A Continuing Divergence [Batman&Robin]

[k]

[/i] Dick. But, right now, Babs would make an exception. Right now, she disliked him a great deal. It was genuinely like she was a piece of his life he could pick up and drop carelessly and without consequence. When he wanted her there, he made an effort, and then he'd forget about her, disappear for ages without explanation and then seemingly expect Babs to go along with the charade. Something was going on with him, and she was going to find out what. The photo had allowed her feelings to bubble to the surface, and had allowed her mind an explanation for what was going on. It might not be true, nor resolute or reasonable, but it made sense to her, because right now nothing else did.

She walked into the Batcave ahead of Dick, pulling her cowl from her face and shaking her red hair, letting it fall down onto her shoulders. Her next port of call was to remove her utility belt, leaving her in her costume and cape. It was obvious she was still angry at Dick, even more so now she was thinking about their last words when they left the room back at the Lucky 7's Casino. Maybe he was finally beginning to understand her anger with him, although she doubted it. Naturally, she hadn't wanted to take this fight back to the Batcave. Bruce was likely to be here, unless he'd gone out patrolling. This argument was already bad as it was, complicated by the fact neither of them had really spoken about anything recently, they hadn't communicated at all. Babs blamed that solely on Dick, though, she supposed, she had a fair amount of blame too. It didn't take much for her to ask about things, rather than just assume or wait for Dick to explain anything. Maybe she should have asked sooner about everything, rather than place it all on Dick. She wasn't likely to admit to that though.

She crossed the large cave quickly; it always gave her a chill, and yet a sense of absolute safety. It was good to be back here, because it'd been a fair while since she had spent a great deal of time in the Batcave. She slid into the chair infront of the Batcomputer, still ignoring Dick's presence. Pamela Isley, she thought, and glanced up at the computer. She ought to see what kind of information she could obtain from the computer first, before she went for a surprise visit to the Doctor. She glanced over her shoulder to see whether Dick was still there with the duffle bag, and gave him a dark glare. Babs could hold a grudge, but sought the best in people. She knew, on some level, that Dick and her would work through this rough patch, but right now it felt like the be all and end all. She was holding out for some form of apology from Dick, but their equal stubborness suggested they could both be waiting for a long time.[/ul]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Dick walked into the Batcave with quite a bit of distance between him and Babs. The silence on the way back had been torture on his mind. Almost reminded him of the time he got into arguments with Bruce. Though this was driving him nuts, just trying to understand Babs's side of this ridiculous argument that had broken out between them. Though from past experience, Dick knew he had to have contributed something to have started this in some way. All he was starting to understand was that it had something with him always, well the lack of being around lately. To Dick it was normal for people to just go off sometimes with as little as two words of explanation. Growing up raised by Bruce, you just got used to being alone and people coming and going.

Dick walked passed Babs and headed toward where he usually hung his things. All he took off was his eye mask and his utility belt. As he hung them up, he glanced over and saw Babs headed straight for the master compute system. Great, now he was going to have to stand around for a while as she looked up what she needed. Walking over not to far away, Dick set the duffel bag, he had been carrying the whole time, on the counter setup in the cave. For the longest time, since they got there, there was nothing but silence that still remained between them. It was so quiet, the sound of a single water droplet could be heard hitting the ground in the cave. Their own foot steps echoed through the cavern.

Opening the duffel bag, Dick now had his hands on the files that Babs had been holding onto while they were in the small apartment. He placed them out on the counter and opened the first one, which was the largest of the files. Babs had been right about Clark being one of the few the Ventriloquist was keeping an eye on. They were all newspaper articles that had been written by Clark Kent. It looked like the articles were mainly the ones written on Superman. This gave Dick another out look on the investigation, was it really that the Ventriloquist was on to their secrets or was he more interested in the man Clark Kent or the Superman?

Shutting the file, he looked up in the direction of Babs and saw that she was searching information on Dr. Isley. Dick was a little irritated that that was the first thing she had decided to follow up on. Dick could have said something, but decided against it. Why add more to what ever was going on in Babs's head? All he could put together at this time was that his not being around had upset her. He had not realized how much it affected her, him not being around and not saying why. Some of what he was up to, seemed to be pointless to even explain.

