Chapter 5

"I am not going to stand by while this animal runs free in my city! Now you boys get out there and find a damn lead!" Commissioner Gordon's voice echoed out the open windows of the conference room, very clearly showcasing his frustration. The entire department, plus Batman and his allies and they still had absolutely nothing on these kidnappings. It was as if whoever was behind them didn't exist. No prints, no DNA evidence, no eyewitnesses. What the hell was he supposed to do?

"Commissioner Gordon?" A female voice came from his doorway and he turned to find his criminal profiler standing there with a small stack of paperwork and a plastic baggie in her hands.

"Dr. Quinzel. Come in, please."

"I've told you, Commissioner, you can call me Harley, I don't mind."

"Well, be that as it may, what have you got for me?"

Harley set the folders down and opened them, revealing detailed files on the missing girls as well as notes on possible connections between them and a few files on possible culprits.

"There's nothing solid yet, but we have a mutual friend who swears up and down that he's gonna crack this thing.

"So we're still working off hunches all around then." Gordon replied, his voice clearly tinged with frustration and exhaustion.

"I also received this a few minutes ago from our friend." Harley set down a photograph of a purple flower. "It's nightshade. recovered from the Monarch Theater earlier this evening."

"Nightshade, eh?" Gordon mulled it over in his head, stroking the stubble on his chin. "Have we found any other instances of this nightshade being left anywhere else in the city?"

"No, sir." Harley replied. "Just the once as far as we know."

"Make it twice." Nightwing chimed in from the open window, prompting Gordon to quickly shut the conference room door. Harley's heart skipped a beat at the sight of her Bluebird, but she buried it for now, opting to maintain her professionalism.

Nightwing tossed a small bag on the table containing what looked to be an identical nightshade flower.

"I recovered that from the Iceberg Lounge. Cobblepot was kind enough to tell me a story while I was looking for clues."

"Penguin's involved in this?" Gordon asked, his tone betraying the obvious confusion he was dealing with.

"No. One of the kidnappings took place just out back of his club. It seems a few of his guys didn't take too kindly to the kidnapper trespassing and Penguin's boys got themselves killed in the fight."

"So the kidnapper's leaving these flowers at the spots he's snatched the girls? Why haven't we found any others?" Harley asked.

"I don't think he's marking his kidnappings with the flowers." Nightwing replied. "I think he's leaving them for people he kills."

"If that were true, that means we've got another body on our hands, not just the stiffs from the Iceberg Lounge. So why haven't we found his other victim?" Gordon asked, stepping closer to the table.

"Good question." Nightwing replied, leaning over to better examine the evidence at hand. He flipped through the photos and got as good a look at the guy as he could, then turned his attention to the nightshade flower and the accompanying photograph. They certainly appeared identical, but on closer inspection, the leaves of the one in the photo were a slightly different shape. More jagged around the edges

"This one is different." Nightwing stated, pointing to the picture in question.

"What?" Gordon asked, grabbing the photo and the bag to do a cursory comparison himself.

"See the slight difference on the outside edges of the leaves?" Nightwing pointed out. "They're both nightshade, but I'm willing to bet it's two different subspecies. My suggestion is that you find out everything you can about that flower. Medicinal uses, toxicity, point of origin, everything. It might just give us a clue as to who this guy is, or even better, where he took the girls."

"Good call." Gordon replied, adjusting his glasses. "I don't suppose you know a skilled botanist I could get down here at this hour?"

"I do." Harley replied, raising her hand slightly.

"Good. Get them on the phone."

Harley nodded and headed out, leaving Nightwing alone with Gordon.

"Nice work." Gordon said, giving a nod of approval to the younger man.

"Hey, I do what I can to help. You guys are the ones doing the real grunt work. I was on my way to talk to the big guy, see if he's got any leads on this. If it turns out he does, I'll be sure to let you know."

"Wait, what about the other body that this second flower is connected to? Shouldn't we be looking for another victim?"

