Chapter Eight: Escape

(AN: Batman is not mine)

The walls of his prison had crumbled like tissue paper under his fists. He had laughed as the guards ran around him like terrified insects. For that is what they were, he reminded them, as he broke the necks of several that were dumb enough to get in his way. Yes, he would remind them all that they were nothing compared to him, that he was a god among them, and no one could stand against him.

Blue-Jay headed for home at top speed, running for the first few blocks before picking up her cycle by remote control and going into the Roost via a secret tunnel that went under Gotham cemetery, its entrance hidden by a large section of concrete that would lift up to admit her when she gave the command.

As soon as she got back to the Roost, Blue-Jay changed back into the outfit she had been wearing and went upstairs to wait for Tim.

He arrived within minutes and she came over and hugged him. "Are you alright?" She asked, softly, as he returned her hug. "Yes, I'm fine." He told her, "But what about you? Someone told me that you went home after you got out?" She smiled sheepishly at him, saying, "I actually went back into the theater when I couldn't find you, Dick or Barb. Needless to say you weren't in there, there were only Batman and the others. Blue-Jay told me to go home, that you would come by and check on me as soon as you could."

Tim smiled and said, "Well, I'm glad she told you to go home, here no one can hurt you. She told me where you had gone after Livewire had been taken care of. We were all worried when you got separated from us."

There were a few moments of silence, where the two just stood there, holding one another. Then RJ gave a soft giggle, and said, "That was quite and interesting first date, though, wasn't it?" he smiled at her, "No kidding, now that we've been faced with a major villain, how am I suppose to take you anywhere more exciting on our next one?" She grinned, "I'm sure that just dating you will be exciting enough, Mr. Drake." She pressed her forehead to his for a moment before kissing him softly on the lips.

Tim returned to the Batcave to find Batman pacing around in front of the batcomputer, where Batgirl was sitting, typing quickly.

"I was so sure it was her!" Batman said, punching his fist into his other hand, "Everything fit, she was the perfect match!" "Not to mention our only suspect." Batgirl said, dryly.

"What's up?" Tim asked, wondering what his mentor and friend were so put off about. "Batman was sure that RJ was Blue-Jay," Batgirl told him, when it became apparent that Batman wasn't going to say anything. "But tonight, as you are well aware of, that possibility was eliminated."

Tim frowned, "And you didn't tell me about this until now, because…?" "Despite what you told us before," Batman finally said, looking Tim's way as he paced, "You and RJ are not just friends." Tim felt a slight blush begin to creep up his cheeks and he tried to fight it back.

"Okay, I admit it," Tim said, "I like RJ, a lot, what does that have to do with the possibility of her being Blue-Jay?" Batman stopped his pacing and looked straight at the teen, who shifted slightly under his gaze, but didn't look away. "Because you would have gotten suspicious of her, and that in itself would have put a strain on your friendship."

This made sense, and after a moment Tim nodded slightly. He then moved to go past Batman, towards the stairs that led up to the house, but Batman put out an arm and stopped him. "Wait, there is something else we have to talk about." Tim looked at his mentor, "Like what? You aren't going to give me the infamous 'Talk' are you?" Tim smirked inwardly when he saw Batman twitch slightly, a small tinge of red appearing in the mans' cheeks.

Tim had always enjoyed doing this, putting his surrogate father on the spot or making him feel awkward. He would sometimes ask Bruce what a word meant, even though he already knew the definition of said word, just to see the man turn slightly pink and try and find a way to explain without actually saying the meaning straight out.

Batman glared at the 'innocent' looking teen and said, "No, I was just going to say-" But he never got the chance to finish his sentence, because at that moment, an alarm went off on the computer.

Batman and Tim ran over to Batgirl, who was typing furiously on the keyboard. "What is it?" Batman asked her. "The penitentiary, there's been a break-out." She told him. "How many escapees?" Tim questioned. "Just one and-oh no." Batgirl fell silent and her face paled a bit. "What, who is it?" Batman asked, and she turned to look at him before she said, "It's Bane."

RJ stepped out of the shower and toweled herself off before pulling on the large T-shirt that she wore to bed at night.

As she entered her room she turned on the TV, and froze when she saw what was on live television.

One wall of the penitentiary had a giant hole in it the size of a bull elephant, and the chunks of concrete were scattered up to as far away from their point of origin as 15 yards. She didn't need to hear what the announcer was saying to know who had broken out, because only one person could do that kind of damage with their bare hands. Bane.

RJ hurried down to the Roost and quickly changed into her costume before heading for her bike. She was only about ten feet away when she stopped. She stared at the bike for a few seconds before turning away from it and heading to the part of the Roost where the zip-lines would lead her to the batcave.

As much as she wanted to handle Bane on her own, she knew that to try would be stupid and fool-hardy, not to mention deadly. Blue-Jay had no doubt that Bane had broken out to kill her. She had kept track of him and she had found that being defeated by a fifteen year old girl had a tendency to destroy a grown man's reputation, especially one such as Bane's.

The moment after Batgirl had said that name, Tim was already half-way across the cave, and pulled on his costume a moment later. As he did this, Batman looked at Batgirl, saying "You stay here and keep in tough with us. If you find out anything about where Bane is or is going, tell us immediately." She nodded as he stood up straight.

"What are you going to do?" Batgirl asked, wondering how Batman intended on taking down Bane. The answer she got was not exactly what she had expected. "We don't know where Bane is now, if we did I would confront him, but as we don't there is something else that has to be done. We have to find Blue-Jay."

Batman and Robin started to head for the batmobile, when a soft voice made them stop and look around. "I'm right here." Blue-Jay came out of the shadows at the far end of the cave and walked towards them.

She had come out of the shadows when she had heard Batman say "We have to find Blue-Jay." "I'm right here." She had said, as she walked towards him and Robin.
Blue-Jay stopped a few feet from them and looked up at Batman. There seemed to be an invisible exchange between them and after a few moments of silence, Batman said "I want you to stay here for tonight." Blue-Jay bristled slightly but, surprisingly, didn't protest.

Blue-Jay was never one to take orders, not even from Batman, but she was far from stupid, and would follow an order if she had to. It was a mark of just how scared she really was that she walked over to the batcomputer and stood beside Batgirl as Batman and Robin got into the batmobile.

(Review, please)