Soooo sorry this has taken so long to get out. School is a pain in the butt and so my writing and editing time is nearly non-existent. This is a short part, sorry about that, but at least it is some of the story. Enjoy!
~*~
No 'Ship Like Partnership … part two
~*~
The two crime fighters walked home in silence, both content in allowing their
own thoughts to wander. Things had gone better than they could have ever
hoped tonight and tomorrow would prove interesting. If things continued to go
as swiftly as they were now, the undercover assignment could be over as early
as a few days. And although life undercover hadn't been hard, it would
still be nice to get back into the 'real world'.
Mainly, Tim mused, it would be great to be free to go out as Robin once
again. Although he didn't go out every night as the Boy Wonder there was
something about the fact that he was forbidden to go out now that make it all
the more tempting. Wasn't there something to be said about forbidden fruit
tasting sweeter?
Finally the duo made their way into the makeshift home. Losing their outer
coats, both moved into the apartment.
"We did good." The current Batgirl said without preamble.
Tim turned and faced Cassandra who had a large smile on her face. The young
man echoed the smile, thinking much along the same lines.
"Yeah. We did." He walked over to the couch and flopped on it with a sigh.
"Tomorrow will be interesting though." It would be thus because already the
Jackals had allowed Tim and Cass to follow them on one of their shipment
pickups.
As a matter of fact, Tim was surprised by just how quickly they had been
allowed to learn the information on the Jackals. Josh had been very
forthcoming with what his group of friends did for their money. He had let
the two siblings know that their group was able to score heroine and crack at
a second's notice and, if they didn't have it in supply, they could get it
within twenty-four hours. Josh also went on about the weekly pickups and
drop-offs that the Jackals performed. They would pick up packages of drugs
from their supplier and they would then drop off 25% of their earnings. The
rest of the money was spilt between the group for whatever they wanted or
needed.
Tim hadn't said anything at the time, but he was interested into why this
supplier only wanted 25% of the money made, especially while he was giving
out quite a lot of drugs and could be asking a much higher sum. The young
detective's mind was hard at work trying to figure out who could afford to
get such a great number of narcotics and yet make so little on them. Even
more important, what was this supplier really planning, since they weren't
looking to gain any profit.
Already, he had a pretty long list of possible suppliers forming.
After Tim and Cass had been given the quick low-down on the Jackals, even to
the point where they knew the best places to sell, they were given the chance
of a lifetime. Josh invited them to go to the next drop-off/pick-up. It was
going to be perfect.
The pair could go in, see the supplier, get the location, and report it all
back to Bruce. Within hours the group would be shut down, the head of the
operation caught, and the Spencer siblings would be no more.
"Sleep now." A soft voice ordered and Tim's mental thoughts were interrupted
by Cass' command while she rose to head to the bedroom.
The young man sighed but followed knowing that he had to be at work in the
morning and that tomorrow night was going to be a long one.
Within minutes the pair was asleep.
Tim awoke to the annoying beeping of his alarm telling him that it was time
to face another day of work. With a sigh, he rose out of the warm confines of
the bed and slowly (and groggily) got ready. He was already finding a few
choice words for his supervisor who decided to move Tim to the seven to five
shift. It was longer and earlier and he already hated it.
Once showered and dressed he made his way out to the kitchen and found
Cassandra sitting at the table with a piece of toast in front of her.
"Morning." She said happily munching.
Tim mumbled back a greeting and clicked the old coffeepot on. Once this was
all over he had to make certain he thanked Alfred for remembering the morning
lifesaver. Grabbing his now finished and steaming coffee, Tim took a seat
next to Cass.
"What are you going to do today?" He knew since she had been fired, the young
girl would have to find something to occupy her time. He only prayed it was a
safe pastime.
"Shopping." Cass replied with a smile. Tim sipped his drink and nodded his
head.
"Don't go and do something you shouldn't." The young man wasn't sure what she
could do, but he was certain she could find a way to do *something* that was
against a few dozen laws.
