A/N: Happy Halloween everyone! Once again thanks to all who reviewed!
I hope you enjoy the next instalment.
CHAPTER 2 – Good Ol' Fashioned Detective Work
Robin never left the city. But he had a small apartment about twenty minutes away from their building. He had the place set up a little while ago. It was in range of a high crime area in the city. Almost right in the heart of it. There was a bit of gear there, some of it his but most of it Roy's. They both used the space, but Roy was there much more than he was as the redhead was still fully in the hero business.
Slade knew where it was and had never said much about it, content to let Robin do as he wished it seemed.
Robin quickly made his way to said apartment now. Even if Slade didn't know about the place, the watch his husband wore around his wrist had a built in tracker for finding him. So Slade would know exactly where he was. Not like he was trying to hide, however. He just desperately needed some space.
What the fuck just happened...?
Slade did not expect Robin back that morning, knowing that when his lover was angry, he would need a little bit of time to calm down.
What he had expected though, was that Robin would have been home the following night. But when midnight came and went a day later the blue-eyed man never returned. Slade might admit that he had been checking his watch non-stop throughout the day, making sure Robin was still at the same place in the city and that he was still alive.
It was the second morning now and Slade was just heading to the kitchen. He had been up all night watching the city, looking for any evidence of the Justice League or Batman. Even with the state that Slade had left the Dark Knight in, the League had people who could heal him, probably pretty quickly at that. So, he didn't want to take any chances.
He didn't know if Superman could make due on his assurances.
He had also taken the time to delete any footage from when he had been at the Outpost after the power had gone out. It didn't take him very long to clear it all away and replace it with footage from the night before, that didn't show anything out of the ordinary. He also deleted the backlogs on their server from the tracker tech they were implanted with that would show where he had been after the ambush, copying over it with another location, as if he had left the Outpost after assessing the problem and not stayed there to heal. He had told his team not to bother with that place either, that he would just fix the cameras himself. No one questioned him, he was in charge after all.
He knew he was basically going behind Robin's back, essentially lying and covering it up, for now at least. Years ago it wouldn't have bothered him, but things had changed, of course. He had married the ex-hero after all, was sharing his life with him equally. Jesus they had two annoying felines and two annoying redheaded neighbours who insisted they were their Mum and Dad. Things had changed, alright.
So it was no surprise that it made the man feel a little shamed by going behind Robin's back. Saying the things he had. He had made his husband cry. Made him run away... 'he will see the Monster that you are. He will leave you.'
Slade shook his head of Batman's words. He knew that Robin wasn't actually leaving him. But a line had been crossed and badly at that, so he understood why Robin had been scarce.
He hadn't slept in over four days now, since the night before Bruce had ambushed him. His mind would not quiet, replaying the last few days over and over. He is loathed to admit it, but Bruce had managed to rattle him. The fight he had with Robin was proof of that. How things had just escalated like they did, it was no wonder his young lover was staying away. They hadn't had a fight like that in years.
The last time Robin had looked that lost had been when he was trying to regain his stolen memories. The horrible pain on his face. The older man sighed and shook his head. He was going to have to get a game plan together. Knowing that Robin's emotions were probably running haywire at the moment.
Slade blamed his preoccupied mind for not catching on to the fact that there were two other bodies in his kitchen, being obnoxious and eating his food..
"You two," Slade ground out, like they were the plague upon his arrival. His eye was narrowed and face set in a frown of displeasure. He was still in a sour mood.
These two idiots are not who I want to see right now.
Both redheads turned towards him, wide eyed and nervous looking. They both had their mouths full, plates filled to the brim with breakfast foods.
"Yeah, I'm not touching that," Red says pointedly to his boyfriend, big eyes trained on the mercenary, not willing to engage with Slade when he was like this; learned experience. "Your the hero, be brave...you ask him."
Roy glared at his other half, "seriously? It was your idea to come over here in the first place."
"What are you two idiots blathering about?"
"Well..." Roy seemed to stutter a second when Slade's bad mood was glaringly obvious. "You see...um...so..."
Slade was staring murderously at the Archer.
"Sooo...where's Mum?" Red blurted out after a ten second silence, not able to contain himself anymore. Apparently he was the braver one in the relationship after all or at least when it came to dealing with Slade in an unhappy mood. He then started peering around Slade's kitchen for the young mercenary in question, as if he might just walk in at any second.
