A/N: Hope you all had a great Christmas and have a happy New Year! Any and all reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!
Preying on the Birds
"Damn it! I can't believe we haven't found anything yet!" The Huntress slammed her fist into the head of a gargoyle statue as both her and Black Canary stood within the shadows, high above the streets of Gotham.
"Calm down… it's only been a day. Batman will find him… he always does." Black Canary crossed her arms while leaning on another gargoyle as she looked down below.
"Not if I find him first… come on lets go." The Huntress took out a grapple and fired it towards the rooftop of a building across the street. The two of them moved from rooftop to rooftop before stopping at a check point on their designated route.
"You know you don't have to prove anything to him… if he didn't trust you, you wouldn't be here." Black Canary leaned over the edge of the roof to take a quick peek to see if there were any signs of trouble.
The Huntress gritted her teeth and glared at Black Canary. "And what makes you think I care what he thinks?"
"Because Helena… He's Batman… and everyone wants his approval. Isn't that right Dinah?" Both Black Canary and The Huntress quickly turned around to see The Red Hood standing behind them in the shadows. His attire was different than what he originally wore. As he stepped out to face them, they saw his signature blood red helmet with white screened eyes, black leather jacket with a grey armored shirt, a pistol holder latched onto his belt, black pants, and black boots.
"Where's Robin you bastard!" The Huntress yelled out as both she and Black Canary went into their fighting stances.
"So quick to fight… You know nothing about me Helena, or what I am capable of… I am sure Bruce has taught you better than that… I guess not." The Hood crossed his arms as he sized the both of them up.
"SHUT UP! You know nothing about me! I'll beat your ass then force you to tell me where Robin is!" Anger and rage soared through Helena's body as she was about to leap at The Hood.
"I know everything about the both of you… You Helena… how your parents died. How Bruce trained you. How you let him down. Let the team down. Always trying to prove yourself to him. How it constantly eats at you, that you're not good enough… oh… I know all about it." The Hood moved closer so that he was about three feet away from them before he continued "Dinah… how's your husband Ollie? Did you ever tell him that you had a crush on Bruce? Does Diana know that you two had a thing for each other in the past? I'm sure they would both be interested to know…"
Dinah was shocked. She couldn't believe that this guy… whoever he is… knew about that. It was so long ago, way before she had ever met Green Arrow or even before Batman met Wonder Woman. She never told Ollie about it because it didn't seem all that important, even though Ollie and Bruce always did seem to have a friendly rivalry with each other. Both were rich billionaires with a super hero persona that used tons of tricky gadgets. She fought alongside Bruce back then because he was the best. He helped her become a better fighter as well as a better detective. Bruce is a trusted friend, the one person besides Ollie that she could go to for anything. Hell…Batman's the only person in the world that she would ever need to bail her out of the trouble she might get herself into. The only reason she's in Gotham so often was because she formed The Birds of Prey with The Oracle and The Huntress.
Ironically it was Batman who sort of helped them meet each other when he convinced Green Arrow to join The Justice League. Dinah remembered when she was putting on her boots after finishing her training sessions when both Batman and Green Arrow were talking. That was when she first saw him out of the corner of her eye. He was staring at her with a look of amazement. Batman looked over to see what he was looking at, smirked and said something to him before Ollie walked away. Dinah didn't think anything of it, he was just another guy until Batman walked by and thanked her for single handedly recruiting the Green Arrow. Between Bruce and Ollie… Bruce has the better toys, fighting skills, charm, and brain. But Ollie has the better charisma, personality, and looks… well in her eyes he does… Diana seemed to think differently about all of those traits.
Dinah immediately snapped out of her thoughts when The Hood started laughing. "You two against me… it really doesn't seem like a fair fight for the both of you."
Dinah's eyes narrowed as her anger began to build as well. She knew that fighting with anger and frustration may increase one's strength and endurance, but it also significantly decreases one's judgment, technique, and senses. She knew he was pissing them off on purpose. "Huntress… we got to be methodical about…"
Before she could finish The Huntress charged at The Hood and began fighting him. Dinah rolled her eyes and took a deep breath before joining her friend in the fight. The Hood blocked everything they threw at him as if he already knew what was coming. He would counter each attack and land a direct hit onto either The Huntress or Black Canary.
"Please tell me this isn't the best you both got… there's no way either of you are protégés of Batman… how pathetic." The Hood blocked Black Canary's kick and hit her under her jaw with an uppercut, sending blood spewing out of her mouth as she fell back.
