CHAPTER 2

After giving his statement and acting like a helpless victim and Bruce making a big show of fatherly affection, Richard was allowed to go home. Currently, he had just gotten out of the shower and was making his way down to the bat cave.

As he descended the stairs he saw Batman looking over the police files from the botched bank robbery earlier that day. He went into the dressing area and started to change into to his new uniform.

"Robin," Batman called from the computer command. "Is there anything you left out in your witness statement?" He asked.

"Oh, no more than the usual." Robin came out from behind the curtain and walked up next to Batman. He tossed his mask on the table as he put his gloves on. Batman looked over at him for a short second before looking back at the computer screen. There was a three second before Batman looked at him, again.

"What are you wearing? -What happened to your uniform?" The get-up his sidekick was wearing wasn't his usual uniform.

Robin put his hands on his hips. "Don't you remember? Last week on my birthday I said I was getting too old to be wearing underwear as a costume. Alfred agreed with me." He turned to the older man descending the stairs.

"Leave me out of this one, Master Richard." The kindly old butler said, not wanting to get in the middle of the soon-to-be argument.

"I don't like it. Go change." Batman turned back to the computer screens.

"Well, I didn't like the last one. The spandex was too hot, the 'shorts'-if you could call them that-were too embarrassing, and the cape always get in the way." Robin crossed his arms over his chest. "I like this," He showed himself off, "Besides, this is much more mature."

Robin's new outfit was much more suited to the teen. Instead of 'booty shorts', the teen now wore tight leather pants that road very low with black knee high boots. His shirt was the same as his old one except now it opened in the front with three yellow straps in the front, showing off his chest while still being tucked in. He no longer wore a cape, but he decided to keep the yellow utility belt seeing as he just couldn't part with it. That would be stupid!

"Mature?" Batman got out of his seat and stood in front of Robin. "You turned seventeen, not twenty-one."

"I'm not wearing that jailbait get-up anymore!" Robin yelled at his mentor. The two stared each other down for what seemed like forever.

"Then find something else." Batman ordered.

"No." Robin turned and stormed out of the Bat cave. Tonight, he was going to meet up with his friends, anyway. He didn't have to see Batman for the rest of the night so they should both be able to simmer down before they had to see each other, again.

Robin ran across the rooftops of Gotham City. This night he didn't have to travel too far too see his friend. Each week he and other sidekicks would get together in one of their cities and hang out. Tonight was Gotham. They were told to never go out looking for criminals, but they did anyway. It was kind of their version of being normal delinquents.

"Robin!"

He heard someone call his name. He looked over and there they were. Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven were all waving to him as he landed on the roof. He smiled and waved at them all.

"Friend, oh how I love your new costume!" Starfire said as she picked him up and hugged him.

"Star. Human. Can't breathe." Robin squeezed out with his last breath. Starfire let him down with an apology. The alien princess still didn't know how to control her own strength when it came to humans.

"What brought on the new change?" Raven asked.

"How bout necessity to live. That cape was going to decapitate me one of these days." Robin leaned against the railing of the roof to relax. "So, where's Super boy and Wonder girl?" He asked looking around. They were always at these get-to-gethers.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Speedy asked as he hopped onto the roof. He put his fists on his hips and gave a look of hurt.

"Well, you certainly wouldn't be chopped brain." Kid Flash showed up out of nowhere, causing Speedy jumped into the air in surprise.

Robin just laughed at his friends' antics. He loved getting together with them. He and Cyborg were planning on putting together a team when they turn eighteen. They even had a city in mind to set up shop. Jump City.

About an hour went by as they told each other what their weeks were like. After that, Super boy and Wonder girl had shown up and the girls had separated from the guys. They were likely talking about girl stuff and nothing to do with superhero stuff at all. The guys, however, were competing for the worst week ever.

"...And so he's got us, like, right where he wants us and you know what he starts doing?" Super boy exclaimed, "He starts monologing!" They all laughed, "I mean, he's got us trapped in a barrier of kryptonite and he can't stop talking about how we're so inferior to his master plan. I mean just kill us already!"

"Hey, Robin, how was your week?" Flash asked. Everyone's eyes turned to him like they were waiting for some big story.

"I take it you all want to know about today..." Robin sighed. Ofcource they'd all seen it on the news.

"Yes, do tell us how a clown managed to nap a kid." Starfire asked of him innocently.

"The term is kidnap, Star." Wonder girl said. All three girls sat down with them in the large circle.

"Is it true? What they're saying on TV?" Flash asked in a surprisingly serious tone.

Robin gave him a quizzical look, "Is what true?"

At that moment, there was a loud boom across the street. Everyone shot up and looked out over the railing. A jewelry store's windows were blown out and the alarm rang off.

"Go!" Robin yelled to everyone.

Immediately, they all jumped into action. They rushed to put out the fire, but when they got there they saw no flames. They didn't see any jewels either. What they did see was a figure on the roof with a large bag. The figure just stood there, staring down at them. He held out his hand and let a diamond ring drop down to the heroes below. Robin caught the oversized diamond and looked at it. He looked back up and glared at the man. "Get him!"