No such luck.
"Yeah, he wasn't here yesterday and not today either," Roy chimed in, humming a little bit. "We were supposed to hang out yesterday but he never showed...never called...hmm."
"Yes, your detective skills are astounding," a grumpy Slade bit out dryly. "Get out of my building. Go bother someone less capable of killing you within two seconds."
"Did you guys have a fight?" Red asked, completely ignoring the one-eyed man's threat, looking worried about the raven-haired beauty.
Slade barked out a sound of frustration, gripping the fork he was using very tensely. He imagined taking the fork and stabbing it through one of their hands. He didn't even remember grabbing the plate Sarah had left him. He notices the second untouched plate lingering on the counter, filled with all of Robin's current food likes and glowers at it.
"I will take that as a yes," the Archer laughed nervously when he caught the look.
"Did he leave on a mission so soon after you got back? No ...couldn't be. I know he was missin' you a lot." Red then just raised his eyebrows suggestively. "If you know what I mean..."
"Not a mission." Was Slade's only reply.
"Trouble in paradise, Slade?" Roy teased, but was beginning to get the feeling that something big had happened.
"How come he didn't come to see us if you had a fight?" The Thief asked, reaching over and grabbing Roy's unfinished breakfast for himself. Knowing that his boyfriend was done eating what he wanted off the plate. Red didn't like to waste food. "Did you fuck up again? I thought it was supposed to be bros before hoes? That shit is soul binding stuff, Robin broke the bro code!"
"That is not a real code, I keep telling you. Besides, if Robin had any real bros it would definitely be me before you."
Red scoffed."What?! He would absolutely come to me first!"
"No he wouldn't, I've know him the longest. He's my broth-"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
There was a zinc! sound and then a harsh thud against the table, startling the bickering pair. Slade, who was dressed fully in his gear after being up all night, had retrieved one of his swords and had lodged it into the table, mere inches from Red's hand.
"Um, Rude! " Red exclaimed. He was pouting. Pulling his hand away. "Swords shouldn't be allowed this early in the morning, its not polite."
"Oh, then what about this?" Slade then released his new gun that Robin had made him, cocking it and aiming at Red's head, smirking a little sadisticly.
"Hey! Babe!" He then started shaking his boyfriend's arm aggressively. "Aren't you supposed to be a hero? He is pointing a gun at my face, fight for my honor!"
"I am sitting here in my sweatpants and hoodie Alex, what the hell am I gonna do against Slade Wilson in full battle gear? I wouldn't last two minutes."
"Not to mention that my new toy here is pretty special," Slade butted in. "I wouldn't want to have to shoot your eye out, then again..." he then seemed to reconsider.
"Ha ha ha..." Red laughed a little afraid and hysterical. "Babe? Hero?"
"Oh! Is the gun finally finished? Yes! He can finally shut up about the damn thing! He was becoming obsessed," Roy said, sounding relieved. Completely ignoring his other half who was pouting again at being ignored. "I love Rob and everything but how many times did he wake me up in the middle of the night to talk about internal mechanics. I must have over five hundred texts from him too. That guy has a little bit of OCD, I'm just saying. But, the finished product does look sweet." He finished his little rant and then turned to his boyfriend who was stuffing his face again with breakfast food. "How come you aren't more like Robin? He slaves away on a weapon for Slade for over two months. Where is my state of the art badass bow, huh?"
Red began to splutter a little bit, almost embarrassed. "I didn't...you haven't...you wont let me steal you one! " He then stopped and thought for a second. "Wait, Mum already made you a kickass bow anyway, there is nothing better on the market right now."
"Oh yeaaah, you're right, my bow is awesome," the hero grins at his other half.
Red frowns slightly, "hey! Mum makes Dad a new gun and you a kick ass bow, but where is my super awesome, badass, kickass toy, huh? Why can't he make me something awesome?"
"Your entire X suit ...?"
Red stops abruptly. "Oh yeah."
"Yeah..."
"Well! Maybe its time for an upgrade. Yeah! A super awesome, badass, kickass upgrade. Babe, you are going to have to help me convince him to upgrade my suit..." Red just keeps rambling on.
