I hopped off the bed and took a closer look around. It was the maps that had clued me in. There were half a dozen of them, at least, scattered throughout the room, and all of them were familiar to me. I'm a Lord of the Rings buff, so I'd studied all the maps of MiddleEarth, read all the books, and even learned some of the elven language after a fashion. Yup, I was obsessed with MiddleEarth, so I recognized the maps, the banners bearing the white horse of Rohan hung on them walls, and the helmet with the horse-tail streaming from the top.
I stepped over to the door and placed a hand on the latch, then jumped back when I heard the sound of someone approaching the room. Leaping straight up, I was hanging by a shelf above the door when Eowyn, niece of Theoden, king of the Riddermark, walked through the door. Tim had also hidden himself, only a meter away from the door, blending into the shadows as Batman had taught him so long ago. The Shieldmaiden strode over to the table holding the armor and stood silently as she stared down at the helmet. I took opportunity of her distractedness and fluidly dropped down from above the door, nodding to Tim to follow me silently out of the room before we were seen. Too late.
In the time it took Tim to get to the door (about a second, flat), the blond had drawn a dagger and flung it at the Boy Wonder. I, however, was quicker than she had expected. In less than the blink of an eye, I had snatched the blade out the air and flung it back to her, purposely hitting the table with a thunk! barely a hair's breadth away from her hand. Twisting around to flee after Robin, I stifled a gasp of pain as the injury I had sustained from my encounter with Scarecrow flared up in protesting pain. Faltering only momentarily, I sped after Tim. Again, however, I sensed a weapon headed towards me.
Without even thinking, I rolled to the side, easily avoiding the dagger that had once again been hurled at us. Continuing my roll, I ended on my feet and continued after Robin without a pause, ignoring the way my left leg was refusing to act as it should. Together, we sprinted through the hall leaping over the heads of the guards that had answered Eowyn's shout, then skidded to a halt as we found ourselves in a well-lit room that I readily recognized as the throne room of Edoras. Tim and I stood back-to-back, a familiar defensive stance that we fell into out of instinct. There were at least a dozen guards there, but were nothing we couldn't take care of with any amount of difficulty. But I didn't want it to happen like that.
Touching Tim's elbow slightly as a stand-down signal, I turned towards the throne at the end of the room. There was no one seated there at the moment, but beside it was Theoden Thengal, standing tall and sure as he gazed back at me. At that moment, Eowyn arrived, wielding her knife once again, and both Robin and I took a step back in the face of her evident ferocity.
"Lady Eowyn, please," I spoke quietly, but my voice carried easily through the large hall. "We are here in peace; we mean no harm or danger to any here."
"She speaks the truth," there came a familiar voice, and I sighed inwardly in relief, yet was unsurprised as the figure of Batgirl stepped out from the shadows. Instantly, weapons were drawn and pointed at our throats. From behind her mask, I easily saw Babs' grimace at how the entire situation was going, but I knew what to do.
"I plead for the protection of the king." My words rang boldly through the hall, and I couldn't help admiring the echoes. I turned to Theoden with my hands spread in a gesture of peace. "We are no spies, my lord, of the likes of Master Grima Wormtongue and his master. My companions and I have come to your hall by accident, and we bear no ill will to the people of Rohan, or their king. I only ask that you show us equal favor, as we are wanderers in this land, as you may see by our garb," I waved a hand at the body suits that Batgirl and I were wearing, and the jeans and T-shirt that Tim wore. All was silent as the king seemed to consider my words.
"The lady speaks truth, Theoden," another voice boomed out, and the guards parted to allow to me see the motley group that had just entered the hall. A tall old man, clad in white robes, a positively delectable blond elf, a dark-haired man wrapped in a cloak, and a dwarf. It was the old man, leaning slightly on his tall staff, who had spoken. "These strangers are of no danger to you, Theoden-king. Call off the guards and allow them to attend to their fallen comrade." At the king's nod, the guards fell back and I turned to Batgirl with a frown.
"Batman," she answered my silent question. "He's unconscious. I don't think it's bad, but he hasn't woken up yet." We followed her, Tim a few steps ahead of me as I did my best to keep from limping too obviously. The pain was growing steadily, but I pushed it aside with a practiced mental shrug. I would care for it later. Batgirl led us to a side room, a closet really, that was obviously used for storage. Behind a stack of barrels, Batman lay silent and unmoving, his body arranged so that it was impossible to see him unless you knew exactly what you were looking for. I sensed movement from behind me, but could tell that it was Gandalf and his three companions, so ignored them.
"Batman," Tim spoke softly, his hand straying to the black mask, and then halting. Batgirl knelt by his side and put a hand on his shoulder in comfort. She then looked up at me. "You're the better healer, Be- Mudgirl," she corrected, shaking her head at her own slip. "You want to take a look at him?" I winced slightly as I shifted my leg to a more comfortable position, but she caught it. In the blink of an eye, she was on her feet, gripping my arm in concern. "Are you alright? Beverly, what happened?" I immediately shook her off.
"I'm fine," I said tersely, moving to kneel at Batman's side. I got halfway down, then my legs buckled beneath me and I would have fallen but for someone grasping me under my arms. The pain washed fully over me, but I was able to catch a glimpse of elvish features looking down at me in concern before I squeezed my eyes shut against another wave of pain. Somewhere in my head, a voice was screaming, 'Legolas Greenleaf is holding me in his arms! Sweeeeet!'
"Beverly!" The name being almost screamed in my ear forced me to open my eyes. Mildly disappointed to find that Legolas' face had been replaced by Barbara's, I managed a wan smile.
"I'm OK, Babs, stop yelling. I'm fine," I murmured, my head swimming slightly with the pain. I remained in a semi-conscious state, only half-aware as I was carried into another room and laid onto a wonderfully soft bed. I struggled to open my eyes as I sensed movement at the side of the bed that I dimly recognized as not being those of someone I trusted, but was unable to even move as I felt hands on my leg probing for injuries. A small cry escaped my mouth as a boot was eased off the injured leg and pain flared hot through me. Blackness covered me and I gave in to it without a thought.
---What do you think so far? Just so you know, none of my Bat-stories have Barbara being in a wheelchair. I love Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, and I won't give her up! This story may seem a little strange, as the main character is someone you've never heard of, but I hope you've got the basic idea of what's going on. Just so you can have a little info on just who Beverly, AKA Mudgirl, is, she was adopted by Commissioner James Gordon about a year before Timothy Drake became Robin, and she herself became Mudgirl when she was eighteen. She has now been working with the Bat-Gang for almost two years, and please, don't get the idea that she and Robin are a couple, they really get testy when someone mentions the possibility. Of course, that could just mean that they are, but are in denial about it. LOL. Who knows? And this is just after Theoden recovers from Saruman's spell- like the day before Rohan leaves for Helm's Deep. Review!---