"I'd hold off on that for now. Depending on what you find out about that second flower I think it may have another purpose all together. I'll get the second flower to you as soon as I can for you to do some research."

"Another purpose? Like what?" Gordon asked as Nightwing approached the window.

"I guess we'll find out." Nightwing stated grimly, flinging himself back out into the summer night.

Barbara pulled her car up the gravel driveway to Wayne Manor, the small stones crunching under her tires like glass marbles. The lights were on in the main hall, but then again, they always were. She got out and grabbed her duffle bag. She didn't intend on spending the night, but with a case like this, it never hurt to expect that they would be burning the midnight oil.

She let herself in with the key she had been given ages ago, the click of her heels on the marble floor adding to the grandfather clock's eerie echo. She knew where to go, considering that the upper floor was empty as a tomb. She had to scan her fingerprint first, but quickly moved through the passage behind the clock in question and down a winding concrete staircase and Barbara found herself in the mouth of the cave. It was kind of funny how much time she'd actually spent down here over the years and how much it still felt like a home away from home.

She was surprised to find Bruce's computer chair empty, and even more surprised when a voice that wasn't Bruce's rang out through the darkness.

"Ouch! God damn it!"

Barbara continued down the steel walkway toward an alcove that she knew Bruce used for medical treatment, peering around the corner. Bruce was there all right, still in costume, although he had removed his cape, cowl and gloves. He was crouched down next to a younger man and appeared to be stitching up his leg.

"Bruce?" She spoke quietly so as to not startle either of them.

"Hi, Barbara." Bruce said in his signature monotone, never taking his eyes off the wound.

Barbara knew that Bruce wasn't going to let just anyone down here and certainly not with half his costume off. She wracked her brain trying to discern the younger man's identity and drew a complete blank until he happened to look up and meet her gaze, his eyes burning like emerald fire.

She had a sudden flash of years ago, standing in this very cave. Dick had already left to become Nightwing and Bruce had found another young partner to take on the mantle of Robin. The young man in that costume had seemed so happy, so excited to have the opportunity. The memory flashed forward to a heated argument between Bruce and the young man, following a nightly patrol that had nearly gotten an informant killed. The young man in question had been so angry with Bruce. Another flash forward to Herself, Bruce, Dick and Alfred standing in the rain, staring at a casket and a tombstone. Jason Todd's tombstone.

"Jason." She whispered, her hand unconsciously coming up to cover her mouth in shock.

"Hi Barb, been a long time." Jason said with a half-sarcastic smile.

"We buried you." She whispered again.

"No." Bruce said, standing up now that he was finished stitching Jason's leg. "It's a long story, but take my word for it, what we buried wasn't Jason." He tossed the bloodied bandages into an adjacent trash can and turned to face Barbara. "Your father can't know he's here. Not yet."

"My father? But why? What is this all about?" Barbara asked, her voice clearly emoting the frantic confusion.

"Because I'm a wanted criminal, Barb." Jason said, tentatively standing and testing his weight on his injured leg. "But I've got information on the kidnapping case. I can help. Afterwards I'm turning myself in. But for right now no one can know I'm here."

"A wanted criminal?" She implored, stepping closer to Jason, looking from him to Bruce. "I don't understand what happened between you two?"

"After Joker killed me, Ra's blamed himself for what happened and stole my body. He used the Lazarus pit to bring me back."

"Oh my God." Barbara whispered.

"Even with his knowledge of the pit, he didn't have a clue what kind of effect it would have on someone who was already dead. My body healed fast. The pit did that much. But my mind was shattered. It took years before I started to feel like myself again. during the time while I was healing, I made some decisions that I shouldn't have. They made sense at the time, but looking back now I don't know if I can ever forgive myself for what I've done."

"What kind of decisions, Jason?" She asked, holding back tears of sympathy for what he had been through.

"Jason was responsible for the Red Hood murders a few years ago. I'm sure you read about it." Bruce said, heading into an adjacent alcove to finish changing out of his costume.

"That was you?" Barbara asked in disbelief.

