A day later I realize that we're screwed. The headlines of the newspaper blare: Mayor Grange Bribes Times, Spreads Lies. It's the perfect scheme, really. The Gotham Gazette is the smaller newspaper in Gotham, with the Times being on top. But the Times is more biased towards Grange, while the Gazette backs Cobblepot. If Cobblepot could offer the Gazette enough money, they would have no problem defaming Grange if it also took out their competitor. Cobblepot could get his people to falsify the transaction records between Grange and the Times, all the paper had to do was not question the story.
Bruce looks like he's trying not to tear the paper in half. "It's a lie wrapped in the truth, too," he says with feigned calm. "Both papers have written articles with false facts. But Cobblepot has monetary 'proof' against Grange. We have nothing on him, since I've never tried to investigate. I couldn't risk making Batman look like he had political preferences." He tosses it aside, rubbing his chin. "We'll have to deal with it after the election, Dick. That's all we can do."
"Can't you please make an exception? Go the Gazette, or get someone else to go there. Open up the transaction records they're using as evidence and prove they're false, and see if you can find evidence of Cobblepot's bribes. It is possible, as long as you have someone who knows what they're doing."
"Who do we trust that knows how to do that apart from me? And besides, if it's anyone from Grange's supporters, we'll never be able to even get access. It will take time to get a search warrant, and every move made against the Gazette will look like Grange's supporters trying to 'cover her mistake'. It'll be bedlam, and it's too close to the election." He's reading the rest of the article, talking about how measures were going into place to prove that the records were genuine, but the article contained statements from "experts" swearing that they were completely authentic. Police officers were investigating, but the Gazette was stalling and calling that it was an abuse of the freedom of the press.
"Batman. He's politically neutral, but this has become a matter of the law. He can take the slander, and has access to everything. You can go out, get Gordon to take the records into police custody. Go, Bruce, please."
"No. I'm not leaving you here without me. We'll deal with it afterwards."
"Bruce," I spit. "It'll be too late by then. If Cobblepot is smart, he'll put an APB out on Batman the minute he's mayor."
"I can go," says Tana, who's sitting on the couch as I follow Bruce around the table. "My gloves can break into all kinds of stuff, and I've had practice accessing originals of hidden or altered records."
"You don't have access to the Gazette," says Bruce, not even looking over.
"I'll break in."
"And that will look so much better to the media. The only neutral ones allowed access to the Gazette are Batman and Robin, and neither of us are leaving."
I realize that there's nothing I can do, and I find my room to sit and wait. Or at least, pretend to sit and wait. I know that I can't. There's two days until the election and Cobblepot is going to win unless we can stop him. I'm thinking that I've got a day to plan, and lull Bruce into thinking I'm going to stay, and then can get to the Gazette tomorrow. Bruce has taught me enough about computers that I'm fairly certain I'll be able to dig up what we need.
It's almost difficult for me to find my room, since we've been in the Wayne Tower penthouse for so long. It's dusty when I reach it, dark and oddly dank, but lights up as usual when I flip the switch. I look at my large arching windows and wonder if Cobblepot really thinks he can reach me in here. Who else does he have working for him? I put my bag down on my desk and start sorting through some of the gear off of my utility belt, trying to figure out what I'll need. But I hear someone in the hall outside and I'm sure that it's Bruce again. I've picked up a nearby book and am pretending to flip through it when Tana enters without invitation.
"Oh," I say. "Hi. Need help finding your room?"
"Found it already. And you can't go into the town, Dick—it's suicide."
"Who said anything about going into town?" I'm trying to make my voice light and playful, but Tana isn't fooled.
"You may make it in, but you'll never make it out," she insists. "He has too many men. And he's prepared for you."
"Look, Tana. It has to happen, or Cobblepot becomes mayor. No one in town can do anything without it looking biased and political. Robin is only a name, and if he exposes the fakery, people will take it. And I know it'll be dangerous, but I think you're underestimating me."
"I think you're underestimating them."
"You're not changing my mind. And you're not the kind that would go running to Bruce. So you're not changing anything."
"I gave up a lot to save your ass, and this is what you do with it?"
"Hey," I shrug, "It's my life. I'll make the final call."
"That call won't always be yours to make." She whirls and stalks out with so much unspoken fury, it was as though she'd stormed and slammed the door behind her.
