"Well, maybe there's another computer, or a backup. He would have to have a backup right?" Robin was still talking on the other end of the line but Bruce had blocked most of it out. Another computer. Of course there was another computer. After all there was only the one code and Spellbinder and Shriek would have needed it as much as he did now. Any time they wanted to run the memory wipe they would need it and, while they had run Bruce, Barbara and Terry one after another, their first victim had been different.
When Wayne had learned that Miss Gibson was involved, he had done the research. He had found the missing 17 hours last monday. When she had been grabbed on the way back from the store late on the sunday only to be dumped in an ally three blocks from her house on the monday he had known it meant something. He hadn't known what though, and he hadn't been able to track her captor's van after it had turned onto Linwood. His running theory was that that had been when Max's memory had been wiped.
It made a wicked kind of sense when he put it together with the location of the dead end phone call that Terry had gone searching for. Only that hadn't turned out to be as much of a dead end as they had all thought. Luck or hidden training had made Terry grab the hard drive for the hover-vid platform. It was still sitting there untouched on one of the work tables.
Wayne let out a sharp bark of a laugh and grabbed up his cane. At the table he brushed the surface clear of debris letting the junk fall clattering to the floor and gently picked up the drive. Returning to the computer he rerouted all processing power to examining the drive.
He didn't let himself hope, just sank into a cold rationality as if it was a charm that would make everything turn his way. Even so, when the computer beeped it's completion he was a little too quick in looking up. He read the confirmation again and again, until his heart rate returned to a semblance of normal.
There it was, the last piece of this blasted, slime riddled mess. The encryption key slowly filed across the screen.
When Max got the call she didn't know what to think. The voice on the other end who was obviously Matt, she knows that voice even if he's calling himself Robin, didn't exactly give her a lot to go on. Heading out to Wayne Manor she could do. She could even do it fast, like he had said. But she was still a bit hazy as to the why.
The dog met her at the door. She had met the dog before but neither she nor the dog had yet to decide that the other wasn't a threat. The dog allowed her to enter after a warning growl and she headed to the library slash study where supposedly the why part of the evening would be answered. Instead she found a hole in the wall.
To their credit the hole wasn't some gaping leftover from a bullet or someone's head going through the plaster, but the mysterious staircase hidden behind the grandfather clock didn't exactly inspire confidence. Actually, it reminded her rather clearly of a horror movie she had seen recently. Max considered that and decided to move forward anyway. Horror movie or not, there was going to be something interesting at the bottom of those stairs.
What she found was an aged mad scientist cackling over his machines, or at least that's what it seemed like. Bruce Wayne wasn't actually cackling she supposed but from the stairs the excited murmuring might have been taken as such.
Max crossed to the computer slowly. The cave was mostly dark with the computer screen being one of the major sources of light. Beyond the edge of its reach though, there were things out in the dark. Most of them she couldn't identify and the ones she could, well, that couldn't be a real T-rex. Then she got close enough to actually read what was on the screen and stopped. It was incredible. He was coding at a level that she had never seen before. She was in the top of her class. Hell she was doing college level work and she could only follow bits and pieces of it.
"Shwey."
Wayne stopped, his hands freezing mid-line. He shifted back away from the keys and into his chair. He turned the chair just enough to see her before he spoke.
"Max. Robin called you?"
"Uh yeah, and what's with the Robin thing anyway? I mean, it's just Matt right?"
"It's a code name. Since you're here make yourself useful and go check on Terry. He in medical." Wayne pointed with his cane at the appropriate door. "And set up the MRI while you're in there. We're going to need some fresh scans."
Max did as told, entering the medical area as if she was stepping through the looking glass into a completely different world. This cave was bright, full of gleaming chrome and glass. The walls and ceiling of the cave were the only things still looking like what they were and even those were mostly covered. Then she saw Terry and forgot all about the scenery.
Max had to tell herself that it looked worse than it was, but she was not sure she believed it. He was so pale where the bruises weren't mapping every inch of his skin. There were slight shudders running through him and his breathing was shallow and irregular. When she took his hand, it was damp and clammy from sweat.
She didn't have a lot of experience with medical equipment, most of it limited to what had been taught in her CPR class so most of the readings were practically useless. Still, she didn't want to miss something so she noted them all down on a handy data-pad and brought it back out to Bruce for verification. His eyes went down the list steadily, ending with a firm nod before reminding her about the MRI.