"No… that asshole! I'll break his neck!" The Huntress was exhausted. Her rage got the better of her while the many shots to her body were beginning to take their toll. She charged at him desperately trying to land any of her attacks. The Hood continued to dodge and block The Huntress' attacks until he sensed that she had drained up most of her energy. He finally deflected one of her punches with his left hand and broke her nose with the right. Stunned by the powerful hit, The Huntress could only grab her face and feel the blood quickly running down her chin as The Hood pulled her towards him and broke two of her right ribs with his left elbow.
"No… got to save her…" Black Canary saw The Huntress take the two fatal blows and collapsed onto the floor. Her body was bruised, beaten, and tired but she forced herself to get up as she charged at The Hood only to have him easily dodge her, hit her in the stomach with such a powerful force that her vital organs began bleeding internally.
The Hood viciously slammed the back of her head into the floor. "Seriously you both aren't even a challenge." Black Canary coughed up more blood before The Hood finished her off with another blow to the temple.
"Damn it… need to call Oracle for help…" The Huntress could only watch helplessly as her friend was beaten down in a bloody mess. Her body refused to move as she tried to reach for her earpiece but The Hood quickly threw what looked like one of Robin's bat-a-rangs into her hand. The Huntress pulled out the razor sharp blade that punctured her hand as she rolled over to her side before trying to get up. The Hood kicked The Huntress in her broken ribs, popping her up into the air. Before she could fall back down, The Hood brutally slammed her head into the floor face first, knocking her out.
"B it's O… BC and H haven't checked in. I'm sending you their last known coordinates." Batman's head quickly snapped towards Wonder Woman as he heard Oracle's news.
He saw the look of concern and fear filling her eyes. "Send Nightwing and Batgirl there as well." They both started flying as soon as the coordinates were uploaded. "Our ETA, forty-five seconds."
"Gotcha, N and BG should be there in sixty-five." Oracle said.
Batman and Wonder Woman landed on the rooftop where The Huntress and Black Canary fought The Red Hood only to find blood all over the floor. Batman quickly began setting up a crime scene as Wonder Woman looked around in complete shock and frustration. "How could someone attack both of them like this? Why didn't they call us for backup?" Her arms were shaking in anger as she couldn't believe that they were being taken down one by one. She wanted to break the person responsible for this in half.
Nightwing and Batgirl stepped onto the roof wide-eyed and in disbelief. "What happened?"
"Only Black Canary's and The Huntress' blood are on the floor… along with these…" Batman held out one of Robin's bat-a-rangs and a computer disk in his hand.
"I don't understand… what would The Hood want with The Huntress and Black Canary that he didn't want with us?" Nightwing said angrily as he motioned to himself and Batgirl.
"The Huntress' and Black Canary's communicators are still here along with The Huntress' belt and equipment. We won't be able to track them." Batman stood up after thoroughly searching the roof. "Get back to the cave."
"THEY WHAT!" Oracle shouted in utter shock.
"They were beaten badly… their blood was all over the rooftop Barb…" Dick gritted his teeth as he watched Batman load the disk into the computer.
Diana placed her hand on Batman's shoulder as he sat in his chair. "Are you sure you want to do that? What if there's some type of virus or signal hidden in it?"
"You know me better than that… I already scanned the disk before I took it with me back on the roof. There's only a video clip on it." The others gathered around Batman to watch what was about to be displayed.
It was The Red Hood standing in an unrecognizable dark room with Robin chained up in the background. He was beaten, but not severely enough to say that he was on the verge of dying. His arms were held by two individual giant restraints above his head while his legs were clamped down to the floor. His mouth was taped shut and his belt was removed. "What's up Bruce? It's been a long time… First I must admit, the last thing I ever expected you to do was marry… and of all the women in the world, you marry Wonder Woman. That's a surprise… I wonder what she sees in you… well then again, you are Batman, and who's better than the World's Greatest Dark Knight? But still… knowing you… and I do know you Bruce… I half expected that Selina would be the woman for you…" Hearing her name made Diana unconsciously crunch the surface of the computer console with her fingers. Everyone looked at the damaged computer surface as they took a few steps away from her. Batman ignored her completely as he continued to stare coldly at his new adversary.
"But I digress… so I'll get straight to the point." The Hood walked up to Robin and punched him across the face. "All of your newly acquired protégés are pathetic…" Batman clenched his fists so tight that his knuckles were as white as his screened eyes. "Now that you're watching this… it means that I have successfully taken down The Huntress and The Black Canary."
