A Petty High-Rise[Open to other Bats]

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In the dark shadows of the cave of Gotham's dark protector, a tapping sound echoed against the stone walls, not even disturbing the bats hanging upside above the floor below. The source of the tapping noise was coming from the large super computer, screen illuminating the ground below except for the large shadow in the center of the computer. Hunched over in the large black chair, typing away on the keyboard was Gotham's Police Commissioner's daughter and the current Batgirl, Barbara Gordon. She was wearing full vigilante gear for the exception of her cowl, red-orange locks hanging loose on her back. The reasons for her to be in The Batcave was that she needed help with a case she was working on, and so she needed the Batcomputer. Something weird was going on in the wealthy end of Gotham and Barbara was going to find out what.

In all honesty, it was pickpocketing.

To the police, the vigilantes and other heroes, they do not concern themselves with the low petty crime. But to Batgirl, no matter how insignificant the crime she'll spur into action. Petty or not. For a few months now, Barbara's been keeping track on the low-level larceny and it seems that pickpocketing in the North End has increased drastically, especially in one area, near the edge of Park Row. What she did discover was that it all started five years ago and has been rising since.

Who is doing all of this for five years?

Hitting a few more keys, Batgirl brought up the police files that were reported by the victims when they discovered their wallets were gone. The perpetrators that were caught said the same thing, they discovered the wallets in the street or in the trash. The peculiar of it was that the pickpocket took the cash only and threw everything else away only to be picked up by someone else. Barbara frowned as she tries to think of all the known pickpockets in the area that'll might do something like this, but it all comes up blank. "This is one tough puzzle to crack." She groaned as Barbara slumped backwards into the chair.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Nightwing had decided to stop off at the Batcave for his shift with the Outsiders. Besides he was the only one of them that knew how to get in there. And after all it was a bit of his old home turf.

All the more right to be stopping in there. After all he needed a few files any ways that Arsenal required.

Wow, Nightwing actually taking an order from Arsenal? Not likely. More like a favor. At least he was trying to be a part of the team.

It was no surprise that he'd hit the batcomputer before going through the trouble of hacking it from his outside computer system. Though he was a bit surprise to see that someone was still in the Batcave while it seemed Batman was out, at least at this time of the night.

He had pulled in on his motorcycle and parked it not too far off. Hearing the sound of the click and clack of the computer keys, he walked up. Spotting who was at the computer didn't take too long. The long red hair was a dead giveaway.

Though if she even noticed the motorcycle coming it could be questioned with her focus. Her voice rung out in the silent cave as he drew closer. Seeing her slump down in the chair, Dick walked up behind the large armchair.

Leaning on the told part of the chair and looking over the screen, Dick finally spoke,"What's a tough one to crack, Babs?"

His eyes scanned the screen from behind his mask, before his view was directed down toward the red head in the chair.

"Monitor duty? Or is this one of your own homework assignments," he joked.

[Deleted]

    Barbara did not hear the sounds of the motorcycle coming in, too focus on the assignment at hand. So it was a surprise for her when a voice broke off her concentration and caused her to jolt up in the chair getting onto her own two feet with a surprised "Shit!" Turning her head around to see who got into the cave without her notice, only to meet Grayson's amused grin that was mocking her and who was in full costume. Barbara glared at her male friend for scaring her, sitting back down on the chair and saying in irritation, "Ugh, Dick! You scared the jelly out of me!" How did he get in the cave without her noticing? She must have been a little too focused on the computer then she thought.

Going back to her assignment on the Batcomputer now calm, Barbara went right back to typing while speaking to Dick. "If you must know, I'm trying to figure out an unusual pattern I've recently discovered that's been happening around Northern Gotham. And it's important!" Barbara said with a agitated huff. "So Dick, mind telling me what are you doing here?" The female vigilante asked as she typed a few more keys until a graph appeared on the screen. "Hm.."

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

He was just feeding off her reaction at that point. He had gotten her to jump out of her chair. It's been a while since he'd managed do that.

