Last chapter is finally here. Thanks for the reviews. I really didn't mean for the last chapter to be too much of a cliffhanger, I thought that most of you would figure it out. Well, anyway, it will probably be a couple of weeks until Exile 4, all of a sudden all of my professors decided that they hate me, and I have tests, papers, and projects nonstop for a while. sniff I'd much rather be kicking tail with the clan, really... -krt
Chapter Five: Standoff
Lian was looking at me with wide eyes. I realized that I had my hand over her mouth, and removed it, but kept one finger on her lips so that she'd know to be quiet. I quietly reached around behind my back and removed my bo's from their sheath. I also had three throwing stars which I handed to Lian. At least she could protect herself with those. All of this took only seconds.
I looked up as three arrows thudded into the block, one right after another. "Let go of my girl, you @%^&!!"
Ahh, Roy. Things fell into place. Roy got home early and found the place pretty empty. He goes looking for his daughter, and finds her fighting with a man that he doesn't know, who grabs her, and shoves her behind a block where Roy can't see her. No wonder he's p.o'ed. Looks like I'd better come up with a plan, or I was going to be fighting off a very dangerous protective father.
Lian's eyes lit up at the sound of her father's voice. I took my finger away from her mouth. "Roy, I'm sending her out." She handed me back my throwing stars and stood and ran towards Roy.
Roy waved her away. "Go upstairs, baby girl, now." I heard the relief in his voice as he saw that she was ok.
"But, Daddy..." Lian wanted to explain, but Roy was in no mood to listen right now.
"NOW." She went, and I heard the door close behind her.
I carefully stood up from behind the block, keeping my bos in hand. I had no intentions of letting Roy shoot me. My legs tensed, ready to dive out of the way if his hand so much as twitched. We stared at each other for a couple of long seconds. He was aiming his bowshooter right at my heart. "Who are you and what were you doing with my daughter?"
Not another 'who are you' question. Oh well, at least he wasn't shooting me out of hand. "I'm Rob. Cassie left Lian with me while she, Kon, and Bart dealt with an emergency." I put careful emphasis on the names. He should realize that not just anybody would know all those names.
"Rob?" Roy relaxed only slightly at the names, but still kept an eye on me. "I don't know any Rob."
"Let's put it this way. Dick will probably kill you if you kill me when I've only been back three days."
Roy did his best to conceal his surprise at Dick's name. "I don't know who you're talking about." He didn't want to give away any identities, especially not one of his best friends.
Well, I'd make it clear. "Nightwing. Dick. Richard Grayson. In my case, older brother. I used to be Robin."
Roy finally lowered the bowshooter, and I let myself relax slightly. "Little kid Robin? Whoa, you grew."
I gave him a slight grin. "Yeah, I've been hearing that a lot. Sorry I scared you about Lian, Cassie said you wouldn't be back until tomorrow. All I saw was a guy pointing a gun..."
"Hey, it's ok. I'd have done the same. No hard feelings, hmm?" Roy removed the arrow from the bow shooter and returned it to his quiver.
"Nope." I relaxed the rest of the way. I was now pretty sure that he wasn't going to try to gut me with one of the various sharp things he had in his possession. I was also pretty sure that I could take him down before he could shoot me, now that he'd have to reload. Both of those thoughts made me feel much better. Heh.
Lian poked her head in the door and started talking frantically. "Daddy, Daddy, don't shoot him, he's Robin, but not anymore, and he was just teaching me on martian, I mean martial arts, and he's really good, and Cassie said that I should and I was just showing him..."
Roy walked over and picked her up, giving her a big hug. "It's ok, sweetie, we got it figured out. I'm not going to have to shoot him." He shot a glance my way. "Really good, huh? Now why doesn't that surprise me? So, is he better than you?"
Lian looked serious. "Yep, he's lots better than me. He says he doesn't know if he's better than you, but," She leaned closer to Roy's ear and added in a loud whisper. "I think that he is."
Oh great.
