Hey it's immnony again. This is chapter 2 of Secrets Kept. I had no inspiration for this chapter but I hope you like it.
"Okay, we're back and we've all showered. Will somebody explain what Artemis meant when she said Catwoman was after Robin?!" Wally demanded. He hated being left out of the loop, especially if Artemis knew.
The Team sat comfortably in the living room. Well, most of the Team. Robin was standing in the corner, rigid and lost in thought. Artemis gave him a concerned glance when he didn't give a smart mouth response to Kid Flash's complaint. She wished she could say something, but Robin obviously wasn't in the mood.
"Catwoman came to tell Robin Gotham's gone ballistic. Someone broke out of Arkham and wants Batman and Robin. They've got all the villains in Gotham after them," Artemis explained softly, looking at the expressions on her teammates faces. They ranged from anger to fear to concern.
"Whoever it is, they obviously have connections if they can control all the villains of Gotham," Wally remarked.
"Why would somebody go through this much trouble for you two?" Miss Martian asked. She still wasn't the best at understanding the human ways and especially didn't understand the villains of Gotham.
"Because they're stupid," Conner growled, his arms folded across his chest. He didn't want to see Robin hurt any more than the others.
"If they've got as much control as Catwoman said, then it limits who it could be," Robin grumbled, taking a seat with the Team. "I first thought about Joker, but he'd never offer money for our capture. It could be Killer Croc, but I doubt he's smart enough to think of getting the others to help him.
"I also thought about Ivy. She's pretty seductive, but she hates humans so I don't think she'd be willing to work with them. Honestly, every villain I could think of has a reason for not wanting something like this to happen," Robin admitted shamefully. It was hard for the Boy Wonder to admit he didn't know something.
"Recognized: Batman 02," the voice recognizer stated as the Dark Knight entered the mountain. He walked into the living room and Robin immediately knew something was wrong. He was hurt. The Batman was hurt! Robin had seen Batman injured, but never anything Alfred couldn't fix. This was different. Batman's expression was slightly pained and every step seemed to send knives through his body.
"Team, leave," he ordered gruffly. Without a word the Team got up and went to their designated rooms. Only Aqualad, Robin, and Batman remained. Batman shot Aqualad a look. "That includes you, Kaldur," he added. The Atlantean nodded and left quietly. Once everyone was gone Batman's expression darkened.
"Something has come up with Agent A, so you'll need to stay here for a few days," Batman said. Robin wanted to yell at him but knew it wasn't the time. Instead he bit his tongue and forced himself to nod.
"I'll call you when Agent A returns." Batman turned on his heels and left for the zetas. Right before leaving he turned back to Robin. "Stay on Mount Justice, Robin," he added, his voice almost concerned. Almost. It was harsh and cold to anyone else, but Robin knew the Bat must have reasons and while he fully intended on questioning his mentor on his lies he knew to let it go for the time being.
"Well?" a voice asked from the shadows of the warehouse. Selina folded her arms stubbornly, popping her hip out and drumming her fingers impatiently.
"I told him," she replied harshly. "But you promised to leave Robin out of this. He had nothing to do with it." Catwoman had a slight relationship with Batman, but she knew he'd be able to handle himself. Robin, on the other hand, was young, and she honestly doubted he'd live through an encounter like this.
"I promise a lot of things, sweetie," the voice growled. "Here's your money so stop complaining." Ten grand was slid across a table. Catwoman snatched the money up before it could be taken away from her.
"You have to understand he's only a child. He had no part in any of this," Catwoman pleaded once more. The horrible shadow laughed hollowly. The sound of a gun cocking back echoed throughout the warehouse.
"When he donned that costume he was brought into this. It's his decision and I swear both the Bat and the Bird will pay for what they did," the shadow spat the words out as if they were acid.
"Fine," Catwoman said simply, turning on her heels and leaving the warehouse. It made her sick to think that she contributed to Robin's inevitable death.
Robin had trouble sleeping in the Mountain that night. Nobody was there but Miss M, Superboy, and himself. Wally was back in Central and Artemis was in Stay city with her 'uncle'. Even Aqualad was gone, having returned to Atlantis for an important dinner with the queen. So the Cave was unnaturally quiet and there was no noise to lull Robin to sleep.
