The Equivalents

18. The machine to bring them back.

Ever since Robin called Oracle, the group had been working like crazy to get Dr. Simms' new machine up and running. Since they didn't know how long it would take for the heroes in the other world to build their machine, if they had even started yet, they didn't know how much time they had to work with. Which is why they weren't wasting any time at all.
One person in particular though, wasn't working like he usually did. Robin. Or more accurately, Damian Wayne. Oracle noticed how he was acting, and figured she'd make sure he was ok. She really didn't want to though. Damian was a pain to her. But since she was the only one left who really knew him, she figured that she might as well at least try and talk to him.

"Robin?" She asked. "How are you feeling?"

"Copacetic." Damian stated back blankly and with no emotion whatsoever.

"What?" Duke asked, chipping in.

"I'm fine." Damian snapped at both of them.

"That didn't exactly sound fine to me." Barbara said.

"Bold of you to assume I care." Damian went back to assembling a piece of the machine.

"Damian. I know you don't get very emotional, but none of us expect you to be fine either." Babs explained. "We all know you just lost almost your entire family. And we don't know where they are or if they're going to come back." She paused to see if he would say something. He didn't. So she continued. "I know you may not be feeling upset, but if you are. You don't have to pretend you're fine."

Damian waited another minute before responding. He waited so long that Oracle was about to leave when she heard him speak up.

"I wish I had valid evidence that Father and Grayson are alright." Damian mumbled.

"What about Tim and Jason?" Babs asked.

"The other world can keep them." Damian shrugged. Barbara just laughed.

"We're going to get them home. All of them." She smirked. "And I'm sure Dick and your dad are doing just fine."

"They're strong. I believe they are holding out well. They have to be." Damian mumbled.

Babs nodded and thought about giving Damian a hug. Then she realized she liked her arms and wanted to keep them. More accurately, keep them on her body.  Attached to her body.

"How is the machine coming, Doc?" Cyborg asked. "I know a lot about machines but this one is out of my expertise."

"We're making great progress." Dr. Simms explained. "At the rate we're going, we should hopefully be done by tomorrow. As long as we don't run into any problems."

"Don't jinx us, Doc." Selina said.

"Yeah. The last thing we need is like a storm to just randomly come out of nowhere and destroy this thing." Duke laughed. Everyone stared at him. "That's not gonna happen, right?"

Everyone rolled their eyes and went back to their work. With all of what was at stake, they all knew it was going to be a long night.