I tensed up, keeping an eye on Rose as we slowly circled each other. I shifted on the balls of my feet, cautious of her unusual patience. Over the past few months of my training, I had learned the hard way that the rebellious teen was always quick to act in a reckless fashion. Well thought out plans were her father's forte. They balanced each other in that way.

Caught up in my own thoughts on the two I didn't notice as she quickly jerked forward, slamming her fist into my stomach. I cried out in surprise, but managed to stay upright. Ignoring the pain I darted forward, aiming a retaliatory kick at her head.

Pulling back easily, she laughed at my annoyance. "You know you'll never be as good as me Rob." I just chuckled, easily accepting her nickname for my alias. Starting over had been… nice. Especially being able to forget about all the problems Richard Grayson had.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever" I mumbled, trying to ignore what had to be a diversion.

"Robbie!" Rose cried out in mock horror, "you mean you don't believe me? I for one, am hurt." Pouting slightly, she dropped her hands and turned around and started to walk away in fake grief. Not believing the deceptive teen I followed her closely, ready for a coming attack.

Sure enough as soon as she reached the door Rose whirled around. Reflexively, I caught the hand that had been flying towards my face. I smirked at her. "Looks like you're the one who's not good enough Rosie." She immediately frowned at her hated nickname and started to struggle in my grasp.

I just laughed, knowing my strength was enough to hold the smaller teen down. Pushing her against the nearby wall, I grinned manically, "And you're not strong enough Rosie. What ya gonna do?"

"Fuck you," she spat, fury shining in her eyes. Not scared away, I continued to hold her there despite her struggles, until what she had said sunk into my mind.

"You're gonna fuck me Rosie?" I drawled, watching her with amusement. Finally realizing the implications of what she had said hit her.

She let out a slight laugh, obviously surprised by the connotations of what she had said out of anger. "In your dreams Rob," she smirked. I was silent, just staring at her intently; she really was gorgeous. Shiny platinum blond hair, piercing blue eyes, perfectly pale skin.

So lost in my own thoughts, I didn't notice her resistance cease. Maybe she was as lost as I was. I leant down slowly, letting our faces became closer, until mere centimeters separated us.

A small cough interrupted us. There stood Wintergreen at the doorway, watching us intently, one eyebrow raised in question. Rose immediately reacted, violently of course. Protecting her badass reputation, or so I thought, she quickly kneed me in the crotch before slipping out of my now weakened grip.

"Damn," I cried, almost falling on the ground. I slouched against the wall, glaring at the teen who only smiled innocently. "That was low Rose."

"All's fair in love and war, or at least that's how the saying goes," she grinned wildly at me. My mind froze, stuck on the word love. She couldn't possibly mean it, but it repeated endlessly in my mind just the same. Noticing my reaction, Rose's grin widened, though she thought my silence was for different reasons no doubt.

"Ms. Wilson, Nightwing," Wintergreen spoke up, snapping out of my daze. Shaking my head quickly and ignoring the dull pain, I focused on the older butler. "Master Slade has requested both of your presences in the main room."

Rose just shrugged, looking relaxed about the whole thing, but she of course had nothing to fear. Every day I woke up dreading the thought of having to face the intimidating criminal mastermind. There was only so long that I could be safe before he discovered my secret.

I quickly grabbed my t-shirt from where I had thrown it earlier and pulled it over my head. Smoothing out my sweatpants so I looked somewhat acceptable, I jogged out of the room, easily catching up to the other two.

Silently, we all walked out of the training room and headed to the main room. After months with the three, I had quickly realized that neither Rose nor Slade talked often, and in one of their company, Wintergreen would adopt this silence.

I couldn't get used to it. The quiet was unbearable, unbreakable. If I was the one to speak up, I could spill my secrets; that was something I could never risk. So, I tried to deal with it, although the paranoia it brought seemed to be steadily chipping away at what little sanity I had maintained since my parents' death.

Finally, we arrived at the door that opened to reveal Slade, sitting in his chair as usual. Turning around, as cool and composed as ever he seemed to stare at us, though it was impossible to tell with his ever present mask.

