The Only Robin

It was unusually peaceful night, so Batman decided to take the advantage and train Robin, upon his request. Naturally, they would work on combat.

It was an unusually quiet night in the Batcave, until they heard a loud slam of a door from upstairs.

"What was that?" Tim asked.

"BRUCE!" Batman heard a very familiar voice shout at the top of his lungs. The Dark Knight looked up to see a furious Nightwing stalk towards him.

Nightwing stood right in front of his old partner and crossed his arms. He completely ignored the third Robin and pretended he wasn't even there. "So, I hear you've adopted another son. And gotten another new Robin."

"Yes, I-"

"I can't believe you! Even after what happened to Jason?" Nightwing was fuming.

"I didn't want to bring Tim into this, but he kept insisting and trying to prove himself. If I didn't train him, he probably would've killed himself trying to impress me, regardless if I made him my partner," Batman answered calmly. He didn't want to fight. Not anymore.

"But how could you bring another kid into your crazy life of imminent danger? How many kids are you going to make your sidekick before you finally retire? Six? Thirty-two? Do you have some sort of limit to the number of children you're going to traumatize or kill before you finally stop recruiting little sidekicks, prancing around in my uniform?"

"Your uniform?"

"Yes… mine."

"You gave up being Robin a long time ago-"

"That doesn't mean you can give it to someone else! My mother gave me that name, that costume!" Nightwing's voice then turned soft, but hurt grew thick in his words, "How could you take that away from me? The one thing I have to remind me of my parents, and YOU TOOK IT AND TOSSED IT TO ANY RANDOM KID WHO WANTED THEIR ADRENHALINE-PUMPING SPOT IN THE LIME-LIGHT!"

Batman said gently, "Dick-"

"Don't call me that!" Nightwing spat. "I'm not your adopted son anymore! I'm not your partner anymore!"

The Caped Crusader suddenly realized what this was about.

"I thought were the one and only! The Dynamic Duo! Batman and Robin! But now, I'm just 'A Dynamic Duo'. Batman and 'one of them Robin kids'. Was I not special to you? Didn't I mean anything?"

Dick was special to him. He was the most special thing in the world to him. And he would always be his favorite Robin, his favorite son. Batman wanted to tell him the truth, but he couldn't right now. Not with Tim here. He wished he could go back in time to when Dick was ten years old.

They had just beaten the Joker, or whatever heinous foe they had battled that night. As, the police drove the villain away, Batman smiled at his partner and ruffled his hair. Dick would laugh and his mentor took him in his arms. He told him how much he loved him, how proud he was of him, and how glad he was that he had adopted him.

Dick would just smile, wrap his arms around his neck, give him a give hug, and say:

"I know."

But that was the old Batman back then, and he would've never done that.

"It's getting late. Why don't you stay the night?" Nightwing scowled, but reluctantly gave him a nod.

Later, Nightwing sat in his favorite chair when he was a kid. It was right in front of the fireplace, and he stared at the flames. He thought back to all the times he'd shared with Batman as Robin. The good and the bad. Dick sighed and buried his face in his hands. He didn't see the young boy come up to his side.

"He loves you."

"What?" Nightwing looked up from his hands to see Tim, the new Robin.

"Batman, he loves you. More than Jason, and more than me," Tim tried not to seem too upset about this. He never would've admitted this to anyone, but Dick needed to know.

"How would you know?"

"The way he looked when he saw you today. The way he looks whenever he sees you or hears your name. The way he says your name."

"Why didn't he tell me then before?"

"Batman isn't much of a feelings person."

Nightwing chuckled a little. "You got that right."

"I think he wanted to tell you, but he didn't want to hurt my feelings. Either way, he loves you the most."

"Well, thanks… I… I needed that."

"Here," Tim pushed a black domino mask in the original Robin's hand.

"What's this?"

"My Robin identity. You can have it back." Dick gave a small smile, and put the mask back on the young boy's face.

"I want you to have it."

A/N: Thanks! Review and R&R my other stories please!