CHAPTER 19
THREE HOURS LATER
In the dusty afternoon, a crippled beggar boy approached the gatehouse of the presidential palace. At first, the guard didn't want to listen to him, but the boy insisted. "The Beloved Leader has two guests staying in the palace: Americans named Hamilton and Harrison. Take them this note," the boy handed the guard a handwritten note in a script the guard didn't recognize. "They will reward you and will want to speak to me. I'll wait here." He handed the guard a precious five won, all that was left of the money he'd been given by the two. The guard grinned through stained teeth and left the guardhouse.
The boy squinted up at the sun. He couldn't be gone too long... To his satisfaction, both Harrison and Hamilton came running after the guard to the front gate, wearing matching grins.
"Have you got him?" Harrison demanded, cracking his knuckles.
"I know where you can get him," Rufus said. "Take me with you and I'll show you where you can find him."
Harrison ran back to the jeep they had been issued by the President and had soon pulled up to the gate. "Get in," he said. While Rufus climbed into the jeep, Harrison looked back at his boss. "You coming, sir?"
"No," Hamilton said. "I'll tell His Excellency that his 'shipment' has been retrieved. He'll be glad to hear it and I'll be glad to get this done."
Harrison nodded and the jeep tore off at top speed. When they drew near to the Street of the Lotuses, Rufus put a hand on Harrison's arm. "We need to stop here. You don't want to spook him. I'm supposed to be on another street getting rope and a grapple for a rescue attempt. He wants to break into the palace and get Batman out," Rufus scowled. "I can't wait to see him get what he deserves."
"Okay," Harrison said. "You get out, then, and walk over to him. Tell him you didn't find anything, even though you searched all over for it. That ought to explain why it took you so long. Keep him distracted and looking away from this direction. Got it?"
Rufus nodded and, grabbing his crutch, made his way over to Hana Kim's shop. He tapped on the door and stood next to it until Dick came out to talk to him. Rufus maneuvered around so that Dick's back was to Harrison's end of the street. They both moved closer to the grocery's wall to avoid being stepped on by the passing crowd.
"I'm sorry," Rufus said. "Man, I tried. I really tried, but nobody has that kind of stuff here. Nobody goes in for mountain climbing in these parts. I still think you're crazy even for thinking about this. I mean, Batman told you to run for it, and he's nobody to you!"
"It may seem crazy, but I gotta help him," Dick started to say, when two big hands came from behind him and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground. The last thing Dick saw before darkness claimed him was Rufus' dispassionate face looking at him as he went down.
Harrison quickly tied the boy, wrists and ankles, with a loop around his neck and tossed him into the bed of the jeep. Rufus went to the side of the jeep and climbed in. "So, I get my ride home?" he asked Harrison.
Harrison gave a belly laugh. "I like your style, kid. Yeah, you earned your ride home. Say, you ever think about being a counselor in a school for juvenile delinquents?"
PRESIDENTIAL PALACE OF SINGH MANH LEE
Alone in the hospital room, Batman struggled with the restraints. The loosest one, naturally, was looped around his bad leg. Still, it was a start. He'd almost succeeded in freeing his foot when the door opened and Lee came in, followed by two men. They supported a boy between them: thin, dark hair, struggling furiously. Dick.
"Do you have anything to say to Batman?" Lee asked calmly, pulling the boy's head upright to show defiant blue eyes. Dick glared at Lee, and, suspending his weight between the two men, suddenly lifted his bound legs into a kick aimed at Lee's chin.
The men hauled the boy down as Lee fell backward. Climbing to his knees, then his feet, Lee smoothed his hair and dabbed at his bloody nose with a linen handkerchief. He approached Dick, who was smiling insolently, and gave him a savage backhand across the face. The boy went limp between the two men and Batman raged.
"Leave him alone!" he shouted, struggling harder at his bonds.
"As I said before, I have tasks for you in the United States," Lee said, still dabbing at his face. "This youngster will stay with me to ensure your compliance." Lee waved at the men, who dragged the boy away.
Batman watched them go, heart in his mouth. "What do you want?" he said finally.
"First, I want the Justice League to support Rheelasia's application to join the United Nations. Up till now, Superman has been quietly opposing it. You will override him, both as Bruce Wayne and as Batman," Lee said, tucking the handkerchief into his pocket. "Second, I want a forty nine percent share in Wayne Enterprises and WayneTech. You will sign over your shares to me, personally. Mr. Pak will go with you to assist in the transfer. While you will remain majority shareholder, your decisions will be guided by me, in the form of Mr. Pak."
Lee smiled and approached the bed where Batman lay confined. "You will also make a series of cash payments to my accounts in the Cayman Islands. Mr. Pak will instruct you." The Generalissimo leaned in toward Batman, "And if I smell so much as a hair of interference from the League or any of your allies, I don't need to tell you what will happen."
"Don't touch him," Batman growled low. "I'll do what you want, but don't you dare touch him."
"He will be luxuriously housed and well fed during his stay with me," Lee said pompously. "What do you take me for?"
Longing for nothing so much as Lee's throat between his hands, Batman forced iron control. "You and I both know what you are."
THREE HOURS PRIOR
Dick read the paper with Lee's ultimatum over again, his features stony. He looked up at Rufus, who was staring at him, not liking what he was seeing. "You're not gonna do it, are you? Are you crazy?" Rufus said. "Batman's nothing to you. You got a home waiting for you, a life, a Dad who loves you, for God's sake! This Batman guy is nothing to you!" Frustrated with Dick's silence, Rufus grabbed the paper away from him. "If you give yourself up, do you know what you're sentencing yourself to?"
