Hey guys and gals, I'm back with the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy it. Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter and to those who kept telling me to update, it helps.
Anyway, the usual disclaimer here that I don't own anything DC.
I just want to say that this chapter is pretty big but it'll make for the the next which as of right now looks like it'll be shorter than usual.
Anyway, here you go...
YOUNG JUSTICE
THE BIRD, THE CAT, AND THE BATS
GOTHAM CITY
AUGUST 19, 08:00 EDT
Nathan sat at the table in the kitchen of Wayne Manor eating a bowl of cereal, while Alfred did dishes nearby. Bruce was able to convince his parents to let him spend the last of his school free days at the manor to 'hang out with Dick' but he knew it was mostly so he could serve his suspension from The Team and make it easier for Bruce to keep an eye on him as he did.
"Our top story: One of Gotham's wealthiest recent transplants, businessman Hideo Katsu, received a rude welcome last night. Vicky Vale has details." The news anchorman droned from his news desk, which was displayed on the small flatscreen in the kitchen before it changed to a beautiful redheaded female reporting from the scene of the crime.
"The same Hideo Katsu the Batman has been observing of late?" Alfred asked the teen with a raised eyebrow, as he turned to face him, bowl in one hand, towel in another.
Nathan sat at the table, toying with the contents of his bowl with the spoon in his right hand, "The very same one he's been investigating without success… so far."
"Katsu's extensive art collection of antiques remained intact, but security cameras captured the image of the intruder, who we now know to be Catwoman." Vicky Vale reported.
"What?" Nathan asked, surprised. It had been a while since anything involving Catwoman had surfaced in Gotham. Nathan himself thought that she had disappeared, but should have known better given her history with his mentor.
"Perhaps we should alert Master Bruce?" questioned Alfred, now wiping one of his serving trays with the towel.
Nathan perked up at the idea he had just got, "Actually I'll look into it," Nathan spoke up, speaking quickly, getting a questioning look from Alfred, "What?" Nathan asked, "Batman is off doing Justice League things, Dick is keeping an eye on The Team since I got suspended, and Barbara has been ghosting me, so it's a perfect time to try flying solo," he defended.
"Oh, very well. Just be careful." Alfred warned.
"Always am." Nathan responded with a smirk.
"I doubt that very much." Alfred retorted.
Nathan quickly finished his cereal and put his bowl in the sink and took off to go to the Batcave to get some training in before starting his solo investigation into Hideo Katsu and Catwoman.
After eight long and grueling hours of training, Nathan had spent the last two hours going over the thick file Batman had on Catwoman and the very thin file Batman had on Hideo Katsu. All Batman had on Katsu was that he suspected him of being a member of The Yakuza, but had no hard evidence to support this theory yet.
Nathan was about to do some maintenance on his motorcycle to keep busy when an alert echoed from the Batcomputer, "All units, disturbance at 121 Simonson."
Not wasting any time, Nathan donned his costume and took off from the Batcave on his motorcycle. As he turned down the street and approached the building, he tapped the screen on his bike and put it into auto-drive and grappled to the top of a nearby building across the street from the disturbance. Red Robin watched as his bike made a turn down the next street and disappeared.
Red Robin then turned his attention to 121 Simonson which looked to be a hotel building, but the entire street was quiet, "Well, this is it. So where – ?"
"Hello, handsome," came a smooth, sultry voice from behind him. Red Robin quickly turned towards the voice and he saw her, perched on a billboard behind him, Catwoman, "A little too young for me and not who I was expecting, but you do have potential. I like the cowl, it really sets off your chin." Red Robin since being suspended had a lot of free time on his hands and during that time had foregone the mask and upgraded to the cowl he now sported. He had to admit the cowl did make things easier as far as communication equipment and made things easier for quick costume changes.
"I take it you tripped off the silent alarm?" Red Robin asked, already knowing the answer.
"Only way I knew to get the big man's attention, but you'll do." She purred back to him.
"Well, are you coming down or do I have to come up?" Red Robin asked, pulling out his grapple gun quietly.
Catwoman hummed, or purred maybe, he wasn't quite sure, a little bit of both perhaps, "Catch me if you can," she spoke in her smooth voice and immediately took off.
Red Robin was quick to follow her as the two raced parallel across the building. Catwoman pulled out her whip and used it to latch onto a decorative outcropping near the roof of a nearby building. She jumped off the side of the ledge she was running along and using her whip and momentum swung her way to the top of the building adjacent to the one she attached her whip. This allowed her to keep her momentum and get a running start as she made her way further into the city.
Red Robin stopped his running and launched his grapple to the building she was now running across and while the grapple gun pulled him through the air, launched himself and landed in front of her, cutting her off.
Catwoman immediately darted to the left and ran to the edge of the building and jumped off, easily navigating between the outcroppings and eaves of two buildings making her way further down the building somersaulting and flipping the entire time. Once she landed, she looked back to where she last saw Red Robin and not seeing him thought she lost him and smiled and started to walk along the ledge, only to see him in front of her with his arms crossed, cape draped over him. She couldn't stop the gasp that came out of her.
"What's the matter? You seem disconcerted. Give up." Red Robin demanded. Then realizing what he just said mumbled, "Man I gotta stop hanging out with Rob so much."
"Give up the thrill of the chase?" Catwoman asked with mock hurtfulness, before diving off the ledge and freefalling. As she freefalled, she pulled out her whip and was able to pull herself to another building, hearing the sound of Red Robin's grapple gun close behind her. She landed on the rooftop of that building and took off running, hearing Red Robin's footsteps close behind.
Red Robin mimicked her as she jumped from the edge of the building and landed on a ledge of another and then propelled herself toward a building that was under construction and used her whip to pull herself to an opening that led to a unfinished hallway, as he did the same only with his grapple gun.
After he landed in the hallway, he looked in front of him just in time to see her about halfway down the hallway and jump up. Red Robin proceeded to follow her, but as he looked up to where she disappeared, he had to immediately roll out of he way as she kicked several wood planks down at him.
He immediately jumped up to pursue her after dodging the planks and immediately had to use his arms to shield himself as she sent a metal lunchbox at him from a table that she dove over with her whip.
As he dove over the table, he saw her jump up through another opening in the ceiling and as he made it there, she stood at the top waiting for him, one hand between metal pipes that were stacked, and the rope that held them in place. With one swipe of her hand, she cut the rope and the pipes fell, sealing his opening.
"Better luck next time kid." She said confidently, before walking off and disappearing out of view.
