Anonymous

Decisions

Disclaimer: Not yet and probably not ever.

A/N: This is the final chapter and I'd appreciate any last comments.

Summary: In a world controlled by Slade since before his birth, a now servile Robin struggles to deal with right and wrong and good and bad, before the evil that controls the world swallows him up as well.

Robin tossed and turned in his makeshift bed. He had been placed in a huge room with several other boys his own age including Superboy. Robin could only guess that this was the place the heroes-in-training lived. Batman's words kept circling in his head. Sighing, Robin sat up and punched his pillow. He wanted his data pad to write in. He needed something to put all of his thoughts down in, but with his pad back at Slade's compound, there was no chance for that.

Next to him a bedspring creaked and a tousled haired Superboy poked his head out of his balloon of blankets and pillows to stare at Robin. "Dude, I'm not sure what your problem is, but you're keeping some of us up and we have things to do tomorrow."

"Sorry." Robin raked a hand through his hair, "I'm just thinking about a few things." He slid out of bed. "Maybe I'll take a walk to clear my head."

"Uhh…" Superboy watched Robin palm open the door and quickly jumped up to follow him. "Sorry," he said to Robin when the orange and black clad figure looked at him oddly, "Orders from the Bat. I'm not to let you out of my sight."

Robin inclined his head. "Well I can understand that."

"Yeah?" Superboy looked interested, "I can't. What does Batman have to fear from you? What does he think you can do at the Headquarters? I mean, you have heard that if you're not worthy once you reach Headquarters then you're likely not to leave, right?"

"I have heard that." Robin answered slowly, "But I'm not a normal guest. Batman has a right to worry."

"Then who are you?" Superboy pressed.

Robin chose a hallway and started walking down it briskly. "My real name's Robin."

Superboy's face wrinkled as he easily trotted alongside Robin. "Who…" Superboy's face darkened as he realized exactly who Robin was. His back stiffened and his eyes darted left and right with more carefulness- all subtle signs that Superboy was taking his body-guarding job a little more seriously.

"Stop worrying. If I wanted to kill you then I would have it while you were sleeping." Robin said dryly.

Superboy jerked away from him. "And now I know why you're considered dangerous."

Robin laughed. "Well-" Robin paused by two heavy oak doors, "Can you tell me what this is?"

Superboy looked at him analytically as if deciding whether to tell him or not. "It's…well I guess it can't hurt, it's the library. It has all sorts of books in there. Books on fighting, politics, history-"

"History?" Robin interrupted, "Slade's version of history or the true version?"

Superboy frowned. "What's Slade's version?"

Ignoring him for the moment, Robin turned the knob and entered the library.

"You've been here all night." Batman's gravely voice shook Robin out of his reading and made Superboy groggily wake from his stupor.

"Well," Robin said, rubbing his eyes, "It's all so interesting."

With a flick of his hand Batman sent Superboy scampering out of the room and sat down opposite Robin with what seemed to be an almost indulgent air. "You have a choice." he said softly.

Well that was fast. Robin thought about what Batman was telling him. "I've never had a choice." Robin answered bitterly. "I do what's asked of me, nothing more. Choice is given to the weak by the powerful to lull them into complacency."

"That's unsurprisingly cynical of you, Robin." Batman commented, "Now hear me out. You have two choices. You can join us in fight against Slade or we'll lock you up in the penitentiary and if Slade ever, ever finds out about this place then you'll be able to say how loyal you've been to Slade's cause, but there's no way you're getting out of here."

"You're asking me to give up my life's cause for people I've known for-"

"I'm not asking you to give up your life for me," Batman hissed, "I'm asking you to give up your life for them." Batman slammed his hand down on one of the books that Robin had been reading. "These people need us. They're helpless in the face of this endless tyranny. Being a hero is about helping these people, the masses. It's not about giving up your life, it's about finding a better one for everyone."

Robin looked at him, stricken. "Look," he swallowed around the lump in his throat, "It's not as simple as that. I have people- friends who are counting-"

"I'll let you write one letter to them telling them what you're doing. One, though, that's it. Robin," Batman's voice turned gentle, or at least, as gentle as it could be, "This is bigger than you, but at the same time it is you. I've…I've got to know-" Batman's voice cracked, "If- if it's possible to save one person then maybe it's possible to save all of them. Napoleon changed the world, so did Caesar and Alexander the Great. I want you to."

"I need to think about it." Robin muttered, his voice strangled.

"Then think about it." Batman said, pressing a blank piece of paper at him. "I'll see you after you write your note." His face once more solemn, Batman gracefully rose at left the library.

Robin sighed and looked at the books surrounding him. There were stories about life before Slade in them. They- the people of this somewhat foreign, somewhat familiar past –had been doing great things. They were on the path to discover cancer; they had sent ventures into space and deep underwater. They could have been great. It was like reading about a lost civilization- a place Robin could have grown up in.

Swallowing back his pain, Robin sat down to pen his note:

Cyborg, Raven, Beastboy,

I've joined him, and the fight against Slade will continue, hopefully a little stronger now with my help. I can only hope that this will be enough for I'm no longer Robin… just one of the anonymous.

The End

End Notes: This was a tough story to write and I've never really written anything so dark before; in fact I'm probably going to redo or at least fix all the chapters. Then, I might write the planned sequel.