His mind was still on Bruce's lies, which didn't help sleep come either. It was obvious Batman didn't want Robin in Gotham for the time being, but how long would he have to stay at the Mountain?
When Robin finally managed to get some sleep it was full of nightmares. He'd close his eyes for mere minutes before shooting awake with a scream. And the worst part was that he couldn't remember what any of the dreams were about. It was just a sense of horror that remained afterwards that assured him he had had a nightmare.
After what seemed like an eternity it was morning. Robin took a shower to try and give him some energy but he was exhausted. Usually if he had a nightmare Alfred would help him relax but at the Cave there was no one. Sometimes Robin could talk to Wally, but he didn't want to show that much weakness around his friend.
That was how Robin found himself already in the training room by seven o'clock in the morning. He was barely able to keep his eyes open but he knew Batman would never accept that as an excuse. Batman… Robin still had a few bones to pick with his adoptive dad.
Robin, mind still on Batman, trained for nearly an hour. It was simple, gymnastics, punching bags, accuracy. But Robin was not performing up to par. He thought about skipping out on the Team and heading back to Gotham, but that would only irritate Batman even more and possibly get him in trouble.
"Robin, my friend, have you been up for long?" the sudden voice of Aqualad startled Robin out of his thoughts. He didn't outwardly flinch but still cursed himself for not realizing Aqualad was there.
"Not really," Robin lied. "How was Atlantis?"
"I have missed my home," Aqualad said with a smile. "It was… enjoyable… to see some of my friends again. How was the Cave?" Robin's eyes narrowed and his head cocked to one side.
"How'd you know I stayed over?" Robin asked. Aqualad didn't miss a beat, as if he had rehearsed his answer.
"I saw you never zetaed back to Gotham when I returned," he replied. Robin nodded and any other day would have accepted that answer but not today. Today that seemed too planned and forced of a response to be normal. Had Aqualad spoken to Batman?
"Oh no!" came a feminine voice, M'gann, from the kitchen. Aqualad and Robin's heads shot up at the cry. They'd been trained to respond to words like that.
Aqualad laughed as the smell of smoke wafted into the training room. "I believe Miss Martian has made breakfast," he joked, turning to leave the room. Robin followed, wiping the last of the sweat from his face.
"Oh, welcome back Aqualad!" M'gann's squeaky voice cheered when she noticed Kaldur enter the kitchen with Robin. "I was trying to make pancakes but…" M'gann stopped and glanced at the frying pan. On it was what could only be described as a withered piece of charcoal.
"I thought since it was more than just Conner and me in the Cave I could make breakfast for everyone. I'm sorry." M'gann dipped her head and blushed. Superboy rose from his seat in the nearby living room and tried (and failed) to comfort her.
"It was sweet either way," Robin said with an apologetic smile.
M'gann smiled back sheepishly. Realizing she wasn't going to do anything Robin dug in the refrigerator. He pulled out eight eggs and cracked them on a frying pan different from the one with M'gann's breakfast remains.
Calmly Robin made breakfast for the Team. Everyone gladly accepted except Conner, not that that was surprising. Robin had to put the plate in front of the clone before he finally ate.
All during breakfast Robin felt like something was off. His friends were watching him closely. M'gann looked nervous and jittery when Robin got up to put his plate in the dishwasher. It irritated him but he didn't want to yell at his Team for his own paranoia.
At least, he didn't intend to yell until Superboy decided to speak up. "Why doesn't Batman want you in Gotham?"
Robin's face visually paled. Batman had spoken to Team. Superboy's question verified Robin's thoughts. "He's treating me like a child," Robin sneered, clenching his fists. He hated being treated like a child, especially by Batman.
"My friend, calm. I am sure Batman is only looking out for you," Aqualad said, laying a hand on Robin's shoulder. He shrugged it off angrily. Batman wanted Robin out of Gotham so badly that he'd gotten the Team to help. Their job was obviously to keep Robin in the Cave.
"By having my friends babysit me while he's off fighting some crazy man?! That's not looking out for someone," Robin snapped. He turned and punched the kitchen's wall before storming off. How bad could the villain in Gotham be that he couldn't handle it?
