So I took a hiatus from everything for three months...which is a very long time, right. But some people leave for a whole year and don't even acknowledge what they've done. So...this is my attempt at a heart felt apology by giving you 4 chapters in the next two weeks that are all 4,500 words each for three of the good stories. Which were this one, Trust(the one where Artemis is in a coma), and Lead Us(the one where Kaldur sacrifices himself for the team). So, please don't hate me for my pause. Just learn to love what is.
This was basically our last stand. There would be no second chance after this. If they found us, it would be instant kill, game over. This was the ultimate kill or be killed. Dick opened the door for me and we gingerly stepped out, unsure of what we would see. It was dark, not entirely musty but still dank. I entertained the thought of going towards the hallway that was lighter, but I couldn't be sure. We moved silently to through the place until we hit another door. This is what would happen every time. We'll see a door and have to decide whether we should open it or not.
"Think we should open it?" Dick asked, and I shrugged, my head was starting to hurt a bit. I entertained the thought of just going to sleep, but that wouldn't be enough. We needed to get out of here quickly, I wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. My head was really going to hemorrhage and I'd die before doing anything with my life. I had made a quick timetable in my head. I had about 2 hours before blood came out of my ears and at least 5 before I died without medication.
"Go ahead. Either way, something will happen. Whether we like it or not, just do it." I said, and he twisted the handle, pushing the door. He slipped a little, finally felling the effects of the trauma to his head. I lifted him slightly and we walked inside. This place was easily a labyrinth, made to confuse us. That would mean it was underground, because something huge like this wouldn't go unnoticed in Gotham. We had been walking for at least 15 minutes before I was sure we were on ground level. I pulled Dick closer to me and started to get into a faster walk, I needed out of here.
"We're close, I'm sure of it. The air smells different." I said, and we kept moving. I bet you're wondering why I would say something like that. Simple, remembering things also applies to smell, so I would be able to see if there was a difference in the time I was in here. Just another weird thing that I could do that I hated just a little. Dick took another and there was only one door in front of us. I moved in front of him and pushed through, stopping quickly when I saw who was there. And if you think I was outside, I would have told you that I was running through the grass. But no, I screamed bloody murder because we weren't, we were in hell.
"They're being held underground, that's a fact." Detective Montoya said, taking a bite out of her sandwich. They had been having this argument for the past 15 minutes and it was getting tiring.
"How could they be underground? Think about it, they're are in a warehouse. Kidnapped kids are always in warehouses." Richards said matter-of-factually, and she turned away.
"Look at the room Alex is in. It's bright white, with some type of lighting. We would have seen a warehouse getting renovated a while ago to have things like this... Fine, let's compromise. They're in a warehouse with a large underground base." She spun in her chair and went to the computer running a search to see how many warehouses have enough space to do something like that.
"Alright, there is only three warehouses in the area that can have that much space. I don't trust Joker, not on anyone's life. We should have three different task squads at each site to find them. I'll handle one, Richards gets one, and the Commissioner can assign a third-"
"Which I will be giving to Bullock, any questions? None, good. Be on your way and keep close contact with me, I'll have all your coms on in front of me. Bullock, go to the one Bruce is heading to. Those are the orders, go fulfill them to the best of your ability, we have more cases to deal with." He said, and everyone assigned headed out, unsure of what exactly would be in store for them.
"Oh, Hello. Seems you got out ahead of plans!" Joker said, standing up from his chair. He looked the same as before, when he cut open my leg. Acting like we were the best of friends, how wonderful. He was sitting in front of a television with three different things showing on it, from what I could tell. They all looked like warehouses, which one were we in?
"Little girl, you looked verrryyy interested in the screen, want to know more?" He said, smiling his bloody smile. Again, why so friendly? I looked around quickly, but some of the people were actually checking their ears. I must have screamed very loud, because some of the windows even had cracks in them. Blame my singing voice, I learned these things.
"Um, yeah." I said, shifting from foot to foot even though I was leaving spots of blood on the floor. He turned the system to face us and I retracted to go behind my brother. Sue me, Joker's face makes me want to piss myself. I didn't have to squint or anything but I only understood a few things. There were three warehouses being focused on in the screen. One of them were probably the one we were all in so Joker could keep an eye on the cops. But what about the other warehouses? What was the purpose for their usage?
