6
Ten till. Hatter snapped his watch shut and tucked it into the pocket of his purple waistcoat.
"I don't think she's coming, boss."
Hatter tutted. "Such lack of faith. Our little Annie has a few minutes left. Let's see what she makes of them."
The henchman shrugged and continued his pacing along the alley while his partner stifled a yawn. The rain had stopped hours before, leaving glistening puddles scattered like mirrored traps along the ground. A streetlight flickered and faded to black as Hatter and his men sheltered in the shadows of the museum's back entrance. Only workers and delivery men ever used it and the late hour left only the night guard to roam the exhibits.
With a huff, the Hatter took out the watch again to check the time. Five more minutes. "Any minute now," he murmured to himself, watching the minute hand tick closer to the hour.
"Waiting for me?" a female voice startled the three men. They turned to see a figure appear from around the corner of the building. As it stepped from the shadow, they recognized Anne dressed in exercise pants, sneakers, and a jacket tossed over an old leotard. The hood was pulled up to obscure her face and a scarf wrapped around her neck, pulled up to just brush under her nose.
"Ah, at last!" Hatter's face broke into a yellowed smile, the pocket watch falling shut as he strolled over to the girl. "Our associates were beginning to doubt you would ever arrive, my dear. I had faith in you, though."
Anne shifted uncomfortably as Hatter hugged his arm around her shoulders.
"Interesting ensemble, don't you think," he frowned slightly, a gloved hand tugging at the scarf. "Is it that cold, Annie, or are you impersonating a ninja?"
"I may be helping you, Hatter, but I don't exactly want the cops knowing about it," she said, nodding towards the security camera mounted above the back door. "Aren't they going to see us?"
Hatter laughed. "Clever as always, little Annie. Don't worry, we won't be staying long. The museum isn't our target tonight, just a meeting spot. I wanted to make sure you wouldn't give us away before we started the real fun."
The grin grew even more unsettling as the arm at her back nudged her forward, leading her towards the other side of the parking lot where a new van was waiting. "As for your choice in wardrobe, it will suffice for now. We'll get you a mask later and see if we can't find something more professional for next time. Maybe something to match your brother; a sibling pair will seem so formidable. But for now, business awaits. The night may be young but where bats fly, we must fly faster to avoid their wings."
They stopped next to the van and Hatter opened the door, taking his hat off and bowing for Anne to go first. The girl clambered inside, sitting herself on the installed benches placed on either side of the interior. Hatter seated himself across from her while his men clambered into the front seats.
"Gentlemen, to the Observatory if you please." He grinned as the van started and pulled out of the parking lot just as the streetlight spluttered back to life, throwing a cold glow over the wet concrete.
wvw
The quiet clatter of shoes on metal was lost in the night as Robin landed on the dark fire escape. Shrouded in darkness, it took mere seconds for him to unlock the window, slide it open, and disappear inside unseen.
He crouched and listened for a moment before clicking on his flashlight. The bright beam revealed a living room, small and messy with a blanket thrown over the couch and an alarm clock displaying the late time in glowing red. A quick sweep of the apartment proved it empty, the only proof of recent activity being rain soaked clothes left on the bathroom floor. Robin tapped his earpiece.
"What did you find?" Batman's gravelly voice asked in greeting.
"The apartment's empty. I found some wet clothes in the bathroom, they look like the ones Anne was wearing earlier today. Guess she changed and left again."
"Any sign of Hatter and his men?"
"Not that I can see," the boy answered once back in the living room. "Doesn't look like she took anything with her so she's not skipping town."
"Probably expects to be back soon too. Keep looking. See if you find any more clues."
Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask. "Already on it. Any news on the van?"
He could almost hear scowl over the line. "Dead end. I found it abandoned outside the city limits. Stole with fake license plates."
"Think they knew we were tracking them?"
"More likely they wanted to keep recognition to a minimum. We'll check the docks around where they stopped later."
The boy grimaced at the thought but didn't argue, continuing his inspection of the apartment. The only noteworthy clues so far were piles of dirty dishes and crowded boxes of takeout littering the counter. Only when he turned from his check by the front door did a crumpled shape half hidden under the couch catch his attention. "I think I found something."
"What is it?"
Robin fished out the balled up piece of paper and unfolded it, smoothing out the barely legible words. "Some sort of note. Gotham Museum of … eleven o'clock... looks like Hatter gave Anne a meeting place. That's probably where she is."
"It's already past eleven. Hurry to the museum, I'll be there in ten minutes. Batman out."
The radio silenced as Robin slipped the note in is belt for later investigating. As he hurried back towards the window, his glove brushed over a picture facing opposite from the front entrance.
Anne was laughing, green eyes bright as she waved from her perch on her brother's back. The surprised looked Edward was smiling sheepishly, a folded crossword in his hand as he was interrupted from his brain teaser. Both seemed younger, seated on a bench at Gotham Park that looked warm and green behind them. Robin barely glanced at the photo before he had disappeared back out the window, leaving a pinhead-sized camera watching from the frame of the happy memory.
wvw
"How's our cover coming?" Hatter asked for at least the dozenth time in ten minutes. He was still smiling but it was growing more forced and tense by the second. Anne kept giving him concerned looks, waiting for when he would finally lose his cool.
The four of them were on the roof of Gotham Observatory Labs. It was darker outside the city and colder without the buildings to buffer the wind some. The girl was seated on the ledge, knees hugged to her chest as she pulled her gloves on to keep warm and watched the grey glow of the never ending city lights in the distance.
"Almost there boss," the henchman answered, pulling up another paneling to mess with some more equipment. "Just got to cut wires to disable cameras, door locks go down, security goes off line, and all calls get blocked."
Hatter huffed. "Just hurry up before my hat freezes off." Anne forced herself not to cringe when Hatter walked over to hover by her. "And you, Annie. You remember your part?"
She frowned and bit back a retort. "Yeah. Down the hall, second left, third lab on the right, satellite six in lock box three."
"Four," he chastised, waving his hand with a tut. "Lock box four. Don't mess this up, Annie, or your burglaring career will be short lived."
The not so subtle threat made her shiver and she nodded stiffly, standing to stretch out her arms just as one of the men called them over.
"Got it. Everything's set." They gathered around an open skylight and a rope lowered down just enough to brush the floor. Anne forced herself to take a deep breath, double checking her scarf was still over her face.
Hatter patter her shoulder in mock support. "Alright, Annie. Time to shine! You have eight minutes before security starts getting suspicious. Get in, grab the satellite, get out. It's small but heavy so don't drop it; it's not good to me damaged. And one more thing…" he flashed her a sharp grin as he tapped the brim of his top hat, "Do make sure you get back in time. I would hate for you to get caught on accident. Your poor brother may not be able to handle the shock if we lost you. "
The girl shot him a green eyed glare over her makeshift mask but nodded again, grabbing the rope and slid down, feeling the damped heat through her gloves before touching silently to the floor.
Seven minutes.