Dick finally met his eyes. "Yeah, I do," he said. He looked over at Hana. "Can Rufus and I be alone for a few minutes, Hana? Please? I...got something I need to discuss with him."
Hana gave them both suspicious looks but didn't argue with the son of the man who was funding her operation. She left the room and shut the door behind her. Dick got up afterwards and checked to be sure she was gone, then went back to Rufus.
"Rufe, I'm giving myself up," he said, then held up a hand as Rufus began protesting. "Let me tell you why, 'cause I'm gonna need your help. But you're right, Dick Grayson doesn't owe Batman anything. Robin does."
Rufus looked at him blankly for a long minute, then laughed. "Man, you're hysterical, Dick! If I didn't know you were a practical joker, I'd have totally believed you." To his surprise, Dick remained serious. "Uh...Dick? Why aren't you laughing?"
"When I was eight, my parents were killed by mobsters. Bruce Wayne adopted me and allowed me to help find the man who did it...Batman let me help. Since then, I've been his partner and his son. When you disappeared, I got mad that nobody was looking for you. I used the computer in the batcave to figure out that your disappearance was part of a pattern," Dick said with a slight air of embarrassment. "Batman wouldn't let me investigate independently because he'd heard about Hamilton School and he thought it would be too dangerous. I...um...broke into G.C.P.D.'s evidence locker and stole enough meth to get me arrested for possession and arranged to get caught. "
Rufus' eyes were wide and disbelieving. "So you could get sentenced to Hamilton?"
"Yeah. Batman was not happy at all, but he let me go. I didn't know it, but he followed me there and kept an eye on me. So when Lee wanted a new kid, Batman knew the minute I disappeared and came after me. That's why I got rescued when I did." Dick met his friend's gaze, blue eyes willing him to believe. "I set this up for you, Rufe. You did get a rescue; I just messed it up."
"Oh man," Rufus sighed. "So, Bruce Wayne didn't send Batman after you..."
"No, he came himself," Dick said sadly. "And it's all my fault. I totally messed this up. Then I got here and found out that what Lee really wanted was-Robin." He hunched over a little. "And Lee figured out that he'd actually caught Robin. That's why he wants me so bad; he's using Bruce to get me. I...I can't just leave the country. I can't leave him behind. I owe him too much. I have to get him out if I can."
Rufus just stared at his friend, all jealousy washed away, then it occurred to him that this could still be a scam. C'mon...how many times in your life do you find out your friend is Robin, the Boy Wonder? "Dick, you say you're Robin? I...prove it!"
Dick flashed him a grin, then did a handstand into a back-flip and easily hooked an arm around Rufus, pulling him to the floor. He pinned him easily with a hand applying a nerve pinch. Lightly. He didn't want to knock him out.
"Believe?" Robin asked.
"Yup," Rufus gasped. "Let me up?" Robin gave him a hand and pulled him up, back into his chair, just as Hana opened the door.
"Everything all right in here, boys?" she asked.
"Yeah, we're fine," Rufus said. Hana nodded and closed the door again. When they were sure she was gone, Rufus leaned forward. "Why are you telling me all this? Aren't you afraid I'll tell?"
"No," Dick said. "You're my friend and I'm a pretty good judge of character. And I need you to make this work."
"What do you mean?" Rufus asked. "I don't want to go back there."
"You would if you were turning me in, anyway," Dick said. "You know the palace better than I do; you lived there."
"Yeah, I know the place pretty well," Rufus admitted. "Lee liked to play hide and seek with his Robins. I learned that if I was really good at it, it would take him a while to find me and...you know...put things off longer. I never found a way out, though."
"Not going to be a problem, Rufe," Dick said. "But I need your knowledge of the palace. Lee said he was going to send you back as part of the deal. Do you have any reason to think he'd cheat you?"
"Aside from the fact that he's a bastard, no," Rufus said. "But it's true, he's tired of me. If he has you, he won't care where I go." He studied Dick's face intently. "You're not hoping he'll send Batman back to America like he promised, do you?"
"I'm not sure what I'm hoping," Dick said with a sigh. "All I know is, there are too many variables to plan it all out in detail, so we'll have to respond to what we find there. But if we can make contact with Batman, he'll know what to do. In the meantime, I need to know what you know about the palace."
Hana Kim was not easy to persuade. "I have people coming tonight to smuggle you out. You think I want to explain to Bruce Wayne how I let his son walk back into the tiger's mouth?" she exclaimed in frustration.
"You don't really have a choice," Dick said firmly. "You can't keep us here. I won't give away your operation or your identity. Trust me for that."
The boys waited tensely as Hana compressed her lips tightly, then threw up her hands. "You're crazy, that's all. On your head be it," she said and walked away.
"Dick, I feel pretty useless with this," Rufus gestured toward his missing leg. "But I worked out with Mr. Tan almost every day I was there. I got to be pretty good with a staff. I'm not very mobile but I could still help..."
Dick handed Rufus his crutch. "Show me."
To Dick's surprise, Rufus was fast with the crutch and managed to keep Dick at bay during multiple attacks. Finally, Dick held both hands up, panting. "You're not bad, Rufe. If you could..."
"Move. Yeah, I know," Rufus sighed, putting the crutch down. "I had to study that damned tape of you fighting and try to duplicate the moves so that Lee had an almost authentic Robin, not to mention sparring with Mr. Tan."
"We'll figure something out, Rufe, if you're still sure you want to be in on this," Dick said hesitantly. "I mean, you can still go back on the underground railroad..."
Rufus shook his head with a look of shame. "No. You came here for me and I was stupid to take it all out on you." He sighed. "I'm still jealous, you know. You still have something I don't. You've got a Dad who loves you, even if he does dress like a bat."