His boyfriend just sighs and face palms.
Roy glances over, about to say something to Slade like 'sorry for my boyfriend, please don't kill him', when he realizes that the man was just ...gone.
The Archer's eyes narrow in concern, that's not like Slade at all...
Red had just finished up a rant on the different things he wanted to have upgraded in his suit. "So what do you think one-eyed wonder—Oh, he's gone? When did that happen?" He turned confused eyes to his hero boyfriend. "Again...rude!"
"I think something happened."
"You think?"
"Especially since Rob wont answer any of my calls, which is weird. Slade doesn't seem to be out looking for him either, which is even weirder." Roy had a frown on his face, mind racing about all the things that could have happened.
"I am so curious now."
"If Robin's not back by tonight I am going after him ...or maybe I should be looking now," Roy then decided, nodding his head to his plan. "I just have to figure out how to track him though, hmm..."
"Babe, there's an App! for that," the Thief quoted, smiling.
"An app?" Realization hit him a second later. "Oh! The App! I thought Robin told you to get rid of that?"
"Pffft," Red scoffed and pulled out his phone. A while ago the Thief had somehow gotten a hold of Robin and Slade's tracker tech, installed one in both of them, and could verify where all four of them were at all times. "As if I listen to him all the time."
"You don't listen to him at all, I don't know why I am surprised."
Red looked cheeky. "Me either."
Roy sighed. "Well, why didn't we just use that before? We wouldn't have had to come over here."
"Two words."
The hero raised an eyebrow.
"Sarah's. Breakfast," Red mouthed slowly.
"Oh my god you are impossible."
"I hope you aren't planning to track him anytime soon. I just ate breakfast and now I need my morning nap. You should come morning nap with me Roy, go find lover boy later."
"You are such a lazy villain."
"Comes with the perks of the job."
"You have no job!"
"True." Red then smiles, running his hands around his other half's neck, giving him a seductive look. "Now come home with me so I can keel over in breakfast coma in comfort. Mum is safe. Dad wouldn't be in the building without him if he wasn't, right? You can go out looking tonight."
Roy sighed, wavering and then in a completely serious voice said. "Fine...just a nap. No funny business."
Red just gave his boyfriend an outraged and appalled look, before Roy's straight face caved to a laugh. "Wow, you thought I was serious?"
"Babe, don't give me a heart attack! I ate a lot of bacon, that is like a thing that could happen, you know? First Slade tries to kill me and now you. My heart can't take it. Do you want me to die? Not funny."
"Your fine. Slade tries to kill you at least once a day, you should be used to it by now."
"Yeah, tell that to my pants I almost wet when that sword hit the table. Slade's a damn bastard, no wonder Robin ran away! I want to run away."
Roy laughed again and began dragging him out of the kitchen, knowing that the best way to get back at Slade was to fuck somewhere on their floor without him catching them.
Robin was sulking, sure.
He thought it was for a good reason, though.
He had spent the better part of his time here upset, hurt and angry. Confused. Nothing was making sense. Slade wasn't making any sense. His mind kept replaying his husband's words over and over again, the question of whether Slade really was just getting tired of him. The man was right, maybe he was just a liability now. He thought back over to all the times that Slade had had to save him and...there were quiet a few occasions that came to mind.
I guess I really am just a disappointment... Robin couldn't help sighing to himself.
Robin shook his head to banish those thoughts, knowing that he couldn't let what he was feeling consume him because two days without sleep, holed up in a dingy apartment sleeping on a couch with little entertainment, had allowed his mind to compartmentalize his emotions. Like his husband had taught him to. To take the emotion out of it and look at the root of the problem. Look at the facts. Take in the pieces that didn't add up or make sense. There was definitely something that wasn't adding up, but maybe that was just his mind playing tricks. Not wanting to accept the truth in what the one-eyed man had said.
That he was careless, a liability, a disappointment...
Even though he felt like he was desperately grasping at straws, he thought back to if he had noticed anything off about Slade before he returned home. He knew the new business arrangements had gone well, they had already been paid a ridiculous amount of money in advance for the upcoming work. So it couldn't be that.
It was the phone call...