"I can almost tell what your thinking. What about the other two? Simple, the - police - don't - trust - me, so I make them play a little game. Three warehouses, but where are the three kids? Are they in the address I gave, or the one capable to hold them? The answer is the first one my dears. Now how will you feel if Brucey goes to the wrong one?" He says, and I clench my fist. Don't know exactly why, but it's a reaction that I've grown accustomed to when I hear someone bad-talking him.
"What's happens when you go to...to the wrong one?" I say, inching back to make distance. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible.
"A bomb. I've got the detonator right here. It turns on 1 minute after I send out the signal and 30 seconds after it's on. How brilliant is that?" he says, adding just a little spin before his eyes land on us intensely.
"Now, how are we going to spend the time before he comes?" He says, walking towards us. I put my hand out, waving it a little.
"Wait! We can do nothing, just nothing and wait for them to arrive at the place. Them we can watch the places explode." I say, trying to make appease him. Distance is best if you don't want to die.
He smiled."Great mind think alike. I thought I would have to tie you down to keep you from leaving." He had sung the last part but his words were true. I knew he would have no trouble with it. My head was still pounding. I touched my ear and looked at my fingers.
Blood. My brain had been going into overdrive. Timetable is moved up and I probably only have an hour unless i force myself to sleep and get medication before I wake up. Tough.
"Look! Look! The cops showed up at the first location, the one you aren't in. I'm sending the signal. Now!" He said smiling, and the countdown appeared on the screen. 1 minute and 5 second before that place went sky high.
Richards slammed the door on the cop car and tightened the straps on his bullet proof vest. Him and five others went inside with their guns and entered an empty room. He turned on his com.
"Nothing is here. It's been abandoned for a while." He said, and he was answered with a "k" from everyone else.
beep-beep-beep-beep-beep
He looked at the center pillar and squinted just a bit.
"Run!...Everyone, there's a bomb, get out through the back!" He yelled and they ran like hell. Four of the others were out, due to Richards prompting but one had fell in their melee.
"Go!" Richards said pushing him out before the pillar blew open, sending Richards flying with its force. He had landed on his stomach, while feeling a warm ooze drip down his face and on his stomach. He was almost out of his mind before hearing some choice words.
"Richards, what's wrong? Answer me!" Montoya said through the com and he smiled.
"It's all good in the hood. I can't feel much but...be careful, alright sweetie?" Her said, with a bit of a slur as someone yelled and took his com.
"I need to request an ambulance at this location. There's shrapnel lodged in his back...there was a bomb. He was just talking, how could he be dead. Yeah, there's a bit of blood. IF you want to help him you'll get him an ambulance and not get yourself killed at the place you're at. I'll take care of him, Montoya. Alright!" The officer said in mock annoyance and put the com back in Richards ear.
"Hey, you still with me!" Montoya said, yelling at the same volume as before.
"Sure...why you yellin'" Richards said, still slurring a little but adds a giggle because he secretly thinks its cute.
"No reason. An ambulance has come to get you. I'm going into the next location. See you at the hospital, okay." She said, before disconnecting.
"Be...safe." He said, before the ambulance sirens could be heard.
"Well, would you look at that. Only one person got hurt. Bet he has no idea what was going on when he flew like that." Joker said, starting to laugh at his own words. I heard my brother gag, but I kept focusing on the man's back. Would he be able to walk again? Surely, he had a bulletproof vest on so it'll probably look like a few 3 inch puncture wounds where ever he was hit.
"He won't die, though. He's wearing a bulletproof vest. What did you use...to make that happen?" I ask, and he thought I was really interested. I may have been but not for bad purposes, I promise.
"C-4. It's made in a rectangular shape. I got mine from a place with a really long code to find. Had to group the coordinates and the key code very well. Want to hear it?" He asked, as if proposing a challenge. I nodded because of how stupid this would be for me.
"Fine. Its 96746r5h6c532." He said, reading it of some type of form that he had. Then, he pointed at the screen again.