The rest of the day passes uneventfully. Bruce will be putting the house on lockdown, but then will patrol the roof, so it should be easy for me to steal my suit from the batcave. Getting out will be harder given, you know, the lockdown, but it should be doable. Tana doesn't bother me again, but I do see her wandering the mansion a couple times, exploring. She seems like the type of person who enjoys a place that you can get lost in. I plan my route into town, double check to make sure I have my things, and then go out to join Alfred and Tana for dinner when Alfred calls. It's a sullen affair. I can tell that Alfred is trying to cheer us up by making his incredible macaroni and cheese, but it doesn't work. Tana excuses herself early to escape the uncomfortable silence, and I go to my room a few minutes later, sitting on my bed with the lights on, trying to think of ways to pass the time. I feel every minute as it drags by, the ticking of the clock amplified by the unnerving silence. It's probably around midnight that I reach over to turn off the light, but it goes dark before I reach it.
My first instinct is to just think it's a power outage, but then I hit myself as I remember that Bruce has his own generator. The electricity here never goes out. Ever. I spring from the bed and run to the door to find it… locked? I never locked it. That's about the time that I start to panic. I pound on it, yelling. "Hey!"
Receiving no response, I run to the window, and find that they also won't budge. I don't remember locking them, or ever seeing anyone locking them. So what's happening? I tug on them one last time in frustration when I notice something rolling down the Wayne driveway. There's no doubt about it—it's the Batmobile, headlights off. It's almost impossible to see in the darkness, but at this angle I can see a tiny bit of light reflecting off the windshield. It peels off down the road out of sight, and I'm contemplating smashing the window open. Did Bruce lock me in and then leave? I mean that would be great, he could expose Cobblepot, but that…that doesn't seem like him.
I'm winding back my fist when a shape flashes in front of the glass and I move out of the way to let Batman unlock the window and swing inside. "Dick! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Bruce. But my windows and my door were all locked from the outside. Was that you?"
"No. Stay alert. Someone must have disconnected the main power grid from the generator, but I don't know—" I know why he cuts off, having just reached the same conclusion myself. He strides over to my door, pulling open the wall panel and ripping out a fistful of wiring. The door is old-fashioned, wooden, but the lock makes a sad noise as it springs and the door opens. I follow Bruce down the hallway to Tana's closed door. "Tana?"
Nothing.
"Dick, get to the Batcave."
Bruce shows me one of the manual Batcave entrances, since a lot of the other ones require electricity, but as we slide down the entry pole, we're greeted by more darkness.
"That's impossible," says Bruce, pounding a nearby button that's meant to activate the lights. "The Batcave has its own generator, separate from the one that the mansion uses. It's located down here, and there's no way that Tana could have broken in."
"Apparently she did. And if she knows how to drive a car—"
"What?"
"The Batmobile, Bruce. I saw it leaving the house as I looked out the window. It was heading into the city.
"She's going to try and expose Cobblepot. But that won't work—she'll have to break in, and Cobblepot's supporters will have a field day when that hits the papers. Dick, I want you to stay down here, okay? Lock everything and don't open the door, even for Alfred. I'm going to get her and bring her back here, so—"
"Bruce." My heart freezes for a moment in my chest, and I point behind him to the alcove that holds our uniforms. At the bottom of mine is a pile of hair and a solitary, chopped off braid.
And my uniform's missing.
When I turn back to him, he's already suited up. "Now I have to stop her before she kills herself. If you want to follow, Dick, follow at a distance, and don't get involved. You should be safe since she's gotten there first, but still—use one of the bikes. And don't get involved. You don't have the safety of the identity of Robin."
"But Bruce—"
"If you try interfering, you'll expose yourself, and you'll endanger us both. You don't have your suit. Don't get involved. I'm going to follow the Batmobile's tracker, just in case she had some other plan." There's nothing I can do other than watch as he grapples up into the higher levels of the Batcave and climbs into the cockpit of the Batplane. I can hear the whirr of its engines starting up, and see its controls starting to glow. In a few seconds it's lifted off; he shoots out a cable to manually tug open the roof hatch; in a few more seconds he's out of sight and the roof portal's weight system is closing it again.
I run to the nearest motorcycle and start it up, and soon am roaring down the tunnel after him.