That night Slade was supposed to return home and didn't, he had said a 'delay'. But what did that really mean anyway? An old friend, he had said. But Robin hadn't really thought much of it. Slade knew a lot of people, after all. This business had a way of introducing you to many different walks of life, sometimes not always good. But Slade would have told him if something bad had happened, so it couldn't be that.
'You were the one who dragged me into this business Slade!' Robin winces slightly as his own words flash across his mind. Jeez, why had he said that? 'Yeah, someone always wanting to take advantage, alright?!' He feels a pain in his chest at the knowledge that he had shouted those ran both his hands through his hair and sighed.
Ugh, I need to focus...get to the root of the problem...Okay, so if Slade had sounded weird on the phone, then whatever had happened had been before that call between us.
"Sooo... is this what the last two days have looked like? You, moping around on the couch in this lame ass apartment?" Said a voice behind the young mercenary.
Robin shot to his feet, grabbing hold of the first thing in his reach, a gross, ratty looking feathered throw pillow his head had been leaning against.
"Rob man, that won't do a damn thing."
"Roy, you little insect, why you gotta sneak up on me like that," Robin yelled, a little embarrassed as he threw the pillow at the intruder's face. A red arrowhead, almost like a throwing star, was suddenly flying through the air, piercing the gross pillow, feathers exploding all over the small room as the arrowhead thudded into the opposite wall only a foot above his head.
Robin gaped, watching as feathers fluttered everywhere. Some getting stuck in his hair. But making a mess of everything.
"Are you for real right now?" Robin screeched, gesturing around the place. "I am not cleaning that up. Alex is a bad influence on you, that boyfriend of yours-"
"Yes Mum," Roy laughed in a teasing tone. He carefully makes his way towards the couch that feathers now rested on, practically covering it. The Archer jumps over the back of the couch and sits down heavily, causing some of the feathers to stir and hit Robin in the face.
"Uggggggh! Men!"
Roy's smug face looked back at him. "Nah just one man, right?"
Robin half glared and then pouted slightly, turning away with his arms crossed.
"Am I dealing with a crisis right now? Or has this just been a more than usual crap fight and you guys need a few days away? Gotta say, Slade isn't keeping it in like he usually does, I could tell right away something went down."
"Is he okay?" Robin can't help but ask, a little worried.
"Yeah...I guess?" The hero shrugged his shoulders. "What even happened? How come Slade hasn't come to get you if you are just here. I mean I found you...soo..."
Robin sighed. "Red didn't get rid of the App! did he? "
Roy gave him a smirk, "are you really surprised? Besides, I think its a good idea. I like the thought of being able to find you all when I need to. To know we are all safe."
Robin couldn't help but smile at his long time friend. "Awwh, you care about us." But secretly he was pleased. It had been kind of ironic and fate-like the redheads coming into his life. Two years ago his life had been great sure, but it had been missing something vital that he had craved. Friends. Roy and Alex had quickly grown on him and he had come to care for them a lot.
The Archer laughed, "yeah well don't let it get to your head. And if you tell Alex, I will kick your ass. Slade be damned."
Robin grinned and laughed, feeling good in a way he hadn't for a few days now.
"Soo...what happened Rob?" Roy asked, back to serious mode. "Cause holing yourself up in this swanky apartment and Slade sitting idle at home isn't like you guys."
Robin sighed, running a hand through his hair, and then pinching the bridge of his nose. He contemplated for a moment. "Um ... he came home, started freaking at me about being on the roof, we got into one of the worst fights we've ever had, he said some really shitty stuff, I said some shitty stuff about our past and then...I kind of told him that we were finished. That I was leaving. Told him if he followed me that I would fight him. Then I jumped over the side of the roof and ran away here. So...that ...is probably why he hasn't come yet."
Roy was gawking at him. Robin felt his chest ache again and glanced away.
"Yeah...you are gonna need to start at the beginning."
Thirty minutes later...
"Wow..."
"Yeah..."
"Soo...you aren't actually gonna leave him, right?"
"Of course not," Robin said quickly, pain flashing over his blue eyes at the very thought. He would never leave Slade. "I just meant that the conversation was finished and that I was leaving to go somewhere alone. I love him. I couldn't imagine being without him. But..." he then hesitated, biting his lip. "Do you think he was giving me an ultimatum? Do you think he will leave me? He was furious with me. I haven't seen him like that in...years and years. I had forgotten what that part of him felt like when directed at me. "
"I don't think that's it, an ultimatum I mean." But the Archer was frowning. There was something just so off about the whole thing. Slade didn't normally go off the deep end over something that small.
