The Birds of Prey: Nightwing (Batman Fanfic)

Chapter 7: Son of the Demon

Bruce's P.O.V

I grapple into the west entrance to the Batcave, the water from the waterfall is a welcome coolness on my overly warm skin. I rush over the wet and slippery rocks, my boots dig into the stone as I race towards where Barbara should be stationed.

 Panic had begun to set in, not something I am familiar with but Barbara is like a daughter to me. I watched her grow from a timid girl to a fierce fighter before me. She was shy and quiet when Richard first brought her home but I knew there was something else there and when I first saw the masked girl who tried to save 'Bruce Wayne' from Killer Moth, I recognized her immediately and I had no idea how Richard did not- her purity is something that could never be missed.

 A normal life is something that I wanted ever since I was a child, a normal life with a family. After adopting Richard and taking Barbara in as my new protegee along with expanding the ever growing Bat-family, I have never felt as close to that dream of a normal life with a family and now it just seems to be crumbling away before me. I still carry the guilt with me from the attack on Barbara that left her a paraplegic, I did not think that I would ever be able to stop feeling the smothering guilt or the anger that burns like wildfire inside of me. I did not want to hurt the people that did that to Barbara, no, I wanted to kill them. Kill them all. I had not wanted to kill someone that much ever since Joe Chill killed my parents. I vowed since that day that I would protect her fiercely, as my own daughter and now my heart beats sporadically at the thought of the likes of Talia al Ghul hurting her.

It is unlike me to lose such focus but as I regulate my breathing and my heart beats more normally I begin to regain control of my senses. I notice that I am not alone, as I run through the passage ways I notice that men are standing above me, stationed on the precarious and slippery ledges that line the caves walls, all of them have a bow trained on me.

As I make it to the platform which has the Batwing stationed on it, I make my way up a set of stairs to where the computers are. Barbara's wheelchair is on its side, one of the wheels had come off which I can only assume was lost in a struggle. It has been years since I last saw Talia and she is no less beautiful than the first day that I saw her. Her long brown hair is swept out of her face in a pony tail revealing her piercing green eyes which hold a look of anger and malice within them. She is wearing her standard fighting gear of  fitted black leather trousers, combat boots and a fitted black top with no sleeves and a utility belt slung around her hips. She holds Barbara in a vice like grip, her hand curling around her neck and she tries with much effort to support Barbara's weight as she cannot use her legs to stand by herself.

"Let her go Talia. Let her go now before I hurt you" I try extremely hard to keep my voice from shaking with anger.

"Tut tut Bruce, is that any way to talk to the mother of your child" Her foreign accent rings throughout the batcave. She brings Barbara closer to her, grabbing a knife from a sheath on her leg and pressing it to her neck. If this frightens Barbara she does not show it, her face remains placid and with a some what bored expression.

"I know thousands of ways to kill a man. Some are quick" She presses the blade into her throat and a bead of blood bubbles from the small cut. "Others are fast but much less fun" She makes a move as if she were to cut Barbara's throat and i take a step forward but Talia only laughs and places the blade back on her thigh. "If I wanted to kill this one, I would have done it already.Although it would have been a mercy, she's useless anyway. I just needed to get your attention." 

She pushes Barbara forwards, onto the ground so she lands at my feet. I kneel down, pick her up swiftly and sit her down in one of the chairs by the computer. Barbara catches my eye and she looks pointedly to something, rather someone on the ground. Only then did I notice this second body, lying face down on the ground with crimson blood oozing from the base of his neck, Alfred.