Hardly A Hero [REWRITTEN ON NEW ACCOUNT]

Chapter 30: The Robin Before Nightwing

My heart plummeted into my stomach and my hands grew clammy and shaken.

Sebastian hadn't exactly been on my good side as of late, but he didn't deserve to die. The thought of it shook me to the core.

I was still in the process of getting my head around it when Ben started talking again.

"Look, Rose, I know it was wrong for me to use you like this, but I really do like you."

I glanced up at him again, really looking into his eyes for the first time since the conversation started.

"I can't believe you would work with those... those murderers! Why didn't you try to stop them? Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

My hands were flailing all over the place, my face hot and vengeful.

"Baby, please calm d-"

"Don't 'baby' me." I barked. "I can't be around you right now."

His eyes burned into mine, his lips arched into distaste and upset. His face was red too, radiating the compressed chaos of words that he kept from blurting out.

"Whatever this was," I flipped my hand between us. "Is over. Jasmine was right about you."

With that, I pushed past him and stormed towards the exit of the parking lot.

<><><><><><>

During my fit of rage, I decided my HQ deserved a visit. I needed my suit, my mask and a few pieces of trusty gadgets that could help during the crisis I was headed towards.

The moment I stepped through the door, Pearl woke up.

"Ms. O'Connolly, you're back. Might I say this is very brave of you."

I didn't respond.

I jogged over to the suit, that hung in the locked glass closet and dragged it out, throwing it into my duffel bag.

I picked up my police radio operator and my communications headset.

I turned around, only to see that the glass case holding my mask was empty.

"Where's my mask, Pearl?" I asked aggressively. While I found it hard to hate Pearl, she had been an illusion all along; the mole in my company.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Rose."

Her voice was daunting.

"Never mind." I huffed, and stormed out the way I came. She let me leave this time.

<><><><><><>

I knew where to go first for answers.

I jumped up several flights of stairs, two at a time.

The closer I got to Sebastian's old dorm, the worse I felt.

He was dead. Eliminated, like Ben had said. NASEB decided they didn't need him any more and added him to the pile of increasing dead Supers. How long had he been dead? Did anyone else know?