AN: I had one simple goal when I wrote this chapter; inflict as much suffering on these poor characters as possible. Now, I don't know if I achieved my goal but I certainly gave it my best shot. Enjoy.
Bruce Wayne
Saturday January 8th, 2013
"Robin, come in! Robin! Robin, come in now!"
The line never connected. Batman practically threw himself into the Batmobile and stomped on the gas pedal, heading to the nearest Zeta beam.
"Batman!" The Flash sounded even more frantic than usual. "Where are you?! Something's wrong! The zeta beams are down and something's messing with our comms!"
"All Leaguers respond! The Watchtower is under attack. Robin has the chips and is on the run." Superman's voice came through the Batmobile's speakers, using the special alert that signaled a League Emergency. Batman nearly crashed the car before he engaged the autopilot and plugged in the coordinates for the nearest zeta beam. Then he tried to respond to Superman's alert, but the line refused to connect. He tried the Flash's personal com and this time, the connection was instantaneous.
"Flash! What's going on?" Batman demanded. "What chips?"
"Batman! Robin attacked Red Arrow, he stole the biotech chips the Team recovered in New Orleans and he's loose in the Watchtower! We've got everything on lockdown but something's interfering with our comms. What's he doing?!"
"Keep it on total lockdown until I get there. Find him. Whatever it takes, do not let him off the Watchtower."
Batman attempted to contact Robin again, but it still wouldn't connect.
"Computer. Override system locks and open line to Robin."
"Error. Administrator access required."
Dammit. The Watchtower's system wasn't the only one that had been hacked. Batman opened his own holocomputer, tapping into the system that controlled their communication lines. As he suspected, there was a branch connected to the network that didn't belong. Robin had long since out-paced his hacking skills, but Batman had a few tricks of his own. The invasive branch had attached itself to the network, which allowed it access but also left it vulnerable. Batman sent a worm down the path, something that would jam the hacker's processors and buy him time to remove them from the communication network. It worked exactly as intended, until the Flash shouted, "One of the Javelins just activated! Robin's hacking the system! We need to keep the hangar closed!"
Robin wasn't just hacking the communication system; it was a distraction. He needed a way off the satellite, he must have known the communication networks would take top priority.
It was a distraction. So was the Javelin.
Robin would never make it off the Watchtower by spaceship and he knew it. Batman pulled up the zeta-beam system and swore. The system lockdown had just removed itself.
"Flash! Get to the monitor womb! He's going for the zeta-beam!" Batman shouted.
"Are you sure?"
"Go!"
"On it!"
"Robin's here! Monitor womb!" Plastic Man's frantic shout came through the Watchtower's speakers. Batman felt his heart sink as the zeta-beam activated and the log updated with a new entry; Robin, B-01.
His virus chose that moment to finish it's work and Batman seized his opportunity. This time, the comm call connected.
"Robin, what are you doing?!" Batman roared over the line.
"It's not what it looks like!" Robin panted back at him. He sounded like he was sprinting for his life. "The chips were a trap! Roy tried to kill me, he's—"
The line went dead.
"Robin! Robin!" Batman shouted into his com. "Dick! Answer me!"
The line was dead. Either his virus hadn't worked for long, or the hacker on the other end had been prepared for the attack. Considering that Deathstroke had been known to associate with some dangerously talented hackers, it was probably the latter.
"Dammit!" Batman swore. He was too far away from the zeta-beam.
"Batman! Robin's gone! You were right about the zeta, but he did something to it. It's locked down."
"Get it back online. I don't care what it takes."
He took a deep breath. This could still be a misunderstanding. Cluemaster might still be wrong.
He opened the GPS, waiting for them to pinpoint the exact coordinates of the tracking chips in Robin's suit. He'd taken the zeta beam to Metropolis; to the exact same one Batman was heading towards. If he'd been a few minutes faster, he might have been there in time to intercept Dick.
He stomped on the gas pedal, disengaging the autopilot and pulling out onto the freeway. The Batmobile sped down the road, weaving through cars and probably breaking dozens of traffic laws. Batman didn't care.
The tracking chip was heading north. Batman didn't let up on the gas, thankful that traffic was so light this late at night. He was closing in when the dot that represented Dick veered, getting off the highway and winding its way through the streets. Batman speed across three lanes of traffic and onto the next exit ramp, slowing down just enough to safely merge onto the main road.
The dot had stopped.
"Superman, come in." Batman barked into his com.
"I'm here." Superman answered immediately.
"I need you at these coordinates as soon as you can possibly get there." Batman sent the GPS coordinates as he turned a corner and raced down a street. There were no houses, just rows of office buildings and fences. Batman turned another corner, pulling into the parking lot where the dot had stopped and…
There was nothing.
The run-down parking lot was completely empty. Most of the lights were burned out, and only one lamp was still on. Batman checked the coordinates again, and the chip told him he was standing right next to Robin.
He climbed out of the Batmobile, examining the GPS on his holocomputer. This was the spot. This was exactly the spot. Right under the light…
…where a briefcase rested innocently against the lamppost.
