A Torturous Affair

by DC Lady

Rating:  M and possible MA later.

Synopsis:  Ra’s al Guhl wants something the Justice League has and is willing to sacrifice the Dark Knight in order to possess it.

Disclaimer: All of the characters in this story are owned by DC.

Author's Note:  Both animated and comic continuities are used in this story.  Spoilers for "Starcrossed" are also included.   Please forgive all occurrences of character assassination.

A special thank you to Cindy Watts for the artwork.

part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Every technique he used failed.  His thoughts were erratic and impossible to stabilize.  He opened his eyes slowly and surveyed his surroundings. 

“Hello, young man.  About time you awoke.”

“Alfred?” he slurred.

“And just who else were you expecting?”

“This isn’t real.” He shook his head.  “Go away.”

“But I am very real.  As real as the psychosis that has conjured me here.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I am the manifestation of your fears.  In this instance, your fear of my disapproval for the choices you’ve made in your life.”

“So, you do disapprove?”

“I wished more for your life.  That is no secret.”  Alfred dusted the metal chair with his handkerchief, then sat down.  “Do you have a plan?”

“A plan?”

“Yes, a plan.  To escape this dungeon.”  He grimaced as he regarded Bruce’s prison.

“I’m not sure I can escape,” he admitted wearily.

“I knew this day would come.”  Alfred shook his head in disappointment. 

“What day?”

“The day I would have to bury my son.”  Alfred turned and wiped a tear that had fallen carelessly down his cheek.  “You are my son, you know.  I couldn’t love my own flesh and blood as much as I have loved you.  And yet, I couldn’t help you.  Couldn’t convince you to lead a normal life.  Couldn’t teach you how to be happy.

“You gave me everything, Alfred.  You’re the reason I’m even alive today.”

Alfred stood.  “Not for long, I’m afraid.  I had such hopes and dreams for your life.  Certainly not this.”

“Don’t say that.  I’ve done everything I knew how to make things right after they died.”

“My dear boy.  You cannot take on the world.  You haven’t made a real difference.  Your parents are weeping in their graves at the waste your life has become.”

Bruce gasped.  “No.  No!  I won’t believe that.” 

“But it’s the truth.”

“Noooooo,” he sobbed.  “You’re not real.”  He shut his eyes tight, trying to focus his thoughts.  “Not real.”

“Who’s not real, Brucie?” the feminine voice asked.

He was startled by the familiar intonation and opened his eyes in bewilderment.  “Mom?”

“Oh Brucie.  What has happened to you?”  Martha Wayne stood in front of her son in tears.  “My Brucie,” she tried to soothe.

“Mom…,” he choked.  “I…I’ve missed you so much.”

“I know, baby.  But I’m here now.”

“Don’t leave me.  Please, don’t leave again.”

“Honey, I never left you.  I’ve been nearby, watching over you.”

“I’m so sorry, Mom.”

“Sorry?  Whatever for, dear?”

“For not saving you.  For not protecting you and Dad.  I just didn’t know what to do,” he wailed.

“Shh…Brucie, there was nothing you could have done.  It wasn’t your fault.”

“I beg to differ.  He could have distracted that punk long enough for me to tackle the gun from his hand.  But, no.  He froze.”  A voice from the shadows spoke. 

Bruce shook his head violently.  “No sir.  I tried.  I tried really hard to help.  I just didn’t know what I was supposed to do.”

“It’s your fault that we died, Bruce.”  The voice emerged from the shadows.  “It’s your fault your mother and I lay bleeding in a filthy alley.”

Bruce’s eyes widened at the sight of his father.  “Dad, please!  I tried.  I’m still trying.  I made you a promise.  Didn’t you hear me?  Have you seen what I’ve done since?” Bruce pleaded.

“Yes I heard.  So you didn’t want anyone else to go through what you went through.  Sounds all very righteous.  But, just look where’s it’s gotten you – alone in a dungeon, dying.” Dr. Wayne stood in front of his son, shaking his head.  “Such a waste.”

Bruce shut his eyes tight again.  “NOOOOO!” he shouted, sobbing, while the camera’s red light flickered, recording his response to the hallucinations.  “You’re not real!”  He collapsed.

