5 Years Ago

The crack was loud, at least, enough for Dick to hear it clearly. He screamed for his family, but to him it just sounded like talking. He ran down the ladder and to his parents. Dick wasn't aware if he was actually talking or not. Everything was a blur, and the world was already muffled anyway. When Bruce first came to comfort him, he couldn't tell what was being said. Not when he was so quiet.

After Bruce had adopted Dick, he asked about it. Bruce was surprised when Dick asked him to speak up. He repeatedly said his statement until Dick seemed satisfied by it. Then it was Bruce's turn to ask a question. He inquired in the same heightened volume," Why did you need me to speak louder?"

Dick explained," I was born with hearing problems. The doctors said that I wouldn't be able to use hearing aids to help it. They don't even know what caused it. I believe that they said I was 70% deaf. It wasn't really a big issue to me at the circus. Everybody knew, so they always talked louder to me. But now, people don't seem to care." Bruce silently promised that he would make hearing aids that helped his son.

4 Years After That

True to his word, Bruce made hearing aids that worked for Dick. He happily approached Dick, intentionally being loud to get his attention. Dick turned around and asked," Did you make them?" His voice, though non-existent to his own ears, were full of hope and happiness. Bruce said," Yes. I finally did it Dick. I finally got them to work."

And work they did. As soon as they were in and activated, he could hear everything. He heard the cars outside, the radio in the kitchen, even Bruce's mumbling to himself. He was amazed, but the first thing that he could think to do, was remove them. Bruce's face fell as he asked," Do they not work?" So once again, Dick had to explain to Bruce.

He told him," They work just fine. It's more of a dual identity thing. These will help so much more as Robin's hearing aids. But Dick and Robin obviously can't both have aids at the same time. Plus, it would be suspicious if they had the same ones that were made by Batman." Bruce hated that his logic was flawless. He wanted Dick to be able to enjoy such a pleasure all the time. Dick's face was so filled with joy in that moment he had them on.

So Dick began the habit. He would only be his happiest when Robin. For when he was Robin, he could hear like a normal person. He could use that advantage to help countless people from Gotham's crazy villains. Then, he would take them out when he had to become Dick Grayson. He may not be as happy, but still pretty okay. Barbara would help him out, and he got to choose his seat in classes. Of course, others would mock him. But they soon realized that Dick simply didn't care, and he never would.

A Few Days Ago

Robin was fully aware of the fact that an EMP would knock out his hearing for a while. But that was menial compared to saving his friends lives. So he forced the plan along. When he first came to, he saw Artemis and told her," Way to get traught." The second time, he explained as he waited for his hearing to return. He hadn't realized what was wrong until after the Reds had been officially labeled as missing.

Wally came up behind him, scaring Dick when he realized his hearing aids weren't back on. Wally was too quiet. He asked," Rob, are you alright? Normally I can't ever scare you, much less sneak up on you." Robin asked," Can you repeat that?" until he realized he couldn't hear Wally until he was full-on yelling. The noise had caused the rest to look at them. Batman came over, hiding his worry to all but Dick.

Batman asked," Robin, is it your hearing aids?" It was in the volume normal for Dick to hear it as if someone were talking, but now it only sounded as a whisper. Dick was really frightened now, as was Bruce. Robin said something that had the power to silence the whole room and terrify the leaguers that understood what was happening.

He loudly exclaimed," Br-Batman! I can barely hear you! I think that the EMP did something to the bat-aids that caused my hearing to worsen!" The leaguers that knew of Dick's problem came rushing to him. Wonder Woman asked," Have the aids just run out of juice and are blocking your hearing?" Robin shook his head and explained," Bats made it so that they wouldn't block my hearing more and I just charged them while I was at school."

Black Canary asked," Do you have back-ups?" Dick told her," No. They were experimental, so we just had the one pair." Superboy began to cover his ears as he said," It's too loud." Flash asked Robin," Will you be okay as Robin?" Robin answered," I don't know." Wally was kind of worried now. He didn't really understand what was wrong. None of the team did, except for M'gann. She would occasionally hear a thought or two about them, even though she didn't mean to pry.

Wally asked," What's wrong, dude?" Dick didn't hear it though. It was kind of like that night. Everything was a quiet blur. He asked," Please speak up Wally. I can't hear what you're saying, and it's freaking me out." Wally slowly and loudly repeated his statement. Dick asked for the team to gather around so he didn't have to explain it multiple times. As soon as they did, he began to explain for them all.

