Strange Behavior - Chapter Five
All characters in this story are copyright DC Comics and I have used them without permission. I am making no money from this story.
The Clock Tower
3:04 AM
Hugo Strange turned in time to take the right cross on the tip of his chin. He slammed backwards into the wall. Before he could regain his footing, the Batman grabbed him and pulled him erect, until they were face to face.
"What are you doing here, Strange?" the Batman growled, his voice deep and vibrant with menace. "Did you think, let's go torture and murder another defenseless woman? Is that what you thought?"
Abruptly, the Batman rammed his knee into Hugo Strange's groin. "Let's see just how defenseless this woman is."
Ignoring Strange as he gasped and moaned on the floor, he turned to Barbara.
"Don't move," he cautioned, as the razor-sharp batarang sliced thru the duct tape that bound her. He yanked the tape from her mouth.
"Ouch! Batman - Nightwing, Batgirl and Alfred... the Cave..."
He didn't exactly smile, Barbara thought, but for a moment his face was less grim. Then the mask was firmly back in place, but it was enough. She sagged with relief and barely noticed as, without looking, he reached out and shut down the monitor board.
Hugo Strange gasped, "They're dead, Batman ... Dead! ... I killed them! ... If you turn me ... over to the police, everyone... will know who you are." He seemed to regain his confidence at the thought.
The Batman ignored this speech as he righted Barbara's wheelchair and brought it into the room, placing it behind her and setting the brakes to make it easier for her to pull herself up into it. Finally, he handed her the escrima stick she had dropped earlier. Then he turned towards Hugo Strange.
The temperature seemed to drop abruptly. Barbara shivered. Hugo Strange seemed frozen in place.
"Strange, you have killed or tried to kill just about everyone in this world that I love. What makes you think I'm just going to turn you over to the police?"
"The Batman doesn't kill." But Hugo Strange didn't sound quite as confident as before.
"I'm not going to kill you," the Batman replied in a soft voice. "That would be too easy."
Hugo Strange started to sweat.
"You want to be the Batman, Strange? Fine. I'll just shave off that beard." Suddenly, the razor-sharp batarang was in his hand again. The point caressed Strange's throat. He shuddered. "Then I'll drop you in the worst part of Gotham. How long do you think you'll last, Strange? If by some chance, the police find you first, who's going to believe anything you say? A weirdo who dresses up like the Batman and claims he's Hugo Strange, when Strange is safely locked up in Arkham? They may run your fingerprints but I promise you they won't match the prints on file for Hugo Strange. You'll end up in some asylum as 'John Doe'. Not Arkham, you won't rate that high. You'll have no one to talk to, at least no one who pays any attention, except a psychiatrist who comes once a week and spends the time looking at his watch, waiting to go home. You could live for decades like that. Unnamed. Insignificant. Nobody."
Hugo Strange paled.
"But I have a better idea. You're free to go, Strange. You can just walk out of this apartment. I won't stop you. I won't follow you. All you have to do..." The smile on the Batman's face was far more sinister than his grim visage had been. "...is get past one defenseless woman. That's all."
He turned and disappeared into the darkness of the living room.
"Batman!" Dammit, thought Barbara, I'm not going to let him pull that disappearing trick now. She heard Strange get to his feet as she spun her wheelchair around. She tossed the escrima stick over her shoulder, not paying any attention to the crack! as it connected with Hugo's skull, nor the whack! as the back of his head hit the wall behind him, or the crump! as his body slid to the floor. She was too focused on catching the Batman before he could disappear. So focused, in fact, that she almost ran him down when he suddenly materialized in the doorway.
"Finished?" he asked, an almost smile barely touching the corners of his mouth. "Already?"
"You didn't think I'd have any trouble with that little creep?" asked Barbara, insulted.
The corners of his mouth twitched, the equivalent of a belly laugh for the Batman. He said nothing but bent over Hugo Strange. He touched a hypo spray to his neck and Strange relaxed into complete unconsciousness. Then he bound his arms and legs with plastic ties. The whole process took seconds.
"What are you going to do with him?"
"Take him to Arkham. Put him in his cell. I'll take his 'stand-in' to a private sanitarium I know. Someplace where he'll be treated, not warehoused like at Arkham. Strange can talk all he wants. Nobody will listen. After all, they know he's insane."
"How are you going to prove Bruce Wayne is innocent if you do that?"
"I'm not. Bruce Wayne doesn't exist anymore."
Barbara slammed her fist down on the armrest. "How is that fair to Sasha? She is in prison because of you. How can you do that to her?"
Batman hesitated, as if he hadn't thought of that. But that wasn't possible. He was the Batman, he thought of everything.
Barbara's apartment door shattered into a million pieces. Batman automatically swung his cape to protect them from the flying splinters. In the doorway stood Black Canary, uniform torn, hair disheveled, ready to take on all comers.
"Late, as usual," commented Batman dryly.
Dinah looked at Barbara. Her eyes asked, are you all right? She must have gotten the answer she was looking for, for her face changed from looking concerned to looking disgusted.
"Puke gas, Barb. Did you have to use puke gas? The electrified carpet I kinda expected. I mean it's almost a cliché, these days. The ultrasound thingies were a real pain," her hands rubbed her temples, indicating she meant that literally, "but what the heck. It's not supposed to be easy. But why'd you have to use puke gas? I'll never get the smell of it out of my costume."
"Uh, sorry?"
"You should carry a rebreather."
"Well, if it isn't his Battiness. Don't you have some stalactites that need de-guano-fying?"
"I didn't know you two knew each other," Barbara commented in surprise.
"JLA," was Batman's terse response. Well I know you were in the JLA together, thought Barbara. But this sort of banter went beyond what she would have expected from that connection.
"I was the only one he couldn't intimidate. Well, and J'onn, of course."
"She made faces at me during meetings..."
"You spent the whole time scowling. I had to do something."
"...and mooned me once when I was on monitor duty."
"I did not! At least," she grinned, "you can't prove it was me."
"Biometrics," he pronounced with a un-Batman-like satisfaction. "I made precise measurements from the video tape..."
"You have it on tape?" yelped Dinah.
"...and compared them with your medical scans." His face froze, as if he suddenly realized he was enjoying himself.
