In the Birdcage, a Batman fanfic by Raberba girl

Part I: The Boy Who Chirps - Chapter 7 (rough draft)

A/N: This story continues to make me very uneasy, I just want it done! Still probably a long way to go, but I did finish John's part, and since I've censored out so much from these three chapters, I'm posting what's left of them all together.

o.o.o

Dick gasped and lurched upright. He had no idea whether he'd been floating or sleeping, but either way, now that he was fully conscious in reality, he realized that he was alone. The TV was off, the house was silent, his captor was gone.

And Dick was still not in a cage. He still wore the Robin costume, the collar with the chain was still around his neck, but the chain wasn't attached to anything.

Trembling, Dick gathered up the chain, looping it around his arm so it wouldn't get in his way, then cautiously peered out into the hall.

Empty. It was empty, every room he checked was empty, no one was guarding him, nothing was tying him down, was there any way he could just...leave...?

The key rack by the garage had been emptied and he was in too much of a hurry to look elsewhere, so he couldn't try to drive. There was a bike rack, though. Dick grabbed the bike that looked closest to the right size and wrestled it free, then crept with it to the nearest small exit, figuring he'd have a better chance of escaping into the wilderness of the back rather than the more open lawn at the front of the mansion. He'd figure out how to rejoin civilization later; even being lost and stuck in the woods for weeks would be better than being trapped in this hell house. His heart was pounding with excitement and terror. 'He might show up at the last minute and shoot you...he'll be right behind you when you're not expecting it...'

He continued to cling to the bike and lead it through the overgrown, tangled gardens, trying to stay under cover in case anyone in the house looked out the windows. It was twilight, not dark enough yet for the night to conceal him, and even if it had been full dark, he needed to hide his movement from the windows as best he could. When he was far enough into the trees, he got on the bike and strained to push the pedals...

He was too weak. His body was undernourished, it was such a struggle trying to keep the bike upright on the grass that he realized he would actually make faster progress on foot. Cursing, he pushed the bike under some bushes and broke into a trot, then a jog (he was too exhausted to run, and knew he should probably pace himself, anyway).

Maybe the woods should be frightening at night, but they felt like freedom. He was right here on the same side of the glass as the animals; the hooting of owls and almost soundless darting of bats was right above his head. If a bear or something came out of the trees and ate him (who knew what sort of beasts the demon man kept on his property), it would be better than getting tortured or shot and cooked and eaten by a human. If Dick was a real bird, he'd be sleeping in a nest out here somewhere, without a care in the world...

'Focus.' At first, he was mainly trying for distance, but then the stars finally came out. The light pollution wasn't as bad this far out from the city, and Dick could navigate a bit. He tried to visualize the map he and his parents had looked at during the journey to Gotham. 'He said his name is Bruce Wayne; it makes sense for this to be Wayne Manor. Not many houses out here, but if I keep heading southwest, I'll eventually reach a highway.'

Feeling refreshed with purpose, he hiked on, hoping there might be a stream in these woods. He was starving, but food would be easier to find, he just needed to hold out until morning. 'If I can find-'

A sound. That was not a natural sound, it was a man-made one; Dick panicked and broke into a run. He tried to zig-zag, he tried to get behind cover, he tried anything he could think of that might help him elude his pursuer. He considered hiding, but didn't know if that noise meant the machine that was making it could knock over a tree or plow over vegetation. If he could just...find...!

The motorized cart was small enough to thread its way through the trees, and it eventually caught up to him. Then it kept pace, its driver chuckling in amusement at Dick's frantic, vain running. "Where do you think you're going, little Robin?"

Nothing to do but keep going. Keep going. The man hadn't grabbed him yet, maybe by some miracle, if he could hold out long enough to-

There! The trees were growing too closely together for the cart to fit. Dick raced into their midst and struggled his way through, hoping that if it was this hard for him to climb through the thick growth, it would be even more difficult for his pursuer. He'd been pushing through for about two minutes, breathing hard, struggling to keep the chain from getting tangled, when he suddenly staggered and fought to keep his balance. The trees grew right up to the edge of a ravine.

