The news often debating whether Batman was a bad dad or not because of the missions he let her go on, but truthfully, there were still missions he didn't let her go with him to. She hated these times! Even though he was not her blood father she still cared for him and she didn't want to feel the loss of a third parent, especially when the anniversery of her parents death was so near. It had happened only two weeks before her birthday.
On the occations that Batman left her behind, Alfred would attempt to keep her company and distract her from her worry, but they both knew that the night would end the same way it always did. With Robin curled up in a chair in the Batcave, waiting for her father to get home. It was how it always was. Batman would come back and carry her to her room, assuring her he was alright, even if he was bruised at those times.
That was how tonight was. She was sitting in Batman's chair, which was quite large, a green blanket wrapped around her and her stuffed toy gorilla in her arms, his head over the blanket, watching the door protectively. She had fallen asleep long before, her eyes no longer being able to stay open. Robin had stared at the door that would open up and allow the batmobile in when her father returned until her eyes had grown heavy and sleep had taken her.
Batman knew all this, since it had happen so many times. So when he returned home, with Superman in tow, he was not surprised to see the bundle that signified his daughter's presence. He put a finger to his lips, telling the Kryptonian to be quiet before pointing to the green blanket. From their point of view all they could see was a green blanket and a gorilla head the size of a child's head, so the wealthy man could understand why his friend frowned and walked forward to study the odd bundle.
When he was standing in front of the chair he was able to look down and see a small, child's face hidden under the folds of the blanket. Superman seemed more shocked then when he was wondering about the gorilla head. He looked from the girl to Batman, who was walking up with a smile on his face and no mask covering his face.
"She's gorgeous," Superman whispered, having heard so much about the little Grayson from his friend. It didn't take much to see his friend had easily slipped into proud dad mode the moment the invinisable man had spoken.
"I know," he assured, smiling down at his foster daughter. "Do you want to meet her?" At his friends nod, he crouched down, moving the blanket slightly so he could still see her face. "Riley, sweetie, there's someone here to meet you."
Slowly, eyelids opened and Superman was able to see blue reveal themselves. They were a breathtaking blue, reminding the man of some of the deepest sections of ocean he had flown over. He held his breath as the little girl blinked. The Flash hadn't been joking when he said she was adorable, for what she did next was one of the sweetest things Superman had seen a child do.
"Daddy!" She threw herself forward into Batman's arms, who easily caught her. "I missed you!"
"I missed you to, Sweetheart." Batman easily slipped into his true self whilst holding his daughter. He smiled up at his friend, nudging the girl's shoulder. "Riley, this is my friend, Clark Kent, also known as Superman, Clark, this is Riley, whose Robin."
Clark crouched down as Riley shifted so she could shake his hand as she still cuddled into Bruce. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." He was shocked at how strong her handshake was for a girl her age. He could see why Batman had allowed such a young child become his sidekick, seeing as she was clearly strong for her age, though the way she clung to her father figure hid it. "Your father has told me a lot about you. You like math and science, right?"
"Yes, and gymnastics, but dad won't let me do that at school encase someone realizes I'm Robin." Riley looked at Bruce with a confused frown on her face. "I thought I wasn't allowed to tell superheroes my real name."
Bruce chuckled at the fact that she was probably the only person who would question him. "Clark is a different case. He already knew who I was and no one can torture our identities out of him."
Her blue eyes widened. "But what if someone else gets torture cause they know... know The Flash's identity, or KF, or...or what if you get tortured cause you know Superman's identity?"
The man hugged his daughter to him as tears started filling her eyes. "Shh, that's not going to happen. I'm just paranoid from living in Gotham and now, with you here I'm worse." Once she had calmed down, he looked down and noticed that she was fighting sleep. "Alright, bed time, say good night to Clark." He picked her up in his arms, cradling her against his chest.
