Nightwing went over to check on the other two men and cursed when he found that they were dead. "League of Assassins, I'll bet," he told Gibbs and Alex. "They have something in their teeth, a capsule of some sort, that kills them before they can be questioned."
"League of Assassin, huh," Alex commented looking at the two men. Nightwing nodded in affirmation and Alex rolled his eyes and said with a twisted smile, "I told you they'd come after me."
It took Gibbs a moment to register what Alex had said, but once he did, he smacked the boy upside the head. "Hey, what was that for?" the boy protested.
"Don't joke around about things that could get you killed," Gibbs replied shortly. "Now let's see what this madman did to you."
"I'd just like to know what he burned onto my ribcage," Alex muttered darkly. "It better not be something stupid like 'I ride purple unicorns' or anything like that."
"It's a weird 'R'," Gibbs told the teenager and when Nightwing caught sight of the brand, he froze then collapsed. "Woah, Woah, you alright there?" Gibbs asked the masked crimefighter.
Alex had found a shard of glass and was examining the brand himself. Shuffling slowly over to Nightwing, Alex sat beside the man. "Hey, it's okay," Alex told him. "It's not your fault. And maybe I can turn it into a tattoo or something. R for Rider, cause I'm a badass like that," the teen tried to joke.
Nightwing turned to look at the British teenager. "But you can't get rid of it. And it's—"
"A symbol to be proud of," Alex finished smoothly. "I'll be fine. You should be out there tracking him down."
"But—" Nightwing protested.
"Gibbs will take care of me," Alex assured the hero, motioning to the man. "And he'll be calling his team—trust me I'll be fine. Just find him and Damian."
Nightwing nodded. "I will." Alex smiled at him and waved as the man left through the window.
"I'm calling Ducky and the team," Gibbs said, confused by the entire exchange and determined to get answers. Alex nodded and said "Let me help—I'll call Tony and Dick and McGee." Gibbs nodded his consent and left the room to phone Ducky, Abby, and Ziva.
Alex reached over to the nightstand and fished around for his cell. Dialing Dick's number he found out how much longer the man needed, hung up, and then called McGee. Alex simply told McGee to head over to Gibbs' house immediately, and then called Dick again. He was back to Tony's and ready to go. Alex gave him a short message to relay and then allowed Dick the pleasure of waking up Tony.
Yawning, Alex rubbed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. It had been an eventful day, with Deathstroke trying to kill him and everything. Resolving to only close his eyes for a few minutes, Alex soon fell into a deep sleep.
Gibbs came up the stairs and entered the room, only to find Alex asleep amongst the debris. Holding back a smile, Gibbs reached down and scooped up the teenager in his arms. Alex didn't make a sound, only shifted to be more comfortable in Gibbs' embrace. The Marine found himself smiling down in a fatherly way at the teen who rested in his arms. Walking over his bedroom, Gibbs gently lowered Alex onto his bed.
"L've 'ou Jack," the teenager murmured, rolling over and curling into a ball. Gibbs froze, recalling what Alex had said about his sister-figure being dead. Gibbs could understand the pain and despair that came with that; he smiled sadly down at the battered boy sleeping in his bed.
"Children shouldn't be a part of this," Gibbs muttered, shaking his head. "You shouldn't be so relaxed about torture and what Slade did to you."
"No he shouldn't Jethro," Ducky said, causing Gibbs to turn to face his friend.
"Ducky," Gibbs breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you check—"
"On Alex," Ducky finished. "Certainly. You might want to get cleaned up before the others come—Abby especially."
"I can do that later—just tell me how Alex will be," Gibbs told his friend. Ducky nodded and began his assessment.
"We'd like to know too," Dick stated from the doorway, where Tony stood beside him.
"And I would like to know what happened," Ziva added. To her left, Tim McGee nodded in agreement.
"When Abby get here," Gibbs began, but was interrupted when the forensic analyst came running up the stairs.
"Abby's here," the goth panted. "Gibbs are you okay? What happened? Who's the kid?"
"I'm fine Abbs"," Gibbs responded. "The boy's name is Alex. He's helping us on the Wayne case."
