CHAPTER 22

In the Batcave, the Rheelasians were put into small cells and left to sleep off the gas.

Batman returned to the main level, sat in front of the computer screen and worried. He itched to get back to Rheelasia but knew he'd need a team this time. His leg just wasn't good enough to handle battle, even though Alfred had seen to the injury and given him a brace. To distract himself, he updated his case notes and made printed summaries for Green Arrow and the Flash, but that was done too quickly. He was glowering at his computer file on Lee when, predictably, the Flash arrived first with Kid Flash in tow.

"I'msorryBatmanbutthekidjustwou ldn'tstayhome!" Flash stuttered out.

"RobinismybestfriendandIamNOT stayinghomeonthisone," Kid Flash insisted.

Batman swung around in his chair and gave each of them his patented glare, ramped up several notches because of his abiding worry about Dick. "I don't care what you want," he said directly to Wally. "This mission was too dangerous for Robin in the first place and is definitely too dangerous for you! You're not going!"

Wally, never before the object of a truly angry Batman, cringed, while Barry rushed to his defense. "So just what is this all about, Bruce? Wally's been in plenty of tough spots before and…" Batman shoved the printed file into Barry's hands.

"Read it," he said and stood, a silent figure wrapped in black.

Barry read slowly, reading a page and setting it down on the table, his face becoming grimmer and grimmer with each paragraph. When he finished, his face had gone cold. "You should call Superman in on this," he said softly. "And the rest of the League would love to put this guy away."

"I did," Batman replied, weariness in every line of his body. "Superman refused. He's worried about the League's involvement while Rheelasia's bid for U.N. membership is up for discussion. You and Ollie are the only ones I trust not to alert the League. Clark would feel honor bound to try and stop me."

Wally, who had been quietly reading the pages as his uncle put them down, interrupted. "We've gotta go. We've gotta go NOW!"

The Flash turned to his nephew. "There is no WE on this mission. Batman's right. What this….this monster….does to kids is horrendous. You're staying behind, Wally."

"No way," Wally insisted. "Robin's my best friend; I've got a right to go and help. Besides, this Lee guy has an army and it'll take Batman and Green Arrow hours to fly there. We can all get there faster if we each carry one person."

Batman turned to the Flash. "Could he do it? Carry one of us?"

The Flash looked at his nephew speculatively. "I don't know," he said. "He's been working out but he hasn't actually carried a passenger that far."

"I've been practicing," Wally said heatedly. "I'm stronger than I look and when I run, I'm even stronger. I can help! You need to get there fast and the longer we argue, the more likely something bad is gonna happen to Rob…"

"He has a point," Batman said, rubbing his chin.

"Well, I'm not sure I want to be the one he drops somewhere over the ocean," Green Arrow came striding in from the elevator. "So, how about some help?" He gestured towards the tall man in the red cape that followed him.

Batman looked ready to kill. "You brought Superman? I told you not to get the League involved!"

Superman had the grace to look embarrassed. "Bruce, look, I know I told you I couldn't help you when you asked before and I really regret that. Dick is practically my nephew and I shouldn't have put the League ahead of his welfare. When Ollie got the call at the Watchtower, I...um...overheard. I couldn't stay behind."

"So now you want to help?" Batman folded his arms across his chest to keep him from clouting that six foot Kansas idiot in the jaw. "Do you know how I found Robin? Do you?" He strode over to Superman and met him eye to eye. "He was in the Presidential bedroom suite about to be raped by Singh Manh Lee!"

At Superman's recoil, he eased up. "I got there in time, thank God. But the long and short of it is that they captured us both. Lee still has Dick in his hands. I am instructed to force the League to support Rheelasia's U.N. membership, both as Batman and as Bruce Wayne and to transfer most of my stock in WayneTech and W.E. over to him. He's holding Dick now and if I don't comply, if he senses a lack of cooperation from me..." Batman's voice trailed off, his jaw working. "We have to get there. Fast. Transportation is what we need. Directly into Rheelasia and to hell with the League's U.N. sanction!"

"Would a zeta tube do?" Superman said with a sigh.

"We don't have a platform in Rheelasia, do we?" asked the Flash. "I mean, we don't have any relationship with that country."

"No, we don't. Officially," Superman said. "A few of us have been supporting a revolutionary group there in secret. Our people get in and out via a beam in the capitol city."

"My...we do have our secrets too, don't we Kal?" Ollie said with raised eyebrows and a grin. "You're the last person I would have pegged as a revolutionary."

"The U.S. government has been funding them in secret and asked the League's assistance," Superman admitted grudgingly. "I'm the only League member in on it."

"How could you do this behind our ...? We'll discuss this later, Clark," Bruce said swiftly. "For now, we need to go!"

This isn't happening...This isn't happening...Gotta do something...Gotta move! Robin closed his eyes to shut out the glittering eyes boring into his and brought up his right knee HARD. He got Lee full in the groin and heard the man's groan. Robin rolled over and off the bed while Lee went down, curled into himself.

The boy ran to the door and brought out the lock picks again. Hands shaking badly, he fitted them into the lock and struggled to get it open. Dropped one...Gotta hurry before he calls for help. Pick it up and try again...Use both hands, idiot! Batman would really get mad at how long this is taking...not up to Bat-standard at all. He looked over his shoulder and Lee hadn't moved. Maybe he'd done him some damage. Oh, he hoped so ...the door opened. The guards had left; the hallway was empty.

Robin shot through the door and down the hall. Where now? He was at a crossroads, looked left and right. Rufus? Where are you? Damn, I need that hiding place.

"Robin? Are you okay?" Rufus came through a side door. "I hid when the guards came by with you. Are you all right? You're white as a sheet and what happened to your cape?"

Robin shuddered, then mastered himself. "I'm okay," he said. "Did you find a way out?"

"Too many people right now, but I have a hiding place. Come on," Rufus said.

Robin followed Rufus up the back stairs. They went slowly, hiding fast when servants appeared. At one point, two servants rounded a hallway corner. There were no rooms or doorways to hide in, so Robin clambered up the wall, using a framed portrait of the Generalissimo and the molding to reach the ceiling. Once there, he suspended himself from the narrow ceiling by his pressing his hands and feet against the walls. It was all Rufus could do to keep a straight face and avoid gawping. The servants passed, intent on their own business and Robin dropped down.

"Man! If I ever doubted you were Robin, you've sure convinced me now!" Rufus said in a hoarse whisper. "Okay, next flight up is the attics. They don't use 'em here because the place is so big." He led Robin to a locked door at the end of the hallway. While Rufus stood guard, Robin used his lock picks and got the door open in no time. The two climbed up the flight of steps to the attic level. It was dusty and cobwebby enough to convince Dick that the area truly hadn't been used in a very long time. 'Here," Rufus said, showing Dick an overhead hatch. He opened it and a ladder telescoped down. Both boys scrambled up to a series of small rooms.

"Is this it?" Dick asked, looking around the empty spaces.

Rufus grinned. "No. This is." He went over to what looked like an exterior wall and kicked it. The wood let out a hollow booming noise and a small panel came off. Rufus set it on the floor. "Go ahead on in. I put a flashlight on the floor."

Robin went into a passageway that was three feet wide and traveled the length of the wall, about ten feet. He looked up and saw the rafters overhead. "Wow," he said softly. "This is a great hiding place. Thanks, Rufe!"

"I'll go downstairs and get some dinner for us," Rufus said. "I snagged a couple blankets from a linen closet. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable."

Robin made a pad for himself and sat down, then watched Rufe close the panel behind him. When the footsteps receded, he took off his mask and let himself start to shake.