Got Your Back, Always

III.XXV

Conner asks, "Still nothing?"

"Lines are down," Dick says. "Barb shot a cop. She's gonna need our help."

"She's the Commissioner, she'll be all right."

"Any luck with the others?"

Conner sighs, "I got the same message. Like everything's shut down. Dick, I think we should go home."

"Red Hood and the cops know about Wayne Manor. It's the one place we can't be."

"What about Cassie?"

"Jason won't hurt her, and she'll know when they are coming. She knows how to get out without anyone knowing. She'll be ok. I hope."

"So let's go outside, help some people out."

"Look, I wish we could, but right now, our only job is to not get caught. Gotham City's on its own."

Cassie was still downstairs, having seen Crane and Jason come into the house. She watches them through her cameras. Crane strolls through the halls.

"So this is what a billion dollars gets you."

Jason exhales and follows him.

"Interior designers the world over exclaim, 'Meh!' All right, enough with the whole tortured hero stuff. Come on, we have reached the summit. It's time for us to enjoy the view. I think this calls for some spirits. Look, let's make a toast. To bad seeds. To being them. To knowing them. To growing them."

They cheers their drinks, Crane takes a sip, Jason doesn't.

"We gotta redecorate. Starting with this."

Crane goes over to the Wayne family portrait and takes it down, "Actually, you should do the honors."

Jason takes the knife.

"It's time to finally pay back your father for the gifts he's given you."

Jason takes his anger out on the painting as Crane watches, while drinking some more.

"Welcome to Crane Manor."

Cassie shakes her head, and places her hand on the screen. "Protocol: All Is Well, initiate scramble; reverse code set hint: You cannot keep me until you have given me. Reverse code set key: Your word."

This protocol would protect any confidential information the computers held a secrect by scrambling the answers. Anyone who wanted to use the computers and gain information on them would be mislead. Cassie had no doubts that Crane would find his way down here, so this was her protection. It wouldn't scramble everything, just the most confidential things.

She took a step back and nodded, before making her way upstairs, whilst keeping an eye on her tablet, which showed just where Crane and Jason both were.