Making Headlines

Gotham General Hospital was always bustling with activity, but especially so on this chilly Thursday morning in February. This time of year was always one of the busiest. Being in the middle of flu season, there was a great influx of sick patients. Also, it snowed last week, and since temperatures only got above freezing for a few hours and then dropped down again, what snow had melted quickly turned to ice. Many Gothamites who slipped on the ice also paid visits to the hospital. All of the hospitals employees were so busy that they didn't even have enough time for a break. They were also so engrossed in their own work that they didn't even notice the actions of others.

It was almost 11 o'clock in the morning. Two new male nurse's aides, Thomas Geppard and Carl Notting, were getting ready to take their thirty minute lunch break.

"Hey Carl! Can I borrow a dollar from you?" Tom asked his friend.

Carl checked his pockets for any money. He found five one-dollar bills in a wad. He unrolled them and gave Tom one. "Here you go," he replied. "Just remember to pay me back on Saturday, along with the other three dollars you borrowed from me this week!"

"Have I ever let you down?" Tom cheerfully said.

"Not yet," Carl answered. "And you sure as heck better not let me down today, either. I'm counting on you to get this done right!"

The clock buzzed at eleven. The two aides quickly finished organizing the medications for the patients in rooms 500 through 530 and made their way to the elevator. Once the elevator reached the ground floor, the doors opened, and the cafeteria was straight ahead of the men. They darted across the hall into the eatery and up to the vending machines. Each man got himself a bag of chips and a can of soda. They sat at a nearby table and devoured their small meals in less than ten minutes, careful not to spill anything on their white uniforms. They threw out the chip bags and disposed of the soda cans in an aluminum can recycling bin. Before leaving the cafeteria, they looked around to see if anyone was watching them. Nobody was. They left quickly and quietly.

"Alright, Tom," Carl whispered as the aides crept quietly down the hall. "You know what to do. Remember that we only have about fifteen minutes to take as much as we can. Before we punch back in, we are going to run the goods out to my Ford Escort. It's just as we did it all this week. You got me?"

"I gotcha!" Tom affirmed.

In less than a minute, the men made their way to a set of double doors. One door was labeled "Pharmacy". They went through the doors, which led to the rear of the medicine storage room. The pharmacy's attendant, Maria Sanchez, was out to lunch, and since other hospital personnel were occupied, the medicine was left unattended. Each man pulled out a folded thirteen gallon trash bag from a side pants pocket and started grabbing random packages and bottles. They carefully arranged the remaining items so that once Maria returned, she couldn't tell right away that supplies were missing. Also to their advantage was since there was a large number of patients, there was also substantial supply replacement. This helped cover their tracks for the time being.

After fifteen minutes, the aides quickly went out through the doors and quietly dashed down the hall toward the exit. Right outside was the parking garage. The men stayed along the building, avoiding the security cameras outside, as they headed for Carl's car. It was parked near the east edge of the garage. Carl liked to park there because tall bushes blocked the view from the street. Carl unlocked the Escort's trunk, threw both bags inside and relocked it. They hurriedly returned to the hospital the way they came and made it back just in time to return to work.

Both men also got done with work at 3:00 p.m.. They punched out and, this time, casually made their way to Carl's car, not worrying about the security cameras. Carl unlocked the doors. The aides got in and buckled up. Carl started the engine and they were on their way.

Tom wanted to strike up a conversation. "So, Carl, what do you think of Gotham City since we moved here last month? I say that it is much more exciting than Metropolis. There is a lot more to do here. The people are more interesting, too. I dig the mask and costume thing! Maybe we ought to join in!"

"And look like fools?" Carl questioned Tom. "No way! Hey, I agree that Gotham is a lot livelier than Metropolis. I'm just not in a hurry to look like the locals!"

The white Ford Escort left the limits of Gotham City. It was now on the thin country road which led up to and past stately Wayne Manor. Carl continued on that road, careful not to skid the car on any ice.

Meanwhile, up in the manor, Dick Grayson was preparing his camera for some nature shots. He hadn’t had a single chance to pursue his photography hobby since he started college. The classes he was taking for the spring semester, however, took up a little less of his time than his fall classes, giving him this rare opportunity. Although he loved college, he enjoyed the chance to do something that made him feel like he was back in high school.

Bruce, along with Alfred and Mrs. Cooper, came into the rear room from which Dick was about to leave.