A blast of wind rushed through the air and then Superman was standing next to him.
"There's nobody else here." Superman told him gravely. Batman scowled at the case.
"No. There isn't."
Superman tensed as Batman picked up the case and opened it. There was a piece of paper resting innocently on top of a neatly folded uniform. Robin's uniform.
"Is that…" Superman asked, trailing off when it became clear Batman wasn't going to dignify him with a response. Instead, Batman picked up the note.
'I don't need this anymore so I figured I should probably give it back. I'm sorry you had to find out this way and I'm sorry I lied to you, but I knew you'd never understand. Thank you for everything and I'm sorry, but I'm not coming back.'
It was in Dick's handwriting. That meant this wasn't some fluke, Robin hadn't just made a mistake. It meant Cluemaster was right; Dick had betrayed him.
"What does it say?" Superman asked. Batman shoved the note back into the case and latched it shut.
"He made his choice." Batman stood, picking up the case and turning his back on the other hero. "Get the Flash down here, see if there's any security cameras in the area that might have picked something up. I want the rest of the League on patrols. Robin has the chips, and he is to be considered hostile and dangerous. Find him and find the chips, do whatever it takes to bring him in. Call me immediately if you find anything."
"Whatever it takes? Batman, what's going on?"
Batman didn't stay long enough to answer. He was long gone by the time the Kryptonian realized he wasn't still standing next to him.
The Batcave
Sunday, January 9th, 2013
Batman considered himself an expert at dealing with situations that would send the average person into immediate cardiac arrest, but he'd never experienced anything like this before. His thoughts raged like a tornado and at the eye of the storm was one impossibility; Dick was Renegade. The idea made him sick. Dick had stolen from the League's top-secret headquarters. He attacked Roy and he might have killed him if the League hadn't followed the sound of explosions and found them in time. There had to be another explanation.
There had to be.
The first thing he did when he arrived back at the Batcave was to engage the emergency protocols. Nobody was allowed into the cave until further notice. He informed Alfred that the League had suffered a bad betrayal and he and Dick would be unavailable until things calmed down. Then he'd sent off an email to Gotham Academy informing them Dick would be absent for the week due to sudden illness. The last thing he needed was the school getting suspicious about his sudden absence.
Once that had been handled, he'd sat down at the Batcomputer, opened the patrol logs, and started searching. He flagged every case Dick had worked on his own, every case where the word Deathstroke or Renegade were mentioned, and especially every note he'd made on Dick's behavior. After that, he'd pulled every video file he had on Deathstroke, and every one he had of Renegade.
It was a disturbingly large number of files.
He dove into the mess, keeping track of everything he thought he needed and making notes of anything that seemed useful. There were three questions he needed to know before he could figure out what to do. Was Dick really Renegade, if so, how long had it been going on, and most importantly, was Dick being blackmailed or was he a traitor?
He tried to keep moving through the files, but he found himself stuck on the video recording from his cowl of the night at the Iceberg Lounge. He watched the footage from beginning to end three times over, trying to pick out Dick's features on Renegade's face.
He couldn't do it.
Renegade didn't look like Dick.
His facial features were sharper, his voice was deeper, he was taller, broader and he'd been beaten and bruised that night at the Iceberg. Dick didn't have any of those injuries.
"Oh it's not luck. I don't leave anything to chance." The Deathstroke on the screen mocked, tilting his head to the side with a hidden smirk. "Nothing."
Deathstroke had set up the meeting. He'd deliberately placed Renegade in Batman's path, ensuring that they would speak to each other. He prepared for the encounter; he'd taken steps to protect Renegade's identity.
Batman rewound the video, looking for a long sound clip that he could use.
"I don't get to choose that. Whatever he says is what I do. He says jump, I jump. He says shoot, I pull the trigger. He rips away my name and calls me Renegade, that's who I am. That's all I am." Renegade said on the video.
Batman retrieved the recording from the comm line and had the computer analyze the frequency of Dick's voice as he said, "It's not what it looks like! The chips were a trap! Roy tried to kill me, he's—"
With that frequency as the basis, he performed a Fourier Transform on Renegade's voice, shifting the phase until the two sound recordings were based around the same wavelength. He played it back and braced himself, but there was nothing that could have prepared him for it.
"He rips away my name and calls me Renegade, that's who I am. That's all I am." Dick said, sounding even more desolate than Renegade had. Batman froze, heart pounding in his chest as the last doubts evaporated like a punch in the stomach. It was true. Dick was Renegade.
The video kept playing, and Batman heard his own voice ask, "What does he have on you?"
"Everything." Dick answered. "Nothing. That's the problem."
Was he being blackmailed? All Renegade's answers had been vague, just truthful enough to win Batman's sympathy, but Deathstroke had clearly masterminded their encounter. There was no way to tell what was true and what wasn't from Renegade—Dick's account.
And that note.
I'm sorry you had to find out this way and I'm sorry I lied to you, but I knew you'd never understand.
If Deathstroke was blackmailing him, why would he let Dick leave a note behind? Batman had read it a hundred times, looking for any hidden messages or clues. There was nothing.