He began his tale," When I was born, the doctor's ran the normal tests to check a newborn's health. The doctors had noticed an abnormality in me. Despite finding nothing wrong, they noticed I had a hard time hearing anything at all. They had also found that hearing aids wouldn't help me, either. So, when I was taken to my home, this news spread. Any and all members were made aware of my dilemma. That way, I never had to ask anyone to speak up on my behalf.

But that all changed after my parents had died. I constantly had to ask in order to hear anything. No one seemed to care for the little orphaned boy. That is, until Batman adopted me. He cared, and so did agent A. They helped me make sure I never had to ask anyone to speak up more than I needed to. About a year ago, Bats completed some experimental, untested hearing aids for me. They worked great, but I soon realized that I could only use them in one identity. So I used them as Robin, and condemned my civilian identity to the problem.

Recently, I had my first encounter with an EMP while wearing them. They aren't commonly needed in Gotham, and, as stated, the hearing aids were experimental. I had assumed that it would shut them off as a normal device would be. But now, it has been made obvious that was not the case. I would assume that they sent an electric wave into my ear when they shut off. Due to being unconscious, I didn't hear it. This wave hit my ear canal, which caused my hearing to worsen to the point it's at now.

That probably means that I won't be coming around here often. I'll most likely be adjusting in the bat-cave or helping Bats find another way to get my hearing back. He'll deny it, but I know that he's going to be sending me to bed while he looks."

M'gann pulled Robin into a hug and said," It will be all right. If not, we can just use the link more often. I won't mind making them for you." Aqualad agreed," We will do all we can to help you." Superboy just gave an approving grunt. Wally joined the hug and said," I won't let you down." Artemis was just shocked. It kind of made her think of the weird freshman that took her picture earlier that day. She had asked Bette for more information on the kid, and she told her, among other things, that he had hearing problems that even 's money couldn't fix.

She told him," I am so sorry Robin. I didn't mean to make it worse." To her surprise, she was pulled in to the hug and told," Don't worry about it. I would gladly give up the rest if it meant saving you all again." Eventually, the hug disassembled and Robin had to go home. Just like Robin had predicted, he wasn't seen for a few days after that.

The Present

The computer announced," Robin. B-0-1." The team all came running to greet him. He's wearing some glasses that looked slightly bulkier. Wally asked," Dude, what's with your shades?" Robin told them," Well, it seems that the Reds timing was lucky for me. Wayne Enterprises created these glasses that have a chip on the inside. It analyzes what people say, then shows it on the lenses of the glasses. You can even program it so that it shows the names of the speaker if you can get them to recognize the voice at first. Which these were. I got a chip in my mask too."

Wally said," Cool. That really is handy for you. Wayne got any reason to have his company make such tech?" Robin nodded," Apparently, his ward has a similar problem. Wayne thought the world as a whole could also benefit from such tech. Which it obviously did, since a hero is using them."

5 Years Into The Future

Nightwing and Impulse were talking after the whole thing with Neutron. Suddenly, Bart asks," So did you and Barbara fix your hearing yet?" Nightwing's eyes went wide. He sputters," W-wha-what a-are you ta-talking about? M-my hear-hearing gets...Babs fi-fixes my hearing in th-the fu-future?" Impulse says," Yeah. You always told people 'It's true, what they say about true love's kiss. It's just gotta happen on the right night.' You guys kissed during a full moon and Bam! You heard better than a normal human. Got married too."

This all was definitely news to Dick. He long since gave up on the idea of having his hearing back. Now here was Bart, telling him it got fixed from a full moon kiss with a future wife. He asks Bart," It was really that simple?" Bart realizes his mistake and yelled," Oops! Spoilers!" Then he dashes off.

The Next Full Moon After That

Dick and Barbara were heading back from patrol that night. Nightwing stopped and Batgirl landed next to him. She asks," Nightwing, what's wrong?" Nightwing quickly pulled her in to a passionate kiss. The remain like that for a full minute before they pull apart. He says," I really should have done that sooner. I wanted to, but didn't act until Bart said some crazy future stuff." Batgirl responded to that with a," So what? Did we marry in his time?" Nightwing just laughs at that as he enjoys the sounds he hears again.