14.
It was almost more then Alfred could bear.
Two straight hours of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie on a farm. If he had not have been buzzed, he would have found a way to shoot himself with the flare gun, which was still in his suit jacket. The three brainless captors hadn't checked him for anything.
Somehow the bottle and half of wine in his stomach made the two blondes on TV bearable.
Almost.
"Would either of you mind turning the channel? Possibly to a news station?"
His words fell on deaf ears.
The three losers laughed at the show.
Alfred sighed and looked out the bedroom window at the waterfront. The lights of Gotham City. It was almost beautiful. Had he not been tied to a chair, it did something to the atmosphere.
He tried to relax.
Closed his eyes.
Tried his very hardest to go to his happy place.
But the sound of someone kicking in the hotel room door disrupted him. He grimaced, "Did you happen to anger someone else?"
The three souls shared looks.
No one volunteered to see who it was. Instead the raced for the bathroom. Two made it in and locked the door. Locking the third one out.
A horrid shout came from the common area of the hotel room, "Negly!"
The third then ran into the bedroom and hid in the closet.
Alfred sighed.
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were still on the TV.
The bedroom door crashed in. Followed by Gotham's Caped Vigilante. Alfred sighed in relief, "Good heavens, I thought you would never show up. Quick turn the TV off."
Batman looked around the room.
Seeing no danger he went to Alfred first. Ignoring his closest friend's plea. He quickly slit the tape that bound Alfred to the chair with his gauntlets. First his legs and then his wrists.
Alfred stood and swayed a bit.
The buzz was wearing off.
He then told his charge, "They took her. Chair and all, they left."
Meanwhile…
"We're lost!"
Athena was still tied to the chair. The chair was on its side in the back of a Ford Explorer under a blanket. All she heard was voices of the two idiots in the front.
Being bound to the chair aided her some protection from their hectic driving.
"He told us to look for the man with the doughnut sign, not the tire man sign. I told you. Make a left here."
The Explorer made a screeching left.
Plus the buzz was wearing off and it was hot under the tarp.
It was not a good night for Athena.
She made a mental note to never drink again.
"Let's just stop and ask for directions!"
"Fine!"
The Explorer jerked right, went over a curb, and then the breaks were applied harshly.
Athena went over every Greek curse and profanity loudly in her mind, directing it toward the two brain-dead teens. When two car doors slammed she perked up. She began to struggle in her bindings.
She fought, wiggled, and tried her best to no avail.
Then came the slamming of three car doors.
Which got her attention.
The SUV sped off.
"Go! Go! Go!" Shouted an excited voice.
It was then she realized that someone was stealing the Ford, this cannot be happening, she thought to herself.
Hours later…
Athena had fallen asleep.
She couldn't help it.
Sheer exhaustion had taken over and in her current state she fell asleep and slept hour, after hour, after hour.
It was close to noon when the Explorer was moved.
It woke her up.
She tried to talk, but the rope in her mouth and tape over her lips prevented it.
Rap music was turned on, which drowned out the meager noises she made. The Ford was moved and eventually stopped, parked, and turned off.
All the doors were opened and voices followed, and then rap music. She strained her ears and listened, it took her a moment to realize she was in a chop shop. When the back was opened and the blanket pulled off her, the sudden light made her blink.
A young man's voice cried out in alarm, "Whoa! Uncle Joe! There's a bitch in here!"
In the time it took her eyes to adjust to the bright shop lights. See the cars all around the massive garage in various states of being dismantled. Even take in the men in their twenties to forties. Men she knew of, an African American family that was associated with her brother and his organization.
When "Uncle Joe" or Joey Mattis walked around the Explorer, looked at her, and then recognized her, he freaked, "Sweet Mother of Jesus! Do you know who she is!"