"There's no way..." My cage shook as Alex started trembling.

That was enough to finally drag my attention away from the sight of Robin patting Jack.

Ooh boy, that's a thing...that is still happening.... despite me having already pinched myself.

My mind must have been shielding me from this horror all along and was still trying to do so since I was having a rough time excepting the fact that Robin knew Jack. ... Or Experiment 3181523....or whatever his damn name is.

There may be nasty rumours going around that I'm secretly smart, but no.

Alex's a brat, Jack's a bird, Vain knows how to shoot a gun and Robin apparently has a tragic back story now.

I'm way past the point where I can deal with this shit rationally.

The only person who seemed to have any inkling as to what was actually going on was Alex.

Of course, Alex hated having the wool pulled over his eyes.

Despite having many secrets of his own, The redhead had never tolerated my white lies, acting prissy whenever I tried to hide something bothering me.

Misery loves company, so he often grumped at me until I relented and grumped back.

Now, Alex's eyes blazed with distrust, jaw clenched as he glared at the Ace of the Hill.

"You can't remember."

Robin turned her head, just enough to pin the unnerved boy with her honey-coloured gaze.

"I do ."

Alex shook his head roughly in denial. "Bullshit!"

"Um..." Nigel shifted nervously, inching closer to where Robin was still in arms reach of Jack. "Maybe now isn't the best time..."

Unfortunately, Nigel was way too easy to ignore.

"What are you talking about?" Vain demanded, not taking his gaze, or his aim, away from Jack. "How does she know Jack?"

Alex stiffened, years of instinct, making him hesitant to spill the beans. He even sent me a brief glance, almost guiltily.

"Robin spent a bit of time in the lab as a kid... back in mother's glory days," Alex said with an almost hysterical edge.

Vain flickered a glance over to us, obviously confused.

"I met you once when I was eight. It's not that far-fetched... "

"She was four."

Four.

The number made my jaw drop.

My grandmother had died when I was four, and I could barely even remember her.

How was it even possible for Robin to remember Jack... enough to know he had a different name...that she had taught him to... smile?

God... I'm never going to get used to that idea...

No one seemed to have an answer, and Robin didn't seem all that bothered by our confusion, returning her attention to the shuddering boy still under her hand.

Jack didn't seem aware of us at all. Locked in memory or to lost to even make a move.

"I was six by the time Cassandra stop letting me visit." She corrected, almost absent-mindedly.

As if six was a huge improvement.

Alex glare became guarded, narrowing with distrust.

"What did she do to you-?"

"Nothing." Not looking away from Jack, Robin gently tugged on the insane homicidal experiment's curls.

If there was ever a cover image for unhealthy life decisions, that would be it.

"This is just the way I have always been." She... explained....?

Well, no. Not really.

Some sort of Robin approximation of an explanation? Yea.

I rubbed a hand over my face, sure that the former Ace was being obtuse on purpose.

Everything. The weird speech patterns, the vagueness and blank expressions. All along, a conspiracy to drive me insane.

Alex just shook his head, not believing that his Mother wasn't somehow involved in this madness.

Fair assumption.

As much as I could sympathise with the need to freak out... Cause yeah, this was weird, even for Robin... Asking her how she had done, it wasn't getting us the answers we needed... nor was it helping our current situation.

The How could be dealt with later. Confusion, hurt feelings... Anything that wasn't going to help me predict what Robin would do next could just be shoved aside.

We needed a motive.

"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked, feeling my head throb.

Since coming down here, I had caused more problems than I had solved.

Even now, I was so incredibly tired, I could barely think straight...

I climbed to my feet, determined to do something. Even if I didn't know how to deal with a homicidal Vain or a suicidal Jack...

Unravelling a plot before it bit me in the kah-tush was something I was apparently good at.

It was time to let the Master figure-outer of stressful bullshit get her second wind... and do her thing...

Hopefully

I stared at Robin, half certain my superpowers would fail me now that I was actively trying to use them.

"If you knew about Jack all along... why did you stay silent?"

Robin's hand froze.

"I was afraid."

I grimaced, not at all surprised by her answer.

It was part of the reason why I never really got close to Robin, in the few years I had known her.

