The Demigod and The Robin

Chapter 22

------------- Bruce's POV: ----------------

We waited a few days before perusing questioning. I didn't want to make it look too suspicious that I was going to ask about a runaway girl so soon after she left without being a proper guardian. 

With the few days I was able to gather enough evidence and testimonies from the men Percy's guardian hung out with. It was quite easy to get information out of them, I'd learned they'd already had a run in with the boys which made them a bit more "open" to questioning. They spilled pretty easily and I managed to cut out the audio where I spoke as well as when they called me batman. The process was quite easy with the technology my company produced. Of course this was not the standard tech we'd sell to just anyone, this was something our company deemed a bit too dangerous, which is why to the developers knowledge all of their creations have been destroyed. 

I was ready for when she came back. So now it was time to see just how hopeless her guardian is.

I'd called Gordon yesterday, asking him to meet me in our usual spot to talk about a case I was investigating. I hid under the idea that Percy was just a girl I was doing routine check-ups on after I'd saved her. It wasn't completely out of the norm for me to be doing so, so Gordon didn't question it. 

I leaped off the edge of the building, my thoughts clearing as I held my arm up, my hand jolting slightly as the grappling hook dispensed, the metal hook flying before hooking onto the edge of the taller building. I pressed the trigger on the grappling gun and sudden a tight pressure built up in my shoulder, the joint straining as I soared upwards, my cape occasionally smacking the back of my legs before I felt the pull release, my body shooting two feet above the ledge before I landed, the grappling hook retracting back into the gun as I hooked it back onto my belt. Luckily it was small enough to not take up an uncomfortable amount of space. 

I walked forwards slowly, looking over the ledge to see Gordon waiting on the building beside this one, his eyes set out towards the bridge leading into Gotham. I carefully jumped onto the next building, my landing silent as I stood back up, a gentle breeze pushing my cape back as I walked out the shadows. I swear, I usually never intentionally make my entrances scary or mysterious, but I've well been informed by the league that it tends to happen more then what they can chalk up to coincidences. It truly is an accident...sometimes. 

I made my footsteps noticeable once I got close enough and I didn't miss his usual flinch as he turned to look at me, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. Even in the darkness you could still see the deep bags under his blue eyes. I would scold him to sleep but I also know that he was one of the only people who could effectively watch over the police station so I never said anything outside the casual get some sleep. 

"You know your little scare act is really going to kill me one day." He grumbled. I felt myself ease as he took a sip. 

"You've been threatening that for years, if it was going to happen it would've happened by now. Besides, I'm by far the last thing you need to be worrying about right now." Gordon shook his head as he lowered his cup, his tired eyes momentarily more alert. 

"I suppose you're right, now what's your concern that brought you all the way to the cops?" I released a small sigh as I pulled a paper out of my tool belt, Percy's picture was paper clipped to the top, it was a bad photo admittedly, one she'd taken the year before at her previous school. A massive band-aid was placed on her jaw where a scar now sat. 

Gordon took it cautiously, his eyes mainly stopped on the picture. "So the kid," He looked up to me for a moment as if confirming before they flicked back to her information. "you want us to do what again?" He asked. 

"I need to know first if you've received any calls reporting a missing child within the past few days." I said sternly, watching his eyes as they continued to drag down the paper. 

"We get plenty of calls." He said quietly. "But I don't remember her name being among them." I sense of relief and disgust filled me at the same time. On one end, this would make the case easier, on the other, the scum didn't even try to look for Percy. If something truly had happened to her he would've done nothing. 

"Report her missing. I've been by to check on her and she's not been there for a few days. I've had encounters with her father, he's bad news, something isn't right here." Gordon sighed as he usually did when he was reminded there were bad things he couldn't stop alone in Gotham. As you can imagine I hear this sigh quite often.

"Will do. I'll have people on patrol be on the lookout for her and I'll make sure to put in a bit of extra effort to see about asking locals, see if anyone can tell me anything. If I can, I'll get it on the morning news, surely someone will have something. " I nodded. 

"Thank you Gordon, stay safe out there," He nodded. I pat his shoulder, giving him a stern look. "and get some rest." He let out a chuckle. 

"I always do." He said sarcastically. I gave him a final goodbye nod before turning and running, grabbing my grappling hook before jumping off the edge again. 

With everything planted, the plan could continue. If he managed to get it on the news this would be even better and I could plant a tip somewhere pretty quickly. 

I felt a sense of relief fill me as I now knew, we had this in the bag. 

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1036 words