Author's Warning: Brace yourself for sap... and hormones.
Standard disclaimers apply.
Edited: September 17, 2004 in response to the valuable observations of eventidespirit and Wind Beneath Her Wings. Thanks you two!!!
CHAPTER EDITED NOV. 24, 2004: With the insight of Aria-Angel.
GUIDING STAR
Chapter Fourteen - Discoveries
It would have been more practical to take a car. After all, it was fall. Plus, they were going to pick up a package and trunk space might have been handy, but Robin wasn't above the prospect of having his gorgeous girlfriend's arms and legs wrapped around him while he had absolute control. What was trunk space when no space was much better?
Besides, Starfire loved a fast motorcycle ride, and it was always about making her happy, right? She was, in fact, eager enough to ride a motorcycle to offer carrying a backpack for extra storage.
He explained to Starfire that Chen Express was the overnight delivery's equivalent to Swiss banking, both of which specialized in total anonymity. They had specific drop-off points in the city that changed every four months in random pattern; some totally isolated and some hidden in plain sight. Information would be sent to a recipient on the day of the pick-up through any means necessary, so long as the message could be received in private. How they happened to know where a recipient was at a given time of day, for they could go so far as contact him from a phone booth he just happened to be standing next to while crossing the street, Robin did not know. Their delivery staff, for some reason, never leaked information to the press, or to their cable guy, or even to their mothers. Rumor has it that all employees were implanted with chips that neutralized memory, from short-term to lifetime, depending on how well, or how badly, they followed company policy. There was no official information about how they handled their business and frankly, Robin didn't want to know. All he could be sure about was that only the richest people in the world could afford their services because they charged exorbitant fees, and if Bruce trusted them, Robin could as well.
Robin and Starfire sped through the isolated road leading to one of Chen's drop-off points. Even now, taking the route he was instructed to follow, Robin still didn't know what was at the end of it. All ChenEx said was that he would know it when he got there.
He turned a sharp curve and Starfire clung a bit tighter in response. He thought maybe he should take turns like it more often. When finally, they broke through the tree-lined narrow road and came upon a small clearing with a stone-well in the middle of nowhere, Robin hoped he was reading the omens right.
He skidded to a halt, a spray of pebbles and Autumn leaves shooting away from the wheels. When they came to a full stop, Starfire relaxed and pulled away. He was almost sad the ride was over for now.
Robin pulled off his helmet and unzipped his jacket as he looked over his shoulder at her. She had removed her own head gear. Her hair, having loosened from the knot she had twisted it into, was now wild around her shoulders and flushed face. He didn't know exactly what it was about seeing her so disheveled, but he loved it.
She smiled, unzipping her jacket. "I will never tire of that."
He cocked a grin. Starfire and speed looked good, but Starfire and post-speed looked even better. "Neither will I."
Starfire levitated a bit to make a graceful dismount and he followed, unfolding the bike pedal and leaning the bike against it. He had just taken Starfire's hand when a glimmer of realization crossed his mind.
They were in the middle of nowhere and they were alone; the sky was about as clear as it could get in the fall and there were trees tinted with gold, amber and crimson all around them, their leaves blanketing the ground in similar colors. It was like a dream, and there probably wouldn't be another day and place like it.
He leaned back against the bike and pulled Starfire to him, sliding his arms around her. She was surprised for only a moment then she smiled.
Robin grinned, leaning to speak into her ear. "Bruce paid millions for this kind of privacy. Would be a shame to waste it."
Starfire giggled softly. "Waste not, want not?" she said, turning to catch his lips.
Having her in his embrace and heady with the thought that they could make out on the motorcycle all day without fear of interruption, Robin couldn't help but think that his want wasn't going away anytime soon.
The wind was just crisp enough for them to want to press closer, but there was nothing cold about any of it. In fact, Robin was beginning to feel a little too hot. Suddenly, comfort fit denims weren't so comfortable anymore. Starfire showed no indication that she noticed, but Robin couldn't ignore what was in his pants. He pulled away, taking deep breaths to calm himself.
Obviously, I didn't think this through, he thought through grit teeth.
A mild pout formed on her lips. "Must we get back to work so soon?"
He managed to laugh softly. At least he wasn't the only one reluctant to cut their make-out session short. "Well, you know, the sooner we get this over with..."
