Work Text:
“Oh dear…”
The streets of Gotham were dark. It was a cold autumn night and Edward’s green suit wasn’t warm enough to stop him from shivering. Oswald and him were running away from the police after committing yet another heist when they had heard fighting sounds coming from a narrow alley.
Looking back on it, Riddler didn’t even remember why they decided to check what was happening. It was Gotham after all; violence was just part of the city’s life. He could blame his decision on his curiosity, he guessed, or on Oswald’s morbid desire to gather enough intel to blackmail anyone who crossed his path.
What they never expected to find, however, was an unconscious Robin. The kid was all bruised and battered. Blood covered his face and his nose was obviously broken. Edward wouldn’t be surprised if he was missing a tooth or two as well. Their arrival had scared off the men who put him in this state.
Oswald and him shared a worried look. They were both ruthless criminals, sure, but they took no joy in seeing a child suffer. Even they had lines they wouldn’t cross.
“Is he… Is he still breathing?” Oswald asked.
Edward kneeled next to the boy to examine him. He checked his neck for a pulse and let out a relieved sigh when he found one, although faint. Looked like they disturbed the thugs before they could finish the job.
“He’s in a bad state, but he’ll live. Now, we should probably go before…”
Oswald didn’t let him finish.
“We just can’t leave him here, Ed! What if someone with bad intentions finds him like this?”
“The one who’s the most susceptible to find him is the Bat and we’ll both get sent back to Arkham if we aren’t gone by then. If this what you want?”
“Well, for now I don’t see the Bat anywhere. Do you?”
Edward huffed in annoyance. Damn Oswald and his soft spot for kids. Although, if he was being sincere, he did feel kind of guilty at the idea of abandoning Robin laying on the pavement.
“Just imagine what would happen if Joker put his hand on him. He would kill him, child or not. He has no limits, Ed, we both know this.”
The Riddler shivered at the mention of the clown. His husband had a point. He didn’t even dare to think of what twisted plans the maniac would come up with if he managed to capture Robin.
“Fine, fine, we’ll help the kid. Can you keep watch while I tend to his most serious injuries? If we move him in this state, he might bleed to death.”
The gratitude he saw in Oswald’s eyes was enough to make his heart skip a beat. Oh, the things he wouldn’t do for his husband… Without waiting further, he started to patch Robin’s wound as best as he could. He grimaced when red stains dirtied his suit and gloves.
“You’ll be paying for the dry cleaning…” He muttered, not that Oswald listened, lost in his own thoughts.
“I still can’t believe that this… this lunatic makes kids fight for him. Fucking kids, Edward!”
“You had Martin spy on Sophia Falcone when he was only nine, remember?” He replied matter-of-factly.
Next to him, Robin stirred in his sleep, but didn’t wake up, which Edward was thankful for. He didn’t need a panicking kid to make things even harder than they already were. Also, it was easier to stitch him up when he was staying still. After all, even if his criminal life always challenged him to improve his medical skills, his former work at the GCPD gave Edward more practice at working with corpses than living people.
“It’s not the same! Kids make the best spies, they’re small and quiet and no one usually pays attention to them. The Bat, he’s… he’s putting them on the frontline! That’s not right.”
From experience, Edward knew that it was no use arguing with Oswald when he was speaking in that stubborn tone of his. So instead, he focused on the work at hand, all while trying not to look at the sky in search of a masked vigilante.
“There, all done. He should be safe for now.”
“Well, that was quick.”
“What, are you doubting my skill?”
“No, I’m just impressed by your talent. As usual.”
Edward just couldn’t contain the blush that spread to his cheeks. Oswald would really be the death of him someday… But now wasn’t the time for flirting, no matter how much he enjoyed the praise.
“Okay, what now? You know we can’t take him to one of our hideouts. Not only the bat would track us down, but he would also believe that we were the one who hurt the kid in the first place.”
“Actually, I figured that maybe… We could bring him back to his family?”
“Oh, and please tell me how we’re supposed to do that when we don’t know what’s his real identity?”
“Well, there’s nothing stopping us from looking at his face and I’m pretty sure the most brilliant mind in Gotham won’t need anything more to solve that mystery.”
Edward let out a sigh. This was definitely not how he planned to spend his evening.
“You’re lucky I love you.”
“I know.”
He rolled his eyes at Oswald’s cheesy declaration, instead focusing on the mask that covered Robin’s face. It would be easily removed indeed. He started untying it, although not entirely convinced that seeing his face would be enough to…
“Oh my god, isn’t that Wayne’s adopted son?”
It only took him a second to realize that Oswald was right. He remembered seeing the kid on the cover of tabloids. Despite the few scabs on his face, there was no mistaking him for someone else.
“I think you’re right. We’d better not let anyone else find out about this, though.”
Oswald nodded in agreement and Edward put the mask back in place.
“Well, I guess we’re headed for Wayne Manor, then. Think you can get us a car? It’s not exactly close by.”
“Darling, I’m the king of Gotham, of course I can get us a car. I’ll just call one of my men and…”
“Actually, could we leave your henchmen out of it? Not that I don’t trust your choice in business partners, but I’m not sure that having people see us rescuing a kid would be good for our reputation. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to keep making myself a name as a criminal.”
This time, it was Oswald who rolled his eyes.
They ended up stealing a car from a foreign businessman who didn’t know yet that driving at night through Gotham’s shady neighborhoods was not a very clever idea. They installed Robin on the backseat and then Edward took the wheel. Even though he would never mention it out loud in fear to end with a knife up his throat, he knew that driving didn’t go very well with Oswald’s limping leg. Not that he couldn’t do it if need be, but Riddler was observant enough to notice the slight frown of pain that followed whenever he tried himself at it.
