Family Ties Chapter 7 Sneaking and Striking

Catwoman peered over the perimeter wall at Arkham Asylum unnoticed by the horde of police and guards filling the area. Watching their constantly shifting attention, she shimmied along and flipped into the compound, sheltering beneath a seemingly unattended prisoner-transfer van. From the clamour above her, it was stuffed full of would-be escapees. From the chatter at the front, they were guarded by two cops who'd helped catch them and been wounded. New Bat-strategy. Interesting.

Next problem: finding a Bat who'd listen to the intell she'd picked up. Bruce would listen; Nightwing and Red Robin too. They'd worked together enough for a level of trust to develop. The girls as well - but it was just Batgirl and Spoiler around at the moment, right? Black Bat had most recently been sighted in Hong Kong (not that she was sighted much wherever she was) but knowing Bruce she'd be back sooner or later. He'd been…touchy about his family since the second Robin's disappearance. She'd really have to get the full story about that some time; she kept picking up conflicting rumours. Dead, run away…all she knew was the kid's going had really, really upset him.

But she didn't want to run into Red Hood (he'd taken pot-shots at her once) or the newest Robin. So, which building should she look in? The Bat would probably be in the thick of it in the High Sec block, but so would that little demon of a baby bird. Maybe talk to one of the others first?

In the midst of her deliberations, she almost missed it. A red and black shape with flaring wings swept down, landing beside the collection of vehicles. Red Robin. After a moment rummaging in the rear storage compartment of his bike, he sprinted off and entered the Med Facility.

Smirking slightly, Catwoman slunk out and around the van, taking shelter behind a burned-out guard hut. From the smell of roasted flesh, it had been occupied. Evidently Firebug had been an inmate, though not necessarily anymore. Curling her lip in distaste, she climbed on the remains of the roof, took her whip from her waist and leapt. The whip flicked out and wrapped around a security camera on the side of the Med Facility and, as the bracket snapped, the momentum swung her round so she could grasp a windowsill. Clawed fingers making purchase on the surrounding brickwork, she forced open the window and slid inside.

The first floor was dark and gloomy, filling slowly with smoke. A scream cut through the haze, and another, and another. A girl's scream. Catwoman turned, sprinting noiselessly towards the source. As she approached, she heard other sounds; the screams breaking off into sobs; thuds and grunts; low, muffled voices. The pharmacy. She pushed open the door.

Spoiler was curled up on the floor, breathing heavily, and Red Robin was trying to help her up, while muttering into his comm. At their feet were two thugs, unconscious, with no sign of weapons, and Scarecrow, also out, syringe-glove leaking fluid. "Need help?" she asked.

Red Robin's face was unreadable, but his jerky gesture towards her mouth betrayed a moment of panic. "Mask!" he hissed, voice muffled by his…Oh. Right. Breath mask. She quickly pulled hers from her belt - a gift from the Bat, when she'd decided to pretty much toe the line, along with her current costume of black leather over several layers of Kevlar and smart polymers. Red Robin was speaking again. "We're evacuating the building. Can you take Spoiler?"

Catwoman nodded, supporting the girl. "Picked up some interesting information-" she started.

"Can it wait until we've secured Arkham?" She nodded. "Good. Nightwing says he and Hood can't hold the Penitentiary; maybe a third of the inmates could be busting out any minute, and we need to get the civilians from here to the Low Sec block; it's secure." He knelt, cuffed Scarecrow, and hauled him up as another figure slipped into the room. Batgirl. She bent to pick up the two thugs, her orange hair starting to matt with blood from her own battles.

"I've told the guards to herd the civilians out," she said, leading the way to the fire escape. "And avoid this floor. Spoiler's lot got the ones you pulled out of the gas. If I take them all to the Penitentiary, can you hold the Low Sec block?"

Red Robin nodded. "Yeah. Catwoman, take Spoiler's comm. She'll be out for the rest of the night, bad dose of fear toxin."