Her pout disappeared and was replaced with a radiant smile. "We could swim in the Wayne Manor pool?"
Robin thought that a bad idea because it was... such a perfect idea. He stifled a sigh, putting away his thoughts of Stafire in a bikini. Talk about dangerous waters. Speed may be fine on a motorcycle, but there was no way he was going to risk his new-formed relationship with Starfire by going too fast. Even thrill junkies like them knew when to chill and Robin cared too much for Starfire to jump into anything too soon.
"I have a better idea," he said, pushing some hair off her forehead. "Since we're probably going to be working all day at the mansion, we could relax a bit before we hit the Bat Cave and drop in on a café I know up in Edgecliff. I'll try my best to tell you about the view when we get there..."
She grinned, knowing describing views and such wasn't his strong point.
"... but the view is the least of it. It smells fantastic because they always have pastries baking in the oven and the music's not bad." He cocked a smile. "The owner keeps this canary that sings all day. I doubt if it's the same bird all through out, though, because there's this orange cat that walks around and it's hella fat, like it eats canaries for dessert."
Starfire giggled.
"Coffee's good but their hot chocolate's the best. You could put marshmallows on it and everything."
She grinned, tilting her head up to rub her nose on his chin. "Sounds wonderful."
"It is. But first, we'll get this package-thing over with."
She sighed but smiled as she let him go. He left her leaning against the motorcycle while he strode across the small clearing.
He went to the well and there was a trap over its mouth with a heavy bolt. It wasn't locked, but it wasn't easy to crank, either. ChenEx had decided not to oil it, perhaps to deter any curious wanderers who weren't meant to stumble on a package that wasn't theirs.
Robin considered asking Starfire to unseal it; heck, she could rip through the entire trap without breaking a sweat, but his ego protested. It was one thing when Starfire was just his best friend and team member; another now that she was his girlfriend. It was like when girls asked their boyfriends to twist the cap off a jar, only the roles were reversed, and at the level his testosterone was right now, he couldn't bring himself to do the politically correct thing.
Steeling himself, he put more muscle into it until it gave. No easy task. He blew a breath when he threw the trap open and fished the package out. He strode on back to the motorcycle and was glad to find out that the box fit into the meager storage space.
When the storage space was secured, he guided her back to the seat.
"Did you go to this Edgecliff café a lot, Richard?"
He smiled, straddling the motorcycle to face her. He was no playboy like Bruce Wayne, but he'd learned a thing or two from Starfire herself to know how his woman thought. Still, he decided to play along with her. It wasn't like he wasn't going to enjoy it, anyway. "On occasion. It's quiet, and relatively isolated. Pretty romantic." He thought he set the bait perfectly.
Her eyebrow arched. "Romantic, is it? How did you find out about it?"
"Bruce mentioned it. I think he brought a girl there, once." More bait.
"It is... the type of place to bring girls to?"
He knew it. You sly woman, you. And he was right; he was enjoying this conversation. "Well, not just any girl," he teased. "My girl."
Her brow arched higher and he laughed softly.
"Hmph! What's so funny, Dick Grayson?"
"Nothing's funny. You're just cute when you're trying to fish for information. I've gone there twice, and I was alone both times. You could ask the owner."
"Goodness, as if I would do such a thing!" she said disdainfully.
Robin grinned, pinching her chin lightly and leaning over to kiss her. It didn't take long for her to kiss back and show him he was forgiven for teasing.
His heart leapt to his throat when her legs began to slide up over his. When she scooted forward on the seat, he didn't know what to think and he chided himself (but only slightly) when he found that he had helped her get closer. On the one hand, he saw no logic in putting a stop to something so good, yet on another, he knew that encouraging this pace would be a mistake. It was only the second day and already his body was desperately insisting that he make up for all those times he had taken those cold showers.
He refused to lose control, though Starfire was no help. Apparently, her Tamaranian zest for life covered everything, including driving her boyfriend crazy with longing. When his hands began to get frisky, he knew he had to stop.
Robin managed to summon all his will-power and pull away, gasping for breath. His hormones were relentless and made him regret it immediately, but he restrained himself with heroic effort. He almost missed the fact that Starfire looked like she had wrenched herself from him as well.
She leaned back, catching her breath. "This motored cycle was a mistake."
He stared at her, gaping while he breathed through his mouth, then he let out a miserable laugh. He was partially relieved that they had parallel thoughts on the matter and that they could talk about it openly.
