About three hours after the family had started their lunch, Carly and Dick were stepping out of the movie theater. The young boy was swinging an excessively large bucket of popcorn and sipping soda from a cup that he held in his other hand. Carly had one of her hands loosely gripping his shoulder so that she didn't lose him on the crowded Gotham sidewalk. They were in the heart of the city and a boy his size could easily be lost in a herd. With her free hand Carly reached for her cellphone and called Alfred.

"Hey Al. Yeah we just got out. Street's pretty crowded just outside the theater." She explained to the butler. "Well, how about we walk one block up and you can pick us up there?" She paused to wait for Alfred's response and to steal a piece of Dick's popcorn. "Ok. We'll meet you there." Carly ended her phone conversation and guided Dick to the far right side of the sidewalk so they weren't in the direct center of the foot traffic. He stopped walking and turned back to look at her.

"Well, what did you think of the movie theater?" She asked him while tucking her cellphone away in her back pocket.

"It was awesome!" Dick smiled.

"Good. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. We can come back again some other time if there's a movie you'd really like to see." Carly promised. She pilfered another piece of popcorn. "I forgot how much I like movie theater popcorn." She added before popping another kernel in her mouth.

"If you can go whenever you want, how come you don't go to the movie theater all the time?" Dick asked.

"Well, that's not an easy question to answer..." Carly sighed. She imagined she'd get used to saying that phrase very soon. "When Bruce...Owe." Carly was interrupted by a tall muscular man who shoulder checked her so hard, she bangled into the exterior wall of the movie theater. She cut her shoulder on the corner of one of the advertising posters.

"Watch where you're going!" Her born-and-raised in Gotham City attitude was out in full swing before she could stop herself. She didn't even have time to turn around fully before she felt something hard pressed against the small of her back. She froze in fear. Her eyes flashed quickly to Dick. He couldn't see the gun, but he could tell that something was wrong.

"I'd be careful who I yell at around here if I was you, Mrs. Wayne." Carly's only instinct was to turn slowly so that her body was directly in front of Dick. Their assailant was at least a foot taller than Carly, and he was muscular, almost as muscular as Clark Kent. While Carly was certain he probably wasn't as strong as the Superman, she definitely wouldn't be able to take him on in a fight. She was going to have to talk her way out of this.

"Step into my office." The man kept the gun close to his side so that passersby couldn't see his weapon, but he gave it a small enough wave to indicate an alley just a few feet ahead. Carly heard Dick's bucket of popcorn hit the ground, and she felt something cold and wet splash against the back of her leg. she assumed it was the remnants of Dick's soda from the movie. He must had dropped them both in fear.

Carly's heart was racing so fast that she could practically hear the blood pumping in her ears. She was determined not to look afraid, even as her thoughts turned to Bruce's parents. Her stomach tightened when she gave the sidewalk a quick glance. They were surrounded now by about five other men. These five men were huddled around, giving Carly and Dick no possible escape route.

"C'mon Dick." Carly put both of her hands on the boy's shoulders and began guiding him towards the alley. "We're just going to follow our new friends. You'll be back home with Leo and Bruce before you know it." It didn't go unnoticed by Dick that she had said you'll be home and not we'll be home, but he knew better than to make a fuss in this particular situation. He remembered that Carly had been on the phone only minutes ago with Alfred. The butler was sure to come looking for them.

"So, what exactly is your angle here?" Carly asked once the thugs had successfully lured them into the shadows of the alley. She was mindful to position Dick behind herself once again so that he was wedge between her and the brick buildings that lined the alley. Regardless of what happened to her, she would defend that boy with every fiber of her being. "Because, I hate to break it to you boys, but it's like us billionaires carry our net worth in cash." If her time in foster care had taught her anything it was that no matter what, playing cocky was always better than acting afraid.

"This aint really got nothing to do with you, rich girl." The mugger explained. "We just want the kid."

"Well I'm afraid that he's not part of any bargain." Carly said. She squinted trying to recognize their faces. When she couldn't she at least tried to remember anything distinguishable about them. She'd need to have something to tell the police. If she lived that long. "You know who I am, so you know that I have money."

"But it ain't your money, is it?" One of the thugs snarled.

"Technically yes, I guess you're right." Carly nodded. "But Bruce would pay. Honestly, he would pay anything you asked for us."

"He's friends with the cops." Another hoodlum added. "We'd be better off skinning them both here." Carly felt both of Dick's tiny hands squeeze around her left hand in terror. She wished there was a way for her to get to her cellphone without alerting suspicion. Alfred was on his way. She reminded herself. He would be looking for them and when he couldn't find them, maybe he would call Bruce.

