Tang Ri Shan
Red Wings
(This is a sequel to Beware the Batman: Conundrum. I suggest reading that story if you have not done so already)
Chapter 5
"Are you sure that was just a Bengal Tiger?" Barbara exclaimed, staring slack-jawed at the footage from the tiger attack on the batcomputer's screen. "It looks bigger than any I've ever seen!"
"The Bengal Tiger may not be the biggest of the Tiger Species, but it is still a very dangerous animal" Alfred replied, also observing the footage, with grim realism evident in his gaze. "I was stationed in India for the greater part of a year during my time in the service and I came face to face with one such tiger." A smile flickered across Alfred's face as Barbara spun to look at him, wide eyed. "Trust me, the Bengal tiger is no house cat."
"Maybe not" Bruce spoke up from the microscope where where he was examining the transmitter he had plucked from the pocket of the man they had saved "but apparently it can be trained like one"
"What did you find?" Tatsu asked, glancing up from the readout she was going over.
Bruce tapped a few keys and a large picture of the transmitter appeared. "This is a radio transmitter that emits ultrasonic waves on a special frequency level. Humans can't hear it, but animals with keen hearing can, and it makes them act aggressively, causing them to seek and attack the transmitter without a second thought"
"So that's why that tiger was freaking out" Tatsu realized. "And why it went after that man. Who is he anyway?"
"John Wilcox. He's a jewelry trader." Barbara answered almost automatically, having done research on the target. She typed a few keys and a picture of the man appeared. "His company handles the transport and securing of precious stones of all varieties. Recently his company struck an undiscovered cache of diamonds in South Africa."
"What's he like?" Alfred asked.
"John himself is a pretty clean guy." Barbara answered, typing more keys and pulling up records and pictures. "He does everything by the book and doesn't take shortcuts. He believes the success comes through a positive working environment"
"Hmmm, nice guy" Tatsu noted. "Not bad looking either" She added, causing Barbara to snicker.
"Well maybe he's not a bad guy, but his number 2 however..." Barbara tapped a key and John's picture faded, being replaced by a red-haired man with a very wrinkled face. "This guy takes sleazy to a whole new level"
"Not to mention liposuction" Tatsu joked, making Barbara giggle again.
"Settle down you two" Alfred warned them, but his eyes also twinkled with amusement.
"So, you're thinking that the number two orchestrated this tiger attack with the intention of becoming number one?" Tatsu reasoned.
Bruce frowned thoughtfully. "The motive's there, but almost nothing else." He glanced back at the screen. "According to his records, this guy barely passed high school. There's no way he's smart enough to pull off this kind of thing"
"So he had help" Alfred theorized.
"Possibly" Bruce agreed. "The question is, who?"
"And while we're playing 20 questions, what about this 'masked vigilante' you encountered?" Alfred gave Bruce a critical eye as the latter scowled.
"What about him?" Bruce responded, giving Alfred his own critical look. For a few seconds, the two men just stared at each other.
Barbara awkwardly broke the silence. "Well, he calls himself the 'Red Robin', and he wears a costume similar to Batman's, with the exception that he can actually 'fly' with those special wings of his." As she spoke, Barbara pulled up a few images of Red Robin, mostly from traffic cameras and other surveillance devices.
"A somewhat fitting name" Alfred commented, studying the images.
Bruce's scowl deepened. "I know what you're thinking Alfred, and my answer is no" He growled
"And what exactly was I thinking of?" Alfred countered
"We don't need a new member in this group" Bruce said firmly. "Especially one who thinks that this is nothing more than a game" With that, Bruce turned and walked away, then paused, and turned back to Oracle. "Barbara, you and your father are still planning to come to the policeman's gala tomorrow evening, correct?"
"Of course!" Barbara brightened up instantly. "Hello, my dad's the commissioner! Why would we not be there?"
A smile appeared on Bruce's face in response. "Good, just checking" He answered simply, then turned and made his way into the elevator. As the doors closed, Tatsu turned to Alfred.
"As much as I hate saying this, I agree With Wayne." She said. "You didn't see this boy Alfred. He almost got himself killed."
"Taking the same risks that you and Bruce take on a nightly basis" Alfred countered. "Besides, it would make things easier for us to have another member"
"What do you mean?" Tatsu asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Think about it" Alfred explained his reasoning. "Most of the time it's just you and Bruce out on patrol every night. I know you're capable of watching Bruce's back, but I'd feel better if there was someone watching your back as well, Tatsu"
Tatsu paused for a moment, then gave a warm smile. "That's very touching that you're so concerned Alfred, but you should know better than anyone that Bruce and I can handle ourselves. And besides..." Tatsu;s smile widened. "If something does happen, we have the other Outsiders." She winked at Alfred as she spoke.
Alfred smiled, but gave a weary sigh. "Tatsu, I'm not denying that the Outsiders are a strong team, but I think you and Bruce are overestimating our stength." He patted his chest as he spoke. "My spy days are long behind me, Man Bat and Metamorpho can't exactly walk down a busy street in public, and Barbara..." Alfred turned to study the redheaded girl. "She's a good hacker, but she's not much of a fighter."
