August 15, 2233h

	"-to cover the side ent-"
	Robin held up a hand, pausing Batman's instructions, and raised a 
hand to his ear.  "Go ahead, Oracle."
	Beneath the cowl, Bruce Wayne raised an eyebrow as he settled into 
a patient-but-ready stance and returned his gaze to the warehouse below.   
Two-Face had assembled a more competent gang than usual; they hadn't 
scattered when their leader was carted back to Arkham.  It would be up 
to Batman to persuade them that they did not want to continue whatever 
plans they had -
	"Any idea where he might have gone?"
	Robin's question to Oracle derailed Batman's train of thought.  
Someone was missing, and if Oracle was calling Robin, the odds that it 
was a criminal that Nightwing had been tracking were about 2.73%.  
	"I showed him the basics, yeah, but I doubt he could get to a 
rooftop."
	Spud, Batman realized.  He opened his own channel to Oracle, 
drawing a startled look from Robin when his voice came on line.  "He 
could get to a rooftop," he said flatly.
	"Batman?"
	"Dinah caught him scaling the Cave bottom to top last week."
	Oracle sighed heavily over the comlink.  "Great.  Twice the area 
to cover then."
	Robin shot a glance at Batman.  "Where's Nightwing?"
	"He's been staking out the Municipal Trainyards, but Spud wouldn't 
know that.  He knows the basic patrol route, but I can only guess where 
he'd think Nightwing would be."
	Batman considered for a moment.  Spud wouldn't be hiding - he 
would be trying to arrive at a patrol point ahead of Nightwing and plead 
his case.  He also could hear the request Oracle had intended to make 
before she realized that Batman was with Robin.  "Robin, go to 
Bludhaven," he ordered.
	"Are you sure you can spare him?" Oracle asked as Robin shot off a 
jump line.
	"He can spare me," Robin replied, already only audible to Batman 
through the earpiece in his cowl.  "Tell Nightwing I'm on my way."
	"Thanks, guys," Oracle signed off, her relief audible.
	Batman sat for a second more in the silence.  Spud was going to 
catch an earful for this one, no matter how competent he was becoming as 
a potential sidekick.  Dick was adamant; no kevlar for his son.  Bruce 
found himself in the rare position of being the only one who understood 
Dick's reasoning, but he could also understand Spud's desire to join his 
father's crusade.  Yes, there would definitely be an argument in 
Bludhaven tonight.
	He shook himself, focusing back on the task at hand, and opened a 
link to Batgirl.  "Batgirl, change in plans," he began, rapidly laying 
out a new strategy for cleaning out Two-Face's hoods.  He would call in 
the morning to find out how Dick dealt with his wayward son.  Right now 
he had work to do.