They exited the invisible plane without incident. While the dampening fields hid their presence from the various sensors scattered in the desert, once free of the plane’s atmospheric protection, the heat immediately assaulted them.  Nightwing looked back at where they’d just disembarked and eyed the empty expanse.  An odd feeling of comfort crept through him, knowing that three members of the Justice League were hidden within the plane just a few feet away – unseen by the human eye and undetectable by anything known to man.

He turned to Talia who nodded in the direction they were to take.  He returned the nod then followed her lead up a large sand dune.  The desert sun’s glare was blinding, prompting him to adjust the lenses of his mask to shield its intensity.  He’d cut his teeth on Gotham’s humid, scorching summers, but nothing compared to the heat that currently attacked his senses.  Kevlar provided him the protection he needed as Bludhaven’s protector, but it was also damned hot.

The journey to the top of the dune wasn’t easy.  The loose sand made it difficult to obtain sure footing and the heat sapped his energy with every step.  He watched with envy as Talia barely struggled against the harsh elements. Given her ease with the terrain, he wondered how much time she’d actually spent with Ra’s at this desert compound. 

Talia stopped when she reached the top of the sand mountain.  Nightwing positioned himself next to her and then looked down to see a long forgotten ancient city, the decay of age now marking its walls. 

“He’s in there?  It doesn’t look like it would stand up to one man let alone the army of men that you claim are with Ra’s.”

“He is not within these old remnants but beneath them,” she said, making her way into the rock city below.  Nightwing wiped his brow with the back of his hand and then followed.

They stepped within the massive stone arches of the city’s entrance - the shade of its cover providing much needed relief against the sun’s vibrant glare.  Talia sat silently, her back against the stone wall.

“What are you doing?  Let’s get down there!” Nightwing barked.

“We must wait.”

“Wait?” he asked, his patience wearing thin.  “Wait for what?”

“There is a change of guard in my father’s security room in exactly one hour.  At that time,  I will use my access code to create an opening to the compound.  It should go undetected if we time it perfectly.”

“Should?  You mean you don’t know?” Nightwing asked nervously.

“It is a chance that we have to take.  Once inside, we have to move quickly.  Within  fifteen minutes my access code will show upon the computer.

He sat beside her.  “So, I guess we wait.”

“There’s another message,” Wonder Woman solemnly told the group.  The plane’s computer was monitoring for any messages that Ra’s might send.

Superman and J’onn joined her in the cockpit.  They exchanged hesitant glances.  “Put it on screen,” Superman said softly. 

The superheroes braced themselves for the inevitable, but they could not look away.  Dick had showed them what to look for, expecting that  Bruce would send another message.

They listened to Ra’s as he told Bruce about the hallucinogens,  then watched as his hired thug gave Bruce the injection.  The drugs effects were evident in his demeanor almost immediately. 

“You are a tough one, I’ll admit that much,” the man was telling him.  “However, every man has a breaking point, and I think I’m about to discover yours.”   A barrage of electrical shocks followed, but the drugs flowing through his system had stripped away his resolve.  Bruce’s screams were seared in their minds as the torturer merely smiled at his accomplishment. 

Wonder Woman cried silently.  “I can’t…do this,” she said and walked a few feet away, her back to the console.  After a moment, Bruce spoke.

“Dick?” 

They heard him ask and knew that he was hallucinating.

“What are you doing here?”

“Show?”

“Why?”

They were hearing the one-sided conversation that Bruce was having with his mind’s vision of his son.

“Do you hate me that much?”

Superman winced.  He knew of the sometimes contentious relationship between Bruce and Dick.   He felt like a voyeur, intruding on the private feelings of a man who would never share them otherwise.  Bruce was his teammate and friend, but had very seldom confided something so personal.

“Then explain it to me.”

“You grew up.  You left me.  I knew you would, it was just a matter of time.”

“But I’m not your father.  As much as I want to be, I’m not.  I’m not worthy of the title.”

“What father would give his son the kind of life I gave you?”

A sob escaped Wonder Woman’s lips when Bruce’s voice cracked with emotion.

