Solidarity?

Chapter Seven

January 1, 2005

- - -

Bruce's expression was less than inviting as the young man walked into his study at Wayne Manor. The older man looked angry, irritated, disappointed, ready to kill… all in all, he looked about as pissed off as all hell. If Richard didn't know better he would have sworn that there was hell's fire burning in his eyes.
"Have a seat, Dick. We need to talk." Bruce motioned sharply toward a chair, in which Richard soon found himself sitting, waiting for his punishment.
"So?" Bruce leaned back into his chair and stared icily at the younger man. "How do you explain yourself?"

Although pure anger and frustration burned in his elder's eyes, the younger man couldn't feel bad about what he had done. True, he had broken his word to steer clear of the strange, alien girl, and done the unspeakable of kissing her passionately. But, it wasn't as if Bruce hadn't done the same thing in his youth. He too had fallen to temptation once long ago.

"I can't." Richard responded after a long, steely pause that filled the room to the ceiling. "I don't know what came over me, Bruce, okay? It was like I couldn't resist her; no matter how hard I tried. She was there; she was beautiful; she was forbidden-"

"Exactly!" Bruce snapped, cutting his old counterpart off, eyes still burning with the angry fire of before. "She was forbidden. I told you to stay away from her. I told you she was dangerous. But, you didn't listen to me! Your raging, teenage hormones got the better of you!"

Richard snapped. He couldn't take it anymore; not from Bruce, not from anybody. He stood up, slammed his palms on Bruce's desk, and stared him sharply in the eyes, eyes never leaving his elder's face. He suddenly felt as if his caretaker was suddenly being the definition of 'hypocrite'. "It's not like you haven't fallen to temptation before, Batman. Need I remind you of Poison Ivy?" Richard hissed coldly, gaze never wavering.

Bruce became very quiet after that statement. The air was almost tangible as the two alpha-males began one of their famed staring contests that could go on for hours at a time. Finally, after a few long, hard minutes, the elder of the two turned away quietly his face suddenly sullen.

"You have a point, Dick," Bruce said finally, "But that doesn't make it right. I don't want you to make the same mistake I made…" he looked back up at his 'son'. "I want you to be far stronger than I ever was."

"That's damn near impossible, Bruce, and you know it. I've never met a man who could keep his mind from sexual thoughts for so long…" Richard let a thin smile peel its way across his lips as he sat back down in the deep, plush chair.

"I don't know whether I should be insulted or say thank you." Bruce smiled in return, then leaned back into his chair, feeling exhaustion sweep over him yet again. As if raising a younger version of himself wasn't hard enough, crime was continually becoming worse and worse in Gotham. As sad and depressing as the thought may be, it wouldn't be much longer before Batman would need a replacement, or a new, more powerful counterpart.

"Nightwing…" He whispered, looking at Richard carefully.

"What was that?" Richard asked, looking blankly at his old friend.

"Nothing," Bruce said, another small smile appearing on his lips. "So… you were busy doing what when I called?" The subject was abruptly changed as the color of Richard's face changed to a burning shade of crimson.

"Ah… I was with my – ahem – girlfriend." Richard's gaze fell to the ornate rug at his feet, as if suddenly mystified by its intricate designs. He knew that having a girlfriend wasn't forbidden, but it definitely wasn't recommended by Bruce. A girlfriend meant not only giving up a lot of your time to that 'one person', but it also meant putting your identity at risk. To have a girlfriend as a superhero was something very, very dangerous, and never to be taken lightly.

"Richard…" Bruce said in a warning tone, looking his 'son' in his eyes.

"Bruce! I'll be nineteen this year! I've never had a steady girlfriend. I just want to try a real relationship… at least once." Richard abruptly stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the impeccable, frozen grounds and wishing he was out there, instead of trapped within Bruce's study.

"You have the ability to make love to whatever woman you want, Batman. I have that same ability… both you and I have taken advantage of it…" he turned around and looked Bruce in the eyes with pure sincerity. "I don't want a life like that. I want to see if I can truly love unconditionally."

"It's still dangerous, Dick. You're putting everything at risk by loving this girl… you're putting her at risk."

Richard looked out the window and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He didn't want to be selfish, he didn't want to put her in danger, but he wanted to love her. As if she was just another girl… as if he was just a normal, teenage boy. "I know…"

"You know what will happen if she finds out who you are?" Bruce asked sternly, standing up and approaching Richard. The younger one never moved, and his eyes were still locked on the gardens below.

"Her memory will be erased… I know," Richard whispered, eyes sliding shut as he thought about that frightening possibility.

"And are you prepared to risk that?"

"Yes."

There was a sharp intake of breath, followed by a long, deep sigh. Bruce couldn't fight with Richard when his mind was set on something, especially something concerning the emotion of love. His own, true parents had strong feelings on love and family, and Bruce could only surmise that those feelings had been passed into their son. "Then, I wish the two of you the best of luck, Dick."

