"That doesn't make any sense!" Robin sighed and closed his eyes, counting slowly to ten…or at least trying to…in order not to lose his patience.
"Yes it does, Cass." She stopped her foot tapping and shot him a look. He sighed…why bother trying to hide things from her anyway? Of course his irritation would be obvious. But…she was a little sensitive about thinking she was being called stupid…and…
"I'm not stupid." Robin winced. Oh-kay, then. Bad idea to even think the word, apparently.
"I didn't say…ok…ok…" he held up his hand to prevent her from interrupting. "I didn't even think that you were stupid. I didn't," he insisted at her disbelieving look.
"But…"
"Cassandra, I would be the last person to think you were dumb just because something doesn't make sense. Stupidity is not a word that can be used to describe you. You know things…things about movement and fighting that I'll never understand. Does this make me stupid?" She seemed to consider this for a second, then her shoulders slumped in defeat and she shook her head. "Well then, there you go." He looked so proud of himself that he was tempted to smack him. Lucky for him, she decided he was still in too fragile an emotional state for that. She humphed.
"Well you were still…frustrated with me."
"With the situation…the situation…not with you." She glared at him suspiciously, but he was telling the truth, so she relaxed. He stifled a sigh of relief and turned back to the problem at hand. For the past…wow. Had it really been four hours? He blinked, but the time remained the same. Yup…four hours…four long hours since he'd found the entry in Batman's log that he'd thought would be a lead. And it had been…just not as obvious a lead as he'd hoped.
The entry had been from a night months before…while he hadn't been Robin. It had been about two months after his dad had found out and flipped out…he winced at the sarcastic tone in his mind. His dad was dead…dead. Deceased, departed, lifeless…gone. And here he was still bitter over his father's inability to accept him for who he was…Robin. He knew Cass didn't understand… else she wouldn't have tried beating him up as a way to get him to calm down. But it didn't matter how calm he was or how logical any of the arguments put forth by Cass or Bruce or Dick…none of it mattered. Because his dad had died because he, Tim Drake, was Robin. And that made it his fault.
He closed his eyes against the pain. His fault…he opened them again with a new determination. This would not happen again. A small voice tried to pipe up with the observation that this was exactly how Batman had gotten to be the way he was, but he squashed it ruthlessly, turning his attention back to the problem at hand.
It was now nearly dawn, and they'd made very little progress. Cass had long since ditched her Batgirl costume for a set of sweats she apparently kept it the cave. While he'd researched she'd taken a few breaks to work out…and he found himself envying her. It would be nice to be able to just pound out one's frustration's on a punching bag or workout dummy. Unfortunately, that wouldn't solve the case…he sighed and stretched, his neck making funny little popping noises that made him wince.
"Ow." He glanced over as Cass spoke, wondering if she'd hurt herself in her workout or something. She rolled her eyes.
"Your neck is not supposed to sound like that." Her comment startled a laugh out of him, and she grinned back at him in response.
"I don't really think my neck is supposed to sound like anythi…hey!" She had risen from her spot on the mat where she'd been stretching and attacked him with claw-like fingers.
"Relax." She hit a particularly tight spot and caused a few more pops. "That's not good." Robin rolled his eyes. No kidding. He tried to relax as she'd said…but it wasn't happening. Well really! How could he relax when she was…
"Ow!"
"Big baby." He squirmed as she managed to massage each and every sore spot…well, if one considered unrelenting fingers digging into his neck and shoulders a massage...
"I don't think you should…" she stepped back, and he felt suddenly bereft. He hadn't meant it…and he hadn't realized how much he was craving human contact.
"Feel better?" He shrugged his shoulders, rolling his neck around a bit.
"Yeah." She made a face at him.
"You don't have to sound so surprised." He grinned and she rolled her eyes. Neither said anything for a few seconds… then her demeanor changed, and she broke eye contact and turned away to study the computer…a rather pointless exercise, as he'd already read that particular readout six times. He swallowed, feeling the tension spring back into place between them. For a minute there, they'd fallen back into their old camaraderie. It had been…nice. More than nice. He found himself pondering where their relationship had been headed before everything had happened…and wished he could turn back the pages of time. And, a selfish part of him whispered, not just to bring his dad back. They used to laugh, and talk…now if they weren't in the middle of a tense silence, they were arguing. While Cass claimed she had faith in him, he didn't really believe her, and the lack of trust was causing him a nearly overwhelming pang of loss. He cleared his throat and fiddled with the keyboard.
"Soooo….." He had no idea what to say. He hated feeling so awkward with her! Apparently she felt the same way…she flashed him a half-hearted smile, her intentions clear. She wanted the old friendship back as much as he did.