"It's not over yet," Red Robin mumbled to himself. Quickly reaching behind him, Red Robin pulled out a slightly larger batarang that was currently folded in on itself. However, with a flick of the wrist the batarang unfolded to its full size and Red Robin threw it up between the pipes. He then grabbed his double R logo on the center of his utility belt and pulled it off. The logo on his utility belt now turned into a remote control for the batarang, he used it to continue to follow Catwoman as he found an alternate route.
Catwoman, using her whip, launched herself to a nearby skyscraper only to run into her second teenaged cowl wearing hero in Gotham.
"Stop right there Catwoman." the masked redhead spoke.
Catwoman turned to go back the direction she came, but when she did, a floating batarang blocked her path. Seconds later, Red Robin appeared behind the batarang.
Red Robin couldn't believe his eyes. There in her purple gymnastics uniform that now had a yellow bat symbol stitched into the chest area was Barbara Gordon. She also sported a black cape, cowl, boots and gloves. She also had around her waist, her own home-made yellow utility belt.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Catwoman asked, turning her attention to the heroine. As Barbara went to answer, Catwoman spoke again, cutting her off, "Batgirl?"
"It's Batw –"
"What are you doing Batgirl?" Red Robin asked, irritated.
"For the last time it's Batwo – oh never mind." She groaned, accepting Batgirl as her name, "I'm taking her to GCPD." she answered with her most demanding voice.
"No you're not. You're leaving." Red Robin shot back, switching focus between the two, but mostly keeping both eyes on Catwoman.
"So the Redbird has a girlfriend?" Catwoman asked playfully, with a hint of genuine curiosity.
"She's not my – ugh!" Red Robin yelled at the same time that Batgirl said "I'm not his –ugh!" Both finishing with a growl when they realized they were mimicking each other.
"As fun as it is to see your two's first fight, I've got to run." Catwoman spoke quickly as she backed up to the ledge of the building and jumped down towards the smaller building nearby.
Batgirl made to go after her, but Red Robin quickly pulled out a bolas and threw it at Batgirl tying her up.
"Go home," he demanded, then seeing her tied up on the ground, he smirked, "You know... once you get yourself out of that."
The only response he got was a growl from the frustrated Batgirl as she watched him jump from the ledge of the building and disappear, followed by his remote controlled batarang.
Catwoman again found herself cut off by the batarang and again was going to double back only to be cornered by Red Robin.
"Cute toy Redbird, but corner a cat, get scratched," she said fiercely. As she spoke her last word, she flicked her whip behind her and hit the batarang knocking it out of the air.
Red Robin had little time to react as she then charged forward, bring her whip down to where he stood, but he was able to dodge to the left just in time, but then quickly again jumped backwards onto a raised section of the roof to avoid her whip again that made a cracking sound when it connected with the floor of the roof.
Catwoman then jumped up onto the raised area with him and swiped out with her claws, making Red Robin duck under them, she quickly followed this by kicking out, hitting him solidly in the shoulder, he was able to turn into the kick, which let him avoid another slash of her claws, but it put him a bit off balance which allowed her to tackle him off the edge of the building onto another roof about 10 feet down. As he landed Red Robin felt the crack as his head hit the concrete of the roof, causing him to see stars but thanking the slight reinforcement and padding of the suit. His vision was still dim as he heard Catwoman say something about "Cats landing on their feet", and he saw the hazy vision of her standing over him.
She reached down, and as Red Robin was losing consciousness heard "I think I'll take something to remember you by" and then the world went dark.
"Hey Red Robin, wake up."
"Red Robin," someone spoke, shaking Red Robin's shoulder slightly. They were able to get a slight stir and a groan to emit from the downed hero.
"Red Robin, wake up you jerk," spoke the same voice, this time more sternly, getting Red Robin to open his eyes.
It took Red Robin a few seconds for his eyes to adjust and regain their focus. Kneeling over him with a not so happy look on their face was Batgirl.
"Ok…" groaned Red Robin, sitting up, against the wishes of his back, with help from Batgirl, "I deserved that," he said, cracking his neck and wincing slightly when it popped. Batgirl's face had shifted from irritation to concern for one of her inspirations seeing him in pain.
She helped him to stand up and when she was satisfied that he wouldn't just immediately collapse back on the ground, crossed her arms over her chest and just silently glared at him.
Red Robin didn't notice at first as he stretched his back out, but once he was done and noticed the best Batman glare he got from someone that wasn't Batman was focused solely on him, he asked the first question that came to his mind.
"What?!" he asked, only making the glare intensify from the teenaged heroine. Ok, maybe not the best question to ask? Maybe think of a better one?... Nope.
"Seriously?" responded the heroine, voice filled with irritation? frustration? or maybe anger? Her demeanor and presence unchanged.
"What?" Red Robin asked again. Can't you say anything else?... come on brain prove we aren't an idiot...
"If you would have let me help, I wouldn't have had to pull your sorry, unconscious butt off the ground!" voiced a definitely angry Batgirl.
"Right, then we'd still be arguing up there," Red Robin started, pointing to the building where they were previously, "arguing about what you're doing here in the first place and Catwoman would have beaten us both up if she didn't just disappear and Batman would have had to come get both of us and you'd be in trouble for running around in… whatever that is," Red Robin vocalized, gesturing to her costume, "and I'd be in even more trouble then I'm already in," he grumbled.
"More trouble?" Batgirl asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"By the way," Red Robin stated, ignoring the question Batgirl just asked, "Where did you get that?" he questioned, pointing to the costume, "And second, is that supposed to be a utility belt?" he asked, pointing to the yellow belt that wrapped around Batgirl's waist.
"First," Batgirl stated matter of factly, "I made it," then with a raise of her eyebrow and a smirk continued, "Second, at least I have one."
Red Robin immediately looked down only to discover that he didn't have his utility belt and instantly face palmed his forehead.
"I can't believe this," he sighed, "she took it. She took my belt."
He looked over to Batgirl who still had her arms crossed, but one hand covered her mouth, trying to suppress a laugh, "Yeah, I'm sure you're enjoying this," he said frustratingly.
"Yeah, I am," Batgirl said nonchalantly.
Red Robin just growled and started pacing in front of the girl, who was enjoying watching him become more frustrated with every pass he made in front of her.
"Ugh, Batman is gonna have a field day with this. First I get suspended from the team," he starts to vent as he paces back and forth.
"Suspended?" Batgirl asked.
