And here's the next chapter! I'm shocked at how popular this story is getting, it's great.
Yeah, more fluff and non-action. A hint of sadness. Enjoy!
The Team was now standing in the hallway, gazing open mouthed at their opulent surroundings. Tim giggled at their expressions while Jay smirked at them. He was obviously amused, and they got the impression that this happened often, whenever someone new came to the house. Dick just laughed, but they knew he wasn't laughing at them.
"Artemis, you've been here before." He pointed out. "For that project we had to do. Why are you so surprised?"
Artemis colored slightly. "I've never been upstairs." She muttered.
"You know Bruce limited you to the living room so you wouldn't snoop, Crock." Jason informed her.
Barbra laughed and linked her arm through Artemis'. "Don't worry, I won't let you get lost." She said cheerfully. "Us Academy girls have to stick together you know."
Artemis rolled her eyes. "That wasn't what I've been worried about."
Dick led them through the rest of the house, showing them around. The team was amazed that Dick didn't get lost in the large house. Megan said as much and was rewarded with a chuckle from Dick and a full blown laugh from Wally.
"I do get lost." Dick told her. "All the time, actually."
"Yeah." Wally laughed. "One time…."
"Lets continue." Dick cut him off quickly, leaving the team with the impression of an embarrassing story.
When he showed them the upstair gym, Artemis demanded to know exactly how many training rooms he needed, prompting even more laughs.
Once they had finished, Dick let Tim show the team his room. Artemis and Megan were gushing over his cuteness the whole time while Jason scowled. He was not jealous of the attention, thank-you-very-much. No, really.
Finally, Dick led them to his own room, since Jason refused to let any of the visiting heroes anywhere near his room. He and Tim retreated to their own rooms, while Babs went to finish her homework.
The Team stopped outside the room. "This is my room. Just to take care of something I know you're going to ask, there are no pictures of us-the team- in there. No hero stuff in there, everything's in the cave. There are, however, pictures of other people. The blonde girl in them is Bette, a friend from school. Redhead is Babs, duh. Bruce, Alfred- there are some pictures of Bruce smiling, so don't freak out- a few of Wally, Roy, and I when we were little. They'd make great blackmail Artie- I'll give you a copy of some of them. Ready?"
He turned and opened the door.
The Team stepped into a large room. A bed was shoved to one side, and a desk took up part of another wall. There was a TV with some type of video game hooked up to it and a large window looking out on the garden. Most of the team hesitated by the door, staring, but Kid Flash immediately zoomed over to the bed and jumped on it, sprawling on the pillows. He moved a picture hanging on the wall nearby and removed a snack from yet another hidden snack cupboard. Dick rolled his eyes. "That's Wally's snack stash in here. There's one in nearly every room. Alfred hates it."
Megan was looking at one of the pictures on the dresser. "Robin…are these… your parents?" Dick nodded as the others crowded to look. "That's one of the only pictures I have of them."
The picture showed a tall man and a woman. They were both dressed in red leotards with a gold wing design on the front. They both had huge smiles on their faces and were holding on to the hands of a young boy with brownish hair and sparkling blue eyes. He had the widest smile of all of them, and was full of life and happiness. They all looked so happy that the team had to smile. Dick smiled too, but his smile was sad, so different than the one in the picture.
"It was taken a few hours before the last show." He said softly. "The last picture they ever took."
Their eyes widened. The picture didn't seem so happy anymore.
Dick remained silent for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Ok, tour's moving on." He announced. "Downstairs for lunch... which Bruce may or may not be eating with us!"
And next chapter, we find out if Bruce actually gave permission! I think. Maybe chapter after...
Review!