Chapter 8 – Wind of change
"Who are you people? And why are you looking for Rachel?" I asked the parents impatiently as they were roped down on chairs. Dick and I were questioning the mother and father, while Rory, Gar and Kory did the same with the kids.
"Oh, dear, you're right." The man talked with a sweet voice. "How rude of us to not introduce ourselves. I'm Dad. This is Mom." He said politely.
"We're pleased to meet you, Miss Raymond, Detective Grayson." The woman added as I stood there, bewildered. What the hell? "And what a nice bird suit that you have, if I do say so myself. That was quite unexpected." She said to Dick.
"Quite." The man agreed.
"I asked a question." I shook my head trying to shake off this nonsense bullshit.
"Yes, you did. My apologies. All the fighting to deliver her, of course." The mother responded.
"To who?"
"Why, our employer, dear." She added as a matter of fact as I scoffed. Really? I never would've thought…
"Who's your employer?" Dick continued.
"I can't answer that. Loose lips sink ships."
"That's true. Nobody likes a tattletale." The father agreed again as I was losing my patience. A nice little punch might change their mind.
"Wait, come here." Dick grabbed my arm, sensing my intentions. "The way they're reacting, I've seen this behaviour before back in Gotham." He lowered his voice. "They're brainwashed. Beating the shit out of them isn't gonna make a difference." He added reasoning.
"Well, it would make me feel better" I tried as he looked at me strictly. "Okay, so now what?"
"Let's check their car, see what we can find." He came up with the idea as we left the psychos in the room.
We barely started the search when I've heard Rach behind.
"So you're Robin, huh?" She addressed it to Dick who now turned to her letting me continue the seeking. "That's your big secret?"
"I was gonna tell you. Look, when I was in Detroit, I was planning on leaving Robin behind."
I've heard them talking as I checked the glove compartment.
"No luck, huh? Why?"
"When I put on that mask..." Dick started searching for words. "When I put it on, I become someone. Someone I can't control. Someone that likes hurting people." He explained as I finally found a usable info. A GPS.
"I know the feeling." Rachel ensured him.
"I know you do." Dick noted as I joined them.
"So, uh, Batman..." Gar arrived as well. "You know him?" He asked excited as I smiled at his enthusiasm.
"Of course he knows Batman." Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Are we gonna see him?" Gar tried pleading. "I'd really like to meet Batman."
"No, you're not." Dick said with a small chuckle as he turned back to me.
"A GPS with the last address and a business card." I showed him. "All leads to Dr. Anderson"
"Great, I'm gonna find out who's running this freak show." He said reaching for the items but I pulled them away, shaking my head.
"We are going to find out" I told him firmly. He pressed his lips together, measuring me, but eventually he nodded reluctantly. Either he was getting used to me too, or he just realised it's completely futile to argue with me.
"I thought we weren't splitting up." Rachel noted bitterly.
"We're coming back." I stepped closer to squeeze her hand.
"I promise." Dick added as she pulled me in for a tight hug, accepting the turns of events.
"Keep him safe, okay?" She whispered into my ear.
"I will" I reassured her smiling as Kory showed up behind her.
"Can you watch out for them?" I asked her showing the location we were heading.
"Of course." She said as we got in the car.
DDD
"You were totally drooling" Dick said teasing as I nudged him playfully. "It's not very nice, Rory"
"I most definitely wasn't" I fell asleep that's true, but drooling was not my style.
"You always do" He smirked at me.
"And you snore" I retorted as he scoffed letting out a small laugh. It was good to release a bit tension but the peace was broken soon as the concerning thoughts crept back into my mind.
"What do you think will we find there?"
"I don't know" He answered honestly. "But we will figure it out. Together" He added ensuring me which worked surprisingly well as I sent him a half-smile.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. We arrived to our destination a half hour later. It was a huge building, its wall almost made full of glass, windows.
"Butterscotch?" A nice old lady asked us as we entered, offering some candy. We exchanged a glance.
"Thank you." I accepted it as we were waiting for the elevator.
"You're very welcome, dear." She said, turning back to watering the plants.
That was weird... I raised my brows. Everything here is weird. I added, looking around.
Couldn't agree more. Dick thought. Let's find some answers so we can leave this damn place. He said as we stepped into the lift. It brought us right at the penthouse. The door was ajar and after a cautious knock, we entered.
"Detective Grayson. Miss Raymond." A man in his mid-forties greeted us, obviously knowing who we were.
"Are you Mr. Adamson?" Dick asked as we approached him slowly.
"Dr. Adamson." He corrected him. "Are you hungry?" He asked politely. "I've got something on the stove. You're not a vegetarian, are you? I do prefer an animal-based protein."
"Who are you people, and what do you want with Rachel?" I questioned, getting annoyed with their attitude.
"As much as I'd love to have a lengthy conversation with you about Rachel Roth, Lorelei, I'm afraid there's no time." He talked to me in a calm tone, making me even more pissed. "You found me. I've been exposed. So the organization is sending people to kill us. We have one minute. Unless we leave right now. Or we could stay for one last glass of champagne." He informed us, just like he'd been giving us a weekend weather forecast.
"No one knows we're here." Dick denied hesitantly.
"I do. So does the old woman downstairs. They're everywhere." He confirmed our worst fear.
