Disclaimer: LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN! Oh what, I don't own Teen Titans? This makes me sad.
A/N: I'm skipping meals to finish this. Are you happy?
Also, thanks for telling me when Young Justice premieres! Now I have to go find me a tv with cable…
Unfortunately, I do not believe this will be finished by tonight. No way. Not with Halloween sheninigans to deal with. The last few chapters will be posted by this weekend. Somehow.
And yes, rikku92, I am dressing up as a Green Lantern (A;HSALKJ;FDSALKJ NEW MOVIE WITH RYAN REYNOLDS AS HAL JORDAN). And how shall I be celebrating this Hallows of Eve? That's right, by trick-or-treating at faculty housing. That means: we go bother our professors and get free candy. Some will be annoyed but most will be highly amused. Always awesome is the music professor who makes us perform a skit for candy.
Chapter 29: Light
-S-
10:58pm
Jump City, California
Main Street
She flew.
They streaked through the cool air above the city. At first Starfire wasn't sure if would be able to fly, since she was so emotionally distraught. But the way he said those two words caused happiness to swell within her.
She glanced down and felt color rising to her checks as she caught yet another glimpse at his face. Starfire always fantasized about what he looked like underneath the mask. Sometimes she did not want to look at him without the mask. What if she did not like what she saw? What if he did not live up to her expectations? The more she thought about it, however, the more she began to doubt these concerns of hers.
For an Earthling he was incredibly handsome. His dark hair whipped against his sweaty forehead as he looked down on Jump City. What struck Starfire the most was the color of his eyes…a piercing crystal blue that could melt any girl's heart. Without his mask he looked a lot more amiable, more approachable than as Robin. What was the name that went with the face?
Could this really be the same person as Robin, the Boy Wonder?
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"To main street," he replied. "I don't know how the others are handling their hallucinations. All of our communicators were taken when we were captured. Perhaps if Martian Manhunter was here…"
She touched down on a rooftop overlooking the bay. There were so many questions she wanted to ask.
"Why is your mask off?" she inquired.
"I needed to talk with Slade face-to-face," he replied. "But perhaps it's better this way. If people recognized me as Robin…it just wouldn't be good."
He put one leg up on the ledge of the roof, leaned forward a little on his knee, and looked out towards Jump City. This was his city, the city that the Titans protected. He furrowed his brow as he tried to think of a plan.
"What did Jericho say to you?"
"Right now we just need a little light," he replied, "Beast Boy and Cyborg may not realize that they're hallucinating. Jericho has a plan to temporarily bring power back to the city. I want everyone to meet on main street so we can figure this out together."
She couldn't help but notice what uniform he was dressed in. Even without the armor on she recognized it as his old apprentice uniform. Starfire hated seeing him in that uniform. And she especially hated seeing him in that uniform without his mask on. It just reminded her of the terrible things that Slade did to him…and by hurting him Slade also hurt those close to Robin.
Now that Jericho was gone there was very little light around. Starfire thought that she saw a flicker of her hallucinations surrounding her. While she knew that she had enough mental willpower to drive them away they still frightened her.
"Robin…"
"What?"
"I just…I am so very confused."
It had nothing to do with the fact that everyone was hallucinating. Starfire felt confused over what her hallucinations had implied. Slade told her that Robin fancied her…much more so than any other Titan.
"What are you confused about?" Robin asked.
"Many things."
She didn't even know where to begin. At the same time Starfire knew that this wasn't the time for her to be speaking of such things. They had to save their friends. Robin visibly swallowed as he waited for her to say something. He took her hand and squeezed it again.
"I have to go, Star. Jericho needs help. Go find the others and wait there for me."
Starfire nodded. She watched the boy wonder fling himself from the rooftop, resisting the urge the fly after him. She didn't understand American sign language, so she didn't know what Robin and Jericho were planning.
She flew away.
-Rae-
11:05pm
Jump City, California
Old HIVE Academy
Raven heard Cyborg ranting and shooting things long before she actually saw him. She kept her flashlight on as she walked down the long hallway, trying to figure out what to do.
