Who: Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne Where: Gotham City, NJ When: Wednesday, May 3 [slightly backdated] What: Sleuthing in the sewers of Gotham. Rating: Low
It hadn't been difficult to slip out of the dormitory housing. The staff was much more accustomed to teenagers sneaking out the front door, not the fifth story windows. (And if his roommate had noticed, he never seemed to comment. Besides, Jørgensen hardly talked to anyone.) In truth, Damian had more than a dozen exit plans depending on the circumstances. There was value in knowing every inch of your home territory.
Though Damian wasn't sure he really needed to know every part of the Gotham sewers. It was hardly the first time he'd been down here and it, undoubtedly, would not be the last. For some beguiling reason, the sewers seemed to be a popular destination. People driven to desperation would flee from the busy city streets in search of any hiding spot, shady organizations found it spacious and accessible and just the right price, and there was always Croc.
This time, Damian was pretty sure he was dealing with the second group. When Loki had gone incommunicado, Damian had waited for a bit. Loki was capable of taking care of himself and he was prone to flights of fancy but as time passed and he still didn't show… Loki wouldn't pass up Pennyworth's food without a good reason.
It didn't take long to track the last known location of Loki's cell phone. And given the state of the area, it seemed fairly clear that whoever had taken him in the scuffle was not of mystical, godly, or supernatural persuasion. Too many tire tracks and evidence of brute force ruled that out of the equation. All the evidence had led them here: searching the sewers looking for anything that seemed out of place.
A rat scurried past before diving into the questionable murk. It was clearly used to the atmosphere. Damian made a face, the expression marginally mitigated by the green mask. Whether he was objecting to the rodent or the choice of swimming venues it wasn't sure.
"This section dead ends in less than 10 meters," Damian noted, shining his flashlight up again. "We should double back."
~~~
Dick had already been in the sewers for the most part, trying to hunt down Croc, not Loki or Hydra. A few month’s back, Croc had seriously hurt his back, and then poofed. Dick had been checking the sewers as often as he could once he’d recovered, but Killer Croc had disappeared. Which was odd, because the more feral Croc became, the more territorial, and he’d won that last confrontation between them. It wasn’t something Croc had slunk away injured from.
So where the heck had he gone?
That made Dick, however, the most knowledgeable of the changes in the sewer, especially where Gotham bled its sludge into Bludhaven. The channel where Loki had disappeared narrowed considerably going toward Gotham, but widened heading toward the Southern bay. Dick’s territory.
“Well, what if whatever villains are lurking down here made a secret base at the end of it?” he offered playfully. Dick had learned to never rely that the blueprints were the same where super villains or large organizations were concerned. They had ways of contracting to create entire complexes underground under people’s noses. So he continued walking, not saying Damian was wrong not to check and being entirely glib.
Dick never told Damian he was wrong or really argued. He just poked different views at him and saw what he did with them.
But Damian was entirely right. Ten meters and the tunnel ended and the slime present indicated that the wall had not been touched by anything more than the decay-loving vermin to be found below the streets for years.
“The villains are disappointing me,” he said with folded arms, pressing at his mask anyhow to scan for anything in the different spectrums it offered. Nothing unusual. “Ah well. Lead the way, fearless leader!”
~~~
Damian glanced back at Grayson. There was always the question of whether or not he was being mocked, but there was no judgment on the older man's face, just a casual ease as if he could waltz through life. Damian gave a short nod and started heading back the way they'd come. Detective work required intelligence, prudence, and, in this case, tedium. Of all the locales…
But complaining wasn't going to help their search. Damian had memorized the maps and they'd be searching methodically and had nothing to show for it. No sign of Loki, whatever elusive group had kidnapped him, not even Croc. Croc would have been a welcome distraction at that point. Instead, Damian tried to figure out who or perhaps, more importantly, why Loki had been kidnapped. Loki had numerous talents that almost any criminal would want to exploit. Gaining his cooperation would undoubtedly be the hard part.
"They can't be planning anything long term," Damian mused aloud, "or else they'd want a more secure location." It was foolish to stay in the same vicinity of the crime and the venue was hardly a destination spot. The sewers were a good place for laying low or staying out of sight but the logistics of food and water would be a hindrance in the long term.
~~~
That was the nice thing about Damian. He did his homework. Sometimes Dick… didn’t. He just put his feet on the ground and ran. Oh, he had his moments of shining detective innovation, but Damian was, well, like Bruce. Methodical, did things stringently by his own set rules. Dick let his rules and methods change except for a few deep lines that were never crossed. Often for him time just worked against him on being able to do the research. At least lately.
