Chapter Text
Lucius got back to the both of you sooner than expected. It made you glad that you decided to leave Man-Bat more now, as far as you were aware, he hadn't been doing much damage besides the initial transformation. So you just went around the streets, taking care of thugs or stray militia soldiers, anything to be an inconvenience to both parties.
The surveillance in Miagani Island was extreme, militia had camps set up everywhere, street corners, atop of buildings, in the middle of random streets. They were mostly equiped with sentry guns which were ready to take out anything in sight that wasn't strictly militia. On top of that, there were drone patrols which made gliding in the air difficult since they were hard to avoid once in the air.
On the way to Wayne Tower, a place where you spend many hours a week. Working away in one of the labs, it was an area of tranquillity for you, it was a controlled environment for the most part.
The glowing blue light which flooded off the building was growing near while you soared through the air. You suppose the basement or main entrance isn't the best idea considering you were in your suit right now. How many of the staff actually stayed? You hoped not many of them. You know Lucius made the choice to stay out of his want to help but you sincerely hope that the other staff had left with their families or friends.
Bruce told you to land on the balcony of the highest office, it was the best way to avoid getting caught and also it was the office Lucius was in. Standing on the balcony, you could see over the entirety of Gotham this way. Once again, since you couldn't see into the streets, it was beautiful. Bruce was clicking the buttons on his arm once again and then the shutter on the balcony door raised back up, allowing you both entry into the building.
The doors opened automatically at the motion of Bruce standing in front of them, motion sensors were handy tools. Walking into the elegant office, dark walls with paintings which resided in intricately designed frames. One of the paintings was of Bruce and his parents, Martha and Thomas. Sitting on the wall as a freeze frame in time. Two large plants were placed at the door to give it a more friendly vibe and a pop of colour against the dark tones which made up the room. A black leather sofa placed near the door, you had sat on the right side a number of times.
"Nice of you two to drop in. I suppose neither of you were dressed for the front entrance" Lucius said as he greeted the both of you. Both in costume and having a rather tough night but who wasn't other than the criminals behind this and even they were having a somewhat difficult night. Lucius was holding his tablet in one hand as he approached, he looked surprisingly composed for such a horrific night. Sure, it's one thing for his voice to sound calm but you were sure there'd be some sight of stress in his appearance but he looked pretty collected from what you could gather.
"I was just thinking that myself, I'm sure someone would get a shock if I walked through reception. Plus, forgot my keycard" You smiled, it was nice to see a friendly face after the events that have taken place.
"Have you finished the decryption" Bruce wasn't beating around the bush, he was getting straight to business. He most definitely wasn't one for pleasantries when in the costume, even out of costume he finds it exasperating.
"Fully decoded" His arms moved outwards as he spoke, emphasising the fact that he had fully completed the task. "I've downloaded all recent militia radio transmission and their corresponding coordinates to your machine."
"Thanks Lucius. I can scan the network for the Arkham Knight's voice print and determine the location of his last broadcast" Bruce explained, so that's what the plan is. He failed to mention that to you which made you want to scowl at little bit since you believe he should be keeping you in the loop since you are working closely together but apparently he thinks otherwise. Lucius nodded slightly at his words but his focus mainly went back to his tablet.
Bruce walked over to the computer, leaning down and allowing the retina scan to take place to conform his identity as Bruce Wayne.
"Identity confirmed. Good evening, Mr Wayne" The AI voice on the Batcomputer announced.
Bruce's fingers moved quickly against the keys, several tabs opening up on the large screen to be viewed.
"Upload wave-form for analysis."
"No, I've waited long enough. Batman dies. Tonight" The Arkham Knight's voice played, all the anger mixed with hurt in his gravely robotic voice, a voice that has been running chills down your spine the entire night. A voice of a man that has peaked your curiosity to the point it might be unhealthy.
"Scanning communication for voice print matches."
You watched while the screen looked through the map of the city, trying to triangulate where the Arkham Knight's location is until it eventually found it. Creating a neat triangle in the middle of the city map, highlight a certain street within the area.
"Location verified."
