Points of Authority

by Ryoko Lasgalen

Batman gets his injured, and Bruce wants to know why, but what has Barbara got to do with it?

Points of Authority

By Ryoko

"Now sit down McGinnis, and turn off that phone"

"Bu-"

"No buts."

"Uh, Miss?" Terry turned to see his pink haired friend with her hand raised. Terry's phone was still ringing. "When are the computers in the lab going to be fixed? The programming has totally gone bust and the hardware needs to be replaced-I can't work on any of my extra credit assignments." Terry was looking confused, the phone still ringing quietly in his tightly clenched hand.

"Your point Miss Gibson?

"So, like, when will they be fixed?"

"When the new equipment is supplied to us by Wayne Enterprises-Its being held up." Terry was beginning to catch on.

"So, it would be in the classes best interest for Wayne's assistant to get off his butt and do his job?"

"Rightly so, Miss Gibson" the teacher snarled, obviously not knowing of Terry's 'after school' job.

"Thanks a lot Miss, I'll catch up later." Terry was out of the classroom door at the speed of light, not leaving his teacher the slightest chance to disagree.

"Where in blazes is he off?"-She was seriously not amused.

"Yeah?"

"What took you so long?" Bruce never sounded happy on the phone, especially when it had been ringing for what seemed like hours before he got an answer from Terry.

"Teacher from Hell"

"Never mind-suit up, get to the docks"

"What's up?"

"This guy might be an assassin or a hit man-but who ever he is he's got a grudge against someone and he's got them cornered in that warehouse"

"Who is it?"

"I don't know, a near by officer was called in, they made a distress call of which I picked up half, but there hasn't been word of him or her since-Just get there, McGinnis, there may be casualties, I don't like it, I don't wanna take any chances"

"On my may."

The suit was becoming like a second skin, to be shed occasionally during the day time, at least this skin allowed him to glide through the cityscape, giving him freedom others could only dream of.

"There are still people inside, I'm sure of it. The building has no security system so there are no visuals, there's no way of seeing who or what's going on from outside."

"The old fashioned approach huh?" Terry could hear the sound of the still bold fingers moving over the keys, and the 'beep' of the computer informing of the futility of whatever Wayne's instructions to it were. He landed on the roof and effortlessly kicked open the heavy fire door onto the top floor. It was mid afternoon, but the sky was heavy with dark rain clouds and the distant rumble of thunder. The air was cold and a sharp wind was beginning to blow in over the water, which its self was stirring angrily. Batman made his way down the fire escape and down a long corridor. He walked the cold corridor silently.

"I think I heard something, I'm checking it out". Using the massive shipping crates and machinery for cover; the Dark Knight slipped into the cargo bay. It sounded like two people were fighting, but who?

*Thud*, *crash*. Batman climbed to the upper level of the bay where he had a good view of the two figures, at least now he had some idea what was going on. One side of the bay was open, the sky was darker and the water was picking up. One of the skylights cast long shadows over of the two figures. One was definitely a man, but the other was almost impossible to identify. Who ever it was, they were in pretty bad shape.

"Wayne, you got an I.D on this guy?"

"Nothing, no records at all"

"Is that normal?"

"What do you think?"

Bruce stared at the still picture of the man from the visor in Terry's mask. He looked about 7ft tall, his long greasy black hair hung lifelessly past his shoulders with strands over his face, which was long and thin, with little colour. His nose was crooked, his eyes were barely visible beneath the shadow of his brow, and he wore a sinister look on his face. He had a long black jacket to the back of his knees with a split in the back to the base of his spine. His clothes and boots were also black; his boots were heavily buckled and boasted steel tipped toes. Around his waist he wore what looked like a utility belt, not unlike Batman's, although it did seem to be carrying considerably more.

Bruce shifted his attention to the figure a few feet in front of the man, laying sideways in what looked to be the remains of a shipping crate, probably wrecked by the force of the person smashing into it.

The man spoke to his victim, but Batman was unable to hear his words. As he spoke he took out what looked to be a knife. The silvery haired person in front of him seemed barely aware of what was happening and was unable to move, at least not very much. The mans face stretched as he smiled evilly, he knelt beside the other figure, the smooth steel of his blade hovering beneath his tightly clenched fist above his shoulder, ready to come down on the person with great force.

"Not on my watch, pal." In a sick moment of excitement and anticipation, the last thing the man had expected was to be hit in the side of the head with a flying boot, he expected even less that it would be attached to Batman's leg. To Batman's surprise, his grip on the blade remained firm as he fell to the ground. He looked to be out cold, but Terry wasn't going to chance it, and besides, there was plenty of spare rope around the shipping crates, it would be a shame to waste it.

