't I give you a key Bruce" he jokes. His apartment is trashed and he still jokes. " what the hell happened here." He asks.
" It was like this when we came Dick, have you not been home?" Bruce inquires. He is always questioning.
" well actually no, I was on patrol before I headed to get some groceries" he says." I had started late because I was busy last night"
'Busy doing what I wondered, his work usually ends at the 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. marker before the night shift guards come to work. He usually starts patrol at 9:00 and finishes at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. Not 6:00" I look at him, he honestly did look tired, maybe he was working late on the case.
" It was a busy night with the infrastructure shut down for 'city advancements' " he uses his fingers to place quotations on city advancements. At least he isn't totally in the dark.
" That's why we are here, someone is out for your blood Dick" Bruce cuts straight to the point. " The joker and Deathstroke to be exact. They are using the city's shutdown as a cover"
I can see the conflict in Dick's mind. He has to much history with them.
"When did you find this out?" He asks. His face holding a serious look. Dick hates it when he isn't told things.
" when you showed up yesterday night, we were trying to get leads on the murder cases when we linked them to you. They were a message" I had decided to answer as Dick has been kept in the dark by Bruce to many times before. He would understand me better at the moment. He looked sad...and guilty, most likely from the murders. He raises his hand and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Give me a hand to clean up the place then tell me what the heck is going on" he says while bending down to pick up the things he bought from the shop.