Titans Tower didn't have much power left and she knew that she didn't have enough time to lug him back, especially if she decided to knock him out if his hallucinations were too overwhelming. She was sort of glad that Robin asked Adeline to go after Beast Boy, but at the same time Raven would have preferred to go after him. Sometimes she could sense the animalistic rage hidden deep within Beast Boy, a rage that may be triggered by the dust.
She dropped her flashlight to the ground as another one of her hallucinations overcame her. Raven leaned against a wall, breathing heavily as she tried to will away the images.
"RAVEN!" Robin shouted, his head reaching out towards her.
Her other friends were shouting her name as well. In the chaos crowds of people enveloped the Teen Titans, clawing at them and screaming for help. A loud noise that sounded like a train coming close pounded her eardrums as the ground beneath her shook. The street jerked up in rolling waves as earthquakes destroyed the city. Flames hopped from one building to the next, trapping them all in a fiery inferno.
In their desperation the citizens of Jump City clung to their heroes, the Teen Titans, in a last attempt to save themselves from Trigon's wrath. Raven stood on top of a building and looked down on this madness. There was nothing she could do to stop any of this from happening.
"Please…father…" she pleaded, turning her head towards the demon. "At least spare the lives of my friends…"
"It's too late for that," Trigon replied.
He waved his hand. A dark wave of energy passed over the city. Those who were caught under the wave immediately turned to stone. Before Raven had time to cry out in alarm the wave of energy passed over her friends. Raven knew that his power would envelop the entire planet. As if to make matters worse, Raven knew that she would not be turned to stone along with her friends. She was sired to bring Trigon into the world. She was sired to be her father's servant.
"NO!" Raven shouted. "I'M NOT LIKE YOU!"
Why were these hallucinations badgering her like this? How long could she keep them at bay? Fighting back the hallucinations were beginning to make her sick. She remembered the night that Robin was infected with the dust. Now she could understand why it drove him crazy.
She forced herself out of her hallucinations.
"Cyborg!" she called out.
Her voice echoed in the long hallway. It didn't help that Raven had only been here once before when they came to rescue Cyborg from the Academy. Once or twice she thought she heard Cyborg's frantic voice calling out, but when she tried to listen she heard nothing.
So instead of listening she ran faster through the empty hallways. Why did Robin have to split them up?
"Raven!" Cyborg exclaimed, running towards her.
She gasped as she took into account his miserable condition. His infrared eye—normally glowing bright red—was out. Of course, the Sladebot that attacked him must have shot that out right away. To her surprise Cyborg came right up to her and grabbed her by the upper arms.
"You have to get out of here," he said, shaking her. "Brother Blood—he's the one who triggered the dust!"
Raven became overwhelmed by a flurry of emotions. She sensed his furious desire to beat Brother Blood to a pulp. At the same time she saw several snapshots of his hallucinations as he neared her.
She felt his fear of retribution from Brother Blood over the destruction of the old HIVE Academy. She felt his overwhelming fear for the lives of those close around him. The Titans. His father. The children he played Little League with sometimes. Raven could also sense the logic behind his thinking. Brother Blood wasn't dead. Cyborg considered the HIVE headmaster his arch-enemy.
"It's a hallucination!" Raven shouted, stepping in front of Cyborg. "You've been infected with the dust!"
How could she make him understand? His face twisted in confusion. Raven felt a little wary about confronting Cyborg. With her own powers a little unstable due to the effects of the dust Raven wasn't sure if she could handle an enraged Cyborg by herself.
"The dust? The same dust that drove Robin crazy?"
Raven placed a hand on Cyborg's massive arm. "Yes, the exact same."
"But Brother Blood isn't dead!" Cyborg exclaimed. "He's the one who triggered the dust!"
"You're hallucinating, Cyborg!"
So am I, she thought.
The room burst into flame as her visions attacked her again. Why couldn't she just will this away? Why did these visions come back to her? The roaring of the flames and of the building burning down around her filled her ears, but she ignored it as best as she could.
"I don't want to have to knock you out!" Raven said. "CYBORG!"