With the pale-faced man's ass now secured to a large piece of busted machinery, Batman turned his attention to the other person who by now was beginning to stir. Terry knew that in the shadows of the machines and boxes around him, he could easily look as menacing as any criminal. As he walked towards the person on the ground ahead of him, he hoped he wouldn't scare what was left of their life out of them.

"McGinnis?"

"Gordon?" His pace picked up. "Hold on". On one knee, he leaned over the Commissioner. "What the hell happened?" Starting to come around, Barbara was surprised at how…Terry like he sounded.

"That guy, watch it McGinnis, he-"

'*Smack*'-However hard Batman had hit that guy moments ago; it was being returned to him ten fold.

"Argh." Barbara raised her eyebrows in astonishment, it was the first time she had actually seen and heard the Bat, or at least this Bat in actual pain. He was just like Bruce in that way, when he did get hurt; he was damn good at hiding it.

"That must have really hurt," she thought allowed to herself.

Terry felt like his head had fallen off, his vision was practically non-existent after just that one hit. His head hurt so much he could hardly move. But move he did. As usual, he had little time to mope around. This guy was determined to get another hit in on Batman, and dodging them with what felt like the worst hang over in history wasn't easy. The two fought rhythmically, hitting, blocking, hitting. It wasn't long before Batman saw his chance –as his fist became acquainted with his new friends gut, he spared a glance in Barbara's direction-which she duly noted. There was a thin trickle of blood from her mouth and she was heavily favouring her lower left arm. As the second split by, he again found himself being tossed about like nothing more than a rag doll –all be it a rag doll in a very expensive suit. This guys appearance was deceptive, he was tough, his clothes would have told anyone that, but the person inside them looked more like a drugged up office worker –who needed a hair cut. He was all too easily proving that Batman was a poor match for him-which Batman wasn't used to, and didn't like one bit.

As tough as they both were, neither of them appeared to be winning, especially after Batman decided to 'take it up a notch'. The guys punches narrowly missed Batman, and when Batman finally landed a hit on him, he heard, and felt, each of the bones in his hand crunch-*ouch*-At least that hit did seem to phase him a bit. He stumbled backwards, shaking his head as a swift move by Batman caused him to fall flat on his butt. He was loosing. His eyes shifted from his opponent to the Commissioner, who was still looking a bit out of it.

"This is not your fight, Batman". His eyes moved back to the Dark Knight.

"It is now",

"Fool! Don't you get it?"

"Obviously not", '*crack*', that one didn't hurt Batman's hand so much –still hurt though. "She ruined my life". His hand slipped to his belt, just as fast, if not faster, a Batarang slid into Batman's palm. He closed his fist around it tightly. The man smiled. "On guard." He threw the small bomb from his belt; smoke filled the air around all three of them.

"Damn". Not only did that smoke bomb cause him to go blind, but it messed up the suits visuals too, no infer red, night vision, nothing. Some interference, a chaff grenade combined with a smoke bomb: That was an idea he could pass onto Bruce. In the few long seconds it took for the smoke to clear, the man was gone, leaving the Commissioner and Batman alone. "Gordon!"

"Nuurrgghh". He ran to where she was lying.

"Oh my God". The man must have made a final attempt to kill Barbara whilst the smoke was clearing, while Batman was distracted. She didn't look good at all.
"Ahh"

"Here, lemme help you". For once, she was actually glad he was there; his voice was comforting and reassuring.

"Ouch-"

"It's ok, I'm here, you'll be ok". The gauge in her side was nasty. She felt Batman's hands put pressure on the wound, then things started to go funny, like she was dreaming. "Hey, stay with me here". His gentle hand pressed firmly against her bleeding side. He tried contacting Bruce, but the communications in his suit were still messed up. "So who was that guy, friend of yours?" He needed to keep her talking, plus, he was ever so slightly interested.

"Beats me, McGinnis"

"Hey, ix nay on ye McGinnis yay" he joked,

"Pig Latin needs work." He laughed, and to his relief, she cracked a smile back, all be it a painful one. He couldn't remember the last time he felt like this, helpless. He had slowed the bleeding, but he had no way of communicating with anyone, and he dared not leave her side to get help. Actually, he could remember the last time he felt this helpless, it was when his father was killed. The memory sent a knife into his heart before he managed to shake it off and return to the problem at hand.

"Anyone know where you are?" She nodded in response before opening her eyes.

"Should be –back up should be –aagghhh"

"Keep still, trying to move won't do you any good." As he spoke he shifted he weight from his left knee to his right, his leg had gone to sleep. Barbara shot him a funny look. "I said it wouldn't do you any good, didn't say anything about me". Although his hushed voice still boomed, she still found it comforting, it made her less scared to know he was there. He new that his 'Batman' voice wasn't intimidating to her, then again, was it?