 “So,” Dick began when Talia’s silence began to unnerve him.  “Since we seem to have some time to spare, mind if we talk?”  Being alone with Talia provided him the opportunity to delve deeply into her motivations as well as to find out about her relationship with Bruce.  Not that it was any of his business, but when had  that ever stopped him? 

Talia shrugged.  “What do you want to talk about?”

 “Well, let’s see,” he began, fingering his chin in mock contemplation.  His gaze turned serious.  “How about the reasons you betrayed him, to start?”

Talia sighed.  “You would never understand.”

“Try me,” he said.

Talia looked at him indignantly, but kept her voice even.  “My father has killed men for speaking to me in such a manner.”

“And my father loved you. You broke his heart,” he returned, not willing to back down.

She looked away but said nothing, lips trembling with emotion. 

“I just don’t get it,” he continued.  “I think that you loved him once…maybe still love him.”

“I do still love him,” she whispered.

“Then why?”

“My father offered him a place at his side.  To rule with him.  Bruce rejected his offer.”

“So you chose to stay with your father?”

“I had no choice.”

“There always a choice.  How can you follow a man that would torture someone you claim to love?”

“I do not agree with my father’s methods, but his vision is a noble one,” she returned, her voice rising in anger.  She visibly calmed herself, taking a deep breath before continuing.  “My father told me that if I were to leave with Bruce, he would kill us both,” she admitted.

Dick’s was surprised. He tried feebly to reinforce his argument, but admired the nobility of Talia’s choice. His preconceived notions of her were now warring within him.  “Bruce could have protected you both,” he finally sputtered.

“Just like he protected himself against Ra’s on Gotham’s rooftops?”

Dick bowed his head in resignation.  “I’m sorry.  If it’s any consolation…I understand why you did what you did.” 

“Bruce does not understand.”

“I’ve known Bruce a long time.  He probably figures that the choice should have been his to make.”

She nodded her agreement and then continued hesitantly.  “What of Wonder Woman?  There is a bond between them.”

“Yeah, kinda.  I was hoping…. it’s a difficult thing for him….To give his heart, I mean.”

Talia nodded.  “I imagine that I have made it even more difficult,” she said quietly.

Dick started to reply when she raised a hand to stop him.  “We best prepare to enter the compound,” she said, changing the subject.  “It will be well guarded.”

The recording ended.  Wonder Woman wept freely, but her anger and resolve were etched firmly on her face.  “Hera help Ra’s when I find him,” she muttered. 

Superman and J’onn sat in the plane’s cockpit, too stunned by the images to respond.  Bruce’s pleas, to what they knew to be hallucinations of his family, were something they would never forget - especially coming from a man who had long ago learned to channel his emotions into vengeance.

Superman stood and placed a hand on Diana’s shoulder.  They both knew that they were counted among Bruce’s friends – the few who shared his secret.  But, they also realized that there were some secrets that he shared with no one.  Knowing that this proud, silent man had his secret feelings exposed for all to see was too much to bear.

“We’ll find him, Diana.  I promise…we’ll bring him home.”

Nightwing and Talia entered the compound undetected, stealthily making their way through the seemingly endless maze of corridors that made up this vast facility.  To Nightwing, each corridor looked the same, making him wonder if they were going in circles.

“You have any idea where Bruce is?” he whispered under his breath.

“There is an interrogation room my father uses to extract valuable information from his captives.”

“Is that just a pretty way of saying that Bruce is in Ra’s torture chamber?”

Talia remained silent.

“How much farther?” He was impatient.  Time was running out.

They reached the end of the corridor which branched out into another hallway.  With her back pressed against the wall, she twisted slightly in order to peer around the corner, knowing that this particular area would be well guarded. 

She quickly straightened.  “There is one guard.  He is stationed in front of the interrogation room.”

“Any ideas on getting past him?”

“Just one.”  Talia took a calming breath and then strolled down the corridor toward the guard.  Head held high, she was every inch the Master’s daughter.  The guard was surprised by her appearance, but was trained to obey his Master with no questions asked.  That obedience evidently extended to Talia as well. 

“Let me in,” she demanded.

“Mistress Talia, I did not know you were here,” the guard replied as he hurriedly unlocked the door for her.