Robin raked his fingers through his hair, gingerly moving as far back as he could. "That's one way to look at it." He was willing to blame the equipment, but only to a certain extent. He knew Starfire understood what he meant.
"There is a saying in Tamaran... and I found out that one Earthling, an actress of yours named Mae West, shares the same philosophy."
"What is it?" he asked, shaking himself from his haze.
"Harkl'r dun ef il'run."
"Which means?"
"Sex is emotion in motion."
He was speechless as he absorbed her words. He hadn't expected that.
"It is difficult–" she began "–when you feel so strongly about a person, to hold back and not express how much you feel for him with everything you have. In Tamaran, there are no taboos about this unlike here on Earth, but it does not make a Tamaranian's first time any easier."
Robin tried not to be too thrilled about the fact that she hadn't slept with anyone before, after all, it hardly would have mattered to him if she did, but still. "I'm not–the most experienced guy in the world, you know, but even if I were, I'd want us to take it–slow. You're very special to me, Kori."
She smiled. "I know."
He laughed awkwardly. "I'm not even sure if–Earthlings and Tamaranians... do it the same–"
"It's the same. Uncannily so."
"Oh." He tried not to be too thrilled about that either. "Well, that's one less thing I have to worry about now, is it?"
She giggled, blushing. "You worry overmuch."
"It's my nature."
"This, I know, as well."
He reached out and ran his thumb tenderly over the arch of her cheek before he sighed and repositioned himself on the seat of the motorcycle to drive. "We should get going if we want to get back to the mansion early." He gave Starfire her helmet before he put on his and zipping their riding jackets closed, he kicked up the paddock and started the bike.
888888888888
Le Canari Do'r was sometimes called Le Canari Do'r Mort on account of the high bird mortality rate. One look at the cat that prowled the premises of the café and the mystery of the dead birds was solved. Nobody, however, took it against the fat cat, for what was such a cat to do in a café named The Golden Canary if not eat its live performers?
Robin hadn't gone back to Le Canari Do'r enough times to be considered a regular, but being Dick Grayson, he was a hard person to forget. Robin suspected that the waiter who welcomed them wasn't the least bit French; he just pretended he was, and Pierre (whose real name was Billy), welcomed him and his "lady friend". The café was mostly empty. Apart from the two of them, there were two others who sat on separate tables minding their own business.
"Pierre" led them to a table in the patio overlooking Gotham City. He spoke with an accent, as if he was having a difficult time speaking straight English.
Robin grinned and he wondered how long Pierre's charade would hold out with Starfire around.
"Ehhh," said Pierre. "Pierre take what you like, yes?"
Robin, stifling his laughter, gestured to Starfire sitting across from him, as if to tell Pierre to ask her first.
"Ah! Le beau lay-dee first? Mademoiselle, tell Pierre what you like."
Starfire smiled shyly. "Du chocolat chaud avec de la guimauve, s'il vous plait."
Pierre stared at her, eyes widening ever so slightly. Robin willed himself to keep a straight face.
I knew it! thought Robin in twisted glee.
Pierre instantly looked constipated. "Y-Your French is..."
Starfire's brows knotted in worry. "Est-ce errone?"
"O-Oui?"
Starfire reddened in response to Pierre's incorrectly applied "Yes" to her question of "Is it wrong?"
"P-Pardonnez moi," she said in a mortified tone. "Le francais est difficile... je–"
Robin gently took her hand, chuckling. "Kori, the only person who needs to apologize is Pierre. He doesn't know how to speak French. He's just pretending."
Starfire let his words sink in before she frowned. "Oh."
Robin looked up at the shamefaced Pierre and said, "We'll have two hot chocolates with marshmallows on top, please. You should know that's what she asked for the first time. 'Le francais est difficile,' means 'French is difficult', and she's right. I barely know how to speak it, so I don't. Try taking a class. That might help your little act."
Pierre cleared his throat. "Yes, sir. Right away, sir," he humbly said. He was about to leave when he turned in Starfire's direction and said, "I'm really sorry ma'am. I–uh–hope you don't take it out of my tip..."
Robin and Starfire each arched an eyebrow in his direction and he scampered off, muttering their order hurriedly.
When he was gone, Starfire scowled. "Why did you make me speak French to him if you knew he could not?" she demanded.
