CHAPTER 21
PHOENIX'S JOURNAL
Batman was investigating a new drug that's flooding Gotham. It's a psychedelic LSD-analogue they called Tilt, because it makes the world spin and go away. It was effective through skin contact, but gave the biggest rush when injected. Largely manufactured in Mexico, the gangs were bringing it in hidden inside container ships.
During the evenings, when Batman was out on the streets, I manned the radio and computers, trying to track the shipments. And I worried, of course. Batman didn't have me there to watch his back anymore. I think that, more than anything else, made being blind pretty rough. Not that I liked being blind, of course, but Bruce needed me. He needed somebody to keep him safe out there.
Every night, he'd come in with new bruises or injuries. Alfred would tsk and treat him and Bruce would try to control his grunting and groaning so I wouldn't know he'd gotten hurt. Of course, I knew! Who did he think was following him on the comm-link?
One night, Batman staggered in and let Alfred guide him to a seat. I heard Alfie working on him and came over to the medical area.
"Bruce, I don't have to be blind to know that this isn't working," I said.
"What isn't working?" Bruce said, his voice thin with pain.
"You got stabbed tonight, didn't you?" I asked. Bruce said nothing, but that didn't matter. I could hear Alfred cussing under his breath about bloody idiots who got themselves bloody stuck with bloody pig-stickers.
"You need a partner, somebody to help you out there!" I said.
"You're my partner. You help me out there," he said. Stubborn, mule-headed to the end.
"I'm not there, where you need me," I kept a sharp rein on my temper. Yelling at Bruce never did anything but make him even more stubborn. "Why don't you call the team? Wally can take some time and watch your back."
"Wally's got his own city and he helps Barry out...ow!" Bruce said.
"If you'd sit still, I could finish stitching this," Alfred muttered. "And you should listen to Master Dick."
Bruce snorted. "Et tu, Alfred? I worked alone out there before Robin and I'll do it again." I heard the rustle as Bruce stood up. "I'm going to take a shower and hit the hay. I'm doing just fine. I don't need help," he said and his footsteps echoed as he climbed the stairs to the manor.
"If he'd only listen," I said and let out some of the frustration boiling inside.
"Alas, listening isn't his strong suit," Alfred said, the clatter he made signifying that he was cleaning up. "I'm sorry, lad."
I went to bed, still worried.
STATEMENT OF: JASON PETER TODD
Even on Saturday, I was workin' out with Mr. Wayne...no, that's right, he tol' me ta call him Bruce. So, every day I was workin' out with Bruce and later with Dick while wearin' a blind-fold. Bruce even set up the trapeze and high wires in the back yard. Guess Dick useta be some kinda circus star before his folks bit the big one. Oops, sorry, Dick. Before his parents died. Anyway, Bruce was showin' me tricks that he'd learned from Dick, an' he wasn't shy about tellin' me.
"Dick taught me everything I know about the trapeze," Bruce said as he demonstrated a back flip inta a triple somersault and landed in the net.
"Ain'tcha ashamed that a kid taughtcha all this?" I asked from the ground.
"Aren't you ashamed, Master Jason," Alfred corrected me as he laid out a table full of snacks. Chocolate chip cookies. Mmmmmmmm. Alf can really cook good! An' he was always tryin' ta fix my table manners or my grammar. He didn't know yet that I'd never make a gentleman.
Bruce bounced on the net a couple times, then swung himself over and back onta the grass. He smelled the cookies too.
"Why should I be ashamed to learn from someone who knows more than I do? Even if he is younger, Dick knows much more about the trapeze and high wire than I ever will." Bruce crunched down on a cookie while I took a swig of milk.
"Too bad he can't do the traps no more," I said and reached for another cookie. "Where is he, anyway?"
"That's 'can't do the traps anymore,' Master Jason," Alf said. "And Master Dick is inside doing his homework." 'As you should be' stayed unspoken, Alf being the master of speaking without words.
"Okay, Alf," I said reluctantly and grabbed a handful of cookies to stuff in my pockets. "I'm goin'," I garbled through a mouthful of cookie.
"That's 'Alfred', young sir," Alfred said as I ran away. "And gentlemen do not stuff their mouths with cookies!" he called after me.
I was too far away to shout back that I'd never be a gentleman. It was cute that Alf didn't look like he was gonna give up on that anytime soon, either. Besides, the cookies were fresh out of the oven and I'd grabbed 'em for Dickie.
I found him at his desk, struggling with a braille book. "Hey, Dickiebird! I got cookies for ya. Quit the studyin' and take a break, huh?" I unloaded my pockets and stacked cookies on the desk. I saw Dickiebird's nose twitch and knew he was smellin' Alfie's cookies. His hand stretched out and grabbed one before he put his book down with a sigh.
I sat in the chair beside the desk. "Tough assignment?"
Dickiebird just looked sad. "I used to be the smartest kid in the class, back when I could see." He tapped the book with a finger. "Now I have to use my fingers to read and it isn't the same. I had to relearn the alphabet and I'm having trouble reading baby stories. Sometimes..." He stopped talking and put his head down, but I heard what he said. "Sometimes, I wish I could kill Two-Face for what he did."
"Wait a minute, you were already blind when Two-Face kidnapped you. Wasn't it an accident that blinded you?" I asked.
Dick got this quick panicky look across his face, then he grinned. "Yeah, it was. Rock climbing. No, I'm just still mad at Two-Face for putting Bruce through all that worry and for killing your Dad. I know how hard it is to lose your family to crooks."
