A shadow fell over the jumble of parts laid out in a carefully organized manner. Tim sighed, rubbing his hand over his eyes. "Bart, I told you twenty times already, I don't have any…" he broke off as he realized it wasn't Bart standing over him. "Oh. Hey Cass." He turned his attention back to the supposed robot he was trying to fix. She stared at the back of his head for a couple seconds, then sighed.

They had holed up in the warehouse Bart had found for them the previous night…it was currently late afternoon and Tim hadn't stopped to rest or eat the entire time they'd been there. At least he'd removed some of his costume…his mask, cape, and gloves….but he was still in full "Robin mode" while Cass and Bart had changed into civvies in order to feel a little more comfortable. This, in turn, would supposedly help them "think better," according to Bart who had then vanished only to bring back food, water, and sleeping bags she suspected hadn't been aired in years within a few seconds. Now he was rewiring the warehouse in an attempt to get them better lighting and some semblance of a security system. He claimed he'd read all about how to do it and would have no problem…Cass kept her doubts to herself.

"I brought you some food." She held the Styrofoam container out to Tim, hoping to gain a response…in vain. He continued puzzling over the disassembled parts. She frowned and moved so she was blocking his view, earning her a scowl.

"Cass, I don't have time for…"

"It's a sandwich. Chips. Drink. You haven't eaten all day." If possible, his countenance became darker. "It won't take any time…you can eat and work at the same time. Even Batman does eat sometimes." She added with more than a little sarcasm. She plopped the food down in front of him, strongly tempted to storm off in a huff. Instead, she moved aside and dropped lithely to the floor beside him.

"Are you planning on watching me eat?" She shrugged.

"Want to make sure you do." She grinned, adding "Why do you think Batman eats?" He blinked at her blankly and she sighed. "Alfred makes him. Besides, I want to know how you're doing." She indicated the mess in front of them. He eyed her for a second, then sensing she wasn't likely to give up easily, rubbed his face in defeat. He reached for the container and opened it.

"Where'd you get this?" She shrugged.

"I dunno. Ki…Bart brought it. Why?" He chuckled wearily.

"Because this is one of Alfred's sandwiches." She blinked down at the item in question.

"Um…you sure? I didn't think he…"

"Who knows what Bart knows?" He shrugged. "All he has to do to find someone is case a town at superspeed. He found out my identity that way once when the universe was…twisted." She shot him a skeptical look. "No, really. Everyone underestimates Bart…even me. It wouldn't surprise me if he's known Batman's identity for years and just not cared…that's how he is…if it's unnecessary information it tends to slip his mind until the time it becomes necessary. I just…don't know how he'd know to get food from there. He shouldn't know that I'm living there right now instead of …" he broke off, not wanting break the easy mood that had stolen over them the past few minutes. Cass, reading his discomfort, shrugged and kept her tone light.

"Well, you should eat it. If Alfred made it, I'm sure it's very good." He gave her a half-hearted smile.

"I supp-"

"Hey guys!" They both stifled sighs and Tim found himself wondering if even Cass was regretting her insistence to include Bart in their case. "Whatcha doin?" He continued before they had a chance to answer, "I got the lights working in the rest of the warehouse and the old security system's working now, and I fixed the waterline and…"

"Um, that's great, Bart." Tim interrupted, fighting a laugh. "Great job, thanks." Bart beamed, thrilled to have been able to help.

"How's the robot coming?" He looked around at the scattered items. "I could…"

"No! I mean… no thanks. I still haven't figured out how to fix it to hold Warren." Bart sighed and an uneasy silence fell. Cass cleared her throat, never one to beat about the bush.

"How did you get the food?"

"Cass!" She ignored Tim's frustrated outburst. Bart blinked confused at the underlying tones…unsure whether or not he'd messed up…again.

"I…I asked Nightwing. I didn't have any money and I thought you'd like food from home but your apartment was locked up and didyouknow there's police tape all over the place? Oh, yeah, of course you do…but I didn't know where to go so I went to Blüdhaven and asked Nightwing where you moved to so I could get some food and he told me to go there and so I did and got the food and didImessup?" Tim sighed, burying his face in his hand.

"Nightwing sent you to…" Cass questioned, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer.

"Um…yeah. He said you moved in with Mr. Wayne, an old friend of the family. So I went there…I didn't go in costume! And the butler… I can't believe you have a butler! I said we were going camping and he gave me the food and the sleeping bags and…um." Bart finally ran out of words. Cass raised an eyebrow at Tim and he sighed again.

"Thanks, Bart."

"Am I in trouble?" Tim wearily shook his head.

"No. No problem. Sorry." Bart looked unconvinced, but Cass wouldn't let him reopen the subject, instead turning to Tim with a playfully stern look on her face.