Robin smiled. "Because I wanted to hear you speak it."
"You could have just asked me, you know."
"Where's the fun in that?"
"Hmph! Dick Grayson, this hot chocolate better be good."
He laughed. "It is. Yummier than Alfred's, in fact. Don't tell him I told you that, though."
They fell into a comfortable silence, interrupted only by the trill of the red canary from its cage (the pet store having ran out of gold ones).
The buttery sweet smell of pastries baking in the cafe's oven permeated through the air and the robust, darting fragrance of crushed beans was a perfect contrast to the sugary scent. He saw Starfire blissfully breathing the aroma in and he smiled.
"The cafe's located on the edge of a cliff," said Robin. "There's a white railing so that–you know, diners don't fall off accidentally."
Starfire giggled. "We would not want that."
He knew she was teasing him for his failed attempts at description and he grinned. "I'm a warrior, not a poet. Sorry."
She laughed.
He felt her thumb caressing the back of his hand soothingly, her giggle easing to a contented smile. She was turned in the direction of Gotham, though she couldn't see it, and she leaned back on her seat, basking in her other senses.
She looked so calm, so at peace that Robin suddenly remembered Raven's healing stone and wondered if the serene acceptance Starfire was exuding had anything to do with it. The remembrance of Raven brought forth other question he only now had an opportunity to ask. "Kori, I've been wondering about Raven..."
She smiled wanly. "All of you boys wonder about Raven."
Robin was surprised by that. He didn't think Cyborg or Beast Boy ever took an interest. "I mean, I know she's weird, and that she's really dark–wouldn't be Raven if she wasn't, and I probably wouldn't have her any other way, but–" He hesitated.
"But?"
"When we were leaving the tower, she said stuff to you. It sounded like she read tarot cards, and she spoke spells. Sometimes, I refer to her as a witch, in my mind–"
Starfire gasped, but she looked like she was ready to laugh, too.
Robin hastened to explain. "I don't mean it in a bad sense, the way Terra said it–"
"Dick Grayson--!"
Robin noticed that she called him by that name when she was displeased with him, in varying degrees. "Like I said, I'm not dissing her! But... it just seems so appropriate, that's all. Is there anything remotely true about what I'm thinking? What's up with her? And since we're on the subject, what's up with the two of you? It's like you've both got this secret–"
She sighed, though a small smile threatened to break from her lips. "It is not a secret. Raven is an occultist and she is Wiccan. It would be difficult for me to explain it to you in brief, for if I miss out on one thing, you will most certainly misinterpret and misunderstand its whole, and I simply could not do that to Raven. Raven would be most displeased by that. She confides in me because she believes I am the only one capable of understanding her practices."
Robin shook his head in feigned hurt, though his tone did not mirror it. "You superhero women give no credit whatsoever to your men. You all think we're a bunch of insensitive cavemen who carry sticks to hit people with."
Starfire giggled softly. "Well, you do have your bo-staff..."
"Cheap shot. You have your walking cane." The moment he said it, he wanted to take it back, but she merely laughed and he was immensely relieved.
"Point taken, Richard. The main reason Raven tells me and nobody else is because I am a goddess worshipper, just like her, and because–well, quite simply, she feels more comfortable confiding in me than the rest of you."
Robin's brows knotted in concentration. "I could respect her privacy. I understand that sort of thing most of all, but I'm her leader. I'd like to understand her; mainly because I don't want to misinterpret anything, whether my misinterpretation is significant or not. Doesn't she trust me?"
"It is not a criticism of your leadership, Richard." She giggled. "Raven is an enigma. There's no understanding her by telling."
Robin rolled his eyes. "I have been trying to understand without the telling part, but you know how difficult Raven could be."
"Yes. Stop trying. It is not about explaining her. That simply cannot be done. Just take comfort in the fact that while she confides in me the most, there are no four people she'd rather trust and be with in this world than us."
He smiled. "I could work with that. But I have to say that I've been curious about the stuff she told you at the tower. What was that tarot card she gave you?"
"Ah." She nodded. "The Fool; it had been flanked by the ace of cups."
"Yeah. And there were other stuff too."
"The Fool was crossed by the Emperor of five swords and underneath it was the World. She also mentioned a Hanged Man."
"Makes absolutely no sense to me."
