Robin quietly swore. If this was the Justice League's idea of a joke, it certainly wasn't very humorous. He glanced in Raven's direction and noticed that she was clenching her fists, looking ready to incinerate the single bed. Soon enough, however, she regained control of herself and calmed down.
"I can take the chair," Robin offered, his voice pitched low in volume.
Raven grimaced. "That's completely unnecessary. I'm sure that we can be responsible adults about this."
"Seriously, I wouldn't mind sleeping on the floor or the chair. I'm used to resting in uncomfortable positions. Plus, I wouldn't want you to feel out of your comfort zone."
"I'll feel guilty, though."
"Why would you feel guilty?" Robin asked, genuinely curious.
"I don't want you to be uncomfortable on my behalf. We can each be mature about this arrangement and share the bed. You can have one half and I'll have the other half," Raven said, setting her luggage down in order to do something other than look Robin in the eye.
"Are you sure? I mean, a crick in the neck wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to me."
"They sure are annoying, though. But, yeah, I'm sure. After all, nothing's going to happen, right?"
"Er, right. Thanks."
The two teenagers spent fifteen minutes emptying out their luggage. Once that task was completed, Robin decided that it would be a good time to go downstairs and eat dinner. He held out his arm for her to take, which she did in order to continue on with their charade. When they arrived in the little restaurant on the first floor of the hotel, Robin politely held out Raven's chair for her. She smiled at him.
The hotel restaurant was serving Italian food that night. Robin drank pure water while Raven's choice of beverage was red wine. Robin ordered ravioli; the fresh white parcels stuffed with wild mushrooms and the right amount of cheese. An even amount of spices added an explosive taste to what would have probably been a bland meal. A well prepared salad accompanied the plate of ravioli. Raven ordered pasta that was littered with tiny pieces of turkey meatballs and sprinkles of cheese. A delicate red sauce covered the cheesy meal, offering a meal that was both authentic and scrumptious. The only complaint that Raven really had was that there was too much garlic.
On their way out of the elegant dining room, Robin joked, "Hey, at least we know that you'll ward the vampires away."
"You know, there's a possibility that I can be a vampire," Raven joked back, staying in character. "After all, that red wine could have actually been blood."
"You're not thinking about draining my body of blood, are you?"
"I'm considering it."
The couple stopped in front one of those little shops that expecting mothers seem to find adorable. Robin told Raven to wait for him, which she did reluctantly. A couple minutes passed before Robin returned, producing a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Upon initial scrutiny, Raven could identify lilies, roses, and tulips. In all, the wide array of bright colors would give off a lively effect in any room, especially in a dreary hospital room.
"These are for you, my lady." Robin bowed formally, trying hard not to burst out into a fit of laughter.
"I think you just decreased your chances at living," Raven told him, referring to their little vampire conversation. Nonetheless, she graciously took the flowers.
"Well, maybe an eternal life would be a little more interesting than being a boring old human, especially if I'm with you."
Raven looked away, a reddish tint appearing on her pale skin. Why was she blushing? They were acting, for crying out loud! None of this was real: just pretend.
The two ascended the stairs, heading to their room. Once they were in the confines of their room and out of the watchful eye of other people, Robin pulled off his fancy jacket and Raven threw her high heels across the room.
"What's the plan for tomorrow?" asked Raven.
Robin crossed the room, taking out a newspaper from a drawer. Raven assumed that whoever had packed his bag and supplied him with a newspaper in case they needed more information. He quickly read over the printed material.
"According to this article, the woman that recently died lived in this apartment building two blocks away. Tomorrow, we can walk over there and sneak into the actual room."
"How can we guarantee that there won't be any police officers in the room and if there's any remaining evidence?"
"The authorities aren't as thorough as civilians think. They miss things. There's a high possibility that we'll discover our own evidence. As for the other dilemma, I'm pretty sure we'll know if a cop is at the apartment if there's a police car parked out front," Robin told the empath, setting the newspaper down.