"Got it. The Knight's transmitting from Miagani tunnel network" Bruce disclosed, straightening out his back from being hunched over the computer to get the information. Maybe he should have gotten a standing desk. You know all about having to be hunched over a desk, you were surprised you don't have a hunchback yet but god, the aching that you have in your back after a full day of uni and work. The cracking sound that it made when you fully stretched your back after a long day. Yeah, that's definitely not healthy but most people you age have to deal with it as well.
"Glad to be of assistance, Mister Wayne. While you're here, we've been working on some further upgrades for your car. Let me know where you'd like us to focus our efforts" Lucius was speaking to Bruce before turning to you, "Unfortunately, I don't have any upgrades for your bike as of yet, it was a last minute project but I hope everything is to your liking" Lucius told you, you expected as much. It was a little surprise gift to make travelling easier so you didn't mind there was no upgrades.
"No problem, Mr Fox, I don't need any upgrades" You told him, waving your hands to make a point of the fact that you really don't need upgrades, your bike was perfect as it was. It was fast and got you out of tough situations which was what you needed, you weren't planning on fighting the militia tanks, that was Bruce's job.
You decided to step out and go to the balcony while they discussed the updates available for the Batmobile. Out on the balcony, Gotham was as cold as ever, stuffy from the rain which is yet to stop for the night but it was Gotham, during autumn and winter, rain was the most common weather.
"If you are planning to jump, Wayne Tower is not the place to do it" You practically jumped at the sound of a voice you hadn't heard for a little bit. Jason was back, but he appeared somewhat normal once again unlike the last time you'd seen him. "Especially since Bruce is keeping an eye on you, he'd be out here in like two seconds flat...or maybe he wouldn't."
Something just felt off, "I can't talk to you here" You whispered, you were in close proximity to two people who would not understand that it was slightly therapeutic to talk to a hallucination and you didn't exactly want to be scrutinised by either of them for going crazy. Even though you were like 80% sure Bruce was experiencing side effects from fear toxin.
"Why not? Bruce is having hallucinations of his own but it's only a problem when it is you, sounds just like the big bat. Blatant hypocrisy, he can still work but you can't, even if you are experiencing the same thing. You should've just flown solo like usual" Jason told you, his torn up looking arms rested on the railing right next to you, looking at the city, the city that got him killed.
You should have just ran away from Gotham, you could have gone anywhere with him. But it wouldn't have been fair on your father and Jason wouldn't leave, he wanted to watch over Crime Alley and Robin gave him the power to look after the innocent people that lived there like he once did.
You needed to get away from the hallucination, you shook your head and stood up straight. One foot in front of the other until you were back in the office room.
"Listen, I had, like, so much fun the other night. You are nothing like what I read in the papers. Anyway, call me when you get this. I got a couple of cute friends who are dying to meet you" Actually maybe the cold, stuffy air of Gotham was better than whatever voicemail you just listened to.
"Couple of cute friends, huh? Fun night?" You asked, raising an eyebrow, "That's vile, like that could be used as a psychological warfare against me. If the Arkham Knight started playing your voicemails, I'd give up everything about you just to make it stop" Your face was pulled into a disgusted look and for good reason.
"Don't be dramatic, you aren't 5" Bruce replied, his voice flat. You could actually see him roll his eyes at you, Bruce Wayne just rolled his eyes at you. Correction, Batman just rolled his eyes at you. It was becoming more of a common occurrence as the night went on.
He pressed his answer machine again and you internally cringed, scared for the next horrific voicemail to curse your ears with information that you didn't want to hear. You already read enough of it due to it being a popular topic in Gotham with Bruce being a playboy and all. But you were pleasantly surprised by hearing Lex Luthor's voice come through the machine...unless he slept with Lex Luthor which would be insane…right? There was no way.
"Mr Wayne, Lex Luthor calling. Apologies for going via your direct line but I grow tired of these games. Lexcorp has made a very generous offer for Wayne-Tech's Applied Sciences division, yet your persistent unavailability begins to look less like a busy schedule and more like deliberately antagonistic behaviour. Come now, meet with me. I'm sure we can come to an agreement. A man of your refined taste doesn't need an Applied Sciences division, after all. He needs another billion dollars" The machined beeped, signalling the end of the voicemail.
