“That’s for always thinking you were so much better than us!” Dion swung, the bar connecting solidly with his temple. Even with the other henchmen holding the chair in place, he was nearly sent to the floor. You could always count on people’s hatred he supposed. It felt silly now, him and Dion had traded food from the vending machines and bitched about all the same people, but making just a dollar or two more with some imaginary authority really bred hatred. Funny.
Alex had to give them credit, while they were so fucking far off the mark, they were connecting dots. From what he’d taken out of their rambling, his story would have been this: That he’d left Wayne Enterprises, not without prospects, but because he’d been scouted. It kind of sounded like there was a step or two because Batman “hired” him, but it was kind of hard to pick up when your head was pounding hard enough to make you see black spots. Great. When did people start watching him so closely? He was nothing. A sad little nobody.
They hadn’t been watching him of course. It was just a bit of luck with the pulled feeds from street lights and their cameras in that part of town. Drop offs, safe houses, that sort of thing. Right place, right time. For them at least.
He was screwed. They’d put out some crappy ransom, thinking it meant something. Bruce wasn’t coming for him. It’d be idiotic if he did. He was self righteous, not stupid. Even though Alex hadn’t said a word about him, it’d make sense to assume he’d sold him out, trying to avoid torture. Blood had stained his shirt when the filmed the video. Now it went across his jeans and shoes, blending in with old blood stains.
Alex sighed. Well, whatever, right? It wasn’t how he wanted to go, but you had to deal with the fucking hand you were dealt. He’d handled the situation gracefully at least. It was a small comfort. Time went on, and he began drifting in and out of consciousness until he felt his body being hoisted from the chair. The lights overhead were on- when had that happened? It was bright. Really fucking bright. “Whoa.” Whoa. Alex stumbled, somehow managing it in the complete support of Bruce’s arms. ‘Coward.’ His thoughts supplied. ‘Weak.’ His hands shook and the boy choked out a laugh. He felt like total shit and that usually meant good things.
Batman- Bruce, no, couldn’t call him that anymore. He’d lost any privileges of familiarity for all the trouble he’d caused- seemed angry. Really angry. It kind of made Alex want to crawl out of his skin and hide in a dark hole for a few thousand years if he was honest. “Shit.” He was in so much trouble, wasn’t he? Oh- they were moving. He was moving. Kind of. If adding in a step of his own every fifteen or so could be counted. Where were they going?
Please not the hospital! Or Batman’s, honestly. He . . . He’d handle this himself. He was fine. Nothing- Right, choke down the nausea- nothing he wasn’t going to deal with his goddamn self. “Take me home.” Alex said, honestly having no idea how it came out. He’d dissociated from the situation ages ago and couldn’t seem to pull himself back. Why would he want to anyway? It’d just freak him out. “I’m going home.”
