She had heard that subtlety was supposed to be a good thing. Well, not according to Tim's plan. Cass watched as he briefed, drilled, and pushed his teammates to their limit preparing for their assault on Johnny Warren. They weren't going to be subtle. They were going to go in with guns…so to speak… blazing…again. Cass hadn't quite figured out what was going to be different about this attack. Tim wasn't exactly sharing his every thought with her lately.

Which brought her to another question. What had happened in Gotham that made Tim even more withdrawn than he had been over the last few days? She figured…hoped…he'd tell her when he was ready. But for now…

"Cass, are you listening to me?" She refocused her gaze at Tim's demand, raising an eyebrow at his irritated expression.

"No." He blinked for a few seconds at her forthright answer, then scowled.

"Well, start, all right?" She didn't respond, making him feel like a heel. Straightening defensively, he continued, "I need you to go with Bart and find where Johnny's holed himself up. See if there's anything you can see that might help us defeat him."

"Ok." Her easy acceptance quickly deflated his sails. Glancing back to where his teammates worked on various assignments, and determining they were all preoccupied enough to ignore his encounter with Cass, he sighed.

"Why do you have to do that?"

"What?" Tim ground his teeth at her innocent query. After all, she knew "what". Fighting the urge to shake her, he simply crossed his arms and shot her a look. Cass grinned in response and shrugged.

"You're too…" she frowned, searching for the right words.

"Serious? Intense? Grumpy?" He fired the adjectives like gunshots, his voice short and clipped. Cass waited patiently, eyeing him a bit sadly.

"Yes. But you have reason." Again, Tim deflated. Some part of him thought he'd prefer she give him a reason to lash out…to fight. But, logically, he knew that would get them nowhere.

"That's no excuse," he said with a sigh. "I shouldn't let personal feelings get in the way…they'll cause mistakes, make me…"

"Human?" He glared at her but she shrugged it off easily. "You are human. Even Batman makes some mistakes." At his raised eyebrow she grinned. "Ok, not many. But don't get rid of your feelings so you…aren't human anymore. Use them. Make them make you better. Stronger. And…let people help." She glanced over at his friends and nodded. "They are a good team. You…make each other better." Tim ran a hand over his face.

"Cass…"

"Hey Bird Boy!" Tim stifled a moan as Conner jogged over to them. "Can't you find something for him to do?" he aimed a thumb at Bart who zipped up behind him. "He's…"

"I didn'tdoanything!" Bart piped up, intent on defending himself from Conner's slander.

"You did too! You.."

"Did not! Didnotdidnotdidnot!"

"Enough!" Both of them shut up at Tim's outburst. Cass held back a laugh at his pained expression, while Bart and Conner looked as if they were standing too close to a ticking bomb. "Conner, you're supposed to be working on target practice with Cassie and…"

"I was! But…"

"And…Bart," Tim continued as if Conner hadn't spoken, "you are supposed to be scouting for Warren's location."

"You said I had to take Batgirl and I was just waiting for you to finish and you were like talking for a week!" Tim rolled his eyes.

"It was five minutes. And we're done…so suit up and get going." He flashed a brief glance in Cass' direction, receiving an encouraging smile in return before she pulled on her cowl. An instant later they were gone.

"You really think this is going to work?" Conner leaned back against the wall, eyeing Tim's frustrated countenance.

"Of course it will."

"I'm not saying us boxing him in and letting the two of you fight it out is a bad idea…" Tim snorted in disbelief at that, "but you said it was going to be largely psychological, not physical."

"We have to take him out." Tim turned and stalked off, signaling an end to the conversation.

"I know that. I'm just sayin'…" Conner kept pace easily, "that you could use a lot more 'psychological' than just hoping the sight of you will scare him into submission. He may be freaked out by you, but you know a cornered rat fights that much harder." Tim paused and gave him a look.

"Thank you, Yoda. I'm working on that angle…I just need some time." And he was, Tim told himself as Conner shrugged and flew off to practice some more. It was just…taking a while, that was all. And the distractions didn't help. Shaking his head, he walked out of the room. Maybe some peace and quiet would help him concentrate.


A cold sweat dripped down the sides of Robin's face as he crouched in the shadows. The rest of the Titans were likewise concealed, waiting for his signal. It had been less than an hour since Bart and Cass had returned from their search with the location of Johnny Warren's hideout. Bart had been bursting to tell what they'd found, while Cassandra had been more subdued, though still able to give her own impressions of Warren himself. How had she put it?