But that meant it might be a true apology note. And if it was, that meant years of partnership were built on lies, that Dick had been taking advantage of his trust for years. No matter what the truth was, Dick had lied to him. Dick could have been a willing conspirator. If the apology note was real, then that meant Dick betrayed him and he would never know why.
He couldn't accept that. But the treacherous voice of reason in his mind reminded him of just how many other things he'd missed. If Dick was being blackmailed, then he'd needed Bruce's help and he failed. On the rooftop, Renegade had sounded devastated when he realized Batman didn't have a plan to stop Deathstroke. In that moment, he'd been a scared child hoping someone would save him and Batman had failed him. Bruce failed his son, and now everyone was paying the price. But if he searched for his son, only to find him and learned that Dick had truly betrayed him? It would kill him.
He couldn't guess. Not on this. He needed to be sure.
That was the question that haunted Batman's endless hours of searching. Cluemaster's words hung at the front of his mind; "Deathstroke picks a brat, finds somewhere to public to stash him so he can't run, and surrounds him with easy targets to keep him in line."
That couldn't be true. Brown had gotten lucky when Parasite mentioned Haly's Circus. That was the only reason he'd put two and two together about Renegade. Deathstroke couldn't have had anything to do with Dick's adoption. Or Jason's. Or the Drake's car accient, or Cluemaster's arrest or… Lady Shiva having a sudden, inexplicable change of heart.
How long had this been going on? How long had Deathstroke planned this? Renegade had showed up for the first time in October. Whatever Deathstroke had done to Dick, it couldn't have been happening for much longer than that. Batman would've realized something was wrong. He would've.
Except he had.
Dick's strange behavior, his slipping grades, the physical changes Canary had been worried about. Not to mention the disappearances, and the excuses and the lies. Batman had noticed all of it.
Why hadn't he done anything about it? Why had he let it go?
Selina.
Suddenly, Dick's meltdown in his office made far more sense. He'd tried to warn Bruce that she was working with Deathstroke, which he only knew because he was also working for Deathstroke. He was trying to protect his family, to keep them safe.
Which meant two things; if Selina was involved, this had been going on for a very, very long time. And worse; either Selina or Dick was a traitor.
Selina Kyle
Friday, January 14th, 2013
"Three years." Batman said. Selina reached out to touch his shoulder, but Bruce stiffened like a wild animal backed into a corner. "Three and a half years!"
The word came out as a shout, rage bouncing off the walls of the warehouse and forcing her back.
"What are you talking about?"
Batman didn't answer and Selina stepped closer.
"Bruce, you're scaring us. You've been down here for days. The kids are freaking out, they have no idea what's going on and Alfred and I have no idea what to tell them. What's going on? Where's Dick? Why isn't he down here with you?"
Batman's fist slammed out, ramming one of the computer keys with enough force to crack it. Five screens' worth of videos began playing, all scenes depicting Deathstroke's mysterious apprentice. Selina stared, heart pounding as her brain connected the dots.
"No." The word fell out of her mouth. "Bruce, no. No!"
"Three and a half years." Bruce repeated and she finally understood what he was saying, even if her brain refused to process it.
"That's not possible! Bruce, it can't be possible! I met him! Dick is not Renegade! That's not possible!"
"It was the warehouse fire."
"What fire?" Selina asked, but as soon as she asked, she knew the answer. "You thought… you thought someone scared him but he wouldn't tell you anything. But that was years ago!"
"However it happened, that was the night Deathstroke made his move."
"But why… why now? Why is this happening now?"
"He needed a spy."
"Oh my god."
"Dick was the mole. He broke into the Watchtower and stole the devices the Team recovered from the Light. He attacked Red Arrow when he was discovered. Selina, he tried to kill Roy."
"No. He would never do that."
"He did."
"It's not true!" Selina shouted. Tears ran down her face and she realized she was crying. Her hand started to ache and she looked down to see her fingernails had punctured the skin.
"It is and it's my fault!" Bruce shouted back. "This whole time, Wilson has been playing games with me. He stole Robin from me. Everything since that day has been a setup!"
"That can't be true!" Selina protested. Bruce stood, throwing his chair to the side with a crash.
"He murdered the Drakes!" Batman raged, the sound erupting with raw pain and fury. "He put Brown in prison so I would take in Stephanie. He even paid Jason to steal my goddamn tires!" He set everything up! I only have children because Slade fucking Wilson wanted to use them to control Dick and I. DIDN'T. KNOW!"
The scream echoed through the cave, scaring the bats into fleeing. Their screeches mixed with the remains of Bruce's pain, drawing the sound out until Selina's skin crawled. Then she saw how Batman was looking at her. Fury, pain and distrust.
"Even you."
"What?"
"You said you would never give it up." Bruce growled and Selina's jaw dropped.
"Bruce, whatever you're thinking, it's not true."
