Chapter Four: Fragmented Clues
(AN: Batman is not mine)
Batman did not follow RJ back into the house, instead he headed back to the cave, a possible theory starting to form in his head.
WHAM! Batman slammed his fist down on the arm of his chair. He was back in the batcave, sitting at the batcomputer. He growled in frustration as he looked at the screen.
Testing his theory had only proven that RJ Falcon had never been seen in public with her parents until the party several months ago, but there was no proof that she hadn't merely been behind the scenes on their trips. Nor was there any evidence that she had spent any of that time in Gotham. In short, he had reopened the possibility that RJ Falcon was Blue-Jay, but he could not confirm it.
It was more than likely that RJ was Blue-Jay, they had the same body-type, were the same size, and had the same hair color. RJ also would have the money and the brains to pull it off, but did she have the training? Had she ever really been in Gotham very often over the years? She could easily have trained most of her birds while traveling, as her parents had houses in several countries. But he had no way of telling.
Batman sat back and let out a long breath, leaning his head back against the chair and thinking. He didn't have much choice, he would have to wait until Blue-Jay or RJ slipped up, or Blue-Jay decided to reveal her identity to him.
RJ woke later than normal, around nine o'clock, the party had been rather draining. She remembered what had happened after the guests had gone home and frowned. She would have to be extra careful now that Batman was looking at her closer than she would have liked, and it wouldn't hurt to have an emergency plan in case he ever discovered her identity. However, for now she would just relax a little bit and then get ready for patrolling that night. She would worry about Batman later.
Getting out of bed, she stretched and went into her bathroom. She showered and dressed before hurrying out to her new aviary, eager to see her new birds in the daylight.
With Uno on her shoulder RJ walked around the cages of new birds, keeping calm and quiet, allowing them to grow use to her presents, and to learn that Uno was the king of the roost. She smiled as he gazed at them all, holding himself up and looking imposing.
She would not be able to start training them for a while, as they needed to grow use to her first, to let them do that, she would walk around the aviary at least once a day and allow them to grow accustomed and comfortable around her. She had not had to do this with the birds in the other aviary because they had come to her in small numbers or one by one.
After a while, RJ left her new aviary and entered the original one. She went right over to the large raven she was training and took him outside.
She had decided to train the bird for Nightwing a while back, the reason being that he still didn't trust her completely, and neither did Batgirl or Batman, though it was the two men who were more wary of her. Robin had been relatively easy to win over, for which she was glad, she wanted to be on good terms with Tim both in and out of costume. She and Batgirl had a warmer relationship than the other two, but it was still far from the level of trust she had from Robin. But Blue-Jay would do what ever it took for them to trust her. No matter how long it took her to do it, she would.
Batman watched RJ fly the large raven around on the leash from a distance for several hours before putting it away and bringing out another bird, this one bright red and black. She flew this bird around for several more hours before putting it away as well and watching the raven that had been perched on her shoulder fly around a bit before Pierre called her for lunch.
She was doing nothing suspicious, and absolutely nothing was implying that she was Blue-Jay beyond his hunch, which was, in truth, hanging by a thread at the moment.
After she came back out, she went down to the stables, the raven still with her. Batman watched her for half the day before giving up for the time being and returning to the Batmobile.
After some horseback riding, RJ went back inside and headed for the roost. All day she had been brainstorming ways to throw Batman off her trail, and the one she had decided would be the best way to go would be to try and plant video evidence that would place her and Blue-Jay in different locations at the same time, making it seem that they were two different people. Simple, but hopefully effective.
Plopping down in front of the computer, Blue-Jay looked around in the video files that she had collected until she found the perfect footage.
The footage showed Blue-Jay in the Gotham library after it had closed, meaning no witnesses. Going over the file, she modified a few things, like the sign on the wall that had an announcement for a book sale that had ended at least a month ago.
