"Ok, you know what to do." Matt nodded silently as his eyes remained fixed on the target in front of him. Then, as swiftly as any who had come before him, he took the bat grapple from his side and swung through the air, slightly in front of the larger, much darker figure of his brother. The two soared through the darkening sky, Matt barely able to keep his smile in check as he glided over the head of a boy on the streets below, who looked up in awe as the knights of Gotham passed over his head… the same boy, who Matt noted, had pushed him over and called him a gipsy freak only hours earlier. Terry noticed the slight diversion in Matt's attention, and was pretty sure he knew what had caused it, he had promised himself to resolve it before the sun fell on the next day, but it would have to wait, for a short while at least. There were more important things to deal with now, and annoying little school bullies wasn't one of them.
The two came to rest on the roof of a high building near the centre of Gotham. Batman kicked open the door and they both descended down the dark stairs.
"Anything?" Came an old voice over both McGinnis' earpieces.
"Nothing yet" replied Batman. The vid link from both of masks came up on the divided screen in the cave and Bruce could see Terry occasionally checking on Matt, his footsteps, his stance, everything and anything that could give him away, as he often did. They dropped silently through a trap door that Bruce had told them of and they both landed silently on the floor below. Hearing voices ahead, Batman signalled to Robin to move forward. At the end of the corridor there was a large concrete arch, which opened into a large hall. Staying close to the wall, the two separated, Batman going one way, and his brother going the other. They kept parallel with each other as they moved (still pressed against the cold walls) as they moved around unseen to the centre of the room. While keeping one eye on Batman, Robin also observed, (as did Terry the other side of the room) the two men in the centre. They were tall and both of slightly larger than average build, probably a bit too much for Matt, but no problem for Terry. They stood with a large leather case, which was opened and revelled to be full of credits. In front of them, and looking very worried for their own part, were two boys, each about 12 years old, and on closer inspection looked to be twins.
"The police are on route," said the voice over the links, "they shouldn't bee more than three minutes, four at most"
"Well" said the one man, looking down on the two young boys in front of him. They were both sitting on a small wooden chair, back to back, meaning they were tied up even though that was hard to see. "See now, we have a problem" he grinned with malice. "Mammy and Daddy sent us the money, but they didn't send us enough, which means we can only let one of you go like we promised." The man beside him flicked a small gun in his hand. Both Terry and Matt winced in anger for the two brothers and their peril, they had no idea that Batman and Robin were so close at hand, and so were of the mind that one of them wasn't going to leave there alive. Fear for his brother flared up in each twin, and both of them refused to speak. Batman flashed another look at Matt, who seemed to be doing the same to Terry.
"Well, if it's all the same to you" he sighed, snapping his fingers to his partner who lowered the gun to the boy facing him. The boy, for a moment looked scared, but his gaze remained fixed on the man and his gun.
"No, you cant do this!" his twin shouted, trying to wrench his hands free. "NO!" He heard the gun fire, and in a moment of horror he felt his brother flinch. But the gun was no longer pointed at him; his brother was not dead, not even close. He craned his neck around to see the reason his brother was alive. To his relief and excitement, he saw the gunman get slammed in the groin by the Batman, who seemed to stand tall above them, the vibrant red bat sending fear and awe into both of them. The second kidnapper was now set on Batman, but as big as they were, Batman's training outmatched them both. The one crawled up from the floor (severely angry at what he considered a desecration of his manhood, and probably the reason that in later years, he was not able to have children) he flicked a pocket knife from his pocket, and out of evil or spite, he stumbled towards the two young boys as Batman took a forceful punch to the back of his ribs, which (being in the 'lucky' position it was) winded him more than he would have liked.
"HELP!" cried one of the twins as he saw the knife fall towards him. For a moment he was confused that the knife flew out of his hand when Batman was away from them, still fighting their other attacker. They both turned to see the young Robin, who had kicked the weapon from the guys hand, cut their restraints.
"Are you alright?" He asked them innocently.
"Uh huh
"Thank you so much!"
"Ok, come on!" He grabbed one of them by the wrist and ran towards the exit, the twins running to keep up behind him. They could hear sirens in the distance, and all three were relieved too realise that the police cars were outside and the cops were probably already half way up the stairs already.
"Thank you so much, really, I cant say how much," said one of the boys again, both beaming with the joy of not only still being alive, but now at being at the centre of such heroic action. Matt opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out as he and the twins heard the sound of a gunshot coming from behind them. The twins looked at each other in confusion, and then ran back down the corridor behind Robin who had sprinted off in front of them.