Dick hesitated for only a moment, then started to climb down. The drop was steep, but he could at first use the exposed tree roots for hand- and footholds. When he ran out of those, he hesitated, looped the chain around the lowest suitably hook-shaped root, and continued to descend even more carefully, struggling to keep a tight grip on one side of the chain to control his descent, and the other side to keep the pressure off his throat, digging his feet into the cliff face. It was dangerous and would be foolhardy in any other situation, but in all honesty, he would rather accidentally hang himself or fall to his death rather than be captured by the Batman again.

He'd made it about halfway down before he reached as far as he could get with the chain folded in half. There were no more roots strong enough to hold him, no rock ledges. The only way he could descend farther was to fall.

He hung there for about half a minute, in an agony of indecision, thinking in the back of his mind that his strength was going to give out soon and make the decision for him, when there was a sudden swishing noise. He screamed when he was snatched in midair, then struggled and kept screaming the whole time the Batman swung back to the top of the ravine, climbed onto solid ground, then started forcefully cuddling his captive. "Awwww, Dickie-wickie Robby-wobby, you scared me! I almost lost you!"

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME G-!" [Dick is taken back to the house and whipped in punishment for running away.]

He was released in order to be dressed in a new Robin uniform, and he didn't have the strength or will to resist that, either. Jingling bells were attached to his chafed wrists, his ankles, and the collar that had never left his neck. "So I'll always know where you are, and we'll never have a repeat of that unpleasantness!"

The birdcage was lowered, and he was bundled into it before it was hoisted up again. Dick lay in the dark, silent cave, so still in his cage that all the bells on his body were silent.

To be continued...

In the Birdcage, a Batman fanfic by Raberba girl

Part I: The Boy Who Chirps - Chapter 8 (rough draft)

He had no idea how long he was trapped underground, but it felt like at least two or three days, especially judging by the Batman's or Damian's periodic entrances to use the cave, and the fresh bird feed and water that appeared sometimes when Dick stopped being unconscious. Dick didn't move much, or think much. He lay there and hurt and sometimes slept and sometimes silently talked to his parents.

Then, at one point, the Batman shouted, "Eureka!" The cage lowered; Dick was dragged out of it and strapped to a table and injected with something. He started to laugh against his will. The bells around his neck jingled more and more wildly as his laughter intensified, and then each peal became half a scream - the movement was aggravating the still-healing wounds on his back. Tears were pouring down his face, he couldn't breathe, and he soon passed out.

When he woke up! He was! Ha ha ha ha! Batman, Batman, Batman~!

"Ooohh, yes, I think this batch is a keeper!"

Jingle jingle jingle jingllllle, tee hee hee, like this! And this! And this!

"Settle down, now, Robin. You hungry? You want some-?"

YES YES YES YES PLEEEEEAAAASE! Meat, meat, MMMM GOOD MEAT, for so long there were only seeds but now there's MEAT, filling me up all strong and good, ha ha ha ha ha...!

o.o.o.o.o

Dick woke up in a daze. His whole body felt stretched and sore, he had a headache, and there was a nasty taste in his mouth. He was lying on a couch in the living room, staring numbly at the TV [Ftr, Dick's hair is green now.]

That night, the birdcage he was locked into with a blanket covering it was left in the kitchen rather than the cave, so Dick could faintly hear the owls again. Once he was absolutely sure there was no one near, he managed, after a while, to tug the blanket off, and then he could hear the owls better, and see the moonlight. He lay there for a long time, tears seeping down his face, watching a line of ants crossing the floor. 'I want to die.'

o.o.o.o.o

The next day was some kind of training. Humiliated, Dick obeyed orders, making bird noises, pacing at the 'proper' distance behind his captor as they walked, going, coming, pouncing, and stopping at the word "Bar!" (once he figured out what action it indicated). He wondered what would happen if he just lay down and refused to move, but the whip marks on his back still throbbed, and he didn't dare.

Then the laughing drug was forced on him.

So hungry, so hungry, SO - HUN - GRYYYYY, give food!

"Nah-ah-ah, not until you're good! I said fly, Robin, to the tree and back!"