"I'm more valuable to you alive." Carly promised. She needed to keep the conversation going. She needed to buy them time. "I'm not just Bruce's wife. I'm a lawyer at Wayne Enterprises. One of the top ones. I know all the company secrets, everyone's dirty laundry." Carly had never realized how completely kidnappable she was until she started to advertise it to a group of street thugs in an unmarked alley. No wonder the League had worried so much about Bruce introducing her into their word. If only these hoodlums knew how much she knew about the Justice League too!

"She makes a good point." The leader with the gun seemed to be mulling over his options. There was a loud and unexpected jingle. "What the hell is that?" Carly didn't have to look at her cellphone to know that it was Alfred calling.

"It's our butler." She explained. "If I don't answer it, he'll come looking for us. Or worse go to the police. As you've already said, commissioner Gordon is a family friend."

"Answer it then." The leader ordered. "But don't say anything to tip him off." Carly nodded to let him know that she understood, before slowly reaching for her phone and answered it.

"Hi Al." She tried her best at sounding casual. "Where are we? Oh, Dick and I won't be needing the car after all. Dick is full of energy and it's such a nice night, we're going to walk most of the way home. I'll call you when we're closer to the mansion."

Carly didn't' say anything else. She simply ended the call. Alfred would know exactly how to interpret the call since it was a nearly word for word the last statement Thomas Wayne had made to him. She hated putting Alfred through the stress of hearing it again, but she need him to call Bruce. She needed them to find her and Dick. She talked herself into believing it was only a matter of time before Bruce used one of his Batman devices to GPS track her phone and get to them.

"Just hand over the kid lady. This has nothing to do with you." Carly didn't know how much more time she could buy. The thugs were beginning to grow agitated with their conversation.

"I'm sorry, but as I said, he's not part of the bargain." It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to keep her tone calm and defiant, because as more time passed she began to worry, and so it seemed did Dick. His grip had tightened around her arm and she could feel his fingernails digging into her own skin.

"I don't think you have anything to bargain with." The leader of the gang was talking again. "See I think all you've got is talk. The money you're offering ain't yours. There's no guarantee that your billionaire would actually deliver the cash to us or that he won't call the cops. And secrets? I can't pay the bills with secrets. So, the way I see it, you have two options. Option one, you hand over the kid and you walk away. Option two, We kill you, spill your blood all over this alley and I get the kid anyway. So what's it going to be?"

Carly's heart felt like there were a swam of humming birds flying through it. It seemed to be pushing a million beats a second as she tried to think of something clever to say. Luckily for everyone, she didn't have to. There was a swift whoosh noise as something fell several stories into the alley. Only it wasn't a something, it was a someone. There was a dramatic flourish of a dark black cape as Batman landed on his feet.

"Option Three." Batman spoke in his low grumble. He pulled one side of his cape up so that it completely covered Carly and Dick. "Stay behind the cape, it's bulletproof." Carly wrapped her arm around Dick and pulled him close to her. They were going to have to move quickly as soon as Bruce gave them the chance to escape.

"You're going to let Mrs. Wayne and her son go." Batman ordered.

"Yeah I don't think so." The leader seemed to disagree. With a flick of his free hand Batman tossed a batarang at the man. It hit him directly in the wrist, causing him to drop the gun he'd been holding.

"Go, Now." Was all Batman had to say. Carly was practically dragging Dick behind her as she ran back out onto the street. To the innocent passersby on the main sidewalk, they must have looked ridiculous running from the alleyway out of breath. Carly waited until both she and Dick were a full two blocks away, on a very public street before calling 911 and explaining to the best of her ability what had just happened to the GCPD dispatcher.

"Dick?" Carly crouched down so that she was looking her son in the eyes. "Everything's going to be okay, now. Alright? I've called the police, they are on their way. I'm going to call Alfred and tell him where we are, but I promise you I'm not going anywhere okay." Dick nodded, too afraid to speak. "You are safe." She let the boy catch his breath, but she kept one protective arm still wrapped around him. Once she called Alfred and told him where she and Dick were waiting, it was a matter of seconds before he joined them.

"Mrs. Wayne, Master Dick..." Alfred parked the car and approached his two charges with watery eyes. Seeing Alfred felt like a huge weight had already been taken off Carly's shoulders. Something about having him around always felt like the real adult was there to fix the problem. She didn't think twice before pulling Alfred into a tight one-armed hug.

"Alfred, I've never been so scared." She whispered.

"Everything will be alright now." Alfred promised, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Master Bruce will be waiting for our call. Have the Police been notified?"

"Yeah." Carly nodded as they separated. She wasn't the least bit surprised to see Commissioner Gordon himself pulling up to the nearby intersection a few seconds later.


A/N: This chapter has been a working draft for sometime. I've been working on it between other chapters until It was time to publish. I can't wait to hear what you all think of this Chapter and Chapter 30, since I'm posting them on the same night, I'll be checking for reviews on both chapters tomorrow. So in the meantime thank you so much for your continued support! Hopefully I can be back with a new update soon.