"Will she be alright?" asked Catwoman, gently removing the comm.

"I'll give her a check once the block's secured," he replied. She nodded, one of the larger orderlies coming and scooping Spoiler up at Red Robin's request. The crowd split as they left the building; the cops and guards following Batgirl to the Penitentiary and the medical personnel and patients with Red Robin over to the Low Sec block. Catwoman slid the comm around her ear, heading for the gutted High Sec block.

"-beauty in motion," Nightwing was saying, while Batgirl chuckled.

"No flirting on the comm-line," growled the Bat.

"Sure you want to say that, tall-dark-n-handsome?" Catwoman asked, jumping through the hole in the second floor into chaos.


Red Robin pulled a miniature, multi-power flashlight from his belt, set it on low, and shone it in Spoiler's eyes. 'Uneven dilation, not good,' he thought, cradling her jaw as he kept her unmasked face turned away from the room's other occupants. "Follow the light, babe, just look at the light," he murmured gently, moving the flashlight left, right, up and down. 'Blood vessels standing out. That's…unusual.' He released her, carefully reattaching the mask to her hood, and slipped off her right glove, pulling the sleeve back to her elbow. The veins stood out clearly, her muscles taut with tension. Imploring her to relax, he pulled out a needle and took a blood sample, before giving her another shot of antitoxin mixed with sedative. Spoiler stiffened, and relaxed, falling unconscious. Red Robin laid her out on a spare couch, before looking round at his charges.

The room they were in was usually used as a dining hall-slash-group therapy room. One half had couches and squashy armchairs, the other long tables and stackable chairs. The windows along the outside wall had reinforced shutters specifically for such circumstances. Now, the tables were being used as makeshift beds for the patients evacuated from the Med Facility, and the three dozen or so Low Sec inmates were being watched by about as many doctors, orderlies and assorted care workers. Two couches were blocking the door.

One of the doctors came over. "Will the girl be okay?" she asked compassionately.

"She'll be fine, Dr Whistler," Red Robin said with a wry smile. "Bad dose of toxin. She'll sleep it off and be right as rain." He turned his attention to the microcomputer. Colour coded lists of inmates played across the tiny screen as he updated the records. But when he tried to hack into the cameras, the connection to the Batcomputer collapsed. 'Probably couldn't handle the processing power of the mainframe. It is only a prototype, I guess…' He set it to reboot, just as Nightwing's voice came across the comm.

"Red Robin, we can't hold 'em all. 'Bout ten, twelve, converging on your position."

"Copy that, I'm on it." He secured the computer in his belt and hauled the couches from the door. "Barricade this behind me and don't remove it 'til I give the all-clear," he called out behind him, slipping into the hall. He prepped a smoke bomb, readied a handful of batarangs, snapped out his staff, and waited.

When the thugs charged up to his floor, he flicked the smoke bomb with his left thumb while keeping the batarangs clenched in his fingers. His night vision lenses already active, he swept the staff out low, knocking down three. The batarangs flew out, drugged tips downing three more. A few more moments and all eleven were unconscious from a variety of kicks, punches, hits and nerve pinches. "Low Sec re-secured," he reported.

"Asylum secured," Batman told him. "Red Robin, report. Who's escaped?"

He pushed his hair from his face, rubbing a sore rib from a lucky hit. "Give me a minute there, boss."

"While we wait, who wants to know who was behind this?" Catwoman offered.

A/N: Hey, and thanks for reading. Last chapter, I asked for your opinion regarding separating story arcs into their own stories. This inquiry is an attempt to increase the ease of reading for you, dear reader. Please, please, please help me help you. So far I have had no replies to the question, but the traffic stats tell me there have been plenty of readers. So, please, drop me a PM or a review.

Also, if you have any issues with my writing or want clarification in some area, leave a review or PM me.

Thank you.

Katara Harkness