She was extremely glad she had thought of this particular program. It was designed to copy and collect all the surveillance footage of both Blue-Jay and the batsquad and store it in a database on Roosts computer, not that there was that much of it to collect. It was a side program of her surveillance system. Blue-Jay had complete access to every surveillance system in the city, meaning she could see what ever any security camera in the city saw and know when and where crimes happened. It also helped to keep track of people she wanted to keep an eye on.
After doctoring the footage, Blue-Jay downloaded it into a small device that she could link to any camera and loop the footage into it by remote control. Tucking this into her belt, Blue-Jay headed out on patrol.
Her first stop was Gotham Library, to plant the device on the camera with the correct position and viewpoint. That was simple, and she pulled it off without a hitch, managing to avoid being seen by said camera as she planted the device on it. It took her five minuets to get in and out and on her way.
As she ran over the rooftops she became aware that she had a follower. She picked up her speed and quickly lost them. Her guess would be Batgirl. She would have spotted Robin a mile away. Nightwing would not have been shaken so easily, and she would never have spotted Batman that quickly. She smiled slightly to herself, she liked Barbara, but the girl needed to practice her shadowing skills. But, then again, so did Robin.
Blue-Jay swung through downtown Gotham, the financial district to be exact. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, when she received an alert from Pierre that the silent alarm at Gotham First National bank had been tripped. Seeing as she was in the area, Blue-Jay decided to check it out.
Five minuets after arriving at the bank, she gained some company. As she was unlocking the grating of the vent shaft, Robin came up beside her. "You were in the area, too?" She asked and he nodded.
When she got the grating open, Robin grabbed it and held it up on its hinges saying "Ladies first." With a crooked smile. She smiled back at him and crawled into the vent. Once she was in, he followed, careful not to let the grate slam when he let it down.
The vent system was relatively easy to navigate, the ducts were large enough to fit someone of Batman's bulk through, and Blue-Jay and Robin were able to crawl comfortably side by side. Both of them knew that the main vault had been the center of the breech, so it didn't take them long to find it.
Once they found the vent that looked into the vault, the two small teens crouched side by side and peered in. What they saw caused them to sit back a little and look at each other in confusion and bewilderment, because of the six people in the vault, the two recognizable ones were suppose to be in Arkham, and had been the last time any of them had checked. They were the Joker and Firefly. Talk about an unlikely partnership.
The two escaped convicts and their four cronies were busy loading money into sacks, but Blue-Jay didn't like the idea of making their entrance in plain sight, so she and Robin crawled to the one other vent in the vault. It was in the corner, partially hidden by shelves of drawers.
Blue-Jay deactivated the alarm on the grating and picked the lock with little difficulty, allowing herself and Robin to slip silently into the room, unnoticed by the other occupants.
They gauged their situation. The four that were hired muscle were just that when Blue-Jay recalled their records, recognizing them now that she saw them clearly; 'Rhino' Daily, Moe, Ler, and Cur. The last three were all wearing clown makeup and were dressed in black body suits; basically, Joker's cronies were modeled after the Three Stooges. They were all brawn and no brain.
The odds would be against them if they made a move, even with their skills, a group of men that size would most likely overwhelm them both, and neither the Joker nor Firefly were a pushover either. Their best bet would be to wait for Batman, Batgirl or Nightwing. Unfortunately, the Joker forced them to make their move before anyone else could get there.
Turning to the bound and gagged security guards he smiled and pulled out a gun. "Can't have any of you tattling on us." He said before laughing madly. The laugh made the hair on the back of Blue-Jays neck and arms stand on end and she shuddered slightly. As the mad clown aimed the gun at one of the men, both Blue-Jay and Robin moved, a batarang and a birdarang both knocked the gun from Jokers hand in the same instant.
"OW!" the clown yelled as the two birds leaped from their hiding place without hesitation. As one, they both went straight for the target closest to them: Moe. With the combined force of both of their kicks to the face, Moe was smashed into the floor, hitting his head hard and laying there, out cold.
