Chapter 4: De Brevitate Vitae

August 23

Approx. 04:00 hours

Lexa stared at Robin for a moment. "I've always wanted to meet you," she said, one hand tapping nervously on her thigh.

"I'm flattered," Robin replied, deciding to let her lead the conversation for a while. If she could tell him everything he needed to know on her own, it would be a lot less traumatic for her later on.

Lexa sniffed, grabbing for a tissue. She wiped her eyes and nose and crumbled the tissue in her fist.

"I always pictured you as smart and handsome and about a thousand other things," she said. "I even had a crush on you, before I met Sam."

"Your boyfriend, I presume?" Robin asked. Lexa shook her head.

"I-I was going to tell him," she whispered, clutching Robin's hand harder, "when the time was right. But he was always so busy and angry and I just… I couldn't do it. I couldn't risk him not taking it well and throwing all his anger at me!"

Robin clasped both of his hands around her's, trying to keep her calm however he could. He could work with being a former crush, he really could. Being someone who made her happy was something he could use if he needed to.

"And then I keep thinking about what happened tonight," Lexa said. "How I slept through everything. And the funny thing was, I didn't sleep through everything."

"What?" Robin asked softly. That piece of information hadn't been in the report… Lexa turned her head to face the Boy Wonder.

"I woke up when the killer came in," Lexa said, her voice shaking. "I saw him."

"What did he look like?" Robin breathed, hardly daring to believe that she had actually seen someone.

"I heard something move outside and I woke up," Lexa said, "I didn't get up, but I used my phone as a light and looked around and the guy was standing in the corner of my bedroom and I-I-I-"

The girl was panting, shaking uncontrollably, her eyes darting back and forth madly. Robin knelt down next to her chair, trying desperately to get her to focus on him.

"Lexa! Lexa, I need you to breathe, you're having a panic attack, come on! Synch your breathing with mine," Robin said, inhaling and exhaling slowly, letting the girl copy him. Slowly, she calmed herself down, regained control.

"He-he came at me really fast, but I got a glimpse of him," Lexa said, and in that moment Robin truly appreciated how hard the girl was pushing herself to tell him what she saw, no matter how much it hurt her, and he respected her for it. "He had really dark hair, it was probably black, and his eyes were red. He had on glasses, I think."

"Anything else about him that you remember?" Robin asked.

"Yes," she said. "As he was…d-drugging me…he was singing something. Something weird; I think it was Latin…"

Well, that wasn't very helpful. Lexa seemed to realize it, and she concentrated.

"Something about life being brief and death coming quickly… that's all I understood."

"You know some Latin?" Robin asked, impressed. Lexa blushed.

"Yo hablo Español," Lexa said, smiling a little.

"Muy bien," Robin replied, smiling with her.

The girls stopped smiling, tears coming to her eyes again.

"That's all that happened. I woke up and I walked outside to get some water because my head was killing me and…"

"And he was there," Robin said.

"He was everywhere," Lexa said shakily.

Well… That was pretty fucked up.

"Lexa, please don't be upset with me, but I need to know if anyone had ever shown a special interest in your father. Can you remember if anyone ever visited him, and if those visits ever became… volatile?" Robin asked.

"No one ever came to our house yelling," she said. "There was a lot of whispering though. I never found out what they were all conspiring about. I'd answer the door, they'd ask to see dad, and I'd let them in and give them something to drink. They were very polite to me. Not so much to dad."

"What were their names, Lexa?"

"There was Alfred Jones and his twin… Matthew something… I don't really remember, but he was Alfred's assistant. They had been separated at birth or something weird like that; Matthew told me that. They both visited my dad two or three times. Once, they brought someone else with them, but he didn't look too interested in being there. I think he had other business with the brothers."

Robin nodded slowly. The only Alfred Jones he knew of was the Head of Jump's Judicial Department.

"Thank you for telling me, Lexa," Robin said. "I know this was hard, but you've helped us a lot. If there's anything I can do for you…"

Robin pulled out a card with a phone number on it.

"This number will connect whoever is calling me to my private cell one time. After that, my phone will stop connecting with this number. Please use it only in an extreme emergency," Robin said.

Lexa stared at Robin, mouth agape, looking from his face to the card and back again.

"I'm moving back to Gotham, with my mom," she said suddenly. "I'll be Lexa Reed soon. If I call… how will you get there on time?"

Robin looked at her, brows knotting together.

"I'll get there," he promised her.

Lexa let out a shaky laugh. "I don't believe I got the Robin's phone number and I can't even brag about it to those assholes at school."

Robin smiled a little. There were a thousand things he could have said to her about telling anyone. Someone could sell it and make a fortune. Someone could prank call him and distract him from saving lives. Someone could use it to track him down and kill him. "Please don't lose it," he said instead.

"I won't," she stated, and Robin believed her. She jolted suddenly. "The guy said the song was called De Brevitate Vitae. On the Shortness of Life."

Robin blinked. "I'll look into it, see if it means anything."

He stood, and Lexa copied him. "Thank you for your time, Lexa. I'm very grateful that you've been so brave tonight. I'm very sorry for your loss."