Treeeeee! Zooooom, flap flap flap just like a real bird, tree-

...There is lots and lots and lots of space past this tree, why stop at just the tree when there's so much more room to fly? Zooooom-

AAAAAHHH! PAIN! Ow ow ow ow ow paaaaaaain, please don't hurt me please don't hurt me please don't hurt me...!

"I said to the TREE! And then BACK!"

Tree! Back! Tree then back, went to the tree and then kept going, bad Robin, bad bird, back back back back back, ow, hurts so much, don't hurt me more, don't hurt me...!

"Bar!"

BAR MEANS STOP. Stop. Good bird, good stop, don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me!

"Down!"

DOWN.

"Up!"

UP, up, how much up?! Up on knees, up on feet, up higher?! Want to go higher, can't, can't, wings don't work!

"Haha, okay. Good boy."

FOOD! Seed seed seed, crunch crunch crunch, good boy don't hurt me, don't hurt good boy... Heeeeee, soft hand on hair feels good, gentle. Be nice to me, love me.

"Okay, okay, get off. Now. Robin! Fly to the tree and back!"

Fly to the TREE! Fly BACK! Fly to tree and back, ow ow still hurts but won't hurt more if the tree and then BACK, good boy!

"Theeeere you go, much better."

FOOD! Petting!

"All right, let's try this: Robin! Bite!"

GNAAAARGGHH, GNAW GNAW GNAW, good boy, good bite, pet gentle...!

o.o.o.o.o

Dick woke up with a fresh headache and horribly stiff cheeks - he couldn't get his lips to completely close, and the best he could do only lasted while he was concentrating. 'Damn you!'

His back burned with pain from whip wounds not allowed to rest, and his skin was inflamed from the acid spray he must have been punished with while he'd been drugged. 'What did he do to me...' He stared at his green hair and seethed. 'He's breaking me. He's trying to make me his pet for real.' He couldn't let that happen, yet he didn't know how to stop it... While his mind was infected by the drug, he felt so eager to please, so instinctive. It was hard to even remember to fight, or to remember why it was important if he did. 'I can't let him destroy me...!'

o.o.o.o.o

It had been an endless week - as close as he could figure - of headaches and training. To pass the time when he lay in the dark, aching, locked in his cage, he worked on his bird language and experimented with how slowly and carefully he had to move in order not to jingle.

At one point, Dick realized that he'd spent more time being drugged than not, and his lucid times were starting to get slightly fuzzy - he couldn't quite remember his parents' actual names, just 'Mom' and 'Dad' and...something with a G...G, Grayson. Grayson, couldn't forget his own friggin' family's name. When he practiced his bird language, there were some words he couldn't quite remember, just the images or concepts of them. 'If he turns my brain into soup, it won't matter whether I'm drugged or not, I won't be myself anymore.'

o.o.o.o.o

Dick's heart nearly stopped with shock. Batman had forgotten to lock the cage.

He stared, trembling, at the birdcage door that was now hanging open. He was in the kitchen again, so he wasn't far off the ground, an easy drop. He just needed to...emerge carefully enough to keep the bells from sounding an alarm...

It took him a long, long time, and the only reason he didn't go out of his mind with terror was because he could hear that awful distant screaming, which he was pretty sure meant that Batman was...'busy'...with someone...in the cave. He couldn't allow himself to think of the suffering of whoever that was; all it meant was that Batman was occupied, and Dick couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't panic unless the screaming stopped.

The bells did clink, just a tiny bit, when he landed, but the drop was as careful as possible, and when he paused, listening hard, ready to scramble back in and pretend he had just gotten restless in his cage, all he heard was screaming. Well, wailing, now. 'Don't think. Don't think. At least they'll probably be dead by morning, but you'll still be alive to torture if you don't GO, NOW.'

He crept painstakingly across the kitchen, to the mud room and then the garage, where he hesitated. Still no vehicle keys, and he didn't know if he should risk the back yard again, or try his luck with the front. 'He only caught me last time because he was probably watching for me to escape, testing me.' He wouldn't be expecting it now, and the back continued to hold the advantages over the front, so Dick crept out.

