Robin: The Written Series
Title: This Is Who I Am
A/N: I hope that this is a good sequel to Fall Of The Bat, but still, this DOES have some Robin/Raven talked about quite a bit. Please R&R!
~Robin: The Written Series~
Bat-Cave/4:00 AM/August 6th
It was four AM when Batman and Robin returned from a long night patrolling. It had been ridiculous how many people they had faced that night, but finally, they were safe at home in the Bat-cave. Batman, cowl down and showing his baby blue eyes and long raven colored hair, stifled a yawn as he worked on the massive computer before him. He hadn't slept in five days, but that didn't stop him from finishing up on his work. It was so odd, being up so late and for so long again, after Dick had changed from being Nightwing in Bludhaven to Batman, he had found alot of things extremely overwhelming. However, he hid this from his friends and family by acting relaxed and carefree, while on the inside he was screaming and overworked. He smiled as he saw Damian Wayne, his ten year old brother, pull off his own mask to reveal bright green eyes that matched his mother Talia's.
Despite having his mothers eyes, Damian was a spitting image of his father, inside and out it seemed like. Even with this in mind, Dick loved Damian, he wanted to make sure his brother would be okay now that Bruce was gone. t had been hard on everyone, and even if Damian never showed it, he was hurting inside, it was only his assassins training and strong stubbornness that kept him from breaking down. Maybe that's what Dick liked about Dami, he kept his head even when everything seemed hopeless and terrible. Dick almost wished he had had that kind of power at Damian's age, but that had been the age where he had ran away to start the Teen Titans and escape from Batman's teachings. It had been a hard time for Dick, and if he could change anything, he would make himself talk to Bruce sooner and not three full years after the fight.
But he in no way regretted running away, after all, it had led him to the love of his life. Raven. the two had fallen in love after he had broken up with Starfire, it had ended pretty sadly, so having Raven there to latch onto really saved his life. Looking back on it all now, Dick wondered why he had allowed himself to grow up so quickly, why did he give everything up to become an adult at such a young age, had it even been worth it? No, it wasn't. he had lost his childhood in doing so, and if Dick really thought about it, things would have been so much better if he had played more or enjoyed his life instead of distracting himself with fighting the wars of good and evil. But it was too late now, and as much as Dick hated to admit it, nothing was about to change besides raising Damian and attempting to give him the best life possible.
Damian gazed at Richard with a dark glare, he hated Grayson so much, the twenty six year old was nothing but a circus freak. Nothing more, nothing less. But what nagged at Damian the most was how positive Dick was, even when captured or when everything was falling apart, he was never nearly as angry and upset as Damian was. It irked the ten year old. Finally, he watched as Dick turned around in his chair and sent a kind and goofy smile the young and serious boy before him. Unknown to anyone but Dick and Raven, but they were expecting a baby in a few months. The two had only gotten married three months ago, yet they were already wanting a child. Raven had been pregnant for six months already, yet Dick knew that he should be less stressed out about it all. So, he hid it with a signature smile as he thought of Raven alone at home, wondering if he'd back alive or not.
"Hey Dami, you should really head to bed, birdie." Dick warned as he yawned loudly, struggling to hide it.
Damian sent a deadly glare at Dick. "I could say the same to you, Grayson. My father would never act so childish!" He snapped a bit at the end, but regretted it as soon as it left his mouth.
Dick looked horribly hurt for only a few seconds as he stared at the stone floor, then sent a kind smile to Damian. "Yeah... I'm a pretty terrible Batman, huh?" He asked aloud.
Damian just stared at the man before him, how could he have taken such a terrible insult so lightly? That's when Damian remembered... he remembered the stories Dick had told him about his childhood. He had dealt with alot, being Batman's first child after all, he had been the one to really be tested on parenting wise for Bruce. He had always talked about with a certain... edge in his voice. Damian would never understand Richard, the man was an enigma, that was for sure. He had heard alot more then he ever imagined before even meeting Dick a few years ago. Damian had heard about how plenty of villains had tried to capture and use Dick in his youth, but he always escaped or refused in the end, never giving in. But still, it was so hard for Damian to respect Dick sometimes, he was just so... childish.
"Dami?" Dick asked, using the nickname Damian hated. "You should get to bed, trooper."