Lexa thanked him, but didn't move to leave.

"Would you like me to escort you out?" Robin asked. He understood if she didn't want to be alone at the moment, he really did. He had practically clung to Bruce for weeks after—

"I heard you yelling before I came in," she said quietly. "I wanted to know if you were okay."

Robin's breath hitched irregularly. Shit, she had heard his outburst. Fuck, he could have sent her into shock or made her faint or—

Guilt washed over him. "I'm sorry you heard that," he said. "My… a friend… he just showed up at the worst time, ya know? He's pretty… hard to deal with sometimes. He criticizes me a lot."

"My dad did that too," Lexa said, her own breath hitching. She wiped her eyes. "Do you have a pen?"

Robin pulled one out of his utility belt, along with a small pad of paper. Lexa Drake took it from him and scribbled something down. She handed back to Robin, blushing slightly. Robin took it from her and looked at it.

"My phone number," she mumbled, "in case you ever need my help. I'm practically an expert in dysfunctional relationships, after all."

Robin felt a genuine grin ghost across his face.

"Don't make it a habit of calling me, though," she said a little louder. "It's for emergencies only."

Robin put the pad and pen back in their pockets.

"I'll remember that," he said. Lexa nodded.

"If you're going to talk to whoever is out there now, you should go someplace public, like a dinner. It'll keep him on his best behavior. Well, it might, anyways," Lexa said.

Robin nodded. "Know any places open this late?" he asked.

"Feliciano's has some good Italian food," Lexa said. "It's not too far from here, actually."

Robin looked at Lexa for a while, thinking over her suggestion. "That sounds great," he said, pulling her into a hug. The girl made a surprised noise, but she quickly hugged back, her whole body shaking. Robin pulled away.

Lexa was crying, but she was smiling brightly. "You've been so nice to me. I don't know how I could ever thank you enough."

"You don't have to thank me," Robin said. "You've been a real help."

Lexa gave him one last watery smile before turning and leaving the room. As she left, the smile on Robin's face turned sour. He waited a few minutes, steeling himself for the inevitable conversation with Bruce, before following her out. He handed the Chief the notes he took and thanked him for his time.

"I'm sorry for doubting you," the Chief said, and Robin looked up at him, surprised. "You handled her far better than anyone else here could have. She walked out smiling."

"You had every right to doubt me," Robin said seriously. "I apologize for my outburst."

"It's forgotten, Robin," the Chief said. "Though I'd hurry on out there if I were you. Mr. Wayne was looking a little impatient last time I checked."

Robin frowned. "I'll go talk to him now," he said, turning to leave.

"Robin," the Chief called, and the Boy Wonder turned around.

"Yes, Chief?" Robin asked.

"You did a good job in there tonight. Don't forget that. You make this city mighty proud, son," the Chief said, looking him square in the eye despite Robin's mask. Robin was humbled by the man's honest words.

"Thank you, Chief," he said, "I take what I do very seriously."

"I know, Robin. I know."

Bruce Wayne grinned and stood from his seat next to two drunk teenagers to meet Robin. He was dressed in a suite, looking as immaculate as he always did. Robin noticed his guardian had light bags under his eyes, but chose not to comment on them. Bruce never got enough sleep and it wasn't likely that would ever change. The two met and shook hands in the middle of the station.

"Mr. Wayne, it's a pleasure to see you again," Robin said, forcing a smile. It wouldn't do him any good if anyone saw him as anything other than polite to the kind-hearted billionaire. "Although I can't say I expected you of all people this late at night."

"It's good to see you again too, Robin. And Please, call me Bruce," he said, smiling slightly. Robin resisted rolling his eyes at his guardian. "There was actually something I'd like to talk to you about, Robin. Do you mind if we…"

Bruce gestured towards the door, and Robin reluctantly followed him out. Once outside, Bruce's pleasant demeanor dropped.

"What do you want now, Bruce?" Robin asked, sounding tired. "I'm busy, if you haven't noticed."

"We need to talk," Bruce said, frowning slightly.

"And this isn't something that could have happened over the phone?" Robin asked, stifling a yawn. "Or maybe with that state of the art, face-to-face audio/video transmission system we both have?"

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Why don't you change into something a bit more comfortable and we'll get a bite to eat somewhere?"

Robin mulled it over a bit, but in the end decided that wasn't the best idea. "How about you suit up and we get something to eat instead?" he asked. "We'd have to go back to the tower otherwise; I don't have anything on me."

"Fine," Bruce said, nodding his head at a cherry red Bugatti (it was probably a Bugatti, anyway, Robin wasn't completely sure), "I'll change on the way. Where are we going?"

"Someone told me there was a good Italian joint not too far from here," Robin said, following Bruce to the car.

The two got in and the car sped away.

Ok several things:

1. Everything that Robin and Lexa talked about is important fuckers

2. If you recognized any names, I don't own them

3. I'm trying to build up a plot and to do that I need some shit to happen… my made up characters don't have a huge role or anything, I just need them for the plot rn

4. Could I maybe get some feedback just to gauge if I should change anything? That would be pretty cool