Robin landed on the roof of the medical facility. Bane. Bane is my priority. I can't let anything else get in my way. He listened for the sounds of gunshots. Neither the guards nor Bane's men will show any mercy on the others.

Finding the firefight, there were dozens of bodies lying on the ground. From what he could tell, the big man had already taken a few bullets and was on the retreat. Most likely, he tried to brute force his way into the prison, not expecting that the officers were prepared for that exact scenario. They found him before he landed and used heavy artillery on the boats. Bane was chaotic in his approach, but not unpredictable. Landing behind his target, knowing it was pure folly to try to land on him, Bane turned to meet him. He counted three bullet holes, two on a shoulder, one on the ribs.

"Una distracción- intelligente, Batman!" As Robin dodged eight successive blows, the firing around him calming, he formed a plan of attack. Bane had a new Venom distribution system on his back, this one lined with what looked to be lead, meaning he wouldn't be able to access the cables at their source. A lucky shot to the big man's leg, breaking through a cable going down it told him all he needed to know.

"Tus soldades han dejado, Bane." Robin's Spanish was passable, though he had mostly focused on other languages at the academy. As he dodged blows, he favored the side of his enemy's weaker leg, waiting for an opportunity. He remembered what Batman had told him about Bane.

"Bane is heavier, faster, and knows how to fight. Dodging and looking for an opening will not only aggravate him, it will wear him down. He knows he can only use Venom for so long before it starts to poison him." What Bruce had withheld was that when he dodged Bane's attacks, he did so by the breadth of a hair, conserving energy and allowing his opponent to think for a moment that his strike had at least glanced.

Robin sidestepped a straight punch, feeling the wind rush by his ear as he used the Birdarang already in his hand to slash open the cable, rolling low to avoid the subsequent blow. Another trickle of Venom was now gushing out of the apparatus. If I get a chance, I take it. If I don't, I keep moving. I can't try to make a chance when there isn't one.

Around him he had a vague awareness that most of Bane's men had been killed, seriously injured, or had attempted to retreat. He's alone. Robin guessed the majority of the guards had been mobilized in an effort to regain control of the prison, which was why they were not riddling Bane with rounds. Grayson was grazed by his foe's monstrous fingers, forcing him to activate his thruster to dodge the next blow. Bane refrained from comment, picking up a pistol off the ground and throwing it. Robin dodged, finding it was a feint. The weapon hit his thigh, nearly breaking bone. Heaving himself backward, he knew his move was expected and he was right where Bane needed him. But he won't expect this. Ducking narrowly under a lunging punch, Robin struck the bullet lodged in his enemy's rib. Momentum worked against Bane; he shouted in pain as a fist went through his rib cage, fragments puncturing organs. Pressing the button on his cape with a free hand and placing a foot next to the wound, he caught a blow to his side as he rocketed off, his hand leaving a trail of blood and Venom as it traveled to where Robin landed in a heap.

Both combatants were on the ground, unable to move as the reinforcements surrounded them.

"Robin!" A guard began, shouting for some reason. "Are you okay?" Not really.

"I'll be up." He rolled over onto his back, hoping that would straighten it out. "Bane's worse." Guards were surrounding him, weapons drawn. "He'll probably die without... medical attention." Managing to sit up, he caught sight of a helicopter approaching. "I'd say he has about thirty minutes." One of the men with a gun trained on him started asking questions. He was a red haired officer, the name Bard on his uniform.

"You organized a prison breakout- why?" Bane did not respond. "Was it Joker? Were you here for Joker?"

"Hey, I'm serious- he's going to die if you don't get him to the medical building." Robin said, interrupting.

"Most of the doctors are dead." The officer began, turning to Robin with the gun. "You have this goddamn wetback to thank for it. They targeted the doctors first-unarmed, many of them women- just to kill as many people here as possible, and make damn sure everyone else died of their injuries. You and your childish ideals will have to forgive me if I don't have any sympathy if he gets the same."

"You won't get... much information out of him if he dies." Robin did not bother to mention Bane had a right to a fair trial. "Get him to the hospital and I'll ask the questions in Spanish." Bane can speak passable English and I doubt the language of the questions constitute the reason he's clamming up, but Bard doesn't need to know that. I can use his prejudice against him.

"Get him into the facility." The officer with red hair said while turning to Robin. "I don't know who you are." He began simply. Do you mean you've never met Robin or you don't like the mask? "Now that I've been promoted to inspector, I don't particularly need to. I understand this administration worked with a masked-"

"Oh, God damn it are we starting this shit again?"