"Don't, just please don't," Red Robin quickly retorts, stopping dead in his tracks to do so, giving her his best batglare to dare her to press the subject, which she wisely didn't, allowing him to go back to his pacing.
"Now I have to go back to the cave and explain that Catwoman is back and that she escaped and oh by the way, took my utility belt with her, which will be the first thing he notices cause the first thing he taught me was to not go anywhere without it."
"I could help," Batgirl calmly puts in.
Red Robin stopped and looked at her stoically, "Really?" he asked her, unbelievingly. His only response was a nod in return.
"I'll pass," he states, getting a glare from the heroine, "I don't need to be looking over my shoulder every 5 seconds to make sure you're still breathing. You started this thing, what?" he asked, but before Batgirl could answer, he continued, "Yesterday?" he rhetorically asked.
"Three days ago," Batgirl mumbled, answering him anyway.
"My point exactly," Red Robin spoke frustratedly, "I can't be watching after you. You shouldn't be here or in that costume in the first place, while also trying to get my utility belt back. Not to mention figure out what Catwoman is up to. All while Batman is breathing down my neck even more so than usual."
"I can h-" Batgirl started, but was interrupted by Red Robin.
"No, you can't!" Red Robin stated as he made his way over to the edge of the building, "Go home." He ordered her before making his way to the fire escape and climbed down to the road below…
Batgirl just huffed and spun on a dime and walked frustratingly in the opposite direction, mumbling "I'm not quitting that easily."
BATCAVE
AUGUST 19, 23:57 EDT
Red Robin had finally made his way back to his bike and pulled into the Batcave and parked it by Dick's bike. He hastily took his helmet and dismounted and walked up to the next platform for the elevator up to Wayne Manor, picking up his pace slightly when he spotted Batman at the computer.
"Did you get her?" came Bruce's voice, stern but not condemning.
Red Robin stopped and looked over at Bruce, who wasn't looking at him and still focusing on the computer screen in front of him. Red Robin however caught the underlying tone, that meant he already knew the answer to this question, which meant his plan "fake it till I make it away from Batman" wasn't going to work. So he went with the next best thing...
"No." he stated bluntly, "She uh, she got away." he said and was going to leave it at that and started to make his way towards the showers again.
"You leave something behind?" Red Robin heard his voice, but kept going this time.
"No," he answered quickly, he was almost to the elevator to disappear and reach the safe haven of the manor when Batman stopped him in his tracks with his next question.
"Where's your belt?" the Caped Crusader asked, spinning around in his chair to look at his student, who kept his eyes on the elevator directly in front of him, hand almost on the scanner to activate it.
Red Robin turned to fully stand before his mentor and took a deep breath.
"It got damaged." he stated, getting a slight nod from Batman, urging him on, "When we fought, she tackled me off one building and we landed on another. I think the fall damaged the belt cause she was able to just slip it right off, which should be impossible to do with all the safeguards that you installed on our belts."
Batman nodded in agreement and understanding and then turned to go back to work on the computer, letting a confused yet thankful Red Robin standing in front of the elevator in shock. After shaking himself from his stupor, Red Robin activated the doors and stepped into the elevator.
BATCAVE
AUGUST 20, 09:30 EDT
The elevator dinged and out stepped Red Robin, cowl down, and Alfred.
"She shouldn't have been able to do that," Nathan groaned frustratingly.
"The feline fatale is certainly proving to still be a sly one." Alfred stated, as Nathan sat at the now empty computer chair, with Alfred looking over his shoulder at the files Nathan pulled up from the most recent run in with Catwoman.
"I need to track Catwoman down before she puts my utility belt to no-good use."
Just then the computer alerted the two, that the Bat-Bot had been activated. Before they could turn around to look, the bot had jumped up from where it had been laying dormant only seconds before. It was now on the platform where Red Robin and Alfred were.
The two bat-family members stared at the unmanned giant Bat-Bot, whose eyes were glowing blue, for a couple seconds before it started to charge at them.
Nathan, thinking fast, instantly stepped in front of Alfred to protect him and made Alfred's escape priority one. The bot however stopped before it reached them, and took a few steps back and started to swing its robotic arms wildly striking at nothing. It then bent down and lunged upward, crashing through the metal that made the floor for the next platform.
Nathan rushed forward as metal debris fell from the Batbot's impact and crashed down just in front of him, creating a pile of scrap.
Nathan and Alfred heard the Bat-Bot above them, so Nathan got on top of the pile of debris and jumped up, disappearing from Alfred's view and arriving on the same level as the Bat-Bot.
Nathan immediately sprinted towards the Bat-Bot, watching as it tore another hole in the metal floor of the third level. As he drew closer, the Bat-Bot took off probably to damage something else. Nathan stopped at the newly created hole in the floor, and stuck his head down while yelling down to Alfred.
"Alfred, shut down the Auxiliary Batwave Transmitter!"
Alfred looked down and picked up a small device and held it up for Nathan to see, "I believe this was the auxiliary transmitter." he calmly informed the teen hero.
Nathan then looked to his left just in time to dodge the oncoming Bat-Bot and just as it passed him, he ran and jumped on top of the bot as it ran right off the third level and started to plummet towards the ground floor of the batcave.
As it plummeted, Nathan was able to maneuver himself onto the chest of the bot and could only wait till the ground floor approached. At the last minute he started to roll off the bot, trying to make it clear of any debris that might be falling after them while also trying to counteract his own momentum from the fall..
The bot impacted the ground floor on its back and Nathan still felt the jolt of pain from the impact even as he was able to execute his plan. Alfred, seeing everything unfold, took off to help his friend, while the Bat-Bot stood itself up and looked down at the teen hero, who was only able to roll onto his back and look up at the towering behemoth.
All of a sudden without warning, the bot's right hand slammed down towards the downed teen, who was just barely able to roll out of the way as the right hand collided with the ground. As the right hand started to lift, Nathan rolled towards it to avoid the left hand of the robot striking the ground, right where Nathan once was.
However, the bot's right hand was already coming back for another strike on Nathan, but just before it impacted the teen the hand stopped and the bot shut down. Nathan then let out a breath of relief that he didn't know he was holding in. He quickly rolled out from underneath the giant hand and stood up, surveying the damage, just as Alfred appeared in the elevator.
"I'm never going to be unsuspended," he joked, walking over to the elevator, standing next to Alfred, or at least he hoped it was a joke.
"I did tell you to be careful when you started this whole crusade." Alfred sighed, hitting the button to take them back up, while Nathan smirked at the casual joke. The elevator doors closed and began to take them back up to the second floor.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened, putting them back on the second floor of the batcave where the main computer was located.
