Barry paced his hotel room restlessly. In his hands was the cowl of The Flash. He hadn't worn the suit in two days, and now he was starting to feel like he was missing something. He had heard the rumors of this so-called "Bat Man" who came out at night in this city, and from what he heard, he sounded like someone he shouldn't get on the bad side of. His eyeless cowl stared up at him as he held it up. Maybe a little run won't hurt. Stretch the legs a bit. He suited up and slipped the cowl over his face before dashing out of the hotel faster than the eye could see and into the streets of Gotham.
Christian and I have a wonderful time at Wayne Manor. My inner goddess has already passed out on her bed, not bothering to change out of her dress or take off her makeup.
"Did you enjoy yourself, Ana?" Christian asks me.
"I did. I don't think I've ever danced that much."
"Good. Because you will not like what I have planned for you once we get back to the hotel room, Mrs. Grey." Christian whispers to me. In retrospect, I should have known better than to dance with Mr. Fox. But it would have been rude to turn him down, and it was only. One. Dance. Jeez! Though in the back of my mind, I'm thinking that maybe on some level I wanted to provoke Christian. We politely finish our conversation with Mr. Wayne, make our way to the car and set out to return to our hotel.
Barry suited up and slipped the cowl over his face before dashing out of the hotel faster than the eye could see and into the streets of Gotham.
"Um, Barry," Cisco's voice came over his cowl's radio, "aren't you supposed to be on vacation?"
"Crime doesn't take a vacation Cisco," Barry said as he ran through the city.
"That may be true, but you should take some time to rest, Barry," Professor Wells told him.
"Maybe, but that doesn't mean letting some purse snatcher get away, right?" Caitlyn had a point also.
"One run through the city, nothing too serious and then I'm done. I promise."
"Heads up Barry. You may be needed after all." In spite of himself, Barry perked up at Hartley's statement.
"What's up Hartley?"
"Temporary retask of the STAR Labs satellite showed a serious thermal spike somewhere downtown. Localizing now."
"Don't need to," Caitlyn spoke up, "Barry, there are reports of a fire at the Gotham Royale hotel. First responders will be there in five." Barry this time felt the beginnings of a smile creep up the corners of his mouth in spite of himself.
"I'll be there in one." Barry said as he took off toward the heart of Gotham City.
"Hey, if you do run into this Batman guy, don't suppose you could get pictures? Ow!" Barry heard Cisco's reaction to what had to be Caitlin's reprimanding shoulder slap as he neared the hotel.
"ETA on the first responders?" Barry asked as he stopped a few blocks from the hotel. The wail of sirens told him they couldn't be that far away.
"GCFD should be getting there now, and PD's blocking off the area," Cisco reported as Barry arrived at the hotel, watching smoke billow out of the top floor. Time to see if Hartley's sonar modifications worked. It's called field testing for a reason. Pressing the switches at the temples of the cowl, lenses slid over his eyes as he raced up the wall of the burning hotel, through what once was a floor to ceiling pane glass window, and into the smoke filled penthouse. It took him a few seconds to get used to the sonar, but it did help him see clearly through the thick black smoke that assaulted his lungs.
"Barry? Barry, are you at the hotel?" Caitlyn asked urgently.
"Yeah, yeah I'm here," Barry rasped in between coughing bouts. Something had to be done. Barry held his arms out in front of him and spun them around, funneling the smoke out of the room. Now able to breathe easier, he quickly assessed the room.
"Barry? Talk to me Barry!"
"I'm here Caitlyn, had to clear the air first. Tell Hartley good job on the sonar mods." There was a man lying unconscious on the floor a few steps from him. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found a pulse, albeit a faint one.
"There's one man unconscious, injured, maybe seriously. Whose room is this?" Barry did a look around the rest of the room for other people.
"According to the hotel's occupancy records, a Christian Trevelyan-Grey, some billionaire from Seattle." Caitlyn reported.
"Christian Grey is not just some billionaire," Hartley chimes in, "He's involved in everything from manufacturing and shipbuilding, to agriculture and e-publishing of all things."
"You sound impressed Hartley."
"He's more my type than Bruce Wayne, Caitlyn." Hartley deadpans.
"Picture incoming Barry," Cisco chimes in.
A picture flashed across one of the lenses in Barry's cowl. Looking down at the unconscious man on the floor, a quick comparison told him, "guys, this is not Grey."
"Wait, what? Give us a second," Caitlyn seemed as confused as Barry.
"I'll do some checking." Barry surveyed the rest of the room. There was a hardly inconspicuous gaping hole where the entrance to the room had been smashed in. He carefully stepped into the bedroom closest to where the man lay unconscious. The door had been torn off the hinges. Not exactly Mr. Subtle, Barry mused. Something caught his eye though. A slightly singed, ash laden teddy bear lay on the floor by the bed. "Guys, I really need to know who else was staying here."
"We're working on-"
"Now Caitlyn!"
"OK, we did some digging on who was with Grey when he arrived. Grey and his wife Anastasia are at a reception at Wayne Manor. That leaves either Jason Taylor or Luke Sawyer." Their pictures appeared on Barry's cowl lens. "Cisco, the guy here is definitely Taylor. But," and Barry swallowed hard, "who else was with them?"
"Um, Christian Grey, his wife Anastasia," Caitlyn audibly gasped, "and their son, Theodore." All the blood drained from Barry's face. No one liked missing persons cases...
Especially child abductions.