Roy tried to hold a grin in and failed miserably. "Lian, he was probably better than me three years ago. I don't doubt for a second that he's better than me now."
"Oh." Lian looked at me. "Why didn't you say that then?"
"Uhhh." I tried to come up with something cute to say, but my mind deserted me. Roy just laughed and motioned me to follow him up to the main level.
As we walked, Roy looked me over and asked, "So, where've you been? We all kinda thought that..." He glanced up at Lian, who was riding on his shoulders, obviously not wanting to bring her attention to the fact that I had been considered dead.
"Yeah, I heard. It's a really long story. I was out of the country for three years, and when I got back, I wanted to see the gang again. We were in the middle of a reunion when they got a call. Cassie wanted to go, so I volunteered to baby-sit."
Lian pouted from her perch on Roy's shoulders. "I'm not a baby anymore."
I winked at her. "You are definitely not a baby anymore. Anybody as good at 'Martian' arts as you are shouldn't be called anything less than a young lady." She beamed in pride. Roy gave me a proud papa look as we entered the main room.
I was just about to ask Roy if he'd changed his costume to black, or if this was just undercover gear, when Impulse suddenly vibrated through the far wall. "Hey, Roy. Hey, Lian." He screeched to a stop and reached up to tickle Lian, who swatted his hand away and laughed. Then he turned to me. "Um, Rob, er, T, hmm, whatever." I nodded thanks at his attempt to keep my secrets. Roy wasn't stupid and pulled Lian off his shoulders and headed across the room, tickling her as he went. Impulse continued, "Sorry, but Kon wanted you to know that the whole team will be back here in a couple of minutes. You're welcome to stay and meet the others, but we thought that we should warn you first."
I grimaced. I still wanted to talk to Bart, Kon and Cassie about stuff, but I really didn't want to meet anybody else, especially without a mask or a disguise of any sort. 'Ok, I'd better be going then. Thanks for the heads up."
I waved goodbye to Lian and Roy. Lian ran over to give me a hug and I accepted it awkwardly. "You're coming back sometime, right? I want you to teach me more martial arts." She looked up at me and smiled.
Well, what could I say? I mussed her hair up and squatted down to her level. "Maybe, kiddo. We'll have to wait and see." She seemed to be content with that, and ran back to her father, who waved goodbye to me from across the room.
Bart escorted me to the transporter bay. "Hey, you'll be around though, right? If I let you get away and you disappear again, you know that they'll kill me." He gave me a very fake mournful look. "You wouldn't want to be the cause of my untimely demise, would you?"
I sent a half grin at him. "Oh, heaven forbid. You guys can call me in a day or so and we'll get together again. Oracle will have my number or can give me a message." Impulse nodded, and I stepped towards the transporter tube. Bart laughed at my wince as I stepped inside. He was still laughing as he activated the field and sent me on my way back to the outside world.
I found my cycle and helmet right where I'd left them. The long ride to Gotham beckoned and I settled my helmet on and mounted. As I took off down the road I noticed a very strange and very familiar contraption coming towards me. It was a vivid purple, and was flying about seven feet off the ground, obviously headed to the base. The Supercycle was carrying several recognizable figures, namely Kon and Cassie, and two I didn't immediately recognize. Must be the other members. I made a mental note to do some research when I got home. As I passed to one side of the flying Supercycle, I heard a screech and turned my head to see what had happened.
Right as I had passed, the Supercycle had stopped on a dime and whipped around to 'watch' me. Several Titans had gone flying and Kon was rescuing them as I watched. The Supercycle looked like it wanted to follow me, but Kon started arguing with it and it turned back towards the base, although grudgingly. Kon turned to look at me and I tapped my fingers to my helmet in a mock salute. He returned it with a wave and followed the Supercycle home. Heh. I guess it recognized me.
I headed home myself. I still had a lot more things that I needed to do. Like figure out if I was going rejoin the 'family business' or not. Talk about your life-changing decisions. Still, I think I knew what I really wanted to do, I just didn't know how Bruce was going to react. Well, since when had I liked my life served boring, anyway?