"Alright, we need to disconnect the Batwave receivers from all the gear before she -" was all Nathan got out before hearing the tires of the Batmobile squeal and the engine rev.
Nathan quickly ran over to the edge of the platform and looked down only to see the Batmobile race off the raised platform it was usually parked on and land with a thud on the ground floor and take off through the cave exit.
"I don't believe this." he groaned, pulling his cowl up and over his face and ran over to what looked like a high-tech fireman pole.
He put his hand on the pole, and the pole lit up where his hand was. He immediately put more pressure on the bottom portion of his hand and began to plummet down to the ground level where he immediately made his way over to his bike, put on his helmet and kicked off after the Batmobile.
Even with the head start the Batmobile had on Red Robin, it wasn't hard to track it down. All Red Robin had to do was follow the carnage that it left behind. Most of the walkways on both ends of the streets the Batmobile had been down were a wreck.
Red Robin eventually came to a traffic jam, putting on the breaks, making the bike skid to a halt sideways. The street was closed off completely with spun cars facing in wrong directions and cars with major damage and cars who now had rear and front bumpers well acquainted with each other. He knew he was close to the Batmobile, he could hear it. He surveyed the scene in front of him and immediately found his way around the mess.
Off to the right was an on ramp to a raised street that ran parallel with the blocked off one, so Nathan immediately sped off in that direction at full speed and kept his eyes on the lower road looking for the Batmobile, as he bobbed and weaved his way through the traffic.
He found his target, but the Batmobile was mostly blocked from view by an eighteen-wheeler with trailer in tow. Red Robin found his opening though and picked up speed and turned right towards the railing and used it to launch himself through the air, towards the speeding Batmobile.
He landed on top of the trailer being pulled by the truck and put his foot out and used it to help keep the bike on top of the trailer. He then drove toward the front of the trailer and put all his weight into lifting the front of the bike to safely come down onto the road. With his shortcut, he now put himself directly behind the Batmobile. However, he didn't stay behind the Batmobile for long, as he was able to pull up alongside it and hit the autopilot on his motorcycle and got ready for his next daring move to stop the rogue car.
GOTHAM CITY
AUGUST 20, 10:00 EDT
Barbara sat at the outside table of the diner she usually frequented with Nathan and Dick. Barbara currently sat with her head propped up by her hand, and elbow resting on the table. She had ordered a smoothie because of how hot it was outside, but was currently ignoring her drink, and staring at her phone that was face up on the table. Her phone had a text thread opened up between her and Nathan that she had never deleted since giving Nathan her number when they first met years ago.
Barbara let out a sigh and lifted her head up and grabbed her phone with both hands and was about to text him for the first time since their argument after she revealed to him her superhero idea, when screeching tires were heard and the distinct sound of two roaring engines heading her way.
When she lifted her head up to look, she couldn't believe her eyes, coming down the street that wrapped around the outside of the diner was the Batmobile, which was accompanied alongside by Red Robin on his motorcycle. Barbara watched as Red Robin leapt from his motorcycle toward the Batmobile and landed on the roof.
The car and the bike, which stayed alongside the car seemingly with ease, sped down the road in front of her. One glance at Red Robin told her that he still hadn't got his belt back. She also knew that he was in trouble with Batman, but she had to blink to make sure what she was seeing was real.
She did plan on texting Nathan about possibly getting together and to see if she could start to mend the slight rift between them, but instead texted about what she just saw witness in front of her as she took off from her table to continue to try and see what was happening and to possibly find a safe place to change into her costume that she now carried around everywhere she went, especially since she knew one of the city protectors was without their arsenal.
She quickly found an empty alleyway to change and ducked down it, determined to change quickly so that she could get another crack at helping Red Robin, to prove that she belonged and to get back at him for the bolos the previous night.
GOTHAM CITY
AUGUST 20, 10:02 EDT
Red Robin held on to what grip he could find on top of the Batmobile as he tried to figure out what to do next, he definitely didn't think of what to do next after jumping from his bike onto the top of the Batmobile.
He continued to hold on as the car suddenly started to swerve left and right across lanes and hit parked cars along the street and ride up on the curb, before settling down and driving in a straight line again. He looked down to see if his bike was still there, which it was, just behind the batmobile now and following closely. He then looked back in front of him and his eyes went wide.
Pulling out of an intersection ahead of him, was a truck with a trailer in tow. He knew the batmobile was low enough to the ground to scoot under the trailer but that was not including him.
Red Robin, thinking fast, shifted his body so he could grab the front quarter panel of the car with his left hand, and kept his right hand on the edge of the roof to support his body, which was now along the side of the batmobile. Red Robin also had his feet gripping the rear quarter panel of the car.
The Batmobile then went right under the tractor trailer, as did Red Robin's motorcycle. The batmobile immediately after clearing the trailer, took a hard left and went down the small street there. Red Robin, holding on for his life, then saw that the car was heading straight for an alleyway that wasn't wide enough for the batmobile.
"You've got to be kidding me," he groaned, shifting his body to get ready to time his move.
The batmobile raced towards the alleyway, and Red Robin repositioned himself back onto the roof of the car just before the left side of the car hit some wooden planks that were propped up in an angle, lifting the car on two wheels.
The car then went down the alleyway at an angle, two wheels on the ground and two wheels in the air, riding along the side of the building. The batmobile trailing sparks as it went down the alley.
Red Robin had himself positioned so that he was part on the roof and part on the driver side door. He pulled out a small laser that was stashed in his left boot and proceeded to cut a hole into the driver side window big enough for his arm to fit.
After doing that, put the laser back and stuck his arm in and reached for where he thought the middle console was and hit a few buttons by memory and a beep was heard. Once the beep went off Red Robin quickly removed his hand and the window on the driver side went down and he was able to get inside the batmobile and he put on the brakes, as the seat belt came out and strapped him in automatically in an X pattern.
The batmobile, brakes screeching, raced through the alleyway. After the initial squeeze of the alleyway, the next buildings were further apart and the left side of the batmobile made contact with the ground once more, making the car level, but as it did, sent the car into a spin before it came to a complete rest.
Red Robin sat in the car trying to catch his breath, as the adrenaline slowly left his body. As he made to figure out what to do next, he was greeted with Batgirl landing next to the batmobile. Groaning, he got out.
"I thought I told you to go home," Red Robin spoke sternly, with his best Batman emotionless glare.
