Regressing For The Enemy

Chapter 25

Bruce POV

  Punching the sand bag in front of him, Bruce clenched his teeth together in an effort to conceal the emotions that roared inside him. His son. His boy was out there all alone. Anything could be happening to him at this very moment. Would Dick come back a shell of his former self if he came back at all? He couldn't be responsible for another dead heir. Would things have ended differently if he'd forced Dick to come home? If he begged, if he pleaded? Despite not knowing any of the answers to these queries, a voice inside Bruce couldn't help but feel assured that he was culpable.  It was his fault. Sure, Slade was responsible for the kidnapping itself. But the guilt, the anger and the loss Bruce felt? For this, he had no one to blame but himself. Looking himself in the mirror, Bruce couldn't help but feel disgusted. What was he doing? He was supposed to protect his kids. To give them a better life. He was a pathetic excuse for a father. If he ever saw Dick again, he'd have so many things to say. First, that he was sorry, so very, very sorry. Secondly, he'd hold Dick tighter than he ever had before. Just the empty presence in his arms was enough to break the man. Staring down his own reflection, Bruce moved fingers to his cheek, checking the wetness that shown through the glass. It was true. He'd begun to cry and yet, he barely even seemed to notice at all. Shoving the mirror away, Bruce scrunched his shoulders when the stand came off-center and crashed to the ground, the glass splintering into hundreds of pieces. 

  "Master Bruce are you quite alright?" A familiar voice sounded from behind Bruce, but he couldn't bare the company. "Leave me be, Alfred. I wish to be alone." "Yes, well. As lovely as it would be to watch you wallow in self pity, I'm afraid there are far more urgent matters at hand." "What is it?" Alfred noted the exhaustion in his voice, and was almost tempted to come back later, but under the current circumstances, such information couldn't wait. "It's about Dick. The Teen Titans were able to gather some intel on the location of master Richard. I think it's pertinent you review the-" Before the older man could finish, Bruce was already at the batcomputer typing away. "Computer, connect me to Teen Titans tower comms."  "Connecting now." Within moments, the dark haired girl from before popped onto screen. The rest of the team stood in a sort of semi circle behind her. The green boy was rubbing his eyes as if he wasn't used to being up this late at night. Bruce glanced down at his watch. 3:45 AM. Had it really gotten so late so soon? "Titans. I have been informed that you have some information on Robin's whereabouts." "We do." The alien girl piped up on the right. "Rae- Raven that is- she was able to spiritually lock in on Robin's mind wave during a nightmare." The metal man explained. Turning to the dark haired girl, who apparently went by the name of Raven, Bruce squinted to examine the hooded teen. "That's correct. While I was in Robin's mind, I explored some of his subconscious memories." Bruce stiffened slightly, but the moment it was noticeable, the detective covered his actions with a cough. "I see." "Through my search, I managed to figure out that Robin is somewhere underground with Slade Wilson and William Wintergreen. His body isn't physically hurt in any way." "Then why hasn't he escaped already?" Bruce was being unusually impatient, but this had been the first new information he'd received in weeks. 

  "Blackmail. When Slade lured us out to the docks during our last encounter, he monologued about a chroton detonator. But when Cyborg went to dismantle the machine, we all got blasted with some sort of ray gun. We thought that maybe the machine had malfunctioned or that Slade had miscalculated the wattage needed to injure a human being." Bruce furrowed his brows. Such information could have been helpful during his investigation. "So what were you hit with?" "Nanoscopic probes." "That's extremely rare tech. I've read some of the theories on their use, but I doubt Deathstroke is studying the same type of medical journals I am." "Afraid not. Slade plans on activating the bots to high degrees of temperature, effectively melting the body from the inside out. The only way to get rid of the bots completely is to filter out the entire blood stream which can take days per person. Cyborg has already started the experimentation process and the filter should be complete within a couple of hours. Beast Boy has been an excellent test subject thus far and we are confident that once we are probe free, Robin will be free to come home. The only problem is finding a way to get the message to him. I can not rely on my powers as it was extremely unlikely that I will be able to pick up on Robin's brain activity again. And if I do, it could be months from now. We all have complete and utter trust in our leader, but it's already been ages since Dick has seen the outside world." Beastboy stepped forward towards the camera. "For all we know, Rob could be completely and totally brain washed by now." "Robin would never! He is far too strong and wise to fall for Slade's tricks. Just you watch. The man of bats will find a way to find our Robin and he will come home." The alien girl seemed to take heavy offense at Beastboy's words. "Won't you, Batman?" Suddenly all eyes were trained on him. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Bruce pushed himself to stand tall, a symbol for the titans to believe in. "I can assure you. Everything is under control."