FicWad

"That's a hell of a greeting, Daddy." the girl replied as she looked at the older Man, who stood there with his weapon drawn. But her words snapped him out of his surprise, making him look down at the Buretta, before clicking the safety into place and placing it back in it's holster on his belt.

"Well, what did I tell you about trying to surprise an ex-Cop?" he asked back, gaining a thoughtful look from his Daughter in return.

"I know, but 'we' wanted to give you a nice surprise." she said with a smile, looking over his shoulder and making the P.I. turn to see a 17 year old Jimmy standing in the doorway to the Kitchen.

"Hey, Dad." he said back, earning a nod from his old Man.

"Jimmy..." he began to reply, before gesturing to them both.

"...come here, you two." he added with a warm smile, before all three took part in a loving group hug. A moment later, the three separated as their Dad looked at his Kids with a big smile on his face.

"It's really great to see you both. But please, call in advance next time..." he continued, gaining acknowledging nods from the youngsters in return as a familiar smell caught Jim's attention.

"What's cooking?" He asked, looking in the Kitchen's direction.

"It's your favourite, Dad, Salisbury Steak with Fries and Gravy. Jimmy was making it as a part of the surprise." Barbara replied, earning an appreciative smile from their Father.

"I thought that I recognised that delicious aroma..." he began to say back, making his Daughter chuckle.

"...okay then, let's eat."

Twenty minutes later, the trio were sitting around the Dining-room table, having just finished their meals.

"Thank you, Jimmy, that was delicious. Just like your Mother used to make." Gordon said with a happy smile, gaining an appreciative one back from his eldest in return.

"You're welcome, Dad. But Mom didn't teach me how to cook that, since I taught myself." the younger Man replied, earning a curious expression from the Private Investigator.

"Really? I could have sworn that your's and her's tasted identical."

"They do, Daddy. But as Jimmy said, he taught himself..." Barbara jumped in, making both guys turn their attention to her as she spoke.

"...because he wants to be a Cook."

This brought a look of surprise to their Father's face, making his eyes widen a little.

"A Cook, but I thought you wanted to be a ... when you finished your Studies, Jimmy?" he asked, making his Son shrug as he finished the last forkful of food from his plate.

"I did, but I guess things change." he replied a little cryptically, making his Sister shake her head.

"Jimmy's just being modest, Daddy. A few years ago, Mom hadn't made us any dinner one night as she went out on a date..." she started to say, making Gordon raise an eyebrow.

"Your Mom didn't cook for you?" he asked in disbelief, cutting his Daughter off.

"It happens a lot these days, old news..." Jimmy began to answer with a disappointed tone underlining his words, before gesturing to his little Sister.

"...but please let Barb finish the story, since she enjoys telling it."

"It's not that great of a story, but still...okay. So as I was saying...Jimmy decided that if we were going to eat something, then he should be the one to cook, as he was the oldest. So he took Mom's cooking book and just followed the recipe...for 'Chicken Tikka Masala'." the young-girl explained, making Gordon's eyes widen in surprise once more.

"You made a curry? That's not an easy meal to make." he said, earning a knowing nod from the lad in return.

"I know, but I did it...and it was edible." he answered with a smirk.

"It was more than that, Jimmy, it was really tasty." his Sister replied happily.

"And it was a lot of fun to make. So afterwards, I tried a few more meals. With each one getting harder and more fulfilling to make every time." Jimmy explained, earning another nod from Barbara.

"They were all delicious, so Jimmy changed his studies to Cooking and hasn't looked back." she added, making Gordon's smile widened as he looked st his eldest.

"Son, I don't know what else to say other than I am very proud of you. I mean if you can make my Salsbury Steak like this..."

"Actually, Dad, I think I can improve the meal if I add certain spices to it." Jimmy said back, interrupting his Father, who simply smirked back.

"Well, I can't wait to try it out." he replied, before turning his attention to his Daughter.

"And how are things in School for you, Barbara?"