"Good night, Clark," she mumbled, waving her hand in his general direction. "Wait! Where's Professor Smooshy?" Riley in squermed in Bruce's arms, making him almost drop her. The toy was one of the few things she had left from her other life, seeing as the mafia boss who killed her parents had some of his underlings trash her room.
Quickly, Clark noticed the gorilla which had fallen to the ground when Riley had hugged Bruce. He picked it up, holding it out to the girl. "Is this Professor Smooshy?"
She nodded, taking it in her arms. "Thank you."
"Time to get you to sleep," proclaimed Bruce before turning to his friend. "Thanks for the help, Clark."
"Any time," the man of steel assured. "Bye."
Bruce carried his daughter up into the manor and to her room on the second story. When he laid her down on the bed, she looked up at him with tired, sad eyes.
"I miss them," she whispered.
"I know." Bruce sighed. This was the first anniversary, and he knew it was going to be hard. "But you know, in a week there is a meeting for Justice League members. Barry was meant to be looking after Wally since his parents were going away for the weekend and Iris has to work, but now he can't. Roy is going to be looking after him for that night and since you've been such a good little girl, I was thinking that you could go to and have a sleep over."
"I've never had a sleep over," she admitted in a soft voice.
"Yeah? Well you can have one next Saturday night. How does that sound?" Bruce stroked Riley's dark hair, doing anything he could think of to get rid of her tears.
"That sounds good," Riley muttered, hugging Professor Smooshy to her chest. She sat up enough to give Bruce a hug. "I love you, dad."
Bruce was lost for words as he blindly hugged her back. He knew Riley saw him as her second father, respected and cared for him, but she had never said that she loved him before. He tried to repress the large grin as he hugged her tighter. "I love you too, Sweetheart." He let her go and kissed her forehead. "Go to sleep and I'll see you in the morning."
He walked out of the room to find Alfred standing there. Instantly, Bruce put a finger to his lips, knowing the question the other man wished to ask. Smiling widely, he beaconed for Alfred to follow him to his office. Once there, he sat in his chair and answered the unasked question. "I'm fine, Alfred, luckily Superman helped me out when it got a bit tricky."
The older man nodded once. "May I ask what has got you smiling so much, Master Bruce?"
"Riley told me she loved me," he admitted joyfully.
"I'm glad to hear that." Alfred stiffled a yawn. "If you don't mind, Master Bruce, I am going to retire for the night."
"Not at all. Good night, Alfred."
"Good night, Master Bruce."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She ducked the punch that was flying at her face, swinging her leg out as she ended up in a crouch. The man in front of her fell sideways as his legs were knocked out from under him. Robin stood back up and threw a bird-a-rang at an advancing man. He toppled forward as ropes wrapped around his ankles.
Next moment, a man rushed Robin; his mask resembling two-face didn't obscure his vision. The young girl acted quickly, flipping over the man, laughing as the man staggered to stop and turn to face her. She gave him a cheeky smile, her stance ready.
The man pulled out a gun, aimed it at her. "Little birdies shouldn't play with dangerous enemies."
"When I find a dangerous enemy, I'll keep that in mind," she taunted. She pulled out two Bird-a-rangs, one for each hand.
"Little twerp," the man spat.
"So mean," she replied with a fake pout.
The man aimed the gun at Robin's chest, pulling the trigger. Robin darted off to the side, crouching down with one leg straight as the man fired wildly at Robin's standing height. She threw both bird-a-rangs, one hitting the wrist holding the gun, making him drop the weapon, and the other hitting him on the forehead, temporarily dazing him. She easily did a cartwheel, landing on the man's shoulders with enough force to slam him to the ground, unconscious.
She turned to see how Batman was doing, finding him easily holding his own with seven men dressed in two-face masks. Robin knew for certain that Batman would be fine, so she scanned the room for Two Face. She spotted him on the second level and quickly darted into the shadows, making her way to Two Face's spot. She laughed before coming out of the shadows only a metre from him. He was surprised to see her there but he quickly recovered.
"Do you honestly think you can take me on, Little Birdie?" he hissed, glaring at her.
