A/N: chapter 3! Please continue to tell me what you think. I'm trying to finish the story, but I have a university deadline and very blurry vision right now… still… trying, need support! 😉
Now, will Slade be a good massage therapist ow will we have a death in this chapter? … or both…
Chapter 3: We're Expecting You
"You told them I could do what?" Slade asked.
"Don't look at me like I claimed you were a ballet dancer!" Robin objected. "You must know something about muscles!"
"I have a healing factor," the man pointed out. "But sure. I have an idea, actually. Let me just get a few things together."
Robin breathed out. He then got a message from Bruce that the footage had been received and was being processed. It didn't take many minutes for Slade to get ready. Neither of the man's targets had answered the door, but as they weren't sure the couples were ashore it was too risky to break in just yet.
Soon they were knocking on the couple's door again and introductions were made. While Slade 'treated' Weber, Robin chatted with Carl, recording everything. He couldn't hear any non-english accent in either man's speech but the bat-caves computer could analyze every phoneme and sound pattern, making it almost impossible for someone to hide their real first language.
There were grunts and sighs from the bedroom where the treatment was going on and Carl looked amused.
"Sounds like they are having a bit too much fun in there."
"They better fucking not," Robin laughed. "So… we're from the west coast, where are you from?"
"We've been moving around. And west? I would have you pegged as an east coaster?"
"Yeah, I grew up in Gotham," Robin admitted. "Been in Jump now for quite a few years, though. Met Slade there, so I kinda stayed."
"There's… quite an age gap?"
"Heh, people always think I'm younger than I am, sometimes Slade is accused for cradle robbing, but yeah… I like it, though… We're different enough to make it interesting."
"I know what you mean," the other man grinned.
Robin realized that the man hadn't answered the original question and decided to push. "Sorry, you were from…?" he asked.
"Ah, yes… from all over, really. We're both from Europe, originally, but we've lived in the states since our younger days. Well… My younger days."
"You've been together long?"
"We met about six years ago, now. Actually, we mainly like to take vacations together, we're not that tied down."
"Oh…? That's… interesting?"
"We both work a lot and like our things just so… if we tried to live together it would be a disaster," the man snorted. "But a few weeks a year we make an exception."
"What do you do for a living that allows that?" Robin asked.
"Oh, we both work in the computer business," the man shrugged and offered no other explanation. "What do you do yourself?"
"Well, like I said, Slade works with stocks, and I'm a PT," the teen said. He hadn't been very happy when that career had been decided for him in planning, but Slade had suggested that something physical would fit his body, and Robin had refused 'exotic dancer'.
"Ah, so you met at the gym?" the man asked.
"Exactly," Robin grinned, and that people would make that connection was another good reason for his 'job'. Yes, Slade was much more muscular than him, but there really wasn't a job that fit that would make him 'harmless' enough. Therefor the image of a very wealthy stock broker who now mostly worked more for fun than anything else and who had lots of time for physical activities had been thought up for him.
Robin was of course looking around the place as well, but it was spotless. He also didn't expect to find a folder marked "evil plans" or get the guy to reveal that they were assassins, all he was here for, really, was getting a feel of the men as well as record data to be analyzed.
"Wouldn't you be better at muscle problems than your husband, though… as a PT?" Carl asked.
Robin had to think quickly as the massage thing had not been part of the plan. "Yeah, I know the basics, but Slade's just really good at backs," he shrugged. "Takes some weight and strength to do it right," he added.
"I can hear that," Carl said as another drawn out grunt came from inside the room.
Robin knew Slade would try to draw it out as much as possible, but eventually the two men came out and the patient looked very relieved.
"It worked! I feel fine now!"
"Now, be careful," Slade told him. "What I have done is simply forcing the muscle to relax, so if you keep tensing up it will get really bad. Try to relax, don't move it around to much and you will feel a bit sore again tomorrow, that's normal."
"Thanks, man," Victor grinned and clasped Slade's hand.
"No problem, look us up later if it acts up again, and if you want to hit the gym in a few days…?"
"We'll be in touch," the curly-haired man smiled.
