Rising Robin

Chapter XXVIII: Game Plan

Dick sat on his rolling chair beside his desk in his room. It was on the far end of his bedroom near the window, which had an alcove with cushions seats to sit on. Rachel sat in one end of the alcove with her legs brought up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. Roy sat on the other end with his legs wide open, resting his elbows on his knees. Harper was sitting with her back against the wall under the window. The three sat in silence, just as Dick had finished explaining the plan.

Roy cleared his throat, breaking the silence first. "Okay," he started. "So...you want to break into a military base?"

Dick nodded. "Yes. I do."

Rachel shook her head. "Dick, go over this one last time. We need to sort out all of the details."

Dick sighed. "Okay, last time." He took a deep breath, then continued. "We're going to the outskirts of the base. There's gonna be a huge fence surrounding the entire base. According to the schematics, the fence is electrified all around, so there's no climbing over. We MIGHT be able to dig underneath."

Harper shook her head. "No, there's electrical fencing dug a few dozen feet underneath the surface. Digging downward would probably fry your ass."

Dick bit his lip. "How are you JUST mentioning this?"

"You never said you wanted to dig underneath the fence, dude," Harper responded.

"Um," Rachel hummed silently. "Well...I can probably get you through."

Dick looked down at Rachel. "Okay, I believe you."

"Wait, what?" Harper asked. "How are you gonna do that?"

Rachel turned back to Harper. "Just trust me, I really can."

Harper sighed. "Okay, sure."

Dick cleared his throat. "Okay, so we get through the fence. I believe there's gonna be a few mines, but I think Harper can navigate us through on our com."

Roy grinned. "Okay, this is starting to sound really good."

Dick shook his head, scoffing silently. "Yeah man, it is. There's definitely going to be patrols roaming about. Surveillance shows they roam in pairs, some on foot & some by car. There's a watchtower per corner of the base, so our best bet of getting through undetected is straight ahead, to the entrance. We'll pose as patrolmen & make our way inside. Once in, we'll split. I'll try & find the chemical weapons & dispose of them, while you guys go & do your think. Harper will keep an eye on us through surveillance and alert us of any nearby threats."

Harper, Roy & Rachel each nodded their heads. Dick sighed in satisfaction. The plan seemed simple enough. Nothing to extreme. Just a simple stealth tactic. It would be dangerous, seeing as they were breaking into a military base, but as long as everyone stuck together as a unit & extracted everyone they needed, it would work out. Dick would remove the weapons, Roy would find Jim, & Raven would find Kori. It would work.

Dick stood up. "Any more questions?"

Everyone shook their heads. After a brief moment, Rachel spoke. "I need to use your restroom."

Dick nodded towards the door across his room. "My bathroom is over there, & the hand towels are in the closet."

Rachel nodded, stood up & walked over to the bathroom. Dick leaned back against his desk. He ran the plan through his head a few more times. He wanted to be absolutely sure he wasn't missing any details.

"This is a nice pad," Harper said softly.

Dick shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. It's temporary, though."

Harper & Roy both looked up at Dick. "What do you mean?" Roy asked.

"Well, I have my own money. I have enough. I don't like it here. There's not a lot left for me here. I wanted to leave town with Cheyenne, but she's gone. I wanted to leave right after, but I can't let Nolan destroy the city. I can't leave Barbara behind either. Not when the city is going to hell. So by breaking into Cadmus, we'll be killing three birds with one stone. Hopefully after that, everything with Nolan will be resolved, & I'll be able to take Barbara away from everything here. I can give her a good, safe life from the threats here."

Roy nodded softly. "That's good, man. You definitely need a backup plan."

Dick gave a confused look to Roy. "This isn't a backup, Roy. This IS the plan."

Harper turned to Roy, who glanced back at her. He bit his lip, then looked back up at Dick. "I don't know if anyone has really told you this, Dick, but Nolan Drake isn't a crazy guy. He isn't a terrorist, he isn't a menace. He's something else, dude. He's the epitome of everything wrong with Gotham. There will always be another Nolan Drake. For every Nolan Drake, there needs to be a hero to stop him. Does that make sense?"

Dick listened carefully to what Roy was saying. He believed he understood what Roy was saying. By taking on Drake, Dick would be holding up the mantle as a hero for the city. Once he did that, there would be more threats, & it would be up to Dick to stop every other. Dick would be giving himself up to the city of Gotham. Dick shook his head. "I'm not signing up to save the city forever, Roy. I'm not fighting every Nolan Drake. I'm fighting MY Nolan Drake."

Harper looked between Roy & Dick. Dick knew the tension had grown a bit thick in the room. He instantly felt a little bad. "I get what you're saying, Roy, but...I'm not trying to be some sort of vigilante who dedicates himself for the city. I will right now, because Nolan is MY responsibility, but that's it. After that, I need to leave. I need to start a new life & leave everything behind. I'll take Barbara. After that, the Batman can keep defending the city."

Roy nodded. "I guess, yeah. I get that."

Harper cleared her throat. "Dick, so, um, remember how you had asked me about the...thing?"

Dick nodded and sat on the ground beside Harper. Roy sat down beside the two, his interest peaking. "Thing? What thing? I wanna see the thing?"

Dick smirked. "It's okay, dude. You already have your thing."

"What? What's my thing?" Roy asked.

Just as Rachel had emerged from the bathroom, Harper began unrolling a piece of paper she had folded up in her pocket. "You're apparently a really good archer. That's your tactic. Dick wanted me to make something for him." Harper revealed the sketches to Dick. Roy peered over Dick's shoulders, while Rachel sat down beside Harper to sneak a glance of the blueprints.

Dick surveyed the blueprints. "Wow," he said. "This looks really good."

Harper shrugged. "Just wait till I build the thing, dude."

A grin rose across Dick's face. "Guys, I have a good feeling about this."

Roy scratched the back of his neck. "My bow's better," he mumbled to himself.

Dick rolled his eyes. Just at that moment, the bedroom door opened. Alfred popped his head through the doorway. "Uh, Master Grayson, Mr. Wayne will be arriving shortly. Would your guests like to stay for dinner?"

Dick glanced at the three, then back at Alfred. "No, Al, it's okay. Thanks though. We're almost done here."

Alfred nodded and removed his head from the doorway, then shut the door quietly behind him.

"You have a butler too?" Harper asked.

Dick nodded. "Yeah, he's okay. Not a big pain, really."

Roy tapped Dick's arm. "Dude, does Alfred or Bruce know about any of this?"

Dick shook his head. "No, guys, & I want to keep it that way. Like I said, once all of this is over, I don't plan to stay here much longer. So the less they know, the easier it'll be for me to carry everything out, & we'll be on our way."

Everyone nodded softly in agreement. Dick felt that some were questioning whether leaving Bruce out of the whole ordeal was wise. It didn't matter. Bruce wasn't around a lot of the time. He was usually out on a business meeting, or out on a date. So far, Dick had managed to get away with a lot. It was working. Everything was working. Dick had his weapon. He had his team. He had his plan. Everything would work.