Chapter 15

The cold night air was refreshing as Bird Boy himself and I overlooked the horizon. We stood atop a large building, staring at Gotham City below us. The view was exhilarating. Bird Boy studied a pair of binoculars thoroughly as I sat next to him. Bored. I thought we were going to actually do something! He said we had a lead on the location of my mother! Nope. Instead I put on a good pair of sneakers for nothing. I sighed dramatically to try and get Robin's attention. He did quite a good job at ignoring me. I tried again, this time louder.

"What?" He groaned.

"Hi, so what are we supposed to be doing again?" I inquired.

"Recon." He answered.

"So, just sitting here then?"

"Yup."

I groaned. This is not at all what I signed up for.

"I thought you had a lead?" I inquired.

"We do." Robin replied. He looked at me and handed his binoculars. "Do you see that strip joint on the corner there?" I felt my face flush as I saw the strip club he was referring to. That was the same strip club where I had my encounter with Black Mask. I nodded. "We found traces of DNA that is a genetic link to yours."

"Umm… are you sure it wasn't mine?" I inquired sheepishly. "I had a bit of an incident there a few days back."

"We know. It's not yours. But it has enough in common to be your mother's." Robin continued.

"Oh…okay." I put my faith in Batman as my D- in biology left me in no position to question this. After a few more minutes of boredom, a mysterious female figure entered the club. She was wearing a long trench coat and a ridiculously large hat. Whoever it was, they did not want to be recognized.

"We've got a match!" Robin smirked. My smile followed suit! Was that my mother? What was she doing? She would never enter, as she would say 'that sort of horrid establishment.

"Are you saying that woman is my mom? What is she doing?" I inquired. Robin shrugged as he went back over to where he put his supplies. He quickly pulled out a basic black leather catsuit with a matching wig. "Robin, are you going down to see if they're hiring? I don't know how you'd look in that catsuit, but maybe you could pull it off. I didn't realize you had a thing for drag."

"Cute." He said, unamused. "It's actually for you."

"Well, you better buy me dinner first." I muttered under my breath. He thought I was going to play dress up as some dominatrix. Is this guy for real?

"Hey, dipshit. Every sleezebag in this city is looking for a pretty blonde. If you're doing recon you need to stay as inconspicuous as possible." He groaned. In what universe would this monstrosity of an outfit be considered inconspicuous? Only in Gotham I suppose.

"You think I'm pretty?" I grinned at him, putting him in an awkward position. He scoffed at my comment, pulling it off remarkably well, much better than I had assumed he would. I'd have to step up my teasing. Without another word he threw the ensemble at me and with an ungraceful maneuver I managed to catch it.

"Meet me on top of the strip club when you're ready." With that, the boy wonder leaped from the building.

After a few minutes of torture I had managed to slip into the death drape and attach the black wig to my head. I had to say, it was a pretty convincing wig. If I was at home and had my cell phone handy I would have taken a selfie. Not important, I reminded myself. I had to stay focused, meet Robin at the lamppost on the corner. Wait, how was I going to get down from here? Bird boy flew off so quickly he forgot to tell me how to get down. Or intentionally didn't tell me because I was getting on his nerves. This is where my training needed to kick in. C'mon Sarina! Use your head! Maybe This outfit would come in handy. I looked down at the black belt resting on my hip. There had to be some gadget that would help. As I fumbled with the stylish contraption I managed to find something of use. A grappling gun. At least, I hoped that's what it was. Now, a place to latch on to.

Ironically, the building next to Black Mask's corrupt corporation was an old gothic style church. Charming. More of a museum now, it rarely held services. Mostly for the tourists. The thing that stuck out to me most was the old gargoyle staring back at me. Maybe he was my answer. I inhaled deeply as I aimed carefully at the gargoyle. The grapple shot out and latched onto its target and pulled me along with it. Nearly ripping my arm out of my socket, it took everything for me not to let out an ear shattering screech. In an instant I was pulled towards the gargoyle. As soon as I had reached my destination. I grabbed on hoisting myself up. Alright, I made it across the street, now what? I looked at the strip club. It was taunting me. Glaring at it, I vowed I would make it down.

"Need a hand?" A smug voice inquired from the darkness. I jumped, almost falling off the building. Of course Robin was there.

"….Perhaps…." I muttered, not wanting to admit that I was stuck. With that, the boy wonder wrapped a muscular arm around my waist and grappled from the gargoyle, to the top of the strip joint, right above Black Mask's penthouse. "Warn a girl next time, kay?"

He ignores this comment and immediately enters detective mode, analyzing the entire rooftop.

"She's in there, with Roman Sionis." Robin commented, mostly to himself.

"Is he holding her captive?" I inquired, the only plausible solution coming to my head.

