Chapter 21

Batman, for the moment, was asleep. It was rare he slept while outside of the cave or his home, but he admitted his need for rest when he started stumbling over his own feet. He was dreaming of when Robin had been younger, and he could almost hear the boy's protests when Batman insisted he stay home and study rather than going out on rounds.

Sobs from the real world punctuated his sleep, and he was roused at last by a despairing little sniffle. Opening his door, he found Starfire crouched in the hall, sobbing and hiccupping and looking thoroughly miserable.

"Starfire, what is it?" he asked, sitting down beside her on the floor. "What's the matter?"

She wailed and buried her face in his chest, sobs still shaking her shoulders. Her words were garbled, but he was able to make sense of them: she missed Robin, and she missed him terribly.

"I know," he murmured, trying to comfort her. He was not used to teenaged girls sobbing on his shoulder. "I miss him, too."

It took the better part of an hour to get her calmed and back to bed, and by that point he was thoroughly exhausted. The sooner they found Robin, the better. Why hadn't Beast Boy reported in? He was supposed to do so daily. He sighed, settling back into his pillow. Another problem to be dealt with. Well, he'd deal with it after some sleep. He'd be able to think better in the morning.

Space

Slade woke, furious with the treatment he'd been receiving. He wondered what they had done with Karlton since his faithful butler was not in the same room with him. How long had it been since he'd been given a dose of that awful sedative? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't about to take another one. He had to get out of here and regain the upper hand. He wiggled, trying to bring his wrists together long enough to hit a button on his wrist unit. Once pressed, it would send a Sladebot to his current location, and voice commands from him would tell it what to do. Using it, he would be able to locate Karlton's tracker and find him. His man didn't deserve to be trussed up like a chicken even though his master was suffering under that same indignity. Slade snarled, very soon Mr. Weiss would be paying for all of his recent discomfort.

Slade lay back and waited, hoping that the 'bot wouldn't take too long to arrive. He was quite tired of being tied up and—

With a crash worthy of Atlas, the 'bot burst through the wall and headed towards Slade, cutting implements ready to free him from his bonds. Once free, Slade stretched and commanded the 'bot to locate Karlton. He grinned. How simple and how foolish, they had been keeping him right next door.

The sound of running feet interrupted Karlton's rescue, and Slade turned in a defensive crouch, ready to inflict damage on whoever it was. Cyborg barely had time to defend himself, and Slade easily dodged a volley of fire from Starfire. By that point the 'bot had freed Karlton, so Slade joined it, ordering it to take him and Karlton out of there. He grinned almost demonically as the cold night air hit his face. He was free, and it was time for revenge.