Little Bird's Vengeance Chapter 30 Some Answers and a Mystery
Tasha Romanov watched her boss glaring at their guests. The two Titans on the Bridge were being even more secretive than Red Robin; and he'd confessed to being the paranoid one. "Will you please answer a question?" Fury demanded through gritted teeth.
"I'd have to discuss that with my co-leader…" Wonder Girl started for about the twentieth time.
Fury turned to Agent Hill. "Is the kid awake yet?"
Hill looked over at one of the monitors, but Kid Flash flickered and answered first. "No, but the docs have finished patching him up," he said. "Supes is watching him until he comes round."
Tasha saw both Fury and Hill starting slightly at the unexpected answer, but Wonder Girl just nodded and gave Fury a look that clearly said "There, you see?" Fury, unimpressed, glared back.
"Is there anything you can say without Red Robin?" Fury said.
"I like your Helicarrier," Kid Flash offered.
"What happened this evening?" Fury asked.
"Rob called us and said he had some trouble with bogies on his tail. He asked Kid Flash if he could fly a Chinook helicopter, then told him to learn. We flew out, I caught Rob before he could fall more than a few dozen feet, and he told us the bogies were drones, so we destroyed them and Kid Flash took control of the Quinjet. Rob told Superboy to find the Helicarrier and guide Kid Flash to it, then he passed out. The Avengers joined us shortly after," Wonder Girl reported.
"When the Titans rushed out, we scrambled a pair of Quinjets and followed," Steve explained.
"Dr Banner stayed in New York?" Fury asked.
"Yes, he did," Steve confirmed. "We felt that he would be of limited use, and so there wasn't any point asking him to change."
"But there was nothing left to do but escort the lovely ladies and the Titans to the Helicarrier by the time we got there," Tony drawled. "They might have left us a few."
"We didn't know you were coming," Wonder Girl shrugged.
"Would have been a terrible move strategically, anyway," a familiar voice said from the door, and Tasha turned to see Red Robin standing in the doorway leaning on Superboy's arm. "I mean, how long did it take you to get there? Leaving a dangerous foe in the expectation of someone else turning up and wanting their share is stupid, reckless and potentially fatal."
"There you are," Fury growled. "Perhaps now we can have some answers."
"Yeah," Red said distractedly. "Kid, how long exactly has it been since you three stepped on that teleport?"
"Six hours, twenty-four minutes and eighteen seconds; why?" Kid Flash answered after a moment.
Red frowned. "That's really not good," he muttered. "Supes, give my belt back now."
Tasha blinked, noticing that while Red had his boots, gloves and mask, the larger boy was carrying the rest of his equipment. Red's shirt was open, but his torso was wrapped completely in bandages. Tasha knew full well that the reason was to protect the vicious lattice of burns the overloading security network in his suit had inflicted, but the extra padding on his side was new. No doubt a product of his most recent bout of injuries.
"You're not going out again," Wonder Girl told him.
"I'm not going to. Not yet."
"Not for a week, and so you don't need your belt."
"Two days maximum, and I only need the second largest section on the right."
"Five days minimum. Supes, what's in that one?"
Red sat down at the table, and Wonder Girl circled until she was opposite and stared him down. Superboy stood nervously, looking between his two co-leaders. "It's my notebook," Red said. "I need to do some calculations."
"Fine," Wonder Girl capitulated. Superboy threw over the notebook and pen and sat down next to Red.
"Red Robin," Fury interposed. "Who are these teammates of yours?"
"The Titans," Red answered, not looking up from the sprawling numbers his pen was tracing out. "Hasn't Wonder Girl been answering question?"
"No," Fury growled.
Red's head jerked up, honest surprise visible. He looked over at Wonder Girl, sending a questioning look her way. "Checkmate," Wonder Girl shrugged, and Red nodded with understanding.
"Fury's trustworthy. You can tell him anything that's public knowledge. Names at your individual discretion, but Barton and Romanov will probably tell him whatever you've already told them." Red turned back to his numbers.
Tasha half-listened as the three Titans gave Fury a brief overview of their abilities and backgrounds- much the same as they'd already told the Avengers, including their first names. After a few minutes of talk, they were interrupted when Red started swearing in multiple languages under his breath.
"Uh, Rob? What's wrong?" Superboy asked tentatively.
"You know the teleported accident that landed us here?" Red asked. "It wasn't an accident."
"How do you know?" Kid Flash asked.
"Simple. When you three were teleporting, the Watchtower was over New Zealand. When I was, it was over Missouri. No reason why either of us should have ended up in New York, unless the 'porter had been programmed to send us there. I hadn't checked the 'porter because I'd only used it eight hours before, and I know I'm the only one who uses it. Not a mistake I'll be making again. The only reason it would have been reprogrammed would be if someone else had done so, and come over here while I was out investigating my case. Or was just trying to get rid of me, which is also possible, seeing as there are really very, very few people who can break into the Tower without me noticing, and all of them know I'm just as likely to take them out as they are to take me out if they play fair."
"Why wouldn't they 'port you into space?" Wonder Girl asked.
"Who knows?" Red shrugged. "Ra's tried to recruit me, remember?"
"You turned him down and destroyed his operation, and he threw you out a window," Wonder Girl reminded him.
"Point is, some people are more than a little irrational," Red said. "Where's Dr Foster?"
"Lady Jane and Miss Darcy are in the banquet hall," Thor said slightly miserably.
"Director, can I use the intercom?" Red asked respectfully. Fury nodded, and Red called down and briefly the conversation descended into near intractable tech-talk, but Red quickly returned to the table after getting the answers he wanted. "Right, Cassie, Kon, there's some equipment in Dr Foster's lab in New Mexico we're borrowing. We need some scans of the area of Central Park you arrived in."
"Particle spectrometer?" Wonder Girl asked.
"Modified to scan for non-standard vibration patterns," Red confirmed.
"Like the one STAR Labs have and break out every time there's a major interdimensional crisis?"
"Yup."
"Bart and I will get it," Wonder Girl insisted. "You and Kon stay here."
"Fine," Red capitulated. Tasha stared at him, he was very unusually compliant.
"Good," Wonder Girl nodded. "Bart, come on." The two teens vanished.
As soon as they were gone, Red turned to Superboy. "Come on, Kon. Something else needs checking out."
"You're injured and need to stay off the streets," Superboy protested.
"You do want to know who broke into the Tower, don't you?" Red asked, fastening up his shirt and snagging the belts Superboy had forgotten.
"Cassie said we're to stay," Superboy continued.
"I'll tell her I threatened you with Kryptonite," Red shrugged. "Either you join me, or I'll go alone, so come on. Guys, I'll see you later. Director, I'll send you an incident report."
He dashed out, his subordinate following.
AN: As I said last week, I don't think Cassie would trust SHIELD right from the off, while she would like the Avengers. She's also more than a little ticked off with Tim for getting himself injured and refusing to stay in until he's better. Which is why he let her and Bart run off an one errand before dragging Kon on another.
Tim and the Titans will be getting some answers to their problems next week. Or possibly more mysteries. If you want to submit ideas for what they'll find, I'd love to read them. I already have rest of the story mapped out to one degree or another, so I'm not fishing for the next plot point as I hear some are wont to do (if I ever am, I'll tell you) but I just want to here your ideas. I also accept PMs.
Anyway, also this week comes the conclusion of Batgirl's origin in Flashback. Next week will see the return to Family Ties.
I'd love reviews on this chapter, including any suggestions for improvement. I'm struggling with a bit of writer's block at the moment, so I'm not really churning out my best work - just about meeting my schedule, actually.
Anyway, see you next week.
Katara