"That night on top of Tiffany's, you said you'd never give it up. Three years later, here we are. The perfect excuse to explain his behavior. Everyone saw Dick falling apart, pulling disappearing acts and disobeying orders, and how perfectly simple the explanation was. Trouble with Dad's new girlfriend, even Dinah believed it."
"Bruce, stop."
"How much did Wilson pay you?!" Bruce roared.
"How dare you?!" Selina snapped, tears pouring down her face. "I am not working for Deathstroke! He had nothing to do with us!"
"Then why did you give it up?!"
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, YOU JACKASS!" Selina screamed. "Because you made me happy and I realized I didn't have to be the kind of person who stole without ever facing the people I hurt! You made me believe I could be better! And I tried to be better, and it was the hardest thing I've ever done but it was worth it because I love you!"
The cave was silent. Then Batman turned, slamming his fist through the monitor and hunching over the keyboard.
"This is all my fault." Bruce whispered, his shoulders shaking. Selina felt her heart break. Bruce was crying. "Dick is gone. He needed me and I failed him."
Jason Todd
"Hey dingbats, stop! Bruce told us not to go down there!"
"Dick is gone!" Stephanie screamed, throwing one of her dolls to the ground hard enough to send plastic shards flying. The crack was louder than it should have been and Jason froze, staring at the wires and metal sticking out of the disemboweled doll.
"What are you talking about? Steph, what's in that doll?"
"Dick is gone and we're only here because Bruce got set up!" She shouted.
"That's not true." Jason protested, more confused than before. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"They killed Tim's mom!"
"What are you talking about?" Jason asked. He saw the look on Tim's face and he felt sick. "Tim, what's going on?"
"Bruce knew and he wasn't going to tell us!" Stephanie raged. "Get out of the way."
"Steph, stop!" Jason shouted, grabbing her by the arm when she tried to push past him. She yanked herself free and turned on him furiously.
"You're not my dad!" Stephanie screamed, tackling him and taking a priceless vase out with him. Jason hit the ground to the sound of shattering glass. Jason tried to defend himself but her fingernails were sharp and she scratched and bit him. He was bleeding by the time he got on top and held her down.
"What on Earth is going on here?!" Alfred thundered like an angry god from the Old Testament. "Jason Peter Todd, release your sister AT ONCE!"
"She started it!" He said, letting go of her and climbing back to his feet.
"Dick's working for a supervillain." Stephanie snapped. Everyone froze.
"What?" Alfred was so stunned he forgot to use manners. That's when it really hit Jason that the world was ending.
"I heard Bruce fighting with Selina. Dick tried to kill Roy and he stole something from the Justice League."
"All of you, downstairs, now."
"Master Bruce." Jason had never heard Alfred so furious in his life. "Explain yourself. Where is Richard?"
"He's gone." Bruce answered quietly. The words punched Jason in the stomach, taking the air out of his lungs while the shock hit him like slamming headfirst into a brick wall. Jason couldn't move. If he stayed still, maybe that would make the words go away, or if he waited long enough Bruce would smirk and Dick would jump out from behind a stalactite and they'd all laugh while Alfred yelled at them for scaring the rest of them.
"I beg your pardon?!" Alfred demanded instead. The look on his face was angry enough to turn someone into a pillar of salt and not even Bruce could stand it. Bruce looked down, hands curling into fists. The cave was too quiet and Bruce wasn't saying anything and Dick wasn't here but he couldn't be gone. He couldn't be.
"Deathstroke took him."
"Well go find him!" Jason shouted, surprising everyone in the room including himself.
"It's not that simple." Bruce answered. Selina opened her mouth but didn't say anything, and Jason felt fury swell in his chest. Dick warned them not to trust her. He'd promised Dick they wouldn't that day in the library. This was all Selina's fault. It must have been.
"That's stupid!" Stephanie screeched. She took a few heaving breaths before the anger on her face splintered apart. Her face turned red and the rage turned into sobs. "Get him back!"
"We don't know where he is, but even if we can find him, he may not come back."
That was the wrong thing to say. Even Jason could see how freaked out Steph was, and their dad's words pushed her over the edge.
"Shut up!" She screamed. "I hate you! You don't even want us!"
She ran for the elevator sobbing.
"Steph, wait!" Jason called but she slapped his hand away hard enough to leave an angry red welt. Selina held out a hand to stop Alfred from following her.
"I'll go." She said, then disappeared after Stephanie. Jason looked back at Bruce, hoping his dad could fix any of it. He felt sick and his head was spinning like he was stuck in a nightmare. "What do you mean, he won't come back?"
"Deathstroke has been… manipulating him for a long time. Just finding him might not be enough to get through."
"To get through what?" Jason demanded.
"Deathstroke is a master of emotional manipulation." Bruce answered. "I don't know what he's said to Dick over the past few years, but he's had a long time to get inside his head."
"Get inside his head? Like mind control?" Jason asked.
"No. Maybe." Bruce rubbed a hand over his face. He looked tired and lost and seeing his dad—seeing Batman—look so scared stoked the fear building in his chest. Dick couldn't be gone for good. Dick was going to come back. "I don't know, but it's not likely."
