Tim sighed as he leaned on the console to the Young Justice computer. "That's not good news at all."

"Well duh." Nightwing's voice trickled through the monitor and echoed through the YJ hideout. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Jesse goes missing and when I go to get Wally's help, he's off the fricking planet with the rest of the JLA."

"So... who'd you call?"

"He was kind enough to send me a replacement, but I still want your help kid. C'mon it's the Titans. It'll be cool to hang out for a day. You can help me insult Roy and show off your stuff to Toni and--"

Tim sighed. "What's the catch?"

"Well," Dick started, "I'm going to need your help with the person Wally sent over. I'll beg you if need be." He paused and signaled to someone off screen. "You'll find out in about two sec--"

"Hey man!"

Tim nearly jumped at the voice behind him. Naturally, Impulse had come out of nowhere. Bart looked at the vid link and waved to Nightwing. Of course, Tim reasoned. Wally would send a speedster to find a speedster, which meant that Dick was pretty much asking him to babysit!

"No." Tim crossed his arms and stared at his role model.

"But Robin--"

"What part of no don't you understand?" Tim firmly stated. He had way too much to do in the batclan to go and it wasn't worth it hanging out with the Titans. Not even to show up Arsenal. He put his time in with Young Justice. Extra credit was so not required.

"Don't make me beg man." Dick looked at him with beseeching eyes, or rather they would have been beseeching had he not been wearing his mask. "I already put in my speedster dues."

All the while Impulse rocked back and forth on his shoes as he tried to fathom what was going on. Jesse was missing and they should be out looking for her not wasting time arguing about money. "Um guys," he started to say but neither one batboy was listening to him.

"Twice even!" Nightwing was saying.

"So you should be an expert at it by now."

"Please?"

"No."

"Um guys... shouldn't we be looking for Jesse?" He watched as both heroes turned to look about him. He squirmed under their gaze. Then he remembered something. His hands went down to check pockets that weren't there on his costume. Oh, that's right he had put the paper down when he was... sometime earlier. He dashed off, reappearing moments later with a letter in hand. "I have a clue!" he proclaimed. "Wally gave it to me before he left."

"You have a clue?" Nightwing echoed from the viewscreen. "Why didn't you show it to me when you were here?"

Dick felt the breeze blow past him. He sighed and turned around, wordlessly he plucked the paper from Impulse's hand. His eyes started to scan the letterhead of the Flash logo paper. He read silently from the note, carefully avoiding Bart's inquisitive stare.

"Dick--

"If you're reading this then it means that Bart remembered to give you the letter.

"First off, I apologize.

"I told him to drop this off to you and then head back to his normal stalking grounds. If he didn't do that, it's not my fault.

"Well, it isn't!

"At the bottom right is a disc which has snaps of Jesse's office. The place is hasn't been touched in case you want to look it over yourself, which I know you will. I warn you though; it's trashed.

"Good luck,

"Wally"

"P.S. Stop scowling at me, it's not like I planned it or anything."

Robin watched as Dick had to constantly shuffle his feet in order to avoid Impulse from reading over his shoulder. The blue and black clad hero avoided Bart with such ease that Robin was confident that his help would not be needed. After all, what was one boy wonder compared to a handful of Titans?

Nightwing plucked the round silver disc from the paper and rolled it between his forefinger and thumb, holding it up in the light. Tim held his breath for a moment. Once Nightwing put it into the computer, the video screen would disappear and Robin would be free to pull his vanishing act.

The disc slid into the computer with a faint hiss. Tim waited for the screen to fizzle out which it naturally did. He sighed in relief and turned to walk away. Dick was a master detective. Dick would find Jesse without any problem. Dick wouldn't need his help—not even with Bart. Tim strode through the Young Justice hideaway resolutely. It would be a long time before Dick checked back with him. More than enough time to grab the Redbird and go. One more corner and he was home --

"Nightwingsentmeover. Hesaidforyoutocometothetower."

-- so much for free.

"He also said, 'Tell Robin that if he doesn't get here in five minutes, I tell Oracle who has been hacking into her journal files.'"

Tim put his hand to his head, brushing away his hair. This was it, the headache; he closed his eyes. He was doomed. Blackmailed and doomed. He shook his head in disbelief. Just wait until he got a few moments alone with Dick. Idol or no, Dick was going down.

"What do you mean no?" Bart asked. "Jesse. Missing. Find. Help."

"Yeah, yeah. You Impulse, me Robin."

Impulse nodded proudly. "Come on, I'll speed us over there."

Tim's eyes flew open. Not that Bart could tell, for secret identities sake and all. "You. Are. Not. Carrying me!"

Bart tapped his foot impatiently. "He said five minutes."

"You go. I'll follow in the cycle."

"But he said—"

"Let me worry about Nightwing." This is it Dick; this means war. Tim mentally searched through his blackmail files. There were a few markers he could call in, but he was waiting for Batman moments. Not that he wasn't tempted.

"Have it your way."

Very, very tempted.

Robin's day was shot. No longer could he bum around at Stephanie's house and his plans to try out Babs's new VR programs were all down the tubes. He wasn’t a Titan, not even a teen titan or whatever that other group was called. This was not fair, and he reminded himself of that with each step that brought him closer to the Supercycle. His thoughts stayed on that train of thought until replaced with happier times to come —like revenge.

He took his time flying over to New York. The longer it took him, the more time Dick would have to deal with Impulse alone. Besides, Dick was a smart boy, maybe he'd figure it out in about three seconds. Or so Robin hoped. The cycle seemed unfortunately swift today. It was a pity, but then the cycle had never been to the Titan's tower. The bloody thing was probably excited. Robin sighed, even the cycle was against him. This day sucked.

Sooner than later (unfortunately), Tim arrived on the New York Island that housed the Titan tower. Just as he was upon the underground complex, he realized he didn't have access to get in. What a shame, he thought with a smile. He would just have to go all the way back to Rhode Island without being able to help. Pity.

For good measure, he buzzed the intercom. After all, he had to make it look good. He waited a moment or two, hoping to be on his way. He frowned when a security camera turned to face him. The frown grew into a scowl when he heard Arsenal's voice trickle out from the speakers.

"Gus's pizza. We don't serve sidekicks."

"Very funny. Let me in."

"Don't you know we've got an age restriction up in here?"

"Are you going to open the door or not?"

"Keep your short pants on kid. Geeze, all you bat boys have no sense of humor. Potty trained at birth. Does Robbie know you're coming?"

"What do you think?"

"And so polite too."

The door slid open silently and Tim strode through the hallway. Harper met him in the meeting room and guided him to where Dick would no doubt be already pouring over the details. Roy talked nonstop all the way. "I'm telling you, the Titans are losing their standards—no offense—the next thing you know they'll be letting anyone in here."

They turned the corner and Roy keyed in a code for the computer room. He paused taken aback by the sight of Impulse peeking over Dick's shoulder. Roy turned to Tim and gestured towards the youngest Speedster. "See what I mean?"

Roy cleared his throat loudly then announced, "Yo, 'wing. You're bro's here. Now I've got to get back to monitor duty so I'll just be—"

"You already missed the end," Dick commented without turning. "Chase broke up Brooke and Patrick's wedding and Taylor took off with her step father to find her Cassie."

"What about Sharon and Todd... I mean... Toni'll want to know."

"She's pulling duty now. So you can take a seat and help us here."

Roy muttered under his breath.

.to be continued.

~story index~