"I'll take my husband back now, please," Robin grinned and snuggled up to Slade. "I feel much better, sweetie, how about a swim?"
"Sounds good. We'll see you around," Slade nodded and they left.
"That was amazing, what did you do?" Robin whispered as they were out in the hallway.
"Well, one part was intimate knowledge of human anatomy."
"And the rest?"
"Basically, numbing lotion," Slade smirked.
"What?"
"I have an advanced medical kit with me, for your sake, actually, and I just mixed in some rather strong pain relief lotion with the lotion available in our quarters."
"What if they react with each other or something?"
"Well… I think it's fine. Besides, wouldn't they blame the ship's lotion? Allergy reactions are so unpredictable."
"You are unbelievable, but good work," Robin sighed.
"Maybe I can convince you to be on the receiving end of a massage tonight?"
"My phone is still on," Robin pointed out, taking it out of his pocket.
"Then turn it off and answer me," Slade leered down at him.
Robin turned the transmission off and smiled up at the man. "No."
"Tease."
"Maybe the offer just wasn't good enough?" Robin grinned and then gasped as the man pinned him to the wall, grasping his ass and lifting him up so the teen had no choice but to grab hold of him with both legs and arms so he wouldn't fall. The man's lips were on his a second later and the hero gasped as Slade's groin pushed against his own. He felt himself harden, quickly, but suddenly he was let down again, so suddenly that he almost dropped to the floor.
"Sorry," Slade said as he strolled away. "I thought I heard someone down the hall. Got to keep up appearances, you know…"
Robin muttered a few choice words as he walked, a bit stiffly, no pun intended, after the man.
"Hello, Master Robin,"
"Alfred! Hi! How are you? Is Bruce in a meeting?"
"I sent Master Bruce to bed for a few hours, he has been up almost around the clock for days," the butler let them know, causing Slade to chuckle.
"Some of us are only human, Slade," Robin said, glaring at the mercenary. "Any news for us?"
"I'm processing Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Weber as we speak. I will send you the results as soon as they are done."
"Thank you."
"Any progress on the Stefans or the Stormbergs?"
"No, they have most likely left the ship for the day. We're departing at five so they have to be back well before then."
"We have a photo of Marco Stefan," Alfred let them know and sent the information over. "There is no one by the name of his partner Juan Stefan, however, and according to social media, Marco is married with two kids, live in Sanderson, Texas, and is currently on a business trip in Hong Kong."
"So, stolen identity?" Slade asked.
"Possibly, Mr. Wilson," Alfred concurred.
"I don't know…" Robin said, looking at the photo. "I think I recognize him. We'll look into it as soon as we can. The Stormbergs, then?"
"We have no records of them but believe they are foreign. Photos might help as would some probing. We're trying to access the international passenger lists, but as we don't know where or when they came to the country…. Any information might help."
"Robin is very stingy about letting me do any probing," Slade muttered. The mercenary had probably not even meant for the old man to hear it, but Alfred had developed close to supernatural hearing after raising two boys who were both more than a handful.
"Master Bruce has asked me to order a selection of potato peelers for an experiment," the old man told them airily. "I think I'll get on that now…"
"Express delivery, I would think," Robin grinned. "We'll keep an eye out and have them tracked down by tonight. Can you set up the system so the onboard surveillance camera warns us is anyone goes in or out of their cabins?"
"As you wish, Master Robin. Take care now," Alfred said and the call ended.
"So… what do we do now?" Robin asked.
"We said we were going to the pool and we might as well," Slade shrugged. "Most people who has stayed behind are probably there."
"Yes, but which pool? The one on this deck?" their suit was situated on what was called the Lido-deck, the fifteenth, one of the more luxurious decks on the ship. It only had 73 room at the front while the rest was made up of outdoor pool area, restaurants and shops.
"The pools here are among the biggest, so let's start here at least." Slade said. "And if our targets haven't actually left the ship, they might be there."
"Alright, getting changed," Robin said and grabbed his swimming trunks. Slade, who obviously saw no point in changing in private started to unbutton his pants. The teen considered staying for the show but had a feeling that the man would demand one in return.