The cybernetic teen began to punch and jab at the air. His metal fists made holes in the walls as he fought his hallucination of Brother Blood.
In a last act of desperation, Raven grabbed Cyborg's head. She closed her eyes and muttered an incantation. All the information she learned in the past few hours zoomed through Cyborg's head in several bright flashes. She didn't have time to explain everything to Cyborg.
This was worse than she thought.
With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach Raven knew that she wouldn't be able to convince Cyborg that he was hallucinating. This was just like the first time Robin was infected. It also didn't help that Cyborg was half-blind. From the looks of things, Raven figured that the Sladebots that kidnapped Cyborg also messed with his internal system.
Raven closed her eyes. Her soul-self rose into the air and flowed into Cyborg. This was something she didn't like to do often, especially to her friends, but she could knock people out when she wanted to with her soul-self.
She opened her eyes as Cyborg crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Hopefully he would be able to realize that he was hallucinating once he woke up. Raven used her powers to pick him up. Whatever plan Robin had on main street, it better freaking work.
-JW-
11:17pm
Jump City, California
Main Street
Jericho ran.
The most important thing was to get the timing right. After speaking with Robin—who was, oddly enough, dressed in a uniform that looked suspiciously like his father's—he knew that he had a limited amount of time to track the man down.
"Jericho," Robin called out. "He's over there! I'm sending you his coordinates in your communicator."
Jericho took out his communicator—one of those nifty yellow Titan communicators—and checked the coordinates. He nodded to Robin and raced towards his destination. Once he did this it would be a lot easier for everyone to see, but his main concern was making sure that the Titans were cured of their hallucinations.
For the rest of Jump City, the thing that mattered the most was getting all of the criminals rounded up. Even though Jericho wasn't a true hero he knew that the Titans would want to put the safety of the civilians before their own. Thankfully, the JLA's interference was helping them a great deal. The JCPD picked up the petty criminals who didn't have powers. As far as Jericho knew, Superman went off to fight Cinderblock while Wonder Woman and Green Arrow went off to fight Plasmus.
Jericho landed in front of the villain. At first Dr. Light cowered before he realized that it wasn't a Teen Titan in front of him.
"Who are you?" Dr. Light demanded.
Like always, Jericho could not answer. But even if he could Jericho knew that he wouldn't waste his breath formulating a reply. A snarl twisted Dr. Light's lips as he lifted up his light ray, intending to incinerate Jericho.
"Afraid of a little light, kid?"
Jericho couldn't help but smile at these words. A little light was just the thing he needed. Jericho knocked the gun out of Dr. Light's hands and punched the criminal in the face. Dr. Light's head snapped back as Jericho bounced a little on the balls of his feet. He had never really punched anyone in the face before. Thanks to both his mother and father's training in the military Joey was taught how to fight. That didn't mean that he liked fighting. Not the way Grant liked it.
Kicking away the light gun, Jericho knelt down and pinned Dr. Light to the ground. Jericho thought he remembered a time when Dr. Light used to be a formidable bad guy. A few years ago he cracked—from what Jericho didn't know—and became a silly villain the Titans could easily deal with. He gazed straight into Dr. Light's eyes.
Contact!
Jericho's form faded as he went into Dr. Light, completely possessing him. This was always a rather odd power of his that he never fully understood. He assumed control of Dr. Light's muscles and made him walk away.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Dr. Light shouted. "Get out of me!"
A pity that Jericho couldn't speak while his victims were conscious. Of course, he had learned to live with his disability.
Out of the corner of his eye Jericho saw Robin swing down to a rooftop near him. The boy wonder rolled to break his fall and came back swiftly to his feet. Jericho didn't go to the city much; he preferred living outside of the city where it was much quieter. So Robin was here giving him directions.
"Jericho!" Robin shouted, pointing towards the crowd down below. "Over there!"
Jericho forced Dr. Light to nod in understanding. If the man was strong-willed there was a good chance that he could knock Jericho out of his body. He didn't want that. He needed to use Dr. Light to help the Titans help themselves.
