Title: Facade
Spoilers: none
Summary: the sequel to masks. Something is not quiet right with robin.
Notes: nothing, just read and review
***
Cassie's arm flew out, catching Robin in the face.
He crumpled, grasping his broken nose that streamed blood.
"God damn you!" She screamed and came at him, her fist pulled up for another strike.
An arm reached out, grabbing her own, and the force held her back; Kon's grip was almost painful. She screamed obscenities at Robin, who lay there, his face a mess.
"How could you do this to us, Robin, how could you fucking do this to us?!" She screamed, her voice sobbing. She crumpled against Kon-el who had grabbed her fist. She was crying.
Robin turned his head, not answering.
"How could you?" Cassie continued to scream at his retreating back, "HOW FUCKING COULD YOU?!?!?"
***
Robin was gone.
Cassie pulled her arm from Kon's grasp, rubbing her wrist painfully and glaring at him, "Why did you stop me?"
Kon stared at her, "You were about to kill him."
She shook her head, "No I wasn't,, but I was going to give him what he deserved."
"A broken nose?"
She ignored the question, settling in a chair at the newly repaired table, "You knew what he was going to do."
"But it didn't deserve that sort of reaction!"
She was silent, letting her head rest against her palms, she sighed, "Maybe you're right, maybe I reacted too harshly."
"Cass," Kon's voice had taken a concerned timbre, "What has gotten into you?" He sat in a chair next her, "Ever since-" He didn't finish, the pause lingering in the air, "Robin did what he needed to do." He placed his hand over hers, unconsciously, pulling back when Cassie glared at him, "I know you think it was wrong-"
"He gave you to the DEO Kon!" Her voice rose, "How can you *not* be angry about that?"
Kon was silent; his eyes shut briefly, "He was just making sure-"
"Making sure what? We already knew that Harm was gone, after all that Harm put you through, he knew you couldn't handle more. And Secret, after what had happened…"
"Cass, he did it to protect all of us."
"But Secret told us that he was gone, she told us-"
"She didn't even know he was with her, Cassie, yes, I'm angry, Robin was stupid, for once in his life, he did something stupid. But he's allowed to, Cassie, he's human." He sighed, "He thought he could pull it off, getting us into DEO and out, without alerting them, but for once…" he paused, his eyes scrunched, "For once all his connections weren't worth a damn."
"But the DEO?" Cassie shouted, irate.
"Cassie, you know as well as I do that the DEO is the only place that has the equipment needed to detect people like Harm or Secret." He sighed, "It was the only thing he felt he could do."
Cassie shook her head, still angry, "No, Kon, it wasn't." She paced, her blond hair falling over her face, "We could have done a thousand different things to figure that out, that Harm wasn't in you, but smuggling you into the DEO and then trying to get you back out." She shook her head empathetically, "No, I don't think so, something is going on Kon, and he's not telling us what."
***
Robin cursed under his breath as he wiped the blood from his nose. The stream of red was slowing now, and his glove was stained from where he had stopped the flow. He sat in his car, tilted his head back and breathed in through his mouth.
Oh god.
He shut his eyes beneath the mask, letting the cool air calm his shaky nerves. He let out a breath he had been holding and through an arm over his forehead.
Oh god.
He winced, as his nose throbbed with the pain from Cassie's punch.
Thank god it hadn't been full power. He thought as he started the car, another shaky sigh escaping from his lips.
I might have broken more then a nose. He almost laughed, If my head would still be attached to my body.
The redbird's engine rumbled to life, and slowly he pulled out onto the highway from the secluded parkway he had erected next to the cave. His eyes blurred along the yellow lines as they raced by his car.
Robin had no idea where he was going. He didn't want to head back to school, and he didn't want to face Bruce. He pulled to the side of the road after only a mile of driving. He let his head rest on his arms over the steering wheel. He stared at the sky, watching the sunset against the mountains and the trees that dotted Happy Harbor.
He watched as Superboy rose above the clouds from the cave, flying back to Hawaii, and Cassie take off in the other direction.
Oh god, he thought, why can't I tell them?
***
"Come on Cassie, what's wrong?" Her friend Juliet asked, nudging her friend, she held up her binder, "Look what I found!"
Cassie, from where she had buried her face in arms stared up at her friend. Juliet had twisted around, from the desk in front of her to face Cassie, holding up something in her hand. It was a key chain, a little fuzzy kitten attached to a string.
Coming out of its ass.
"Look, when I pull this…"
She pulled at a little brown ball bearing. It slowly retracted back to its place, "Retractable poop!"
"Oh God….Juliet…" Cassie sighed, further burying her head in her hands. The teacher droned on in the background, "Where the hell do you find these things?"
"Would you believe me if I told you Toys R Us?"
"No."
"Well then don't." She complained, leaning in close to Cassie, "What the hells wrong with you Cassie, you didn't laugh at the retractable poop joke at all!"
"That's because it wasn't funny."
