Summary: Robin shows off his alternate Batcave—the Lair.
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Alpha-Omega Protocol
By Syl Francis
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The Lair
Day 1/1100 EDT
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The others looked on in awe, taking in the "safe house" with wide eyes. It was an underground bunker equipped with everything a Bat could need—or rather, a Boy Wonder. There were two Robin cycles parked on a turntable. Weapons lockers with batarangs, gas pellets, grapnels, re-breathers—just about everything that they had ever seen Robin pull out of his utility belt, as well as, several other items they had never laid eyes on before.
Wait! Kid Flash thought. Is that a glider? And, whoa…! A jet pack? Oh, man…so unfair—a mini-Batwing!
"I like your toys," Rocket muttered, impressed. "What is this place?"
"I call it, 'The Lair.' I guess you could say, it's my own personal Batcave—"
"You mean, Bird's Nest, don't you?" Artemis snarked.
Robin just gave her a bat-glare.
"But, doesn't Batman know it's here?" Aqualad asked.
"Well…he knows about the place," Robin said. "I mean, he paid for it! But he doesn't know its exact location."
"What do you mean, Robin?" Miss Martian asked curiously.
"It's one of our contingency plans," Robin explained reluctantly. "Batman has several alternate setups just like this spread around Gotham…and a few other cities, which we won't go into." Although clearly uncomfortable about explaining, Robin held his head up and looked each one in the eye. "You've gotta remember, Bruce and I—"
"Whoa…waitaminute!" Artemis interrupted. "Playboy gazillionaire Bruce Wayne is Batman? Really?"
"We just went through this—" Robin began only to be interrupted again.
"No…we found out that Dick Grayson is Robin. You never said—"
"I think Robin is correct, Artemis," Aqualad interjected. "We need to move on."
Artemis grimaced, but nodded reluctantly.
"As I was saying…Bruce and I don't have any super-powers. So, we sort of gotta be extra vigilant as far as all the metas. Plan for any possible contingencies…just in case." He shrugged.
"You mean, just in case the others go rogue, don't you?" Superboy muttered, his eyes narrowed. "Does that include us?"
Robin didn't answer; instead, his face took on a neutral expression. Realizing that he wasn't going to reply to Superboy's question, Zatanna spoke up. "You say Batman doesn't know about this place. Does that mean that part of your contingency planning includes the possibility that Batman—?"
"—Especially Batman, young miss…Miss Zatanna, isn't it?" They all turned to see Alfred emerging from the shadows. "And you, Master Robin? How are you holding up, young sir?" He gazed upon the youngest hero with unconcealed fondness.
Unable to help himself, Robin rushed into his arms. For just a minute, he allowed himself to be a thirteen-year-old boy who had been hurt by the one person he loved and admired most. Alfred held him, murmuring softly to him.
At last, Robin stepped away and enclosed himself in his cape. He assumed a stoic expression, so much like his mentor that it brought Alfred just a twinge of sadness. So young…yet, so brave.
"I'm fine, Alfred…really."
The boy looked anything but fine. Alfred frowned at the discoloration around Robin's neck; the obvious fingerprints a sign of his recent attack. Rather than commenting, Alfred nodded and placed his hand on his younger charge's shoulder. Squeezing gently, he said, "We shall get through this, Master Robin. I promise."
Keeping his eyes downcast, Robin nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
"In the meanwhile…why don't I make us all a light lunch while the young Master shows you to your quarters? From what I can see, each of you has had a rough time of it today. There are showers and changes of clothing available for those who wish to freshen up. If you leave your uniforms out, I shall take them and endeavor to make repairs."
"Changes of clothing?" Zatanna asked.
"Nothing fancy I'm afraid," Robin said with smirk. "Just sweat pants and t-shirts. Don't know how well they'll fit, since they're in my size and Alfred's." The others groaned at his words. "Oh, and by quarters, Alfred means…" Robin waved his arm at a large, relatively empty room, lined with wall lockers and storage bins.
"What? No beds with comfy pillows and blankets?" Artemis teased.
"Sorry. Since the team formed, I haven't had a chance to install bunks, but Alfred made sure we'll at least be able to sleep off the floor." He opened one of the lockers. "You'll find a cot and sleeping bag in each locker." He pointed to the storage bins. "There's clothes, blankets, towels, and personal hygiene stuff in those." He cleared his throat, and red-faced, mumbled, "Um…Alfred also put some…uh, girl stuff somewhere." The four girls all giggled at his obvious discomfort.
"TMI, Dude!" Kid Flash protested, hands over his ears, which earned him a slap to the back of the head courtesy of Artemis.
"Oh, grow up, Kid Useless!" As the two antagonists went at it with their usual bickering, Zatanna walked up to Robin and quietly placed her hand on his shoulder.
"We'll get through this…Dick," she said hesitantly, as if testing the sound of his name. Her shy efforts were rewarded with an equally shy smile from the Boy Wonder.
"Thanks, Zee. I know, you're right. After all…we were all trained by the very best, weren't we?"
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The Lair
Day 1/1200 EDT
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After the YJ teens had showered and changed, they took a brief tour of the alternate Batcave, or rather, the Lair. In addition to what they'd already seen, the place had what Robin described as a uniform vault and a fully equipped crime lab/workshop.