"I'm willing to give it a try," Robin admitted. She sidestepped the punch he threw before kicking him in the stomach, pushing him back. As Two Face steadied himself, she hopped up on the railing in a crouch, making sure she kept her balance. She was reminded heavily of the tricks she and her parents had performed without a net. From her utility belt, she withdrew a small number of bird-bombs, throwing them at the wall and floor around the villain. Robin then stood up, flipping off the railing and slinging a rope over one of the beams supporting the roof. She landed on the ground in a crouch, her head down.
A noise made her look up, flicking her hair back. She saw Superman, Green Arrow, Speedy, Flash, Kid Flash, and Wonder Woman standing before her. They had only come since the Justice League meeting was meant to start soon and they knew Batman was held up. Instead of waiting around for him and the Flash, since he had make sure Wally went with Roy, they figured they would all travel together.
Her bombs went off, making some of the heroes gasp in shock as Two Face was lost in a cloud of smoke.
"Did you just kill him?" Wonder Woman yelped, wondering if the young hero had done the unforgivable.
Robin rolled her eyes, not that anyone could see. "No!"
The cloud dispersed and they saw Two Face suspended from a beam in the roof, the rope wrapped tightly around his body, stopping him from escaping. He wiggled and squirmed, trying to get out. "You little brat!" he yelled.
"Can you honestly not come up with a better insult? There are girls at my school more scary then you," Robin yelled back, sounding unimpressed. She looked over at Batman, who had finished rounding up all the bad guys and was walking over to her.
"Very nice," praised the man, drawing his daughter against his side.
"Thanks." Robin blushed lightly, hugging her dad's waist. She then looked over at Kid Flash, who was wearing goggles. Quickly, she had taken them off him. "Do these do anything?" She looked through them as Kid Flash huffed.
"They keep the wind out of my eyes," he explained.
"Boring." Robin tossed them back to their owner and walked off to get the bag she had left by the door. Walking back over, she opened it and pulled out three things. "I brought games."
"Awesome!" Kid Flash looked over the games she showed him, clearly in awe.
"Well, we should all get going," exclaimed Superman, looking at his fellow heroes. "The police are only one block over and we need to hurry since the others are already at headquarters."
Batman turned his glare onto Speedy, who gulped. "Anything happens to Robin and you are held accountable. I mean anything. A slight bruise and you're in trouble."
The Flash laughed, speed-stepping to the young archer's side, slinging an arm over his shoulders. "Yeah, anything happens to Baby Bat and Papa Bat will be maaad!"
Green Arrow chuckled as his protégé paled. "Everything will be fine, Batman, Speedy is trustworthy."
"Alright, Kid Flash, you need to show Speedy and Robin to the house, since neither of them have been there," Flash explained, knowing his nephew was soon going to get bored.
Robin and Kid Flash shot each other a look before the girl quickly hugged Batman. "Bye, Dad, I love you." Without waiting for a reply, she and Wally ran for the exit. When the two younger heroes got to the door, Robin jumped on Kid Flash's back.
Speedy only had to receive a look from all the adults at once to realise he had to go after them. "Come back here, you two," he yelled, racing after them.
The adults could hear Robin's laughter from outside.
"What's the bet he gets worn out before the other two?" Wonder Woman questioned with a chuckle. "Bats, I have to say, I never saw you as the overly protective, softy father."
"I'm hardly soft," snapped the man, narrowing his eyes at the Amazonian.
"Then why did you look so hurt that she ran off before you said bye?" Superman teased. When Batman had no reply, he went on. "It's good to see you care though. She has a good effect on you."
As the adults went to the Justice League headquarters, Speedy was still chasing Robin and Kid Flash down the street, yelling at them to stop. He was receiving many odd looks, the citizens of Gotham obviously recognising him. He followed the two through the zera tube that led to Central City. Eventually, after two blokes the two stopped, allowing him to jog up to them. He knew Kid Flash hadn't been going at full speed for two reasons: he was carrying Robin, and he didn't want Speedy to lose them.