Robin abruptly stands up and begins pacing the living room back and forth. "It doesn't make sense! Slade get's delayed coming home and then looses it when he finally does, all that stupid shit about forgetting my old life and friends, pissed about me sitting up on the roof of our building of all places! I don't get it. He said some really shitty things... but ... I guess I did too."
Roy has his arms crossed over his chest, still sitting in full uniform on the ratty couch, eyes watching Robin pace around the room. The frustration in his eyes, the sadness. The Archer suddenly lights up when he replays Robin's little rant in his mind.
"Its like you said, he got delayed coming home. You even said that he sounded weird on the phone call..."
"Yeah and?"
"Well, we just need to figure out who crossed paths with him before he called you."
"Yeah but my tech only allows me to see where Slade is right now, not where he was four days ago." Robin was frowning again.
"You guys don't keep records of that stuff?"
"We do, back home. Not on my communicator, though. I don't really have the equipment here to hack into my own ridiculously secure network to check it out. That would also alert the security team of a breech and then Slade would know, so ... that idea is a no go."
"Well, Rob man... don't you know? ...there's an App! fo-"
"Don't even say it!" Robin interrupts, his hand raised in a stop position.
"...for that," Roy says anyway, laughing hard at Robin's annoyed face again. "Alex's App! can backdate to almost a month ago, he's been tinkering."
"Great," he bit out sarcastically. "Red can now see where we have been a month ago. How is he doing this? He shouldn't even be able to get this information. Its magic!"
Roy grinned at the young mercenary, saying almost nonchalantly. "Maybe he's just a really good Thief, that even your stuff can't keep him out, ever think about that?."
"Nope," Robin immediately denied. "He's got some weird power or he is cheating somehow. I refuse to believe that he is good at being a bad guy."
"Don't be a sore loser."
Robin raised an eyebrow, not looking happy. The Archer couldn't help but burst out laughing at his friend's expression.
"Rob man, sometimes you look just like Slade its scary."
"Just track his whereabouts all ready!"
"Fine Bird Brain, jeez."
It only took a few minutes to backtrack through the days when they got a location.
"The Outpost? That's where he was?" Robin was kind of shocked. He hadn't been expecting that.
"Whats the Outpost?"
"Honestly, nothing much. Its basically a large storage facility we have on the outskirts of the city. We had it built a few years ago. I haven't even visited it in almost a year I think, not really any need to."
"It shows that he was there for two days, which would add up with your phone call with him."
"Do you have a computer here? Or even a tablet? Something with higher processing power than a smart phone? I could check the cameras around the place, backdate to a few days ago, check some of the logs."
"Uh...no, sorry."
"Dammit! Why did I leave all my stuff! All I have is my communicator!"
"Oh, wait a second..." Roy then clicks on his earpiece, speaking into it. "Hey babe, you still up on the roof?"
Robin's jaw dropped. The Archer must have been here for two hours at least. Roy couldn't help but snicker at the young mercenary. "I need your tablet, did you finally beat that Candy Crush level? I know its been pissin' you off," he continues speaking with his boyfriend for another few seconds. "Alright," he then clicks the earpiece, ceasing his conversation with Red.
"Has he been up there this whole time?" Robin sounded shocked. "Its freezing outside."
"He has his suit on, he is fine. And he thought this was a me and you type of conversation," Roy then smirked at him, giving him a once over. "Besides, you aren't the only one with a bad boy who chases him all over the city, ya know."
"Apparently..." it was kind of sweet.
"Secretly its because he is a worry wart and didn't want to leave us by ourselves, the idiot," Roy confesses, just as Alex, decked out in full Red X gear, climbs through the window to the right of them.
"More like he is nosey and can't resist the drama," Robin mutters, but neither redhead hear him.
"What I miss?" Red's modulated voice questions. He has a tablet in his hands and gives it over to Roy when he reaches for it. "Um... whats with all the feathers?"
Roy launches into another fit of laughter that Robin can't help smiling at.
"No seriously guys, what I miss?"
