It was the shortest train ride of her life. Why she even bothered to board the monorail at the Wayne Towers station while rumors of Batman chasing down a huge flying Bat-Man creature swirled all around Wayne Enterprises, she did not know. At the time, taking the monorail had seemed like the quickest, safest way to get out of the business district.
Barbara Gordon now found herself wondering if her decision hadn't been fanned by an unhealthy amount of curiosity about the rampant speculation and reports that she heard.
Better not tell him that is why I am on board the monorail at this time of night, she thought as she looked down at the figure lying at her feet. There will be no living with him if I admit I am on this train because of morbid curiosity.
"Most people buy a ticket to board the monorail."
Her witty comment earned her one of the Dark Knight's infamous scowls.
"Most people are not chasing a creature like Man-Bat."
"Seems to me that he's the one chasing you," she couldn't help but point out, lips twitching. "And he seems to be doing an excellent job of catching you."
A screech of absolute rage echoed her statement. Metal groaned as the creature atop the car slowly made its way towards the hole in the roof. Long nails scraping across the steel was accompanied by gears grinding and metal wheels screaming as the car hurtled down the track.
Batman swiped her legs out from beneath her a second before a very hairy, humanistic looking arm came through the hole that Batman made when he crashed — or got slammed by the looks of it — through the ceiling of the car. A thin membrane of skin extending between the creature's hand, each finger bone and body flapped in the breeze, reminding Barbara of the sound the wings of the bats that inhabited the Batcave made as they left on their evening jaunt.
Only, these wings belong to a larger and much less friendly bat...
"Ouch," she grumbled as pain radiated from where her butt hit the floor. "Could you have warned me before you tripped me?"
"Stay here," Batman rasped as he rolled to his feet. "And stay down."
"What?" She scooted over to where her purse had flown in the confusion. "Afraid I might capture him so Robin can make a pet out of it?"
He sent her a faintly amused look before reaching for the grapnel gun attached to his utility belt. "Alfred would have a fit if Robin brought Man-Bat home as a pet." Another screech sounded a second before that wing-hand reached inside again. "Stay here," he told her. "And stay down."
Her harrumph followed him out of the car.
A/N: Hello, all, and welcome! This piece was inspired by a writing prompt I found on Facebook about the shortest train ride. This is a flash piece, meaning all the pieces will be between 100-750 words, but no longer than that.
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