CHAPTER 12: PHOENIX
ROBIN'S JOURNAL
I never forgot that brief bit of sight that M'gann gave me and I had to fight...hard...to keep from calling her and begging her to let me 'see' again through her eyes. But the hard truth was that I was blind and that was it. Make the best of it.
I thought about my situation. I couldn't be Robin anymore. Even though I was getting back my fighting skills, I knew I was no match for a sighted opponent. I still wanted to help. I needed to help. I was worried about Batman. He went out every night on patrol, just like usual except that he didn't have me to watch his back.
One night he almost didn't come back at all. I was monitoring his frequency, just listening in like I had often done before as Robin. I heard a loud noise, shouting and punching. Batman had been jumped by a bunch of Penguin's men. I knew that Batman had been pressuring the big bird to close down sales of narcotics near elementary schools. Penguin hadn't taken it well and this was his way of warning him off. I counted pulses of at least six thugs before Batman won the fight. At least, he was the last one moving, but he had to put the car on automatic to get home again.
The Batmobile arrived smoothly in the batcave, just like it had been programmed to. While Alfred helped him out of the batmobile and into the medical area, Batman was groaning and barely moving. I think Alfie had to get the gurney to move him, so it was bad. Neither of them knew I was there; whenever he'd injured around me, he always minimized it and never made a sound regardless of how badly he was injured.
"And how many of them were there this time, sir," Alfred asked.
"Lost count...OW!" His breathing ran fast for a moment, then slowed.
"Sit still, sir," Alfred said sharply. "Treating you is no picnic, I promise you. I must say that you had a pyrrhic victory tonight. At least two cracked ribs and a probable torn ligament."
"The boy?" Batman said, then gasped again.
"Upstairs, I believe. You needn't put on a brave face for me. There...the local anesthesia should help somewhat..."
"Somewhat," Batman said in a wry tone. "I really missed Robin out there tonight. I hadn't realized how useful he is as a distraction, not to mention taking down his own share of goons." I heard a sigh. "It's hard...and lonely out there without him."
"Well, just be grateful that we didn't lose him, sir," Alfred said. "That business with 'Two-Face'...we came so terribly close..."
"I know, old friend, I know," Batman said. Soon I heard them both shuffling upstairs. I knew that Alfred would be tucking Bruce into bed for the rest of the night, probably with Alfie's patented hot cocoa, generously laced with sedatives.
Before Batman got himself killed, I had to find some way to watch his back. Since I couldn't go out with him anymore, I asked myself what I could do at a distance. The batmobile was fitted with various types of scanners and remotes, all connected through the Crays. I had already activated the screen reading software, so I started to explore what I could do with the system. I was already doing research for Batman in the cave, why not use the batmobile's scanners to tell him where the crooks were by their infrared scans?
At first, I had trouble with the electronic voice of the computer program. It was reading stuff out to me okay, but it was too slow. I decided to speed it up. By the time I got the voice sounding like a chipmunk, I could still understand it but got the data much faster. It was kinda like talking to Wally when he's had too much Red Bull.
I found out that I could hack into the closed circuit tv's posted all over Gotham as well as other security systems around town and its perimeter. For a few weeks I followed Batman during his nightly patrols, hopping from motion detector to motion detector, through town. Once I had his basic speed down, I could correlate it and catch Batman's wake as he drove through the streets of Gotham. And so Phoenix was born.
The first time I talked to Batman over his earpiece I almost gave him a heart attack.
"Robin? Is that you?" He asked, his voice pitched high. "What's wrong? Are you all right?"
"The name is now Phoenix, since Robin is gone," I said and let out a cackle of glee. "I'm here to be your electronic backup. By the way, traffic reports say that the Aparo freeway is backed up three exits. I suggest you take the next exit and plan on an alternate route. I'd go along Parkway, then cut back onto Aparo at First Street."
He sounded almost pleased. "I'll do that, Phoenix," he said. "Keep me posted."
"Will do, Batman," I replied and kept following his tracer on my screen, which I'd programmed against a Gotham street map. "Going for the Financial District?"
"Yes. Empire Bank is taking delivery of a large shipment of cash, fresh from the mint."
"And you think they're planning to steal the new stuff?" I asked, changing to another screen that showed the armored car's route and schedule. "Or steal the old worn out bills they're exchanging?"
"Could be either. The armored car is due at..."
"Ten p.m. Yes, I have it. I locate it at the intersections locate it three blocks from your position, being followed by another vehicle."
"Thank you, Rob...Phoenix. I'll take it from here. Keep an ear out," Batman said and I did just that while he took down the van and its occupants. The crooks sounded surprised that Batman was ready and waiting for him. I was just proud.
BATMAN'S JOURNAL
I was surprised how seamlessly the new Phoenix and I were able to work. I'd always known that Dick was proficient with computers, but this was near miraculous.
After I'd broken up the bank robbery at Empire Bank, Dick began to 'follow' me on patrol every night. A week later, I had broken up a drug ring in an operation that Phoenix had planned.
"Okay, Batman, I read Gotham P.D. approaching your position. ETA is five minutes. You done yet?"