A quiet thud and the guard collapsed to the ground.  “Nice thinking,” Nightwing admitted as he hoisted the unconscious guard over his shoulder.

They opened the door cautiously, not wanting any surprises to greet them from the inside. Talia entered first, hoping to replay her performance for any other unsuspecting henchmen. 

The room was dark, but no other guards were visible.  Nightwing followed, dumping the unconscious guard unceremoniously onto the floor.  He straightened then gasped when light flooded the room.  He rushed to Bruce’s side while Talia was frozen in place – her hand still on the light switch. 

“Bruce.  Bruce, please be all right.”

There was a soft groan in response.

“Bruce, its Dick.  We’re gonna get you out of here.”  He looked around the room for something to unchain his father.  “Talia, help me free him.”

Talia gathered her wits and swiftly moved to a control panel on the wall.  She lifted her hand to make contact with the panel when Nightwing stopped her.

“Wait.  Someone’s coming,” he informed her.  They slipped to the side wall, hidden in the shadows when the door opened. 

Bruce’s tormentor entered the room and stood before him.  He gave his prisoner’s face a couple of slaps.  Nightwing lurched forward but was stopped by Talia.  ”Detective?  Wake up, Detective.  Pleasant dreams?” The man laughed sadistically as Bruce opened his eyes.

The feral look in Bruce’s eyes was unnerving.  Since he’d known Bruce, he’d never before seen him display that kind of fear.

Bruce’s torturer took out a syringe.  “Are you ready for another dose, Detective?  I am quite certain you will enjoy it.” 

Nightwing’s stomach lurched at the sound of the man’s voice – the sick enjoyment in making his father suffer.

“No!” he shouted and jumped across the room, knocking the man down.  A swift kick to his head made certain that he wouldn’t be getting back up any time soon.

“Sssorrry.  Sso sssorry,” Bruce was mumbling incoherently.

Nightwing took his face in his hands.  “Bruce.  Bruce, look at me.  It’s Dick.  We’re gonna get you out of here.”

“Nooot real.”

“It’s okay.  We’ll be home soon.” Nightwing nodded to Talia who released the restraints from the control panel.

Bruce crumpled onto Nightwing. The younger man staggered under his weight, then gently lowered his father to the floor, propping him in Talia’s arms.  He touched his face.  “I promise you, Ra’s will be stopped.” 

“And just how will you manage to stop me?”

Nightwing spun around to see Ra’s al Ghul standing inside the doorway and quickly positioned himself away from Bruce and Talia.  “By destroying your little storehouse of technology for starters.  Then I’m gonna take you down.”

Ra’s laughed.  “You certainly think highly of your skills.  Do you honestly believe that you alone can destroy me?”  His face hardened.  “Surely the Detective has taught you to never underestimate your opponent.”

In the blink of an eye, Ra’s drew a katana sword and raised it to strike a deadly blow.  But, Nightwing was well trained and had his escrima sticks at the ready, blocking the lethal blow just inches above his head.

With his sword blocked, Ra’s had no choice but to step back.  He grinned, “Very good.  You have learned well.  But, you are still no match against me.  I will defeat you.”  He turned to Talia and sneered bitterly.  “And my daughter with you.”

Talia silently watched the confrontation between Nightwing and her father then looked down at her beloved.  Holding his bloody body in her arms, she made her decision.

She maneuvered her hand beneath Bruce and reached for the tiny device

hidden in her belt.  She and Dick both carried transponders which

automatically activated the transporter at their command; however, with 

the various dampeners surrounding the compound, only short-range 

transportation could be managed.  

She watched as Dick deliberately circled away from Bruce, drawing Ra’s attention.  He held onto his escrima sticks, making it impossible to trigger his transponder without provoking an attack and having Bruce injured or killed in the process.  He was also out of the transporter’s range if she were to activate her transponder.  

She made her decision.  She pressed the button and within seconds, the mechanical hum of the system could be heard, drowned out by Ra’s rage-filled command for his guards to shoot.  But, they were not fast enough.  She and Bruce were safe within the transporters beam and would be aboard the invisible plane in a matter of seconds.