"Thank you, Bruce." Richard turned and looked at his 'father', before wrapping his arms around him in a well needed hug.

- - -

The Bat-Cave felt colder and darker than usual as the two men walked down the steps. The air was cold and wet from the recent snowfall, and made the cave feel enclosed, foreboding, and almost… evil. That didn't darken the spirits of the two chatting men. Their steps were light, as if preparing for something more important than what they were doing today.

"So? What should I do… you know, for our first night?" Richard asked a little sheepishly, as they reached the floor of the dark cavern. Bruce looked mildly surprised, then thought about his question for a moment.

"A nice dinner, delivered to your apartment – I'll make arrangements for that; a bottle of fine wine – you can have one from my storeroom; and… and a bouquet of flowers, but not roses. If she is as 'anti-sheep' as you say she is, your girlfriend will be very disgusted by roses."

The older man thought for a moment as he sat in front of a computer monitor. "I suggest starburst lilies… they're very pretty, hardy, and smell beautiful. I'll make a few calls and can have them delivered just an hour before you return. That'll definitely get her fired up… oh, and I'll order you new linens for your bed. No woman, no matter how much they love you, Dick, will never enjoy making love on decade old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sheets."

"Wow…" Richard chuckled, as he entered his password into the system. "You're pretty good at this whole romance thing."

"Come on, Dick." Bruce flashed him a brilliant smile that seemed to light up the whole cave. "I'm Batman and Bruce Wayne what woman wouldn't want to have me?"

"Don't get full of yourself or anything," Richard laughed, rolling his eyes. He typed a few things into the system, and files and files of evidence began to appear. After a few more minutes of silence, furious typing, and research, he spoke again. "Am I coming back next weekend as well?"

"It'd be appreciated. I'd ask Garfield, but he's off trying to get another job…" Bruce sighed deeply, letting his nimble fingers finally get some exercise on the brightly colored keyboard. "Whatever it was that attacked him, put a nice, hefty hole in the roof of that auditorium. His job was canceled indefinitely."

"I know," Richard said calmly, eyes scanning the monitor in front of him. "Beatrice was the assistant stage manager for the play."

"Oh? And your neighbor?" Bruce asked, with mild surprise.

"Yes… does this look like anything?" Richard pointed to his screen, but his friend just shook his head.

"No… that's old data. I just keep it there for reference." He turned back to his own computer and began searching. There was another pause, and then Bruce turned to his old counterpart. "You said it moved like a shadow made of… sand?"

"Mm-hm…" Richard's eyes never left his monitor, but Bruce had gotten to his feet and started pacing around the dark, cold hall of the Bat-Cave, deep in thought.

"I'm wondering… could it be millions of nanobots?"

Richard's fingers hovered over the keys, as if suddenly paralyzed by the thought of nanobots. He slowly turned around to face his companion, a look of complete fear and hopelessness tracing his features. "I really hope that isn't the case. The only person who could even hope to have that kind of technology is…"

"Deathstroke." The air in the cave suddenly turned bone-chillingly cold as Bruce spoke the curséd name.

"Slade…" Richard suddenly snapped to his feet and took to pacing the dark cave with his elder. If what they both were suspecting turned out to be true, then their foe was far greater than either of them could hope to defeat. He could easily take down the both of them in one battle. It took the whole Justice League to bring him to his knees.

"I thought the Justice League took care of him years ago," Richard said carefully, sitting back down at the master computer, and typing furiously again. He had to find the file and see what Deathstroke was truly capable of.

"We locked him away," Bruce replied, his brow furrowing deeply as he looked at his own monitor and pulled up Deathstroke's permanent file, trying to find anything of use. "But after the JLA disbanded, we never kept an extremely careful watch on our old foes… now I'm beginning to deeply regret that." There was a pause as his worried, tired eyes quickly scanned the written file in front of him. "If I remember correctly, Deathstroke was contained in the penitentiary just outside of the city the Green Lantern was watching… but he retired years ago and faded far away, Dick."

"Are you telling me there's no one we can turn to?" Richard asked, his face going pale with a mixture between fear and anger. What was there to do, if the JLA had disbanded and most of them retired? There was little Batman could do to fight this sudden evil… and even littler that Robin could do. They were at an impasse… with no one to turn to, and nothing they could do… what was going to happen to them? To the city? To the world?

Richard rubbed his temples furiously, trying to ward off a headache that was beginning to press its sharp, spindly legs against the sides of his mind. "Do you have any idea of what he would want… or why he would even attack us?"

"Not really…" Bruce said slowly, turning away from his monitor. He looked carefully at his counterpart, hoping his next speculation wouldn't frighten him too much. "Unless the nanobots are monitoring you and the others, trying to gather information."

Richard shook his head and let it fall into his hands at this new idea. "Which is more frightening than anything else I could ever think of. How could those nanobots do that though? They're far too small for sensors... too small for a master computer."