"Just about, Phoenix," I replied. I finished zip-tying the last felon and tucked my card into his lapel, perfect for Bullock and his boys to see. I shot a line overhead and took up a crouch on the building next door. The former Robin, now Phoenix, had scoped out the scene perfectly, using a city street map and had calculated where the drug buy was likely to go down based on this gang's prior activities. I smiled and shook my head. Crooks always stay where they feel safe, even if it will get them caught.
Down below a black and white pulled into the alley and stopped where my prey were trussed up, baggies of meth and heroin neatly strung around their necks. Good quantities, too. They'd be prosecuted for carrying with intent to sell.
Rightfully, this was Robin's...I mean, Phoenix's bust. He'd tracked the gang's electronic communications, decrypted their codes and figured out where the buy was going down. And he'd done it all from his computer station inside the batcave. I couldn't tell him how proud I was of him. Of late, he'd grown prickly about praise, mistaking it for pity that the blind boy had made good. But that didn't lessen my pride at all.
When I arrived back at the batcave I found Rob...Phoenix curled up in the cubicle he'd recently taken over. He was fast asleep. Poor kid was tired out from a long day and even longer evening. I picked him up and soon had him tucked into his bed. It was good to know that our partnership hadn't ended, just changed a bit.
Everything was going smoothly, with Phoenix present via my comm unit, I found that I could rely on him for valuable background data. He smoothed my path in any way he could, much as Robin had when he'd been my active partner. He even sounded happier. So much so, that I decided that Bruce and Dick deserved an evening out.
I had two tickets to the Gotham Metropolitan Opera showing of the Barber of Seville, to be produced in its original Italian. It would give Dick a chance to hear some good music and practice his Italian. Besides, the performance was a benefit for the Wayne Foundation Support for the Arts.
PHOENIX'S JOURNAL
I'm not a big fan opera. The costumes and spectacle were fun, but I couldn't see them anymore and I've always thought the music was overblown. But Bruce really wanted us to do this together. I knew he was still worried about me, so I didn't put up too much of a fuss.
Alfred had me dressed to the nines and deposited both of us at the front of the opera house. I felt the red carpet they'd spread with my leather soled shoes and hung on to Bruce's sleeve, following his subtle cues. He matched his pace to mine, stopping and greeting celebrities from time to time so I could get my bearings again.
I was dimly aware of flashes of light, followed by popping sounds.
"Bruce?" I tugged at his sleeve.
"Yes, Dick?" he said in my ear.
"Are there flashbulbs going off out here?" I asked, feeling hope starting to rise inside.
"Yes, there are. The press is here," Bruce said. "Why?"
"I...I think I can see the flashes," I said. "Bruce, I can see the flashes!"
Bruce clasped my shoulder with a warm hand. "I'm glad to hear it, son. We'll have you examined tomorrow."
"D'you think it means that maybe I'll see again?" I asked.
"I don't know, Dick. I just don't know," Bruce said and led me into the opera house.
I guess the opera was good, but I really wasn't listening. I was too excited to pay any attention. I mean, seeing the flashes of light, even if I couldn't see anything else, had to be a good thing, right?
Intermission came and Bruce laid a hand on my left arm. "How are you doing, pal?"
I shrugged. The opera was funny and I hadn't fallen asleep but I wished I could see the costumes and scenery. "Fine," I said.
"I need to slip out and see a few people. Business talk. Would you like to stay here or come with me?" Bruce asked.
I knew the answer to that question all right. "I'll stay here, Bruce. Business talk is pretty boring, and besides..." I didn't want to come out and say it, but I made myself. "I know that the press was taking pictures of Bruce Wayne's blind ward. I just..."
Bruce's hand went to my shoulder and squeezed. "You don't have to, Dick. Stay here. I'll be back when they call curtain." I heard him slip out the back and settled back into my seat, thinking.
Bruce came back after about ten minutes; it couldn't have been longer than that. "Hey, Bruce, that was an awfully short business talk," I said.
I heard a low chuckle behind me, then a pair of hands grabbed my shoulders and I felt a needle slide beneath my skin and something cold flow into my bloodstream. I tried to yell, but a rag was stuffed into my mouth and then I knew nothing more.
BATMAN'S JOURNAL
When I got back to our balcony seats, Dick wasn't there. I thought momentarily that he'd gone to the men's room, but when I checked it, he wasn't there. Given his sight, he couldn't have gone very far on his own. I looked in the mezzanine and the main lobby as well.
Finally, in the face of a possible news frenzy, I spoke to the head usher and had them looking for Dick as well. They made an announcement over the public address system asking Richard Grayson to report to the main lobby. Meanwhile, I stood in the balcony, searching anxiously for any sign of my son. I heard the door open behind me and turned rapidly, but it wasn't Dick.
Jim Gordon closed the door and approached me. "I thought I'd go to the opera tonight," he explained quietly. "Your boy?"
"Missing," I said tightly. "He's blind. He couldn't have gotten out unseen by himself." I sank down into my chair. "No...no...They're searching the opera house for him right now. He might be asleep in a corner somewhere, for all we know." I knew as I said the words that Dick was gone. Somebody had taken him. For some reason, I couldn't separate myself from my emotions, think logically, like Batman. Gordon seemed to understand my near-panic.
"Let's call that butler of yours. Alfred, is it? There might be a ransom call soon. Let's go, Bruce," Gordon said.
