Chapter 3 - Climb
15 minutes earlier
Tim peered over his seat to the back of the car, eying the boxes of pizza hungrily. "Can I have a slice of mine? Just one?"
"No, wait 'til we get home," Dick said as he pulled onto the road that led out the city towards Wayne Manor. "We should all eat together."
"What about the topping? I could eat some of the topping. Just a pepperoni or two. Bruce won't notice."
"Yeah, he will. And then he'll start in on both of us. We're waiting."
Tim slumped down in his seat with a sigh. "It's not fair," he complained.
"Hey, I have to wait, too," Dick replied. "You're not the only hungry one here."
"No, not that," Tim sighed again.
Dick shot him a quick look. Tim had a bad habit of expecting everyone to know what he meant when he did not say much. Dick suspected that Tim had acquired that habit from Bruce who was famous for expecting everyone to read his mind and his long silences and then jump to action without being asked. Most of Tim's feelings were shown through body language, those facial expressions on his young face which he could not quite control no matter how much Bruce yelled at him to mask his feelings better.
"What's not fair?" Dick prompted.
"You get to live in Bludhaven," Tim let his hands fall on his lax knees. "I get to visit on the weekend, but the rest of the time I'm stuck here with Bruce."
"You were the one who wanted to live with him," Dick pointed out. "You had to figure out his secret, and then you had to be Robin, and then you had to live into the Manor when your dad – you know. Those were your choices, not Bruce's."
"I know," Tim looked even more despondent.
"You want to move to Bludhaven with me?" Dick regretted the words the moment he said them. He almost cringed while he waited for the answer, scared Tim might say yes and then Bruce would kill him for suggesting such a thing.
"No," Tim looked out the window, "not that."
Dick shook his head, but made himself ask, "Is – uh, is it Bruce and – and Clark? Them . . . you know?"
"No, Clark's cool," Tim shook his head. "I mean, it was weird at first because Bruce was with all those women, but I like Clark."
"Then what is it?" Dick wished he could drive faster to get home, but he was pushing five miles above the speed limit as it was.
"I get tired of everyone coming and going," Tim kicked his legs out restlessly, knocking his shows against the floorboard. "I go to Bludhaven on the weekends, but you only visit here every other month. And Clark just comes for the weekend, then he goes back home. No one ever wants to be in the same place at the same time."
"Well, it's hard," Dick hedged. "I mean, we're trying to give Bruce and Clark time to – uh, hang out, you know."
Tim said nothing for a moment before he said in a low voice, "It would be okay, anyway."
"What would be okay?"
"They could still have sex with us in the house," Tim muttered.
Dick nearly drove off the road. "Tim!"
"What?"
"Don't say stuff like that. Jeez, man, think before you start blurting stuff out."
"You're just like Bruce, wanting me to stay quiet," Tim accused.
"I am not like Bruce," Dick glared at Tim.
"Bruce Junior," Tim taunted. "Bruce Wanna-Be, Bruce Double."
"You want to walk home?"
"No, I want us to hang out more. What's wrong with that? No fighting, no yelling – just you and me and Bruce and Clark, four cool superheroes. We're the coolest ever, and Barbara could come visit more and Diana, too."
"You like Diana," Dick smirked.
Tim's cheeks turned red, but he stammered, "No, I don't. It's just that she's–"
"Old enough to be your mother?" Dick teased.
"Shut up," Tim punched Dick's hard shoulder.
"Watch it – I'm driving here," Dick kept grinning. "Look at you, all red and blushing. And you know, Diana thinks you're a little kid, a baby really."
"I'm fourteen," Tim retorted. "I'm old enough to know what I want. And she's only a few inches taller than me."
"Like seven," Dick snorted. "But you can play up the kid angle with her. If you act all sad puppy, big eyes, and poor orphan with her, she'll let you sit in her lap and she'll cuddle you all warm and tight."
"Really?" Tim looked surprised.
