Sullivan

Chapter Two - Robin

Chloe sat on a bench in Aparo Park, a waterfront park in Gotham City. Gotham sat in New Jersey, directly across Delaware Bay from Metropolis. The weather was significantly different, however. Gotham was currently cool and rainy while Metropolis was warm and sunny.

Sitting on that bench, she couldn't help feeling skeevy. It felt like she might carry out a drug deal at any moment. Robin had told her in an email to sit and wait on this exact bench until he came and got her. The bench was dedicated to someone named Christian Keaton. Chloe didn't know who he was, but she was growing tired of reading and re-reading his name on the back of the bench.

Chloe opened the email he'd sent and read it over again:

Chloe,

Aparo Park. There is a bench dedicated to industrialist Christian Keaton on the main path. I'll meet you there. I'll answer any building questions you might have, except for the obvious secret identity question, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

The message was closed out with that same tiny picture of the Robin symbol. Chloe read it again. A smile formed slowly. It was a code. He didn't want her to wait here for him at all.

She looked up and down the brick path. In one direction was the massive wooden playground that resembled a castle and the parking lot. In the other direction, she'd find the pond.

She stood and walked in the direction of the pond. The rain began to pick up, and she cursed herself for neglecting to bring an umbrella. Having been built on a peninsula, Gotham City got a good amount of precipitation. She should've known it wouldn't let up for her interview.

A row of tall trees led to a bridge that curved over the middle of the pond, where brown-feathered ducks floated on the surface.

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Chloe crossed the stone bridge and looked around. On the left was another, smaller playground, this one mostly metal and hard plastic. On the right was a tall stone building yards away from the path. Thick green vines grew on every side of it.

I'll answer any building questions you might have.

Chloe walked through the wet grass to the building. She didn't know what it had been before, but it was beautiful. The arched windows reminded her of windows in churches. Looking up, she realized the building had no roof, and the rain fell inside just as easily as it did outside.

"Robin?" Chloe spoke.

The rain wasn't loud enough to drown it out, and her voice sounded specifically loud in the silence.

A figure landed on his feet in front of her. Robin looked to be a young man. His dark hair was brushed back, and a dark green domino mask covered his eyes. He wore a black cape that was gold on the inside and a costume that was familiar to Chloe. The torso was red, but the short sleeves and legs were green. His gloves were green, too, and his boots were black. A high-tech gold belt was clasped around his waist. Chloe's eye was drawn to the golden letter R on the left side of his chest, a black circle dropped behind it.

"You cracked the code. I'm impressed," said Robin in a serious tone. "So you're Chloe Sullivan. Batman vouched for you, said you really did go to high school with Superman."

"Yeah," said Chloe. She'd only ever met one superhero, but Clark really didn't count. Meeting Robin now was surreal. "I need items for this list, so--"

"Couldn't you have asked Superman about Batman?" Robin questioned. "They're best friends."

"They weren't always," said Chloe. She had her phone pulled out, ready to record the audio of the conversation. "That's an item on the list. Superman doesn't have much time these days, so I needed to speak to someone who knows Batman better than him. You."

Robin nodded. "Alright."

"So, what've you got for me?" Chloe asked.

A smile crossed his face. "You don't have any specific questions?"

"It's things people might not know about Batman," said Chloe. "I might not know what to ask."

Robin's smile persisted. "Alright, how about this? Batman has trained in nearly every martial art in the world, and he used them to develop his own fighting style."

"Things like that, that's what I'm looking for," said Chloe.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," said Chloe.

"What are you doing?" Robin asked. "I don't mean by interviewing me. The way Superman talked about you...he said you were more cunning than Lois Lane. If that's true, what are you doing writing an article as pointless as this one?"

Chloe's hand gripped her phone harder. She stared at him hard, noticing his eyes were hazel, a mix of copper and green. "Superman said I was more cunning than Lois?"

Robin nodded. "I don't mean to make you regret your life choices or anything, but I know there's more out there for you, Chloe. I was researching you, and I found a lot of hard-hitting pieces of journalism, even if it was just a few articles in the MetU Post. You seem to have a knack for investigation. Have you ever considered a career in something like that?"

"I have, but only journalism," said Chloe. He was analyzing her. She was afraid something like this might happen.

"Maybe it's time to think outside the box," Robin suggested.

Chloe looked at the cement wall of the structure. He had a point. She hated where she was in life right now, and only she could change that. "I still need to write this article..."

"We can do that," said Robin. "I'll give you your material, and then, if you want, I can help you out with the other thing. Think about it."

"I am," said Chloe.

She would be thinking about it until she could sit down and make a plan.