"This one has about 10 pounds off C-4 in it, plus a gasoline tank for an aftermath no one will forget." He said, all giddy, like this wasn't killing anyone at all. I sighed, because it wouldn't work. They knew the time frame by now, they would get out.
"And did I forget to let you know...I've got a suicide bomber in there. I gave him something so he couldn't feel pain and told him to lock himself and another person in there "by accident"" He said, putting up some really sarcastic air-quotes. That's duly noted, mostly because using air-quotes is completely foreign to me.
"How will he even know when it goes off?" I ask and I still can't believe I'm having a conversation with a monster.
"Simple. this time the beeping will go off 15 seconds before it detonates." He says, and presses the bottom.
"Now, shush. The show is starting." He says, and we bring our attention to the screen.
"This is Montoya. I'm at the central pillar. What next?" She says very silently, knowing that the bomb is most likely in there. She already knows how bad it could be to just be at the door, since Richards...
"The Joker is planning on setting it off. It's obvious he's not here and it will take a while for it to detonate. It would be best to leave right now." Gordon said easily. Montoya looked around, two of them were about 10 feet from the back door and ready to bolt. One man, bless his soul, stayed close to her, as if ready to grab her and get her out if necessary. She smiled at him awkwardly and he looked down and away. She perceived it as him being embarrassed and coughed a little.
beep-beep-beep-beep
The two others were already out and Montoya and the other man dashed to the door that had just closed. The man kicked the door but the glass broke and he fell back into her. Montoya closed her eyes with the last beep. Sorry...Richards.
BOOM!
I screamed, I really truly did. I had expected two more people but it just blew. I'm sure my brother was close to tears, but since it was impossible for me to do that kind of thing, I just gasped after the fact. Joker was laughing so hard, I'm sure he was holding his sides seriously.
"She's dead! Oh Shit! Excuse my French. They are under that rubble! Well, it seems our fun has ended. I guess I'll get my money and you'll go home...maybe." He said after thinking and got a bag.
"What's inside of that?" I asked lightly and he didn't answer mumbling about extras and taking out these things that were like bricks and wires together. I inhaled sharply, knowing it was a bomb. Then, there was a loud bang, erupting from behind us. I turned around to see who it was but before I could Dick was hit with a bat. He feel face first and I grabbed him to soften his fall and looked up to see someone hit me with the same object in the face. Here's that brain overdrive thing, finally on my side. I couldn't feel anything at all. I sprang up and grabbed the bat, snaking my legs around the attackers full arm with as much force as I could apply. He let go of the bat as his arm started to turn red. He shook his arm and I tumbled down, taking the bat into my hand and defiantly holding it while in front of my brother.
"Who are-" I inhaled sharply after finally getting a good look at his face, contorted in anger. Tony Zucco. I leaned backwards minimally to get my brother's hands and tried my best to move him back as I tried to go in the same direction.
"You killed my mom and dad...Why?" I said, stopping myself in that spot. He held his arm, cradling it with the undamaged one and swore. However, he made a small chuckle at seeing my fear-stricken face.
"What do you think? This is Gotham, sweetheart! A place where only the strong and smart will survive. Thing is, where do you fit in?" He said before taking out a knife. I stared a little bit more and realized he had a gun too.
He launched at me and I bolted, running to the back of the warehouse, not understanding what exactly was going on, but I just didn't want to die.
"I will survive! Just watch me, and you...you'll be the one to die." I said, somewhat mocking his speech pattern. I looked around for something to use. I had spotted a few chains littered around by the east side and ran to it while he chased me at a slower pace. When I got there, I threw the bat at him with the best accuracy I could give at that time and picked up the chains. They were hefty but throw able, since I had some strength training back at the circus. I threw them intricately, remembering the magic tricks that make it simple to tie and untie metal. He wasn't watching me closely so when it snaked around him he fell to the ground as if unexpectedly.
I picked up the bat and swung it once, since the blood was really pounding in my ears. I hit him in the head and it was an instant K-O. I fell back easily, groaning from the pain I had suppressed while doing all this. I almost cried, knowing that I had taken down my parents killer. But this was different, I would never cry again, once was surely enough. Then I heard clapping in the distance. Everything was starting to get foggy, and very blanch at the same time. Just different spot were clear and others were blurry and red looking.