"Yeah, and it's all fun and games until Bruce comes home and sees you snuggled against that marvelous chest and drags you out by your ear while yelling at your inappropriate behavior," Dick sighed, his eyes nostalgic at the memory. "But man, that was an awesome half hour. I had to pretend to cry at how mean Bruce was being, but she bought it and called me a poor darling, and then picked me up. She's nearly as strong as Clark, and she sat down on the sofa and started petting my hair, trying to stop me from crying. But I kept it up, whimpering and whining, and then she crushed me against those huge, beautiful, glorious–"
"Yeah?" Tim said, wide-eyed and eager for Dick to go on and describe the marvelous Wonder Woman in all her splendor.
Dick blinked, coming back to reality, and said, "Never mind. Treat women with respect. They're not objects. And she's too old for you."
"But she's so hot," Tim complained. "Has she ever kissed you?"
"A few times," Dick tried not to look too proud and failed.
"On the lips?"
"No, on the cheek," Dick frowned.
"But you've kissed Barbara on the lips."
"Yeah, Babs is great, too."
"And Starfire?"
"Also great."
Tim paused and then asked, "Did you have sex with them?"
Dick gripped the steering wheel, swearing he would not drive off the road. "Tim, you can't ask–"
"Not all together," Tim protested. "Just one at a time. Though I have heard you can do that, three people at once."
"Ah, man," Dick groaned. "Why me? This was supposed to be a simple pizza run, not a sex talk."
"I know all about sex," Tim said. "But it's not like I can talk to anyone else about this. I can't ask Alfred, and Bruce tells me to watch my mouth when I mention it, and if I look online, I get into trouble."
"Fine," Dick looked like a martyr. "What do you want to know about sex?"
Tim was silent for a second before he ventured, "With girls . . ."
"Yeah?" Dick waited, making a reluctant face.
"When you're with a girl . . ."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"And she's wearing a bra . . ."
"Yeah?" Dick winced, waiting for the awkward question.
"When she takes off her bra . . . do her boobs fall down to the bottom of her stomach?"
Dick gave an unexpected burst of laughter.
"What?" Tim demanded. "Don't they wear bras to keep their breasts from dropping down too far, like to their knees?"
"No," Dick laughed, "they don't. And you don't need to worry about sex yet. You got years to find out about stuff. For now, don't worry about it."
"But," Tim chewed his bottom lip for second, "my friends at school are getting girlfriends and I haven't even kissed one yet and I feel like a baby around them."
"But they aren't superheroes," Dick pointed out.
"Oh, yeah," Tim nodded. "That's right."
"And believe me," Dick gave a rakish grin, "once you get old enough, girls go wild for the costume and the gadgets. You'll lose count of all the kisses you get."
"Cool," Tim relaxed back in his seat. "I can't wait 'til – hey, what's that?"
"What is it?"
"There's a truck up ahead," Tim craned his head to peer out the windshield. "All black, kind of like the Penguin's. Ooo, you think the Penguin's around?"
"He shouldn't be," Dick's brow creased in concern. "Penguin doesn't know Batman's real identity."
"But Joker does," Tim said anxiously. "And Catwoman, too. You think they tipped Penguin off?"
"Not Joker – he's in a maximum security ward, and he likes knowing Batman's secret too much to ever tell. But Catwoman – she's teamed up with Penguin before."
"But the truck's pulling off," Tim pointed. "There it goes – I guess that wasn't Penguin after all."
He felt the car go faster, and he glanced at his older brother. "Dick?"
"Let's go home," Dick said, worried.
Three minutes later, Dick pulled to a stop in front of Wayne Manor. Dick parked the car, jumped out, and sprinted to the front door. Tim also got out, but he grabbed the four boxes of pizza before following his brother.
Bruce flung the window open. He took a deep breath, planning to shout at Selina to get her hot ass off his property, but he hesitated. Clark had a thing about yelling at women, and Bruce guess that including hollering obscenities at them from a window.
"Think it was the 1940's," Bruce snarled as he swung himself over the window ledge and dropped to the grass below. "So old-fashion."
Bruce made his way to the bushes and hissed, "Selina? I know you're back here. Show yourself."