"Could you…explain it again?" She had such a hopeful expression on her face that he just had to laugh. She grinned and they were back at ease. Robin glanced back at the screen, hoping they could keep it that way.
"Weeeell. Ok. You remember that night Batman sent you to my apartment while he and…" he broke off, feeling a twinge of remorse at Stephanie's early demise. He never did learn why she'd betrayed him like that, but sometimes he still wondered if he couldn't have dome something differently to keep her from her self-destructive path.
"That wasn't your fault either, you know." Cass was staring at him intently, and he sighed.
"I know. It's just…" he shrugged, unsure how to voice his feelings.
"Sad?" He gave a little smile at her understatement, but nodded.
"It's ok." He glanced up, startled at the comforting tone in her voice. Even after everything he sometimes had trouble thinking of her as having a gentle side. "I get sad too." His mouth twitched and he let it slide into a half-smile.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." They sat there for a moment in awkward, and yet strangely comfortable, silence…lost in their own thoughts. Robin finally shook himself and turned back to the computer. Cass straightened as well, prepared to do battle again. After all, they'd already argued this out twice before.
"Anyway…someone was out to get me then, too. Batman notes an assassin named Scarab…methodically killing families including boys who look like…"
"I know. I told you all that that same night!" He bit his lip against a smile at her outburst.
"Yes, I know you know…I'm just trying to put it all together. Batman and…um…Robin fought Scarab and defeated her, but she escaped and disappeared." He had to chuckle a little at that…not that it was terribly funny, given that she was a serial killer assassin…but not only had she escaped…she'd made off with the Batplane, leaving it for Alfred to pick up a few days later. That had to give anyone a chuckle…after all, how many assassins would leave a stolen vehicle of any kind, let alone the Batplane for the owners to come retrieve?
"What?" He blinked at Cass' question… her rather impatient question. She did seem to be losing her patience quite a lot lately. "What's so funny?" she insisted.
"Huh? Oh, nothing. Anyways Scarab was a hired assassin. Out to get me. Now it's happening again…and I don't know about you, but I don't think there's any way it's a coincidence. So…" he hesitated. This was where he'd always lost Cass before. "So, we need to find this Scarab person and find out who she was working for…then we'd know who was after me now." Cass gave him a dirty look.
"I still say it doesn't make sense. You want to find someone who wants to kill you by asking someone else who's already tried to kill you and you don't think any of them are going to kill you?" He remained silent for a minute, trying to puzzle through her tangled argument.
"Um…I didn't say I don't think they're going to kill me…I hope they don't… and I like to think I'm good enough to hold my own… but I know the dangers." His voice dropped in tone…his whole body tensing up as he spoke. "I know how fragile life is." Cass winced, feeling her own guilt in his father's death. "But I can't take the risk that anyone else will get hurt because of me. I won't take that risk. And if that means that I have to confront a few assassins and risk getting myself killed, then that's the way it has to be!"
She paled at this last statement, but he had turned and stalked away from her so he didn't notice. She swallowed hard…realizing for the first time they'd all been wrong about him. Batman, Nightwing…heck, even she had held some tiny fears that he'd go out and do something rash…something to cross the line and do something he'd regret. But this was so much worse.
"Wait!" She hurried after him, as he was exiting the cave. She didn't think he wanted to die…in fact she knew he didn't…but… "Wait for me!" He paused, and she caught up with him, pulling the hood of her sweatshirt up to help hide her face since she didn't have her mask anymore. "Where are you going?"
"Back to the Manor. Didn't you see what time it was? I'm sure Dana will worry if I don't come back." He shot her a wry smile. "She may accept my being Robin…but that doesn't mean she's happy about it." Cass kind of just nodded, a sinking feeling taking up residence in her chest. Nope. Tim didn't want to die…but he thought he had to…not that he had to die…but that he was willing to take any risk without too much concern for the consequences. He didn't see any other way to protect the ones he cared about. If he couldn't defeat his stalker without crossing the line…and she knew for a fact, now, that there was no way he would cross it… he may die. And if he died, he would no longer be a target, and everyone he cared about…they'd be safe.
She squared her shoulders. The fact that this mindset wasn't too uncommon in heroes…thinking they had to sacrifice themselves for the good of the world or mankind or…something…meant nothing to her. Tim did mean something. And she wasn't about to let him heedlessly throw himself away because he was stupid enough to think it was the right thing to do.
"I think it would be a good idea."
