"Robin, this is Alpha Leader, checking in," the voice was loud and clear over the comms, and Damian pressed his to respond.
"Good. Gamma squad just checked in, the team's all clear. Stay in pairs, no more than three. Let's go without incident again, shall we?" he said quietly. "Catwoman and I are making a trip to the Batcave for supplies, we'll rejoin the leaders in an hour, and then we should start heading back."
The supply run had gone North on the mainland this time, towards the Batcave where Robin had been given a list of things to retrieve. It was a long journey even by vehicle, and they had little time for collecting provisions before they would have to make the return trip. Robin changed the frequency on his comm.
"Catwoman, where are you?" he demanded, pulling his flashlight out of his belt. He turned it on and shined it around the grand foyer, draped in dust and cobwebs, neglected for far too long.
"Please," she laughed, "you think I ever came in the front door when I came to see Bruce?" She landed lightly in the second story master bedroom and closed the window behind her.
"That wasn't necessary, I'm supposed to protect you," he said sourly. Damian's boots kicked up dust as he walked through the deserted hallways of Wayne Manor.
"Relax kid." Selina trailed her hand along a dusty armoire, her voice quiet in the glittering light through the dust in the air. "The only thing here is ghosts." She glanced around the room sadly.
"There's no such thing as ghosts," he said quietly, stopping beside the parlor doors. He stared into the room for a moment before closing them, pushing the memories out of his mind.
"Who said the ghosts had to be tangible?" she mumbled as she gave the room one final look before opening the door. "So, the Batcave it is. How much crap do we have to find?"
"Not we. Me," Damian said clearly, stepping into the library. He pulled his backpack off of his back and began pulling books off of the shelves. There were a few empty bookcases where Thomas Wayne's medical volumes had once been; they'd been taken to the labs as soon as possible. Damian climbed up the ladder to pull out some more titles. "Father may not want you to know some of the things on this list even exist." Selina froze in the doorway.
"Seriously?"
"Yes," he answered calmly. He pulled the rest of the books off of the shelf and pressed the hidden compartment to release the latch. The back of the shelf swung open and he tucked the documents in his bag, heavily laden with books.
"It's bad enough that this is only the second time I've been let out of the house in over a week, but now I'm just supposed to sit here and twiddle my thumbs?" she demanded. She was still standing in the master bedroom, light streaming in from the dirty windows.
"Yes." Damian smiled, well aware that he sounded like his father. He slid down the sides of the ladder and landed lightly beside Titus. He pulled out a dusty copy of Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare and showed it to the dog. "Look, it's you," he said quietly, before putting the book back in his bag and walking to the grandfather clock. He turned the hands until it swung out, and he got on the elevator. "Here's to hoping this thing still works," he muttered, pressing the button. The elevator lurched a bit and stopped an inch below the door. Damian sighed in frustration.
"Oh good," Selina drawled, "now we're both in the same mood." She was wandering the upstairs rooms.
Damian dropped down the elevator shaft into the dark, and he pressed a finger to his mask to activate the night vision. The cave had been stripped when their base of operations had moved to Wayne Tower, but the souvenirs and trophies gathered dust on their pedestals; empty glass uniform cases unlit, one shattered and on its side. Damian ran a hand along the glass, his other hand thoughtfully rubbing his shoulder where Tim's Robin patch had been sewn onto his jacket.
"Let's just get everything and get out of here," he whispered. He didn't want to think about the terrible things that had happened in this haunted place, but at the same time- he didn't want to forget everything that the Manor had been. It was home. Not just to him, but Dick, Jason, Bruce, Tim… They'd all grown up here, not having known homes before. Except for Tim, of course. Even Selina called it home, and Damian imagined her walking in the halls above him in her sadness. "Are you alright?" he whispered quietly.
"I'm fine." Selina paused in the hall in front of a tarnished mirror. Her hair was getting too long at the neck, and she brushed it back, her eyes following the movement with a forlorn look. She turned away. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You don't have to pretend for us," he said quietly. "We were all barely holding it together when this all began, and then…" Damian trailed off.