Cass turned to him with wide innocent eyes. "I do nothing."
Tim gave her a sideways glance while finishing his coffee. "Okay. I trust
you. I'll be home at five." With that he grabbed his coat and left the small
apartment.
By noon, Cassandra was bored. She had gone through some exercises, ran around
the block a few times, rearranged the apartment and then put it back, and did
the calming meditative exercises that Batman had taught her. Now, she was
out of things to do and boredom was a dangerous thing for this young girl.
Tim had said she couldn't do anything that she, well, shouldn't do. To her,
that left a lot unspoken for. She understood no Batgirl and figured that Tim
wouldn't appreciate her contacting any of the Jackals. After all, they *were*
partners in this.
So, the young girl mused, what was there to do? She quickly ran over what
her other companions would be doing in such a situation. Bruce would be busy
analyzing something, Barbara would either be flirting with Dick or helping
out the general crime fighting community at large, Dick would be flirting
with Barbara or, well probably trying to flirt with her. So, what was she to
do? Tim would be back from working in about five hours and---
---a light bulb went off in Cass' head and she made a dash for the door.
Tim Drake had a hard day. He had a long day. And, on top of it all, it had
been a smelly day. He was content to go home (if one could call it that) take
a shower and sleep. Of course he knew that in a couple hours he would have to
meet the Jackals, but a quick nap could be done.
Well, he figured, provided Cassandra hadn't done anything *too* bad.
As Tim made he way in front of his door he suddenly had the distinct feeling
that he really didn't want to enter. Last time the rooms had been
redecorated. What would he face now?
Knowing waiting only delay the inevitable, Tim entered and was greeted by the
aroma of---food?
The young man walked further into the house and found a site he never thought
he'd see.
Cassandra was bent over the stove---cooking.
"Cass?" Tim asked thinking maybe a clone of some type had replaced his
partner. The girl turned around and smiled.
"I cook like Alfred!"
Tim blinked, looking completely dumbfounded. "Why?" He managed to ask.
Cassandra moved closer to him. "Hard work. You hungry. I cook."
That sounded okay to Tim and so he took another deep intake of the food
aroma. "Smells good." He commented.
"Spaghetti!" Came the excited response.
Tim looked over to the kitchen and, noticing that nothing seemed to be
aflame, smiled. "I'm gonna get clean up and then we can have dinner."
Cass turned back to her work. "Hurry. Don't want it cold."
Tim made his way to the bathroom suddenly wondering if this was what it was
like to be an old married couple. He quickly shook his head to clear his
thoughts and rid his mind of such ridiculous things.
The dinner was good. Very good, Tim thought surprised. Cass seemed pleased
with her work and, even though the food was mostly store bought, she had done
well. Better than he could have done, Tim admitted. Besides, he knew that
this task had kept her out of trouble while he had been working and,
therefore, he didn't care it if tasted like slug, he was going to eat it and
smile.
The pair finished dinner just after seven and found themselves sitting
quietly in the living room waiting for the time to go by.
There was nothing they could do until their meeting and it was a bit
nerve-racking and annoying. Tim had thought that by now someone would have
contacted them wanting to know their progress, but thus far they had been
left alone. Not even Dick, in some off the wall costume, had stopped by to
pick on his 'little brother'. The young man figured he should be happy about
this knowing that everyone seemed to trust them to get the job done, but at
the same time, he thought it would be nice to know that they were still on
the right track.
"Time?"
Tim sighed and looked at his watch. Cassandra had been asking him the time
just about every five minutes since dinner.
"7:20."
She sighed deeply with boredom. "Need something to do."
Tim nodded, but offered nothing. He, in all honesty, knew of nothing that
they could do. Going out as Robin and Batgirl was the best idea, but he knew
that was not a possibility.
"Walk?"
The young man looked over to Cass who was sitting more upright on the couch,
leaning forward. Tim regarded the idea for a few seconds and then nodded. It
was the best one yet.
