The Value of Heroes

Chapter 36: Memories of Better Days

"My father and Bruce both taught me similar moral codes, for vastly different reasons. Both considered their codes immutable, but somehow my dad's always expanded enough to let me grow into it. Whereas Batman's was, of course, completely inflexible, and every bit as inspiring as it was impossible. But still I wonder... who's son will I turn out to be?"

~Dick Grayson

-Titan's Tower-

(Robin's Mind)

Would it surprise you to know that this isn't the first time I've betrayed Batman?

Hard to believe now, even harder if you knew me back in the day.

Back in the times when all I had ever believed in was his mission.

But seven months after becoming Robin I got my first taste of hard reality, courtesy of Gotham's own former district attorney.

And that's the big reason Two Face is just as much my arch-nemesis as he is Batman's.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not warm and fuzzy with any of Gotham's criminal underbelly or the league of psychopaths that make up Batman's Gallery of Rogues... but Two Face seemed have it in for me from the start. Almost as if subconsciously Harvey Dent knew who I was under the mask, and he used me to lash out at Batman in some twisted way to get to Bruce Wayne.

You see.. I had only been legally placed at Wayne Manor for a few months when Harvey Dent took the dark descent into Two Face. So I remember the endless nights that dragged into weeks where Bruce scoured the city for his best friend, haunting every corner like a man possessed. And I took it to heart watching him suffer like that. I beat myself up over the fact there was nothing I could do to help him, nothing anyone could do for him other than just go along for the ride and pray that Bruce would still be sane by the time it was over.

There were times I even felt like maybe it was my fault, that if I hadn't been around to slow him down... maybe Bruce would have made it to that factory in time to stop him. That Two Face was my punishment and one that I had to endure for Batman's sake. Because it wasn't fair that Batman had failed to save Harvey... and yet he had still saved me.

Of course... now that I'm older I know I'm over analyzing this. That it was really just the guilt ridden trauma of a kid who was desperately trying to create a family out of a cave.

For the first two years I was Robin every waking moment I spent was nursing a hidden fear that all it would take was one wrong move, one misstep and Bruce would wake up and finally realize he was crazy and bam I'd be right back on the orphanage's front porch.

The problem is I am human so when I did slip up that first time... I didn't just misstep, I fell down three flights of stairs and landed on the highway at rush hour.

Two days before Christmas and Harvey Dent set up a hostage situation that involved half of the Gotham socialites and their first born children. It was so high risk that even Batman ordered me to sit it out, knowing full well that goons callous enough to murder a room full of kids wouldn't think twice about shooting at me.

But like an idiot I didn't listen to him... and even though I knew what death was at the time I still had a child's unrealistic grasp on the world.

Before that night I had always thought I was untouchable.

See the whole plan had actually been a surprise party for me from the start. Two Face had been waiting for the opportunity to use me as the fatal flaw in the Dark Knight's otherwise impenetrable armor. Until I had shown up most people weren't even convinced he was human and suddenly I made the Batman seem less supernatural.

And when someone decides to take on a nine year old apprentice it usually means the kid has some emotional value to them, even if they're idea of parenting does just happen to be jumping from rooftop to rooftop and sending a child out to fight armed crooks. So while the theories circulated from simple things like I was his son to the slightly more far-fetched rumors (and don't ask me about some of them, tabloids will print anything to sell papers...) it was no secret that Robin shed a mortal light on the grim stalwart Caped Crusader.

Boy did Two Face try to show me how much I would live to regret that.

He only took two hostages that night: me and the only adult that had been caught in the crossfire of Harvey's sick kidnapping plot, the honorable Judge Hatcher.

My first memories of a Christmas Eve in Gotham didn't involve eggnog and carols. Instead I was dragged to one of the abandoned slaughterhouses by the docks, tied to a chair and forced to watch as Harvey made the judge play a game in exchange for his life.

Thatcher lost the odds.

Weights were tied to his hands and legs and he was thrown into the dark water without a second thought...

The only mistake that man had ever made was calling heads instead of tails.

And he paid the ultimate price for it.

Thatcher was a good man... a honest judge in a town where the law can be so easily bought... and he left behind two kids younger than I was...

That was the first time I failed to save someone.

I wish I could say it would be the last...