Nothing moved, save for a few leaves rustling in the breeze.
"Slutty cat," Bruce sneered, "should be tied up in a gunny sack and drowned."
"Oh," Selina's voice purred from above, "we are vicious tonight."
Bruce glanced up to see Catwoman in the tree above him, her black-leather-clad body draped across a long branch. She gazed out of her mask, looking down on him with a coy smile.
"What are you doing up there?" Bruce demanded. "I told you to get out."
"And when have I ever followed your orders?" she asked lazily. "You know I can't stay away from you. I'm drawn to you, Bruce – like a moth to flames. I had to come back. Besides, I'm dying for another peek at your disciplining. I've not been able to stop thinking about it – I keep picturing you, draping over the Boy Scout's lap, wailing while he swats you over and over again." She smiled down at him. "You're such a naughty boy, needing to be spanked very, very hard."
He growled and grabbed the lowest branch to hoist himself up after her.
"Now you want to play chase the kitty?" Selina jumped up and climbed to a higher branch, her cat powers allowing her to move fast and gracefully.
"When I get you," Bruce threatened, "I'm going to rip your costume off and give you something to wail about."
"You're threatening me?" Selina looked delighted as she climbed higher, Bruce only a few feet behind. "I miss your threats. How many times did you have me in your grasp and threaten to teach me a lesson? But you never had the balls to do it."
"I got the balls now," he retorted. "You're about to feel the fury of the Bat."
"Oh, no, you're scaring poor kitty," Selina taunted.
She swung herself up on the next branch and waited for him to climb up. Once he was level with her, she tilted her head to side to consider him. "Kitty likes what she sees. Kitty likes it when the scary Bat chases her – meow!"
"Well, this Bat doesn't like having strays in his trees."
"Careful – we wouldn't want your boyfriend to hear me calling for help and find you up here with me."
"You're trying to get me in trouble," Bruce accused. "You like stirring up trouble for no reason."
"I'm a villain," she shrugged. "I've told you this a hundred times, yet you keep thinking you can save me. Admit it – you love me, Bruce, you always have. And you always will."
"I don't," Bruce declared. "And if I loved someone other than Clark, it would be Wonder Woman."
Selina's eyes opened wide, the green sparking with fury. "Bastard," she hissed.
She reached out to claw his face with her talon-like gloves, but he caught her hand first and held it in his iron grip.
"Admit it, Selina. You don't love anyone other than yourself. You're selfish and greedy, and you know you're going to die alone and miserable, and that scares you to death."
"Don't," she whispered, her eyes glassing over.
"Because in the end, you can't love anyone," Bruce continued in the same hard voice. "You're incapable of love, and no one will ever love you, no matter how hard you pretend. So strut yourself – be all the whore you want to be. You might feel sex, but you'll never feel love."
She closed her eyes, and two big tears ran down her cheeks.
Bruce let go of her hand, wondering how far he had gone this time. Every time he got angry, he said things that pushed back, that made others just as furious as he was. How far had he gone with Selina this time? Had he finally made he feel the agony and the despair of his own dark soul?
Selina opened her eyes, but he read in them calm resolve rather than rage.
"I had promised Clark I would watch out for you," she said. "But you can burn now."
She pushed herself off the branch. She freefell through the limbs, but landed on her feet and hands on the soft grass. "I won't be watching," she smirked, though her voice was full of sadness and not sarcasm.
"What?" Bruce demanded. "What do you mean by that?"
He twisted and turned over the branches, until he landed on the grass as well, a little more heavily than she had. But she was running towards the high stone wall, moving at an incredible cat speed. Bruce knew he should let her go – he should return to the Manor and talk to Clark and leave Catwoman alone.
But he was Batman, and Batman didn't let anything go.
Selina climbed up the wall quickly and jumped off, disappearing into the darkness. Grabbing onto the craggy rocks of the wall, Bruce began climbing up, his athletic skills allowing him to scale the wall in seconds. He got to the top and looked down.
Selina was gone.