“Depends on the group. We’re looking at someone well-armed, has multiple people, resources for vehicles, probably one flying one, if the angle of the bullet holes were any indication, and was able to get the drop on a kid who managed to port the two of you from China. That narrows down the usual suspects and also opens it up to our latest Hydra infestation. Though with as prejudiced as that group is? Can’t imagine why they’d want something that’s not of the human race.”
Problem was even with Jason, Tim, and apparently Captain America running around Gotham, no one had been able to uproot the group from the city. Their surface labs got rooted out, then they’d just pop up elsewhere. They were playing whack-a-mole. Still, the evidence fit more than the other possibilities, because other groups had even less reason they might want a being from another world. At least no one who didn’t just want to try to get Loki to do magic for them, and yeah, getting someone like that to cooperate? Highly unlikely from what he knew of the kid.
He started back the way they’d come at a quick trot. Walking would take too much time to cover the miles of sewers. But thankfully, the two of them were more than capable of running for miles. And talk while doing so.
“... You know they might have just hit the docks and taken a boat out.” He watched Damian from the side to see his reaction to that.
~~~
Damian shook his head. "There were no unscheduled departures the night Loki was due. No flights either," he added. There were enough cameras around the docks and the airports to monitor the comings and goings. It was hardly foolproof though. Someone could have tampered with the footage or found a window of opportunity and there was always the possibility that this group was playing a long game and had scheduled their escape. Hydra may have even decided to simply use the bridges and drive out of the city. That would mean hours of checking traffic camera footage or at least waiting for the Batcomputer to run one of its many, many programs. Automation could be a wonderful thing.
It was still a better use of time to address the likely possibilities rather than sitting around or wasting time on longshots.
Damian increased his pace to keep up with Grayson. There was nothing more to explore in this area anyway and there were still many more tunnels to search. Once they came to the juncture, Damian immediately turned right, heading down the path they hadn't taken. There was nothing immediate that suggested anyone had come this way recently. The same pit marks in the concrete the same splatters of rust and algae on the walls.
"If it is Hydra," Damian replied, "they most likely want him to do something for them. I doubt they'd be able to replicate or learn any of his abilities. Though given their track record, they'd probably at least try."
~~~
Dick smiled at that, that quick crescent of white teeth. Damian really had done his homework. He didn’t feel like he had to ask pointed things any longer unless it was an obscure item. Currently, none of which occurred to him.
“The possibilities are fairly endless when it comes to magic,” Dick said thoughtfully. Though it wasn’t true that magic was entirely without limit. Zatanna had been clear on that when he’d learned about some of its properties from her, and some of the more innate type of powers inherent in people like Raven. Sure, none of Batman’s family knew how to do it, but they did a great deal of research into the matter because they had to deal with it. “But it’s probably something specific that we don’t know about if that’s the case.”
“All of these tunnels connect to the waterway…” Dick was talking to himself thoughtfully. “We’ve already explored all the obvious ones that connect with large drains. No sign. What are we missing? Where else could they go if they didn’t stop by one of the junctioning roads or just boat on out?”
~~~
"They could have had transport arranged," Damian replied, "but we'd see some evidence of that." From what they've been able to determine, Loki's kidnapping hadn't gone as smoothly as planned. The fact that there had been evidence to find meant the cleanup had been rushed. Either the group didn't care or they had more important things to tend to.
But Nightwing was right, not that Damian was going to agree with him. They could spend days in the sewers but there was only a finite possibilities. "They'd have to come out," Damian continued, "or else have entrenched themselves further in."
~~~
“Out we can monitor and search for suspicious activity. But so far no luck. We know they went into the water from there so there’s only so many possibilities… and entrenching in…”
Dick watched another rat swim to the side when they came to another junction, slowed down to watch as it came to a much smaller drain pipe that was full to the top with water. It sniffed and hesitated, then plunged in, swimming into the flooded pipe. Dick came to a sudden halt, sliding a little in the muck.
“Hey… Maybe! Let me see those blueprints!” A clasping of his hands and again that quick smile. “Please!”
~~~~
Damian rolled his eyes, not the gesture could be seen behind the mask. Still, his body language was clear. He heaved a sigh and started rooting in his utility belt. Grayson's expression was effective, though probably not in the way he'd intended. Damian held out the rolled up plans, then took the moment to survey the area.
Nothing in this stretch of tunnels seemed different than any others. If it were him, and he'd somehow been forced to make do with such a locale, he'd find a closed off area and set up shop there. It would also have to be accessible. That would rule out some of the deeper tunnels. Areas with a quick egress would be even more ideal.
~~~~
Dick flexed his hands happily before taking the plans, unrolling them as best he could without letting them get out of hand and flop into the muck at their feet. He hummed to himself, mostly just for the company’s sake (if he were by himself, he wouldn’t bother being noisy).
