"DICK GRAYSON GIVE ME MY BOOK BACK RIGHT NOW!" the angry red-head fumed as she ran through the long corridor.
In response she was met with a cackle as her friend looked back at her, grinning from ear to ear as he dodged the swarm of students. He moved through them with ease, weaving in and out of the crowd until he stormed out of the glass doors.
Barbra on the other hand kept slamming into others as she tried to keep up, muttering the word 'sorry' every few seconds. She finally made it to the doors Dick slammed through only moments before, many students glaring daggers at the back of her head. Not that she would care, anyways.
Barging through the doors, she had to let her eyes adjust to the sudden change in lighting. Once she did, Barbra immediately scoured the courtyard of Gotham Academy for the ebony boy. Behind her, students filed out the doors, eager to end yet another day of school. She was eager as well, which made her 'friends' usual antics quite annoying.
"Dick! Just give me my History book! I need it for our homework!" Barbra announced to the courtyard, hoping he didn't leave with Alfred already.
She was met with another laugh, this one more joyful and child-like, unlike the earlier one which was mischievous. This made her smile slightly, and just as she predicted from the volume, Dick was now standing right behind her.
He held the book in front of him with his ever-present smirk, Barbra finding herself imitating it.
"Yeah, but what's the fun in doing homework?" Dick replied as Barbra snatched the book out of his hands.
"I see your point, but unlike you I got here through hard work and determination, not bribery."
Dick snickered at this as they started their way down the school's steps and walked casually to the front gate.
"Yeah, and I'm sure your dad's subtle suggestions to Bruce about you being admitted had nothing to do with."
At this, Barbra dramatically gasped and punched the boy lightly in the arm. They giggled all the way to the gate, facing each other as they waited.
"So, will you be busy at all tonight? I kinda fell asleep in Geometry and didn't catch anything we learned." Barbra said, as if it were an ordinary school day occurance.
Dick rolled his eyes.
"If I'm free, I'll try to teach you over the phone. I don't know if Bruce has anything planned though, so I might not answer."
"That's alright if you don't. I can always just copy your answers tomorrow morning."
Barbra shrugged, and Dick chuckled slightly at his friends nonchalance about cheating.
Then, as if right on que, Alfred rolled up to the curb outside the Academy in one of the many limos the Wayne's owned. Quickly saying his goodbyes to Barbra, Dick walked over to the vehicle with a warm smile on his face.
Barbra always seemed to do that to him. Even if he was in the worst mood possible, she could make him smile.
He opened the door and launched himself in, greeting Alfred as he got comfortable in the spacious limo.
"Good afternoon, Master Dick. How was school this evening?" the old man said as he pressed his foot gently on the pedal, making his way back into the crowded streets of Gotham.
"It was fine. Anything new from Bruce?" Dick asked. Alfred sighed as he glanced in the rear-view mirror.
"Indeed there is. Master Bruce wishes to see you in the basement as soon as you return to the Manor."
Dick immiditely thought this was strange. Bruce never wants him in the Batcave until it's time for patrol, and even then, he would have to finish any civilian business before he was allowed to even go near his uniform. This seemed very out of character for him, and Dick mentally noted this as they sped along the highway.
"Any reason why?" He wasn't really expecting a straight forward answer, as both Alfred and Bruce seemed to love talking in puzzles.
It was almost as bad as The Riddler.
"He refused to inform me of why, but from what I could tell, he seems very distraught."
Now, that statement is what alarmed Dick the most. Neither Bruce nor Batman ever seem distraught, as it is just a part of their nature to hide emotions from others. Also a very handy tool in the Hero business, especially with the psychopaths that roam Gotham.
"Alright. We better get home then." The ebony responded resoutly. No more conversation was made, and the rest of the drive to the Manor was filled with the sound of distant police sirens and cars as the crime riddled city faded behind them.
Dick calmly walked to the secret entrance to the Batcave, all the while slightly panicking on the inside. It was just a gut feeling, but he felt that whatever Bruce wanted him for was not good.
Taking a nervous breath, he moved the clocks hands to the three and the seven. With a slight hissing sound, the ancient clock swung away from the wall to reveal a circular tube. Dick walked in and closed the entryway behind him, the doors in front of him sliding shut as he began his decent into the Earth.