"Rose, Will," he finally said, nodding to each. Then he stood up and walked closer to us, each step echoing dramatically through the huge chamber. "Richard…" he hissed.

I froze, my body locking in place as the sound of my real name rang out through the hall. "Slade?" I finally managed to question, pleased to notice my voice was somewhat stable. "My name's Robert, not Richard."

Taking another step towards me, his huge frame towering over mine, Slade watched as I unconsciously took a step back. "So, you're not Richard Grayson, the son of two acrobats and Batman's ex-protégé?"

"No," I said bluntly, glaring at my mentor boldly.

"Then tell me about yourself Robert, and how you came to arrive in my hideout a few days after the recently turned Richard Grayson disappeared," he challenged. I glanced desperately over to both Wintergreen and Rose.

The kind butler stood there, frozen but easily concealing what had to be shock. Rose on the other hand… poor Rose. Never one for subtlety, the surprise and hurt was so clear on her face, though it was all overpowered by rage.

Returning my focus, I drew myself to my full height and stared defiantly at Slade. "Tell you about myself? Easy, my name's Robert and arriving here at that time was pure coincidence."

"Don't fuckin lie to me," Slade hissed. I remained silent, determined to fight for my chance to remain here. Growling, Slade dove forward, hitting me with all his strength. I went flying into the nearby wall, crying out in pain as I hit it with a dull thud.

Moaning, I rolled over onto my back, eyes shut as I tried to block out the pain flooding my body. Today was obviously not my day. "God you bastard," I groaned, managing to pull myself back up off the ground. Leaning against the wall for support, I still managed to scowl at him, though he appeared unaffected.

"You want the truth? Fine. My real name is Richard John Grayson and I grew up in a circus. My family was murdered and I was forced to live with Barman as his freakin sidekick. Until I killed a few people and he had me committed that is. But I escaped and here I am."

"Not for long," Slade sneered. "Get out. Now. I don't train runaway hero wannabes." I gaped at him, as he turned and walked back to this throne like chair, as if it had already been decided. I was not going to be cast away that easily; I had earned the right to stay here, and stay here I would.

I started to sprint over to where Slade was walking but before I could make it even three feet, a foot slammed into me. I instantly turned to face my new foe. "Rose?" I managed to gasp out, hurt that even she had turned on me so quickly.

"You heard my father: get out," she spat, nothing but pure hatred in her eyes. Anything that we might have had seemed to be gone, vanished in an instant. I stood frozen, before I glanced over to Wintergreen. He stood, motionless as well, by what I assumed was what little possessions I owned, all packed and ready to go.

I stared at both of them; how quickly my life was changing yet again. "Fine," I sneered, composing myself as I faced the two. "I don't need you assholes anyway." Striding over, I picked up the one bag next to Wintergreen, and left without another word spoken.

I knew only one thing: Slade would pay. My life had been destroyed, yet again, and I was alone once more. I would need help before I confronted him again; Slade would be a much more worthy foe then Zucco had been.

Stepping out from one of the many hidden passageways, I once again found myself in the forest that I had traveled through to get her. Seeing no reason for a delay, I set off in the direction I remembered the road was.

Time to go back to Garth's and Roy's house.

I emerged from the forest mere hours later, only slightly worse off than when I started. "Great," I muttered to myself, "now what?" My friends' house was miles away, and my motorcycle had to be long gone at this point.

With no other options, I started to walk down the road, cars whizzing past without pausing.

Hours passed by slowly, filled with nothing but mindless walking as I continued down the busy road. As night started to fall, I collapsed to the ground, tired and hungry. I watched the sun lazily disspear across the horizon, fading from the pink sky. Closing my eyes, I breathed in deeply, savoring the momentary peace.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" a concerned voice called from a few feet away. My training instantly kicked in and I was on my feet in seconds, facing the person. The teen instantly cried out at my sudden reaction, jumping back in fright.

Shoulder length dark brown hair covered most of her face, though hazel eyes wide with fear peeked out from underneath. Forcing myself to relax, I managed a kind smile that seemed to soothe the short teen, if only a little. "My name's Robert," I told her softly, "do you think you could give me a ride to my friends' house."

