Hey guys. Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter and please do so again. As you know, bold italics is electronic communication and italics is personal thought. Please excuse any mistakes I may have made. I do not own DC Comics. Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Last Time:
"Maybe the metal connected to your spinal cord and nervous system. It's not easy access and it'd have to have been carefully inserted, but it's possible." Red Hood said.
That earned surprised looked from everyone, except Batman.
"What? Timmy's not the only one who knows things." Red Hood replied annoyed.
"When we get to the mountain, we'll do a deep tissue scan. That'll tell us something." Batman responded.
Richard didn't realize a deep tissue scan involved getting down to wearing only boxers and a mask and being stared at intensely by Batman. Said hero was currently walking in a circle around him, slowly. His eyes scanning up and down Richard's body. On the screen off to the right, Richard could see his bones, muscles, and skin separated. Each part of his body formed as Batman's cowl processed him. Weird watching my body being formed limb by limb. The bone and muscle looked quite worrisome. The team and most of the League were in the room. Richard didn't fail to notice some of the girls drooling at his body. He did notice the sympathetic looks on some faces as they saw all his scars. Most of which he's not sure how he got. Once Batman was done, he told Richard to get dressed. Following Batman, he looked at the scans.
"What the fuck is that?!" He exclaimed.
On the muscle and skin scan, everything was normal. However, a long, blue line followed his spine up to his brain stem on the bone scan. There was a very small box connected to the line resting on his brain stem.
Richard stared in shock at the peculiar scan.
"Seriously, what the fuck is that?!" He yelled frantically.
He was answered with silence, but Batman had stepped towards the computer and began doing what Batman does best: figure out what was going on.
"What did Cadmus do to me?" Richard whispered.
He placed a hand on his neck. I can't feel anything there. I never would have known it was there if not for the deep tissue scan. His other hand groped his lower back, feeling along the spine. There's no indication of anything there. He refused to think about the possibility of this all being a lie. He couldn't bear the thought of being a simple pawn in a chess game between good and evil, even though he knew it was a likely possibility. Batman stopped clicked at the keyboard.
"Scan shows that it's a metal similar to the metal used for medical replacements." Batman said.
"What is it for?" Red Hood asked.
"Monitoring, I think. The small box at the base of the brain stem," He pointed to it, "has electrical readings sending information out, but not receiving. He's only eyes and ears, but not a controllable spy or clone." Batman answered.
"Is there anyway to remove it?" Richard asked.
Batman looked at Martian Manhunter.
"You're the appointed doctor." He said.
Martian Manhunter stepped forward and closely examined the scans.
"It would be possible, but the surgery would be extremely risky. Any damage to any of the areas near the device would cause physical disabilities." The martian replied.
Richard had an increasing feeling of dread as the situation worsened.
"Is there anything we could do?" He asked softly.
Martian Manhunter and Batman exchanged a look.
"We could, perhaps, disable the device." Martian Manhunter tried to lift the depressing air.
"We'll need more time to run tests and get other scans. We'll find something." Batman reassured.
It didn't make Richard feel any better.
"I'm going back to Gotham." He said quietly.
"What? Wait, just stay here and we can figure something out." Robin objected.
Richard looked at him.
"Is it really a good idea for me to be here?" Richard asked.
"What do you mean?" Red Hood asked.
"If whatever is inside me is sending information out, whoever is getting that information knows as much as I do. To prevent any more information leaking, I think I shouldn't be here, and I shouldn't be informed of anything." He explained.
"We don't know if anyone is monitoring you." Robin objected.
"Don't you think it's weird how there haven't been that many encounters with any villains lately?" Richard asked.
It clicked to the heroes then that there hadn't been much villain encounters.
"And when did that start?" Richard asked quietly, already knowing the answer.