Starfire smiled, but it was tinged by deep melancholy. "I will tell you about the Fool and the ace of cups, but the others... you need not know about those."
Robin wasn't a superstitious person. He liked black cats, walked on cracks; under ladders; and if he counted the number of mirrors he'd broken in the course of his crime-fighting career, the superstitious would tell him that he would carry bad luck to his dying day. Robin didn't believe in horoscopes and the only future he saw in a crystal ball was the regret he'd feel dishing money out to the gypsy who claimed she could read it.
But Raven's powers were so dark, so unfathomable, that he had long stopped trying to make sense of it. It just was. If she had it under control, he had no quarrel with it. And while Raven had many times claimed that her powers had nothing to do with seeing into the future, there was something about Raven and Tarot Cards that just fit so terrifyingly well.
Starfire's last words worried him. It was unlikely that Starfire thought them unimportant. It sounded as if Starfire would not tell him because she was protecting him from its implications. Whatever the meaning behind the cards she called "others", she didn't want to burden him with it.
"What did those other cards say?" he asked.
She neither smiled nor frowned. "Those other cards are vague. They could mean many things."
"Bad things?"
She hesitated. "I do not know."
Robin didn't like that hesitation. Starfire may be telling the truth; that she didn't know, but who indeed could tell the future for certain? If Starfire said she didn't know, it probably meant she had a bad feeling about it because she was never one to hold out on bright possibilities. He would keep those "other cards" in mind, but he was willing to let it go for now. He could hardly understand what was upsetting him, anyhow. They were just cards, right?
He decided to let her talk about the cards she was willing to interpret for him. "Tell me about the fool and the ace of cups," he requested gently.
Her smile returned, except without the melancholy. "The Fool means that I am setting out on a journey. This can mean many things, like a beginning, or perhaps a quest, or a birth, or a healing. It could mean several small journeys or one big one spanning years. Then again, it could be both. The Fool was particularly special to me because it was flanked by the ace of cups. It meant... a new beginning... for love and happiness. It was a journey I was willing to take and I was hoping it was you who would take the journey with me. Are you... traveling this path with me, Richard?"
Robin took a moment to process this before he leaned over the table and tenderly placed a kiss on her lips. She held him so that the kiss would last.
When they separated, Robin placed his lips to her ear. "Absolutely." Then he pressed a kiss to her temple before pulling back, lacing his fingers through hers.
Someone cleared his throat and Robin looked up to see Pierre with cups of steaming hot coco.
Robin let him place the cups on their table, marshmallows floating on the surface of chocolate and slowly melting into the drink.
"Merci," said Starfire, as a small smile played on her lips.
Pierre hurried away.
Robin led Starfire's hand to the cup, careful not scald her. Gingerly, they took sips of their chocolate.
To Robin, a cup of hot chocolate in the Golden Canary (a.k.a. The Dead Golden Canary) was always a sumptuous treat to the taste buds; this time was no different, but he was yet to hear the only opinion that mattered to him at the moment.
He watched her pause, lick her lips and sigh.
"Glorious."
He grinned triumphantly. "Told you the chocolate was worth the French faux pas."
Starfire smiled and pulled him close just to show him just how delicious and sumptuous the Golden Canary's chocolat could be.
In the background, the trill of the canary came to a shrill halt as the cat sought its meal. Starfire and Robin didn't notice a thing.
88888888888888
Robin leaned back on the seat of the supercomputer and replayed the footage with growing frustration. In the background, he could hear the soft ticker of Starfire converting the last of the documents into Braille so she could read them.
To ease his mind, he looked over his shoulder at her. She was already studying what documents have been converted and she was somewhat slumped on her seat, no doubt bored out of her mind but determined to read through all of them. On both sides of her were thick piles of Braille-converted reading material. Some of it she had set aside on a different pile.
When they got back from Edgecliff, they immediately set to work in the Bat Cave. Robin told Starfire everything he had found out since they arrived at Gotham, particularly with regard to Theodore and Alberta's report. He asked her what she thought about the nano-robots.
"That technology is amazingly advanced," she remarked in an awe-stricken voice. "Even in my planet, such robots exist only in fiction and mythology."
Robin was surprised by this. "Mythology?"