“... There are some tunnels we’re not searching.” He moved over to Damian to show him (it was often easier to go to Damian than try to beckon or order him over). “There are a lot bigger tunnels that run underneath. They built Gotham directly over some of the waterways at times, just made arches that let the water run where needed or they re-enforced existing underground water caverns. At one point many of these were open to the air, but then the city got bigger, and went the way of Venice in places, especially when Bludhaven and Gotham started to bleed together.” But the tunnels were always full of water. Sending servicing crews stopped long ago and the bridges and city had always held with the steel and concrete that kept the water and any new flooding sweeping out from the streets and guiding it unseen toward the bay.
“We’ve been assuming they had a boat. What if they didn’t?” He pointed to another rat that followed the first into the seeming flood pipe, moving onto air elsewhere supposedly, something their noses told them that the duo couldn’t see.
~~~
Damian watched the rat for a moment, then frowned. "That would be ambitious," Damian commented. Whether Hydra had tunneled deeper or happened upon some obscure opening would take planning. Though, given the nature of the organization they could may have hidden locales in every major city. They'd certainly been around long enough to make such contingencies.
"It's worth exploring," Damian agreed. Having a goal was preferably than navigating the sewers blind. Bats weren't the only group that liked to hide in the shadows. Damian tapped the map once. "This one is the closest to our location."
~~~
“We going to swim for it?” They did have their breathing apparatuses, and these were definitely for water divergence rather than sewage, but it still held a number of risks. They had drones that they could employ as well, ones they used to check the Cave waters, but it would take a trip back to fetch them.
~~~
Damian clearly wasn't thrilled about the idea but significant time had passed since Loki had gone missing. Time was working against them. This new development just guaranteed that there'd be an even angrier Robin to deal with. Damian nodded once to Dick, then started making his way towards the spot he'd indicated on the map. They had some distance to go before their impromptu swim.
"This isn't the worst idea you've ever had," Damian commented, his tone implying that it was also far from the best idea.
~~~
That was a compliment. Dick at least was accepting it as a compliment. His smile said as much and he almost wanted to touch Damian on top of the head in thanks. Almost. He didn’t want to spoil the moment.
“Just a good thing we’ve been trained on cave diving, right?” he said instead, making a fast trot to the area.
Their breathing apparatuses were special, and even though they didn’t provide a lot of air, they were adequate enough, and their masks already acted like goggles as it was. The big problem was the light source and…
Dick pulled out the grapple and offered it to Damian. “Sorry. If we’re going in there, we had better not get separated. Communication is going to be way limited.”
~~~
Damian looked at the outstretched grapple and wanted to balk. He'd been cave diving since he was six. The thought of doing tandem diving was laughable… except Grayson didn't seem at all amused. This wasn't the only waterway on the map either. The sooner begun, the sooner done. With a click of his tongue, Damian took the outstretched cord to fasten it securely to his utility belt. If there was enough light, they could use hand signals but if not rope signals would have to suffice.
They'd come upon their destination. The area was a bit wider, the stonework a bit older. To the east, there was a passageway that sloped downward. The faint light of the tunnels did nothing to penetrate it. It could be mid-day outside, not that they'd know the difference. Damian peered over the edge, trying to gauge the distance. It seemed like an ideal moment to say something witty or pithy, but that was Grayson's department, not his.
~~~
Damian hesitated at the edge. Dick wasn’t quite sure what was going on in his head. The water stretched out before them and against the walls, and it looked black against the light so they only had the upper structures and the blueprint to guess which ways the tunnels went. At least it was an educated guess. Dick let Damian stand there for a few seconds while he fished out his breathing apparatus.
“Cannonball!” he announced enthusiastically (and at least did not yell it at high volumes) and jumped past Damian in exactly that, disappearing with a ker-BOOSH! of sound. The breathing apparatus was already in his mouth before he touched the water surface, and underneath he fixed it against his teeth properly. Then he was swimming downward, lights on bright. Infrared, unfortunately, did not work well underwater. The breathing was immediately shifted even as he was getting used to the cold. Breathe in mouth steadily, breathe out nose. Then it was just waiting for Damian before heading down into the tunnel, the slow current making the going easier. At least this direction.
The tunnels joined others, Y junctions that created bigger tunnels. Dick was carefully tracking and counting their way, going slow so they didn’t lose junctions and didn’t accidentally swim into a swift current that would make returning impossible. Fifteen minutes into one of these they found something.
It was a very large scrape. The wall had changed color, and Dick leveled off swimming in a tunnel now four times his height to tug on the line to pull Damian’s attention to it. The bricks had been scraped raw by something big. Dick ran his gloved hands against it, then clicked at his mask to take some pictures before motioning he was good to go on.
One thing for certain… that wasn’t caused by a fish.