"I can't take back what I did." Jason stated. "But I can try and pay for it. Right now, Arkham is the best place for me."

Barbara was silent for a long few moments, taking all of the information in. She had fought alongside Jason more than once, and to think that he had been responsible for all those people's deaths. But at the same time to have been through what he had been through. Witnessing your own death, being ripped back from the dead, having your mind splintered into a thousand pieces. It was unfathomable.

"I hope you can find peace again, Jason." She said sincerely, looking into his green eyes as she spoke. He smiled in return and attempted to walk. The limp was bad, but not as bad as he thought it was going to be. If anything, his shoulder hurt worse than his leg. From what Bruce had said, the bullet had nicked his collar bone on its way through, which explained the amount of pain. The other bullet had hit him in the thigh and had simply gone in and out. Nothing life-threatening.

Still, It hurt. A lot. Jason hobbled over and grabbed the set of crutches that leaned against the doorway and headed out of the alcove into the main chamber of the cave. Barbara followed after him, feeling compelled to stay by his side in case he needed help. The two of them slowly headed up the stairs to the computer station where Bruce had gone. They had just reached the platform and found Bruce to be in his chair when the sound of a motorcycle drew all three of their attentions.

Dick's bike came to s top just next to the batmobile and he pulled off his helmet to look up to the computer platform. Bruce was in his chair, as always. Barbara was here too. Great. Things hadn't exactly ended well for them last time they had spoken. He stopped when he recognized the third person standing at the edge of the upper level. Jason?

Dick had been told about what had happened. With The Joker and Ra's and the Lazarus pit, even the things Jason had done under the alias of the Red Hood. Jason had fallen about as far as a person could fall. So why was he here? All of these thoughts swirled through Dick's head as he made his way up the staircase to the upper platform where the rest of them stood.

"Jason." Dick said, his tone neutral. He meant it more as a greeting than a cold acknowledgment. Jason nodded back to him, his shoulder and left leg heavily bandaged. "You've looked better."

"Well, I got to meet our kidnapper up close and personal." Jason replied with a small smirk.

"There's no hard evidence to connect Nightshade to the kidnappings just yet." Bruce said sternly, silently taking in this moment. He had never thought in a million years that he would have Jason and Dick back in this cave together. Only one missing now.

"Whoa." Tim's voice came from the east walkway as he rounded the corner and spotted Jason.

"Yeah." Jason said with a grin as he turned to face his successor. "The middle child finally came home."

"I'd say so." Tim replied, taking off his mask and setting on the nearby workbench. Dick had forgotten he was still wearing his and promptly followed suit. "I was just going to swing by and let you know that I did a sweep of the Bowery and the docks, but came up empty, nobody's seen anything since the last girl got snatched. But I'm guessing with him here, things have taken a turn for the interesting."

"You don't know the half of it." Jason said, subconsciously rubbing his injured shoulder. "Bruce, why don't you bring him up to speed?"

Bruce silently agreed and brought up what little footage they had managed to get of Nightshade from traffic cameras and security feeds.

"The guy looks like a professional if you want my opinion." Dick said, studying Nightshade's gear and movements. There wasn't much to go on from the footage of him simply running from place to place, but after years of training, you learned to read how people carried themselves.

"An assassin maybe?" Barbara chimed in. "looking to draw out a specific target with these kidnappings?"

"Doubtful." Bruce replied. "If he were an assassin, he'd know his target and how to get to him. Not to mention that if the kidnapped girls were bait to draw out a singular target, we'd have found a connection between them by now."

"Maybe he's working for someone else." Tim threw in his theory. "Collecting the girls for a paying customer."

"That's not a bad theory." Jason agreed. "The guy's got all the makings of a mercenary. Question is, who's the client? And what's he want with the girls?"

"I can think of a few reasons." Dick said grimly.

"Ew." Barbara replied in disgust.

"The fact remains that we don't know enough about Nightshade to make any kind of educated guess. We need more intel." Bruce said, turning to face the group of them.