"Oh, there you are, honey!" Mrs. Cooper greeted her nephew. "It's nice to see you back here at home, with all of that work you do in school."

"The change of pace is nice," Dick answered.

Bruce offered some philosophical insight, "One does need to unwind once in a while before one becomes tangled-up."

Just before Dick put on his heavy blue coat, he thought of something that would fit right in with his plans. "I have an idea! Would you like to join me outside?" Dick asked the others. "I can take some pictures of you out near the woods."

"That sounds like a marvelous idea, Master Dick!" Alfred assured the young man.

The other two agreed. As the three older adults went to fetch their coats, Dick put on his. He attached the strap onto his camera and put it around his neck as he waited for the others. They came in about two minutes and the quartet exited the back door together.

They went about a hundred feet into the woods which faced the rear of the manor. There, the older three took turns standing under trees and near a frozen creek as Dick snapped shots of them. Dick even captured Bruce on film slipping on a patch of ice. He got some other great shots, too. He photographed a flock of birds moving between trees, two deer jumping over a fallen small tree and a white Ford Escort, which matched the snowy ground, on a distant road. Everyone was having a good time.

Carl was driving up the wooded road when something caught Tom's eye.

"Hey! That kid up on the hill is taking pictures! I think he got us!” “Check it out!" Tom warned the driver.

"I can't turn my head!" Carl complained. "I gotta keep my eyes on the road! You check it out and tell me what you see!"

"OK!" Tom replied. He turned his head to catch a better glimpse of the young amateur photographer. "It's a dark-haired boy with the camera. He's up there with some rich-looking guy plus an old man and an old lady."

"That's right!" Carl exclaimed. "We're behind Wayne Manor! That must be billionaire Bruce Wayne and the others that live in that mansion!"

"Maybe we should go up there, beat them up and take the film," Tom suggested. "You know many people don't take this road and we can't take the chance of them finding out where the hideout is!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Carl scolded his passenger. "That's four against two! The odds are against us! Besides, they might have guard dogs or some other type of protection up there. We wouldn't have a chance! Later on, we can get Scott and David to go up there. They're better trained at that security stuff. Maybe then the boy will be alone or something."

"Whatever!" Tom moaned.

The pair drove on for another seven miles before they finally reached their destination. Carl pulled up beside an isolated, two-story concrete building. He and Tom got out of the car, removed the medicine bags from the trunk and carried them into a side entrance of the lonely house.

More snow fell overnight. There was another three inches of accumulation by daybreak.

That Friday morning, around 9, a red Dodge Neon with two occupants, one male and one female, was headed south on Route 43. It was about twenty miles outside of Gotham City.

The male passenger was telling a tale to the female driver. "...And then my mom and I were at this picnic table and this guy in a white ninja suit came up and cut our cantaloupe with a knife. Then these two guys in black ninja suits came out of this pickup truck and came after the guy in the white ninja suit, so the guy in the white ninja suit jumped on our table and rolled all over our food and fell off of the table and ran. Then the two guys in black ninja suits jumped on the table and tramped in the potato salad, and then they fell, too. They all ran into a telephone pole and then..."

"OK, Jimmy!" the driver told her rambunctious passenger, as she wiped some of her long, dark brown hair from her face.

"Wait, Lois! It gets better!" The flame-haired, freckled youth, who just turned seventeen, continued babbling, "Now get this! A police cruiser comes through the park and nearly hits our table. Mom ran to a water fountain, and I jumped in a bush!"

"Jimmy," Lois interrupted the boy again, "by chance, you weren't sniffing any of the developing or fixing solutions in the darkroom again, were you?"

"No!" the young photographer answered the seasoned reporter. "I haven't done any of that since November! Why?"

"Just wondering," Lois remarked.

"Oh," Jimmy said. Not thinking anything of it, he picked up where he left off. "Then my arm bumped this hard, lumpy thing, and here it was a bee hive! Honey spilled all over my hand! I licked it off, but because the ninjas ruined our food, I was still hungry! I had this fly swatter with me because the flies were bad, so I swatted the bees away. Then I put my hand into the hive and grabbed some honey. But then..."

Lois stopped paying attention to Jimmy's wild tale. Instead, she focused on the road. Shortly, just to the car's right, she spotted a sign that indicated that they were three miles outside of Gotham City.