"So eat your food and get some rest and…"
"I don't have time for this." He cut her off as she started to object. "I'll eat. But if you want me to figure out this robot, you have to leave me alone." She humphed at his return to his earlier grumpy state.

"Fine. Come on, Bart. Let's…find something to do." She paused for a second after Bart zipped away. "You know…he's going to find out sooner or later. You should just tell him…he should know what he's getting into." Tim refused to meet her eyes. She hesitated one second more, then turned and followed in Bart's wake.


"Thanks, Oracle." Nightwing cut the connection and sighed.

"What?" Flash paused in his tying up the gang member responsible for blowing up two bars and a liquor store and glanced up at his friend.

"Batman's asking why two speedsters have been in Gotham multiple times over the past few hours." He ran a hand through his hair.

"So I can safely assume Batman knows nothing of this plan of yours?" Nightwing shrugged.

"I don't know what he knows. But I haven't mentioned it…no."

"Don't think he'd approve?" Flash still wasn't sure he approved…but Nightwing had always had issues with Batman's approval.

"Don't know…don't care." His tension belied his careless words, but Flash refrained from comment. His silence paid off, as Nightwing filled the gap. "We've all got our own ideas about how to go about solving this case." He paused, considering carefully.

"Batman wants to use detective work to find the people behind the hit, which we pretty much all agree with, and threats to keep Cain in line, which some of us feel is unrealistic. Tim, obviously, feels the important thing is to find the guy in charge and take him out. Cass feels responsible so she's out to keep Tim from getting hurt even more, whether physically or emotionally. Plus, I think, she's trying to prove that she isn't a jinx or guilty…not that anyone really thinks that of her.

"Babs is caught in the middle, wanting to be useful, but being stuck just searching via computers. So she turns to you and me and others and works on doctoring the evidence to keep Cain locked up for the rest of his life. And as for me…well, I wish everyone luck with their hunting, but recognize that I'd just get in the way." He indicated his leg. "Which is why I'm going to at least make sure Cain gets blamed for the murder, which will have the added bonus of clearing Mrs. Drake once and for all. It will also take pressure off of Cass."

"What about this assassin they said was headed towards Blüdhaven?"

"Hmm? I don't know. I've never heard of her. Tim said she was going after Blockbuster…" Flash didn't have to read his friend's mind to know what he was thinking.

"What are you doing about it?" Nightwing shot him a glare as he finished restraining the man he'd knocked unconscious, then glanced away with a frustrated grunt.

"I've alerted the police…who've alerted Blockbuster. He's stepped up his security." He paused, then grudgingly continued, "If Scarab shows up, I'll hear about it and take appropriate measures. Otherwise…" He shrugged and pulled out a grapple-gun. Flash sighed. He knew his friend had been under incredible strain from Blockbuster and the temptation to let the assassin have her way would be overwhelming. But he also knew that Nightwing would never allow the temptation to be anything but…he would do all in his power to keep the evil man alive, even at his own cost.

Both men fell silent as they left their victims behind and headed back towards Nightwing's abode. They remained so as Nightwing completed his plans and Flash ran errands to get the supplies Nightwing had requested. In fact, it wasn't until they stood on the shore, viewing the dark silhouette that was Blackgate Penitentiary that the silence was broken.

"Are you really sure about this?" Flash glanced dubiously at his friend.

"Getting cold feet?"

"Of course not. But…" how could he tell his best friend that this plan felt more like something out of a cheap thriller than a strategy concocted by one of Batman's protégées. Nightwing sighed.

"I know. I just…it's the best I can do right now." Flash nodded, then disappeared, speeding towards the prison. He checked every door, window, laundry chute, and opening larger than a mouse hole. He only hesitated when he came to the door to Cain's cell. He glanced inside, wondering what it was that made a person like Cain. What shaped his mind so that he could sit there in calm serenity after committing hundreds of brutal murders, experimenting on innocent children, and using his own daughter as a weapon to be feared by all.

All this went through his head faster than his form could even become visible to the guard, then he was on his way again. He went so far as to thumb through the inmate and employee files in case Cain had someone working from the inside to aid his escapes. Then he dashed back across the harbor to where Nightwing stood waiting.

"Forty-five seconds…you're getting slow in your old age." Flash grinned.

"Just being thorough. I didn't find anything you hadn't already identified, though." Nightwing shrugged.

"At least we know. Come on. Time for stage two."


Cass returned to Tim's workroom a few hours later, feeling a bit guilty for snapping at him when she knew he was under so much stress. She had brought a peace offering of some kind of local dessert she'd bought at a local market. She and Bart had gone out to "check out the surroundings and get a lay of the land"…Bart's words. She had decided it couldn't hurt, so they'd spent an enjoyable hour or so together. Oh, it hadn't all been fun and games…they had learned that Johnny Warren had gained a reputation in these parts as being cursed by a demon. When Cassandra would have asked for clarification, Bart had informed her, with a very learned air, it was an expression used to describe someone very evil or with very strange habits…or both. He had then spoiled his knowledgeable impression by grinning and confessing he'd read it in a book somewhere.