The mystery man ran and jumped across onto another building. By the time any of them were close enough to attack, they'd already traveled five blocks. Robin was close enough to use a bird-a-rang and when it was about to hit the man it was blocked by a staff that extended out of nowhere. Robin pulled out his own staff and attacked the man.

The rest of the teens stood back and waited for when they were needed. Robin had claimed first dibs on the guy and so they just stood ready to come into the fight if he needed help.

The man swung his staff around and under Robin's legs, causing him to trip and fall. The man lifted his foot and brought it down, aiming for Robin's ribs, but before his foot connected Starfire flew in and knocked the guy through the wall of another building.

Robin got up and grabbed the bag of jewelry. He immediately dropped it. What the hell was in here? He looked inside and saw that all of the gold and silver was melted together, the jewels sticking out at all ends. "Looks like there's a whole lot more in here than from just that jewelry store, alone." Speedy said, looking into the bag. "Should we get this back to Batman?" He asked. It was odd that someone would steal so much jewelry and just melt it down. What was the man planning to do with all of it?

"Yeah, we really should." Robin replied. "I'll call him." He said, reluctantly. He still didn't want to talk to him because of their fight. As he went to grab his communicator he saw it was gone. He looked all around for it, but it was nowhere to be seen.

"Looking for something?" A smooth voice asked from behind him. Robin turned around and saw the man standing there, holding his communicator in one hand and Starfire in the other. Now in full sight of the city lights, Robin could make out what the man looked like. He was dressed in black cevlar and leather. His armor was simple and not too flashy. The only color he wore was the orange on half of his one eyed mask.

The masked man threw Starfire over to them. As she crashed onto the roof top, the other teens raced to get her. Robin just stood staring at the man. "Who are you?" He demanded. He needed that communicator back.

"Give me the bag." The man demanded. "I need those materials." The man stepped forward and held up the communicator. "And you need to call for help."

"No." Robin winced when the man crushed the communicator in his hand. He sure hoped that someone else had called for help. The man dropped the crushed hunk of junk and continued to approach the group of teens.

Speedy stepped forward and fired one of his arrows at him. The man slapped it away with his staff. Beast Boy turned into a ram and charged the man and though he knocked him back a bit the man didn't go down and was actually pushing back. The man gained the upper hand and flipped Beast Boy onto his side, forcing the boy to turn back to his human form.

"Give me the bag." The man reached out for Robin.

Robin tossed the heavy bag as best he could over to Super boy and the super teen flew off with it. The only problem was that Robin was now cornered. Speedy shot another arrow, but this one the man caught and threw back at him, making him get caught in a net that shot out of it. The man turned back to Robin and grabbed him by the hair and lifted him up off his feet.

"Ah! Let me go!" Robin aimed a kick at the man's ribs, but was caught by the man's arm. Robin managed to kick him with his other foot, but he almost went off the side of the building. Luckily, he was able to balance himself on the railing, but it left him wide open. The man wrapped his hand around the boy's throat and started to squeeze.

"Give me the bag and I won't throw him off the side of the building."

At that moment Superman flew in and grabbed the man and threw him a few feet away. Robin hung off the side of the building until he couldn't hang on anymore and slipped from the railing.

Batman appeared and grabbed ahold of Robin's hand. He pulled him back over the edge.

"…Thanks." Robin said with a sigh. He couldn't very well be angry with the older man, now.

"What were you kids thinking, trying to take on someone like him?" Wonder woman asked as she and the Green arrow showed up. What was this? Parents' Night?

"Who is he?" Kid Flash asked.

Said man got back to his feet and dusted off the rubble from the building. "Deathstroke the Terminator." Batman said, bitterly. This man must have been on exceptionally bad terms with Batman for him to use such venom in his voice just by saying his name.

"Wait, Deathstroke? Like, that Deathstroke?" Kid Flash asked to clarify. You could just see the wheels in his head turning. Then... the panic. "Oh, shit! We just- no you just pissed off one of the most notorious villains of all time!" He yelled, pointing at Robin.

Then Super boy picked Robin up, out of Deathstroke's reach, as the villain came in for an attack. "That's two in one day, should I be worried?" The half super-human spoke in a low voice. "I mean, the first one all but molests you and the second one gives you a ring."

The fight continued between the older superheroes and the supervillian.

"Well, maybe if you molested me and gave me jewelry you wouldn't have to worry."

"About that-"

Batman was in the process of attempting to take off Deathstroke's faceplate when the villain caught him off guard and threw him over the side of the building.

"Batman!" Robin yelled. He looked up at Super boy, "Drop me and go get him." he ordered and Super boy nodded. He flew over Deathstroke and dropped Robin off.

As Robin landed, he placed a well-aimed kick right for the man and hit him in the chest. Deathstroke grabbed the boy's leg as he fell back and brought him down as well. Wonder woman swooped in and pulled Robin free just as the Green Arrow shot one of his regular arrows at Deathstroke and got him right in the shoulder. The man stumbled back and went right off the back of the roof.