Harvey Dent spent that night laughing in my face as I tore inches off my flesh in a desperate struggle to free myself in time to save the drowning man from the water. His goons then waited for the body to settle before they pulled the judge's bloated corpse out of the brine and threw it at my feet.

It wasn't long before I got my own taste of his twin .45 automatics... Two Face never could resist the chance to make someone test their luck at his coin toss.

And I landed four bullets total that night: two in one arm, one in the shoulder and the last one in the thigh.

To be honest I never have gotten a sense of love back for games of chance. Even now, there are times I can still smell the gunpowder from that night. Clinging to the air like a bad dream, one you never really stop being afraid of.

Harvey waited until I was good and bleeding before kicking the chair out from under me and forcing me to all but hunch over the judge's dead body.

I think it would have been easier if I had cracked.

If I had lost it and sobbed like the little kid I was, begged for mercy, shown the weakness he so desperately wanted to see... then maybe he might of spared me.

But I wasn't just some punk kid.

I had been chosen, I was his partner.

And that was a right I had to prove to the world that I had earned.

So that's when the baseball bat came out...

"You see, Harvey Dent was one of the good guys." Two Face explained to me as he all but proceeded to smash my head in. "Being good in this town means you need guts. You gotta' be tough. You gotta' do things that aren't in the law books. The bat didn't have the stomach for it. He punked out on Harvey. The great outlaw protector of Gotham hid behind Lady Justice's skirts. But she's blind for a reason, brat. 'Cause she doesn't see what needs to be done in her name."

I was barely conscious at this point, blood in eyes and my ears as I lay in a splattered heap dying.

But even then I never thought about death.

Not when Batman had placed his faith in me, not after everything I had fought for.

I still had big plans and none of them involved ending things there.

There was one last thing Harvey said to me right before he tried to finish me off.

"I wanted you to understand why this is happening to you, kid." Two Face had whispered, "Because before it's all over, I wanted you to know. It wasn't me that killed you. It was the bat."

... ... ...

I'm still here so you know Batman saved me before things got any uglier.

And I never saw him hit anyone the way he laid into his best friend that night. I'm surprised Harvey didn't get one of his faces ripped off.

I'm not sure if I dreamed what happened next when Batman forced me to keep talking to him as he carried me out of the rotting building. Going to sleep with blunt force trauma like that normally spells permanent brain damage but... things were really fuzzy at that point so I'll never know for sure if it was real or just wishful thinking.

Besides Batman's not the type of guy you can carry a heart to heart with when it comes to the night you almost died.

But what he promised me then and whatever I said in return was what drafted me to be a solider in his never ending war.

It's hard to describe faith. Growing up on the trapeze, faith was always believing that the bar would be there when you reached out for it. It was always knowing that someone would catch me if I ever fell.

That was the night I decided to believe in that stuff again.

The short, sweet happy ending to this tale was that I saved by my partner just like I always would be.

But the ugly, reality filled longer version has to include the fact that I had to be intubated just to keep my throat from closing off from the swelling, my skull was fractured in three places and one of the gun shot entry wounds had nicked my femoral vein and I flat-lined twice before reaching the Batcave.

Alfred patched me enough so that I could be transported before Leslie Thompkins saved my life that night... working in the dismal conditions of a ghetto clinic in Park Grove.

That wouldn't be the last time that happened to me either...

Despite everything I just told you about war drafts and sacred vows it goes without saying that I was still fired from my position as Robin the second I was able to breathe without a tube.

Which is why I think I developed this overachieving complex I have right then and there.

For anyone out there who might think that I'm a genius, sorry to disappoint but it's just another mask. Bruce is the genius, I'm just a performer.

A circus brat.

I know what a good show is worth.

And if you want to stay five steps ahead of the bad guys, practice makes perfect.

Because hard work trumps genius any day of the week.

And let's not forget that I'm not Batman.

So there I was fired... feeling lost, devastated as my place in the world was ripped away from me yet again.

I ran away from Wayne Manor shortly after that.

Alfred had enough to handle taking care of Batman and Wayne Manor, and Bruce seemed to make it pretty clear he didn't want a son.
If I couldn't be Robin... what use was I to anyone?

I got in with the wrong crowd.

A free meal doesn't come easy on the streets of Gotham.

And the Boy Wonder who had once stopped crime in it's tracks even began to resort to petty theft just to survive.

