BAE Chapter 104

The elevator dings and the door opens. More assassins stream out, but they aren’t joining the melee, they’re heading for Evidence Storage.

Barbara rolls and scoops up her backpack, flinging it at the man holding Maggie.

The assassin after Renee fires his gun into the ceiling as Barbara hits him with a slide tackle, taking him to the ground. They grapple while Maggie headbutts the man holding her. He slams her against the wall again and strikes with the knife; she can only partially twist out of the way, and the blade plunges into her shoulder.

Renee crashes into Maggie’s attacker with her shoulder as Barbara gets on top of her opponent and knocks him cold with a punch.

An explosion shakes the entire floor, flooding the hallway with dust. That’ll be the assassins blasting their way into evidence storage.

A figure with a knife looms out of the dust. Coughing, Barbara parries with her elbow, disarms him, and throws him to the ground. She can barely see. One of the assassins lingers by the elevator, holding a long gun.

Barbara flies out of the dust, demolishing his ribs with two feet to the chest. The assassin is thrown into the elevator like a rag doll. Barbara jerks the shotgun out of his hands and smashes his nose with stock. She hooks her thumb into the feeding tube, rips off the trigger assemble, and pulls the gun apart in two pieces.

The stop button is holding the elevator in place. They want to use it to move whatever they’re stealing. She unlocks the elevator and hits the button for the highest floor, stepping back out and running headfirst into one of Talia’s goons. This isn’t one of the assassins in disguise; he’s wearing his full League of Shadows ninja gear.

Talia must be here somewhere.

The ninja draws a sword from his back. Even with his face hidden, he seems startled when all five feet of Barbara Gordon in her civilian clothes advances on him instead of running away. Talia knows Barbara’s identity, and probably those of the whole Family—but the rank and file don’t.

The ninja isn’t sexist. He charges at her, and she narrowly dodges the blade, rolling backward and coming up with the only object nearby: a fallen revolver from a dead policeman. She holds the gun by the barrel.

“Oh, what the hell. It’s not my rule anyway,” she snaps, still **** on the dust that has turned this corridor into a white haze.

The ninja looks puzzled. Barbara flips the gun and shoots him in the leg. He falls with a shout and she’s there, knocking him down with a blow from the handle.

There’s shouting from the far end; that’s where Renee and Maggie are. Barbara takes off at a run, finding Renee bent over Maggie. There’s a lot of blood. Before Barbara can do anything, a bullet punches into the wall behind her. More of them.

Aiming high, Barbara points the revolver and fires the remaining five shots, hoping to inspire some caution.

They’re boxed in. These guys are everywhere, and GCPD is in disarray.

Renee looks up in alarm and reaches for her gun. Barbara turns to see another figure taking shape in the dust.

Red Cross emerges. Barbara’s momentarily frozen as Red Cross brushes past her, heading for Maggie.

Barbara shakes that off and lunges for her bag, ducking through the nearest open doorway. As she dons her costume, she tries to disentangle what she’s hearing from her earpiece.

Stephanie and Kate are on the way. So is Dick; Alfred called him.

There’s trouble on the upper floors, and the Commissioner has been mentioned in the radio chatter.

There’s also Harvey Bullock in the garage underneath the building, where dozens of cops are locked in a protracted firefight.

Stopping the assassins from getting to their objective would’ve been nice, but it’s too late for that now. Barbara’s only hope is to keep them from getting it out of there and saving a few lives in the process.

Talia has what she wants. The garage is clearly a play for police vehicles as an exit strategy. Likewise, if they’re trying to take and hold the roof, maybe they want to escape by the air. Harvey Bullock is shouting for backup. Another officer on the radio is saying that the Commissioner is in danger.

Barbara can only cover one.

Head up to the roof?

Or down to the garage?