Wax Figurine | T. Drake ✔

[07]

The mission was eventful, to say the least.

They weren't certain whether Batman was in Olivia's captivity or not but if she had his symbol, that only indicated that he would be nearby. So they had searched the entire forest by then but found no trace of him.

Everything now pointed to Olivia and her bio-dome; there was no other place where he would be if he really had come to that forest.

"How did you know her name? Felt like you knew her from earlier," Steph asked in curiosity as they were heading back to the cave after a futile search.

Tim had accepted that haste would only make things worse so the vigilantes had decided to keep an eye on Olivia and her concealed house for the time being. If Batman really was kept captive, they would find the right time and get him out.

"It was her laugh that gave it away." He mumbled, "stuff of my worst nightmares, couldn't possibly overlook it..."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed wearily, "long story short, her mom and mine were friends."

"Ooooh, so you knew each other when you were kids. Childhood friends maybe?"

He shrugged, "not at all. We didn't know each other, we despised each other. It was a good thing I forgot about her but now here she is, back in all her terrifying glory."

Steph found it somewhat amusing, "you were terrified of her?"

"Nope," he interjected but then corrected himself, "or rather, I used to be but not anymore."

"And why did you stop Alfred from sending backup? We could have made her agree to let us search her house at least and maybe we could have found Bruce."

He shook his head, "it's impossible to make her agree to anything. She's very stubborn and will always get her own way."

Green eyes sparkled in mischief, "oh so quite like you, in a sense."

He looked appalled at that relation, "Jesus, no!"

Steph couldn't hold back her laughter at his expression.

"Besides, you saw how much she had under her control. I bet the landmines aren't the only measures her parents would have taken to keep her safe," he remarked thoughtfully, "and with everything at her disposal, she'll not hesitate to use it all against us."

They had reached the cave by then and the rest of the team was already there, standing in wait.

Richard looked worried that they had gone by themselves but after Alfred had briefed him about their findings, he had somewhat relented.

"How could you just come back emptyhanded? Even if there was a five percent chance of Father being there, you should have searched the house," Damian spoke soon after Tim and Steph had finished recounting their experience.

"We could have but then we would be risking Bruce's safety," Tim replied, "she told us that she has no idea about Batman and only found the symbol. But I think she wasn't telling the truth so perhaps it would be better to keep her under watch and then make a move."

"And you already knew her?" Richard asked for confirmation.

He nodded, "sort of. Her name is Olivia McArthur. Her parents were scientists who got sentenced four years ago along with some other people involved with Project Cadmus. But now that I think about it, probably no one else knows she exists because she wasn't brought up in the entire case. I feel like if we search up her parents' records and legal documentation, we won't find her there either."