AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry this chapter took so long, I had serious writer's block for this story. This will probably be the only story that I publish today, since most of my efforts have been in writing this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy.
Barbara has been Batgirl for a little over two months now. There is nothing else in the world that can give her the feeling of ecstasy that she gets from swinging from building to building, and helping those in need.
Even though she has been working with Dick and Bruce for sometime now, she is still unaware of their true identities. While they most certainly trust her with their lives, they haven't gotten around to sharing their secret identities since crime fighting is still a game to her.
Through her time fighting crime she has gotten very close with Dick though. When she does go out to patrol, she often goes with Dick. She likes Dick. He has become a close friend of hers since that fateful night when she first met him. She likes his fast talking, energetic, kind nature.
Currently she is patrolling with Dick. She has learned a lot through patrolling with Dick and Bruce. They have provided her with gadgets and even more knowledge. She got a communicator from them. And then they have given her batarangs and taught her how to throw them accurately. They gave her a grappling hook, which is probably her favorite of the gadgets they gave her. She loves the feeling of the wind blowing against her face and through her hair as she swings through the sky.
Dick is speaking telling her something, but she is completely zoning out right now, thinking about how lucky she is to be able to make a difference. Dick has stopped running now, so she stops as well. He snaps his fingers in front of her face, snapping her out of her daze. "Yeah sorry," she tells him.
"It's fine," he responds. "Just trying to tell you that there is a robbery in progress at Gotham National."
She cracks her knuckles, "Then what are we waiting for?" He smiles and they begin running along the rooftop towards the bank.
They wait atop the building overlooking the bank, scoping out the scene. They see Bullock and Montoya on the ground, and decide to talk to them to learn what is going on. Dick and Barbara jump off the building and glide toward Bullock and Montoya.
They come up behind the police officers without them hearing. "So what's the situation?" Dick asks making Bullock jump.
"Oh it's you. So there are five armed robbers in there. All with automatic weapons. There are fifteen hostages in there with them. As far as we know no one is injured." Bullock explains looking away from the heroes. When he turns back towards the young heroes, they have disappeared. "I see why Gordon hates when they do that," Bullock mutters.
Dick and Barbara peer into the giant skylight of the bank and look at the five gunman. "What are you thinking?" Barbara asks.
"I think we go in there and kick some ass," Dick responds with a smirk.
She rolls her eyes at him, "No seriously."
Dick's face goes more serious. Or as serious as his face is able to become without him breaking out laughing. "Okay, so the ventilation shaft leads up here, so we can go in through that. Then when the gunman are furthest from the hostages we drop some smoke bombs and kick their asses!" Dick exclaims excitedly. Barbara smirks at his enthusiasm and nods in agreement.
Dick walks over to the narrow shaft and opens the hatch. He motions toward Barbara telling her, "Ladies first."
"Such a gentleman," Barbara tells him mockingly. She hops in and Dick follows after.
When they are both in the vents, they begin crawling towards the center area of the bank. Dick quickly realizes that they can actually exit in one of the accountant's offices, rather than landing in the middle of the room. Knowing that to be the smarter option, he directs Barbara on which way to go.
After arriving in one of the offices, Barbara unscrews the the vent cover and exits. DIck follows her out, but hears something as he does. Honing in on the sound he hears a guards muffled footsteps.
"Go back in the vent!" Dick whisper shouts. Hearing the seriousness in his voice, Barbara does as told. As soon as she is fully in it, she turns around saying, "C'mon Robin," but gasps when she sees him being grabbed by two armed men.
Barbara reaches towards her communicator and calls Batman. "Batman," she cries out in a hushed voice once he answers, "they got Robin!" She can almost hear Bruce's scowl deepen over the phone.
"I'm in Star City right now, but I can be there in a little under an hour. Stay put!" He warns. "Batman out."
Barbara sits in the vent sullenly for a minute. She doesn't know what to do now that Dick has been taken, feeling that it was partially her fault. She knows that the robbers have communicated to the police that they have Dick, as some sort of 'ultimate negotiation'. She knows the robbers are probably assuming that by having Dick they have a free ticket out of this place. She also knows they are probably worrying. Worrying about the 'overprotective father', who will beat the crap out of you if you hurt his kid.
