"Why are we here anyway?" Wonder Girl asked to the other members of the Delta Team, who was currently waiting on a roof, carefully watching over the building in front of them. The mission had been brought upon them by Nightwing, as he had faith in them to arrest whoever was stealing unstable and non-tested chemicals and important machine parts from different lab, from Star Lab in Starling city to Kord Industries in Gotham, breaking in and out with relative ease. The fact there wasn't any clues on the robbery locations, no DNA, no tapes, was pointing a really talented thief, or maybe a group of multiple talents. Also, the stolen items themselves were weird: the chemicals where recently made, non-tested and without any real potential yet, with no estimated price yet, and even if they had been marketed, they wouldn't be high priced yet. For the mechanical parts, which were the real problem, although the chemicals could be pretty dangerous by themselves, they were really valuable items. Even Batman was slighty intrigued and maybe worried about what they could make together. One of the worst supposition was a bomb, who could easily strike a small country easily. And here they were, waiting for the thieves, on a chilly rooftop. Wonder Girl, Robin, Bumblebee and Static.
"I mean, it's Luthor's lab we are watching over, don't you think it's a little bit crazy? We should leave him being stolen, after all the trouble he and the Light gave us."
"Wonder Girl, please." shushed her Robin via the Comm. link "we aren't really doing this for him. Even if Luthor did shady things, we can't let the thieves steal him. As Batman told us at the briefing, there is a high possibility all the already stolen chemicals and techs combined would create a bomb whose power would be enough to wipe a small country."
"Why would someone create something that dangerous?" asked a confuse Static
"That, we don't know" responded Bumblebee "I thought the thieves were part of the Light, at first, but it just doesn't make sense for them to create something like that. The Light wants to control, not destroy everything."
"I agree with her, there is an obvious missing element. Plus, why would the Light steal itself?"
While he was questioning himself, a shadowy form moved in his peripheral vision, some rooftops further. A humanoid, slender silhouette who had gained enough momentum to jump toward the laboratory and land gracefully on it's roof.
"Our target just arrived" he announced, not unhappy to finally have some action this night. "Remember the plan, team. We apprehend them, make them tell us where they hide the stolen items and puts him into the good care of Metropolis' police. The League count on us on this mission"
While the others nodded, he used his grapple hook to follow the vague silhouette on the rooftop of Lex Luthor's laboratory, quickly followed by the three member who composed his team. Mimicking a splitting motion with his hands, he looked at them going their ways to find somewhere to enter the place. Bumblebee shrink and enter a vent, Wonder Girl and Static entered by an open window on the façade. Robin decided to follow directly the passageway of the thief, like Batman teaches him. Looking at the computer on his glove, he frowned seeing the cameras and movement sensors were already looping, sign someone already hacked it. As it was a private network, only someone from the inside could have done that so quickly. It could mean there was a mole already in place, maybe someone on the night team.
"Robin in place, currently following target. What is your status?"
"Bumblebee here, heading toward the generator. I don't even know why someone would steal a dangerous prototype like this one. It can only mean danger."
"Static and I are moving toward the guard room to reactivate the securities of the generator's section."
"Be careful, team. We don't know how many people this team contain, but they should at least be four. One hacker, the team leader, a scientist and perhaps someone with bulk. Be careful"
"Understood"
The hallways were silent and dark, no sign of passage or life, but he knew the silhouette he saw earlier would take that path, because there was less cameras and less security. Also, it was shorter. Robin followed the plan on his computer, avoiding as much as possible to enter the field of vision of any cameras, not knowing how long the loops where going to last. If the thieves were smart and ready, less than ten minutes, he calculated. If not, there would be a need to restart the loop soon, and if they does, he would then be able to pinpoint the hacker, and maybe send a virus on their computer. But a well prepared plan is powerless against fate, because as he takes another turns, he was suddenly facing the barrel of several firearms, carried by the Security Team of the building, all pointed on him.
Bumblebee was still in the vents when she heard the gunshots, both on her communicator and echoing somewhere two level above her, the sound rolling like thunder on the metal surface. Remembering the map, she guessed it couldn't be Wonder Girl or Static's position.
"Robin?"
"I have the situation under control. Continue the mission, I'll join you when I have taken care of them."
"Roger. Be careful"
Trusting him on that affair, she followed the vent to a high security zone, which doors were conceived to hold a powerful blast. Unfortunately, they were grand open and whoever entered didn't really cared if something went wrong inside, or any casualties. She entered with precautions, being careful around the diverse devices who where neatly stored on their spots. She goes until the end of the row where, surprisingly, the generator part was still in place. Which meant the thief was still here somewhere, in that room. Taking advantage of her wings, she take a vantage point, but saw no one, even behind the biggest machine.
"Robin? Do you copy?"
"Is there a problem, Bumblebee?" he asked breathlessly.
"I am above the generator parts, but I don't see our thief…
"Because you don't know where to look, little bug. And tell your friend I found his virus untertaining" a soft voice behind her cuted her in her sentence. She turned to look at the owner of the voice, but all she could see before losing consciousness was a face hidden by dark fabrics and night vision glasses.
"Take a good look, Miss Beecher. That's all you are going to see about me, be proud of you" and a hissing noise was all she could hear before everything went black.
"...bee? Bumblebee, do you hear me?"
She opened her eyes with difficulties. Her head was heavy and was pounding lighty, her mouth was like filled with cotton and a nausea was lurking around.
"Rob? What happened?"
"that's what I wanted to ask you. You where lying on the floor, and the generator have disappeared…"
"What? Oh no. I'm sorry, Robin. He was just here, the thief, but… I am sure he gazed me. There was a strange smell, and… uuugh, my head…"
"Take it easy, Bumblebee. You'll tell Batman what happen later, now we have to get out of here because the security reactivate itself and we have guards chasing after us."
That was kind of hard for her to have failed this mission, but he was right. The longer they were here, the more dangerous for them it gets. But she couldn't get out of her head that this thief was really well prepared. Too well, even. But what was bothering her the most was the fact her knew who she was. A strange and unpleasant shiver ran on her back.
