Past Trauma

Robin was relaxing on the beach, watching idly as his friends splashed around. Normally he would join them, but Gotham had been particularly unforgiving the last few nights, and he really did not want to get his stitches wet. Or at least that was what he was telling himself.

The nightmares the previous night had been particularly aggressive, and Bruce had been away on an overnight business trip which left Dick without his usual method of comfort. Any good psychiatrist would say that Bruce and Dick had an unhealthy relationship, that they relied too heavily on each other to get through their demons. Dick always found himself wondering why it would be considered unhealthy when he found a person that made the darkness not seem so dark anymore. Bruce allowed him to be the light with a little darkness, and in turn, Dick allowed Bruce to see the light even through his darkness. They were Yin and Yang, and for the life of him, Dick could not think of anything healthier than that.

But now, as he sat watching his team, he could not help but wish Bruce was here. All he wanted was to curl up under his adoptive father's cape while the man pretended that he was not secretly enjoying having his son so close to him. Superman had once called how well they could read each other creepy, but Dick loved it. He loved the idea of sharing a glance with his father, and knowing despite the impassive look on his face, he was laughing at the new words he made up. Or knowing that the 'Emergency in Gotham' was really father-son movie night.

Wally slid to a stop next to him and gave him an appraising look. Wally was his best friend, his brother. Him and Roy were the only two besides Bruce who could manage to read his micro expressions, for the most part. Them, and Alfred, but Alfred always seemed to know what everyone needed, before they knew that they needed it. Maybe he should tell Bruce to test Alfred for a metagene.

Now Wally gave him a knowing look and then quietly asked, "Do you want to go to bed?"

Dick shook his head. Bruce would be home tonight, he was not going to go to sleep until they were both curled up in Bruce's enormous bed and Dick had told him about all of his recurring nightmares the night before. Then they would eat a cookie and curl up on opposite sides of the bed, knowing full well that in less than half an hour they would meet in the middle and hold onto each other for dear life. Bruce was his dream catcher, and there was no way that he was going to sleep without him.

Turning to Wally he smiled. "I'm going to go to the gym. Work out some problems. Can you keep the team away, I want some privacy."

Wally turned to face his friend fully, but he was already gone. Sighing he pulled out his phone, and quietly opened his text messages.

Wally: Do you know where Batman is?

Uncle Barry: No, but I can find out.

Uncle Barry: Why?

Wally: Robin hasn't slept. Refuses to entertain the idea. He's in the gym

Uncle Barry: Yikes. Poor punching bags

Uncle Barry: I remember the time Robin went on a Mathletes trip...never been so scared in my life

Wally: ?

Uncle Barry: You think Robin's the only one with problems?

Uncle Barry: Those two need each other to stay sane

Wally: I wish...ldjfsdhasdjfh

Wally was in the middle of typing when Artemis walked over and ripped his phone out of his hands. "It's team bonding time Baywatch. At least pretend you're not texting your girlfriend."

Wally felt heat crawling up his neck. "Give it back! That's a private conversation!"

"Even better, let's see what it says." Artemis smirked. By now the whole team had walked over and was staring curiously at Artemis. As she smirked, her smirk fell away slowly. "Were you going to tell us!" She demanded.

"Tell you what? That you're a bitch? Surprise! We all already know that!" Wally yelled back angrily.

"No that Robin's having problems! He's part of this team and if he can't handle it, we have the right to know. Maybe he needs a break!" Artemis screamed back. The whole team looked at her in shock.

In a deceptively calm voice, Wally replied, "You think that Robin can't handle it? He's probably the only one of us that can. And honestly, his personal problems, the ones that have everything to do with his secret ID are none of our damn business." With that said, Wally grabbed his phone out of her hands and stormed back into the cave.

Kaldur glanced at Artemis. "What makes you say that Robin cannot handle being a hero?"

Artemis stared at Kaldur with large eyes. "He isn't sleeping. Wally was asking his Uncle where Batman was so that Batman could force him to sleep. Then they made some weird joke."

M'gann looked at her teammates excitedly. "One time on TV, these girls pulled a prank on their friend by putting sedatives in her cookie. We could do that to Robin!" The rest of the team nodded in agreement with the idea. Their friend needed sleep and maybe they could help him.


When Robin walked out of the gym, he felt more relaxed. It had only taken splitting two punching bags, but Batman payed for the equipment, which meant that nobody could really be mad at him. Superman might give him a disapproving look, but that usually faded once Robin brought out the Batglare. And if it didn't, Batman commenting that the next time Superboy broke something, Superman would pay for it on his reporter's salary would definitely wipe the look away.

Robin strolled silently into the kitchen where he found the rest of the team sans Wally sitting around eating cookies. Seeing that there was only one cookie left on the plate, Robin quickly grabbed it and shoved it in his mouth. Alfred would disapprove, but Robin was not going to lose the last cookie to anybody.