"What would happen if we don't uncover any evidence at all?" Raven questioned, wondering what the World's Best Detective's former sidekick would do if such a situation happened to arise.
"I would blame you for jinxing it."
Raven frowned, placing her hands on her hips.
"Trust me. I know what I'm doing," Robin replied.
"I would certainly hope so… I have a question."
"Yes?"
"Why are we masquerading as a rich couple? I mean, wouldn't that just draw more attention to ourselves than if we seemed like ordinary people without a care in the world?"
Robin hesitated before responding. "Up here, money is power. The same rules apply to Gotham and the surrounding cities. If we need to access a prohibited area, money will most likely enable us to access the area. Plus, the more open we seem and stand out, your enemies are less likely to look twice. In some instances, anyway."
Raven nodded slowly, finally understanding the concept. Robin smirked in her direction before hopping into the shower, leaving Raven to send a report to the members of the Justice League. She cursed him. The empath removed the communicator from her purse. She examined the device, figuring out that a contact number for the Justice League was already programmed onto the piece of technology. Raven also noticed that a keyboard was provided, which would enable her to send a text message if she didn't want to actually call the Justice League. Like a coward, that's precisely what she did.
'We managed to check into the hotel without any problems. We already have a plan in the works. More details will be given tomorrow. –R&R.'
Sighing, the Azarathian pulled open the drawer that contained Aria McPhee's clothing. She gritted her teeth when she saw that the pajamas that had been packed revealed a little too much skin for her liking. Raven had a strong suspicion that this was all planned by the founders of the famous superhero organization. In the end, she ended up changing into the outfit that looked the most comfortable and covered more skin: black shorts and a gray T-shirt. Robin entered the room right when Raven finished pulling the shirt on, giving him a quick glimpse of the smooth skin on her back.
Raven turned around to find Robin on the other side of the room, clad in black and red pajama pants. He wasn't wearing a shirt, causing him to show off his abs. The Azarathian's first response was throwing the first clothing piece that she grabbed in the drawer at him. Unfortunately, it happened to be a bra.
Smirking, Robin easily caught the feminine object. "Ooh, lace. Very nice." Robin's smirk grew wider when he saw the tag that showed the bra size.
Immediately, the drapes that were hanging in front of the door that led to the balcony collapsed. The light bulb in a lamp instantly broke, courtesy of Raven's powers.
Robin whistled. "Well, what do you know? This hotel really isn't too fabulous. I mean, a defective lamp? What kind of hotel is this?" Fortunately, he got the hint and put a shirt on. He also handed over the bra, much to Raven's embarrassment.
The two teenagers spent quite a bit of time putting the drapes in its previous position. It was particularly difficult because Raven kept getting tangled up in the thick material and Robin was having difficulty reaching the rod that hung above the window. Raven didn't bother using her powers because the result most likely would have been disastrous. After all, she was better at pulverizing things than repairing them.
Soon enough, the two birds were sitting down and watching a cartoon on the television. In Raven's opinion, it was rather dull and lacked in wit.
"I wonder what the other members of Class Titan are doing," Raven said, her attention on the screen waning.
-Meanwhile With Class Titan-
"Dude! Get your butt out of my face!" Beast Boy yelled, wanting to do his signature move of flailing his arms around like a bird trying to fly for the first time.
"Tell Aqualad to get his crotch off my ankle!" Kid Flash shouted back.
"Don't criticize me! It's bad enough that I think I may split my pants any second now!" Aqualad roared, sweat pouring down his face.
Loud music blasted from the expensive stereo with excellent sound quality. Fattening food was placed on a table, carried off from the cafeteria. Also, according to Kid Flash, he smuggled some of the food from the head cafeteria lady's room. Apparently, she was a hoarder. The boys in Class Titan were playing the game Twister as the girls watched, highly amused. In all, the vibe that was being transmitted within the room was friendly and fun.
Bumblebee flicked the spinner that came along with the game. "Alright, Kid Flash, place your right leg on yellow."