Damian sent a terrible bat-glare at Dick, but the man was unaffected. "Shut it, Grayson! I'm too old to be treated like a child!"
Dick sighed, looking away as a bit of his true fatigue showed, sudden concern filled Damian as he watched Dick. sure, he was seriously infuriated by the man at times, but he was still his big brother and protector as of late. And no matter how much Damian denied it, he was very worried about Richard. Hiding this, Damian made a small 'Tt' noise as he looked at Dick, staring into those crystal blues filled with a deep fear that Damian couldn't quite place, it was most masked with fake cheerfulness and relaxation when it was obvious to any well trained hero/villain or someone who knew Dick well enough that he was in deep thought. Yet, Dick simply hid it so well.
"You should rest as well, Grayson... good night." Damian muttered as he pulled off his costume and changed into his night wear, leaving the young bat in peace.
Dick turned away, his eye glued the computer as he continued to work, dismissing Damian's suggestion as he once again buried himself in work. "Sorry Dami... I hope you know that I'm doing this all for you..." He whispered into the darkness.
Watchtower/1:00 PM/August 6th
After hours and hours of research, Batman had taken Robin with him to the Watchtower, where he was now slowly dozing off as he very slowly sipped his coffee. He sat with all of his old teammates, including Terra (She got her memory back YEARS ago), Changeling (Once called Beast Boy), Raven (His beautiful wife), Starfire (Dating Aqualad as of yet) and finally Cyborg (He had married Bumblebee years ago and now had twins, one boy and one girl). The hero, Batman, struggled to stay awake as he nearly fell asleep again, but was stopped from doing so as Terra shook his shoulder roughly, making him snap out of it and sighing sadly.
"You okay, birdie?" Raven asked, she only called him that if they were flirting or if he was depressed. "You've been out of it lately... by the way, I went to the doctors yesterday, our baby may come three or four weeks early."
Batman hardly registered this, simply nodding numbly as he groaned, rubbing his forehead as he removed his cowl. It wasn't a problem since everyone in the league already knew his identity. "Hey man, you should sleep." Cyborg suggested in a brotherly manner.
Changeling gave Richard a hard look. "Okay Dick, how long has it been since you last slept?"
Batman sighed a bit softer this time, staring at the floor as he, very reluctantly, told the truth. "Six days." He admitted.
"Are you serious, Richard?" Starfire asked, she had long since learned to talk properly in English, in fact, she was almost better at speaking English then Tamaranian. "I know now of all of the traditions on earth, but this... you're killing yourself."
"No... I'm okay... trust me..." Batman muttered, and like that, he was out, falling unconsciously into sleep on the marble table as he let out soft mews, sleeping soundly as his coffee spilled everywhere, even in his long, raven colored hair.
Changeling snickered at Richard, wrapping an arm around Terra, his lover, as he watched his 'Oh so fearless leader' sleep like a log before him. "Man, I haven't seen him crash this bad since that one time we all accidentally got drunk when he was, like, twelve I think (3)."
"Yeah... help me with him, we'll drop him off in his room here for awhile." Cyborg said as he stood, easily grabbing Dick bridal style and dropping him off in Batman's old bedroom (Bruce Wayne) and throwing a blanket over the man before leaving him in peace.
As Cyborg walked back to the common room, he ran into none other then Impulse (1) and Robin. "Oh, hey little men, whats up?"
Damian sighed loudly as he crossed his arms, sending a glare at Impulse. "This fool somehow lost his game control in the heating vents while super speeding through the walls earlier, he expects me to find it for him."
Impulse smiled happily, shrugging. "Don't be like that, Robin. I didn't force you! You agreed to help me with my little... problem."
"Only because you have blackmail over me, Allen." Robin explained, glaring evilly at Impulse.
Cyborg nodded. "Well, just thought that I'd let you know that your bro is knocked out in Bats old room." He said as he passed.
Damian cursed under his breath as he turned to Impulse, glaring viciously at him. "I have business to take care of now, Allen. I will retrieve your toy later." He explained, already heading to Batman's room.
Impulse nodded, then speeded to his side as he followed Damian for the walk. "Okay, buddy. But still... have you heard the news yet? Well, of course you haven't, but I have in the future (2)!"