That sent her running back to medical, first trying to figure out which one was the MRI machine, then trying to figure out how to turn it on. Thankfully it was more a computer then a medical instrument and she was able to muddle through.
Max just about had it figured out when she found the previous scans. There were several marked for both Terry and the old man and even one for the commissioner. When she opened the most recent one, she had to stop, blinking several times in order to work through what she was seeing. Max had studied plenty of chemistry and biology even the more medical sides of psychology. She found it fascinating to see how people worked from the inside out. The scan looked wrong, she could see that at once. Then she realized why and everything Terry had told her sank in to a much deeper level.
Terry had been forced to forget things, and so had she. Terry's mind had been torn apart, the connections between synapses ripped to shreds. And the same thing was happening right now within her own skull. Dear god, they were all going to die. She desperately hoped that it was a plan that Wayne was working on out there because things were bad.
She entered the main cave trying to look shwey while quietly biting at her lower lip. "Mr. Wayne? I think I've got the MRI up and running."
"Good I need a scan of you."
She had had a whole line of questions lined up that he totally de-railed.
"Umm, me? Why?"
"To test a theory. Will you need assistance or can you manage?"
"Umm no, I can do it."
Max was shunted out of the cave, none of her questions answered and the strange feeling that she had been manipulated settling onto her shoulders. She ran the MRI, all the while trying to tell herself that he knew what he was doing and she shouldn't get angry at him for one little thing. That didn't make it any easier of course. She hated being manipulated no matter who it was. He had played it masterfully. Next time she would be ready.
When she brought him the readouts of her own brain scan she was ready to counter whatever his next twisting attack would be. Then he asked her to check on Terry, because he thought he had read a fluctuation and she had agreed before she even realized what she was doing. Terry was fine. Well not fine obviously but there weren't any fluctuations. Only when she reported as such did Wayne asked her to make another scan of Terry just to be sure and he had made it sound reasonable. He sounded concerned with just the right amount of distant worry that he didn't want to show, but that it crept through anyway. By the time she had Terry in the MRI she was cursing herself for falling for it. Then she saw the damage done to Terry's mind and concern for her friend overcame any other emotion she might have been feeling.
She handed Wayne Terry's scans without a word. He glanced at her with a question in his eyes. She wasn't even trying to ask any of her questions now. She could handle some manipulation as long as Terry came out all right.
"Help him." Her words were weak and pleading but it got the point across.
"I intend to." This time he didn't send her away. He just spent a few minutes finishing up his program and held up the product turning to her. "This is my best guess. I don't know if this will fix the damage or just stop it from getting worse."
Max looked at the small drive in his hand. This time her voice was steady. "Try it on me first." She didn't care if she was being manipulated into it or if volunteering was her own idea. "I've got less damage than him, and if it goes wrong on me you can fix it for Terry."
"It's dangerous."
"So is running around with your brain melting out your ears. We don't have any time right? So get on with it."
He nodded and led her back into the medical room. This time it was her turn to lie down on one of the beds. Wayne set one leather worn hand on her forehead and with his own ears safely plugged held a micro-speaker next to her left ear.
Max stopped thinking after that.
Bruce watched as light shudders ran through Max. His touch kept her head settled on the pillow. Luckily they didn't last long. Almost as soon as they had reached down to her legs the convulsions stopped, settling into a boneless sleep.
He let out a breath. He hadn't been sure if the reaction would be violent. Now to see if it worked. He gave her a light sedative to keep her out and set the MRI to a slow constant scan. It might take hours to see any progress and he wanted to have as much data as possible.
As it turned out it took three hours twenty minutes before he was certain of what he was seeing. The damage hadn't been mapped as thoroughly for Max but he did have her first scan for a reference. The damage looked to have stopped. He couldn't tell how long it had taken but there was at least one definite spot where the damage seemed to be retreating.
They had done it. This mess was going to end and they had all survived.
Well maybe not everyone. He would have to deal with the situation surrounding Shriek. That could wait though. First he had more patients to see. As Bruce had done for Max, so he did for Terry, laying a hand on his head and waiting for the slight convulsions to stop. Terry had already been unconscious but when he had settled his brainwaves were less erratic, settling into the normal rhythms of REM sleep.
Bruce wanted to do more but he couldn't restore his own memories quite yet. There was a chance the sleep that followed was a side effect and not just a reaction to the stresses of the day. For him sleep could wait until after he had seen Barbara. He made sure the two kids were settled and went to start up one of his cars.