"Thank god you aren't agreeing to that, I don't want to be an intern at Lexcorp, I don't think I'd ever escape" You said, staring at the machine like you had a grudge against it but the real grudge was against Lex Luthor, he was so unethical and vile. You don't know how someone could even act in such a manner. You had heard about people doing their engineering internship there and they aren't allowed to talk about it legally, like NDAs galore and long-term contracts. Not to mention employees that randomly disappear from existence.
"I don't plan to either" Bruce confirmed for you, helping to calm your nerves over that voicemail.
He then pressed it again, how many voicemails does one man have?
"Bruce. It's Kate Kane. You're coming to Maggie and I's engagement thing next week, aren't you? No one's seen you in months, Bruce. And you taught me the importance of keeping up appearances" It beeped once again when it was done. Kate, Bruce's cousin. He had ignored his own cousins engagement party, you knew they were somewhat close and you had major respect for Batwoman.
"That's cold, not replying to your own cousin" You remarked, crossing your arms while looking at his from underneath your domino mask.
"I've been busy" He countered, but how busy could you be to ignore your own cousin's engagement. Sure, if they were distant and not close then maybe you'd understand but they are pretty close so it made no sense for him to ignore her.
"We don't have time for this, Bruce, listen to you voicemails later" You told him, "Goodbye, Mr Fox, I'll see you tomorrow I hope" You smiled at Lucius before grabbing Bruce's upper arm, the armour and just muscle mass making his arm feel akin to a rock when you grabbed it and pulled him along but it didn't deter you. You were pretty sure he was as heavy as a boulder too but luckily after training all through your teenage years, you have adapted.
But he shook you off, "What now? You are wasting time" You huffed, clearly annoyed that he was just standing around doing nothing really. Listening to voicemails and looking around the office. It wasn't the time for that, not while Barbara was kidnapped, not while you two could still save her.
Bruce walked over to another statue of a head which was sat on a bookshelf, identical to the one in the Watch Tower. He scanned his eye using the statue, two massive containers came out of the ground. You had known they existed but you didn't think Lucius was ready to show them yet. He told you they weren't fully completed yet but maybe he had been bored and finished them, perfect timing you had to admit.
Lucius reached into the one on the right, lifting out the object, similar looking to a gun but most definitely not. It couldn't harm anyone in any way, "You had to go and spoil the surprise. I was hoping to keep her under wraps until she's ready" Lucius remarked, messing with the gadget that he held in his hands.
"It's a next generation disruptor. But I thought she wasn't ready yet which is why I never told you unless Mr Fox has perfected her in just a couple of hours" You explained, tilting your head and looking at Lucius with a pointed look, one he could not see but certainly feel.
"You give me too much credit, she's still weeks from completion but on a night like this, I thought you'd appreciate the prototype. You'll both have one with you later this evening" Lucius confirmed to which you and Bruce nodded. You were happy you'd be getting one of your own especially with helping design it.
"Thanks Lucius, I think I might need it" Of course he would need it, who was Bruce kidding. There was no might about it, this could fuck up the militias guns, their weapons storage, it was necessary to ensure one's safety.
It was silent for a moment. Not uncomfortable or awkward, just content. It was a peaceful silence that ensued in the office with nobody really knowing how to break it. Bruce was lost in his own thoughts, you were sure about that, Lucius was enamoured with his creation (and yours) meanwhile you just wanted to get out of there, back onto the Arkham Knight's trail.
Lucius decided that he'd be the first to break the silence, "Y'know. I remember this office back when it was your father's. All those years, it hasn't changed one bit. You, on the other hand..." He trailed off, not finishing his sentence. Bruce wasn't an innocent child who had two loving and very wealthy parents anymore. He was a man who lost his parents and paraded in a Bat costume at night, protecting the innocent civilians and holding up justice which the police failed to do so.
Bruce didn't say anything, in fact, he took it as his cue to leave. You followed in his footsteps. He was busy clicking away but he didn't have to turn around to know you were walking behind him, eager to get out of the Tower.
"Alfred, I've traced the Arkham Knight to the Miagani Tunnel system" He informed Alfred as he leapt off of the balcony, keeping him updated and aware, he could do more with more new and relevant information.
You followed quickly, basically doing a swan dive off of the railing before allowing your cape to catch the window and help you glide along the city. You had perfect form as always, it was as to be expected from you.