"Why?" Abby questioned. Gibbs proceeded to explain how Alex got involved, he encounter with Deathstroke on the rooftop, and lastly explained to the entire team what had transpired hours before. When he finish, the entire team was aghast at the horror that the teenager had endured.
"Alex will be fine," Ducky announced into the silence. "He will no doubt be a tad woozy, and that branding will scar, but other than that, physically at least, he will walk away unharmed." There was a collective sigh of relief. "But I do have a question Jethro," Ducky continued. "Where did he receive this?" Ducky pointed to a circular scar mere centimeters above Alex's heart.
"It looks like a bullet wound," Ziva muttered. "But that close to the heart…it would be an assassination shot." Silence overtook the adults. Ziva looked at Gibbs. "You don't think…" she trailed off and murmured a prayer in her own language.
"Why did Slade choose to brand Alex as a Robin?" McGee finally broke the silence with his question.
Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "What? That's the second time I've heard that tonight. What does a robin have to do with anything?"
"Not just a robin, Boss," McGee explained, "the Robin. Batman's partner. The boy wonder."
"Aren't those just urban legends and superstitions?" Ziva asked.
"The two men ruining my guest bedroom weren't ghost Ziva," Gibbs responded. "Someone called Nightwing smashed through the window and fought Deathstroke."
"I did a little bit of research when I went home," McGee began, "on Deathstroke and his enemies. The name that popped up most often was a vigilante known as Nightwing. Associates of that crimefighter were pretty much everyone in the superhero community at some point or another, but mostly Batman and Robin."
"Come on McGeek," Tony chided, "I agree with Ziva there—those tales and accounts of people seeing Batman and Robin are simply legends and myths told to scare the scum of Gotham."
"Myths don't tie people up and stop the Joker," McGee argued back. "And legends don't shatter windows."
"Quiet, both of you," Gibbs ordered. "McGee, explain to me exactly who Batman is and the reason Slade marked Alex with that symbol."
"Batman showed up in Gotham years ago," Tim recited. "He quickly and effectively made a serious dent in fixing probably the most corrupt and scummy cities in the country. He was never really seen, the police commissioner described him as "a shadow of darkness". His partner's name is Robin; records and accounts claim this vigilante to be a kid, but records have shown that throughout the years Robin has changed, age-wise, as costume-wise. He started out as a kid, grew up, but the eyewitness accounts currently claim that Robin is a young child."
"So you think Alex is this Robin hero?" Ziva questioned.
"Can't be," Dick finally spoke, glancing up at them from where he had been leaning against the wall staring at Alex's prone form.
"Why not?" Gibbs roughly asked.
"Because he doesn't fit the profile," the Buldhaven cop answered simply. In response to their questioning looks, Dick elaborated. "In Bludhaven, we have files on vigilantes, especially since Nightwing often helps us out on the beat. Me and my partner studied all the files of Batman and his associates that we could get out hands on; pretty much everything that Tim said is what we found. But the Robins have all had dark hair, and Alex is fair-haired in addition to being from California, which is on the other side of the country. Not to mention that he doesn't fit the description, height-wise, for the current Robin."
"He is from California though," Tim slowly said. "Could he maybe know Robin? The Teen Titans operate out of a base there, don't they? Perhaps he's a member and knows Robin through Red Robin?"
Grayson shook his head. "That's an excellent conclusion, but he doesn't match anyone on the roster."
"You sure?" Tony inquired. Dick nodded his head in affirmation.
"Tim's not the only one who likes to do his homework," Grayson commented, grinning and glancing at the other man.
"So why then?" Abby, who had been oddly silent up until this point, asked the group assembled.
Ducky said nothing, just sadly shook his head as he closed his bag and stood up.
Just wanted to thank you all for your continued support- it means so much!
Idk if you heard the news, but apparently today (3/5/13) will be the last time Damian Wanye appears in the DC-verse (at least for a few years- there's a Lazarus Pit out there somewhere). I pretty much died when I heard the news, but I don't plan of forgetting my favorite Robin lol. So even if he's dead in the comics, he'll never be dead in my mind/heart.
THANKS GUYS AND PLEASE REVIEW!