Family Ties Chapter 26 Plan in Action

It was a dark and stormy night. It had only taken ten minutes for Nightwing to become completely soaked. He looked to his left, seeing Spoiler huddled in her hooded cape, and remembered the cape of his Robin costume, great for keeping rain off. Then he glanced right, saw Wonder Girls shivering in her sleeveless shirt, and remembered cold elbows and rain trickling into his gloves. Maybe his current uniform wasn't so bad. Still, if it were a normal night, he'd try to cut it short. If the stakes were lower.

If the stakes weren't his brother.

A flash of lightening brightened the sky. Nightwing frowned. He couldn't remember anything about thunder or lightening on the weather forecast. "Kid Flash," he muttered into the comm. "Any news on Weather Wizard?"

"Not that I know of," Kid Flash replied. "Want me to run and check?"

"No," Batman cut across. "It can wait."

Nightwing amused himself for a few minutes trying to work out who might be causing the storm and why, before realising it was perfectly possible for it to be natural, and the forecast wrong.

"So…" Red Hood said, breaking the silence. "When we get in, do we have targets, or just go for who's closest?"

"Black Bat and I will take Cain," Batman said. "The rest is up to who gets openings. Remember to watch each other's backs. Whoever has first bead on Tim, go for him."

"Cain probably has some ninja minions from the League," Robin added. "Retrieving the One who is All has long been a goal."

"Great. We can kill some ninjas," Ravager said happily.

"You may NOT!" Batman told her forcefully. He paused. "You may incapacitate some ninjas."

"Uh, just thought of something," Wonder Girl interjected. "You don't want the Police to know we were here? Won't it be obvious with sword cuts on the assassins?"

"I highly doubt she is the only one with a sword," Batman remarked dryly. No-one spoke for a moment.

"Are you implying something, Father?" Robin asked innocently.

Nightwing could practically HEAR the eye roll. "Just don't kill anyone," Batman told him wearily. "Superboy, can you see in there?"

"No," the half-Kryptonian replied somewhat grouchily. "Too much lead. Did you coat Gotham, with the stuff or something?"

"That warehouse contains material for Wayne Shipyards," Robin explained. "It is entirely conceivable that includes lead, which was rearranged to form a screen."

"Tim said the hideout was disguised in some way, so keep looking after you get in," Nightwing suggested.

"Yeah, I know," Superboy replied moodily. Nightwing sometimes found it hard to remember the younger heroes weren't exactly neophytes. Tim had trained them well.

"Move out," Batman ordered eventually. Twin streaks swept from shadow to shadow through the rain; Superboy and Wonder Girl going not-quite-fast-enough-to-be-invisible. Kid Flash vanished, reappearing as a slight vibration on the edge of a street lamp's illumination. But Ravager, Deathstroke's daughter, was nothing but a disturbance in the air, visible only because Nightwing was looking for her.

Batman would never devise this sort of plan. He just didn't have the confidence in the younger heroes to think of them as valuable assets he could call upon. Nightwing (and Red Robin) were used to working with and training alongside their peers. They were also somewhat less taken by Batman's slight mental block regarding needing help.

There was a reason Batman had problems acknowledging that they were not alone. It simply wasn't in his nature.

What was in his nature was brooding, skulking, and mauling anyone who dared hurt his family.

That was why he needed the moderating influence of a junior partner. Of all the many things Tim had been right about, few had been more crucial than the fact Batman needed a Robin.

Losing any Robin would be near enough too much. Watching B beat the stuffing out of Cain would be so much more fun once Tim had been rescued.

Batman gave the order, and Superboy and Wonder Girl charged straight at the front, smashing through the loading bay door. A speedster blur streaked around the side, a few bullets peppering the ground while Ravager slid through an upper window.

What went on inside was discernible only through the shouts, shots, and Wonder Girl's orders. A crowd of ninjas were taking shelter in the crate jungle, making it difficult to flush them out. Deadshot was taking pot-shots at Kid Flash. Lady Vic had engaged Ravager.

"Found him," Superboy grunted. "Underground chamber. I'll try to clear a way to it."

Nightwing itched to join in, to get his brother back and punish those who took him. Spoiler seemed to be having the same difficulties. But Batman's training held; they stayed at their posts, as time inched on, and the fight continued. Batgirl called through a few changes in position, when the snipers took new posts. She and Red Hood were ordered to change entry positions to compensate, and the wait continued.

At last, Batman's growl came over the comm. "Now."

And they hurtled into chaos.

AN: You like? You love? You think I should get a move on and rescue Tim already? You hate Tim and think he should be left to die? You think this is so lame you don't care either way? There's this remarkable function called "review". I'm pretty okay with what you readers may want to say to me, so don't be afraid. I won't accuse you of trolling just because you reckon I've made a mistake. Although if you accompany it with enough swearing to make even Jason blush, then I probably will. Just saying.

What can I say; after 61 chapters of my four major ongoing works over nearly eleven months, I'm running out of ways to say all this.

Anyway, still with Family Ties for the foreseeable future, so this issue is getting resolved at last.

In other news, Little Bird's Vengeance is still going, and someone's got hurt and is a little upset about certain things.

More from Gotham's boys and girls next week.

Katara