He slightly shivered as he traveled deeper into the Earth, the only sound being his breathing and the mechanisms around him whirling and clicking. Dick, being used to the darkness of the elevator, was not phased by the eerie scenery that surrounded him.
When he first arrived at the Manor, however, the elevator was the one place the boy hated most about the house. And the Cave that lay beneath it.
But now the boy had seen things that cannot be unseen, and the thought of him once being afraid of a simple elevator almost made him scoff.
Finally it stopped in the ground floor, and the doors opened once more to reveal the great expanse of the Batcave. The three layers were covered with various objects, some battle souvenirs, others vehicles, and then there were the many gadgets and suits that lined the rocky walls of the cavern.
Walking forward, Dick faked confidence as he stepped towards the Batcomputer, seeing as Bruce was currently slumped in the chair. The boy assumed he was doing some kind of investigation, and didn't pay much attention to the screen. The only glimpse that he caught of it was something about S.T.A.R Labs, then Bruce immediately minimized the window.
This got Dick suspicious, but he dropped it as Bruce turned to face him.
And boy, did the man look horrible.
Granted, being a playboy billionaire that had to go to countless business meetings, as well as being a bat vigilante fighting psychopaths at night would take a lot out of a person. But Dick knew that Bruce's appearance was more than that. It looked as though he hadn't gotten any sleep in the past week, or taken care of himself at all.
And, now that the boy thought about it, he had rarely seen Bruce around the Manor, or in general, for the past week. Sure, he still went out with Batman for patrol, but he saw almost nothing of Bruce.
If Dicks curiosity wasn't peaked before, it definetly was now.
"What'cha working on, Bruce?" he tried to ask as casually as possible.
There was a slight pause as the man looked at him, seeming to be lost in thought, before he spoke.
"It's none of your concern at the moment. I need to talk to you about...something else."
Dick was visibly disappointed at not getting an answer to his question, but decided to let it go for now.
"What is it?"
There was a moment of silence as Bruce studied the boy in front of him, as if contemplating if he was really going to say whatever he wanted to say.
Of course, his face was completely blank as Dick observed this, but he was versed enough in Bat-emotions to decipher what Bruce was thinking about.
Letting out a sigh, Bruce finally seemed to come to a resolve.
"I think you should sit out on patrol for the time being."
At this, Bruce turned back to the large computer, missing the look of utter shock on the ebony face.
Out of all the things he expected him to say to him, this was not one of them. If anything, he was expecting to be grounded for getting a B- in Health (Not that he would admit to it). This seemed completely out of the blue, and Dick was not going to just let it slide.
"What!? Why!?" he exclaimed, going to the side of Bruce's chair.
"Your fighting is getting sloppy. Until it is fixed, I believe you should be training instead of going on patrol." Bruce responded without looking away from the large screen in front of him.
"What about it is sloppy? My acrobatics? Form? Attacks?"
Dick was honestly flaberghasted at what he had said. In his own opinion, he believed that he was steadily increasing in fighting ability, right now being an especially good time. Now that Dick was being told he was somehow going down hill with his training, especially by his mentor, he was beginning to question his previous judgement.
"You just need some work before you go out with me again. It shouldn't be too long, but until I see fit, you will be staying here or going to the Mountain at night."
"But what if-" Dick began, but was cut off by Bruce.
"No more questions. I have work to do, and I do believe you have homework that you need to catch up on from when you were recovering from the mission with Scarecrow."
Dick didn't want to admit it, but he was right. He did still have to make up papers when he was absent from school. But that didn't mean that he wasn't still angry and confused about him not being able to go one patrol.
And why was Bruce looking at reports from S.T.A.R Labs?
He had so many questions he wanted to ask, bit knowing Bruce, they would either be avoided or ignored. A quality that became increasingly annoying to the curious teen, who was almost always bubbling over with questions.
Begrudgingly Dick turned and strode away from the concentrated man and headed back towards the elevator with a huff. He hated being left with unanswered questions, which usually cane in handy with detective work, but when you live with a secretive adoptive father, it was very irritating.