The pool area was rather deserted as most people were enjoying a day ashore.
"Hello, Mr. Wilson, feeling better?" It was their cabin steward who had clearly been informed of Robin's 'illness'.
"Oh, yes, thank you. It was just a temporary thing."
"If you would like to there's still time to explore the island?" the man offered.
"No, we've decided to enjoy the pool by ourselves. It will be packed tomorrow, we assume," Robin smiled.
"As you wish. I'll send someone over from the bar," the steward smiled. A waitress was already on her way, and soon they had tall umbrella drinks and salty snacks on the low table between their deck chairs. Robin's drink was alcohol free, he had no intention of repeating yesterday's little blunder.
He had one of the ships complimentary tote bags with him and was now digging through that for the sun screen.
"I'll do your back if you do mine?" he offered Slade.
"I don't really need it. Healing factor," the man answered, making sure his voice didn't travel.
"Sure, but it looks suspicious, maybe?" Robin shrugged.
"Alright," Slade admitted. "You might be right."
"Yay, I'm right!" Robin snickered and turned towards the man. Slade was wearing a pair of black swim trunks that reached just below the middle of his thighs and were tight in all the right places. Robin himself was wearing a red pair, which Slade had remarked and joked about, which was a shorter model, though not a speedo by far. Slade turned around and Robin ran his hands over the man's shoulders in a quick stroke, determined to stay professional. That plan went out the window pretty soon, however, when the teen discovered the pleasure of sliding his hands up and down the wide, muscular back.
"You are going to burn yourself if you keep that up much longer," Slade drawled after a bit.
"Mmh…"
"Robin!"
"Huh? Yeah? What?"
"Your turn."
Having the man's hands touch him was almost as good, though, but the mercenary didn't stop with his back. He suddenly slid his hands under the teen's arms and caressed his chest as well.
"Slade!" Robin gasped. "You- You can't- aah!" the man's fingers had just introduced themselves to his nipples with following mutual enjoyment. "Slade!" Robin said again, hissing this time. "We're in public!"
"You wouldn't let me do it in private…" the man purred, pulling their bodies so close that the teen's back was sliding against Slade's chest.
"People are looking!" Robin almost whined.
"They are jealous of me," the man claimed with a low chuckle.
"Okay, okay, you win! You win whatever we're playing, just please, please stop?" Robin begged quietly.
"It's almost too much fun," the man complained, but let his hands slowly stop and kissed Robin's neck as they separated.
"Now I have to lie down," Robin muttered as he, legs crossed, tried to cover the rest of himself in sun block.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Slade chuckled.
"Well, I am a teen; it doesn't take much," Robin, red in the face by now, claimed.
"Aw. Hurtful. Go jump in the pool and I'll film you and the pool area for the computer," Slade told him. He was still sitting behind the teen, one knee on either side.
"Why don't you go and I film?" Robin suggested. Slade then grabbed his hand and pulled it behind the teen's back. Robin actually, for a split second, thought the man intended to hurt him, but then his palm was placed against a lump clad in silky bathing shorts material. His fingers automatically closed around it as his brain was trying to figure out what he was feeling. When the coin dropped he hastily pulled his hand back.
"Alright, so we both need a minute?" he breathed.
"U-huh," Slade agreed.
"Does that mean it was a tie?"
"No. I wouldn't have stopped," Slade chuckled. "What could they do? Throw us off?"
"Pretty sure, yeah."
"I'm sure cruises like these have seen worse."
"Probably, yes."
"Did you know most major cruise ships has a morgue?"
Robin blinked. "Oh my god, what kind of sex are you thinking about?" he exclaimed, probably loud enough for some of the other sunbathers to hear.
"It was just a random fact I thought of. Actually not trying to think about sex," Slade defended himself.
"Well… the morgue kinda worked…" Robin said and stood up. "Ready with the camera?"
"Yes, go ahead."
Robin smiled and waved at the camera. "Hi guys! We're having a great time, just look at this place!" he said and gestured around him, prompting Slade to film the whole deck, including the few people scattered around it. It might not be close enough to identify many of them, but they could hope. "I'm gonna test the pool now, hope it's raining at home!" With that the teen dived nicely into the closest pool and the little film session was over.
