AN: I'm quite aware that I am not technologically savvy, and therefore I've made stuff up using things from TV and movies, when it comes to tracking and computer parts for this chapter - go with me.
However, I do realize that for those readers who do have the 'know-how' that it can be incredibly frustrating when things are just blatantly wrong. Therefore I'm happy to receive any words of wisdom individuals would like to pass on, so that their reading experience is enjoyable :-)
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Robin looked up when he heard the zeta-tube chime, walking towards him was Batgirl, Kid Flash and Artemis. None of them looked happy.
"You okay?" asked Batgirl as she looked the younger teenager up and down, his uniform was scuffed up and he was missing his utility belt and wrist computer.
Robin stood up, "'m fine," he grunted.
"Those bruises say differently," pointed out Artemis.
Robin touched his neck where Dick had choked him out, then shrugged. "They'll heal and they won't slow me down. Dick knew what he was doing."
"Dick's gone off the reservation," huffed Artemis. She held a hand up to Kid Flash to stop him jumping into Dick's defense. "He's done a lot of reckless s-"
Robin interrupted, "No, Dick knew what he was doing."
"You've said that already," pointed out Batgirl.
"If Dick really wanted to hurt me, he could have done a lot more damage. He could have held on longer, made sure I didn't wake up for a long time. But he didn't, he choked me out just long enough so that he could take my wrist computer and belt."
"Okay, I'm assuming he needed the stuff in your belt to escape the watchtower," said Artemis.
"He used the smoke pellets, you can see the residue," pointed out Robin.
"He'd need more than smoke pellets to escape Batman," pointed out Batgirl.
"And Wonder Woman," added Robin.
"Wonder Woman is here?" asked Kid Flash.
"Yeah, her and Batman have been in the conference room since Dick left," pointed out Robin.
"Okay, tell me this, you picked Dick up in Gotham, right? So why did you bring him here? Why not go to the Batcave?" asked Artemis.
"Batman told us to," said Batgirl automatically, before she looked at Robin.
"Okay, they're doing that bat thing where they have a whole conversation without actually saying something outload," pointed out Kid Flash in a fake whisper, as he elbowed Artemis.
"I can see that," smirked Artemis. "Spill it guys, what have you just thought of?"
"When Batman told us to bring Dick here, we just assumed it was because Dick would know how to escape the cave," said Batgirl.
"But Dick knows the Watchtower better than any of us," added Robin. "So why come here?"
"Like you said, Dick is good at that escapologist stuff," said Artemis. "At least here there would be other leaguers."
"So where were they?" asked Kid Flash.
"Wonder Woman was on watch duty," said Robin. "The others, I actually don't know."
"Wait, so Batman, the guy who has more secrets than anyone we know. The guy who doesn't share, decided to bring his eldest son who's gone over to the dark-side to the Watchtower of all places where other people can witness what's become of Dick. That doesn't make sense."
"Specifically, the bit about Dick going to the dark-side," added Kid Flash. Artemis elbowed him in the ribs. "Oomph!"
"My point, was why Batman would bring Dick here?" asked Artemis. The four teens looked at each other as they thought about it.
"Dick told Batman he had to let him go or he couldn't save me," muttered Robin. He looked up and over to the doors of the conference room. "Batman knew!" growled Robin as he marched over to the conference door, the other teens calling out and following behind him.
Robin pushed the conference door open with enough force that the door slammed into the wall and bounced back, nearly hitting Batgirl in the face as she tried to keep up with the younger teenager.
"Robin-"
"Tell the truth!" snapped Robin pointing his finger at Batman. "You've known exactly where Dick has been this whole time."
"Robin, that's ridiculous," said Batgirl. She looked over to Batman and Wonder Woman who were standing on opposite sides of the conference table. "Oh, god," she gasped.
"Dick told me, that things weren't what they seemed," said Robin. "He also keeps repeating that we don't have all the facts. So what are we missing?"
"Robin-"
"Batman, if you do not tell them then I will," said Wonder Woman firmly.
"Tell us what?" asked Kid Flash.
"It was Dick's choice," said Batman.
"The whole truth, Bruce," warned Wonder Woman.
Batman looked over to her before looking back at the teenagers. "I found Dick two months after Deathstroke had taken him."
"You what!" snapped Kid Flash. Artemis grabbed his arm to hold him back.
"Let him finish," she whispered.