"We're almost there," Lois said.

"Where?" Jimmy asked.

"Weren't you paying attention in Perry's office?" Lois, frustrated, asked. "He assigned us to cover a string of soup kitchen robberies in Gotham City."

"Oh! Isn't that where they have a lot of those Bat-people? Do you think we'll get to meet any of them?" the bouncy youth inquired.

"Perhaps,” Lois answered. She then sighed. "Today HAD to be a snow day for Wilson High, didn't it?" Lois quipped.

"No, it was an in-service day," Jimmy answered.

"Whatever!" Lois continued. "Well, since we are going to be early, we'll first stop by Police Commissioner Gordon's office. Then, I have someone that I want to visit. From there, we'll get on with the investigation.

Shortly after that, Jimmy once again continued his ninja and bee hive story, which he still claimed really happened. After about twenty minutes, the two press agents reached the Gotham City Police Station.

Inside his warm, cozy office, Commissioner Gordon conversed with Chief O'Hara about the hockey game they both attended last night.

"I can't believe that Wanesky got that put in for the Gotham Polar Bears in the last three seconds of the game!" O'Hara exclaimed.

"That was indeed a fabulous game!" the Commissioner added.

At that moment, the voice of the Commissioner's secretary, Bonnie, came over the desk intercom. "Commissioner, two newspeople are here to see you," she announced.

"Send them in!" Gordon spoke into the intercom.

In about a minute, Lois, in a burgundy pant suit and a white coat and Jimmy, in baggy jeans, an oversized, unbuttoned flannel shirt with a white T-shirt underneath and a brown coat entered his office.

"Welcome!" the Commissioner greeted the pair. He pulled up two leather-cushioned chairs. "Here, have a seat! How may I help you fine folks?"

"Thank you!" the woman replied as she sat down. "I'm Lois Lane, investigative reporter for the Metropolis Daily Planet. Beside me is my young photographer, Jimmy Olsen. We were sent here to look into some recent soup kitchen thefts."

"Ah, yes! The soup kitchen thefts!" the Commissioner started.

Something else that Lois told the commissioner caught his fancy. He turned toward the boy. "So, there really is a news photographer named Jimmy Olsen, and you're him?"

"Uh, yeah!" Jimmy answered, starting to get confused and worried that he had done something wrong.

"Why do you ask?" Lois inquired.

Both of the law enforcement experts broke out in laughter. "Oh, it is a really funny story!" the Commissioner laughed.

Right away, Jimmy looked over at Lois, with his bewildered blue eyes saying, 'Maybe we should get out of here.'

At the same time, Lois looked over at him, with her stern violet eyes asking, 'What did you do now?!'

Gordon began his tale. "About a year and a half ago, some kid with a brain short circuitor, oh, his name escapes me at the moment, what is it?" he asked himself as he placed his head in his left hand.

"You're thinking of Archie Arcane, the Black Widow's nephew!" Chief O'Hara helped his friend.

"Hey! He was my math tutor when I was in seventh grade!" Jimmy interjected.

"That's it!" Gordon’s head came up quickly. "Anyway, this kid used his gadget to get Judge Lane to sign a warrant for our arrest!"

O'Hara interrupted. "This Judge Lane wouldn't be any relation to you, Miss Lane, would he?"

"I don't think so," Lois answered.

Laughing again, the Commissioner continued, "Next, Archie posed as you, Jimmy, and he came down to the station to take pictures of our very own Officer Goldberg and Policewoman Mooney, who had just got done taking care of the Dana David car chase. He then used his gizmo on them, and they came with backup to arrest us!" Then, Gordon clasped his hands together, as if in prayer. "Thank goodness for the Distaff Duo, Batwoman and Flamebird! Those wonderful ladies came to save the day! They kept us out of jail and took care of that miserable brat! Come to think of it now, you two do look similar, although his hair wasn't quite as red and he didn't have freckles!"

"Speaking of red hair," the Police Chief noted, "Say, kid, you look Irish! You have any O'Haras in the family?"

"I think my mom's mom was an O'Hara," the lad replied.

"Begorra, we're probably related!" Chief O'Hara exclaimed.

"Um, gentlemen," the now annoyed Lois chirped in, "It is nice that my partner is getting all of this attention, but I don't see how this is helping us get any closer to figuring out who or what is behind the soup kitchen incidents!"

