Hey guys, I know you loved that cliffhanger and the wait that came with it. I apologize for that though. Anyway, thank you to those who reviewed last chapter and please do so again. It helps out a lot. As you already know, italics is personal thought and bold italics is electronic communication. I do not own DC Comics or any of their characters. Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Last Time:
"She said beloved?" Bruce asked.
"Yeah." Richard said.
Oh dear… Alfred exchanged a looked with Bruce. Miss Talia…
"Does that matter?" Richard asked.
Bruce gave Alfred a pointed look. Of course he entrusts me to explain…
"Master Bruce is called Beloved by Miss Talia Al Ghul, daughter of Ra's Al Ghul." Alfred informed.
Richard made the connection and freaked out.
"She...She was an assassin?! The League of Shadows is after me?! I'm soooo dead!" He said loudly. "Man, this day hasn't even started and it sucks! My bike is trashed, my helmet is cracked, I'm target by who the hell knows, and I don't know what the hell is going on with me!"
Alfred felt kind of bad for the young man.
"Well, you're going to have to suck it up. You need to be on high alert from now on." Bruce said.
Honestly, he could be so cold sometimes. Alfred blamed that on his bluntness.
"I'm going to contact Red-" An alarm went off and the Batcave was plunged in darkness.
Dick immediately went on the defense. His eyes widened as they tried to adjust to the sudden darkness of the cave.
"Alfred, behind me." Bruce said in the dark.
Richard heard Alfred's shoes shuffle on the rock floor. There was something off about the dead silence of the cave, even the bats were quiet. All Richard could hear was his blood rushing, his heart beating, and his, Alfred's, and Bruce's breathing. Trying to focus his senses, Richard closed his eyes. It's a cave no way will I be able to see anything. Richard hears very faint footsteps everywhere. The closest was a few feet to his left. Wasting no time, he pounced with his escrima sticks raised and clumsily tackled the person. The person yelped in surprise and Richard pummeled them.
"Dick?!" Bruce shouted in the darkness.
"Not me." Richard responded as he kept the person down.
Feeling for the person's face, Richard heard footsteps by where Bruce was. Behind Bruce.
"Bruce, Alfred!" Richard yelled in warning.
Finally groping the intruders face, Richard felt night vision goggles. He could hear the crack of Bruce's fist against the assailants head. That guy is not having a good day.
"Now that's cheating." He said as he took them off the person.
He slipped them on and saw at least fifteen assailants, excluding the one underneath him and the one Bruce knocked out. Quickly choosing his next target, Richard quietly crept behind one of them and grabbed the night vision strap. Keeping the grip, he leapt over the person and yanked off the night vision goggles, then he swiftly knocked the person out with a forceful strike to the head. Upon closer inspection, Richard realized they were all young. 20's 30's at the most. They were also dressed in some type of armor. It was state-of-the-art stuff but only worn on the hands, arms, and legs. Armor on places of attack and block contact? Either low funds or this is a test run. Probably the first. Walking right up to Alfred, he placed his hand on Alfred's shoulder. He felt him jump.
"Here." Richard said quietly, but his voice carried throughout the cave.
Shit, I just drew attention to myself. They'll come after me. Somehow, he was fine with that. Alfred slipped on the goggles and realized the situation. All hands on deck. Looking around, Richard noticed none of the intruders had moved an inch. What are they waiting for? They could easily take us out, and we already took out two of their members! Richard felt air on his back. He dove to the side. A sword slammed into the ground he had been standing on. Following the blade, Richard came in eye contact with Ra's Al Ghul. He did not have on night vision goggles, but his eyes glowed a bright green. Shit, can he see just fine in this darkness?! Ra's raised his sword for another strike. He brought it down and Richard barely managed to block the blade with his escrima sticks in an X. Deciding that Bruce needed his cowl, Richard shoved the blade aside and made a mad dash to where the uniforms were stored. He heard footsteps behind him, fast approaching. Risking a glance, Richard saw he was being chased by Ra's Al Ghul himself.
"Shit." He cursed and put on speed.
"Better run, Little Bird." Ra's laughed.
That sparked something in his mind that kind of made him feel he wasn't running on his own free will. That cannot be Cadmus programming! My keyword was broken bird!... Maybe it's not best to think about that… Taking a quick turn, Richard sprinted towards the cowl and grabbed it as he passed. As he was retracting his arm, Ra's sword nicked his arm. A small cut. Aware that Ra's was catching up, Richard made an effort to gain a lead by making quick turns here and there. It didn't work. As he finally entered the room Bruce was in, Ra's took a swipe at his leg and cut into Richard's calf. Richard fell and turned to face Ra's from the ground.
"Come now, Broken Bird, fight!" Ra's spurred.