"Think you need to work on you focus and alertness," Dick said with a smirk on his face.

When Barbara returned to her seat, Dick settled on staying where he was. Resting his elbows on the top line of the chair he rested his head on his hands. The information on the computer screen gave away to a pattern she was looking at.

"A pickpocket? Looks like this guy likes the odds against him," Dick replied at first.

Not really caring if she took note to his comment. He was just saying what he saw from the data given.

"Sorry, top secret Outsiders work," Dick replied. "If I told you, you wouldn't be able to handle it."

Ok, he was just having some fun taunting her a bit. The work was important, but not all that top secret. The Outsiders were secret enough from the rest of the crime fighting world. Some of their cases were hush hush. But this was just information he had come to collect.

There was information he needed as well. Maybe a bit more information from Batman as well regarding the actions between Selina and him.

All that had been going on lately seemed a bit weird to him. Then again, he had been used to growing up in a family were by day they were one person and by night they were another.

"What? Find a break in the case," he asked.

[Deleted]

“More like, breaking into my cases.”


An unquestionably familiar darkly gritty voice suddenly echoed out from behind both Dick and Barbara. At some point during the two Bat Family members’ briefly started conversation, Bruce had entered the Batcave without making a single sound until just now. Clad in his high-tech and intricately armored batsuit, minus its cape and masked cowl, he militantly walked towards the supercomputer console, stopping once he reached the massive specialized desk chair that Barbara currently occupied.


Without fail, his notorious “no nonsense, I’m not amused and don’t have time for this bullshit” scowl was clearly brandished upon his chiseled, pale face. He waited a whole three seconds for Barbra to remove herself from his seat post haste before loudly cleared his throat.


“Eh-hem.  You're in my seat.”


For as silently sneaky as the Bat was, he was clearly just as cranky.


“Tell me what it is you both want and make it fast. I don’t have time to chit-chat. Unlike the two of you.”


He added the last part with a grumble… Never once hinting to the secret fact that he actually enjoyed both Bat Family members being there, diligently fighting in the war against crime under his established brand of justice.

[Deleted]

    "Think you need to work on your focus and alertness." Barbara could just hear the smugness in Dick's tone, that boy was just enjoying the fact he scared her out of the chair. He was lucky that she didn't punched him in the face from instinct. However, Barbara can play this game too. "Think you need to remember not to sneak up on someone who knows how to kick your butt." Barbara replied playfully back, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.

Feeling the eldest bird lean onto the chair, Barbara ignored the shift-in-weight and continued to focus on the screen. "You know, Bruce won't like it if he finds out you're leaning on his chair like this." The red-head noted as she looked over a few more police reports to find any hints on anything. "Well Dick, we can rule out the Sewer King since he's in lock-up, and none of the victims were attacked by a group...The patterns are strange too." Barbara replied back at her recent findings. She had to rule out the Sewer King since the villain uses group of orphans, and the fact that the pickpocketing been increasing each year.

This was actually nice, spending some time with Dick even though she was doing case work as well. They never get to have time like this since he left Gotham and joined the Outsiders. But of course with every man, friend or not, their work has to be hush hush. Not like Barbara knows what's going on. She is Batgirl. So at Dick's reply she just rolled her eyes with a mocking "Whatever you say Mr. Top Secret."

Studying the graph that appeared on the screen, Barbara took notice that at certain points of each year that there were spikes. One point the low-level larceny would be high and then decrease drastically back down. Thinking about it, the spikes could indicate what time of the year the thief strikes the most.

Barbara was about to reply to Dick's question about the case, until a much more darkly familiar voice echoed through the cave walls, causing Barbara to stiffen in the seat. Dick might have too. Ah crap... Barbara spun the chair around to face her and Dick's former mentor, only to meet his famous bat-scowl. Just by his expression, Barbara quickly got up from his chair and stood a few feet away next to Dick. It was clear that Bruce wasn't in the mood for any shenanigans from the two, so Barbara kept it short and sweet.