"And I don't." Dick allowed himself a small grin. It was a rare occasion that he wasn't the recipient of that particular glare…make that two glares… and he felt certain he ought to enjoy obscurity while it lasted. If there were two more stubborn people in all the world…he frowned, realizing he'd just been about to use the exact same phrase that had been used against him all too often.
"It would only be for a week or two…a change of scenery would do him…"
"In. It would do him in. That is what you were going to say, isn't it?"
"Of course that's not what I was going to say." Dick sighed. He supposed he'd better make his presence known before the two of them tore each other to shreds.
"Ahem."
"And furthermore, I would like to see how you intend to get Mrs. Drake to agree to this harebrained scheme…"
"Harebrained?" Most people would have recognized that the deepening tone was not something to ignore.
"…of yours and let Tim go off…" Then again, no one could say any of them were anything like "most people".
"Harebrained?" If anything his tone was even more dangerous. Dick sighed again and moved into the light, figuring he would do well to save the woman he loved from certain doom. Hmmm…that had a nice ring to it. He wondered if…
"What?" He blinked, caught by surprise as two pairs of angry eyes turned their attention towards him. He fidgeted uncomfortably…maybe he should have let "the woman he loved" handle this herself. He had a feeling it would have been better for his health.
"Um…If I may interrupt…"
"No."
"You may not." He ignored them.
"Let me get this straight. You…" he jabbed an accusing finger at Bruce, "said Tim could help with the investigation…then sent me to the morgue…understandable…" he held up his hand when Bruce tried to interrupt…putting himself back of the receiving end of a disgruntled glare, "as the kid shouldn't have to be put through that particular ordeal. But still…you promised he could help and now you want to send him out of Gotham for a few weeks where he couldn't have any possible chance of aiding our search? Do I have that about right?" Bruce didn't answer, but Barbara nodded emphatically, convinced by Dick's tone that he was in agreement with her. Dick shrugged. "Sounds like a plan. So…"
"What?" He winced. "Richard Grayson, are you crazy?"
"If I'm not, I'm sure I'm soon gonna be." He muttered under his breath. "Babs, just hear me out…"
"No. No way. No, no, no! Like I said, even if you could get Mrs. Drake to agree to this, Tim would never fall for it! And he'd resent it and he'd go out and do something completely foolhardy and rash and ..."
"You finished?" She hated being interrupted…she really did. He bit back a grin.
"I'm just getting started!"
"Well let me finish for you." He grew serious. "Babs…someone is gunning for Tim. That means we're in a race to find this guy before he finds Tim or anyone else." He paused, letting his words sink in. "Now I know that Bruce just wanted him out of reach of temptation…"
"Excuse me?"
"Cut the crap, Bruce. We all know how you are. Even if you do trust Tim not to do something he'll regret, you're never going to give him the chance to prove it. It'd be too dangerous." He looked Bruce straight in the eye, unspoken messages passing between them.
"I…"
"Anyway…" Dick spoke loudly, covering up any attempt Bruce might have made…to agree or disagree…it didn't really matter. "Tim does need to be in on this case…but maybe looking at it from other angles, outside of Gotham, wouldn't hurt." He hesitated. "I could have him come stay with me. I mean…Blüdhaven's close enough to get here if there's any leads, but far enough away to maybe throw any would-be assassins off the scent." He fell silent, looking between the two of them, searching for a sign that they'd understood a single word he'd said.
"I get what you're saying, Dick, I do. But I stick by my earlier statement. Tim is going to resent this…he'll see it as interference. You try to take him out of Gotham…"
"Too late." Three heads swiveled around to the entrance to the kitchen. Cass stood there, white as a ghost.
"What do you mean… 'too late'?" Dick insisted, a sick feeling taking up residence in his stomach. Tim…Tim was his little brother…nothing could have happened to him…why if he…
"I… I lost him."
"You what?" He winced…sometimes Babs seemed to forget that the people around her needed to use their auricular organs for hearing things beyond her latest screech. If possible, Cassandra turned even paler at Babs' outburst.
"I didn't mean to! I…he…" she took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. "The other night he said he wanted to find Scarab and…"
"Scarab?" Cass blinked, seemingly confused by Dick's question.
"Um…yeah. She's an assassin…she…" she glanced at Bruce, realizing that no one else had been let in on the fact that the threat to Tim's life wasn't a recent development. He didn't look happy, but he didn't move to stop her, either.
"She what? What happened?" There was a strained quality to Babs' voice, and Cass decided it would be better for all of them if she got to the point…quickly.
"She was hunting Tim months ago. Before."
"Before what?"
"Before the gang war. But after Tim quit." Dick straightened.
