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Chapter 28 - Things Fall Apart

It had been hours, Batman thought, annoyed. Oracle had been contacted hours ago. Family Services might not be able to process hundreds of children but some child welfare official should have made it down here by now. Barbara would have contacted the GCPD and a hospital and these kids should have been fed, given a medical examination and should be out of here by now. Something was wrong.

�Where�s Miss Misery?� he asked the Mexican girl, finally spotting her across a crowded line as the kids queued for their morning meal.

�Somewhere,� the girl shrugged, turning back to her duty monitoring the line. She kept some of the smaller kids in check as they tried to push impatiently forward to receive a ladleful of the soup an older boy was doling out from a large cauldron. All around them, at perhaps fifty different stations, the same process was occurring. At least they were well-fed, Bruce thought glumly.

�I need to get to the surface,� he told Maria. She eyed him, her wide brown eyes almost bored.

�You can�t,� Maria replied. �Tomas and some of the other went for supplies. They�ll be back later.�

Why do they need supplies if we�re taking the kids out of here? Bruce wondered. He pushed through the line of small bodies and grasped Maria�s forearm, squeezing tightly. �Where is she?� he snarled. Maria didn�t look impressed.

�When she wants to talk to you, she�ll talk to you,� the girl informed him, returning her attention to the line and slipping from his hold. Bruce didn�t try to force the issue. He found Dick playing Frisbee with some of the kids who�d already eaten.

�You�re going to play for the big leagues, Mike!� Dick was saying to a short, chubby little boy who�d captured an almost-possible pass from one of the girls. Dick ruffled his hair and it was a strange sight, still clad as he was in his Nightwing costume.

Batman stalked forward, motioning for Dick to follow him. They stopped in a square formed by intersecting shelters and Batman leaned closer to Dick.

�Something isn�t right. When was the last time you spoke to Oracle?�

�A couple of hours ago. She was worried, wants me to check in.�

�You�re sure it was her?�

Dick frowned. �What�s going on?�

�I haven�t seen Jessica Bradshaw in seven hours,� Bruce said. �Some of the older boys went to the surface for supplies, which they won�t need if we�re really supposed to be getting everyone out. And I haven�t seen a single GCFS or police officer down here. Oracle should have gotten them down here hours ago.�

�Well, the wheels of social services turn slowly,� Dick said, �but it is kinda weird. And I�m pretty sure it was Babs on the Oracomm channel. She used the right codewords and it sounded like her��

�Jessica could fake any of that,� Batman said.

�What do you think she�s up to?�

Batman was about to reply to Dick�s question when Selina appeared in the small courtyard, carrying Lucy on her back. She was breathing heavily, her eyes wild with fright.

�Selina?� Bruce asked. �What�s wrong?�

�It�s Jessica,� she panted, handing Lucy over to Dick. �She murdered Janine Flannery. Lucy thinks she�s going to try to kill all of the children.�

Batman lowered his eyes from Selina�s face to Lucy�s. �Why do you think Miss Misery would hurt you?� he asked the child. Lucy reached out and Bruce leaned forward almost instinctively. She touched his face, her small hand cold on his bare cheek below the mask.

�You�ll be okay,� the little girl promised.

Selina touched Bruce�s elbow and he turned, his cape brushing back over his shoulders. �Dick, watch Lucy, okay?� Selina asked. Dick nodded, taking the little girl from Selina as she passed her to him. Selina then pulled Batman far enough away to be out of earshot.

�She�s Jessica�s daughter,� she whispered. �Peter Bradshaw was the father.�

Bruce closed his eyes. He�d suspected as much. Something about Lucy�s face wasn�t right, the genetics of inbreeding evident in her small body size and lame left foot.

�She has the same powers as her mother. And she claims that we�re all going to die down here, Bruce.�

Batman nodded, accepting the information and analyzing the possibilities. He was grateful for his training which allowed him to process such a declaration without feeling. He returned to himself only when he felt Selina�s touch on his arm.

�What do we do?� she asked him. Bruce spoke, a strategy already formulated.

