Picking up the pieces, as in; Batman and Robin's father/son relationship.
Picking Up The Pieces
"Okay, why are you so jumpy?" Raven muttered in her monotone, not even looking up from her book.
Robin jumped slightly, not expecting the sudden comment. "No reason," he denied, still looking around as they walked through the city. "How can you read and walk at the same time anyway?"
"I'm special, don't avoid the question."
He sighed. "It's nothing, really."
She slammed her book shut and looked up at him with judging eyes. "You're a great liar, I'll give you that; but you can't lie to me."
"I-"
"Robin."
Both Titans froze at the third voice, it sounded strict, no-nonsense and maybe a little annoyed.
Robin's fists clenched and he cursed. "Batman," he answered just as curtly.
Both Titans turned to face him, and he did not look happy.
Now, this would've been a great sight for the people in Gotham City. The Dark Knight and the Titans Leader glaring daggers at each other; with the half-demon watching in confusion.
Luckily, it was the middle of the night, so not many people were awake. Besides, if someone did see them, all three could hide easily in the darkness. It was their home turf.
"What do you want?" Robin asked, his tone anything but happy. He'd hoped he would've been able to avoid Batman while he was in Gotham, but that was just next to impossible.
Raven blinked and stared at him, confusion in her eyes. What was going on? On the rare times he talked about Batman it was clear he loved his adopted father. Then why was he-
Robin's stance was defensive and angry, like he'd been betrayed.
He was still mad at Batman for 'firing' him.
Raven closed her eyes and pulled her hood up, stepping back to melt into the shadows and let them talk in piece.
She knew both of them noticed, but neither reacted.
"I wanted to talk to you," Batman answered. "Why didn't you tell me you were in the city?"
Robin's eyes narrowed. "We're here for a mission, nothing to report. Not like I need to anymore."
Batman's lips slipped into a tight line. "It isn't smart to talk here, let's go to the Batcave. Take the Demon too."
"She's only half-demon, and her name is Raven!" He hissed.
The Dark Knight seemed surprised at the defensive tone of his son, the gears already turning in his head for the reason why. He expertly resisted the urge to smile and nodded. "Right," he turned his head towards the shadows she was hiding in. "My apologies, Raven."
No response, she didn't even move.
"Let's go," he was already moving towards the Batmobile.
"No," Robin shook his head. "We'll get there ourselves."
He pressed a few buttons in his glove and the R-Cycle drove up next to him. He jumped on and revved the engine, pausing when he was about to put on his helmet. "Rae? You coming?"
The half-demon moved out of the shadows and levitated next to him, her hood still up. "I'll be right behind you," she said, her voice calm and monotone despite the legend watching them with calculating eyes.
The Boy Wonder nodded and drove away, not seeing his teammate glance at Batman, a bit unsure, before following him.
When they were gone, Batman allowed himself to smile; he already approved of her.
The moment they entered the Batcave, Robin was tackled with a hug.
"Hey, Tim!" He greeted, laughing and hugging his younger brother back.
Raven smiled, still hiding in the shadows. This was the first time she'd seen him smile since they met Batman.
Tim pulled back and grinned when his brother removed his mask. "You could call once in a while, you know?" He said, shoving him playfully.
"Yeah, yeah, I missed you too."
Robin froze for a second when he couldn't see Raven, before sighing and pulling her out of the shadows; ignoring the way she glared daggers at him.
"Isn't that the half-demon girl on your team you like so much?" Tim blurted.
Robin glared at the black haired boy. "Thanks a lot, Timothy, thanks a lot."
The hood hid Raven's smirk, but it didn't hide the slight sparkle in her eyes. She was going to have a lot of fun with this later.
And Robin knew it, judging from the way he paled.
She lowered her hood and held her hand out for the boy to take. "Raven," she introduced.
"Tim Drake," he said, shaking her hand.
Batman cleared his throat and everyone in the room went rigid. "Tim, shouldn't you be patrolling right now?" He asked, masked eyes never leaving his oldest son.
"Oh...right," Tim shot an apologetic look at his brother, smiled at Raven, and left the cave to get his costume.
"Where's Damian?" Robin asked, crossing his arms.
"With his mother."
"Barbara?"
"Upstairs with Alfred, stop stalling."
"I'm not," Robin growled, rolling his blue eyes. "Unlike you, I actually care about my family and want to know how they've been."
Batman's eyes narrowed. "Why did you tell her?"
Raven tensed, great, they were talking about her.
"I didn't tell her," the Boy Wonder said, glaring. "But even if I didn't, the answer stays the same; I trust her."
"Didn't I tell you not to trust anyone? Not even the people you're close to."
"Yes," he deadpanned. "You really proved that the last time I saw you."
Batman's eyes narrowed.
Raven stepped away. "Maybe I should go..."
"No," Robin grabbed her hand and pulled her back. "Stay here."
"This is a family matter, Robin." Batman said.
"Which is exactly why she stays."
"Dick..." Raven frowned. "He's right, I should leave you two to talk."