"Oh, wow! Is that really an electron microscope? Seriously?" Kid Flash, a science geek at heart, asked excitedly. "Uncle Barry would kill to get one for his forensics lab! But they cost like a gazillion dollars!"
"It's a low-voltage electron microscope, developed by WayneTech a few years ago. It has some advantages over the other, more conventional type of electron microscopes, but it also has its limitations. Still, it's somewhat compact and versatile." Robin paused, shrugging. "When this is over, I'll talk to Bruce about helping your uncle out. The Wayne Foundation awards special grants to police science labs for equipment upgrades."
Kid Flash simply nodded in thanks. When this is over, his friend had said—Not If. He hoped Robin's words proved prophetic.
Lastly, Robin pointed to a massive computer work area that was obviously the heart of the place. Circular in design, it had several rolling chairs around it, but no discernable keyboards or monitors.
Robin pressed a few switches and buttons, which activated the system. A holographic keyboard appeared directly in front of him and a centralized 3-D holographic display materialized above their heads. Grinning Robin said, "Of course, no Batcave is complete without a Batcomputer.
"It's comprised of two modified WayneTech super-computers with quad physical/virtual cores. The WT-9p's 48-core 36.18 gigahertz processors are the fastest, most accurate, and most efficient on the market—not even counting the modifications that I made to them."
"You modified them?" Artemis asked skeptically.
Robin grinned. "I first hacked the Cave's supercomputer when I was only eight. I've been helping Batman modify the WTs ever since." He waved his arm at the setup before them. "This has the latest upgrades—different from the system at home." He shrugged. "Can't have Batman and the League hack us." Robin typed a command and several additional virtual workstations appeared. "The multiple stations can be combined into one large central display."
"How is this place powered?" Kaldur'ahn asked curiously.
"We have an independent power station," Robin explained. "It has the latest in hydrogen fuel cells, is self-contained, and completely off the grid. Oh, and we have a fully stocked kitchen, gym, and quarters, which you've already seen. Any other questions?"
"Yes, anybody care for lunch?" Alfred asked drolly. He stood in the doorway that led to the kitchen area, his hands behind his back. His question was met with a stampede of approval. The loyal valet merely raised a single eyebrow as the junior heroes all rushed eagerly to the kitchen. This could turn out to be a rather long stay.
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The Lair
Day 1/1230 EDT
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As the rest of the team waited, munching on some of Alfred's jumbo-sized hero sandwiches (Who said the Wayne butler didn't have a sense of humor?), Robin quickly hacked into the JL Watchtower's security system. Quickly because after he'd initially hacked the system on his first visit to the Hall of Justice at age nine, Dick had left a backdoor to ensure easier access the next time he did it. Plus, it was based on the same operating system as the Batcave's super-computer.
Being a child tech genius, who was also Bat-trained, Robin hid his hacker's trail so well that even Batman hadn't detected it. At least, he didn't think so.
Of course, knowing Batman, Robin mused, he probably knew the backdoor was there and left it for just this very reason.
"You know, Dick, you could cause some serious world of hurt if you ever turned to the Dark Side," Artemis observed. "I mean…a ninja and a hacker?"
Kid Flash snorted. "You could say the same about Batman—only he's even scarier."
Robin ignored them, focused on the task at hand. After a few minutes' search, he located the file containing Batman's initial analysis of the strange bio/nanite technology that the Dark Knight had been studying. Robin then compared it with what he found in his mentor's blood sample. It was apparent that Batman had not had a chance to finish his analysis of the material before he had been attacked with the nanites; however, Robin recalled the new League inductee, Icon, mentioning that the technology was extraterrestrial.
"I remember that Atlantis was studying the creature—or whatever it is—before the facility was destroyed by terrorists," Aqualad said. "The portion that was recovered was then sent to Star Labs to be studied by surface scientists—"
"—But the sample was probably stolen before Star Labs had a chance to properly analyze it. Maybe your scientists found something that could help us?" Robin mused.
"Perhaps," Aqualad agreed.
"Dick, it's also possible that Star Labs might be able to help us with the blood sample that you took from Batman," Kid Flash added. He raised a hand to forestall a protest before Robin had a chance to voice it. "I know, I know…Batman's secret ID could be compromised, but—" He stopped and gave his best friend a long, knowing look. "—you said it yourself, a global crisis trumps a secret identity."
"That was with us, you moron," Artemis protested. "Dick trusts us and knows that we would never—" Robin interrupted her.
"No, Wally's right. With the whole Justice League compromised, we have no idea what Vandal Savage's endgame is likely to be. But we do know one thing—it's gonna be bad." Robin nodded at the others. "Okay…we'll go to Atlantis and Star Labs to see what if anything they can offer us in the way of help."
End of Part 2
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Author's Note: This is a little brief, but I haven't had a chance to give the rest of the story a thorough editing. This chapter is just to let you know that I've continued it and will be posting follow-up chapters when I can get it beta'ed.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to DC, Time Warner, and CN; this is an original story that doesn't intend to infringe on their copyright. Feedback is welcome.
Copyright: December 2012