"I did," retorted Batgirl, "now I'm back." she smirked, "Besides I think you have a more concerning mess to take care of besides worrying about me," she stated, gesturing to Red Robin's motorcycle and the Batmobile, with a hand on her hip.
"That reminds me," Nathan stated, putting a hand to his left ear, "Penny One could you… Batman! Hey, could you… oh he told you… no, no, I got it. Yeah, I'll wait for you here. Red Robin out."
"That seemed to go well," Barbara smirked, hearing the nerves in his voice and seeing what she could of Red Robin's face that wasn't blocked by the cowl.
"Look I get you're trying to make a name for yourself, as much as I try to tell you otherwise, but Batman is coming here, and he's far less lenient then I am, so if you don't mind going home for both our sakes, I would appreciate it cause if you think me throwing a bolos at you was rough… just don't be here when Batman gets here."
Batgirl saw the way his voice changed and she nodded, and turned to walk away, "You sure you don't need any help?" she asked over her shoulder, stopping momentarily, looking back.
"Not unless you know of a way to get me out of bat-jail when the big man shows," Red Robin joked back.
"Can't help you there. I'll see you around. Good luck!" Batgirl called back, taking off in a run and disappearing from view.
BATCAVE
AUGUST 20 11:00 EDT
The Batmobile returned back to the Batcave, this time under the control of Batman himself. Behind him pulling in on his motorcycle was Red Robin who parked his bike beside the Batmobile.
Alfred had his jacket off and sleeves rolled up as he dropped another batwave receiver into a pile. He looked back at the two returning heroes. He almost allowed a chuckle and a smirk to appear when he saw the Batmobile. He could see Master Bruce's cowled head through the hole in the driver side window, and raised an eyebrow.
Red Robin took off his helmet and pulled his cowl back and saw the raised eyebrow of Alfred and sighed.
"Enjoy your drive?" he asked the teenager.
"It had its twist and turns," Nathan smiled back, but the smile quickly vanished when Batman got out of the Batmobile.
"Start talking." he ordered his sidekick.
Nathan gave out a sigh and explained to Batman everything that happened that Batman didn't already know, "Catwoman is activating all the receivers from my utility belt she has," he explained. Batman took off his cowl and Bruce raised an eyebrow at his sidekick.
"She activated the Bat-Bot which explains that," he said, pointing above them to the holes in the metal above them, "and after that shut off, she activated the receiver in the Batmobile. I took off after it in my motorcycle and had Alfred disconnect the rest of the receivers."
The two made their way over to the table on the ground floor where Alfred had a pile of Batwave receivers, "Are these all the Batwave receivers?" Batman asked.
"Quite."
"Thanks Alfred," Red Robin sighed in relief, "If she actually knew what she was doing, then she could have traced them back to the Batcave."
"Then we would have to rename it The Catcave," Alfred spoke, only receiving looks from the two heroes.
Just then one of the computers that was on the ground floor showed another receiver being activated.
"I thought these were all of the receivers?" Batman asked.
"I was certain I'd disconnected all the receivers." Alfred answered.
"My remote-control Batarang. She took it." Red Robin exclaimed, walking over to one of the small computers located on the ground floor, followed by Batman and Alfred.
"Maybe there's a way to trace the signal back to it and Catwoman?" Red Robin spoke his idea aloud as he sat down and started to get to work on tracing the signal, so that he could figure out what her end game was.
As he was about to lock in the signal the receiver shut off again, causing Red Robin to groan in frustration.
Batman put a hand on the teen's shoulder, "Relax, we know how to trace her now."
Red Robin spun around in his chair to face his mentor and looked him in the eyes with determination, "Bruce, I know I messed up big time, but I created this mess and I want to be the one to fix this. If I can do this," he said, gesturing to the computer he was using to trace Catwoman, "then I can do this solo, by myself." he finished, pulling at the fabric of his suit.
Bruce looked at him for a few seconds and then nodded in agreement, "I'll monitor the computer from here just in case, but you get back out there and be ready when the signal returns." he stated.
Red Robin nodded, putting his cowl back up, determination still on his face and took off to his motorcycle, put on his helmet and sped out the cave. He made his way to where his search for his batarang signal left off and decided to wait there for it to activate again. He pulled his bike into a nearby alleyway and made his way to the roof of an apartment complex and began his stakeout.
As he surveyed the ground below for what felt like hours looking for anything that might clue him in to Catwoman, he decided to check his phone and saw that he had finally got some texts from Barbara.
Nathan, you'll never guess who I just saw speed by the diner!
Red Robin chasing the Batmobile?!
He chuckled at that and then continued reading. There was a long break between texts before they picked up again.
Nathan
Could we talk?
Look if you want to talk, come by my house tonight ok?
He decided to send back sure before closing his phone and putting it away until he finished what he came here to do.
GOTHAM CITY
AUGUST 20, 21:06 EDT
Red Robin sighed, he had been out here for a while and Bruce wasn't very talkative. Nathan was fed up with this and put his hand to his ear, "Batman, this is ridiculous. There's got to be a better way than waiting for the signal cause I've been on top of this apartment complex for hours" he complained.
"You're doing fine." Batman responded, and Red Robin couldn't help but detect praise? from Batman. "However, if you don't want to wait for her to come to you, then go to her." he advised before going radio silent again.
Red Robin thought for a while, before it dawned on him and made his way over to the fire escape. I really hate all these ladders, he thought before finally reaching his bike and sped off, knowing where Catwaoman was heading.
On his way, beeping came from his wrist and taking a look, his holoscreen showed that the receiver in his remote-control batarang was activated and confirmed his hunch was correct.
He arrived at the house of Hideo Katsu and found the place pretty lax on guards for the house of a possible crime organization. He climbed up a nearby tree and traveled from branch to branch, and tree to tree before he got close enough to the house to leap and land on the roof quietly. He made his way over to where there was a sunroof and saw Catwoman on top of several crates and surrounded by ten ninjas!?
He quietly opened one of the panels and got inside and decided to make his presence known.
"I should warn you fellas," he started before coming down from the rafters, cape flapping in the wind as he landed on one of the crates, "Corner a cat, get scratched."
Several ninjas took a step back to regard their new opponent, giving Red Robin a chance to look around. On a pedestal behind the ninjas was a green emerald lion that stood on top of a satchel that was unzipped and draped around the lion.
"Hello Handsome. Good timing." Catwoman purred, knocking him from his thoughts.
Red Robin turned his head and looked at her, "You have something of mine." to which Catwoman just smiled at him.