"Does this organization work for Rachel's father? Is he still looking for her?" Dick continued trying.
"You could say that, yes." Adamson nodded. "Oh, dear, my crepes are burning." He got worried as I finally lost it.
"If you don't give me some answers, I'm gonna stick your face in it." I threatened him, grabbing his collar.
"I'm sorry, Lorelei, but we have ten seconds before the final answers come for all of us." He still remained calm as I released him scoffing.
"What do you want with Rachel?" Dick asked now.
"I do love a good champagne."
"We want some answers, that's all"
"Five, four, three..." He counted down. I looked at the door getting worried. What if he's telling the truth?
"Okay, you're coming with us." Dick decided, but it was too late. As Adamson reached one, the door busted open, heavily armed units marching in with riffles and other guns. They didn't ask any question…
We got cover from the first bullets, but they soon stopped it, not wanting to hurt their own people. They were fairly overpowered to beat us without fire. We fought hard, desperate and we took out enough of them not to die in shame when they finally managed to took hold of me. My vision was blurry and I wasn't sure how long I could go on. Dick was lying on the ground, barely conscious, as four of them still kicked and hit him continuously. I never thought this is how it will end, I thought starting to give in when suddenly a smoke bomb flew across the room. Then immediately one more.
A figure with a cape and mask appeared in the mist, taking care of the soldiers just as fast as… Dick. How is it possible?
I coughed hard and dropped to the ground as finally my capturers released me, noticing the new threat. But it seemed like nothing to the new guy. He was done in a few minutes.
"Wow. Dick Grayson in the flesh." He started standing in the middle of the mess he did, grinning. "Nice to meet you, bro." He greeted him enthusiastically, helping him up. "I'm so sorry" He turned to me quickly, only noticing me now while he gave me his hand too. "Rory Raymond?" He asked chuckling as I nodded. "Bruce told me a lot about the two of you." He explained. "I'm the new Robin." He added as we stopped frozen.
DDD
"Can't believe it. Here we are, together, in the same car. This is so cool!" The new Robin, Jason exulted brazenly. We put Adamson in the car's trunk for later interrogation.
"Yeah. Real cool." Dick murmured distracted. I felt really sorry for him. I knew it must been pretty hard to progress this turn of events. "So how long have you and Bruce been…" He started as I shook my head. It wasn't a good idea.
"Together? Almost a year." Jason answered making dick being shocked completely.
"A year? Wow. Okay. Didn't waste any time." He murmured. "So how did you and he..."
"I was out boosting cars. Guess I chose the wrong one. Or the right one." Jason understood him without finishing the question.
"You tried to steal the Batmobile?" I asked surprised. No one is that stupid.
"No, geez. Just the hubcaps."
"And just like that, he took you in?" Dick continued in disbelief.
"Guess he saw potential." Jason shrugged. "So, what do you think of the new suit? Upgrades are pretty sick, right?" He started to jabber. "The new tunic is made with Zylon fibers, six times stronger than Kevlar. Seriously, bro, you can hit me with a flame thrower from ten feet and I'd be like, that's all you got?"
"Zylon fibers." Dick noted hurtfully.
"Smart, right? Hey, no offense but you gotta admit, the old version was a little outdated." Jason stated it and I saw a shadow of pain darkening Dick's expression.
"So how'd you find me anyway?" He decided to let it go, trying to gain more useful information.
"With the tracker" Jason said as the matter of fact.
"What tracker?"
"In your arm."
"There's a fucking tracker in my arm?" Dick asked getting pissed off.
"Yeah. In mine, too. Don't you remember him putting it in?" Jason asked being taken aback.
"No." Dick groaned in frustration.
That's just sick. I noted feeling nauseous.
We'll take care of it later. He ensured me quickly.
"Maybe you forgot." Jason suggested considering the subject done. "So, where are we going?"
"We gotta find a place to put that guy." Dick said thinking.
"Can I make a suggestion?" Jason offered confidently.
"Sure." Dick nodded as he gave us the address.
"So, you guys are back together" Jason started again. "It's such a relief. Really." He continued as I had no idea how to tell him the truth. "It would've been a shame, you look too cute to..."
"We are not" Dick barked bluntly making even me wince. I knew that was the situation, but he didn't have to be so…cold.
The mood in the car after this felt rather awkward even though Jason hasn't let us get bored. He could talk and talk without even stopping sometimes, but I guess he must've been pumped to meet us. Even save our lives.
"According to Bruce, the design of this place is inspired by Frank Lloyd." Jason said as we arrived to our destination. It was an apartment in a fancy skyscraper, with high security system.
"Wright." Dick corrected him.
"I know, right?" Jason asked not even noticing his lack of knowledge. "Dude's really into, you know, lines and shit. Bruce has a bunch of places like this. He calls them safe houses, but they're more like condos." He continued. "Never been to one."
"You'll like it." Dick noted as he stepped in front of the retina scanner to grant us entry.
Access denied. The machine announced it as after a moment of embarrassed silence Jason stepped in.
"I got this."
Access granted. The voice now approved opening the door to the elevator.
"Guess he changed the locks." Jason offered sympathetically. I looked at Dick worried, yet he avoided my gaze at all cost. He seemed okay, but I knew it's just the surface. Always keeping his calm, his composure, but inside he was suffering deeply. I wish I could help him.