Batman stood clenching his arm tightly. The bullet had skimmed the surface, taking a strip of the sleeve of his suit with it, along with a piece of his arm. Matt was struck for a moment in horror as he saw the blood drip on the floor from his brothers' arm. Then in another flash of instinct, he realised it wasn't his brother who was injured. It was Batman, and Batman didn't let little things like a bullet scratch get in the way of doing what was needed of him. Taking a Batarang from his belt, Robin disarmed the man in front of the Bat. Both looked up to see Robin followed by the twins who had refused to leave their new 'friend' at this time.
"Robin! GO!" Shouted Batman, his voice more gruff than usual. He swung forward and punched the man in front of him, and then tripping him, he moved to run towards the three kids, but stumbled and then stopped after taking only a few steps.
"Don't move. Batman" ordered the voice. Hearing the click of an old fashioned revolver, Robin and the Twins turned to see the second man, still shaking from the blow to his groin and his hand throbbing from the kick delivered by Robin. The twins stood behind him and didn't move as the gun moved from them to him. "You two" he said to them. "Piss off, the both of you, I have no need for you anymore." For a moment they refused, but seeing Robin shoot them a look, they turned and ran back down the corridor. Matt watched them for a moment. The man with the gun noticed that the young boy was not looking at him. "You." He said meanly. Matt stubbornly, and quite arrogantly looked up to meet his captures eyes, not lifting his head, in spite of the deference in size, but staring him out under the shadow of his dark mask and heavy brow.
A batarang slid into Batman's hand as he quietly made his way, bit by bit to the two in front of him. Occasionally the man would flicker his attention to him to make sure he wasn't moving, before finally deciding on a course of action. He circled around Robin, his gun only inches from his head. "Well, Batman" he said cockily, "It seems I now hold the advantage." He nudged Robin in the side, but the boy was stubborn and said nothing. "I am going to walk out of here" he said, "I'm gonna walk, and you're gonna let me" he pushed the barrel of the gun to the site of Robin's mask, "If you get what I'm saying." Behind him, Terry could hear the other man begin to stir, and then quickly he was on his feet and breathing down the back of his neck. These guys weren't the world's greatest fighters, but they could seem to take blow after blow and it affected them little. "Now, I'm going to need to make sure you don't follow me" he told Batman, "Otherwise –" his eyes moved to Robin who still felt the cold of the gun against the covering on his face. Through the calmness of both masks, the eyes of both brothers met. They understood each other perfectly. A sudden movement or even comment from either of them could cause the man to pull the trigger. Dropping his batarang, Batman straightened and relaxed his muscles. Feeling the presence of the bigger man behind him, he put his arms behind his back, to just beneath his shoulder blades, seemingly forgetting about the injury that his one arm carried. Momentarily averting his gaze from Robin as the man took a hold of his arms fully with his own, so that Batman's limbs were tightly held between the mans muscular arms and his torso, pulling them behind him more tightly and making it seemingly impossible for him to escape without breaking every bone.
"I hope you know what you are doing, Terry" came the masterful voice in Batman's cowl. Matt heard it also in his. Matt saw Terry wince slightly as the pressure on his arms and as the stress on the wound for a moment became too much. Now that Batman was helpless, the two smiled heavily at each other. "Do what you like with him" said the man closest to Matt, who seemed to have taken charge. "This one still has his uses." He turned to leave, taking his case full of money, and Robin with him.
"Call your friend" Batman said, much to the amusement of the man who was holding him.
"GEAR!" He called with the amusement evident in his voice as his friend turned to see why he was being called. He had his arm around Robin's throat so that he couldn't try to make a run for it, he didn't want to be forced to shoot him, yet. Gear's partner gestured to Batman.
"If you hurt him, I will kill you," he said, in a lower and more deadly and truthful voice than he had ever heard himself use. Both men were well aware by the tone of his voice that there was no jest in what he said. He meant it. Bruce narrowed his eyes over the screen, he looked from Batman's point of view to Matt, being held hostage by Gear, and then from Matt's point of view to Terry, whose arms were twisted mercilessly behind his back, making him slump forward, the blood from his arm running down the suit. Gear gave a nod, and then turned Matt and marched him down the corridor.
Matt, for the first time since putting on the mask of Robin, feared utterly for his brother's safety. As he walked up the flight of stares, he dared ask the question.
"What are you going to do? The police are everywhere out there, they aren't going to let you go so easily."
"If they don't let me go, I'll let you go, and they will have a dead birdie on their hands, as well as a dead Batman."
"Oh, Please" Matt rolled his eyes, patronising his captor. "And you really think they give a stuff? Its not like we are cops or anything, I wouldn't be surprised if they shot through us to get to you!" Gear thought for a moment.