Tim grabbed a jacket and swung it over his outfit of the day. Cass ran into
the bedroom and came out with a long black sweater jacket that went with the
all-black look nicely.
For a few blocks they walked aimlessly saying only a few words in passing.
The need for conversation wasn't great and so, Tim (who would have done the
majority of the talking) was content to let the silence linger.
"Park!"
Well, it lingered for a bit, anyhow. Tim watched as Cass took off from him
and headed to the Gotham downtown park. He quickly crossed the road to follow
the overly excited Batgirl. He found her inside the gates on the grass, cart
wheeling down hills acting not quite how one would expect a trained assassin
to act. A smile came to his face to see the girl that he use to regard with
no small amount of trepidation, acting so much like a child. She stopped cart
wheeling and began a more impressive showing of aerial stunts. Before long
she flipped forward to land a few scant feet from Tim.
"Play!" She exclaimed and grabbed his hand. Tim laughed lightly and followed
her to the grass.
Play, to Cassandra Cain, was fighting, so the young man quickly threw his hat
to the ground preparing for the body-handling he knew he was about to get.
Cass smiled and then cleared her face completely. The change in emotion was
somewhat unnerving for Tim and, for the first time, he suddenly felt like all
those poor robbers that ran up against Batgirl. The young girl across from
him moved her body just closer to the ground and Tim watched her muscles
tight in preparation for her pounce.
It came, but training kicked in and Robin took action. The duo kept a steady
beat as they both defended and attacked each other. Ultimately, however, the
outcome ended with Tim flopping on the ground, Cassandra on top.
They had keep the sparring easy, but still intense and the two crime fighters
laid on the ground side-by-side catching their breath while staring at the
sky.
Suddenly, Cass rolled over looking at Tim though the boy still had his eyes
to the sky.
"Why fight?"
Tim looked over at Cass with a raised eyebrow. "Fight?"
"Why Robin?"
The young man let off a small 'oh' sound. "I guess it's because I like the
freedom." He looked up at the stars before he continued. "When I have the
costume on, I'm no longer Timothy Drake. I don't have those problems anymore.
I'm Robin. I'm a crime fighter, an urban legend, a myth. I'm nobody, but yet,
at the same time, I'm somebody. I get to do something that very few people
get a chance to do. I get to help people who can't help themselves. I make a
difference out there and, even though at times the job can be overwhelming
and there are times I would give anything not to be burden with the cape, I
know that out there I've saved the lives of people who one day could save us
all. Just thinking about that gets me through the harder times."
Tim coughed self-consciously knowing he had just released quite a tangent. He
looked back at the young girl laying next to him.
"Why do you do it?"
Cass also moved her gaze to the sky. "I was raised bad. I now fight for good.
I make up for the past now."
"You do this for redemption?"
The young girl nodded slightly. "And kick bad guy butt." She added.
Tim smiled and laughed. "Yeah, I do it because of that too."
The pair then fell into silence once again.
"Time?"
For a bit.
"9:15."
Cass sighed, but said nothing and gently closed her eyes allowing the night
to pass over her. It wasn't too long now and she was content to wait.
~*~
Just a little before ten, Cass and Tim (or rather) Luke and Cat, made their
way into the bar looking for Josh. They saw him found him easy enough amid
the crowd of older men and women. He waved them over to the booth he was
sitting in.
"Glad you showed. Listen, we've don't got much time, but I gotta go over a
few things before this whole deal happens."
Tim and Cassandra both leaned forward as Josh's voice got softer.
"You can't say a word to anyone about what you're gonna go and see. You can't
tell 'em where you met this guy or anything. This is super secret."
Luke waved a hand. "We won't tell anyone," he promised. "We don't wanna ruin
this."
Josh nodded. "Good. Now, we're picking up the shipment and getting paid
tonight. You can see how everything works in the shadows. Kyle is gonna talk
to our man and let him know that there's two new bloods joining the ranks."
"Is there gonna be a problem with us?"
The young man across from the 'brother' and 'sister' shook his head. "Naw. He
was telling us just last week that we needed to get more people involved.