"Mmm… this is nice… like a real vacation," the young hero mumbled an hour later. His body, like Slade's, was glittering from water droplets and he was stretched out on a sunbed under a parasol to dry. Slade was on the bed next to him, very close, and their fingers were entangled. They didn't have to be touching, of course, but it was a mix of keeping up with the charade as well as Robin getting a rather big kick out of "forcing" Slade to be affectionate. Sure, the man was usually the first to grope and kiss, but he was no good when it came to these small gestures.
"Remember that we're working," the man mumbled. His voice was so sleepy that Robin turned his head to look over at him, and discovered that the man's eyes were closed and he looked like he didn't have a care in the world.
"You're cute like this… why can't you always be like this?" he teased him.
"I'm getting paid," the man almost yawned. Robin giggled.
"Who needs a trust fund anyway?" he asked himself aloud, making the man smirk.
Robin suddenly tensed.
"The Stefans spotted. They are sitting down by the bar."
"Good thing I just got thirsty," Slade grunted, sounding like he actually would have preferred to stay where he was. "I'm going to get us something to drink, make first contact."
"You?" Robin asked mockingly.
"I am capable of talking to people," the man grunted.
"Alright, alright, you go play nice now," the hero grinned at him.
Barely a minute later he was called over.
"Robin! Come meet our new friends!"
The teen almost lost it at hearing the mercenary uttering those words but turned his expression into a friendly smile and ambled over.
Introductions were made. The couple seemed amiable enough, both just a little bit tipsy.
"Smile!" Robin said after they all got a second round of drinks, and took a selfie, making sure the couple's faces were clearly visible. "Can I post this on facebook? Oh, can I add you? We should make a group for everyone on this cruise!"
Marco Stefan suddenly turned very pale.
"No! no, I'm… You can't- I…"
"Huh?" Robin played stupid.
"Don't post anything on facebook, ok?" the man said hurriedly. Robin kept an eye on the man's partner, Juan, as well, and he was suddenly looking disgruntled.
"Ok, sure man… but why?" he asked.
"I'm just… you know… not a fan of social media," the man tried to shrug the whole thing off.
"Let me guess," Slade said and swiped his drink. "Not out of the closet back home?"
"He's married," Juan muttered.
"Juan!" Marco exclaimed.
"Well, you are! With two kids! And we've been together since high school!"
"Oh, shit…" Robin said, actually feeling a bit bad. "Sorry. I had no idea…"
"Yeah, well, I'm getting tired of it," Juan mumbled and you could hear his voice cracking a bit. "I'm going back to our cabin. Later."
"Man, I'm really sorry," Robin mumbled to the remaining man, who was staring down into his glass.
"No, don't be… this is my fault… I just… if you don't mind…?" it was clear the man wasn't in the mood for company anymore so Slade and Robin excused themselves, and then made sure the Batcave had received all the info. A moment later Juan was identified as a single man living in the same town, and the school records showed that they had indeed been in high school together.
"I guess they are off the list," Robin said. "Poor people."
"Idiots," Slade snorted with his usual empathic humanist outlook on life.
Robin only shrugged, because he could see the man's point of view too. Slade wouldn't let anything stand in the way of what he wanted, least of all the opinions of a small Texas town.
"At least that's one more couple off the list. We need to find the Stormbergs, though, and we don't know what they look like."
"No, but we know where they live," Slade pointed out, "And that clever computer of Bruce's will tell us when they are home. Let's have dinner with them tonight."
"What if they have made reservations? We're not going to be able to just squeeze in if we don't have any?"
"Let's check if they have, then… there has to be a booking system."
"Ok, let me try to find out," Robin said. "That cute bartender over there has been checking me out."
"He is cute, ask him if he wants to be in a threesome," Slade smirked,
"I'm not having a threesome with you and the bartender," Robin snorted.
"I wasn't inviting you." The man's smirk widened.
"Asshole."