"They're okay, I guess." she replied a little sheepishly, which brought a surprised look to her Brother's face.

"Now who's being modest? Considering that you're top of the class in both Computer-Science and Gymnastics." he replied, making their Father look at both them with pride once again before giving his Daughter a curious stare.

"You're doing Computer Science at 13 years old?"

"Well, I kind of showed up an older Student when he was giving my class a presentation on Computers at School. The Teacher was so impressed that he had me take the Computer Science end of year examination for last year, which I aced. So the School Board agreed that I could take the subject now, which happens to be from a year above me." she explained with a tinge of humbleness to her voice.

"It's good to hear that you both are doing so well with your Studies." he said with a warm and caring expression, earning smiles back from his kids.

"So, how have things been for you, Dad? I mean, we have heard a lot on the News, about the Mob and other things." Jimmy asked, trying to generalise his question. But Barbara then spoke up, with a very particular question in mind.

"How is the Batman?" she asked with a very enthusiastic tone, surprising Gordon in return.

"Well, he's fine. I mean, he's 'the Batman'." he replied, feeling a little uncomfortable at his Daughter's question.

"That's good to know, after all, he has pretty much handled the Mob all by himself in the last couple of years. I bet it is just a matter of time before he finds the Penguin and Black-Mask." she said back, making Jimmy roll his eyes and sigh.

"Don't worry, Dad. Barbara is just starting to go through 'that' phase." he joked, making his Father's eyes widen a little as the red-head looked back at them with a confused expression.

"Oh, now it makes sense." the former replied with a slight smile.

"What, what makes sense? What are you two on about?" Barbara replied questioningly.

"I can't say that I didn't see this coming, but I was expecting it to be Boy Bands and worthless Celebs, but not masked Vigilantes." Jim added, bringing a look of realisation to his Daughter's face as her cheeks started to redden in response.

"It's nothing like that." she replied with a sheepish but honest tone, making her Brother stare back with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Really?"

"Yes!" Barbara then said with a slither of annoyance underlining her words, not going unnoticed by her Father.

"There's nothing wrong with a little hero-worship, I mean the Batman has saved the City, as well as our lives more than once..." the older man began to explain, with a slight smile gracing his face.

"...in fact, I did help him once during one of those times."

"We know, Dad..." Jimmy then replied, rolling his eyes and sighing in return.

"...you've already told us...many times..." he continued, before looking at his watch.

"...but anyway, I am going to call it a night. See you guys in the Morning, Night." the young Man finished, before leaving the table and beginning to head upstairs. This earned a surprised and confused look from Jim as he watched his Son leave.

"Oh, okay. Night, Jimmy."

"Night." Barbara added, before returning her attention to her Dad and noticing his confused look.

"Don't worry about Jimmy, Daddy. He just likes to see himself more like an adult now, rather than the kid he used to be." she said, bringing the P.I.'s focus back to her.

"I realise that." he said back with a disheartened tone, before Barbara placed her hand on top of his and smiled at him.

"But I still love to hear your stories."

"Thanks, Barbara." the older man replied with a mirrored expression.

"So do you still work with 'him'?" his Daughter quickly asked, making Jim smirk as he took a sip of his Coffee.

"Yeah, I have helped the Batman out more than a few times." he answered, making her smile widen in response.

"Cool, I wish I could help him out. Do something to say thank you for everything he did for our family." she replied with an enthusiastic tone, which made her Father's expression become a little more toughened.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Barbara, but I don't want you anywhere near the Batman..!" he began to say back, earning a surprised look from the young girl.

"...because the world he surrounds himself in is no place for a teenage Girl, so promise me that you aren't going to go looking for him?"

"I promise, Daddy." she quickly replied in a honest and clear tone, earning a sigh from the former Cop as he took another sip of his drink.

