Notes: Hopefully you can keep track of who's who during this dialogue heavy chapter. The Italics at the end are from Young Justice: Disordered episode. I've been using parts of that episode throughout this story so it's really nothing new. Dick as Batman talks about events from 'Battle for the Cowl' and inspiration from 'Batman: Long Shadows'.
Part 7 – It's Still Me
The Team's Batman led him to an empty room, where the cameras had been disabled. As soon as he was inside, Dick pulled off the cowl and faced the past Batman, Bruce. It hurt him a little to see the heartbreak on his mentor's face; the way his face tightened like Damian's when trying not to cry.
Not that Bruce would cry over this.
Dick smiled reassuringly.
Don't worry, it's still me.
"I never wanted this for you," Bruce admitted, his body tense.
"I never wanted it for myself," Dick admitted. He kept his body language open, palms out at his sides in an almost pseudo-shrug.
"You're different."
"I grew up. Can't stay a kid forever. If it helps, you didn't want me in the cowl. Now, aren't you going to ask?"
"Do you want me to?"
"I'd rather not reveal more than I need to. After all, you've been known to act on future information."
Bruce glared silently at him. However, some of the tenseness faded from his body.
"And that stopped working when I was ten," Dick laughed.
"I don't think it's ever worked on you," Bruce commented with a chuckle before pulling the cowl back over his head.
"Hmm? That's it?" Dick questioned in surprise. He had been expecting a grilling from the Batman.
Bruce walked away, leaving him confused. Really, Bruce was just glad that being Batman hadn't changed the boy he knew. He could see some darkness in the other Batman, but he could see the same darkness in the Nightwings as well.
'I grew up.'
And he had surpassed everything Bruce could have hoped for him. Bruce was very familiar with the empty feeling in his heart, nuzzled up with the pride. It was hollow loneliness.
However, he knew he wasn't the only one who wanted to question this Batman.
Dick watched Bruce leave and considered whether he wanted to follow him. He touched the pouch where Zatanna's reversal spell was hidden and wondered if it would be better to just leave now.
Leaving would change the faint memories he had a meeting a man in the Bat Costume who wasn't Bruce.
He didn't even know what to say. What could he say? Beyond the door was a teenager considering the same thing.
A scared and confused teenager who didn't want to turn out like Batman and yet was faced with that future. Robin walked just inside the doorway and stood there silently, looking him up and down.
Batman took a few steps towards his past self and then paused. He frowned and tilted his head. He didn't hold his comments back, it wasn't the time. He needed to break the tension in the room.
"Man, I was tiny." He reached out and pinched Robin's arm. "And skinny."
"Hey!"
"Sorry. Just, I've really really seen myself, you know? Not as Robin." It had been so long ago. He could call it a simpler time but he couldn't help wondering if it had just seemed that way because he had been young.
His younger self looked up at him and the smile faded from his face. Blue eyes covered by a mask yet earnest in their search for answers.
Damian would never say it but, he was glad that Batgirl was there. As soon as the Batmen were out of sight, Dick, Kid Flash, Jason, Tim and the Nightwings had jumped on him.
"That's your Batman?"
"Is that really Rob?"
"Why would I take the mantle?"
"Who are you?"
"Stop!" Stephanie cried, leaping between Damian and them. "Leave him alone!" She had a hand on her hip and a finger pointed dramatically at them. "You know you can't force him to tell you about the future. And you shouldn't crowd him if you want him to tell you anything!"
"She's right," Kaldur stated, his voice enough to cause Kid Flash to pull back in shame.
Timid Robin's Nightwing seemed to listen too. However, he did so because he felt he owed it to Kaldur.
"Do you mind if I ask one question?" Tim asked, directing his question at both Kaldur and Stephanie.
Stephanie frowned and crossed her arms however, she said, "what is it?"
"What happened to your predecessor?" he asked, assuming that she was Batgirl from Damian's comments. And she was obviously not Barbara.
Stephanie's body language went from defiant to insecure as her arms dropped to one side.
"She gave me the costume so I could help."
"They're very good at answer questions without answering questions," Artemis commented to the rest of the Team.
"They're Bats," Kid Flash responded, "at least, I think that girl's a bat."
"She would have had to be Robin at some point too," Zatanna added.
"A girl Robin?" Kid Flash questioned, imagining it.
"Oh please no," Artemis said, "Kid Flash wouldn't be able to handle that."
"Actually, I don't think we've met," Stephanie said to Kid Flash. "I don't leave Gotham often."