Bruce swung his body over the wall and dropped to the other side. It was really dark, and he knew the boys were back with the pizza and Clark would come looking for him soon. But he could also use the secret entrance to the Batcave in the large oak tree only thirty feet away, get into the suit, and follow her in the Batmobile.
He felt torn, just like he always felt torn between being Bruce and being Batman. It wasn't fair and –
"Look who we have here," a voice taunted.
Bruce turned to see Jonathan Crane standing by the wall, an awful smile on his face.
"Scarecrow," Bruce growled, annoyed at the sight of the thing, lanky man.
"No, no," Jonathan shook a finger at him, "tonight I am just Mr. Crane to you. I'm so sorry to do this, Mr. Wayne, but I need money to fund my next project."
"I'm not giving you money," Bruce said. "You belong in a cell in Arkham, but they're giving you time off for good behavior again, I see."
"You obviously keep up with the news," Jonathan noted. "I'd love to stay and chat, but Batman might show up any moment, and I prefer to kidnap my millionaire hostages without having to fight off annoying superheroes."
"You're going to kidnap me?" Bruce laughed. "I think you've been sniffing too much of your own fear toxin lately."
"No, but my associate has," Jonathan replied.
Bruce felt a presence behind him, and he whirled around to find a man with brown hair wearing a huge hat behind him. "Mad Hatter?"
"I'm just here as a favor to Crane," Hatter explained. "I don't want your money, Mr. Wayne. Though it might buy my Alice a pretty dress . . ."
"Oh, shut up," Jonathan ordered.
Bruce opened his mouth to tell both of them to beat it or else with something stung sharply on his neck. Bruce reached a hand up to feel the hard metal of the dart stuck in his neck, and he managed to pluck the dart out before the first wave of dizziness hit him.
The other side of his neck stung, and Bruce saw the Mad Hatter lower a small straw from his lips as Bruce reached up to pluck out the other dart. He could not even feel the second dart as he fell to his knees. As he slipped into darkness, he wondered if Selina had come to help the two villains or to warn him of their attack.
Tim peered over his seat to the back of the car, eying the boxes of pizza hungrily. "Can I have a slice of mine? Just one?"
"No, wait 'til we get home," Dick said as he pulled onto the road that led out the city towards Wayne Manor. "We should all eat together."
"What about the topping? I could eat some of the topping. Just a pepperoni or two. Bruce won't notice."
"Yeah, he will. And then he'll start in on both of us. We're waiting."
Tim slumped down in his seat with a sigh. "It's not fair," he complained.
"Hey, I have to wait, too," Dick replied. "You're not the only hungry one here."
"No, not that," Tim sighed again.
Dick shot him a quick look. Tim had a bad habit of expecting everyone to know what he meant when he did not say much. Dick suspected that Tim had acquired that habit from Bruce who was famous for expecting everyone to read his mind and his long silences and then jump to action without being asked. Most of Tim's feelings were shown through body language, those facial expressions on his young face which he could not quite control no matter how much Bruce yelled at him to mask his feelings better.
"What's not fair?" Dick prompted.
"You get to live in Bludhaven," Tim let his hands fall on his lax knees. "I get to visit on the weekend, but the rest of the time I'm stuck here with Bruce."
"You were the one who wanted to live with him," Dick pointed out. "You had to figure out his secret, and then you had to be Robin, and then you had to live into the Manor when your dad – you know. Those were your choices, not Bruce's."
"I know," Tim looked even more despondent.
"You want to move to Bludhaven with me?" Dick regretted the words the moment he said them. He almost cringed while he waited for the answer, scared Tim might say yes and then Bruce would kill him for suggesting such a thing.
"No," Tim looked out the window, "not that."
Dick shook his head, but made himself ask, "Is – uh, is it Bruce and – and Clark? Them . . . you know?"
"No, Clark's cool," Tim shook his head. "I mean, it was weird at first because Bruce was with all those women, but I like Clark."
"Then what is it?" Dick wished he could drive faster to get home, but he was pushing five miles above the speed limit as it was.