"He's confident…but…not. On the outside. Inside, he's…a duck." Bart had cracked up at this and corrected her slip. Warren was a chicken…not a duck! Cass had shrugged it off, saying "whatever" and rolling her eyes, but Tim was sure it had irritated her to mess up. She was always touchy about not wanting to be thought of as stupid. Anyway, they had moved quickly, gathering the rest of the team and heading off to Warren's lair. Now they lay in wait, prepared to launch into action and surround Warren. But, unless he went after them, they weren't to touch him. He was Robin's.

The tactic was intended to allow Robin to be the one to take Warren down, but it also aided from a psychological standpoint…Warren would be boxed in…nowhere to run. He would be forced to fight what was, in his mind, an unbeatable enemy. It would be the perfect trap…or so Robin hoped. He still felt that he was missing something but, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what.

Signaling to the others, Robin dropped from his hiding place. Warren had just rounded the corner of the building he'd holed up in, entering the deserted alley where the entrance was hidden. He was accompanied by two bodyguards, and apparently had no clue he was in any danger. The Titans, following Robin's lead, also came out of their hiding places, taking down Warren's bodyguards in a matter of seconds and shifted to create an impenetrable wall blocking any escape attempt on Warren's part.

Warren raised his hands, as if preparing to attack, but hesitated, seeming to struggle against some internal force. The demon, Robin thought, stepping out of the shadow he had dropped into so that Warren would see him. A blank look came over Warren's face, followed, almost instantaneously, by rage.

"You!" He lashed out with his demonic powers, giving a frustrated roar as Robin narrowly avoided the blast. Oblivious to the warning of the demon within, Warren launched himself into the attack. It seemed Conner had been right…he fought a lot more fiercely when cornered.

"That's enough, Johnny!" Robin taunted him, dancing just out of physical reach, nimbly avoiding the blasts of energy and objects his opponent threw at him. The words were calculated to further enrage Warren, preventing him from heeding the demon's frantic calls for caution.

"I'm going to kill you!" Warren roared. He lunged forward, trying to catch Robin in a strangle-hold, but Robin easily evaded him, laughing in his face.

"Kill me? You haven't got a chance! You're nothing but a two-bit thug!" Robin laughed again, though this time it was at his own words…he himself had classified Johnny Warren as a major threat, not a two-bit thug… yet he knew that insulting him, questioning his power, would help keep Warren off-balance with enough anger to hopefully accomplish their goal. And it was working.

Warren was so focused on getting to Robin, destroying him, that he didn't notice the way his body was being drained of all energy…much as it had the last time he'd seriously faced Robin. Grinning now, confident of their plan's success, Robin leaped forward, intending to deliver a swift kick to Warren's abdomen, thinking the fight was all but over. He felt his booted foot connect with Warren's chest, but apparently he'd overestimated the amount of power Warren had already lost. There was a brief flash of light just behind his eyes, then everything went black.


She needed to relax. A sentiment that had been repeated through the years by friends, family, and colleagues alike. Babs shook her head as she found herself using the same command on herself. She had picked up the phone no less than eight times in the past five hours…each time sure that Tim was in trouble. Increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, increased respiratory rate…all of which could be signs of a fight, fear, trouble…but they could also represent excitement or just the increased physical activity that accompanied the job of young superhero. She repeatedly cursed the lack of more sophisticated surveillance equipment.

Tim was fine. He'd proven himself countless times in innumerable cases against superior, even "undefeatable" foes. And he had the Titans and Cassandra backing him up. With a nod, Babs told herself to stop worrying and focus on the uprising in Bhutan that Black Canary was on her way to help deal with. She wheeled herself towards her central workstation, intent on gathering the information Dinah would need. As she brought up the files, a shrill beeping echoed through her room. She jumped, startled, and told her racing heart to chill. After all, hadn't she just admitted that the past eight alarms had been false ones?

Shaking her head, she turned back to the console that displayed Tim's vitals. She would have to recalibrate it, she thought, so it didn't go off except for in real emergencies. Reaching out, she toggled the switch to bring up the data that was causing the alarm. As the screen blinked to life, Babs felt the blood drain from her whole body. Her fingers fumbled for the phone, and she cursed her clumsiness as it cost her precious seconds. Her hand still trembling she punched in a number.

"Wally? It's Babs…you've got to get to Cairo now. It's Tim…he's…" her voice caught, "…he's…dead."


To be continued…