Kid Flash lifted his leg up and 'accidentally' kicked Aqualad in that special spot. The speedster's foot was safely on the directed color as Aqualad fell down on the mat, clutching his groin. The song on the stereo changed to 'Another One Bites The Dust' by Queen. How fitting.
"Interference!" Aqualad shouted when he gained control of speaking once more after the pain had subsided.
"Get a grip," Astoria said. "People cheat all the time."
Aqualad wailed, "I say we start over!"
"I say you get off the mat so I can earn the title of Twister Champion," Kid Flash told the Atlantean.
The last two people on the Twister mat were Speedy and Kid Flash. Beast Boy thought that it was a battle of epic proportions because the two of them were gingers. In the end, however, Kid Flash was declared a champion. A cheating one, at that.
"Is it bad that I'm kind of glad that Robin and Raven are gone? I mean, if they were here, they would have most likely stopped us from having fun," Bumblebee commented.
"Are you calling them downers?" asked Beastboy.
Bumblebee rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not. Well, maybe. I'm just glad to be having fun with friends."
"Where are they, anyway?" Astoria asked, curious.
"Probably resolving their unresolved sexual tension," Bumblebee quickly replied before anybody else could. "In other words, they're most likely sucking each other's faces off."
Speedy faced Bumblebee and asked, "Are you their drunken fairy godmother or something?"
"What kind of fairy godmother plays matchmaker? Even if that fairy godmother is drunk?" was Bumblebee's response.
"Cinderella's godmother did!" Beast Boy yelled, reminiscing about the wonderful Disney movies he watched when he was an unbelievably adorable toddler. Seriously, chubby kids were always the cutest.
Bumblebee rolled her eyes again. "No, Cinderella's godmother's goal was to get Cinderella naked by the end of the night. Hence the disappearance of the clothes she wore to the ball."
"Was that you favorite part of the film or something?" asked Beast Boy as he grabbed a cup of soda.
"Of course not," Bumblebee told the green boy. "However, I'm pretty sure that you got a boner when you were a kid while watching that one romantic scene in Lady and the Tramp."
"I'm pretty sure you're going to end up with a highly unattractive beer gut!" Beast Boy retorted.
Everybody rolled their eyes, amused.
-Meanwhile In Gotham City-
Batman gently touched down on a rooftop near his destination. From his current position, he looked for all possible signs of entry. After that task was finished, he examined the area, searching for any crooks that loitered around. Once he was satisfied with his results, Batman glided down to the ground.
Instead of entering the building through the front door, the masked vigilante silently crept over to the side of the building. He pulled a vent off its hinges with his bare hands, trying to be as quiet as possible. Then, the superhero dressed in black began crawling through the small tunnel, a plan already developing in his intelligent mind.
The building was actually constructed in the early 1900s, but some adjustments made the building look a little more modern. This building acted as a boarding school for both males and females who attended junior high. The location of the building was about ten minutes away from Wayne Enterprises, which put it in a position that was a little more remote.
Unfortunately, Victor Zsasz was holding the schoolchildren hostage.
Batman continued crawling through the small space. Before five minutes had passed, he had exited the ventilation system and had cut off the oxygen supply of two henchmen by sneaking up behind them and holding them in a chokehold. Since he didn't want the alarms to start ringing quite yet, Batman hid the bodies in a grate underneath the actual flooring. Once that was accomplished, Batman looked up and grappled up, away from the main building.
The Caped Crusader weaved through poles and debris, hidden out of plain view from his position on the roof-like structure. When he fully crossed the panel, he glanced down to the main building after he got into a crouching position.
Victor Zsasz had ordered his henchmen to drag the children… er, zombies, to the room he was pacing in. By the looks of it, the room looked like the cafeteria. Once all of the frightened teenagers were gathered around the psychopathic villain, Zsasz grabbed a small girl by the arm and dragged her with him to the center of the room. Her scream was muffled, as well as her pained gasp.
"What's your name, dear?" Victor Zsasz asked with an insane glint in his eyes.
"Roxanne," she quietly told him, frightened for her own safety.