"She pilfered from you as well." Hideo chimed in, glaring at the two costumed gothamites.
"Take it," Catwoman groaned, "Clashes with my boots, anyway." she said, unclipping the belt and handing it back. Red Robin took it, nodding his thanks to Catwoman. If he was going to help her take on these ninjas, he'd rather do it with his belt, that he was now thankful was clipped around his waist once more.
"Now stand aside, so that we may complete our business with her." Hideo sternly spoke to Red Robin, glaring at him.
Red Robin regarded Hideo Katsu, before returning to look at Catwoman, who was pleading with him to stay with her eyes.
"Dude, stop with the glaring. Those wrinkles are gonna become permanent." Red Robin joked with the man, earning a roll of the eyes from Catwoman, "The lady leaves with me."
"Then neither of you leaves. Attack!" Katsu yelled and his ninjas advanced towards Red Robin and Catwoman.
Red Robin grabbed some smoke pellets from his utility belt and threw them down at the ninjas, filling the area completely with smoke. He then pulled Catwoman close to him and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Shall we?" she asked, as Red Robin pulled out his grapple gun.
"There is no 'we'." he stated bluntly.
Catwoman stretched out her hand and pointed to the ninjas through the smoke, "That's not what they think," she stated in a sing-song voice, getting Red Robin to look at the ninjas with weapons drawn.
Red Robin, as the smoke enveloped them and the ninjas, shot his grapple gun up to hook on one of the support beams and he and Catwoman started their ascent upward, but one ninja noticed them and Red Robin saw three shurikens emerge from the smoke and cut his line, causing him and Catwoman to fall back to the ground floor.
Both landed on their feet, but Red Robin barely had time to get his bearings, as Catwoman moved with speed and grace towards what she came here for, the emerald lion, leaving him to take a foot to the chest as three ninjas descended on him, and one pulled out what looked liked a spike ball on a chain and turned his attention to Catwoman, along with a couple others with swords drawn.
Catwoman was able to grab the statue and zip up the satchel and put it around her shoulder, and move just in time as the spike ball collided with the stone pedestal, smashing it to pieces.
Catwoman had moved to put her back against a large stone structure that had a picture of a dragon on it, facing off against several ninjas. In the periphery of her vision she caught the site of the dangling rope that hung in midair from Red Robin's grapple and immediately began trying to think how to get to it.
However, her thoughts were cut short as the ninja in front of her threw the spiked ball again and she was forced to move to avoid it. The ball hit the stone structure behind her causing it to crack and lean backwards, propping itself up against the side of the second floor.
Red Robin had his hands full, surrounded by more ninjas than he cared for. Red Robin quickly threw one ninja off of him and kicked another that attempted to charge at him, while another one snuck up from behind and locked his arms behind his back, holding him in place for one of his friends.
One ninja came at him from the front, but Red Robin flipped backwards, colliding his boot to the face of the ninja that was approaching him. He landed behind the ninja that was previously holding him, breaking the grip so that Red Robin could knee the ninja.
He then moved slightly to the left sensing another attack coming for him, as a ninja appeared out of the smoke, flying through the air, but Red Robin was able to sidestep him and grab his foot and used the momentum of the ninja to spin and throw him across the room.
As he turned to face his next challenge though, he only turned just in time to see a bolas just before it wrapped itself around him, "Huh, so that's what that feels like," he mumbled to himself, slightly chuckling, before his chuckling turned to pain as a ninja struck home with their foot to his face, sending him reeling back, as two ninjas then grabbed each of his arms. He turned to see Catwoman holding off her own ninjas.
Catwoman shoved one ninja into another, creating the opening she needed and took off up the broken structure and arrived on the second floor, still closely followed by several ninjas. Once she made it up to the second floor she spun on her heels, walking backwards slightly as she waited for her pursuers to make their moves.
She ducked under the blade of one of the ninjas and quickly elbowed him in the side, but one of the bigger muscled ninjas was able to grab her before she could evade and threw her against the wooden railing, slamming her chest off of it.
However, Catwoman smirked seeing how close she was to her target and turned back around to face the ninjas, keeping her back close to the railing for what she had in mind. One of the ninjas charged at her with the spiked ball, spinning it as he did so. As he charged at her, she jumped off the ground as the ninja was unable to stop and broke through the wooden barrier. She then kicked off the ninja and was able to grab onto the rope and started to climb, as the ninja fell from the second floor and crashed into another ninja on the ground floor in front of Red Robin.
Catwoman climbed, but was quickly followed by three other ninjas, and before she could climb the rope, the combined weight of her and the three ninjas made the rope snap again and her and the ninjas began to fall.
Red Robin, seeing this dove and caught Catwoman and the two rolled across the floor, ending with Red Robin on top of Catwoman. Catwoman smirked, which caused Red Robin to get up quickly and pull her to her feet. He then grabbed her wrist and spun as Catwoman kicked off with her feet and she landed a kick to one of the ninjas knocking them to the ground.
The two stood ready as what was left of the ninjas encircled them, swords drawn. Catwoman turned to face Red Robin and gave him a wink before taking off behind them to the stone structure again and ran up it to the second floor.
Red Robin quickly knelt down to the floor and spun taking the legs out from one of the charging ninjas and followed her up the statue. As he ran he saw that once she got to the second floor, she stopped and knelt down and cupped her hands together, ready to boost him up.
He ran towards her and pushed off her cupped hands, "Alley-oop" she said as she gave him a boost, just enough so that he was able to wrap his arms around one of the support beams overhead, feet dangling.
She then backed up and got a running leap towards his dangling legs, right before the ninjas were able to grab her. She wrapped her arms around his legs, her momentum along with Red Robin, swung his legs forward so that she was able to pull herself up onto the beam.
As she stood, she saw the ninjas also throw grapple devices towards the beam she was on, and quickly pulled Red Robin up so that he could get to his feet. As he stood in front of Catwoman in a protective stance, the ninjas appeared on the beam ready for a fight.
One ninja, sword drawn, was in front of him while another, sword also drawn, stood in front of Catwoman, closing them off, other ninjas stood encircling them from the other beams that ran parallel to the one they were on, swords ready for combat as well.
Catwoman reached behind her with her right hand and grabbed Red Robin's right, right before the two ninjas on their beam charged at them from both sides. Catwoman leapt into the air and Red Robin was able to dodge the attack from the ninja in front of him and was able to stick his right foot out and trip up his ninja into the other one that charged from behind, knocking them both off their platform.