"Oh, yes! I almost forgot!" the Commissioner apologized. "During the last two weeks, about every morning at five or six, someone or ones have been stealing bulk items, mainly food, from area soup kitchens. What is odd is that is the time the volunteers come in to unpack the items and prepare breakfast for needy Gothamites. There are so many volunteers that come and go, plus records of those volunteers are so poorly kept that we can't figure out who is doing it. Maybe you will have better luck!"

"I hope so!" Lois remarked. "First, I have another question to ask you."

"Go right on ahead!" Gordon said.

"Back in college, I was your daughter Barbara's roommate for a year. I haven't seen her since I graduated. What is she doing with herself now?"

"Oh, she's doing just fine!" the proud father beamed. "She's now the head librarian at the Gotham City Public Library. It is only ten blocks down the street. If you want to see her, she's working right now."

"I think I'll do that." Lois started thanking the gentlemen. "It was great talking to you two. We have to get going now. Thanks for your help!"

"My pleasure!" Gordon thanked her as she and her partner rose from their seats and headed toward the double doors.

"Those guys are a little strange, aren't they?” Jimmy asked Lois as they walked toward the elevator.

"I’d say!" Lois agreed. "With police and a commissioner like that, it is no wonder that winners like The Joker and The Riddler have the run of the city!" Once they were in front of the elevator, Lois turned to her partner. "Now I have a question for you! How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Jimmy asked, puzzled at her inquiry.

"Just how do you cause trouble in one city while being in another?"

"I guess he wanted to be me!" was all the boy could come up with as the elevator opened in front of them.

It was now 10 a.m.. Barbara Gordon had been at work in the library for an hour. The young day was already a very busy one, for she had to assign Dewey decimal numbers to about 200 new books that the library received and place them on the appropriate shelves. There were currently no patrons in the library, so the only company she had were two assistant librarians. Those two were working on another project together, and since they too were busy, they didn't have a chance to talk to Barbara. The day seemed to be dragging for Miss Gordon.

The front doors of the library were opened from the outside and in walked Lois and Jimmy. Barbara immediately turned toward the duo. A smile took over her face as she laid eyes upon her former roommate for the first time in years.

"Lois, how are you?!" Barbara asked as she ran from behind her desk and hugged her long-lost friend.

"I'm doing just great! And you?"

"I'm doing wonderfully! It is so great to see you again! And who is this cutie with you?"

"This is my partner, Jimmy Olsen!"

"Hi!" Jimmy greeted Barbara. "It is nice to meet you!"

For the next ten minutes, the women talked about old college memories and what their lives were like now. Jimmy, quickly getting bored, found some picture books nearby and started paging through them. Just then, the phone on Barbara's desk rang.

Barbara excused herself to answer it. Meanwhile, Lois, always the curious type, noticed that the other two librarians were having a conversation. She decided to eavesdrop on them while pretending to be looking at a book in a nearby aisle.

"Your sister works at Gotham General Hospital, doesn't she, Carmen?" Natasha asked her friend and co-worker. "I heard that there have been some peculiar things going on there lately!"

This was music to Lois's ears. Tasting a potential front page story, she stealthily reached into her handbag and turned on her tape recorder.

"Yeah, Maria works in the pharmacy," Carmen explained. "She thinks that a lot of medications are disappearing. She goes on lunch every day at 11:00, and when she comes back at 11:30, stuff seems to be gone! There hasn't been a good inventory done in a while, so it is really hard to tell if anything's missing!"

"Wow! You would think that with drugs and all like that they would keep a better eye on their things!" Natasha remarked.

"I know what you mean!" Carmen agreed.

Next, the librarians starting talking about what they got at the mall last night. Lois turned off her tape recorder. With a book still open in front of her, she glanced down at her watch. It was nearly 10:30. 'Hmmm, I better get down to the hospital in thirty minutes to see what exactly is going on. This might be connected to the soup kitchen thefts,' she thought. At first, she considered taking Jimmy along so he could take pictures. Almost immediately, though, she changed her mind, for it would be far easier for one person to sneak into a hospital than two. Besides, he had a knack for messing things up, and she didn't want to take the chance of him ruining this story for her. Lois also had his safety in mind, especially since he was a minor and his mother would burn her if something terrible happened to her only child. She had a small camera in her purse, and she could let him develop the film later. For now, she had to think of a way of tricking him into staying at the library.