�You get to the surface. Contact Oracle and find help. Did Lucy say how we were going to die?�

Selina shook her head and he frowned.

�Jessica could have poisoned the food, or might flood the cavern with gas. Fire is a strong possibility. Tell Barbara to plan for anything.�

�What�s going on?� Dick asked, coming closer, Lucy still secure in his arms.

�Catwoman has to get to the surface,� Batman said. �We think Jessica�s planning something.�

�Let me go,� Dick said quickly. �I�ll have this place swarming with GCPD in ten seconds.�

�No,� Bruce decided. �Whoever goes will have to climb and Selina is faster than you on a sheer rock face.�

�All those high-rise skyscrapers I hit,� Selina broke in. Dick grinned at her.

�Can I come?� Lucy asked shyly. The three masked vigilantes turned to her. �I don�t want to die,� she told them quietly.

Dick shook his head, craning his neck to look at the small girl in his arms. �You aren�t going to die,� he told her. �No one is. That�s why we�re here.�

Lucy kept her hand tight around his neck. She looked at both men. �Watch out for the crying angel,� she told them. Nightwing and Batman exchanged uneasy glances.

�I should get going,� Catwoman said. Selina had put her mask back in place. She took Lucy�s hand. �I�ll be back soon, okay? And you�ll get out of here.�

�Okay,� Lucy said in a small voice, her tiny chin trembling. �But I�I don�t know if you�ll be okay. I didn�t dream it.�

�I�ll see you soon,� Selina promised, brushing the little girl�s face. Selina squeezed Dick�s shoulder and turned to Bruce.

�Watch out for yourself, Bats,� she told him, kissing him quickly on the lips. Bruce nodded, not able to speak past the lump of fear in his throat.

�You sure you can make it okay? It�s a long climb,� Dick pointed out, nervous for her.

�I�ll be fine. If I don�t make it,� she hesitated, looking at Bruce, willing for once to make herself vulnerable. �If I don�t make it,� she continued, �then he�ll never get to tell me loves me. That sort of thing would piss him off and I�m not to be responsible for that particular freak show.�

With that she was gone, racing for the mouth of the cavern and the beginning of the mile-long shaft up to the surface.

�She�s a hell of a woman, Bruce,� Dick said. Batman grunted, and they were off to prevent a disaster.

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Selina lost track of how long she�d been climbing. Seemed like hours, alone in the dark, sweating through her costume, her hands shaking as she searched for her next foothold. She was faster than the former Boy Wonder, but he had more upper-body strength. If she didn�t pick up the pace, she would have to look Bruce in the eyes and explain why, exactly, she hadn�t made the climb in record time. Selina Kyle was not about to do that.

She wondered what was happening below her, if some sort of Clench-like virus had broken out, if the children were falling victim to poison or flooding. She closed her eyes to the images in her head, freeing one hand to wipe a bead of sweat off her upper lip. Selina may not have been the most maternal woman in the world, but the thought of children in pain was too upsetting to entertain for very long. She still had a ways to go, and the shaft was getting hotter.

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Dick had reached the ledge of the cavern to scout for Jessica and to keep an eye on the crowd of children and teenagers below. If they started dropping or some other kind of disaster took shape, he�d know quickly. It reminded him of that scene in Jaws II, Brody up on that tower, getting scared over a school of tuna fish. Maybe there was no evil plan. Maybe Lucy was mistaken. The little girl was curled up in Selina and Bruce�s quarters in the catacombs, under strict orders to stay that way unless someone came to get her. The kid could have just had a bad dream, Dick mused, hoping desperately that�s all this was. A bad dream.

It started slowly, off in some lost corner in that maze of huts. A fire that no one could have prevented. Dick saw it right away, a heavy feeling settling into his chest. He didn�t see Bruce swoop down to put out the flames; Batman was looking for Jessica in the series of tunnels connecting to the larger cavern. As the fire blossomed, hopping from one shelter to another, the kids scattered. Dick made it down in record time, working crowd control as he organized a bucket brigade among the older kids. Mike, the boy who�d caught that amazing Frisbee pass, was lying prone just beyond the reach of the flames. Dick leapt through the fire, picking the boy up and dashing back across the breach. Smoke inhalation, he determined. Nothing too serious. Dick left him in the care of an older girl and checked the progress of the fire. So far, it was under control. This might just be an accident, not part of Lucy�s prophecy.