~~~
Thankfully, there had been enough slack that Grayson's impromptu dive hadn't dragged him along, however, Damian had had to make a somewhat hastened dive into the murky depth. He glared in Nightwing's direction, not that the other man would see it. From there, Damian concentrated on swimming. There hadn't been much to see on the surface and being under water didn't help matters. It wasn't until they had turned a corner that Damian felt a tug on the line.
He swam to the area where Grayson had stopped and looked at the deep gash in the wall. No one had a reason to be in these waterways, let alone transporting heavy machinery. His brow furrowed slightly. What had Loki gotten himself into?
He waited until Grayson had finished then took off, swimming parallel to the scrape. Whatever it was hadn't come the same way they did, so the only choice was to swim deeper until they found out what direction, and ultimately, where it had come from.
~~~
One thing to be said for them--they could swim for miles with their physical conditioning. Which they did, carefully noting and navigating. But there was pressure, poor lighting, and the breathing apparatuses sufficed, but only. Dick was feeling a migraine coming on by time they followed the traces of scrapes and possible tunnel ways to… a grate.
This was definitely not on the blue prints.
Dick swam up to, grabbing it so he could relax against the current (they had been pressing upstream for the past hour). It was new, and much too small to let them through. Even one of their underwater drones would have trouble. The tunnel bent beyond, scraped heavily on both sides. Which was another problem. He tugged on the rope.
They couldn’t afford to be in this narrower tunnel if one of the machines came through. They’d probably be smeared against the walls. He thumbed back the way they came, shaking his head toward the grate.
This was as far as they went.
~~~
Instead of turning back the way they'd come, Damian swam towards the grate to inspect it more closely. He ran his fingers over it before he found purchase. He tugged hard once, then again. No give. Damian maneuvered himself so he could look at the edging. New? Certainly. Automated? Perhaps. Whoever they were tracking had installed it here.
But Grayson was right. There was nothing more they could do at this position. It was better to backtrack and find another route in. Without the careful inspection, it took the duo significantly less time to reach the surface. Damian removed the rebreather from his mouth. "There has to be another way in," he spoke.
~~~
“Or a way through,” Dick agreed, even as he started up the slippery cement into the passageway again to find a relatively dry spot. Where he promptly sat on his rump, breathing in big gulps of air gratefully. The masks worked, but didn’t exactly provide deep breaths. It was more like regulating air through a thick straw. He motioned floppily for the blueprint, eager to get an overhead of the ways they went. At least memory was no problem for them. They knew where there were scrapes and where the tunnels stopped and where they seemed too narrow to allow a subaquatic vehicle.
“It narrows down the area, and now we know why no one can weed them out if this is Hydra.” Obvious statement, but he was saying it nonetheless. He wasn’t like Bruce, who stayed tight-lipped on these things. “Can’t get to them unless you know how to hold your breath a really long time… Heh. If you hadn’t wanted to cover every inch of the sewers in this area…” He unhooked the grapple and retracted the line as soon as Damian loosed it.
“Now we just have to plan, narrow it down, find a way through… if that doesn’t work, we’ll bring the underwater welder. Sounds like fun. Then there’s no telling what we’ll run into. Gawl, I’m starving.”
~~~
Damian brought out the map once more. Memorization wasn't a problem, but having an overview couldn't hurt either. They'd explored one avenue, now they had to figure out how it tied into the entire complex. The most likely egress was the existing bays which would mean that the group had been entrenched for sometime. An underwater base. How ambitious.
"There may be unmarked routes," Damian observed, stating the obvious. Aside from the wet hair and uniform, he didn't look any more fussed than usual. "There's been no work down here for some time. We may need to bring in sonar equipment. The boat won't fit."
Whatever their plan of action was, they couldn't do much more for today. They could dive down again but the odds of finding anything more substantial were against them. They needed to take a step back and approach the problem from a literal other direction.
~~~
“I say we see what we can do with drones,” Dick said. Not that the swimming wasn’t good exercise, but it had its risks (like being flattened by a sub) and it wasn’t nearly as much fun as pouncing roof to roof chasing bad guys. “We can spruce them up for some underwater sonar.”
“You driving? I can use a nap. Then food. Then a super hot shower. Brr! Least the wet is keeping me awake.” Then more seriously. “Don’t worry. We’ll get this done as soon as we can. Your friend will be back to mischief in no time.”
~~~
Damian didn't need reassurance, but, then again, Loki's track record was a bit unbelievable. He nodded once in acknowledgement and started towards the exit. "I can work on some modifications during classes," Damian added. It wasn't as if he didn't already know the subject matter. "I doubt this group will be relocating any time soon, but the sooner the better."
He cast a glance at Grayson who looked more than ready to call it a night. "We are not getting fast food."