Disclaimer: I don't own any of the DC characters, I just like to pretend I
do. However the creation of James and Haley is all mine...for better or for
worse.
CHAPTER TWO—Converging Shadows
James woke with a start. The world was dark. Even after he opened his eyes it was still dark.
Blindfolded he realized. Beneath him, he could feel the coldness of metal creeping through his clothes, where he lay on his side.
There was a sudden, unsteady jarring motion, and Jymmy slid across the cast iron floor. Without his sight he tried to throw his arms in front to catch himself, but found as he hit a hard wall, that his hands were bound behind his back.
He gave a stifled groan and frowned. Gagged too. Great. The floor beneath him kept rocking back and forth a little, not as strongly as before. A boat. He was on a boat of some type. Judging from the lack of warmth, and the metal casting in the place of wood flooring, he was in the hold of a commercial ship. This was going to be interesting.
Rolling over so that his face wasn't resting against what he now realized was a bulkhead, he wriggled around a little bit. He was just starting to work his way through the bindings when he heard a door clang open. He tensed, his motions frozen for a moment as footsteps sounded on the floor near his head.
Soft hands caressed his face and he shuddered trying to draw away from it. A woman's voice crooned to him, "It's all right James. I'm not going to hurt you."
The residual side effect of the chloroform had blanketed Jymmy's mind in a hazy fog. That voice now broke through it and Jymmy was alert and on edge. Something about this woman made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He continued to try to move away from her touch.
There was a slight tsking sound and her fingers were running through his hair. "Oh James, I'm not going to hurt you."
Jymmy somehow doubted that.
"Would it help if I took the blindfold off?"
Well, he couldn't really say no to that. The blindfold WAS a hindrance, so he nodded hesitantly.
Nimble fingers worked the knots behind his head and soon the blindfold fell away, leaving him to blink rapidly as his vision came into focus.
Kneeling beside him was a woman of about forty, with long brown hair and ice blue eyes. "There, isn't that better?" She was saying.
James was inclined to agree, now that he could see what he was dealing with, so he nodded again.
"Don't think about escaping. There's no where to go, no one to help you." Standing she smiled down at the boy, again something in that smile made Jymmy's instincts scream at him, telling him to get away. "We'll be there soon James. Just sit tight."
'Be there soon'? Where were they going? What was this woman talking about?
The woman turned on her heel and walked out of the room. The door shut with a loud clang leaving James to sit there, still gagged and bound, wondering just what exactly he'd woken up to.
* *
*
Later that night three dark silhouettes made their way across the docks of Gotham Harbor. A smaller dark form approached the others, none of which were under six feet tall, from the opposite direction. "Not there."
The tallest, broadest figure made a single gesture with his hand, beckoning to the others. "No, but take a look at this." The dark figures came beside him on the docks. A black glove disappeared behind a cape for a moment, then returned to the center of the group, holding something small and white. Gauze. "Smell that?"
Nightwing nodded his head grimly. "Chloroform."
The Batman nodded, and returned the gauze to one of the many compartments in his tool belts for further analysis later.
The third male figure, slightly taller than Nightwing, but slimmer in fame and build spoke up, voicing the thought they were all thinking but unable to say, "That means Jymmy's most likely unconscious, but alive. Otherwise why go to the trouble of kidnapping him?"
Nightwing was about to answer when they heard a click on their comlinks and Oracle's voice piped through. "O.K. Birds and Bats, I found two ships of Mediterranean origin that's been in port in long enough to fit our time schedule. One of them's departed already, yesterday afternoon as a matter of fact. The other one's still in port according to the harbor master's log. The S.S. POISEIDON."
"We'll split up." said Nightwing. "Batman and I'll take the other ship, Tim, Cassie you guys take the POISEIDON."
He was met with a simultaneous nod from the two figures before they turned and disappeared under the dark blanket of the night. Tilting his head he gave a sidelong glance at his father, "Think you can whistle up the Batplane?"
"It's already here." Was the stiff reply. Looking out into the murky darkness of the harbor he did indeed see the winglights of the Batplane, waiting paitently at the end of the dock.
"Then let's fly."
* *
*
The black ocean waves lapped gently around the boat. The only thing penetrating the darkness was the glow of a cigarette. Taking a deep drag the man steadied himself alongside the railing. The kid was stashed down below, last time Angie checked at least and they were only a few hours away from port.
A soft nicker caught his attention and he turned his head against the wind, staring coldly at the closed wooden door, of a modified storage room. "Shut up you damned beast." Were the whispered words that left his lips.
The sailor shook his head. Hauling stolen cargo across the Atlantic to fence off in the seaports of the Mediterranean was his life's career. Stealing children was quite another thing altogether. It had taken some high end persuading on the part of his client, as well as a rather hefty check, but in the end he had agreed to deliver the appointed target at a specified location of his choosing within 2 days, for an undisclosed sum.
As for the horse? The prize winning racehorse was just being returned to his original owners. Another piece of cargo to him.
There was another snort, this time a little agitated. There was a sudden shout from the front of the boat, joined by an answering yell. The man took one last breath of smoke, then flicked the butt over the edge into the water below. Turning he stalked off to the prow to find out what was going on, he never noticed the small figure crouched on the other side of the storage room.