"You have my medical scans? Those are confidential! Oh wait," she added sarcastically, "I forgot I was talking to Mr. Rules-don't-apply-to-me."
He turned and headed for the balcony.
"Hey!" Dinah called after him, "was it something I said?"
Not now, Dinah, thought Barbara. "Batman, wait!"
He paused, but did not turn around.
"How did you show up just in time to save my life?"
Dinah's sudden intake of breath sounded loud in the silence. Then Batman turned towards Barbara. He looked embarrassed.
"You called me." It took a moment for Barbara to understand.
"You mean you were listening the whole time and didn't respond?"
"I didn't want you to think I was at your beck and call."
"Perish the thought," said Barbara dryly.
"That's awfully petty, even for you," said Dinah indignantly.
"I was headed for the Cave," Batman continued as if he had never been interrupted, "to back up Nightwing and Batgirl when you said, 'Batman, thank goodness, you're here.' I turned around and headed for the Clock Tower."
She had left the com line open, Barbara remembered. Which meant he had heard everything.
"You heard Hugo initiate the self-destruct sequence. Did you override it somehow?"
"Self-destruct?" Dinah asked.
"For the Batcave," Barbara explained impatiently.
Dinah started laughing. "You put a self-destruct mechanism in the Batcave?" Her laughter grew until she was gasping for breath. "How... James Bond... Wayne, Bruce Wayne... agent double-oh bat... license to brood..."
Barbara started to giggle. "I didn't even know there WAS a self-destruct mechanism." Her giggles stopped abruptly at Batman's glare. She suddenly realized Dinah had called him by his real name.
"Oh, chill, Brucie," Dinah retorted. "SHE didn't give you away."
Batman switched his glare to her, with no discernible effect. He finally said, "Contrary to what Strange seems to believe, it isn't a 'self-destruct mechanism'. That's just Alfred's idea of sarcasm. The purpose is to hide the Batcave, not destroy it. The entrances are collapsed. Anyone looking for the Batcave will find rubble-strewn dead-ends, nothing unusual in those cliffs. The computer hard drives and on-site back-ups are wiped clean and other... sensitive... information is destroyed, so if they still manage to find the Batcave they won't learn anything," he shrugged, "beyond what they would already know if they are looking for the Batcave under Wayne Manor. Barbara has back-ups of all the data so nothing is permanently lost."
"Oh," exclaimed Barbara, recognition dawning. She had known about THAT. "I thought..." She stopped, but Batman smiled bitterly at her. It didn't take the World's Greatest Detective to complete her sentence. She had thought he had gone all paranoid and had wired the Batcave with explosives without telling anyone.
"I have no desire to drop Wayne Manor into the Batcave again."
But Barbara wasn't listening. She felt like her mind had been jarred back into operation again for the first time since Batman had appeared. Now it all made sense. He had heard everything Hugo had said. He had heard Hugo Strange describe Vesper's death in loving detail. He had heard Hugo tormenting her. He must have wanted to beat Hugo to within an inch of his life. Instead he had left Hugo to her, to show her in the only way he could that she was not a helpless victim. He couldn't know she had already found her own answer.
"When did you figure out that Hugo Strange was behind everything?"
He turned his head away. Barbara knew with sickening certainty that he hadn't figured it out. Not until Hugo had announced himself. But he should have. He had all the clues Dick had. He hadn't figured it out because he had quit thinking. He was running entirely on emotion and reflexes and probably had been since he held Vesper's dead body in his arms. She tried to understand how that must have felt. She imagined Dick dead in her arms and the desolation that would bring. No wonder he had stopped thinking. She would have wept, but her tears would not help him.
She heard his words once more in her mind. "The only person who can truly defeat you is you. Most of our opponents will... tell us how to take them down, if we pay attention." And Hugo Strange had paid attention, hadn't he? He had seen how carefully Bruce guarded his feelings and had recognized the vulnerability they represented. How had they not seen it? Oh, they talked about Bruce hiding his feelings, but then they turned around and called him cold and unfeeling. But a cold, unfeeling man did not dedicate his life to protecting others, at the cost of his own happiness. Only a man who cared too much. Only a man who cared too much had to hide his feelings so that evil men like Hugo Strange wouldn't use them against him. But if you paid attention, then the very act of hiding them revealed his vulnerability.
They had treated Bruce like an 'iron man' who could withstand anything, who would never break under any strain. Bruce had projected that image because it was what he needed to believe, but they had all bought into the illusion. They had loaded their need to believe on top of his own. But that wasn't all, she realized. They had all, at one time or another, railed at him for putting 'the mission' above the needs of his 'family'. One occasion burned in her mind. Dick had needed to talk to Bruce about their relationship, but Bruce wouldn't stop to talk. The mission was more important, the mission came first. Dick had been furious. The mission, in that case, had been a young boy who had been kidnapped. Bruce had placed rescuing him, probably saving his life, above Dick's need to talk. That was the most egregious case, she thought, but far from the only one. They had all done it. They had all objected when he placed the lives of strangers above their own emotional needs.
Barbara pushed the guilt aside. That would not help Bruce either. What would?
They turned their heads at the whoosh! followed by a thump! as Nightwing landed in the middle of the living room.
"Babs! Are you all..."
He stopped as he felt Batman's scorching glare.
"What part of 'secret identity' do you not understand?"
"What are you..." He took in Black Canary's presence and turned beet red. His eyes slid towards Barbara, then back to the Batman. "Uh, sorry?"
The Batman shouldered Dick aside and pulled out his jump line. Batgirl landed in front of him.
"Back? Good."
"Batgirl!" Barbara shouted, "don't let him leave."
"Move out of the way, Batgirl," Batman growled. Batgirl didn't move. Batman turned, frustrated. He had the strangest code of conduct, Barbara thought. He would shoulder Dick aside, but not Batgirl. She wasn't sure if it was because she was female or young or because Bruce felt responsible for her or because she wasn't family to the same degree as Dick. She was sure it wasn't because she could probably kick his butt. He certainly wouldn't have hesitated if it were Superman.
"Dick, he's still going to give up being Bruce Wayne."
"What? You can't do that!"
