WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE AND GRAPHIC VIOLENCE . . .
Batman was pacing him on the path when he grabbed Dick's arm and pulled him to a stop.
Dick jerked his arm away. "What the hell . . .?"
"Get control of yourself," Batman hissed at him, keeping his voice down. "Your emotions are going to get you killed, and Elle with you!"
"Didn't you hear him? What he's going to do to her?"
"I heard," Batman said grimly. "But I don't think he's going to do it. At least not yet. He's getting inside your head. Think, Dick! You didn't hear that second gunshot . . . That sound would travel in a park. He's bluffing!"
"Promise me . . ." Dick clutched a handful of cape and leaned close.
"I think I've made enough promises," Batman told him. He didn't want to hear what other demands Dick had in store for him.
"If I'm injured and she dies," Dick stared into those white lenses. "You have to let me die, too."
Batman pulled back, but Dick held on. "You can't ask me that . . ."
"I am asking you that. If she goes; I go," Dick snarled.
"Dick, the bond isn't equal," he reminded him. "Elle can't live without you, but you could survive her!"
Dick let go; pushing the older man away. He was perfectly aware of what he was asking, and of whom he was asking it. "If she goes . . . I go, Bruce," he whispered.
"Those weeks without her were some of the worst I've ever gone through," Dick swallowed. "How much worse would it be if she were dead?" He shook his head as he backed up the path. "I don't want to go through that. I can't go through that . . . And for what? She'll be gone. Promise me!"
Batman's jaw tightened as he shoved an extra comlink at him. "It won't come to that. Keep in touch. Now go!"
Dick was already gone; running flat out as Batman disappeared into the shadows.
"Oracle."
"I'm here," Babs' voice said in his ear.
"I need the layout of Astor Park. Northwest nature trail," he said as he made his way through the trees.
He was thinking that Dick had already accepted his own death; and this was the precursor of the actual event. He knew his son wanted desperately to save Elle, but believed the man they were dealing with wouldn't keep his end of the bargain; that he would kill the girl before Dick could get there.
Batman knew his only chance for pulling everyone out of this alive was by finding and reaching the hitman first. To do that, he needed to see where the best place on this path was to ambush Dick.
"Here it is," Oracle's voice cut into his thoughts. "Did you get it? I highlighted the trail for you."
A holographic image of the park appeared on his lenses. He scrolled in closer to his objective. He saw the trail and could see the topography of the land on either side of it. There was a deep ravine that followed the trail on the left and a wooded ridge on the right that flattened out into a large field farther on. There the trail crossed with another path that spanned the ravine with some kind of bridge.
The highest point of the ridge was about a mile in, and just a couple of hundred yards from the field, and within visual distance of the bridge. Only well-established foliage was marked, but there was a copse of trees there that made the ridge the perfect point for an ambush or for a sniper to catch an unsuspecting passerby off guard.
Of course, Dick was hardly unsuspecting . . . He could also run a four minute mile without breaking a sweat. If he pushed himself, Dick might arrive before the hitman realized he was there and catch this psychopath unaware.
But if Batman wanted to prevent Dick from doing something that he would forever regret, he needed to get to the man first. He could do that by cutting through the woods to open terrain and shaving off at least a minute of Dick's time. Batman shoved through the last of the trees; pushing branches out of his way in his quest for open ground. His path was a straight forward shot to their target rather than the longer, meandering path that Dick was taking.
Switching to a private channel, Batman contacted Oracle again.
"Here," she answered immediately.
"What's Red Robin's ETA?"
"Eight minutes," she told him.
"Cutting it close," he murmured. "Have him set down in the field near the bridge in ten minutes. Use stealth mode to cut down the noise, but to stay back until we've had a chance to engage. We don't want this guy to hear the Batcopter before we reach him."
"You could have contacted him yourself on the other channel," she reminded him. "What's up that you don't want Dick to hear?"
"Tim may have to run interference. Dick's not thinking clearly."
"Agreed. He's definitely not himself."
"I'm afraid of what he might do if this guy decides to kill her before we get there," Batman admitted reluctantly.
