I'm sorry about the action (or lack thereof) in this chapter, I came to write it and just drew a blank on that part, but I promise to write an awesome fight scene next time they have a confrontation :)
Next chapter is on Jason in chemistry so if anyone has a mishap they want me to include speak now or forever hold your peace (unless of course I decide to do another one)
Disclaimer: You think I own Batman... somebody call Arkham Asylum this guy is crazy... he thinks I own Batman. I know right? Signs of a madman... 1) Thinking I own Batman 2) Talking to yourself :) seriously I don't own Batman or any Batman related characters
By the time they had got themselves changed and sorted Bruce was already in the cave working at the computer.
"No" he didn't even look up
"But-" Damian started, he face in an expression of disbelief
"No, you're too young"
"Father;" when he was angry he sounded a lot like Bruce, so much so that the other boys took a slight, but noticeable, step sideways "I want to help and you can't stop me"
"Yes I can, and I will. If you are that desperate to help out you can help us in the cave but apart from that…" he didn't need to finish, his answer was obvious and Damian glared at him for it. Bruce glared back. To the others it was as if Mr Freeze had just attacked the cave with his Ice Gun; the chill radiating from the two was unmistakeable.
"Awww matching glares" Jason teased, breaking the tension. The three older boys started giggling until the glares fixed upon them and they shrunk back in nervous laughter. Dick elbowed his brother in a next-time-keep-your-mouth-shut kind of way, smiling all the while and Jason gave him the evils. Tim sighed; bringing a well needed change of subject he enquired about their target;
"So who are we after?" Taking it Bruce turned back to the computer screen;
"Gary Brimming; former Wayne Pharmaceuticals employee" seeing a couple of eyebrows rise he added "no he was not fired, he resigned. His letter of resignation said he was "moving on to a different chemical field". Shame really he was an excellent chemist, forward thinking and good in the practical assembly of new compounds…" his voice dropped in disappointment "he could have easily altered the drug used on your fellow pupils" This re-ignited burning questions in Dick's head;
"What's happening with the drug? Has Wayne Pharmaceuticals been able to reverse engineer the changes? Can they wake up Tony?" He regretted speaking so quickly, he was desperate for answers, but would only get them if Bruce could understand the questions. To his surprise when Bruce looked at the distress in his eyes he got up off his seat and drew Dick into an embrace that he couldn't help but sink into. Somehow that made everything okay; without needing to be told he knew his classmates were going to be fine. Bruce told him anyway.
"Wayne Enterprises is producing the antidote now, Tony will be fine by tomorrow, and back at school the day after." Dick smiled; all that was left to do was bring down the guy who did it. He walked over to the console, closely followed by the rest of the family. Bruce conveyed the information on the screen; "Intel places him; and one, yet unidentified, accomplice in an abandoned warehouse down by the docks. The plan is simple; in, out, minimum fuss; just bring him down" messing with kids was a tender spot for Bruce, this case hit him where it hurts, Dick knew that for sure. He could hear the anger boiling in his mentor's voice and when he started moving towards the car Dick Jason and Tim quickly followed, knowing it wasn't a good idea to annoy him further. Bruce sighed and came to a halt after seeing another figure moving in the shine of the black car.
"Damian…" he started; turning around and looking down at the child, now standing in front of him, with sad eyes "you can't come with us"
"But you said there are only two people… and I thought that; as it's not much, that I could, maybe come and help" Damian wouldn't want to admit it but his eyes were begging his father to let him tag along. Dick, Jason and Tim knew the feeling well from when they started out, being left at home when Batman and in the younger boys' case, the others, went on a mission was devastating and filled you with thoughts of; 'Am I not good enough?'; 'Does he not trust me?'. Bruce sighed and knelt down to Damian's eye level.
"This should be an easy mission, but if it's not, if something goes wrong… I've just found you, I can't lose you."
"But the others get to go…"
"Because they are older than you, they've been in these situations before. They know that, in this city, one person can be just as dangerous, sometimes more so, than one hundred."
"But how am I supposed to know when you never take me out!" Damian had a good point and Bruce smiled in reply;
"I promise that tomorrow you can come out on patrol" Damian still didn't give in, and Bruce relented "I'll tell you what; when we get back from the docks, if you are still awake, we can all go back out on patrol tonight." Damian looked at his father in disbelief and then broke out into a grin, it was only about five o'clock, and the night would still be early when they got home, there was no way he would be asleep. He gave his farther a quick squeeze and ran to the large and surprisingly comfy chair in front of the computer to wait for them.