"I'm not pretending," she snapped, suddenly angry. "I'm fine."
"Selina, I didn't mean it like you can't control yourself," Damian sighed. He walked to a drawer in a filing cabinet, picking the lock. "I just mean… even I find it painful to be here, and I haven't known my father half as long as you have. This was… is… our home." He pulled out a faded and battered journal, tucking it in his bag.
"You're right," she whispered, looking around. The chillingly dark hallways, still gray even in the daylight, used to be as clean as could be and warmly lit. "I miss him all the time." As she walked towards the grand staircase, memories flashed in her mind of her wedding day.
She'd dreamed as a child that it would be dazzling, bright- full of laughter and hope for a future- everything that she'd never known growing up in the dark disparity of the Gotham streets.
Damian paused after shoving some files into his bag. He stared up at the stalactites. A few bats fluttered in the darkness that surrounded them.
"I miss him too," he said quietly.
"Master Bruce, will you be long tonight? It has been a while since you slept, sir, I highly recommend that you do- and I know that Miss Kyle is quite lonely," Alfred commented as he stood with Batman's cape, waiting as Bruce adjusted the heavy armor of his bulletproof suit over his chest.
Damian could still see his father standing there in the cave today, it had become so familiar- the dust coating the surfaces of desks and the Batcomputer screens- covered in sheets- now gave it the impression of desertion. Damian knew better.
"I'll be fine, Alfred," Bruce sighed, turning around as Alfred threw the cape over his shoulders. Bruce snapped it in place and then pulled the cowl over his head.
Damian watched them- the ghosts of his memories- transfixed. He had looked up at his father, so much taller then. And Alfred- as much of a father to him as Bruce was- Damian could still see him standing tall and straight, the air of a soldier still surrounding him even though his years in the service were long forgotten. His clothes were always tidy and pressed, his silver hair combed carefully back. The thin moustache on his face was waxed as tightly as it's owner was wound.
"Where are we going, Father?" He'd asked.
"Falcone and Maroni have been taking hostile fire from an unidentified third party. We'll go offer our help to the GCPD in taking down all three," Batman instructed. Damian had nodded then, putting his own mask over his eyes.
"Very well Master Bruce. If you'll dismiss me, then, I'll turn in." Alfred said, putting his hands behind his back. Bruce nodded.
"Of course. Go get some rest, Alfred, we won't need you."
They did.
"That's highly unlikely, sir," he sniffed, and the corner of Bruce's lips turned up in a smile.
"If we do, we'll get ahold of you."
They didn't.
Damian looked down, closing his eyes behind his mask. If they had called him, maybe he'd still be alive.
"Very well sir. Then I bid you good luck, and good night," Alfred said, nodding a bit and hesitating for only a moment before he walked towards the elevator to Wayne Manor above. It had been sundown when they'd left.
The Infection had broken out nearly two months before then. No one knew what it was, and not many had contracted the disease- save for a few under government study in quarantined labs. It hadn't turned into a pandemic.
"Robin," Batman snapped, drawing his attention from the rain on the windows as the Batmobile sped silently across the bridge into Gotham. "You've grown increasingly… unattentive lately," he commented. Robin scoffed.
"I'll be just fine, Father."
Robin passed one of the empty costume display cases and his reflection flashed in the broken glass- Tall, strapping; with a jawline like his Father's and hair close cut above his ears and longer at the top in a military crew cut black as the night. He remembered how he used to sit in the Batmobile; looking at his father in the seat beside him, feeling dwarfed by the towering silhouette of the Batman. He couldn't help but smile now at his reflection. He was nearly the man he'd always wanted to be. He was Robin, every past member of the family to bear the name had given him their blessing, and when he'd outgrown his uniform, he'd pieced together a new one from the histories of his brothers. Robin gathered the final items on Batman's list, and then he walked back to the elevator and grappled up.
Batman's boots landed silently on the rooftop of Salvatore Maroni's club, the music pulsing below them as Robin followed. They made their way through the dark to the skylight and Batman glanced at Robin.