In an effort to stop the boredom Robin had started taking apart the clock. The device was annoyingly simple and it took him less than ten minutes to change the time zone, have it set itself forward by one second every midnight and implant a small camera and mike that he had stocked in his belt. He reassembled the clock and put it back on the table. The commissioner was back to studying her data-pad and Ian was out of it, which Robin didn't begrudge him, but there wasn't anything he could do. It didn't need to be anything big or important but he wanted to know to know what was happening at least. Beyond knowing that his brother had made it back to the cave he knew nothing about how the fight had ended, or any other progress that had been made.
Robin had gotten used to the idea of being involved with things. He wasn't just the kid with the radio hiding under his blankets anymore. He had stepped in and done damage and gotten hurt and made a difference. He didn't want to be cut out of everything again.
Bruce Wayne entered the room despite the security surrounding it and the fearsome nurse who was still stalking anyone who approached the forbidden hallway. The long overcoat and the large bag he carried hid the fact that he was using his cane more heavily than usual. Closing the door and locking it behind him he turned to the room like a king looking over his lands. Robin tried not to say anything despite his excitement; Barbara might not know he was involved. Although the look she was giving him, like she wasn't fooled one bit by the man behind the curtain, said she might have some idea.
"Bruce." The commissioner was not amused.
"Barbara." Wayne didn't care.
They just exchanged glares for about thirty seconds before the commissioner weakened and looked away. "Just give me something Bruce. I know this is bigger than I can see but I can't keep wandering in the dark."
Wayne looked away that time, out towards the window and the city beyond. "No, you're right. You do deserve to know." He turned back to her. "It's not going to be easy though, or pleasant."
"What in life is?"
"Fair enough." He gave her the briefest overview of the case ending in showing her the micro-speaker.
She looked from him to the device in his hand. "That's it?"
"The kid found the key to it." Wayne nodded back at Robin.
"I did?" Robin hadn't meant to speak up. It wasn't like he could get kicked out of the room but he didn't want to push it.
"You were right about the backup."
Robin let the grin he was feeling spread across his face.
Wayne turned back to Barbara. "There was marked improvement in the scans from my test case. We won't know for certain until they wake up but I believe this should restore your memories."
She took a silent breath and nodded.
"Alright then, lean back. Robin, earplugs." Bruce made sure that Robin's earplugs were in as well as his own before leaning over and turning on the signal. Barbara's reaction mirrored Terry's and Max's, and a minute later she was out. Bruce removed his earplugs with a slowly released breath and turned to Robin.
Wayne gestured with his cane to the bag he had come in with. "There's a change of clothes in there, and I checked the nurses schedule on the way in. your Mother should be getting off shift in fifteen minutes. If you can walk on that leg then that can be our excuse to be here and you can get a ride home at the same time."
"What? I don't want to go home. What about Terry?"
Wayne was already holding up a hand to stop him. "You've already been away from home for longer then is wise. If Robin is going to keep having a secret identity, then he needs to spend some time living it. Terry has an excuse to be away at all hours, you don't."
Stupid logic. Robin pouted but got up testing his leg. It hurt but he could walk on it if he was careful. The trick would be hiding the limp. At least with the long weekend he could spend the next few days on the couch and rest without drawing suspicion.
Robin changed back into Matt while Wayne played lookout. Then they both put on false smiles and went to find his mom.
It was another four hours before Wayne made it back to the manner. First Mary's shift had run late and they had volunteered to wait. Then they had decided to take his car since she had been going to take the bus back, except she had also been going to pick up some things for dinner so they made a detour. Traffic was bad the entire time but that was par for the course in Gotham.
Bruce was greeted by Ace at the door then he settled his mind by looking in on Terry and Max. There was definite progress according to the scans, and both of them were still sleeping like the dead. Satisfied, he sat down at the computer and made one last update to his notes on the case. Closing the file he made his way upstairs, and settled into the large obscenely comfortable chair in front of the fire. He looked up at the picture of his parents, then with a hand on Ace's head he held up the micro-speaker and flipped it on.
With the posting of this chapter I would like to announce that I have finished writing Partners. There will be 37 chapters and an epilogue when fully posted. I'm giving chapter 37 one last look over now. It's been over two years in the writing, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.
MirokuTK was the beta for these last three bits.
Thank you to Mesmerizing Ducks, Desasaphira, Lenorathetrekkie, V, Lacewing, Kitsune Foxfire, Harm Marie, and an unnamed guest for reviewing chapter 35.