Thwack!

"Do these guys seem a little out of it to you?"

Crunch!

"Yeah, probably hopped up on some new drug…another item to worry about."

Thump!

"Well…hold on..."

Crash! Smack!

"There. Like I was saying… at least they aren't packing…" the sound of gunfire effectively cut off Robin's sentence.

"You were saying?"

"Nope. Not a thing." The sound had come from further away, though, as if it were newcomers approaching the fight.

"Hey, Oracle, where are we on that backup?"

"Having trouble, twenty-something wonder?"

"Oh no. It's a ball, here, really. I just thought we might like to share the fun."

"Batgirl's on her way, ETA three minutes." Though there were already a good ten or twelve fighters down for the count, enough remained active to fill the next three minutes with a tough workout for Robin and Nightwing. Out of the corner of his eye, Robin noticed a couple cars approaching, guns hanging out the window.

"We've got company!"

"No kidding." The cars screeched to a stop, spewing out armed…police officers?

"Ummm…did I miss something?"

"Only if I missed it too. We'd better…" a sprinkling of gunfire over their heads caused them to duck. The people who had originally been fighting pulled back, collecting guns and ammunition from the newcomers. A dark figure swooped down beside them.

"What kept you?" She didn't answer, instead focusing on one car in particular.

"Oracle. He's here."

"Who's here, what…?" Batgirl clamped her hand over Robin's mouth.

"Your policeman?"

"Yes. He brought the guns here. The fighters…they're also asleep." Babs swore, softly, but it still came over the comm.

"You guys, pull back. There's something going on here…"

"No kidding." The mob was armed now, and descending once again towards the vigilantes. Oddly enough, as violent as they were getting, they completely ignored the innocent bystanders... which was a welcome change, but it also focused a lot more attention on the heros. "I feel like Frankenstein's Monster! All that's missing are some pitchforks."

"Get out of there, now!"

"But the civilia…"

"They won't attack them." Batgirl dragged Robin back towards the alley, where they could escape to the rooftops. Nightwing followed reluctantly. "They are…programmed, or something...just after us right now."

"Listen to her. Batman's headed back to the cave to do some further research on the Joker's toxin and the antidote. You guys meet him there."

"You think this is related to…"

"I really don't know. But Cass had a point earlier when she said that police officers got hit with the gas and now some of them are stealing weapons to hand out to a mob?"

"We don't even know that these are the same…"

"Talk later, move now." Batgirl shoved Nightwing over a few centimeters as a bullet whizzed by his head. He glanced back and saw the throng had followed them into the alley. Robin already had his line out and Batgirl was quickly following suit. Nightwing, recalling the trouble that being shot had caused him last time, decided that he could finish the conversation from a safer location.


"I don't like your attitude."

"Well I don't like your attitude, so we're even." Tim and Cass exchanged exasperated glances as Dick and Bruce…well, Batman, since he hadn't bothered to remove the costume, or even the cowl…squared off. And things had been going so well between the two of them lately, too. But when they had all reached the cave after their run-in with the crazed crowd, Batman had surprised them all by declaring, point blank, that he neither needed nor wanted their help on this case any more. Dick, obviously, had taken exception to this, and had begun to argue.

"Gotham is…"

"Don't give me that 'my city' crap, Bruce! I protected this city just as…well almost as long as you…I have just as much claim to…"

"Fine. You can patrol and fight whomever you want… just stay off this case."

"I don't believe this! What do…" Tim tuned them out as he turned to Cass.

"You'd think this was a new development, wouldn't you?" She didn't answer, staring, instead, intently at the quarreling crime-fighters. Tim tapped his fingers against a stalagmite impatiently. There were so many other things they could be doing right now. More important things. "Maybe we should…"

"No." Ok…so she wasn't going to be any help. He glanced over at them once more and, seeing that Batman was sufficiently occupied, he slipped around the room to a secondary computer terminal stood. He slid into the chair and tried to bring up the analysis and any other information Batman had collected and compiled about the chemical they were dealing with.

