Chapter 18: Something Gained
"What is your PROBLEM!?" Flash exclaimed as Wonder Woman reentered the conference room and back down in her seat with a sigh. The statement itself was addressed to Robert Hood who was currently standing at the head of the table with his fist slammed onto the table. Robert was gritting his teeth and his fists were clenched.
"The…PROBLEM…is that we are out of leads and that we have no way to track David Cain and his network," Robert told them angerly.
"Need I remind you, we have gained some information," Superman said.
"Right, that conversation that the bat brats eavesdropped on," Robert responded in an annoyed tone. "There's no way to know if they were telling the truth or not."
"What reason would they have to lie?" Green Arrow questioned.
"Because they're in on it!" Robert exclaimed.
"What's your proof that they are?" Flash asked.
"What's your proof that they aren't?" Robert shot back. Wonder Woman rolled her eyes and her gaze unknowingly found an empty chair across from her current seat. She gave a sad smirk at the chair that once occupied Gotham's caped crusader.
'Never thought I'd miss him after everything that's happened,' Wonder Woman thought. 'He'd be able to get this straightened out.'
"If you keep insulting the rookies like that, I will have no choice but to remove you from this meeting," Superman told him. "We cannot and will not keep fighting among ourselves."
"Agreed," Wonder Woman added. "This accomplishes nothing. We have more important things to focus on. And screaming at each other isn't going to change anything."
"You're right about that," Cyborg said. He typed on his computer and pulled up the file they had on David Cain. "So let's go through what we know about him so far and see if we can figure out his next move. We know he's now in Gotham manufacturing a drug."
"We know he's planning something big since some smaller gangs are joining up with and trying to get in on it," Superman responded. "Now the question is what?" Then the screen changed to indicate that something was calling them. Cyborg clicked the answer button and the screen revealed Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Cyborg asked.
"We thought you guys would like to know that managed to get a sample of the drug Cain's handing out," Nightwing informed him.
"Really?" Robert Hood said intrigued.
"Yeah, we snagged it from one of the groups," Robin informed him.
"From the tests we've done it looks like it's a form of testosterone for vampires," Batgirl explained. "It increases their natural strength, speed, stamina, and possibly even their powers. But to what extent we won't know until it's been used."
"Would you mind if we have a look at the sample?" Superman asked.
"Not at all," Nightwing responded. "We'll send it up with the rookies after patrol tonight."
"Sounds good, thanks for checking in," Flash said.
"Of course," Nightwing replied before he hung up. The Leaguers present glared at Robert Hood in an 'I told you so' kind of look.
"Well, I'm going to call Atom and see if he would be willing to analyze the drug for us," Superman stated before flying off to the monitor room. The rest of the Leaguers continued to glare at Robert. Wonder Woman slammed her fist into the table to get their attention. The others turned and looked at her in fear.
"You listen, and listen good, Hood," Wonder Woman started. "You talk that way about any of our Leaguers again and I will not hesitate to kick you out of here. Understood!?" Robert glared back in annoyance, clearly, he had forgotten she could very easily snap his neck if she wished.
"Fine," Robert responded angrily. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the lab to work on more anti-vampire weapons." He left the room with not only an anger-filled expression but a cloudy and hate-filled mind. Cyborg and Flash sighed with relief.
"Man, that was tense," Flash stated.
"You said it," Cyborg responded. "I don't know how much more of this we can take."
"Yeah," Flash said. "I know he's technically now our enemy, but I miss Bats." Cyborg nodded.
"Me too," Cyborg replied. "He was always able to keep us on track during meetings. That and he helped a lot with the planning."
"Yeah," Flash started. "How about you Wondy? You miss him?"
"Kind of I guess," Wonder Woman admitted. "I'm more mad at him for lying to us about him being a vampire criminal."
"Understandable but how do you even approach telling someone that?" Flash asked. "I mean, it's not exactly something you can talk over morning coffee."
"Yeah, but he still should have told us," Wonder Woman stated.
"Not saying he shouldn't but don't you think we should've WAITED for him to tell us himself instead of exposing him and making him run away?" Cyborg said. "I mean, if…since he's a vampire he PROBABLY knows more about them than Robert does."
"True," Flash responded.
Bruce knocked on one of the many bedrooms which currently housed Cassandra.
"It's Bruce, can I come in?" Bruce asked.
"Yes," he heard her say after a few minutes of silence. Bruce opened the door and saw Cassie sitting on her bed holding a Barbie doll. Bruce sat down next to her.
"Hey, how are you?" Bruce asked.
"I'm okay, I guess," Cassie answered still not meeting his eyes.
"Do you like the doll?" Bruce asked trying to find some way to make conversation. She nodded.
"Barbara gave it to me," Cassie informed him. "She said she use to play with it as a kid."
"Cool," Bruce said. "Would you like to go out with me and get some other toys?" Cassie's face lit up in surprise.
"Really?" Cassie asked. "But…but won't that cost…"
"You don't need to worry about money," Bruce assured her. "So what do you say?"
"I…I would love to," Cassie replied. "I've never been outside before."
"Well, I think it's about time we changed that," Bruce stated.