He turned to look at her with pleading blue eyes. "Please?"
She huffed and glared at him before pulling her hood up and crossing her arms. She hated it when he did that, why did one word have so much power over her?
Batman nodded to himself, almost looking impressed when she didn't budge when he stared at her. Most people would've ran for the hills the moment the Dark Knight set his eyes on them, but she was either brave, stubborn, or stupid.
He set his bets on the first two.
He watched as his son smiled at her, nothing but pure love in his eyes. He looked almost relieved that she stayed, as if he needed her so he wouldn't lose his temper.
Well, wasn't this interesting?
Robin set his eyes back on his mentor. "Both of us know this isn't just about her knowing everything. Don't play dumb, Bruce, it doesn't suit you."
"I can say the same about you. You knew what you were getting yourself into when you entered the Batcave."
The Boy Wonder shrugged. "Maybe I'm only here for Tim, Barbara and Damian."
"Alright, this needs to stop." Raven levitated herself so both men needed to look up to see her. She didn't know what she was doing, she was acting on an impulse. Brave was currently in control and had tied up and gagged Knowledge.
But maybe it was a good thing; all the negative energy had set Rage on edge and nobody needed her to break free now.
Robin immediately picked up on her unstable emotions and worry took over him. "Do you need to-"
"No," she cut him off. "Don't worry about me." Her eyes flickered to red for a second before she forced Rage back down.
"Rae-"
"I said no!" She glared at him and closed her eyes, silently chanting her mantra before opening her eyes. "Listen," she said calmly. "I'll be fine, it's just the tension affecting me, once you two stop being so hostile and actually talk, I'll be fine."
"Now," she sighed. "I'm going to leave, and I want you two to talk it out," her eyes focused on Robin. "Which means no changing the subject." She looked at Batman. "And no disappearing without a word."
Barbara rolled into the room, seated in a wheelchair. "Oh, I like this girl."
She looked between the two men and adjusted her glasses before turning at Raven. "Come on, let's go," her attention shifted to Robin. "We'll talk later, Dick."
He flinched. "Does this 'talking' end with me getting my bones broken for not calling?"
"You betcha," she rolled back towards the elevator.
Raven flew after her, looking at her leader and showing her four demonic eyes at him just to get her point across.
"She's really something, isn't she?" Batman muttered after they were gone.
"Yeah," Robin stared at the closed elevator doors. "She is."
"That was a really risky move, you know."
Raven didn't even look up and just stared at the book in her lap. "You survived."
She didn't even wonder how he found her, he was Robin, he could find anyone. Besides, Gotham was his home town, of course he'd find her in a random park in the middle of the night.
"How come you didn't stay with Barbara?"
She shrugged. "Felt uncomfortable."
"She's a handful, I know," he sat down next to her, blue eyes focused on the sky.
It must've been a weird sight. Her sitting on a bench in the park and reading a book in the middle of the night while wearing a cloak and leotard. And him calmly sitting next to her in a shirt, jeans and leather jacket.
"Barbara didn't kill you?" She muttered, her voice almost having a bored tone; but he knew that was just the way she was.
He shook his head. "Nope, she was a little too busy with asking questions about you and me."
Raven raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on it.
"I don't know why this city gets so much hate," she said, finishing the last line before closing her book. "I think it's...calming."
He scoffed. "That's only because it's a quiet night, I'm actually waiting for something to explode any moment now. Gotham never sleeps."
"Neither does crime, I know." She lowered her hood and levitated up. "Are you going to show me around or not?"
He smiled and took her hand. "Only if you walk with me."
"Fine," she rolled her eyes and lowered herself until her feet hit the ground, hiding the small smile on her face.
"So, how'd it go?" She asked as he dragged her around the city.
He folded his fingers through hers and smiled a bit unsure. "I admit, I was ready to throw a birdarang at him."
"I hope for you there's a 'but'."
"But he told me he did it to protect me, which just pissed me off even more."
She raised an eyebrow. "Do you know how many times you annoy me by 'protecting' me?"
He nodded. "Which is the exact reason I forgave him, I started thinking...I'd do the exact same thing if our positions were switched."
"Robin firing Batman, now that's a nice story for the press."
He snorted. "Vicki Vale would have the time of her life with that story."
Robin let go of her hand and climbed on top of a random building. "Come on, I want to show you something."
She raised an eyebrow and flew up next to him, not even protesting when he pulled her down to sit next to him.
"Look," he pointed at a place filled with tents and attractions. In the middle of it was a huge billboard, and written in big bubbly letters were the words Haly's Circus.
"The owner, Jack Haly, managed to get the circus going after...seven years now," he explained.
"You're seventeen now, aren't you?" She blurted.
He raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"So you were ten when..."
"When my parents got killed, yeah."
She flinched. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have."
"It's fine," he cut her off and smiled. "It got me where I am now, they'd be proud, that's all I ever wanted; for them to be proud of me."
Raven smiled and silently watched the sun rise.
