Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Teen Titans or anything in the DC Universe.

Chapter 8

He could tell she needed a minute to collect herself, so he said, "My real name is Richard Grayson."

She took an uneasy step towards him, and her hand went up to his face, gently caressing his cheek. He smiled at her as she traced the pattern of his mask around his eyes, then stared directly into them. "Richard Grayson," she repeated slowly. "It is a shame you keep your eyes hidden, Robin," she said. "They are quite beautiful."

He reached up and grabbed her hand, holding it next to his chin for a while before he kissed her fingers and led her over to his closet. "You realize that no one can know about this, right?" he asked as he opened the door.

"I understand the need to keep your identity as Richard Grayson hidden," she nodded. "Beast Boy explained to me the function of identities that are secret."

He slid open a compartment behind the shelf of masks to reveal a framed picture. He took it out and gazed at it for a moment before he handed it to Starfire and took her back to the bed where they could sit and talk for a bit. "These are my parents, Star," he said, staring at the smiling faces. In the picture, he was about ten years old, riding on his father's shoulders while his mother clapped her hands together in delight. "John and Mary Grayson."

She giggled, "You look so happy with them. Where was this taken? It is inside a circus tent, yes? Did they take you to see the circus often?"

He laughed, "You could say that." But then he remembered he was telling her everything, so he explained, "I was part of the circus, Star. My whole family was." He raised an eyebrow, "How did you know it was a circus tent, anyway?"

"You remember when I went into the future, yes?"

"Of course I do. I'm still loving the idea of Nightwing, by the way."

"Of course you are," she laughed. "But when I went into the future, I saw Beast Boy at a circus."

"Oh, right," he said, remembering that part of the story now. He'd been distracted by the part where he was the only Titan who was still a superhero.

"So, what did your family do in the circus?" she asked, leaning over to put her head on his shoulder while they gazed at the picture together.

He smiled, putting his arm around her shoulder, "They called us the Flying Grayson. We were trapeze artists -- the best there ever were, I might add." He could feel the grin widening as he remembered it.

"It must have been fun," she sighed. "Why did you leave?"

"I had to," he said darkly, and the smile instantly vanished.

She could tell he was upset, because she immediately sat up as her hands flew to her mouth, "Oh, Robin, I am sorry! I had forgotten about the father foster and what that meant!"

The term "father foster" brought a smile back to his face; he could never stay mad when Starfire was around. "It's okay, Star," he shrugged.

"Would it be improper of me to ask what happened?"

He shook his head, staring at his mom and dad in the picture and trying not to think too much about it. "My parents were killed by Tony Zucco -- which was one of the aliases used by a boss in Gotham. He tampered with the ropes before the show because the circus manager wouldn't pay him protection money." He took a deep breath, then continued, "Bruce Wayne took me in, since I couldn't stay at the circus. I was a key witness in the case against Zucco, so I was in danger." He knew he'd skipped over the details, but that was about as much as he was willing to say.

"And you continued to stay with Mister Wayne after that?" Starfire asked, graciously accepting his non-detailed account and moving on.

"Yeah. He took me in, trained me, made me who I am."

"You must be close."

He felt a lump forming in his throat, and he looked away, "No, we're not."

"Why not?"

"We're just not."

Starfire's eyes were wide as she nodded, "Oh, I understand. This is one of those times when it is most complicated for you to explain and you would rather not attempt to."

He laughed, "Yeah. That's basically it."

She patted his arm, "It is fine, Robin. You have explained to me much more than I have expected from you. I understand that your past is full of things that you are not ready to tell me."

He kissed her cheek, "I'm so lucky to have a girlfriend like you."

She giggled, "As I am lucky to have you. I thank you for telling me these things."

"You're welcome," he said, kissing her nose before he gave her a quick peck on the lips. She giggled again, and he grinned.

TTTTTTT

She tried her very hardest not to be jealous when she saw him walking into the living room and holding hands with Starfire. After all, he wasn't just Dick Grayson anymore. He was Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans, and he was Starfire's boyfriend. He was taken. And the fact that he was now wearing his uniform just made it even worse.