"Damned if I do, damned if I don't," Slade sighed, looking overdramatically sorry for himself. "Go flirt."
Robin did, although slightly reluctantly now, as Slade didn't seem to have a problem with it. The teen sighed to himself. Who did he, Robin, think he was? Slade was not the kind of guy that would lift a finger to actually woo him. The mercenary didn't care. Sure, he'd fuck him if there was an opportunity to, but more than that? No. Well, the bartender was cute, so maybe a bit of a flirt wouldn't be too bad…
"Hi!" Robin started, and got a dazzling smile in return. The bartender had that really dark brown skin that actually almost looked black, and he wore his hair in braids which created amazing patterns on his scalp before falling down to a bit below his shoulders.
"Hi, what can I do for you Mr. Wilson? Another Virgin Sun Kiss?"
"Mmm… wouldn't that be nice…?" Robin purred, but then chuckled. "No, thank you, I just have a question for now… We have a couple of friends and they have an anniversary today. We wanted to surprise them with a gift at dinner, but we don't know if they have booked dinner onboard tonight… If not, we were thinking of booking a table for all four of us, but they have an interior cabin, so would our booking privileges even extend to them? Sorry, sorry, so many questions…" he said, having done so intentionally to see what the guy might be willing to help with. The first thing he did was actually very helpful, because he glanced at the small computer next to him. That told Robin that there was indeed a way to book and see bookings right there.
"Well, Sir, I can't tell you about other guest's arrangements-"
"No, of course not! No, no, no, I understand," Robin said and then looked sad and sighed. "Can we book them, though… Or is that against the rules?"
"Your booking privileges is only valid for the guests in your suite, I'm afraid," the man said and now Robin looked really crestfallen.
"Ah… I see. Of course. Thank you. I guess we'll have to try to stalk them or something… this place is too big."
"They might not even have made a reservation," the man pointed out.
"Oh, of course! You… you wouldn't be able to tell me just if they have or not? I know it's stretching the limits, though, I'm so sorry!" he hurriedly said.
"Well, I… I shouldn't…" the bartended hesitated, looking into the big, clear blue, innocent eyes of the young man in front to him. And caved. "You won't tell anyone?" he asked.
"Not a soul! Well, maybe my husband, because I can feel he's already getting a bit jealous," he joked. "But of me or you, I couldn't say," Robin added with a flirty smile.
"What- What was the name?" the man stammered a bit, possibly nervous about angry husbands of Slade's size.
"Stormberg," the teen said.
A few clicks later and the bartender nodded. "They have booked a sitting tonight."
"Aw, darn. Well… okay, so you can't of course tell me where," Robin said.
"No, Sir, Sorry."
"Buuuut…" the teen added with a naughty grin. "It's practically your job to recommend where we eat, right?"
"Yes, but-"
"So, would you recommend say… Italian, for us, tonight? Or… French?"
"You're impossible, Sir," the man grinned at him.
"I know," Robin snickered.
"Well… I'd like to recommend French cuisine tonight, Sir."
"Lovely. And when do you recommend that we book a table?"
The bartender sighed, shook his head, but smiled as he started typing on the keyboard again. "I've made reservations for you for eight o'clock, a very nice table, I think you'll like it."
"If I wasn't already married…" Robin grinned and winked at the man, who just grinned back, looking slightly embarrassed. "Thank you so much," the teen added. "You know what? I think I'll have that drink after all."
"That took you a while," Slade muttered as he came back, happily sipping the fruity goodness that was his new favorite non-alcoholic drink.
"We're having dinner at Le Rouge tonight at eight."
"Well worth the time, then?"
"Oh, yes," Robin smiled happily and took another sip.
"You don't have to look so damned pleased about it."
"Well, it's always nice to talk to a man who appreciates you," Robin smirked.
Their phones then went off and Slade smirked back. "Guess you'll have your chance now."
"Ass," the teen snorted and answered.
"It's me, I have some information," Bruce said, "Can you talk?"
"We're hanging out at the pool, having a great time," "Robin answered. "But I think it's time to get out of the sun…. can I call you back?"
"Yes, good," Bruce said and hung up.