"Well excuse me if you're grumpy." She retorted back, "Come on Cassie, what's wrong?"
Cassie sighed, "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
Cassie was unresponsive.
"Hey, I understand retractable poop, I can understand whatever is going on with you."
Cassie wanted to laugh.
Would you be able to understand that the guy I had a crush on became possessed by a good friend's dead brother, and proceeded to nearly kill everyone I was close with? Would you believe the only way to stop him was to beat him up until he was unconscious, hope to god he didn't kill another friend in the process, strap him to a table, send over a hundred volts of electricity through his body until his hair almost went up in flames, hold down his bucking body until whatever was invading his mind either died or was dispersed into so many pieces that he wouldn't be recognizable as human any more, then hope to god we didn't fry both another good friend and him in the process? Would you believe that the guy who saved us all, who I even kissed, then decided that turning us over to our most hated enemies was a 'good' idea at the time and I just punched yesterday?
Would you fucking believe that?
"No you can't, Juliet," the bell rang, "You just can't."
The class began to empty and Cassie grabbed her book and bag, "I gotta go." She pushed past an irate Juliet who stood there, in the empty class, and wondered what the hell was wrong with her friend.
***
Kon tossed the ball against the cave wall. The ball bounced back, and fell into Kon's hand. He tossed it again. And again. And again.
The walls rang with the sound, and the cave was as empty as ever. Kon sighed as the ball left his hand again, heading on a crash course to the wall.
It landed back in his hand again.
It rang hollow, the echo of the empty cave slightly irritating Kon.
But not too much.
And he threw it again.
"I see I'm not the only one who thought school was a waste of time."
Kon spun to face the voice that drifted from the cave entrance. It was Cassie.
"When there's so much to think about, sometimes school isn't the best place." He smiled and made room for Cassie on the couch.
"I don't know what's wrong with me." Cassie sighed as she plopped down next to Kon, catching the ball that was on a rebound towards Kon's hand. She stared at the blue rubber ball, rotating it in her hand, "Why did I get so angry yesterday?" She sighed, tossing the ball in the air, and catching it again.
Kon was silent waiting for Cassie to continue.
She stared at the blank cave wall, the crack from where she had flown against it a few months ago, gone, plastered over courtesy of the JLA, "He made a mistake, god knows how many times I've done something stupid, but why," She tossed the ball up again, "Why did I get so angry?"
Kon smiled, faintly, "It's stress, Cassie, nothing more."
"Yeah, stress may be the reason, but what if Rob doesn't come back?"
***
Rob, at that point in time, was thinking about everything, but coming back. He laid his gym bag on the bed, the contents of his dorm closet packed tightly inside, a few trinkets he picked up from Batman and he was quickly adding more.
He had to get out of there.
He shouldered the bag and slipped out of the quiet room, his roommate snoring and mumbling about Cindy Crawford in his sleep.
Soon, he was on the road again, his forehead dotted with sweat, his hands clammy with moisture as he squinted to read the signs.
He had to get out of here.
The street lights flickered as the redbird flashed passed them, exceedingly over the speed limit. He let the engine rev, pushing it to the limit, going faster, and faster. The highway curved dangerously and the car pushed foreword, Tim's foot pushing the pedal to the floor.
The lights of an oncoming truck flashed behi8nd the corner.
Tim snapped out of it.
He's glazed over eyes cleared and he screamed as he pressed the brake so hard tat the car lurched and spun, in an effort to stop.
His nose picked up the smell of burnt rubber, and his ears heard the resounding horn of the truck as it rocketed by him. He breathed heavily and closed his eyes, leaning against the seat.
Oh god.
Why can't I stop this?
***
Cassie sighed. Kon was still bouncing the ball against the wall, and the slow, thunk-thunk was slowly getting on her nerves.
"Kon." She whispered through gritted teeth, "Will you-please- stop?" She grabbed the ball before it could land back in Kon's hand, crushing the rubber, momentarily, with unbound strength.
"Sorry Cass." He let his head rest against the tattered couch, "It's just- well, you know." He pointed to his face, "I feel so useless."
Cassie's face softened, angry at her self for not noticing, "God, Kon, I'm sorry." She let her hand rest on his cheek, "I almost forgot."
"I wish I could." He whispered, his voice was raspy as he fingered the crushed rubber ball, "Cass, I don't know what to do."
Cassie pulled him closer, letting his head rest on her shoulder, her arm wrapped around his own. A small damp spot grew on her shirt as she realized Kon must be crying.
He almost laughed, "Cassie, how the hell can I be a superhero, if I'm blind?"
***
Finally Tim realized he had to rest. He had to sleep, or more occurrences as the one on the highway would happen, and he couldn't allow that.
He pulled into the deserted parking lot of a Motel Six. He grabbed his overnight bag and made his way to the motel lobby. The woman filed her nails at a leisurely pace, the sound of the rough cardboard against nail, setting Tim on edge.
