It was just Batgirl and Nightwing.
Damian had been injured in on a mission last week, he was back at the Cave with Alfred; and his arm in a cast. Batman was at the Watch Tower with the Justice League, Jason had been away from Gotham for a few days, following in argument with Bruce, and Tim was away with the Titans.
It was up to Batgirl and Nightwing to stop the Scarecrow. He had broken out of Arkham Asylum and managed to hide from them for 2 days, until there was a break-in at Gotham University and several chemicals had been stole.
Batgirl had suspected that he'd be targeting Ace Chemicals, they informed the police who warned the chemical plant of a possible attack, but nothing happened; still the police kept on high alert, the Scarecrow was one of the most dangerous villains in Gotham City.
"Penny-One." Nightwing said through comms, "GCPD have 4 armed officers outside Ace Chemicals, so far nothing."
"Dick, maybe the Scarecrow doesn't have plans for Ace?" Batgirl suggested. "I agree with Miss Gordon on that one Master Dick." Alfred said, "There is movement at Laffco Toy Factory."
"Laffco? But the Joker's in Arkham." Nightwing said. "Laffco's an abandoned building, the Scarecrow knows that the Joker's locked up, he knows we're looking for him, so he'd be expecting us to go to one of his known locations." Batgirl said.
"She's quite right, Master Dick." Alfred said. "Alright, let's go." Nightwing said.
They arrived at Laffco Toy Factory; the huge dark building stood on the top of a hill, abandoned for years, the Joker had used the factory as his base several times, before Batman and Robin threw hm back into Arkham.
They stood on the roof, looking down into the factory through the skylight. "It's a little weird isn't it." Nightwing whispered, "That the Scarecrow is here."
"Agreed." Batgirl said, "But he's obviously up to something big, he's using a factory he's probably never been to before, and probably to throw us off track." She whispered, Nightwing nodded.
"There is something else, Babs." He said, his voice changed, "I was thinking about it on the way over here." He said, looking deep into her eyes, "How do we know that the Scarecrow's alone in there? I mean, this factory is unusual for him, he might be meeting someone else, or maybe a whole bunch of people."
She hadn't thought of that. What if he was alone in there, or what if there were a dozen guys with guns waiting for them. "We won't know until we get in there." She said, reaching out to take his hand, when she did, she squeezed it tightly. "I've got your back, Dick, I promise." She said, giving him a reassuring smile, he smiled back, gently squeezing her hand. "I'll have yours to, Babs."
"Right, then let's go." She said as she gently opened the skylight with a tip of a baterang; the skylight swung open, Batgirl caught it before it could make a noise and alert the Scarecrow of their presence.
Wrapping her grapple hook around a metal ladder, they carefully climbed into the factory.
If the Joker was in the factory, they'd already be dodging toy planes and fighting off toy robots; Batgirl and Nightwing had been inside the factory, hunting for the Joker so many times, they knew every turn, every exit and every dead-end; question is, did the Scarecrow know them too?
They heard a door creaking; it was close to them, but they couldn't see where it was coming from. Then there was a metal CLANG. Nightwing looked ahead, trying to figure out where the sound came from, and Batgirl slowly turned around and came face-to-face with the Scarecrow.
"Nightw-" The Scarecrow sprayed some green gas in her face; the fear toxin. "Batgirl!" Nightwing exclaimed, he punched the Scarecrow and sent him tumbling to the ground.
"Batgirl, are you ok?" He asked, gently shaking her, she rubbed her eyes. The Scarecrow groaned on the floor, Batgirl looked at him, her eyes widened with fear. "Joker." She gasped.
"Oh no." Nighwing muttered, Batgirl looked at him, he could see the fear in her eyes as she backed away from him, looking between him and the Scarecrow.
"Batgirl!" Nightwing exclaimed, "It's me." She shook her head, "I know who you are, Joker!" She exclaimed, pulling a baterang out of her utility belt.
"No! No!" Nightwing exclaimed, "It's me, Nightwing."
She scowled, "No!" She exclaimed, she threw her baterang at him, Nightwing jumped out of its way, the baterang hit the wall and in a few seconds, it blew up.
"Babs." Nightwing gasped, looking at the wall which now had a hole in the middle of it, the Scarecrow got to his feet, Batgirl looked at him, she pulled out another baterang but Nightwing grabbed her wrist, snatching the baterang.