"Where'd he go?" Batman's trail of thought was broken,

"I don't know, I didn't see". He tried not to sound too apologetic, though he couldn't help feel that he should have stopped this from happening, hit him away, jumped in front of Gordon, something-

"Forget it then kid, what could you have done? Jumped in front of me?" She knew 'Batman' better than anyone.

"What's that?" They both looked around, Terry had heard something too. Standing up, he looked towards the entrance, then towards the shipping bay, which was filled with icy water.

"Freeze!" He looked back to the armed police as they came through the pass. The officer who looked to be in charge assessed the scene he saw before him, his gaze travelled from the Commissioner, then to the blood on Batman's hands.

"FREEZE!" He ordered, pointing his gun at Batman, as did the rest of his squad. Taking a step backward, Batman looked down at Barbara again,

"Don't move," he told her firmly, but kindly as she tried to pull herself up.

"Aahh" -She was hurting bad, he couldn't just do nothing. Momentarily forgetting about the police and the seriousness of his situation, He stepped forward and went to kneel next to her –the bleeding was worsening again.

"FIRE! FIRE AT WILL!" Barbara couldn't speak to stop the firing. Batman jumped away from Gordon, shots narrowly scraping his body from head to foot. With a last look to check on Barbara he opened his wings and leapt into the air.

"Fire!" More shots came from the upper floor of the hanger.

"Kill him if you have to!"

"Sir!"

"What? No stop!" Barbara's words were so faint and week she was barely sure she heard them herself, let alone if anyone else had. As the number of shots and their power increased, Batman leapt and dived to avoid them, soaring above their heads gave him a slight advantage, but not for long. But with the rate they were firing at, and with the number of police now surrounding him on three sides, it was only a matter of time before he was hit.

"AAGH!" Batman's figure went limp, even through the blackness of the cowl the Knight looked lifeless. With his powerful red wings still open, he fell through the air and crashed into the icy black water.

"No!" Did she just see that? No, no, she dreamed it, Terry got away ok, Batman is always ok!

"It's ok, Ma'am, we got him, he can't hurt you now" the sergeant reassured her as she slipped out of consciousness. Two officers searched around the water; there was no sign of Batman.

@@@

"Ow ow ouch"

"Your awake"

"Am I really? Thanks Sherlock"

Terry's face winced as Wayne placed a damp cloth on his chest. "Ahh",

"It has to bee done"

"I know, but it still hurts like hell." Bruce shot a look at Terry, who was understandably not in the best of moods.
"So you have no idea who this guy was?" Bruce finished dressing Terry's wound and helped him to sit upright. He wrapped the last bandage tightly around his chest and shoulder –he'd had a lucky escape, one of many. Terry had fallen unconscious the moment he stumbled into the cave, he hadn't seen what the shot had done to him beneath the suit, but Bruce knew he could sure as hell feel it.

"Tall, dark, ugly –had a serious problem with the Commissioner-"

"Oh, well, that narrows it down". Terry made an attempt to stand up. Wayne smiled, all be it subtly, Terry did look very awkward. "You should get some rest".

"Ha, love to, but-."

"-No buts"

"Hmm…sounds familiar". Bruce wasn't going to be argued with, he didn't even know if Terry had the strength to argue back, at least not tonight.

"How are you going to hide that from your mother?"

"I'll manage, I'll have to, what else can I do? 'Hey mom, this? Na, its nothing, I got shot out of the sky by some police, that's all', she'll love that".

"Get some sleep, stay here for a while if you want". But Terry was already dressing himself.

"I'm fine, there's no need". Terry was as stubborn as Bruce had always been. He left the cave by himself to Wayne's surprise, all be it walking slowly. As much as he hated to admit it, he saw a lot of himself in his young student, managing to get himself ripped open, then refusing anymore help than he really needed. He wondered if this was how he had made Alfred feel when he came home late at night, heavily injured and week. He was sorry if it did, because he didn't like the way it felt, he didn't like the way he felt, helpless.

……………………………………………..

Three hours and little to show for it had left Bruce pretty tired. He was considering giving up for the night, but he wanted a good explanation as to why Terry was shot, and maybe this man, or at least some information about him could partly give one. He ran the visuals he had downloaded from the suits visuals. Terry had been holing his own well, until the attacker used some kind of smoke bomb, that when the visuals were severed too. That must have been when the attacker made his final attack on Gordon, it was a sloppy drop, but hey, the guy was in a rush.

"Bruce?"

"Barbara" Her voice came over the computer, as it had done many times before, interrupting his research, although, this time more than any other to his recollection, it was a welcome interruption, although he couldn't help but be surprised. "Shouldn't you be resting?" He had tried earlier to get information on her condition, but failed. It was a relief to see she was ok.