"I saw that," Dick spoke up, finally breaking the silence between the two of them. "So, now it's the cold shoulder and the wicked glare treatment, real mature." Dick didn't care how he sounded, he was tired of this. He really just wanted to end this rather than it make everything difficult working with her on this case. It wasn't like they could just take parts of it and not share what they had found. That would make it even harder to get to the main reasons for the small crime to get a better picture of the full view.

If she was waiting for an apology, it might be a while. Sure, Babs had gotten him to see her side of things a bit. But accusing him the way she had, was not acceptable. At least to Dick it wasn't. Dick wished he could just explain what was going on, but really there was very little to explain. "What are you trying to get out of me, decides these 'explanations'? There really isn't that much to explain about my so call disappearances," Dick said coolly. He was at least trying to be a little more civil than the almost all out war they had gotten into earlier. Dick knew he was pushing his luck and working on Babs temper. But it had been the same way for him back there.

[k]

[/b] She snapped incredulously, turning around in the chair and standing up, she slammed her cowl down hard on the desk and glared over at Dick. "You want to know what's mature? Disappearing without a trace. That's real mature, Dick," she growled. Babs didn't want to deal with this argument anymore, she'd rather avoid it. She couldn't be expected to deal with Dick on a mature level right now. Neither of them really in anyway trying to resolve their fued, rather, both of them were trying to throw more into the fight and the argument rather than reach a solid conclusion.

Babs didn't even care that Bruce might be around. She'd rather he didn't overhear her quarrel with Dick, but right now she had other thoughts on her mind. Babs was angered again, her upset state that she'd expressed in the Lucky 7's Casino had melted, giving way to her fury yet again. Babs and Dick clashing never turned out well, because both were fiery, headstrong people. That was why they seemed to work so well together, and then again, sometimes it worked against them. Babs was struggling to eloquently express to Dick just why she was so cross with him. This was more than the silly photo, this was above and beyond it. This was about Dick's total lack of respect for her now. The fact when he on one of his disappearing acts he could have been hurt - or even worse - and she would never have known.

"Dick, I'm trying to figure out exactly why you thought you could just vanish and not tell me," Babs replied. She was wearing down, becoming a lot more straight forward with her argument, rather than throwing short sentences and leaving Dick to fill in the gaps. "Explanations aside, you didn't even think to mention it to me," she muttered. "I really want things to work between us," Babs barked, feeling like she was getting slightly over emotional about the ordeal now. Perhaps she was going too far. Her head was telling her to shut up before she began to talk too much. "Not just as partners, but as... everything else," Babs added, her voice momentarily dropping, slightly more crestfallen than before.

She leaned against the desk, still looking in Dick's general direction but attempting not to make eye contact with him. Babs wanted to be removed from him, speak like she was talking aloud and not to him. It was harder to envision herself explaining her feelings to Dick than it was to just imagine she was talking to herself, explaining her anger to herself. Eye contact with Dick right then would probably have caused her to completely break down, and Babs refused to allow him the momentary pleasure of watching Babs fall victim to her emotions.
"How can I trust you when you can't trust me?" she added, in a low voice. She couldn't allow herself to rely on someone like Dick, someone who couldn't tell her things. How was supposed to trust someone who was supposed to be her partner when he she wasn't even sure if he would be around to have her back? How were they ever going to work out if he couldn't tell her the simplest of things. How could she even entertain the notion of a relationship with someone who had displayed such inconsistency as of late. [/ul]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Dick was a bit annoyed with her first response, but he had asked for it. He tried to hear her out. Giving her a chance to explain what she wanted out of this argument. Seeing as neither of them really wanted for this to go on. After hearing what she had to say, he couldn't hold himself back. Dick just didn't want to spill out all the issues that caused him to want to go off on his own and not have someone always looking over his shoulder. "How would you like to know there is always someone watching over your shoulder? Keeping track of every place you go? And criticizing how you work? What you did wrong? How irresponsible you were," Dick let the words he hadn't want to out. Right away he knew Babs was getting a glimpse of how he had felt after he had come back to working under someone again. At least when he had lead the Titans, that was what he avoided. Though he knew that sometimes it was more for safety than just staying in command. What he had said was something he had never said to anyone else and he hadn't wanted to. Not even now, but he did. And now that it was out, Dick really hoped that if Bruce was around, that he had not caught that part of this little dispute. If he had, Dick hoped he'd be able to play the 'what do you mean' card to avoid more tension.