Beast Boy hung awkwardly at her side, trying to get her to say something, and she realized too late that he probably told a joke and she missed the punch line because she was too busy feeling jealous. "Sorry, Beast Boy," she said, trying to manage a smile. "I guess this is just a lot to take in."

"Hey, Terra, it's fine," he said, his eyes wide and serious. "I mean, you don't have to go any faster than you want to." She didn't want to know if he was talking about the relationship she was supposed to have with him, or the remembering her past thing. She liked the second option much better, since she wasn't quite sure she even liked Beast Boy, really.

Robin seemed to notice her for the first time since he disappeared into his room, and he waved at her to get her attention. (Not that he needed to try to get her attention, since she was still reeling, trying to make herself not be jealous of Starfire.) "Hey, I called your parents and told them you weren't feeling well, so I took you to the doctor," he said. (Lying came suspiciously easy to him, she thought, but then again, he'd have to be a good actor to keep a secret like being Batman's sidekick from the rest of Gotham, right?) "I told them it was probably nothing, and that I'd take you home if it was too serious, but you should be back up on your feet and able to go to the service project closing party if you wanted."

"Are you going?" she asked, ignoring the strange looks from the other Titans. After all, here she was, talking with Robin about his identity and what he did when he wasn't Robin, and they didn't even have a clue. (Well, that wasn't entirely true, since Starfire obviously seemed to have a clue; he probably told her forever ago, since they were going out and everything. For some reason, that just made the little green monster inside her grow even bigger.)

"I should go," he said carefully. "I don't want to make an even bigger scene than we already made."

But she understood completely what "I should" meant. It meant he didn't want to, but he would go so the others wouldn't be suspicious. How could he live like this? How could he go around pretending to be two totally separate people all the time? Didn't he ever get mixed up or confused? Did he ever slip up and forget to respond to one of his names?

Beast Boy had been looking from Terra to Robin and back and forth like that for some time now, and his eyes widened as recognition tore through his face. "You lied to me!" Beast Boy said, pointing his finger dramatically at Robin.

Raven raised an eyebrow, Cyborg smirked, and Starfire hugged his arm closer to her as Robin sighed heavily. "Look," he said, "I couldn't tell you, Beast Boy. Remember? I explained to you what would happen."

"She knows," Beast Boy said, pointing at Terra. (Oh, so she was "she" now? No name? Just someone who happened to know a secret?)

"I swear, beast Boy, I didn't know she was going to be there. And if you don't think it was hard trying to keep her from finding out, you're crazy."

"Would somebody please tell me what's going on?" Cyborg asked, throwing his hands in the air. Raven looked like she had basically figured it out but was simply waiting for Robin to confirm her suspicions. Terra wondered if she always looked like that or if that was just how she looked to people who didn't know her very well. (Of course, she realized, she did know Raven pretty well, so that didn't make any sense, either.)

"Robin's-that-guy-that-I-told-you-about-that-I-saw-with-Terra!" Beast Boy blurted out, slurring his words into one sentence so that Robin didn't have a chance to butt in and tell everyone himself. Terra smiled; she had to admit that Beast Boy was cute when he did that. Maybe, just maybe, he would be a little fun to hang out with.

Dick -- no, Robin; his name was Robin -- gritted his teeth, his eyes wide behind the mask. "Not here," he whispered quietly, dangerously.

Cyborg looked highly offended that Robin didn't trust his security systems, but obviously the team had been living together long enough for Cyborg to let it roll off his shoulder. "Where, then?" he managed to ask.

Robin motioned with a jerk of his head for them to follow him, so they did. The doors opened automatically, leading down a dim hallwaying lined with windows that she avoided because they were so high up. She watched him turn the corner, still holding her hand, when suddenly, Raven's hand was on her shoulder, stopping her from going any further.

"Don't pine," Raven said, her face strangely close to Terra's.

"I don't know what you're tlaking about," she said, shrugging off the hand and pushing her way through the hallway.

