Disclaimer: Real quick, I don't own any of the characters, DC does. The end.
A/N: Happy May 1st! Weee, summer is so close. The flowers are blooming, the sun is out. But that ain't keeping me from writing this chapter. Thanks for all those great reviews last chapter. And now the moment you have been waiting for, a ticked off Bat.
Ch. 27 Beyond
The first thing and most important rule amongst all criminals, especially those in Gotham is never, ever tick off the Bat. Heck, other superheroes who had the privilege to work with him and even the members of the Bat Family knew never to break that rule. If you ticked off the Bat, it was bad news. And I mean bad. Think of ticking off Lucifer or if that's too far, think of dear old Dad giving you that quiet dead stare and all you feel is impending doom. Ok, got that. Now just magnify that by…let's say ten times. And you got the wrath of the Bat on your back.
Only the Joker was allowed to push his buttons, but even the Clown Prince of Crime knew when enough was enough. Hence why no one ever really tried to kill Robin or torture him to the extremes. Sure you got to make Batman suffer, but was bearing the full brunt of his wrath worth it? So, one has to think if Slade Wilson thought about the consequences of turning Robin to the dark side. Sure, he probably did, I mean come on it is Slade Wilson, a person whose brain capacity is almost 100 with super strength and immortality. The man's a superhuman…and insane considering he pretty much did the impossible unfathomable thing to tick off the Batman: he messed with Robin.
Yet here's the big question: is Robin just insane as his new master? What child…sorry man…does everything he can to just ruffle Batman's feathers? So, yes. Somewhere between his parents' deaths, the first blackmail, the war, self-persecution and Kumi's death, Robin lost all sense of sanity under Slade's apprenticeship and became the mirror image of his master. As much as Robin would love to deny that he is his own man, that he will not be exactly like his master, in the deep recesses of his shattered mind, Seir whispers with glee how proud his master is with everything he has done to the Titans. He has manipulated each one into revealing information that will bring forth the downfall of the superhero community. He splintered the team. He injured and pretty much killed the strongest threat. And oh…he has ticked of the Bat and is laughing to his dark heart's content.
He's not afraid of the big bad Bat. Seir is Death's right hand's man, his heir and thus immortal, not needing to bow down to the superstitious fears that Batman plays upon the criminal minds. Through the darkening blue eyes of Robin, Seir waits in the darkness, waiting for the chance to reveal himself to the public once more. And this time, people will learn that making Batman furious is nothing compared to making Seir mad. It might not seem like it, but bet your pixie boots that Seir is mad. Mad that the Titans think him weak, wishing he was back to his old self, praying that everything will be bright and cheery. He had been able to just deal with it, but making him watch the video...it made him sick with rage.
The loud footsteps halted in front of his cell. Fury boiled into the room and Seir just basked in it. Rolling over, he swung his legs over the side and stared up at crime's worst nightmare. He just stared and watched as Batman grabbed the keys and opened up the cell.
"Hello."
For the second time that day, Robin found himself pinned, except this time he was slammed into the concrete wall, a black glove surrounding his throat. A heavily enforced fist slammed down on his right cheek, knocking his head to the side. His lip and corner of his eyebrow busted open, sending a small river of blood to dribble down his chin and land on the white sheets and stone floor. A pink tongue dashed out to lap up the blood. Shifting his eyes, Robin took in the seething face of Batman.
"What did I do this time?"
"You tell me," growled Batman, tightening his grip on Robin's throat The older man was trying his best to restrain his anger and not do anything foolish. "What the hell did you do to Raven?"
"I don't know what you are talking about?" Once again his head hit the wall, sending stars bursting in his vision.
"Don't, Robin. You know very well what I am talking about."
Pushing the aching pain away, Robin widened his eyes as if remembering something, "Oh yes, that little thing with Raven. The one where she was trying to enter my mind." He tried to shrug, "She wanted to know everything, so I showed her. Why did something happen to her?"
