Disclaimer: Ownership? me? Dare I think it? oh what a dream that would be! Well, it'll remain a dream because I own nothing. Having the real Tim Drake though would be nice. =P

Okays peoples, remember that poll I told you about last time? Well I'm keeping it up until it's run 7 days total. After that, if the polls stay the same, I'm updating/finishing 'Without me'. Still working on this one. half way through Tuesday in fact. This one's kinda filler, but I wanted a Catwoman scene. Plus gotta work out some more of Conner and M'gann's problems. Well, enjoy!

Where's Robin?

Ch. 21 – Mars and Venus

It was just after midnight when Batman told the team to leave. That day was a bust. During the whole adventure, the majority of them only became footsore. Roy got the somewhat silent treatment from Megan while in the Fashion District while Kaldur's ear was nearly talked off with Conner's questions on how to fix things with his girlfriend. Out of the three pairings, only Artemis and Wally could say they could focus on the mission over their feelings.

Well, Artemis reminded him several times how he was responsible for all of this, what with Robin, his best friend, being missing and all.

Occasionally overhearing them on the communicator, Batman suppressed the urge to tell them all to shut up and go home earlier. Maybe he'd get more work done if they weren't there. But they had to be taught a lesson. Each pair ran across no less than a dozen crimes in action during their visit, many of them violent.

The three former sidekicks had to suppress their surprise at the daring these criminals had, despite having heard all the stories before and running about the previous nights. The aliens were just as surprised, but just like the others trudged on, despite misgivings. Artemis was the only one not phased in the slightest. She just went straight to work.

Sending them home though was all he could do. They covered probably half the city with no results. Joker hadn't been seen since the party and Scarecrow was still laying low. Whatever their next moves were, it wasn't going to be for a while. And Batman had other cases to work on.

At one a.m. he crouched next to a gargoyle, watching an apartment silently. Inside was a suspected psychiatrist who may have had something to do with Joker's escape. Harleen Quinzel had more sessions with Joker than any other doctor in Arkham, and kept claiming he was making progress. If that guy really believed Batman and Wonder Woman were dating, plus would give him 'ambrosia cake', particularly when he didn't put it out as a ransom demand over a childish command, he wasn't anywhere near sanity. What had compelled this young woman to even consider Joker becoming sane in the first place?

If the woman wasn't still awake, he'd have searched her apartment by now. But Harleen was a night owl among other things. Addicted to slapstick cartoons was another. And red bull. He saw her down five cans already. And the League said he ran off caffeine.

Batman might have stayed there all night if he had to if a silent alarm hadn't gone off at the museum. He had his cowl wired to pick certain alarms up, particularly ones related to certain criminals. Annoyed, he stood from his perch and shot off a line away from there before even considering looking at what display had been disturbed.

He blinked when he first read it, thinking he read it wrong due to the motion. The second time around his eyes narrowed in frustration. He wasn't quite sure if he could deal with this one tonight. Well, it was time to find out.

Within fifteen minutes he landed on top of the museum roof. As he reached his full height again to start his prowl, he spotted the thief in question. And a picnic basket she held in one hand with the emerald cat in the other. Instantly he knew what she was planning and gave a frustrated sigh.

"What's the deal Selina? I thought you'd be half way to Metropolis with that statue."

Catwoman shrugged coyly. "Just wanted your attention. I'll return it," she purred, getting closer to him, "but only after a late night snack. Or we could just have some dessert."

On most nights Batman would have secretly enjoyed the cat and mouse game the two of them played, sometimes ending with kisses and other times ending with new scars. But this wasn't one of those nights. Instead of playing her game, he firmly grasped her arms and pushed her away. "Not tonight. Just hand me the statue and go home. I have too much on my plate this time."

"Oh come now," she pouted, trying to snuggle closer to him. "Too much on your plate? From what I've heard Joker's gone to ground somewhere and all the other missing Arkham nuts are laying low. The mob bosses called a truce not too long ago and those other small timers, they hardly make a peep these days. I could give you details on how everyone's being quiet right now, but I'm more interested in having some… adult time."

"Then watch the news," he retorted coldly. It didn't have the edge he'd use on most people, but the lack of emotion unnerved the cat before him. "I have work to do."

One hand reached towards the statue as the woman blinked before him in shock. It didn't last long though. Catwoman jerked away, surprised by this man's actions.

"What's wrong with you? Joker's been out before and you've still played with me. Same with Penguin, Scarecrow, Killer Crock, even Two-Face! I'm just asking you to dinner on a moonlit night, not anything long term or serious."

"There's nothing wrong with me," Batman insisted.

"Like hell there isn't." Confusion raged on her face. Never had she seen him so distant. Sure he seemed hard to approach by most people, but this was different. She could tell something was wrong.

"I just don't want this tonight," he tried again. "I have other things I need to do."

"It's past the little bird's bedtime and I know he puts himself to bed these days," she reminded him. The man twitched slightly as she spoke. "And that's the only thing I can think of that would overrule me short of a murder spree, gang war or…"

She stopped, noticing at last what was really wrong. Robin was seen less often around Gotham ever since last Independence Day, but the kid had told her in passing that he was hanging out with his friends. She guessed it was the other kids of the crime fighting community he was referring to, and she was glad. That meant more adult time for her and his mentor. But the kid hadn't appeared during the Joker fiasco the other night. Nor had she seen him since last week.

