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'I think we just made it worse.' Black Canary said as the heroes filed into the meeting room.
'Perhaps,' Martian Manhunter replied, taking his seat next to her.
'I don't know much about the girl, but she doesn't seem like someone who would give out information about herself.' The Arrow added.
'Yeah, I mean, she really got tortured and she said nada... According to her at least.' The scarlet speedster gave his own opinion.
'But then the questions is... Why did she give us all that information? It's not like we were that persuasive.' Superman took his seat at the head of the table.
'Nah, the real question is, how do we get more? She doesn't trust any of us anymore... Not that she did before.' Flash looked pointedly in Batman direction.
'We send Robin,' Batman said with a cool voice.
'What?' Diana asked. 'That's your plan!'
Batman held up his palm and pointed at the monitors that showed his protégé walking towards the room where Shadow was in. 'Yes, they are the same age and use the same wordplay. They are bound to get along, one way or another.'
Wonder Woman sighed. 'So we just have to watch and wait.'
'Precisely,' The Bat said, as they all turned to face the monitors.
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{Shadow}
Tap.
257
Tap.
258
Tap Tap, 259.
Someone's here, but who exactly?
I heard the door slide open. Head bent down, eyes closed, I smiled.
'You don't look like someone who's feeling the aster.' I heard the voice of the person I had the least expected.
My smile grew larger as I processed his words over in my head.
'Aster, the opposite of, dis-aster,' I mused. 'No, I'm not feeling the aster, heavy on the dis.'
I looked up and smirked.
'You—' He just stared at me.
I watched silently, pleased at his reaction as the key fell from his hand and bounced on the floor, rolling for a while before coming to a stop in front of him.
'Yes, me. My favorite song bird.' I smiled at his still shocked face.
'Sorry to disappoint you Robin, were you expecting someone with shorter hair, longer hair? Taller, shorter, blond?' I asked nonchalantly, kicking my legs out from under me and pulling my body off the bed.
'No, for some reason, when I think of shadows, your face is always the one that pops up in my head.' He said, bending down to get the keys.
I followed his every movement with my eyes. 'As flattered as I am to know that you think of me ever so often, there is something I need to know...'
He stood up and shrugged. 'Shoot.'
I grinned. 'Do you still have an affinity for explosives?'
He paled slightly, probably knowing where this conversation was going.
'I'll take that as a yes.' I raised an eyebrow, deciding to play with him for a while.
'I do not have an affinity to bombs.' We spoke at the same time.
I threw him a triumphant smile and he took a step back, one hand over his mouth to stop himself from saying anything else.
'Who said anything about bombs?' I rolled my eyes as his back hit the closed door, his eyes widening when he realized he had nowhere to run. 'Seems like you're all out of space to run, Robin.'
I wonder how long he was going to pretend that we don't know each other? Things just got more interesting.
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'Wait, what now? They know each other...' Flash said, tapping his fingers repeatedly on the table, 'Did you know—'
'No, I didn't.' The Bat said slowly, gritting his teeth.
They all turned to the screens. Robin definitely had some explaining to do.
Shadow bent over and started laughing. Everyone reeled back in shock, her laugh...it sounded so innocent.
'Just shut up okay?' Robin said quietly.
'So, who was it? Who got you tied to a bomb this time?' Shadow whispered back like they were having a secret conversation.
'No one—' He started.
'Was it the cat?' Shadow started, concealing her laughter terribly.
'No! It was the Joker.' Robin glared at her.
'Why so serious, Robin?' Shadow asked and tilted her head slightly.
He hit his head on the nearest wall and glared at her. 'Please stop.'
The gangleader cleared her throat and ignored his actions. 'But seriously, better the clown than the cat, right?'
Robin glared at her again.
'So tell me, how did you end up, upside down... eight bombs strapped to you... over a tub of bubbling acid...a cat with the trigger?' Shadow asked, disguising her laughs as coughs.
'Honestly, I want to know. After all, I was the one who had to disarm the poor feline, defuse the bombs and get you down from there, safely, well, mostly.' Her voice was filled humor..
Tucking the key into a hidden pocket, he spoke. 'I don't think I'm going to unlock your cuffs.'
She blinked and frowned. 'Why not?'
He walked forward to stand in front of her. 'From the five times I've met you—'
Shadow interrupted him. 'Six, counting now. You know, this is the first time I've seen you not tied to explosives.'