"Let go of me!" She exclaimed, attempting to yank her wrist out of his grasp, but Nightwing held on tighter, the Scarecrow began laughing as Batgirl's fear grew.
The Scarecrow headed to a door, laughing as he ran away from the two vigilantes.
"Penny-One!" Nightwing exclaimed, "I need back up!"
"Help will be arriving soon, Commissioner Gordon is on his way with back-up." Alfred said. "Penny-One, I got this." A familiar voice said, Nightwing looked away from Batgirl just as Red Hood ran past him.
"Um, was that Master Jason?" Alfred asked. "It was indeed." Nightwing said.
"Batgirl!" Nightwing exclaimed, Batgirl was still fighting him, "Babs! Barbara!" He looked into her eyes, filled with fear, he grabbed her other wrist. "Let me go, Joker!" She exclaimed, her voice wavered, and tears filled in her eyes.
"Barbara, it's me." Nightwing said, gently loosening the pressure on her wrists. "It's me, Dick." He said, as he pulled off his mask. A few seconds past and Batgirl stopped struggling. "No, you're the J-Joker." She stuttered.
"No, Barbara, it's me. It's Dick." He said, her breathing evened out, "You've known me since we were kids, remember? We've come a long way, you and me, Babs." He said.
"Dick?" She asked, she pulled her wrist out of his hand and rubbed her eyes. "Dick." She said, wrapping her arms around his neck, sobbing gently onto his shoulder. "It's ok, Barbara." He said, rubbing her back.
"It's ok, guys." Red Hood said, Nightwing quickly put is mask back on, he turned around to see Red Hood strutting through the doorway, dragging the Scarecrow along the floor behind him; he was tied up with a rope and what appeared to be a dolls head in his mouth.
The GCPD arrived within minutes, along with a van which took the Scarecrow back to Arkham. "What was he planning?" Commissioner Gordon asked.
"He was planning on filling toy planes up with his fear-toxin, flying them over the city and releasing the toxin." Red Hood said, "Spreading fear and chaos throughout Gotham."
"Hmm, great job at catching him." The Commissioner said, "Is she going to be ok?" He asked, looking over at Batgirl who sat on the doorstep of the factory, "She'll be fine Commissioner the toxin will wear off in a couple of hours." Nightwing said, the Commissioner nodded and climbed into his car, driving back into the city.
Red Hood chuckled, "It's weird, the Commissioner doesn't even know that's his daughter." He said, Nightwing rolled his eyes. "Why are you back Jason?" He asked.
"Can't a guy miss his brother?" Red Hood said, Nightwing said nothing, he just stared at Red Hood, waiting for an answer; Red Hood sighed. "Alright," He said, "Alfred called me, told me Bruce was at the Tower, and you and Babs were going after the Scarecrow. He said things seems a stranger than usual, so he asked me to come back and help you."
"Thanks for coming Jason." Nightwing said. "No problem, I'm heading back to the Manor, Alfred's ordering pizza." Red Hood said, he jumped onto his motorbike, and disappeared.
Nightwing sat on the doorstep next to Batgirl. "Feeling ok?" He asked, she nodded, "A little better."
Nightwing wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "It'll be ok." He said. "Dick, I threw an exploding baterang at you." She said, guiltily. "You didn't know it was me though, did you." He said, she shook her head.
"No, but I guess we know that I'm still scared of the Joker." She sighed, she pulled her cowl off and ran a hand through her hair. "Hey, it's not your fault." Nightwing said, pulling his mask off. "After what the Joker did, I don't blame you for still being scared of him." He said.
"It's just…it's been years Dick, I thought that I wouldn't be so scared of him anymore." She said, wiping her eyes. "It'll take time, Barbara. You're not the only one who's scared of him, I know Jason still is a bit; don't tell him that though." Dick said, Barbara smiled.
"Do you think I'll ever stop being scared of him?" She asked, Dick shrugged, "I suppose, you just have to try your best to move on from what he did to you, and focus more on taking him down, and scum like him." He said, she settled her head on his shoulder.
"Thanks for having my back, Dick." She said. "Anytime, Babs." He said, pressing lips to her head.
"Come on, let's head back to the cave, I've been thinking about pizza all night." Dick said, standing up and reach out for Barbara's hand to pull her up.
"Good idea." She said, "Are you up for a race?"
"Are you sure you're ok?" He asked.
