A/N: I had a snow day, so I thought I'd update with a shorter chapter. This chapter is told in Jason's and Dick's POV, right before the confrontation with Scarecrow that's going to be happening in the next chapter.
Rated T: For violence and language.
Dazed, he attempted to back away, just as he felt someone grab his shoulders tightly, and roughly turn him around to deliver one final punch before darkness overtook him.
As Dick crouched low in the rafters watching the activity down below, all he could think of were Batman's words through the comm: Do not engage.
That was the plan! He didn't come all the way from Bludhaven just so he couldn't execute it. Did Bruce not think he could do it? Maybe they have already been compromised? Or worse: maybe one of them got hurt. Dick prayed it wasn't the latter. Nightwing continued to scan the room.
Eleven men total. Seven were standing about ten feet apart from each other, on the far right wall; all appeared to be unarmed. Looking to his left, Nightwing counted four more men, only these men were all wielding some type of firearm holstered on their belts. Now focusing his attention to the structure of the expansive building, Nightwing saw only two entrances: the entrance they had entered from, and the large double-doors on their left. His gaze drifted towards the middle of the room, where long, portable tables were set up in a rectangular formation around a single man. With the ragged, dark green and brown colored clothes, and fitted burlap sack scattered in rough stitching, Dick recognized him immediately: Jonathan Crane.
Nightwing nudged Robin's shoulder and directed his attention to a man standing at the center of the makeshift laboratory. He could see Damian's glare deepen as he eyed the man.
Scarecrow appeared to be pacing back and forth, but not out of anticipation, but more of excitement. There was a bounce in his step as he held a syringe-gun in his hand and close to his face as if to examine it's contents.
"It's ready." Crane began speaking to his cronies, in a loud voice.
A man from the from the left of the lab approached Scarecrow and whispered something in his ear before Scarecrow waved his hand dismissively, still observing the syringe contents. "We needn't worry. I've awaited this day since I escaped that dreaded asylum only weeks before. I have planned for every possibility in that short time."
Nightwing and Robin exchanged quick glances, and Dick began running through the options in his head. The hallway in which they entered had no rooms in that proximity and therefore would unlikely have more men coming in from there. From the two exits, only one of them was likely to bring in more reinforcements: the main double-door entrance. If there even was more reinforcements in the lower levels. Based on years of experience working against Scarecrow, Dick knew that Jonathan Crane preferred to work in solitude as to not be disturbed.
Nightwing watched as Crane walked to the far end of the table closest to him and lifted a cylindrical object that appeared to be an electronic aerosol dispenser of some sort. "All I need is a test subject." He stated almost whimsically. "The Batman will do. He is outside, isn't he?" Crane placed the strange aerosol contraption and turned towards his associates his arms out wide, the syringe still grasped in his hand, finger on the trigger.
Dick's eyes widened briefly behind the mask. Crane knew the Batman had arrived at the scene. They're running out of time. Nightwing began walking along the rafters towards Scarecrow's position, still scanning the area. The large, tall stacked wooden crates would provide a substantial amount of cover. He counted again how many men they needed to take down. Still it was eleven men standing guard a distance from Scarecrow. If he took out the men on the left, closest to the double-door, then he could take down anyone else who might join the fray while Damian took out the unarmed men on the right. Sure, Robin would be taking out more men, but they were unarmed and Damian could probably take them all with his eyes closed.
All they would need is brief cover. Smoke bombs would be more than enough. After he took out the men, he could apprehend Scarecrow, and if the timing was right; Damian could approach covertly from behind and assist him.
Nightwing began making hand signals to Robin: Eleven men. Seven on the right, unarmed. Four on the left, armed. Long term smoke bombs. Engage the unarmed. I'll engage Scarecrow and the men guarding him.
Damian shook his head rapidly and Nightwing responded with a glare. Yes, Batman had said not to engage, but Nightwing and Robin were more than capable for the task. They've taken out way more guys before! Hell, they've taken out Scarecrow more times than he can count on two hands! Why he didn't think they could trust them for the job was beyond him. Crane was expecting the Dynamic Duo, so Scarecrow doesn't even know they're here!
I'm going whether you follow me or not, Nightwing angrily signed back.
The lenses of Robin's mask widened for a brief second, before he nodded tersely.
Nightwing crouched low, preparing to jump. Damian did the same, arming the smoke bombs. He could feel his little brother's eyes watching him as he awaited for the signal.
