Choices

Author's note: This chapter is what I like to call an 'appetizer' chapter. There's not a lot of action in it, I know, but I've been super busy with school and work, and won't have a lot of time to write a serious sit-down chapter until after Christmas. Hope you enjoy! Be looking for the new chapter in a week or so!

Batman and Robin, or Bruce and Dick, rather, went on a hiking trip during the week of Christmas. It was the same trail they had taken when Robin was only ten years old. The wind nipped at their exposed flesh and snow dusted their heavy jackets. What Robin enjoyed most about the cold, however, was that it made everything more quiet, silent almost. Every sound that would normally carry an echo, was muffled by the misty ice flakes.

The two didn't talk a lot, but they didn't need to. Nature spoke enough for the both of them. They would stop to rest and drink some hot tea in a thermos, or to watch a deer peek out of some brush. These few times they stopped in their tracks, Robin would feel a little more regret, worry, and hate slip out of him and disappear into the cold. He pretended his own visible breath was the source of all of his depression and fear, and exhaling, he beamed seeing it vanish before his eyes.

"Soup's ready," Bruce said on the last night of their trip, handing Robin a steaming thermos and spoon. "Alfred's too good to us, you know that, right?"

"What do you mean?" Robin asked, taking a sip of his soup. He realized he was answering his own question. Alfred had made them homemade food for the trip. "It's good," he finally spoke in between gulps.

"You know," Bruce said, peeking out the flap of the tent to see the falling snow. "Ralph Waldo Emerson discussed how man is only at peace when he truly comes to terms with nature." He smiled softly, still staring at the snow. "I think he was right. There's nothing like the great outdoors to make you forget you run a business or have a deadline due or even that you'll die one day." He put the flap back into place and said, "Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and turn in. You stay up as long as you like."

-----

Robin waited until his father was asleep, and then redressed. Zipping up his heavy coat, he stepped out of the tent and started down one of the random forks in the trail. He was now surrounded by trees, so the snow was not weighing him down, nor was the wind making him stumble. He knew a lot about Emerson because Bruce had several framed quotes around his study. When Robin was still little, only nine, he'd wandered into the office after a bad dream to find Bruce still up and working. His newly adopted father and hoisted him onto his lap and listened patiently as Robin recounted his nightmare, sometimes stopping and picking up on an entirely different situation. At one point, he'd pointed to one of the frame quotes and asked, "What does that mean?"

" 'Be not the slave to your own past,' "Bruce had read aloud. " 'Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old' ". After scratching his chin for a while, he finally said, "It means that life is too short to be sad about the past, and to think good things about the future."

-----

Robin made his way to the edge of a cliff, still dotted with trees, and stared down the rocky wall. Sighing heavily, he sat down and listened to the muffled sounds around him. For three months, he had been imprisoned by Slade, and those three months, though only ninety some odd days, had taken away a good chunk of his life, his character, his spirit. Thinking back to Emerson, Robin decided he had two choices. He could worry and cry forever, or he could move on. He would never forget Slade, he knew that much. He would always have nightmares and bad memories, he knew that too. He also knew, however, that there were people like him throughout the course of history, and even in the present. Most likely the future too. There would always be people treated unfairly by someone who thought of themselves as a higher rank. There would always be someone who had been abused and tortured, and worse. Robin had never had to think about those people on a personal level because he never thought he'd be one of them. Now he was, and he had to make a choice. Fear or Bravery.

A gust of wind whipped by and Robin knew what his choice was. Standing up, he started back in the direction he had come, and crawled back into the tint, removing his hat, gloves, boots, and coat.

"Were you out just now?" Bruce asked groggily, sitting up.

"Had to pee," Robin lied, wriggling into his sleeping bag. "Sorry I woke you."

"No problem, son," Bruce yawned, turning back over.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Mm?"

"Didn't Emerson also say 'self-trust is the first secret to success'?"

"I think so, why?"

"Just wondering." Robin turned over. "G'night."

"Night."

To Be Continued...