"Course," she squeaked, still watching me cautiously. Her eyes quickly glanced over to the road, devoid of any other cars, as if she was hoping for a savior to appear.

"Thanks," I told her with a warm smile, "my motorcycle broke down a whiles back, so I thought I would be stuck walking for however many miles."

"Oh," she replied, seeming to relax. "It's no problem. Come on!" Walking back over to her Hyundai Elantra, she slid into the driver's seat. "My name's Claire by the way. Nice to meet you."

"You too," I replied easily, reaching down for my bag. Walking over to the silver car, I slowed once I was next to the passenger side door. Pretending to drop my bag, I knelt down and easily retrieved the gun that I had kept with me since I had killed Lucius Fox mere months ago. Clutching it to my chest, I pulled the bag over it, effectively hiding it from view.

Sliding into the seat next to her, I grinned innocently at her. "Ready?" she asked, smiling back at me.

"Course."

Pausing for a second, she turned around, reaching into the back seat. Silently, I pulled out the gun, aiming it steadily at her head. "Alright, let's g–" she started, leaning back into the front seat, map in hand. As soon as she locked eyes with me, she noticed the gun and let out a bloodcurdling scream. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," she chanted, closing her eyes as if she was hoping I would vanish before her eyes.

I laughed darkly, merely smiling at me. "Terribly sorry Claire. I need your car though, so what can you do?"

"No, please! I can take you wherever you want. I'll do anything. Just– just put the gun away. Please."

"Sorry Claire, no can do."

"Please," she begged, tears streaming out of her eyes.

I just continued to smile at her. "Sorry." Without a second thought, I squeezed the trigger, watching in pleasure as the bullet hit her in the forehead, her body jerking back from the contact. "No hard feelings I hope," I told the now dead teen next to me.

Getting out of the car, I walked casually over to the driver's side. Throwing the still warm body into the long grasses that lined the road, I hopped in to the now empty seat. Ignoring the blood splattered window, I shifted to drive, stepped on the gas and flew off towards the nearby beach.

I heard the ocean before I saw it, waves crashing loudly onto the sand. I slowed down eventually, parking the car and abandoning it. Walking down the familiar street I slowed once I arrived at the building that had housed my two allies.

I walked towards the door, and knocked gently. I jumped in slight surprise as the door easily swung open with no resistance. Walking through the entrance, I stared at the wreckage that met my eyes. The whole place looked like it had been brutally destroyed.

I wandered throughout the ruin, examining everything I had passed. Roy and Garth had been attacked, there was no doubt. I collapsed on the only piece of furniture left standing: the couch I had slept on when I had stayed with them. Laughing at the irony of the situation, I leaned back gently and shut my eyes. The only two people I thought I could trust were gone; I was more alone than ever.

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the depressing thoughts that seemed to plague my mind recently. Garth and Roy were my friends: they had to have left me something. I got up, thoroughly examining everything in the room. Nothing.

Unless… the couch. It was the only thing left, so there had to be a clue there. Walking back towards it, I studied it closely. Noticing a white edge peeking out from beneath the cushions I quickly picked it up.

A letter, written in Garth's neat handwriting.

Richard,

I am terribly sorry if you are reading this, because that means that you have encountered some misfortune, and have come to us for assistance we can no longer provide. Odin and Green Arrow are extremely close to finding us, so naturally we must flee. And just in case it is not you reading this, I cannot provide our location. Sorry again Richard, and we wish you the best. Well, Roy tells me that we must be leaving, so goodbye for now. Good luck.

- Garth

I grinned despite the depressing news; even when he was fleeing for his life as a turned villain, Garth still played the part of an aristocrat. I instantly sobered though. I was officially alone.

I would survive though. I could start a solo career; maybe later I would form a team and go after Slade. Getting up off the couch, I headed out the door. I was stuck in Jump City, so I would make the best of it. And eventually, I would get my revenge.

End.

So, this update obviously took longer than I had anticipated. AP classes and their ridiculous workloads suck. So sorry. Nothing I could really do about it, but I'll try to get better at time management. Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/favorited or whatever. I really appreciate it, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks again for those who read/review.

- ScarletMoon012