There and Back Again

September:

This was it.

Tim looked himself over in the costume smiling lightly. It was amazingly surreal.

The journey to get to where he stood right now had been long. It was almost exactly two years ago that the young man came to the Manor for his first day of training. He had been through the longest and hardest days of his life at this house. And now, he was standing in the Robin suit – his suit – getting ready to fulfill his first night of duty.

It was honestly a dream come true.

And a near-nightmare.

Tim had never felt such pressure on his shoulders before; he was supposed to protect the weak, fight for those who couldn't fight. He was Robin.

But he was also a teenaged boy and how much could he honestly do?

Clasping the cape to his neck, Tim shifted so it flowed over his body obscuring all the color from his costume. The young man felt a shudder run through him as he stared at this darker look to his suit. Without the color, he felt he looked more like Batman than one should. The darkness, however, was a strong reminder of what awaited him outside the Manor walls.

Gotham was a dark place; he had realized that even before he knew of Batman and Robin. Everyday on the news one was reminded of how nasty of a place the city was. And after being exposed to the harsher truths of the city, Tim actually felt needed. Robin had a place in Gotham and now it was his turn to fulfill that role. Teenager or not, Tim had been chosen for this great responsibility and it was now his duty to fulfill it to the best of his abilities.

Moving quickly, the cape fell back over his shoulders exposing the red, green and yellow of the suit. The brightness fitted him better; fitted Robin better. Batman was the darkness, Robin was supposed to be the light. They were made to even each other out; opposites even while they fought on the same side.

Tim straightened the 'R' on his chest and doubled checked all the compartments of his suit. Finding everything in order, he walked out of the costume vault, all thoughts of doubt safely tucked inside of him and hidden.

He found Bruce, in full Batman mode, waiting for him. The Dark Knight stood in all his glory and, though he had seen Batman many times before, Tim felt a sense in pride rise that he hadn't felt before. This was his mentor and his partner. He would fight along side this man through thick and thin.

Tim looked at the Batmobile and then back at Bruce. The older man looked the teenager over once and then spoke, "Shall we?"

The young man's answer was a quick nod and a large smile once Bruce's back was turned.

At two, the crimefighters returned to the Manor. The night had been uneventful for Gotham. A mugging, one attempted rape, and a B&E. Tim had the pleasure of knocking out his first real bad guy, a bumbling burglar, and kept up with Batman the entire night (granted Bruce probably moved slower than usually, but still…).

It had been simply amazing.

And perfect.

Never before had Tim felt that he was doing something so right. For this evening, his mind had been an utter blank; every move he made felt like instinct. It felt like he had been doing this his entire life. He never once doubted his presence in the night nor the fact that he could truly do good.

Tim stood in the Cave in his sweatpants and waited for Bruce to come out of the costume vault. As he waited, the teenager moved over to Jason's costume. Walking up to it, Tim placed his palm on the glass and stared up to where Jason's face would have been.

"I hope you know that I'm not trying to replace you," He said softly and with a hint of self-consciousness in his voice. "I don't want to do that and there's now way I could anyhow. I just…I just want to do the best I can." Tim dropped his hand with a sigh and a shake of his head. "I just hope I make him proud," it was obvious the him Tim was talking about.

The young man turned quickly when he heard a throat clear behind him. Bruce walked up next to Tim in front of the memorial.

"He was impulsive and I knew that. He wasn't fit to be on the streets, but he… he had an amazing ability to get his way." The older man paused for a moment and then finally spoke again. "He could have been a great Robin, and I saw that greatness appear once in a while, but he was unable to calm himself or his anger and that would have always held him back."

Bruce stopped talking and walked away from the case without another word leaving Tim to absorb the man's words. Tim continued to stare at the Robin suit wondering if Bruce was making a comparison between him and Jason or a contrast and, really, what it all meant.

As if reading the young man's mind, Bruce spoke. "You did good. You'll continue to do good."

Tim turned away from Jason's suit and caught Bruce's eye. "And," the older man added, "You do."

It took the teenager until Bruce was in the Manor to understand that last statement remembering his own last words to Jason. Smiling, Tim made his way upstairs as well, sparing once last look from the top of the stairs to the Cave that would become his second home. As he fell asleep, he briefly wondered where this Robin career would take him.

Had someone told him what he would do, see, and experience in only two years as Robin, Tim would have laughed in their face and told them that was a hilarious joke.

This first night was merely the beginning of a never-ending adventure that would take Tim to hell and back; that would beat him down till he was uncertain he would ever have the strength to rise again.

It would also show Tim the power he had inside, the amazing ability he possessed to survive against seemingly insurmountable odds. He would become one of the greatest leaders in the hero world and one of the most gifted young minds of his age.

As Robin he would make friends that would become his family and he would tear the family he already had apart. Eventually, after pulling them farther away then they ever had been, Robin would bring he and his father closer, if only for a depressingly short amount of time than they thought possible.

He would find and lose love many times.

And through it all, he would know and keep one thing close to his heart.

He had earned this.

He was Robin.

And in the darkest times that would be enough.

………

The End.

I hope everyone enjoyed this story. It was amazingly fun to write… I think I liked it so much because I didn't have to try and connect all the pieces that I wanted to put in the story in any sort of cohesiveness. Okay, that probably makes the story sort of a cop out, but oh well. It was over 30 pages like this and I could only imagine (okay not really…) the length it would have been had this been one long story if that was even possible.

Thank you to all my reviewers. I know only getting a 500-ish word chapter can be a little disheartening and lacking in story/plot, but I'm glad to see so many people did stick it out. I think there are hundreds more stories that could be born from Tim's training, but I can only do so much ;-) Or really my schoolwork can only take so much. Thus, I hope that this story might have inspired some people to think of their own short tales of training and whatnot.

A special thank you to the following reviews who were there through all (or def. most) of the months:

Tressa, batfan7, Karin/Carin (I'm not sure if you were the same person, but I went with it…), Delia Ra'Nar, Classical Brunette, and Indy Tarquinson

Thank you again… it's been a real slice of heaven.