"Then if we can find him, everything will be okay! He'll come home!" Jason shouted.
"Jason. It's not that simple."
"Yes it is! It's Dick! He always does the right thing!"
"I know that you care about him a lot, but there are too many things we don't know."
"Like what?!"
"Dick has been stealing information from the League and giving it right to the bad guys. His friends have gotten hurt because of it. And we don't know why he did it. Unless we know that, we don't know if we will be able to bring him home or if he will have to face justice."
"It's Dick!" Jason shouted, horrified at the words coming out of his dad's mouth.
"He's been lying about a lot of things for a very long time." Bruce answered calmly—how could he be calm at a time like this?!
"Like what, sneaking out at night?! I already knew that and you would too if you ever paid attention to us!"
"I've made a lot of mistakes. Deathstroke got his hands on Dick because of them. I will not let him hurt any of you more than he already has."
"He killed my parents." Tim broke through the silence. His voice was hoarse and Jason could barely hear him. Bruce frowned.
"Tim, what are you talking about?"
"I heard you. Steph and I heard everything you told Selina."
"What?!" Jason whirled on his little brother.
"Why did he do it?" Tim asked.
"Knowing won't help." Bruce said tiredly. "It will only make you feel worse."
"Why?"
"Tim, Deathstroke is a very bad man. He has no hesitation killing people to get what he wants."
"Why?! Why did he do it?!"
"To cause a distraction."
"But why would he kill Tim's parents?!" Jason exclaimed.
"He arranged everything so that I would take you in." Bruce said to Tim. He turned to Jason and ripped his world apart. "He did the same thing to you, Jason."
"He didn't kill my mom!" Jason shouted, more shocked than anything.
"No. He sent you to steal my tires."
"What?!"
"The man who bought tires from you? Mr. Harris? That was one of Deathstroke's aliases. He arranged everything so that you would get caught and I would take you in."
It took a second for him to process it. Then Jason doubled over, vomiting onto the cave floor.
"Why would he do that?" Tim asked like a little robot that only cared about facts and information. Like he didn't care that the man who'd taken their brother had murdered his parents because they were in the way. "Why did he make you adopt us?"
Bruce closed his eyes. Jason wiped his mouth and looked at his dad. He didn't realize that there was anything that could possibly make this worse.
"As a distraction." Bruce said quietly.
Jason stumbled back, the entire world crumbling around him. Dick was gone. Tim had gone into robot mode. And Steph was right.
Bruce didn't want them.
Bruce Wayne
Saturday, January 15th, 2013
The Watchtower
Batman looked around at the assembled Leaguers. Wonder Woman sat between Superman and the Flash. Black Canary and Green Arrow were next to the Flash, and Aquaman sat to Batman's left. They'd been carefully chosen as the most trustworthy, and the ones who needed to know the most. But it was more than that. They were the ones who knew Dick. That cared about him. The ones who were going to be crushed when they found out what he'd done.
"What I'm about to tell you does not leave this room." Batman said. "Dick has been secretly working for Deathstroke for the last three years."
"What?!"
"There is still a lot that remains unclear, but Robin broke into the Watchtower on Deathstroke's orders. His current whereabouts are unknown. It's unclear how or when it started, but Robin has been working as Deathstroke's apprentice for years."
"Oh my god." Black Canary's hands flew up to her mouth.
"The attack at S.T.A.R. Labs, Dick led them into that?" The Flash demanded, looking furious.
"I don't know." Batman answered. "I don't know how this could have happened. I don't know anything and it's too late to stop him. The only thing we can do is find him and bring him in."
"How could this have happened?" Aquaman demanded. "Are you not the surface world's greatest detective?!"
"Deathstroke planned this for a very long time. He ensured that I would never see enough to become suspicious, and took extreme measures when I began to notice something was wrong." Batman voice was clinical and detached, betraying no hint of the emotional storm raging inside.
"You've all been quiet." The Flash observed. Wonder Woman and Black Canary looked at each other while Superman looked down at the table guiltily. Green Arrow looked conflicted and angry, but didn't say anything.
"We noticed Robin was behaving strangely a few months ago." Superman said. "But we never imagined it was anything of this magnitude."
"It was around the time he and Miss Martian went on a rogue mission to Europe." Black Canary added.
"Why weren't these concerns brought up to the League?" The Flash demanded.
"The League had enough to deal with. At the time, we handled the situation quietly and believed it to be resolved." Superman said diplomatically.
"As it turned out, the matter was not resolved. Rather, our attention was shifted to higher priorities. Deathstroke orchestrated a number of distractions. We believed that Dick's strange behavior was caused by his distrust of Selina, and trauma from missions that went wrong."
"I spoke to Dick at length about his behavior. He fought with both Red Arrow and Miss Martian recently, and when confronted, he had an enormous amount on his mind. I knew he wasn't telling me everything but I never thought…" Black Canary trailed off before she took a deep breath. "Robin would do anything for his teammates. I know he would. I don't understand how that could have been an act."
"Batman." Wonder Woman spoke softly, and it took all of Batman's willpower not to think about how much his children meant to the Amazon. "Do you know why he did it?"