"So, do you think the Batman's kicking some bad-guy ass right now?" Barbara then asked, stopping Gordon in mid-sip as he noted one particular word in her question. But his Daughter simply stared back with an enthusiastic innocence to her face, waiting for his answer. So the Private-Investigator swallowed and smirked back at her, choosing to ignore the curse she just said...this time.

"Barbara, I can honestly say that wherever the Batman is, he is certainly kicking someone's ass...and they deserve it."

BATMAN: DECEPTION

Meanwhile, Batman knelt down on the edge of rooftop overlooking Gotham's main Freight Depot, that was connected to the City's central Train Station. The night's breeze gently moving his cape to the side as his eyes glowed, which was due to him using his Cowl's Sonar-vision.

"There's a lot of activity down there, Fox, more than there should be for this time of night." he observed, seeing all the people down there due to their Mobile-phones sending out sonar waves, mapping out the entire area and everyone in it, which he could see in his's Cowl's 'Head's Up Display'.

"Yes, I can see it too..." Lucius replied from his seat at the Bat-Computer, back in the Bat-Bunker underneath Bruce's Penthouse building.

"...just don't use that tech to spy on everyone again." he added with a knowing tone, which made the Vigilante shake his head slightly in return.

"Like I would do that, anyway..." Batman added, trying to change the subject as he controlled the function from a small set of controls hidden in one of the packs on his Utility-Belt.

"...you and your team really out-did yourselves with version 2.0 of this tech, since I can now zoom in the image and see all the details of their clothes and what they have on them."

"Well, I can't have you risking your life out there every night without the most state of the art equipment, which can not be traced back to Wayne Enterprises naturally..." the older Man began to reply, only for the Dark Knight to cut him off as he recognised the insignia on the back of one of Men's jackets.

"It's the Penguin's men, I recognise the emblem on their backs..." he then began to say as his voice took on a curious tone, while they continued to work down on the ground below him.

"...but they are the only ones down there, I cannot see any of the Depot's night-shift anywhere else in the area."

"That's strange, considering that it is a '24 hour a day' workplace. There should be at least a few people in." Fox replied over the com-link, earning a nod from the costumed-man in return.

"But there isn't, Penguin's Men have the run of the place..." he added, before turning his attention to a large Lorry being packed up with metal crates.

"...and they appear to have found whatever it is they are after." Batman noticed, using his Ultility-belt control to zoom in on the crates.

"Can you make out any markings or insignias on them?" Lucius asked, making the Vigilante shake his head.

"No, there is nothing to identify their contents or who they belong to."

"That worries me, Bruce..." Fox began to reply in a telling tone, as his friend continued to watch the Men working below him.

"...because as you know, back when Earle was running the Board at Wayne Enterprises, he had a number of military contracts going. And when it came to delivering those, we were instructed to use unmarked Cargo containers and crates."

"So I take it that they must have used transmitters to identify which containers were their's then?" Batman then asked back, making the Chairman nod back from his place in the Bat-Bunker.

"That is the standard Military procedure when dealing with 'off the book' hardware, that's correct."

"So use the Bat's Eye Satellite to find out if these crates contain one of those transmitters, it should still be positioned over Gotham." the costumed-man then said, before his attention was caught by the arrival of two more vehicles to the area.

"Running scan now..." the older-man began to reply, only for Batman to cut him off.

"We have new arrivals here, two black Humvees." he observed while zooming in on them with his HUD, making his eyes widen as he recognised one man who stepped out of the lead car, who wore all black body armour and mask with red lining on his chest in the form of a Spider.

"That's 'Black-Spider'!"

"You mean the international Mercenary and Assassin, Black-Spider?" Fox asked back, gaining a nod from the Vigilante.

"The one and the same."

"So you obviously have the Penguin feeling a little anxious right now, especially is he is hiring assassins to stop you from interferring with his interests."

"Well, it doesn't change anything, since I don't intend to let the Penguin get his hands on Military equipment..." Batman replied, before noticing that the Penguin's men were virtually finished loading the Lorry.