"Dick has been with Deathstroke for five months and yet he knew where Dick was for the past two months, this-"
"You gave him a mission," growled Robin, interrupting Kid Flash.
"It's not that simple," answered Batman. "The-"
"Don't you dare say, the greater good!" yelled Batgirl, uncharacteristically speaking out against her mentor. "Dick was injured and he… he…"
"He'd do anything for you," finished Robin. "Anything to prove that he was still useful. He-"
"I think we need to hear everything, from the beginning," interrupted Artemis before emotions got too high. She stared at Batman, keeping a strong grip on Wally as she did, so she wouldn't back down from the dark knight.
There was silence in the conference room while Artemis continued to hold her nerve against the dark knight, until finally Batman nodded. "I suggest you all take a seat."
Flashback
The security guard followed silently behind the teenager dressed in black who was moving swiftly through the office block hallways. Stopping in front of the main server room, the teenager pulled out a small handheld tool from a pouch on the back of his belt.
A few quick movements later and the panel of the electronic lock was removed and the teenager had crossed the wires to bypass the lock and the door opened.
The guard made his move then, grabbing a hold of the boy, twisting one of the boy's arms behind his back, pushing them both into the room, he held the teenager up against the wall pushing the side of his face into the wall. The teenager grunted as he struggled, trying to use his one free arm to get leverage and maneuver away from his assailant.
The hand holding his head still, moved suddenly, pulling the comm. out of the teenager's ear, the sound of it being crushed under a boot echoed through the room.
"Chum, it's me," said a familiar low voice. Dick automatically froze, the hands holding him against the wall let him go, allowing Dick to step away and spin around to face Bruce. He frowned slightly when he looked at the disguised man. He was wearing prosthetics and a wig to hide his identity and wearing the Wayne Enterprises security guard uniform, instead of the Batman uniform.
"It took you long enough," huffed Dick as he sagged slightly against the wall, wincing as he held his left arm close to his body, his shoulder aching. He didn't care right now why Bruce hadn't come as Batman.
"I'm sorry," said Bruce.
"You never apologise," said Dick as he looked up at Bruce in shock. Seeing Bruce's expression, Dick couldn't help the slight giggle that left him. "You're not here to take me home, are you?"
"Not yet," sighed Bruce.
"You can't leave me with this monster!" Dick snapped as he pulled off the face shield so that Bruce could get a good look at the multiple layers of bruises that covered his face, along with the split lip and stitches across his temple.
"Listen to me Dick, we don't have much time," said Bruce. "Deathstroke stole a next generation weapon, I need you to find out where he is keeping it and what he plans to do with it."
"Are you insane!" snapped Dick. All the anger he felt towards Bruce before he was kidnapped coming back full force. How could he do this to him?
"Is he planning on selling it, or using it himself?" continued Bruce, ignoring Dick's outburst. "You're the only one who can do this."
"You fired me from being Robin and now you want me to stay with Deathstroke?" hissed Dick as he pushed away from the wall. Walking further away from Bruce. This was so typical of Batman. The mission always came first.
"It's important chum. Deathstroke stole that weapon as part of a contract for Ra's Al Ghul the week before he took you. At this time I don't know if the two things are connected-"
"Deathstroke took me because he's a psychopath!" snapped Dick spinning back to face Bruce.
"Dick, you're the only one who can find out this information, if there was another way-"
"How about just another Robin," growled Dick. "Or is Jason too important to be left in a criminal's hands."
Bruce sighed, as he looked down at his watch. Deathstroke would come looking for Dick soon, he needed to speed this up. "You have more skills than Jason, which is why I trust you to be able to complete this mission.
"Find out where Deathstroke is keeping the weapon and what he is going to use it for. If he's working for Ra's or even The Light, then the likelihood is that he'll be targeting the League, which means Jason is in danger."
As soon as he mentioned Jason, he saw the tension leak out of Dick. The teenager turned around slowly to look back at Bruce, the fight drained out of the boy. "You can handle this, I trust you, and I'll be able to track you from this point onwards. You won't be alone."
"How?"
"Subdural nanite technology-"
"That won't work," sighed Dick. "Deathstroke frequently sweeps for bugs."
"The technology is untraceable by conventual means. It doesn't admit a signal that can be detected, instead it picks up a unique frequency. Once the signal gets picked-up, I will be alerted and will then be able to further narrow down your location."