More traffic that way."
Tim nodded. Yeah, he thought, more feet to run the drugs on the street. How
wonderful.
Cass leaned forward and smiled towards Josh sweetly. "Who is he?"
"He?"
Tim took over, not completely trusting his partner's sentence structure. "Who
is this supplier?"
Josh looked both ways before leaning forward even more. The pair across the
seat followed suit.
"Two-Face."
Tim resisted the urge to swear. Of all the crooks in Gotham! He, like most
everyone else wearing kevlar, hated Two-Face. That man was unpredictable and
psychotic. Even worse, though, he had a killer brain. He knew how to operate
and get things down, even if he relied on that coin flipping of his. Two-Face
knew how to pull a plan together and normally his plans were rather gruesome.
Now Tim knew that these Jackals were in deeper than they even realized.
Two-Face was up to something and using this group of kid druggies as pawns.
A sideways look at Cass told Tim that she was thinking the same thing. There
was something larger going on here.
Josh suddenly stood up. "Come on, we've gotta go."
Luke and Cat Spencer followed behind the teen.
The trio walked to Hudson Bay, a place that regularly was patrolled by Batman
and his crew, due to the large amount of drug running that happened at these
docks. As a matter of fact, Tim realized he had been here just last weekend
doing surveillance for Batman. Small world, he mused with a smirk.
Josh lead them to pier three and there both crime fighters saw the other
Jackals they had met just yesterday waiting in the harbor. There was no sign
of Two-Face however. Everyone did a quick hello to the new-comers and then
went back to waiting in silence.
Fifteen minutes later, a sleek black speed boat pulled up to the dock. Three
very large and imposing body guards came out of the ship once it was settled
and Kyle walked up to them. A few words were exchanged, none of which the
crime fighting duo could hear. Then the boy walked back to his group of
druggies as the men went back to their ship. Just a few moments later,
Two-Face appeared.
"Hello, my little entrepreneurs." Tim felt his blood run cold and Cass tense
next to him. This was not the time, he reminded himself, and let his body
relax while attempting to watch Two-Face with a look short of awe that he
suppose he would have as Luke.
Cassandra gritted her teeth and Tim, firmly, but not noticeably, elbowed her
and at once he felt her relax as he had.
"Hey, Boss," it was Kyle who spoke up. "How's business?"
Two-Face flipped his coin mindlessly and Tim almost felt himself drawing to
stare at the repetitive motion. "Could be better. We need to work on that."
Kyle nodded as if agreeing and stepped forward. "We are. We've got new
recruits." The young man turned around and point to the crime fighters who
were still standing next to Josh. "This is Luke and Cat Spencer."
Two-Face turned and regarded the pair. "Ya wanna get involved with the
Jackals?"
"Yeah, we do." Tim answered still attempting to feign awe while appearing
tough. All the while, however, he only longed to take a single Bat-a-rang to
Two-Faces' head.
The coin went up in the air and landed in the psycho's palm. He looked down
at it quickly and Tim knew that the outcome of that toss would predict their
future with the Jackals. Gods, he thought, how he hated dealing with crazies
that took such chances!
"Yeah. Welcome." Apparently the coin told the villain that the two new
additions could stay. Two-Face smiled at Cass. "You're a pretty thing.
You'll do well on the streets."
Tim knew it took all of Batgirl's inner restraints not to fly herself at the
man and pummeled him. Instead she only smiled, albeit a tight smile.
Two-Face spared one last look at her and then snapped his fingers. At once,
the three body guards came back from below the ship with three crates. It
didn't take a genius to know that they were pack with crack and heroin. Tim
silently gave it up for the coast guards superior policing power. Way to go
guys! And people wonder why Gotham needs a Batman.
Kyle, while the drugs were being brought up to the dock, stepped closer and
handed Two-Face an envelope.
"Last weeks profit was two hundred grand. We kept the standard cut leaving us
with a hundred and fifty thou. Here's your share."