The two small birds had to rely on their speed and on each other. Robin laced his fingers together and she landed her foot in them, jumping as he added his strength to fling her into the air "Allie-oop." He said, as she somersaulted over the heads of Ler and Cur. In true stooge fashion they both attempted to punch her in mid air as she came down between them. All they succeeded in doing was hitting each other on the head so hard that they knocked each other out.
The three stooges were down, but that still left Joker, Firefly, and Rhino. None of which would be easy. Rhino turned out to have better aim than the other three, because as Blue-Jay came in for a landing, he sized a gold bar and threw it, hitting her right in the stomach and knocking the wind out of her.
"Blue-Jay!" Robin yelled as she fell to her knees, running over to her. He knelt beside her as she clutched her stomach. "I'm fine," she wheezed, then "LOOK OUT!" she knocked Robin out of the way just in time, Firefly's 'flame-saber' missing them by less than an inch. Blue-Jay could smell burning cloth and slapped her hand down to smother the smoldering hem of her cape.
Seconds later the two threw themselves away from each other as the saber came down between them, cutting into the wall. Blue-Jay reached into her belt as she dodged the arsonist and pulled out a small capsule.
The moment he was close enough, she threw it into his face. Firefly yelled as foam covered his hands and face, putting out his saber and causing him to stumble backwards. She lunged upwards, slamming her entire body into his chest, causing him to fall backwards onto the floor where she was able to use another gadget to send an electric charge through him, knocking him out.
Turning around to face the other two, both she and Robin had to duck to avoid the stream of acid that the Joker sent their way. Blue-Jay rushed forwards, keeping low, and swept the Joker's legs out from under him sending him crashing to the floor. Unfortunately, she noticed too late that his pet hyenas had entered the vault at some point during the fight.
Blue-Jay cried out in pain as one set of teeth sank into her right forearm and the other into her right shoulder. She smashed her fist down on ones head, making him let go of her arm, and drove away the other by slashing him across the snout with a birdarang.
The Joker was in the process of getting to his feet, when a large fist sent him flying into the wall with one punch. Batman had finally gotten there. Blue-Jay was already back on her feet and running to help Robin dodge Rhino. The two birds fell back a few seconds later however, when Batman reached them, letting him take on the giant of a man.
It took Batman three minuets to bring Rhino down with a massive crash that seemed to shake the whole room. The fight had lasted only about ten minuets, but to the two birds it had seemed a lot longer, and both would have significant bruising in the morning.
Once Rhino was down Batman walked over to them, or rather, to Robin. "Are you alright?" he asked, worry slipping into his voice. The boy wonder nodded "Some bruises, and Rhino got me in the shoulder with a gold bar, but nothing life threatening." Then Robin turned to Blue-Jay and asked "But what about you? I heard you scream, what happened?" "Nothing." She replied, and there was something in her voice that Robin had never heard there before and didn't recognize. Blue-Jay pulled her injured arm out of sight under her cape and headed for the door. But Batman got there first and blocked her way.
"What happened?" he demanded. "Why should I tell you?" she asked, "Because I am not letting you go anywhere until you tell me, that's why!" he barked. Blue-Jay glowered, but decided that she just wasn't in the mood to argue with him. "The hyenas bit me, okay?" she tried to walk past him but he blocked her way again "Show me." She rolled her eyes and growled. He scowled at her and seized her left arm, causing her to yelp slightly as he pulled it forward.
His eyes widened, her sleeve and glove were soaked in blood, as was her shoulder. Tugging off her glove, he rolled up her sleeve, ignoring her protests. Her arm was bleeding freely and her shoulder was a bloody mess.
Blue-Jay tried to tug free of Batman's grip, saying "It's nothing, I'll be fine." But his grasp tightened and he growled "Wounds like these are never nothing, understand!" They glared at each other, neither of them backing down or breaking eye contact until Gordon and his men came in, distracting them both.
"Geeze, Bat's!" Bullock said when he caught sight of Blue-Jay's arm "You need to take better care of your kids!" Batman glared at him, before grabbing Blue-Jay's good arm and dragging the protesting girl out of the room, Robin bringing up the rear.
(Review, please)