A loud explosion boomed through the cave, followed by a massive fireball. Dick realized almost immediately what had happened. The fire had hit a pocket of methane or some other gas trapped in the cavern�s ceiling. Everyone - all the kids - hit the deck as the flames burned high above them, suspended in the air on the cloud of gas. They watched the ceiling burn, some of the smaller ones crying as the only home they had ever known was engulfed in fire.

Dick was on his feet quickly, knowing that the fire would rain down sparks, catching the flimsy shelters and igniting everything. He knew Selina, fast as she was, wouldn�t make a mile-long climb up a sheer rock face in time to send down help. They needed another way out.

�You know these caves well?� Dick turned, asking a boy on his left.

The kid shrugged. �Not as well as Lucy,� he admitted.

Great, Dick thought. He located the oldest person in the crowd around him, the girl who�d been trying to revive Tommy. �Find some water,� he instructed her. �Douse everybody and all the shelters. I want this place soaking! If something starts to burn and it gets out of control, get to a safer section. I�ll be back,� he promised in his best Governor of California imitation. A couple of the kids smiled weakly, still watching the fire above their heads.

Dick ran back through the cavern and reached the honeycomb of caves along the south wall. He found Lucy sitting on the pallet, her face composed. �Let�s go,� the little girl said, standing. �There�s another way out. You don�t even have to climb, really.�

�Great!� Dick told her, relieved. He hoisted her on his back and went back through the cavern, gathering all the kids together. �Okay everybody,� he said in a loud voice. The air was filled with small whimpering and hazy with smoke. Dick was finding it hard to bring air into his lungs. The fire was consuming all of their oxygen and the air filters weren�t compensating quickly enough. �We�re getting out of here. I want all you older kids to organize the smaller guys in pairs. We go slow and careful; no running, no pushing. Everyone make sure you watch out for the person in front of you and the person behind you. No one gets left behind.�

The kids nodded, some of them fighting back tears. He faced the whole, impossible mass of kids, knowing it would be a miracle if he managed to move three hundred children through a warren of caves without someone getting lost. But Dick didn�t have a choice.

�Ready?� he asked, turning his head to address Lucy who was clinging to his neck.

�Ready,� she told him, and they were off.

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Batman moved through the caves, his mind focused only on locating Jessica. He knew she might have gone to the surface or used some secret passageway to escape from the cavern, but Bruce�s instincts told him she would be close by, waiting for him. She wanted a showdown. They always did.

He didn�t falter when choosing his direction through the tunnels, selecting always the right-hand turns. His mother had read him Tom Sawyer when he was a child and the vision of Tom and Becky wandering aimlessly through McDougal's cave was very close to him then as he searched for a metahuman in the caverns beneath Gotham. He thought of the death Jessica had predicted for him, a feeble old man wracked by sickness and regret as he wandered in the dark.

The twisting caverns finally wound to a halt. He could go no further. Cursing, Batman turned, regretting his decision to come after Jessica. Maybe she didn�t want a final battle after all. She wasn�t the Joker or Killer Crock. No seething hatred for Batman drove her forward. She wanted to dispense with the lives she considered wasted by abuse and neglect, then move on to her next target. Batman was not going to let her do so but he wasn�t willing to sacrifice three hundred children to make sure she was brought to justice.

He had made the decision to go back to the cavern and help Dick keep watch when a sound reached his straining ears in the darkness of the cave. Jessica�s voice. He followed the sound, loosing it sometimes as he rounded a turn in the tunnel or crossed behind an outcropping of rock. It was a haunting noise: he thought she might be singing, drawing him onward through the gloom.

Finally reaching a great, open cave after the cramped confines of the tunnels radiating out from the central cavern, Batman sucked in a breath of surprise. Our Lady of Sorrows Cathedral, here deep in the earth. He waded through water to reach it, knowing Jessica was waiting for him inside the church.