The Red Hood shook his head in disappointment. "You are Batman… BATMAN… and yet you have recruited and gathered so many teammates over the years since we last…" The Hood paused, thinking of the right word to use. "encountered… each other. You are even immortal and have super powers now! Yes… I know all about your powers, just like I know how you used to HATE magic! You disappoint me Bruce… You used to pride yourself on doing things YOUR way, without help from others… especially those with POWERS! You have lost your edge… Your lovely wife, The Justice League, your Birds of Prey… they all have made you soft… you're NOT the Batman I once knew, the one embedded in total darkness… the one who struck fear into everyone… the cold, unforgiving, unemotional Dark Knight that needed NO ONE except himself to get the job done… But it doesn't matter anymore… No…"
The Red Hood stopped and regained his composure from his emotional outburst before continuing with a flat unemotional tone. "I represent all the people that you have failed. The ones you failed to save. I am your failure… when I am done with you… everyone will know. And if they do speak of you again, they will only speak of you as a failure. Vengeance will be mine. What I want is simple Bruce… to meet you face to face on top of Wayne Tower tomorrow night so we can finish this conversation alone… and to reassure myself that you will come alone… I have strapped explosives to myself as well as explosives to The Huntress and Black Canary… all of which are set to explode the instant my heart stops." The Hood opened up his jacket, showing wires planted onto his grey armored shirt. "If I detect anyone near us… they will die. If you disappoint me… they will die. As for him…" The Hood tilts Robin's chin up with his left hand so his face became clear on the screen before brutally punching him across the face once more. "Believe me when I say that his fate will rest in your hands… are you going to fail him too Bruce?"
The video cuts off as Batman's rage and anger were pushing past their limits. "He claims to know me well… and given the way he talks about me, it seems like he does. He has a connection with Robin…a strong hatred for him, but why Robin? Believes that he, himself, is my failure…obviously wants me to relive a past failure… my failure…"
"Bruce?" Diana nervously placed her hand on his shoulder as she watched him deep in thought. Batman didn't respond and began researching on the computer as if he were on to something. "Bruce please talk to me… let us help. Let me help." Diana didn't want to push it, not this time… She knew better than anyone else when to get him to talk and when to let him be. Whoever this person is, he had completely outsmarted Batman as if he knew what he was thinking. Diana turned to the remaining members of the batclan to see if they had any insight as to what was going on.
"Alright, Cass and I will continue to scout the city for Tim, Helena, and Dinah. Diana you stay with the old man till he comes up with something better. Babs… work your magic." Nightwing motioned towards the computer, hoping she could find something… anything that could help them.
"No" Batman cut Nightwing off coldly. "We are going to play his game… for now. Take control of the computer, cross reference everything on the list I provided." Batman motioned for Oracle to take over as he stood up looking at Diana first before shifting his sights to Nightwing and Batgirl.
"You mean you want us to just sit back and do nothing while Tim, Dinah, and Helena are being tortured out there somewhere!" Nightwing swung his arm behind him, exemplifying the point that three of their family members are missing as he angrily glared at Batman. "And all you want to do is let him manipulate you? Play his game? With their lives on the line?"
No one moved. The tension was extremely high. It felt like the cave would explode any second. Both Diana and Barbra darted their eyes back and forth between Bruce and Dick hoping they wouldn't push each other further. Cassandra leaned against the computer with her arms crossed as she had an unemotional disinterested look on her face. It had been a very long time since these two were at each other's throats. Not that this situation was even close to reaching that level. But with a few recklessly used words, it could get to that level quickly.
Batman glared right back at Nightwing "He obviously knows who we are. How we think, fight, our tendencies, our weaknesses… if he wanted them dead, they would be dead by now… just like how he could have killed the both of you." Batman pointed to both Nightwing and Batgirl. "It's pointless to search for them. If he knows me as well as I think he does… we won't find them. Besides he already proved that he can get behind you unnoticed. Everyone is staying here and going to sleep. Oracle and I will work until we can identify who he actually is." Batman turned to look at Diana. "We WILL get them back."
Nightwing wanted to argue with Batman but knew he was right. He went up to the mansion as Batgirl headed towards the training area. She was still pissed off about being taken out so quickly. Diana slowly walked up to Bruce and carefully took off his cowl as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her watery blue eyes were filled with sorrow and despair. His eyes held anger and frustration as he placed his forehead on hers. "Bruce… loving someone and caring for those closest to you isn't a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength and honor. Your love for me has made me stronger than ever." She kissed him softly, making sure he could feel the love she had for him. Diana broke her kiss but didn't pull away as she looked back into his eyes. "I love you Bruce. Never forget that." She gently placed his cowl back over his face as she smiled warmly before heading off to bed. Diana always knew the right thing to say at the right time… even during the darkest of times.