Batman was only a few inches from Robin's face and even though the boy couldn't see his ex-mentor's eyes, he could feel the burying emotions running rampant in them. He could also feel that Batman was on the verge of beating him into a pulp by the shaking fist that hung by his side. "She was found unconscious, not breathing and multitude of injuries are bleeding all over her body. She is dying; Robin, and I want to know what the hell you did to her? She was your teammate, dang it."
The grip around his throat tightened at the end of Batman's declaration. Batman had cursed, well not that bad of a curse, but it was a curse and Robin forced himself to be careful on the next few actions and words. If he said or did the wrong, it could all be over, his neck snapped like a twig. But Batman doesn't kill, so Robin knew that instead he would be beaten with short direct hits that would inflict maximum injury. Wonderful. Robin's mind flashed to when Slade had his hand around his throat. He remembered the threat and how precarious his life had become now that he was a villain.
"You've got to be better, got to be stronger, have to become your enemy…mind, body and soul" Slade's word rang with truth in his mind as he finally realized how he could bring the mighty Batman down. He tentatively reached out and grasped the wrist of the hand that was strangling him.
Memories of when he was little came to his mind. He was a child and was throwing a tantrum, attacking Batman with maddening, insane punches. Batman would just grab onto one of those small wrists and begin running his thumb over the pulse. Robin would halt, trying to prevent tears from down his face, all anger washing away from the tender caress calming him down. And now, Robin was doing the same thing to Batman.
Rubbing his small fingers over Batman's wrist, he coughed quietly, "Bruce."
Batman's figure tensed, masked eyes widened for a fraction of a second before narrowing into slits. Feeling the grip lessen around his neck, Robin let himself relax ever so slightly. But fear gripped him once more when Batman grabbed his collar and tossed him to the side. Tilting his head back, his eyes widen and he twisted his body just in time so his back hit the flat surface of the wall, his shoulder barely touching the metal sink. His vision flickered out and when he regained sight Batman was hunched before him, pulling him up towards him and slapped him hard on the side of his head.
"God, Robin, just stop! I swear, if you don't I'm going to put you in Arkham just to knock some sense into you. So stop playing the victim here. Stop playing upon your friend's feelings…JUST STOP!" yelled Batman. It wasn't the high, loud, unrestrained yell but the type that is low and restrained, on the verge of becoming irrational voice tones.
Robin tilted his head, touching his neck, feeling the evident bruises, "You're the one who needs to stop. I was just trying to calm you down. Didn't know you could be so emotional."
Batman tightened his grip as shock vibrated down his body. Their first conversation after all these years echoed in his mind. "Is that concern I hear in your voice?" "From what I can remember, you never had concern in your voice before. You must be slipping." Robin was right. He was slipping, becoming irrational, letting his emotions take control of him. Seeing the situation in a different eye, Batman realized that they had switched roles, the younger telling the older how an emotional wreck he was becoming.
Lowering his eyes, the Dark Knight took a step back, letting Robin's shirt run through his fingers. He all of a sudden felt hollow, as if he was in a dream. Robin didn't bother standing up, just sitting on the ground, bringing his legs up to his chest, wiping blood away from his face with the back of his hand.
"I just want know why you feel so protective towards the Titans, it's not like you work with them. Heck, you never acted this way with the Justice League."
"I never did because it never involved you."
Something in Batman's hollow voice made Robin glance questionably up at the man. "What, you gonna give me the whole 'I realized how important you were while you were gone' speech? Spare me."
Despite his cockiness, Robin tensed as Batman lowered himself and grabbed him by both his shoulders, "No. I'm not going to give you that speech, Robin. I'm just trying to understand why you are doing this? Why did you lie to us? Why did you attack Raven? Why did you leave Batgirl lying on the ground, broken? Why did you leave Two-Face to die? " Anger at his ward's actions, Batman dug his fingers into the small frame. His vision began to get cloudy, "Why? WHY? I did everything to find you."
"You didn't do enough."
"I broke my oath for you, what more do you want?"
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The glass fell from a well-manicured hand, crashing and spilling water onto the pristine carpet. Lex stood frozen, one hand still thinking it held a glass while the other was near his mouth holding the toothbrush. Not carrying if the mint flavor paste was starting to drip down his chin, Luthor turned and stared down at the computer screen as if he was on autopilot. Flopping on the couch, he let his hands make their way to the notebook and put a major star on the video's time. The unforgotten toothbrush balancing on his lips, Lex kept his eyes locked on the screen.