"I get tired of everyone coming and going," Tim kicked his legs out restlessly, knocking his shows against the floorboard. "I go to Bludhaven on the weekends, but you only visit here every other month. And Clark just comes for the weekend, then he goes back home. No one ever wants to be in the same place at the same time."
"Well, it's hard," Dick hedged. "I mean, we're trying to give Bruce and Clark time to – uh, hang out, you know."
Tim said nothing for a moment before he said in a low voice, "It would be okay, anyway."
"What would be okay?"
"They could still have sex with us in the house," Tim muttered.
Dick nearly drove off the road. "Tim!"
"What?"
"Don't say stuff like that. Jeez, man, think before you start blurting stuff out."
"You're just like Bruce, wanting me to stay quiet," Tim accused.
"I am not like Bruce," Dick glared at Tim.
"Bruce Junior," Tim taunted. "Bruce Wanna-Be, Bruce Double."
"You want to walk home?"
"No, I want us to hang out more. What's wrong with that? No fighting, no yelling – just you and me and Bruce and Clark, four cool superheroes. We're the coolest ever, and Barbara could come visit more and Diana, too."
"You like Diana," Dick smirked.
Tim's cheeks turned red, but he stammered, "No, I don't. It's just that she's–"
"Old enough to be your mother?" Dick teased.
"Shut up," Tim punched Dick's hard shoulder.
"Watch it – I'm driving here," Dick kept grinning. "Look at you, all red and blushing. And you know, Diana thinks you're a little kid, a baby really."
"I'm fourteen," Tim retorted. "I'm old enough to know what I want. And she's only a few inches taller than me."
"Like seven," Dick snorted. "But you can play up the kid angle with her. If you act all sad puppy, big eyes, and poor orphan with her, she'll let you sit in her lap and she'll cuddle you all warm and tight."
"Really?" Tim looked surprised.
"Yeah, and it's all fun and games until Bruce comes home and sees you snuggled against that marvelous chest and drags you out by your ear while yelling at your inappropriate behavior," Dick sighed, his eyes nostalgic at the memory. "But man, that was an awesome half hour. I had to pretend to cry at how mean Bruce was being, but she bought it and called me a poor darling, and then picked me up. She's nearly as strong as Clark, and she sat down on the sofa and started petting my hair, trying to stop me from crying. But I kept it up, whimpering and whining, and then she crushed me against those huge, beautiful, glorious–"
"Yeah?" Tim said, wide-eyed and eager for Dick to go on and describe the marvelous Wonder Woman in all her splendor.
Dick blinked, coming back to reality, and said, "Never mind. Treat women with respect. They're not objects. And she's too old for you."
"But she's so hot," Tim complained. "Has she ever kissed you?"
"A few times," Dick tried not to look too proud and failed.
"On the lips?"
"No, on the cheek," Dick frowned.
"But you've kissed Barbara on the lips."
"Yeah, Babs is great, too."
"And Starfire?"
"Also great."
Tim paused and then asked, "Did you have sex with them?"
Dick gripped the steering wheel, swearing he would not drive off the road. "Tim, you can't ask–"
"Not all together," Tim protested. "Just one at a time. Though I have heard you can do that, three people at once."
"Ah, man," Dick groaned. "Why me? This was supposed to be a simple pizza run, not a sex talk."
"I know all about sex," Tim said. "But it's not like I can talk to anyone else about this. I can't ask Alfred, and Bruce tells me to watch my mouth when I mention it, and if I look online, I get into trouble."
"Fine," Dick looked like a martyr. "What do you want to know about sex?"
Tim was silent for a second before he ventured, "With girls . . ."
"Yeah?" Dick waited, making a reluctant face.
"When you're with a girl . . ."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"And she's wearing a bra . . ."
"Yeah?" Dick winced, waiting for the awkward question.
"When she takes off her bra . . . do her boobs fall down to the bottom of her stomach?"
Dick gave an unexpected burst of laughter.
"What?" Tim demanded. "Don't they wear bras to keep their breasts from dropping down too far, like to their knees?"
