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English
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Part 2 of Batfamily Week 2018
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Published:
2018-08-04
Words:
608
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1/1
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Hold Me Tight

Summary:

Batman and Robin get stuck in a freezer with no way of escape.
Commissioner Gordon finds them, and doesn't need to be the World's greatest detective to know what happened.

Written for Batfam Week 2018: day 2: Trapped

Notes:

Written 5 days late for Batfam Week 2018, day 2: Trapped.

I swear I'm not usually much of an angst writer, but this is my second major character death this week, so I guess it's a thing now? (Wait, it's only a pattern after three, so I'm still good. On thin ice, but good.)

Once again unbeta-ed, don't hesitate to tell me if you find any mistake. Warning for dubious biology RE:hypothermia.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

It took cutting pliers, two crowbars and three cops to open the door of the freezer room. Commissioner James Gordon rushed toward the black form inside as soon as his eyes had adjusted to the bright neon lights inside, ordering someone call an ambulance.

The was a dash of red and yellow in the black.

 

Batman heard a door slam close as he came to his senses. He was sprawled on something hard and very cold. Righting himself, he took in his surroundings. He was in some sort of freezer room, if the temperature was any indication, and his Robin was laying beside him, twitching a little.

Reassured that his partner was alive and about to wake up, he went to door, and found it wouldn't open.

Typical.

Robin joined him and together they made an inventory of tools and potential exits.

None of either.

They were trapped.

 

Gordon reached the vigilantes. Batman was sitting, back against the corner, his partner tight against him and his cape draped over both of them.

Batman couldn't tell how long they'd been trapped. Hours at least. They'd tried to keep moving, but Robin was drooping. With his smaller stature, the cold would kill him faster. It was time to just strategy.

“Come here”, he said.

He sat against the corner, and positioned Robin on his lap so he wouldn't be touching the freezing surfaces of the ground and walls, even if that meant sacrificing more of his own body heat to them.

Robin would normally have protested. It worried Batman that he didn't.

 

Gordon tried shaking them, but neither responded. He reached for Batman's pulse first. Nothing. He waited a while to be sure, but there was nothing to it. The Batman of Gotham was dead.

He went for Robin then, knowing his tiny body would probably have shut down first. He studied his face as he felt for a heartbeat and saw frozen tear tracks.

 

Robin felt sluggish. He didn't really feel cold, not anymore. He knew he probably should have been worried about that. He was too busy being worried about the fact that Batman was asleep .
He saw the tears fall, surprised that he hadn't felt them. Then again, his whole face felt numb, so he guessed it made sense. He knew crying would only make it worse, but he couldn't really help it. Batman was dying, he was dying, and no one was coming .

He buried his face in Batman's chest and wept.

 

There!

It was slow and it was sluggish, but there was a pulse. He pried away Batman stiff arms – his cold, dead hands, his treacherous mind whispered – and carried the boy out, where it was relatively warmer. Cradled the boy in his arms and rubbed his chest.

He faintly heard Bullock ask where that damn ambulance was and a couple officer getting Batman's body out – not that it would really help him now.

He allowed himself to wonder about what would happen next. Wondered if Robin would survive. Wondered if the Justice League would step in to prevent the coroner from lifting Batman's mask. Wondered if the world would curse him for failing this one time, or bless him for dying trying to protect the city.

In a way, Gordon knew he hadn't. If he'd curled in on himself, away from the wall, he might have survived. Batman hadn't died for the city, he'd died for his kid.

Maybe the boy wouldn't make it. Maybe he would, and wish he hadn't. But Batman had done all he could to save him, and even if no one else honored him for it, James Gordon would.

 

Notes:

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