Mostly grocery stores, and it was always just food.

So while it still didn't change the fact that what I was doing was wrong, there were lines I just wasn't ready to cross.

Though I'll remind you again that I'm a circus kid.

A carnie.

A gypsy, born and bred to live the life of a vagabond whenever the need arises.

Doesn't matter that my parents were as respectable as the Wayne's were; even if they were as dirt poor as Gotham's favorite family was filthy rich. I still learned a few things I probably shouldn't have from some of the circus' more colorful inhabitants. You get all types in the big top after all.

I lived like that for almost a month when one day I was approached by a man in black who saw me beat the stuffing out of some of the older runaways who had picked the wrong person to hustle that day. He told me he had a place for a me, a home and kindred spirits who knew the same pain I did. With promises of greatness and respect he told me I'd never to want for anything again as long as I'd agree to fight for him.

Back then... all I wanted was a place to belong, I didn't care where it was or I what I had to do to stay there.

Found out shortly after signing up though that I ended up joining a team of kiddie grade assassins known as the Vengeance Academy.

Wish I could say I was joking here but no, I really did have go to murder school just to remember why I became a hero in the first place.

The man in black was a low profile criminal mastermind at the time, you know the type; a guy with a soft spot for troubled young boys and cut out of the same psychopathic mold I always figured Slade for.

The guys name was Shrike, and ironically he always said I had potential in the murder business too.

Told me I had the eyes of someone with nothing to lose.

Guess they were both right about me...

And to prove that I was a murderer at heart he even gave me a shot at getting revenge on Two Face.

A few months of living as nameless runaway under a cheap alias brought out a side of me I never wished I had seen. But Shrike let me lead a platoon of kiddie killers straight into the madman's home and I got close enough that night to plant a slug in Two Face's ugly mug.

Both of them.

Only... I just couldn't do it.

Sometimes the lines get blurred. Sometimes the only thing between you and them is the mask and cape. And the hope that we can be better than what we are.

I still believed in Bruce's mission even then... I still believed in the promise he had made me that night.

So even though I had all but betrayed him... I just couldn't betray what he believed in.

Years have past, and these things are nothing now but old scars. Even now I'm not sure why I brought them up in the first place. I'm not even sure if these memories are real anymore or just things I imagined. My past seems so fuzzy these days... there's all these who's and what's... but I can't remember the why's.

The promises still seem so clear, I know all the words... I know I didn't forget them. But that's just it... they're just words. Hollow and empty... just like I am now.

Only one thing's really changed since then, now I'm strong enough to look at things differently.

This time isn't going to be like that last one.

I realize my mistake now...

I should have the pulled trigger back then and Bruce's best friend of not, Two Face should be dead right now.

But as much as I'd relish the chance to choke the life out of Harvey Dent now, I'm big enough to admit that he was right that night he all but caved my head in.

Batman is weak.

And Lady Justice is just as useless as she is blind. Which is exactly why I won't do what has to be done and claim it's in her name.

I don't believe in justice anymore... and I'm no martyr.

Not a hero either.

At least not anymore...

-Gotham City-

(Haley's Circus)

You don't have to be crazy to live in Gotham, but it helps.

And there are plenty of monsters in whom malice has come unhinged from reason; they are lost souls captured and ridden by some inner demon that inflicts itself upon the land like cancer.

Madness, however, is particular and idiosyncratic. The Joker probably being the purest example of that. This is a man that has no cause, a man that floats free of his own past. He is entirely devoid of reason in the sense both of rationality and motive.

He's the type that unleashes his brand of sadistic comedy upon the world merely because he can.

Insanity is strange that way... and sometimes lightning flashes in the darkest corners of the human mind.

Which was why this city needed Batman.

Batman who in a strange way was driven by the same thing these monsters were: a driving compulsion. Though whether he protected the people from these psychos or helped attract them to the very city he served Batman continued to be all that stood between this city and chaos.

Though some days... days like today... one couldn't help but think that maybe chaos was winning.

In the background of the old fairground firefighters were still desperately racing to get the raging inferno around the main tent contained. Though the residents of Haley's circus had been evacuated with little more than minor burns and injuries it still didn't change the fact that the scars these people would leave with ran deeper than just those on the black stained earth.

And scars like that have a way of twisting people.