"Excuse me?" Damian said as he swooped around, if Impulse knew something that he didn't, he wanted to know it as soon as possible, he already lost Batman since Impulse never warned them, he wasn't about to lose someone else. "What is it you know, tell me!" The bird demanded.
"Fine fine... Raven, you know, Batman's wife... she's having a baby!" Impulse said, smiling brightly as he already knew of what the child was like in the future. "Isn't that great... where are you going, Damian?"
Damian didn't even look at Impulse as he left the speedsters side. "To see my brother, now go away."
Shrugging, Impulse speeded off, leaving Damian Wayne to enter his brothers room. It was much smaller then Dick's room at the manor, but it was still okay, it had a few circus posters on the wall since Batman spent alot of time here and had everything quite organized. Stepping up to the heroes bed, Damian was surprised to see Batman still out like a light, his cowl off completely as he laid sprawled out on the large bed, sleeping softly about go knows what. Without realizing it, Damian felt tears running down his face. He cursed loudly before whipping them away, glaring at Dick as the man slept. Why was Damian even crying? He wasn't worried about the baby taking his place or being Dick's new favorite, he didn't care if Dick would be too busy to be with him once the baby was born, he wasn't afraid of Dick leaving him just like Bruce did when he died... okay, so maybe he was scared of losing Dick. But still, Damian knew that if Dick had a child after all, it was acceptable for him to move on and care for them instead of Damian... yeah.
The young ex-assassin felt more tears fall as he watched Dick, seeing the man that had taken care of him for years now, never giving up on him. Even when Damian had acting like a jerk, swore, screamed or insulted Dick, the man was still so patient with Damian, no matter how angry he was inside. It puzzled Damian... but he was grateful for the love and affection, it was better then being a lonely orphan after all. Damian wondered if Dick ever felt alone as a kid, whenever he ran away, was he scared? Was he scared when he lost his parents, when he was kidnapped time after time by Joker and other Gotham villains, when Slade took him away from his friends... was he terrified then? Actually... had Dick even been afraid when he married Raven? Did he even know that so much would change throughout the months? But still... Damian wanted Dick to be happy... even if his brothers future didn't involve him.
Turning away, Damian was about to leave, but a sleepy voice stopped him in tracks. "Dami... my baby isn't gonna replace you..." Dick muttered, having secretly seen Damian the whole time and had even heard Impulse tell Damian the truth. "Look... I may end up having a baby, but that just means that we're all gonna be even closer together. Raven will move into the manor with us, we'll raise the baby in the manor. And look... I'll keep protecting you and raising you too." He promised.
Damian bit back a sob as he swooped around, hugging his brother tightly before letting go, wiping away a few tears. "Fine... I wasn't scared anyways... its just a freaking baby after all. But... never tell a soul that I cried, you got it, Grayson?" He threatened.
Dick chuckled softly. "Fine fine... night Dami." And with that, Dick was once again out like a light.
"Good." Damian muttered as he left, closing the door tightly before sighing. Suddenly, he was greeted with Impulse standing directly behind him.
"Hey Damian!... dude, are you crying?" Impulse asked, poking the robins face curiously.
Yanking out his sword that Damian secretly used sometimes still, he glared daggers at Impulse. "You're DEAD Bart Allen."
"Hey you said my first name for once... wait... AHHHHHH!" Impulse ran for dear life into the commons, grabbing a bit of food before taking off again. "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
"Get back here you speeding, idiotic punk!" Damian screamed as he charged through the commons after the speedster, his sword he;d over his head as he screamed the whole way after Impulse.
Terra chuckled as she kissed Changeling on the cheek before turning back to gaze at Damian, smiling as he starting sneaking through a vent to find the speedster. "Apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, huh?" She asked aloud.
Raven nodded as she smiled, remembering a time when a twelve year old Dick Grayson would chase Kid Flash around the Titans Tower after the speedster would steal his mask. "Yes... it appears that Damian really is like his brother after all... even if he never admits it."
A/N: what do you think? Please oh please, R&R!
(1)- Using the same Impulse from Young Justice, lets just pretend he showed up around this timeline, okay?
(2)- He's from the future in Young Justice and talked about already knowing Tim Drake and Dick Grayson's identities.
(3)- I may or may not make a One-Shot on this event, but I might not, we'll see later on.
~Supercasey.
