Rising Robin

Chapter. XXXVII: Bluebird

Dick walked across the rooftop of the apartment building, surveying the landscape underneath him. He searched for the black muscle truck parked in the street below, confirming the location of Nolan's car that Jim sent to Dick. Bruce & Dick had gone over the plan for the State of the City Address that was taking place that night. Bruce would survey the security, checking for any signs of suspicion during the event. While that was going on, Dick would check his lead, seeing if the car would lead to Nolan Drake. If it didn't, Dick would need to report immediately back to City Hall, where the Address would take place.

Dick had asked Harper Row to be on coms with him, hoping to be able to have someone watch over him as he made his moves through the city. As he made his way across the rooftop, he glanced down & noticed a familiar Dodge Charger. It was an older model, possible '89, maybe older. But it was the right car.

Dick raised his finger up to his ear & pressed against the earpiece. "Bluebird, you see this?" he asked Harper.

"Um," Harper's voice hummed as Dick heard her clicking away at a keyboard. "Yeah, I've got visual. I see it." Harper let out a whistle. "Wow, this is a really cool feature you installed in your suit. The camera feed directly from your glasses is a really sick touch."

Dick grinned. "It's not from my glasses," he admitted. "It's a mask. It's a whole new suit, actually."

"Oh, really? Well, when you're done with this, you've gotta let me see the full suit in action."

Dick nodded. "For sure," he said. Dick stared down at the car, then surveyed the building it was parked by. It was an old apartment building in the ghetto of Gotham. Dick would have no problem getting in. The only issue would be finding out whether or not Nolan Drake was actually inside.

Dick took a few steps back from the edge of the rooftop, letting his hand drop down to a grapple hook holstered on his thigh. He removed it slowly, & shut his eyes. He breathed in & out, & after taking a few deep breaths, he opened his eyes again. He began to run towards the edge of the rooftop &, placing one foot on the edge & the other out in the air, leaped off of the rooftop. He felt the wind rush past his face, & suddenly he was flying through the air under a large circus tent. The nostalgic feeling of being a Flying Grayson overwhelmed Dick for a brief second, but he envisioned his newly revamped Flying Grayson leotard, with the body armor & cape & weaponry, & suddenly he was the Robin again. Dick quickly shot his arm out & pulled the trigger of the grapple hook, watching it latch onto the roof of the apartment building. Dick grabbed the grapple gun with both hands & swung his legs out, letting the hook pull him up through the air, shooting him over the edge of the apartment building roof. He landed softly on the building, with his legs extended & one palm pressing down on the concrete.

Dick stood up & let out a satisfied sigh. "Did you see that, Bluebird?"

Harper let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, that was dope, Robin," Harper said.

Dick walked towards the emergency exit of the rooftop & made his way down the stairwell. As he did so, Harper briefed him. "So, according to the address where you're located, there is in fact ONE room being paid for by a Mr. Oswald Cobblepot."

"That's gotta be Drake," Dick said.

"That's right," Harper agreed. "It says his payments are for room 212."

"On it." Dick began to rush down the stairwell, counting down the numbers marked on the walls of the stairs. He watched as the numbers got closer, from 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, & finally, 2. Dick stopped in front of the second floor door & opened it slowly, peering down the hall. Nobody was around. Dick walked slowly down the hall, searching for room 212. Suddenly, he came across the room. It was quiet, causing Dick to believe that perhaps it was a mistake.