CHAPTER TWO—Converging Shadows
James woke with a start. The world was dark. Even after he opened his eyes it was still dark.
Blindfolded he realized. Beneath him, he could feel the coldness of metal creeping through his clothes, where he lay on his side.
There was a sudden, unsteady jarring motion, and Jymmy slid across the cast iron floor. Without his sight he tried to throw his arms in front to catch himself, but found as he hit a hard wall, that his hands were bound behind his back.
He gave a stifled groan and frowned. Gagged too. Great. The floor beneath him kept rocking back and forth a little, not as strongly as before. A boat. He was on a boat of some type. Judging from the lack of warmth, and the metal casting in the place of wood flooring, he was in the hold of a commercial ship. This was going to be interesting.
Rolling over so that his face wasn't resting against what he now realized was a bulkhead, he wriggled around a little bit. He was just starting to work his way through the bindings when he heard a door clang open. He tensed, his motions frozen for a moment as footsteps sounded on the floor near his head.
Soft hands caressed his face and he shuddered trying to draw away from it. A woman's voice crooned to him, "It's all right James. I'm not going to hurt you."
The residual side effect of the chloroform had blanketed Jymmy's mind in a hazy fog. That voice now broke through it and Jymmy was alert and on edge. Something about this woman made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He continued to try to move away from her touch.
There was a slight tsking sound and her fingers were running through his hair. "Oh James, I'm not going to hurt you."
Jymmy somehow doubted that.
"Would it help if I took the blindfold off?"
Well, he couldn't really say no to that. The blindfold WAS a hindrance, so he nodded hesitantly.
Nimble fingers worked the knots behind his head and soon the blindfold fell away, leaving him to blink rapidly as his vision came into focus.
Kneeling beside him was a woman of about forty, with long brown hair and ice blue eyes. "There, isn't that better?" She was saying.
James was inclined to agree, now that he could see what he was dealing with, so he nodded again.
"Don't think about escaping. There's no where to go, no one to help you." Standing she smiled down at the boy, again something in that smile made Jymmy's instincts scream at him, telling him to get away. "We'll be there soon James. Just sit tight."
'Be there soon'? Where were they going? What was this woman talking about?
The woman turned on her heel and walked out of the room. The door shut with a loud clang leaving James to sit there, still gagged and bound, wondering just what exactly he'd woken up to.
* *
*
Later that night three dark silhouettes made their way across the docks of Gotham Harbor. A smaller dark form approached the others, none of which were under six feet tall, from the opposite direction. "Not there."
The tallest, broadest figure made a single gesture with his hand, beckoning to the others. "No, but take a look at this." The dark figures came beside him on the docks. A black glove disappeared behind a cape for a moment, then returned to the center of the group, holding something small and white. Gauze. "Smell that?"
Nightwing nodded his head grimly. "Chloroform."
The Batman nodded, and returned the gauze to one of the many compartments in his tool belts for further analysis later.
The third male figure, slightly taller than Nightwing, but slimmer in fame and build spoke up, voicing the thought they were all thinking but unable to say, "That means Jymmy's most likely unconscious, but alive. Otherwise why go to the trouble of kidnapping him?"
Nightwing was about to answer when they heard a click on their comlinks and Oracle's voice piped through. "O.K. Birds and Bats, I found two ships of Mediterranean origin that's been in port in long enough to fit our time schedule. One of them's departed already, yesterday afternoon as a matter of fact. The other one's still in port according to the harbor master's log. The S.S. POISEIDON."
"We'll split up." said Nightwing. "Batman and I'll take the other ship, Tim, Cassie you guys take the POISEIDON."
He was met with a simultaneous nod from the two figures before they turned and disappeared under the dark blanket of the night. Tilting his head he gave a sidelong glance at his father, "Think you can whistle up the Batplane?"
"It's already here." Was the stiff reply. Looking out into the murky darkness of the harbor he did indeed see the winglights of the Batplane, waiting paitently at the end of the dock.
"Then let's fly."
* *
*
The black ocean waves lapped gently around the boat. The only thing penetrating the darkness was the glow of a cigarette. Taking a deep drag the man steadied himself alongside the railing. The kid was stashed down below, last time Angie checked at least and they were only a few hours away from port.
A soft nicker caught his attention and he turned his head against the wind, staring coldly at the closed wooden door, of a modified storage room. "Shut up you damned beast." Were the whispered words that left his lips.
The sailor shook his head. Hauling stolen cargo across the Atlantic to fence off in the seaports of the Mediterranean was his life's career. Stealing children was quite another thing altogether. It had taken some high end persuading on the part of his client, as well as a rather hefty check, but in the end he had agreed to deliver the appointed target at a specified location of his choosing within 2 days, for an undisclosed sum.
As for the horse? The prize winning racehorse was just being returned to his original owners. Another piece of cargo to him.
There was another snort, this time a little agitated. There was a sudden shout from the front of the boat, joined by an answering yell. The man took one last breath of smoke, then flicked the butt over the edge into the water below. Turning he stalked off to the prow to find out what was going on, he never noticed the small figure crouched on the other side of the storage room.