AN: Sorry for the EXTREMELY long delay, I lost the notebook that had this chapter and next chapter written out fully when I moved and have just recently uncovered some of my fiction notebooks. So hopefully I can start to update sooner than the forever amount it usually takes for me to update.

Disclaimer: Not mine

Warnings: none that I can think of at the momment

Never Too Young

Chapter 3) Whispers in the Dark

A dark figure watched a security guard make his rounds from a grate in the ceiling. It was sad how predictable the schedule and round routes were, if it were not for the motion sensors and security camera locations, breaking in would be an absolute joke. He watched the guard head down a few more corridors on a small handheld monitor. Naturally he had piggybacked the feed of one Gotham City Wayne Tech security system and had full control over said system; he wasn't an amateur after all. He pocketed the monitor and quietly removed the grate and deafly dropped to the floor landing in a crouch. Sticking to the camera blind spots he made his way down the halls towards the lab. Granted he could loop the feeds and walk around freely, but where's the fun in that?

When he reached the lab door he took out a small disc and waved it in front of the key pad. A string of numbers flew across the screen until eventually all stopping in a single line of code and the door unlocked.

"Too easy Mr. Wayne."

He quietly snuck into the lab and approached one of the many computers. A faint glow came from across the room catching his eye as the computer kicked on. He plugged in a jump drive of his own creation and set the computer to download everything on the company hard drives before making his way across the room.

A cylinder on an examination table was giving off a slight blue hue. Inside appeared to be a dust cloud, the origin of the light. Grabbing the nearby clipboard and scanning its contents, his suspicion was confirmed. It was a nano-mite swarm. A grin crossed his face.

"Naughty, naughty Mr. Wayne, keeping these beauties all to yourself is a crime in itself. I think I should relieve you of this burden."

There was a near silent beep from his jump drive indicating its completion. He went back over the computer and in a blur his fingers flew across the keys removing all remnants of his presence from the databases as well as set the timer for the security system to once again be in their own hands. Before turning the computer off he created a personal back door, what you never know when you'll need one until you do. The screen turned a shade of crimson before shutting down completely. He pocketed the drive before heading back across the room.

Quickly hacking the monitors on the cylinder canister and setting them on a lovely loop before unclipping the bag from his back. It was quite easily missed considering it was nearly apart of his shirt unless it was needed. Examining the cylinder for a moment and sighed. Too easy. He slid his hands down the sides until they were three fourths the way down and twisted counter clockwise unlocking the canister from the base it rested on. He gently lifted it off the base and placed it on the counter and reached for his bag. With as much grace as possible he placed the canister in the bag and re-clipped it to his back.

As he reached the door his watch beeped. Glancing at the time he glared. Batman would be landing on this building's roof in exactly five minutes. Glancing around the room looked exactly the same minus the canister on his back. He quickly exited the lab and made his way to the roof avoiding all cameras and sensors. He glanced at his watch again as he opened the roof door. Exactly one minute and forty-five seconds until Batman had eyes on the building. Quickly taking out a spray can he tagged a quick message to the bat, a sort of greeting if you will. Satisfied he ran to the edge before jumping off in the direction opposite of Batman's approach.

THANKS FOR YOUR GENEROUS DONATION BATMAN!

The Zeta tube flashed and announced Kid Flash's arrival. The sight that greeted him was not one that he'd come to expect when entering the cave. Batman was furiously typing away on the holo-screen keyboard. There were more screens surrounding him some closing as soon as they were opened while others seemed to be processing footage amongst other things he could only guess what they were actually doing. The constantly opening and closing ones he could just barely keep up with so he had no clue how Batman could possibly process anything they were trying to relay. Robin on the other hand was all but vibrating where he stood. A smile splitting his face when he saw the speedster.

"What's going on, Rob?" Robin's smile grew. Robin grabbed his arm and steered him over to the sofa. The smaller boy quickly hopped over the back and sat on the arm of the sofa.

"You are not going to believe this. There was a break in at Wayne Tech last night in Gotham. This guy was good. I mean really good. Probably wouldn't have even known until Monday that the place had even been hit if it weren't for the guy calling out batman with thank you note on the wall. I mean this guy actually thanked Batman for letting him rob under his nose." Wally's eyes bug at the news. Confusion settles in when Robin stopped talking.

"So why are you guys working at the cave instead of the Batcave? Not that I don't love your company and all."

"Bats couldn't find anything so he's checking the rest of the world for similar cases. So far nothing is popping up. He's so ticked off right now." He chuckled a bit before breaking out in huge grin. Wally stared at him for a few second in concern.

"You seem a little too pleased with this information." Robin was all but bouncing out of his shoes.

"Well yeah, I mean what if this was the guy's first heist? It would mean that he stole successfully right out from under Batman's nose, not to mention from Wayne Tech to boot. This guy's got some major guts. I know it's horrible to say, but I really want this guy to strike again, prove it wasn't a fluke."

Wally flopped onto the sofa next to Robin processing that possibility. What if it had been the guy's first heist? That did mean that the guy was good. Amazingly good if he could pull off a heist in Gotham, let alone not get past Batman. This guy could be dangerous. If this guy strayed from just theft and went into violent crime than they could be in real trouble.

"You said he sent Bats a note, what did he sign it as? We can't keep calling him the guy can we?" Wally asked. Robin frowned a bit. He slid off the arm until he was sitting cross legged on the sofa next to Wally.

"That's what weird about the guy. He didn't sign it at all. I think he was trying to be anonymous or something. I don't know. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be lame or something stupid. I would lose all respect for him if he's got a lame name or calling card." Wally nodded. Batman stormed over to the boys.

"We're leaving, now." Batman growled a menacing aura surrounding him. Robin sunk into the sofa until Batman turned his back and stormed toward the Zeta tubes. Wally gave him a quick wish of luck before Robin was off the sofa following his angry mentor. Wally hoped for all their sakes that this new guy got caught soon. If not Gotham had more to fear from its protector than its resident villains.

A/N: I know it's been forever and I greatly thank all of my reviewers and followers for their support and comments. As always please leave a review, flames welcome, but please say why not just "this sucks" I'd appreciate it. I noticed that this is a little convo heavy sorry more good stuff awaits.