Chapter Twenty-Three

My schemes with both Dick and Sel seemed to work. Both of them were able to relax a little, be a little less manic in their searches for whoever had attacked me, though no less determined to find them. And both even got back to their normal work, though still at a reduced rate. That made them less stressed, which made for a less stressed Gen. Altogether, I counted the weekend as a win, and as the next week progressed, we all fell into a more normal routine.

Friday morning, Sel and I had a video chat meeting with Lena Luther, helping in her quest to partner with New Leash in National City. For having a homicidal megalomaniac for a brother, Lena was surprisingly congenial and easy to talk to, and she seemed to actually care for those the program aimed to help, both human and animal. But oh boy did she like to talk! Our meeting, which we had originally slated for two hours, ended up going for over four, pushing everything else on our schedule back.

Desperately needing to stretch my legs by dinnertime, I volunteered to go get our food, instead of having it delivered, like we usually did. I was paying for Sel's double chicken enchiladas and my sweet pork tacos when my phone rang. "Hey, babe, I'm getting food for me and Sel," I told Dick, pausing before paying. "Do you want anything?"

"Viv, you need to drop whatever you're doing and get to the manor," he said, sounding more serious than I'd ever heard him. "There's been a breakout at Arkham."

My heart stopped. Horror filled my stomach. I felt like I couldn't move. I had to have heard him wrong, or it was a joke, something. There was no way that there had been a breakout from the most secure prison, with the most deranged prisoners. That just couldn't be right.

"Viv? Viv, babe, are you there? Genevieve!" Dick's voice broke through my terror slightly, kicking me into motion. I swiped my card, grabbed the bag with my food, and replied all at the same time.

"I'm here, sorry. I'm on my way to the manor now, I swear."

I could hear his sigh of relief as I left the restaurant. "I won't be there when you get home, but it's the safest place to be," he told me.

"Don't worry about me," I scolded, heading for my car. "I'll be fine. You make sure you're safe."

"I'm always safe." And there was the cocky Dick I loved. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

As I crossed the busy street to my car, I could hear sirens in the distance, which wasn't an unusual sound in Gotham, but it filled me with dread. Slipping my phone and card into my pocket, I paused to put the food in the passenger side of my car. Arms went around me, a bag went over my head, and then blackness filled my mind.

…

I came to all at once, just suddenly completely awake and aware of what was around me. Which wasn't much, to be honest, other than the fact that I was tied to a chair in what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse at the docks. The concrete floor and faint sounds of tug boat whistles gave that away. See? I wanted to crow to Jason and Damian, who'd made fun of me for being unobservant, but then the present situation reminded me of just how unobservant I'd been. After all, I hadn't even realized that I'd been followed, which allowed me to be kidnapped, bringing me back to the present situation. One that was slightly blurry, for some reason. I blinked a few times, then closed one eye, then the other. Great, I thought to myself. Not only am I kidnapped, but somehow, I've lost one contact. Lovely. At least it was my right eye, which wasn't nearly as bad as my left one.

A smooth, lightly accented voice interrupted my musings. "It's nice to see you awake, Ms. Kyle," she purred, and I jerked my head to the left to see who it was.

A gorgeous woman, with dark hair, golden skin, and a huge glower stalked toward me. "You're not Selina Kyle," she growled, hand fisting in my hair to make me look up at her more.

"Clearly not," I snapped. "We don't look that much alike."

She slapped me across the face with her free hand, not letting go with her other. My neck burned as much as my face, since I couldn't move to get away from the blow. "Who are you?" she hissed at me. "Why were you driving a Wayne car?"

Logic told me that since she was already targeting the Waynes, it wouldn't do much good to keep the truth from her. "I'm Genevieve Thornton, Selina's assistant, also dating Dick. Now, who are you and what do you want with Sel?"

A contemplative look crossed her face. "At least you're smart enough to realize I didn't want you," she said, letting go of my hair.

I snorted, stretching my neck to attempt to alleviate some of the pain I felt there. "Yeah, kinda figured that when the first thing you did was call me by her name."

"You insolent little wretch," she screeched, slapping me again.

But this time, I was ready for her. I couldn't do much, since I was still tied to the chair, but I did what I could, namely biting down when her hand got within striking range. I ignored the blood that filled my mouth, and the scream she let out, holding on until she punched me in the head with her other hand. Slightly dazed by the blow, I spat out as much blood as I could, since that was definitely something I didn't want to swallow. The rest I could feel dripping down my mouth.

"You will pay for that," she said, inspecting her hand with a creepy calmness that was completely at odds with her earlier shriek. It was incredibly disturbing. "You may not have been my initial target, but it seems like my men's incompetence will still work out in the end, since you are so intimately connected with the Waynes. Something we have in common."

I really didn't like the way she emphasized the word intimately, causing shivers to run down my spine. "Who are you?" I repeated, desperate for some sort of understanding in whatever was going on around me.

A cocky smirk turned up the corners of her lips. "Oh, I'm sure you've heard of me," she purred, suddenly much too close for comfort. "After all, I know so many of the Wayne family so well."

Something in the way she spoke had been snagging on the edges of my subconscious the whole time, but it finally clicked then. "You're Talia," I spat, suddenly angrier than I'd already been. I knew what she'd done, to Bruce, to Jason, and to Damian, and to the whole family by extension. Maybe not all of what she'd done, but definitely enough to hate her more than any other person.

She preened. "So, you have heard of me."

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of you," I snapped. "Like how you totally screwed Jason over, and kept him from his family, letting them think he was dead. Or how you basically raped Bruce to get yourself pregnant with Damian, all so your dad could have a physically superb body to use. Or the abuse you subjected Damian to for the first ten years of his life. Yeah, I've heard of you, you psychotic-"

Another slap stopped me short. "You know nothing of what you speak," Talia hissed at me. "You know nothing of plans millennia in the making."

"Yeah, you and dear old dad should really stop with the plan making, Talia," a new voice said. "'Cause you're both terrible at executing them."

Several batarangs came from different positions behind me, though sadly, Talia managed to dodge them all. Knowing my family the way I did, I was pretty sure none of them had actually been thrown to hurt her, just to get her farther from me.

"Let Genevieve go, Talia," Bruce, or rather, Batman, said, in that deep, slightly gravelly voice that brooked absolutely no argument.

But Talia didn't listen. "Beloved, it's been too long," she purred, zeroing in on someone behind me.

A whip cracked, nearly wrapping around her arm before she managed to evade it, too. "You don't get to call him that," Sel snarled.

"He was my beloved far before you and your little flirtation," Talia goaded. "And he'll be mine long after."

"Let Thornton go, Mother."

A smile painted her lips, but didn't go anywhere near her eyes. "My darling son, it's so good to see you again," she cooed darkly. It sent shivers down my spine.

In full Robin regalia, domino mask included, Damian walked out from the shadows to where I could see him. He marched and planted himself firmly in front of me, letting absolutely no question remain about where his loyalties lay. "Let Thornton go, Mother," he demanded again. "And leave my family alone."

AN: It wasn't even a month since my last chapter! Aren't you guys so proud of me? I know I am, since I've had a really hard time writing lately. But now we know who's behind the attacks on Gen, and the fact that she wasn't even the target. I know I left it at a bit of a cliffie, but I will try to get the next one up soon. Thanks for reading, and a big thanks to PhoenixQueen15 and ZileRacer for your lovely reviews!