"Excellent news, sir, but I'm detecting a significant drone presence in the area. It would be folly to engage them without the Batmobile" Alfred returned.
"Of course" You grumbled, as much as you loved your new bike and you did love her, sometimes you miss the simplicity of just walking or running. Besides, you hate going against those unmanned oversized tanks, it was getting boring having to hide away from them. You were just waiting for one of them to send a missile your way, target locked. But so far they haven't struck you but that could just be luck or them not wanting to waste the time and effort on you.
"Noted" Bruce replied, slightly nodding to himself in mid air.
"Shall I open the south entrance?" Alfred asked politely. When wasn't he ever polite sounding? Even when he was insulting he still managed to make it sound polite and it definitely wasn't just the olden timed British accent, it was most definitely something else. Maybe word choice, you just couldn't put your finger on it.
"Hold off until we get there, Alfred."
"Yeah, let's not spoil the surprise for our friends" You chuckled, it sounded a lot darker than you meant it. Maybe you were supposed to be a villain or something. Maybe in another life, that's a funny thought.
You could feel the cold sharp wind hitting your face, maybe the weather was getting worse. In tune with your emotions as always. The wind was acting like invisible knives, it felt sharp enough to cut you.
You could hear the intercom making the announcer noise, dinging quickly before a voice played to the public that was left in Gotham, "It's gone, Dark Knight - the grip you had on Gotham. Your reign of fear. I'm sovereign now." You had to admit, Scarecrow had the bone-chilling villain voice down to a tee. It was enough to strike the fear into the general public which was exactly the effect he wants to have on them. He needs them to be scared of him for his own ego.
You leaned your upper body forward, forcing your body to descend down as you pressed the button on your remote control for your bike to call it here. You lifted your self back upwards to create a soft landing, not trying to break every bone in your body by crash landing onto concrete. Your bike got there in record time, you grabbed one of the handles and lifted your leg, swinging it over the bike to get seated.
Bruce followed quickly, you could hear the Batmobile turning the corner sharply, the friction of the tires on the asphalt-concrete. While he did that, you scanned the area and frowned upon what you found. Multiple militia tanks with controllers who could definitely hear the Batmobile coming at full speed.
"Batman" You called out.
"I've got it" He replied, finally in the Batmobile and in control. You watched as multiple missiles took off in the Militias direction to the point your eyes widened, he couldn't do that earlier at any point of the night.
"You've got contact - heavy contact - outside the tunnel. Suggest immediate exfill, sir!" A militia soldier called out in a panic, watching as the missiles completely decimated the unmanned tanks.
"No, I'm not going anywhere" The Arkham Knight replied, his voice was unusually calm. You got that strange feeling again, the hairs on the back of your neck were standing up straight like they were at boot camp. It felt like someone was watching you again, it was most likely your paranoia. His voice not being filled with anger or frustration felt so foreign and it made you anxious which in turn was making your body feel like it was covered in goosebumps.
His voice was still nowhere near calm, don't get it twisted, he still sounded angry but he wasn't yelling or throwing at fit the whole time like usual. The only time he yelled was when he said no before going to a more calm tone with the undertones of anger instead. This was a man with a plan that was working which you couldn't understand, Bruce had just destroyed multiple tanks in one hit and he was acting like he had the upper hand. Which maybe he does, he might have Barbara with him right now for all you know but it was rather peculiar behaviour.
A lot of words were called out but you were too busy thinking about the Knight, perhaps his plan is to distract you and get you killed, you hate to say it would work but he has your attention and you can't tell if it's good or bad for either of you.
"Status update. Entrance armour disabled" One of them announced, almost sounding ashamed of himself. You followed behind Bruce as he made his way to the tunnel entrance that was currently close, not for long. You lingered behind a little incase there was an army of tanks ready to blow your body into pieces.
"Alfred, I'm at the tunnel entrance. Open the doors."
"Just a moment, sir. I'm accessing the building's security mainframe" Alfred said, not even a second later you watched the heavy enforced metal door slide down into the ground, allowing entrance for vehicles. There were no tanks from what you could see but they are probably hiding further down to where cover is more difficult to find. You'd be on their territory.
Driving down the sloped dirt road when you came across another enforced door, blocking your way but at least you haven't been ambushed by tanks, ready to blast you straight to hell.