Walking past the half a dozen swat cars that guarded a single heavy duty transport van the graying commissioner took a deep breath and prepared himself for the monster that lay within.

Pulling open the giant metal doors Jim Gordon glared at the insane clown strapped to the interior. Sunshine poured into the dismal padded walls, burning away the darkness and glistening onto the Joker's white flesh and dead black eyes. The commissioner couldn't help but be reminded of the pale glim of a shark's belly right as it emerged from the murky depths.

The type you only saw right before the water turned red.

Raising his head the clown gave his old friend a great big smile. "Top of the morning to you, Jimbo!" The Joker exclaimed despite the bruises and bleeding gums, "Pull up a seat. It's always so much more fun riding back to the squirrel farm when you have some company to pass the time with."

"Save it Joker." Jim Gordon snapped, "If it were up to me I'd have seen you sent to the gas chamber years ago. But since Doctor Thompkins has let us in on the terrorist situation that's taking place in Jump City we're willing to offer you leniency if you give us information on this Slade character."

"Hmmm, well I'm afraid there isn't much to tell." The mad clown exclaimed after a moment to reflect, "Just another looney with his mask strung on just a little too tightly. Smart fellow even if he is a bit obsessive. Lousy dresser though. Lousy!" Thin red lips twisting to show his rows of rancid yellow teeth the clown breathed, "But if you're really looking for the ringleader in our little circus I'd look no further than the shorter side of the Dynamic Duo."

Seeing the look of surprise in the old police officer's eyes Joker gasped, "Oh dearie me! Don't tell me Batman failed to mention?" Bunching his chin and lips together in serious thought Joker reasoned, "I guess I can't blame him, my father never did like to talk about me much either. Still I bet the flying rodent's wondering where he went wrong with the brat. Personally I blame the hot shorts, the kid's first outfit would have driven anyone nuts!"

"That's a bad joke, Joker." Jim replied trying to keep his poker face intact as he watched the clown relish in how he was taking the news. "Even for you."

"No joke man! Who has time for jokes at a time like this?" The Joker countered, "Besides the truth is soooo much more fun! Such a shame I'm not going to be able to see the rest of the show. After all Bat's little birdie's flown so far over the cuckoo's nest the only way they'll be bringing him back is in a wooden box! Though we're all in the hot seat now and old Rob's gonna make sure we fry!" Eyes squinting he looked the cop over, "I hope you have good insurance. It's going to cost a lot to pay the teams who come to scrape us all off the walls! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Unable to take anymore out of him Gordon turned away in disgust.

"Get him out of here." The commissioner spat to a nearby officer as the clown began to practically convulse in a fit of his own laughter. Even with two inches of reinforced steel between him and the Joker the maniacal laughter continued long after the doors had slammed.

Rubbing his eyes Jim tried to blame the burning sensation in them on the ash and soot in the air.

He was tired... and without realizing it this city had grown old and worn with him.

"It's true isn't it?" He asked feeling the presence of Leslie Thompkins sneak up on him before he even had to bother raising his head. "What that monster said."

In the cold morning air the slim doctor looked as though a strong breeze was all it would take to knock her over. "It's true." She said quietly, "Though by no fault of his own... it's still true. Robin is..." Paling she couldn't finish that. "Well... let's just say Batman is in very real trouble this time. He raised the boy too well and frankly it has me terrified. I always told them that I thought that the Dynamic Duo could survive anything..." Pausing she added, "Except maybe each other. I often feared that they die one day, side by side... as knights and squires often do. But I never thought I'd have to worry that it would end like this."

Reaching into his pocket the commissioner fumbled for a stick of gun and muttered, "I've been off cigarettes for two years, Doctor Thompkins. My Barbara's a real slave driver when it comes to taking care of myself. Now I can't seem to remember a time when I've wanted one this badly..." He trailed off, "You know the last time I saw the kid, oh must have been nearly three years ago, Clayface had made a unlucky fall into the Gotham River. He would have made a big splash in it too if Robin hadn't used a broken cable line as a bungee to catch him at the last second. So they're both just dangling there only a few feet away from a ice covered grave in the dead middle of winter. And the cable's weight is failing them. We're doing everything on our end to pull them up but time just didn't seem to be on our side that day. You could hear the wiring cracking under the pressure and you knew that they only had seconds before the line would cut. At that moment Clayface looks at the kid completely straight faced and asks the boy, 'Why'd you do it Birdboy? You know I'm not worth it.'" Getting a sad smile on his face the commissioner repeated Robin's reply, "'Everyone's worth it,' Was what the kid told him. He never backed away for a second, even knowing full well that saving that murderer might mean he'd end up losing his own life in the process. That's the kind of boy I always thought Robin was."

