Ch. 8: Figuring Things Out
The next day, Robin went to Mount Justice and hung out with the team. Wally and Kaldar were watching him closely. Robin realized this and went up to them.
"Are you guys ok?"
Wally and Kaldar looked at him innocently.
"Yes, of course," Kaldar replied. "Are you feeling ok?"
Robin smiled. "I'm fine guys, really. Clayface didn't do anything to me that any other villain hasn't done."
Wally looked at him not convinced. "Are you sure, Dude, 'cause you haven't really been acting like yourself today and..."
"We're concerned," Kaldar interrupted.
Robin looked back and forth between the two. "What do you mean? I'm fine."
"Perhaps you are and we are just being paranoid," Kaldar said smiling as he put a hand on Robin's shoulder. "We shall not worry about it any further."
Wally nodded and then smiled. "Yeah, I guess we're just paranoid that Clayface did something to you that would make you want to hurt us. Like that could happen," he ended chuckling a bit.
"Look don't worry 'bout it. Clayface just gave me a few bruises and cuts that's all. He didn't brainwash me or anything like that," Robin said putting on a smile of his own.
Just then the computer announced the arrival of Batman. Wally, Kaldar, and Robin joined M'gann and Superboy and they met Batman as he fully materialized in the zeta beams.
"I have a mission for you," Batman said then told the computer to bring up the files that he wanted.
"Clayface has been spotted in Gotham City and..."
"Uhhhh... why are you telling us something about what's going on in Gotham City? Isn't that your department?" Wally asked interrupting him.
Batman glared at him then continued without answering his question. "He was last seen at a store in downtown Gotham called Zinny's."
"I don't remember there ever being a store called Zinny's in downtown Gotham," Robin said.
Everyone turned to stare at him and then looked back at Batman who was staring at Robin.
"We went there the other night. Don't you remember? Catwoman found out they were selling a rare cat antique statue and wanted it for her collection. You stopped her yourself."
Everyone looked back at Robin waiting for his answer.
Robin looked down trying to think of what to say. He looked up at Batman, who was still staring at him with narrow eyes waiting for his response. "Ohhhh... ok I remember now. Sorry I interrupted."
Batman stared at him for a few more seconds then turned back to the holographic screen. "Your mission is to go to Gotham and track down Clayface."
Wally still looked confused as he listened to Batman. 'Gotham is his city. Why doesn't he just take down Clayface himself? I mean he had to take him down the last time we faced him.'
"Are there any questions?" Batman asked as he turned off the screen and looked toward the team.
Wally of course had to speak up. "Yeah, why are we going again?"
Batman narrowed his eyes at the young superhero. "Do you want this mission or not?"
"We are on our way," Kaldar said grabbing Wally and dragging him away with the others following.
Robin looked back at Batman as he followed and Batman just kept his eyes narrowed as he watched the boy walk away.
YJYJYJYJYJYJ
Tiffany had been in Wayne Manor since Robin left her there. She was starting to go a little stir crazy sitting in the house that long. Yeah sure it had only been like five or six days, but she couldn't stand it anymore.
She walked down the stairs and saw Alfred dusting around a vase.
"Hey, I think I'll take a walk and get out of this house. I'm starting to go stir crazy," Tiffany said as she walked past him and toward the door.
"Very good, Miss," Alfred said as he continued dusting, not even looking at her.
Tiffany walked out the door, down the drive, out the gate, and toward Gotham. She enjoyed the walk and it felt nice to feel the sun on her face again.
When she reached the edge of Gotham she decided to go to the park and walk around there for a while. She looked at the flowers and the trees listening to the birds sing and smiled until she saw the bench.
Her smile went away and she felt guilty as she went to sit on the bench. She didn't know if he was alive or not. A single tear fell rolled down her cheek.
She sat there in silence, until she felt that familiar feeling. The feeling that someone was watching her. She shot her head up and looked around. There were couples walking hand in hand and a kid on a skateboard, but she couldn't find anyone staring at her.
She looked around again to make sure, but she still didn't find anyone. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Ok, just calm down," she told herself.
She got up and continued walking through the park. She tried to ignore the feeling but it just got stronger. She started to pick up her pace without really noticing, and by the time she reached the other side of the park, she found herself running.
She stopped at outside of the park to catch her breath when she saw him. She shot straight up and started backing up. He was staring at her, following her, again.
She turned around and ran, not even glancing back. Her mind went to that day; the day that Robin took her to Wayne Manor and left, disappearing without a trace. Tears started falling down her face as she continued running.
She ran all the way downtown and stopped by an abandoned building. She was panting and trying to catch her breath when she heard voices.
She started to panic again until she realized that it wasn't his voice, but the voice of other teens.
"Batman said it was around here somewhere."
She peeked around to see four people in different outfits standing there. She recognized some of them as sidekicks of some of the Justice League. Kid Flash, the Flash's sidekick, Aqualad, Aquaman's sidekick, but the other two she wasn't sure of.
"Hey maybe Rob knows. Bats did say they were down here before," Wally said looking around for Robin. "Hey, where'd he go?"
The others looked around as well.
"He was here a minute ago," Kaldar said.
Robin came around one of the buildings and Tiffany's eyes went wide. There he was standing there like nothing was wrong. She waited a few more seconds and then started walking toward them.
"Robin!" she said a little louder then she intended to.
The young team stared at her in surprised as she walked up to Robin and hugged him.
"You're alright?" she asked breaking of the hug.
Robin looked at her not in surprise, but not with a smile either. "Of course I'm fine. I'm Robin, I can take care of myself," he said as he stepped back.
She looked him shocked. Tears started to well up in her eyes again as a scowl came to her face. "That's it? That's all you say? You left me at Wayne Manor, run off to face Clayface, alone mind you, and all you can say is I'm fine, I can take care of myself!"
Robin suddenly looked terrified as Tiffany started walking toward him.
"You didn't give me any evidence that you were even alive! Clayface wanted to kill you! KILL YOU! He wanted to get even with the Justice League and all you can say is I'm fine!" Tears were coming down her cheeks that were now red with fury.
"I... I d... didn't mean to..." Robin started fear clearly evident in his voice.
"Didn't what, mean to worry me! Well you know what, YOU DID! I couldn't stop blaming myself! I kept thinking he's dead all because of me!"
Robin backed into the building behind them and Tiffany stopped. She looked down and then in a calmer, more quieter voice said, "I thought you were dead."
She fell to the ground and put her hands over her face. M'gann came over and put an arm around Tiffany's shoulders to try to comfort her.
"Talk about a woman's wrath. What was that all about, Rob?" Wally asked a still shocked and frightened Robin.
Kaldar and Superboy just stood where they had been since the whole thing started, still a little surprised at what just happened.
After a few minutes, Tiffany had stopped crying and was now staring at Robin, who had gotten over the shock and was now looking at her with a glare. The others had left them to calm down and were looking for any kind of clues to help them find Clayface.
Tiffany stared in mock horror as she realized who see was now looking at. "You... you're not...," she said fear clenching at her, her eyes going wide with horror at what she had just done.
'It's him'
Robin looked down at girl sitting in front of him an evil smile now crossing his face. "Correct, and now you're going to pay for betraying me."
Tiffany screamed as loud as she could hoping the others would here her.
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