Ghost King Meets Batman

#Nico is the new Waldo

[Hey y'all! The art for this chapter was done by . I really like their take on the uniform and I think the smile was a nice touch! Please comment and let them know what you think. I'm really grateful to everyone who sends me their art because I know firsthand how intimidating it can be to share something that you're proud of with the people around you. If anyone is interested in sending me art, there is a link to my discord in my profile or you can PM me to get a Gmail to send it to. Happy creating all of you!]

[Meanwhile, still June 27th]

At 5 PM most of the bat family were in the dining room in business casual attire. Jason, on the other hand, was trying to coax Tim away from the computer in the cave. Since Bruce had revealed that the target was Rome, the boy had been doing periodic sweeps of the footage to make sure that his numerous state-of-the-art scanners hadn't missed anything. He had also found a stray energy drink from one of Jason's stashes and drank it before anyone could stop him. They wouldn't have known except his hands had stopped shaking.

Bruce was just about to go down to the cave to pull Tim away from the computer when he heard shouting coming from the study and the sound of the clock door being swung open.

"Please be careful with the furniture, Master Tim. That's an antique!" Alfred called fretfully from where he was cooking in the kitchen. None of them had any appetites right then so they decided to eat after the conference.

"Sorry, Alfred!" Tim called as he rushed into the dining room with Jason hot on his heels.

"Bruce I think I found a lead on where the questers are. I was looking around the ocean for monster activity since Reyna said that they have an amphibious warship. There are sea monsters, too, right? So I started scanning the oceans for abnormal heat signatures and this is what I found." Tim tapped his watch and a hologram popped up that displayed a map of the world. There were splotches of red all over Europe and the coasts of America, monster concentrations. What really caught Bruce's eye was the orange pins that were aligned in what looked to be a very strange flight pattern.

"What am I looking at here?" Dick asked leaning forward to examine the map more closely.

"The orange dots each indicate where there have been spikes of abnormal thermal readings since the day that Reyna says the questers left Camp Jupiter. I think this is showing up where the questers have been. We can use this to see when they are about the reach Italy!" Tim's enthusiasm was contagious and soon all of his boys were buzzing at the possibility that they may have discovered a method of tracking the Argo II crew. Bruce himself was excited by the possibility, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to be this easy.

"We'll look into this more after the conference, alright? Right now we have to get moving." Bruce and Alfred ushered the boys to the car and spent most of the ride switching between talking about Tim's findings and Bruce reminding the boys that they needed to be courteous to the press even if they get personal.

Alfred pulled up and Bruce was both heartened by and wary of the number of reporters who were there to pick up the coverage. He would have expected more of them to have lost interest by now. It had been a long time, in journalism time, without any leads or breaks in the case. Questions without answers didn't sell subscriptions, after all.

Bruce wasn't sure what the reporters who were setting up thought of them when they arrived. His boys were trying to maintain a somber facade even though they were each itching to get back to the cave to continue the search. He was sure that the press could tell that their moods were lighter than what was appropriate and he just hoped they wouldn't come to the wrong conclusion about what that might mean.

As they walked through the crowd who were shoving mics in their faces or talking into their cameras, the GCPD officers started to gather around them to help push back the crowd. Commissioner Gordon was in the doorway of the department, holding the door open for them. Bruce herded the boys inside, out of the way of mics and flashing cameras. It was only slightly more comfortable in the station.