"Well, she did walk in willingly." He retorted. I guess he was right. The hell was she doing?

"Okay, let's go in." I said, getting ready to get a closer look. He grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"No. We do this my way." He snapped. I rolled my eyes but agreed. He knew what he was doing. After a few more minutes of analyzing a grin formed on the boy wonder's face. "There's a vent over here. It'll take us directly to Black Mask's office."

"Then what?" I inquired. Usually, I think my voice projects well, people can usually hear and understand me clearly. Perhaps Robin has a hearing issue he should get checked out, because my question went unanswered. We made our way towards the vent. I was the first one there, so naturally I attempted to give it a tug. I could hear Robin chuckle as my attempts to rip open the grate were futile. I groaned and stepped aside, allowing him to pull the cover off in one swift tug. Show off. He gestured for me to enter the grate.

"Ladies first." He smirked. I smiled sarcastically back at him as I pull myself in. Slowly, I army crawled through the vents, making my way towards the bright light at the end of the tunnel.

"This is so gross." I groaned to myself.

"We're undercover, be quiet." Robin reminded me from behind. I was never very good at the quiet game. Eventually, we had made it. I peered through the great to see the very penthouse suite I was attacked in a few days prior. Aw, memories. I looked towards the door and saw the mysterious trench coat woman walking away. Shit, we just missed her. I turned to Robin to inform him of this when I heard Black Mask speak. He was sitting at his desk, leaning back in his chair with a cellphone pressed against his head...er...mask.

"I just had a very interesting conversation. Strange and Penguin are working together on trying to get the kid." Silence. "Oh, a very reliable source. They want this girl, bad. I think it's more their egos now then the paycheck. I gave it a shot by hiring that Karlo guy. It was a bust, this bitch is tough, I'll give her that. I heard you even gave it a shot. How'd that turn out?" Silence again, followed by a dark laugh from Black Mask. "Alright, alright, my boys will be around to collect my few per usual." With that, he hung up, putting his phone down on the desk. I turned back towards Robin.

"Who was he talking to?" I questioned. He gave me a dark glare and put a finger to his lips. He nodded, and motioned back up. I nodded as we made our way back up the vent. Robin got out first and I followed suit. "Okay, so we need to find that wo-" I froze when I realized the two of us were surrounded by seven thugs. Two with ak-47's aimed directly at us. "Oh..."

"Look what we got here, Batman's bitch Robin." One of the thugs holding a gun grinned.

"Who's the broad?" Another one asked.

"Batman's other bitch." One added. They all laughed at their own pathetic joke.

"I'll take the guns and the ones on the left, you take those two on the right." Robin whispered to me. I nodded. "On my count, now!" With that lack of warning, Robin leaped towards the men with the guns and took them out. I guess that was my cue. I rushed over to the I was charged with defeating. I went up and gave one a roundhouse kick, was stumbled back, but was not deterred. The other guy pulled out a knife and swiped at me. I jumped back and ducked under his blade, delivering a blow to his gut. He groaned as I continued dodge knives and beat down on these thugs. After a few flips and kicks I managed to knock down the two thugs with only minor cuts and bruises. I turned to Robin to see how he was doing and if he needed my help, only to find him standing back casually with his arms crossed, five thugs down for the count around him. He had finished long before I had. "Good effort," He commented. "Just gotta work on your efficiency.""Where is she?" I inquired. Robin raised an eyebrow at me. "My mom! Do your scanning thing!" Robin obliged and went into his detective mode, after a few minutes he sighed.

"She's out of range, I can't get a hold on her." He replied. I groaned as I blew a stray piece of black hair out of my face. Where the hell was she? There was an awkward silence. The trail went cold and there wasn't much we could do.

"So Strange and Penguin are teaming up. Awesome. Who's Strange?" I inquired, summarizing Black Mask's phone call.

"A man you don't want to meet." Robin replied. "I have to let Batman know what's going on."

"Alright then let's go." I said.

"No, you're going back to Wayne Manor. You got your taste of recon." Robin explained.

"Oh c'mon!" I groaned.

"It's a school night." He retorted. I rolled my eyes.

"You're not my mother and I'm pretty sure it's a school night for you too. Tell me boy wonder, who's behind that mask?" I grinned mischievously. "Kevin Thompson from AP Bio? No, it's got to be someone muscular. But not suspiciously muscular. Can't be muscular without an excuse. I got it! A football player!"

"You're going home. NOW." He growled angrily, shutting me up completely. On the trip back I thought about my mother. Why was she talking to Black Mask, willingly? In a disguise? I wasn't sure anymore. I just hoped to find her soon and that she was okay. Even though she's a stick in the mud sometimes, I really missed her.