"Can you blame him," Oracle asked.
He couldn't blame him, but he didn't want to be forced to have to stop him either.
Batman ran flat out; pushing himself harder than ever before. He only slowed when he approached the hillside he wanted. This ridge overlooked the trail and from his angle, Batman could see the larger clearing ahead where he hope Red Robin would be landing the Batcopter in a few more minutes. The hitman was in that copse of trees, hidden, and lying in wait for Dick to arrive.
Which would be at any second.
Several of these trees were old growth, saved when the park was created. Using his grapnel gun, Batman shot a line into the higher branches. He would take the high road, using the branches and whatever foliage might be left for cover. The sliver of moon from earlier had disappeared behind the heavy snow clouds that was pushing down from the north.
He turned on his night vision that was built into his cowl. The dense shadows were brought to life. He made his way from branch to branch as quietly as possible. The wind and rustling of fallen leaves not covered by snow masked any sound he made.
A rapid staccato of footsteps could be heard approaching. Not loud, but certainly not made by someone who sought to be stealthy. He had no doubt that the killer was aware of Dick's advance.
What was he doing? Did Dick want to be shot?
There! Movement caught his eye as the hitman raised his rifle in preparation for Dick's arrival.
Batman pulled three mini batarangs and flung them simultaneously; hitting the man's hand, forearm, and shoulder. The shot rang out, but the bullet went wide off the mark and struck a tree a mere foot from Dick's head. Dick flinched at the exploding bark, even as he tucked and rolled. When he came to his feet, he was off, heading straight for the spot where he spotted the flash. Only to have to duck when Batman and Elle's kidnapper burst out of the trees; grappling with one another. They landed with a solid whump on the trail behind him.
CRACK!
Batman's armored glove made vicious contact with the man's jaw!
"Find her!" Batman barked the order as he blocked his opponent's blow.
Dick turned and scrambled up the incline. He couldn't see a damned thing! He reached beneath his clothing and located a small flashlight, but even as the beam cut into the shadows, Dick could tell it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
"Elle!" He found the rifle where the killer had been hiding, but a quick search of the area produced no sign of Arabella Hamilton. "Elle!"
Wind from a chopper's blades whipped the branches and its search lights created more pockets of shadows than it exposed.
"Elle, where are you?" He yelled to be heard over the sound of the Batcopter landing.
He couldn't see her, and the noise from the Batcopter was enough that he didn't think he could hear her either. He expanded his search, but after a few more minutes, he became convinced that she wasn't there.
He leapt off of the ridge, flipping twice to slow his momentum, and landed a few feet away. Batman was zip-tying the killer's hands behind is back.
The guy looked over at Dick and cursed. "Are you fucking kidding me? You called in the Batman?"
Dick ignored his taunts. The only words he was interested in hearing was Elle's location. He shoved Batman out of his way and straddled the man. He took in all the facts about his appearance subconsciously; the blond hair cut in a businessman's style, his need for a shave, a broken nose. He had light eyes, but in the dark Dick couldn't make out the color. He was a big man; closer to Batman's height and build than Dick's. The idea that this savage had brutalized Elle made his temper flash red hot!
He dragged the man up by his collar and shook him.
"Where is she?!" He roared in his face.
The hitman narrowed his eyes and spit in Dick's face. Dick ignored the blood and spittle. He slammed the man into the ground, earning a grunt, and began punching him in the face repeatedly; three, four, five times!
"Where is she?!" Dick didn't give the guy the opportunity to answer before he hit him again. "You better pray to God that she's still alive!"
The hitman spit out blood and a tooth, and grinned at him. "Why the hell should I tell you?"
Dick leaned into his face and snarled. "So you don't spend the rest of your short, pathetic life being fed through a tube!"
The man stared up at him, slowly his grin faded and he closed his lips. The determination on his face told them he had no intention of telling them anything.
Dick screamed, and slammed him into the ground once more. He shifted until he was resting one knee on the man's chest as he began punching him over and over.
"What's the matter," he asked him in a growl. "Hard to breathe with someone sitting on your chest?"
Batman grabbed Dick under his arms and dragged him back off of the man.
