Keep Your Friends Close
They made a plan quickly. There wasn't time for anything else. He'd hated lying to his team, his friends, but Batman had drilled it into his head. The importance of the lies. They didn't know his real identity. They never would. Yet, that wasn't the worse thing he'd kept from his friends. Plan for every contingency. Robin just hoped that Conner would either forgive him, or believe his lie.
He wasn't sure which he thought was worse.
"Kryptonite hurts," Conner groaned.
Robin tried to play it off, just like Batman had taught, "Which is why Batman keeps it in an overwhelmingly impenetrable vault in the Batcave." Conner smiled back, taking Robin's outstretched hand. Robin didn't let the guilt show, knowing he was close to giving himself away and so he added a joke, like it was a normal conversation, one they'd had before: "Well, more like a whelmingly penetrable vault."
Conner just smiled and they turned to inspect their victory. To Robin it felt hollow. Conner had to know! There hadn't been time to return to the Batcave to get it!
Months earlier:
Robin returned to the Batcave for the first time since the formation of the new team. Being on his own was freeing and awesome, but coming home to Gotham felt right. He'd missed Bruce and Alfred. M'Gann sure could bake, but nothing compared to Alfred's cooking, even if it was just the simple ham sandwich he was eating at the moment. Alfred must do something to the bread...or was it the cheese?
He spotted Bruce, still in his Batman uniform, but the cowl was pulled back, attaching a new yellow pouch to Robin's utility belt. Excitement shot through the teen. New equipment meant new training. No offense to Black Canary, she was a great teacher, she just wasn't Batman. Batman would probably lecture him about the positives of having multiple sparing instructors, about how differences were good learning experiences, etc...but she didn't know him like Batman did. She didn't know his strengths and weaknesses like Bruce did. Bruce would throw in new and old. Keep him guessing. It was just something that happened with five years having each other's backs.
"New gadget?" He asked excitedly, coming to stand in front of the work bench, next to his mentor.
Batman didn't seem to share Dick's enthusiasm, He handed the teen the belt and nodded, "It will add a little extra weight, but it shouldn't be too difficult to compensate."
Dick took the belt and was surprised at the "extra weight." "Whoa, what's in here, lead?"
Batman nodded, "A lead lined case, for this:" he held up a small green crystal.
Robin gasped, "Is that-"
"Kryptonite, yes." Batman took the belt and slid the crystal into the new pouch.
"But...why would I need that?"
"A precaution. Always be-"
"Prepared for anything, I know." Robin sighed, rolling his eyes. The action earned him a stern glare from Batman that sent most huddling into a corner. It had little effect on the teen. "Superboy is my friend! He isn't gonna attack me. Neither will Uncle Clark. I don't need it."
Dick knew he shouldn't be pushing, he could see Batman getting more angry. Bruce slammed the belt onto the workbench, "I've had to use it against Clark. You never know when knowing the weaknesses of even your allies will prove useful. That's how I've stayed alive! That's how I've trained you!"
That struck a nerve in Dick that the teen wasn't ready to acknowledge. He didn't want to imagine his friends turning against him. They wouldn't. "And I'm guessing you've got a plan to stop me, too, then?"
Something Dick couldn't identify flashed over Bruce's face before the adult turned away. It had been said flippantly, to prove Dick's point...not Bruce's. Batman unbuckled his cape and began walking toward the dressing room.
"Hey!" Dick yelled and ran to block his mentor's path. Bruce wouldn't look at him. Dick scoffed, "Fine."
Bruce sighed, "Training uniform, now," he ordered in Batman's voice that held no room for argument.
Dick trudged to change as quickly as possible, but as always, Bruce beat him and was standing at the center of the mat.
Bruce got into a defensive position, "Attack!"
Dick wanted to launch himself at the man, but took a half a second to calm himself. This was one of Batman's famous lessons, Wally was always making fun of him for. There was no need to fail it immediately just because he was upset. The teen took a few calculating steps that Bruce expertly followed, feigned once, then attacked. One punch and kick were blocked, but a second punch was easily brushed aside, and faster than Dick could react, fingers wrapped around his throat. For a split second, no where near enough time for any thug or even Gotham's villainous elite to notice and use as an advantage, Dick panicked and froze. That tiny, fraction of a second of hesitancy was all Batman needed to be moving before Dick reacted. Dick didn't have a chance attempt to defend himself before he was pinned, immobile, beneath Batman's weight, both large hands pressing against his neck without restricting his breathing.
It was enough of a threat.
He was dead. Lesson learned.
Batman always knew better.
"You always hesitate." Dick was startled at the softness of the voice. That voice was only used when he was injured. "When you think you can't breathe; I know its coming. It leaves you vulnerable to any attack." Bruce quickly released his captive and stood, not facing the teen. "It took me a long time to break that habit, too."
Dick sat up and stared at his mentor. He knew that rigid posture. Bruce was blaming himself for something. His friends were wrong when they said Red Tornado had more emotions than Batman. They'd never seen him sit by Dick's after him getting hit with fear toxin at ten. Or watching Batman actually panic when he'd screamed as a random thug in a warehouse had broken his arm only a month after becoming Robin. This posture was Batman: scared. And if there was one thing Robin did for Batman, nit was have his back. Even if it was this. "Then, you'll have to teach me how you did it."
Unfortunately, his words had the opposite effect. "No." That was the voice reserved to instill fear in the worst kinds of criminals. He spun around to face Dick.
Dick's anger renewed, "You're the one always telling me that there is no good enough. That I can always get better! You want me to keep a weakness so you can exploit it? Am I supposed to have a plan to stop you?!"
Bruce sighed and looked almost defeated, "We've fought by each other's side for nearly five years." He placed a hand on Dick's shoulder. "You know my weaknesses, just as I know yours/ You have gotten the upper hand before. Really think. If the time ever comes where you need to stop me, you'll know how."
Dick sighed, Bruce expected him to just know? Great. "But why do I have to know how to hurt my friends?"
"Not hurt, stop." Bruce pulled him close and while it made Dick feel like he was nine again, it was comforting. It was the hug he always got before being sent to bed after returning to the Cave from patrol. "Superboy, Wally, Kaldur, Miss Martian, they all have abilities you and I don't. We have our minds, what we've practiced, and what's in our belts. If you prepare, you can't be caught off guard. I saw the bruises from when you released Superboy from Cadmus." Dick cringed. "Superman has been out of control before and I was able to stop him."
"I'm not you."
Bruce pulled back enough to look Dick in the eyes. "I know. It's a good team. I trust them to watch your back while I'm not with you. I wouldn't have allowed it if I didn't." Bruce smiled, "But that doesn't mean I don't worry. The panic button still works, no matter how far from Gotham you are. I've also installed a new tracker to link with satellites all over the world. Press it, and I will come find you."
Dick rolled his eyes. "You know they never believe me when I tell them you're this overprotective."
The adult's voice changed an octave, to Bruce Wayne's public appearance, "Hey, first and foremost, I am your guardian. Its my job to keep you safe."
"Right, well, guardian," he turned, walked to the table and retrieved the belt, new Kryptonite pouch and all, "How about we see if we can get Alfred to let us order pizza."
The tension seemed to be gone from Bruce as Dick, however begrudgingly, acquiescence to carry the weapon against his friend. "Oh, I don't know. Alfred's been my guardian for a while. You know how he is about nutrition..."