Chapter VII

A Father's Rage

Batman dropped on top of the gang member that had just shot at him.

"You know, at this point, most folks beg me for leniency," he snarled in his harsh voice. "But I can see you need a little more persuasion."

He linked his hands together and brought them both down on the man's head. He fell without a yell.

Batman felt a glancing blow off of his armor, and turned to take down another gun-toting thug. A man in a suit kept pointing at Batman, egging on the rest of the gang.

He jumped, knocking out the final of the gang with gas. He grabbed the leader and leapt clear of the fog.

"Where's Bane?!" he bellowed in the man's face. He shook with fear. Sweat beaded his upper lip and forehead. He had a rat-like face, one of the more stereotypical gangster bosses in town.

"I... I don't know," he stammered. "I thought he was dead..."

"Yeah, so's Superman," Batman hissed. "He's alive, and you know something about it!"

"I swear, I have no clue!" he said. "I didn't even remember Bane till you mentioned him just now!"

Batman swung him around, throwing him against the opposite wall. Before he could recover, Batman had jumped on him again, holding the points of his gauntlet blades against the man's throat.

"Where is he?!" he shouted. "Tell me!"

"Or what?"

The new voice, feminine and cool, came from behind Batman. He swung around, still clutching the man's shirt.

Talia Al Ghul came walking up behind Batman, dressed in a form-fitting black suit. She stopped, her hands on her hips.

"Or what?" she repeated. "You kill him?"

"I don't kill people," Batman responded, turning back to the man, "but I can make living one helluva nightmare."

The gangster closed his eyes. Batman shook him forcefully.

"Do I have to start breaking things?!" he asked loudly. "Where's Bane!?"

"He doesn't know," Talia said contemptuously. "Besides, maybe if you actually took some time to listen to your own son, you'd find out."

Batman froze.

"What?" he said. Talia gave a pointed look at the gangster, who had suddenly taken a keen interest in the conversation. Batman swung a punch, knocking the fool out.

"We agreed Damian would live with you," Talia went on. "Because of my father. But that means you actually have to raise him, and not hand him off to Alfred!"

Batman straightened up.

"What do you mean?" Batman asked, losing his rasp for a minute. "About Damian? Does he know where Bane is?"

"He saw some of Bane's supermen try to attack a blind man," Talia said. Batman snorted.

"And you know this how?" he said.

"Because I actually take the time to get to know my son," was the scathing reply. "And then I talked to the blind man."

"He survived?" Batman said incredulously. "I'd have thought Bane's men would have torn him apart."

Without warning, Batman felt arms wrapping around his neck from behind. He felt pressure apply, and he was

forced to his knees.

"Well, this blind guy can kick your ass," a voice hissed in his ear. "So I'd take a moment to thank me."

Batman struggled, but the man had let him go. Batman jumped to his feet, swinging around.

A man, as tall as he was, stood before him. He was dressed in a red leather costume, with a red cowl much like the one Batman wore except without the bat ears. Instead, there were horns, and the eyes were covered. Two large Ds were stamped on the chest.

"Who the hell are you?" Batman asked, looking him up and down, noting his belt and the billy-clubs strapped to it.

"Ironic you should ask that," the man said, smiling mirthlessly. "My name's Daredevil. And I've been keeping an eye on your son."

"I never asked you to," Batman said. Talia cleared her throat.

"No," she said. "I did. Daredevil is... not from around here." Daredevil's mirthless smile widened. "But we can trust him."

"I don't," Batman said, not liking the way he had snuck up on him. "You aren't really blind, are you?"

"Yes I am," Daredevil replied. "My powers are my own. And we need to move fast if we're to save your son."

"How fast are we talking?" Batman said, decided for the moment to trust Talia, if not Daredevil.

"Bane and his men are going to take over the school tomorrow," Daredevil said. "Don't ask me how I know... I just heard it."

"Tomorrow," Batman repeated. "Dammit. The Justice League are still gone on that mission of Green Lantern's."

"We don't need the Justice League," Talia said at this point. "We have you, me, Daredevil, and Cyborg."

"Cyborg," Batman said, remembering the young man he was paying to protect his son. "Can we count on the rest of the Teen Titans?"

"If Cyborg's there, so will they be," Daredevil said. "He's had them come in to teach the class special lessens."

"Yes, like the birds and the bees," Talia said, narrowing her eyes. "I really want to have a word with this 'Miss Raven...'"

Daredevil suddenly looked up. Batman's internal sensors went off a split second after.

They were surrounded by thugs. More of Bane's extensions. The three superheroes turned, back to back to back, ready to face the new threat.

As Talia used her deadly stiletto heels to effect, Batman kept glancing at Daredevil. He didn't seem to work his way around rather than feel his way. He was clearly blind, but he knew where he was going.

His billy-clubs were being swung around with abandon, knocking out thugs left and right. He had done this before, but a certain sadness was still hanging around his face.

Batman hoped he could count on him tomorrow. And Bane had better watch out.

Bruce Wayne was mad as hell.


Actually, I think this is the coolest chapter to date. Seriously. BTW, all of the Batman characters are from the Nolanverse. So, Christian Bale/Dark Knight, Marion Cotillard/Talia Al Ghul, and Tom Hardy/Bane. And just pretend that Tom Cruise plays Daredevil.