Rules and Consequences

By Red Blaze 16

Disclaimer – I don't own YJ...

Chapter 1

His head was pounding. For a moment, he wondered why his head hurt so much. Dick slowly opened his eyes and looked around. The light was dim, but not because it was late in the day. In fact, as he looked toward the one window he could see, the sun looked bright outside. Dick realized that that lack of light was due to the dirt on the windows, not because it was late in the day.

His next thought was, why was he in a room with dirty windows? The teen rolled onto his side. If he hadn't noticed his hands were tied, he did when he moved. Dick looked at the ropes around his wrists. The ropes were tight against his wrists and Dick looked at the knot work. It wasn't one he normally encountered when he was kidnapped.

The teen sighed. It didn't take a genius to know that he had been kidnapped...again. His last memory was Bruce yelling as a car hit them. Dick wondered where Bruce was. His adopted father would have to have been seriously injured or unconscious for Dick to be here. Then again, knowing Bruce, seriously injured wouldn't have stopped him. If this was a kidnapping for money, it wouldn't make any sense to kill Bruce. After all, he's where the money came from.

Dick examined the space he was in. It was a mostly empty room, though there was a nearby table with a few chairs around it. Since Dick was on the floor, he couldn't see what was on the table. There were two doors. One had the dirty window, which lead to the outside, while other was much larger and seemed to go into a bigger space. Dick suspected he was in a warehouse of some type.

"He's awake." A voice to his right spoke. Dick could only assume the voice was talking about him.

"Grab him. Wayne needs convincing," growled a second voice.

Hands grabbed him. Dick struggled. Just because he couldn't do anything that would endanger his masked identity, it didn't mean the teen couldn't fight back. The teen shifted his weight around, making it difficult for the lone man to hold him. The man attempted to drag him toward the larger door. Dick struggled more.

"A little help," grunted the man holding Dick.

A second man arrived and he grabbed Dick's legs. The teen attempted to kicked out at him. With the second man firmly holding Dick's ankles, the first man let go of the teen's arms. With nothing holding his top half, the teen dropped to the ground, striking his head off the floor.

"You want more of that?" demanded the first man. "Or are you going to be a good boy."

Dick looked up at the first man. Dark blond hair, with a t-shirt and dirty jeans, the man glared down at the teen. The hair was long and tied back, though a few strands escaped the tie.

Dick nodded his head, indicating he would be a "good boy". The second man dropped his feet and both men reached for one of Dick's arms. They dragged Dick to his feet. Together, the men walked Dick into the larger room.

"Let me explain what is going on, Mr Wayne."

As Dick entered the new room, he saw his guardian sitting in a chair. Well, Bruce was only sitting because he was tied into the chair. Ropes wrapped around Bruce's chest and secured him to the chair. Additional ropes were wrapped around Bruce's forearms, keeping them trapped against the arms of the chair. Bruce's feet were tied together, but didn't appear to the tied to the chair. Not far from Bruce was a desk with a computer on it. While the computer wasn't new, it wasn't old either. Easily new enough to have wireless internet, thought Dick.

Around the edge of the room, including the two men holding Dick, there were a dozen men. Most were dressed the same in ripped jeans of various shades of blue and t-shirts. Some wore unbutton flannel shirts. Most were dirty.

The man speaking to Bruce was dressed more like Dick and Bruce. While Bruce wore a dark gray suit and Dick's suit was more light gray, the man speaking to Bruce wore a black suit. The man in the black suit seemed to be the one in charge.

While Dick was examining Bruce and the new room, he noted one of the men was slowly moving toward him. His clothes were the least ripped and he wasn't wearing the flannel shirt that some of the group seemed to favor. His hair, Dick wasn't sure whether it was dark brown or black, was buzzed short. Dick had noticed that some of the men had a little gut, nothing too big, but enough to be noticed. The man making his way toward Dick didn't have any flab. He was all muscle.

"I'll take him," he murmured to the men holding Dick.

"He's a live one," replied one of the men, before handing Dick off.

The boy struggled again, which drew the attention of Bruce and the man in the black suit. The new man cuffed Dick upside the head and, for a moment, the teen saw stars. The man didn't hit him in the same spot that had connected with the floor a few moments earlier, but it wasn't far off either. Dick blinked his eyes rapidly.

"Leave him alone!" shouted Bruce, struggling against the ropes that held him to the chair.

"Mr. Wayne, whether we leave the boy alone is up to you," replied the man in the black suit.

"Who are you?" demanded Bruce. Dick could hear the edge of Batman in those words. "What do you want?"

"You can call me Mr. Markson for now. And as a fellow business man, I have a proposal for you."