Ten minutes later they were all situated in the small space, Robin fired up the tablet and began checking the Outposts cameras. The redheads were taking up the couch while Robin was leaning against a wall not far from them. Roy was filling his boyfriend in on what all had happened as the young mercenary continued to access the Outposts systems.
The Archer had just finished his quick recap when an annoyed curse interrupted them.
"Ugggh, what the fuck? There is nothing here!" Robin spat out, frustration flashing through his blue eyes.
"No footage at all?" Roy asked.
"No, there is footage, but there is nothing here that shows that Slade was even in the building any longer than an hour. He is here taking a look at some of the cameras and then he leaves. There was some weird glitch where some cameras went offline before he got there, then a power failure after he enters the base, forty minutes later the power comes back on and then ...nothing. All the footage is clear, I don't see Slade here anywhere after that, there is no other person...everything is intact."
Roy's mouth turned to a frown. "Then... maybe the person he met was before the Outpost?"
"That's not what my guts telling me," Robin confessed, an uneasy feeling in his chest. "Are you sure your little App! is actually working?"
"Yes, my tech is working just fine." Red piped in sounding miffed, getting up from the couch and approaching Robin. "Let me see that." The Thief quickly grabbed the tablet out Robin's hands, causing an irritated 'Red!' to leave the blue-eyed beauty's mouth.
Robin rolled his eyes, giving the Archer, who was smirking at him, the stink eye since Red was now ignoring him in favor of the tablet screen. The young mercenary huffed, crossed his arms and turned towards the small open window that Red had crawled through earlier, eyeing the darkness of the outside.
He felt his mind start to race. A solemn look overcame his features.
"Maybe...maybe it has nothing to do with him being delayed and he really is just sick of me." For a moment Robin felt his emotions rush him, a tangle of sadness and anxiety. Slade had said he was 'sick of it' in regards to his attitude towards his safety, but underneath he felt like Slade had been saying he was sick of him.
"Nope," Roy said, sounding very assured from his spot on the couch. Alex was still nose deep in the tablet. "Slade's feelings for you aren't even in question. He would bring you the moon if you asked him."
Robin scoffed.
"Its true, he would find a way to take the moon and give it to you. Gift wrapped in black and orange wrapping paper."
"That's a huge exaggeration, by the way," Robin say dryly, rolling his eyes.
"Well, he would take you to the moon, then!" Roy then huffed out a frustrated noise, waving his arms in front of his face in a 'never mind' movement. "My point is that ...Deathstroke the Terminator proposed to you. He then married you in the craziest most awesome wedding ever. Then he recreated his longevity serum and gave some to you...I don't think the guy is goin' to leave you anytime soon, is what I am sayin' here Rob. Slade Wilson doesn't do that for anyone, its just for you."
Robin was about to argue back when Red X interrupted both of them. "This footage is fake anyway..."
It took a second for that to sink in.
"Well, not fake, but its electronic time stamp is dated for the day before. Someone copied footage from the day before and replaced it over the day that Slade's tracker showed he was in the building." Red turned the tablet around, showing them the comparison. "So there, my App! does work and something fishy is going on around here. "
"Good job babe!"
Robin was giving him an incredulous look. Obviously if Robin had been given a little more time with the tablet, he could have come to that conclusion himself. But he was very surprised that Red had done it so quickly as well.
"Why does Mum look so shocked, I am a Thief." His question was directed at his boyfriend, who was smirking and shrugging his shoulders. "Knowing my way around security systems and cameras are kind of my thing?"
Robin sighed "goddamn magic" beforeheading away from the window and plucking the tablet from Red's fingers, looking at the screen in concentration. He played around with it for a few minutes, but then ended up turning the tablet off and handing it back to Red. "I can't find the original footage..."
"Yeah I couldn't either," Red confesses, his modulated voice sounding annoyed at himself.
"Well, you know what this means, then?" Roy asked, getting up from the couch, looking ready for anything. "It looks like its time to do some good ol' fashioned detective work."
Robin didn't know why the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up at Roy's comment. But he didn't have a good feeling about this at all.
Thirty minutes later, after having stolen a nondescript car, much to Roy's annoyed protest and Robin having to agree to buy whoever owned the vehicle another brand new model just to shut him up so they could leave, they finally made it to the Outpost on the outskirts of town. Everything looked to be normal from the outside, not a hair out of place. Robin accessed the hidden entrance and all three of them went inside. The building that sat on top of the storage facility was merely a disguise for what was hidden underground through a secret passageway.
