Chapter Five:
An hour had passed and there hadn't been so much of a glimpse of Wally, though the sensors indicated he was still in Gotham. Which seemed to be the best they could do, as pin-pointing the location of someone who moves faster than the wind is on the rather difficult side.
"In the morning, we are updating our sensors." Batman said, his voice a bit more shallow and rough than usual. Robin knew this must be huge blow to his mentor's pride. Not only had a teenager escaped the fortified walls of Batman's own design, the said teenager had been a sleepwalking Wally. Now, to top it all off, they couldn't find him, much less catch him.
"We updated the sensors yesterday." Robin pointed out, trying to helpfully remind his mentor that he himself personally updated everything one a week.
Batman shot Robin a look, something that was sensed rather felt.
"Then," Batman growled, "We'll update them again."
Robin sent his mentor a nervous smile before glancing out the window at the passing buildings. His face paled.
"Uh Batman?" Robin said cautiously.
Bruce sighed inwardly, not liking his partner's tone.
"What?"
"The Batsignal is on." Robin informed his mentor, pointing to the sky. Okay, we really need a new prefix.
"The Batsignal is on." Batman affirmed, and Robin nodded again. Without saying a word, Batman pulled up his updating system that was streaming data from the Batmcomputer to the Batmobile.
Seriously – new prefix.
"What's going on?" Robin asked, trying to read Bruce's expression.
"Joker has escaped." Bruce stated, something in his tone telling Robin a long night was about to get longer.
Had the circumstances been better, Robin would have suggested that Batman stop putting Joker back into Gotham's asylum where he always escaped, but he held his tongue knowing this wouldn't be the best time to share his idea.
He'd make a point to tell Bruce right after the prefix issue was addressed.
"So are we going to call the Flash now so he can go after Wally while we go get Joker?" Robin asked.
Batman paused.
"We'll split up."
Robin looked at his mentor with surprise.
"I know you don't want Flash to know-" Robin began.
"You go after Kid Flash and I will attend to the Joker."
Robin couldn't believe this.
"We could just call the Flash."
"The sensors indicate that Joker is trying to make contact with Harley near the Harbor. I'll drop you off here so you can continue to look for Wally."
"Or," Robin suggested, "We could call the Flash."
"If you find him, alert me of your location and try to keep him in said spot."
"Why don't we just tell the Flash?"
The Batmobile lurched to a stop and Robin's door opened automatically.
"I want location and status updates every thirty minutes." Batman said simply.
Robin stared at Bruce for a long time, not saying anything. Then, seeing as though Bruce wasn't going to budge, Robin wordlessly unbuckled his seatbelt and got out.
No sooner had both his feet ended up on the ground, the car had pulled away, its tires screeching loudly as it took off.
"We could have called the Flash!" Robin yelled at the disappearing car as it turned a corner farther off, but it was gone before the words fell from his mouth.
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Three location and status updates later, Robin still hadn't seen Kid Flash. He'd been waiting around on the tallest building he could find, and still hadn't seen the yellow blur that was his sleeping friend. So he had gone into field mode, which sounded much cooler than it actually was.
Field mode was basically when you went into the field. However, this instance meant that Robin walking around Gotham by foot. At night. With no heater. And while his costume was nicely insulated and kept him warm, his attire left his forearms, neck, and most of his face exposed to chilly air. Still, it was a huge improvement on his last costume. That little phase was something he would carry to his grave, even before his secret identity.
Robin clenched his teeth and ignored the newest blast of cold air, his eyes still peeled for Wally.
Another cold burst of air.
Geez, Gotham was never his windy.
Just as another breeze hit him, Robin wanted to slap himself.
Duh.
Another whoosh of air, and this time Robin focused just enough to see the yellow blur that followed.
Wally.
How long had he been standing here blaming the wind?
"KF!" Robin hollered, and then suddenly, he was on the ground and his chest was hurting.
It took him a few minutes to understand what had happened, and when he did he frowned.
Wally West had just run him over.
Robin picked himself up and when he saw Wally was nowhere in sight, he then flung out his Batcommunicator. Hmm…RobinCommunicator, or maybe Birdicator…The Chirp? Robin smiled, thinking of "tweeting" Batman. Whatever he thought of would be better than the Bat-whatever-it-was.
"Batman, I'm near Jefferson street, and I found Wally. I'm on his trail."
"Noted. I'm approaching the Joker's hideout."
"Just now? It's been nearly two hours!"
"There was a miscommunication between me and the authorities."
Robin paused, "And what was that?"
"I was speeding."