End Exile 3... To be continued, as soon as I find the time, in Exile 4: Decision.
Chapter Five: Standoff
Lian was looking at me with wide eyes. I realized that I had my hand over her mouth, and removed it, but kept one finger on her lips so that she'd know to be quiet. I quietly reached around behind my back and removed my bo's from their sheath. I also had three throwing stars which I handed to Lian. At least she could protect herself with those. All of this took only seconds.
I looked up as three arrows thudded into the block, one right after another. "Let go of my girl, you @%^&!!"
Ahh, Roy. Things fell into place. Roy got home early and found the place pretty empty. He goes looking for his daughter, and finds her fighting with a man that he doesn't know, who grabs her, and shoves her behind a block where Roy can't see her. No wonder he's p.o'ed. Looks like I'd better come up with a plan, or I was going to be fighting off a very dangerous protective father.
Lian's eyes lit up at the sound of her father's voice. I took my finger away from her mouth. "Roy, I'm sending her out." She handed me back my throwing stars and stood and ran towards Roy.
Roy waved her away. "Go upstairs, baby girl, now." I heard the relief in his voice as he saw that she was ok.
"But, Daddy..." Lian wanted to explain, but Roy was in no mood to listen right now.
"NOW." She went, and I heard the door close behind her.
I carefully stood up from behind the block, keeping my bos in hand. I had no intentions of letting Roy shoot me. My legs tensed, ready to dive out of the way if his hand so much as twitched. We stared at each other for a couple of long seconds. He was aiming his bowshooter right at my heart. "Who are you and what were you doing with my daughter?"
Not another 'who are you' question. Oh well, at least he wasn't shooting me out of hand. "I'm Rob. Cassie left Lian with me while she, Kon, and Bart dealt with an emergency." I put careful emphasis on the names. He should realize that not just anybody would know all those names.
"Rob?" Roy relaxed only slightly at the names, but still kept an eye on me. "I don't know any Rob."
"Let's put it this way. Dick will probably kill you if you kill me when I've only been back three days."
Roy did his best to conceal his surprise at Dick's name. "I don't know who you're talking about." He didn't want to give away any identities, especially not one of his best friends.
Well, I'd make it clear. "Nightwing. Dick. Richard Grayson. In my case, older brother. I used to be Robin."
Roy finally lowered the bowshooter, and I let myself relax slightly. "Little kid Robin? Whoa, you grew."
I gave him a slight grin. "Yeah, I've been hearing that a lot. Sorry I scared you about Lian, Cassie said you wouldn't be back until tomorrow. All I saw was a guy pointing a gun..."
"Hey, it's ok. I'd have done the same. No hard feelings, hmm?" Roy removed the arrow from the bow shooter and returned it to his quiver.
"Nope." I relaxed the rest of the way. I was now pretty sure that he wasn't going to try to gut me with one of the various sharp things he had in his possession. I was also pretty sure that I could take him down before he could shoot me, now that he'd have to reload. Both of those thoughts made me feel much better. Heh.
Lian poked her head in the door and started talking frantically. "Daddy, Daddy, don't shoot him, he's Robin, but not anymore, and he was just teaching me on martian, I mean martial arts, and he's really good, and Cassie said that I should and I was just showing him..."
Roy walked over and picked her up, giving her a big hug. "It's ok, sweetie, we got it figured out. I'm not going to have to shoot him." He shot a glance my way. "Really good, huh? Now why doesn't that surprise me? So, is he better than you?"
Lian looked serious. "Yep, he's lots better than me. He says he doesn't know if he's better than you, but," She leaned closer to Roy's ear and added in a loud whisper. "I think that he is."
Oh great.
Roy tried to hold a grin in and failed miserably. "Lian, he was probably better than me three years ago. I don't doubt for a second that he's better than me now."
"Oh." Lian looked at me. "Why didn't you say that then?"
