The Catalyst: Chapter One

"And what did you do today, Mrs. Steele?" The girl's head remained focused on the tile flooring despite the man's words. "Mrs. Steele?" the man repeated, and her head came up sharply "I heard you, you know, I was just thinking. When is it a crime to consider your answer before replying to a question? Its simply ridiculous that you would conceive me to be consta—" "your day, Steele, tell me about your day" he stated and she sighed lightly, without inflection. "Once again, the name is Robin. I distinctly remember telling you this before—and you know I'm only putting up with this to appease the court systems. Besides, this is our last session after all. I'm finally getting rid of you" she finished with a shallow smile, which to her was a grin.

He laughed, his glasses gleaming in the fluorescents "ah ah ah, you must remain with my weekly sessions for another 6 months, you know that" despite his words, Robin's silent smile remained constant. "But, I will be leaving today. Out of the country, on a pre-approved trip; I have the clearance. Sorry to disappoint, Doc" it was his turn to grin now, making hers disappear as he lightly shook his head. "Oh, I know Steele. I am coming with you after all. Your office secretary notified me. We still have 4 months left of treatment, so someone will inform me where you are off to. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a complicated process, you understand" "Yes, a 62% probable failing rate, which is only if the methods are applied properly. Thus judging by your expertise I will fail, then have to make another re-appearance at court under—" "that was rude. What do you say after doing a rude thing?" he interrupted, talking to her like a child.

"You yourself know I am a leading figure in the professional psychological community. 97% higher success rate than you, it is not rude to say the facts" she stated monotonically, giving him a steely eye. "Not all psychologists have a mental disorder of their own, certainly nothing as severe as asperser's syndrome" the man retorted and Robin stood, gathering her purse from the chair next to her in front of his desk. "It is 13:00, I believe our session has ended for today" she turned and walked across the office, stopping at the door. "Also, asperser's syndrome does not affect intelligence. In fact, many experts agree it only heightens mental capacity—" "Steele…" he interrupted with a sigh, signaling with his exasperated voice that he knew his mistake. "I have another appointment" Robin stated quickly, continuing through the door despite his repeated calls.

The door shut quietly behind her and she continued down the carpeted hall. She tottered on her heels momentarily before she stopped at the elevator, straightening out the skirt to her suit. "One mistake then I'm assigned to that idiot. Mr. Fredrick, abnormal psychologist; what a joke…" she said out loud before falling silent as the elevator opened. She was slightly thankful no one was inside to hear her talking to herself, but then again if there was she probably wouldn't have cared. "Now it's off for the lunch meeting before I catch the plane…" she said aloud absent mindedly again, twirling her hair in her hand as she tottered on her heels again. The elevator opened and robin's head sprung up as she urged forward, immediately tripping and falling with a loud clap of body on tile floor.

Robin sat up with a groan, distantly hearing the sounds of feet hurrying towards her. She sat up slowly, holding her head and shoving down her skirt at the same time. "Need some help… Mrs. Steele?" and Robin looked up to see a rather old hand outstretched in her gaze. "Whammy?" Robin said, her eyebrows raising more out of habit than a real expression of surprise. "Yes, I wanted to pick you up for lunch. I knew you had a… standing appointment here" Robin gave a courtesy smile as he helped her stand solidly on her feet. He gave an amused grin at her heels "It seems your treatment has been going well, I'm surprised to see you challenging yourself with high heels" she nodded matter-of-factly. "It is the most professional attire, even though it increases my chances of clumsiness. You probably would not be surprised how many people don't take an 18 year old psychologist wearing sneakers seriously" she finished almost businesslike.

