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Roses Have Thorns – Chapter 4

Teammates

"I believe that we are all finally at an agreement then?" Batman looked at all the individuals that were present in the room, knowing that in the end the right decision had been made. There were nods and mutters of agreement as all of them got up to leave. A beeping sound filled the room as the League got to the door, they all turned in time to see a holographic screen appear, revealing moments later Wonder Girl, on instinct her mentor – Wonder Woman – asked what the matter was.

"Oh nothing bad! Don't panic! Black Canary just wanted me to inform Batman and Nightwing that Robin's awake." With a curt nod Batman killed communication and proceeded out of the room as the others also left. Nightwing looked at him he could tell that an incredulous look was hidden under his mask, "Because saying thanks would have killed you?" He didn't bother to reply as he headed to the Zeta tubes, "No Nightwing," Batman's first son began sarcastically, deepening his voice, making it gruffer, "you're right, Wonder Girl was only doing her job, I'll keep that in mind for next time." He was met by silence, "Yeah, because Rose is gunna love taking orders from you."

"She won't be taking orders from me; she'll be taking them from you." There was no emotion, that's what made him dislike Batman the most – not Bruce just Batman – cold and clinical, on a mission yeah that was fine, ideal in fact. When they were in the tower however, in between missions, Nightwing was proud to say that he allowed himself to loosen up, even more so now as despite his best efforts to stay a Bird, a few more Bat habits than he'd care to admit were beginning to tell, and that scared him, he considered talking to Babs about it over that coffee morning they had discussed.

-Y.J-Y.J-Y.J-

"Yeah because you're welcome." She shook her head in shocked disbelief as Batman just hung up on her, okay so yeah she was only protégé but god, rude much? It wasn't like she'd just passed on important information about Robin's health or anything. Scoffing quietly to herself she headed back to the medi-bay, "Batman and Nightwing on their way over, well I say that, I don't really know to be honest as Bats just sort of hung up on me, ME!" All boys in the room snickered at Wonder Girls misfortune, BC looked at the younger woman with sympathy, "Don't worry, he's done it to us all at one point."

"Yeah, but urghh he's so… hey where's Rose?" She looked around the room but couldn't see her new friend, "She really wanted to meet you…" Cassie walked around the room, making sure she just hadn't missed the girl. "She was here I swear." She looked back at Robin who nodded, neck stiff and head feeling stuffy, "I know, I saw her for all of two seconds before I was bombarded," he threw a modified Batglare towards the group of his friends, "by those lot. They scared her off."

Canary chuckled good naturedly while taking his blood pressure, Robin was irritated to say the least, he really wanted to meet the girl that had saved his life, wanted to know just how good at fighting she was, she sounded so confident from what he could remember from the alley, this puzzled him as the girl he'd just woken up to was anything but, maybe she was just scared of new situations. God knows he'd been more than a little dumbfounded when Bruce first showed him the cave, lord only knows what she must have been feeling like in a mountain full of – he groaned glancing over at his group of friends – super powered teens, actually he did know what that felt like.

"Hey Jamie," he caught his friends attention calling him over, "I need you to go and find Rose for me, tell her I really want to meet her, to thank her for," he gestured to his whole self, not needing to finish the sentence. "You're good with feelings and stuff just be… gentle." He strained, wondering whether that had been the right word. "Sure thing ese, be nice and bring her back here got it." Blue went to walk out of the room, "Hey," said a disgruntle Bart as he helped to see how many cotton wool balls BB could stuff in his mouth "and we're not doing it because…?" To which Robin rolled his eyes in mock confusion, Canary huffed annoyed and both Cassie and Jamie left the room, "I'm going to work out, see ya later." She waved to Jamie as he headed towards Roses room.

He knocked lightly on the door, "Hey Rose, it's me, Ja- uh Blue Beetle, can I come in?" He stood back allowing the door to slide open, revealing Rose, once again sat on her bed as though she hadn't moved, she looked up quickly and then back down at her knees currently positioned under her chin, "I thought I better leave, Batman could be back with any amount of League members at any time, Black Canary's cool but I don't know how the others react to me not following orders…"

"You must have been a solider in a previous life," mused Jamie kindly as he made to sit next to her, "Huh? What do you mean by that?" He looked at her quickly, despite the obvious safety lock she had placed her body into nothing aside from her wavering voice gave her away as scared or wary, back straight, breathing slow, her perfectly still body didn't even sift when his weight displaced the balance of the bed. "Well, look at you, haven't even been here a day, and already following the Bats rule, and even though your emotions are haywire at the moment, your body is perfectly poised, completely still, that takes a lot of concentration and will power, and let's not forget those kick-butt moves back in the alley chica."

