Revenge (Batfamily) - Sequel to Brother In Arms

Chapter 20 ~ Shadow of the Night

Dick was glad his suit had been designed to keep the cold away from his body, and the warmth concealed within. The sky was dark under heavy clouds, both naturals and made out of polluted smoke. But there was one thing Dick loved more than anything and he smiled as he flung himself down one of the tallest skyscrapers of Blüdhaven, feeling the exhilaration of the fall rise in his chest, the wind ruffling his hair and, before it was too late, the strength of the grappling gun breaking his fall and pulling him back up in the air.

From his time as an acrobat, the trapeze had probably been one of his favorite moment of the show. He hadn't been one of the Flying Graysons for nothing after all.

It took Dick fifteen minutes to arrive at the sewage treatment centre, fifteen minutes which he enjoyed thoroughly if he were to be honest with himself. He liked the moment of anticipation between when he left his apartment to investigate and the actual moment he was investigating. However, that night, he wasn't exactly sure what he was investigating about.

As predicted, the place was empty of all souls when he arrived there. Not a whisper could be heard except for that of the machines working at night to keep the treatment centre working properly until the next morning. "Alright, let's do this," he whispered to himself under his breath as he concealed himself within the shadows of the nights.

Dick was certain the van had turned to get to the sewage treatment centre, he knew it. It couldn't just have vanished like that and without a trace. Though... It did leave no trace behind. Dick carefully walked around the massive place, searching for cues or tiny bits of information that could lead him to something. After one whole hour of investigation, he decided to start searching through the many warehouses hosting basins of dirty water. The first one gave him nothing so he quickly moved on to the second one.

And the third one.

And the fourth one.

Still nothing. Dick sighed, frustration rising up in his chest. Maybe this van was nothing and his bad feeling was just a consequence of him lacking sleep. It had just been a van going too fast through town. Dick decided he would search the fifth and final building anyway.

Swiftly, he found an open window on the side of the warehouse and was almost immediately attacked by the nasty smell inside. These were probably the place the dirtiest waters rejected by the entire town were before they were treated clean properly. He felt slightly dizzy at the foul odour mixing ammonia, waste and rotten egg. Dick had been through sewages on more than one occasions in the past but none smelled as bad as what was inside this building.

And it was also surprisingly hot in there. Even with his temperature-resistant suit, Dick felt the heat try to penetrate his body and he could feel small beads of sweat form on his forehead already.

"I swear this is the last one I'm checking," he muttered to himself, definitely getting grumpier with each minute that passed.

Machines groaned and rumbled around him, whining loudly while they slowly helped massive propellers move the putrid water around so as to not let bacteria multiply even more during the water's time in the massive basins until they were treated. Dick carefully observed what he could see of the warehouse from where he was perched.

It looked as empty as the others.

Not ready to be defeated just yet, he let his grappling gun take him down to the floor without a noise. However, as he reached the ground, the heat became even more intense. "That's definitely not normal," he mumbled as he wiped sweat away from his forehead. During his training as Robin, Bruce had taught Dick about everything he would need to know to become the best. Best fighter, best detective, best student. So Dick had crammed hours upon hours of studying during the day and sometimes even during the night when he wasn't on patrol. The areas he was taught about were wide and diverse, so he knew that this building should not be that hot.