Everyone knew the answer, but none of them said anything out loud. Ever since I came into this business. He chuckled a bit. They're trying to spare me some pain. Silence fell across the room like a thick blanket. He started walking towards the zeta tube. I knew I wasn't meant to be here. I knew something was wrong. I knew this wouldn't last. He stepped in and was engulfed by golden light. A tear slipped down his face. So why am I this sad? He stepped out into the night air of Gotham City. He heard police sirens off in the distance. I really wanted to help. Sighing and schooling his emotions, he headed for his hotel room. He didn't know where his bike was, and it started to rain. He stopped and lifted his face towards the crying sky. Why? The sadness washed over him again. Stop. Steeling himself, he continued his walk. He approached the hotel numbly and went to his room. Getting inside, he changed into pajama pants, dried himself off, and flopped onto his bed. He laid there for a few minutes before something happened. The ear piece he had gotten from Batman was calling to him. He yanked it out of his ear and set it on the side table. It stopped beeping. Richard closed his eyes to sleep. The ear piece started up again. He looked at it before rolling over and ignoring it. With the earpiece stopping, he listened to the silence and fell asleep.
Red Hood watched the detective walk out of Mount Justice. He had the urge to go after the man and talk to him, but he knew Golden Boy wanted to be alone.
"We're just going to let him walk out?" Batgirl asked with a panicked tone.
"What?" Red Hood turned.
"Shouldn't we, I don't know, keep him here? Put him in a room?" She suggested.
Jason couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He asked.
He saw Robin exchange a look with Batman, but neither said anything. They both knew this was a long time coming.
"No, he's a security threat!" She exclaimed.
"With a little torture or mind-reading, we're all security threats! Besides, we don't imprison innocents." Red Hood countered.
"Well, we'd have to get caught first. He just has to walk around and be awake! He's far from innocent. He was with the Light before he was with us." She argued.
"He took initiative and left! He know he's a liability, unlike you! Also unlike you, he's a good person with a good heart." Red Hood shouted.
Batgirl looked at him with wide eyes. The room fell silent.
"I-I'm not a liability! I'm just as good as he is! I'm better! He's a criminal. He's nothing!" She said.
He got in her face.
"He's everything you're not, which is a lot! You are a liability, and you're not better than him. And, in case you don't remember, I'm a criminal. Does that make me nothing?" He ground out.
Batgirl didn't respond but looked away from Red Hood. He scoffed.
"Unbelievable." He snarled.
With a glare at Batgirl, he left and exited the mountain.
Robin watched as Red Hood stormed off. He agreed with Red Hood about Richard but not about Batgirl. She could be useful, even if she was a bit self centered and full of herself. But then again, were any of the bats as self-centered and full of themselves as she was? No. He sighed and looked at Superboy. They had become close, so he walked over to him. Behind Robin, Batman and Martian Manhunter were talking about the device. Batgirl hadn't moved, but her hands had tightened into fists. She huffed and stormed off.
"Probably going to destroy the gym." Superboy commented at her departure.
"Yeah." Robin agreed
"I thought everything was fine between you bats." Superboy said.
"So did I." Robin replied.
"What about Nightwing, will he be alright?" Miss Martian entered the conversation, Lagoon Boy behind her.
"He can certainly take care of himself, but I don't know what he's feeling or thinking." Robin answered.
"I'm sure he will be fine, my friend." Aqualad, ever the big brother, assured.
"What about the device? Did you see it?" Robin asked Superboy.
"I never used x-ray on him." Superboy respond.
"Did you sense anything?" Robin asked Miss Martian.
"Just the Cadmus programming, like Superboy's." The Martian replied.
"He had Cadmus influences?" Blue Beetle asked as he entered the conversation.
"Yeah." Robin confirmed.
"Wouldn't that mean there's something in the Cadmus database about Nightwing?" Aqualad asked.
Robin almost facepalmed.
"Why didn't I realize that?" He muttered.
"You weren't thinking clearly." Superboy replied.
"Impossible." Robin muttered.
With a huff of a laugh from Superboy, Robin went up to Batman.
"I have an idea." He smirked.
Batman and Martian Manhunter exchanged a look.
"And what might that be?" Batman asked.
Robin explained the Cadmus idea, and they began planning. Many blueprint examinations, mutters, pointing, and arguing later, they finally had a plan to get into Cadmus and Light databases. They gathered the heroes, called Red Hood and Nightwing, who didn't pick up, and debriefed them on the new plan. Red Hood was placed in charge to get Nightwing on board. That'll be tough. Robin looked at Red Hood and knew Jason was thinking the same. He walked over to his brother.
"Good luck." Robin said.
"Yeah, I'll need it." Red Hood responded.