"Uhhh." I tried to come up with something cute to say, but my mind deserted me. Roy just laughed and motioned me to follow him up to the main level.
As we walked, Roy looked me over and asked, "So, where've you been? We all kinda thought that..." He glanced up at Lian, who was riding on his shoulders, obviously not wanting to bring her attention to the fact that I had been considered dead.
"Yeah, I heard. It's a really long story. I was out of the country for three years, and when I got back, I wanted to see the gang again. We were in the middle of a reunion when they got a call. Cassie wanted to go, so I volunteered to baby-sit."
Lian pouted from her perch on Roy's shoulders. "I'm not a baby anymore."
I winked at her. "You are definitely not a baby anymore. Anybody as good at 'Martian' arts as you are shouldn't be called anything less than a young lady." She beamed in pride. Roy gave me a proud papa look as we entered the main room.
I was just about to ask Roy if he'd changed his costume to black, or if this was just undercover gear, when Impulse suddenly vibrated through the far wall. "Hey, Roy. Hey, Lian." He screeched to a stop and reached up to tickle Lian, who swatted his hand away and laughed. Then he turned to me. "Um, Rob, er, T, hmm, whatever." I nodded thanks at his attempt to keep my secrets. Roy wasn't stupid and pulled Lian off his shoulders and headed across the room, tickling her as he went. Impulse continued, "Sorry, but Kon wanted you to know that the whole team will be back here in a couple of minutes. You're welcome to stay and meet the others, but we thought that we should warn you first."
I grimaced. I still wanted to talk to Bart, Kon and Cassie about stuff, but I really didn't want to meet anybody else, especially without a mask or a disguise of any sort. 'Ok, I'd better be going then. Thanks for the heads up."
I waved goodbye to Lian and Roy. Lian ran over to give me a hug and I accepted it awkwardly. "You're coming back sometime, right? I want you to teach me more martial arts." She looked up at me and smiled.
Well, what could I say? I mussed her hair up and squatted down to her level. "Maybe, kiddo. We'll have to wait and see." She seemed to be content with that, and ran back to her father, who waved goodbye to me from across the room.
Bart escorted me to the transporter bay. "Hey, you'll be around though, right? If I let you get away and you disappear again, you know that they'll kill me." He gave me a very fake mournful look. "You wouldn't want to be the cause of my untimely demise, would you?"
I sent a half grin at him. "Oh, heaven forbid. You guys can call me in a day or so and we'll get together again. Oracle will have my number or can give me a message." Impulse nodded, and I stepped towards the transporter tube. Bart laughed at my wince as I stepped inside. He was still laughing as he activated the field and sent me on my way back to the outside world.
I found my cycle and helmet right where I'd left them. The long ride to Gotham beckoned and I settled my helmet on and mounted. As I took off down the road I noticed a very strange and very familiar contraption coming towards me. It was a vivid purple, and was flying about seven feet off the ground, obviously headed to the base. The Supercycle was carrying several recognizable figures, namely Kon and Cassie, and two I didn't immediately recognize. Must be the other members. I made a mental note to do some research when I got home. As I passed to one side of the flying Supercycle, I heard a screech and turned my head to see what had happened.
Right as I had passed, the Supercycle had stopped on a dime and whipped around to 'watch' me. Several Titans had gone flying and Kon was rescuing them as I watched. The Supercycle looked like it wanted to follow me, but Kon started arguing with it and it turned back towards the base, although grudgingly. Kon turned to look at me and I tapped my fingers to my helmet in a mock salute. He returned it with a wave and followed the Supercycle home. Heh. I guess it recognized me.
I headed home myself. I still had a lot more things that I needed to do. Like figure out if I was going rejoin the 'family business' or not. Talk about your life-changing decisions. Still, I think I knew what I really wanted to do, I just didn't know how Bruce was going to react. Well, since when had I liked my life served boring, anyway?
End Exile 3... To be continued, as soon as I find the time, in Exile 4: Decision.