When Roy Harper had agreed to be Green Arrow's partner, babysitting had not been part of the job description. Which was why the fourteen year old reacted with crossed arms and an unwavering glare to his mentor assigning him stake out duty with a ten year old.
"I should be going in with you. I'm your partner. Not a spectator. " Roy said crossly. Green Arrow sighed and glanced at Batman.
"Speedy, you and I tried to stop these circus nutjobs on our home turf. Now Bats and I are partnering up, naturally you and his partner are also a team. " Green Arrow stated with exasperated patience.
"Yeah, but babysitting? Kid's up past his bedtime if you ask me." Roy grumbled.
"I don't have a bedtime! " chirped an indignant voice from around Roy's elbow. Roy growled at the statement, glaring at Green Arrow.
"You're waiting here for a reason. We can't show all our cards, you're the surprise back up if we need it." Batman interjected.
"Fine, fine. I'll wait with short stuff." Roy huffed and leaned moodily against the structure around the stairs to the roof of the building they were on.
Batman made eye contact with Robin for a long moment, nodded, and leapt off the building. Green Arrow hesitated, stared at Roy for a pained heartbeat and shot a zipline arrow to follow Batman.
Roy stayed relaxed against the wall, but Robin switched impatiently between spots, going from squatting at the edge of the roof, to leaning next to Roy, and finally perching on the roof of the stairwell over Roy. Gradually the ambient crowd din from the tent increased, and with it Robin seemed to shrink in on himself, his demeanor deflating. Roy glanced up at him a few times, chewing his lip in indecision.
"Kid...you alright? " He finally asked, stepped forward to turn and stare up at the boy.
"I'm fine." Robin said in a forced tone that Roy saw straight through. Sighing to himself he pulled himself up next to the smaller boy.
"I didn't mean anything by those comments earlier... I've heard a lot of good things about 'the dynamic duo '...are you upset because you're not out there with Batman right now? Because I hate letting GA ditch me too..." Roy rambled awkwardly, trying to guess what the kid was upset about.
"No no no, that's not it ..I just..I don't like circuses." Robin said, more to the knees he was hugging than to Roy.
"Oh. " was all Roy could think to say, and uncomfortably put a hand on Robin's scrawny shoulder. The ebony haired boy leaned into the touch, so Roy kept his hand there.
About twenty minutes later gunshots rang out and the multitude of voices below roared in hysteria. The mass of shadows in the tent churned and spilled out onto the street chaoticly. At the crack of firearms Robin flinched, becoming even more distressed.
"We should be there! " He exclaimed, voice pitched even higher than usual. Roy's hand tightened over his shoulder, anchoring the agitated child.
"They haven't given the signal that they need us yet. " Roy said in a level tone.
"But I heard guns." Robin whined.
"The assh- villains are bound to take potshots at them, I'd be more concerned if I didn't hear guns." Roy dictated soothingly. Robin faced him, visibly distressed despite the mask, and Roy felt something twist inside him.
"I..I know.. just.." Robin took a shuddering breath, as if holding back a panicked sob, and finished in a quiet voice, "I don't wanna loose him the same way I lost them."
Roy couldn't think of anything to say to that so he just pulled the kid into his arms and felt Robin shaking as he pressed his face into Roy's collarbone. He knew that most heroes were driven by tragic experiences, but it was a punch to the gut to think about a kid like Robin having one. Roy had a vague notion based on the acrobatics that Robin had been connected to a circus before, this practically confirmed it. Not that knowing that information helped in any way, Roy mused, carding the hand not pressing the shaking boy against him through the kid's hair.
Roy was starting to worry if the kid would ever stop crying when his Bluetooth chirped and Robin froze, scrubbed his eyes and moved so he wasn't pressed against Roy, who continued to hold him.
"How're my eyes in the sky? " Green Arrow asked in a chipper tone.
"We're fine. Any trouble taking those bas- bad guys down? " Roy said, relieved that it was GA calling him, not Batman to Robin because he didn't want to deal with a Batman who thought he'd made Robin cry.
"Good, we're wrapping things up here. Only a few crooks are still running around and personally, I think Batman's playing with his food before tying it up." Green Arrow reported.
"Right." Roy snorted, "I'll stay up here with the hatchling just in case."
Robin made an indignant noise at Roy and rested his head against him. Roy smiled at him.
"Y'know, your identity 'Robin ' lends itself to nicknames. "
"Yeah, but hatchling? Thats scraping the barrel. " Robin wriggled in his arms to glare at him.
"I call it like I see it." Roy replied, smirking.
"Well..you're seedy." Robin said drowsily.
"And you're too tired to be clever." Roy murmured. He could feel Robin's weight settling against him and adjusted his grip to better support the youth.
An hour later Batman and Green Arrow arrivied via grappling arrow to the roof and were silenced by a glare and nod at the sleeping Robin from Speedy. Batman crept over and scooped him from Roy's arms, coming as close to smiling as Batman ever did. Before he left batman shot a quiet comment over his shoulder.
"You're right. He is out past his bedtime. "