Smiling the rest of them go into the car, when the door closed and engine was revving Tim said
"Damian's actually pretty cute when he's angry" Dick laughed, and smiling; nodded in agreement
"I heard that Drake… I am a trained assassin, I am NEVER cute"
"Oh great the kid's found the comm system" Jason breathed rolling his eyes, Dick took no notice and decided to join in the conversation
"Unless you're angry" he teased and added "… oh; or you've just come out of a shower and you're hair's all fluffy, that's pretty cute, and when you're in your school uniform, all done up nice, top button done up and everything. That has to be the cutest thing I've ever seen"
"Shut up Grayson… I am not cute"
"Yes you are"
"Not"
"Are" this time Tim joined in, with a smile on his face trying very hard not to start laughing
"Not"
As the argument continued Bruce rolled his eyes, he couldn't wait to get to the docks and call for radio silence, but until then it was going to be a long drive.
"Why is it always warehouses?" Dick said breaking the silence, making Tim jump and Jason confused.
"Why is what always warehouses?"
"Where the bad guys hand out" Jason rolled his eyes and replied
"Because criminals lack originality" the boys smiled
"That is totally true" Dick said amazed "Half of them should be fined for plagiarism or something; I mean look at Cluemaster… a total Riddler rip off" they laughed, Dick slacking off their rogue gallery was a welcome distraction to the profound boredom that was: Batman scouting ahead.
"Why do they even do it to themselves… it's not our fault that some of them are utterly stupid. Case in point; Killer Moth, most stupid villain ever"
"Actually Jason that's Kiteman" The two older boys looked at Tim in a 'huh?' manner. Tim blushed "What?..." he whined "it was voted for on the internet" they rolled their eyes at the youngest member of their group.
"Only you Tim, only you" Jason laughed at him.
"Boys" the call came from Batman on their earpieces "meet me round the back of the warehouse, we're going in"
"Finally" Jason complained, patience was not his thing.
The back of the warehouse was an extremely creepy place to be. It was dark, cold and damp. The dark didn't matter much as they all had night-vision lenses in their masks, which only needed activating. It was the cold and damp that got to them. It was only September but the nights in Gotham were already reaching freezing and they were feeling the cold; even through their thermals in their costumes. Tim was the first to start shivering; pulling his cape around him didn't help much so whilst Batman was explaining the plan Dick put his arms around his brother in an attempt to keep them both warm.
The intel had been right, there were two people in the warehouse; one Batman confirmed as being Brimming the other was a female in her late forties. There were four windows in the warehouse, high on the walls at either end, they would use one each, then Red Robin and Batman would take one down and Red Hood and Nightwing had the other. Simple, effective, quick. Or so they had thought. The entrance worked, smashing their way through the glass they confronted their prey until Jason stopped, cocked his head to the side and merely stated
"Is that Ms Dougan; the dinner lady" he gave Dick an I-told-you-so glare which Dick just shrugged off and carried on runny towards her "Can I punch her now?" he asked earnestly but also mocking their previous conversation. He smiled at his brother who rolled his eyes. Batman overhearing their conversation added
"Feel free" with a smile whilst landing a punch on Brimming, square in face causing him to stagger backwards into Red Robin's bo staff who flicked it upwards causing Brimming to come crashing down to the floor and groan in pain. They secured him with hand cuffs and turned to watch the others taking down Mrs Dougan: the Dinner lady. Dick was taking her high and Jason low… it wasn't quite working out for them
"How much does she eat?" Jason complained getting a growl and smack from Mrs Dougan; "It's either that or you are a professional body builder"
"I came second at the recent IFPA competition (1) held here in Gotham… thank-you very much" she said as she kicked Jason square in the stomach sending him flying backwards landing with an "umph" and "That would explain a lot". After watching the two boys trying to take her down, but failing miserably, for a while Batman and Red Robin joined the fight. Punches and kicks flailed around for a few minutes before Tim got out a can of knock out gas and sprayed it in her face. She landed with a thud and spread a dust cloud around them. When it cleared Dick and Jason were looking at a smug Tim
"Why didn't we think about doing that?" Dick said quietly to their brother and all he could answer was
"Because we watch too much TV… 'Never escalate a battle unless your opponent forces you to'… wise words from a wise floating head." Dick rolled his eyes
"You mean you watch too much TV" Jason smiled and they burst out laughing until Tim interrupted them
"Urrr Batman?" he was standing over a stirring Gary Brimming "I don't think Brimming's behind this"
"Why not?" it was Jason who asked, but they didn't need an answer; Gary Brimming shot up, teeth gritted, nostrils flaring and pupil dilated, bloodshot eyes wide open, looking ready to kill until Tim sprayed him with knockout gas also.
