Saturday, 12 December ~*Person *~

"I don't think Bruce likes you very much right now," Robin snickered as they headed out to his car just after midnight.

"I was perfectly polite and pleasant," Slade claimed.

"Yes, you were. Just making small talk, huh?"

"Exactly."

"Asking what she would change about the place if she had her way?"

"Did you see the look on his face when she was talking about a huge deck with a pool out back, painting the house white and how much she liked the glass and steel interior designs that are popular now?"

"I did. It was kinda beautiful," Robin snickered. "The Alfred thing was the real stinger, though. About taking in more and younger staff? And him retiring?"

"It was probably a good thing that the old man was out in the kitchen at that moment," Slade said. "I saw something die in Bruce's eyes when she said that."

"I'm glad, in a way. I mean, it sucks for him, but I was worried he would be agreeing with her. Love makes some people just… change too much."

"It does," Slade agreed simply.

They were quiet for a bit.

"Do you think it's over between them?" Robin asked.

"Depends. He might try talking to her. If she's smart, she takes everything back and says she was joking."

"You think she will?"

"She complained that most of the spa's were closed and said she thought they could at least have one open for the really rich people that actually needed one," Slade commented.

"Yes, well…" the teen chuckled.

"I'm honestly disappointed in Bruce. He could do so much better," Slade sighed, making Robin laugh out loud. "Wasn't he dating Selina?"

"Catwoman? Yeah, well… on and off. I think he's too hung up on her being, technically, a villain."

"Good thing you don't have silly hang-ups like that," the man smirked at him.

Robin blushed and kept his eyes on the road, making a noncommittal sound.

The building was, of course, locked. They circled it, discussing ways in and out, and were on the lookout for any clues to whether or not this was the place. That was the main goal here, after all. They were wearing normal but dark clothes. They both had hats on, and facemasks, to hide as much of their features as possible. There were very few people around, so they tried to stay out of the way and in the shadows as much as possible.

"Let's take a look from the top," Slade suggested, pointing to a fire escape on the building next to their target.

"Slade, you promised…" Robin said hesitantly.

"We're just looking," the man claimed.

When they reached the top of the building, Robin could feel that it had been a while since he did this. He worked out pretty much every day, normally, but this was a bit different. He could hear that Slade was breathing hard too, so obviously the man felt it as well, probably mostly because he was still recovering.

From up here they could see some lights in the building, dim stationary lights but also moving lights.

"Guards," Slade said and pulled out a pair of night vision binoculars from his jacket pocket. He then produced another pair from the other pocket and handed them to Robin.

"Stolen from the cave?" the teen asked wryly.

"Borrowed."

"Ah. My bad."

"Of course," the man smirked and started studying the building.

The guards were merely shadows who moved slowly through different floors. The insides of the building seemed to be quite open and empty, and Slade said it might be to make it easier to patrol. After a while the teen soon discovered something.

"Look at the second floor from the top, almost all the way to the left. See that exit sign? When guards pass there, the light falls on their faces for a split second."

"Well done," Slade praised him.

They waited. One guard passed. Thirty minutes later, another one. Robin started to get cold, but they had identified three different people who all walked the same route. He knew he wouldn't get Slade to leave before he had gotten a look at the third one as well.

Another half an hour passed. When the last guard passed the light, Slade stiffened.

"This is the place," he said through gritted teeth. "I recognize him."

"Are you sure? You only saw him for a moment…?" the teen pointed out.

"I am sure. He was a guard for a short while, where I was being kept."

"He could have switched companies?" Robin suggested.

"Too much of a coincidence. Everything else matches too. They use an extraordinary amount of energy and the thermal readings in this building are very low."

"Do you think they are… keeping people in there?"

"No, at least not likely. I've checked the sewer analysis in this area, and considering the amounts they used on me, it should show abnormalities when it came to drug residues in the sewer water if they had even a couple of test subjects. I think this is just a storage unit."

"Well, that's good, that should make things easier, right?" the teen said.

"Security is tight, though. The guards have to swipe their card for every section they enter, it seems."

"Well, a revenge mad meta human who is very good at killing people destroyed their other base," Robin said dryly. "I'd be nervous too."

"Aw. You're so sweet," the man chuckled. "But you're freezing," he said as he took a closer look at the teen. "Let's get you home. Maybe you should have your morning tea when we get back. What flavor is it today?"

Robin felt quite happy about the care, but snorted. "I don't know, I haven't opened it yet."

It was rose hip tea. He drank it scalding hot and it was just what he needed.

To be Continued…