It seemed Babs had cracked him just enough from him to admit some reason as to his recent behavior. He didn't want to say anything else, but he knew he would have to answer some questions. She had already scratched the surface and was now getting some where with this bit of information he had been hiding. Dick decided he would try to turn the subject away from what he had just admitted to her. "What do you mean I can't trust you? I trust you with my life every time we go out on those streets. When we work together, we always have each others backs," Dick said at first.

He paused for a moment. He was only looking at things from the costumed vigilante side of things, until he really put some time into going over what Babs was saying. It wasn't just about him not being around as Robin or just going around Gotham. It was more of why he hadn't been being more of a part in Babs's life. The Barbara Gordon side of it. Dick had a feeling he was starting to see more of Babs's intake to this whole situation of him disappearing and not saying anything. The 'everything else' part of what she said had given it away. But he hadn't stopped to think about it at first.

"So this isn't just about not being around to fight crime? This is more about spending time as Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon? Outside of the vigilante and college life," Dick said in a very light calm tone, but there was a hit of uneasiness. He knew it may have sounded stupid to her, but he really didn't know how else to address the situation that he was now starting to understand. Though it was going to be hard to talk it out, since Dick stood by his firm beliefs. It was just strange to just allow himself to try and connect with how Babs was feeling about this whole thing. He was starting to see why she might have jumped to all those conclusions and accusations against him. He leaned against the counter as he rubbed his head with his right hand, messing up his short shaggy hair (like it was neat to begin with). It was just a nervous habit of his. Sometimes he did it without realizing. And right now was one of those times. The argument was now turning into a confrontation about their feelings for each other.

[k]

[/b] Babs replied, looking down at the floor again. Now she felt two foot tall, and like a small child all over again. Feelings were awkward - feelings could be hurt and destroyed and crushed. Feelings weren't always requited. "Look, Dick - forget it," Babs said eventually. "I'm sorry," she said, finally. Pulling the 'sorry' card should be enough to let them avoid this subject, right?

Babs began to turn back to the computer when her mind jumped from 'flight' to 'fight'. It really was now or never, because arguing this now and closing it when it got too heated for her liking wasn't ever going to solve anything. She wasn't prepared to watch Dick and her bounce around and never confront anything that was going on between them.
"I miss you, that's all," Babs spoke up, looking down at her cowl on the desk, her hand still on it. "What are we doing, Dick?" she asked, glancing back in his direction, still evading eye contact. Again, her words came out short and cryptic, hoping Dick would be able to gather enough to understand what she was insinuating. Babs couldn't figure out whether Dick actually wanted her there in his life, as Barbara Gordon, or whether she was just Batgirl to him.[/ul]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Dick sat back a bit, looking almost relaxed, but when really this conversation had him really tense. This was the kind of stuff he headed to face. Funny considering some of the situations he had to face with crime fighting. It was never easy to just talk with people. A lot of his friends knew him, but not as well as Babs did. She has seen more than most have. She had seen the side of him that he often held back from when he was around Bruce.

Why was it so hard to talk to her? Why did he always put a barrier between them? Dick felt it was more him than Babs at not letting others understand. He knew she was on the same page just about now. This was not easy for either of them. Especially admitting what he did, that was something that he had felt would have been better to leave be and not stir up trouble with everyone.

For a while, he waited for a response from Babs. Either about his little out break or to his question. He was quite relieved when she had decided not to dwell on his out break and was somewhat addressing his question. He knew he was putting her on the spot, asking her a question like that. He knew it made her as uncomfortable as he did. Just watching her motions right now, he could see it was something she seemed to what to avoid. She had been avoid eye contact with him through out this now open discussion. But he had hit what she had been getting at the whole time. It was about them. Dick waited for a moment when it seemed like she was going to explain something to him, but then had put it off. It really surprised him when she had uttered out the words 'I'm sorry'. That was something that was hard to get from Babs after a fight. Dick couldn't remember the last time they had ever fought and she had given in. He decided not to play off of that. It was not a victory at all, with what they were up against.