Giving a cough, she explained why she was in the cave at this hour. "I actually needed the Batcomputer for a case I've been working on. And unlike Mr. Top Secret over here," She said pointing a thumb over to Grayson "It's important. Believe me Bruce, I found some peculiar things and well, I'm worried."

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

"You? Kick my butt? That's a laugh. You can hardly keep up with me in the training simulations. What makes you think you'd be able to kick my butt," Dick replied, just mocking her further.

It was all for fun though. Sure, a bit of taunting never hurt anyone. Especially when it was up against Batgirl.

"All bark and no bite," Dick said in response to Bruce being upset about it.

"Ok, so one creep still behind bars. Guess you're still on square one with who is behind it," Dick commented.

He hadn't moved an inch from where he had rested himself on the back of the chair. Nor was he going to remove himself from Barbara presents. He was having too much fun hanging around like this. Seemed like old times. A time he actually enjoyed to remember.

Looking slight down toward Barbara, he rolled his eyes in return to her comment. "Very creative Babs. You must have been working on that one for a while," he said.

He wasn't at all being mean. It was just the usual banter between them. He would cross the line unless provoked to. And Barbara rarely gave him any reason to do such a thing.

At the same time Barbara tensed up, Dick was a little tense at the sudden voice. He thought Bruce had gone out. Must not have been much to do at that time. Barbara caught him slightly off guard as she spun the chair to face Bruce. Hence causing him to almost fall forward with the sudden movement. Only to correct his actions just as quickly before anything would happen.

Always smooth and quick to act. He stood up and looked toward Bruce as he had marched his way over there. He didn't flinch over any thing when it came to the scowl. He was aware that Bruce was usually cranky when it came to work. Or patrol, or work, or fun. Did Bruce even know the word fun any more?

As Barbara explained to Bruce what she had been doing there, she had just as quickly thrown him under the bus. The perfect straight A sudden strikes again when it comes to authority.

"Why don't you dust off the chair for him the next time he catches you sitting in it," Dick spoke in a lower tone to Barbara.

Just his way of saying she was sucking up to Bruce. And they both knew it was now use. "Maybe even get a pillow for him," Dick mumbled. He could hardly hide the slight smirk and laughter he wanted to display. But he refrained from doing so since Bruce was present.

He knew he might get a jolt to the ribs from Barbara over his teasing her for sucking up. It was just how he was with her at times.

"Hey, I have my reasons, just a few case files and police reports," Dick defended his being there. A very weak defense of course he knew.

[Deleted]

    "Mmm, I know how to fight in heels. Can you?" Barbara replied back, her confidence in her fighting ending with a question the red-head already knows the answer to. It's quite a challenge for many heroes to fight in heels. Not only is managing balance extremely difficult, but if no one is careful, the heels like to stick when they collide with the criminal. Fighting in heels becomes natural for women while for the men, it's a real hoot to watch them flop, so to Batgirl, watching Nightwing try to fight crime in the shoe-wear will be just a perfect scene.

"All bark and no bite." She should have not mentioned Bruce since him and Dick still are having a sort of strain in their relationship. It saddens Barbara when the two get into an argument with each other, but, with all the fighting between the two, she still sees the father-son connection they have.

"Yeah, well, it's best to eliminate suspects first even if it takes me back to square one." Still, this case was tough to crack and figure out. The only leads came from the police reports and the suspects that claimed they found the wallets, which was a true fact after they were eliminated from the list. However, Barbara will keep going after leads and graphs until she figures out what was happening.

Barbara rolled her eyes good-naturedly at Dick's reply to her teasing about him being secretive with his work, ignoring the comment and continued to type away.

After Bruce appeared and she got up to stand next to Dick, she frowned at his teasing for thinking she was a suck up. At least she was smart enough not to get in trouble unlike Dick. Barbara wanted to whisper a smart remark back but with Bruce present, she lifted her foot up and crossed over giving Dick's shin a good kick, not enough to bruise the area but enough for the pain to make Dick react to the kick.