Kid Flash put Robin down, watching her stand on wobbly legs. When her knees buckled, he grabbed her arms to steady her. The dark haired girl laughed.
"That was weird," Robin laughed, holding a hand to her head. "Though it's made me a little sick."
Kid Flash grinned, keeping his friend upright as he vibrated, something he did when excited or happy. "That always happens the first time." He looked over at the archer. "Speedy, good to see you caught up to us. Ready to go?"
Speedy sighed, giving the younger boy the evil eye. "Come on, before Batman kills me."
"No," protested the girl, shaking her head. "He'll just maim you a little."
"Comforting," muttered Speedy, putting a hand on each younger heroes shoulder and marching them in what he hoped was the right direction. Kid Flash didn't protest so it must have been. When they reached the house, they had to sneak in so that the neighbours didn't notice three heroes entering the Allen Household.
Once inside they quickly changed into the civilian clothing, Robin getting redressed in the bathroom, before setting up the play station in the guest room where Wally had been staying for the last two days. The room was a little messy, making Speedy, who was now Roy, roll his eyes but Robin to shrug and plop down on the bed, facing the TV, the glasses she wore being made out of a special glass so they couldn't see her eyes but she could see fine in the dark. The speedster, dressed in pyjamas, sat down next to her, dropping a remote into her lap.
"Aunt Iris left money on the table for take out," explained Wally, loading up a game. "I feel like Chinese but we can have something else."
"Chinese is good," agreed Robin as Roy settled down on the floor, his back against the bed.
"I'll order a little later, alright?" Roy asked, getting two nods.
"You are so dead!" Robin exclaimed, hitting buttons on the remote control. They were playing a fighting game and it seemed the girl had the upper hand even though Wally was using super speed. Unfortunately, the game couldn't keep up with him. It only was only a few more seconds before Wally's character was K. . "Yes!"
"Hey, it's first to five," reminded the red head.
The three switched between versing each other in various games and watching movies. The two boys quickly learned that Robin was not overly girly and was skilled at fighting games. This wasn't overly surprising truthfully, since she was trained by Batman.
Roy realised quickly that Wally and Robin were the type of people that instantly clicked and he had a funny feeling that would be troublesome. He had noticed that the two only had to look at each other in Gotham to decide that they would run off, making him chase them. Now, the two kept shooting each other what appeared to be innocent looks but he had a feeling the two friends were plotting something devious. He would have to warn Flash because if they all weren't careful the two would end up best friends... and maybe super villains if his hunch as to why they kept looking at each other were right.
As Wally won the race he hand Roy were playing on the Playstation2, Robin poked Roy on the cheek, making him look over. "I'm hungry."
Sighing, Roy stood up and walked out into the kitchen to see the money sitting on the dining table along with a variety of take out menus. He found the one for the Chinese store just before he heard Robin scream. Thinking the worse, he turned and rushed back into the room, not noticing the wire the young girl and speedster had set up. He fell and braced himself with his hands for the impact.
"Now," Robin said.
From under the bed, Wally pushed a square piece of cardboard out from under the bed with a devise from Robin's utility belt. He landed with his hands on ever side of the thing, but then it went off and threw powder in his face as Robin dropped something on his head. With a cough, Roy looked up at Robin who was standing right in front of him.
"You look pweeety," Robin said with a cheeky smile. She then raised a small camera and snapped his photo. The moment the photo was taken, she jumped over the teenage and ran out of the room, Wally wiggling out from under the bed to follow.
Roy wasn't sure what had just happened to him, but he was certain it wasn't good. He jumped to his feet and raced after the two. He could hear Wally's feet pounding on the ground, seeing as he wasn't using super speed, but he couldn't hear Robin at all. Roy followed Wally, finding him running down the hall towards the bathroom.