"You mean someone's been hunting Tim for…" he did a quick calculation, "over 6 months?" He whirled, aiming an accusing glare at Bruce. "And you didn't tell me?" Bruce simply grunted.
"Dick…" Babs grabbed his elbow in warning.
"This is so…so…" He couldn't get the rest out, which was probably for the best, Cass decided, as he was dangerously close to pronouncing that everything was Bruce's fault. The fact that Bruce would most likely agree wouldn't help matters, as it would only drive him farther from everyone, isolating himself and making it very difficult for the "Bat-family" to function as such.
"Hey!" Cass was tempted to knock all of their heads together, but restrained herself as they did return their attention to her at her outburst.
"Sorry. So, this wasn't a recent encounter?" Cass shook her head, unable to stop the guilty blush that crept up her face as she realized Batman was going to know they…well, really it was Tim's idea…hacked into his files.
"No. I fought Scarab with…Stephanie." Bruce paused. "When she was Robin." He added for clarification. "Scarab had already killed eight boys and their families…boys fitting a profile that matched up with possible suspects for the identity of Robin…Tim, that is." Cass nodded.
"Well, Tim thought if he found her he could get her to tell him who hired her, since Cain claimed he didn't know, and he was going to go look for her."
"And you didn't stop him?" Cass glared at Babs.
"He was very determined."
"Determined? Cass, you've got to be kidding! You're like the world's greatest sneak, you read body language, and there's no way Tim… or almost anyone, for that matter…could beat you at hand-to-hand combat!" Cass heaved an angry and frustrated sigh.
"Well he was very determined! And I'm not the greatest sneak!"
"That's not what I meant, and you know it! You are one of the best when it comes to stealth and shadowing people. How on Earth could you lose him?"
"Hetrickedme." she mumbled.
"I beg your pardon?" She raised beseeching eyes to Bruce who simply raised an eyebrow, silently commanding her to continue.
"He tricked me. I…he figured out that I was following him." She didn't bother to mention why she'd been following him. Let them come to their own conclusions. "He snuck out. He was wearing old, plain clothes. He…I don't know how he did it! He made a…a second Tim. And I followed the wrong one." She dropped her gaze to the floor, disgusted with herself.
"You mean he gave a second set of clothes to someone, tried to get them to imitate him?" Dick inquired.
"No. I…I would have been able to tell. If it wasn't Tim." At his confused look, Babs broke in.
"It's true. She recognized Superboy when we were on our cruise just from the way he moved. It was like a…a fingerprint or something, right?" Cass nodded.
"Did you find anything?" Cass shook her head. Bruce considered this. "Where were you when you lost him?" She hesitated, thinking, then scowled.
"It was by his old…um. I mean… I don't know if it's really 'his old' but…"
"For goodness sake, Cass! Spit it out!"
"His apartment. It was in his old neighborhood." Bruce nodded thoughtfully.
"So he could have set it up at any time in the past two years, for any number of reasons. Fine. I'll handle this." Thus having dealt with the situation, at least in his mind, he turned to leave only to be stopped by three voices raised in indignant protest.
"I thought you agreed that I was going to deal with him…so he doesn't get some kind of resentment for authority or something! You'll just botch everything!"
"You can't just hunt him down like a common criminal, Bruce! I mean…this is Tim!" But the loudest protest, the one that actually got him to pause, was much less eloquent.
"Nooo!" It came out as more of a howl and effectively silenced everyone in the room. Three stunned faces regarded her at if she was some kind of new species of rabid monkey. She knew she was most likely beet red. Bruce studied her with unexpected patience. He caught her eye.
"Why?" Unspoken messages passed between them…she didn't think he knew the extent of her feelings, but he read her well enough to know something deeper was going on. She couldn't explain why she didn't want anyone else to know of her suspicions…she just knew that if she got them too involved she was going to lose him. He'd feel betrayed or… she shuddered. For some reason she had a strange feeling that if too many of them got involved he wouldn't just feel betrayed…he wouldn't end up surviving whatever encounter was approaching.
"I…I…" Bruce nodded. She didn't know how much he'd seen in her face…but it seemed to be enough.
"Cassandra, you come with me. You two…" he paused. "Find something to tell Mrs. Drake."
"But…" they'd never know what it was Dick was about to say, because Bruce simply walked out of the room and Cass had to hurry to keep up. She hoped she hadn't made a mistake involving Bruce in this…but she had a bad feeling about this whole thing. And she knew she wasn't a detective. Tim was her detective…she had come to rely on him…so to find him she was going to have to accept Bruce's…or rather, Batman's…interference. She only hoped they weren't too late.
To be continued…