Fight Richard did as he, unwillingly, got up and went into an offensive stance. After stabilizing, Richard lunged forward, an electrified escrima stick raised. Batman's cowl was on the cave floor along with a small puddle of Richard's blood. Ra's caught Richard's stick and ripped it from his hand. In another attempt, Richard slammed the other stick into Ra's' side. The assassin huffed a breath. Feeling slightly victorious and cocky, Richard electrified the stick, but that was a major mistake. Ra's grabbed Richard's hand and twisted it to slam the electricity into Richard's stomach. Gritting his teeth and making a pained noise, Richard convulsed at the electricity coursing through his body. So that how this feels. Dropping the stick, Richard caught his breath and went to punch Ra's. Ra's grinned as he caught the punch and twisted Dick's arm around and pinned him. Pressure on Richard's shoulder told him that Ra's was thinking about dislocating it. Please don't. I get injured all the time, man. Just as Richard felt Ra's begin to pull on his arm, Bruce, in the Batman cowl, smashed his fist into Ra's Al Ghul's face. The assassin leader stumbled back and let go of Richard's arm. Bruce was dog piled by a bunch of the assassins. Springing into action, Richard and Alfred worked to uncover Bruce. Richard would throw assassins off Bruce and knock them to the ground for Alfred to knock out. It was an effective system for the two seconds it lasted. Ra's came up behind Alfred and took him hostage. Positioning his blade at the old butler's neck. Richard froze as he faced Ra's.
"Off the Batman." Ra's ordered.
As the words left his mouth, the assassins got off of Bruce and allowed him to stand. He froze as well.
"I want the detective, Bruce. Nothing else." Ra's said.
"Why? What's so important about him?" Bruce asked.
"I'll go with you." Richard said.
Bruce glared at him in the darkness. Ra's snapped his fingers and the assassins took off the night vision goggles. The lights came on. Richard tore the goggles off as it blinded him. He looked around, his sight blurry and eyes hurting as the sudden light stimulated them. Bruce was unfazed. Jerk.
"We need the child." Ra's replied. "And he seems willing to come."
As a reminder of what was at stake, Ra's pressed the blade further into Alfred's neck. Richard could see the skin struggle with the weight.
"No need for anyone else to get hurt, I'll come with you." Richard reasoned.
"I need the Bat to understand that." Ra's said.
"He understands, now put the blade down." Richard said carefully as he slowly approached.
"No, Richard. He's with the Light!" Bruce protested.
"A trade. Alfred for me, that's fair." Richard said.
The blade pressed deeper, a thin line of blood dripped down Alfred's neck. Richard stopped.
"Put the sword down." He growled.
"Oh, the child has a backbone." Ra's said with a grin.
"Me for Alfred. That's fair." Richard said through gritted teeth.
Ra's lessened the pressure on Alfred's throat but didn't take the blade away from Alfred.
"I suppose." Ra's responded.
Letting go of Alfred and shoving him forwards, Richard caught the older man and made eye contact. Quickly checking the butler's throat, he gave Alfred a small smile before walking to Ra's. He could tell Alfred didn't want to let Richard go, but the butler and the Bat did nothing. However, as soon as Ra's turned, Bruce lunged forwards and grabbed Dick's arm and pulled him behind him. In a swift motion, Bruce grabbed Ra's by the neck and lifted him two feet in the air. The other assassins went to assist their leader, but Ra's raised a hand and stopped them.
"What, detective, are you going to kill me?" He taunted.
"You'd just go to the Lazarus Pit." Bruce growled.
"Then what ar-" Ra's was cut off by Bruce's tightening hand.
"Leave and tell whoever sent you that you failed." He growled.
"What makes you think I was sent?" Ra's choked out.
"Then why is the League of Shadows after Richard Grayson? Why is he important?" Bruce interrogated.
Ra's laughed. Bruce was having none of it and strengthened his grip.
"Tell me!" He yelled.
"He knows things." Ra's said.
"What things?!" Bruce snarled.
Ra's choked a laugh.
"Things." He said.
"Like what?" Bruce growled again.
"Like what's going to happen next." Ra's grinned.
Holding up his hand, Ra's revealed a detonator. He pressed his thumb to the bright red button. Explosions went off all around them. Rocks fell from the ceiling. Bruce let go and tackled Alfred and Richard out of the way of a falling stone. More explosions rocked the cave. Startled, the bats flew around and caused more chaos. Richard quickly lost Alfred and Bruce. Trusting that Bruce would get Alfred out safely, Richard tried not to get crushed. As he finally saw a way out, he noticed Ra's closing in pursuit. Richard also noticed a loose stone on the edge of the place where he could escape. With a smirk Dick lead Ra's to the exit. Sprinting and jumping and diving to the exit, he readied his plan. Finally getting to the exit, he jumped up and swung himself up to stand on the loose rock. It was then he realized he didn't have his escrima sticks. They were lost in the crumbling cave. SHIT, I just trapped myself. With nowhere to run and no time to think of something, Richard looked at the sky in defeat. He heard Ra's come out into the morning air. They had ended up in the Wayne Manor's vast, empty yard. The sun was just creeping over the horizon. Ra's was merciful and delivered a hard strike to Richard's nape. However, that only pushed Richard to the edge of consciousness. With fading vision, Richard made out Red Hood, Robin, and Bruce sprinting towards them. He felt the air moving as a helicopter lowered for Ra's and him. Richard closed his eyes as he saw Red Hood aim his gun and Robin reach a hand. Bullets ricocheted off the helicopter. Jay's trying to hit the engine. How sweet.
"RICHARD!"
Dick isn't sure who yelled his name, but he lost consciousness as he was loaded onto the helicopter.