Bruce! I have to find Bruce. Looking around me I spot the Batcams and know he's watching. The mystery man. Who is he? What happened to his face? He's not a patient so how did he get here? My musings halt as I run into the wall of grey that is my surrogate father. "Batman!" I look up, my 13-year-old eyes gleaming in an overly child-like manor. The tall billionaire turns round fast and instantly comes down to my eye level, although his face shows no emotion the tight hand gripping my shoulder tells a very different story, "Robin! Don't you dare wander off like that again. Where did you go?!" I have to tell Bruce about the mystery man, he hacked our cameras, he's a criminal – he may have saved my life but I know ultimately this could save hundreds. With a sigh I look down, ashamed "I fell off my rafter when I was stalking one of the Riddler's damn stupid puzzles, but I fell. I went through the floor and into this weird little room. There were camera screens everywhere but they weren't like CCTV, they were OUR Cameras, which I couldn't understand because to get to them you'd need a WayneTech override-" The bats hand gets tighter around the shoulder and that confuses me even more. "go on Robin…." I eye him suspiciously but he nods his head, encouraging me to continue. "well, this guy grabbed me and started asking me loads of questions, at first he was really aggressive but then Harley Quinn came in – and get this – he hid me from her. But weirder than that, like the weirdest thing of all was this dude let me go! He told me where you were just as the Joker turned up! Oh yeah! And he called the Joker uncle J and no wonder 'cause he had the same scars around his mouth and-" Batman suddenly had a hand on both my shoulders, pulling me closer and in a very calm voice says "Robin I need you to think very hard, what did he look like". I want to argue but, he's Batman. "I don't really know, it was so dark but he had a black hoodie on and um oh yeah he was missing an eye but his other one was like really blue! What else….he had black hair, I recon he was about 20? Maybe 21?" Batman stands up rigid removing his hands and becoming almost frantic, in a way I've never seen him before. "Take me to him." I'm flabbergasted "but i-" he bellows. "Now Timothy!"
Together we run, capes bellowing out behind us, the air is deadly still but our movement disturbs it. I can't remember where it was and god do I feel fucking stupid as we stop. Bruce walks off to the side as a radio comes through from Babs, sad case that – there was this massive war between these creeps and the JLA; so many died and poor Barbara was paralysed. "You're not going to believe this, you have to keep it quiet from Robin Barbara" I don't think I'm suppose to be hearing this conversation. "If I was to tell you that there's a boy, about 20 years old working here as a hacker what would you say?" a hacker? Now THAT is my territory. "Honestly Bruce? I'd say there's hundreds of young hackers in this city and you should quit where you're going before you get hurt." Batman doesn't get hurt, only about his parents, what the hell is she on about. "Ok, ok, but what if I told you he, according to Tim, has bright blue eyes and a Joker smile….and has a code to OUR systems" I hear Babs gasp softly, then she sounds scared. "b-but he's dead. I was there. I buried him. I held his cold hand in mine! I swear to God Wayne if you are fucking joking about Di-" Her voice was raising dramatically when we were cut off by static. "what happened!" I exclaimed and have to cover my mouth as Bruce looks at me angrily "you were listing!" well no shit, not that I'd say it, he'd kill me. "Well YOU'RE hiding something". Stood in the middle of Arkham having a shout out with a Batman whose had 4 days hiding something – great idea drake.
"We need to keep moving" and just like that he sweeps past me. He's agitated but somehow its not about me listening. "um Batman" I skip a little to keep up with his large strides. "Why did the comm cut off?" Without even a meagre glance he replies "someone was listening" and with that he keeps walking towards the direction I came from. We come to the broken floorboard that I fell through and I peer down before being pulled by my cape to stand against the wall, but it doesn't take long to work out why. "Crane he's fucking seizing, do something!" that voice is vaguely familiar… "What do you want me to do Lawrence, he's like a god damn zombie. I told J – what's dead should stay dead!" Bruce's eyeslits widen….Whose alive that shouldn't be? "Boys, if you don't shut your mouths and do something he dies again and J will kill you and unlike him YOU will stay dead" That's Auntie Selina! I wonder when she got here- holy shit. An anguished scream rips through the floor boards. "thank fuck, right - Selina, Crane back to your posts, I need to sleep."
The minute the footsteps are gone Bruce runs and jumps down the hole, he's usually more tactful than this. Whoever it is must be important. We enter the familiarly glowing room and see the chair with its back to us in front of the monitors, nothing weird about that. What is weird however is the IV bag next to it filled with a glowing, green liquid which I can only imagine is connected to the hacker's arm. I repeat – who is he? and why are they keeping him alive? An is hanging down besides the chair, with spiderlike fingers twitching. Fuck me they're thin, no wait they're not thin…they're metal. Batman looks scared, I can't remember him ever looking so terrified. He places a hand on the back of the tall chair, cautiously turning it round. What we see makes me want to vomit; in the low lit light you can see the liquid isn't going into his arm and instead straight to through his throat. His chest heaves in ragged breaths, every now and then missing one. There's congealed blood around his broken smile and fresh blood dripping out of every other visible orifice. In the light I see the twinkle of a tear glide down under the mask as he crouches down to look up into the huddled forms face.
"hello Robin."
A/N hey! really shitty chapter i'm so sorry, but please please review, they make me really happy, but flames hurt so please don't flame.
love you guys
dixie xxx