"Yes, I can."
"I won't let you!"
"You can't stop me."
"QUIET, EVERYONE!" All heads turned towards Dinah. She looked at Batman.
"You're going to do what?"
"Bruce Wayne has become a liability. He no longer exists."
"You ARE Bruce Wayne."
"No, he's a mask I sometimes wear. This is the real me."
"That's the sort of crap you pulled in the JLA. I didn't buy it then and I don't buy it now."
Batman shrugged. "Believe what you want."
"Is this about Vesper Fairchild?"
Silence.
"Look, I'm sorry she died, but that's no reason..."
"I felt her heart stop." It was barely a whisper.
"What?"
"I held her in my arms and felt her heart stop. Because of me. That was her only crime: she knew me."
"I don't know all the details..."
"That's right. You don't. So stay out of it."
"...and I know Vesper didn't sign up for that risk, but THESE PEOPLE DID. They know how dangerous our profession is and they chose it anyway. All you're doing is making their lives more difficult and painful than they have to be."
"I can't do anything about that."
"Sure you can! You can drop this nonsense and..."
"You miss the point. Vesper died because I loved her. That madman over there killed her, not for anything she had done or anything she was, but because it would hurt me. I'm sorry if people are hurt by my actions, but at least they are alive to be hurt. Vesper isn't. No one else is going to die because of me. No one."
Barbara spoke gently. "If Bruce Wayne no longer exists, what happens to Thomas and Martha's son? What happens to their legacy? Who mourns their deaths? They gave everything to protect Bruce Wayne. Did they die in vain?"
He was visibly shaken. Then his face froze once more. "I'm leaving." Since he wouldn't shove Batgirl aside, he headed for the front door. He looked more than willing to shoulder Dinah out of the way.
She stepped aside. "If you are that selfish and cowardly, go ahead and leave."
Dinah, thought Barbara despairingly, don't.
"Frankly, I thought better of you."
He stopped and faced her. "If it's selfish and cowardly to want to never bury another loved one..."
"You're taking their right to choose their own lives away from them. They know the risks and they chose to care about you. But you refuse to let them."
"Fine!" Suddenly he was shouting. "Then I'm selfish and cowardly." Dick looked stricken. Barbara felt like weeping.
"No, you're not."
The Batman looked totally dumbstruck. Barbara fought down a smile as she carefully filed the image away in her mind for future enjoyment.
Dinah continued, "You are one of the bravest, most unselfish people I know. You go out every night, without any powers to help you, and risk your life to help complete strangers. Have you ever seen anyone who needed help and NOT stopped to help them?" When he didn't answer, she continued. "Plenty of us do it sometimes, when it's convenient or we feel like it or for the kicks, but you have dedicated your entire life to it. To the point where you no longer have a life outside of that costume. You aren't selfish or cowardly. SO DON'T ACT LIKE YOU ARE."
"Think, Bruce," Barbara added quietly. "You pushed Vesper away and it didn't save her. Hugo was going to kill someone, whatever you did. If it hadn't been her, it would have been someone else. If necessary, he would have used a total stranger.
"Everybody dies, Bruce. So maybe it won't be because a maniac wants to hurt you. Maybe it'll be because you weren't there to provide backup or spot the critical clue. Or maybe it'll be after a long life that's the poorer because you wouldn't be a part of it. Everybody dies; you can't change that. We know the danger and we want you in our lives anyway."
"That's quite something, you know?" Dinah told him. "Nobody wants HIM," she jerked her head at Hugo Strange, "in their lives. So let them in, okay?"
Dick stepped forward. "There will always be people in your life, Bruce, and - being who you are - you will care about them. Think about Sasha, Spoiler,..."
Batgirl stepped forward. "Me."
"Yes," Dick laughed, "even Cain's daughter. You care about everyone, Bruce."
Barbara rolled her eyes. Batman glared.
"What? What did I say?"
"I didn't know HER identity," Dinah told him in a stage whisper.
"What? She knows who you are, she knows who I am, but Batgirl -- whose identity is known to James Gordon and half of the former G.C. ex-P.D., not to mention the fact that she practically lives here -- she doesn't know who SHE is?"
Barbara surprised everyone, especially herself, by laughing. It was a loud, happy, joyous sound. "Accept it, Bruce. You are NOT going to end up a bitter old man, all alone in that huge house. That's just not the sort of person you are."
"Don't you understand?" Bruce whispered. "I can't stand the pain any more."
"Nobody can stand it by themselves," Dick told him, "but you don't have to. That's what family is for."
Bruce pushed back his cowl and took deep, shuddering breaths, fighting for control.
"No group hugs," he growled.
Dick's grin looked about to split his face in two. "No group hugs," he affirmed.
"No potluck dinners. I HATED the JLA potlucks"
"Hey," interjected Dinah, "they weren't that bad."
"With Alfred around?" Dick put in. "I can GUARANTEE no potluck dinners."
"And I'm not laughing at your stupid jokes."
"Bruce, you wound me." Dick clasped his hands to his heart. "My jokes are funny."
"Occasionally," Bruce allowed.
"Red, back me up on this."
"No," Barbara replied bluntly. "Most of your jokes ARE stupid."
Batgirl walked up to Bruce. "Better?" she asked.
"Yes, better," he affirmed.
"Good. Lots to do."
She turned to Dinah, pulled off her cowl and put out her hand. "Cass."
"Good to meet you, Cass. I'm Dinah."
"Great," growled Bruce. "Just in case she didn't know who Cain's daughter was, you wanted to make sure she wouldn't pass you by on the street?"
Cass just looked at him. "Part of family now," she replied. Dinah looked taken aback.
"I don't know why she'd WANT to be," Bruce groused.
"Grinch."
"No, that's grouch," Barbara corrected. Cass had watched 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' too many times last December, she reflected. Then it occurred to her Bruce might not appreciate being called a grouch. She shrugged.
"Now that's settled," put in Black Canary, "what do we do about him?" She pointed at Hugo Strange.
Bruce shrugged. "Barbara will have to call the police. Inconvenient, but there is no way we can keep her out of it, I'm afraid."