Not to mention that he felt safer being the one having to focus on the road when Oswald was distracted by the kid they just rescued.
“I always figured he came from a poor part of town, you know. The Narrows, maybe. I mean, do you picture a rich kid roaming the street, fighting criminals without having his parents noticing? He must at least have a nanny to watch over him or something like that, don’t you think?”
Edward’s hands clenched on the wheel. He couldn’t help but think of his own parents, of how they treated him before he took the decision to cut ties.
“His caretakers being wealthy doesn’t necessarily mean that they care about him.”
At his words, Oswald’s expression grew dark.
“Do you think that’s why he teams up with the Bat? Because he sees him as some kind of father figure when he has no one else to turn to?”
“Possibly. This could also be about the death of his parents. We both have our connections Oswald, you know just as I do that the accident at the circus wasn’t just an accident. If the kid learned about it, that’d explain while he’s out there bragging about justice.”
“While he’s out there trying to get himself killed, you mean.”
“You hadn’t been that sentimental in a while, Oswald, you know. That’s kinda cute.”
“Shut up and drive.”
It didn’t take long to reach the Wayne Manor. They stopped near the gate, then Edward turned his head to stare at his partner.
“Okay, we’re here, how do we do this now?”
“We put the kid in front of the door, we ring and then we leave before anyone can see us. Easy as that.”
“You suggest that we just leave him in full suit for whoever is in that manor to find? That could blow up his secret identity.”
“Well, maybe if Wayne learns about his son secret activities, he’ll start paying more attention to him. And if he doesn’t, we could always pay him a visit. By the way, what would you say of robbing a building of his company tonight?”
Riddler couldn’t help but grin at the proposition. The security systems of Wayne Enterprises always made up for a great challenge.
“I say that the night is still young. Let’s make sure the kid gets back to safety first, though.”
Alfred didn’t expect anyone to show up at the manor at such a late hour, at least not at the front door. Nor did he expect to discover Robin passed out on the threshold, with a few nasty cuts hastily patched up. He quickly checked him up, to make sure that none of his wounds were too serious, then he gathered him in his arms in order to put him back in his bed. The kid was in a bad shape, but he would recover.
The next thing on his list once Robin was out of danger was, of course, to contact master Bruce and tell him what happened.
“Yes, Alfred?”
“I just wanted to inform you that you can stop searching for Robin, sir. He’s back at the manor.”
Even through the com, Alfred heard the sigh of relief on the other side of the line.
“Is he alright? Why didn’t he answer when I was calling him? He had me worried to death.”
“I’m afraid he wasn’t able to talk in his state. I found him passed out on the front porch. I believe that Mr. Nygma and Mr. Cobblepot where the ones who delivered him at our door.
“Did they hurt him?”
The growl in his voice would have been enough to terrorize the most ruthless criminals of Gotham. That didn’t make Alfred lose his composure.
“Actually, that’s the strange part, sir. On the contrary, it appears that they tended to most of his injuries.”
“I’m coming back to the manor. It could be a part of Riddler’s plan, you never know what to expect with him.”
In the end, Batman spent the rest of the night at Manor Wayne, waiting for a threat that never came.
The next day, Bruce Wayne had to visit one of his companies first thing in the morning, the one that had been robbed the night before. Not only was it important for his public image to be seen giving his support to his employees, he also hoped to find clues that would help him discover who was behind this.
He was discreetly looking for any trace of evidence that the police could have missed when one of the scientists who worked for his company walked towards him.
“The people who did this… They left a letter for you, sir.”
Bruce took the envelope with careful hands. After making sure that it wasn’t hiding anything dangerous, he opened it. He immediately recognized Penguin’s handwriting; he’d already read too many notes written by the mobster during his previous investigations not to.
However, nothing prepared him for the content of the missive. The last thing he expected was to be scolded by a criminal for not taking good care of his son and not being wary enough of who he hanged up with.
But apparently, there was a first for everything.
“Okay, now what are we going to do with all of this?”
Oswald pointed at all the machines and computers they managed to steal from Wayne Enterprises. They had gathered everything in one of his warehouses. Edward was standing next to him, looking tired but proud of their deed.
“I’ll keep some of it for myself, if you don’t mind. The rest, we can sell to Fries and Crane. They’re always in need of more supplies for their researches.”
“Sounds good to me. Take what you want, I’ll arrange the transactions for what will be left.”
As an answer, Edward wrapped an arm around his waist. Oswald’s breath got caught in his throat as his husband left a teasing kiss on his neck.
“Maybe we could take care of this later? It’s been a long night and I’d like to fall asleep in my husband’s arms. Please?”
From the moment Edward opened his mouth, Oswald knew he was done for. He just couldn’t say no to him when he used that tone.
“Everything for you. However, there’s just one thing I would like to do first, if it’s alright with you.”
“And what’s that?”
“I was thinking about inviting Martin to spend a few days with us. I know he’s busy with university as well as running his own businesses, but… It wouldn’t hurt to have him come over, don’t you think?”
This time, Edward smiled fondly. Even if Oswald didn’t mention their rescue of the day, he knew the role it played in this. No wonder that he wanted to make sure that their own son was safe and sound. Although, to be completely honest, Edward didn’t worry that much about Martin. Quite often, he thought about how lucky they were that their son loved them too much to overthrow them. If he decided to plot against them one day, Riddler was convinced that they would be out of the picture in a blink.
He could never be prouder of their son.
“It sure would be nice having him around.” He agreed.
As he released Oswald from his embrace, his eyes lingered on him and he couldn’t help but grin happily. Even after all these years, he always got a rush of joy whenever he reminded himself that they were family, him, Oswald and Martin.
He wouldn’t trade it for the world.