Behind the Mask

Chapter 7

A soft whirring sound floated through the Batcave as the elevator came to a halt at the bottom. Bruce looked over to see an elderly gentleman gliding towards him with a tray in one hand and some sort of black cloth in the other.

“Alfred,” Bruce sighed, leaning back in his chair and smiling gratefully as Alfred approached him and placed the tray, which Bruce now saw held a dark mug and a small platter of cookies, in front of him, still holding the black fabric.

“Master Bruce,” he nodded, English accent heard.

Bruce took a sip of the black coffee and closed his eyes in pleasure as the warmth traveled through him. It was still hot outside, but the Batcave could get chilly at times. He replaced the mug on the tray and turned back to his butler, noticing again the object he held in his hands. He raised an eyebrow at it and Alfred sighed.

“Master Richard’s, or Robin’s I suppose, cape, sir,” he explained, handing it to the billionaire. “I went up to make sure he was asleep and found it on his floor.”

“So I assume he is asleep then?” Bruce asked, taking the cape from the butler and running it through his hands. It was relatively clean, though smelled old so he assumed it had been lying in Dick’s room for a while.

“Yes, quite.” Alfred assured. “Though he was mumbling something in some language I could not decipher. I trusted it was normal occurrence, though, and let him be.”

Bruce only chuckled, amused at his ward’s sleeping habits.

“Have you found anymore leads, Master Bruce?” Alfred asked, noticing the file on the computer screen for the first time.

“I’m afraid not, Alfred.”

“Hmmm. Perhaps you should alert the League of this.”

“No,” Bruce said quickly, reaching for his mug again. “No, the League doesn’t need to get into this. This is about Robin, and he’s my partner. I can handle this.”

“And you don’t want the League getting the way.” It wasn’t a question. 

“You know me too well, Alfred.”

“Indeed I do, Master Bruce. Indeed I do.”

*&*

“Recognized: Robin B-01.”

“I left my sock there and now it’s gone!”

“I am sure there is a reasonable explanation-”

“Yes! Maybe it was magic!”                                                

“There’s only one thing that could have happened to it-”

“Maybe someone’s washing it-”

“I am sure we can find it, my friend-”

“-It originated from a particularly acidic chemical on the cave floor-”

“I’m leaving now….”

“Oo! Are you looking? I’ll help look!”

“-Exposed to such extreme environment conditions, the molecules in the sock broke down, the acid eating away at the chemical bonds -”

“Perhaps it fell under the couch.”

“Not over here!”

“Until only the base components were left and – Robin!”

“Hey, KF, whatcha doing?” The boy in question asked, walking over to where Wally stood on the arm of the couch behind which Kaldur’s back end was visible, his head stuck underneath the furniture. Robin could make out M’gann and Superboy in Mount Justice’s kitchen, the Martian poking her head in the cupboards while the clone stood watching. They were all dressed in civilian clothes, Robin included, his mandatory dark glasses in place. He had no idea what was going on, but judging from the Team’s various positions, he could only assume the worst.