"Well, Roxanne, can you identify this weapon for me?"
Roxanne looked up to see the villain clutching a sharp knife in his right hand. She gulped. "It's a knife…"
"Very good. Now, can you tell me what would happen if I run this beautiful blade across the jelly of your eye, Roxanne?"
Roxanne's face paled further, along with the other students and the teachers. She tried to back away from the maniac, but she couldn't escape from his iron grip.
A teenage boy, presumably Roxanne's boyfriend, bravely stepped forward. "Let her go," he told the criminal that belonged in Arkham Asylum.
Batman quickly stood up from his position. He removed his line launcher from its place in his utility belt. Unlike the previous models, this line launcher was much quieter when it was launched, aiding him with stealth missions. He carefully aimed the device before he released the trigger, sending him flying to the other side of the room. The World's Greatest Detective dropped down behind a structural weakness and sprayed a small coating of explosive gel on the weakened wall. Then, he carefully dumped a vial of thick goo onto the floor near the entrance of the room. As soon as the goo made contact with the floor, it seemed to dissolve away, unnoticeable. Before Batman exited the small room, he placed a diminutive chip onto the adjacent wall of the weakened wall. As soon as it was plastered to the wall, a high pitched frequency was emitted, attracting the attention of the armed goons in the next room. Batman quickly grappled up to a higher elevation.
Naturally, all of the crooks from Blackgate Prison that had accompanied Victor Zsasz to the boarding school rushed over to the area, craving to pound Batman's skull into the rough floor. The first men to enter the room slid when their feet came in contact with the powerful goo that Batman had spread across the entrance. Their bodies rolled over the other side, knocking them into unconscious. Some of the crooks cautiously entered the room, while others backed away, unknowingly nearing the other side of the wall with explosive gel. At the right possible moment, Batman detonated the explosive gel. Automatically, the criminals were sent flying back, successfully getting knocked the flying slabs of jagged concrete.
Victor Zsasz whirled around, letting go of the boy who had told him to let go of Roxanne. The boy was bleeding from a cut on his upper arm, but that was the only injury that had been inflicted upon him. The former patient of Arkham Asylum intently looked around with mad eyes, looking for any indication of his enemy: Batman.
Batman silently ran across the area he was standing on and somersaulted himself over a wooden crate. Moving over to this particular place gave him a better view of Zsasz, as well as giving him some slight cover. The vigilante took out a batarang and sent it flying at the scarred man. Victor dodged it before the projectile weapon could come into contact with his pale flesh.
A short boy, and possibly the youngest, screamed as the insane serial killer yanked him away from the group of children who had started gaining hope. "Show yourself, Batman! If you don't, my hand might just slip and this poor little boy will lose his head… literally!"
Batman noticed that Victor Zsasz seemed to have a good idea about his general direction from his position. The Arkham inmate was poised facing Batman with the little boy struggling to get out of the serial killer's grip. Unfortunately, the little boy was efficiently blocking any attempts that Batman could make to hit Victor Zsasz with a batarang from his current position. Swiftly, the Caped Crusader took out a reverse batarang and flung it towards the criminal. Zsasz chuckled creepily when the batarang missed him. However, the scary sound coming out of his mouth ended when the batarang turned around and whacked him in the back. The boy ran away, tears streaking his face. Batman glided down, gracefully landing behind Victor Zsasz.
As soon as Batman had landed onto the lowest level, the famous serial killer threw one of his reliable knifes at his enemy. Using his incredible reflexes, Batman caught the knife in his hand and tossed it on the ground. The Arkham inmate was already pulling out another knife when Batman's hand closed around his scarred throat tightly. Before Zsasz could be completely deprived of oxygen, Batman threw his body on the ground and slammed his head onto the cold stone.
Batman helped the scared teachers with bringing organization and order back to their school. Within fifteen minutes, the young teenagers were safely put back into their rooms after Batman ensured that there weren't any hidden bombs or anything. After all, Victor Zsasz's strongest weapon was unpredictability.
