Don't mess with our Friend...
Don't mess with our Boss...
Don't mess with my Sister...
Rain clouds blocked light from the full moon, and rain, any sounds from the traffic below. It was close to the meeting time, and impatience flared. The wind kicked the rooftop door open, slamming it against the wall, as three figures, already soaked from the rain below, stepped onto the rooftop. The Chef's Boys. Gary, Kyle, and Marcus. Gary and Kyle looked nervous, eyes fleeting back and forth, scanning the dark roof. Marcus seemed more collected of the three, looking at his phone.
"Hey, we're here." Marcus called out to the shadows. "You're looking for the Chef?"
Damien stepped out of the darker shadows. His mask in place, cape whipping in the wind. The three men recognized him not as Smokebomb, The Chef's apprentice, but as Robin. Recognition hit the three men, their old lives of crime, the fights they had with the Boy Wonder.
"The Chef has been missing for two weeks, and I can not find a trace of her." Kyle and Gary began to back away, thinking it had to be a trap, but Marcus wasn't backing down, his Boss was in trouble. "You work closely with her, do you have any idea what may have happened?"
"Why're you interested, Baby Bird?" Marcus's face showed heavy suspicion. "When it comes to you and the Bat, shit always goes sideways, one way or another."
"My interest in none of your concern, Marcus." That was Damien's first mistake.
"See, it is my business. She's the best Boss ex-cons like us could ask for. We'd never get a shot at a normal life with our history. I'm not about to let some punk ruin our lives and hers because he's looking to lock up a good person."
"I'm trying to find Miss Fox, and save her."
"Why's that kid? Why's she so important to you?"
"I am not a child." That was his second mistake, and Damien knew it. Recognition sparked in another way in The Chefs Men in a new way. Kyle broke the silence.
"Smokebomb?"
"Lady Chef is my family, and I will not let her come to harm. If you feel the same way, I need your assistance." Marcus glared the boy down, old memories of beat downs and jail time, new memories of baking and prep-work with the all too mature child.
"Forget this cloak and dagger bullshit. Meet us here tomorrow night, but understand this. You can't be Baby Bird. I'm bringing Mama Chef's friends, and they ain't your biggest fans."
"I understand. I just need to find her, if you believe they can help, I will make an exception."
"No Batman, either."
"Batman is not aware of what is going on. I have been doing my best to keep Lady Chef out of his peripherals."
"He still showed up a couple of times."
"Lady Chef has a way of attracting attention."
Marcus couldn't help but laugh.
It wasn't raining tonight, and that was a blessing. Batman was out of commission, due to an unforeseen bout of sickness. Hopefully Alfred doesn't find the bottle of liquid laxative in the trashcan. Damien had donned the outfit he first met the Chef in, the ratty, torn, and dirtied jacket, pants and shoes. The hood up to hide his face, he was just as recognizable as Damien Wayne as he was Robin. The trek up the stairs was long, and frankly aggravating, but it was the only way to arrive without arousing suspicion. Getting closer to the run down buildings roof, Damien could hear the quiet rumble of many voices. Finally opening the door the voices stopped and Damien saw a small army of people. Men and women he recognized from the diner, thugs, drug dealers, sex workers, homeless civilians, the down trodden and outcasts that found a home and reprieve in the Chef's diner. All huddled together, all armed in some way, all waiting.
"Kid." Marcus was at the center of the congregation, with Kyle and Gary, as well as Deker, and Tazer. Damien pulled the hood further over his face and waded his way through the horde. "Glad you could make it."
"This is a lot of people." Damien remarked, shoulders tense, his guard up from years of training. Marcus lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply, Damien could see the slight shake in his hand as he did so.
"Mama Chef has made a lot of friends. We're waiting for the last people to show, I need to talk to you a moment." Marcus nudged his head to the side, and with the silent order, Deker, Kyle, Tazer, and Gary fanned out corralling the crowd a further bit away and Marcus guided Damien aside by the shoulder. "Kid, I don;t know how much you know, but Boss has some... less than upstanding friends."
"I am aware." Marcus gave a derivitive snort, taking another ling drag from the cigarette.
"Smokebomb, are you sure you know how deep her connections go?"
"She's mentioned when she was sick she had friends in low places."
"Do you know how low though? You got your night job, and this... This will incriminate her, this will make her a criminal by association. Once you find out, your gonna have to make a choice. Do you stand by the Chef, or do you stand by the Bat?"