"Now," mouthed Nightwing and the two immediately jumped from the rafters, and onto the men below them.
And the fight was on.
Jason was pissed.
The Red Hood recalled the conversation he had eavesdropped in on earlier. Leaning in, but in a crouched position on the ledge of the building, Red Hood activated his long age audio receiver to listen in on the men below. The idiots guarding the place were being paid to stall, and to stall as long as possible - even if it meant being taken down by the Bat. They must have been paid a hell of a lot for them to agree to get their asses handed to them. The entire time they'd been in stealth, they knew the Bats were there.
To make matters worse, Crane had more guys down below waiting for Nightwing and Robin.
"Out of all the guys down in the basement, we were chosen to wait around like sitting ducks," Jason heard a man whispering harshly to another by his side.
The other man scoffed, then replied in a deep, Brooklyn accent, "We just have to be here long enough for them to make the grab, then we can get out of here. Scarecrow said they just need Nightwing, but no doubt the Bat-brat is with him."
His eyebrows furrowed upon hearing this.
'Make the grab,' Jason thought. How would they have known Nightwing and Robin would be down there?
After all of their planning, contacting his snitches in Crime Alley, and prowling around the slums of Gotham, the ball was still not in their court. Crane still had prepared for the Dynamic Duo and his brothers to be here, but after all his years of working with Batman, and being a crime fighter, he knows when things don't go as planned, you adapt.
And that's exactly what they did.
After relaying what he heard, Batman had initiated their attack on the men, and now they were letting their presence known. Gunshots rang throughout the alley. Jason wielded two Beretta semi-automatics in both hands. He aimed his gun with the intention of not making kill shots, even though they were loaded with rubber bullets. Still, at this close proximity, they hurt like a bitch and still could cause some damage.
His fist continued to make contact with faces, and grunts and the sounds of weapons and bodies clattering to the ground were satisfying to his ears. Through the comm, he could hear Batman instruct Nightwing not to engage and Nightwing's indigent response.
To his left, he could see Red Robin taking down men left and right with his bow staff. A beefy man, slightly taller than Jason, ran at him through the smoke from his right; his arms lifting a crowbar over his head aiming to strike the Red Hood.
Don't even think about hitting me with that, Jason thought before roughly grabbing the man's shoulders and throwing him to his left, just as Red Robin spun and drop kicked the man to the ground.
Years of working with the Bat, he learned when you're in a team, you fight as a team. Red Hood gave Red Robin a quick nod in thanks and continued the fight.
He hoped, for once, Golden-boy wouldn't be an idiot and just wait for them to get there; but that was wishful thinking.
Nightwing was an idiot.
There were more men than he had counted, like, way more men than he had counted. He had taken down the original four armed men that he had seen only to have ten more replace them. He let out a string of curses, more words than he thought he knew, as bullets whizzed past him.
They must be coming from the door, he thought as he released more smoke pellets and ran towards it. Bullets continued to rain around him, and chunks of wood scattered as bullets impacted them.
The crates! His thoughts practically screamed. Pulling out two small explosives, Nightwing aimed towards the bottom of a particularly large stack of crates, right by the door. Throwing them, he smirked as the crates fell directly in front of it, now blocking the only other entrance and exit. Why he hadn't thought of that before was beyond him.
Satisfied, he turned back around and began to run back towards the fight, only to feel the impact of a bullet hit his upper back on his right side. Luckily, the bullet hit the Kevlar, but that didn't mean it wouldn't leave a nasty bruise. Ducking and turning in the direction in which the bullet came he saw a group of five men approaching with their guns aimed at him.
He had just blocked the door! Where the hell are they coming from?
Looking behind the approaching group of cronies where the crates were, he saw that one of the walls of a particularly large crate was lowered, and another goon pulling down the wall of another.
Nightwing's eyes widened behind his mask. The crates! He thought for the second time in a short period. There are actually guys in the fucking crates!
Pulling out a few wingdings, Nightwing began to disarm as many as he could. His upper left arm suddenly flared with pain as a bullet grazed it, cutting right through the fabric.
Okay, new plan, he thought as he through more smoke bombs in the direction of the crates. If he can capture Scarecrow now, he can get him to call of his men.
Arming his escrimas, Nightwing ran towards the center of the room, where Scarecrow was last seen.
A/N: Next update should be a longer chapter within the next week or so. Thanks for reading and to those who took the time to review.