Why did Bruce think his fighting was getting sloppy? He has been challenging himself more lately, and if anything, he should be getting better. Even when training with the Team, he can take them down faster than before.
What did Bruce see that was bad? Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't helping Dick to be left in the dark on what it is. After all, how can he improve when he doesn't know what needs improving.
The whole situation was infuriating. Especially being banned from going on patrol.
If his fighting was getting worse, then field work is the best way to learn. There are so many things that can't be taught with just equipment, as Dick soon learned when he started the hero business. Going on patrol would help him, if what Bruce said was true.
He continued to think about this as he rode the elevator back to the Manor, and even when he made it to his room and face-planted onto the soft sheets of his mattress.
Flipping over, he let out a deep sigh and stared at the ceiling, contemplating on what he should do. The obvious choice was to do his make-up work and homework for school, but Dick was known for his procrastination. But more than anything, he wanted to storm into the Batcave and demand to go on patrol that night.
Patrol was, after all, what took up most of his nights, which messed up his sleep schedule. And you can't just tell your body to go to sleep when it isn't at all tired.
So that left the question if what the ebony was supposed to do for the rest of the night.
After quite a while of going through his options, he decided the least boring (and the one that was least likely to get him in trouble. Not that he was against getting into some mischief, he just wasn't feeling it at that moment) thing to do was go to the Mountain and see who he could annoy/hang out with.
It really just depended on the person, really.
Coming to his decision he leapt out of his bed and put on the civvies he always wore as Robin. He pulled the green hoodie over his head, grabbing his dark sunglasses as he rushed out of his door and down the stairs, coming to the entrance to the Batcave once again.
After another elevator ride down, Robin hastily made his way over to the zetabeams.
"Well, since I'm probably not going on patrol anytime soon, I'll be at the Mountain if anything comes up." Robin called out to Bruce, who was still looking through various reports unknown to the boy at the Batcomputer.
"Alright. Notify me if you're staying the night." the man responded without tearing his gaze from the screen.
The ebony's gaze saddened, as his attempt to somewhat guilt Bruce into letting him go on patrol failed, but brightened soon after an if nothing had ever happened.
"M'kay. See you later, maybe."
Robin waited for a response, but was greeted with silence, as the man was too focused on his work to hear what he had said.
Letting loose an inaudible sigh, Robin turned toward the zetabeams, typing in the Mountains coordinates.
With one last look back, he let the light engulf him as the computerized voice said his name. The boys vision was clouded with white, and his body was transported to Mount Justice.
When he finally materialized and his name was called out once again, he smiled at the sight he saw.
His whole team was sitting on it around the green furniture. Connor was sitting in the chair, looking unfazed by the people around him. M'gann was sitting on the couch (the closest side to Superboy) and was looking at him rather dreamily. Not that the boy noticed. Kaldur was sitting on the other side of the couch, reading some kind of book, with a content look on his face. Artemis sat in the middle of the Martian and Atlantean, looking very annoyed, as usual. Finally, Wally was sitting on the floor with an array of movies piled in front of him, ranging from horror to comedy to romance.
Robin walked up to his team, and Wally was the first to acknowledge his arrival, and his face lit up at the sight of his best friend.
"Hey Rob! I was just about to call you. We're having a Team bonding movie night!" Wally exclaimed, seeming a little too excited.
"Well, we would be, if Baywatch would just pick a movie already!" Artemis sighed, irritated at the speedster.
Robin merely chuckled, sitting down beside the red-head, going through the movies that he had layed out.
He knew he had made the right decision on coming to the Mountain. His Team always seemed to have a way of lifting his spirits and taking his mind of things.
And he knew that his friends always had his back and believed in him, even if his mentor lacked that aspect at times. Robin couldn't ask for better friends.
They accepted him, and they felt like a second family to him. Robin knew that he could always count on his friends to encourage him, tell him what he needed to know, and be honest with him.
Or at least that's what he thought.
Whew! Not much seemed to have happened in the chapter, but believe me, this is a lot more important than it may have seemed. Yeah, it was kind of boring, but I'm working up to the good stuff! Things will defiantly be escalating in the chapters to come, and this is the first chapter that really starts to set that up!
(Btw, this isn't really edited, so excuse some mistakes!)
See Ya in the next chapter!