"Come on. Come on…" he knew he didn't have a lot of time before Bruce noticed his activity and probably shut him down…possibly for good. He nearly growled when he found the files and they were locked up tighter than Fort Knox. He felt a presence behind him and he glanced back. Cass stood there, still watching Bruce and Dick, but also peeking at Tim's attempts to hack into the protected files.

"Better stop." Tim looked over at the feud, not noticing any difference, but Cass could read body language a lot better than he could. If she thought he was going to get caught, he'd believe her. He shut the station down, knowing that Bruce would probably still find out about the attempt…he probably triggered some kind of electronic alarm. Tim was good with computers, but only Oracle had a chance of competing with Batman.

"I can't believe he's doing this…again." She blinked at his bitter tone, then shook her head.

"Something…he knows something. He doesn't want us out there…there is more to this, this…this case. More than just police and gangs. More, maybe than Joker. He…you know he trusts us, right?" Tim shrugged, not sure of the reasoning behind her question and the apparent change in subject.

"Umm. I suppose. He's not really showin…"

"No. I know you don't."

"Hey! I didn't..."

"Shh!" She looked down for a moment, lost in thought, then motioned for him to follow her. "You think you do. Dick isn't so sure. Babs doesn't think so at all, most of the time. But you don't…understand him. He trusts us. But he…he is responsible. For what happens." Tim thought he could see where she was going with this.

"I know he feels re…"

"No. He is responsible." Tim blinked, confused.

"He is not. He can't control…"

"But he believes he should be able to. So to him, it is reality, even when we don't see it. The…those people. They are being controlled by someone else. But did you see, the police officers still had talents… training. The…whatever it is doesn't take that away. What if one of us got under that control?" Tim nodded reluctantly. "Or, because it may be related to Joker, if one of us is hurt or…" she bit her lip, not caring to finish that thought. "He would blame himself because he didn't catch him on time." Tim knew that was true. He always blamed himself when something went wrong.

"I understand that he may want to protect us, but he also has to let us do our jobs."

"But he is trying to get things back under control. He can't control us. Even if we did everything…everything he told us, we are still individuals. Too many factors."

"So you're saying he won't accept help because he trusts us but is worried and trying to protect us…yet you're also saying that we're loose cannons…we're going to trip him up? You can't have it both ways, Cassandra!" Cass sighed, rolling her eyes and sitting down on one of the cave's formations, rubbing her forehead absently.

"I…can't explain. You are right…he doesn't trust anyone, not all the way. Though he trusts more than you think. But now it is about control…not trust. He has to be in control of the situation. In his mind only he is capable of it…not because he doesn't trust, but because he sees each of us, our strengths...and weaknesses and… if something goes wrong, he wants to be the only one blamed. So we can continue even if…" she broke off, her voice feeling as if it would strangle her. Tim eyed her thoughtfully.

"I guess I can see what you're saying. But we can help, here. I know we can." She nodded. She had felt the same way. Though she understood what Batman was thinking, she didn't necessarily agree with him all the time.


"This wasn't exactly what I had in mind." Batgirl ignored him as she crouched on the roof of the hospital. There were three patients, victims of Joker's attacks, who hadn't been released yet. Robin had said he wanted to help, but staking out the hospital and following a released patient to see if he was under some kind of mind control wasn't his idea of a foolproof plan.

"How else will we find out if they're the same people?"

"Lots of ways. We did manage to take out a few of the people in the mob…if the others didn't untie them, which they probably did, we could check the police records and see if they match up. If the officers aren't showing up for work, we could see if there's a correlation…there are other ways."

"This is faster." He started to object, so she continued, "and this way Batman doesn't find out as fast." She did have a point, there. He knew Batman had programs in place to alert him when certain files were accessed, or when certain key words were entered together…stuff like that. Even if he got Babs to agree to help them, Batman would probably know within seconds, and Robin would probably no longer exist a minute or so after that. Which brought up a good question…why was he risking getting fired as Robin to follow up a very tenuous lead again?