"Yes. Just like any culture, we have our share of legends. In the annals of our bloody history, there are tales of great animals with steel bones. They were controlled by mythical Tamaranean sorcerers. They captured the spirits of these animals and became connected to them, controlling them like puppets, but from the inside. Born of metal and flesh. That's what the legends say. Of course, there has been no evidence to suggest that any of that is true. And now you are telling me that this hybrid of steel and bio-matter has been created, but in microscopic form. That is quite amazing!"
Robin grinned. "It is. I thought at first Escher was behind it. After all, he made the calculations and the designs for a possible prototype. But..."
"Even if he has been dead for quite some time, he could have been involved. Somebody certainly took his designs seriously and succeeded in replicating it. I'd imagine that would be an astounding feat without the originator of the design around to guide the one constructing it."
Robin nodded. "Possible, but I'm not betting on it. I'll look into that possibility, of course. In the meantime, I've been trying to figure out exactly what these nano-robots had to do with Plasmus' escape. What do you think?" He had formulated several ideas of his own, but he wanted to hear Starfire's theories on the matter.
Starfire thought it over. "It is quite possible that the nano-robots emitted enough high frequency pulses to shatter the glass; or more simply, they could have eaten through the glass, just enough to weaken a section of it. All it needed was one crack in the right place for the whole case to fall apart."
Robin shrugged. "Simple enough. I had more or less the same theories. But what about the increase in his acidity? Do you think these nano-robots could have carried enough substances to react with Plasmus' chemical structure?"
"If there were enough nano-robots, I think so. If what your chemical scientists said is correct, then it is even probable that there were two sets, maybe even more, of these nano-robots, each with their own specific functions. One set was tasked to break the glass while the other was tasked to change Plasmus into what he is now. Who knows how many sets there were."
"I thought about that, too, but I'm still trying to figure out how the nano-robots got into the tank. It had to be on the same day. The nano-robots couldn't last very long after they're released."
"Then you must review the surveillance tapes. See if anything unusual occurred."
He smiled. "That's what I plan to do."
"And I will read these reports. My fresh perspective on the matter might help."
"Let's get to work."
They haven't stirred from their places since, and that had been five hours ago. Occasionally, they called to each other, asking how the other was doing. Perhaps there was a secret hope that one or the other would say something like, "I'm sick of this. Let's ditch the work and go swim in the pool!" but neither gave the slightest hint of being the first to give up.
Robin smirked when he saw Starfire toss aside a sheet and blow a breath through the corner of her lip. She leaned her cheek against her propped up hand and tapped her fingers on the desk, staying that way for a minute before sitting back up and returning to her work. It was evident enough that neither of them was giving up anytime soon, no matter how tedious the work got.
Fighting the urge to play a game of Minesweeper, he returned to his viewing. Minutes later, he changed tapes. Visitors came and went and each time, Robin looked out for someone who might leave something; a pen, a syringe, or maybe even lipstick since they had women visitors but none had left anything that might work as containment systems for nano-robots.
Finally, down to his last tape, he played it until he reached the part of Plasmus' escape. It was then that the footage came to a hissing end.
"Richard?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you not say you were looking for someone who might have left something?"
"Yup."
"Someone did leave something."
Robin arched an eyebrow. "Um... Kori? You know you mean everything to me–like, the world–and I don't ever want to hurt your feelings, but... you can't see..." He bit his lip, pained that he had to say it.
Starfire only looked mildly annoyed. "Do not be foolish, Richard. It is not a matter of seeing; it is a matter of hearing."
Robin absorbed this for a few seconds. "Go on."
"At the beginning of the day, a scientist addressed his colleague; one Putz
Robin panned a flashback in his mind, recalling the contents of the first tape.
The oldest scientist, one Dr. Ben Goldstein, arrived last among his colleagues in Plasmus' containment facility. Already at their work areas were Dr. Jefferson Welles, Dr. Henry Thorpe and Dr. David Coolidge.
Dr. Welles immediately got out of his seat and dug into his lab coat for his cigarettes, depositing the coat on his seat as he did so. "I'm going to go out and smoke."
"Dr. Welles!" said Dr. Goldstein before he could leave. "We're dosing Otto in a few–"
"Yeah, yeah. I mixed the stuff last night. You don't have to worry. Otto'll get his wheaties in time for breakfast, lunch and dinner."
"Where are they?"
Sighing in exasperation, Dr. Welles reached underneath his desk for his backpack and fished out several bottles of clear fluids. "Breakfast is served."