Batman returned to the cafeteria and examined Victor Zsasz's unconscious body. He wasn't wearing a shirt, nor was there anything hidden in the manacles that seemed to be glued to his body. However, he was pleased to find a sheet of paper stuffed in the pocket of Zsasz's trousers. The note said:
'Is a poor serial killer getting jealous? Watch out, Zsasz, you're getting too predictable.'
There wasn't any indication of who wrote the letter. However, a sinking feeling in the pit of Batman's stomach developed as he carefully placed the note in an evidence bag. It seemed as if he had another enemy on his hands….
-Meanwhile With Raven And Robin-
Raven didn't even remember falling asleep last night. So, naturally, she was surprised when she gained a vague bearing of her surroundings. After blinking a few times, she realized that her head was resting on something hard. Startled, she found her limbs entangled with Robin's. With a silent scream, Raven rolled away from his body. Unfortunately, she fell off the bed and managed to fully snatch away the sheets, winding up entangled in them.
Robin jolted awake, alert. He glanced down to find a peeved Azarathian on the floor. "What happened?"
Instead of replying, Raven stood up with slight difficultly and pulled some clothes out of the drawer containing her clothes. Then, she stormed into the bathroom. Robin could hear the faint sound of running water.
"Man, I feel bad for the people underneath us," he muttered to himself before dropping down into a push-up position.
Raven spent the majority of her shower calming down. After all, it wasn't exactly Robin's fault for what had transpired. It had been her idea, not his. He probably didn't even have a clue about what she was angry about. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Raven took a few deep breaths and let the warm water rush over her body, soothing her sore muscles.
The Azarathian quickly dried off before changing into the outfit she had selected in her haste. The outfit included dark jeans that flared out at the bottom, black flats, a snakeskin halter top, and a small black cardigan. She put the wig into place after blow drying her violet hair.
When Raven entered the room, Robin was in the middle of his intense fitness workout. Tiny droplets of sweat glistened on his muscled frame. She tossed the damp towel at his figure. "The shower is all yours."
Robin quickly finished up his workout and took a quick shower. While he was hogging up the bathroom, Raven turned on the television. She discovered that there had been a huge earthquake in Chile and that Flash, Wonder Woman, Fire, and Green Lantern had saved hundreds of lives and homes. On another channel, this man named Glorious G. Gordon Godfrey was dissing the world's superheroes on his sensational talk show. Raven changed the channel after the confident man implied that Wonder Woman was a hooker.
Thirty minutes later, Raven was in the bathroom once more, trying to figure out how to use the curling iron that had been in her luggage. This thing should have come with an instruction book.
"R—David! Do you have any idea on how to use this stupid contraption?" She asked, figuring that he would have some small idea on what to do since it always seemed like he spent ages doing his hair.
Robin entered the bathroom to see what Raven was talking about. She was holding out a curling iron for him to see. He raised an eyebrow. "Can you even use this on that wig?"
"Well, considering the fact that it's made out of real hair, I would assume so," Raven told him, flabbergasted.
Robin awkwardly held the iron. Somehow, the hot device flew out of his hands and the outlet, landing on the shower curtain. Raven slapped Robin on the arm and turned around to see that the curtain was catching on fire. Before they could do anything about the flames, the deafening sound of the fire alarm started ringing with its even pace. Raven quietly swore and watched as Robin quickly extinguished the small flames. He quickly tossed the hair device to Raven, which scalded her hand. However, she ignored the pain and rolled the wire around the small clamp. Robin rearranged the shower curtain to hide the small portion where the curling iron burned a hole through the thin material. To Raven's annoyance, Robin splashed a large amount of water on her head, making the hair of the wig damp. Before they exited the room in a supposedly timely manner, Robin made Raven put the hair product in an empty drawer.
The fire trucks arrived at the hotel right when Raven and Robin left the small fire escape stairwell that led to the side of the building. Luckily, they didn't look too suspicious because they weren't the last people out of the building.
Soon enough, the firefighters discovered which room the fire was started in, which resulted in the two teenagers getting questioned.