I was a crusader, the sort of person who got involved in everything.

Robin wondered through life, passive but fair. She wouldn't act rashly, take a side and forsake the other.

Despite being among the strongest in the School, she had never confronted Jack when he was at his worst.

"You were protecting him," I said, my own tired gaze resting on Jack.

Carefree as she had always seemed to me, Robin had been walking among dominoes this entire time.

Afraid to touch anything, do anything, for fear of setting off a chain reaction. "Artemis...Apollo...Father..." She looked down, a hint of guilt finally showing."... many people...."

"From the Underground," Vain said, voice betraying no emotion.

Robin nodded once, then tilted her head speculatively.

"And Alan Floid."

Alex made an indignant sound, drawing Robin's intense gaze.

"Artemis told me. The King and Queen were twins. Their names were Alan and Alexander Floid...."

She shook her head, confusion pinching her expression. "Artemis didn't know. No matter how close their Mother was to the doctor, Mr Mc'Valium didn't trust Cassandra. Never let her near his children."

So Robin had known all along exactly who they were.

She had done well to hide it. Alan would have known there was a possibility she would remember... would have been on the lookout for any sign of recognition.

She had fooled the King of the Hill... everyone... Just by being her usual airheaded self.

"You avoided me. Then and now." She spoke to Alex, frowning slightly. "I was never allowed to speak to you, but he..."

Robin looked at Jack. "Always spoke of you... Since she did to him... Since you were her real children..."

Alex made a small noise of pain, backing up a sharp step.

Nigel glanced back at us, concern written in his golden gaze.

"You being back, meant that she was back. When I joined the School, I found him." Robin shrugged. "I knew. Alan would be plotting, like before. I joined the Hill so that I could watch."

A spark of anger ignited in my chest. Just because I understood that Robin was a fence sitter by nature, didn't mean that I liked it.

"So you knew everything, all along, and never tried to warn anyone? Not even Artemis or Apollo?!"

Robin shook her head.

"Couldn't..."

"They buried him alive Robin! That idiot has a hero complex even bigger than mine, and as his friend, you didn't even try to dissuade him from taking on the nastiest group on the planet by himself!" I threw my arms up with a frustrated growl. "There's a difference between being a pacifist and not wanting to get your hands dirty!

Robin flinched... and Jack even looked up. Studying me with a dangerous glare through the veil of curls.

Some part of him must be excepting what Robin had said as reality... why else would he care enough to give me the stink eye?

I sneered back at him, almost hoping he calls me out on being nasty so that I could throw it back in his face.

I knew I was being harsh...but I'm starving damn it! And it's all his fault!

"...If I had told Artemis everything that I know... And the Underground had found out..." Robin gave me a sad look. "They wouldn't have buried him, Alive Maddison. "

A soft sound of pure frustration escaped me, the effort it took to hold back making me trembled. I was torn between being so incredibly angry at her... and thinking she might be right.

"Cassandra saved my life," Robin spoke, voice small, even for her. "My father is indebted to both her and Mr Mc'Valium. I couldn't afford to anger the Underground. Nor to ignore Alan." "You could have offered to help us from the beginning," Alex growled through his teeth.

"I don't trust Alan." Her gazed narrowed grimly. "Not to put anyone's interest above his own... or yours. And not to spare those who cross him."

She glanced at Jack, saw him looking at her, and lowered her hand away.

"I don't want them to die." she looked at me then, and for the first time, I felt afraid of the Ace of the Hill. "I don't want anyone to die."

The flame of anger inside me died, leaving me feeling colder than before. I knew that Robin felt no animosity... for anyone.

I never expected her to hate Jack. To want Cassandra dead.

I Just... hadn't seen this coming.

"You're not coming with us," I said, finally excepting the inevitable truth. "Are you?"

Robin wasn't on our side.

After a long moment, the short girl smiled.

"I've waited a very long time."

In the next movement, she was on her feet and retrieving her fallen sword.

"Experiment 3181523 will follow if you leave him alive. Alone." She stood in front of Jack, keeping her back turned to us.

"I will keep him entertained." She flickered her sword out, pressing it against Jack's throat.

Jack met her gaze, no longer bothering to smile.

"Go."