CHAPTER 24

Judge Naylor stood up slowly. "That's an oversight that we can correct. Um…Batman…If you would…" the Judge nodded toward the shiny batarang still in Robin's hand. Fighting the impulse to make the Judge ask Robin directly to put the weapon away, Batman leaned in and whispered into his ward's ear, "It's okay, Robin. You can put the batarang away. I think you're making them nervous."

Robin's angry expression remained but he slowly sheathed the batarang. "You aren't going to tie Batman up again, are you?"

"I…think that perhaps it's time to break for lunch," Wonder Woman suggested.

Robin scowled at her. "No. I won't go with Ms. Thornton again. I want to talk to the judge."

Judge Naylor shrugged. "All right then. I'll meet with Robin in my chambers while the rest of you go to lunch. Ah, no, Batman," he said as Batman made to follow Robin. "I think this should be a private conversation. Just Robin and I. All of you, come back in an hour and a half. That should give us enough time. Oh, and Robin," Judge Naylor looked at the young crime-fighter. "Leave your weapons with Batman, just for my peace of mind."

The prosecutor, attorneys and court staff watched with wide eyes as Robin took off his utility belt and handed it to Batman, then gradually removed a small pile of various weaponry from pockets, seams, boots and gauntlets in his costume. When the final explosive and pocket knife dropped into Batman's hands, Robin held out his arms outstretched. "Okay, that's it."

Batman smiled at the expressions of the court staff. "All right, Robin. I'll give it back to you when I get back. See you later." He turned and, with Wonder Woman, left the court room, followed by the two attorneys and the court staff.

"Ahem…okay, Robin, let's go into my chambers," Judge Naylor said, opening a wooden door behind the bench. He followed Robin in and closed the door behind them. Robin looked around himself with interest. It was a large, high-ceilinged room with walls covered with books. A big walnut desk sat in front of the window, with two cushioned leather chairs facing it. The desk was covered with stacks of files on both sides with a narrow cleared surface in the middle. "Why don't you sit down," the judge said, taking off his robe and hanging it on the coat hanger next to the door. He was wearing a business suit under the robe.

Robin climbed into the leather chair and tried to get comfortable. The judge sat in the other leather chair and not behind the desk as he'd expected.

"So, nobody has asked you what you want, yet? Well, I'd like to know," Judge Naylor said.

Abruptly, Robin realized where he was and who he was talking to and found himself speechless. "Um…."

The judge smiled. "It's okay. I get that a lot. Don't let all this get to you. I've got twin sons about your age. Tell you what, let's start this simply. You're eleven years old and you've been living with Batman since you were nine?"

"Yeah," Robin gulped. "Since my parents died."

"Why don't you tell me what you can about that?"

"My Mom and Dad were murdered by a gangster and…and I was there. I saw it and Zu…the gangster knew I was a witness. I didn't have any family to go to so B..Batman took me in," Robin's face took on a sad, lost look as he talked about his family.

"Whose idea was it for you to become Robin?" the Judge watched his young charge carefully.

"Both of us, really. I wanted to find my parents' killer and I'd have done it on my own if I had to. Batman offered me a better way to do it. He trained me in martial arts, forensics, logic, the law…We finally caught the gangster in the end and he's in prison. I've been his partner ever since," Robin said, the sadness not quite fading from his face.

"And you live with Batman?" Naylor asked.

"Yes. He's kinda like a Dad to me. He's been really great," Robin said with enthusiasm. "It doesn't make up for my parents' dying, but he tries."

"So he treats you like a son?" The judge asked, watching closely.

"Either a son or a little brother, I'm not sure if he knows which. But we do normal family stuff, go to ball games, he goes to my school activities when he can. He…um…has his own business that takes a lot of his time; besides being Batman, that is," Robin moved uncomfortably a bit. Judge Naylor noted that. The child looked like a naturally truthful boy. Probably uncomfortable with secrecy.

"The CPS nurse thought that there was too much secrecy in your life. What do you think?"

"I don't much like having to be so secret, but I know why Batman insists on it. Especially after this week…" Robin met the judge's gaze directly. "When they don't know where you are, you're safe. Doing what we do, that's important. See this?" he held up his left arm. "They paid the guards to open my bedroom door at the Youth Center. I was asleep when they attacked me; I'm lucky I got away with seventeen stitches. And this," he held up his casted right arm, wincing a bit. "Two-Face didn't have to know where I was, because my foster-father did and was glad to give me up." The sadness was in his face again. "I've been all alone since Ms. Barry took me away from Batman. With a big, fat, juicy target on my back."

"But it's so dangerous being Robin," Judge Naylor said. "Aren't you scared?"

Robin sighed. "I've been more scared in the week I've been in foster care than in two years with Batman. Don't you get it? When I'm with Batman, no matter how bad it gets, I know that as long as Batman is there, I'm not alone. Sure, I'm scared, but I know he has my back. Just like I've got his."

Judge Naylor leaned forward a bit. "The incident with Harvey Dent worries me, Robin. You're very young and don't know the world very well. What happened to you was very bad and the fact that it was your relationship with Batman that put you into that position, doesn't speak well of him."