Jericho made Dr. Light leap on top the rooftop of the radio tower, one of the highest buildings in the city. Down below he saw a small crowd gathering below him. As Jericho clenched Dr. Light's fists around a steel power he felt a moment of doubt. What if this didn't work? What if he should have picked another villain to use? No, if he had gone after Overload the villain would have fried him. If this didn't work, then nothing else would.
He raised Dr. Light's arms and filled his hands with a growing ball of light. He forced Dr. Light to close his eyes as the ball of light grew brighter until the streets shone as if it were midday. The people watching from down below cowered in the sudden light. He knew that the Teen Titans and his mother were down on the street. They were also cowering in the light, but they also saw the truth.
-BB-
11:20pm
Jump City, California
Main Street
Beast Boy and Adeline raced towards main street. He ran with a slight limp, courtesy of the injuries sustained by the dust. He tried not to think about the fact that he hurt himself this badly.
"Climb onto my back," Beast Boy said, "it'll be faster."
He transformed into a horse. The older woman leapt onto his back and they sped towards main street. Beast Boy wondered how in God's name Adeline Kane got involved in this mess. All he knew about her was what Robin told him a couple nights ago. Why should she be helping them?
"Raven!" he exclaimed, transforming back into a human. "What's happening?"
Fear filled him. Cyborg lay unconscious on the ground while Raven stood beside him, her face twisted in anguish. At the sound of her name the empath lifted her head. Beast Boy's heart pounded against his ribcage. There were only three Titans here. Where were Robin and Starfire?
"I don't know!" Raven exclaimed.
"Why is Cyborg knocked out?"
"I had to knock him out! His hallucinations were getting bad!"
Civilians were still running around. Beast Boy felt so utterly confused. Just how much time had passed since they fought Overload at the Jump City Power Plant? Although Adeline Kane was helping them out, it still made Beast Boy nervous to see Robin and Starfire gone.
Cyborg stirred as he came back to consciousness. Beast Boy knelt down to assist his friend. His heart sank as he saw that Cyborg's infrared eye was broken. His long ears pricked up as he heard someone flying towards them. Everyone looked up as Starfire touched down in front of them.
"Where's Robin?" Raven demanded.
"He is assisting Jericho," Starfire replied. "I do not know what they are planning."
The sky filled with light.
It was, perhaps, the most glorious thing he had ever seen. Light sparked from the radio tower, raced along the telephone poles as the city came back to life. Traffic lights began to flash red, green and yellow as the streetlamps turned back on. All the illusions still following him vanished as the light washed them out.
Beast Boy realized what had happened: everyone got infected with the dust.
He found himself clutching Raven's hand tightly, as though afraid to let her go. To his surprise Raven didn't say anything mean or make a move to push him away. In fact, she was clutching his hand just as tightly as he was clutching hers. In that moment it seemed as though she forgot her usual demeaning attitude as she shared this fearful moment with the others.
Everyone hung their heads a little as they individually thought about their separate hallucinations. Beast Boy wondered what the others saw. Did the mask make everyone see Slade, or did everyone see other people? Other enemies who haunted their pasts?
"The dust…" he murmured.
"I know," Raven said. "We've all been infected."
That would explain everything.
Together all four Titans stood in the middle of the street, bathing in the light as they held each other's hands tightly. Sirens wailed in the distance as a swarm of JCPD cops circled around them, asking them questions about what happened. The questions went over his head as he tried to fully grasp what had happened to them. But despite this, Beast Boy felt safe standing here with friends.
-R-
11:36pm
Jump City, California
Main Street
Robin stood a ways away from the crowd surrounding the other Titans. For once he felt like an outcast, since he didn't have his mask on. Now that he wasn't moving any more he began to shiver in the cold. He watched the nurses drape blankets over the shoulders of the shocked Titans.
"Are you okay, Grayson?"
He started at the sound of his name. Turning, he saw Adeline striding towards him. Like always, he felt a little paranoid whenever anyone knew his secret identity. He had Slade to thank for that.
"I don't know," he replied in a low voice. "You recognize me?"