Her next words made him think about what he had really done. He had been avoid his problems just so he could get away from them. But what he didn't stop to think about was how it had affected Babs. Dick was feeling really low now about how he had gone about to get away from his problems, but had only created them for Babs. He had left her wondering about what was between them. After asking her out and then leaving like he did. Though disappearing would fit the description better. He hadn't really left, he just kind of retreated to his life of studying and had fought on his own. It was just what he did, he took on things by himself and he had the same approach to his problems.

Her question had him quiet at first for a bit. It wasn't all that simple to answer. There was a couple of meanings to her as much as it had for him. What they had fallen into now was what Dick figured she meant by asking the question. What were they doing? This whole time just beating around the bush, not being straight forward about any of this. "I really don't know...," Dick replied quietly as his eyes left Babs from a moment. He knew this was not the kind of answer she probably wanted to hear. It was just making things more difficult for the two of them. He was making things more difficult. Dick kept his look to the ground. He was really not wanting to tread down this path, yet he knew he would have to sooner or later. If it meant keeping Babara in his life. He knew it was something he was going to have to work at as well. He couldn't just let everything turn to be one sided in everything. "I am sorry if I put you through any worrying over what I have done," he started. "I didn't mean to make things difficult between us." He admitted to what he had done, but it was really hard to admit any more. But there was one more thing he could add to it, to not make it so difficult right now. "I like having you around," he muttered loud enough for Babs to hear. Though his eyes remained on the floor. This was not easy to admit to, but if it made the difference between losing Barbara or keeping her. He rather keep her in his life.

[simba]

It's always amusing to be in a place when others enter, and through their entire conversation, they fail to notice that you're there. Of course, that is what someone called 'The Dark Knight' is all about; being noticed when one wants to, but being invisible when not. And this time, he wasn't even trying to be inconspicuous.

Bruce was down in the Batcave when Gordon and Grayson got back; sitting at a desk with a multi-monitored terminal sitting in front of him. Doing some research on one of their most recent baddies, most likely. Lights flashed across his face from the computer screens before he pushed one of them away and looked over towards the fighting duo. Such things were really not his sort of scene. Arguments, fighting, bickering wasn't the way that he rolled. But watching Gordon and Grayson fight, Bruce was stricken with the realization of exactly how young they really were. How 'tiny', as one old mentor once put.

He remained quiet throughout their little bit of bickering, his eyes glancing back towards the quartet of computer screens only once and a while to see if any new information came up. Some others might have interjected while the argument was still heated. But Bruce, for all his dislike of social interaction, knew better than that. Far better for them to work things out themselves. He had faith in each of them that they would. After all, they were far more mature than they perhaps even realize themselves. They had to come to learn how to deal with others, and more importantly, how to deal with each other. Upon the final denouement, and seeing Grayson's eyes go scurrying away from his partner, Bruce brought a fist up to his mouth and gave two sharp coughs.

"How was playtime with The Ventriloquist?" Bruce's voice echoed out into the Batcave like a chapel's bell, summoning both of them back to the real purpose for why they were there.

[k]

[/i] in fact around, his flawless ability to have remained completely silent through their entire argument hadn't surprised Babs in the slightest. It did manage to place them in an awkward position though. Things had been said that Babs would rather other hadn't overheard, especially not Bruce. She made a face and closed her eyes. She had hoped he'd been out, patrolling maybe. Apparently she was wrong, and she mentally cursed his stealth abilities which had led her to believe Dick and her had been alone in the Batcave.

It didn't appear like Bruce was going to bring up the argument, nor step in. Babs was, at the very least, grateful for that. He could have stepped in and refereed, or controlled the fight. Instead he'd been listening - Babs was glad he hadn't cut in or made a big deal, but at the same time she wished she'd been aware of his presence. Everything would have gone down very differently had she known.