"Enough! He won't be able to answer you if he's dead! Elle needs you," he reminded his son.
They turned at the sound of approaching running feet. Out of the darkness emerged Red Robin and Robin.
"I heard that Hamilton needed help," Robin said. "Red Robin's only good for piloting. Although I could have managed it without him," he added the last in a mumble. It still earned him a shove from his brother nonetheless.
"Only if someone strapped blocks to your feet," Red Robin snorted. "You couldn't reach the foot pedals, brat."
Ignoring the insults being hurled, Batman began issuing orders. "We need to split up and search the area. He wouldn't have had time to leave her far from here. He would have wanted her close in case he still needed to use her as leverage against Dick."
"I can't believe you let someone steal your girlfriend, Grayson," Robin grumbled.
Red Robin gave him another shove, harder this time, as both he and Batman snapped at him, "Shut up, Robin!"
Dick didn't bother correcting the boy. In his mind, Damian was right. Just one more night! That was all she had asked of him; to stay with her one more night! If he had only said yes, this night would have ended so differently.
"I'm going to check the ravine," he announced, hoarsely; scrambling down the embankment.
"I'll head back to the bridge," Red Robin told them, "and start in the ravine there and work my way back. I'll meet Dick in the middle."
Batman glanced at the man at his feet. He wasn't going anywhere for a while.
"Robin, you search wooded area on the ridge," Batman instructed, indicating the area toward the field. "I'll start back in this direction," he said, pointing to the tree line that followed the trail back in the direction of the parking lot.
The ravine was grown up a lot in the area that Dick searched. The embankment was steep in places and then would slope more gently. At the bottom was a small stream with water only mid-calf in depth in places and merely a rock-filled ripple a few inches in others.
He could hear the voices of his family calling for Elle. The silence that answered each cry seemed to destroy yet another small bit of his soul. He was within a few dozen yards of her, he knew it in his gut, but he couldn't see her.
Pausing, he tried again to reach out to her. They were close enough now, but Elle was obviously unconscious. He refused to believe otherwise. But shouldn't he be able to locate her despite that? He remembered Cedric telling him that as the bond grew, they would be able to feel one another no matter how many miles separated them; that eventually they could even track one another anywhere in the world by the bond alone.
Nothing . . . He could sense nothing. But she wasn't dead. He knew this; was sure of it now. Wherever she was, she was still alive.
It was so cold . . . Elle didn't like the cold, despite enjoying the snow. She would be susceptible to the wind chill. If he left her anywhere, and she had been awake and capable, Elle would have moved out of the wind. She might have even pulled leaves over her; protecting her from the cold, but making it that much harder to find her.
He tapped his comlink.
"She might have hidden herself under the leaves in order to protect herself from the cold," he informed the others.
"Right," Red Robin acknowledged.
Neither Damian nor Bruce said anything, but he knew they would have heard him and would be careful to search thoroughly.
He could see Tim's flashlight searching the area ahead of him. They were closing in on each other and still had yet to locate Elle. Were they searching in the wrong place? The ravine was less overgrown up ahead. Dick's heart sank with the knowledge that he was no closer to finding her than he was when he arrived here.
Tim's flashlight stopped moving in a sweeping pattern. It was focused onto one area near the water. Dick's heart started pounding. He hit his comlink.
"Red Robin, Did you find her?"
"I don't know," his voice came back to him. "Hang on. I see something, but I don't know what yet."
Dick started toward him, moving as fast as the overgrowth allowed when his yell sounded out.
"I found her! She's here!"
REACTIONS?
Yeah, I know . . . Cliffhanger - again. But I will try to get you the next chapter by tomorrow evening. Don't hate me - Elle's a lot tougher than she looks, and a lot tougher than she, herself, realizes.
I know most of you that like this story prefer the lighthearted, fun, and romantic chapters more, but I promise there is more - MUCH MORE - of that to come! So, don't hate me . . . You can't be involved in this family without danger happening every so often. It lasts so long because I am wordy and descriptive. Hopefully, that is something you like about me.
As always, please Review and Fave if you are enjoying the story! ;D