Catwoman landed now in front of Red Robin and kicked another ninja that jumped over to their beam, and immediately tucked and rolled back towards Red Robin, who had just finished connecting his foot to the face of another ninja that came from behind him.
Red Robin then grabbed onto the outstretched hands of Catwoman and as she leapt from her now crouched position, he flung her up so that she could wrap her legs around the next beam up and dangled upside down, still holding the hands of Red Robin, who then flipped and landed on the beam and pulled her up in fluid motion.
"Thanks" they both said to each other at the same time.
Red Robin and Catwoman then saw how much closer they were to the way out, which was a circular window, at the top of the front of the building. Red Robin held the hips of Catwoman and hoisted her up to the only beam that was now between them and their way out, but once he lifted her up and she now stood on the beam, he was hit in the stomach with a bludgeoned projectile connected to a chain that knocked him off the beam, luckily he only fell a few feet to another beam that was slightly lower.
His momentum threatened to cause him to roll off, but he was able to grab hold of the side of the beam with one hand as he dangled there trying to get air back into his lungs, a ninja with sword drawn stood over him. The ninja looked to his boss, Hideo Katsu, who made a slicing motion with his thumb across his neck, with an evil smirk.
The ninja pointed his sword at the helpless Red Robin, but before he could finish the act, Catwoman jumped from the beam she was on, "Reow!" she hissed, as she brought the stachel down onto the head of the ninja. There was a definite crunch from inside the satchel as it made contact, knocking the ninja off the beam.
Catwoman then pulled Red Robin back to his feet on the beam they were now on, which was conveniently not too far from the skyline he used to enter the building when he first got here.
"Ahh," she sighed, "I think I broke it," she spoke sadly. She opened the satchel and inside the mess that was once an emerald lion was a small, compact disc.
"What's that?" she asked, surprised, as Red Robin reached in and grabbed the disc, "A minidisc?" she asked.
"From the look on his face," Red Robin spoke, looking sternly at Hideo, who stood on the ground floor, surrounded by unconscious ninjas, with a stunned and regretful expression, "Pretty important I bet." he finished speaking to Catwoman.
Hideo immediately began to run, but Red Robin with his belt back, took out a bolas and threw it down towards Hideo, which wrapped around and knocked him to the ground before he could escape.
Red Robin then heard sirens coming from outside, "Catwoman that's our cue to-," but he stopped when he turned around and she was gone, "Huh," he chuckled, "It's bad enough when Batman does that, now her too!," he finished, before reaching to pull out his grapple gun, when he noticed the Red Robin symbol on his belt was missing, "Almost got me," he laughed.
Catwoman watched from a tree nearby Hideo's compound as the police arrived on the scene to mop things up.
"Too bad about the statue," came a voice that surprised her as she spun around in time to see Red Robin drop down onto another branch in a crouched position ready to move if she fled.
"You win some, you lose some." she shrugged, "Just glad you and I got to dance," she added with a smile.
Red Robin opened his mouth to say something along the lines of "there's still no 'we'" but realized he actually enjoyed working with her, "It was… fun" he sighed as he spoke the last word admitting it, "Though I don't actually dance. I have two left feet when it comes to that." he spoke, getting Catwoman to genuinely laugh at that.
She then pulled out her whip and latched it onto another tree, ready to make her exit, when Red Robin coughed, "What?" she asked coyly, "You got your belt back."
"Most of it," Red Robin spoke sternfully, raising one eyebrow, but it wasn't the voice he used with most criminals.
"Unh," she groaned, realizing that he caught on, "You sure know how to spoil a girl. I know another that would agree with me." she smirked seeing his face grow red.
She reached into her satchel and pulled out his remote control for the batarang that was damaged. She threw it and Red Robin had to turn to catch it, when he turned back she was gone.
WAYNE MANOR
AUGUST 20, 21:30 EDT
Nathan had returned to the Batcave and was able to get freshened up before joining Bruce in the living room. Nathan sat down on the couch next to Bruce and started to eat a bowl of cereal Alfred had just sat down in front of him.
As he ate, he watched the news on the television, "A minidisc found at the scene revealed a chart of Japanese organized crime naming names, with Katsu at the top of a yakuza family intent on expanding into Gotham." Vicki Vale reported at the scene.
As Nathan was about to take another bite from his cereal the Batwave went off, causing Bruce to pull out his phone.
"You want me to go with you?" Nathan asked, putting his bowl down.
"I'll handle this," Bruce said standing up, "You relax and enjoy your success." he finished before walking off, but before he completely left the room he paused, "With how well you did I'm lifting your team suspension," he paused, seeing Nathan's jaw slightly open, before he continued, "even though technically you teamed up with Catwoman and didn't technically do it solo." he smirked, seeing the glare from Nathan, before leaving.
After Bruce left, Nathan finished his cereal and again found himself looking at the texts from Barbara and decided to reply.
Am I still allowed to come over?
He then waited a whole couple seconds before he got his reply.
Yeah
He sighed at the response. He was glad he was allowed, but Barbara and one word text messages, meant only a few things and none of them were good for Nathan.
GORDON RESIDENCE
AUGUST 20, 22:15 EDT
Nathan stood at the door of the Gordon home, with his hand raised to the door, but paused before knocking, taking an extra couple seconds to calm down and brace for what he thought was gonna be some heated words from Barbara.
As he went to knock the door swung open revealing Barbara Gordon, dressed in a short sleeve Batman shirt and spandex shorts and Nathan had to try his hardest not to stare. What snapped him back to reality though was the look on her face, it at least didn't seem angry, but it wasn't happy either.
"Is it too late? I can come back a different time," Nathan sputtered, trying to keep himself together, he then looked at his phone for the time, "Geez, I didn't realize how late it was. I can come back… Yeah I'll just come back." he rambled.
"Nathan, it's fine. Come in" Barbara interrupted him, stepping aside some to allow him in. After he walked in, he allowed her to lead them to the couch in her living room, where Vicki Vale was back reporting from the scene.
"Police assure me that as they finish up here, they already have units arresting the members on the minidisc."
"Wow, news travels fast. Heard that happened just not too long ago."
"Yeah, dad got called out to the scene when they realized what was on that disc," she stated as she took a seat on the couch with Nathan, though he noticed she left a little more space between them then she usually did.
"Dad said that the cameras picked up the whole fight inside. Red Robin with Catwoman, of all people," she emphasized, "teamed up to take down Katsu."
"What?!" he asked, trying to sound surprised. "That's one team up I never saw coming." he said, trying to act surprised as Barbara.