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Batman let go of Robin's shoulders and turned. Standing up, and having his back to Robin, the Dark Knight closed his eyes. Out of all the times to mention Zenari… "I should go check on Raven."
Robin fell forward, landing on his hands. His left hand ached slightly but it did nothing to penetrate the shock that had overcome all his senses. His brain seemed to stop working. Face crunching up in confusion, he tried to figure out the meaning behind Batman's statement. Was the man lying to him, trying to coax him to come back? Or...Robin heard Batman take a step towards the door. "Bat…Batman…"
Licking his lips, the Dark Knight glanced down at his ward. The dark ravens had covered his face, but he could tell that from his shuddering form that the boy was in shock. "I went to Verna. I stood in the epicenter of the blast and saw a Bible with a bloody handprint in it. A man joined me and we made a deal."
"D-deal?" For the first time, Batman could hear true emotions in Robin's voice. Finally, the boy had stopped acting and hiding.
"Yes. He was a criminal, one of the top conmen in world. In exchange for information on your whereabouts, I had to grant him something." Facing the door to hide his own flickering emotions, Batman took a deep breath. "For information regarding your activities, I gave the criminal immunity."
Robin couldn't help but look up at Batman, "Immunity? You gave this criminal…immunity all for me?"
Batman lowered his head, feeling Robin's gaze. "Yes." The answer was barely above a whisper but Robin heard him loud and clear. "Excuse me." Batman opened the door, stepped out and locked it. As he put away the key, he heard Robin's feeble voice from the cell.
"Who was it?"
"Promise you will not kill him or put any bounties on him or let someone do the dirty work?"
A truthful "Yes" came from the cell.
"His name is Zenari." And with that Batman was gone.
Robin fell backwards, leaning against the wall and drew his legs up to his chest once more. All of a sudden, he felt so cold…cold and sick. It wasn't the rage sick from before; not it was the sickness you get from guilt, the kind that seems to eat from within, a black hole in your stomach. Glad that the he was somewhat hidden from the camera's view, Robin buried his head into his arms and chest. A tightening in his chest made it all of a sudden hard to breath. Coughing racked his body as he fought to fight back the tears. How could Batman do that? How could he break his oath for some little punk that he did not care for? Batman told him himself before he left for Jump City that he was just a nuisance, extra baggage. How could he care so much for extra baggage? It made no sense.
"But he did it," soothed a voice he hadn't heard in a long time. The soft voice continued and he could almost picture warm arms circling over his shuddering form. "He broke his oath because he loves you, Richard. You are his son, his only son. Parents will do anything to get their children back and he did such to save you from Slade."
"But…why, why now? Why did he never tell me before?" moaned Robin, falling deep into his mind. And the voice seemed to have a smile to it, "You know, Bruce. He is one not to show emotions but when he does, you should feel very honored."
"I know, but still…" croaked his inner voice.
"Don't question love, Richard. It just is."
Hugging deeper, as small as he could make himself, Robin tried to fight against the wave of guilt that was on the verge of overcoming him. Batman had broken a superhero code…he broke his oath to his own dead parents all for him: all for a lost soul that was past redemption.
"You are not past redemption, my little robin."
"Yes I am, I almost killed Raven and Batgirl…and others…countless others."
"It is not your fault. You had no choice."
Robin felt anger rise in him, "YES I DID! I STILL HAVE A CHOICE!" Fingers digging into his ribs, he fought back against that loving voice, "It's all my fault and I will gladly take responsibility." Before the voice could whisper more poison, he continued, "And why of all people did he have to make Zenari immune? Huh? If he loved me so much, why didn't he kill or lock up the Joker for good when I got shot. No, he just put him back into Arkham and waited till Joker escaped once more. It's his entire fault that Zenari is free. I bet Zenari probably told the General where Kumi was and that was why Kumi is dead. And now, I can't do anything; I can't avenge my friend's death. No…Batman doesn't love me. He hates me. Hates me because I AM a burden to him. He felt guilty that he couldn't save you guys and so out of pity he adopted me…it was never love…never."
