Chapter Text
The night's patrol had been quiet and unassuming, which, of course, set all of the seasoned vigilantes on edge. They all knew that the quieter the night, the quicker it was to descend into chaos. The phrase "the calm before the storm" was very apt in Gotham. Most nights that started with this quiet ended with an Arkham break out.
Due to this, Black Bat let out a silent sigh of relief when she was pinged by Oracle for a break in at the museum. It was possible this was another mishap, like last week- the neighborhood teens had dared themselves in circles until one of them tried to jimmy the lock on the front door- but Black Bat didn't think that this was. She didn't have any particular reason for believing so, it was more that she could feel it. Something in the air, or something inside of her, raising goosebumps on her arms.
She vaulted off of the gargoyle she was stationed on (Frank) and high into the smokey Gotham air. She let herself freefall for a short second before launching her grapple at a grotesque on a building across the way. Her cape spread out behind her in the wind.
When she got to the museum, Black Bat found that there were others waiting outside. Red Hood was stalking the perimeter and there was a flash of reflective purple on the rooftop. She slipped behind Spoiler, glancing into the sky light. The exhibit below was empty of people. She crouched to get a better look, Spoiler startling away from her.
"ACK-" she lowered her voice as she realized that it was Black Bat next to her, "BB!"
Spoiler moved back to her original position, grumbling slightly, "How long were you just sitting there?"
"Status?" Black Bat asked.
"Nothing yet. Or nothing I've seen. Oracle says motion sensors indicate that the perp is still in the building," her face shifts (bored-nervous-annoyed) indicating she disagreed, but would never say that where Oracle could hear her. Which was everywhere.
"Move in?"
The response came from her comm this time, "No can do."
At her inquisitive noise, Oracle continued, "From what I'm seeing here, the perp hasn't left the building, but they're also not anywhere with pressure plates inside," Black bat could tell from the way she paused that Oracle was biting her thumbnail, "The last place they were indicated was in the climate controlled vault, room F13."
"Woah, wait," Spoiler said, "museum's have vaults?!"
"Not in the way you're thinking," Oracle replied, "Let's stay on task here. I cannot authorize entry, not when I don't have eyes on the perp,"
"And not when they're in the room with a suspected magical artifact," a new voice cut in. Cardinal.
"What? Cardinal, what do you mean?"
Black Bat tried to listen to their conversation, but it quickly devolved into technical jargon about the security measures in the exhibit room. She glanced at Spoiler, seeing a matching look of fond exasperation. Black Bat was happy her family was getting along, even if she did not always understand them.
She glanced at Spoiler again and she (energy-movement-smirk) met her eye. She grinned and the both of them were through the sky light before Oracle got the notification it had opened.
The museum was dark, but not that dark. The moon was half full and the light pollution in Gotham was only second to Metropolis (though with the smog it didn't always seem that way). It was dark enough, however, for Black Bat and Spoiler to slip into the shadows like a second skin.
As the clouds overhead smothered the moonlight, the duo crept further into the museum. Room F13 was up a small flight of stairs, down the hall, and the last door on the right. Black Bat led the way in silence. Oracle, having already muffled curses into her palm, gave them pointers while they traveled the rooms,
"Try not to touch anything. If you set off the silent alarm, the vault room will seal itself off,"
"Pssh, like we can't handle a vault door," said Spoiler, "And wouldn't locking this guy in help us? seal off the windows and stuff?"
Black Bat heard a muttered, "Windows?" from Cardinal's comm line before it was quickly muted.
"It's not about whether or not you can break down a vault door, Spoiler, it's about the fact it'd alert them to your presence," she continued, "I already don't want you two in there, just keep this a stealth mission."
Spoiler pouted, but acquiesced. As the two got closer to the end of the hall, Black Bat felt the hairs on her arms raise. She spun around, pulling Spoiler behind her in an instant. She saw nothing. She furrowed her brow, crinkling her mask. She could feel Spoiler's pulse through their gloves, her heart rabbiting in her chest. She saw nothing, but she felt something, the way she had earlier that night. There was no proof of anything. Nothing for her detective's brain to figure out. No clues. Nothing but the way she felt.
She took a breath. Held it. Then let it go. She turned back to Spoiler, releasing her arm.
'Something,' she signed, 'cannot see'
Spoiler nodded. She glanced towards the door to F13, then back at Black Bat (nervous-determined-steady) and raised her brow. Black Bat smirked, sidling up to the door. Spoiler copied her, standing on the opposite side. Black Bat lightly gripped the handle and the door opened silently.
