Got Your Back, Always

III.VI

Dick turns to the guard, "What cell?"

"He's on the end. Only one down here."

"Dr. Crane?"

"Weed?" Crane stops what he's doing, "Look, if you want my help, and you do, then I'm gonna need some high-quality flower. I'm talking 70-30 sativa. Lemon Lyric is my favorite, but I'm not a name-brand whore. Just get me in the ballpark. Anything above 25% THC, we can have our little tete-a-tete."

"You're doing the stoner act, huh?"

Crane gets up and picks up the drugs. "It's not an act. It helps my brain slow down. Arkham isn't really a venue for depressants."

"Gotham PD actually has you on the payroll?"

Crane sits back down, and exhales, "No. But when I am a good little doggie, they give me my treats."

"A woman killed herself today, Doctor. Very strange case."

Crane chuckles, "I heard. She asked for a new guy, Nightwing. Poor Batman. I mean the dude has one little murdering spree and all of a sudden he's yesterday's news, right? You got rolling papers?"

Dick pulls them out and tosses them over.

"Ah. Love you, brother. Love ya." Crane grabs them.

"Somebody installed a subdermal drug pump in her arm."

"Yeah, Barb sent over a cheat sheet. He's a vicious little fucker, this one. Although, if we're being honest, I mean, a subcutaneous drug pump? That's too clever by half. Gotta give him an A+ for originality though."

"The victim was a mother. Afraid of losing her child. So afraid, in fact, she murdered four strangers."

"Wait, wait, wait. You know, when Barb... When she said your name, it, uh... it rung a little bell in my head. The carney kid that Bruce Wayne took in for PR? You're that Dick Grayson?"

"You know who I am."

"And your story's biblical, brother. I mean, really, you ditched the family safety net, you flee swinging Wayne Manor. And then, years later, like the motherfucking prodigal son, home again, home again, jiggety jig."

"I didn't come here to talk about myself. If you've read the file, maybe you have a few ideas?"

"Well, do you have a light?"

"No, sorry."

"That's ok. I got connections. Yes. The file. Now..." he clears his throat, "Um... My best guess, and it's just a guess, is that, uh, he somehow knows who this Nightwing character really is and he has some sort of jealousy complex."

"That's it?"

"That's it. Maybe he has a background in explosives, military, construction. Maybe just an Internet moog."

"Okay, it's nice to see that higher learning wasn't wasted on you, Doctor. Thanks for your help." Dick starts to walk away.

"It's the Bird's Opening."

Dick turns around, "What?"

"It's the Bird's Opening. It's one of the oldest known openings in chess. It was made famous in 1855 by Henry Edward Bird. It's a classic king-pawn opening. The two are connected, relying on each other. The King moves stealthily in the shadows, while the pawns are sent into the teeth of destruction so that he may advance."