He slid a twenty under the metal bars in front of her, the girl stopping for only a moment, to grab the money and push him a key. Through the snapping of gum she spoke, "Take the stairs, and on yer right." She resumed her chewing of gum, and the slow wheedling of her acrylic nails.
Tim slipped outside. The air was muggy and Tim felt nauseas, his stomach cramping and his legs sore from pushing pedals all night. He collapsed on the tattered bed, burying his face in the stale pillow. His eyes were clenched shut and he curled in ball, grasping his legs and withstanding the pain that coursed through his head.
***
Kon had fallen sleep on Cassie's shoulder, and Cassie slowly pulled away, lifting him up easily. She moved into the temporary bedroom that they had set up, and tucked him in the bed. She pulled a blanket over his still form, and pulled the gloves from his hand, tucking them under the blanket with him. She pulled off his shoes and eased him out of the jacket. He murmured something in his sleep, as she shifted his head over a pillow.
Cassie backed away, heading to the locker room, intent on changing.
She pulled her shirt over her head and slipped on a big Superman pajama shirt she kept, just in case. Clad only in jeans and a t-shirt, her bare-feet pressing against the cool stone, she made her way to the main room. She wrapped her arms around herself, and pulled a chair in front of small communicator screen.
She keyed the link to Oracle.
Oracle's icon flashed on the screen, eerily bobbing as it spoke, "Hello Cassie, what can I do for you?"
"Oracle," She spoke, "I have a question."
"What is it?"
"Where is Rob?"
The line was silent, the green icon floating gently on the screen, "You know I can't answer that."
"Please? He needs to know that I made a mistake, that I shouldn't have shouted at him."
"I'm sorry, I really can't divulge that information."
"Please, he needs to know, I need to speak with him."
The line was silent, and Cassie sighed, "Fine. Can you at least tell him?"
"I'll try. Oracle out."
And the line went dead.
Cassie padded to were Kon was sleeping. She considered briefly sleeping on the floor, or on the couch, and decided not to. She was tired, and she was not going to deny herself the comforts of a bed. Too tired to fly home, she collapsed beside Kon, pulling the blanket over herself, and fell asleep.
Let it be better in the morning.
***
The sun shown through the ragged, puke-green curtains, and hit Tim's gummy eyes like a spot light. He blinked quickly, trying to focus, trying to wake up.
He had been dreaming.
He felt sick, and pushed himself up from the bed with a groan. He felt lightheaded and grasped the bedpost for support as he slowly leaned against the wall. He had fallen asleep fully clothed. His feet felt sore from sleeping in his shoes, and pulled off his sneakers, and tossed them against the far wall. He pulled his sweater, up and over his head, sending that in the same direction, and made his way to the grimy restroom.
He stared at himself in the mirror, and wondered how he had time to develop such huge bags under his eyes. His skin was pale, and he his nose and part of his cheek was swelling from where Cassie had hit him. He rested his head against the cool pane of the mirror, and wondered what he was going to do next.
Take a shower.
He pulled off his jeans, followed shortly by his boxers, and hit the shower.
The water was cold, and sputtered a few moments, a rusty red staining the water as whatever rust that had built up in the pipes came rushing out.
It made him dizzy.
The red swirled down the drain, and his eyes followed it, his mind flashing with memories that were not his.
Red.
Gun shot.
Red.
Contortion of face as falling against tile.
Shock.
Red.
He blinked quickly, trying to bring himself back to present.
The water was clear now, and Tim slipped under the shower head, desperately closing his eyes against memories he couldn't block.
***
When Kon woke up, he felt the long, soft leg of a girl, pressed against his inner thigh. For a moment, he wondered if he was naked. But no such luck. Whoever had fallen asleep against him, had obviously hadn't DONE him.
Too bad.
The body that was laced with his own shifted, pressing closer into his.
Female.
He awkwardly tried to untangle his body from the girl's, whoever she was, but was successful in only getting himself more tangled.
He caught a whiff of strawberry and the smell of her soap. Only one person he knew used strawberry shampoo (he found this out by accidentally using it last time he took a shower in the cave). He had, he concluded, been sleeping with Cassie.
He wanted to laugh. It only took being possessed by a murderous ghost and practically killing all my teammates, if I knew it was that easy….
Cassie shifted, murmuring something in her sleep, as she dug her face deeper into Kon's chest. She was so warm. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and was content, for a moment, just to lie there. He could feel her heart beat against his chest.
Then she recoiled.
"Ohmygod!" She screamed, suddenly waking up. She pushed away from Kon, jumping out of the bed.
"That…." Kon grinned, staring sightlessly from where Cassie's voice was coming from, "Was awkward."
Cassie turned bright red, thankful, for a moment, that Kon couldn't see her, "I…um…eek.." She ran out of the room, leaving Kon, for a moment, alone.
He sighed, and pushed the covers away, letting his bare feet touch the cold cement floor.
He missed her already.
***