"...which they are now taking out of the Depot, so we have to make our mo..." he added while moving away from the rooftop's edge, only for the Chairman to cut him off.

"I understand, Mr. Wayne, but I have just used the Bat's Eye and have detected the military transmitters on those crates." he replied, bringing a concerned look to Bruce's face beneath his Cowl as he kept moving.

"Why do I sense a 'but' coming?"

"Must be your keen Detective-like senses, Bruce...'but', I also checked the area surrounding the Depot and there are no Police patrols for at least four miles in all directions." the older man replied, making the Vigilante narrow his eyes as he dropped down from one roof to another below it.

"There is something bigger at work here, Fox, since this is the third time that when large enough gathering of Penguin's men appear somewhere in the city, that the Police then mysteriously vanished from the area."

"That does sound very suspious, Mr. Wayne. In fact, I have an appointment with the Mayor and the Police Commissioner tomorrow afternoon, so perhaps I can ask some discreetly ambiguous questions?" Fox replied with a slither of enthusiasum to his voice, while his younger friend stopped at the edge of another rooftop and looked down into the dark alley.

"We can discuss that later, Fox. In the meantime, have the vehicles left the Depot yet?"

"They are leaving as I speak, Mr. Wayne." the Chairman said back, bringing a slight grin to the Dark Knight's face.

"Good, I am in position now." he answered before dropping off the rooftop's edge and expanding his cape out as he decended into the darkness below.

Meanwhile, the lorry and it's escorts drove down on of Gotham's more emptier streets as it left the area of the Depot. Black-Spider sat in the passenger seat of the main vehicle, while one of Penguin's men sat in the driver's seat and kept his eyes on the road. But every now and then, he would give a nervous glance to the surrounding area. This did not go unnoticed by the Mercenary, who snapped his fingers and brought the driver's attention back.

"Hey, keep your eyes on the road!"

"Sorry, but I just know dat the Bat is gonna show up." the latter replied with a fearful tone, earning an annoyed sigh from the former, though his face could not be seen from behind his mask.

"Don't worry about 'him'! We have got enough firepower with us to stop a Juggernaut and if Batman manages to get to this truck, then I will deal with him." Black-Spider replied confidently, bringing a questioning look to the Driver's face.

"You sound real sure of yourself."

"Tell me, are you an international assassin and mercenary, with over 100 kills to his name?" he asked, earning a confused look from the Thug in return.

"No..." he began to answer, unable to tell how his passenger meant his question, due to his face being covered up.

"Then shut up and drive. Because we only have a window of 20 minutes to get this delivery out of the area before the cops start their patrols again." Black-spider replied, earning a silent nod back from the driver as he returned his focus to the road ahead.

"I still cannot believe that the Penguin has such control of the Gotham PD, I've seen Mob Bosses convince a Detective to hold back one or maybe two Patrols...but seven?" the costumed Merc then said with a curious tone, which made the other guy open his mouth. But before he could even begin to speak, his Passenger pointed a finger in his direction without even looking at him.

"I was just thinking out loud, there is no need to answer me. So stay quiet or I will hurt you."

This made the driver's eyes widen as he quickly closed his mouth, before looking back to the road ahead of them.

As the convoy continued on it's way to it's destination, it began to pass through an empty crossroads as one of Penguin's thugs, who was seated in the back of the Humvee following the Lorry, looked out of the side-window on his right-side, his eyes widening in shock as he saw something approaching them.

"It's 'him', the Bat's here!" he cried out as they left the crossroads, just as the Batmobile quickly turned the corner and joined the road they were on, quickly gaining on them, looking like a Le Man's race car from someone's nightmares with it's sleek yet fearsome design.

This gained a knowing nod from Black-spider as he heard the warning over the radio, looking over at his side-mirror to see the menacing vehicle following behind them, causing a slight smile to appear beneath his mask.

"It's showtime, boys. Let's give him the good stuff." he then said in to his transmitter, while the driver ne to him looked even more nervous.