"Sorry" Tim looked up at his mentor and shrugged; "automatic reaction". Batman rolled his eyes and sighed
"It's okay we weren't going to get any information from him in this state anyway"
"Well Dougan here isn't drugged" Dick said after checking her eyes
"I told you Dick it's always the evil dinner lady" Jason said content with himself, and walked over to Dick pompously with his head tilted backwards so he could look down his nose at him. Dick turned to face his brother and suddenly swacked him on the back of the head and started to sprint away with Jason quickly in pursuit determined to "Get him back for that"
"Will you two knock it off and get to work" Batman said whilst pouring over some chemical equipment that was obviously used to alter the drug. The boys stopped in their tracks and went to help Tim who was searching for the remaining drugs with Jason hitting Dick on the head as they went.
"How do you think they were getting the drug into him? No one in their right mind would drug themselves with that stuff more than once" Jason asked as he was going through a small office they had found at the back of the warehouse "Oooooh Cookies" Jason's eyes lit up and he remembered how hungry he felt and he took one.
"Jason NO" was the resounding shout that came from his brothers in the room, but too late he had already taken a bite. And replied with a muffled
"What?" through the cookie stuffed in his mouth. Then he began blinking slowly and creasing his forehead, he looked confused.
"Bro are you okay?" Dick asked earnestly approaching his brother with caution. Jason looked at him
"Yeah I'm fi-" he started coughing and held his head, then promptly fell to the floor and started convulsing. Dick looked up at Tim and simply said
"Get Batman" and Tim disappeared out of the room. Jason stopped moving and woke up his eyes and dilated and bloodshot as the others; and started shouting abuse at Nightwing who just rolled his eyes and held his brother on the ground for a few minutes until Batman came in
"What took you so long?" Batman glared at him
"Had to find this" he held up a syringe which held a yellow liquid that was obviously the antidote, and injected Jason with it, his eyes cleared and he groaned
"Oooooh bad cookies…"
"Brings a whole new dimension to 'come to the dark side; we have cookies'" Tim added with a smile then gave the half full cookie box to Batman "We… well Jason, found out how they were getting the drugs into him"
"Any sign of the rest of the drug?" Batman asked
"Negative… how much has already been recovered?"
"About four and a half kilograms were put into your sandwiches, I'm guessing there is another half a kilogram of the unaltered stuff in these" he motioned to the cookies "which still leaves 5 kilograms out there, and we won't know if it's altered or not until we can produce more of the antidote and Brimming wakes up or we get Ms Dougan out there to talk." He looked to Tim who sheepishly said
"The knock-out gas works for about 10 hours"
"Okay, I'm sure Bruce Wayne doesn't want to lose his best chemist, and so Brimming will get a visit in the hospital tomorrow, and I'm also sure Gordon won't mind us questioning her" he nodded to the unconscious Ms Dougan in the other room "tomorrow; let's call it a night. I have Brimming, Nightwing and Red Robin make sure everything is how we found it and once we are all out restart he security tapes, Red hood…" he paused and smiled "you tie Ms Dougan up securely," the three boys each raised an eyebrow "just in case," he added "so she can be taken by the police when they get here"
"Why do I have to tie her up, she's at least three times my weight!" Batman smirked
"Because you got detention today and I specifically told you not to" Jason stood mouth open.
"How the hell did you know, because I sure as hell didn't tell you" he passed stern glares at his brothers, who stood there solidly denying it. Batman just laughed
"I'm Batman" he simply said and walked away with Brimming over his shoulder leaving Jason standing there formulating the ways he could have found out. It was cruel he knew but worth it to see the confused and angry look on Jason's face for a while.
They sat in the car for a while; first, because they were waiting for the police to arrive, then Bruce insisted they wait for the ambulance to take Brimming to Gotham General. Once everything was sorted Batman shared a nod with the Commissioner, got in the car, and they were off. At first the car was in an awkward silence until Dick couldn't take it anymore, he was always the chatty one of the group.