He sighed. 'Not the point. As I was saying, I know you can get out of those cuffs closing yours eyes.'
She looked at him inquisitively. 'Is that so? Well, Batman asked you to take me to my cell, it's your job, not mine.'
'She knows.' Batman said into his comm.
Robin ignored him and switched his comm off.
'He switched it off.' Diana sighed. 'Just great.'
Robin, what are you up to? Bruce glared into the floating screens.
'So you knew?' The boy wonder said, running his hand through his hair.
'I memorized the walking patterns of all the leaguers, yours were lighter, yet, filled with more purpose than the others. At step thirty, I knew you were on a mission, at step sixty two you were anxious, your steps had increased pace.
'At 132 you were a wreck of nerves, stopping an average of thirty seconds to probably reassure yourself that you could do it, and finally at 186 with renewed vigour, you were practically sprinting down the hall, hardly any time lapse between each step,' Shadow clicked her tongue, 'naturally I was wondering who it could be, but I wasn't expecting you, of all people.'
The heroes looked at each other, bewilderment evident on their faces. Who exactly was this girl?
What Robin did next shocked them more.
Bending down, he unlocked her cuffs with a click, and smiled. 'All of which I'd expect from you, Shadow.'
She rubbed her wrists and stood up.
'But, how did you know Batman sent me?' He asked.
'I heard 329 steps echo through the hall, the only place I could think of—factoring in the breaks you took—that was relatively close to your starting point was the mission room.'
'How did you—'
'And the young team of heroes that you belong to, it's Batman's team isn't it?' She walked towards the door.
'This, is Mount Justice,' Shadow spun to face him. 'right?'
He nodded slowly. 'Yes?' It came out as a question.
She pulled him up by the hand. 'Then you have to show me around.'
'Why? You seem to know where everything is already.' Robin said, his hand still interlocked with hers.
'Looking at schematics is not the same thing as seeing the real thing.'
He put on a thoughtful face and smirked. 'Why don't I believe you?'
'I won't try to escape, cross my heart and hope to fly.'
'I think you mean die.' He corrected her.
She frowned. 'I don't know about you, but I'll rather fly than die.'
'Yeah, I guess so.' Robin replied.
'So...' Shadow pressed, waiting for an answer.
'I'll give you a tour, if, you tell me how you heard my footsteps so far away and how you knew that this was Mount Justice.' He said.
'Deal.'
It was as if they had just noticed that they were holding hands, because a pink tint grazed Robin's faced as he yanked his hand out of hers, and Shadow suddenly found a spot on the floor very interesting.
Oliver whistled. 'Chemistry.'
An intense glare from the Dark Knight shut him up.
'Well, ladies first.' Robin said, pressing the button that opened the door.
'How chivalrous of you, Robin.' She said, stepping out into the open hallway. 'You should teach your partner some manners.'
'Yeah, maybe you're right.' Robin said stepping out after her.
'What...just... happened?' The speedster gawked at the screens.
'I don't know,' Batman started, 'We'll have to wait, and see.'
'So where to first?' Robin asked.
'Why are you asking me?' Shadow asked back.
'I just figured there'd be a place you'd want to go first.' He said.
They all knew what Robin was doing. If she had truly memorized the schematics, she should know where everything was.
She shrugged. 'I'll end up seeing everywhere, right? Plus, you probably know where I should see first better than I do.'
'That was a good answer.' He started walking down a hallway.
'You make it sound like it was a test.' She laughed and took two steps back, away from the hallway.
Robin sighed and turned to her. 'Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark.'
She shook her head and slowly walked to him, frowning as she raised her hand in front of her face. 'I can't see.'
'Of course you can't, it's pitch dark.'
'I'm pretty much sure I could see some time ago.'
'What?'
'The cells in my eyes are deteriorating.'
'What?'
She glared at him through the darkness. 'Probably a side effect of the antidote.'
'You mean the antidote for the Omega 3.' Robin guessed automatically and froze when he realized that that was the wrong thing to say to her.
'You... You hacked into the cave's system and accessed my interrogation footage!' She snapped her fingers.
'Yes... No... Maybe?'
'But you could only get audio, and that's why you didn't know I was Shadow beforehand.' She continued.
He put up his hands in surrender—not that she could see it. 'Alright, you got me.'
'I suspected as much from Batman's partner.' She said and walked past him.
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'Meh.' She shrugged.
'Meh isn't an answer, you know.' He scoffed and chased after her. 'Hey, wait up!'
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