"If by that you mean law and order, then yes. I understand that for all your theatrics, you've been unable to attack the root of the problem in this city and this may be a disappointment to you, but I fail to be impressed in your 'victory' against supercriminal Bane, given that the majority of the assault was suppressed by these officers, and a single shot with a sniper would be enough to deal with him. It's a real pity Gotham has a woefully underfunded police department and prison system, but I suppose the upper classes of the city have better uses for their finances." Towards the end Robin noticed Bard was staring at him. It's no secret that Batman is either a rich man, or being bankrolled by the wealthy of Gotham.

"When did you get here?" He asked simply, staring up at the helicopter coming in.

"I was transferred a month ago, though-"

"Yeah, that explains it." Robin grappled up to the helicopter, using the momentum to get air before gliding. He doubted he had much fuel left, if any, and this time of year was not the time for a swim. There's a long way to go before I get to land, and longer still before I get to bed, which I really need to do. Thinking on the officer he had met, the experience reminded him of a talk with Batman after they had turned in evidence of a drug smuggling ring, assisted by a dirty cop. The concept had confused him; his parents had impressed upon him that he should go to the police should anything ill happen.

"Police officers are people, Dick." Bruce had begun when they arrived at the manor. "They need money, don't want to risk their lives, and they do things like this. In the Court of Appeals case of Warren v. District of Columbia, it was established that the police have no constitutional responsibility to protect citizens. In Gotham, the reality only worsens. Years ago, before I met you, the GCPD was rotten to the core, the old commissioner, Loeb, was working with Black Mask, and the police were really just another gang, only not as well funded. Loeb died in the line of duty and Gordon took over for him, but even then he's had to hire people he doesn't know. It's a problem that we're going to have to face for a long time."

Robin swooped down on a gas station/convenience store, where he bought fuel for the thruster and supplies for the office, paying in cash. On principle he might not have used Vincent Falcone's money, especially because the serial numbers were old, but his own assets were frozen and the more money he could separate from the family, the better. Either way, he doubted the woman at the counter would care, though he was sure enough she would notice. People in Gotham had long since learned to be observant, but not enough to see things they weren't supposed to see.

That night his dreams were fervent.

He kept them out of his mind on the way to Gotham Heights the following morning, gliding for lack of hurry and as a measure to save fuel. On his way out the door he had found a false scar he could stick to the back of his mask, which would allow him a visible but not obvious difference between Robin and Lonnie Machin.

Arriving at school, he changed in the gym where he left his clothes, finding no one in there at that hour, as usual. As he finished his homework before class started, a young man named Orenthal Washington walked up behind him.

"Workin' again, Lon? How do you get any sleep?"

"You tell me." Machin responded, smirking.

"I don't know how you do it. I've got projects left and right, tests to study for- plus, I have to go with the squad here and there, I've got a reputation to maintain."

"I work on all kinds of projects, I feel like I get tested every night- and you wouldn't believe the friends I have. We call one of them Croc. Crazy motherfucker."

Orenthal laughed. "Any girls?"

"Too many. One's a kleptomaniac, one's got a clown for a boyfriend, one is after my night job and that's not even all of them."

"Ah, well, man, you know what they say. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em." They walked to the first class, which they had together. In it, they had met two days earlier when another student tried to 'welcome the new kid', only to be met with a reflexive backward elbow strike. A funny response, if a disproportionate one. Their Geometry teacher had told them to 'calm the fuck down', which oddly enough he was currently repeating to a group of students in the back.

The lesson discussed calculating abstract values from simple, measurable ones, but what caught Robin's attention was the explanation for finding unknown angle measurements.

"When two angles are opposite each other in an intersection of two lines, they're congruent, equal. The angles adjacent to each other are what's called supplementary angles, because they add up to 180, each angle balances the other out. What happens when there are two intersections, one line intersecting two parallel lines?" He looked around the room and a student responded.

"The angles opposite each other are still equal." she began. "The angles on the other parallel line are a reflection of those on the first. Both entire intersections are congruent." Robin had to physically resist showing the effects of his concentration on his face. What does this mean- I know it has to- This is about the breakout last night-

"Machin?"

"Yes?"

"What are angles that add up to a right angle?" The teacher asked, probably repeating himself.

"They're complementary." Complementary as in free. Why did Bane do it for free? His men are all mercenaries, they don't work for him full time. He forced himself to wait for class to end before thinking on it more.

It's the old balance of power paradigm. Robin threw his bag over his back as he stood and walked out. Why can't I remember it? Why didn't I think of it before? He put his hands on his head, nursing what seemed to be a massive headache as he walked into his biology class. Of course. It's because I've been stressed and not thinking. I've been multitasking my mind every moment of my life and the excitement of recent events put me on edge. Only by being in school do I have a moment to 'calm the fuck down' and think things out.

