Robin: Betrayal # 3

Robin, along with the others, stood in front of the monitor, eyes glued to the screen as the rest of Donna’s message played.

I know it’s hard but, there’s no other way. And I also know that being a hero means we are never to take a life but this time is different. Raven’s life has already been taken from her. What you saw was nothing more than an empty shell. A puppet. I hate this as I’m sure the rest of you do as well, but Raven wanted it this way, and to honor her memory, we have to honor her wishes.

Donna paused for a moment as a lone tear ran down her cheek. It seemed almost as if she had to force herself to start again.

But before you can access the Emerald of Twilight, you’ll first have to find two other artifacts: the Diamond of Dawn and the Sapphire of Night. After finding the two of them, carry them to the shrine of Rama Kushna in Nanda Parbat and the Emerald of Twilight will be revealed. The Diamond of Dawn’s last known location was somewhere in the arctic, so it could prove difficult to locate; the Sapphire of Night, however, should be a little easier to find. It’s hidden in a temple in the heart of Africa. Sorry I can’t be there to help you guys, but I’m still dealing with this uprising on the planet Shr’nai. Please know that I’m with you in spirit. Oh, and one last thing: Raven’s power will continue to grow exponentially until she’s finally powerful enough to consume all of creation. Time is rapidly running out, so please, hurry!

The message ended and the screen went black. Not a word was spoken for several minutes. Everyone stood in place, looking at each other with grim disposition. Batman spoke first.

“We have to get going. The longer we wait the more powerful Raven becomes. We’ll split into two groups. Tim?”

“Yes?”

“You’ll take Wonder Girl and Flash to the arctic to search for the Sapphire. I’ll lead Hawkman and Starfire to Africa. We’ll converge in Nanda Parbat when we finish, understood?”

Robin couldn’t believe his ears. Was Batman actually putting him in charge of something?

“Y-Yes. Understood.”

“Good.”

“What about me?” Nightwing said, through the doorway.

“Dick, with your extensive injuries, you’d best stay here for now.” Batman replied.

“I was just kidding, Bruce.” He chuckled. “Unlike you, I know when to listen to the doctors orders.”

“Funny. Alright then, let’s move out.”

As everyone left the room, Tim stayed behind to talk to Dick.

“You seem to be handling the destruction of your home pretty well, Dick.”

“The loss of Bludhaven is horrible, Tim, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to cry right now. But the fact is, right now there are bigger problems. Unless Raven is taken down, the death toll will be off the charts.”

Robin paused for a second.

“I’m sorry, Dick.”

“Sorry for what?”

“Sorry we didn’t stop Bludhaven from being leveled.”

Dick’s face softened, and he placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder.

“Listen, little bro. There was no way anyone could’ve known that this would happen. It kind of came out of nowhere and knocked us all on our asses. It’s not Bruce’s fault for taking you guys to the Watchtower, it’s certainly not your fault, hell it’s not even Raven’s fault, all the blame falls on Trigon’s shoulders. And don’t worry. We’ll kick his sorry demon ass so hard, he’ll cough up another Bludhaven to replace the one he wiped out.”

Robin laughed at that last part. He could always look for Dick to make things a little easier to bear in times of crisis.

“Thanks, Dick. Well, I’d better get going. Get some rest, and heal up.”

“Sure thing, chum.” Dick said with a smile, patting Tim on the shoulder.

Can’t believe he put me in charge. Robin thought as he piloted the Javelin over the Hudson Bay.

They were still a ways from their destination but, with the Javelin flying at top speed, it wouldn’t be long before they got there.

He never throws leadership roles out lightly. Bruce, what do you know that the rest of us don’t, damn you!?

“Tim, are you okay?” Cassie said softly, gently resting a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m fine, Cassie.” He responded with a reassuring smile. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you haven’t said a word since we left ground. Wally even fell asleep in all the silence.”

He turned around in his seat and sure enough, there sat Wally, his head thrown back, mouth wide open and snoring.

“Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t hear his snoring, it’s been driving me nuts!”

“Sorry, Cassie. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“You’re worried about what Donna said, right?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“Alright, Tim” Her voice became more stern. “,what’s really bothering you?”

Damn! How does she do that?

He let out a deep sigh.

“Batman knows something that the rest of us don’t.” he relented

“What makes you say that?”

“You don’t know him like I do; he never tosses authority around without good reason. I know he had a purpose in putting me in charge of this team, but I just don’t know what it is.”

He looked her in the eyes. God, she was beautiful.

Wait, you idiot! She was your best friends’ girlfriend! You can’t think about her that way, it’s just not right! You can’t keep doing this! You’ve staring at her like this since you arrived at the Hall; keep it up and she’ll be suspicious!

He sat there for a minute, lost in thoughts, still staring into her eyes.

“Ummm… Tim?”

He realized what he was doing and quickly broke eye contact and turned back around to face the console.

“S-Sorry, Cassie, gotta keep my mind on flying. No time to talk.”

Her fists clenched. He had another thing coming is he thought he could cut her off like that. She roughly spun the seat back around.

“Oh, no you don’t, Tim Drake! Something’s up with you and you’re going to tell me what it is!”