Seeing that the team was staring at him, he mumbled out, "What?" while wiping cookie crumbs off his face. Suddenly he felt dizzy. Turning to look at the team in horror, he muttered out, "You drugged me" before collapsing on the ground.

The team exchanged triumphant smirks, they had gambled and only put sedatives in the cookie on the bottom, hoping that Robin would grab it and not Wally. Now, they watched as their teammate slept soundly and peacefully on the ground. Superboy picked him up and was just moving him to the couch when Wally walked in. Turning to the team he said, "Look I'm sorry that…." he trailed off as he spotted Robin in Superboy's arms. His eyes widened almost comically before he whispered in horror, "What did you do?"

Artemis snorted. "Stop being so dramatic Baywatch. We drugged him so that he would finally sleep. No need for Batman to force him to do so." The team exchanged looks that could only be described as proud and triumphant.

"Oh God. Oh God. OhGodOhGodOhGod." Wally was panicking before he whipped out his phone and dialed his Uncle Barry, his hands shaking the whole time. When his Uncle finally picked up after the fourth ring, Wally started talking before his Uncle could even say hello. "Did you ever find out where Batman is! We have a real emergency on our hands!"

Barry made some sort of soothing sound before saying, "It will all be good, as long as Robin does not fall asleep."

Wally burst out, "That's the problem! The team drugged him while I wasn't in the room to tell them what a colossally bad idea it was!"

"Oh God. Oh God. OhGodOhGodOhGod." Barry moaned into the phone. "Hang on. I'm coming with Superman. Batman's civilian identity had to travel outside of Gotham, which is probably why Robin did not sleep."

Wally hung up the phone and turned to the team, who had various looks of confusion on their faces. When Robin started to scream in his sleep and thrash around, they're looks turned into ones of horror. "That's why Robin didn't want to sleep. Batman acts like a human dreamcatcher, they need each other. You guys drugged him, and now we can't wake him up from his nightmares!" Then Wally groaned again. "Batman's going to forget about his no killing rule and kill us."


Superman and Flash had arrived shortly after and had helped restrain the boy on the couch. They all watched in horror as Robin continued to thrash around and scream, reliving his nightmares over and over. Artemis spun angrily to Wally. "This is why he should not be on the team! I mean Robin's great and all, but obviously fighting crime is having a negative effect on his psyche!" Robin started to yell out in a foreign language.

Surprisingly they heard a reply from the room's entry. Batman strode in and immediately crouched by his son's head. "Au plecat, mica mea pasăre. Și în timp ce eu nu le va înlocui în inima ta, îți promit că va fi cel mai bun tată al naibii că eu pot fi. Deci, vă rugăm să pasăre mică, trezește-te pentru mine. Voi păstra toate coșmarurile departe, atâta timp cât mă vrei prea."

Robin's eyes blinked open and he was instantly in Batman's awaiting arms. When the man stood, his cape covered the boy so that they could no longer see him. Turning to face Artemis he ground out. "Robin witnessed the murder of his parents when he was eight. The same age I was when I witnessed the murders of my parents. I took him in because I knew what it was like and because they had put him in Juvie due to his ethnicity. His nightmares are not about crime fighting, that actually gives him release, but rather about watching his parents die over and over, him kneeling over their broken bodies, covered in their blood until I managed to pull him away. His nightmares are about being beaten to a pulp on multiple occasions because of some racist social worker who stuck him with Gotham's most violent youths. So don't you dare talk about things you don't know. And mind your place." With that, Batman strode angrily out of the room, but the Supers could hear the soft words that the man was crooning in his son's ear.

Looking over the team, Superman said softly, "I think we all learned a valuable lesson today." When he received confused looks from the team, he continued. "Besides the obvious, don't disturb Daddybats," he paused for the few chuckles that escaped the team. "It does not matter how well we know someone, there will always be secrets, a dark past, or otherwise. Never assume that you know better than someone else, as they may have information that you don't."

With that Superman strode out of the room leaving the team in silence. Finally Wally spoke. "I knew about his parents. But he never told me about Juvie. Superman's right, especially with the lives we live, we can never make real assumptions as there are more secrets than we can even imagine." With that, he followed his Uncle to the Zeta Beams.

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Translation: They're gone, my little bird. And while I will never replace them in your heart, I promise I will be the best damn father that I can be. So please little bird, wake up for me. I'll keep all the nightmares away, for as long as you want me too.

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A/N: I feel like Robin is the most dedicated hero on the team, and even surpassing members of the Justice League. Robin lacks maturity, but in some ways, I think that he could act so much older if he wanted. He just chooses to be the light to Batman's dark. Yin and Yang. Yes, they have their problems, but in the end of the day, they are the ideal partnership for a reason. Trust, love, understanding, they have it all.

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Check out my other stories, and I am working on the new story with the zombies, a part of the Nightwing is Den Mother series. I haven't decided what to call it yet, so if you have some sort of amazing idea, leave it in the review section, or PM me.

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Please, please, please, review!