Raising his head, Robin felt his breath quicken. "Richard…you know that…is not…true…" Robin snarled, "Shut up, shut up, shut up." Not caring if the audio bug could hear him, Robin narrowed his eyes and stared at the tiny specs of blood that dotted the cement. Grabbing fist fulls of hair, Robin struggled to cling to his anger.
"Listen to him…fight…Slade…"
"Leave me alone…I hate you as much as I hate Bruce…"
"You don't…"
"Yes." Dark conviction gripped his heart once more and any hope to redeem Robin fell away. "I hate you…both of you…for leaving me here all alone…go away Mom and never come back."
"…Richard…I love you…no matter what…" With that the icy air that spread throughout swallowed the voice and Robin closed his eyes. Emerging from his corner, Seir sighed with relief and took in the cracked surface of his mind. Batman had dropped a big one, it would be awhile till he was back to his normal healed self. Then again, he figured he wouldn't walk away from this battle without injuries. He almost thought for a while that he might have begun walking back to the light. Glaring at the tiny, dying pulse of his old conscience, Seir smirked. Batman was too late in showing his emotions. Slade had beaten him at that game when he showed him respect and that would forever make him loyal to the man.
Gathering up his wits, Seir decided that enough was enough. That last confrontation was too close for comfort. And Arkham…he shivered. Like hell, he would go there, he would die first than be admitted to that wacko place. Besides, these mind games were wearing him down. It was time to get out of here. Screw Lex if he didn't get everything, but considering the bombshell Batman dropped, the criminal mastermind could make do with his part of the plan.
Opening his eyes, Seir slowly gathered his emotional strength and gazed wearily at the lock on the cell door. "...master."
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Wintergreen cringed as he heard something being smashed against the wall. Stepping into the control room, he watched as Slade's body was heaving with rage, his body still in it's throwing position. Eying the wall, he took in the remains of a laptop. Thankfully, Slade was wise enough to make the bugs send information not only to the laptop but to the main computer as well. Coughing, he made his presence known.
"Slade."
The man slowly stood straight and regained his composure. "I should have never underestimated him, Wintergreen. That Bat…he got me this time. Never thought he would break his oath just to get Robin back." He laughed nervously, which sent shivers down Wintergreen's spine. Slade Wilson never laughed like that.
Turning to face his old friend, Slade shook his head, "I've lost him. You should have seen his face, his body reactions…he was breaking…breaking with guilt..." Shoulders sagged in defeat, "I thought that I finally had him, had Robin as my true apprentice. He passed all those tests with flying colors…"
Wintergreen smiled softly, "Then maybe you shouldn't give up hope so fast." Slade sent him a questioning look. He continued, "You said so yourself, Robin had passed all the tests of loyalty. You made him look into himself, see the world differently. You changed…guided him so much, so drastically that Robin will not forget them that easily. Like I said, you must have faith in him, for he has faith in you."
Slade's eye widened before he glanced down at the destroyed laptop, "Thank you."
"No problem sir."
Silence fell upon the pair before a ring tone sprung from cell phone on the desk. Walking over, Slade picked it up.
"At least you didn't destroy the phone, sir," joked Wintergreen.
Slade scoffed before answering, all hints of the emotional outbreak gone. "Lex."
"Youph kan-"
"I can't understand you."
Back in his office, Lex yanked the toothbrush out of his mouth, coughing on the paste; "You can get your boy out of there, Slade. I've got everything I need."
"Good." Snapping the phone off, Slade turned to leave but Wintergreen called him. "What?"
Wintergreen turned up the volume on the audiobug that was planted on Robin, a smile on his face. Robin's cold voice seeped through the speakers. "...master."
The older man was about to give his 'I told you so' speech but Slade was already gone.
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A/N: Sorry, I couldn't resist writing Lex with a toothbrush. The image hit me while typing this up and I just had to put it in. Well you know the routine, R&R and go out and have a fun week!