No one from the house could possibly hear the jingling of bells once he'd cleared the gardens, so that's when he started to run. Unlike the controlled jog of before, he ran flat-out, desperate, needing to escape. He glanced at the sky, trying to gauge where the ravine was. At this point, he wasn't sure whether he intended to look for a way to climb down into it or throw himself into it, but either way, if he could find that thick stand of trees, he'd be able to elude capture. He'd only been caught last time because the monster had seen him go in there and had known where to be to catch him on the other side.

o.o.o.o.o

[Dick is caught and punished again.] Immediately afterward, he was drugged and taken out to the city for the first time, the whole experience a dizzying whirl of laughter and agony and orders and meat.

When he came back to himself, [. . .]

"Every time you run, it'll get worse. Next time, it'll be a child I sic you on."

Dick cried.

o.o.o.o.o

While Dick was still healing, he was dragged down to the cave and strapped to the table. It was different this time, though - beside the table was a terrified dentist with a bomb collar, and the drug Dick was injected with made him unconscious instead of laughter-crazed. When he woke up, his mouth was sore and bleeding from multiple small cuts, because his teeth had been turned into fangs and he hurt himself almost every time he moved. It took days of practice to get used to the way he now had to avoid drawing blood every time he spoke or chewed.

He never saw the dentist again.

o.o.o.o.o

[. . .]

To be continued...

In the Birdcage, a Batman fanfic by Raberba girl

Part I: The Boy Who Chirps - Chapter 9 (rough draft)

Going out, going out, going oooouuut~! Hop, hop, good boy, follow the chain, CAR! Ooohhh, black black black black heeheehee trees look so blurry-no-trees because we go FAST!

Awwww...pretty stars moon, hello, moon, hello~!

"Sit down, Robin."

Sit down! Sit down! Good boy!

STOP lurch ha ha ha! Lemme out lemme out lemme out THANK YOOOUUU for letting me out! Bouncy look look look chain-tug oops, can look at touch bite anything~ except when chain tugs, then go to Master!

Rumbly man voices, boring; look, a little bug, a little brown buggie with feelers going ewie-ewie-ewie, so cute~! Ha ha ha, I wil eat-

"Robin! Bite!"

MASTER'S POINTING! BITE BITE ATTACK RAAAAWWWRRRR!

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Hee hee hee, screaming screaming but teeth chew on MEAT until it stops. Good boy? Good bird?

"Good job, Robin. Bar."

STOP. Bar means stop!

Master looking at bleeding-man, Master petting, ooohhh, I like being petted. "Good boy."

Good boy!

"All right, then; onwards!"

Onwards~!

o.o.o.o.o

Clink

Dick stared. The Batman had fallen asleep, reading a book out here on the terrace, and now the chain leash had dropped from his hand.

Dick couldn't take his eyes away from that end of the leash for a long time. If he could get out of eyesight before the man woke up, he could pick up the chain, sneak away, and disappear into the woods.

...

He could. But he would be caught. And punished.

"Every time you run, it'll get worse. Next time, it'll be a child I sic you on."

Dick knew he had killed people, while on that awful drug. He'd sunk his horrible fangs into them and ripped[. . .]. The memories from those times were fragmented and fuzzy, but from what he could tell, he'd only killed adults so far.

He stared longingly off into the yard. Before he could make a decision, he nearly jumped out of his skin and whimpered fearfully when his captor snorted and turned onto his side, facing the house. Even if he were to open his eyes, he wouldn't see if Dick fled very quietly.

'Don't do it,' Dick told himself silently. 'Don't do it.'

After an anxious moment, the man stirred again and grumbled, then sat up. "C'mon, Robbie, let's go take a real nap." After a few steps, he complained, "Why are you so jingly? It's giving me a headache!" and, to Dick's astonishment, pulled all the bells off and flung them aside.

The boy followed obediently, marveling at the blessed silence of his movements and trying not to stare when the Batman didn't bother to close the door when they went through it, just trudged up to the dusty master suite and flung himself onto the bed.

