Ric saw the boy from his balcony window. He had rejected the Wayne family's advances long ago, the family eventually giving up and leaving him be. But the boy had continued to try, he had stalked him and his fiancee for months before he finally confronted him. Ric had been angry at the invasion of their privacy, knowing that his so-called father must have put the boy up to it. The final night he had seen the boy, perched on a stop below he felt all his anger come out and explode.
The teenager acted as if he didn't hear the man running down the stairs and when he finally stood in front of him, he continued to look at the ground. The boy had grown from being a kid into an adult it seemed. It had been four years, nearly five since he lost his memories and came at peace with his new life. And here he was, a constant reminder of the life he had struggled to cope with and suddenly lost.
"You have five seconds to leave before I call the police." Ric didn't care that he was practically screaming at someone who he used to take care of, someone he supposedly helped raise. He had a child on the way now and he didn't want her near any of the Waynes and live a life of torture.
The boy stayed still, their body frozen as a bit of his spit hit his cheeks. He was dressed strangely for a teenager, Ric slowly realized. He wasn't in the Robin outfit but he wasn't in normal clothing either. It was all black and had cuts in certain areas. When he looked closer at the cuts he realized something was dried up around them. His heart stopped as he realized what it was. Blood.
There was blood smeared on his chin as he looked up and Ric was met with a cold gaze. He looked like he didn't give a damn anymore. As if the fact he had been stabbed and sliced at meant nothing to him. He didn't even seem to be truly looking at him but through him. Ric remembered the desperation that had once been in the boy's eyes when they first met. It was gone, replaced by indifference.
"Next time," The boy sounded like he was in his thirties, not in his late teens. It unnerved Ric deep down, the feeling clashing with his preconceived notions about the child. "We won't be here to stop them."
Ric felt he breathe quicken at the comment, unsure of how to approach the situation. He had thought Bruce sent the boy after him. But that wasn't the case and the kid seemed like he didn't care for him anymore. He felt guilty, wondering if maybe he had let the kid down easier he wouldn't have become whatever this was. He spoke like an adult but when Ric looked at him it was clear he was still so young. And he had left him when he came for help when the child had wanted his older brother back.
"Who did you bring with you?" He finally asked, fearing for his fiancee and baby. If anything happened to them he wouldn't let the Waynes or whoever get away scot-free.
The boy side-eyed him, his emotionless gaze even more unhinged by the man's voice. "Next time we won't be here to stop them from killing you. And that whore."
Someone had come here to kill him. It was late so he would have been sleeping when it happened. And Bea. They would have killed her too if the boy hadn't gotten involved. They wouldn't have been able to fight back. Would they have spared his daughter? Ric found himself growing angrier at the thought of it all. And by the way, the boy spoke about his family, his true family made his blood boil.
Before he knew it his hands had grabbed the boy by the collar, pulling him upward. There was a low buzzing in his ears as his body suddenly became hot. The boy didn't react to this and instead stared straight into his eyes.
"Watch your mouth, I don't care if you saved our lives or not, don't speak about my wife that way." Oh. That caused a reaction, the boy seemed to recoil at the words and a quick flash of distraught came across his face. It disappeared within seconds and was replaced by rage.
"So it's true then? That woman opened her legs and gave you a child? After your abandoned your first one?" The boy laughed with no amusement at the way Ric became confused. "After you left me?"
"The bat is you-" Ric started only to be interrupted by the boy kicking him in the knee. He let go of him as he winced in pain and watches the teenager move away from him, pacing as he ranted.
"You adopted me." The boy growled out every word with a new emotion. Venom. Hatred. Disbelief. It all came forward as he turned away from the man and faced the sky. "You adopted me over five years ago and then you decided to leave me. For a new, peaceful family."
Ric gasped, staring at the teenager with shock. From the way he was acting, his words had to be true. Did that mean his old self hadn't just been close to the boy but been his father for some time? Why hadn't anyone told him he had a son, adopted or not, out there waiting for him? His heart burned as he thought of the Waynes allowing the boy to stalk after him, hoping he came back.
He couldn't be his father, he felt like an after stranger to the boy. All he thought of was Bea in bed and his newborn daughter needing her father. He wasn't able to be who he once was, he could never be that man ever again. He had responsibilities now, he had a family now and he couldn't just and forget them.
"So please spare me the tantrum about how I addressed your wife," The boy stared at him with little to no emotion again. Only now did he notice he had a weapon in his hands, a sharp jagged blade dripping with liquid. "Because I just saved her life. And I won't bother to do it again, so you should move."
He turned to leave but Ric ran to stop him, grabbing his shoulder. The teenager felt so cold his hands shook against him. "Hey wait a minute, you can't leave after just dumping all of that onto me. When did I adopt you? Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Go check on your wife, Grayson. My friend isn't good with children."
His blood chilled at the comment and his gaze trailed down to the weapon in the boy's hand once again. Slowly, he let go of his shoulder allowing the teen to walk into the night. Ric felt lost again as he had been all those years ago. But he had no time to watch the boy leave as his last comment rang in his ears. Bea was in danger and whoever was up there with her might be a loose cannon.
His body moved automatically, his adrenaline pumping as he hurried back into his apartment to find the door ajar slightly. Whoever came with the teenager had kicked it down or worse, the people sent to kill them had gotten in when he left. Quickly, he burst into the living room only to be met with the panicked eyes of his fiancee. She was shivering with wide eyes and stared at him with fear. He saw a bruise around her neck, someone had tried to strangle her.
Beside her, a teenage girl sat with their daughter in her arms, clear discomfort on her face as she held the baby. Once she heard him come in she gave the baby back to his wife and faced him with anger. It was brief in her green eyes, but it stayed even when her face became emotionless and she made her way past him. The couple was frozen with shock as the girl left their apartment as if she wasn't covered in bruises and men weren't dead on the carpet.
"We won't save you again, so move out of this damn neighborhood."