"Unfortunately, I do. I lived in Gotham for a little while."
Robin's face fell slightly. How many other people knew? Bruce always warned him never to reveal his secret identity to anyone. Honestly, though, he felt as if he was betraying Bruce when he realized that Slade knew who he was. Every time someone figured out his secret identity he felt as if he was betraying Bruce. This time, though, he could have kept the bloody mask on his face.
"Thanks, Ms. Kane," he said. "For everything."
Even though she didn't have to help, Adeline did. Here, at least, was someone he could trust. It seemed as though it was hard to find people to trust these days. Of course, that could be his paranoia calling out to him.
"Your secret's safe with me," she said. "I'm not like my husband."
He nodded, not sure what to say. His eyes glanced towards the Titans. All he wanted to do now was be with his friends.
"I have to go," he said.
Robin turned to walk back to his friends. Even though he wasn't dressed as Robin the Boy Wonder he was still the leader of the Teen Titans. He had a responsibility to go to them.
"And…Grayson…Dick…"
He turned around again to look at her. She seemed unsure as to what to call him. Her face twitched into a small smile.
"You're so much better than he ever was."
Jericho joined his mother. They stood together, side-by-side, and smiled reassuringly. Adeline reminded Robin so much of his mother, whom he still missed dearly. All he had left were his friends—no living relative to speak of. As he gazed at Adeline and Jericho Robin found that he had nothing to say. Those encouraging words warmed him. He nodded curtly.
Ignoring the cop cars and sirens all around him, Robin ducked underneath the caution tape and headed towards the ambulance. He probably should be in the hospital now, but Robin didn't know whether he should go as Dick Grayson or as Robin the Boy Wonder.
He walked right up to the Titans without his mask on his face.
Starfire and Raven turned to him, although Cyborg and Beast Boy obviously didn't know who he was. They continued to speak to each other, ignoring him until he spoke did they turn to look at him.
"Hi guys."
At first the boys looked confused. Then, slowly, it dawned on them. The two boys stared at him with wide eyes, as though they couldn't believe that an unmasked boy wonder stood in front of them. Before any of them said anything Robin raised a hand.
"Please don't say anything right now. I'm sort of undercover."
It was a conscious choice for him to walk out like this. Back when he was battling his own mind he took off his mask to face the Slade hallucination. He realized that the problem wasn't between Robin and Slade—it was between Slade Wilson and Dick Grayson. Back during the days of the apprenticeship Slade made sure that he broke down that unspeakable barrier between civilian and hero.
"Whoa," Beast Boy said.
Smiling ruefully, Robin held out his hands and shrugged. He didn't know what the big deal was about his secret identity. He never considered himself extraordinary. Dick Grayson didn't have any powers to boast of. He was just an acrobat with a strong moral code. A circus performer who just happened to be trained by the greatest detective in the world.
"Your uniform…" Starfire said. "Why have you not changed it?"
Robin looked down at his uniform. After realizing that it wasn't so creepy after all he could have changed back into his old uniform, which was hiding underneath.
"I'll change when I get back to the Tower," he replied. "Right now I just…"
He looked down at his shoes. How could he possibly explain to all of them that—yet again—it was his fault that these bad things happened? Why was it that Slade turned everything he ever learned against him?
"Who was behind it?" Cyborg asked. "The dust?"
Robin found that he could not speak. Why did he have such a hard time admitting these things? Even Starfire didn't know the whole story yet. His blue eyes found Raven's violet ones. An unspoken agreement passed between them. This wasn't the right time to explain who was behind the dust.
Raven placed a hand on Cyborg's shoulder. "He'll explain later."
He could almost hear their questions swirling in the back of the others' minds. Robin knew for sure that Beast Boy was probably exerting all of his self-control to not ask Robin his real name. Well, Robin expected them to ask. Would he answer if they asked?
Perhaps.
"Please…" he said. "I'll meet you all back at the Tower. I don't want to be seen long like this."
He wanted to avoid an awkward conversation with them. Even though he tried to tell himself that he was cool with them knowing his secret identity, it still bothered him. At least he felt better about himself now that they knew his face. They nodded.