There was a pause while everyone tried to absorb this.
"She's also got good ears," Artemis commented as Bat Robin tapped Stephanie on the shoulder and whispered something into her ear.
"Oh gosh! Really?" Stephanie looked Kid Flash up and down.
"How many people do you think have red hair and freckles?" Damian grumbled at her. He had just pointed out that he was Artemis' fiance and as such, they had met out of costume.
"I'm sorry for not recognising you!"
"Ah, it's okay," Kid Flash responded nervously. He couldn't bring himself to flirt with this girl. Firstly because she was just so innocent acting and secondly because he thought Bat Robin might maim him. The kid was giving him a glare which could rival Batman's.
"Uh, M'gann?" the long-haired Nightwing called, "I think your cookies are burning."
"What? Oh no!" M'gann was a green and red streak as she flew quickly to the kitchen to rescue the burning cookies. The moment she opened the oven, the area was swamped with the smell of burning dough and chocolate.
Jason started laughing and Stephanie soon joined in.
"Who would like a cookie?" M'gann asked nervously between their laughs. Jason was the first to scoop one up, tossing another to Stephanie. Then the long-haired Nightwing took three, one for himself and another for Tim. He had no idea who this kid was but he was wearing the Robin suit and that made him family.
Which is why he held the third one out to Damian.
Nightwing had an idea where Robin and Batman had gone. No one had appeared to notice when his younger Robin-self had slipped away, just as he believed no one would notice his leaving.
He didn't even pause as he opened the door to where Batman and Robin were standing.
"I was waiting for you," Batman said. Nightwing looked him up and down. From the neck down, it could be Batman but the wavy dark hair and smooth face didn't belong to Bruce.
It was his own face staring back at him.
"I tried asking your Robin but that didn't work."
"He wouldn't have been able to give you an answer anyway." Batman was surprised at how it was easier to talk to Nightwing than it was Robin.
"Then I'll ask you. Why would I take the mantle? What happened to Bruce?"
"We thought he was dead," Batman stated, his shoulders tensing. He turned to Robin, who had paled at the declaration. "You've met the other Robins. When Batman disappeared, we thought it was forever, the mantle almost destroyed them. Tim was convinced that Gotham needed a Batman and he wasn't the only one. There was a madman on the street, dressed as Batman and killing criminals. He shot my Robin, although he wasn't Robin at the time, almost killing him. He almost killed Tim and," Batman visibly shuddered when he recalled Jason's acts as Batman, including when he had fallen. He had refused to take Dick's hand and had slipped off the side of a speeding bullet train into the darkness below. Dick had thought him dead, again. And that time, he had been right there, unable to save him. When he voiced it, he was soft, "Jason almost died. I thought he had."
"But Jason's-" Nightwing stopped when Batman shook his head.
Robin couldn't imagine it. All three of the other Robins, almost dying at once.
Damian. Who picked the ham off ham sandwiches and 'accidentally' knocked his plate to the floor so he wouldn't have to eat meat. Damian who kicked and flipped.
Tim. Who took notes on everything, even when he didn't have a notepad and thought everything through. Tim who observed.
Jason. Who always had something to say and didn't even let being the past faze him. Jason who went all-in.
Brave, strong and protective. How could they all lose?
"They needed me to be Batman. And I needed to be strong enough to change. To not replace Bruce or become him but to make the role mine."
This, Nightwing couldn't imagine. He had no idea how the person in front of him had managed to 'make the role his' as he claimed. Batman was Batman.
The thing that drives him to sacrifice everything for the sake of his mission.
Nightwing had been sacrificing a lot for the mission lately. It was part of the reason he had decided to take some time away from the team.
Laughter echoed down the hall.
"Sounds like they're having fun," Batman commented with a smile. "I bet M'gann's made a batch of cookies."
"Is that a dismissal?" Robin questioned with a frown as Batman stared at him.
"Yes. And no," Batman responded. He placed a hand on Nightwing's back and pressed Robin forward. "We'll all go. I still haven't had my post-patrol snack."
Robin jumped forward a few steps, enough to put him out of reach of Batman. In his head, he knew this was his older self however, he couldn't help thinking that the man was weird. And he wasn't his Batman.
"Let me spoil something for you," he whispered to Nightwing. "Jason's been revived and one day, he'll return to Gotham."
By the time that sunk in and Nightwing was able to comprehend the meaning of the words, Batman had already made it out the door.