"Jim..." Leslie murmured.

"I've always believed in the those two. It's why I've allowed them to be here in the first place." Gordon stammered as he buried his brow in his hands, "This world has little place for vigilantes but I thought they could do some good. I wanted to hope that maybe…just maybe…the symbol they represent can stir others to stand up, take charge…and do what's right. The world isn't a pretty place, Doctor. And it's built on the foundations of humanities follies. I've seen more greed, murder, despair, and injustice in this town than any sane man should ever have to see. Humanity, despite what you might think, is a cruel beast and it's prey to war, intolerance and hatred. The world isn't nice and no amount of sugar-coating will change that. Batman's not about making the world a heaven… he's about surviving the world as the hell it is. But that doesn't mean hope isn't unobtainable. All it takes is the strength and the will of decent people to demand that hope. To be inspired by a symbol. To force us to be better than what we are. That's what always carried me through the pain that follows this city, Doctor. And frankly I just don't understand what would possess the boy to do this."

"You know when all of us were a bit younger, I often wondered why Batman allowed such a small boy to take on the mantle and follow him into hell all those years ago." Doctor Thompkin's said wistfully, "And I came to the conclusion one day that Batman was never trying to make another Batman when he allowed to the boy to stand by his side. For that matter he wasn't even trying to make another vigilante. I think he created Robin because he wanted to make a hero. To find a person who would live to become something brighter than he himself could ever hope to be." Squeezing Jim's shoulder Leslie breathed, "We've spent years watching him grow from a tenacious little boy into that hero, Jim. And we've believed in them both for so long... after all this time can we really lose our faith in them now?"

-Titan's Tower-

Even at six in the morning Titan's Tower glittered, it's glass and steel catching whatever light there was in the sleeping morning.

Forever proud and iconic.

And in exactly two minutes it would be nothing but rubble...

"So... while you were traipsing around in Robin's head, you didn't happen to get the passwords to shut down those laser cannons by any chance did you?" Beast Boy asked Jericho as he helped him off the ground.

Shaking his head in grim reply Jericho stood on weary legs as he fought with the exhaustion that came with overusing his powers. Despite his best efforts he had failed to get that far into Robin's mind. In fact it had taken every ounce of energy he had had just to get the information on Robin's real targets.

"Tell you what, I'll give you a hint if Star promises to drop another door frame on Slade." Robin offered from his spot suspended in the air. "Heck I'll even disarm the thing for you if you make sure to crush his skull in." He added pleasantly.

"Um... anyone else?" Beast Beast asked doing everything humanely possibly to avoid eye contact with their former leader.

He'd take half of Arkham's freak shows over seeing Robin with that fixed smile and those soulless blue peepers.

People's eyes were supposed to reflect light, it didn't matter how evil or good you were.

But oh no, not Robin's.

Instead those blue liquid pools of pure insanity just burned into you; scalding and freezing you to the core at the exact same time.

Creepy didn't even begin to cut it.

"Perhaps we may simply dismantle the cannons, yes?" Starfire asked clenching her fist as a silent offering that she'd be happy to volunteer for the job.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Robin countered cheerfully, "Dummy switches are installed in cannon's amplifier. Try to smash your way through all that compressed chlorine gas and you'll generate an explosion with enough bang to match a small atomic blast. But hey, if you like the concept of being separated from all your body parts by all means smash away. "

"Well... I guess that answers that question then," Raven deadpanned before she moved back to the control panel on the cannon's side, "It's gotta be a numerical sequence." She muttered eyes narrowing in apprehension as the clock continued to count down, "And judging by the length of each configuration the password is either written in binary or maybe even Fibonacci numbers. It's clever. Not to mention annoying."

"Huh?" Was all Beast Boy could offer as none of the things coming out of Raven's mouth sounded like words he had ever remembered hearing.

"A Fibonacci number is an example of a divisibility sequence where each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two." Starfire explained. "And-"

"That's okay!" Beast Boy exclaimed waving his hands in the air, "You can explain it to me later considering we live through this!"