"How unexpected! A small seven year old child being able to take out a mob boss. See what happens when you don't work out." He said, cackling and setting the bomb for two minutes.
"This time...And Just This ONCE." He started, stating clearly a "never again" vibe. "I will leave you here. There's a way out, which I am taking. It's like this...they don't know when the bomb will go off, and they're trying to get you out. Don't know what'll happen but I'm leaving four million dollars so this better be good. See you soon, and if there's a next time...I'll bleed you dry." He said, turning on the timer and leaving through where we had entered before. I tried to stand but fell down, and knew running might just be futile. I crawled over to Dick and grabbed his collar, dragging the both of us to the front door. I made myself stand through utter will power and ran to get the bat while glancing at the clock.
0:59
I took the bat and swung at the door,making a small dent in the door. I kept going and dropped the bat when there was no answer and started pounding on the door as I heard the rattling of the chains in the back. Zucco was escaping but I really had no time to worry about that. Then, I heard a pounding at the door.
0:25
"Alex! Richard! Can you hear me!" Bruce said, and I pounded twice in some type of relief. The door opened and police came inside, dragging both of us out and running us away.
0:01
BOOM!
Everything blew apart and I mean everything, windows, doors, paper, even the dirt went up in response to the immensity of the bomb. Everyone around me shook and whoever was holding me fell. I looked up and tried to breath in the clean air but coughed hard. I looked over and caught a hint of my brothers face. I smiled lightly and watched the ambulance pull up and put us on stretchers until I grabbed their arm.
'She's got a strong pulse! And a good grip too." The person who's arm I had grabbed said and he made a small smile while putting me in the ambulance.
"Where's the lady? The one in the other place?" I asked and he looked for some approval from the person in charge.
"They recovered her and another from the rubble. The male is dead and Montoya is still breathing, that's all I know." He said as I went unconscious.
"Hey Alex, you should wake up." Dick said, while sitting at my side on the hospital bed. I groan and look around slowly at who's in the room. All I see is Bruce and an older man, wearing some variation of a trench coat and a police badge. Cliche, much? I stare at them until they realize I'm awake.
"Are you all right?" Bruce asks, instantly at my side, which is very wierd but at the same time comforting so it's allowed.
"I guess." I say, and my voice is totally wrong. It's more hoarse now, like my screaming really took a toll on me or something.
"Um, this is the Police Commissioner, . He has some questions for you, since Richard can't remember much. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Bruce said and I nodded, not willing to say that I would answer them all regardless since I can't forget anything.
"All right then, can you remember any key things the Joker had said that might help me in any way? For some reason, he let you all go with, in his case, minimal injuries, can you tell me why?" He said, coughing just a little.
"He said that since I beat Zucco, I might just be able to escape. Bfore that, he was talking about a suicide bomber locking himself in with the police lady to have a casualty but I don't think it would work because he decided against it at the last second and tried to get the lady out. Then he was talking about this code to get the...C-4." I said, and both of them leaned forward, as if what I was saying shouldn't be true.
"DO you remember...the code, I mean?" Gordon says, and I nod because it doesn't really affect me if they know.
"Its 967...46r5h6...c532." I said slowly, pretending like it took me a long time to remember exactly what the number was. Gordon wrote it down quickly and looked at me, expecting more.
"Um...the numbers have to be grouped as if you were solving an algebraic problem. That's all I heard from him." I said, becoming seriously interested with the sheets on the bed. Gordon murmured his goodbyes and left, leaving me with Dick and Bruce.
"I wanted to say...I'm sorry. Being my wards guaranteed that something like this would happen. I can't say I regret bringing you guys into my home, but I do regret not being able to protect you." He said, clenching his hands. I was at a loss for words, which is very uncommon for a person like me but there was only one loose end.
"What happened to Zucco? Did he get away?" I asked and Bruce shook for no. I'm guessing he tried to run with the chains on him and didn't get far enough.