"Ahem."
Robin turned and found several members of the Justice League looking back at him. Superman shot Robin a quizzical glance, but didn't say anything about his strange appearance. Flash and Zatanna stood behind him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Beast Boy begin to squeal with fanboyish delight.
"Is everyone all right?" Superman asked.
"We're all right," Raven said, "maybe a little worse for wear, but we'll live."
"Good."
Was it just Robin, or did Clark look a little tired himself? At a nod the emergency response workers dispersed. Robin simply stood still and allowed the others to speak. He wasn't sure if he should speak.
"Thanks for helping," Raven said, "we're sorry to trouble you."
"You kids did well," Clark replied, "we did nothing but round up the criminals. You solved everything by yourselves."
"I don't know if you can say that—" Robin began.
"You did," Superman said firmly. "All of you managed to fight off the dust."
"Superman," Beast Boy breathed, beginning to do a little jig. "I can't believe it's…wow…"
The legendary superhero gazed down quizzically at the changeling. The other heroes began to laugh at the look on Superman's face. Surely, he had encountered crazy fans before? Robin knew that he certainly encountered his own breed of frothing fangirls. Robin found himself laughing along with them. The emergency response workers shot them curious glances as their laughter grew louder.
"Take care," Superman said, "we'll be in town until tomorrow morning."
The other JLA members nodded. Superman's blue eyes rested on Robin for a moment before he turned to leave with the other heroes. It was as if they had a conversation without words. Robin knew that Superman wanted to talk to him either tonight or tomorrow morning.
"I want a picture, Supes!" Beast Boy called out.
"How about later, BB?" Robin said, smiling. "We can always call him."
"Really?" Beast Boy's eyes widened in growing excitement. "I wanted to ask you: do you know Supes well?"
"Well," Robin replied, "we're sort of family. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to have dinner with us sometime."
It was true. As he watched Superman and the other JLA members ascend into the air he knew that Superman would be more than happy to talk to the Titans. Weariness overcame him as he thought of the things they still had yet to do. Even though he wanted to go to bed there was always clean-up that had to be done after events like this.
Truthfully, he couldn't wait until sunrise.
-BW-
12:51am
Gotham City, California
Bat Cave
Silence crept between the three men. Ray looked a little uncomfortable, but didn't offer anything to say. Bruce could feel the tension brewing between himself and Alfred. Truthfully, he felt a little hurt that Alfred would hide something like this from him.
"Alfred…why did you hide the video from me?"
Alfred sighed in resignation.
"Believe me, Master Bruce, it wasn't an easy choice for me to make." Alfred glanced to the side before making eye contact with Bruce. "It arrived while you were at work. It distressed me and I knew that it would distress you."
"So you hid it from me?" Bruce demanded.
"Do you believe that I didn't want Dick to be rescued? That I didn't want you or the Justice League to go and help him?"
Of course…Alfred raised him as much as Bruce did. Alfred was always there for him back when Bruce didn't tell Dick that he was Batman. In some ways Alfred was more of a father to Dick than Bruce was at times. He knew that Dick spoke to the butler regularly. When Bruce didn't speak Alfred continued to explain.
"I care about him as much as you do. But you had to take care of the Joker. Gotham needed you. Have a little more faith in him and his friends."
Was this all a matter of trust? Did he trust Dick to make his own decisions? Wasn't that the reason he allowed Dick to move to Jump City in the first place? So Dick could prove that he was a competent hero?
"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to accuse you of anything."
"No offense taken. At first I thought that I made the wrong decision…would Dick be strong enough to escape? Would he be able to? And if we tried to help him, would it have all ended in disaster?" Alfred smiled a little. "But you underestimated him, Master Bruce. He did it. He got out of it. And that's all that matters to me now."
He looked at Alfred steadily. It didn't really matter now…but why had Alfred chosen this time to allow Bruce to find the video? Was he trying to make a point? But at the same time, Alfred was right: even though it seemed as if all the odds were against him, Dick managed to win. And he managed to defeat a villain known to cause the adult JLA members trouble.