Tim, again, was surprised by how little Two-Face was taking away from this
deal. He left a group of teenagers with a hundred and fifty thousand dollars
while he could have easily take well over 90% of the profit. It only cemented
Tim's feelings that there was a larger ploy at work here. There was no way
Two-Face would be content with how business was going for him and he had to
have something worked out in that deranged head of his. What, was the
question.
Two-Face opened the envelope and scanned over the money. He appeared happy
and nodded to his men who made their way back to the ship.
"Pleasure as always. See you kiddies next week." He stopped his gaze on the
two new recruits.
"Best of luck out there." He winked and made his way on the boat that
silently took off into the night.
The Jackals, including Luke and Cat, moved forward and brought the crates to
a beat up old truck that Josh explained was Kyle's. Once loaded, good-byes
were said and everyone went there own way leaving the two newcomers a bit
confused.
"Uh, Josh?" Tim jogged and caught up with the young man. "What happens now?"
"Oh, yeah sorry, forgot yer new. Well, we all meet at a warehouse downtown on
Warner and 9th with more of our members and sort the stuff so that we can get
it to the streets starting tomorrow. You guys will get let in on the next
shipment once we see how well you shape up."
"Wait!" Tim cried trying to sound alarmed. He knew that things had been too
easy so far. "You mean to tell us we're gonna be selling this stuff, but not
get any money?"
Josh shrugged. "We aren't gonna lose any of our money because you guys came
along. Next, shipment we're getting more to make up for the additions."
Tim crossed his arms over his chest, trying to look 'riled up'. He really
could care less about the money, but knew that Luke Spencer and Cat would be
deeply angry by the turn of events.
"Hey, man. My sister and I need that money."
Josh pushed his finger into Tim's chest not knowing that the Boy Wonder could
have him unconscious in two seconds flat. Not to mention what Cass could do.
"You're going be getting more money than you'll know what to do with soon
enough. Keep your mouth shut about it for now."
Batgirl stepped in. "Luke," she warned gently, appearing to play the roll of
a concerned sister.
"Fine." Tim agreed sounded still angry.
Josh and Luke shared another heated glance before they broke it and went
their separate ways. Cass let off a sigh once they were far enough away from
any Jackals.
"Two-Face," she simply said.
Tim said the only thing that came to mind, "Yeah."
The pair knew that they were on to something big, but nothing was adding up.
And then, just as Tim was arguing with Josh, he realized something. What did
the Jackals do with all their money? The kids had to be quite wealthy by now,
so where did it all go? He figured one or two of them had to have a drug
problem, but Josh made it fairly clear that he was not on that used drugs and
not everyone did. So, again, where was all that money?
Tim looked at his partner. "This is confusing."
She nodded and added, "Is suck*." Tim was inclined to agree.
Batgirl and Robin fell right into bed not bothering with such pleasantries as
'good night'. Their minds were far too full processing what was going on. Or,
at least Tim's was.
The first mystery to deal with was what was Two-Face's plan. That man was
crazy, plain and simple, and there was no way he'd let a bunch of kids make
that much money on his drugs. He was up to something, the young man was
certain, he just didn't know what. What he did know what that Two-Face loved
to be noticed, which went for many of Gotham's villains. Granted, they also
longed for death and destruction, but there was this longing for fame at
whatever price. Two-face was no different. He wanted people to fear him and
respect him. Working with a low-down teenage drug dealers got him neither.
Tim rolled over in his bed being mindful of the sleeping girl next to him.
What was Two-Face planning with these Jackals? He could have started a much
larger and dangerous drug ring in the weeks that the Jackals had been
operating. There was something he wanted out of these kids. Something that he
could not get with a better organized ring.
Confusion, the young man thought. He could get chaos with a group of
unorganized, teenaged druggies. But, what would that get him other than a
headache? The Jackals supplied a fairly good size group of people, just under
a hundred was what Batman's records said, that was hardly a respectable drug
ring that should own Two-Face's name. Besides, they were all kids buying the
drugs. Some, Batman had found out, were just homeless nobodies, whereas
others were part of families. The regular spectra on drug users supplied by
the Jackals was thirteen to twenty-five years old.