"Now when we go in-"
He was cut off as someone screamed in the bar below.
Batman immediately crashed through the skylight, his cape charging and stiffening, allowing him to glide to safety just as his son did behind him. To their surprise, people lay around the dance floor and the bar in heaps, most of them unconscious and bleeding from bite marks in their necks.
Another scream sounded in the back room and Batman rushed forward, leaving Robin behind in the carnage. People were piled at the doors as if they'd tried to escape, and Robin examined the barred doors, a sense of dread filling his stomach, the likes of which he'd never experienced. Robin spun towards the back room when he was called.
"Robin?"
He pressed his comm, shaking off the memory. "Catwoman, yeah," he breathed, and he smiled a little. "Are we done here?"
"Just about. I'd like to get some personal things before we go."
"Take your time."
Robin rushed into the back room of the dark bar, the music still pounding in his ears. it was instantly muffled when the doors closed behind him. Batman was hunched over Maroni himself, gagging as Batman tried to stop the bleeding in his neck.
"Call 911, Robin. Tell them that it… it's hit Gotham."
"It… you don't mean the-"
"-now, Robin!" he barked.
"J-Joker-" Maroni gasped. "The Joker brought it here."
The Infected. That's what they'd called them. Nobody wanted to call them anything else, least of all 'Zombies', but that's what they were. Robin had run back into the main room and killed the music still pounding in the club, calling Commissioner Gordon.
"The Infection is here. Maroni's club was hit, he said that the Joker brought it to Gotham," Robin said into his comm.
"My God," Gordon sighed slowly.
"We need to find the… Joker…" Robin trailed off as the slumped figures around him began shifting slowly. His breath was shallow in his throat as a woman opened her eyes, the irises clouded over milky white. She sniffed the air a bit and looked straight at Robin.
"Selina, where are you?" Damian asked, glancing out the windows as he walked down one of the long hallways in the west wing.
"I stepped out to visit some ghosts," she smiled a little, standing in the sun before the memorials, across the back lawn and down a path through the trees. It was on the cliffside, overlooking Gotham. Alfred's makeshift grave stood here too. He'd been one of the first wave victims.
"Batman!" Robin shouted, backing towards the doors to the back room and raising his fists as more of the Infected sat up and caught his scent. Batman came through the doors and assessed the situation.
"Follow me," he breathed, diving through the doors of the back room. Robin did as he was told, and Batman barred the doors behind them. They went out the back exit, and circled around to the front where police cruisers were already arriving at the scene. Commissioner Gordon stepped from one, his glasses flashing red and blue as they reflected the lights.
"Fall back," Batman advised. "It's too late."
"How many?" Gordon had asked.
"All of them."
The calls had started coming in that night. They later found that, not a week before, several of the Justice League members had returned from an off-planet mission, carrying a deadly alien virus. Direct contact with the League had been fatal, but they soon found that the disease didn't just kill- it brought its victims back. Among the first lives claimed were the friends and family of the League members, as well as countless human members. The disease was contained quickly and quietly, but on that night… that night was when all hell broke loose.
"The Joker has gotten ahold of several Infection victims, and he's using them like dogs to infect other Gotham residents," Robin informed Batman, numb with shock, but just doing his job. Batman's hands tightened on the wheel of the Batmobile.
"I'm sectioning off a wing of Gotham Central Hospital, telling them to move everyone to create a quarantine area to take the vics," Gordon told them over the radio in the car. "Let's hope we can keep the National Guard out of this, but I find it unlikely."
"Similar reports in other cities. Random breakouts across the globe in heavily populated areas," Robin informed them.
"That's not going to be enough, Gordon," Batman growled. "Transfer everyone from Gotham Mercy in Uptown and keep them there. We'll try to concentrate the patients in one area, if we can, and keep the National Guard there as well. Keep it from spreading and evacuate everyone out of a five block radius of that hospital."
"Batman, are you sure this is that bad?" Gordon asked tentatively. Robin looked up at him, and Batman glanced at his son.
"Best to be careful," he said quietly.