"Sir, Robin wasn't in Gotham today," an unnamed thug announced to the shadow in the warehouse. A hollow laugh echoed throughout the area and the thug visibly shook.
"He will come. The Batman cannot keep his partner away forever," the shadows replied. An eerie feeling fell over the warehouse and the thug wished he had become a doctor like his parents wanted.
Robin didn't know where he was going, but he ended up on the beach beside the Mountain. He needed to cool down and the beach was the best place for it. Nobody would bother him and nobody could lie to him. Lying on his back Robin stared at the late morning clouds. It was so different from Gotham, where smog blocked out any beauty the city might have.
Robin continued lying, still thinking about everyone's lies. It was one thing for Bruce and Alfred to lie to him, but to bring the Team and possibly the League in as well was too much. Did Batman truly not trust him? Catwoman's words rang clearly in his ears. Bats doesn't think you'd be able to handle it…
"Dude, you broke the kitchen," a familiar voice teased from behind. Robin's head lifted lazily as he stared into the green eyes of his best friend.
"Sorry, lost my temper," Robin said, rising to his feet to face his friend.
"What happened?"
"Oh, like Batman didn't tell you," Robin hissed a little too violently. Kid Flash was taken aback.
"Tell me what? I've been in Central all morning."
"About keeping me away from Gotham. He told the Team to make sure I stay in Happy Harbor. It's disastrous, heavy on the dis," Robin grumbled. Kid Flash's face turned to one of concern. He was still in his civvies and didn't mind plopping down in the sand. Robin followed reluctantly, not really wanting to get sand in his Robin uniform.
"It could be someone seriously dangerous," Kid Flash said. "What if it's Zucco and he's found out you're really Dick Grayson?" Robin sighed. Here came the 'what if' questions.
"Batman would've let me handled Tony Zucco. It's got to be awful, but what's the point of me helping if he sends me away?"
"C'mon dude, has Batman ever done something that didn't serve some kind of purpose?" Robin didn't reply. Wally was right. Batman had reasoning, even if it was stupid. But that didn't make what he did right.
"Canary's gonna be here soon. How about we head inside and warm up?" Kid Flash offered kindly. Robin smirked and smacked his friend upside the head.
"Stop being a dork," he teased. "I'll be inside in a minute," he said. Kid Flash nodded and in a blur vanished inside the Cave. Robin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. How much longer before he could go home?
"That was cute," a woman taunted from the tree line. Robin turned and found Catwoman in the distance, approaching quickly. He gripped a birdarang tightly. "Oh please we already know how this will end," Selina teased. Robin stood tall, not shifting at all.
"Why are you here?" Robin asked seriously, voice dark.
"To warn you," she snapped back. "Batman can't handle Gotham by himself. Villains are rebelling in numbers. The crime rate is higher than I've ever seen it. Everybody's on a man hunt," Catwoman stopped and stabbed a finger at Robin's chest. "For a certain little bird and Daddy Bats. I don't want you getting hurt, but Batman can't stop them, and he refuses to acknowledge that he needs help."
"How do I know you aren't tricking me into returning so you can kidnap me yourself?" Robin questioned. Trust no one. Not right now.
"Because they're after me too. The know I tipped you off. So unless you want your secret identity cover blown I suggest you listen to me, alright Dick Grayson?" Robin's eyes narrowed behind his mask.
"Understood, Selina Kyle," Robin countered. Catwoman smirked.
"I'll take you back. We work together and take the load off your old man, okay?" she asked. Robin nodded and the two shook hands. Back in the Cave Black Canary was watching the whole thing. But she didn't hear anything. She saw Robin shake hands with a criminal and then leave with her.
"Attention League, Robin's left Mount Justice with Catwoman. We're assuming a hostage situation but… he left by choice," she said on a comm link to the Watchtower. There was no response as the meeting room was too shocked. Only one thought was going through their mind.
Traitor.
Woah intense ending huh? Anyway I really don't like the title 'Secrets Kept' so if anyone can think of a better title tell me. Also has anyone guessed the villain? I finally decided who it would be (sorta). If you guess right then I praise you because I don't even know the right answer. Please review, they're appreciated.