Chapter 15
"Barbara" Robin shouted approaching Batgirl who was propped against the brick wall,
"Robin, it's Alice, she was taken," She explained between labored breaths,
"What happened?" he asked, undoing her uniform top to inspect her injuries.
"Deadshot saw us coming, he was waiting, he hit me Alice came down to check on me, Kara confronted him" She winced as Robin pulled the second armor plate off "Dick, It was Tetch" Robin had her undershirt lifted checking the bruise swelling just below her Bra.
"Are you sure?" He asked his attention ripped from her wound,
"Yeah, I only caught a glimpse but it was him" The pain in her chest was rising,
"Fuck" He muttered and then repeated loudly several times "This whole thing had to be a setup Lynns was gone before we got there, Tetch and Lawton being here at the same time can't be a coincidence"
"Who is Tetch?" Starfire asked, Beast boy and she had been checking on Kara who had been laying on the ground when they arrived "We'll explain later, first you need to get these two back to the tower" Robin instructed
"What about you?" Beast boy asked "I'm gonna see if I can trace where Tetch went, I'll meet you back at the tower" Robin pulled a business card from his belt and handed it to Beast Boy "Call her to check their injuries, she knows what we are" Beast boy accepted the card nodding, he turned to see Starfire helping Kara to her feet so he looped his shoulder under Batgirl's taking her weight as they stood.
"Be careful Dick" Batgirl said as Beast Boy led her toward where she had parked her bike. After the others left Robin began inspecting the alley.
Prophet leant over Batgirl as he approached a pipe in his hand, he swung the pipe like a baseball bat connecting the edge with the spot where Prophet's head and neck connected, she was unconscious before she reached the ground. When Batgirl went to reach for Prophite he applied pressure to her chest with his muddy gardeners' boots making sure it was where the Bullet had just struck her, as he did so the trash bags beneath her shuffled about burying her further. When he raised his foot mud and other residue from his shoe had transferred to the front of her partially opened Jacket, now that she was taken care of time to make his exit. He reached down and picked Prophite up slinging her over his shoulder, "No", He grabbed her under her armpits and drug her across the dirty concrete away from the main road leaving streaked mud and dirt while doing so, just outside the alley was a small playground with a single slide two swings a small tower barely taller than Dick, and a merry go round. He drug her through the grass flattening a small path that reached the small wood-like chips surrounding the play equipment though harder to see a small path in the wood chips is disturbed as he drags her through them before laying her on the slide her now filthy uniform leaving a mess on the slide. He waits a minute before now putting her over his shoulder, as he carries her the mud from her uniform gets on his hands which he then transfers to a wall when leans on it. By this point, he is already several buildings away from where he began, but where now, his hand made contact with the wall leaving the mud behind after that he must have continued toward the less populated street ahead but with no traces, his shoes aren't leaving tracks anymore nor has he placed her down. "Wait that's her communicator in that trash can", which means he had to cross the road without being noticed, not hard that early in the morning. Then he went down the nearest alley dropping her on the second story of a fire escape and leaving more muck behind, he began dragging her up the three stories left to reach the roof, dirt streaking each step as her back, legs, and shoes slammed against each one. Once at the top he finally had a minute to rest without fear of being caught, he rested her against the ledge before sitting down beside her himself, he pulled out the small metal flask, the one he always carries that has an ornate teacup painted on the side, despite Prophet being rather small and light he's exhausted, he drank from the flask before splashing some of the liquid onto Prophet's lips a couple of drops of tea spilling down her chin onto the rooftop to dry in the sun.
"Enjoying your tea Alice?" He asks before chuckling, once the rest was over he drug her back down the fire escape before dumping her body off the second story leaving mud on the railing. Where she landed a small bit of dried blood on the ground indicated that the old metal rail had injured her while he struggled to get her over. He then joined her at street level propping her against a wall to get his grip on her leaving another dried bit of blood on the wall, he then made his way down towards another alley which would be where he loaded her into his car. That camera across the street will have caught the whole thing, I can be in and out before their even open.
The video is grainy, but a tall figure can be seen shoving something into the backseat of a car parked in the alley, but even after digital enhancement it's impossible to make much else out. "Damnit!", the flash drive with the downloaded video hits the cement, breaking, to hell with it, it's already backed up on the computer anyway.