“What do you mean?” He asked sheepishly.

“You’ve been looking at me funny since before we left the Hall, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“It’s…It’s nothing. Just forget about it.”

He tried to turn around again but she caught the chair by the arm before he could.

“Tim.” Her voice softened. “If there’s something wrong, you can tell me. We’ve been best friends for a long time; you know you can trust me.”

“I know that. And believe me, if there was anything I really needed to tell you I’d tell you but..”

As Robin prattled on with another bogus excuse, suddenly it dawned on her what was really wrong.

Oh no! she thought. He’s afraid that what happened to Connor will happen to me! It makes sense since he was always a best friend to Connor and I.

“It’s okay, Tim.” She cut him off. “I get it now, and you don’t have to worry, I feel the same way.”

“You do?!” he asked quizzically.

Wait! She has feelings for me too? Alright, now I’m confused! How the hell can we have feelings for each other when her boyfriend –and my best friend- just died a few hours ago?!

“Sure, Tim. It’s only natural after what happened to… to Connor.”

A tear escaped from her eye. Robin quickly got up and put his arms around her.

“I’m sorry, Cassie. I miss him too.”

My God! One second she’s saying she has feelings for me then she’s crying over Connor. What the hell am I supposed to do!?

“We all miss him.” He finished

She slowly pulled away, wiping the tears from her eyes. Why didn’t she want to let go of him? Come to think of it, now that she looked at him, he looked......No! Her boyfriend had just died, how could she have feelings for her best friend now?!

“A-Anyways, Tim.” She continued, trying to push the thought from her mind. “As I was saying, it’s perfectly natural to feel that way after what happened. So don’t worry about what you’re feeling; I feel it too.”

“Thanks, Cassie.” He smiled. “That really helps.”

That didn’t help at all. How can she say she has feelings for me then act like she still misses Connor then say she has feelings for me again? Damn it, I’m more confused than before! I’ve got to wrap up this conversation before I get even more confused.

“I think it’s about time we woke up Wally.” He said quickly. “He needs to be wide awake when we touch down.”

“Oh, I guess you’re right.” She agreed.

That’s just like you, Tim. Rather than talk about you’re feelings, you try to find any way you can to avoid them. But damn it, why do I suddenly feel so…attracted to him? Come to think of it… Something’s been eating at me every time I glance his direction since… since we… since after Connor died. Damn it, Cassie! You can’t do this, he’s you’re best friend. And right now he’s the only person who understands how you feel. He and Connor were very close after all. What would he think of me if he knew I felt this way? He’d think I was trying to replace his best friend with him. That would tear him apart. Cassie, you have to get it together! This can never happen and you don’t want it to, got it?

“Cassie?”

Suddenly, she realized she’d gotten lost in her thoughts.

“Oh, sorry, Tim, just thinking.”

“About?”

“About Raven.”

She felt terrible for lying, but she couldn’t let him know what had really been going through her mind.

“Oh, well don’t worry too much about it, Cassie, everything will be fine. Now, would you mind waking Wally?”

“Sure thing.”

She turned and walked towards Flash, still snoring like crazy. Robin turned back around to face the console. Luckily, he’d managed to hit the auto-pilot switch just as Wonder Girl jerked him around. They were almost there; another five minutes and they’d be ready to touch down.

“Are you sure it was a good idea to split everyone up like this, Batman?” Starfire asked, sitting in her assigned seat.

“With every passing minute, Raven’s power grows. And even if we were to get both artifacts, it wouldn’t mean anything if we didn’t get them to Nanda Parbat in time. This way, we cut our searching in half, giving us that much more time.”

“That is true but… With Raven already displaying such tremendous power, is it really wise spread ourselves so thin?”

“I underestimated Raven’s power when I took everyone to the Watchtower. I didn’t think that she would be able to strike at us from that great of a distance so soon. Now that I’ve reassessed, however, I’ve concluded that, unless we stop her very soon, she’ll reach her limit, and when that happens, the entire universe will be ripped apart and every trace of life will be wiped out.”

“Can you really be sure of this, Batman?” Hawkman queried.

“I’ve never been wrong more than once.”

Starfire’s heart skipped a beat.

“Batman? Is… is there any other way to stop Raven? I mean, even you, for all of your fierceness, are generally unwilling to take a life.”

“An oath I still hold to, Starfire. But the Raven you knew is gone just as Donna Troy attested. What we saw in that cave was an empty shell; Trigon’s puppet. I felt it, just as I know Tim and Dick did. We’re not taking a life; we’re stopping Raven’s body from being used for something that she hates.”

Her eyes widened just a bit.

“You seem to have an understanding of Raven’s sense of honor. How is this possible, seeing as the two of you have barely spoken?”

“I make it a point to know things like that.” He responded coldly.

“I see.”

No one spoke for awhile. The three of them just waited through the silence until finally, Batman spoke.

“Alright, here we are. I already know where the gem is, it shouldn’t take us long to secure it.”

“How do you know its exact location?” Hawkman asked, puzzled.

“Because I’m me.” Batman replied casually as he pulled the Javelin in for landing.