They were walking through a set of hallways in the building above ground and heading towards the Command Room just up ahead. The Command Room was where all the security systems would be. He would be able to access the cameras manually to try to dig up any more information about what happened to the lost footage.
"Everything seems okay, right?" Roy asked, glancing around. Not seeing anything out of place just yet.
"Yeah, maybe Slade was just in a really bad mood that night and—whooooaaa..."
The had just reached their destination when Red's thought had been cut off.
The Command Room looked like a tornado had blown through it. From the outside everything had looked normal, but the inside of the Outpost was a whole other story.
"What the fuck? Look at this place!" Roy said, sounding startled. All three of them were frantically taking it all in.
Red gave an awed whistle through his suit. "Wow, that's a lot of blood..."
"Look at the hole in the ceiling," Roy chimed in, pointing to the rather large hole above them that was showcasing the stars to them.
They continued to survey the space, going from one place to the other, the damage and destruction was present anywhere they looked. Robin's eyes were wide, shocked, there was blood everywhere...
But Slade had seemed fine when he had come home...
"Look at this hole in the wall, it goes to the other room. Only someone with some crazy strength could pull off throwing someone through that. That wall is made with pure concrete." The Archer quickly made his way into the other room.
Robin took a sharp breath and ran over to what was left of the command console, fingers already flying over the keys to try and sort out this mess. Jesus what was going on? Who could have done this much damage? It was clear that Slade had been victorious in this battle, but...why had he kept it hidden, covered it up?Why hadn't he said anything? This wasn't just the run of the mill attack that they usually dealt with, this was brutal. Whoever had come for his husband had been trying to kill him.
There is a bloody crater in the ceiling, who the fuck attacked Slade? There were so many possibilities running through his mind.
Roy returned from the other room and both redheads continued to take stock of the place. The hero in red was walking around, looking for any evidence, anything that would explain all this. Something to indicate who had been here.
"Think he killed whoever attacked him?" Red questioned, coming to stand next to Robin who was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. He couldn't find anything. It had been wiped clean.
"I can't see or find a body, but that doesn't mean anything, we have people for that." Robin replied, sounding tense. If someone had gone to these lengths to attack Slade than they better damn well be dead in a ditch! If they weren't he would go and find them himself.
Even if Slade had been attacked ...why had he tried to hide all this from him? It didn't make any sense! He knew his husband had been acting weird. He had been with the man long enough to tell when something seemed off about him.
"I don't get it, why did Slade try to cover all this up if someone had just attacked him?" Red asked, unknowingly speaking Robin's thoughts. The Thief then began to access the security system himself, perhaps he would be able to find something that the young mercenary had missed.
"Obviously he was trying to hide who came after him." Robin's tone was dark, cold. He was getting more and more pissed as time went on. How could Slade keep this from me?
As the two bad boy's searched through the console, the hero still continued his hunt, hoping to find some physical evidence. After a few minutes of searching, with no results, he was just about to turn and head back to the others when a glint caught his eye. He hurried over to a dark corner, where a support pillar was barely hanging on, chunks of concrete littering the floor.
The Archer reached down, pushing at some of the damaged pillar before his hand closed around what his eyes had been drawn to.
He drew in a sharp breath when he realized just what he was holding.
"Hey ...Rob...?" Roy calls out, then hesitates, his expression tense. "I think ...you are gonna want to see this..." He turns to the other two who were quickly making their way over to him.
"What is it?" Robin asks.
The Archer slowly reveals the batarang he had found embedded in the rubble, part of it was chipped away but the weapon was unmistakable.
"Oh shit," the Thief breathes out.
Robin slowly reaches out, he isn't sure what his face must look like. But, judging from the expressions on his companion\s faces it must not be a good look. He blinks and takes the small weapon, bringing it up closer to inspect it, looking like he was in a trance.
Roy's lips fall into a frown, concern evident. "Rob?" He then lays a supportive hand on the mercenary's shoulder.
"I...no...no, this is crazy." He glances around to both of them. "Right?"
"I don't think..." Roy begins, but is then cut off.