"Well I'll take your word for this. Let's work together to try to hold off the damn apocalypse."
If Batman hadn't been there in that initial night, Robin wasn't sure what would have happened. He walked down the stairs in the grand foyer, his footsteps echoing in the high ceiling. That night had been crucial, and he remembered thinking that when the sun rose the next day. If Batman hadn't taken control, if he and Gordon hadn't worked together; Gotham would be as deserted as the rest of the world.
Robin leapt over the Infected victim's head, catching it's arm and twisting it around it's back. He forced it to the ground as more poured down the alleyway. His uniform was splattered in blood, and he couldn't stop the terror in his chest. He'd never been afraid, his mother had beaten that out of him when he was young.
But until now, he thought he'd known what hell was.
Batman descended from the dark, dropping on the nearest three victims and knocking them to the ground as he turned and began to fight.
"There are too many, Gordon, we need a new plan-" he bellowed as the bloodied hands began pulling at his cape, dragging him back. He grit his teeth and sent an electric charge through it, and the Infected growled and cried out when their hands were shocked. They released the fabric and Batman sprinted down the alley towards Robin, and the boy instinctively followed as they ran out into the street. More victims were down either side of the street, doors hanging open from houses and cars parked haphazardly, drivers either nowhere to be found, or lying gutted in the streets. Batman turned and fired his grappling hook into the building above them, landing on the roof followed by Robin.
From here, they could see the city burning.
Sirens wailed from every direction, fires lighting the skyline. The power had gone out around midnight and Robin looked up at his father. He panted as he pressed his comm, waiting for it to connect.
"Lucius. I need your help."
The idea had been to use raw meat to bait the Infected victims into semi trucks. People were panicking, trying to drive out of the city, barricading themselves in their homes; as the death toll went up, so did the terror. Arkham was in chaos. Infected were coming over the bridges, causing more panic as people tried to flee. Any way in or out of the city was so clogged with people that the National Guard couldn't even make it in.
They'd begun placing Wayne Enterprises trucks all over the city, filled with raw meat- drawing the Infected in. They fought tooth and nail for hours, evacuating Uptown Gotham of residents and relocating them to Downtown; the people that did make it out of the city didn't last long, and soon citizens were forced back into Gotham. The idea, Gordon and Batman's plan, had been to quarantine the Infected in Uptown Gotham.
"If you wish to leave, continue on the bridge, if you wish to remain in Gotham, turn back," came the call on every bridge out of the city.
Robin remembered watching his father frantically call for his family- Dick, Tim, Jason, Cassandra- scattered around the city, around the country; he'd never seen so much fear on his father's face. He stood in the foyer, feeling dizzy.
"Selina, are you about done?" he snapped. "We need to be going. At this rate, we won't be able to rejoin the scouts until- Selina?" he asked, and no one answered. Robin broke into a run.
Make a choice. Leave or stay.
The family had come, of course, and one at each bridge relayed the message.
"It's alright," Nightwing assured a family of three as they walked back towards the city hurriedly. "It'll be ok," he whispered, the flames coming off of the city reflecting in the lenses of his mask. It was happening again. He was losing everything, wasn't he? Was Batman even alive anymore?
"If you wanna go, get out!" Red Hood shouted above the screaming of the crowd, firing his pistol in the air. A woman shrieked. "If you want to stay, turn back. We have to clear the bridge!"
"Clear," Red Robin pressed his comm.
"Here too," Nightwing agreed.
"Almost done," Red Hood responded.
As the night went on and things grew darker, Batman and the Commissioner had finalized the plan.
Blow the bridges. Cut off Gotham. Quarantine the Infected. Save the city.
"Wait," Batman commanded. "Selina and Alfred are still at the Manor, I've lost contact- I'm going to get them," he'd told his sons.
"I'm coming too," Robin said.
"I need you here," Batman countered, looking down at his son, his jaw set.
"You need someone watching your back."
"Selina?!" Robin cried, his boot pounding down the dirt path, long overgrown with grass but still visible. He knew the way. The wind in the trees made the lush green leaves rustle; the branches swayed and creaked.