He glanced over at Batgirl. Oh…yeah, that's right. Though the others hadn't noticed, in fact it seemed likely that Cass herself hadn't made the connection, she had been acting…slightly different since the mob's attack. It wasn't an obvious difference…she wasn't talking strangely or even behaving oddly…except for one thing. Right now she was focusing intently on the street below, but every so often…yep. She lowered her head, shaking it a little. Though he couldn't see her face because of the mask, he guessed that she probably was blinking or simply closing her eyes.

Headaches…migraines, to be precise. He had suffered through enough of them, usually caused by the incredible stresses he put himself through, to be able to recognize them in another. It shouldn't have worried him…they were a common enough occurrence. Except…he hadn't ever seen Cassandra lose focus like that. He hadn't known her long enough to know if she had regular headaches. But he had known Batgirl long enough to know that usually even a bullet wound wouldn't stop her when she decided to go after something…or someone.

Tim was a detective. That was his job as Robin. He had uncovered the secret identities of Batman and Robin when he was just a kid. And he was starting to put some pieces together. Random, seemingly unconnected events were falling into place. And, since Batman was too focused on finding Joker, as were the others, he had decided it was up to him to keep an eye on Batgirl.

"What?" Whoops, she had caught him looking at her. He obviously wasn't good enough at keeping his body language from telling her his thoughts, or maybe the street lights were simply bothering her head, because, after one more quick glance to make sure all was quiet down below, she stood and walked towards the center of the roof, further from any possible prying eyes or ears. Robin remained where he was, hoping for a diversion. There was none. He risked a glance back at Batgirl and received a beckoning wave. Great. Now he was in trouble. There was no way he could lie to Cass, even if he really wanted to. He reluctantly followed her into the shadows.

"Yeah?" Right, like she was going to buy that…don't play innocent, just…tell her what you suspect.

"What is…ugh…" she rubbed her head, fighting a wave of pain. "You…" He sighed.

"Here, sit down." He pushed her gently over to a small covered box that held the controls to the hospitals massive air conditioning and purifying systems. She complied without argument…a fact that in and of itself was indicative of the pain she was feeling. He dug around in his utility belt. "Here."

"What…?"

"It's a… um…painkiller." It was actually a prescription drug that specifically targeted migraines, but he didn't think she needed to know that. He thought she scowled, though he couldn't be sure through the mask.

"I don't…"

"Just take them!" Apparently his voice was too loud for her, even though it wouldn't have carried further than a few feet, because she flinched. He crouched down beside her, lowering his voice. "I know you don't think you need to…you and Batman…you keep going even with bullets in you. But trust me on this, it will help!" She shook her head slightly.

"No…no drugs." Robin rolled his eyes beneath his mask.

"Trust me…I know what you feel like right now, and any side effects from this medicine will be minor compared to the consequences of not taking it. You're already losing focus, which is so totally unlike you." She clutched her head in her hands, fighting against the weakness.

"We don't…have…time…"

"You're right. We don't have a lot of time, so take these and I'll explain my theory." She gave him a look of pure loathing. "Hey, chill, ok? It's not a complicated theory…and it has to do with your headache and the case." She sighed, becoming completely still, as if she was bracing herself…which, he reflected, she probably was. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she held out one gloved hand, taking extreme care not to move her head.

Both of the young vigilantes had water containers in their utility belts…one never knew when one may become trapped somewhere and even their normal nightly activities kept them mobile enough to require rehydration…and Cass ended up drinking all the water contained in both vessels as she attempted to gain control. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. Tim knew the pills usually took at least half an hour to work, but they couldn't really just sit there that long. Deciding they had taken more time than they could really afford, he began to speak…softly, so as not to aggravate her condition.


To be continued…