Raven appeared through the floor exactly in front of her, stopping her again. She smirked, "I know you don't remember everything, Terra, so I'll help you along. First of all, whom I want to talk to you, you listen." Terra felt herself shrinking under that gaze. "Second of all, you're two years behind."

"What do you mean?"

Raven looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening before she leaned forward and whispered, "Don't tell Beast Boy. It'll crush him. But two years ago, Terra and Robin had something together. It wasn't anything more than a mutual knowledge that there was something between them, but it was still there."

"Okay," she said, cocking one eyebrow, "why are you talking about me in the third person?"

"Because you're not that Terra," Raven said softly. "Robin didn't know it -- or else he just didn't want to know it -- but they bonded because they understood each other." She paused, then added, "Because of Slade."

She remembered the cold, metal disc sliding across the table and the hand that picked it up and examined it triumphantly. She tried to remind herself to hate the owner of the disc, not the hand -- the disc, not the hand -- and how could he mess with her head like this?

She shook her head, then looked up at Raven, who was already walking down the hallway. And she understood. Raven had already squashed her little green monster, so of course she would recognize Terra's monster, too.

They walked through the doors into Robin's room. (No one seemed surprised to see them both walk in late; maybe Raven grilled people on a regular basis.) Robin was leaning against his desk, still holding Starfire's hand. When he saw her, though, he finally managed to talk to her, "Close the door, please."

She closed the door, taking in the room. It look surprisingly . . . normal. Maybe she expected it to be darker, covered in news clippings and Slade masks and -- no, that was the office. Which was practically his room, since he spent all hist time there, sometimes even sleeping there.

"I didn't want to tell you guys," Robin said slowly, "because I didn't want to put you in danger."

"What are you talking about?" Cyborg asked.

Robin looked to the window -- to the east, towards Gotham. (Maybe he did that on purpose, facing himself back home so he wouldn't forget. It seemed like the kind of thing he'd do.) "Batman and I made a lot of enemies in Gotham," he said. "Enemies that would do anything to bring him down." (She noticed that he said "him" and not "us" and suddenly understood exactly why he and Bruce Wayne didn't talk much.)

"And if they thought they could learn who he was, they'd go to any lengths to do it," Raven cut in.

"Exactly," Robin nodded. "And I didn't want to put you in that position." He glanced at Terra, then continued, "But I never planned on an amnesiac former teammate spoiling my plans."

She blushed, "Sorry."

"So," Beast Boy prodded, sensing that she was embarrassed and immediately coming to her rescue, "you real name's Dick?"

"Dick Grayson," he nodded, then paused for a moment to let that sink in.

"Wait a minute. Like, the ward of Bruce Wayne? The Bruce Wayne?" Cyborg half-shouted, his arms waving in the air. Beast Boy looked just as surprised.

Raven, on the other hand, just looked thoughtful. "Dick Grayson," she muttered, then looked up at Robin with something like pity in her eyes. "The Flying Graysons?"

Robin looked surprised at that, but he recovered and nodded. "Yep. I was in the circus before I lived with Bruce. It was a good background to have when I started training with Batman." He cocked his head to one side, studying Raven. "The fall?" he asked quietly, sadly.

"I saw it when I went into your mind," she nodded.

Terra knew there was no way she knew what those two were talking about, so she decided to jump in, "Dick Grayson comes to Jump City for one week out of every year to help us rebuild the city."

"Terra just happened to be part of my usual service group," he chimed in, obviously grateful for the subject change. So there, Dick Grayson; she could be helpful, too!

"So that's what you do every year for spring cleaning?" Beast Boy asked, his eyes wide.

"I have pictures," she whispered to Beast Boy, and his entire face lit up with a smile.

"Let's see 'em."

She turned on her digital camera, but the screen stayed blank. "Hey, what's the big idea?" she muttered. "I just got this camera a few days ago."

Robin was suddenly at her side, holding his hand out for the camera. She handed it to him, expecting him to fix it. Instead, he opened up the back and started looking through the wires.