"You just had to eat the cookie" he said rolling his eyes
"What? I was hungry…"
"We were in a warehouse that was home to a drugged guy and you think it's a good idea to EAT THE COOKIE"
"I WAS HUNGRY" Jason insisted
"Jay; you're always hungry"
"I'm not anymore"
"So the next time we want you to stop complaining about being hungry we just drug you… nice to know" Dick said with a smile and Tim snorted with laughter, even Bruce smirked at the comment and replied
"I'll make sure Alfred has the Manor well stocked up" Jason glared at his father who glanced at him "If looks could kill…" the boys giggled and even Jason's expression lifted. It was still a long trip back to the cave.
"Jason; go to bed" came the order when the car stopped.
"Why?"
"Because you ate a drugged cookie and went completely psycho for a couple of minutes" Dick finished for Bruce
"Oh so that's how it is it? Dick?" he made sure he emphasised his name. He then felt a hand make light, almost playful, contact with the back of his head
"Stop bulling you brother and go to bed, you look beat and I don't want to put your body under more strain tonight after you 'ate a drugged cookie and went completely psycho for a couple of minutes'" Bruce teased
"Todd ate a drugged cookie and went completely psycho for a couple of minutes? Really? He's not already completely psycho?" Damian said from the chair they had left him in, still in his Robin costume, ready to go.
They all laughed, except Jason who, fuming, stomped to the elevator up to the Manor. Giving his youngest brother the evils before the doors shut and the lift propelled him upwards.
"You ready" Batman asked his son, who nodded furiously, bright blue eyes shining with excitement obviously unable to respond. Damian was given a piggyback ride to the car by Dick and couldn't stop giggling after he almost slipped backwards and had to grab onto the first thing he could to save himself; which turned out to be Dick's nose. Dick snorted as the little fingers of his baby brother cling onto his nose.
"It's official, Dick would make a rubbish pig, he just didn't have the nose for it." Tim joked as they got into the car and drove off.
The Gotham City skyline was a spectacle at night, but from the view of the Batmobile's window it held an even more enchanting ambience. The old tall buildings were no longer imposing or daunting to him. He was Robin the Boy Wonder and criminals would rue the day they decided to commit a crime in his father's city.
"Ms Dougan you have failed me" the high pitched voice pierced the darkness like a knife through butter. Ms Dougan trembled;
"B-b-but I escaped, the-they learnt n-n-nothing from m-me" she stuttered
"You were caught, you are a liability. You are worthless to me." At first she didn't feel the sword cut through her body. That was shock mostly. She drew a sharp intake of air, but then she couldn't breathe. The shock melted away and the pain ran though her body. She shook, causing the blade to do even more damage. She started coughing, it was dry at first, but then it turned red as blood started filling her lungs. She took one last look at her killer who just laughed at her. He withdrew his sword and she fell to the floor motionless, wiping the blood off on her clothes he gave his sword to one of his many minions, who took it and bowed. The man sat back down and rested his elbows on the table in front of him and clasped his hands together and looked straight ahead at the computer screen in front of him.
"Activate phase 3" he said still looking at the pictures the newly deceased Ms Dougan had taken before her passing. He ran his fingers over the faces of the four boys "I'm going to have some fun with you… Yes lots of fun indeed."
Oooooh cliffhanger... you won't get a resolution in the next chapter, sorry but there will be one in the future I promise... unless you all turn around and say my writing is horrible you hate the story and never want to read my writing again... because then you won't get another chapter 'cause I'll be too busy lying on my bed crying my eyes out.
Nah, I don't mind constuctive criticism, in fact I welcome it, as long as you aren't down right mean :) ... that is my way of saying please review and tell me what you think; give me chemistry mishaps; ideas for future stories you want me to do; say hi... seriously every review alert I get makes my day... so thank-you everyone who has reviewed so far :)
Okay another apology, I am writing this in the middle of the night and I write strange things in the middle of the night... sorry :)
(1) No I do not follow professional body building, I had to use the internet
Also give yourself a virtual cookie (nice triple chocolate chip ones, not nasty drugged ones) if you spotted the Power Rangers reference, and another (in fact take a few) if you got the Newsarama countdowns reference ;)
Okay I'm done... actually DeathwishJV I have a Damian centered chapter planned just for you :)... Now I'm done, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, please review
Supernova95 :D