October 3rd, 08:30 PM
"What the heck happened to you?," Kid Flash asked, taking in Robin's sooty appearance.
"Oh not much. A building exploded on me," Robin replied nonchalantly.
"Well, looks like your survived," Kid Flash commented "now you're here, I'm punching out for the night. Give me a call if anything exciting happens,"
"You got it," Robin said.
Though he and Kid Flash were close friends, they actually spent very little time together. Kid Flash was more a day person, where Robin preferred the night life. Actually, Robin had been noticing recently that Kid Flash didn't seem to have his heart in the game like he did when they were younger. He knew that, before very much longer, Kid Flash would either drop out of the game, or be destroyed by it.
Not everyone was cut out for the superhero bit, fewer were in it for life. It took a special type to deal with it day in and day out, year after lonely year, growing ever more distant from "real life". Robin knew, and had from the day he'd first put on the mask, that he would be wrapped in the cold embrace of this life until death took him. He didn't know how to be anything other than what he was.
Shaking off his melancholy, Robin went to one of the bathrooms to wash the worst of the filth from himself and his clothes. He also applied an ointment to the places that had gotten burned. After that, he wandered into the kitchen. Almost getting blown up made him hungry.
Actually, he was almost always hungry these days. Being a teenager, and one who burned a lot of calories every day, he had an almost unlimited capacity for eating. He had nothing on Kid Flash, but easily consumed twice the amount of any normal boy his age, and still had room to spare.
"Oh hello, Robin. I didn't know you were here," Miss Martian was in the kitchen, baking something as usual. She had a smile ready for her friend, which Robin returned before poking his head in the fridge.
"I just got here," he told her "KF took off a minute after I arrived,"
Finding some leftovers from Miss Martian's last cooking project, Robin removed them from the fridge and took them over to the counter. He perched on the counter and pulled open a drawer, withdrew a fork from it and closed it. He ate the food from the container, seeing no reason to dirty more dishes than necessary. He planned to eat all there was, which wasn't a whole lot.
"He hasn't been spending a lot of time here lately," Miss Martian said, in reference to Kid Flash "sometimes I worry about him,"
"KF?," Robin smirked "he's fine. He's just bored, like the rest of us. Not enough evil to fight,"
Though it was a pure lie, and Robin knew it, he told it anyway. Kid Flash hadn't mentioned wanting to leave the Team, and Robin wasn't about to do it for him. KF would say he was through in his own good time, and in his own way. It was best if Robin just played dumb.
Miss Martian might have suspected Robin of dishonesty, but she didn't call him on it. She had her own problems to deal with. Her relationship with Superboy had been on the rocks lately, though they were both trying (a little too hard) to pretend that this was not the case. It hadn't yet begun to affect their ability to work together on missions, but a break was imminent. Robin wouldn't be at all surprised if one or the other eventually left the Team to go solo. It was not something he looked forward to. But that was their business and, so long as it didn't interfere with a mission, it wasn't his place to butt in.
"So how goes the recruiting?," Robin asked.
Several sidekicks had indicated that they were ready to spread their wings and leave their mentor's side. Some of them had done so subconsciously, some had clingy mentors, others weren't sure they wanted to join the "junior Justice League" as they sourly put it.
The Team had grown considerably more efficient over time, and had covered for the Justice League on more than one occasion when situations that needed resolving occurred on other worlds. They could really use more people on the Team, especially since each of them now had the experience to take charge of a given situation and be the leader if need be. In fact, sometimes they got in each other's way.
"Not very well," Miss Martian said, opening the oven to check the muffins she was baking "and I think Zatanna plans to join the Justice League soon. Which gives us one less hand in a crisis,"
Zatanna. She and Robin had been together at one time, but had broken it off. It had become clear that Robin's first love was the mission, and Zatanna's was her magic. They had no future together, except potentially as team mates. And they were both sort of fine with that.
"And Rocket's been pressuring the League to let her in for months," Miss Martian went on absently "sometimes it seems like the Team's falling apart. Like it won't last much longer,"
"I don't agree," Robin said, putting down his empty bowl "I think this Team has value, that it's worth fighting for. The Justice League is all well and good for the really big stuff, but even they need back up sometimes. Just think about all the times we've taken care of problems here at home while they were off saving the universe or the galaxy or something,"
"Sure," Miss Martian sighed.
"Hey," Robin waited until she looked up at him "we make sure that the home they come back to is the same as the one they left. Even heroes need the assurance that their sanctuary will be there for them when they get back from a long mission,"
"I guess you're right," Miss Martian said slowly, sounding a bit brighter than before.
"Of course I am," Robin told her matter-of-factly.
Just then Artemis came in, drawn by the smell of the nearly finished muffins.
"Is this a private party, or can anyone come in?," she asked curiously, sensing the not quite-at-ease feel of the kitchen.