Dick stared. [. . .] Hadn't caged him and still hadn't secured his leash, had left the door open, with Damian training in the cave because that's what the small screen on the bedside table showed him doing.

'Don't do it.'

Dick wandered out of the bedroom because he could not bear being close to his captor if he could help it. He went downstairs and stared at that open door, with the woods green and shadowy beyond. Batman had only just lay down. Dick had seen him. Even if he only napped for twenty minutes, Dick could still get into the shelter of the trees.

He would still be caught, though, because the man was a demon who always knew what Dick had done and where he had gone. He would be caught, and he knew he wouldn't be able to bear the punishment this time. So he crept into the birdcage in the kitchen and pulled the door shut and curled up to sleep.

He awoke panicking because hands were pulling him out of the cage again, but he wasn't struck. Hands held him still but not cruelly, caressed him innocently. "What a good boy you are, sweet bird. I'm so proud of you."

'It was a test,' Dick realized, his heart sinking. 'He left the way open for me on purpose, to see if I would try to escape again or not.'

He was not hurt or drugged the rest of that day and night. He was fed proper food, praised, even given normal clothing to wear that he was allowed to change into himself. Even though it was a relief, he knew what he was being rewarded for, and he hated himself for it. He hated his captor more, though. 'Someday,' he thought, smiling up at the demon man. 'I will pretend to be your sweet, obedient pet, but someday, you'll make a mistake, and then I'll be able to kill myself before you can stop me.'

"I love you so much, sweet bird," the Batman crooned.

o.o.o.o.o

"Eat it."

"No," Dick sobbed, "no, please, no, no...!" This was the first time since Becca that he was ordered to eat human flesh when not drugged, and he couldn't make himself do it. He couldn't.

"Eat it, or you'll eat nothing for a week."

Hope leaped in Dick's chest, but he knew better than to show it. "No, please! Please, just, I'll eat, I can eat dog meat, or, or cat meat, just, please...don't make me eat this...!"

He was locked in the birdcage with no food at all, and with a bit of water only provided every other day.

o.o.o.o.o

On the fourth day, he lay still in his cage, wishing he would be allowed to die. He'd tried to spill out the water so he could die from dehydration, but then water had been literally forced down his throat, so he now drank what was offered.

He was so tired.

'I wish I was a real bird.' He wouldn't know what he was missing. He'd be happy with birdseed and any kind of covering for his body, no matter what the style. He wouldn't remember his parents, and maybe he could even fly for real. 'I need to be a real bird.'

So, over the next several days of his punishment, he turned himself into a bird. Birds did not name themselves, so he had no name, only what his owner called him. He didn't have soft lips or teeth, he had a beak. He didn't have arms, he had wings; the coverings on his body were feathers, not clothes. He had talons instead of toes. He voiced nothing but birdsong.

"Sad, sad, want to get out of the cage, fly away, fly free..."

o.o.o.o.o

Di- The bird did not know how long he had been punished, but at last there came a day when the cage was unlocked, and he was brought out. He crooned in relief and drank the water he was given, dipping it up in his mouth like his fellow birds did.

"Hmmm. Something's different today."

The bird chirred.

"Oh well. To the Batcave, Robin!"

The bird Laughed, and he flew to the city with his master, and he ate meat, and Master was pleased.

o.o.o.o.o

Always Laughing! Always Laughing! Always Laughing! I will laugh foreverrrrr~! XD

o.o.o.o.o

Morning!

Hello sun~ hello sun~ I love yoooouuu-!

crash!

"Cut out that racket!"

Oops oops oops, Master threw a thing! Master is angry at this bird! Ssshh, birdie, sssshhh, be quiet, Master is sleeping. Creep creep creep down, alone? Alone? Yes! Hello sun~ hello sun~ I love yoooouuu~! ^_^

Morning-singing finished now; food? Food? Looking looking lookiiiing~ OOH what's this? Food? crunch OW, hurts beak! Owie!

"Haha. Gotta thaw it out, first, sweet bird."

Hello, Master! Please give me food! "crow!" Master likes this sound very much best. This good bird is good and will get food for being a good bird. "crow!"