"And we prove he murdered Vesper, how?" Barbara asked skeptically. Bruce's face went stony again and she regretted her flippancy, but the problem had to be addressed.
"I have his confession on tape. Everything from 'you remind me of Vesper'."
"The open com line," Barbara realized. But there was no reason to tape Hugo's confession if Bruce didn't intend to clear his name. Maybe a part of him had never wanted to go the 'Lone Avenger' route, she thought. Maybe, subconsciously, he had wanted to be talked out of it. "He knows who we all are," she pointed out.
"I have some samples of the Scarecrow's fear toxin at the Dixon Station complex. If Batgirl can go retrieve a sample," she nodded, put her cowl back on and was gone, "I think we can convince the police that he is insane."
"He IS insane. 'Potency of archetypal power'," Barbara snorted.
"He didn't really say that?" Dinah asked delightedly.
"Let's keep on topic here."
"Yes sir, your Batship, sir." Dinah saluted.
"By the time the fear toxin wears off..." he continued, ignoring Dinah's quip. How quickly things return to normal, Barbara thought. Well, not everything. Dick was virtually quivering with happiness. "...nobody is likely to take any claims Strange makes seriously. The fact that he thinks he's killed Nightwing and Batgirl will help.
"Bruce Wayne was seen to arrive in Santa Prisca, so Hugo will find it difficult to convince the police that Wayne is Batman. When Wayne returns from Santa Prisca, he will be very taken by Strange's story. He will tell anyone who will listen how he is supposed to be Batman."
"Uh, Bruce," asked Dick. "Isn't treating Bruce Wayne and Batman as two separate people how we got into this mess in the first place?"
"Can't be helped. We have to clearly separate the two in the eyes of the public. If I start forgetting who I really am, you can remind me.
"I will give an "I am the Batman" party. I'll dress up in the most garish 'Batman' costume I can find. The guests will be asked to come as their favorite Batman-related character. I'll leave the Grandfather clock open and show the vestibule behind it to anyone interested, telling them it's my Batcave. With the staircase sealed off, it will look like a rather large closet."
"You mean the entrance to the Batcave was behind a...umph," Dinah said as Barbara drove an elbow into her stomach.
"I will tell everyone it was probably built by my grandfather to store his bootleg liquor and how I used to hide in it when playing 'hide and seek' as a child. That should put an end to any serious idea that I really am Batman. It you can't disprove something, ridicule it.
"And, yes, I know it will perpetuate the 'Bruce Wayne as twit' persona but, again, it can't be helped.
"Once the fanfare dies down, we can turn our attention to reopening the Batcave. In the meantime, I can use the alternate sites." He shrugged. "Inconvenient but necessary."
"I think that covers it," Barbara added briskly. "We need to get moving. As soon as Batgirl gets back with the fear toxin, I'll call the police. Canary..." Barbara paused. How were they going to explain all this mess to the police?
"Black Canary saved you," Batman told her. "That's necessary to explain the... path of destruction she left. Besides, you two have been spending a lot of time together. Somebody will have noticed. You two will have to figure out how she knows you and why she stopped by at 3:30 in the morning. That also eliminates any connection between you and the Batman. Nightwing," he turned to Dick, "check for anything that reveals we were here. Particulatly foot prints." He was fully back in Batman mode, Barbara noted. Nightwing nodded and started moving around the room, eyes on the floor.
"Barbara, you surreptitiously taped Hugo's confession." He tossed her the mini-cassette. "I need to find Hugo's lair before the police do, to make sure there is nothing too revealing. It will probably be nearby, likely with a view of your balcony. He was clearly starting to fixate on you as well as the Batman."
Dick looked up, his expression thunderous. Better not leave him alone with Hugo, Barbara thought. Batman headed for the balcony. "Go with him," she urged Dick.
Nightwing took a deep breath and released it, then nodded to her.
"Uh, Dad?"
"Yes?"
"I kinda wrecked the Batmobile."
"Again?"
"Hey, that's not fair. I was sixteen, for crying out loud! You going to hold that against me forever?"
"It's coming out of your allowance," Batman growled as he fired his jump line. He stepped off the balcony and swung away. Nightwing did a forward somersault over the balcony railing. He would wait until the last possible moment before using his line, Barbara knew.
His voice came drifting back to them. "You're not developing a sense of humor, are you? 'Cause if you are, that's just too freaky.
"Hey, if Dinah is family, doesn't that make Roy, like, my cousin?"
Barbara looked at Dinah. They both laughed.
********finis********
Author's note: I have tried as best I can to stay consistent with current continuity up thru Batman #600. According to "JLA Incarnations" Batman and Black Canary did overlap on the JLA. There is, however, absolutely no evidence to corroborate Batman's accusations. There is no evidence of any JLA potlucks either, but it seems plausible for the period corresponding to the first half of Incarnations #6. I doubt the present team would go in for them, however. On the other hand, the Batman's propensity to scowl at JLA meetings is clearly shown in issues #4 & 6 of that series, not to mention any number of issues of JLA.
There is a suggestion in Birds of Prey #40 that Dinah has guessed Bruce is Batman, due to Batman disappearing when Bruce was arrested and all the attention the Batclan is devoting to the case. That is what Dinah meant. Bruce just assumed she meant Dick had given him away. Even Batman can jump to the wrong conclusion, occasionally. Dick's guilt is due to a different and older matter, which HE assumed Bruce had just learned about. You'll have to go back several years to find the incident I am refering to.
The incident concerning Dick, Bruce and the kidnapped boy was in a Titans story from the period when Jason Todd was Robin. I don't know if it is considered "in continuity" any more. The Dixon Station facility is shown in Batman: No Man's Land #0. James Gordon, at least, must have realized that the Batgirl he meets in the latter part of NML is a different person from the one he met earlier in NML. Since the later one doesn't speak and first appears right after Cain's daughter (who doesn't speak) appears then disappears, he must have worked it out. Whether others did as well is unknown. The "Grinch" line I unabashedly stole from "Holiday (Drop) Ins" by Smitty, an excellent story which can be found at the "Potatoverse" website. Maybe the plug will keep her from getting mad at me!
I made some revisions to this chapter based on reviews by Oi! and Meljean Brook. Praise is appreciated but constructive criticism is priceless.
