Disclaimer: I don't own them. I am not making any money.
Trial by Fire
Part 7
By Ecri
Bruce Wayne parked his car in his garage at Wayne Manor and quickly went inside. The police had kept him at Chase's for a long time. He'd wanted to run out right away, but something had made him report the incident. He knew, though, that Batman would have a better chance at finding out what had happened to Chase than the police, and he'd learned to trust his instincts a long time ago.
Entering his home through the garage, and stepping around some tools that the contractors had left behind after they'd completed the day's work, Bruce called to his friend.
"Dick?" He entered the sitting room, the game room, and eventually searched through most of the house. He saw no sign of his friend.
Exasperated, he went down to the Batcave thinking Dick had gone down there to work on the Redbird, or to try to figure out what the Riddler was up to.
When he got there, though, the Batcave was silent. Suddenly fearful, Bruce thought he should check to see if one of Robin's suits were gone. He headed in that direction, but stopped. He didn't have to check for a missing suit, when the Batmobile was missing.
Robin raced through the streets of Gotham in Batman's car. That was how he thought of it, as Batman's. He really should have fixed the Redbird first, but patience wasn't his strong suit. He had picked up several muggers, and stopped several convenience store robberies, but he had not seen The Riddler or the Catwoman anywhere. He was baffled. The Riddler hadn't robbed anything or left any riddles in days. He knew they had to be planning something. No good could come from two costumed criminals working together.
As he passed an alley, Robin saw a man getting rough with a woman. From the body language, he didn't think they knew each other, and, even if they did, that didn't give the guy the right to behave like this. Robin parked the Batmobile, leaped out, activated the car's shields, and ran to the woman's aid.
He spun the guy around, punched him twice and cuffed him. He'd call the police from the car and tell them where to pick up. Then he turned his attention to the woman. Only now did he realize that the woman wasn't alone. Next to her, stood another woman–dressed in black vinyl.
Recognizing her from the recording of his accident, Robin walked slowly towards her. The woman she was with, the one who had been attacked by the now-handcuffed man, seemed scared.
"The money!" She demanded, inching slightly away from Catwoman.
Catwoman looked at her for all the world as if she were of no consequence at all. "Didn't mother ever warn you not to trust every woman in black vinyl you meet?" When the woman just stared at her, Catwoman's eyes widened slightly, she drew her claws up and a low, terrifying sound came from deep in her throat. The other woman, now truly frightened, ran away into the darkness of the alley.
Robin knew this had been a setup. Maybe to catch him. Probably to catch Batman. Too curious to do anything else, he stepped to within an arm's length of Catwoman. "I should arrest you."
Catwoman stared unblinkingly. "You're a friend of Batman. How sweet of him to send a snack in his place. I do so love birds."
Robin almost laughed at the banter. Almost. The look in the woman's eye, very like a cat's in its lack of movement, and the way it seemed to see into your soul, made him think she meant what she said.
"You'll find I don't go down so easily." He kept his eyes locked on hers, unblinking, determined not to look away first. Eventually, lazily, as if this, too were of little consequence, she looked away herself.
"Where do you fit in, Batbrat?" She seemed to be talking to herself.
Robin's eyes narrowed behind his mask. "Where do you fit in?"
Her laughter surprised him. It was a deep, humorless, laugh. Sexy, scary, sad, and psychotic. When she stopped laughing, she moved, swiftly to stand millimeters from him. Eye to eye, nose to nose, she stood in front of him. One hand--claw--had come up to hold his chin so that he couldn't look away from her. "I don't fit in, Birdbrain. And you tell Batman--neither do you." Still holding his chin in her claw, she reached up quickly with the other, and before Robin even had an inkling of what she would do, she had raked her claws high across his neck and jaw, drawing blood. Then, she was gone, bounding off into the darkness with the speed and grace of a jaguar.
Robin, startled by what had happened, touched his jaw and neck finding a metal claw still embedded in his flesh. He pulled it out, slipped it into his utility belt, and raced for the Batmobile.
Edward Nygma took long, steady strides as he crossed the room. Reaching the far wall, he pivoted and walked back the way he'd come. Once, twice, three times, he continued to pace, with each pivot, his anger and frustration seemed to increase.
Catwoman sat on a round satin pillow, still as stone. Only her eyes moved following Nygma's progress in slow, lazy sweeps of the room.
Finally, Nygma stopped in the center of the room and glared at Catwoman. "You, my feline friend, could very nearly have cost us our goal!"
Catwoman just stared.
Nygma went on. "I told you we would catch Robin, not Dr. Meridian! Then, on top of that, you take my perfectly orchestrated Bird Trap and, instead of bringing him here, you let him go!"