"Bruce and I've been training her" Tatsu reminded her.
"But's she's nowhere near up to your level yet." Alfred countered
"It's only been eight months!" Tatsu argued.
"And I know she's made great progress in that time" Alfred agreed, raising his hands defensibly. "But still, I would feel a lot better if we had at least one more person around here"
A sudden click made Alfred and Tatsu glance back towards Barbara, who had just pulled up a picture of Richard Grayson's face and was typing something into a search bar.
"Barbara, what are you doing?" Tatsu asked. Barbara didn't answer right away. She scanned a newspaper clipping that appeared on the screen and suddenly gasped in horror.
"What's wrong?" Tatsu asked, appearing at Barbara's side as the young girl's shoulders sagged with despair.
Barbara didn't answer, she just zoomed in on the article
"Boy Orphaned in Circus Accident" Alfred read the headlines. "It was tragedy at the Grason Traveling Circus last night as thousands of people watched helplessly as John and Mary Grayson, co-owners of the circus and both superb acrobats, fell to their deaths in the middle of their spectacular aerial performance. John and Mary leave behind their 8 year old son Richard, who witnessed the entire event, but was too traumatized to answer any questions regarding..." Alfred's voice broke out and continued reading the article silently. Tatsu stood stock still, her eyes wide as she scanned the article.
Beside her Barbara sniffed. "Poor guy. Watching your own parents die in front of your eyes" She felt herself shiver, though it wasn't cold. Tatsu instinctively placed a hand on Barbara's shoulder. "That's gotta be rough"
"It is" Alfred said solemnly and Barbara's eyes widened as she realized what he meant
"Oh" She breathed. "I didn't mean..."
"I know" Alfred nodded, pressing a few keys, making the image disappear. Turning back to Barbara, he paused, then glanced down at his watch. "Um Barbara, when did you say you needed to be home by?"
"Oh No!" Barbara squeaked in alarm as she glanced at her watch, which read after midnight. "I lost track of time! Oh my dad is going to kill me!"
Tatsu and Alfred exchanged a look as they watched the girl start to panic and both fought the urge to laugh. "Come on Barbara" Tatsu called as she started towards her motorcycle. "I'll give you a lift"
The next morning, Barbara fought the urge to yawn as she placed her bag inside her locker. "I still can't believe how awesome those grapnels are." She muttered to herself, her mind flashing back to when Katana had used hers to lift the two of them up her Barbara's bedroom window last night. "I so need to get myself one of those" Barbara smiled as she imagined soaring through the air like Batman.
"Hey Richie boy!" A loud voice snapped Barbara out of her trance. Heads turned all across the hallway and a small crowd began forming near the school doors. "What's the matter, circus boy?" The voice called out again. Barbara groaned as she recognized it and closed her locker door and moved towards the growing crowd. Pushing through the assembled bodies, Barbara saw Richard Grayson standing against the wall with an angry look on his face, probably due to the three large jocks that were currently standing in front of him with smug grins on their faces.
"I said, what's wrong?" One of the jocks, a tall muscular boy with dark brown hair said loudly, taking a few steps forward.
"Leave me alone you jerk!" Richard replied, trying to pull away, but he found one of the other jocks blocking his path. The brown-haired kid grabbed Richard's sleeve and yanked him around until they were face to face.
"What did you say to me?" The boy demanded, no longer smiling. Richard growled, his eyes narrowed to hostile slits, but didn't say anything. "Yeah, that's what I thought" The boy replied, whirling on his feet and sending Richard falling heavily to the floor, which made everyone standing around him laugh loudly.
"Good toss Jake!" Someone yelled from the crowd. The boy, smiling again, stepped forward and knelt down until his mouth was next to Richard's ear.
"And here I thought you could actually fly, circus boy!" He taunted. "Maybe your family act should have been the 'Falling Graysons'!" This jab lead to another roar of laughter from the crowd. Barbara watched Richard struggle to get to his feet, and noticed that there were tears coming from his eyes. Unfortunately, Jake noticed too. "Aw look, the little boy's gonna cry! Waaaaa! Waaaa!" The laughter of the crowd swelled up an octave as Jake fake cried. Richard glared up at him with pure venom on his face and for a second, Barbara thought the boy was going to attack. But instead, Richard turned the other direction and, wiping his face, began to shoulder through the crowd. "Yeah that's right circus boy! Run back home to your freakshow!" Jake called after him, which caused another round of laughter.
Barbara had heard enough. Turning her back on the crowd, she quickly followed Richard as he dashed around the corner. He caught up with him just in time to see him pound his closed locker door in frustration. He pounded it again, grunting with the effort, tears running down his face again.
