Part 15
[All standard disclaimers apply.]
Robin crouched by Starfire on a roof near the headquarters of York Holdings, Limited. The building looked deserted. Hopefully, he and Starfire wouldn't encounter anyone when they entered the executive wing of the building.
"Team 1 in position," Robin announced into his communicator. "Team 2, what's your status?"
"Aw, why do we have to be Team 2?" Beast Boy whined.
"Does it really matter?" Raven asked.
"If it doesn't matter, then we should be Team 1," Beast Boy argued. "Or Team Awesome."
Robin sighed. "Team 2, what's your status?"
"We're in position," Cyborg answered. Robin heard a whack, Beast Boy grunt and then Raven ordering him to shut up. "We're about to head in."
"Roger that," Robin acknowledged. "Good luck."
"Same to you," Cyborg replied. "See you back at the Tower."
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Cyborg waited for Robin to sign off before turning to his teammates. "Seriously?"
"She hit me!" Beast Boy cried, rubbing the back of his head while glaring at Raven.
"You're being an idiot," Raven said.
"Enough," Cyborg barked, startling the pair. "We're about to go on a mission. Can you two act like mature, responsible heroes or do I need to complete this mission by myself?"
"I'll behave," Beast Boy answered.
"Fine," Raven huffed.
"Good. Let's get going," Cyborg ordered.
Beast Boy watched the older teen as he headed toward the law firm. "Mean Cyborg is scary," he whispered to Raven.
"Yeah, no kidding," she agreed as she raised her hood to cover her face. "Well, let's go."
Beast Boy gave the back of his head another rub as he followed her.
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Robin quickly overrode the security for the roof access door. Unlike the warehouse, there was no convenient skylight. He and Starfire would be taking the stairs.
As soon as he had the door open, Starfire slipped inside. He quickly followed her. He took a moment to make sure the door closed silently before joining her on the executive level.
Starfire opened the door a crack, peering into the offices. Happy that the coast was clear, she gave Robin a nod and went inside. He was in before the door closed.
They entered a large open room. There were rows of desks, turning the room into a grid. A series of offices lined west wall.
As they planned, she went immediately to the desk of York's executive secretary. She had the computer up, allowing Robin to quickly bypass its security. Once he had the hard drive downloading, he left Starfire to watch the program and search the desk.
He entered Joseph York's office. He almost laughed out loud when he saw that the password was "Titan". It was pretty ironic.
Leaving the program to copy the hard drive, Robin looked through York's desk. There were a few interesting invoices and memos. He found a contract for importing medication from Asia, making him wonder if this was how they were getting the Burnbright compounds into the country. He even found Eric Weston's application for a summer job.
However, he did not find anything connecting Joseph York to William Elliott or the bank robbery.
Grinding his teeth in frustration, Robin glanced around the office for another place to look. He found a filing cabinet hidden in the corner behind a large plant. He combed through the files, hoping to find something.
A soft beep indicated that the download of the hard drive was done. He went back to the computer and erased any trace of his presence. Starfire must still be working at the secretary's desk. He used the time to finish his search of the filing cabinet.
"Team 2, what's your status?" Robin asked, his voice just above a whisper.
"We're almost done here," Cyborg answered a moment later. "Preparing to head back out."
"Understood," Robin acknowledged. "Shouldn't be far behind you. See you at home."
"Roger that."
Robin almost given the filing cabinet up as a lost cause when he came across a file labeled "Misc". He almost stopped breathing when he realized that he had records of bank transfers between Joseph York and William Elliott for thousands of dollars. The file also contained transfers to Martin Clark and the other bank robbers as well.
"Gotcha."
He closed the filing cabinet. A glance around the office showed that it was back in the state he had found it. Now he just had to get Starfire and get out.
He stopped when he heard a series of loud pops. Then Starfire cried out. Robin blinked as the lights to the main floor came on.
"Well, what do we have here?" a voice said.
