Batman: The Enemy Within (Male Reader Robin)

Chapter 13: Learning about The Pact

Y/N's POV

We make it back to the Batcave. Alfred runs over to us.

Alfred: Bruce!

I get out of the Batmobile, me and Alfred help Bruce out.

Bruce: I'm--I'm fine... really.

Y/N: Bruce...

Alfred: You are not fine, Bruce. None of this is fine. You were nearly killed tonight. Both of you. Those minutes of silence... waiting for you two to respond... they were the worst of my life.

Y/N: We're so sorry to put you through that, Al.

Alfred: You and Bruce will just do it again tomorrow.

We start walking to the Batcomputer.

Alfred: We already lost Lucius. I couldn't bear losing the both of you, too.

Bruce grunts.

Alfred: We -- we can talk about all this later. Come on now... let's get you patched up.

Short Timeskip

Bruce got patched up. We are at the Batcomputer. Bruce got a picture of Bane on the screen.

Alfred: As if he wasn't bad enough, now Director Waller knows your and Y/N's identity. That information in her hands--

Bruce: Waller isn't the one we need to worry about. Bane is still on the loose, with enough guns to arm a small militia.

Alfred: Oh, I... I understand. A man died for you and Y/N tonight, Bruce, trying to save you from that monstrosity.

Y/N: Can't believe it.

Alfred: Too many died... in too short a time.

Y/N: It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Bruce: Bane is running free out there, and he's just getting started.

Alfred: That's what frightens me, Bruce. We've never seen this kind of destructive power before.

Bruce: Waller was right about one thing.

Bruce pulls out the dart that killed Riddler.

Bruce: Riddler was just a small part of a larger threat. Let's begin with the dart I pulled from his neck.

Bruce gets up, he starts limping.

Y/N: Bruce?

Alfred: Got it?

Bruce: I'm good. Thanks, Al, Y/N.

Bruce scans the dart.

Bruce: Huh. There's still some toxin left in here.

Alfred: What kind of toxin.

Bruce: Something new. There's a whole series of powerful psychoactive meds in this cocktail. Drugs that are lethal when combined.

Alfred: Who could have come up with such a concoction?

Bruce: And did the same person pull the trigger?

Bruce gets back on the Batcomputer.

Alfred: Bane's attack tonight was one of three tonight. All at the same time.

Y/N: Jesus...

Bruce: Let's bring them up, get an assessment of the damage.

Bruce looks into GothCorp Labs.

Bruce: GothCorp Labs, genetic research facility.

Y/N: Where do we even start?

Alfred: Yea. I have no idea.

Bruce: Authorities can't determine what was even stolen until all of that... melts.

Alfred: At least twenty dead, some completely encased in ice.

Bruce: Others were frozen solid... some of their limbs shattered as they fled.

Y/N: Christ.

Bruce: Waller's Intel shows that the thieves made off with numerous pieces of equipment used in the storage and transportation of biological material.

Alfred: I don't even want to think what they'd want that for.

Bruce: No IDs on any suspects, though. Security cameras frozen, all witnesses dead.

Bruce then looks at Gotham Brokerage.

Bruce: Gotham Brokerage. Ten million in diamonds stolen. Some safety deposit boxes emptied, contents unknown. Over a dozen dead and even more wounded. Mostly by gunshot, though some victims had their heads smashed in.

Alfred: That's barbaric.

We look at the suspect.

Alfred: Witnesses place Harleen Quinzel at the scene. Dressed up as a clown and wielding a mallet.

Y/N: Don't ask me.

Alfred: Riddler's friends are as insane and gruesome as he was. Perhaps even more.

Bruce: Those same witnesses say that she acted alone. All that carnage. All by herself.

Alfred: Guns, money...biotech. What are they planning?

Bruce: We won't know until we get to Bane.

Alfred: I don't mean to cause offense, but you're in no shape to beat the information out of that monster. Or take on his friends, if it comes to it. I don't want Y/N taking them on alone as well.

Y/N: Of course we could use help. But both the GCPD and the Agency are stretched thin.

Bruce: One thing's for sure, we can't just wait around for Bane to strike again. The death toll is already too high.

Alfred: Waller may have been right. Some problems might be better solved by Bruce Wayne. Riddler said his friends abandoned him at the Lady of Dublin.

Bruce: He alluded to the fact that John Doe was one of them. If that's the case, then John can get you close to the others.

Y/N: I mean... he thinks of you as a friend, this could work.

Bruce: John's hardly predictable. But, it's a risk I'll have to take.

Alfred: He clearly sees something in you that appeals to him. It'll be dangerous, approaching Bane and his people this way. They'll be suspicious of anyone who isn't a proven criminal.

Y/N: Yeah... this kinda worries me.

Bruce: Don't worry, guys, I'm not planning to stick around for long. Just enough for me to figure out their plan.

Alfred: Yes, and then what?

Bruce: I'll improvise. So that's it, then. I find John Doe and accept his offer. Hopefully, the invitation is still open.

Alfred: Good thing you hid that tracking device on him when you had the chance.

Bruce puts the tracker on the screen.

Bruce: The Stacked Deck. That's where he is.

Alfred: I suppose you couldn't wait an hour or two while you rest?

Bruce: Not a chance.

Y/N: Bruce... I don't think I'll join you on this one... I don't wanna risk anything.

Bruce: That's okay... I didn't want you to be a part of this. I trust you to keep the streets safe while I hang around with the threat.

Y/N: You got it.

Bruce then leaves to find John Doe.