Held only an arm's length away from them and yet no longer really a part of them; Robin's cheerful demeanor changed slightly as he watched the Titans struggle with the task of disarming his system.

They were going to fail.

There was no ego or hubris involved in that statement; it was simply a cold hard fact. Even if the Teen Titans stopped the cannons they couldn't stop the missile detonation in time. Not when Rose was the one really holding the trigger.

And yet, even with victory so close at hand... he was irritated.

Slade's earlier taunt echoed in the back of his head, tearing at the unknown place in his heart he could no longer reach. It bothered him to the point that Robin was starting to wonder why he had wasted so much time creating the temporary antidote in the first place?

Whatever purpose these heroes had served, none of them were necessary now. There had never been a strategic need to keep any of them alive from the beginning.

So why...?

It was a blank.

There was no reason, no logic behind any of the things he had done to protect them. In fact he had only done it in the first place because the thought of losing them... annoyed him. To have any of the Titans stop... or die... it hurt to even think about it. Even if he couldn't remember why they were important, his chest ached at the thought of what would happen if they went away.

Because they weren't allowed to leave.

So what if Slade was right and they were just bad habits he was unable to throw away.

That still didn't change the fact that they were his.

-Jump City-

(Slums)

Harley wanted to vomit.

It was coming up. She could taste it flowing up into the back of her throat.

The shaky violent landing that proceeded to follow didn't exactly help the feeling.

All but smashed up against the window pane like one of those cheap suction cup dolls Harley would have screamed if she had the air for it as they came to a horrible, jarring stop.

"AH YEAH! Did you see me land this puppy?" Kid Flash asked as the Batwing's door opened and he shot out into the early morning with all the excitement of a six year old on a sugar fix, "The jet was all like 'ZOOOOOM and NEEEEROOOW and the legs went like-'"

"He's doing it on purpose," Harley sobbed hanging her head once she was certain they were back on solid ground, "I'm onto him! That cowl headed freak thinks that if he forces me to hang out with this kid long enough I'll crack! That'll I'll get scared straight! Well I'll show him, you can't use reverse psychology on Harley Quinn no siree! I used to a be shrink remember?"

"You say something, Quinn?" Wally asked as he threw a glance back over his shoulder. "C'mon already! We're wasting daylight!"

"Forget it. Just contemplating how you'd look in a shallow grave," The henchwench muttered under her breath. Crawling out of the passenger side she gingerly put her weight on the side of her body that hadn't been grazed with stray bullets as she limped towards the entrance.

"Hey." Wally exclaimed stopping short when he saw her small, shaky steps. "You're hurt!"

"A brilliant deduction there, slim." The clown girl muttered sarcastically,"Why with logic like that Bats can just up and retire!"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kid Flash asked almost sounding like he was scolding her as made a grab for her arm.

"Why should you care?" Harley asked squinting her face like he was stupid before snapping her hand away, "Besides you're the one who looks like he danced with a combine thresher."

Frowning the boy ignored her sour comment and grabbed at her hand again, "That's no excuse for this. Besides my grandma always told me I was supposed to be nice to girls. Even the criminally insane ones."

This time Harley didn't fight him as he inspected her injuries.

"Here." Wally said as he became a blur and began tearing through the Batwing's seat cushions until he located the button that revealed the first aid kit. Darting back an instant later he gently wound a fresh set of bandages onto the girl's bleeding shoulder. "Looks like Bat's doesn't keep lollys for good behavior." He said with an apologetic grin as he tied a knot in her make shift tourniquet, "But I'll kiss your boo-boo if it'll make you feel better."

Looking the boy over as he solemnly worked on patching her up Harley let out a sigh, feeling more than a little guilty for being so nasty with him earlier.

"Well it may not be perfect, but it should hold you till all this is over." Kid Flash stated once he was finished. "First Aid was never my strong suit back in Boy Scouts. I was more of a light things on fire kinda guy."

Her lips tugging into a small smile Harley stated, "You know for a kid who has more cheesy pick up lines than a Tex Avery cartoon you're pretty alright. Especially when you're not running that mouth all the time."

"Well... maybe you've just been hanging around with the wrong type of guy." Kid Flash replied. Pausing as he watched her punch in the code for the front door the boy ventured, "I mean come on Harley, don't you ever think that maybe you deserve better than having some idiot in a clown suit constantly use you as his human punching bag?"