"Yeah?" Robin trailed. Duh, the Batmobile would be speeding. Wherever crime was it didn't stay for long. So why would the authorities care if he spee- Robin grinned, "Wait, you got pulled over? As in, they gave the Batman a speeding ticket?"
Nothing from Batman's line for a beat or two, and then, "Keep me updated."
"Can do." Robin said in a serious voice before he hung up. Then his face cracked into a huge smile.
"The only thing better than this would be if they pulled over the Flash." Robin chuckled softly before pulling out his grappling gun and shooting it off into a building and swinging off in the direction his friend had gone.
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Robin panted heavily, his hands landing on his knees. Trying to keep up with Wally was not only pointless, but physically exhausting. But it'd been more of an instinct thing to run and try to catch up with his speedster friend when he'd spotted him. Like how his hand always shot out to catch what someone or himself had dropped, or something like that. Stupid, pointless, yet unavoidable.
Wally had taken off again though, like he had four other times within the last forty-five minutes.
It was just so frustrating, Robin wanted to pull his hair out.
"Robin. Report status." Buzzed the communicator in Robin's ear, and he mentally groaned before picking it up.
"Y-Yeah?" Robin puffed out, standing straight to try to air himself up faster.
"Why are you out of breath?"
"Just ran a few blocks to try and catch Wally."
"You realize he's a speedster." Bruce pointed out.
Robin ignored the information, "Let's just call Flash."
"No."
"Why?" Robin asked, "I mean, he'd catch Wally way faster than we can."
"This is Gotham business."
Robin gave up, "So how are things with the Joker?"
Bruce didn't say anything.
"Uh, Batman?" Robin tried again.
"He got away."
"Tonight's really not our night." Robin commented dryly.
"Report later." Bruce deadpanned , and his feed broke off.
Robin took one more mouthful of air before turning around to start is search again.
Then, from the corner of his eyes, he caught movement. The Boy Wonder span instantly, just in time to see a fading yellow blur disappear into a warehouse only a few streets down.
Robin sighed. The one night hadn't brought his fog-horn.
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Author's Note: Okay, I'm a horrible updater. But finals have been eating me alive. *sigh* Also, plot bunnies are, like, everywhere. I just wanted to send a general thank-you to you guys! You are awesome reviewers, and I love it! Thank you guys, sincerely.
Author's Mailbag:
Ghostdog401: I'm glad it does! LOL, thank you!
Kaliann: Isn't that always the way it works? And I love that! "Never try reasoning with a sleeping speedster." I laughed so hard…that's just awesome.
Kandy Kaylor: Thanks for understanding! I hope you liked this chapter! And you're welcome for the Author's Note. *smile*
Ravenietta: OMG, I hadn't thought of that! Hehehehe! I can't wait to write that.I mean, can you imagine the look on Wally's face? Oh man, I love this! And same goes for the Batman. Seriously.
Bat-dove: *evil grin* Oh, yes.
DemonUntilDeath: Oh man! I love that vote of confidence! Thanks! I really hope you like this!
Carry99: I might do the Batman translation again. *chuckle* It's just so fun to write.
Whreintheworld: Hey! Thanks, I like that – quality over quantity. And thanks for the luck on the house! Also, that's really cool that your family flips houses! And you're right, it kinda is a pain. But getting it done will be really nice. *grin*
Rowanfall: I probably won't bring back Amnesia Wally again, but I laughed at the idea! But you're right, we all love and miss him. And, you know what? I think I might be able to do something with your Christmas break story. And by the way, I LAUGHED so hard when you were like, "What does this have to do with anything? Absolutely nothing." Also, on the Robin spitting on people note, can anyone honestly say they wouldn't even think about it if they were on top of a very large building? LOL
Adoglover5: You know what? I want a car like that too. Also, YES. Blackmail on Batman = Awesome Barry moment. *evil chuckle*
PerfectlyStrange: What trouble doesn't Wally get into? I love him to pieces because of it though.
LynseyRyder12: There is no answer. LOL. There is absolutely nothing anyone can do to keep Wally out of trouble – as proven by Batman. Also, I asked Robin about the Batmobile…He said yes, but only if you wax the Batmobile for the next year.
Lilmissfashoinista: I know right? I mean, everything is the Bat_! Thank you!
Ranger Sage: Wow, thank you! I mean, ALL caps? That's amazing, thanks!
DayDreamingofYOu: Hmm…I think Robin hopes they'll call the Flash…But that's just me. LOL I'm glad you're liking it and your reviews are always so nice!
FallenHope-Angel: I bet it was, LOL. Also, Wally is amazing, asleep or not. But he's just so awesome asleep! LOL And I love the Bat surprise going on there. It just doesn't happen a lot.
GHOSTofDVDs: Glad you like it! *high five*