Brothers In Arms (Batfamily) - Completed

Chapter 27 ~ The Chase

                  

/!\ Warning, this chapter is a bit more violent than the others. Graphic depiction of violence ahead...

Red Hood's headquarters were slowly waking up that day. Some men were still sleeping in their attributed bedrooms. There was bedrooms in the headquarters because Hood wanted to ensure the building's security constantly. Not far from them, a few other men were gathered in a large room which had been converted into some kind of living room by the henchmen themselves. It can seem unusual for a gang to have this kind of room, but Hood's men were closed to each other and they really appreciated to have this space for themselves.

Of course, not all the henchmen were constantly living in the headquarters. Many of them had their own families to take care of and they were going back to their homes every day, knowing perfectly well that their husbands, wives or children were impatiently waiting for them. A lot of these families had seen their partners disappear through one of the many gang wars which had recently been happening in Gotham and from all sides, not only from Red Hood's gang. Those wars had become more and more violent throughout the years and it was even from times to times touching innocent who were passing by at the wrong time...

The newspapers talked about at least twenty innocent civilians who had received a stray bullets coming from the violent activities happening mostly in the Bowery, Crime Alley and all the dangerous spots in the city. It was coming to a point where no one was safe anymore. People were shaking at the idea of going outside even if it was just to go grocery shopping.

At first, when Red Hood and his gang started to emerge, the crime rate in Gotham dropped spectacularly. People weren't scared anymore because they felt more protected. However, it increased again and again when Black Mask reacted and associated himself without other gangs against Hood's. At this point, even the police wasn't going in those areas, it was way too dangerous...

Many people had started to get really tired of being scared every time they were stepping outside but none could really do something. It had to be solved by the gangs themselves, and that's what was going to happen that day...

It was around six in the morning and while some of Hood's henchmen were still sleeping or slowly waking up, some of them were already ready and being busy either cleaning their guns or talking with each other inside the headquarters' main hall. It was really early and they weren't expecting their leader to be already here, walking furiously through the building with who they thought was a traitor by his side.

"What is Barnes doing here, boss?" one dared to ask as both men passed near him. Red Hood didn't answered and kept walking before he climbed up the stairs and reached the catwalk to be a little higher than the men who were already gathered in the hall. Kyle exchanged a brief glance with him. His eyes weren't covered by the red domino mask Jason had given him earlier.

Red Hood loudly cleared his throat, "I need to talk to you. To all of you. Please go and gather everyone here. I'll be back in around an hour. Do not contact Aaron though. He's... having the day off and we don't need him here today." Some of the men nodded and rushed towards the headquarters bedrooms while others took out their phones and called those who were with their families. None of them knew what was happening, but they all undoubtedly realized that something was definitely wrong...

During this time, Kyle and Hood had reached the gang's leader office. "Why weren't you wearing your mask?" the helmeted man asked with a quite irritated tone while he closed the door and locked it.

Kyle leaned against the closest wall and took the domino mask out of the pocket of his new black leather jacket (which was fitting him after all). "I need to regain their trust and I don't think that hiding my identity is a good solution for this... Besides, they would asked themselves who is this masked man who's standing next to their boss," he simply shrugged.