"That reminds me." Dick began. "The reason I'm here is that I need the flower you recovered from the Monarch. Gordon's got a botanist on hand to try and trace the origin, maybe find out where our guy hangs his hat."

"Good thinking. It's in the lockup." Bruce gestured toward the north alcove where he kept evidence during ongoing investigations.

"I'll get it." Tim said and headed up the staircase. Barbara took the moment as an opportunity to make herself feel less awful.

"Dick, I need to apologize about earlier." She began, but Dick put up a hand to silence her.

"Save it." He said. "I understand how you feel and you've got every right to feel the way you do. But Harley is on the level. And she'll prove it to you. In the meantime, no hard feelings."

Barbara nodded, not feeling completely better about the situation, but it was progress. Maybe everything would work itself out in the end. Besides. There were more important things to worry about right now.

Tim returned from the northern alcove of the cave and handed Dick the evidence bag containing the nightshade flower from the Monarch theater. Dick nodded and got back on his bike, heading out into the late summer night toward Gotham P.D.

"Bruce." Jason said, approaching the older man's computer chair. "I never thanked you. For pulling me off that rooftop. For believing me. For giving me a chance when nobody else would have."

"You became a part of this family a long time ago, Jason." Bruce said, his voice never wavering or giving away the emotions within. "And family means never giving up on each other." Bruce extended his hand to the younger man who only hesitated for a moment before taking it in his own. The two men shook hands, silently rekindling the partnership that they had both believed to be long dead. Batman and Robin, together once more.

An hour later inside the Gotham P.D. building, Ivy was wearing a white lab coat and a pair of black, plastic-rimmed glasses studying the two flowers she had been given. Harley, Gordon and Nightwing stood off to one side of the room, awaiting her analysis. She had already had a pretty good idea what she was looking at the moment the flowers had been placed into her hands, but she had wanted a microscopic look at them just to b sure. After all, this job was for the Gotham P.D. and she didn't want to make a mistake.

"Okay." She said after a few moments under the microscope with each specimen. She first held up the flower that had been recovered from the Iceberg Lounge. "This is a prime specimen of Solanaceae Goetzeoideae, more commonly known as the Goetzea plant. It produces a yellow, bean-like fruit and it's flowers do bear a striking similarity to the nightshade flower, but it is definitely not nightshade, nor poisonous."

"So what does that mean?" Gordon asked.

"It means that your guy either buys his nightshade flowers from someone who doesn't know their plants, he's an idiot, or it was meant as a non-threatening message."

"What about the other one?" Nightwing asked.

"The flower from the roof of the Monarch is Atropa Belladonna. Nightshade through and through. Every part of the plant contains tropane alkaloids, meaning it is extremely toxic. The interesting thing is, this particular strain has a dark vein structure through the middle of its leaves and the flower has only three stamens, meaning it was grown at high altitude, probably in a colder environment. I'd say a mountain range. And given that this subfamily is native to central and eastern Asia, I'd either place it in Nepal, or Tibet."

"Tibet?" Nightwing repeated, his blood suddenly going cold.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Ivy replied.

"Does that mean something to you?" Gordon asked, turning to face Nightwing.

"Yeah." Nightwing replied, narrowing his eyes. "It means we're in over our heads."

Nightwing turned and walked out into the corridor, withdrawing his civilian cell phone from a pouch in the costume, quickly dialing Bruce's number.

"What did you find out?" The older man's gruff voice answered.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news." Dick replied.

"The good news?"

"The flower from the Iceberg Lounge is harmless. It's not even nightshade."

"And the bad news?"

"The flower from the Monarch is definitely nightshade. And it gets worse."

"How much worse?" Bruce's voice began to take on a darker tone.

Dick paused for a moment, not sure how they were going to combat the threat that he now knew was coming.

"The nightshade flower originates in Tibet."

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone and Dick could practically feel Bruce narrow his eyes. The older man's voice finally returned, confirming what Dick had been afraid of.

"The League of Shadows."