"A business man that resorts to kidnapping to discuss a business proposal?" demanded Bruce.

Mr. Markson smirked. "Would you prefer the term ransom, instead of proposal?"

Bruce glared at the other man.

"Whether you and your son come to harm while you're with me depends entirely upon you, Mr. Wayne," continued Mr. Markson. "Five million dollars and you will be safely released."

"And if I refuse?" demanded Bruce.

"Well," said the other man with a sigh and a shake of his head, "that will result in harm to the boy."

The man turned and looked at Dick and the man holding Dick. "You see, Miguel, the man who is holding your son, isn't one to go easy on anyone, not even a child. In fact, he likes to cause pain."

Mr. Markson turned back to Bruce. "You will be rolled up to the desk over there and given time to make the transfer into an off shore account. The account numbers are on the desk."

Mr. Markson walked to the desk, before he turned and looked at Bruce again. "You refuse, the boy will be hurt. You delay, the boy will be hurt. You attempt to contact the police or otherwise call for help, the boy will be hurt."

The man in the black suit looked at the teen once more. While his eyes were on Dick, it was obvious that the man was still speaking to Bruce. "If you cooperate, you and the boy will be released. Simply put, Mr. Wayne, if the boy is hurt, it will be because you caused it."

Mr. Markson motioned toward one of his men. A blond haired man with a dirty t-shirt, ripped jeans, and black and white flannel shirt stepped forward. "Samuel will monitor you. If he feels you're being dishonest or attempting to break one of our rules, he will tell me."

Samuel stepped behind Bruce and put his hands on the chair. Since the chair had wheels, it moved easily toward the desk. Mr. Markson stepped in front of the desk and faced Bruce.

"Are the rules clear, Mr. Wayne?"

"Yes," growled Bruce.

Mr. Markson nodded toward Samuel. The man reached down and untied the ropes that held Bruce's arms to the chair. The ropes that kept Bruce's body tied to the chair remained. Samuel stepped back and waited for Bruce to touch the computer.

Bruce looked at the numbers on a slip of paper before turning his attention to the computer. He immediately went to his online banking options and signed in.

…...

Clark Kent arrived on scene. While he was there as a reporter for the Daily Planet, he was also there as a friend. The sports car was damaged. Banged up both in the front and back, liked it had been sandwiched between two larger vehicles. Both the driver and passenger airbags had been deployed.

Jimmy Olsen, a photographer for the Daily Planet, was already taking pictures. While red head clicked away, Clark was attempted to find a police officer who could give him some information. Finally, the dark haired reporter recognized a detective who was working the scene.

"Detective Johnson? Do you have time for a few words?" asked Clark, raised his small recorder in the air.

With a sigh, the detective approached the reporter. Johnson, gray at the temples, had clean cut dark brown hair. The man wore plain clothes, a dark blue suit and white shirt, rather than a police uniform. "Yes, Mr. Kent?"

"Is it true that this car belongs to Bruce Wayne of Gotham?" asked Clark, speaking clearly into his recorder, before pointing it toward the other man.

"I can confirm that this car belongs to Bruce Wayne," replied the police detective.

"Why was Mr. Wayne in Metropolis?" asked Clark. While he considered Bruce a friend, even he didn't know everything the man did.

The dark haired reporter would like to believe that, if Bruce was in Metropolis on official Batman business, he would have been told, but Clark knew that wasn't always the case. While Batman could be unreasonable in his "no powers" in Gotham, he didn't always tell other heroes when he had to enter their cities.

"His secretary shared that Mr. Wayne was scheduled to work out of his Metropolis office today," replied Detective Johnson.

"And was Mr. Wayne transported to the hospital for injuries?" asked the dark haired reporter.

"I am not at liberty to discuss the location of Mr. Wayne at this time," replied Detective Johnson.

"Was anyone injured in the accident?" continued Clark.

"At this time, it has not been ruled an accident," replied Johnson. The detective shift his body, clearly giving the message that this interview was almost over.

"Do you suspect that someone intentionally hit Mr Wayne?" asked Clark.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss an ongoing investigation," replied the detective, before he nodded his head and walked away.

A flat bed wrecker arrived to collect the car. As it was loaded, Clark noted a backpack in the backseat of the car. The bag was open and school books had spilled out.

Dick was here too, thought Clark. Pretending to check his recorder, Clark listened in on the conversations going on around him. Between the officers holding the scene to Detective Johnson talking with some fellow police officers, Clark heard enough to know what had happened. Someone intentionally hit Bruce and then they took him and Dick.

…...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm back! It's a new Young Justice story. The beginning will be more focused on Bruce/Dick, though other YJ characters will show up later in the story. And I plan to post updates regularly. Oh and PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!