She laughed lightly, "Just used to taking orders I guess… you know what I mean," she back peddled not wanting to open up to him, and that was fine, he hadn't even known her a day he didn't expect a life story. "On the streets, gotta live somehow."

"Well, you have definitely mastered the art of living, something my friend Rob is very grateful for." The addition of colour due to the red flush in her cheeks was startling, her black hair framing her face. Jamie pressed on, "Come meet him? He really wants to thank you." He heard her mutter and nod ever so slightly, "Great." He smiled, jumping off of the bed, offering her his hand to help her up; she smiled slyly, dropping onto her back, using the momentum to swing herself off of the bed, landing perfectly on her feet, "No thanks." She left the room, leaving a stunned Blue Beetle behind.

He caught up to her half-way down the corridor, "Wow… I knew it, open you up and you're fine, awesome in fact." She mock saluted him, "Sir, yes sir." They talked the rest of the way about random things, steering clear of their personal lives. They got to the medi-bay and no one but Robin – still in bed looking at a mini computer screen, Blue pushed her over the threshold before saying, "Catch you later chica."

She floundered for a couple of seconds flailing her arms turning from Robin's bed, to the door and back again. Robin looked at her; with difficulty she ceased her panicking, raising her left hand to her chest, palm facing him awkwardly, "Hi." He smiled but didn't laugh at her, "Hello, Rose I take it?" She stepped forward a little, "Yeah, uh that's me." That smile, it was dazzling, "I'm Robin, I believe I owe you my life." She felt her eyes widen in shock, "Me, oh god no, that, that was just luck, I had no clue about what I was doing, I just hit it on the off chance." He shrugged brushing off the comment, "Either way, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you so thanks."

"No problem." The silence was awkward, neither of them sure of what to say next, "Sooo," he drew out the word while thinking of how to continue, "I hear Batman went to the League, proposing you take a place on the team."

"Yeah, apparently so, I-I don't know how he got on though, it's ok though," she continued after Robins look of concern, "there are quite a few homeless kids in Gotham, we tend to stick together… safer in numbers, you know? I'll just find them again, it won't be hard."

"He won't let that happen." Said in such a matter of fact way she couldn't help but believe him, "If he wants you on the team, he'll have you, end of story." She must have looked a sight she thought, shorts in the tail end of autumn, the thinnest top and hoodie to accompany it, covered in dust and dirt, she suddenly felt very exposed and raw in this very crisp, clean room. "You're ok you know, nothing's going to happen to you I promise, you're staying."

"I don't have anything to offer…" He did laugh at her then, not unkindly though, "Do you even hear yourself? Nothing to offer? From what I saw in the alley, and what I've re-watched in footage defiantly isn't 'Nothing to offer.' You've got a talent, a talent that with your permission I'd like to help you strengthen and turn into crime fighting skill."

"Wow really, you'd do that for me?!" There was a fifty-fifty chance that she could be forced out of the door any moment, but she couldn't help but feel excited, this of course was squashed almost instantly by her feeling of guilt, they were all being so nice and here she was… No she mustn't think about her dad, he wasn't here, she was okay. She closed her eyes tight, "Hey Rose? You're okay, I promise."

"Thank-you, no one's, no one's ever been this kind all of you…" She opened her eyes to find him smiling again, "Hey, what kind of hero would I be if I wasn't kind?" To which she just smiled, the door opened then giving way to Nightwing, Black Canary and all the teens, Batman was nowhere to be seen, "I'm guessing you know that Batman won't be joining us?"

"Course I do, got the message just as Rose came in." He waved vaguely to the mini laptop; Rose looked at Nightwing, knowing that he spoke for Batman in his absence. "The League," he began, serious no hint of airiness left, "have had a lengthy debate on whether you should join the team or not." A pin drop could have been heard it was that quiet, then again maybe not, her heart was pounding so hard against her ribs she was sure everyone else could hear it, Nightwing couldn't keep a deadpan expression as a smile split his lips, "Welcome to the team Rose!"

The ear splitting cheer from all the teens filled the air, Nightwing just managed to touch her shoulder, telling her that he looked forward to working with her before he and BC left and she was bowled over backwards by three guys and a very strong girl, the force caused her to stagger back, only coming to a stop when she met a solid object – the end of Robin's bed.

"Oh my god! Another girl on the team that makes me, you, Batgirl, Miss M, Rocket, Bumblebee and Artemis – whenever she drops in, ahhh." Wonder Girl squealed in her ear, picking her up off of the floor, only to drop her as she rushed from the room, "This calls for more ice-cream." She dashed from the room, quickly followed by Bart, "Stop fiend, it's still re-freezing!" Jamie rolled his eyes, "Better go follow them, make sure they don't damage anything." Beast Boy agreed and followed Blue out of the room, leaving only Robin and a stunned yet excited her.

"I look forward to helping you become your best… welcome to the team, partner."