The Labyrinth

Chapter 5: Bats In The Belfry

Bruce had his fair share of being unconscious at his enemy's mercy, he thought himself pretty good at keeping himself awake, but this time he felt zero control. He grunted and gasped, coughing up black tar. His wide eyes searched for something, anything really, but it was like his eyes couldn't focus and didn't register whatever was there.

He didn't know which way was up and barely felt the floor connect with his body, everything was numb and on fire at the same time.

He heard something, like through cotton, but then it seemed to bounce around in his head, taunting him.

"How interesting, 'Batman' just became a little more literal."

-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-

"Dick?" A voice whispered sharply, "Dick wake up, please wake up."

The acrobat groaned pitifully against the cold metal ground, he attempted to roll over but realized he was much too exhausted. He laid defeated on the ground, letting his numb body regain some type of consciousness.

That's when he remembered.

The gas. The shouting men in dark clothing. Wally unconscious. The truck, the bag over his head.

Bruce... in a cage.

Dick gasped as he bolted upright. "Bruce!"

He was disappointed when the voice that replied did not belong to his father. "Dick! Are you okay?"

The boy felt the adrenaline leave his frazzled body, sagging against some bars, looking down absentmindedly to find his hands were cuffed together. He looked over at the source of the familiar voice, eyes locking onto a familiar (concerned) redhead.

"Wally?" The acrobat was confused, then his face went slack. "Wally! I'm sorry, it wasn't me! I promise it wasn't me!"

"I know Dick, they wouldn't have taken you too if you had." Wally replied, sounding a bit tired himself. "I-"

"Grayson!" A man shouted suddenly, making the boy in question flinch. Wally promptly clamped his mouth shut and scooted back. Dick was confused, then realized that Wally might be preserving himself by not getting in trouble. The small acrobat struggled to get up, unable to quell the fear coursing through his body. Heavy booted feet sounded, getting closer and closer to the caged child. "You're up!"

Dick didn't have any time to contemplate what that meant when his cage door opened and he was dragged out. He yelped, the man had grabbed his arm and now had a heavy gloved hand around the nape of his neck. "Hey! Let go!" Dick tried to fight, grabbing at the hands and trying to jerk away.

"Shut it, rat." The man let go with one hand, only to fist it and send it careening towards the child's face. Dick ducked but couldn't dodge the entire blow, the man's gloved knuckles scraped across the top of his head. Dick thought it was a victory, but then a knee landed in his gut and Dick gasped and doubled over.

A bulky arm latched across the child's torso like an iron seatbelt, dragging the boy towards the door. Dick's panicked blue eyes found Wally as he fought to regain his breath, heart palpitating wildly. The speedster was kneeling in his cage, gripping the bars tightly as he looked on with heightening fear and sorrow.

Dick's eyes started to dart around, looking for anything that might help him escape. There were other cages, he realized, they had occupants, but he hadn't seen until now. But that was no good. He started to kick and lift up with his feet, trying to writhe out of his grip. But the man kept him off balance and he had no ability to maneuver with the arm across his chest. He couldn't get out of this!