Batman closed his eyes.
"No." He admitted.
"Considering that it's Deathstroke, some form of blackmail is almost certain." Wonder Woman pointed out.
"Almost." Green Arrow scowled. "But 'almost' doesn't explain how he could attack Roy like that. Or, how he sucker-punched me in the face and then pretended everything was fine the next time he saw me? Oh, and have we forgotten that he led the rest of his teammates into a trap? That same trap where his new boss shot your nephew?!"
"And if this has indeed been going on beneath our notice for the past three years, Deathstroke must have trusted Dick a great deal to allow him as much freedom as he did." Aquaman pointed out. "As much as it pains me, we must treat his actions as a betrayal."
The Flash's hands balled into fists.
"Then it's simple. We find Dick. If he's being blackmailed, we save him. If not, he faces justice for what he's done."
Nobody argued. Everyone looked on-edge, but given the bomb he'd just dropped on them, Batman didn't particularly blame him.
"The team deserves to know." Superman broke the silence.
"No. It would just hurt them." Black Canary shook her head.
"He was their teammate and friend. They deserve to know the truth."
"Do you have confirmation that he is currently with Deathstroke?"
"No. We are no closer to locating him or the chips." Batman hesitated before admitting, "But it is the most likely scenario."
"Then the team might have to fight him someday." Superman said what they were all thinking.
Batman couldn't bring himself to answer.
"They need to know." Wonder Woman said softly.
"No." Canary snapped. "They don't deserve this! Those kids have been through so much and things were just starting to get better. This will destroy everything they've worked to build and I refuse to do that to them."
"I agree." Aquaman said solemnly. "Discovering that my own brother betrayed me caused me more pain than any attack he unleashed against my kingdom. Had I been thinking rationally, he would have been captured and brought to justice. It was my own grief that allowed him to escape."
"We can't just lie to them." Green Arrow protested. "Dick betrayed them. He betrayed all of us. Bruce, he's been lying to your face every single day since this started."
"The truth is only going to hurt them." Canary countered.
"And if they discover the truth because he attacks them in the field? How much more will it hurt them to find out we hid the truth?"
"We have to tell them." Superman said with finality, ending the discussion once and for all.
Mount Justice
Sunday, January 16th, 2013
"The information you are about to hear is the most security, highly classified information you will ever hear. Only the people in this room will ever know this."
The Cave was silent. In the Watchtower, it would've been serene, but in the hollow mountain, the silence echoed. It hung in the space like an intruder.
The League stared at him, proteges standing near their mentors. Artemis held Zatanna's hand tightly. Her face was pale and, in another time, Batman would've made her sit down. But the news was just going to get worse the longer this waited.
"Robin was the mole." Batman said. The silence got louder. "The case he stole from the Watchtower contained all but one of the biotech chips that the Team retrieved from New Orleans, which had been removed for analysis. After attempting to incapacitate Red Arrow, he escaped through the zeta tubes and disabled them. By the time we were able to reboot the system and bring the zeta tubes online, he disappeared. We don't know where he is at this time."
Batman stopped. He physically couldn't bring himself to say the next part. Green Arrow stepped forward, face set in hard lines. When he nodded at Batman, there was no judgement. Just anger that, as much as it pained him, Batman couldn't fault him for. Robin had tried to kill Red Arrow. He would've strangled him if the League hadn't gotten there in time.
"Several months ago, I responded to a break-in at the Hizer Pharmaceutical Labs. The suspect was a costumed individual who I didn't recognize. He escaped, but we gathered enough information to start assembling a profile. He appeared again on a protection detail for scientists working at the deBroglie Institute for Dynamic Engineering. There were no further appearances until Catwoman met him at the Gotham Museum of Art, and we had an identity. In all cases, the suspect was accompanied by his employer, Deathstroke, and he operates under the name Renegade."
The Team froze.
"Don't say what I think you're saying." Artemis breathed. Miss Martian, pale as a ghost, looked at Kid Flash desperately. Kid Flash was frozen in place, horror plastered on his face.
"Extensive steps were taken to conceal Reneagade's identity from facial recognition software, but we were able to confirm it through voice-patten analysis." Green Arrow said. "It's Robin."
"No." Superboy found his voice first. He shook his head disbelievingly. "No! I met Renegade! He helped me!"
"What?" Superman looked shocked.
"When I was covering for you in Metropolis, I stopped a building from falling on him. He helped me! He told me about Cadmus and Match being a trap for the missing genomorphs. And he didn't look or sound anything like Robin!"
"Deathstroke orchestrated several run-ins. He went to great lengths to obscure Renegade's identity." Batman said. "His methods were very effective."
"But it wasn't Robin!" Superboy insisted, throwing his hands out. Zatanna's face was pale as she reached out suddenly, putting a hand on Superboy's arm.
"When we broke into LexCorp, you found files on Renegade that Robin didn't want to open. As soon as you said the word Renegade, he made us leave. He must have known we'd recognize him if we had time to watch the video, especially with him standing right in front of us."