She glanced up at Dick, and made a slight gesture, almost like a shrug. With that she turned around and sat back down in the chair infront of the computer. This was going to have to be settled some other time. It was a relief, almost. Maybe now both of them could get their feelings sorted and they could talk it out later. They'd be able to provide some better answers later on, she was sure.
"We checked out the room he's been staying in, he seems to be pretty keen with keeping an eye on Clark Kent," Babs explained. "Also, this woman called Pamela Isley - a friend, Bruce? I saw her at your 'Save The Rainforest' social event not so long ago. She's got an interesting background, to say the least," Babs added. She read through Isley's backstory. Single child born to incredibly wealthy parents, which explained why she was in the high society social circle. The information on the Ventriloquist's files checked out. Isley had almost a completely clean police record - a few speeding tickets here and there, but other than that seemed to have kept her head down and led a normal life. She'd gone through college, graduating with extraordinary marks. Her name cropped up alongside eccentric yet brilliant Dr. Jason Woodrue, who, according to the police report, had been, and still was, classed as a missing person. [/ul]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Dick had become so lost in the discussion between Babs and him, that Bruce's sudden decision to make himself noticed did catch Dick off guard. He turned his head quickly in the direction of where Bruce had been sitting. Knowing now that Bruce had been there the whole time, Dick was more alert to the situation before them. Though he did regret speaking out so openly like he had. He hated that Bruce could do that so well, but he is the Batman after all. That's what made people fear him, that he could almost come out of no where at times.

Looking over at Babs, he caught her slight shrug. Guess they would be finishing up on this later. Dick watched as Babs got back to the computer to look at the information on Isley. He pushed himself off the counter he had been leaning, knowing he would have to get back to the files and get some research down as well. As he had pushed off the counter, he winced a bit as he felt a sharp pain surge through his upper arm. It had been a few days, but he wasn't about to easy up on his work. He turned slightly hoping no one had noticed. Bruce hadn't been around for the time of the robbery, so he was lucky if Bruce still hadn't noticed the injuries these two had gotten from their little encounter with the Ventriloquist. Then again, Bruce had a way of knowing these things without anyone telling him.

Dick allowed his cape to fall over his left shoulder, hoping that it might hide the bandage job he had done on it while he had gone out patrolling. Walking away from the counter area, Dick grabbed the files on Clark and Isley and walked over toward the main computer system. He was still a distance from Babs at this point where he laid the files down. "I'm not sure if it is exactly Clark Kent he's keeping an eye on or not. All the articles are written by him, but it looks like they are the ones written about Superman," Dick explained.

Even if it was just Dick's observation, at least it was another view on the case. There were a number of ways they could view this case. It could be about Clark, Superman, Isley, or even him. For all Dick knew, he could have just been at the wrong place at the wrong time when the photo had been taken. Though, he did not really want to bring the photograph in to this right about now. Then again, it was still apart of the case.

He opened up the file and pulled out the picture that had still been in it. "There was also a picture taken of Dr. Isley from the central Gotham park area," Dick didn't mention that he was in the photo. He laid the photo outside of the file for now. He picked up the one on Dr. Isley and started to glance through it. It looked like a bunch of private records on her. But where would someone have gotten at this information on Isley?

[simba]

They needed time. This was not the place for them to plunge into the deepest of their feelings. This was not the place, either, for them to discuss this. They were far too heated, far too emotional. Even Bruce, perhaps the most distant person of all, knew that single fact about human interaction. Perhaps that was why he interjected when he did. Perhaps it was simply because he had grown with the conversation. Or, perhaps, it was because he knew more about where they were than they knew about where they were, regarding their own lives and romantic development.

Batman, after all, tends to know a lot more than most people would ever realize.

Bruce's eyes caught Robin's shifting of his cape over his shoulder. If anyone should know that little, if nothing, gets past the Caped Crusader, it should be his longtime sidekick, Robin. And yet, he knows better than to call out Grayson on the injury. He's getting to be an adult; he needs to learn to take care of himself, or if he needs help, to swallow his pride and ask for it.

Wayne listened silently to their reports, staring from one to the other, but making no indication as to whether or not he even heard the words they said. "Pamela Isley," Bruce repeated the name once, before dipping into a moment of deep thought. "She seems rather unlike her family," Wayne commented simply. "Any leads on Woodrue?" he asked to neither of them in particular.