She placed the book back on its shelf and returned to Barbara's desk, where the librarian had just hung up the phone. Pretending to be looking for something, she starting rooting through her purse.

"That was one of our patrons," Barbara told Lois. "He wanted to know how much his late fee was. Are you looking for something?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," Lois lied. "I think I might have ran out of some...personal items...you know, women's things."

Barbara checked one of her desk drawers, where she kept such things. "I wish I could help you, but I'm also out of them. If you go around the corner and down the street about four blocks, there is a convenience store. You can get some there."

"Thanks a million, Barbara!" Lois said to the librarian. "By the way, can you keep an eye on Jim while I run down there? You know how guys can get around that type of stuff!"

"I understand completely!" Barbara agreed. "He seems like a good kid, so it should be no problem!"

"Thanks!" Lois said as she waved and left out of the front doors.

Meanwhile, trouble was brewing at the Hexagon. There was a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff scheduled for 10:30. Two burly security guards were making their rounds inside of one of the six entrances, ensuring that nobody got either in or out of the military complex.

Nearby, the last defense official, General Wilcox, entered the large meeting hall in the center of the building. He closed and locked the huge wooden door behind him. That left only the two security guards, Scott Jones and David Carmichael, in their section of the building. It was time to put their daily plan into action.

In their section were both the magazine and the top secret library, which was inside the magazine. Last week, the two husky men had stolen the keys to both rooms, and during their lunch break, made copies of the keys. They had since returned the originals, so none of the Chiefs had any idea that they had been missing.

"Scott, grab our army duffle bags out of the closet," David ordered his partner in crime.

"Sure thing, Dave!" Scott cheerfully obeyed.

First, the guards unlocked the door to the magazine. They quickly locked the door behind them and made their way to the library. They unlocked its door and entered the small, cluttered room. There, they carefully sorted through the top secret documents, picking out those which were blueprints for newly developed nuclear weapons, including the RJ400. They also stole documents containing information on chemical and biological warfare. All of these manuscripts were rolled up and stuffed into one of the duffle bags.

Next, the men exited the library and locked the door. They re-entered the magazine. Quietly and swiftly, they loaded the other duffle bag with grenades, small bombs, dynamite, parts to make larger bombs and other detonating devices. Once that bag was full, they quickly made their way to the door. David unlocked it.

"Scott, check to make sure that nobody is out in the hall," Dave commanded.

Scott popped his head outside the door and looked in both directions. "Coast is clear!" he reported.

They left the magazine. David locked the door behind him. The guards darted down the hall toward an exit. To get out, Scott ran his Hexagon ID through a computerized pad next to the door. Next, he punched in his five-digit access code. The door opened for the pair and they ran out to a nearby parking lot, where a grey limousine was waiting for them. Inside were a man and a woman.

The man, who was the driver, got out of the luxury car and helped Scott and David put the bags in the back seat with the woman. Also with her were several boxes full of bulk foods, which she and her chauffeur had taken earlier that morning.

"Here are the blueprints and devices you wanted, boss!" David reported to the woman.

The medium-tone skinned woman opened the bags and looked through their contents. "Excellent!" she complimented the rogue guards in a Middle Eastern accent. She proceeded to ask Scott and David some questions. "Do you have the underground tunnels cleared?"

"We got that done yesterday!" Scott reported.

"What about that 'special room,' just in case somebody interferes with our plan?"

"Everything is in place!" David informed her.

"Splendid! You men are of great service to me!" the villainess praised her henchmen.

"Thank you!" both men gushed.

"We're heading down there now. You know where to find us," she told the men as the chauffeur approached.

The driver closed the back door and headed up toward his own door. Scott and David ran back up toward the Hexagon. Scott used his ID so they could re-enter the building. They made it just in time, for not even five minutes later, the meeting let out.

It was now 11:00. Barbara finished cataloguing half of the books. She decided to take a break. Since Carmen and Natasha were still busy with their project, Barbara sat down at the table across from Jimmy and struck up a conversation.

"Hi Jim! How’s it going?" she broke the ice.

"Alright, I guess," the boy answered, his earlier enthusiasm now a bit dampened.

"What's wrong?" Barbara asked.

He looked up at her green eyes. "I don't think Lois went to the store at all. I think she went to scoop a story without me."