Super boy came back up with Batman and as soon as they landed Batman started lecturing about how dangerous it was to be fighting without them there. "It's too dangerous! You should have called for help!" He yelled at Robin. Things were still a bit sour between them.

"Well, we didn't really have a chance- the bastard kinda crushed my communicator. Besides, we can't just go running for you every time we see a bad guy." Robin wasn't going to let Batman put all the blame on him.

"Now, now. Just calm down, here." Superman intervened, "Are you all alright?" He asked looking around. Starfire was already back on her feet and looked just fine. As everyone confirmed that they were ok, Batman simmered down a bit. "Now, I think it would be best if you all just went home for the night." Complaints were made, but in the end they all agreed to go home and Robin reluctantly fallowed Batman back to the bat cave.

Batman and Robin were back in the bat cave, now and were still a little upset with each other. "Go change and then we'll talk." Batman said as he removed his cowl. He walked into the dressing area and started to disrobe. Robin just did as he was told.

After changing into a pair of green drawstring sweatpants and a red hoodie, Richard sat down at the computers and waited for Bruce to come out. And as the man came out, fully clothed, he gave a look that was half irritation and half worry. Bruce sat down and pulled up a file on the big screen.

"How much did you leave out of your witness statement?" Bruce asked, not even looking at him.

"That's what this is about? I already told you." Richard leaned back in his chair. What was the man's problem? "Are you still upset about the uniform switch?" He asked.

"Dammit!" Bruce slammed his fist down on the table. "This has nothing to do with your uniform!" He said rather angrily. He then took in a deep breath to calm himself down so he could better access the situation at hand. "I've looked through all of the files and witness statements from the bank robbery and all of the witnesses seem to have mentioned something that you didn't..." He spoke slowly so that he wouldn't fly off the handle in anger.

"Like what? I told them everything, short of me being a superhero." Richard complained and looked at the computer screen, looking for something that he could have forgotten to tell the police.

"They all say that the Joker... was..." Bruce wasn't quite sure how to put it.

"Was, what?"

"That he was harassing and... making suggestive remarks towards you." Bruce didn't like the idea of some villain- especially the Joker- trying to make a move on his ward.

"What?! That's not what happened!" Richard nearly fell out of his chair at what the man said. "I admit, he was getting his words mixed up a little, but he made it rather clear that that wasn't what he meant."

"Then explain why he was on top of you when I opened the doors to the van." Bruce felt like he was trying to get information about a secret boyfriend out of this kid. Wait, did he have a secret boyfriend? Richard did come out of the closet about a year ago. Was it speedy? Kid Flash? SUPER BOY?!

"The van slammed into a wall. We were tossed around like potatoes inside that tin can!" Richard explained, remaining completely unaware of Bruce's sudden burst of long awaited 'parental panic'. "We were bound to land somewhere."

Bruce shook his head free of his thoughts and looked gravely at the boy. "At any rate, the Joker's not too happy about the current situation. He's currently in Arkum Asylum, under sedation because of this." He pulled up a video file and pressed play. On the video was the Joker in a cell pacing back and forth in a straightjacket, ranting about one thing or another:

"Just because I'm a bad guy they think that that ruins my integrity." The Joker loomed over to the screen. "Hey! Is that thing playing live?" He asked as he got a little closer.

"Sure is." Someone out of sight replied.

The Joker got even closer to the screen, "Listen good. I won't be in here for too long and when I get out I'm gonna blow this place to kingdom come. But, before I do, I want that snot nose brat Richard Grayson dead. DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! Do you hear me out there? Anyone who owes me anything. Your slate is cleaned if you do this for me!" A few men came in and sedated the mad man as he fell into a hysterical fit of laughter. The footage ended with a guard putting a hand over the camera.

"So, now, according to the ten o'clock news, there is a supposed bounty on your head." Bruce said rather disdainfully. Things weren't looking too good for the kid right now. "If the Joker wants you dead then there's going to be a lot of response to this video. There's going to be a lot of bad guys out to get you just so that their debt to him will be cleared."

"I'm not going into hiding if that what you're thinking." Richard wasn't the type to sit in a room and wait out the storm. He didn't hide when his family was killed and he wasn't going to do that, now.

"I know and I wouldn't want you to. That's why I hired you a bodyguard." Bruce smirked when he saw the look on Richard's face. The look of non-belief was almost priceless. Well, not quite. That look was actually costing him fifty grand a week. Luckily, he wasn't one who had to worry about money.

"But you know that I can take care of myself. Why do I have to have a bodyguard?" Richard complained.

"I'm well aware that you can handle more than enough of the bad guys in this city, but there are going to be real players coming after you. And... I can't let... you get hurt." Bruce mumbled out that last part, not really knowing how to play out the emotions going through him at the moment.

"Aww," Richard said, as if referring to something cute, "You care." He said, smiling.

"No, I don't." Bruce turned away, not wanting to admit to having grown attached to the kid.

"Yes you do!" Richard smiled madly and hugging the man, "Alright I'll have the bodyguard and I won't try to make his life a living hell." Richard held up a scout's honor sign.

"You're not a scout."

"I know." Richard wasn't going down without a fight.

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