"How is he? He is ok right? I mean, what I mean is-"

"He's fine". Barbara let out a sigh of relief. "I never knew you cared," he said, sarcastically,

"I don't want the kid to get killed, Bruce"

"Not that easily, he won't be"

"So he's not hurt? I saw him get shot-"

"-It's not serious, the suit protected him, for the most part". Barbara couldn't see the bloody suit on the table behind him, with a jagged hole where the shot ripped through it, and Terry. "A nasty bruise and a cold from the water."

"Oh, right". No way, not even the bat-suit could have protected Terry that well from those weapons, they were new, state of the art equipment; they shouldn't even have been in use with out a warrant from her. She knew that the suit had saved Terry's life, but she was surprised he was still conscious, let alone relatively uninjured. Bruce was lying, but what was new.

"So, any idea who this guy is?"

"Stay out of it Bruce"

"Can't do, you know that"

"You don't have to worry about the officers who shot him, they'll be dealt with. That's the only thing that concerns you here"

"It's not just because of Terry, you know that"

"Stay out of it Bruce!" She really shouldn't have been using the phone, she shouldn't have been out of bed at all, but she had to find out how Terry was, if he was still alive even, plus she knew that Bruce would be getting involved whether she liked it or not. But at least Terry was ok.

……………………………………………………………..

"Max, I told you, I'm fine"

"Well I'm only making sure, when were you planning to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"You know what I'm talking about McGinnis, I'm on the phone to Dana and she asks me if I've seen the news, I turn on the TV and the police are saying Batman is dead! -You scared the shit out of me!"

"Gee, sorry, didn't think the police were making it public knowledge"

"Well it was all over the web –"Batman killed after attack on Commissioner"

"Jeez"

"So you sure you're ok?"

"Fine, honest"

"And the suit? I bet Wayne wasn't too pleased"

"It's got some damage, it can be patched up in no time, but the circuitry is gonna take a while to fix"

"And Wayne?"

"I thought he was gonna kill me, –but he was good about it, he helped me out, cleaned up the wound and did my bandages, he didn't even lecture me."

"So, you're ok?

"I told you, I'll be fine"

"So, how's the commissioner?"

"I don't know, I went to see her on my way back but they wouldn't let me"

"Why not?"

"Some 'punk kid' looking for trouble"

"That's what they said?"

"Yup, they don't know the half of it" he laughed.

"Ok then, you'd better call Dana, she was looking for you after school"

"Ok, thanks". He hung up the phone and dialled Dana's number, whilst trying to think of an excuse as to why he didn't meet her after school.

@@@

Hospitals were such boring places, creepy too. Why did it have to be so quiet? Barbara lay awake in her bed, her torso heavily bandaged, her lower right arm in plaster and a headache to boot. She was tired, but she couldn't sleep. She thought about that man, about Batman –Terry, about what could have happened to either of them, what did happen to Terry.

"Huh?" She turned to the window, something had caught her attention, but she wasn't sure what. As she listened, she could hear someone opening it from the outside.

The Black figure entered the room slowly through the window, closing it quietly behind him.

"You feeling better?"

"What are you doing here? I told Bruce, I'm fine"

"Just wanted to make sure for myself" he said in a hushed voice, "You never know when Bruce is, shall we say, hiding the truth"

"You know it, told me you got away with barely a scratch"

"Yeah"

"I see, you do it too"

"Do what"

"Hide the truth"

"So how long before they let you out of here?"

"Few days. They recon I'm staying here a week, some chance". There was determination in her voice. "So, how come the Old man let you out so soon?" She noticed that the damage was still visible if you looked closely at the suit.

"He doesn't know I'm here, he'd probably flip his lid if he did"

"Mums the word"

"Thanks". He turned to leave. "Thank you"

"Huh?"

"For what you did, you saved my life, thank you"
"Any time". He closed the window behind him, before leaping from the building and disappearing. Barbara watched from her bed. What was she going to do about that kid? She couldn't allow him to interfere with police business like this, but if he didn't, what would happen to this city?

@@@

"What about this guy?"

"It's a possibility, he was put away ten years ago, thanks to a testimony from Barbara"

"So what about this guy?"

"Also a possibility"

"And this guy? A possibility too?"

"Right"
"Geez, how many of these people have a grudge?"

"More than you know, any of these people might want revenge on the commissioner of police". The screen in front of them named dozens of people.

"So where should I make a start?"

"When you've gotten some rest, when the suit is fixed, and when you spend considerably more time training"

"Man, I knew you were gonna throw that at me at some time"

"Throw what?"

"The 'you should have been more careful, you shouldn't have let it happen' routine"

"I'm just saying, you're lucky you got off as light as you did"

"You mean I'm lucky Gordon got off as light as she did"
"I didn't mean that Terry"

"Yeah. Whatever". He turned to leave; he wasn't doing much good here anyway. Bruce could see that the same guilt he felt was eating Terry alive.