Robin looked at the judge with a face wild with grief. "Doesn't love count for anything? When…after Two-Face beat me up, Batman sat by my bedside every night…every night for a month because I kept having nightmares." Robin scrubbed at his eyes with a gauntleted hand. "He's just spent a week guarding me. I'm just a kid, but I know this…I belong with him, he's my Dad and the only family I've got left. Do you think any of those CPS people care what happens to me? I'm simply another kid in the system, being moved around from stranger to stranger. If…when…I get killed, they'll just say 'oh, how sad' and get along with their lives." He wrapped both arms around his knees and put his head down. "Batman cares if something happens to me. I'm not just a…a…job to him. I'm his kid!"

The judge looked troubled. "Batman has argued that if you are left in the foster care system, it's likely that you'll be killed by the criminal element. What do you think about that?"

"That's just common sense," Robin snorted. "I've been there a week and so far I've been targeted what? Four times? no, five if you count lunch time yesterday. There's only one safe place for me, and that's by Batman's side! And besides, Batman needs me."

"Your welfare may require other plans for you," the Judge replied with raised eyebrows.

Robin frowned deeply, looking much like his mentor when angry. "My welfare? What about Batman's welfare? You know what'll happen if I go back to the CPS? Batman's gonna get himself killed trying to save me from some criminal wanting the bounty on me. He's already in bad shape after just this week. I won't let you hurt him anymore."

"You're worried about Batman's safety?" Judge Naylor leaned back in his chair.

"That's my job," Robin explained. "I watch his back. And besides…" His voice trailed off.

"And besides?" Naylor asked.

"I…I don't want to lose him," Robin said softly. "I owe him a lot. I've got a home with him. He loves me…" He blushed and looked down, embarrassed.

"I have to put you in the best place for you, not for Batman," Naylor said quietly. "The prosecutor and Ms. Thornton have raised some good points. You're in danger almost constantly with Batman."

Robin sighed and tucked his knees in tighter. "I'm in constant danger when I'm in their foster homes. Hector and Josh told me all about the system; it's the law of the jungle in there and they're right. In foster care, I'm just a little kid surrounded by tigers."

Judge Naylor was silent a moment. "I'm sorry, Robin, but it's just not safe…" When Robin was about to protest, he raised a hand. "I'm sorry, son, but I'm leaning towards finding you some other situation, although my mind isn't made up yet. Now that I've had a chance to talk to you, I know what your preferences are. We usually close the hearing by letting the two attorneys each make an oral argument, then I withdraw and consider all the evidence and decide whether you should continue as a ward of the County and be released for potential adoption by a suitable family."

At the word 'adoption', Robin's eyebrows drew in and he suddenly looked like his mentor at his angriest. "Judge, I can promise you this. If you take me away from Batman, nothing you or anyone can do will keep me in the Youth Center. You'll be sorry you ever met me and you'll never be able to find me if I choose to disappear."

Judge Naylor was startled at the fierceness of the boy's tone and his adult demeanor. When this kid said it, it wasn't a threat, it was a promise.

At lunch, Batman moodily sat at the table and sipped his bottled water while Wonder Woman toyed with a salad. "A penny for your thoughts, Batman," she said, trying to be cheerful. The testimony with the lasso had not gone as well as she'd hoped.

"I'm going to lose him," Batman said in a low growl. "They won't let me anywhere near him because I'm so unsuitable a parent."

"We don't know that yet," Wonder Woman pushed the salad away and concentrated on her friend. "And if the decision goes against you, there's always the chance of an appeal. The League won't tolerate the way you're being treated. There's too much at stake, here."

"I doubt that the League is up in arms because of my personal life," Batman commented dryly. "There's undoubtedly the larger issue."

"Does it matter? You'll still benefit from the League's support. Yes, we need to train a rising generation of heroes to take over when we retire. But there's also the civil rights aspect of this, the right to have and raise children in your own way, what was it? The Yoder case," Wonder Woman tapped the table with an immaculately groomed nail.

"Yes, but we aren't Amish, trying to keep our kids peacefully down on the farm," Batman replied.

"No," she frowned. "We're training our children to defend the planet against invaders and super-criminals. That should be of primary importance to the governments of the Earth. We are too few and we lose more every year to the criminal element. We have to be able to recruit and train protégés without being labeled negligent parents. And not only that," she smiled at Batman. "But the League needs you at full speed, not distracted with petty attacks like this."

"This attack was anything but petty," Batman murmured. "More like a death-blow, I'd say. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that there was something else behind it." He stretched his arms. "But no, it's just one man's ill-directed determination to save Robin from a lifestyle he didn't understand."

"Oh, you found out that Judge Simmons sparked this whole thing? Not from Gotham, is he?" Wonder Woman finished her fruit juice.

"No. His city doesn't have costumed heroes, so he doesn't understand," Batman capped his empty water bottle. "We'd better go back and see how Robin's doing."

Batman and Wonder Woman arrived a bit before the lawyers did. They found a tense-looking Robin seated at the defense counsel table. Batman sat down on one side of the boy, while Wonder Woman took the chair on the other side.

"What's wrong, Robin?" Batman asked.

Robin looked at him, eyes stony. "I explained to the judge that I want to be with you. He listened but I don't think he's going to agree. Batman, he talked about putting me up for adoption with some other family."