Dr. Welles left the bottles on his desktop and hurried off for his smokes, muttering, "Damn nag..."
"Eh, and you're a Putz!" yelled Dr. Goldstein.
Robin arched an eyebrow. "You're talking about Dr. Welles. He left the bottles and they used it to give Plasmus his doses of... well, whatever. They inject the stuff through the tank and the tubes connected to him. It's to keep him both healthy and sedate. It said so in the reports."
Starfire nodded. "Indeed. I read that part. I also read that the scientists follow a schedule for these doses. Fast forward to the last tape, before they give Plasmus the last dose for the day."
Robin concentrated and tried to remember every detail of it.
Dr. Welles was entertaining a friend of his he called Max. They were good friends in college. He, just like all their visitors, was interested in Otto Von Furth's strange prison cell.
Nearing the hour of Otto's daily dosage, Dr. Welles invited Max to smoke outside. Max agreed. When they returned, Dr. Welles and Max were chewing gum, likely from Dr. Welle's supply. After several minutes, Max asked where he could dispose the gum he was chewing.
"Just stick it under my desk."
"Excellent." He did and looked momentarily surprised when it seemed like he had touched something. "Oh God, just like old times! Are you still trying to see if you could breed life with all that gum buildup?"
"It's beginning to look really gross, so I'm sure it'll up and walk out of here one of these days."
Max got on his hands and knees and peered under the desk, staying there for several seconds. "Amazing... disgusting..."
"That's how I know it's working..."
Some time later, Otto was given his dosage and exactly five minutes later, the glass cracked, broke and Plasmus was awake.
Robin's eyes widened. "The gum..."
But that isn't even Max's gum, he thought critically. However, after a few seconds reconsidering, Robin realized that it didn't matter whose gum it was. All Max needed was an excuse to get under that desk, press something into the old gum, particularly something that contained nano-robots, and perhaps break it open.
Of course! thought Robin. It made perfect sense. Max stayed under the desk long enough. He certainly could have deposited anything in that goop in the few seconds he was there, and nobody would have noticed it. The nano-robots could have very well made the trip from beneath the desk to the remaining bottles of "dinner" on Dr. Welle's desk, and "dinner" would be laced by DNA-Enhanced nano-robots by the time it was all injected into Plasmus' tank. It was brilliant!
"Kori, you're brilliant!" He rewound the last tape and sought the scene with Max.
Starfire smiled. "I am... correct?"
"You're so correct I could kiss you right now!"
"Well, what is stopping you?"
"My adrenaline. I'm too excited by this new development."
She laughed softly.
"Kori, see if you could find anybody named Max in the Visitors' Log Book. Maybe he left a complete name in there we could check up on."
Starfire nodded and quickly searched for the file.
There was a beeping sound coming from the supercomputer and Robin clicked it. He knew it was communication from the tower.
Raven showed up on screen. "I have information on your nerd magazine."
"Cool. Send it up," said Robin.
At the sound of Raven's voice, Starfire looked up from her work. "Oh, hello Raven!"
"Starfire. You look different. You have bird boy's aura all over you. What's he done?"
Robin and Starfire blushed at the same time.
Beast Boy's face popped up on screen, pushing Raven's face aside. "Robin's done something? What did he do?" His huge eyes blinked on the monitor, peering critically at Starfire.
"None of your business what I done to her," said Robin pertly.
"Oh?" asked Raven.
He then realized that what he said hadn't sounded right at all. "Just send us the file."
Starfire giggled in the background but Robin bravely kept a straight face.
Raven, who was never one to dally, got back to the task at hand. "Your magazine has a very interesting list of subscribers. Short too."
"Yeah. Twenty three in the United States."
"Oh, by the way," said Beast Boy. "Fang broke out of jail and tried to bust Kitty out of prison the other day."
Robin bristled. "When?"
"Oh, that same day you and Starfire left."
"Why didn't any of you tell me about it–like, when it was happening?"
Beast Boy scoffed. "What the heck for? We got him back in jail and hardly broke a sweat doing it. There was no need to worry you."
"I would have appreciated knowing about it."
Raven shoved Beast Boy aside. "Stop being neurotic, Robin. We told you already, didn't we? We knew you'd get all edgy for nothing."
"I don't get edgy."
