The Competition Mission Re-Write

Suspected

I had to forcibly shove the memories of my families fall from my head as I twisted and reached out for the silks, just grabbing onto them at the last second. My momentum swung me back up and I lightly perched on top of the hoop, taking in deep breaths. It lasted only a couple of seconds, but they could have been my last, and this would be my ghost outfit, ew. Before I had even registered I had stopped I had continued with the routine as planned and thanked the lord no one noticed the slip up.
"Well done Richard," Mr Telkins said as I came off stage, "And that part where we all thought you would go splat, that was a very good add in. The suspense was too good."
I nodded mutely, now that it was over I kept hearing my families scream as they fell, Tati trying to shield Mama, and the horrible sound as they hit the floor.
I sat numbly in the viewing station, only half registering the rest of the auditions, but Artemis' and Megan's routine was cool from what I could remember.
"The scoreboard will be up in five minutes, until then, relax. You all performed wonderfully," One of the judges said and chat broke out everywhere.
"Hi Richard," I looked up as Wally came over with the rest of the team, "Sorry to disturb you but my friends wanted to meet you."
"Oh, no," I said as I stood up and walked closer to them, "It's fine. I wasn't doing anything anyway."
I noticed that M'ggan was staring at my eyes but when I looked over to her she looked away, blushing.
"You're act was amazing by the way," Kaldur said.
"It was okay I guess," I replied, "But yours was fantastic. I haven't seen anything like that since I left the circus."
"I am glad you enjoyed it," He said, "My name is Kaldur by the way. That is Conner, Artemis and Megan. I'm sure you know Wally, he came over boasting that he got to see you before we started."
That brought up a smirk and a few comments from Artemis but we were interrupted by the scoreboard going up. We all went over together to see the scores and who had gotten through. The boys had passed with 23 out of 40, just getting in 98th. The girls were in 45th with 32 and I was in first with 40. Apparently they loved it, and it also put me high on the teams suspicion list. I felt Kaldur give me a suspicious stare but elected to ignore him and headed over to my teacher. The entire school had gotten through and he was jumping for joy. I was glad when I got to leave back for the manor.
"How did the auditions go Master Dick?" Alfred asked as I came in.
"Asterours," I replied, "I passed with full marks and the team all passed as well. The only problem is I'm going to be high on their suspicion list now."
"I'm sure it will all be fine," Alfred said, "Master Bruce is currently at work but should be back soon. What do you plan on doing meanwhile?"
"I'm going to head to the cave," I said, "Hang with the team. And get this horrible outfit off."
"Have fun," He replied as I headed up to my room.
I had a quick shower which got most of the make-up off, the rest had to come off with my make-up wipes and I changed from the costume into some casual jeans and a blue hoodie. I brushed through my hair, getting the last of the gel out and let it fall loose on top of my head. I finally donned my sunglasses and headed to the cave.
"...I could have swam in them. They were beautiful," Artemis' voice greeted my ears as I entered the cave.
"What's going on here then?" I asked as I looked at the two girls who were sighing dreamily as they stared off at nothing.
"We met Richard Grayson," Wally said as he came bounding over, "And they're fascinated by his eyes, and I mean, who can blame them, but Kaldur's convinced he's the terrorist. He's a good guy, I know it. And, I bet we'll become best buds."
"Wally, you're 18, maybe calm down a bit," I said, "You're acting like you're his age," Because they all thought I was 18 with them, another trick to hide my identity.
"But it's so exciting," He began but was cut off by Kaldur.
"Robin, do you mind if I speak to you? It regards our latest case."
"Of course," I replied, "See you in a minute Wals."
"I have pictured the scores and cross-referenced with my list to see who made it and their scores," He said, "We are down to only twenty suspects now, thankfully, but our top three our Henry Milkon, Marcus Hill and Richard Grayson. Each of those boys got the highest scores, Henry and Marcus each getting 39 and Richard having 40."
"What was the top score they could get?" I asked.
"40," Kaldur replied, "And I have already checked, no one has ever been awarded full marks before. He fits the criteria extremely well. Male, sports act, rich, high scores, and we have just been informed that they have black hair, the same as his."
"It could be a set-up," I suggested, "Sometimes the actual person you're looking for will disguise themselves as someone else. This just seems too perfect for it to actually be happening."
"That thought has crossed my mind," Kaldur sounded annoyed slightly at being told this by me, but he kept it well hidden, "That is why no arrests have been made. I would send out people to watch over him tonight but we were not sure if that would be wise. What do you say?"
As much as I couldn't get my cover blown, there were some things you just had to say yes to, "I say you should, just for tonight to start with though scan the grounds and see how well guarded they are, you may get more information from that than actually watching the boy."
"Thank you for your advice," Kaldur said, "I shall go and designate each person to who they are watching."
I gave a smile and we both headed back to the living room and Kaldur told everyone who they got, tonight I was keeping an eye out for Wally it seemed. How hard could that be?