Meanwhile, Batman sat in the driver's seat of the Batmobile, focusing on both the road and the armoured vehicles ahead of him, before noticing the Humvee in front winding down it's back window as a large gun emplacement appeared from within it.

"Mr. Wayne, the Batmobile's sensors register that as a Minigun." Fox spoke over the com-link as the data appeared in the Dark Knight's HUD, gaining a nod from him in return.

"I see it, shouldn't be a problem." he replied confidently as the weapon opened fire and enveloped the Batmobile in a barrage of bullets, all of which bounced harmlessly off the pursuit-vehicle's surface.

It's not working!" the gunner shouted over the sound of the Minigun's fire, making the two men seated at the front look at each other with worried expressions.

"The Minigun's a no go." the one sitting in the passenger seat then called out on his radio, earning Black-Spider's attention as he picked up his radio from thr dashboard.

"Impossible, those are armour piercing rounds."

"Someone should tell the Batman that..." the driver then started to say next to him, earning a glare from the Merc, though the former could not see it through the latter's mask.

"...I'll shut up now." he added fearfully, before Spider returned his attention to his radio.

"Just keep firing, you should wear down his armour and keep him back there."

"That's going to be a problem, Boss..." a panicky voice spoke back on the radio, making the Merc look at his passenger-mirror and see the Batmobile gaining on them.

"...because the Bat ain't staying back there."

"Mr. Wayne, are you going to let them waste their ammunition?" Fox asked over the Com as Batman continued to close in on the convoy, while bullets bounced off the vehicle's windshield, earning an indifferent look from the Dark Knight.

"They are their bullets to waste, Fox..." he began to reply, before sighing and pressing on of several buttons on his dashboard.

"...but this has gone on long enough. Firing 'Disabler'." the Vigilante continued, before the grill at the front of the Vehicle opened up and revealed a small cannon which fired a small round disc at the Humvee and latched onto it's underside.

"The Bat just shot something at us!" the gunner then shouted over the sound of his firing weapon, before the entire vehicle was suddenly encompassed in electricity, like it had been hit by a lightning bolt. This immediately shut down the car's engine, as well as electrocuted the Gunner as he still held on to the weapon, knocking him unconscious.

"Matt!" one of the guys sitting up front shouted back, seeing his friend lying comatose there on the backseat.

"Forget him, the engine just stopped..." the driver started to shout back, before the headlights of the pursuing vehicle flooded the car's interior.

"Oh shit!" he added, before the Batmobile rammed into the Humvee and sent it crashing into a wall as the former sped on wards towards the others.

"Spider! He took out Escort two!" the Lorry's driver exclaimed as he glanced at his side-mirror, earning the Merc's attention.

"Keep your eyes on the road ahead..." he spat before speaking into his radio, while looking at the Humvee in front of them.

"Escort One, take out the Bat!" he ordered, which was followed by the vehicle moving aside and allowing the lorry to pass them by.

"I am still picking up strong life-signs in the first escort, Mr. Wayne." Lucius stated over the com-link, earning a slight grin from the Vigilante.

"Of course you are, Fox. I only wanted to knock them off the road and out of the fight, not kill them."

"Unfortunately, it seems that these men do not share that sentiment." the Chairman replied, while Batman noticed one of Penguin's men appear from the second vehicle's sun-roof holding a large weapon.

"An RPG? Well, I suppose they get points for effort." he replied before flicking another switch, while the Man holding the weapon aimed it at the Batmobile.

"Activating 'Scrambler'." the Vigilante added just as the RPG was then fired, sending a small missile hurtling toward the Batman's vehicle, earning a grin from Black-spider as he watched from the lorry.

"Good night, Batm..." he began to say, only to stop as the missile suddenly veered off and went up into the sky.

...what the fu...?" the Merc added with a surprised and confused tone to his voice as the projectile then exploded harmlessly in the sky overhead.

"He's still coming!" the Man next to him spat fearfully as the Batmobile closed in on the last two vehicles, making the Merc clench his hand around his radio in frustration.