The house was dark when they'd arrived.
"Alfred! Selina!" Bruce bellowed, his cape sweeping around the doorway as he ran out of the library. He looked around the foyer and then ran upstairs to the master bedroom.
Robin trailed behind, walking quietly down the hallway towards the parlor. Alfred often waited up for them, reading or watching late night programs on television. Robin could see a light under the door.
When he pushed it open, a fire burned in the fireplace, a figure hunched over in the chair. A sickening squelching sound came from in front of the fireplace, and the Joker stood slowly as Robin came around the couch to see an Infected, crouched over Alfred's corpse, his chest ripped open as his vacant eyes stared at the Joker's feet. That disgusting grin crossed the villain's face, and Robin's vision went red.
"Selina!" Robin shouted and then cried out as he was thrown backwards by an Infected leaping out of the trees. They tumbled down the path, it's teeth sinking into the heavy padded armor of his gauntlet.
The Joker laughed. The entire time Robin fought, the Joker cackled madly. Robin leapt up and kicked him in the face, sending the clown prince spinning to the floor. It was then that he'd looked up from where he'd knelt and seen the hatred in Robin's eyes. The boy ran at him and planted both boots against his back, throwing him to the ground as he pushed off and leapt towards the wall where his great-grandfather's swords hung.
Robin threw the Infected off as they tumbled into the clearing where his grandparents' memorials stood. Selina was holding her own against three of them, Robin fired his grappling hook into the tree beside him and swung towards the zombie that had attacked him, unsheathing his katana and decapitating it in one motion. He landed and drove the blade through the severed head, running towards Selina.
"You son of a bitch!" Robin screamed, tearing the sword off of the wall as he launched himself back. He flipped over the Joker's head and landed, and then screamed when the villain's silver blade tore through his cheek, blood splattering from the wound.
One of the Infected grabbed Selina's arm and pulled her back as the other came towards her- Robin leapt into the air and kicked the first so hard that his boot went clean through it's skull. Selina's arm freed, she jumped forward and clawed the eyes of the second, pouncing on it. She cried out, tearing it apart with nothing but the sharp bladed claws on her hands. Robin jumped over her and killed the third Infected, his bloodied boots landing in the grass.
"You'll pay for this," Robin spat through the blood rushing down his mouth. It was nearly enough to choke on. He lunged just as Batman rushed into the room, Selina on his heels.
"Robin! No!" He bellowed, but it was too late. One slash of the blade tore blood from the Joker's throat and the clown prince fell back, the Infected lunging at him. The Joker cackled madly, tumbling through the broken parlor window with the monster.
"Are you alright?" Selina panted, and Damian nodded, doubled over with his hands on his knees. Selina laughed a little.
"Are you? Did you get hurt?" he asked.
"No, no. They just caught me way way off guard," she sighed, standing up straight.
"We should go," Robin grabbed her arm, but Selina stopped him.
"Wait," she glanced at Alfred's small grave. "Don't you want to say goodbye?"
"No," Robin choked, crawling towards Alfred's gory body. Bruce stared in silence at his friend, and Selina was shocked when he pulled his mask down and stifled a sob. He knelt beside Alfred and picked him up gently, trying so hard to keep him in one piece; he'd been torn nearly in half.
"Father," Damian sobbed. "We can't- the bridges," he held onto his cape, and Bruce ignored him, walking out of the house. They could hear the sirens of Gotham wailing over the water in the dark, and he led them down the path to his parents' graves.
"It seems like so long ago," Damian said quietly, taking his mask off. He rarely did, and Selina glanced at him, turning his face a bit with a hand under his chin.
"You look so much like him," she said quietly, and Damian smiled a little. His icy blue eyes were softer than Bruce's, not yet battle hardened from years of destruction. They stood in silence for a bit longer, and Damian couldn't help remembering how his father had slaved, digging a grave for his guardian as quickly as he could. There hadn't been time for a funeral of any kind, not even time to pay respects; they'd covered him and left. Bruce had looked up at the Manor and broken into sobs as they passed, but as soon as he'd reached the batmobile, he was stoic once again.