The young man rolled again.
Everyone involved was kids.
Tim sat straight up in bed.
Of course! They were kids. Only kids. Kids with families, kids with parents,
siblings, friends, and teachers. Kids.
Tim jumped out of bed and moved to the kitchen where he turned on a light and
grabbed a piece of paper writing his scattered thoughts. It was slowly making
sense in his head.
Two-Face supplied kids who sold to even more kids. Therefore, the entire drug
ring consisted of people ranging from grade school to graduate school. If, he
realized, Two-Face wanted to make an impact on the city, who better to
target than children! It didn't matter to the psycho that his money intake
was horrid. It didn't matter that he was making squat on every deal. All that
matter was fame and power and fear from the city. He wanted people to fear
his name.
Affect the youth and the parents will fear you. The city will fear you.
Two-Face was planning on going against the kids, Tim was certain. A bad batch
of drugs done right would kill up to hundred Gotham youngsters. It was what
he wanted.
Truly people would fear someone that was evil enough to kill innocent
children. Two-Face would get what he wanted and perhaps even more.
Tim turned when he heard Cassandra enter the kitchen.
"I know what he's doing!"
The young girl blinked the sleep from her eyes and then quickly took a seat
at the table.
"Tell."
"Okay, we know that he's selling to kids from kids. Obviously that does
little to get a really good drug ring going. Everything is being handled by
people that can't even by beer, but they've been doing okay. They've been
expanded their market to supply almost a hundred user all of who are no older
than twenty-five. That's a lot of kids." At this Cass nodded and Tim felt
himself grow almost encouraged by the gesture.
"Now, we know Two-Face. We know how badly he wants people to fear him and all
that. What would happen if suddenly one day, a hundred Gotham kids were found
dead in the streets and Two-Face makes the announcement that this was his
work. How do you think the city will react to this man?"
Cassandra leaned forward. "He kill them?" She questioned.
"I think," Tim continued, "that Two-Face is planning something. Like a really
bad batch of drugs. They'll go out to all his buyers and BAM! a hundred of
dead kids. Then all Two-Face has to be is claim that this was all his doing
and Gotham is going to fear him. I mean, how can you not fear someone who is
willing to kill a kid?"
Batgirl digested all the information. Normally, she didn't get too involved
in the detective work with crime fighting. Sure, she did some of it, but a
majority of her work done involved using her fists and feet. But, there was
something about this plan that made her believe it. It rang true of Two-Face
and she wasn't certain why, but she felt it in her gut that this could be the
ultimate plan.
"What now?" She asked knowing that if Tim was right they had to act fast.
The young man shrugged. "We need to get in contact with Batman and let him
know what's up and, from there, I figure we let him take it. We've done our
work."
Cass tilted her head in Tim's direction and gave him a hard look.
"Oh no," the young man said as if reading her mind. "We aren't going to the
warehouse."
Batgirl only crossed her arms.
"No. No Way, no how!"
"Why?"
"Because Batman said no heroics."
Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Need to do this. What if you're right?"
"If, Cass, if! What if I'm wrong? Batman'll kill us."
The young girl gave him a hard look. "Think you're wrong?"
Tim looked back at her for a moment before sighing. "No, I don't." Or, at
least, even if he was wrong the situation still made enough sense that
further investigation was necessary.
"Have to go then."
The current Robin rubbed a hand over his eyes knowing that he had already
lost the battle, but he had one last try.
"Batman will kill me."
The young girl rose to her feet and grabbed a jacket from the chair putting
it on. "I protect you."
Tim followed her and also grabbed his jacket, head hanging slightly in defeat
although he hadn't really tried. He put it on while shutting the door and
following Cass. "Oh great, just what I want. You protecting me from Batman."
"Someone has to." She said in reply just as the door shut behind them.