"Back to work," the teen sighed.
"Okay, so what do you have for us?" Robin asked a few minutes later when they were back in their cabin.
"It's about Schmidt and Weber, there are no matches so far, which tells me that at least their names are fake. The voice analysis came up all over the place, but there are some strong traces from Europe and Weber at least has some traces from Eastern Europe, but nothing definitive."
"Their names are German," Slade pointed out. "Not that that means anything, but that they both have German-sounding names can be more than a coincidence."
"It could," Bruce agreed, "But it's not saying much. I'm working on accessing German personal registries as well as, of course, Russian, but they are well guarded nowadays."
"See if you can learn something to help keeping unwanted people from hacking our systems," Robin said dryly and glared at Slade, who looked smug.
"Yes, well…" Bruce looked rather embarrassed but continued. "U.S immigration and border records gave me nothing. Facial recognition is working constantly in the background but so far, no matches."
"So I assume they are at the top of the list for now, huh?" Robin concluded.
"For now, yes." Bruce nodded.
"I don't know. If I was an assassin, I wouldn't let people into my cabin to massage me," the teen joked.
"Said the hero who has practically been holding hands nonstop with an assassin for the last couple of hours," Slade drawled. "These people make sure to fit in and not make any enemies that might remember them or complain about them. If anything, it's suspicious if people are too approachable."
"I really love this mission," Robin sighed. "So, what's next? We're going to meet the Stormbergs tonight, but I guess we have to go through the 'German's' cabin?"
"You should, yes. As soon as possible."
"The ship will be at sea all day tomorrow," Robin pointed out. "We need to be very sure that they won't come back…"
"We'll make it happen. We'll try to run into them again and try to figure out what they have planned." Slade sounded confident.
"Good. Good luck tonight, and I'll send you more info as soon as I have some. Which reminds me, even more couples have now checked out, so the list is shrinking, at least. I'm sending the new one over."
"Thanks, good," Robin smiled. "Later."
As soon as he ended the call Robin headed for the door. "I'm going over to the Germans to see if they are in."
"Alright, I'm taking a shower. Keep your phone on live feed to me, just in case."
"Sure," Robin said and fiddled with it for a bit. "There, is it working?" Slade logged into his phone and nodded. "Good, then I'm off, I'll only be a few minutes."
Robin knocked on the door and Victor Weber answered this time.
"Hi again!" Robin smiled. "How's your back?"
"It's much better, thank you," the man answered. "We are going to take a stroll or maybe take a dip in the pool."
"Sounds great. Sorry to disturb you, but I didn't leave my sunglasses here, did I?"
"Your sunglasses?" the man got a funny expression on his face, like he knew the teen was making the excuse up.
"Yeah… A pair of Ray-Ban Predator 2 with a dark red rim?"
"Like the one's you're wearing?"
Robin's jaw dropped and then he felt the top of his head 'finding' his glasses.
"I asked Slade about them!" he said. "He just laughed! I'm gonna kill him!"
"Not sure it's worth ending a life over something like that," the man said, looking amused.
"I told him I was going over here to ask, so blame him if I was a bother," the teen muttered. "Anyway, we've just come back from the pool and I can really recommend it. It's practically deserted. We need to get something to eat now, though, before I starve. Sorry again!" he said and waved as he hurried away.
When he entered the cabin Slade was wearing a towel around his hips.
"Good excuse," the man approved.
"Well…" Robin said and then mumbled something inaudible.
"What was that?" the man demanded to know.
"I… actually didn't know they were on my head…" Robin admitted.
"You clearly really need some food," Slade chuckled. "And as we're eating fancy tonight, how about a slice of pizza?"
"I'm not saying no to that," the teen said eagerly, and his stomach agreed. "But the Germans were going to leave, shouldn't we wait for that?"
"I didn't like the sound of them not knowing exactly what to do. They might decide to come back at any moment. Let's grab a late lunch first and then see if we can find them."
Robin agreed, maybe overruled by his stomach.
To be Continued…
A/N: next week we're gonna meat the Stormbergs, plans are gonna fail and dreams are gonna come true… 😉