Catwoman considered Nygma for another moment. Then, slowly, almost languidly, she stood up. "I told you before. I don't take orders. I don't care about your plan. I want Batman." She smiled a slow, lazy smile. "Besides, I have a plan of my own."
"Listen to me, you stupid stray, you will care about my plan. You will do as I say!" Nygma was shaking with barely controlled rage.
"Or what?" Asked Catwoman, not in the least impressed with the display.
Nygma stepped back. He blinked twice. Threats would not work with the cat, he assumed. So promises, deals, appeal to her avarice.
"Let's do it this way. You do as I say, and you can have Dr. Meridian, Batman, and Robin as your own personal Cat toys!" He was smiling maniacally, now.
Catwoman's gaze stayed riveted to his. "And what do you get?"
Nygma's eyes sparkled in his excitement. "I get Gotham!"
Robin carefully pulled into the Batcave, hoping he had beat Bruce home. He had decided to call it a night after the encounter with the strange woman. Early, by his standards, but he had to be sure to get home before Bruce and Chase ended their date.
After parking, he headed towards the locker room, but had taken only a few steps when a dark shape caught his attention. Just as he turned, Bruce stepped out of the shadows. "Out for a spin?" The casual words belied the scathing tone as Bruce glared at his charge, arms crossed.
Robin swallowed and turned away slightly, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't get him deeper into trouble. As he turned, Bruce got a look at his neck and jaw where Catwoman had scratched him. He was at Robin's side in a moment.
"You saw her, didn't you?" Bruce looked at the wounds; nasty cuts, but no stitches would be required. He found one of the First Aid kits that Alfred managed to keep fully stocked and scattered all over the Batcave as well as the mansion.
Robin nodded. "She's a real wacko."
Bruce stared at him a moment, then went back to cleaning the cuts. He had so wanted to help Selena. He considered it a personal failure that he hadn't been able to do it.
"Was Chase with her?" Bruce knew the answer before he asked, but he still had to ask.
"Chase? No. Why would she... wait...she's been kidnapped?" Robin guessed.
Bruce nodded.
Robin sat at a nearby work station and removed his mask.
As Bruce reached towards him with an antibacterial salve, Dick caught his arm; not allowing him to do what he'd only ever allowed Alfred to do. "We should go after Chase."
Bruce sighed. "I know, but we have no leads. Catwoman did this, and I'm sure she'll send Batman a clue eventually...unless..." Bruce stared at Dick. "What did she say to you?"
"To me? You think she gave me a clue?" Dick snorted. "She didn't really seem to like me very much." He gestured to the cuts on his neck and fished out the claw she'd left behind.
"I see that, but...What. Did. She. Say?" Bruce stressed every word as he sometimes did when frustrated.
"She said, Tell Batman you don't fit in.', but that can't be a clue to where she is." Dick glared at his partner. He hated when Bruce got this way; too distracted with his own thoughts to fill in the blanks, and too frustrated to be civil.
"Can I see that?" Bruce gestured to Catwoman's claw.
"Knock yourself out." Dick tossed it to Bruce and headed for the showers, mumbling about being left out of the loop. Bruce, too busy to notice, was already at the computer setting up for his first analysis.
Chase Meridian had been through a lot in her life, but nothing prepared her for once again being in the lair of one of Gotham's archvillians. "What is it about me?" she muttered to herself, knowing full well that it wasn't her, precisely, but the company she kept that continued to get her into trouble. She understood that, but she had grown fond of Bruce Wayne. Not the Billionaire Playboy, not even the Batman...but with Bruce. He was so much more than the sum of his parts. Of course, just in the category of personalities, Bruce had more parts than the average man did.
She'd read about Catwoman, and had even tried to talk to Bruce about her. From what she'd learned that was a damaged psyche. She believed Catwoman needed help. Above all the other villains who had threatened Gotham, Catwoman, Chase believed, was the most likely to be completely rehabilitated.
"Still here?" Catwoman's deep growl of a voice asked her guest as she entered the room, as if Chase had had a choice about staying.
"Just waiting for answers." Chase hoped her reply would get the woman to open up about herself.
Catwoman ignored her remarks. "This is the Riddler." Catwoman gestured lazily towards her comrade, then sat down and began to mimic the movements of a cat bathing. Chase was astonished. The woman really thought she was a cat! What she wouldn't do to be able to treat her!
The Riddler, of course, would not be denied his chance at center stage. "We've met, my dear! So glad to see you again!"
Chase stared at the man in the green tights. "Can't say the same."
"Ah, Ah!" The Riddler waggled a finger at her admonishing her remark. "You need to play along, my dear Dr. Meridian. It won't be long now."