"Alfred, there's another door blast door. I need you to open it" Bruce requested, staring at the door that was obstructing our way in.
"Oh dear, it seems they've locked me out of the system. They must know you're here" Alfred replied. Of course they knew you both were there with the mass destruction of the tanks right outside the door. That's why the Arkham Knight wants to stay.
Bruce seemed unaffected by the news and also very undeterred from his goal. He reversed a little before attaching the power winch to something near the roof. It was a massive ventilation fan. He used the winch to pull the fan off completely, ripping it from the solid metal screws that held it in place. You nodded to yourself mostly as you pushed the kickstand down and got off your bike. You knew the plan, he was using that as leverage to get both of you over using your grapnel guns. The remaining part of the fan was perfect to stand on.
"I'm sure we'll find a way in" You told Alfred, assuring him that there was no need for concern. Bruce had it all figured out, he shot out of his batmobile and then proceeded to glide through the hole where the fan once resided like it was second nature.
You didn't know if your grapnel gun could even reach anything it could catch onto but you hoped it did and took a leap of faith with it. You pressed the button, watching it shoot outwards and upwards, it caught onto something and you prayed it would hold. It did. You got up in one piece with no struggle. It would have been embarrassing to fall half-way there and several feet off the ground.
Once you were in a room which was obscured by the fan, Bruce called Tim while you looked around the room. It was a small room with signs about Gotham Railways. There was a small little desk with a lamp that was turned on like someone had been there recently but who? You have no idea. There wasn't exactly much going on in here.
"Have you made any progress yet?" Bruce asked Tim, his voice was hoarse and it almost made his sound like a mad and strict parent about to tell off his son. Your face scrunched, you wanted to tell him to change his tone because it sounded far too rough for the conversation he was having with Tim.
The doorway of the room was covered by cheap thin wood. Your rolled your eyes under the mask and kicked it down without any effort, it was extremely thin wood so it didn't even show any sign of resistance when your foot connected with it, it just complied to the stress being put on it until it snapped.
"Getting there... Hey, I haven't heard from Barbara for a while. Is she okay?" You held back a wince when you heard Tim asking about Babara's safety. Bruce still hadn't told him what happened to her. He deserved to know she was missing but it would also distract him from coming up with a cure for the Joker's blood. There was no clear path to go down, it was messy.
"She's fine. She's working on something for me. It's important" Bruce lied, it flew out his mouth so easily, he didn't even blink when lying about Barbara's safety and whereabouts. Sometimes, you wonder if you can trust him when he lies so easily but...aren't you exactly the same as him? You follow in his footsteps. You lied to everyone in your civilian life. You even lied to your own father, you pretended to pack for the bus and you promised him that you would leave. But he also promised you that too.
However, you certainly did get better at lying once working for Bruce. Maybe the media is right, he is a bad influence but you can't do anything about that now. You were as bad as him. It was the price you paid for upholding justice and protecting the innocents.
"But she's safe, right?"
"Don't worry, Tim, just keep working on that cure" He then hung up. He didn't say yes or no. Smart. He didn't lie but he didn't tell the truth either.
He walked through the freshly kicked down wood, appearing to be staring at something you couldn't see again but you just ignored it. Two crazy people trying to protect Gotham, nothing new there. More thin wood was covering the exit of this other room which looked as dank as the last. You punched your way through this wood instead. It faltered easily under the strike and snapped upon impact.
This room looked a little less dreary. The first thing your eyes locked onto was a bright pink flower which stood tall out of its plant pot. There were other plants too, mostly green leaves, you could tell what they were but they were covered in dust. You assumed they had to be fakes since they would be long dead by now. Most of them were still sat in cardboard boxes on the floor.
Bruce didn't pay attention to the scenery of the room, instead he slid into the vent, ripping the vent cover off of its screws with his feet alone.
"Alright then..." You remarked, speaking rather slowly as you watched him disappear into the vent, you waited a minute before entering the vent yourself, not wanting to be right behind Bruce. You'd rather have a little space between the two of you.
The vent itself wasn't the worst, you actually thought it would be far dirtier but it was just really dusty. Once you got out of the confined space, you wiped the dust off of your costume, not wanting to have the greyish white dust leaving a residue on you.