"Is everyone on comms," he'd asked.
"Bruce, what happened," Dick said quietly. Batman glanced in the mirror at Damian in the backseat, still crying, with a gauze pad taped over the gash on his face.
Damian touched the scar over his lip as he and Selina walked back to their truck in the sunlight.
"Alfred is dead," Batman said calmly, but his voice wavered. "We were too late."
"No," Batgirl choked.
"God, this can't be happening," Nightwing breathed.
"Everyone else, blow your bridges now. Nightwing, wait on my command. Once you've blown yours, head to Carter Bridge in Midtown to assist GCPD in fending off anyone who may come to the city. Robin and I will work on getting the Infected into Uptown, and the civilians out. Move all civilians to Downtown. We want a buffer zone between Downtown and Uptown."
Robin stared out the windshield as he drove them back towards the supply route. Selina sighed quietly in the sunlight, chilly in the cab despite the summer heat.
"What's that?" Robin asked quietly, glancing at the small book laying on the bag of things she'd picked up.
"Alfred's recipe book," she smiled a little. "I thought… Maybe it would be nice, to have something of his."
"Couldn't agree more," Damian smiled a little, looking out the window at the passing trees.
The bridge went up in flames behind them as the Batmobile sped through the city, heading for Midtown.
"Father- what about them?" He sat up a bit, looking at the towering walls of Arkham City. Batman's jaw tightened.
"There's nothing we can do for them, Robin. Civilians come first."
Damian couldn't stop the satisfaction in his chest. He was glad they were leaving them to rot.
"It's going to be a long fight tonight, and we have to do everything right to save everyone we can. These people need more than hope."
Nightwing and Batgirl listened to their comms as they rushed people out of their cars and over the bridge into Downtown. A little boy wailed for his mother, and Batgirl picked him up, Nightwing's hand on her back as she hurried the refugees across. She looked up at his face as he called to a family behind them, a mirror of her own features twisted in perpetual shock and horror. They weren't prepared for this. They weren't prepared to be soldiers.
"They need heroes," Batman said quietly.
Red Hood was practically choking on blood now, and he didn't think it was his. Spoiler backed up into him. Her mouth was open wide in terror as she dropped the hand she was holding- just an arm now, and she gaped up at the mass of Infected coming towards them. Red Hood opened fire and they ran, rounding a corner as Spoiler retched on the pavement.
"There's no more right or wrong now," Batman said over the comms. "Its survival."
Red Robin ducked as Blackbat swooped over him. Diving back into the battle on the only bridge into the city. Policemen fell around them, screaming ringing in his ears, so loud it was nearly debilitating. He leapt up and began running over the railings on the bridge, Infected swiping at his boots, toward the teenager and his mother on the other side. He screamed as an Infected tore into them, and he stumbled on the railing, falling at the feet of the mother as she bled out before hitting the pavement. Red Robin trembled as he got to his feet.
"We're going to lose a lot. But save who you can. You're the only ones that can save them. Don't forget that."
Batwoman sobbed as she held her fianceé, bawling her name, Maggie's vacant eyes staring up at her in anguish. She was long gone, blood caked in her short hair, her body stiff in Batwoman's arms. She begged her to wake up. Voices called outside, crying for help, but she couldn't make her legs work. Maggie suddenly blinked, sniffing the air, and Batwoman scrambled back in horror as her dead fianceé stood before her. Bawling, she leveled a gun at her head.
"Stay alive, stay safe. Save the city," Batman commanded.
Screams echoed in the distance, and they could hear the earth shattering explosions of the bridges being blown, severing ties to the mainland. Robin stared out at the burning city.
"Where will we go now, Father?" he asked quietly.
"Wayne Tower."
Damian reached over and took Selina's hand like his father had that night, a comforting gesture, and she smiled a little. They weren't alone.
Selina squeezed Bruce's hand, her eyes wide in numb shock as she looked out the window to the dark city around them.
What now?