All characters in this story are copyright DC Comics and I have used them without permission. I am making no money from this story.
The Clock Tower
3:04 AM
Hugo Strange turned in time to take the right cross on the tip of his chin. He slammed backwards into the wall. Before he could regain his footing, the Batman grabbed him and pulled him erect, until they were face to face.
"What are you doing here, Strange?" the Batman growled, his voice deep and vibrant with menace. "Did you think, let's go torture and murder another defenseless woman? Is that what you thought?"
Abruptly, the Batman rammed his knee into Hugo Strange's groin. "Let's see just how defenseless this woman is."
Ignoring Strange as he gasped and moaned on the floor, he turned to Barbara.
"Don't move," he cautioned, as the razor-sharp batarang sliced thru the duct tape that bound her. He yanked the tape from her mouth.
"Ouch! Batman - Nightwing, Batgirl and Alfred... the Cave..."
He didn't exactly smile, Barbara thought, but for a moment his face was less grim. Then the mask was firmly back in place, but it was enough. She sagged with relief and barely noticed as, without looking, he reached out and shut down the monitor board.
Hugo Strange gasped, "They're dead, Batman ... Dead! ... I killed them! ... If you turn me ... over to the police, everyone... will know who you are." He seemed to regain his confidence at the thought.
The Batman ignored this speech as he righted Barbara's wheelchair and brought it into the room, placing it behind her and setting the brakes to make it easier for her to pull herself up into it. Finally, he handed her the escrima stick she had dropped earlier. Then he turned towards Hugo Strange.
The temperature seemed to drop abruptly. Barbara shivered. Hugo Strange seemed frozen in place.
"Strange, you have killed or tried to kill just about everyone in this world that I love. What makes you think I'm just going to turn you over to the police?"
"The Batman doesn't kill." But Hugo Strange didn't sound quite as confident as before.
"I'm not going to kill you," the Batman replied in a soft voice. "That would be too easy."
Hugo Strange started to sweat.
"You want to be the Batman, Strange? Fine. I'll just shave off that beard." Suddenly, the razor-sharp batarang was in his hand again. The point caressed Strange's throat. He shuddered. "Then I'll drop you in the worst part of Gotham. How long do you think you'll last, Strange? If by some chance, the police find you first, who's going to believe anything you say? A weirdo who dresses up like the Batman and claims he's Hugo Strange, when Strange is safely locked up in Arkham? They may run your fingerprints but I promise you they won't match the prints on file for Hugo Strange. You'll end up in some asylum as 'John Doe'. Not Arkham, you won't rate that high. You'll have no one to talk to, at least no one who pays any attention, except a psychiatrist who comes once a week and spends the time looking at his watch, waiting to go home. You could live for decades like that. Unnamed. Insignificant. Nobody."
Hugo Strange paled.
"But I have a better idea. You're free to go, Strange. You can just walk out of this apartment. I won't stop you. I won't follow you. All you have to do..." The smile on the Batman's face was far more sinister than his grim visage had been. "...is get past one defenseless woman. That's all."
He turned and disappeared into the darkness of the living room.
"Batman!" Dammit, thought Barbara, I'm not going to let him pull that disappearing trick now. She heard Strange get to his feet as she spun her wheelchair around. She tossed the escrima stick over her shoulder, not paying any attention to the crack! as it connected with Hugo's skull, nor the whack! as the back of his head hit the wall behind him, or the crump! as his body slid to the floor. She was too focused on catching the Batman before he could disappear. So focused, in fact, that she almost ran him down when he suddenly materialized in the doorway.
"Finished?" he asked, an almost smile barely touching the corners of his mouth. "Already?"
"You didn't think I'd have any trouble with that little creep?" asked Barbara, insulted.
The corners of his mouth twitched, the equivalent of a belly laugh for the Batman. He said nothing but bent over Hugo Strange. He touched a hypo spray to his neck and Strange relaxed into complete unconsciousness. Then he bound his arms and legs with plastic ties. The whole process took seconds.
"What are you going to do with him?"
"Take him to Arkham. Put him in his cell. I'll take his 'stand-in' to a private sanitarium I know. Someplace where he'll be treated, not warehoused like at Arkham. Strange can talk all he wants. Nobody will listen. After all, they know he's insane."
"How are you going to prove Bruce Wayne is innocent if you do that?"
"I'm not. Bruce Wayne doesn't exist anymore."
Barbara slammed her fist down on the armrest. "How is that fair to Sasha? She is in prison because of you. How can you do that to her?"
Batman hesitated, as if he hadn't thought of that. But that wasn't possible. He was the Batman, he thought of everything.
Barbara's apartment door shattered into a million pieces. Batman automatically swung his cape to protect them from the flying splinters. In the doorway stood Black Canary, uniform torn, hair disheveled, ready to take on all comers.
"Late, as usual," commented Batman dryly.
Dinah looked at Barbara. Her eyes asked, are you all right? She must have gotten the answer she was looking for, for her face changed from looking concerned to looking disgusted.
"Puke gas, Barb. Did you have to use puke gas? The electrified carpet I kinda expected. I mean it's almost a cliché, these days. The ultrasound thingies were a real pain," her hands rubbed her temples, indicating she meant that literally, "but what the heck. It's not supposed to be easy. But why'd you have to use puke gas? I'll never get the smell of it out of my costume."
"Uh, sorry?"
"You should carry a rebreather."
"Well, if it isn't his Battiness. Don't you have some stalactites that need de-guano-fying?"
"I didn't know you two knew each other," Barbara commented in surprise.
"JLA," was Batman's terse response. Well I know you were in the JLA together, thought Barbara. But this sort of banter went beyond what she would have expected from that connection.
"I was the only one he couldn't intimidate. Well, and J'onn, of course."
"She made faces at me during meetings..."
"You spent the whole time scowling. I had to do something."
"...and mooned me once when I was on monitor duty."
"I did not! At least," she grinned, "you can't prove it was me."
"Biometrics," he pronounced with a un-Batman-like satisfaction. "I made precise measurements from the video tape..."
"You have it on tape?" yelped Dinah.
"...and compared them with your medical scans." His face froze, as if he suddenly realized he was enjoying himself.