"Oh? You're going to give me advice on dating?" Harley scoffed as she eyeballed him. "You don't even look old enough to get into an R rated movie, bucko!"

"What can I say, I'm a sucker for hard luck stories." Kid Flash retorted. His tone getting serious he added, "My girlfriend used to be a in bad situation like you were once. I guess I just wanted you to know that it's never too late to change your luck."

"You're barking up the wrong tree, hero. I've heard the sermon before and I've tried the whole straight and narrow thing, it never works out. Believe me this whole saving the world thing is just a one time bit." Harley countered before her voice got a little distant. "Besides... you ever think that maybe some people are just naturally born to play the stooge. I mean we can't all be heroes. What would B-man do with all that free time?"

"Sure we can," Kid Flash said taking her hand and giving it a light squeeze. "It's never too late to hope for better days."

Something about that boy's honest smile made the clown girl horribly uncomfortable.

People just didn't talk to her like that much these days.

Especially since leaving the whole functioning member of society gig behind her.

Most folks barely considered her a human being let alone someone with feelings.

"But if you insist on being a stooge," The boy sighed, "You can be my Curly any day." He shot back wiggling his eyebrows for good measure.

Forcing back a chuckle Harley hugged her hips, "You just don't stop do you? I betcha you must think you're pretty slick or something with all those grade school twerps swooning every time they catch a glimpse of you and those bright yellow long johns. Wells news to you, pal-"

Stopping short the insult died on her lips as they both came up upon the massive tanks and the eerie green glow of the computer that lay in the center. There was something powerful and terrifying about the giant capsules sleeping dormant at the computer's side.

And suddenly things just weren't funny anymore.

"So... you think Batman'll be able to stop Slade in time?" The girl asked in a small voice as she and Kid Flash marched up to the monitor.

"You kiddin? Big B will crunch Slade like a stale corn chip." Kid Flash replied sitting down at the monitor, "It's us I'm worried about at this point. We're the ones sitting at ground zero trying to hack into a computer that's been armed by the junior partner of the World's Greatest Detective. Batman got the easy job."

"But you can fix it right?" She murmured.

Staring at the lines of code Wally threw his shoulders back, "I dunno. The bad part part about these huge server class microprocessors is the fact they carry an insane amount of data. For all we know the system might bottleneck."

"In English professor!" Harley scoffed.

"It means... well it means I'm not 100% sure I know how to stop this thing." Flash stammered.

"Wait, I thought you said you could handle this!" The clown girl exclaimed, "'Leave the science know how to me!' you said! 'If anyone knows Robin's passwords better than the Big B it's me!' you said! Well you listen to me bub cuz I'm not ready to go out on someone's else running gag no siree!" Reaching into her bag the girl proceeded to pull out a mallet almost as big as she was,"So if you can't hack it, I got your tech support right here!"

"NO!" Wally cried wrestling the mallet out of her hand, "Where did you even get that?" He gawked glancing at her purse that all but seemed to defy physics. Trying to channel his best Batman the boy picked her up and planted her on a crate before he snarled, "No mallets! No tommy guns, no smoke bombs, no whoopie cushion explosives, no tech support! You just sit there and let me see if I can figure this out."

Turning back to the computer Wally tried to look more confident than he felt.

Pulling passwords out from every corner he could think of he tried the name of the stuffed elephant Robin still kept under his bed.

No dice.

Alright, no sweat.

How about the first girl the Boy Wonder had ever kissed.

What was her name? Wiley something... oh yeah, Wiley Wendy! Man was she cute.

OK, so maybe that was more the type of password he would use then Robin would but hey it was worth a shot.

No.

"Three sequences..." He muttered to himself looking at the I/OU configuration. "Meaningless on their own but together it looks like they form some kind of passage. Only problem is to what? It's like the lines from a storybook or a song or something. But Robin's never been the type of guy to do something that sentimental. It's just so Riddler."

"Yeah, well he's never been crazy before either. What can I say we nutcases like our gimmicks." Harley replied from her seat as she stopped buffering her nails long enough to look at him. "You ready to try it my way yet?" She asked holding up the mallet.

"No, but I'm getting there..." Kid Flash grumbled.

To be continued...