Barbara nodded agreeing with him, "Yeah, I agree." she spoke.
She then turned to Nathan and let out a heavy sigh, "Look, I wanted to talk to you about the last time you were here."
Nathan shook his head, "It's ok Barbara. Honest. I shouldn't have walked out on you like that," he apologized.
Barbara gave him a small smile, "Well to be fair I wasn't expecting you to say no. I asked for your opinion because I figured you'd say yes, and when you didn't, I felt hurt, betrayed, angry and I shouldn't have," she sighed before continuing, "You just sounded a lot like dad about the subject and I took out my frustration on you."
"It's ok, honest," he said, extending his hand out to her, "Friends?" he asked.
She took his hand, and he tensed for a second, "Friends" she echoed shaking.
"Good, but friends don't let friends listen to boring news all night." he stated with a smirk and quickly grabbed the remote in her other hand and started to change the channel and held her back with his other hand.
As he flipped through the channels, he paused at one. It was the movie that he went to with Lily before they were both shot. Barbara noticed, but she acted quickly not letting this ruin their night. She launched herself for the remote, knocking Nathan out of his thoughts and made him hit a button changing it to a sports channel.
Both had their hands on the remote trying to get it out of the grip of the other. Nathan, not wanting to lose this faux battle took one hand off the remote and found its way to Barbara's side and started to tickle her, which made her jerk forward, her head resting on Nathan's chest as she laughed, now with one hand on the remote and her other trying to wrestle away the tickling hand of her opponent.
Realizing she wasn't getting anywhere, she decided to flip the tables on him and took her hand that wasn't holding the remote and tickled Nathan's side who flinched to the left and fell off the couch dragging Barbara with him.
The tickling stopped as the teens rolled on the floor continuing their fight for the remote, when it ended with Barbara straddling Nathan and had both his hands pinned on either side of his head.
"Give up." she ordered him, smirking.
"Make me." he shot back, and regretted it immediately. Or maybe regretted wasn't the right word.
Barbara leaned closer to him so that they were barely inches apart. Each could feel the breath of the other against their faces. Barbara started to lean in closer and Nathan tensed before relaxing and closed his eyes, not believing what was about to happen.
Then, he felt nothing. He opened his eyes, trying to calm himself down as he did so and realized that was no longer holding onto the remote and looked to see Barbara flopping herself back onto the couch, laying down so that she took up the entire thing, shooting him a smirk before returning her attention back to the television.
He laid there on the floor for awhile, watching whatever Barbara decided to flip to, before his back started to protest the hard floor, especially after the beating it had taken today, and stood up and made his way over to the couch and pushed Barbara's legs off his spot and retook it.
Barbara pouted for a second before she repositioned her legs by dropping them onto Nathan's lap. Nathan let out an "Umph" but made no move to push her legs off him.
As they reached the end of the movie they had found, Nathan noticed that Barbara had fallen asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he tried to get up slowly without disturbing her. He carefully lifted her legs off him and placed them back on the couch and grabbed a blanket that laid on top of the couch and covered her, before trying to stealthily leave.
Before he even took a few steps though, a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist and he looked back to see Barbara sitting up, but he was more focused on the hand that held his wrist.
"Stay?" she asked, "It's already late and you can have the couch."
Nathan stood there, looking at her hand before his gaze followed her arm to her face, "Umm sure I guess." he finally got out.
She smiled and stood up and gave him the blanket, before making her way to her room.
GOTHAM CITY
AUGUST 20, 22:15 EDT
Batman landed on top of the Gotham First Bank, where the Bat-Symbol in the sky originated from, but no one was visibly present. He stayed there and felt a presence in the shadows and knew exactly who it was.
"Selina," Batman said calmly.
Making her way out of the shadows of the building, Catwoman walked over to the Bat-Symbol and shut it off, "Sorry, I know we're on the same side now, but I didn't know a faster way to get your attention," she apologized.
It was true, Catwoman had started helping Batman and his proteges now. It was a partnership that was going on half a year now, but involved Catwoman still playing on the other side of the fence every now and then to keep Batman in the loop of what was happening on the other side, so Catwoman had no direct means of communicating with him. Catwoman also decided to keep his sidekicks in the dark about her working with them to make it seem more legit.
"How is he?" she asked, with genuine concern.
"He's fine. Alfred tended to his wounds, no long-lasting damage.," he paused before smirking at her, "I heard all about what happened from him. He enjoyed working with you even if you irritated him some."
Catwoman laughed, "That's good to hear," she spoke relaxing slightly, "Thank you for taking him in."
Batman nodded, "You're welcome," he then paused some before continuing, "You should talk to him. He deserves to know Selina," Bruce said, walking towards Selina so he was standing right in front of her. Not in a menacing way, but caring.
She looked up into his eyes, "You think I don't want to, Bruce?" she asked, a little anger coming out.
"I didn't say that," Batman spoke soothingly, pulling Selina in for a comforting hug.
"I know. I'm sorry," she whispered into his neck.
After some time in his arms, she pulled back slowly and looked him in the eyes again, "What am I supposed to say Bruce?" she asked a little shakily, "Could you imagine how he'd look at me if I told him I was his mother after he spent the last 5 months following you and the Boy Wonder around chasing me?" she asked, "And most of his life with the people he now looks at as his parents."
Batman remembered the time when he first took Nathan in and trained him. After hearing about what happened from Dick in the alleyway and Dick asking to bring Nathan into the fold, Bruce had let Nathan grieve and get everything off his chest for almost a full year before finally allowing Dick to reveal everything to him in December. Nathan then did three months of rigorous training and exercise before Batman let him dawn his costume.
Batman stayed quiet, knowing she didn't want him to answer. Instead, he let her continue, getting this off her chest.
"I can't tell him now. Soon though, I promise," she said, never breaking eye contact with Batman, "Taking down Katsu today, it made me realize what we could have. Mother and son taking down the bad guys of Gotham," she paused before adding, "I'd like that."
"Me too and good," he spoke softly, "It's better if he hears it from you then from 'that poor excuse of a detective' father of his."
"I know," she spoke, chuckling using the words she said to him to describe Nathan's father, "I don't want Samuel to be the one that tells him either."
She gave him a quick kiss on the lips, before turning away to take her leave. She pulled out her whip, but stopped at the edge of the roof, and turned to look over her shoulder at the Dark Knight, "Thank you Bruce... for everything. I'm proud of him," then she jumped.
Batman stood there, watching her disappear into the night.