"You have my medical scans? Those are confidential! Oh wait," she added sarcastically, "I forgot I was talking to Mr. Rules-don't-apply-to-me."
He turned and headed for the balcony.
"Hey!" Dinah called after him, "was it something I said?"
Not now, Dinah, thought Barbara. "Batman, wait!"
He paused, but did not turn around.
"How did you show up just in time to save my life?"
Dinah's sudden intake of breath sounded loud in the silence. Then Batman turned towards Barbara. He looked embarrassed.
"You called me." It took a moment for Barbara to understand.
"You mean you were listening the whole time and didn't respond?"
"I didn't want you to think I was at your beck and call."
"Perish the thought," said Barbara dryly.
"That's awfully petty, even for you," said Dinah indignantly.
"I was headed for the Cave," Batman continued as if he had never been interrupted, "to back up Nightwing and Batgirl when you said, 'Batman, thank goodness, you're here.' I turned around and headed for the Clock Tower."
She had left the com line open, Barbara remembered. Which meant he had heard everything.
"You heard Hugo initiate the self-destruct sequence. Did you override it somehow?"
"Self-destruct?" Dinah asked.
"For the Batcave," Barbara explained impatiently.
Dinah started laughing. "You put a self-destruct mechanism in the Batcave?" Her laughter grew until she was gasping for breath. "How... James Bond... Wayne, Bruce Wayne... agent double-oh bat... license to brood..."
Barbara started to giggle. "I didn't even know there WAS a self-destruct mechanism." Her giggles stopped abruptly at Batman's glare. She suddenly realized Dinah had called him by his real name.
"Oh, chill, Brucie," Dinah retorted. "SHE didn't give you away."
Batman switched his glare to her, with no discernible effect. He finally said, "Contrary to what Strange seems to believe, it isn't a 'self-destruct mechanism'. That's just Alfred's idea of sarcasm. The purpose is to hide the Batcave, not destroy it. The entrances are collapsed. Anyone looking for the Batcave will find rubble-strewn dead-ends, nothing unusual in those cliffs. The computer hard drives and on-site back-ups are wiped clean and other... sensitive... information is destroyed, so if they still manage to find the Batcave they won't learn anything," he shrugged, "beyond what they would already know if they are looking for the Batcave under Wayne Manor. Barbara has back-ups of all the data so nothing is permanently lost."
"Oh," exclaimed Barbara, recognition dawning. She had known about THAT. "I thought..." She stopped, but Batman smiled bitterly at her. It didn't take the World's Greatest Detective to complete her sentence. She had thought he had gone all paranoid and had wired the Batcave with explosives without telling anyone.
"I have no desire to drop Wayne Manor into the Batcave again."
But Barbara wasn't listening. She felt like her mind had been jarred back into operation again for the first time since Batman had appeared. Now it all made sense. He had heard everything Hugo had said. He had heard Hugo Strange describe Vesper's death in loving detail. He had heard Hugo tormenting her. He must have wanted to beat Hugo to within an inch of his life. Instead he had left Hugo to her, to show her in the only way he could that she was not a helpless victim. He couldn't know she had already found her own answer.
"When did you figure out that Hugo Strange was behind everything?"
He turned his head away. Barbara knew with sickening certainty that he hadn't figured it out. Not until Hugo had announced himself. But he should have. He had all the clues Dick had. He hadn't figured it out because he had quit thinking. He was running entirely on emotion and reflexes and probably had been since he held Vesper's dead body in his arms. She tried to understand how that must have felt. She imagined Dick dead in her arms and the desolation that would bring. No wonder he had stopped thinking. She would have wept, but her tears would not help him.
She heard his words once more in her mind. "The only person who can truly defeat you is you. Most of our opponents will... tell us how to take them down, if we pay attention." And Hugo Strange had paid attention, hadn't he? He had seen how carefully Bruce guarded his feelings and had recognized the vulnerability they represented. How had they not seen it? Oh, they talked about Bruce hiding his feelings, but then they turned around and called him cold and unfeeling. But a cold, unfeeling man did not dedicate his life to protecting others, at the cost of his own happiness. Only a man who cared too much. Only a man who cared too much had to hide his feelings so that evil men like Hugo Strange wouldn't use them against him. But if you paid attention, then the very act of hiding them revealed his vulnerability.
They had treated Bruce like an 'iron man' who could withstand anything, who would never break under any strain. Bruce had projected that image because it was what he needed to believe, but they had all bought into the illusion. They had loaded their need to believe on top of his own. But that wasn't all, she realized. They had all, at one time or another, railed at him for putting 'the mission' above the needs of his 'family'. One occasion burned in her mind. Dick had needed to talk to Bruce about their relationship, but Bruce wouldn't stop to talk. The mission was more important, the mission came first. Dick had been furious. The mission, in that case, had been a young boy who had been kidnapped. Bruce had placed rescuing him, probably saving his life, above Dick's need to talk. That was the most egregious case, she thought, but far from the only one. They had all done it. They had all objected when he placed the lives of strangers above their own emotional needs.
Barbara pushed the guilt aside. That would not help Bruce either. What would?
They turned their heads at the whoosh! followed by a thump! as Nightwing landed in the middle of the living room.
"Babs! Are you all..."
He stopped as he felt Batman's scorching glare.
"What part of 'secret identity' do you not understand?"
"What are you..." He took in Black Canary's presence and turned beet red. His eyes slid towards Barbara, then back to the Batman. "Uh, sorry?"
The Batman shouldered Dick aside and pulled out his jump line. Batgirl landed in front of him.
"Back? Good."
"Batgirl!" Barbara shouted, "don't let him leave."
"Move out of the way, Batgirl," Batman growled. Batgirl didn't move. Batman turned, frustrated. He had the strangest code of conduct, Barbara thought. He would shoulder Dick aside, but not Batgirl. She wasn't sure if it was because she was female or young or because Bruce felt responsible for her or because she wasn't family to the same degree as Dick. She was sure it wasn't because she could probably kick his butt. He certainly wouldn't have hesitated if it were Superman.
"Dick, he's still going to give up being Bruce Wayne."
"What? You can't do that!"