"This is actually something I wanted to talk to you about. When the paramedics assessed your condition, they said you were dying. How could you have tied him down in that much pain?" He asked and I sighed. I would need a good excuse...or the best excuse of all.
"I don't know. Adrenaline, I guess. Fight or flight, and I chose the first." I said, and he asked no more questions.
"On another note, I was shown the records in the security cameras installed in the house the day you were...taken. You were looking at the clock...why?" He said and I remained passive, as if he hadn't said anything that might just get me in trouble.
"It looked really nice, I guess. I wanted to know how it worked, it different pulley systems among other things." I said and Dick nodded, ending that conversation too. We were 2-2, on our way out of here.
"Am I getting discharged soon. I want to go...home." I said, and Bruce looked at my chart.
"Well,I could ask for you. The only thing that could be keeping you here is the gash on your leg, but I think I could handle this." He said, leaving the hospital room.
So I had to stay in the hospital for one more day and then we left, going through the back to escape from all the reporters and stuff. Because of my injury, they let us eat whatever we wanted. It was pretty nice, but it didn't beat Bruce reading us book to go to sleep. Thank God he wasn't exactly prepared for us or he would've have wasted his money buying something our age, like Goldilocks or some craziness. Bruce grows on you though, and he is pretty weird at some-
"Up we go!" HE said unexpectedly, lifting me up and swinging me around a bit. See what I mean, just plain weird. I laughed out loud, mostly because my dad used to do the same thing back then.
"You can put me down now!" I say when he spins me around while walking. He stops and starts up again, which feels awesome but I was actually in some deep thought so it would be best if he stopped this. I heard Dick giggle somewhere after the tenth spin so I kept laughing...and I flipped right out of his grasp. His expression was pretty funny; mostly a "I don't know exactly what happened" vibe came from him. I retied my converses and ran outside , right into the big backyard we had previously seen on other travels throughout the house. We did only a few cartwheels while exploring the huge landscape and saw some people standing by the gate. Dick took my hand and looked at me, waiting for me to nod and say I wanted to go. But who could say no to his pout? No one, exactly. So now we're on one side and they're on the other, just smiling at us.
"Hi." I say, very controlled like, creating this illusion that II didn't mind seeing people I didn't even know hanging out around me. One lady, with brown hair(it looked sort of dyed) came closer to us.
""Hi. You guys are the twins, aren't you? The ones Wayne took in? Well, I was wondering...what's it like in there?" She said, and it was like a mute crowd all around us, waiting for our answer. I know it was only like 10 people there but still, very quiet.
"Well, he's a really good person, from what we see. He's not mean, and he knows exactly what to say sometimes. He's just...one of the nicest people I've ever met." Dick said, and I nodded before pulling him back.
"I think we should head back. I don't think Bruce even knows we went over her so he might get worried."
"What will he do if he gets worried!" Some one said out loud. Another silence, waiting for an answer. I think a camera focused on my face at that point, I'm not really sure. I already knew what I looked like on that camera, the cutest kid in the world( how ridiculous).
"Same as before. He'll look through every room in the house, thinking about every possible bad thing that could have happened while we were gone. He'll think about how he could have protected us, kept us safe and how he is doing a bad job being our parent. Then,he'll find us and pretend like he wasn't worried at all, even though we could see it. Then...he'll go looking for all of you." I say, smiling before turning around and running with Dick. We go so fast inside the house that we pass right by Bruce.
"Hey! Don't trip!" HE says, and I snort because of how bad his parenting is. I stop and go back to him, shaking my head.
"What was that? "Don't trip"I say, mocking him in a casual manner." You're supposed to tell us to stop running or something. Shape up Bruce, we'll be here for a while." He smiles, Dick smiles, even Alfred steps out of wherever he was hiding (I couldn't see him so he's hiding)and we just smile. It one of those "Silence is Golden" moments that we will probably share many times, I again, my mind works at a fast pace, I'm always putting in my best effort to be ahead of when everyone's smiling, and going to sleep, possibly thing about the next day, I believe that Dick thinks the only thing going on in my mind right now is Bruce. But really, I'm making my next plan for when Bruce is at work and me and Dick are alone again.
That Weird Clock.
You already know what this means so just review any pointers.