What Lies Within Prologue

Gotham

Coba Brooklyn stood beside Bruce Wayne, Terry McGinnis and Dick Grayson as they watched a plane land on a runway at the airport. The sound of the engines were muffled by the building's glass walls, but were apparent to the foursome nonetheless. Coba and Bruce each felt a pang of sadness. In spite of all the recent happenings—including stopping Shriek, Spellbinder and an old enemy of Bruce's from destroying the city as well as Coba discovering she was the old man's biological daughter—Bruce was leaving for Tibet, a trip that was planned two weeks earlier. If he hadn't said he'd go then, he would have stayed, the small teen girl thought knowingly. The stress on us this past week has been a lot.

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"I don't have to go, you know," Wayne had said earlier as he, Terry and Coba left the manor.

Brooklyn shook her head. "You said you would," she said sagely. "Like I said before, we'll be fine. Yes, there'll be rough spots here and there, but nothing we can't handle while you're gone."

"I'm not too certain," Bruce said regretfully. "Something might happen as soon as I leave Gotham that you won't be able to handle alone. Terry will be on his own, since you'll be with Dick."

"Come on, old man," Terry chimed in, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove the car, "I was able to stop Curaré last year when you were in Tokyo."

"Are you saying you don't need me at all?"

Terry and Coba flinched at the saddened tone in Bruce's voice. "No, that's not it at all!" Coba exclaimed. "Terry couldn't even do it alone!"

McGinnis rolled his eyes. "I needed help from a computer genius," he admitted sullenly.

"Max," Bruce stated, knowing the pink-haired teen in question had indeed helped Terry, since Coba had been at Dick's with a bad case of the flu at the time while Batwoman and Ditto each had other things to do. "If you need her help, keep her out of the field this time."

"I know," Terry said gruffly. "I don't like the idea of her being out there, anyway. It shook her up so bad last time."

The first Batman nodded solemnly, but said nothing. The trio would remain silent until they reached the airport.

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"All passengers for Flight 415 to the loading platform," the intercom crackled, pulling Coba out of her thoughts.

"That's your flight," Dick grimly told Bruce.

Bruce nodded sagely, then turned and hugged his daughter. He waited until a brief moment after Coba hugged him back to tell her, Terry and Grayson: "If anything should happen, call me."

"Alright," Coba said for all of them, sensing the tension rising in the younger men. "We'll keep that in mind."

Wayne managed a sad grin and ruffled her hair before grabbing his luggage and heading to the loading zone. Goodbye, Daughter, he thought grimly.

A few minutes later, Dick, Terry and Coba were watching the plane take off. Coba felt a single tear run down her right cheek, slightly following the bottom part of her lightning bolt-shaped scar. Goodbye, Father, she thought, brushing the tear away.

Dick placed a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder, then led her and her half-brother out of the airport. "Time to go, Coba," he said gently.

Terry looked at Coba a bit sadly, but managed to grin a bit. "See you later, sis," he said. Good luck with the Titans.

Coba grinned back at him, despite her own feelings of sadness. "Goodbye, Terry." Good luck with Gotham, she added mentally, even though she knew he would not be able to hear her thoughts like she could his. She followed her grandfather to his motorcylce, which had a passenger sidecar on its right side specifically for when she went with him. After putting their helmets on, Dick started the motorcycle and drove off.

McGinnis walked back to where he had parked Wayne's car after watching Coba and Dick leave. I don't know if it's Coba's psychic abilities or Bruce's paranoia rubbing off on me or what, he thought as a sudden chill ran down his spine, but something tells me I'll have a lot on my plate, and Coba may not be better off.