Barbara paused. Thirty minutes did seem like a long time to travel four blocks by car and pick up a thing or two at the store. She felt Jimmy was right on this one. Barbara, though, was not surprised. She put her hand on Jimmy's shoulder to console him. "Don't feel bad, Jimmy," she sympathized. "Back when Lois and I worked together for the college newspaper, she used to do the exact same thing to me! It used to upset me, too."

Shortly, Carmen and Natasha finished their project. It was a fitting time for them to take a break as well. "My sister should be on lunch by now," Carmen told Natasha. "I'm going to give her a ring!"

Carmen got her cellular phone out of her purse. She dialed up the number for Maria's cell phone. The two connected, and in a minute they were talking about goings-on at the hospital, especially the disappearing medical items.

As Barbara told Jimmy about the times she and Lois spent together in college, she couldn't help but overhear parts of Carmen's phone conversation. She thought about why Lois lied about going to the store. It then occurred to her that maybe Carmen was talking about the hospital situation earlier and Lois eavesdropped on her. Barbara figured that Lois actually went to the hospital to investigate the situation undercover. Since it was around lunchtime, the same time when the hospital thefts were believed to have been happening, she theorized that perhaps Lois was putting herself into serious danger. Maybe it was time for Batgirl to step in.

Barbara, however, now had the same problem that Lois had earlier--what to do with Jimmy. She promised Lois that she would keep an eye on him. She could let him stay at the library with Carmen and Natasha, but he looked like he was already bored out of his mind. It wouldn't be fair to him to come to Gotham City just to sit around the library all day. He needed more exposure to the city. Barbara knew what to do.

Somebody owed her a favor. She remembered that back in mid-December, toward the end of the fall semester for Gotham State University, a certain Dick Grayson came into the public library, needing last-minute help on his term paper for Introductory Economics. She winded up staying open past closing time to help him get the books he needed. She didn't mind the extra work, for she knew Dick, but she also told him that he had to do something for her in return later. He got an "A" on the paper, as well as in that course. It was time for him to pay.

Barbara brought up her proposition to Jimmy. "Ah, Jimmy?" she asked the bored kid. "How would you like to see a college, say, Gotham State University?"

"Boy, would I!" He bounced out of his seat. Then, he moaned and bowed his head. "But I can't! Don't I have to stay here in case Lois comes back?"

"Jimmy, I really don't think she is coming back anytime soon," she informed him. "If this is the same Lois that I knew long ago, she's probably hunting down every lead in the soup kitchen thefts. Besides, is it fair that Lois gets to parade the town while you don't? You might as well have a good time while you are here." She then made up a phony situation. "I have to meet with the head librarian at the university anyhow and I thought maybe you would like to come along. I'll even let you hang out with some of the students. A friend of mind would like to meet you!"

"Really?" The boy now smiled. "Wow! That sounds so cool!"

Barbara asked the assistants to run the library while she kept this made-up appointment. She picked up her car keys. Barb had recently purchased a used sub-compact for those occasions when she had to take books to one of the branch libraries. "Time to go, Jimmy!" she called out as she headed toward the front door. The energetic boy ran after her and they left the building together.

It took Barbara only ten minutes to reach the University. This surprised her, for some of the roads were still covered in snow and ice. The first place on campus they went to was the Bell Curve Cafe. She knew that Dick and his friends hung out there between classes. She was hoping he would be there now.

Her suspicions were correct. Sure enough, Dick and his friends Wally and Susie were just placing their backpacks on a table near the back. Barbara wanted to catch up with the trio before they got into the lunch line.

"Hi, Dick!" Barbara greeted him from across two tables.

"Oh, hi, Barb!" Dick returned the salutation. He noticed that she was not alone. "Who's your friend here?" he asked.

"Dick, this is Jimmy Olsen, photographer for the Daily Planet of Metropolis. He's here on an assignment."

"Hi, Jimmy!" the three college freshmen acknowledged.

Barbara pulled Dick aside while Susie and Wally chatted with the newcomer. "Dick," Barbara started to remind the young man. "Remember when I helped you last semester and you promised that whenever I was in a jam you would come to my aid?"

"I sure do," Dick replied. "Let me guess--Jimmy is somehow involved with this."

