Starfire lanced through the air, carefully controlling her speed so that the airliner Joker had hijacked stayed just within sight, to her a nearly motionless dot. There was no way the Clown would be able to see her here, especially at this speed. There was also no way he didn't know she was here. It was an obvious ploy but one they had to use. Behind her and coming up rapidly would be Batman and Dick in the stylized black jet, easily making up the headstart she and the commercial jet had. Behind them would be Victor in the Titan's private aircraft, which while faster then the airliner did not have the power of Bruce's absolute top of the line equipment. They would be in Gotham in a less then two hours.

In the Batcave, Barbara was watching the progress of the airborne chase on a satellite map. Rae and Gar sat nearby but were paying less attention. Gar sat with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped, and watched Rae. She was agitated, her normal calm demeanor coming across as brittle instead of strong and stoic. Few others would notice the tense set of her eyes but he did. "We have about three hours," Barbara said. "Sometime before that, Bruce will give us our marching orders." She gave Raven a sidelong glance and refrained from speaking. Even without knowing Raven at all, she could see that something was wrong… even given how very wrong things were in general.

Gar made eye contact with Rae, very deliberately mouthed the words "let's go" and stood. She took the hand he extended and let him lead her away. Barbara glanced at them over her shoulder but didn't react. They walked slowly to a far dark corner before either spoke. Gar pulled her to a stop and then around to face him. Again, she let him. "What are you thinking?" She shrugged. "Not much?" She gave a wan half smile. "What are you feeling?"

She shrugged again. "I should be angry, I guess. I should be seething and hating him. I'm not. I just feel… sick. My stomach actually hurts." He nodded but didn't reply. "You?"

"I'm past angry. I'm cold. I've never felt like this before." Rae took his hands and held tight. Gar swallowed and took a deep breath. "We; and I mean the Titans not just us; we've always planned how not to hurt criminals. We've worked to save them if we had to."

Rae nodded and whispered. "I know."

"But… but he kills so many..."

"I know," she repeated.

"And he might have come after us, just because," his voice broke for a second, "just because he thinks we're happy. Just because he thinks it's funny. That's what I think, anyway." His voice was more bitter then she had ever heard. "Not that, you know, we're important to him. We weren't his goal. It was just a little something extra for him. Like Corey." Her heart was breaking for him.

Emotions roiled in her belly, rage and hatred and fear, and she had to clamp down tight to maintain control. Her face became expressionless and remote and her posture became very rigid. "I understand, my love," she said in her most even and colorless tone. His flashed to her face in surprise. It was not her demeanor that brought him up short, that he was accustomed to. It was her words. She had never spoken to him like that before. She wrapped his hands in hers and pulled them up, kissing his knuckles and resting her cheek against them. "I do... but you can't. Gar, you can't do it."

He lowered his head so that his forehead rested on hers. "Why not?"

"Do you really need me to tell you?" He whispered that he did. "Because I'm selfish," she said. He pulled away far enough to look quizzically at her. "I'm selfish and if you kill him, even if you get away with it, it will change you. Either way, I'll loose you."

Robin had been silent since he and Batman had taken off. Bruce flew the plane and looked neither right nor left. "How do we save the plane?" he finally asked. "I've been trying to come up with a way but…He's going to bail out and blow up the plane." "

"I don't think we can. He knows he can't let it land."

Dick visibly struggled with his words. "There's an option."

Bruce glanced over at him. "A long shot and a dangerous one."

"Still an option."

"No," Bruce said bluntly. Robin began to protest. "Starfire can crash in through the side of the plane and surprise him. Maybe she takes him down before he does anything and maybe he doesn't have it rigged to go up in such a case. What are the odds of that?"

"He isn't suicidal. He'll have an exit strategy." Robin protested. "As small as it is, it's a chance."

"If the plane explodes with her on it, will she survive?"

Robin had to swallow deliberately before he could speak. "I'm not sure. Maybe. Probably. Hell, I don't know. Does it matter?"

"Yes" Batman said simply. "If we can't find any other options, I'll ask her to try it."

"No," Robin replied. "I'll ask her."

Starfire flew steadily, maintaining her pace. While she was often simple and emotional, she was not stupid. She had come to the same conclusions Rob and the bat had. She knew she could catch the airliner in a matter of seconds and she could tear open the door with little effort but was she fast enough to stop the clown before he did something horrible? Likely not. Her reactions were quick but not any faster then his. Maybe even not as fast. She wasn't sure. At times like these, she had come to rely on Rob's judgment. It was as if he knew her abilities better then she did herself. More then once he had set her tasks she did not believe she could complete and he had rarely been wrong. If he said she should take the clown, she would do it. While Rob was unsure, or was desperately trying to convince himself of it, she knew that she was unlikely to survive the combination of a bomb made by the Joker and the massive force of a fuel-air explosion from the plane's tanks. She refused to allow herself for even a moment to consider it.

Cyborg allowed the autopilot to do the flying as he ran the situation over and over in his mind. He knew that Rob and Bats would have the strategy and tactics side of things nailed down far better then he ever could but there was one thing he knew better then they; technology. He ran the problem again and again. Could he get information from the airline and do something useful remotely? Was there some flaw in the airliner's systems he could take advantage of? Possible approaches would occur to him and he would quickly find a flaw. Maybe his mind was just mush from stress and lack of sleep and he would be better served shutting down and getting some sleep. No. He shook his head to clear it and took a deep breath. "Let's take a step back," he said aloud. "Am I seeing the whole problem?" He tried reframing the question. It wasn't the plane that was the problem. It was the bomb they had to assume was set and that damn detonator Joker surely had close to hand that he could use anywhere on the plane. He stopped at that thought and cocked his head to one side. The detonator. The real problem was the radio detonator. He laughed and thought this new perspective through carefully. Reaching down to toggle the comlink with the Batplane he muttered "Got you, you son of a bitch." Once Rob replied, he simply said, "Jamming."