"Oh my God… Robin. Is he—"

"He's alive." Batman tried to sound self assured, but Selina could always tell what really played in his voice. There was more to it.

"But…"

The dark knight slowly closed his eyes before continuing, reluctantly. Why it was so hard for him to just think of Selina as another criminal was harder for him to understand than anything. At times, she had him wrapped around her finger. His overwhelming feelings compelled him to speak. "He's currently far away. The culprit punished himself more than I could and I have to wait on others to get him back home."

Silence stood with them as the Cat thought this over. She knew Batman cared very much for Robin. Probably more for him than her. Maybe even more than Gotham. Having the kid around made the man more bearable, even made him endearing to her. It was harder before the kid's debut to get the guy to play their game. But with the boy around, Bats became playful. As if having a kid made him more human.

Sure the kid got on her nerves once in a while, but she didn't hate him. She was sure, despite his childish objections he made around her, that he didn't hate her either. There were a few times he caught her alone on patrol where they didn't argue and he honestly started talking to her like she was his aunt or something. Really, she didn't know where she stood with the kid at times. But she never wanted him to go away, not like this at least.

No wonder Batman had no energy to play tonight. Now she didn't either.

She put the basket down before placing her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know how you… especially when it comes to him. Where exactly is he? What—"

"Classified."

And there the stone wall grew again. Catwoman took a deep breath before nodding. If she pressed too much, those walls may never come down. Though she loved the mystery between them, she knew enough about him to know when she could wheedle something out of him and when she couldn't. This was one time she couldn't. Almost anything deeply personal, especially with Robin, was off limits. Where ever the kid was, she couldn't do anything about it, nor help him with it.

"I see." She slowly withdrew her hand, looking at the ground. Well this ruined her evening plans. Slowly she bent down to grab her basket, placing the statue on the roof. "Well then, I guess we'll have to play another night. Sorry for distracting you."

The cat burglar slid close to him, leaving a small peck on the cheek before slipping away. Batman's arms lifted a fraction towards her but he did nothing to hinder her escape. She hadn't stolen anything this time, and she was no killer. Maybe that was one of the reasons he preferred her company to many other women he was attracted to in the past. The fact she reveled in the dark like he did probably helped too.

Before he could call her back or run a hand over his cowl in frustration, she looked back to him. "I'll keep an ear out for your crazies. Might even get lucky. Until then, take a shower. You smell like a dog."

Then she was gone, jumping off the rooftop and far out of sight. Batman gave an exasperated sigh, then picked the statue up to put it where it belonged. He shook his head, smirking slightly at her attempt to break his brooding mood. It helped, a little.

Conner looked after his girlfriend again, trying every so often to get her to talk to him. It wasn't working. Megan was giving him the silent treatment, which was the most confusing thing in the world. If she was angry at him and wanted him to do something to make up for it, why didn't she just tell him what to do? Why did she have to pretend he didn't exist? Seemed horribly counter productive. He knew she was angry at him, but could she just tell him what to do to fix things? How many times did he have to say sorry before she actually forgave him?

His ever growing distress was picked up by nearly everyone around him. Malcom even became concerned about him. "Hey man, what's wrong?"

Conner debated for a moment whether he should tell him or just try to figure it out on his own. So far that wasn't working. "Megan and I had a fight," he started, "and now she won't talk to me."

"Ah." The older teen nodded knowingly, looking away at the dreaded thought. Most guys didn't want to talk about their girl problems unless they no longer liked the girl. They were clearly in the category of still liking their girlfriends, so bad mouthing them wasn't going to happen. "So… what caused it?"

The clone shrugged guiltily. "Went somewhere without telling her. I was trying to help out… a friend's dad and I thought she'd understand. She went after me and… apparently she didn't like what I was doing."

He looked towards his girlfriend a moment more. "I just don't get it. It wasn't anything bad, really, but she's super ticked off about it."

"Huh…" Mal looked back to the girl in question, who clearly ignored their presences at all. "Sounds like she's overreacting to me. Who's she to tell you where to go or for her to know where you are at all times? She's not your mom."

This made the clone smirk. "True, but it doesn't help the fact that she's mad at me." He gripped his head in frustration. "Not like I shot my best friend into another dimension."

"Say what?" The quarterback raised an eyebrow.

Realizing what he just said he tried to brush it off. "It's nothing. So any ideas? I can't stand it when she won't talk to me."

Not entirely sure if he should give advice, Malcom shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. As far as I can tell, girls are from completely different planets. You know what they say. Boys are from Mars and Girls are from Venus."

Hearing this, Conner couldn't help but to crack up. The humor of the phrase was completely lost on his friend there, but it didn't matter. He didn't know Megan was the one from Mars.

A/N: Men are from mars, women are from venus, and i think it's a proven fact we just don't understand each other completely. Obviously I'm a Bat/Cat shipper, but really, out of all the other cannon options, she's the funnest and best for him i think.

Well, back to typing. Still trying to take down two baddies before Rob gets home. TTFN!