"What the fuck is this" You could help but blurt it out when you saw the room you were on, "Something tells me this ain't right" You added, looking at the massive fan below the platform you were stood on.
You had to get from here to the other side with no path.
"Grab on" Bruce commanded. You did as he asked, wrapping one of your arms around his shoulder. One of his arms wrapped an arm around your waist, securely holding you so that you wouldn't slip out of his hold while travelling over the fan. He pulled out his line launcher, connecting it to the wall on the other side. Allowing it to take you both to the other platform.
Once there, you let go and he released his grip on you. Taking out a batarang and a remote control. You watched as his gaze went to the barred room across from you, too far to reach and far too trickily angled. You watched as he threw the batarang and used the remote to control the directions in which it went, turning it to go into the small and inconvenient room. Going after the big red button. Once it hit against it, the doors to your only exit opened automatically.
Bruce looked at you and you nodded, wrapping your arm around his neck once again. You made it through the doors no bother. You landed in what looked like a bizarre and very destroyed storage area. You reached your arms up and pulled yourself up onto higher ground since the flooring was uneven. You were passing signs that said 'DO NOT ENTER' and you got a feeling in your gut that maybe you should listen to it. So you froze, standing completely still.
"We've got to move, Oracle is depending on us" Something Bruce sounded more like Batman and sometimes sounded more like Bruce. Right now, he sounded more like Bruce so that got you moving again. Batman had a more rough and strict voice compared to Bruce even though they were the same person.
You looked forwards and saw you would have to use the line-launcher again. You just sighed and got into position once again, travelling over the ventilation fan. "Doesn't this seem a little too peaceful? Like surely there would be militia crawling all over the place trying to find us" You commented, wanting to know how he felt about the quite relaxed situation you were both in despite being in a Militia base.
"It could be that we entered in a way they didn't know about" Bruce suggested, you nodded. That was probably the most logical explanation, you entered through a fan after all. Who would be expecting that?
You noticed halfway through that it was going to be another red button instance where you'd have to use the line launcher again, "Are you fucking kidding me? I get this is an unconventional way into the building but can't it be more straight forward?" You complained. You landed on the ground and just crossed your arms in a huff like a toddler would when angry.
Bruce tried to conceal a laugh at your complaint but he failed, so instead just took out the remote control batarang. Just like last time, once it connected with the bright red button, the doors swung open with enthusiasm.
"Hold on tight this time, I'm being serious" You wanted to raise an eyebrow but he wouldn't even see it so you didn't bother. You latched on with both arms this time and he connected the line launcher to the other side. It wasn't the direction you needed to go, when you were about to say something he disconnected the line launcher halfway across before flipping both you and him around and connected it the way you needed to go.
That was one hell of a way to get an adrenaline rush. You could hear your heart thumping rapidly in your chest. "What the actual fuck?! Maybe explain before you do something like that, I thought we were going to die" You exclaimed, clearly in shock about the whole thing.
Once you had caught your breath, you walked out of the room to see a large area with a railing, down below you could see some militia equipment. There was a huge Militia flag with the emblem on it. You placed both feet on the railing and balanced upright before jumping and using your grapnel gun to get onto the metal beam below.
Then you saw a whole lot of militia equipment along with a whole load of militia soldiers, watching around and chatting with each other. Most holding guns as if it was second nature to them. Both you and Bruce continued to move in secret. hiding in plain sight, only obscured by the shadows. Sliding down a vent to stay hidden from their gaze. While you were crawling along, you looked out and saw Jason, sat on one of the militia tanks, bloody and beaten but there. You looked back immediately but he was gone like he was never there because he wasn't. It was just your imagination.
You shook your head and continued on with the small path which was directly straight forward. It was a rather long way with a sharp turn near the end but it was nothing new for neither you nor Bruce. It was part of the job description, crawling through vents. Bruce climbed out of the vent and you followed behind him. Something felt wrong. This room was empty but it felt like it shouldn't be.
Bruce took a step forward when gunshots hit the floor in front of him, coming from up above. Your head snapped towards the direction where the gunshots came from and there he was, jumping down from above you was the Arkham Knight. This was the closest you had ever been to him, you were surprised he'd put himself in so much danger before his plan was complete.