"Yes, I can."
"I won't let you!"
"You can't stop me."
"QUIET, EVERYONE!" All heads turned towards Dinah. She looked at Batman.
"You're going to do what?"
"Bruce Wayne has become a liability. He no longer exists."
"You ARE Bruce Wayne."
"No, he's a mask I sometimes wear. This is the real me."
"That's the sort of crap you pulled in the JLA. I didn't buy it then and I don't buy it now."
Batman shrugged. "Believe what you want."
"Is this about Vesper Fairchild?"
Silence.
"Look, I'm sorry she died, but that's no reason..."
"I felt her heart stop." It was barely a whisper.
"What?"
"I held her in my arms and felt her heart stop. Because of me. That was her only crime: she knew me."
"I don't know all the details..."
"That's right. You don't. So stay out of it."
"...and I know Vesper didn't sign up for that risk, but THESE PEOPLE DID. They know how dangerous our profession is and they chose it anyway. All you're doing is making their lives more difficult and painful than they have to be."
"I can't do anything about that."
"Sure you can! You can drop this nonsense and..."
"You miss the point. Vesper died because I loved her. That madman over there killed her, not for anything she had done or anything she was, but because it would hurt me. I'm sorry if people are hurt by my actions, but at least they are alive to be hurt. Vesper isn't. No one else is going to die because of me. No one."
Barbara spoke gently. "If Bruce Wayne no longer exists, what happens to Thomas and Martha's son? What happens to their legacy? Who mourns their deaths? They gave everything to protect Bruce Wayne. Did they die in vain?"
He was visibly shaken. Then his face froze once more. "I'm leaving." Since he wouldn't shove Batgirl aside, he headed for the front door. He looked more than willing to shoulder Dinah out of the way.
She stepped aside. "If you are that selfish and cowardly, go ahead and leave."
Dinah, thought Barbara despairingly, don't.
"Frankly, I thought better of you."
He stopped and faced her. "If it's selfish and cowardly to want to never bury another loved one..."
"You're taking their right to choose their own lives away from them. They know the risks and they chose to care about you. But you refuse to let them."
"Fine!" Suddenly he was shouting. "Then I'm selfish and cowardly." Dick looked stricken. Barbara felt like weeping.
"No, you're not."
The Batman looked totally dumbstruck. Barbara fought down a smile as she carefully filed the image away in her mind for future enjoyment.
Dinah continued, "You are one of the bravest, most unselfish people I know. You go out every night, without any powers to help you, and risk your life to help complete strangers. Have you ever seen anyone who needed help and NOT stopped to help them?" When he didn't answer, she continued. "Plenty of us do it sometimes, when it's convenient or we feel like it or for the kicks, but you have dedicated your entire life to it. To the point where you no longer have a life outside of that costume. You aren't selfish or cowardly. SO DON'T ACT LIKE YOU ARE."
"Think, Bruce," Barbara added quietly. "You pushed Vesper away and it didn't save her. Hugo was going to kill someone, whatever you did. If it hadn't been her, it would have been someone else. If necessary, he would have used a total stranger.
"Everybody dies, Bruce. So maybe it won't be because a maniac wants to hurt you. Maybe it'll be because you weren't there to provide backup or spot the critical clue. Or maybe it'll be after a long life that's the poorer because you wouldn't be a part of it. Everybody dies; you can't change that. We know the danger and we want you in our lives anyway."
"That's quite something, you know?" Dinah told him. "Nobody wants HIM," she jerked her head at Hugo Strange, "in their lives. So let them in, okay?"
Dick stepped forward. "There will always be people in your life, Bruce, and - being who you are - you will care about them. Think about Sasha, Spoiler,..."
Batgirl stepped forward. "Me."
"Yes," Dick laughed, "even Cain's daughter. You care about everyone, Bruce."
Barbara rolled her eyes. Batman glared.
"What? What did I say?"
"I didn't know HER identity," Dinah told him in a stage whisper.
"What? She knows who you are, she knows who I am, but Batgirl -- whose identity is known to James Gordon and half of the former G.C. ex-P.D., not to mention the fact that she practically lives here -- she doesn't know who SHE is?"
Barbara surprised everyone, especially herself, by laughing. It was a loud, happy, joyous sound. "Accept it, Bruce. You are NOT going to end up a bitter old man, all alone in that huge house. That's just not the sort of person you are."
"Don't you understand?" Bruce whispered. "I can't stand the pain any more."
"Nobody can stand it by themselves," Dick told him, "but you don't have to. That's what family is for."
Bruce pushed back his cowl and took deep, shuddering breaths, fighting for control.
"No group hugs," he growled.
Dick's grin looked about to split his face in two. "No group hugs," he affirmed.
"No potluck dinners. I HATED the JLA potlucks"
"Hey," interjected Dinah, "they weren't that bad."
"With Alfred around?" Dick put in. "I can GUARANTEE no potluck dinners."
"And I'm not laughing at your stupid jokes."
"Bruce, you wound me." Dick clasped his hands to his heart. "My jokes are funny."
"Occasionally," Bruce allowed.
"Red, back me up on this."
"No," Barbara replied bluntly. "Most of your jokes ARE stupid."
Batgirl walked up to Bruce. "Better?" she asked.
"Yes, better," he affirmed.
"Good. Lots to do."
She turned to Dinah, pulled off her cowl and put out her hand. "Cass."
"Good to meet you, Cass. I'm Dinah."
"Great," growled Bruce. "Just in case she didn't know who Cain's daughter was, you wanted to make sure she wouldn't pass you by on the street?"
Cass just looked at him. "Part of family now," she replied. Dinah looked taken aback.
"I don't know why she'd WANT to be," Bruce groused.
"Grinch."
"No, that's grouch," Barbara corrected. Cass had watched 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' too many times last December, she reflected. Then it occurred to her Bruce might not appreciate being called a grouch. She shrugged.
"Now that's settled," put in Black Canary, "what do we do about him?" She pointed at Hugo Strange.
Bruce shrugged. "Barbara will have to call the police. Inconvenient, but there is no way we can keep her out of it, I'm afraid."
"And we prove he murdered Vesper, how?" Barbara asked skeptically. Bruce's face went stony again and she regretted her flippancy, but the problem had to be addressed.