Whammy smiled warmly at her "let us get to the car, hmm? I left it running on the curb" the old man said with a gesture towards the big glass doors of the building. "Ah, but I believe I have a previous engagement with a client, I am to fly… somewhere to help them catch a serial killer" Reobin stated and whammy smiled. "But I am your client, I was told to keep the appointment low-key" Whammy said and robin tilted her head thoughtfully "so… he wants to see me?" Whammy nodded and without further ado the two strolled out of the office building and slid into a sleek black car. "You don't have a driver yet, Whammy?" Robin stated, it was only with months of treatment and practices that she could she attain the right inflection in her voice to indicate a question. "I quite enjoy my drives" the old man said from behind the wheel, a smile in his voice. "I am interested why L called upon me like this, when I haven't been acknowledged in years since I left" she said, and the mood in the car turned reserved and silent.

"what help can I be to a murder case, anyhow?" robin said again, turning her head sharply as a speaker crackled to life "you know the answer to that, R, you've helped out many police investigations already" it was L; the real L's voice without any static jargon clouding it, save the hum of the electronic speaker. It was a voice she hadn't heard in years, and it made her feel more detached and lonely than in all her time spent away from the orphanage. "L, what a surprise" Robin said to the white laptop, although her voice reflected no emotion--as usual. "I have heard you've been doing well. Quite a successful career already…" She knew by the tone of his voice he was disappointed, not in her, but that she didn't stay at Whammy's—or that she didn't need help from Whammy's. "Yes, well, as successful as one can get in a few years I suppose…" she trailed off, getting more and more curious as to why L had called for her.

Called for her help, let alone called for her now… and not all those years ago when she had ran. Back then, his absent pursuit had cemented her thoughts that he didn't really care much for her. Truth be told, she did not think herself as one of L's few emotional attachments anyway… she didn't exactly think of him as a friend either. There were only two Whammy companions she had ever really cared about. L was an idol, a rival; where her two companions and friends had been A and—"It's B"

She stared at the screen displaying his emblem for a minute, as if asking him to repeat himself, before she realized the device had no camera to see her with. "Pardon?" she prompted quietly. "B is the one behind these murders, it's undeniable" L stated again and Robin shifted her stare to the window. They had fled Whammy's together, her and B, after A committed suicide. They had parted ways almost as soon as the boat arrived in America, with only the promise to meet again someday down the road.

Is this what B had meant; meet down the road… during his murders? It was obvious B was a disturbed kid. Most kids in Whammy's had their quirks, but this? Was it her fault somehow… that she had not seen it? She had been close to him, closer than her and A had been--even though they were roommates. She remembered thinking B was the only one in that place that had even begun to understand how her brain worked… she thought she knew him just as well…

That was it.

That's why she had been summoned by L. It wasn't her career, or her achievements, or any of her degrees. It was because she had known B the best, had even considered herself his friend. As if she could do what L wanted her to… after all this time, she could never anticipate B's actions now.

B had always said L was jealous, because he didn't have a best friend.

"So you want me to… create a psych profile of him? Analyze why he committed the murders? Guess what he will do next?" she asked brisker than normal. It was as if L was asking her to turn B in herself. Fix the mess she made, oh how all of this could have been avoided if she was just a little bit smarter—noticed the way B thought a long time ago. Maybe L was trying to get her to regret leaving Whammy's? Well she wouldn't, not ever. Even if she had helped B somehow commit his murders by escaping with him from Whammy's, she would never regret leaving the place where A had died. A and her were crammed into that room together… Robin had been the first to see A swinging from the ceiling.

"please stop the car, I want to get out" Robin stated, and whammy's surprised gasp came from the front at the same time L let out a firm "No" she stared at the screen once again, imagining staring coldly straight at the real L's face. "Did you not hear me? I won't work for you. You can't just kidnap me" Robin said, and she could even feel L's stubbornness rising to the surface. "Lock the doors" L's voice said crossly and Whammy quietly muttered an apology as the locks clicked down in the car. "You're being ridiculous" Robin said monotonically. "And you are pouting like a child" L countered back. Whammy eased the car to a stop at the red light and Robin quickly rolled down the window.