With the impact he was falling from he channelled it all into his fist and slammed it into Bruce's face causing the man to fall down under the pressure of such a hit. He must have been a heavy hitter to knock Bruce down so quickly and he also used the momentum to take him out.
You were about to make a move when he back handed you with so much force it stunned you, he then used your momentary stunned state to hook his leg under yours and knock you over. You fell to the ground, your head making a thumping noise against the ground as you let out a groan. It was a hard hit.
"Oh no, no, you're not going anywhere, old man" He taunted as he walked over to Bruce who was sprawled out on the floor. You can't say you were doing any better, you both got taken out in less than 15 seconds and that was beyond embarrassing. He stamped his foot onto Bruce's chest. Pointing his gun downwards, threatening to shoot if Bruce even made one move.
He looked like he was studying Bruce's armour before he opened his mouth, "Tri-weave, titanium coated, armour plating. Nice. Unless you know exactly... where to shoot." You were shocked he could get that much just from a look alone but looking at him, he knows what good quality armour is. However you didn't have time to think about his amazing identification skills when it came to armour when he took his gun and jammed it into Bruce's side near his stomach, right beneath the chest plate and pulled the trigger. You let out a gasp when Bruce let out a sound of pain, it wasn't a cry but it conveyed the pain he was in.
The Arkham Knight let out a couple of chuckles, clearly amused, "You're good, Dark Knight. Even better than I remember. It's going to make it even more satisfying when I kill you" He said, his voice was full of mirth as he looked over his shoulder at Bruce as he walked over to you.
You don't know what it is, maybe it was the eerily pleased sound in his voice that you weren’t used to hearing, maybe it was the confident way that he walked, maybe it was the fact there was something so familiar about him but he struck fear into you in that very moment. Your mind couldn't think, you just started using your arms to crawl backwards away from him.
He made a tuting noise as he approached like he was displeased with you before reaching down and grabbing one of your ankles, pulling you back towards him, "See, I gave you a chance. I left you in a police car out of the kindness in my heart and you, you stomped all over it. I told you not to trust the Bat, I told you to come meet me and look who you come with. We could have worked something out just between the two of us."
"You didn't exactly give a meet up location" You spat back, annoyed that he was acting like you were being unreasonable.
"But here you are, in front of me. You do detective work, right? I'm sure you could have figured it out" He replied, you could practically feel him rolling his eyes beneath the mask, the fucking bastard. "Hm, I thought I zipped that back up earlier, who do you think you are? Catwoman? Yeah, I don't think so, Sparrow" He joked, laughing at himself, something that sounded horrifying with a voice modulator. He was talking about your suit, he was the one that zipped it up when he left you on the abandoned police car. You didn’t just do it and forget, it was him but you don’t understand why he would do that.
"That's not my name."
"It is to me!" He snapped, his voice loud and full of rage once again, "You know what, Dark Knight, I think you need more motivation, don't you?" He asked, it was meant for nobody to answer. His voice had changed in a split second, one second rage, the next he was creepily gleeful.
He reached over you, his gloved hand sliding to the back of your neck and grabbing the back of your suit, pulling you along with him. You were loud with your protests. You struggled but god, he had an iron tight grip on the back of your suit, dragging you along the ground with no elegance nor grace.
"Leave her out of this, she has nothing to do with this" Bruce called out, finally getting his breath back after being shot at such close range.
"She has everything to do with this, besides, you aren't working fast enough. Now I've got both of them" He taunted, laughing at himself once again, "But really, don't worry about either of them. I'll take better care of them than you ever did." He sounded so cocky as he said it like he had just won a million dollars.
He was dragging you along like you weighed nothing to him, like your bodyweight had no effect on his ability to walk normally. Well as normal as he could walk, you noticed that his back was hunched a little at the top but you couldn't understand why, he didn't seem like a guy who would have bad posture.
"Batman's in the control room. Show him what happens when he messes with my city" He called out, sounding pleased with himself as he turned the corner and stopped walking, "Oh, and I apologise for this" He said, he was looking down at you.
"What-" Before you could even ask what he meant, he jabbed a needle into your neck and pushed whatever was in it into you.
"You're going to be fine, don't worry" You felt like that just made it worse. You black out shortly after hearing those words. You didn’t want to know what was awaiting you once you came to.