"No! It can't be him! And even if it was, he still helped me! He warned me that going back to Cadmus would be a trap, and without him I never would have found out Luthor was still experimenting on Project Match!" Superboy whirled on Batman. "You said it yourself; the only explanation is that Renegade was trying to help! That means Robin or Renegade or whoever it is didn't betray anyone and he needs our help!"
"Believe me when I say that I hope his intentions were good." Batman's voice was a growl despite his best efforts to reign it in. "But there are too many unknowns and we cannot ignore the fact that he broke onto the Watchtower and attacked several League members."
"He could have been forced to do it!" Kid Flash snapped.
"We don't know why he did any of it." Batman answered. "Due to the severity of the leaked information and the extremes he went to in order to maintain his cover, we have to act under the assumption that his actions were voluntary. Ultimately, the team is being informed as a courtesy. The League will find him and remove him from Deathstroke's influence."
"That is unacceptable. He was our teammate, that makes his betrayal our responsibility." Aqualad crossed his arms over his chest.
"And he's our friend, you're not leaving us out of it!" Artemis protested.
"The person you thought you knew was a cover." Batman said coldly. "You cannot think of him as your friend; he was the mole and his actions endangered not just the League, but the entire world."
"That's bullshit! He would never betray any of us!" Kid Flash shouted.
Aqualad turned on his teammate. "He led us into a trap; you and Miss Martian almost died because of him! He attempted to kill Red Arrow!"
"You're wrong!" Kid Flash shouted, "Robin is not a traitor! If you think there's any way in hell he would have done any of this if he didn't have to, you're an idiot!"
Aqualad's tattoos began to glow, but he closed his eyes and calmed himself down quickly. "We cannot afford to be blinded by attachments. He must be treated as if he were any other criminal."
"What's wrong with you, Kaldur?! It's Robin!"
"It would not be the first time I have been betrayed by someone I thought would never hurt me."
Kid Flash looked around, fury blazing in his eyes.
"That's it? You're all going to write him off just like that?" The speedster demanded, looking at each of the League members in turn. Batman's eyes narrowed and Kid Flash steeled himself under the full weight of Batman's glare. "You've got it all wrong! Robin isn't a traitor! He was trying to protect us!"
"Protect us?!" Aqualad thundered.
"Kaldur, please." Black Canary urged, holding her hands up in an attempt to keep the peace.
"No, Dinah! Aqualad has every right to be angry!" Green Arrow shouted. "Or have you forgotten that Robin took advantage of you too?!"
The argument grew louder and more heated, but Batman had stopped listening. There was something in Kid Flash's tone that made Batman stop. Wally was Dick's best friend. He knew him better than anyone else; it made sense that he would have the hardest time accepting Robin's betrayal. But there was no desperation or shock, and the look on his face was as far from lost as it could be.
Kid Flash knew exactly what was going on.
"What do you know?" Batman demanded. The cave went silent, everyone turning to look at Kid Flash. The speedster held his ground, glaring right back at them.
"You want to know what I know?" Kid Flash asked. Batman had never heard him sound this serious. "Well how about this?! If anyone in this room is a mole, what I know will get someone killed."
That announcement was met with stunned silence.
"No one here is a mole." Superman finally said.
"Are you willing to stake all of our lives on it?" Kid Flash shot back. "If you're wrong, someone will die. Those are the stakes."
"Tell us what you know, now!" Batman shouted, losing his grip at the idea that the answers could be right in front of him and still so unattainable.
"Do you think I'm kidding?!" Kid Flash shouted back, matching Batman's volume but not even Batman had sounded that furious. "This isn't a game! I've been so scared of messing this up and getting someone killed, and I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do anymore! Maybe I could have done something before all this happened and everything would be fine, or maybe the fact that I didn't is the only reason the rest of us are all still standing here! I don't know! So I'll tell you, but not unless you understand how much is at risk!"
"It is not your job to decide who lives and dies." Wonder Woman said harshly, and Kid Flash flinched. "Tell us what you know. We accept the risks."
"Fine. Robin has been training with Deathstroke since he was eleven. Deathstroke forced him to become Renegade and threatened to kidnap him, hurt his family and kill his friends if he didn't do it. I found out about it when all the adults disappeared."
"You've known all this time?!"
"How did you find out?"
"He told me. Somewhere between trying to put the worlds back together, he slipped me a note saying that Deathstroke has been blackmailing him for years. If he tried to escape, he'd kill his whole family."
"Your friend, the one you pretended was dealing drugs." The Flash realized with dawning horror. "It was Robin, wasn't it?"
"Yeah." Kid Flash answered hoarsely.
"Jesus Christ, Kid! Why the hell didn't you tell us what was going on?!"
"Because it wasn't safe! I didn't know what to do!"
"He sent you right into a trap and you're defending him?!"
"S.T.A.R. labs wasn't a trap for us!" Kid Flash shouted. "It was a trap for Robin!"
"You got shot!" The Flash shot back.