Unfortunately, when the speedster saw him coming and used his talents to get to the bathroom and slam the door shut before the archer could get there. Roy banged his fist on the door after realising that it was locked. "Come out or I'll just find Robin and get her to pick the lock."
"Unlikely," came a chipper voice.
His eyes widened at Robin's voice. "How the hell did you get in there so quick?"
"I have my ways. Oh, and I've sent the picture to the Batcave. Wally, I think we should let him in so he can see his face." There was a pause. "Plus I'm hungry."
The door clicked open and Wally pulled Robin out quickly, rising to the bedroom. Roy dashed into the room, looking in the mirror above the sink. He gasped, unable to believe what the two kids had done. The powder had been various colours aimed at various parts of his face. He had blue on his eyelids, pink on his cheeks, and red on his lips. The thing dropped on his head had been a wig with brown curls. He was not happy upon first seeing it, but then he stopped and thought that not only was the prank funny, but he only had to put up with the two of them for the night, Batman and Flash had to put up with the two all the time. He could handle a prank from the two younger heroes and hopefully he would get pictures of any prank they pull of their mentors.
With a shake of his head, he washed off the make-up and walked back into the bedroom to find the two terrors sitting cross legged on Wally's bed, looking at the menu for the Chinese shop. On Robin's pyjama clad leg sat a note book she was writing in. The moment he appeared in the door frame, the young girl looked up, her reflexes reminding him that she was Batman's protégé.
"We're writing out what we want," she explained before laughing. "You missed a spot."
Wally grinned wickedly. "Did you enjoy your make over?"
"If you two ever pull a prank on either of your mentors, send me a photo," he demanded, throwing the wig at Robin, who put it on as a joke.
"I've already pulled a prank on Dad," remarked Robin, looking at the menu in Wally's hands. "He missed Christmas cause of a kidnapping. I painted the Batcave green and red, turned the Batbike and Batplane into reindeer, turned his spare suits into Santa suits and when he stepped out of the Batmobile he was covered in honey and then white fluff on his face and red glitter at his body. He looked like a very surprised and cranky Santa."
The two boys howled with laughed through the whole story. When they finally calmed down, Robin showed Wally her list, getting a confirmative nod off him.
"You sure it's not too much?" she asked.
"You've never seen a speedster eat after a long day," he replied, handing the list to Roy.
The eldest looked over it before frowning. "I don't think Iris left us enough money."
"No, but Dad gave me money." Robin dug in her bag, pulling out her green jumper, a toy gorilla and her utility belt, which she had put in there after changing, before she pulled out her wallet. Opening the wallet, she pulled out some notes, handing them to Roy. "That should be more than enough."
"There's $100 here!" exclaimed the teenager.
"I don't have smaller notes," shrugged the girl, the brown curls bounced.
When the food arrived, Roy made sure to give Robin her change before they all sat on the floor watching a movie as they ate. There wasn't too much food, since the human heroes could eat a lot after a hard day and Wally could easily eat all that they couldn't.
It was 11:00pm when the first of the three fell asleep. Roy and Wally had been playing one of the games Robin had brought and when the younger boy had looked to the side to tell her how much he liked the game only to see the little bird asleep. Her hand was tucked under her cheek, one on either side of Wally's pillow. The two boys shrugged before Roy carefully removed Robin's glasses, figuring Batman wouldn't mind, especially since the moment they were taken away, she buried her face in the pillow.
Half an hour later, Wally had a mug of warm honey milk, since he couldn't find the tea bags, so that he wouldn't fidget in his sleep. Shortly after, he started yawning heavily before lying down and falling to sleep as well.
Roy got up after that and set up the lounge in the living room for him to go to sleep as well. He didn't think it would be long before the Allens got home. Luckily, they knew he would be asleep in the living room so they would be quiet when entering.
He wasn't wrong. Ten minutes after the archer had fallen into a deep sleep, Barry and Iris Allen came home. After the League meeting, and her work, they two had decided to go to the movies to give the kids time to hang out. However, they were wondering what damage had occurred in their absence. Surveying all rooms, though, they realised only Wally's room was a mess, something it was before the other two arrived.