Barbara knows that the robbers are going to make their move before Bruce gets here. She knows she has to do something to help. Anything. Anything that will aid Dick in escaping. Then together they can save the other hostages.
She thinks she has finally come up with the ultimate plan to rescue Dick. Barbara exits the vent quietly and carefully. Looking under the door for all the robbers. When she realizes none of them are near, she slowly cracks the door, slipping through quietly.
She grapples up onto a thin ledge, scoping the scene. Her eyes quickly land on a rope bound Dick.
Dick struggles against the rope, fresh blood streaming from where he was hit in the head. He looks around the area, hoping that Barbara got out okay. He doesn't see her among the hostages, and lets out a sigh of relief. The relief goes away though, when he realizes his utility belt is on a desk, and he doesn't have any of his gadgets.
Barbara knows this is the only shot she'll have to do her plan, so she begins enacting it.
She inhales deeply, hoping her minimal training from Batman will pay off. She takes the batarang in hand, aiming carefully, and with perfect accuracy hits her target.
Dick looks surprised as a batarang whirls past his head, landing an inch to the right of his hand. He looks in the direction of where the batarang came from, and smiles when he sees Barbara.
"THE FREAKIN BAT IS HERE!" One of the robbers shouts, firing his weapon at nothing in particular.
Barbara swings away from her original spot and onto another vantage point.
Dick realizes why Barbara threw the batarang toward him. He begins rubbing the ropes, binding him, against the sharp edge of the batarang.
Barbara glides down kicking one of the robbers in the face. The robber falls over onto the ground his nose dripping blood.
Another robber aims his weapon at Barbara. Dick pulls free from his bonds, and tackles the robber to the ground. Barbara turns, surprised by the bang, and smiles when she sees Dick.
The remaining three robbers begin firing their weapons at Dick and Barbara. Dick grabs his utility belt and Barbara, and dives for cover. Dick listens carefully. When he hears the three men start reloading their weapons, he throws his batarangs, each connecting with the intended target's weapon.
Dick vaults over his cover, and dives at two men standing right next to each other, kicking them with both feet. They fall over unconscious.
Dick begins turning around when he hears, "Don't move or I'll blow his brains out!" Dick turns his head to see the last robber pointing a gun, at the head of a hostage.
Barbara sneaks behind the robber, silently. Dick smirks knowingly. "What are you smiling at!?" The robber demands. Dick remains silent. The robber goes to ask again, but before he can, Barbara grabs the man's arm, aiming it in the air, and punches him in the face. Dick turns around looking between the knocked out robber and Barbara, and smiles.
"Good job," he tells her, "Let's get out of here." Dick unties the hostages and walks toward the front of the bank, and calmly opens the doors shouting, "FRIENDLIES DON'T SHOOT!"
Bullock smiles at the kids, who never cease to amaze him. "C'mon! The hell you waiting for? An invitation? Get your asses inside!" Bullock shouts at his men. They do as told, and Dick and Barbara walk over to Bullock. "Good job in there," he tells them. Dick and Barbara nod, smiling, and grapple off.
They wait on a rooftop for a little while, while the police officers finish up at the crime scene. The Batwing pulls up shortly thereafter. Bruce stares at the two teenagers, sitting on the ledge overlooking the bank. He comes up silently and makes both of them jump, when he puts his hand on their shoulder. "You directly disobeyed my orders, and could've gotten both of you killed," he says addressing Barbara. "However, you made the right call and succeeded."
"That's his version of 'I was wrong, you were right,'" Dick whispers into Barbara's ear, making her smile. Dick gets up and walks over to the Batwing, "See you later Babs."
Bruce walks over toward Barbara and extends his hand out in gesture. She takes it and he whispers, so that only she can hear, "Thank you for saving my son."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Also, if you didn't know I currently have a poll up on my profile page, about which character you guys would want to get a spinoff series. If you are interested go and vote. Also I now have a forum running where you guys can share thoughts and ideas on my stories. If you are interested in checking it out go over to my profile page for a link.