Meetings of the Winged Breeds
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So that's Batgirl. Dick thought to himself. He watched her twisting her hands in the bonds the men had tied her in. She had actually done well against them; many of the men she knocked down were still down. But sheer numbers had over powered her and now she was tied to a chair.
"No way is she with the Bat and Bird." One of the men commented.
"Doesn't matter. Just get the stuff moving." Another said as he walked over to Batgirl. "But I think I want to see your pretty face before I kill you. They say all you superhero types are lookers."
"Why thank you." Robin's growling voice echoed. Everyone in the room jumped and raised their weapons. Even Batgirl froze.
"Who's there!" The leader yelled.
"A superhero type." He responded. Silently he dropped behind one of the gunslingers and put his gloved hand over his mouth. A moment later they were both gone.
"Come out or I shoot her." The leader said aiming his weapon at Batgirl. A number of boxes tipped over at the end of the roof. Every man there opened fire at the sound. When the leader looked back at her, Batgirl was gone.
"Lose a Bat!" Robin yelled jumping from the rafters and kicking the leader heavily into one of his men. Hastily the men began to reload but not before two more were knocked sideways by two spinning Redwings. The final three finished with their guns only to raise them at thin air.
"Gain a Bird." His eerie whisper finished.
"To hell with this." One of his men said running to the large exit. The Black and gold form of Batgirl tackled him the moment he left.
Again Robin struck, planting both feet on ones chest he kicked him into another load of crates. Flipping back over another he grabbed his head and placed his feet on his shoulders. Continuing to roll back he threw the last one into a wall and rose to his feet. Behind him he heard Batgirl approach.
"The Bat said you showed promise. In terms of skill he was right, but only an idiot charges into a fight." He said. "Learn quick or you die."
He turned to look at the stunned Batgirl.
"This isn't a game." He finished.
"Your not going to give me the same speech your dad gave me are you?" She asked.
"I've given you my two pence worth. I won't lecture you on what to do with your life." He said.
"I'm not some thrill seeker. I want to help and I know I need practice. I asked Batman to train me some but he said no. Maybe you could…"
"I'm not going behind the Bat. If you prove yourself to him he'll train you, but not before hand." Seeing her dejected look he rolled his eyes. "I could use some help on patrol, interested."
"Sure." She said brightly.
- - -
"So how did you prove yourself to him?" She asked. Robin was crouched on the side of the building with his cape wrapped around him. His eyes hadn't left the window on the sixth floor, third from the end.
"I didn't. I nagged him so much that he caved. He wanted me to quite so that he could chuck me, but I never did." He answered, his eyes never wavering.
"How old are you?" She asked. Maybe asking her to join him wasn't such a good idea.
"To young for you." He said with a small smirk. That got her attention.
"I don't know you can't be more then three or four years younger." She responded with her own smirk. He didn't respond, he just pulled out a collapsible telescope and pushed it to his eye. A moment later he pulled out a grapple and crashed through the window he had been watching.
Standing up from her position on the rooftop Batgirl glued her own eyes to the room. The apartment was dark but she could see flashes of his cape as he moved. All was silent for a moment until a man jumped through the glass in another room. His crazy attempt to escape was foiled as Robin's Kevlar protected arm followed and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.
With this single arm the boy wonder lifted the man higher and began talking to him. Twice he threatened to drop him. Finally Robin pulled him back in and jumped from the window himself. On the way down he fired a grapple and began climbing to the roof. The man looked down out off the window and with a grin Batgirl realized that to him it looked like Robin had vanished.
"Boy wonder indeed." Batgirl said to herself.
"Please don't call me that." Robin said from behind her making her jump.
"How did you…never mind. What was that about?"
"Information." He stated. When no more was forthcoming she tried to press. He simply sidestepped her questions.
"Sun'll be up in an hour. I need to get back." He said.
"What's the matter? Do you burn or something?" Batgirl said. Robin gave a to large smile and Batgirl got the feeling she had just missed an inside joke.
- - -
Dick shook the locker door that refused to budge. One day he was going to but his fist through the relatively thin metal. Re-entering the combination proved just as futile. Leading forwards he knocked his head against it in frustration. Unbelievably the door cracked open.
"Come on Barb." A mans voice said. "Just you, me and a house to ourselves."
Barbara Gordon went to her new locker and began turning the lock. The man she was with lent against the lockers, closing Dick's in the process. Dick closed his eyes and began counting backwards from ten.
"I don't think so Jason." Barbara said placing her books inside her locker.
"Oh, come on. We've been together nearly two months and we've haven't gotten past first base. Hell we've hardy gotten to first base. My moms away all weekend. I swear we'll do all the schoolwork before anything else."
"That's not the point." Barbara continued.
"Then what is the point?"
"The point is she doesn't want to go any further with you now get off of my locker." Dick said to him. Surprised Jason stood up straight and turned to look down on Dick. Blocking access to his locker again.
"Who asked you?" He snapped.
"No one and now that your off my locker you can resume you futile attempts at seduction."
The larger man continued to look down at Dick, opening and closing his mouth in surprise.
"That's a very nice fish impression you got going there. But once again you're in my way. Excuse me."
"You little…" Jason started.
"Just move Jase, he's only a kid. I'll see you later." Barbara interrupted pushing him away. Begrudgingly he walked away. Finally Dick started rummaging through his locker.
"Thanks." He said to her without looking away.
"You should be more careful. Jason is twice your size." She scolded.
"I've beaten guys much bigger then him."
"Sure you have. You're Richard Grayson right, Bruce Wayne's ward, I'm…"
"Barbara Gordon, I know. Bruce likes to make sure I know everyone, make a good impression and all that."
"Must be great living in that mansion with him." She said.
"Oh yeah. A real hoot."
"You don't have to be so sarcy. I'm just trying to be friendly." She snapped before turning back to her own locker.
Dick pulled out the book that he needed then closed his locker. Putting the book in his satchel he turned to face Barbara for the first time.
"I know, sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night and it annoys me when people only want to talk about Bruce. I'm Dick." Dick said extending his hand.
"Barbara." Barbara said shaking it. Dick looked into her eyes and blinked. Couldn't be. He thought. Looking again he laughed in his head.
"You have nice eyes Babs. I'll be seeing you." He said to her as he turned around and walked away down the hall. It was her turn to blink in surprise.
- - -
ANSomething about this story just makes it easier to write. If you're a fan of my other work I've reached a bit of a block but am working around it slowly.
Thanks to Tallon for you great review and thank you for pointing out my mistake. I hope others will follow your example and review. Come on people, how am I supposed to know if I'm doing any good if your all so quiet.
If you don't get the joke about Robin burning, that's what Dick said to Batman after he passed the Gauntlet.