He paused for another moment before glancing back at the monitors again, looking over... something... that seemed to get his attention. "Clark Kent, Pamela Isley, The Ventriloquist, Superman, Supergirl. What connects them all? Batgirl? Robin?" he asked each one directly. "What do you think?"

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

"Gees, Bruce. You're starting to sound like the Riddler," Dick replied, a little stumped by his question. He looked over at Bruce, then moved over to another computer system. Dick wasn't looking at the same information as Babs and Bruce seemed to have already, so he was a little out of the loop at the moment. Unless Bruce was looking at something they have in common in a simpler view? Though it didn't see like he was at this time, seeing as each person had quite a bit of history to them.

Dick tried to think of what could connect all these people together. The only things he could come up with was that Clark Kent, Superman, and Supergirl was the most noticeable connects between them. Since Clark Kent was Superman and Supergirl was related to him. Unless Dr. Isley had some type of powers, then she would be out of the running in connections in his mind. As for the Ventriloquist, Dick saw him as just another villain with serious problems. All these people had quite brilliant minds.

"Besides, the fact that they are all in Gotham at this time, the Ventriloquist and Isley seem to be the odd ones out of the bunch," he stated, quite the obvious observation. He really couldn't think of a logical answer to Bruce's question. This definitely showed that he was behind on his research. All the files on Isley were about how she was now living with toxins in her blood, a scientific mystery. Babs would probably have the upper hand to this answer. She had more information on the main computer than what was copied in the folder Dick had been looking through.

Dick looked up at one of the screens of the main computer that he was now working on. Isley had a clean record with the police. He had looked up a little of Isley's past history records of working with Dr. Woodrue. And looked up Dr. Woodrue against some police reports. All there was were missing person's filed under his name at this time. There had been a few small investigation, but other than that, nothing new. "Still no evidence that could lead to Woodrue," Dick got back to Bruce's first question.

[k]

[/b] Babs replied. "He was well known for being the go-to man for toxins," she explained. "The Ventriloquists' files and the information here match perfectly. Isley was hospitalised for multiple poisoning by toxins when she was in college, under the tuition of Woodrue. Recent bloodworks suggest she's perfectly healthy, but the toxins still appear to be in her system..." Babs said. It seemed too shocking to be a coincidence... but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Toxins could be ingested... but so many? It didn't seem like one would just walk into a lab and fall victim to that kind of thing without deliberation.

"I think Isley deserves a visit," Babs said, looking up at the photo of the woman on the display. "I hope it isn't what I think it is," Babs added, bluntly. "For our sakes," she added, glancing at Dick. He was in that photo, and right now the logical connection was every single person targetted had themselves an alias. Except Isley. Or did she? There was more to it, Babs was sure. She was worried about what they were going to find out about Isley, and, most of all, she was worried about what it was going to mean for the other people the Ventriloquist seemed to have taken an interest in. She simply hoped she was drastically wrong and Isley was a nice, normal, humble woman with nothing but a few speeding tickets to her name. However, something told her that was probably not going to be the case, considering this woman appeared to have an unprecedented amount of toxins left in her blood system. Enough to raise eyebrows on the medical side of things, Babs was sure of that.

"It's too easy though, too simple. He's got to be planning something," Babs muttered to herself, staring hard at the screen as if it would supply her answer. They definitely needed to give Isley a visit - perhaps at a more suitable time, she thought. It was getting pretty late into the night now, and she didn't want to anger Isley. Quite the opposite. Babs thought of the photo, and then the piece of paper that had been with it. Sarin. A gas. A nerve toxin. She suddenly felt a rush of overwhelming worry. Isley was trained in toxins, well versed in them even... Something told her not to underestimate Isley at all. [/ul]

[simba]

Bruce's eyes shifted away from the computer screen to look right back at Robin. "We could learn a lot from the Riddler, Robin," The Batman responded in a hushed, harsh tone. "If you ever want to keep up with them, you're going to need to think like them," he added before returning his gaze back to the computer screens in front of him.

"That is an interesting grouping, isn't it, Grayson?" Bruce responded after a moment's pause. "The Ventriloquist and Isley." He let silence fall for a moment there, before glancing towards Batgirl for just a moment. He saw that look in her eye after she looked down at the file. Clearly there was something more on her mind than she was letting on. "The Ventriloquist and Isley," he repeats once more, his gruff voice echoing out into the dark, moist air of the Batcave. "Perhaps they have something in common."

