We rode out of the Batcave with me behind the kid, my left arm around his waist. Even with my mostly deadened hand, I could feel the kid's defined muscles. He was decades younger than I was and this kid was in a lot better shape than I am. It almost made me want to hit the gym more often; but it was rare that I could find time to exercise with all the jobs I had to juggle.

The ride was mostly quiet. Robin kept tapping on what looked like a computer between the handles. I peered over his shoulder and saw a flickering GPS screen. Whenever Robin tapped the console, the screen steadied for a moment then resumed flickering.

"I take it, this is your fault?" Robin's voice was muffled beneath his helmet. I had to hand it to the vigilantes, they may have a habit of throwing themselves into piss-in-your-pants danger but they make sure to take every protection man has invented when they do it. He tapped at the flickering screen again.

"People are always putting the blame on wizards." I said drily.

"So it is your fault."

"No, it's Batman's. For sticking me with you on a high-end motorbike."

I thought I heard the kid grumble in agreement but couldn't be sure with the wind roaring in my ears. "You said this is because of your magic? You must be a living, breathing EMP generator."

"Uhh, thanks?"

"There has to be a way to protect against your EMP-field."

"If you can do that, tell me. So I can get myself a microwave instead of my old-fashioned stovetop. Heating soup wouldn't have to take forever."

Robin remained silent the rest of the trip, still occasionally tapping his onboard computer.

Several minutes later, we reached the quarry.

It was big. It was empty. And it was full of rocks. That pretty much summed up the place. The chain link fence had been left open and we warily moved in. There were only a handful of lit bulbs illuminating the path to the lone office. But as far as I could see, no one was around.

Robin parked beside a jumble of crates and containers, keeping the bike in shadows. I unfolded off the bike and stretched my cramping legs. Robin's bike was specified to his size and with my coltish legs, I made for an origami'd passenger.

"Batman and Nightwing are checking the office." Robin said quietly as he headed for a mess of rocks and outdated equipment. "We're to act as lookouts."

I nodded and stepped away from him to find a hiding spot for my own. Knowing these vigilantes, they each had a comm in their ears and I'm not staying close enough to jinx any of their toys.

"Stay in sight." Robin instructed before leaping to the top of a pile of rubble. For a moment, I had the idea these kids were part mountain goat, considering how easy they climbed up a rock-pile or down a crate-pile. I could call enough magic to give me a lift upwards but I doubt I'd be able to pull off a quiet landing; so I opted to stay on the ground and out of sight of anyone passing through the lighted path.

But that doesn't mean I'm too far away to be left out of the loop.

I shifted until I had the office building in my sight. A quick look over my shoulder confirmed that Robin was keeping an eye on me along with the rest of the empty place. Listening was a skill that took a lot of concentration – I might as well be a sitting duck when I'm doing it so I had to either hide or have someone else to watch my back. And who better to be your back-up than an experienced vigilante?

The night was quiet so it was easy to focus in on what doesn't belong – Batman's and Nightwing's voices.

"Here's another memo," Nightwing was saying, "looks like Demerrio's been coming here on and off for a week and no one's bothered to ask him why."

"Demerrio must be influencing them." There was the sound of more papers shuffling. "Dresden may be right."

"What makes you say that?"

"Demerrio wasn't powerful two weeks ago."

"So someone had to give him power. Someone…or something?"

"The summoned demon."

I stopped Listening to their conversation when I heard a different sound: that of small rocks tumbling down. It wasn't unusual to hear that in a quarry but it was night and there were only four people present – none of whom were in any position to be climbing over rock piles.

I snapped out of Listening and yelled to Robin, "Get them out of there! NOW!"