Oh yeah, I remembered it now, Dickie's folks had been offed by a criminal before he was adopted by Bruce. "It's pretty rough," I said. "But look at you! You got adopted by a rich guy!"
"I love Bruce," Dick said, crumbling another cookie while he talked. "But I really miss my parents, sometimes. We weren't rich, but we had everything we needed."
"Yeah, I know," I said, and remembered my Dad standing up for me with Two-Face. He'd really loved me, after all.
PHOENIX'S JOURNAL
Batman got a lead that a new shipment of Tilt was coming in tonight, so I made sure to go downstairs after Jason went to bed. Alfred was still doping Jay's cocoa and he hadn't figured it out yet. Alfie was only putting Benadryl into it, so no worries about Jason getting addicted or anything. Hey, he'd just have clearer sinuses!
I was at my station, monitoring Batman's progress when the shipment came in.
"Phoenix, I'm at Pier 12, a container ship, Han-Jin Two just docked and they've started unloading. I'll keep you posted," Batman called in.
"Roger that, Batman," I responded. "I'm checking the manifest now...The shipment should be in container number Q-45."
"They're unloading it onto a semi now. I'll follow," Batman said crisply.
"Tracking your location," I replied, and followed him through the streets of Gotham to an anonymous truck yard.
STATEMENT OF: JASON PETER TODD
Ever since I arrived at the manor, I was sleeping really well every night. This was pretty weird, since my Dad always said I slept like a cat, a bunch of little naps all day and night. For as long as I could remember, I usually had stayed up late and woke up at every noise. Given where we lived, that was kind of a survival technique since I caught people tryin' ta steal from us more than once.
I was starting ta wonder about that until the night I watched Alfie make my cocoa and caught him slipping somethin' inta my cocoa, like a white powder. They were druggin' me! Why?
Alfie got called out of the room before I drank my cocoa and I had it dumped down the sink before he got back. Then I pretended ta be really sleepy and went ta bed as usual, but I didn't sleep.
I waited two hours ta be safe. Then, I checked Bruce's room. He wasn't there. Dickie wasn't in his room either. So, where were they and what were they doin'? I tip-toed down the hall and saw Alfie comin' out of Bruce's study. After he went down the stairs, I listened at the door and didn't hear nothin', so I opened the door. Nobody there either. I almost gave up on it but I felt a weird breeze. The window was closed, but the breeze smelled dank, like old rock and, I dunno, mildew maybe? So I went inta the room ta find out where this draft came from.
I followed it ta this old grandfather clock, except the clock wasn't fastened against the wall. There was a crack next ta it. When I put my fingers in the crack, the clock swung aside and I saw stairs. I went down the stairs as quietly as I could and ended up in a huge cavern with bats flying around overhead. There were lights strung up overhead and...Wow.
There were cars and planes and computers and furniture and more stuff than I can describe. And in a corner with big computer screens and a buncha computers was Dick. He was sitting at a desk, talkin' inta a microphone.
"Batman, this is Phoenix. Do you read me?" he was sayin'. "Batman? Do you read me? What's happening out there?"
From the speakers, I heard the sounds of grunting and thwacking noises. I could tell it was a fist-fight. Then there were a coupla loud explosions. Gunfire and somebody yelled, real loud, like scream. Dick looked upset and scared. He kept yellin' inta the microphone for Batman ta respond, but the sound went dead.
Then he radioed the Justice League. I was just standin' there with my mouth open. Batman? Dickie knew Batman? And the Justice League? That'd be Superman an' Wonder Woman and the Flash an' all...But all he got was a kinda answerin' machine sayin' that everybody was off-planet right now and ta leave a message. Then he called somethin' called Young Justice an' they were gone off-planet, too. Who was Dick, ta know Batman an' the Justice League?
I know I sound kinda stupid at this point, with everything starin' me right in the face. But you gotta understand that I'd been livin' with Bruce and Dick an' they were ordinary people even if they were rich. Bruce was kinda like the big brother I never had, an' so was Dick. Batman was...well, he was scary. I'd met him once, when he rescued Dick an' me and he was huge an' had a deep voice and scared the s#%t outta me, even if he had jus' saved my life. Could Bruce be Batman? Naw...It wasn't possible. Was it? But if he was, then Dickie was...Robin?
Waitaminnit, Dickie was blind an' Robin hadn't been seen since Two-Face had attacked and killed him. Maybe Robin wasn't dead. Maybe he was jus' retired.
While I was thinkin' all this through my mind, Dickie got up from the computer an' went to a cupboard an' pulled a garment bag outta it. He unzipped the bag an' started ta put on long black leggings, an' a red tunic with a yellow belt and yellow/black cape an'...Holy Crap, he's Robin!
Robin hit a button on the console. "Alfred, I need your help. Batman may be injured and he needs backup. Would you come downstairs? I need you to drive me to his last known location."
I ducked away from the stairs and hid behind a couple of big computers. The labels said 'Cray'. Dickie...uh...Robin got out a long staff and started doing some moves with it, then retracted it and tucked it inta his belt. Then he started loading the belt with stuff, like little tiny bat-shaped throwing stars and stuff.
I heard footsteps behind me and suddenly felt a heavy hand grab me by the scruff of the neck. "Master Jason, you are not supposed to be in here," a deep British voice said.
Dickie turned around at the sound of Alfred's voice while Alfie dragged me over ta the computer console.