Willow

Winter Here to Stay (For a While)

...Bunker down Gotham! A winter weather advisory is in effect until further notice. High winds and heavy snowfall are expected. Stay indoors and only go out if absolutely necessary...

Bruce Wayne was having a terrible, awful, no good, very bad weekend.

Dick tried to sneak out again while Bruce was at the opera. Despite Bruce - very hesitantly - including him in his mission. He was still adamant about taking down Zucco. Bruce promised they would do it together. But trust an eight year old to be stubborn.

And when he complained to Alfred, the butler called it payback.

So he came up with a training regime and they designed a suit together. Dick wanted to be called 'Robin', explaining that it was something his mother called him. And as long as his homework was completed and his grades stayed up, Robin patrolled with Batman on the weekends.

Saturday night there was an emergency at the aquarium and he brought Robin along to see how he'd do. The boy had good instincts and did alright. But he got bored or distracted easily.

The stick up at the aquarium was a sham. No one harmed. Nothing stolen. It bothered him immensely that he didn't know what for. He was missing something. Something vital. Gordon didn't have anything for him, either.

He stayed out on patrol until the wee hours of Sunday morning - putting Dick to bed around midnight - trying to find any sort of clue that would explain Penguin's plans. Oswald was usually after money, jewels, or artifacts. And occasionally birds. But he couldn't find anything conclusive and the longer he stayed out the more frustrated he became.

He didn't like it. Not one bit.

Around four in the morning the storms came. The heavy clouds had been around most of the day, sleeting on and off throughout the city. He saw the lightning streaking across the bay - crashes of thunder shaking the ground - and thought it best to return to the cave for the night. He monitored security feeds all around the city until just after dawn when Alfred came down to send him to bed.

"Something's not right about this, Alfred." Bruce chewed on the end of his pen, "Penguin's not one to play the part of distraction, so he must be working for someone else. But who? Falcone cut him off. Nygma and Dent are in rehab. Freeze is in Arkham. He doesn't get along with Ivy or Joker... There's something bigger at play here."

"Sleep deprivation won't do you any good while you try to sort it out, Master Bruce." Alfred said, "Get some rest. There is also a young man upstairs who could benefit from your assistance with his mathematics homework this afternoon."

Which brought him here. Lying on the carpet in his study after dinner. Trying to mentally sort through what little information he had on the aquarium job.

What am I missing?

-&-

Verity couldn't be certain how long she had been out. After the cloth covered her face, she'd felt a pinch in her neck - a heavy sleepiness overtaking her senses in a matter of seconds. She woke slowly, groggy and out of sorts. Head pounding. Her mouth and throat unbearably dry and every muscle aching from sleeping on the hard floor of... well. Wherever she was.

The room was dimly lit, a single bucket light hung from a high ceiling, buzzing incessantly overhead. No windows, either. Vents in the ceiling much too high to reach. Her heart raced. There was only one door, painted to blend in with the dark walls. On stiff, unsteady legs, she crossed the small space and tried the handle.

Locked from the outside.

Her skin prickled. She stumbled back, sliding down the wall to rest her head on her knees. All she'd wanted was a damned milkshake. Which she hadn't even been able to enjoy. Someone - Gaten - drugged her and stuffed her in a closet. But why?