Then, he went pale.

TTTTTT

"Interesting."

He picked up the next magazine -- the one with Bruce Wayne at a charity banquet -- and thumbed through it until he reached the desired article. On the left side of the page, there was a picture of Bruce Wayne similar to the one on the cover. A picture of a young man -- about sixteen years old -- with black hair and blue eyes covered the right side. And, stretching across both pages, was the article title: "Family Trouble?"

Yes, this was the article he'd wanted to see. In the table of contents, he'd seen a familiar face next to an inset: "After two years apart, Bruce Wayne and foster son Richard Grayson wil finally be reunited at Grayson's eighteenth birthday party. But what set them at odds with each other in the first place?"

He felt his mouth twitch up into a half-smile. He hated celebrity gossip. But he flipped to the first page of the article anyway:

Bruce Wayne is Gotham's favorite billionaire. His parties, charity events, and strange social habits have always been a source of good material for this magazine. To an outsider, Wayne's life must seem perfect. After all, who wouldn't want all that money, all those parties, all that fame and glory?

But is Bruce Wayne's life really that perfect?

A little over two years ago, this magazine reported on the family problems at Wayne Manor. Wayne's ward, the popular Dick Grayson -- then a handsome, almost-sixteen-year-old -- announced his plans to leave Gotham and attend private school elsewhere. Although both Wayne and Grayson insisted that the move was only meant to help his education, every reporter present could practically see the tension between the two when they were together.

(Here, there was a picture of the interview, where the two men were avoiding looking at each other at all costs. The picture took up half the page, which meant the article continued on to the next page. It was a relatively short article, but the pictures took up the space that matched the money the magazine paid for it.)

In the years following the split, neither one has spoken to the other. Grayson stays in school for the summers -- apparently taking college courses in duel-enrollment -- and goes to friends' houses for the holidays. They haven't had any contact with each other beyond the possibility of phone calls, emails, and letters.

It could be that Grayson was tired of the public life. At one of the most recent social gatherings Grayson attended here in Gotham, he was overheard groaning about the lack of privacy. However, considering his previous time in the circus as a performer, it is not likely that he would be too uncomfortable being in the public eye.

It could have been Grayson's tentative relationship with Gotham's own Barbara Gordon. Miss Gordon was seen at Wayne Manor often, and the two were rumored to be dating before he left. (When asked about this, Miss Gordon has never offered any comment.) This explanation, however, wouldn't explain the tension between Grayson and Bruce Wayne.

The best explanation is simply that Dick Grayson is sick of living in Bruce Wayne's shadow. This reporter has discovered, through much investigation, that, while Dick Grayson is on track to graduate, it is not a high school graduation. By the end of next year, he will have an online business degree, probably in preparation to take his place in Wayne Enterprises. (This reporter will be investigating where Grayson is, if he's not in school, but rather, taking online classes from the school he says he's attending.)

Now, that's the track Bruce Wayne wants for him. But Dick Grayson is interested in making a name for himself in more than business. He has been seen taking interesting trips during Spring Break -- namely, service trips to Jump City to clean up after the Teen Titans there.

This reporter intends to find out what Dick Grayson's real plan for his future is when he returns to Gotham for his birthday party.

He put the article aside, stacking it on top of the Jump City magazine speculating about the boy's relationship with Starfire. (He couldn't stay out of the public eye in either life, could he?) He smiled; he looked forward to seeing Dick's face when the reporters mobbed him at the birthday party.

He picked up the remote, but the camera still wasn't responding. Of course, he should have realized that Robin would protect his room with technology to keep it from being bugged, technology that would deter people like him from snooping around. Not that it mattered. Planting the camera on the girl had been a good idea anyway.

He had expected the Teen Titans to investigate Terra's return, but he was happily surprised by the success of this particular endeavor. He never thought he would have discovered all he did, never dreamed the boy would be stupid enough to stick around when she clearly recognized him and put his identity in danger.

Slade smiled, leaning back in his chair. The listening device had been out of commission for far too long; they probably found it. Not that it mattered.