"No," Dick laughed, "they don't. And you don't need to worry about sex yet. You got years to find out about stuff. For now, don't worry about it."
"But," Tim chewed his bottom lip for second, "my friends at school are getting girlfriends and I haven't even kissed one yet and I feel like a baby around them."
"But they aren't superheroes," Dick pointed out.
"Oh, yeah," Tim nodded. "That's right."
"And believe me," Dick gave a rakish grin, "once you get old enough, girls go wild for the costume and the gadgets. You'll lose count of all the kisses you get."
"Cool," Tim relaxed back in his seat. "I can't wait 'til – hey, what's that?"
"What is it?"
"There's a truck up ahead," Tim craned his head to peer out the windshield. "All black, kind of like the Penguin's. Ooo, you think the Penguin's around?"
"He shouldn't be," Dick's brow creased in concern. "Penguin doesn't know Batman's real identity."
"But Joker does," Tim said anxiously. "And Catwoman, too. You think they tipped Penguin off?"
"Not Joker – he's in a maximum security ward, and he likes knowing Batman's secret too much to ever tell. But Catwoman – she's teamed up with Penguin before."
"But the truck's pulling off," Tim pointed. "There it goes – I guess that wasn't Penguin after all."
He felt the car go faster, and he glanced at his older brother. "Dick?"
"Let's go home," Dick said, worried.
Three minutes later, Dick pulled to a stop in front of Wayne Manor. Dick parked the car, jumped out, and sprinted to the front door. Tim also got out, but he grabbed the four boxes of pizza before following his brother.
Bruce flung the window open. He took a deep breath, planning to shout at Selina to get her hot ass off his property, but he hesitated. Clark had a thing about yelling at women, and Bruce guess that including hollering obscenities at them from a window.
"Think it was the 1940's," Bruce snarled as he swung himself over the window ledge and dropped to the grass below. "So old-fashion."
Bruce made his way to the bushes and hissed, "Selina? I know you're back here. Show yourself."
Nothing moved, save for a few leaves rustling in the breeze.
"Slutty cat," Bruce sneered, "should be tied up in a gunny sack and drowned."
"Oh," Selina's voice purred from above, "we are vicious tonight."
Bruce glanced up to see Catwoman in the tree above him, her black-leather-clad body draped across a long branch. She gazed out of her mask, looking down on him with a coy smile.
"What are you doing up there?" Bruce demanded. "I told you to get out."
"And when have I ever followed your orders?" she asked lazily. "You know I can't stay away from you. I'm drawn to you, Bruce – like a moth to flames. I had to come back. Besides, I'm dying for another peek at your disciplining. I've not been able to stop thinking about it – I keep picturing you, draping over the Boy Scout's lap, wailing while he swats you over and over again." She smiled down at him. "You're such a naughty boy, needing to be spanked very, very hard."
He growled and grabbed the lowest branch to hoist himself up after her.
"Now you want to play chase the kitty?" Selina jumped up and climbed to a higher branch, her cat powers allowing her to move fast and gracefully.
"When I get you," Bruce threatened, "I'm going to rip your costume off and give you something to wail about."
"You're threatening me?" Selina looked delighted as she climbed higher, Bruce only a few feet behind. "I miss your threats. How many times did you have me in your grasp and threaten to teach me a lesson? But you never had the balls to do it."
"I got the balls now," he retorted. "You're about to feel the fury of the Bat."
"Oh, no, you're scaring poor kitty," Selina taunted.
She swung herself up on the next branch and waited for him to climb up. Once he was level with her, she tilted her head to side to consider him. "Kitty likes what she sees. Kitty likes it when the scary Bat chases her – meow!"
"Well, this Bat doesn't like having strays in his trees."
"Careful – we wouldn't want your boyfriend to hear me calling for help and find you up here with me."
"You're trying to get me in trouble," Bruce accused. "You like stirring up trouble for no reason."
"I'm a villain," she shrugged. "I've told you this a hundred times, yet you keep thinking you can save me. Admit it – you love me, Bruce, you always have. And you always will."