"Because I set him up!" Kid Flash threw his hands in the air. "I sent the entire League after him in Lisbon, he had no idea you were coming, and he still got away! He found out I was behind it and that's how he knew Robin told me! Those fifteen minutes between radio silence and Robin getting strangled?! Deathstroke beat the crap out of him and interrogated him about Lisbon. The only reason Robin didn't go missing then is that he didn't know what I did!"
"Do you have proof?" Batman asked.
"I know why he stole the chips."
"Why?"
"He found out that the chips were mind-control devices, and the bad guys wanted us to recover them from New Orleans. The real mole was already in position to infect the entire League, and Robin suspected somebody had already been infected."
"Who did he say the real mole was?"
Kid Flash's eyes swept over Green Arrow, Black Canary and Aqualad for a fraction of a second. For anyone else, the hesitation wouldn't have been longer enough to matter, but for someone with super-speed, it meant Kid Flash was lying when he said, "Robin didn't say."
"Why didn't you say anything before?" Superboy asked angrily. Kid Flash turned around to face the angry, hurt and confused faces of his teammates.
"Guys, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I kept this secret and I'm even more sorry that you had to find out like this, but I didn't know what to do. Robin just wanted to keep you guys safe. I know you're going to be mad at me, and I deserve it, but please don't blame Robin for any of this. He needs our help."
"Very well. We will find Robin and bring him home. As for you … I am truly sorry, Wally, but you have lost my trust. You knew the danger in protecting such a damaging secret and you bear responsibility for what has happened here. You are not welcome on this team any longer."
The whole room gasped.
"Kaldur…" Artemis breathed in shock.
"You can't do that!" Miss Martian burst out, breaking her silence.
"This is not a time for rash decisions," Aquaman cautioned. Aqualad just looked back at his mentor calmly.
"Has the Team been dissolved or incorporated into the body of the Justice League?"
"No." Batman answered.
"Then I am still the leader of this Team. We have faced enough betrayals and I cannot put the rest of my teammates in danger. I am sorry, and although I understand why you made your choice, I cannot approve when the consequences were so severe. You have lost my trust."
Kid Flash just glared at the Atlantean.
"You want me off the team? Fine. As long as you do whatever it takes to get Robin back."
"Stop!" Miss Martian shouted with enough psychic energy behind it to give Batman a pounding headache. "You can't kick Wally off the team!"
"I know you're upset, M'gann. But his secrecy not only put all of our lives at risk, it cost Robin any chance of getting help before things escalated."
Kid Flash flinched.
"You're wrong." Miss Martian said, shaking her head numbly. "Wally's 'secrecy' didn't put us at risk. Deathstroke was targeting us to control Robin and he was constantly under surveillance. We were working on a plan to stop him but we had to be careful."
"We?!"
"I've known a lot longer than Wally has." Miss Martian answered seriously. "Things have been falling apart ever since Halloween and Robin was getting desperate. I told him he needed to come clean before things got any worse, but he wouldn't listen. He told me it was too dangerous. He was trying to protect all of us."
"Is that what you and Robin were fighting over?"
"I told him he had to come clean. He was scared and he had every right to be. He never wanted to hurt anyone, but he didn't have a way out. The things Deathstroke had… threatened to do to him, he was in too deep and he was scared."
"He's not a traitor. He's Deathstroke's victim, and he's been caught in his trap for a long time." Kid Flash said. "If you want me off the team, fine. I understand, but you cannot give up on Robin. He's given up so much to keep us all safe and we have to do whatever it takes to get him back. We have to save him before Deathstroke breaks him for good."
"How?" Artemis demanded. "We don't know where they are! If Deathstroke kidnapped him, they could literally be anywhere on the planet!"
"And if these threats were great enough that Robin would go to all this trouble, what makes you think finding him will be enough?"
"Robin had a plan. After S.T.A.R. Labs, he was going to turn himself over to Deathstroke and try to leave a trail for us to follow." Kid Flash said.
"Deathstroke offered him something else; the chance to spy on the villains he'd encounter. That's why he tipped off Superboy, that's why he knew Catwoman was involved with Deathstroke. But Deathstroke must have been planning this; he'd never let Robin come out on top." Miss Martian added.
"We have a chance to stop him now. If we take away all of Deathstroke's leverage, we can find Robin and end this once and for all. But we have to do it exactly right."
"You said you two were working on a plan." Superman said, looking between the sidekicks.
"It's not perfect yet, but if it works, it will take his family out of the line of fire and take away some of Deathstroke's leverage."
"Tell us." Batman demanded.
"You're not going to like it." Kid Flash warned him.
"Tell us." He repeated, eyes narrowing into slits.
"You and 'Robin'," he emphasized with finger quotes, "need to stage a televised, very public confrontation with Bruce Wayne about his son's disappearance."
AN: Coming up next: the young heroes deal with the fallout of a betrayal that ripped their team apart. Meanwhile, Dick has what the experts call, "a pretty bad time."
Thank you so much for reading! If you're enjoying this story, please be sure to leave me a review and let me know! Your support is so important to me and it motivates me to keep writing and updating frequently.