"Won't be long for what?" Chase's heart froze, knowing that the entire point to holding her again would be to get to Batman.
"That would be telling..." The Riddler began to laugh, but with a suddenness that took nothing from her grace, Catwoman raked a clawed hand across his back. He screamed, an odd, high-pitched sound, and turned to face her.
"Get to the point! Enough of the games!" Catwoman glared at him, looking all the more dangerous for her economy of movement.
Indignant, the Riddler glared back at her. "There is no rushing a great plan. Batman will be here soon. I have laid it all out for him."
Bruce remained in the Batcave working on the claw that Catwoman had used on Robin. He'd run a series of tests, but could find nothing informative. What was Catwoman doing here? Was she behind Chase's kidnapping or was it the Riddler? Were they working together?
His mind full of questions, he never noticed Dick was standing behind him, until the younger man spoke.
"The signal..." He cut himself off when Bruce jumped, obviously startled. "Sorry. It's just...the Bat Signal..."
Bruce nodded. "Let's go."
"Wait a minute. You're inviting me along?" He didn't try to hide the surprise in his voice.
Bruce stared at his companion, wondering why he couldn't seem to communicate with the boy. "Yes. I am. We're a team now. We have to start acting like it. Batman needs Robin...and..." he pause, not sure if it were wise to continue the thought, but his father had once taught him never to fear the truth. "...and Bruce Wayne needs Dick Grayson."
Dick smiled. "That's good to hear. I suppose...I mean...I...I need you, too."
Bruce clapped a hand on Dick's arm. Then, the two hastily ran for their suits.
Twenty minutes later, Batman and Robin stood atop City Hall with Commissioner Gordon. The Commissioner was deep into his explanation. "The Riddler left a message for you Batman. There seems to be some sort of ultimatum, but we can't decipher it."
Batman held out a hand, and the Commissioner passed him the note. In bright green letters across very black paper, the Riddler had written,
Money changes everything
So some people say
Give me all the city has or
Tomorrow is yesterday
Might makes right so
Go Fly a Kite!
Batman read through the lines again. "Commissioner, I think it would be best not to let this leak to the public. I..." Batman paused and looked pointedly at Robin..."...we need some time to find out where the Riddler is hiding. May I take this with me?" He indicated the note.
The Commissioner nodded. "By all means, Batman. What do you want us to do?"
"Sit tight, Commissioner. I'll call you in a few hours." He turned to Robin. "Let's go."
Commissioner Gordon watched the two caped figures as they receded into the darkness. A strong sense of foreboding settled over him as he pondered the Riddler's words. He hated sit ting around dong nothing, but he knew the only person who could stop the Riddler was Batman.
Back at the Batcave, Bruce was deciphering the clues the Riddler had left. They had to find the Riddler's lair. Bruce was sure Chase would be there. Aside from that, he was also sure that The Riddler's machine was there.
"The silver?" Dick asked.
"What about the silver?" Bruce asked in return.
"He's using it to make some kind of a machine. He can mess up electrical fields with it can't he?"
Bruce smiled. "For someone who grumbles so much about going to school, you do pretty well."
Dick smiled back. "It wasn't hard. I mean, my accident, that beam of light, and this latest riddle. He's going to shut down the city's electricity. Problem is, that's not all it can do."
Bruce frowned, not sure how much Dick had discovered, and unwilling to give away all that he knew.
"Bruce, that beam did more than disrupt the electrical systems of the Redbird. It disrupted my electrical impulses, too." He looked away. "Nygma...The Riddler...whatever you want to call him...he's a genius. He must know this. He tried it out on me, so you and I would be the only ones who knew. Everyone else who reads the riddle will think it's just our technology that's being threatened, but you and I will know that he's really threatening everyone...every life in Gotham."
Bruce sighed. "Pretty smart, kid. Now, help me figure out where he is."
Dick joined Bruce at the computer and together they started to sort through what little information they had.
After analyzing everything from the paper on which the riddle had been printed to the ink that had been used, Bruce knew...nothing.
"So what now?" Dick asked.
"Now, we hit the streets." Bruce smiled. Dick had wanted to do this all along, but he'd wanted to take this slow.
So much for slow, he thought as Robin appeared fully dressed and wheeling out the Redbird.
"Have you checked that out?" Bruce asked his young friend.
"Passed all inspections while you w ere finishing up with the riddle." Robin mounted the bike and looked towards Bruce expectantly. "Whenever you're ready."
"Not so fast. Do you have any idea where we're going?" Bruce crossed his arms.
"No, but I figure you do." Robin smiled.
After a moment, Bruce returned the smile. "Sit tight, Robin. I have to change first."
"Well, hurry it up old-timer! We've got a city to save!"
TBC