Machin retrieved his homework from his bag, the makings of a project in biology, though he was not at this point sure where he was going with it. Maybe I should ask Poison Ivy for help on it. She almost certainly escaped last night. At the front of the room, the teacher discussed the basic nature of atoms for the purposes of biology, since as a field of study it was a subsection of chemistry with outside factors included like the history and origin of life. She was in the same cell as Joker, after all.

Oh fuck. Robin's mind was racing as he wrote down everything the teacher was saying, doing his best to listen. Oh, fuck those God damned medical hacks for putting the two of them in the same cage- probably some some sort of twisted punishment, though it'll mostly end up being a punishment for me. Take criminals who are already insane, and torture them. Stir well with other criminals. Fry brains. Best served cold.

Fortunately the teacher did not elect to call on him, but probably did so because she could tell he was fuming with rage. I can't keep calling attention to myself like this. I have to wait until after school.

It was a long wait.

At least I managed to stay awake all day. Robin thought as he changed, deciding it was probably because he fell asleep without protest, considering his exhaustion. Looking at his body in the mirror while changing was all he needed to decide to avoid physical interactions if at all possible. I need to investigate the Panessa family, Cosa Nostra. As he grappled to the roof outside, staying up out of sight while putting distance between himself and the school, he contacted Gordon on his wrist communicator to see if there were any active threats. I don't know how I'll respond to them, but I might as well check.

"Gordon. Do we have any word on escaped Arkham inmates?"

"No. Bane didn't seem to have any intention of helping them, so they're on their own now. They don't have the resources to do anything serious, so they're probably biding their time. Anarky tried to go home, but there was a mix-up with his birth certificate, so his parents took him to the state department, where it turned out that either he was never born, or someone with expert level hacking skills 'stole' his information."

"We can deal with him later."

"My thoughts exactly. Anyway, I saw to the bat signal, looks like someone stole fuses and wires out of it. Probably a scavenger or someone thinking they can keep us from contacting Batman. Oh, and there's something else I wanted to mention."

"Yeah?" Probably telling me to watch out for that Bard character.

"Barbara, you know her, my daughter, has been out late at night. She's been getting all her work done, better than ever, so I'm tempted not to complain, but since you're probably going to school with her now, I was wondering if you knew anything about that."

"She's not out studying or something? I've noticed as long as I take it seriously and get to work, I can get it out of the way pretty quickly."

"I don't think so. She has a pretty comprehensive database of Gotham's most wanted." Yeah, he knows I'm involved.

"Your daughter has an excellent sense of justice, Commissioner. She's idealistic, like you." Gordon sighed, probably having decided he was not likely to get a more satisfying answer out of him.

"We're going to have to talk, Robin." Damn.

After having concluded the discussion, he landed from a glide onto the roof of the movie studios. I'm guessing this is where I do some snooping. I need to know all I can about the current crime syndicate war. Not finding a convenient ventilation shaft, he settled for entering by an unguarded upstairs window, finding the set of what looked to be a western. He heard talking in the corridor ahead of him, moving away from his position. Taking cover, he discerned three distinct voices. A Sicilian, a creepy old man, and a psychotic monster called Two-Face. I almost want to know what happens when they walk into a bar. Robin moved silently to a position from which he could see them properly, staying in the shadows, which was easy enough with the lights off.

"I appreciate your having invited me to this discussion, Panessa." Shit it's Hugo Strange.

"Please. Tomaso. We're all friends here. You see, I invite men of a high caliber as yourselves to partake freely in any information I know. I am no barbarian, like Roman Sionis. I believe you two will help me all the better if you know whom we face." He has a strange way of talking. I'm sure Strange is delighted he's not working for a barbarian.

"We need to know how they're equipped- what does Black Mask have?" The voice belonged to Dent.

"Black Mask looks at another few life sentences, but fortunately for him, he has a clever right hand man to manage things while he is away. Great White Shark will be quite the foe. Cluemaster works for him."

"What about Falcone?"

"Edward Nigma and Dr. Pamela Isley are her creditors and associates." began Hugo Strange. "It is unlikely that she organized the assault on Arkham Asylum, given that now Isley will be knocking on her door. For that matter I expect the Joker is on his own side."

"Who do you think did it, then?" Two-Face asked.

"Probably the shark, given what we know of his plans for tonight. He showed a rare level of originality in using Bane as a distraction, most likely telling him that there would be fewer guards, or possibly an evacuation planned. Whatever he said, he lied, and Bane paid the price for the success of his plans."

"Well, what were his plans?"

"You have not heard? Hamilton Hill has been killed and replaced."