"Take that bastard down, I don't care how!" he then shouted into the radio frantically.

As the Lorry sped away, with the last escort now taking up position between it and their pursuer, Batman activated another device in his cockpit, which turned on a small screen to his left.

"Arming low yield missile and targeting the vehicle..." he said into his com-link, while a targeting cross-hair appeared on the screen and aimed at the bottom of the Humvee.

"...firing." he then added as he pressed another button, launching a black missile from a small silo at the back of the Batmobile which flew up before changing direction and flying directly at the other vehicle, making the RPG-guy climb back down through the open sun-roof.

"Oh cra..." he started to say, only to be cut off as the missile exploded just beneath the back-end of the Humvee, making it flip over onto it's roof, knocking it's occupants unconscious.

"Damn it! Now we are completely unprotected!" the Lorry Driver exclaimed as he glanced at his side-mirror, seeing the upside down Hum-Vee lying on the road as they drove away, before the Batmobile reappeared.

"Shut up and drive, I know what the Bat will do next..." Black-spider started to reply, before opening his door.

"...and I will deal with him."

This earned another fearful nod from the latter as he focused on the road, while the latter left the cab.

"Alright, Fox, I am switching to remote control now." Batman then replied from his place in the Batmobile, which had closed to within a meter of the lorry's trailer.

"I have control, Mr. Wayne. Good luck." the chairman replied over the com-link as the Vigilante opened the vehicle's canopy and climbed out onto it's front, before leaping onto the back of the trailer. He then quickly climbed onto it's roof, before his eyes narrowed as he saw Black-Spider waiting for him.

"This is as far as you go, Batman." he said in a confident tone while equipping a pair of combat knives, which gained an indifferent expression from the Dark Knight as the latter simply readied himself for a fight.

"Show me then what you can do." he replied with a cold and unimpressed tone, making the Merc lunge at him with his weapons. But the Vigilante quickly deflected the attacks with his gauntlets, before kicking his opponent in the chest.

The force of the kick made Black-Spider fall onto his back, but he used the inertia to roll back onto his feet and charge back at his enemy. He swung his blades left and right, with Batman dodging them with ease as he stepped backwards towards the back of the trailer as the Batmobile followed from behind.

"Mr. Wayne, I could disable the vehicle?" Fox said through the costumed-Man's earpiece as Black-Spider continued his attack, only for him to grab his right arm and twist it behind his back.

"No thanks, Fox. I've got this." he replies while twisting the Merc's hand, making him grimace as he dropped the first knife.

"Arrgh!" Black-Spider yelled, only to swing his left elbow back at Batman's face. But the vigilante saw this coming and blocked the attack with his free hand, grabbing this arm and putting the Merc in a hold.

"What is Penguin carrying in this lorry, Black-spider? Talk now, or you will never chew solid food again." the Vigilante warned, gaining a scoff from his opponent in return.

"I'm not telling you squat, Batman. Do your worst." he said back in a confident tone. But before the Dark Knight could follow through, he saw something small and shiny flying towards him from the corner of his eye. He quickly let go of one of Black-spider's arms to catch a throwing star that was inches from his face.

'What the?' the caped crusader thought as he glanced at the small projectile. But with his attention momentarily distracted, the Merc took advantage of this and spun around, freeing his other arm as he performed a backwards roundhouse kick, smacking the Vigilante square in his face and sending him flying off the lorry onto the street floor below.

"Bruce!" Fox shouted down the com-link as his younger friend recovered, while the lorry drove away.

"Follow the lorry and get a tracker on it...!" Batman quickly replied as he stood back up, looking at his surroundings.

"...I will be there shortly."

"No, you won't..." a unfamiliar female voice suddenly spoke from behind him, making the Dark Knight turn around to see a masked Ninja standing there in a fighting stance, her Katana unsheathed and ready for battle.

"...because you will die for the murder of the 'great Ra's Al Ghul'!"