His statement was followed by a silence, punctuated only by the raising of several eyebrows. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Starfire's eyebrow raised as well.
Great, even my girlfriend thinks I'm a control freak. He sighed. "Get me Cyborg on the line."
"We can't. He's too busy fixing the T-Car. Fang punctured a hole through its roof..."
"Oh dear..." said Starfire with a soft gasp.
"... and sort of totaled it when he tossed it off the overpass..." finished Beast Boy.
"Oh dear," repeated Starfire in a darker tone.
Robin frowned. "I thought you said you didn't break a sweat!"
"We didn't," said Raven. "Cyborg went so psycho that he put Fang away all by himself."
Beast Boy cackled. "Dude, it was awesome! Nobody hurts his girlfriend and gets away with it."
It's all about girlfriends, Robin thought; Cyborg's T-Car, Fang's Kitty and his Koriand'r. And he knew for a fact that he was the luckiest one of the three.
He grinned in self-satisfaction.
"What are you smirking about?" Raven asked.
Robin frowned. "Nothing. Anything else?"
"We're still trying to put some facts together..."
"What? And you're sitting here exchanging pleasantries with us? We have no time for this! Get back to work!"
"Easy Chairman Mao!" cried Beast Boy. "We're going already! Shees-Louise! Meowr
Raven growled. "Beast Boy, that is not a scratching post. Get back here--"
Their faces disappeared as the window blinked close.
"I miss being in the tower," said Starfire.
Robin smiled wanly. "Yeah, me too. D'you have a look at that Log Book yet?"
She giggled. "It is right here, Chairman Mao. I am yet to read it."
He winced. "Am I that bossy?"
"You are our leader. You have to be," she replied, casting him a warm smile before getting back to work.
He flashed a secret smile of his own. He accessed the information Raven sent him and opened the list of subscribers for X-Science Newsletters. The first name that jumped at him was Theodore Griggs, but there was a name right on top of it that sounded terribly familiar. It was one Joseph Greenwald.
His brows knotted in concentration. "Kori, I have a Joseph Greenwald in a list of subscribers for X-Science Newsletters and... his name sounds familiar. Is he someone I should know?"
She was silent for several seconds before she replied. "Holi-tron and Gamers."
"What?"
"He was a scientist at the toy research facility. I remember him from the reports. There was nothing left of him but a finger..."
"Holi-tron? Holy crap! That's a spectacular coincidence, ain't it?"
"Quite."
"Any Max in the Log Book?"
"Yes. At approximately seven, post meridian, one Maxwell Victoria signed himself in. Never signed out."
Robin grinned. "That's because he left the place running and screaming." He turned to the supercomputer and flexed his fingers. They popped on their joints and he got ready to type. "One explanation to a coincidence, coming up." He set up a database for Joseph Greenwald, Maxwell Victoria and Jefferson Welles. He conducted a search combining their names, all at once or in pairs. He came up with something and it struck inspiration in him. He added William N. Escher to the list. There was a result, and it was beautiful.
To be continued...
Closing notes: I'm sure MOST of you have watched "Betrothed" and while I know many hated it, I personally loved it and I'll cherish that episode in my memory (and the DVD, if it ever comes out) forever. Now, with that over, here's the real reason I brought it up.
Jeanne-Marie asked me whether the history I have for Starfire has to do with her character in the show. My answer is yes and no. When I started this story, it was after the second season and before the third. So I might not be able to apply what happens in the third season, to this story, most especially since the episode of "Betrothed" veers from what I have planned for Starfire in this trilogy. It's evident enough if you read well between the lines of my story that I did plan that Starfire would be a Tamaranian Princess. What I won't tell you is the circumstances behind her royalty and the other secrets she keeps. My version is different, though I will adopt Starfire's nanny, Galfor (not even sure I got that right), because he's just TOO ADORABLE to ignore. I'm also thinking about giving a cameo to that HOT TAMARANIAN guy who was initially mistaken for Starfire's fiancé. I'm having dreams of him as we speak. Maybe I'll even throw in Glgrdskletchhh.
On the subject of Beast Boy and scratching posts, I read in a cat encyclopedia that when cats go around destroying furniture (like scratching things that aren't supposed to be scratched), they are stressed, or troubled. It's safe to say that beneath Beast Boy's wisecracking, he really does get affected by such things as Robin's gruff orders.