Batman heard the weapon before he saw it. A sharp metallic clang echoed around the small room. There wasn't much room which meant fewer opportunities for stealth attacks. In less than a minute, a sharp silver blade collided with his armor. Batman was no stranger to fighting against opponents with swords. A few years ago, another masked assassin appeared. Deathstroke. A ruthless fighter but a bit of a numbskull. They clashed a few times; the classic sword and arms dance. Silver rang throughout the compound. It has a high-pitched tinny sound. Batman was also familiar with fighting women. The bad kind. Shiva, Copperhead, and Harley Quinn just to name a few. To him, a criminal was a criminal no matter the gender. Superman may be afraid to hit a woman. Fine, but Batman didn't pull his punches.
Batman's cowl was lined with infrared lenses which he hit the moment the smoke bombs went off. It lit up the adversary in a bright orange which stuck out like a sore thumb. The British assassin however was prepared and deployed a classic flash bang. Now he had to fight with pure instinct as he functioned both deaf and blind. The cowl caught most of the bang lessening the damage to his ears, but he didn't turn in time and now bright spots lined his vision. Just great.
Nevertheless, to be expected from a highly trained assassin. Wound or damage the enemy before going in for the kill. It would take a few minutes for his vision to clear. His hearing returned before it and thanks to sensors on his suit that felt close vibrations he could get a rough estimate of where the enemy was before they struck. He took several blows, but thanks to his armor-plated suit it protected him. ACE's weapon bounced off his armor but not without leaving long dents into the metal.
"You dare enter my city and take what's mine?" The vigilante growled. Time to do some sleuthing.
"Ha! Take what's yours? Finder's keepers."
"That child has full citizenship. He belongs to me." In more ways than one.
"Who's going to miss one kid? Especially an orphan."
Something snapped in Bruce. How dare she think orphans were things that could be thrown away?
"He has a family. It's called Gotham and I'm its guardian."
"Sorry, but orders are orders." ACE swiped a blade at his head which Bruce ducked under barely in time. His poor bat ears got a chunk taken out of them.
"Who ordered you?" Batman thundered, catching another strike against his gauntlet.
"Well aren't you chatty? I thought you'd be dark and brooding like all the rumors."
Batman lunged left out of the shadows just as ACE's blade slipped under his arm. They froze, entangled in each other's limbs, a weapon in each hand poised at vulnerable vital points.
"Well, aren't you a beauty up close." ACE tapped the edge of her blade against his jugular covered in protective material. It could protect against bullets, but a razor sharp sword? Batman wasn't as confident. With the right angle, she could pierce right through.
Batman let out a grunt of disapproval.
He lifted her chin slightly with the pointed edge of his Bat-a-rang. His eyes narrowed.
"Your men died for nothing. If you won't tell me who sent you, then tell them, if they set foot in my city again, it means war."
He studied her face which was difficult with her mask on but even the slightest twitch was informative. Body language never lies.
She tightened her jaw. He had struck a nerve somewhere. Whoever was behind this was influential and scared her at least into submission of following orders.
She lowered the blade from his neck indicating the fight was over at least in the moment. They stepped away from each other but never kept their eyes off one another.
"Fine, but let me warn you. My boss never backs down from a fight. Boss is untouchable. This isn't over, Batman." The woman sheathed her swords and radioed out. She unhooked FOX and dragged him away, disappearing through the door.
Far in the distance GCPD sirens could be heard growing closer. Batman moved the dead assassin to a different room before checking the compound which was now silent. Elite stealth unit through and through.
"Dick, you can come out now." Batman tossed the cardboard boxes aside and opened the locker.
The kid had slumped down into the corner. His eyes were closed. Batman gently brought him out and laid him over his knee.
"Dick? Can you hear me?" He softly tapped the side of his face.
A stifled groan escaped his lips. The poor kid probably fainted after his adrenaline rush. Shows how much he trusted Batman to get him to safety. Not even the brutal fight garnered his attention.
Batman checked him again, noticing his right shoulder was at an odd angle. He gingerly felt it. Definitely sprained and starting to swell, but not broken. Alfred getting shot was bad enough. If they dared break the bones of his kid, there would be blood to pay.
He cradled his son in his arms and hit the call button on his cowl.
"Gordon, speaking."
"It's me. I found the kid. Slight injuries, but functional. I'll wait for you out front." Batman said, clicking off before Gordon could question him more. There would be plenty of time for that later.
As soon as Batman handed the boy over to paramedics, he crossed over to the Commissioner.
"One dead, several tied up unless they escaped. They took a load of local gangs' weapons stashes. Reason unknown."
Gordon nodded, scribbling down notes quickly.
"Any ideas who's behind it?"
Batman shook his head. He wasn't happy about it either.
Batman turned away.
"You okay?"
Gordon had seen the deep gouges in his armor.
"I'm fine."
"You're bleeding."
Batman froze. Bleeding? No. He must be mistaken.
"It's not mine." Batman disappeared into the shadows as more police came to report their findings to the boss.