Bruce pulled out a small device that looked like an epi-pen. "The needle can go through your clothing and directly into the muscle."
Dick nodded and let Bruce approach, crouching down he informed Dick to relax, right before he jabbed the needle into Dick's thigh.
"I'm going to need a reason for why I've taken so long," sighed Dick as he rubbed his leg to ease the slight pain.
"There's no cameras in here," answered Bruce. "If Deathstroke decided to look at the security footage, he'll see a guard following you into the room, you can explain that you fought. Now you need to download the information you were instructed to get, the servers have already been unlocked."
Bruce stepped to the side, to let Dick have access to the terminal. Dick pulled out a USB stick, inserting the device and started the search, finding the information he needed he started the download.
Dick looked up suddenly when the server room door started to open, "What is taking so long?" asked Deathstroke entering the room. "Ah, entertaining the hosts I see."
Dick looked behind him to see Bruce face down on the floor, not moving. The crushed comm. and Dick's discarded face shield on the floor beside him.
"I got the data," said Dick holding up the USB. Before he bent down to pick up the face shield.
"Are you hurt?" asked Deathstroke looking Dick up and down.
"'m fine," huffed Dick.
"Then let's go, our exit window is closing." Deathstroke lead the way out, with Dick close behind him.
End Flashback
The conference room was silent as Batman finished his explanation. Right before all four teenagers started yelling at the man at the same time.
"How could you?"
"That wasn't a choice!"
"He trusted you!"
"How did you find him?"
"You've known the whole time"
"You manipulated him and us!"
"He's your son-"
"Enough!" snapped Wonder Woman, silencing the teenagers. "What is done, is done."
"He purposefully put Dick at risk," growled Robin pointing at Batman. "That wasn't a choice, it was an ultimatum."
Kid Flash laughed, making everyone look at him in surprise. "That's what Dick said, the first time we saw him on the roof when he was stealing the microprocessor."
"What's the difference between a choice and an ultimatum," recited Artemis as she remembered the event.
"I always thought he was talking about Deathstroke, but he was talking about you!"
"Dick made his choice when he became Robin, just like we all did. He's strong, he-"
"Then why did he leave?" interrupted Robin. "We got him back, we brought him here, he had the opportunity to hand over any information he had gained. Instead he chose to break out and leave. Why?"
"Sometimes when you play a role, you can forget your true self," answered Wonder Woman gently.
"That sounds like you think he's gone rogue," huffed Artemis.
"Maybe just lost. Now we know we can track him, we should bring him home. Remind Dick what he is truly fighting for."
"I don't believe Dick would go to the dark-side," said Kid Flash adamantly. "He must have a reason for leaving."
"He remote accessed the bat-computer, downloaded a root-key," said Batman.
Batgirl frowned, "That's like an all access pass to any computer system there is, why would Dick need that? Especially since he could probably write his own code for his own root-key.
"Batman, what was this weapon which Deathstroke stole?"
"It's an experimental single origin, multi-detonation weapon of four different targets. A high payload but can fit into a back-pack," explained Batman.
"Okay, so I doubt the root-key would be for that. Robin, you said he took your wrist-computer?"
"Yeah."
"That must be what the micro-processor is for. That would boost the operating system, the root-key isn't something we would have on the wrist-computer so maybe Dick still needs to access some information, or find someone."
"But Deathstroke had the contract before he took Dick, which means he would have the target locations already, he wouldn't need Dick to find them for him," said Artemis.
"Unless Dick made his own deal with Deathstroke," said Batman. Everyone looked over to the dark knight, waiting for him to explain further. "Deathstroke wanted an apprentice, perhaps Dick agreed on the condition that Jason would be safe."
"That's what he said before he left," added Wonder Woman. "You had a choice, save him or save Jason. You can't do both."
"You know I'm really tired of all these ultimatums. I'm still kicking, so let's go save the self-sacrificing idiot and bring him home," said Robin. "I say we end this today."
"Agreed, let's bring our boy home," smiled Batgirl.
Batman pulled up the holo-computer and typed in a few commands. "He's currently in Bludhaven."
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AN: Thanks for sticking with me on this journey, it's been a tough couple of months for myself which meant writing took a backseat for a while. I'll try not to make any promises on when the next update will be, but I do hope it will be sooner than before.
All comments and opinions are gratefully received :-)