Light leaked out of the room, illuminating the hall. The air inside was cool and slightly damp. Black Bat stepped inside, careful of the shadow she cast. She explored the seemingly empty room. The walls were covered in shelves and cabinets. The space between them was negligible. The only person who would be able to fit between them was Nightwing, and it would be difficult for even him. There were some portions that were larger than others, likely holding paintings rather than small artifacts. The walls were white and the floor was a cement grey. There was a large square archway in the center with a short hall leading elsewhere. Black Bat stepped toward the hallway before her comm went off,
"Spoiler do not enter the room."
She couldn't hear Spoiler's response. She walked back to meet up with her.
"Yes I know she went into the room. And I know you know that you can't do the same," Oracle told her.
"Urgh that's so not fair, O! She just gets to do whatever she wants," Spoiler asked.
"Of course not, but Black Bat is trained in stealth—"
"And I'm not?! I was trained by Batman! And I was Spoiler even before that!"
Black Bat put a hand on Spoiler's shoulder, "Shh," she looked into the room, "Might hear."
Spoiler whirled on her, shirking off her hand. She didn't say anything but she was (hurt-annoyed-sorry) clearly upset. She lowered her voice from where it had gradually gained volume,
"Fine. So, what'd you see anyway?"
"Empty," She shrugged, "Hallway."
Spoiler scrunched up her face and tilted her head to the side. She turned back to the open door, brow scrunched,
"So, now can I enter the room?"
Oracle sighed, "Yes. But be careful. The museum's blueprints indicate that that area is a further vault room, set up specifically for high end clients."
"Urgh, rich people," Spoiler muttered.
"It's likely there will be multiple storage containers and the perp could be hiding in any of them. And Cardinal thinks that there's a magic artifact involved,"
"Oh yeah, you guys mentioned that,"
"I'm not certain on any of the details and neither was he," Oracle paused, taking a breath, "Which makes it even more important that you don't do anything reckless."
"Me, reckless," Spoiler walked backwards into the room, looking at Black Bat, "Never."
Black Bat laughed silently, her shoulders shaking.
The hallway's walls were the same white as the room's and the floor was the same grey. There were no stairs, but the floor sloped down and the temperature seemed to drop. It was silent. Time seemed to stretch like a lazy cat and it made Black Bat tense. The feeling was back. It wasn't directional, not like before. Just a general sense of unease. There was a word to describe this, she thought, but she didn't know what it was.
Her and Spoiler soon came upon another doorway, this time with no door. They glanced at each other before melding into the shadows once more.
The two of them crept through the doorway one after the other. Black Bat caught a glimpse of the remains of the door, crumpled and shoved to the side. She furrowed her brow before examining the rest of the room.
There were three storage containers. They were bolted to the ground. They were made out of that loud and flimsy metal. There were lights in the room, LEDs, and lights in each storage container. The lights in the containers were different than the ones in the room at large and were slightly more yellow. The room was also warmer than the hallway leading to it, but barely.
Black Bat saw Spoiler approaching the leftmost storage container, her brow still furrowed. She ran her hands along the sides. Checking for abnormalities? Calming herself? It seemed to be a mix of both. Her fingers caught on the roll-up door, the metal clattering slightly. Spoiler winced. They both paused, listening for a reaction. There was none. Neither of them untensed.
Black Bat caught Spoiler's eye, turning to the rightmost storage container. She tried raising her eyebrow like Spoiler had earlier, but her mask got in the way. Instead, she gestured her head to the roll-up door she stood beside. Spoiler got into a ready stance by her own container. The two of them did a mental count-down,
Three...
Two...
One!
At the same time, they clicked open the doors, losing their element of surprise. The metal clattered and screeched like cats fighting in a dumpster. Black Bat slid easily under the door before it was even a foot off the ground. She presumed Spoiler did the same.
The container was filled with boxes. They were packed in tight, but their differing sizes allowed for unpredictable gaps. Black Bat slipped in-between them, feather light.
Then, a noise. Outside of the container. The scuffing of boots on hard concrete. She leapt out of the container, prepared for a fight, but instead saw a familiar red helmet. She barely had time to slow her momentum before her vision went white.
Her ears thrummed with static, mind skewed and heart racing. By the time her vision cleared, she had a split second to think before throwing herself forward.
There was a sniper in the building across the street. On the second floor, relatively low. Target was ground-level. They were (skilled-trained-familiar) dangerous.
The sniper was fast, but she was faster. She tackled the target of the attack, sending them both hurtling to the ground. She made sure to break his fall. The shot rang out, missing them by a mile. As Black Bat's awareness came back, she noted it was lucky it hadn't hit anyone else either. The target, the man, had been walking in a group. She shook the thoughts out of her head. The sniper could reload at any moment, she needed to get everyone to safety. She made to stand, offering her hand to the man she tackled.
Jim Gordon stared back at her.