"Yes, yes, hold on."

Humming humming waaaaiiting, so bored! Tweety-tweet-tweet-tweet-tweety-tweety-tweeeee...

ding!

OOH! MEAT IS FINISHED! MEAT IS WARM!

"Here ya go, Robin."

YUM YUM FOOD FOR MY TUMMY. Sink in riiiiiip, mm, gulp gulp gulp! Good food! Yummy!

"Good bird. You're such a good bird, Robin."

Ooooohhh, petting by Master. Master hand so gentle, don't hurt me~!

"Yes, yes, I love you, too. Come on, sweet bird, time to play."

Time to play! Time to play~!

o.o.o.o.o

Hello, Grandpa! Hello hello hello! Do not look sad, I love you, see?

"Oh, young master..."

I said don't be sad! Hmmm... Ooh! Look, look, I will do a trick for you! (flip~) Yaaaayyy, good bird!

"Most impressive, young master."

Why do you smile when you are still so sad? Why are you so sad, Grandpa? I love you!

"Oh, young master...oh, you dear, sweet child, I would give my life to save you..."

Don't cry! I love you! But keep cuddling, this is good cuddling.

o.o.o.o.o

The Batman Who Laughs was sitting on the couch - or, lying, rather, since he was slumped down so low, his legs carelessly splayed. He scowled at the TV as his bird twittered quietly and used curved, stiff fingers to play with a cluster of colorful marbles. "Hmmm. Come here, Robin."

The bird obeyed instantly, moving toward the couch in a low, hunched-over posture and attempting to climb onto his master.

"Oof, no!" He pushed the bird off, then, just for something to do, grabbed him and started hitting him. The bird cawed in distress and squirmed, but knew better than to try to get away.

After a minute, Laughs stopped. He stared down at his captive, who lay still and crooned up at him plaintively. He let go. [. . .] the bird burst into tears...and didn't fight. Just lay there, crying.

Laughs sat back on his heels, frustrated about the lingering feeling of dissatisfaction. "I changed my mind. [. . .]"

No response. Just more crying. "Shut up!"

The slap silenced him. The bird lay there as if dead, even though it had just been one blow, not particularly forceful, not even any blood drawn.

"Ugh." Laughs flopped back onto the couch, then started flipping through channels again. Everything on TV sucked, so he hurled the remote at the screen. He looked down and found the bird crawling on him, so he shoved him back down. "Get off me!"

"Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!"

"UGH. Let's go for a walk." He grabbed the leash and dragged, but they'd barely crossed the terrace before Laughs came to a stop. The bird scrambled and finally managed to catch up, panting a little.

Laughs stared. He was so frickin' BORED. "Take off your clothes," he ordered on a whim.

The bird immediately stripped down until he wore nothing but the collar around his neck. He crouched there, grinning that lovely empty grin, all the scars on his little stark-white body on proud display.

"Dammit!" He hurled the chain away and stalked back inside. "I love children, I'm not supposed to get bored of them so quickly-" He paused. "'Children.'" He slapped his forehead. "Oh, what a dummy! Should have realized it sooner."

o.o.o.o.o

Master didn't come back, and didn't come back, so the bird finally pulled his feathers on again and crept under a bush where he could watch bugs and maybe sleep.

Long long. Long long. It was dark, and the bird looked out of the bush and it was almost night already, he was surprised. He wandered back into the house, wondering if Master would feed him tonight.

No Master. No Damian. Just shadows, and bugs. No food in the food room or in any of the cold things, so he went back to see if he could catch some of the bugs to eat.

Sound. That sound. He knew that sound, it was a bad sound. Different from the Screaming, that was a bad sound too; this was worse. Little. Little ones, small creatures making that sound. Not like mice or squirrels; small creatures like him. Used to be.

He listened. He followed, and there in the cave-

Cages, not the bird's-

Two of them. Terrified eyes, shouting mouths, high voices filled with fear. Trapped and covered with Robin feathers, two new pets for Master to torture and starve and feed bad meat to and make Laugh-

The bird screamed.

To be continued...