Chapter 2: Follow You Down

"A Robin Red breast in a Cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage.
A dove house fill'd with doves & Pigeons
Shudders Hell thro' all its regions..."

Flashback to Saturday Morning

Bruce Wayne took a deep breath of the slowly warming early spring air. The Dark Knight took note of the contented beat of his heart and smiled. A few days' rest at Wayne Manor had been exactly what the doctor ordered. Bruce smirked a bit. When your 'doctor' was Diana, the heroine known as Wonder Woman, you didn't exactly argue. Bruce had to chuckle when he considered this name. She was Wonder Woman in more than one respect. Bruce rolled over to complete this serene thought process by kissing his lovely companion good morning, but when he let his arm flop over as he rolled, his warm skin met cool sheets. Where was Diana?

Bruce crept out of bed and wrapped his robe around him. He listened carefully for the sound of the shower. It wasn't running. Maybe she was downstairs, indulging one of Alfred's lengthy stories about when Bruce was a child. Bruce showered and dressed, arriving downstairs in khaki slacks and a black polo shirt.

"Good morning, Master Bruce. Will you have your usual for breakfast this morning?" Alfred chimed in. "And what of Wonder Woman? Has she fled your chambers so early?"

"Alfred, you're incorrigible," Bruce said good-naturedly.

"Yes, sir," Alfred replied, knowing well that once this was said, he had had the last word. But Bruce wasn't finished.

"Wait a minute. You said you haven't seen Diana this morning?" Bruce asked.

"Why, no, sir. She has not been about since the two of you went off last night," Alfred replied. Bruce frowned. Where was she? Bruce walked to the Bat Cave, hoping that a quick call over the communicators might locate his Amazon lover. When she didn't respond, a strange numbness filled his chest. He knew something like this might happen. Something was wrong. Some villain had gotten to Diana and captured her to get to him. He had warned her that it was possible, but she insisted that she was able to defend herself. She had, after all, been a solo crime fighter for about as long as Batman had been a hero himself. Still. This was different. Even if she was in the heat of battle, she would respond, or call for assistance. Something was wrong. Batman donned his costume and was dropping into the Batmobile when Alfred handed him a brown paper bag.

"Your breakfast, sir," Alfred said nonchalantly. He acted like this happened every day. Bruce smirked and thanked him.

"Alfred?" Batman said.

"Yes, sir?"

"Remind me to talk to J'onn about retaining the vacation days I'm going to lose doing this."

"Yes, sir."

Wonder Woman watched from the cell she was locked into as her captors plotted against the man she loved. She desperately wanted to know how they had managed to stop her powers. She tried once again to use her gift of strength but there was a prickling pain at the back of her neck. Gingerly reaching back, Diana felt a device of some sort sticking out a fraction of an inch from the back of her neck. This implant must have been what was impeding her powers. Diana took hold of the thing and prepared to pull it from her neck but when she touched it, she doubled over and collapsed to the floor in pain. Slade approached her from across the room.

"Don't try to remove the inhibitor, Princess. I promise you, there is little you can do. The implant is rooted into the base of your brain. If you forcibly remove it, you will die," Slade said calmly. Diana caught her breath while the villain spoke.

"You...aren't going to get away with whatever it is you're planning," Wonder Woman growled.

"That has yet to be seen, Princess. For now, rest. You will have a more active role in our strike much later, I promise," Slade said, turning to walk away. The Amazon woman wished he had leaned in a little closer so that she could have hit him with whatever strength she had left. She prayed that Bruce had awakened by now and was hot on the trail.

Slade and Two Face were plainly up to something vicious. She could see it in Two Face's sickening grin.

"You are nothing short of brilliant, Mr. Slade. We are very impressed," Two Face remarked when Slade had returned to him.

"I knew you would appreciate it," Slade said. "I would be willing to wager that Batman is just now discovering that his navigation unit is in grievous error."

Slade's timing could not have been more correct. Batman was following the satellite positioning system tied to the Justice League's main computer to try and pinpoint Wonder Woman's location, but what he couldn't yet see was that he was driving around in circles. He was so intent on finding her that it didn't even bother him when he headed for the edge of Gotham City. He was just glancing up from the screen built into the dash board of the Batmobile when a semi truck ran the red light across from him and broadsided him, ramming into the driver's door. Batman realized as he lost consciousness that there was no truck route near where the screen showed. How had he come to be in this part of Gotham?

The alarm siren went off in Titan's Tower mid-way through the third episode of CSI. All seven Titans leapt from their seats around the T.V. screen and looked about as red lights on the walls flashed.

"Trouble!" cried Robin.

"Fuel up the bikes!" cried Torque. "We're headed for Gotham!"

"We have more than one?" said Raven, puzzled.

"I built it myself," Torque said. "I sneaked it into the Tower the night I moved in.

"Sweet!" Cyborg replied.

"Way to go, Torque!" Beast Boy replied, patting her on the back.

"It's Batman! There's been an accident!" Robin cried.

"But if it was an accident, why do they require our assistance?" Starfire asked.

"The driver wasn't human," Robin growled, running for the underground garage.

"Then who?" asked Jinx.

"I'll give you two guesses but you won't need them both," Robin said while he reloaded his utility belt.

"No!" Jinx cried, running to join the others.

"Yes. Gizmo and Mammoth. They must be working for Slade again. We need to find out what they're planning, but our first priority is Batman," Robin replied at the rest of the team's confused looks.

Raven lifted into the air and made a move for the stairs when her husband took hold of her hand and pulled her back.

"Oh no you don't. The mother of my child is not putting herself in danger," Beast Boy said calmly. Raven's eyes clouded with frustration.

"I may be carrying your child but don't think I'm going to sit around in this Tower for nine months. We'll argue about it six months from now. Right now we need to be in Gotham before Batman dies in that wreckage!" Raven growled. Robin put his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder.

"Raven knows what she's doing. If she needs it, we can cover her but for now, if she's willing to come, we could use her help," Robin said. Beast Boy conceded. He wasn't happy about it, but he conceded anyway. He could argue with Robin or Raven alone, but the combination was a ticket to defeat if he even tried. Beast Boy took a deep breath to stifle his anger and ran to join the others. He prayed that Raven was right.

With all of the Titans geared up and ready to go, the team emerged from the garage, T-Car roaring, motorcycle engines thundering, and the air shattering around the three flighted characters as they soared overhead.