"I think our room must have an extremely sensitive fire detector," Robin told the man who seemed to be the head firefighter. "My beautiful fiancée was taking a hot shower and before we knew it, the alarm was ringing. It was some freak accident, I think."
"I can assure you that my fiancé and I are not arsonists," Raven told the firefighter, slipping into the role of Aria McPhee.
The firefighter didn't seem very convinced. Nonetheless, he nodded. Within five minutes, the fire truck was pulling out of the hotel parking lot.
"Way to go, genius," Raven dryly told Robin when they were back in their room.
"Hey, excuse me for being at fault for your being a sad excuse of a girl," he retorted.
"You can't necessarily blame me for my abysmal skills at this type of stuff. After all, I was raised in another dimension where my biggest concern was keeping control of my emotions and getting food for the winter."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. I'm sorry. Anyway, we best start getting a move on and check out the apartment," said Robin.
Raven agreed, but after she had a cup of tea. Robin let her and took the opportunity of eating breakfast himself.
The two birds nonchalantly walked the two blocks that would lead them to the apartment building. Robin was pleased to see that there weren't any police cars parked in front of the brick building. They didn't enter through the main door, though, for fear of getting called out by the desk clerk. Instead, they painfully climbed up a rusty chute that led to the roof by the back of the building with a bunch of dumpsters.
Raven was relieved when they were standing on the roof. As soon as she had finished the treacherous climb, the thought of flying dawned on her. She felt like a moron now and it was a wonder that Robin didn't call her out for it. Thankfully, the door that gave access to the roof was unlocked, allowing them to walk through without breaking the handle or door.
Raven hissed, "Do you remember what room number it is?"
"2D," he whispered back.
Quickly, the two teenagers reached the second floor without detection. Raven prepared herself to phase the two of them through the correct door, but was surprised that she didn't have to since the door was unlocked. Quietly, they entered the apartment room and shut the door behind them.
The apartment was messy, for lack of a better turn. It seriously looked like a mini-tornado formed out of nowhere in this room and turned everything upside down. Raven supposed that this was due to the search that was performed by the authorities.
"I think it's safe to say that this room was thoroughly searched," Raven pessimistically commented.
Instead of responding to Raven's words, Robin crossed the room and hacked into the laptop computer. He checked the documents and files that were saved onto the computer and found none. Frowning slightly, Robin checked the recycling bin, coming up empty-handed. Obviously, somebody didn't want any files to be found. With a growing frustration, Robin went on the Internet and checked the recent history. It was wiped out. He had a feeling that this was a doing by somebody other than the authorities.
Raven asked, "Did you find anything?"
"No," he answered. "It's as if somebody wiped the computer clean of any data, except for programs that were already on the computer when it was purchased."
"Is it possible for you to retrieve the erased data?"
"It's possible, but difficult. It takes quite a bit of time, too. If this person was thorough, they would have changed the data in disk management so it would be impossible to recover lost information. Once it's been rewritten, you can't access it," was Robin's intelligent response.
"Well, why don't you give it a shot?" asked Raven.
Before Robin could answer her question, the two teenagers heard the small click that indicated the handle on the front door turning. The two birds glanced at each other with obvious horror showing in their eyes. Well, hell….
A/N - Favorite part? Least favorite part? Hate? Like? Anything you want to see in the upcoming chapters? Let me know in the reviews.
Victor Zsasz is such a creep, wouldn't you agree? Anyway, I hope I did a pretty good job with that scene concerning Batman. Also, this chapter was chocked full of RobRae scenes, which I hope you enjoyed.
Questions To Think About:
Will Raven and Robin uncover any information?
Will Bumblebee get a beer gut like Beast Boy said?
Why was Victor Szasz holding a bunch of schoolchildren hostage in the first place?
Who wrote the letter that was given to Zsasz?
Who cleared Kylie DePriest's laptop of all the data?
Will Robin be able to retrieve any information?
Who's entering the apartment room?
Thanks for reading!