"Maybe" was his only answer, and he seemed to put a lot of thought into just that. But it was too late to turn back now, the twins were gone, Batman was useless to him, Robin was his only chance.
A batarang or two and a wire secured him to the brick wall. He scoffed and bit at the air in front of him, but he wasn't even close enough. Having enough of his completely animalistic snarling, Batman let his fist collide with the man's face, rendering him unconscious, finally. The initial blow had done a great deal to nock him out. Seeing Robin and Gear safely out of sight and out of ear shot, he had kicked his thrusters onto full power, leaning back and stretching his feet out in front of him, the power of the thrusters sent them both flying at speed, backwards into the wall, crushing Terry's arms more than he had planed to, but thinking again afterwards, there was little chance of getting them free with out a little more sacrifice on the part of his arms.
"They haven't gotten far," said Bruce in his ear. "Go the same way you came in." Batman got to his feet and sprinted out through the arch and down the corridor, saving what was left of his thrusters, he'd pushed them too far already. "Stop" said Bruce. Terry obeyed. "Turn here." Bruce directed Terry through a narrow corridor and then up one of a choice of three flights of stairs. He saw the door in front of him, which had been left ajar. "He shouldn't bee expecting you," said Bruce, knowingly.
Down on the streets below, the police lights flashed to the curiosity of many passers by. Following the searchlights with her eyes but ever still face, Barbara struggled to make out the figures on the roof, high above the city.
The cold wind bit at Robin's skin, he was sure it hadn't been this cold when he had arrived with Terry. He didn't want to risk communicating with Bruce; there was no way to do so with out letting Gear know he was doing so. Keeping a firm grip around Robin, Gear let a bullet rip through the air as a warning to those on the street below.
That was it, that was the furthest the gun was going to get from Matt, even if it was only an arms length away. Pain seared through Gears hand as the Batarang tore the gun from it, breaking his fingers in the process.
"AAGGH" he was furious, and the pain in his throbbing hand was the cue that he had longed for. Spinning him by the shoulder, Gear threw the boy off the roof. The people on the roads below gasped and screamed as the small figure fell towards the ground. Initially, Batman gasped, but then regained the control over his emotions and made for Gear, punching him harder than he had ever punched anyone in his life! Below them, Matt shot a wire from his belt, and as it gripped onto the building above, he waited for it to go taught. Once it did, he swung to the side to get a better bearing on himself. Then he flicked a switch on his belt and the line began to retract, pulling him back upwards towards the duelling pair on the roof. Bruce gave a satisfied smile, as did Barbara, the crowd that had gathered cheering for the young boy as he pulled himself over the ledge and flipped back onto the roof.
Batman delivered another blow to Gear, sending pain searing through his head and blood gushing from his teeth. A feeling of dread came to him when he remembered Batman's earlier words, and presuming the young Robin now dead on the street below, became to believe that the Batman wasn't going to be through with him until he was dead. Behind him, Robin stood for a moment, almost laughing at the protectiveness of his brother. Batman spun and kicked at Gears chest, just like someone out of a martial arts movie, Matt thought, still never failing to be impressed by the stamina and skill of his brother. Seeing Gear fall backwards, Matt took a batarang into his hand and threw it at gears feet, sending a tight wire around his ankles and securing his feet. Gear didn't know what to feel when he saw Robin sitting on the ledge, like a kid waiting for a parent to finish up a conversation. In the end, he resided to passing out, and hoping that the two would be warriors didn't simply toss him off the roof. Batman stood back and turned to Robin who just smiled back, like the kid he was.
"So," he said, "This guy tosses me off the roof and all you can do is punch him a coupla times?"
"Robins fly much better than most people think" he replied, more sternly that anyone would have expected under the circumstances, but Robin didn't seem to pay any attention to the tone of his voice. He jumped playfully to his feet and stepped towards Batman, who, in turn, took a few steps towards him. As if subtly breaking from a trance, Batman dropped down so he was more or less the same height as Robin.
"You alright?" Their eyes didn't meet, and neither seemed in a hurry to get away from the scene.
"Yeah" said Robin, confidently, causing Batman to chuckle softly to himself. "But your arm is hurt" he said, guilt in his voice. Terry gave Matt's shoulder a squeeze, holding him for a second and then standing up. Hearing the footsteps in the distance, it was time for them to leave.
"Come on Twip" he said, the pain now returning to his arms as the Batmobile hovered and then landed next to them. Then they were gone.
Behind the door, which was still ajar, two small, blonde figures watched as the black car sped away into the distance.
"Dude, I told you they were brothers," said the one, leaning over his twins shoulder to see through the gap in the door.
"How can you tell?" He said, half curious as to how his brother had come to that conclusion, half realising that he had long come to that same conclusion himself.