Barry stood in the doorway to the guest room Wally used when he stayed over. Lying on the bed facing each other, their hands only a centimetre apart, were two young heroes. Looking at them, he found it hard to believe that they would one day take their mentors' places. The two looked far too young. As he studied their faces, trying to imagine what they would look like when that happened, Robin started whimpering.
The adult speedster frowned, listening closely as Robin started whispering something in another language. If he had to guise, he would say it was Romani, but he didn't know what she was saying, and she was getting louder. With her rise in volume came thrashing. She was throwing herself back and forth, tears running down her face, escaping under her closed lids. Next moment, Barry had to run to her side as she threw herself off the bed. He caught her easily and rolled her back on the bed, only to find his nephew awake and looking at his friend's pained face.
Wally studied her appearance for a moment, raised up on one arm, before lying back down and draping an arm over Robin, pulling her towards him. His green eyes closed again, making Barry wonder if he had actually been completely awake, or even awake at all. Hugging her seemed to work, since the moment she was drawn into Wally's embrace, she stopped crying, or talking or any other thing that did not symbolise a peaceful sleep.
Barry walked back out of the room and to his bedroom where his wife was getting ready for bed. "Iris, I need to talk to Batman, do you mind if I invite him here? It should only take a few minutes."
Iris smiled, understandingly. "Of course, but don't be long, you know I like going to sleep being hugged."
Barry chuckled. "I think Robin is the same." At his wife's confused look, he elaborated. "Robin was having a nightmare until Wally started hugging her."
A large smile spread across the woman's face. "I'm getting a photo." She ran from the room.
"And Robin thinks I'm weird." Barry shook his head before contacting Batman, telling him that they needed to talk. Within five minutes the caped crusader had snuck into his house and was standing in his office, where Barry had been waiting. "Robin's not your daughter."
"What makes you say that?" growled the other man.
"You don't know Romani. I remember a man we saved speaking it and neither of us knew what he was saying. Robin had a nightmare and she was speaking the same language." Barry sighed, sitting down at his desk. "Batman, talk to me! Why did Robin sound so scared?"
Batman stood there in silence for a moment before he reached up and removed his cowl. "Robin's parents died almost a year ago. That's why I asked you if she could sleep over, I wanted her around friends her own age when I couldn't be there."
Barry studied the man's face. "Are you... Bruce Wayne?" When he received a nod, more puzzle pieces fell into place. "So that girl in there is Riley Grayson, the acrobat who lost her parents... in front of her. No wonder she's having nightmares."
"Allen," Bruce started, giving his signature batglare, which was actually worse without the cowl since it was obvious he was a protective father as well.
"I'm not telling anyone, not even Wally," he promised, knowing where the glare was going. "She's asleep now, just so you know. Wally settled her down without even waking her."
"I'm still going to check on her," Batman told him, putting his mask back on and sweeping out of the room.
Barry didn't question how he knew what room she was in, he simply followed and stood in the doorway as Batman crouched down beside the bed and pushed a strand of hair out of Robin's face. He scolded when Wally hugged Robin tighter, sensing in his sleep that someone was near the girl.
With a heavy sigh, the Dark Knight rose to his full height and left the room. He stopped next to Barry and sized up the man. "Do not tell Robin you know her identity. I will tell her that when I take her home. If you are alright with it, she can stay until noon tomorrow."
Barry smiled, knowing the only reason Batman said such a late time was because Wally was protective of DaddyBat's little girl even in his sleep. "She can stay as long as you want her too. She's always welcome here."
"You wouldn't say that if you had noticed the make-up on Roy's face."
The Flash looked over at the archer with a frown. When he turned back to his fellow hero to ask what he meant, he found that Batman had left. "He moves fast, even for me."
I'm glad so many people liked the first chapter and hope this one received just as well. R and R if you wish.