Barbara cleared her throat and Richard visibly stiffened, quickly rubbing his face before turning to face her. "If you're trying to break into that locker, I'd recommend using a hammer, less likely you'll break something else" She joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Richard scowled at her, clearly not amused. "Come to laugh at me like everyone else?" He snapped.
The look on his face, and the tone of his voice was so fierce that Barbara actually took a step back, her smile fading. "Why would I do that?" She asked.
"Because everyone else has" Richard's eyes flashed.
Barbara forced a small smile back on her face as she looked Richard in the eye. "Then its a good thing I'm not everyone else" She countered. As Richard opened his mouth, she quickly added. "And don't pay any attention to what Jake says. He's just jealous. I'll bet he can't even match half the moves you can do"
Richard's frown softened slightly, but he quickly glanced away from Barbara. "What do you want?" He said after a minute.
Barbara blinked, surprised by Richard's directness. "I...I wanted to see how you were"
"Why?" Richard asked another direct question.
"Because I wanted to, that's why!" Barbara suddenly felt annoyed. It's like he's interrogating me! She thought.
"But why are you so eager to find out how I'm feeling?" Richard asked, and this time he turned to look at her, his face full on what seemed to be genuine confusion.
"Because I..." Barbara paused, choosing her words carefully. "I know how it feels to lose a family member. I lost my mom a few years back."
Richard's gaze fell to the floor and his lip quivered. "I'm sorry" He said
"Everyone says that" Barbara added. "But it never helps." She too, stared at the floor.
"No, it doesn't" Richard agreed. For a few minutes neither of them spoke. Barbara finally lifted her gaze from the floor to find Richard gazing at her and to her surprise, she felt her face heat up, almost like she was blushing.
"What? What is it? Is there something on my face?" Barbara raised her hand up to her face, only to accidentally knock off her glasses. "Oh shoot!" She cursed as she watched the blurred image of her glasses fall to the fuzzy-looking floor. She knelt down to retrieve them but froze as another blurry hand appeared in her line of vision, snatching her glasses off the floor.
"Here" Richard said, holding them out. Barbara hesitated, then reached out to take them. As she did, her fingers brushed against Richards' and Barbara felt something shoot through her, like a bolt of electricity, so powerful that she gasped aloud. "Is something wrong?" Richard asked, noticing her change of expression.
"What? Oh no! Nothing's wrong! Why would there be something wrong? Heh heh!" Barbara gave a chuckle, more to reassure herself than Richard. "Thank you" She said, sliding them back into place on her face. As she did, she saw Richard smiling at her and felt her heart begin to beat quickly inside her chest. What's happening to me? She thought to herself. She could still feel the tingle on her fingers from where they had brushed against his.
DRRRIIINNNNGGGGG! Barbara jumped as the bell rang, signaling five minutes until the start of class. Richard turned to go, then paused and turned back. "Oh and Barbara?"
Trying to keep her suddenly shaking hands under control, Barbara forced herself to gaze calmly back at him. "Yes?"
"Your pep talks could use some work" He started and Barbara felt her cheeks flush, even more so when his smile softened. "But thanks for trying"
"Sure...n..no problem" Barbara stammered, smiling in a silly way as Richard turned and headed down the hall.
"I saw that" Barbara gasped and spun around to find a Dinah leaning against a nearby locker looking like the cat who swallowed the canary
"Dinah! S...saw w-what?" Barbara stammered and gave what she hoped was a reassuring grin, but Dinah's smug smile only widened.
"You like him" Dinah accused in a teasing way, and Barbara felt a surge of multiple emotions go off at once, like a barrage of fireworks in her mind. Anger! Fear! Terror! Panic! But her heart seemed to thrum like a bee's wing at those words.
"W-what? N..no I don't!" Barbara exclaimed, taking a step back. But her words felt empty even to her.
Dinah tsked and shook her head. "Deny it all you want girl. But I know what I saw, and what I saw was L-O-V-E!" Dinah laughed, causing Barbara to glance around nervously to see if anyone else was watching.
"Shhhh!" Barbara moved automatically, clapping her hand across Dinah's mouth before she even knew what was happening. Though Dinah was no longer laughing, her eyes danced with mirth.
"Don't like him huh?" Dinah teased after she had pulled herself free from Barbara's grip. "Don't worry. You're secret's safe with me" She winked, flashed her long blonde hair in the hallway lights, then turned and almost skipped down the hallway.
As Barbara watched her go, several thoughts crowded in her mind like a train wreck
What did I just do?
Will she tell anyone?
I should have denied it!
What if he hears about this?
What if my dad hears about this?
But one thought was more powerful than the others. So powerful that it kept a firm hold no matter how hard she tried to shake it loose.
I think...I think she's right!
And Cut!
My apologies for not getting this chapter out sooner, but I've been distracted by...'situations' occurring in my household. Hopefully my next chapter will come out much sooner.
Sooooo...Barbara and Richard. What do you think of that? Where do you think this will lead? And what's up with this 'Deathstone' character? Will he make another appearance? Stay tuned to find out!
Until next time!