"That's right!" Barbara confirmed. "His partner, reporter Lois Lane, left him behind while she pursues a story. I promised her that I would keep an eye on him, but I have some business to attend to at the University library. I may be busy for up to several hours. Can you watch him while I am gone?"

"Yeah, sure! No problem, Barbara!" Dick told her. He tried to sound cheerful while hiding his disappointment. Although he just finished his last class for the week, he wanted to do some research after lunch. He had wanted to get it done before the weekend, however, now that he had to "baby-sit", he knew he would have to push that extra work into Saturday.

"Thank you very much, Dick! You're a life saver!" Barbara responded.

"Don't mention it!" Dick said.

Barbara grabbed her keys and waved good-bye to the youthful quartet as she ran toward the cafe's exit. It was already 11:15 and the hospital thieves were probably already working on their dirty scheme. Lois was probably already there and could be in danger. Barbara hoped that Batgirl could get there in time before anything went wrong.

Batgirl was already too late. Lois was in deep trouble.

Moments earlier, Lois had found her way to the hospital and parked her Neon in the visitors' parking lot. She entered the main entrance of the hospital and pretended to be on her way to visit a patient. Since things were very busy at the front desk, no one noticed her anyway. She followed the directions on plaques placed in the hallways to find the pharmacy. It didn't take her very long, for it was on the first floor. Also to her luck, nearby was a supply room. In there, she changed into mint-green hospital scrubs and put her other clothes in a pillow case. She took it into the pharmacy with her, where she hid behind Maria's desk and waited for the thieves.

Next, Tom and Carl made their daily trip to the pharmacy. As in the days before, they pulled thirteen gallon trash bags from their pockets and filled them with medical items.

"Hey!" Tom caught Carl's attention. "Since we came in early and are done for the weekend, maybe we can grab a few extra bag fulls!"

"Maybe," Carl responded.

As soon as Tom started speaking, Lois turned on her tape recorder to catch their conversation. She also removed her small camera from her purse. Although it would negatively effect the quality of the pictures, Lois turned off the flash to avoid detection. She quietly took twenty-four pictures of the thieves in rapid succession. That roll of film ran out. She had a fresh one with her, so she started to unwind the used roll.

Unfortunately for Lois, Tom had a keen sense of hearing. "Did you hear that?" he asked his partner.

Lois stopped immediately and stayed completely still behind the desk.

"Hear what?" Carl replied.

"I heard something clicking, like maybe someone rolling film." Tom noted. "I'm going to take a look around."

"You do that," Carl agreed as he started filling a second white bag.

First, Tom wove between the shelves. He didn't see anybody. Next, he opened three sets of closet doors. They, too, didn't house any human beings. Tom looked under the two beds that were in the room, again finding nothing significant. He looked up at the ceiling, but nobody was hanging from the lights. He checked the hall outside and that was empty as well. He walked past the desk and almost forgot to look behind it. Then, however, he heard Lois breathing. Tom grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out from her hiding place.

"Look what we have here!" he called out to Carl as he swung behind her and grabbed her other arm.

Lois broke her silence with, "Yeah, come see the creeps that steal more from needy patients than HMOs!"

Carl picked up her purse and pillow case from under the desk. He placed the pillow case on top of the desk and rummaged through the purse. He quickly found her press pass. "So, you're Lois Lane of the Daily Planet," he said. "Figures that you would be a snoopy reporter!"

"And it figures that you would be a filthy thief, Carl Notting!" Lois quipped. "I see that you have your little sidekick, Tom Geppard, with you! I've always wondered what you have been up to since you got released from the Metropolis State Prison back in May! You're robbing Gotham City left and right just as you did Metropolis! I guess you didn't learn any new tricks, you old dog!"

"Oo la la! I like a woman with spunk!" Tom teased her.

"I'm flattered!" Lois answered. Just then, she kicked her left leg backwards, her heel hitting Tom in the crotch. As he let go of her arms to grab his sore part, she turned toward him and made a side kick with her right leg, which connected to his unprotected left side. He curled toward his left to shield the now tender area. With her right hand, Lois made a karate chop which hit Tom on the right shoulder. He kneeled toward the ground.

While Lois was engaged in combat, Carl picked up a wooden pole that he found in one of the closets. He crept up behind Lois, and just before she was about to make another karate chop, Carl whacked her on the back of the head. She went down immediately.