Bruce had a suspicion as to what was going on. He had met Ms. Isley at the party. He knew the look in her eyes, and he knew full well that she wasn't there to pander to a bunch of overly-rich slobs. "Why was Ms. Isley at the cocktail party?" Wayne asked suddenly. She clearly wasn't the cocktail party type, nor was she there with or for family. Even her mentor, this Woodrue fellow, wasn't there.

"Isley and Woodrue both need a visit, Batgirl. And we need to keep an eye on this Ventriloquist guy." His eyes turned back to the screen in front of him. He typed something quickly into the terminal, his eyes narrowing as he thought. "Woodrue hasn't been found because manhunts are looking for a man. We should be looking for his customers..."

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Dick narrowed his eyes when he heard the sound of Bruce's harsh tone in response to his own comment. Other than that he didn't look over toward Bruce. He wasn't going to let it get to him that easily. Continued to look over the police reports on Woodrue and now a pulled up file on Isley until Bruce said something else. His mind was long gone from the argument that had just finished with Babs. He'd deal with it later...somehow. "After that bank robbery, I wouldn't be surprised if he was just trying to rob her," he replied, not being all that serious about his thought. "It kind of seems a bit out of character for the Ventriloquist to pull something like that. He seems usually to go for the valuable items and set someone else up to take the fall. And especially, the fact he risked his whole gang just to make it out of there for the cash."

Dick was just trying to point out that the Ventriloquist may have been the brains of his gang, but he now lacked the muscle he needed to commit any serious crime. The Ventriloquist did not seem like the type from past crimes to make himself largely noticed, unlike the Joker or the Riddler. He was more of the type to try and stay low and on the move. Always trying to cover up any traces of his work that could lead to him. But after the way he was on the run so quickly, leaving so much stuff behind at the apartment, Dick had a feeling that the Ventriloquist had another trick up his sleeve.

Though, that also led Dick to wonder a little more about this Dr. Isley. He had met her in the park, but hadn't talked with her long. The one thing he couldn't forget was that strange effect that had come over him when he had been around her. If he got the chance to see Clark Kent before they ran into Isley again, he'd have to ask him if he notices anything strange about the doctor. He did not say anything when Bruce asked about Isley being at the social party. Dick wouldn't have known about it all that much. Well, he had known about it, he just didn't show up. He had been trying to chase down Catwoman that night, only to end up losing to her with her claws against his throat. Remembering that night, Dick lightly rubbed the side of his face where the cut had been when she had taken a swipe at him. The scratch had long since then healed. Which led Dick to remember how he had let the Ventriloquist get away as well only a few days ago. He just wasn't having much luck. Sure they got his gang, but the gang leader was still out there and could build his gang again. Then again, who would follow a man who made a puppet the ring leader.

He had caught Babs glance towards him. He knew what that look was. She was worried about the fact that he had been caught in the photo as well. Dick shifted uneasily as he glanced over at where he had left the photo. Him being one of the subjects of interest was something he was trying to out out of his mind. Why would anyone be interested in him? Unless they were onto him. But one thing that reinforced him not being a possible target was the fact that there was no documents or anything else that would be linked to Dick.

The other thought was that what if the Ventriloquist was onto some of their secret identities? The thought began to haunt Dick more and more as he thought about it. Dick knew as well as Babs, that if one member of the Bat family was found out, it was not that hard to take down the other. "I don't think we'll be getting the location of the Ventriloquist out of any of his gang members anytime soon. One of them gave up the apartment information, but there is that 'honor among thrives' these guys seem to go by," he spoke up, trying to get his mind off the photo. He just couldn't help the thought now from coming back. Babs looked really concerned about just seeing him in the photo. But she did have a point of doing so, Clark was also a possible target and that was someone Dick had seen that day. He leaned back in the chair he had been sitting in while working on the computer, a slight wave of worry hit him as well. This whole case did not make Dick happy with just one piece of evidence that he could also be a target of the Ventriloquist's. The look on his face quickly charged from concentration to now one of concern.