Once a safe distance away, did Batman assess himself. A sharp sting hit him. Gordon was right. He was bleeding. The sword he had caught under the arm had sliced through his armor and left a nice gash into his tricep. Lovely.
It wasn't too deep but long. Long enough to hurt and bleed. That sneaky little British assassin. He'd have to do a dirty patch up. He needed to be back at the hospital before Gordon called with the news of finding his son. How ironic.
He rode his bike into town and ditched it at the hidden safe house where he scrubbed the Batsuit, wrapped his arm in sterilized gauze, and jumped into his regular business suit. He'd do a better clean up once things settled down. He quickly made two cups of coffee and topped them off into Styrofoam cups labeled Gotham's Finest Coffee. Pays to be rich. Selena wouldn't know the difference, but he was sure his coffee was better than anything the hospital could dredge up.
Revving up his car, he waited till no traffic was in sight before pulling into the main roads that would lead into the city.
Gotham General was busy. More busy than he expected as he flashed his badge at the officers who let him into Alfred's secure room. Selena had fallen asleep with her head on the side of the window sill. That didn't look comfortable.
He gently tapped her shoulder. Her eyes flashed open at the sudden touch.
"Bruce! Thank goodness you're back! Any word? I haven't heard a single thing?"
"The money drop was a success. The GCPD have the location on Dick. Coffee?"
"Oh, yes please. What about your special friend? Was he of any help?"
"I'm sure he had a part in it. I'm waiting for Gordon to call."
Bruce's phone rang. He put it on speaker.
"Bruce, it's Gordon. We got the kid. He's being police escorted back to the hospital for a checkup."
"Thank the heavens! Is he hurt?" Selena asked not waiting for Bruce to ask first.
"Minor injuries at worst. You can thank the vigilante for that. We'll be at your location in fifteen minutes."
The call clicked off.
Selena set her coffee down and wrapped her friend in a hug. Bruce wasn't expecting her sudden move and staggered backwards trying not to spill his coffee all over Selena.
"Selena, wait!"
Too late.
Bruce tripped over Alfred's call light and crashed to the floor, with Selena landing on his chest.
"Oof." Bruce wheezed out his muscled yet sore body letting him know it didn't appreciate the hard ground.
"Oh my gosh! Bruce, I am so sorry!" Selena's face turned crimson. "Are you alright?" She scrambled off him and took the hot coffee, which not a single drop had spilled, and pulled him to his feet.
He chuckled. "I'm fine. Really, just warn me the next time you decide to jump me with hot coffee in my hand."
"What are you two doing on the floor together?" A gruff voice said.
Both adults whipped their heads around at the sound of the voice. Alfred, blinked up at them innocently.
"What?!" They both exclaimed at the same time. "Alfred! You're awake!"
Alfred grinned lopsided. "You two are in sync today or maybe I'm just loopy from the meds."
Bruce cleared his throat, the edges of his ears pink. "Dad! How are you feeling?"
"Like I got shot. Twice." He deadpanned.
Bruce winced.
"Where's Dick?" The elderly man asked, glancing around him as if expecting the kid to be there.
"He's fine. He's on his way over as we speak."
"Those idiots ruined my grandson's chocolate chip cookies. They owe me several dozen new batches."
Bruce smiled. This was Alfred's way of humorously skirting around the trauma that occurred. He was going to be thrilled to see Dick, alive and well.
"I'll be sure to send them the bill." Bruce replied, going along with it.
"You better. They owe you half a new house."
Selena reached out her hand and grasped Alfred's. "I'm so glad you're safe, Alfred. You gave us quite a scare."
Alfred winked at her. "It'll take more than bullets to put me out of commission."
Selena let out a nervous laugh. "I don't doubt that."
"Do you need anything? Water? More pain meds?" Bruce asked, looking worried.
Alfred raised an eyebrow. "I think they doped me up on everything possible. I'm starting to believe I'm seeing things like you two on the ground together."
Even on meds, the man was sharp as a tack.
Selena came to Bruce's rescue. "I dropped a pen. We were looking for it. It may have rolled under the bed." She hoped he'd buy the fake story. Otherwise she wasn't about to live that incident down for the rest of her life.
Bruce grabbed his coffee and took a long drink. "Yep, what she said."
Alfred scanned his son's friend. "Ah, so I see. So when is my grandson going to be here?"
Bruce checked his watch. "Any minute now. I'm sure the doctors will want to examine him first before he can see you. I'm going to go wait for him and when I return I'll see if I can bring him with me once he's cleared."
"Alright son. I'll rest and enjoy the company of Ms. Kyle while you're away."
Bruce nodded and exited the room.
Alfred turned to Selena.
"You're a terrible liar."
Selena laughed. "I know. Look I was so excited to hear Dick was safe, I hugged Bruce and I guess caught him unawares and he tripped and fell down." Selena covered her face with her hands. She was mortified.
A slow rumble made her peek.
Alfred was trying not to laugh as he grinned. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts."
"It's not funny!"
"I wish I recorded that."
"Alfred!"
Bruce stride down the hallway grateful that he wore a medical mask. His face was definitely pink.