His JLA communicator buzzed.
"Bruce," Clark said through the JLA communicator, "the Titans are fine. Everyone is okay."
He heard Alfred breathe a sigh of relief. When Bruce turned around he saw that Ray looked relieved as well. That was probably the best news he heard all night.
"How did you help?" Bruce asked.
"Oh, we didn't do much," Clark replied, "the Titans managed to do everything by themselves."
"What?"
"Bruce, you have to trust the kids a little more. And people other than yourself for that matter."
Bruce just didn't like the fact that everything was spiraling out of control and that he couldn't help. He disliked feeling so useless. He knew that if he tried to go to Jump City the other heroes would have physically stopped him from going.
"Did you talk to Dick?"
"Yeah. He said that knows who triggered the dust."
"Who was it?"
"He triggered the dust."
Bruce stayed silent for a moment, digesting this new information. Dick triggered the dust? How? He thought back to the conversation he had with him yesterday morning. It boggled his mind that this whole nefarious plot was circular.
"What?"
"He spoke to us afterwards. Please don't call Titans Tower now. They're searching for the source of the signal and then going to bed. I'm going to talk to Robin privately in the morning."
How did Dick manage to trigger the dust? If Batman had gotten involved sooner, then perhaps he wouldn't be left in the dark. For a moment Bruce thought about going against Clark's orders to not call Titans Tower, but then he realized that Clark had a point.
"Thanks for telling me, Clark."
"Get some rest, Bruce."
Bruce logged off. He rubbed the back of his neck and stretched. How could he sleep now knowing that Robin accidentally triggered the dust? Now he wanted to speak to Dick himself. Sensing this compulsion, Alfred placed a hand on Bruce's wrist.
"Stop worrying, Master Bruce. He's fine. You can speak to him tomorrow."
"Hey guys," Ray said, "The machine's picking up something on the nanoscopic level."
Both men turned to Atom, who was examining the analysis machine. He wasn't sure if he liked Ray's tone of voice.
"What is it?" Bruce asked.
"I'm not sure."
Ray moved over as Bruce came to take a closer look. His brow furrowed as he looked at the dust sample.
"There are probes embedded within the dust," Bruce said, preparing a sample to slide underneath a microscope. "Similar to the probes Deathstroke injected into the Titans."
This disturbed him. But as he looked closer Bruce realized that these probes—which were much smaller and sleeker than the other probes—were the cause of the physical pain. That's how the bruises formed. But why did this matter? Deathstroke was dead, and unless he had another sneaky strategy planned then no one had to worry about the mercenary ever again.
"Master Bruce," Alfred said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I suggest that you let this matter go until morning. Please go get some rest."
Rest? Bruce glanced at the clock on the computer screen. It was nearly one in the morning. Had so much time passed already? The night was still young, there was still so much good he could do. But it wouldn't be the right thing to do now.
Reluctantly, Bruce pulled off the cowl and gazed at it. Alfred was right. He spent his days and nights as Batman much too often. Deathstroke must have known this. Atom pulled off his own cowl and smiled.
"I better be getting back to Ivy Town," he said. "Jean's waiting for me."
"Good night, Dr. Palmer," Alfred said.
Ray nodded before he shrank into microscopic size and disappeared into the telephone lines. Suddenly Bruce was aware of his own weariness. He was aware that he left his case with Clayface and Black Mask's drug ring wide open, but he didn't care. Batman could afford to take a day off. Bruce Wayne had already canceled all previous engagements so that he could fly out to Jump City.
He went off to bed.
A/N:
I am one of those frothing squealing fangirls. You're not alone, Beast Boy.
Bruce's revelation about the dust is actually inspired by a comment made super early on in this story by Blues32 about how on earth the dust caused so much physical damage to the characters. Again, I'll probably come back and edit this chapter.
Oh, and BTW, I'll try to post the last chapter and the epilogue together. That's what I did with "Entrapment" and I feel as though you'll want to read both chapters in one sitting. Onward to NaNoWriMo!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
REVIEW!