Robin gritted his teeth as he saw Joseph York walk further into the rows of desks. Starfire was pinned behind a desk. Every time she tried to move, York would fire, keeping her pinned down.
"Now, why are you at my office at this time of night?" York asked. "You're not part of the cleaning crew."
York didn't seem to know that Robin was there. He pulled out a pair of birdarangs. His first set of birdarangs took out the overhead light while another knocked the gun out of York's hand. He rushed to Starfire during the confusion, throwing smoke bombs in York's direction to provide additional cover.
"You okay?" he asked. She nodded. "Good."
"I should have know that the pretty alien wouldn't be here all by herself," York said. "But the Boy Wonder? That is quite the honor."
Robin could hear York moving around but couldn't be sure where he was at.
"I guess you're upset that she was shot," York continued. "But it wasn't anything personal, kid. It was just business."
"So, why the bank robbery?" Robin asked.
"Smuggling isn't paying what it use to," York replied. "And our newest venture was going to require some start-up capital. Can't exactly take out a small business loan for this type of thing."
The smoke from his smoke bombs was clearing. He didn't want to move in case York had a clear shot. He looked around for a means of escape but couldn't find one. "Unless we go down," he muttered.
"What?" Starfire asked.
"Can you make us an exit?" Robin asked, pointing at the floor underneath them.
She felt the floor for a moment and then nodded. "It will take a moment."
"Leave that to me." He pulled out a couple of flash bombs and his last smoke bomb. "Ready?"
She charged a starbolt. "Ready."
"So, who's the mastermind?" Robin asked. "You or your brother?"
"Like Art could even think of something like this!"
Robin threw the flash bombs, smiling as York began swearing. He threw the last smoke bomb as Starfire began making a crater in the floor. He was trying to pinpoint York's location again when she suddenly grabbed him.
"Hang on," she ordered.
He held on to her shoulders as the floor gave way underneath them. Robin realized that they were hovering inside a large bathroom. "We've got to move."
She lowered him to the floor. He quickly left the bathroom with Starfire at his heels. He found the stairs but hesitated. If they go up, York could be waiting for them. If they went down, it would take too long and they could run into security.
"Robin?"
He suddenly heard gunfire behind them. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the stairwell. Up it was.
They raced up the stairs. Robin breathed a sigh of relief when they made it back to the roof without encountering York and any security. "Let's get out of here."
"Gladly."
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Cyborg looked up when he heard the motorcycle. He had lingered in the garage, using the T-car as an excuse. Raven and Beast Boy had headed upstairs while he had waited for Robin and Starfire.
"I was about to get worried," Cyborg greeted. "What took you two so long?"
"We had a bit of excitement," Robin said.
"What kind of excitement?" Cyborg asked. He looked over the pair. "Gees, Starfire, you're bleeding!"
"What!" Robin cried, whirling to face her.
"It is a minor wound," she said, trying to cover her arm. "It is nothing."
Robin forced her hand away to see the wound himself. An angry groove was carved into her bicep. It was likely from a piece of the desk as she hid from the gunfire. "Medical bay, now."
"Robin, I am fine," she protested.
"Med bay. Now, Starfire."
She sighed but headed to the elevator.
"Here," Robin said as he pressed a pair of flash drives into Cyborg's hand. "I want you to start analyzing the files that we recovered."
"I'm on it."
Robin pulled out a few sheets of paper. "These are bank records showing money transfers between Joseph York and the bank robbers. I want you to go ahead and send them to JCPD. This should help them get an arrest warrant."
"You got your smoking gun."
"In more ways than one."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Just get those files to JCPD. I"m going to check on Starfire."
"Wait," Cyborg said. "Maybe you should take a minute before you head up there. Or better yet, let me send Raven."
"Why?" Robin asked, his tone deceptively even.
"You're too keyed up, man," Cyborg said.
"I've got this."
"If you're sure."
"Just get those files to JCPD," Robin ordered as he headed to the elevator.