Now Cass found herself hesitating on interrupting Tim again. She couldn't quite believe that just a few short weeks ago they had been so in tune to each other…relatively carefree. He had been funny and warm…and now he was in danger of turning into a mini-Batman. Dark, short with his friends, pushing people away. Every minute he seemed to slip farther down that road. Setting her shoulders, Cass pushed open the door, determined that that would not happen.

She needn't have worried. Tim was slumped across the table housing the smaller pieces of his high-tech puzzle. She took a few running steps across the floor before realizing he was sleeping, not passed out. She managed to hold back a relieved sigh, but failed to stop a giggle from slipping through as Tim slid out of his chair and landed gracelessly in a heap on the floor.

"Ow." Hearing her laugh he blinked blearily up at her. "What happened?" She could see suspicion lurking behind his eyes and shook her head with a twinge of sadness.

"You fell." He glanced around him with some irritation

"No kidding." She grinned as he sighed and struggled to his feet. "I fell asleep, didn't I?" She nodded mutely, still unable to quite hold in her mirth. He glared at her mutinously.

"Don't worry, I won't say 'I told you so.'" He rolled his eyes and turned back to the disassembled robot. "Are you…making any progress?" she sobered. He sighed again and shook his head and his shoulders slumped. "So…why not just stop? Make another plan?" He didn't reply but she could read his answer in his posture. She shook her head, glad to see a glimmer of 'her' Tim within this depressed figure.

"I…"

"Tim." She waited until he met her eyes. "That's very sweet. But…" she shrugged. "You already told him it probably won't work. It won't upset him…he just wants to help." He glanced away, frustrated.

"Yeah, well…I might as well. I don't have any other ideas."

"What ideas do you need?" He laughed.

"What, like we can go pick them up at the store?" She smiled, shrugging, and sat down beside him.

"Maybe not. But it might help to talk…explain what you're thinking. Maybe others can see what you aren't."

"In other words, two heads are better than one?"

"Or three…or more." He shot her a sharp glance.

"I don't think I'm ready to bring in…"

"I didn't say you should. It was just a suggestion" she replied acerbically.

"I know, I know." He ran a hand through his hair. "Ok. I guess I'm just stuck on one point. Where does Warren's power come from? What does it do?"

"That's two…" He gave her a friendly shove.

"Ha. Ha. Funny. No…I can't fix this to contain him if I don't know his powers! He could just get right back out…I mean…the guy died! I saw him, Cass. He was in pieces! How do you stop someone with those kind of powers?" She bit her lip, unsure if that was an actual question or more of the rhetorical kind.

"Um…"

"Never mind." He shoved aimlessly at the pile in front of him.

"No. Let me help! Let's see…." she screwed up her face, thinking about what she could bring to his considerations, "Well…where do you think his powers come from?" He gave her a look implying she had lost her mind…which she wasn't entirely sure was incorrect.

"How the heck should I know?" Tim shot at her, but then frowned recognizing that… "you may have a point," he admitted grudgingly.

"Huh?"

"I've been so concerned about how to defeat him, how to take him out, I forgot that important point. Johnny disappeared for…weeks, possibly months, before showing back up with powers." He made a face, disgusted at his own stupidity. "I should have been looking at that all along…how could I have been so stupid!" Cass winced at the venom in his tone, sensing in it another step towards Tim's transformation into another Batman…blaming himself, pushing others away…

"You couldn't have…" she tried to head off his angry outburst but was stopped by a different type of intervention.

"Hey guys, you better come look at this!" They both glanced up at Bart's sudden appearance.

"What?"

"That guy you were watching… he just blew up that bar he was at last night!" Tim was pulling his gloves on, his mask already affixed to his face. Cass, too, was donning her costume with all possible speed.

"What do you know about it?" Tim questioned.

"Um…some guy went in and then the other guy, the one you were following,"

"Johnny Warren." Tim bit out.

"Yeah. Him. He just blew the whole building up!" He made a face at them, clearly impatient. "Come on!" Time clipped his cape on and glanced over to see if Cass had likewise finished her transformation to Batgirl.

"Ready?" She nodded, clasping her belt around her waist.

"Good!" Bart had apparently taken her nod as a "let's go" because the next thing they knew he'd grabbed them both and zipped them over to the scene of the crime. As they stood outside, watching men dig desperately through the rubble to rescue casualties, Batgirl shook her head.

"Maybe it's time to call for back-up?"


To be continued…