Carl picked up the unconscious woman. He glanced around the room, trying to determine where to put her. He spotted the two beds in the middle of the pharmacy. "Tom, you grab all of the bags, the pillowcase and the purse, and put them on one of those beds over there!" he ordered his friend, who despite hurting, was now standing up. "I'll put this nuisance on the other one!"

Carl quickly ran next door to the supply room. He obtained a few sheets and scrambled back into the pharmacy. He covered both beds and their cargo with the sheets. The two men wheeled the beds out into the hall. From there, they went toward the exit, from which they left the hospital into the employee parking lot.

They were about half-way to Carl's car when they were greeted by a familiar Gotham personality. "Excuse me, gentlemen, but hospital property is not to leave the premises!" the purple-clad heroine warned them.

"Hey, it's Batgirl!" Tom yelled.

"Good! You know my name!" Batgirl remarked. "I see you didn't go to school just to eat lunch!"

"Out of our way, woman!" Carl hollered. With a wave from his hand, both he and Tom tried to run the beds into Batgirl. She deftly jumped out of the way. The men turned the beds around and charged toward Batgirl again. Again, she gracefully leapt to the side. They repeated this four more times. During these runs, Tom maneuvered a tranquilizing gun out of one of the trash bags on his bed. Right before the last run, Tom handed Carl the gun. As Carl ran beside Batgirl, he injected a dart into the side of her hip.

"Ow!" she yelled as she pulled out the dart. The dart contained a powerful and fast-acting sedative, which knocked her out in less than a minute.

Tom caught the Dark Damsel as she fell. Carl took some of the bags off of Tom's bed so he could put the heroine on it. They wheeled the beds to the white Ford Escort. The supplies were loaded into the trunk and the unconscious women were placed in the back seat. The men returned the beds to the hospital. Shortly, they were on their way.

About an hour later, Lois awoke. She was still in hospital scrubs and she noticed that her clothes and purse were missing. She found that she was in a small, circular room that had a smooth, nine foot tall steel wall. Along the perimeter of the wall, about eight feet from the floor, were open-ended pipes about one foot apart from each other. They pointed toward the floor. There were also similar pipes pointing down from the ceiling. The floor was also made out of steel and it seemed as if the steel originated in the center and curved out toward the edge. Lois also saw that she was not alone in the room. Across from her was Batgirl, who was still under the influence of the sedative she was given earlier.

Lois was relieved that she was not bound. She crawled over to Batgirl. "Wake up!" she urged as she nudged the crime fighter.

Batgirl moaned as she opened her eyes. She tried to get up, but fell back asleep. Lois shook her again. After a few minutes of half-wakefulness, Batgirl finally managed to sit up without falling back.

"Are you going to be OK?" Lois asked.

"I think so, Miss Lane," Batgirl answered in a groggy voice. She then examined the room, just as Lois had done not long ago.

"You know who I am!" Lois praised the heroine as the reporter helped Batgirl onto her feet. "You must keep tabs on almost everybody, just like I do!"

"It's part of the job," Batgirl replied.

Before the women could converse some more, a crackle came from a speaker in the ceiling. "Rise and shine, ladies!" A female voice with a Middle Eastern accent greeted them. "Welcome back to the realm of the living! I'm afraid, though, that your visit will not be very long!"

"Who are you, anyway?" Lois shouted to the speaker.

"Oh, just a humanitarian helping the victims of a ruthless government!" the woman answered.

"Is that so?" Batgirl asked sarcastically.

"Yeah and I'm the Easter Bunny! You must think that we are dead stupid!" Lois added.

"No, I don't think you are stupid," the woman responded, "however, you will soon be dead! In just a few minutes, the floor will slowly start moving into the wall. Below the floor is a pool of flesh-eating bacteria. As soon as the floor is completely gone, you two will make a lovely treat for them! I know how clever you hero-types can be, so I added a bonus. Poisonous gas will be released from all of these pipes. That should discourage you from trying to climb up!"

"You’ve thought of everything, haven't you?' Lois quipped.

"I think everything through!" the woman replied. "Well, it has been nice meeting you! Have a great afterlife!"

The speaker clicked off. The floor cracked open at the seams and it slowly began to disappear beneath the wall. Gas shot out of the pipes. Lois and Batgirl stood flat against the wall with the floor moving under their feet, desperately trying to come up with a means of escape .

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