"What are you doing?" the laptop questioned as she began to shove herself out of the window. "Robin, stop!" Whammy nearly yelled as she hit the sidewalk outside, her elbow nearly knocked the wind out of her when the force of the jump jabbed it into her side. She could already feel her eye start to swell as well, the fall had also caused her face to land on her curled fist quite painfully. "Watari, where is she going?!" L asked loudly as Robin scrambled to her feet and started a few running steps, before she tripped and crashed hard to the ground on her knees and palms. The car behind Whammy honked as he attempted to reverse, at the same time Robin kicked off her heels and began a wavering sprint again. She heard whammy screech into a U-turn as she ducked into an alley, then quickly into a bar.

She was met with the stench of smoke and immediately after, light jazz music. It was obviously a bar meant for the office workers that clogged the streets outside, and the place was full of suits so she fit right in. well, aside from her shoeless feet and scraped palms. Her knees were scraped as well and her pantyhose torn, blood seeping slowly through the holes. Robin told herself to calm down as she made her way through a group of gossiping girls towards the bar. She found a free stool and sat, starting to think.

Knowing that she was L's best chance of help on the case and that he would want her to investigate in person— L never wanted to investigate in person himself--L might keep looking for her. Hence, she shouldn't go back to her apartment just yet, maybe not even go back at all tonight. Good thing she had cash on hand, credit cards could be tracked of course, so at least she could get a cheap room at some motel. "Bartender, do you know any good motels around here?" Robin asked and the girl behind the bar smiled at her. "Good as in clean? There's one called Chadron's just around the corner" Robin nodded with another courtesy smile. "You look like you've had a rough day, first drink is on the house for ladies tonight" Robin laughed in her head. She really looked of age? It must be darker in the bar than she thought. "No, thank you for telling me about the motel, though" she said before getting up and crossing the room.

She was careful when she stepped back into the street, but she couldn't see a single black car like Whammy's anywhere, it was a good sign. It was getting darker and cloudy and Robin wished she had thought to bring a coat this morning, hoping it wouldn't rain now of all times. "Are you okay?" A man said, breaking her out of her thoughts as she saw the stranger giving her concerned eyes. Of course, she thought, no shoes and bleeding—I look perfectly fine. "I'm alright, thank you" Robin said quickly, side-stepping the man and managing to get out of his grasp as he shouted "But your bleeding!" to the crowded sidewalk.

Robin took off her suit jacket, discretely wiping her bleeding knees with the inside of it before draping it over her shoulders and folding her arms—palms out of view. The motel's neon lights gleamed just ahead like a beacon and she hurried faster as a few drops began to fall. She made it inside the motel just a bit wet, and caught the front desk clerk just as they finished serving another customer. "Hello, can you give me your cheapest room please?" the old woman made a cooing noise as she eyed her palms that she'd placed on the counter, as well as her already bruised eye. "You okay dear? I have some bandages" it was a courtesy smile Robin gave again as she nodded with a 'yes please'. The old woman took her behind the counter and through a door, into what looked like her own room.

"Oh you're just a mess, what happened?" the old lady asked as she caught sight of Robin's knees. "I fell" she stated simply and the old lady gave her a face as if to say 'oh you poor thing'. "He roughed you up, didn't he?" she asked and Robin gave a short "pardon?" "Oh, it's no need to lie to me dear, I know how it can be. It's good you have enough sense to get away from him when you can. But you're pretty dear, you could find another man" abusive couples make up 73% of most relationship statuses.

After a long conversation with Ms. Wagram, and a longer period of Robin lying her face off, she was rewarded with some of the old lady's clean clothes and a discounted room. Room 13; Robin climbed the stairs reluctantly in the baggy Mumu, it slouched to show one pale shoulder and it came just above her knee—not to mention it was a faded grungy tie-dye. None-the-less, she was thankful for the old woman's kindness. The shapeless style reminded her of the way she dressed at Whammy's.

And it was that thought that was broken when she ran smack into the pale man.

The folded suit in her hands fell to the floor as her legs wavered in a pathetic attempt to keep her standing, but cold hands quickly held her rigidly upright. Another voice she hadn't heard in years rang out solidly in the hall, and she could almost feel her heart stopping.

"Clumsy as ever, R"