Thursday. Thirty-one days since the Omnitrix.
Silas had been running the Southside routes every other night since the Livewire encounter. Not always engaging. Reconnaissance as often as action, building a clearer picture of Intergang's new patterns. They'd consolidated further. Fewer handoffs, better guarded, different timing each night. They were learning from him the way he was learning from them.
'That's not a good trajectory long-term.'
Tonight he was in Hound form, staying low along the alley network behind Garrick Street. No transformation timer concerns at Hound's pace. The form's quiet efficiency made it ideal for reconnaissance. The echolocation mapped the alley system in real time, every sound arriving as spatial data, two cats near the dumpster on his left, a window opening three floors up on the right, footsteps on Garrick proper, and—
Something on the rooftop above him.
Not Intergang. The weight distribution was wrong. Too light, too deliberate. The movement pattern had the quality of someone who knew how to move without being heard and was choosing to allow just enough sound to be trackable.
'That's not random. Someone up there wants to be found by something or someone.'
Hound went still. Extended the sensory range. The figure on the rooftop was alone, approximately 60 kilograms(approximately 132 lb), moving in a pattern that tracked Hound's position below. Following without closing distance.
'They've been up there at least four minutes. They know what I am and they're choosing to observe rather than engage.'
Hound kept moving. The quills along his back shifted slightly, an involuntary alert response. Let the figure read that however they wanted.
....
Dick Grayson had been in Metropolis for three days.
Batman had said not yet. Dick had waited four days, assembled his own file from incident reports and Lois Lane's articles, decided four days was sufficient patience, and taken the Zeta tube on a Thursday evening without telling anyone.
He wasn't going to interfere. He just wanted to see.
The operational pattern in Batman's file was interesting. Reactive becoming deliberate, escalating capability, consistent non-lethal outcomes. The Livewire incident three nights ago had shown tactical adaptation under pressure.
'Whoever this is knew when to cut their losses. That's not something you can teach.'
The form below him now. Quadrupedal, no visible eyes, navigating entirely by some kind of sensory systems. One Batman hadn't identified. The file had two confirmed visuals: the four-armed red form from the alley incident and the same from Perry Street. This was something different. Which meant whatever this was had more forms than Batman's file currently reflected.
'At least three forms. Probably more. And whoever's or whatever using them knows how to pick the right tool for the context.'
The quadrupedal form went still in the alley below. Extended something. A sensory range, probably. Then kept moving as if nothing had happened.
'It heard me. It knows I'm here. And it decided to keep running the operation anyway.'
Dick smiled in the dark. Kept following.
....
The handoff was two streets over. Hound had mapped it from the sound profile. Four people, one vehicle, the specific handling sounds of equipment being transferred. Small. Manageable.
Silas pressed the Omnitrix release with one foreleg claw and reverted. He checked the dial properly now that he had hands again. Selected Prism. Close quarters, crystal's structural advantage was right for the space. He pressed the dial.
Prism moved into the service road.
The four operatives had a split second before Prism's upper hand went through the van's engine block from the front. The hood folded. The engine made its terminal sound. Three of the four ran immediately. The fourth reached for something at his belt that Prism identified from shape as Apokolips-grade and moved before it cleared the holster. One hand on the weapon, controlled pressure, the barrel bending forty-five degrees.
The fourth operative let go and left.
Thirty-eight seconds. One van immobilized. One Apokolips weapon disabled. Four operatives dispersed without serious injury. Prism checked the area. Clear.
'MCPD can have the van and the weapon. Clean exit.'
Prism reverted in the doorway. Silas was human, Omnitrix green, operational complete. He was pulling his hood up when the voice came from above.
"Thirty-eight seconds," Robin said from the rooftop edge.
Silas went still.
"Van engine on the first hit. Weapon identification before it cleared the holster, finished under 4 minute." Robin said.
A pause.
"You knew I was up there," Robin said. Not quite a question.
"Since the alley on Garrick," Silas said.
Shorter pause.
"Huh," Robin said.
....
Robin dropped from the rooftop to street level in one clean motion, landed without sound, and stood six feet away with his arms loose at his sides. He looked at Silas with the specific expression his face did when he was reassessing something.
Silas kept his hood up. Mask on. He was looking at Robin. the red and green, the R on the chest, the whole thing. and his brain was making a specific kind of noise that he filed under deal with later.
'That is Robin. That is Robin and he just watched my entire operation and timed it. Don't say anything stupid.'
"You been here long?" Silas asked.
"Three days," Robin said.
"Batman send you?" Silas asked.
"No," Robin said, in a way that meant technically no but actually not exactly.
"Right," Silas said.
Robin looked at the Omnitrix on Silas's wrist. in human form the watch was back in its original position, the faceplate raised and green.
"That device," Robin said.
"What is it?"
"Mine," Silas said.
"That's not an answer," Robin said.
"It's the one your getting," Silas said.
Robin looked at him for a moment.
"You're not working with anyone," Robin said.
"No," Silas said.
"Intergang operations, you've been running those alone since the beginning?" Robin said.
"Yeah," Silas said.
"Livewire three nights ago," Robin said.
"Yeah," Silas said.
"And you're still going out," Robin said.
"Yeah," Silas said.
Robin processed this. Silas waited.
"How many forms?" Robin asked.
"Enough," Silas said.
Robin almost smiled. Silas could see it not quite happen.
"I'm going to give you a frequency," Robin said.
"You don't have to use it. But if Intergang escalates again, and they will, you should have it."
He held out a small card. Nothing printed on it except a number.
Silas looked at it. Looked at Robin. Took it.
"No questions about who I am?" Silas asked.
"I've got three," Robin said.
"But you've only answered one of mine so I'll save them."
He looked at the Omnitrix one more time. Then back at Silas's mask.
"Shift," Robin said, like confirming something he'd already decided.
"Yeah," Silas said.
Robin went up. No rope, no grapple. The acrobatic leap to the rooftop edge looked effortless in the way things looked effortless when someone had been doing them since they were nine. Then he was gone, moving north, and the service road was empty except for the disabled van and the bent Apokolips weapon and Silas holding a frequency card.
....
Dick Grayson sent the message from the Zeta tube before he fully stepped through.
"Observed one full operation. Thirty-eight seconds, one vehicle, one Apokolips weapon disabled, four operatives dispersed, no injuries. Two forms tonight. Quadrupedal for recon, crystal for engagement. Also a glowing device on the body in both forms. Different position each time but same object. Green hourglass symbol," Robin sent.
He stepped through. Added:
"Made contact. Gave a frequency. Knows their way around a fight and around a question. Operating alone since day one. I'd recommend keeping an eye on the Intergang situation. If they escalate past Livewire Shift's going to need backup whether they ask for it or not," Robin sent.
Batman's response in four minutes.
"I said not yet," Batman replied.
"I waited four days," Robin sent back.
No response. Which meant Batman was either annoyed or updating the file or both, and with Batman those weren't mutually exclusive.
....
11:47 PM. Window. Suit off. Silas sat at his desk and put the frequency card on the surface in front of him and looked at it.
A small rectangle of plain card with a number on it. Robin had carried it in his utility belt which meant Batman knew it existed which meant batman knew he existed.
'Robin followed you for three days without you noticing until tonight. Three days. He was watching your operations and you had no idea. Hound is the only reason you caught him at all.'
He wrote in his notebook. The operation first. Then Robin. The three days. The assessment. The three questions Robin hadn't asked yet.
He put the frequency card in the back of the notebook. Closed it. Turned off the lamp.