"If Batman came to kill Slade then he would have told me about that, right? He wouldn't just keep that from me-"
"Wait!" Red screeched, rolling right over what Robin was saying. " Does that mean Slade killed Batman?" The Thief then pulled down his uniform hood, his newly revealed hazel eyes showing his own panic at the situation. "Does that mean that the JL are going to be after you? Because that is so not something I can handle guys! I am just a simple Thief, this is way above my pay grade. I can't be hunted by the Justice League, I just can't."
"Look ...we can't just jump to conclusions here, " Roy said, trying to reason with them.
"'Jump to conclusions?' Do I have to say it again? Slade killed Batman! The Justice League might already be on their way to kill us all!"
"We don't know that for sure."
"Yeah, because Slade covered everything up! Doesn't sound to me like they were just having a good old chat," Red huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Man I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for a Slade vs Batman fight."
It was then that Robin suddenly gasped sharply and snapped his fingers, a thought coming to him. "Wait! I almost forgot... I have this place tapped" He had been silent through Red's mini panic attack, mostly because he had been too shocked to say anything. Just mindlessly staring at the batarang resting between his palm. Robin hadn't even considered that Bruce might be the person who had come after Slade. He still didn't know if he believed it. But he supposes they were about to find out.
"Eh? What?"
"You have audio in a place like this? Wouldn't it have been shut down with the rest of the base when the power outage hit?" Roy questioned with a raised brow behind his mask.
"With any other audio tap, it would have been shut down for sure. But this is my own invention actually. I have most of the places we own in or around the city testing the new tech right now. It doesn't piggy back on any of our systems, signals or cause interference with some sensitive tech we have stored here. I am pretty sure that it wouldn't have been affected because it operates on its own unique power source outside of this building."
"Again, why would you need audio at a storage facility of all places?" Red asked this time.
"Not just here, its just being tested right now, like I said. I wanted the tech put in so if any of our staff were making deals behind our backs or planning something we would be alerted to it. That way even if someone managed to shut down our systems or block them somehow, we would still be able to listen in. Similarly if there was some type of hostage situation with our people on our property, we want all the advantages. I am basically the only one who has access to it right now, it isn't even communicating with home base either, just my own personal server, so I can gather data. I have been trying to make it untraceable."
"Paranoid much?"
Robin threw an intense look at the Thief, motioning with his hands around the Command Room. "I guess you see why now."
"Even I am beginning to wonder how I have managed to steal from you guys," Red laughed, trying to ease the heavy mood.
"Yeah well, you have meta human abilities, I am sure of it."
"Uh no, I am complete homegrown, first grade human, no meta or anything."
"Doubt it," Robin says, almost nonchalantly.
"What if Slade really did kill Batman?" Roy, who had been unusually silent for the last minute or so, spoke up ominously. His face was twisted in concentration, like he had just spent the last minute thinking about every possible outcome or plot twist in the event the words were true.
"If my invention is working the way that I programed it to, then ...I guess we are about to find out."
It didn't take Robin long to use Red's tablet to access his personal servers. Even less time to bring up the correct date and time, and sure enough the young mercenary's invention was working just fine. In no time at all they were listening in on the events of four nights ago, when Slade had come to the Outpost.
When the recording finally ended, an hour later, the shocked look on on all their faces was telling...
"Uh guys, my App! just dinged, Slade is on the move...and he's headed this way..."
A.N: I couldn't just leave out Red and Speedy!
Next chapter is a big one, like...pretty long haha. But it is also the last one in this story.
Snippet from the next chapter:
"Guys, I think you should clear out before he gets here, Slade and I have some things we need to talk about."
"Are you...gonna be okay?" Roy asks, his heart still pounding from the things he had heard from the recording. That Superman of all people had been the only reason Batman wasn't currently dead. That Slade had sounded almost frantic, his tone uneven as he tried to give the Dark Knight an out over and over again, but the dark hero just wouldn't stop. The comments about Robin having been with Slade at fifteen years old? All of this was just so unexpected.
"Yeah kid, we can stick around or-"
"No." Robin cuts off Red then turns to his better half, his face unreadable. A practiced mask sliding into place. "I think this is a me and him type of conversation, yeah?"
Roy nodded his head. "Yeah..."