hey, so sorry about not updating sooner! I blame my teachers, who are hellbent on giving us 5000+ pages of homework daily. Anyways...
Important!: I deal with the screwey timeline I made up in this chapter. All the events that are referenced have happened in the comics or some form of show, but just differently in my timeline, in strange orders. Oh, and I moved Dick and Tim's ages closer together so I could reference the old titans :)
"Batman? Why would he send you here?" Asked Raven, immediately distrustful, and with good reason.
"He sort of sent me here to... well, not exactly spy on you..."
"But why would the Batman wish for you to spy on us? He is trustful of us, yes?"
"Starfire, Batman doesn't trust anyone except who he wants to trust." Tim said, his annoyance evident in his tone. "Guys, just give Lez a chance to talk. I trust her, I want to hear her side."
"Okay... well, you all know about what happened to Robin in regards to the Joker... this all started about then. When Robin got better, Batman wasn't so eager to let Robin fight crime anymore. He was almost relieved when Robin didn't want to even look at the costume for a full year after his recovery. One day though, he decided he wanted to go back to his old life of fighting crime. He missed the thrill, and missed helping people. And it didn't really help that all of his friends were crime fighting anyway...
"He went back to the Batcave. Asked Batman to take him back as his partner in crime fighting. Batman refused. Robin was devistated, but kept pestering Batman, hoping he'd give in. Neither would. Everyone in the bat-family of theirs seems to be very stubborn now that I think of it..."
"But Lez, what does that have to do with you being here?" Tim asked her, rather impatiently.
"I'm getting to that, I just thought I'd give your friends a bit of background." Robin shrugged, not caring either way. "So, Batman finally gave in, said Robin could become his partner again. But the poor boy couldn't bring himself to put the costume back on. Not in Gotham, at least. Once Batman left for patrol, he left the city, and came here. That, I suppose, is when you decided to stick with one persona?" she asked. He nodded in response.
"Anyway, over the past couple of years, Batman's been growing worried about you all being out here. I mean, there aren't any adults around to check up on you, and Batman didn't want to get the JLA involved. It didn't help when Nightwing-"
"When he what? Is he okay?" blurted out Robin, much to his own embarrasment. He didn't really keep in touch with Nightwing, though he knew he should- the guy was like a brother to him...
"He's fine! But things got a little... personal with him- Blockbuster bombed his appartment complex. Things got a little... hectic."
"But didn't his grandfather live th-?" She nodded. "Oh."
The titans weren't following any of this, and Beastboy made that clear, as he waved his hand in front of Robin's face, shouting, "Hello! Earth to Robin! Dude! We have no clue what you're talking about! Couldja clue us in or something? Or could we get back on topic?"
"Sorry..." Tim mumbled.
"So after the... incident with Nightwing and Blockbuster, Batman started worrying about all of his junior partners more, and kid heroes in general. He wasn't sure if you all could handle it."
"Say what! What the heck are y'all talkin' about? We stopped a Gordanian invasion! We stopped the Brotherhood of Evil! We stopped the stinkin' end of the world! How are we incompent?"
"Maybe the fact that after all that, we still can't stop Slade." Raven said moodily. "It's true. If it weren't for the superpowers and all the villians in this city, they wouldn't have put up with us. Any sane person wouldn't let a bunch of kids fight crime."
"And that's exactly what Batman was thinking. You see, Batman's the one who had the first sidekick. He feels responsible for anything bad that happens to any kid hero or sidekick."
"But we made the choice to put on the masks and cloaks and costumes. It's not like he asked us to." Pointed out Tim.
"True, but unless Batman can blame the Joker, he blames himself. I can't even count as high as the ammount of times he's wondered if training the first Robin, Nightwing, was the right decision. So anyways, Batman wondered if not stopping Robin, letting him move accross the country, and you all becoming a second generation of Titans was the right decision."
"Second generation? But we're original!" exclaimed Beastboy.
"Actually, there was a group of Titans before you- Nightwing, Wondergirl, Arsenal, Tempest and the Flash. Of course, at the time they were Robin, Wondergirl, Speedy, Aqualad and Kid Flash."
"But I thought the last three were our age? Or are they just different people, cause we have titans, but they're just Speedy, Aqualad and KF. They were never those other names."
"They're older than they look. Speedy took up the name Arsenal about 5 months after he helped you in your battle with the Brotherhood, I believe. Likewise with Aqualad's decision to become Tempest. Though Kid Flash's decision to take up Flash's mantle... that was unexpected, but due to circumstances. They're a little older than you all, Nightwing's age."
"But when were they titans? 'Cause, if that was like, recent, then we woulda heard of them and stuff, not used their names."
"They were Titans, not Teen Titans. They formed thier team when they were all much younger than all of you, about 9 or 10 years old, each of them. Anyway, to get back on track... Batman's been worrying about the lot of you, but doesn't want to bug you guys. He knows you're all capable of handling things here, he just worries about the possibilities. So he sent me.
"He wanted me to check, first and foremost, that none of you are -or are in risk of- becoming insane. That'd put the whole city, and all of you, in danger."
"So he doesn't trust me." Robin muttered, causing Lez to silently curse herself out in her mind, at how insensitive that sounded.
"No, not you in particular-"
"But if not, that means he doesn't trust my friends." Robin's voice was rising, as well as his short temper. "And if he can't trust my friends, whom I've known for five years, without even taking the time to meet them... Can't trust my desisions of who I hang out with..."
"Robin..."
"Then what reason do I have to trust him?" He stormed out of the room, leaving behind the shocked faces of his friends.
well, i hope this was worth the wait, and i hope you all enjoyed enough that you'd absolutely love to hit that lil button below and you know... review? feel free to flame, flip, whatever. I'd like some form of feedback though please!