"I don't," Bruce declared. "And if I loved someone other than Clark, it would be Wonder Woman."
Selina's eyes opened wide, the green sparking with fury. "Bastard," she hissed.
She reached out to claw his face with her talon-like gloves, but he caught her hand first and held it in his iron grip.
"Admit it, Selina. You don't love anyone other than yourself. You're selfish and greedy, and you know you're going to die alone and miserable, and that scares you to death."
"Don't," she whispered, her eyes glassing over.
"Because in the end, you can't love anyone," Bruce continued in the same hard voice. "You're incapable of love, and no one will ever love you, no matter how hard you pretend. So strut yourself – be all the whore you want to be. You might feel sex, but you'll never feel love."
She closed her eyes, and two big tears ran down her cheeks.
Bruce let go of her hand, wondering how far he had gone this time. Every time he got angry, he said things that pushed back, that made others just as furious as he was. How far had he gone with Selina this time? Had he finally made he feel the agony and the despair of his own dark soul?
Selina opened her eyes, but he read in them calm resolve rather than rage.
"I had promised Clark I would watch out for you," she said. "But you can burn now."
She pushed herself off the branch. She freefell through the limbs, but landed on her feet and hands on the soft grass. "I won't be watching," she smirked, though her voice was full of sadness and not sarcasm.
"What?" Bruce demanded. "What do you mean by that?"
He twisted and turned over the branches, until he landed on the grass as well, a little more heavily than she had. But she was running towards the high stone wall, moving at an incredible cat speed. Bruce knew he should let her go – he should return to the Manor and talk to Clark and leave Catwoman alone.
But he was Batman, and Batman didn't let anything go.
Selina climbed up the wall quickly and jumped off, disappearing into the darkness. Grabbing onto the craggy rocks of the wall, Bruce began climbing up, his athletic skills allowing him to scale the wall in seconds. He got to the top and looked down.
Selina was gone.
Bruce swung his body over the wall and dropped to the other side. It was really dark, and he knew the boys were back with the pizza and Clark would come looking for him soon. But he could also use the secret entrance to the Batcave in the large oak tree only thirty feet away, get into the suit, and follow her in the Batmobile.
He felt torn, just like he always felt torn between being Bruce and being Batman. It wasn't fair and –
"Look who we have here," a voice taunted.
Bruce turned to see Jonathan Crane standing by the wall, an awful smile on his face.
"Scarecrow," Bruce growled, annoyed at the sight of the thing, lanky man.
"No, no," Jonathan shook a finger at him, "tonight I am just Mr. Crane to you. I'm so sorry to do this, Mr. Wayne, but I need money to fund my next project."
"I'm not giving you money," Bruce said. "You belong in a cell in Arkham, but they're giving you time off for good behavior again, I see."
"You obviously keep up with the news," Jonathan noted. "I'd love to stay and chat, but Batman might show up any moment, and I prefer to kidnap my millionaire hostages without having to fight off annoying superheroes."
"You're going to kidnap me?" Bruce laughed. "I think you've been sniffing too much of your own fear toxin lately."
"No, but my associate has," Jonathan replied.
Bruce felt a presence behind him, and he whirled around to find a man with brown hair wearing a huge hat behind him. "Mad Hatter?"
"I'm just here as a favor to Crane," Hatter explained. "I don't want your money, Mr. Wayne. Though it might buy my Alice a pretty dress . . ."
"Oh, shut up," Jonathan ordered.
Bruce opened his mouth to tell both of them to beat it or else with something stung sharply on his neck. Bruce reached a hand up to feel the hard metal of the dart stuck in his neck, and he managed to pluck the dart out before the first wave of dizziness hit him.
The other side of his neck stung, and Bruce saw the Mad Hatter lower a small straw from his lips as Bruce reached up to pluck out the other dart. He could not even feel the second dart as he fell to his knees. As he slipped into darkness, he wondered if Selina had come to help the two villains or to warn him of their attack.