"I do not agree with... him, on many topics. The Lady Chef being one, even if he is not aware."
"I'm giving you an out kid, plausible deniability. You gotta make the choice, and you gotta make it now."
"I already have." Whatever Marcus was going to say was drowned out by laughter. The most recognizable, and infamous laughter know to the city of Gotham.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Why the looong faces? It's not a funeral... Yet..." Damien's head swung fast. In the partings of the crowd, Damien could see him. His father's arch enemy. The scourge of the city. The Joker... And, the Scarecrow, Penguin, Riddler, Harley Quinn, The Mad Hatter and some faces he didn't recognize.
"Now... who here has a plan to get my best friend back, hmm?" Damien felt a hand on his shoulder again.
"I hope you for real about protecting her."
"There was no signs of a struggle at her apartment."
"If she had the phone I gave her, I would have been able to track her."
"We found it sitting on her desk in the diner. She never put it anywhere except her boots. The whole thing was wiped clean, factory reset I guess."
"We did a search of the diner... We found microphones and camera's hidden in them, but none were Bat-branded."
"Who was the last one she contacted?" Phones were whipped out.
"Oh! ME! Alice made plans for tea with me for the day after she went missing!"
"Who was the last one to see her in person?"
"Heeheehee, meeeeee! I want to pay dear Chefy a visit!"
"Did she seem scared?"
"No, Chefy isn't easily scared."
"I've got an anonymous donor who is willing to fund us to find Blue Jay."
"Aaaaw, Ossie-waldie, ya do care!"
So many voices, so much information, so many things Damien didn't know. Half of him wanted to fight, to bring these villains to justice... but...
They all stood around a pseudo table made from busted crates, a map of the city, routes she traversed, the horde of diner patrons inputting things they'd seen, things they heard. They were villains, scum, targets...
They were trying to find his Ukhti.
They were trying to save her.
"There's that new guy, the one who killed Falcone... Chef was leery about him." Marcus had already smoked through his pack, more offered from others in the crowd. Penguin perked up at the statement.
"Yes... I remember at the party she mentioned someone seemed a little interested in her. Knew a bit about her."
"It's not hard to find information about her now-a-days," Riddler grumbled. "Between the Wayne dinner months ago, and her... association with Lex Luthor, her face is pretty well known now."
"Ooooh, ya sound a little jealous, Eddie." Harley Quinn poked the Riddler's cheek, but he didn't deny it.
"Does she have have any family or friends in the city, outside of us?"
"She has friends in Metropolis, but they have not heard from her since a few days before her going missing." Damien was tired of feeling left out, of feeling useless. He didn't mean to speak, but he wasn't going to sit out and let these criminals be the only ones working to find his Ukhti. All eyes snapped to him.
"Who's the kid?"
"Boss, er... Lady Boss," Marcus corrected himself when Joker looked his way. "she found the kid one day trying to rob her, gave him food, been teaching him to cook when he comes around."
"Daaaw, Chefy is such a bleeding heart below all that anger, hahaha." Joker held a hand to his chest dramatically, as Harley Quinn came bounding close to Damien, cooing.
"Aww, the kiddie looks so angry. Ya gonna help us find Sunshine?"
"You are going to help me find my sister." The Chef's Boy's all snapped their heads towards Damien, at his admission.
"Sure thing, Kiddo, we're gonna find your Sissy, and we're gonna smash the idiots head who thought he could take her away." Damien stiffened as Harley pulled him into a tight hug, nuzzling her cheek into the top of his head.
"Eddie, start planning, Crow, do your thing and get info, you all," The Joker turned to the average vagabonds behind the Rouges, "Keep you're eyes peeled and ears open." Damien had never heard the Joker so serious before.
"What are we gonna do, Puddin?"
"We're gonna get the firepower ready."
This may have been a mistake... But it was a mistake Damien was willing to make.
"All you gotta do is give me the information I want, and this will stop." Red Hood wiped blood from The Chef's cheek. He didn't want to hurt an innocent, but she toed the line. Her loyalty was impressive. He pulled the gag from her mouth, and flinched slightly as bloody spit landed in the approximation of where his eye would be, if he wasn't wearing his hood.
"Fuck off. There's gonna be a long line of idiots looking to kick your ass, And I'm gonna be FIRST IN LINE!" Red Hood sighed, as he put the gag back on her, though it was a struggle with her thrashing about, trying to bite him. She would break... eventually.
Or he'd break her.
Which ever came first...