Family Ties Chapter 52 Smack Down
Smoke filled the room as the door crashed open. Spoiler flicked a button on her face mask while she slipped in and went straight to the left, and the room blurred, settling into red figures. A clatter marked the falling firearms, a flurry of red dots going wild as the bullets the thugs fired missed. The eight men had been waiting with assault rifles pointed directly at the door, about to riddle them with bullets.
"Watch for Huntress," Tim advised, revealing the ace he'd found for the hole. Spoiler flipped out the staff Tim had taught her to use, and pinpointed the three girls dropping down.
There were a few sharp cracks from Red Hood's handguns, and Nightwing bounced an escrima stick off one man's skull. Spoiler swept low, bringing the staff around in an arc and knocking down three different people. Seeing a total of six on the ground, and the other two bleeding liberally, she scanned the various thermal images, and lunged for Cluemaster lurking in the background.
Spoiler slammed into her father, bowling him over, but going sprawling herself. She sprang up again, but Cluemaster's boot impacted with her abdomen. Her breath whooshed out, and she crashed backwards into the computer bank. Her head slammed into the screen, and she heard a crack, stars swimming in front of her eyes. One of her infrared lenses failed, and through the thinning smoke, she saw Huntress land on her father, grapple for a moment, and pull him in a vicious full nelson, popping both his shoulders.
Nearby, Black Bat was deliberately providing pressure to Riddler's jugular, putting him to sleep. Red Hood was emptying a magazine of rubber concussive bullets, one to the head of each thug, while Nightwing emptied the bullets out of the assault rifles. Batgirl crouched by Spoiler, and gently took hold of her chin.
"Spoiler," Batgirl said clearly. "Concussion symptoms. What do you have?"
Spoiler blinked several times, pulling up the list she'd had drilled into her head ages ago. "Dizziness, headache," she listed. "Nausea, seeing stars." She pushed up against the computers, and Batgirl helped her stand. "Add poor balance," she gasped, her stomach flipping from Cluemaster's kick. "And…oh-" She fiddled with the bottom of her face mask, and Batgirl helped her pull it away before her dinner made a reappearance.
Tim audibly winced over the comm. "I'll get the doc to head down to the clinic," he said. "When you're both ready, Red Hood, take Spoiler down, and get your shoulder checked while you're at it."
"Sure," Red Hood grumbled, holstering his handguns.
"Cops on the way?" Nightwing asked.
"Yup," Tim answered. "And we've got three men you took down earlier willing to make plea bargains."
"You don't mind that?" Huntress asked.
"They're men Red Hood shot earlier," Tim explained. "They'll take hospital time off their prison sentences in exchange for testimony."
"Sounds like a bad deal to them, but fair enough," Huntress shrugged.
"Actually, testifying in itself is beneficial for them," Tim pointed out. "They're going to be convicted of attempted kidnapping of minors, among other things, and that tends to guarantee a rough time in jail. If it's on record that they were with an Arkhamite, the other Blackgaters will give them a bit of a pass."
"And they say there's no honour among thieves," Nightwing muttered. "Black Bat, Red Hood, Huntress, with me. Let's get the doors open for the Blue Boys."
Huntress looked a little bemused, but followed Nightwing's lead. Batgirl finished peeling Spoiler's mask off and checked her eyes. "You remember how you got injured? And since?"
"That bastard of an incompetent thief, and he got his shoulders popped," Spoiler growled.
"Good enough. Fingers?"
Spoiler blinked at the hand in front of her face. "Three, and the stars are dissipating. That right?"
"Yes, that's right. Can you walk?"
She took a few steps, unsteady but upright. "Just about. Hood, I'm ready when you are."
"Gotcha. We're just at the last – first – whichever – door. It won't open. Just blow it off its hinges."
"That's a bit excessive," Nightwing countered.
"So? It'll work."
"Guys, B's on his way," Tim interrupted.
"Then why don't I go and escort Spoiler, and you can try to open that door without blasting it?" Red Hood suggested.
"I – fine. Just gimme the C4," Nightwing capitulated.
Spoiler rolled her eyes. No-one wanted to have to explain to B why there'd been delays in getting medical treatment, and Red Hood no doubt wanted to avoid getting told off for hurting himself on that door earlier. But the way the boys talked about it…
"What must Huntress think of us?" she mouthed.
Batgirl shook her head and smirked.
Tim blocked the comm's microphone as he told Skeets to save the footage of Huntress in action. If he was honest, he had to admit that he'd almost forgotten his research into the vigilante's identity. Bruce wasn't quite as controlling as he appeared, but he still wouldn't let anyone run around his city for too long without checking them out. Anyone could go rogue, so everyone had takedown protocols.
Tim had never read his own, but had contributed to the other Bat's protocols.
Anyway, Huntress wasn't terribly high profile. This was her first known brush with Arkhamites, and she wasn't thought to have killed anyone. B would give her a firm talking-to about tonight, and Tim would resume his investigation as soon as his fingers healed.
There were certainly questions she'd have to answer, but from her performance tonight, she'd probably do just fine.