"Blood." Bruce said suddenly and coldly, as if the thought of all their secrets getting out would destroy the world as they knew it. "Think about it, Dick. The shadow attacked Victor, Garfield, and Kori… and it drew blood each time… They must draw blood and take it back to Deathstroke to be analyzed."

"But then why did it attack Bea? She's just a civilian!" Richard pounded his fist on the desk, strangely enjoying the pain that spread through his arm. This was supposed to be an easy case! Some idiot was supposed to be looking around with cheap magic! Now Deathstroke had gotten loose and was on the prowl for the young superheroes.

"She's your neighbor, Dick… maybe the gathering of nanobots got confused…" Bruce said, speaking softly and placing his hand on Richard's shoulder.

Richard felt strange suddenly, as if he was going to be sick from all this speculation. Victor, Kori, Garfield… even Bea had all been attacked, but why? None of it was making any sense to him. If Deathstroke was preparing for an attack, why hadn't other things happened? Why were the shadows so apt to leave after a few short attacks? Why did they travel by drain? There were so many questions that were completely unanswered.

"Bruce, what am I going to do? This is too much for me to handle, and I know none of the others could handle it on their own either." The younger male sighed and pulled away from his computer. "It's just too much."

"Take a break, Richard. Go rest for awhile; call your girlfriend… but, rest." Bruce said, reaching over and turning off the computer, knowing that his counterpart had a tendency to obsess over something like this. "And then tomorrow, go home and do some detective work. We're going to need every little bit of information you can some up with." He looked firmly at his 'son', and then pulled him up from his seat.

"I guess you're right…" Richard started for the stairs, feeling as if all of this information had drained him completely of any energy. He stumbled up the steps, his limbs moving as if through lead. "I'm going to take a nap… and think about this later."

"That's a good idea, Dick," Bruce said, as they entered the lavishly decorate foyer. "And I'll make those arrangements for you, alright?"

Richard turned to his older friend, her face a little brighter. "Thanks, Bruce." With that the young man tramped up the stairs, feeling far better at the prospect of being home soon… home and with Beatrice.

- - -

'Just my freaking luck!' Robin thought sourly as the masked hero bounded across rooftops, trying to catch a band of jewelry burglars. 'I'm not even back in town for twenty minutes and I have to deal with this! I don't even get to see Beatrice first!'

He jumped onto another rooftop, surprised as the burglars suddenly stopped. Looking up, he understood why. There, on the other side of the roof, floated Raven, her hood pulled over her face and her arms poised for attack. 'This day just could not get any worse!' He thought as his eyes rolled at the new sight.

"GAAAAAHHH!" The idiot not holding the bag filled with jewelry charged forward, a knife raised over his head.

Raven slid out of the way just in time to save her neck, but not fast enough to save a rather large lock of her dark, purple hair. She blinked at the idiot, then at the handful of hair on the ground.

"You imbecile!" She cried, throwing up her hand and smacking the man across his face, leaving a bright, red hand print. "You just messed up my hair!"

The sound of police cars could be heard below the two of them, their sirens crying and wailing for the end of this pointless, time-wasting battle. Raven encased the two men in black and lowered them into the street below.

"Stupid bastards…" She hissed, once they were in captivity. The dark woman looked hopelessly at the hair on the ground, feeling her lips twitch into a frown. "Well, Damnit."

"Raven."

She straightened and looked the boy wonder in the eyes with a steely gaze. "Robin." There was nothing more exchanged between them, and Raven jumped off the roof, into the darkness of an alley below.

'Well… at least now I know that we both can't stand each other. It'd be really sick if she reacted like Starfire would…' Robin turned to leave, but a shimmer of purple caught his eye, and he suddenly got an idea.

'I can analyze her hair… find out where she's from, what her powers are… what she is.' With that, Robin grabbed a few strands of her hair, and tucked them away in an evidence bag. 'I'll find out about her… she can't hide from me forever.'

He turned around and began to head home, after all… Beatrice was waiting.

- - -

OKAY! I know that was a lot of information that I just crammed into your heads, but I BEG for your forgiveness… it's all going to be important later on. I am now extremely exhausted from all this updating, and I hope you're all terribly pleased. But I have a few things to say now.

A) For all of you who are truly irritated by the name Beatrice, I recommend renting the movie Much Ado About Nothing directed by Kenneth Brannaugh (Or something like that). He does an amazing job with directing Beatrice in that movie, and if you see her, it makes total sense why I would call Raven Beatrice.

B) Deathstroke is the name of Slade in the comic books. Actually his real name is Slade Wilson… bla bla bla, like you care about the history of Slade.

C) I won't be updating very fast when school start… so I just want to apologize in advance.

D) I'm starting a new humor story, because it's been a really long time since I've written a completely humorous story… so here you go:

TEEN TITANS: The Musical! Yeah… I'm really going crazy now!

So… that's all I have to say now… well, PLEASE REVIEW! It would be much appreciated!

Lots o' Love: Xaph!