"I have his confession on tape. Everything from 'you remind me of Vesper'."
"The open com line," Barbara realized. But there was no reason to tape Hugo's confession if Bruce didn't intend to clear his name. Maybe a part of him had never wanted to go the 'Lone Avenger' route, she thought. Maybe, subconsciously, he had wanted to be talked out of it. "He knows who we all are," she pointed out.
"I have some samples of the Scarecrow's fear toxin at the Dixon Station complex. If Batgirl can go retrieve a sample," she nodded, put her cowl back on and was gone, "I think we can convince the police that he is insane."
"He IS insane. 'Potency of archetypal power'," Barbara snorted.
"He didn't really say that?" Dinah asked delightedly.
"Let's keep on topic here."
"Yes sir, your Batship, sir." Dinah saluted.
"By the time the fear toxin wears off..." he continued, ignoring Dinah's quip. How quickly things return to normal, Barbara thought. Well, not everything. Dick was virtually quivering with happiness. "...nobody is likely to take any claims Strange makes seriously. The fact that he thinks he's killed Nightwing and Batgirl will help.
"Bruce Wayne was seen to arrive in Santa Prisca, so Hugo will find it difficult to convince the police that Wayne is Batman. When Wayne returns from Santa Prisca, he will be very taken by Strange's story. He will tell anyone who will listen how he is supposed to be Batman."
"Uh, Bruce," asked Dick. "Isn't treating Bruce Wayne and Batman as two separate people how we got into this mess in the first place?"
"Can't be helped. We have to clearly separate the two in the eyes of the public. If I start forgetting who I really am, you can remind me.
"I will give an "I am the Batman" party. I'll dress up in the most garish 'Batman' costume I can find. The guests will be asked to come as their favorite Batman-related character. I'll leave the Grandfather clock open and show the vestibule behind it to anyone interested, telling them it's my Batcave. With the staircase sealed off, it will look like a rather large closet."
"You mean the entrance to the Batcave was behind a...umph," Dinah said as Barbara drove an elbow into her stomach.
"I will tell everyone it was probably built by my grandfather to store his bootleg liquor and how I used to hide in it when playing 'hide and seek' as a child. That should put an end to any serious idea that I really am Batman. It you can't disprove something, ridicule it.
"And, yes, I know it will perpetuate the 'Bruce Wayne as twit' persona but, again, it can't be helped.
"Once the fanfare dies down, we can turn our attention to reopening the Batcave. In the meantime, I can use the alternate sites." He shrugged. "Inconvenient but necessary."
"I think that covers it," Barbara added briskly. "We need to get moving. As soon as Batgirl gets back with the fear toxin, I'll call the police. Canary..." Barbara paused. How were they going to explain all this mess to the police?
"Black Canary saved you," Batman told her. "That's necessary to explain the... path of destruction she left. Besides, you two have been spending a lot of time together. Somebody will have noticed. You two will have to figure out how she knows you and why she stopped by at 3:30 in the morning. That also eliminates any connection between you and the Batman. Nightwing," he turned to Dick, "check for anything that reveals we were here. Particulatly foot prints." He was fully back in Batman mode, Barbara noted. Nightwing nodded and started moving around the room, eyes on the floor.
"Barbara, you surreptitiously taped Hugo's confession." He tossed her the mini-cassette. "I need to find Hugo's lair before the police do, to make sure there is nothing too revealing. It will probably be nearby, likely with a view of your balcony. He was clearly starting to fixate on you as well as the Batman."
Dick looked up, his expression thunderous. Better not leave him alone with Hugo, Barbara thought. Batman headed for the balcony. "Go with him," she urged Dick.
Nightwing took a deep breath and released it, then nodded to her.
"Uh, Dad?"
"Yes?"
"I kinda wrecked the Batmobile."
"Again?"
"Hey, that's not fair. I was sixteen, for crying out loud! You going to hold that against me forever?"
"It's coming out of your allowance," Batman growled as he fired his jump line. He stepped off the balcony and swung away. Nightwing did a forward somersault over the balcony railing. He would wait until the last possible moment before using his line, Barbara knew.
His voice came drifting back to them. "You're not developing a sense of humor, are you? 'Cause if you are, that's just too freaky.
"Hey, if Dinah is family, doesn't that make Roy, like, my cousin?"
Barbara looked at Dinah. They both laughed.
********finis********
Author's note: I have tried as best I can to stay consistent with current continuity up thru Batman #600. According to "JLA Incarnations" Batman and Black Canary did overlap on the JLA. There is, however, absolutely no evidence to corroborate Batman's accusations. There is no evidence of any JLA potlucks either, but it seems plausible for the period corresponding to the first half of Incarnations #6. I doubt the present team would go in for them, however. On the other hand, the Batman's propensity to scowl at JLA meetings is clearly shown in issues #4 & 6 of that series, not to mention any number of issues of JLA.
There is a suggestion in Birds of Prey #40 that Dinah has guessed Bruce is Batman, due to Batman disappearing when Bruce was arrested and all the attention the Batclan is devoting to the case. That is what Dinah meant. Bruce just assumed she meant Dick had given him away. Even Batman can jump to the wrong conclusion, occasionally. Dick's guilt is due to a different and older matter, which HE assumed Bruce had just learned about. You'll have to go back several years to find the incident I am refering to.
The incident concerning Dick, Bruce and the kidnapped boy was in a Titans story from the period when Jason Todd was Robin. I don't know if it is considered "in continuity" any more. The Dixon Station facility is shown in Batman: No Man's Land #0. James Gordon, at least, must have realized that the Batgirl he meets in the latter part of NML is a different person from the one he met earlier in NML. Since the later one doesn't speak and first appears right after Cain's daughter (who doesn't speak) appears then disappears, he must have worked it out. Whether others did as well is unknown. The "Grinch" line I unabashedly stole from "Holiday (Drop) Ins" by Smitty, an excellent story which can be found at the "Potatoverse" website. Maybe the plug will keep her from getting mad at me!
I made some revisions to this chapter based on reviews by Oi! and Meljean Brook. Praise is appreciated but constructive criticism is priceless.