"Sure, we're just dithering," Robin said brightly.
"Dithering?," Artemis wasn't sure she'd heard that right.
"Being flustered and afraid of the future," Robin clarified.
"Oh," Artemis' features darkened and it was evident that she had her own private worries about the future, which she wasn't prepared to share with the rest of the class.
"There," Miss Martian interrupted, putting the tray of muffins on top of the stove "they'll need to cool off a bit, but basically they're ready,"
"You're amazing," Robin commented "learning to cook Earth food so well, and so fast,"
"I have a lot of free time," Miss Martian replied "and it's not really all that hard,"
"Says you," Robin retorted good naturedly.
In spite of the earlier incident, he was feeling surprisingly high spirited. He supposed it was because he'd finally gotten a release for all that nervous energy in surviving the explosion. He got a sort of high from escaping danger, one he'd been missing of late.
The three of them were passively nibbling on muffins when an alarm sounded. At once they sprang up and went to the room with the big computer which they often used to communicate with the Justice League. Martian Manhunter was on the line.
He told them that there was a mad man trying to blow up a city just a few miles from Mount Justice. The Team was closest. Martian Manhunter advised them to be cautious, for the man was not alone. He had a group with him, and they were apparently protesting something. Local police hadn't managed to get very close, because the man had set up booby traps around the building he was hiding in.
"Don't worry," Robin said brightly "we got this,"
The three of them plus Superboy were the only ones at Mount Justice, and there wasn't time to call the rest of the Team, but Robin wasn't worried. The four of them were enough to put a stop to any man who was merely nuts. It wasn't exactly a world-class threat.
October 4th, 03:00 AM
For Robin, it had been a long night. A series of small-time crooks and madmen had kept him and the Team quite busy throughout the night. By the time he left Mount Justice to head for home, he was very much ready to fall into bed and sleep for a few precious hours, before beginning his day life.
Still, it felt good to be working again. For so long, he'd had nothing to do but train with his team mates, waiting for an urgent message which seemed as though it would never come. Better busy and bruised than bored and useless was his opinion.
"You were out later than usual," Batman grunted as Robin entered the batcave.
"Busy night," Robin said mildly "seems all the world's second rate crooks got together and decided to have a party out on the town,"
He expected it to end at that. In fact, upon later reflection, he would consider Batman's comment to be completely out of the ordinary. Actually, Batman's presence in the batcave at this time of night was a little unusual all on its own, but nothing worth commenting on. At the time, Robin thought nothing of it. But later... oh yes, he would remember this moment, replay it in his head over and over, knowing that this was where it had all started. Where the nightmare had begun.
"You shouldn't be out so late," Batman told him.
"I didn't plan to be," Robin replied "but you know this line of work doesn't have predictable hours,"
"Then perhaps you shouldn't be in it,"
Anger flared through Robin. He was no longer a sidekick, and Batman had no right to question how he chose to spend his time. But that wasn't truly what angered him. Batman was implying that Robin ought to put the mask away, live a "normal" life. And he'd spoken in such a way as to suggest that he might try to force Robin to do just that.
"We've had this conversation," Robin spat, his temper already getting the better of him "you and I both know where I'd be if you hadn't taught me to be what I am now. And we both know there's no going back, not for either of us. I don't know how to be anything else," he had removed his mask and dropped it on the desk in front of Batman "and you don't either,"
His vehement response was in part due to being tired and not really wanted to discuss anything right now. But it was mostly because of his awareness that Batman never made casual comments. Batman never said anything for the sake of saying it. If he had said Robin should put the mask away, then he had meant it. And Robin wasn't about to let him get away with that.
For a moment, their eyes locked, veiled fury in both their gazes. Then Robin let out a sharp breath, turned away and stalked up the stairs. He could not win a staring contest with Batman, but he was not willing to back down from this. He paused at the door, trying to think of something he could say that would bring a feeling of finality to the exchange.
"I've been Robin since I was nine," he said at last, not turning to look at Batman "for two years now, I've been part of a Team. I'm not a sidekick anymore. I don't need your permission," he sighed, then added "or your protection,"
He hated saying the words, because they tasted bitter. But he knew that if he didn't make his position clear, Batman would keep trying to edge him back. He didn't know why Batman had a problem with him wearing a mask, and he didn't particularly care. He'd been aware of Batman's reluctance to set him loose all on his own for a long time.
The Team had been formed pretty much because Robin and the others felt that they no longer needed to be working in the shadows of their mentors. Mentors who were overbearing and overprotective.
Robin thought nothing more on the exchange, hoping that would be the end of it. It didn't strike him as odd until later that Batman would bring it up now, of all times, rather than two years ago.
In fact, he forgot all about it before long, writing it off in his own mind that Batman was in one of his moods. Something most people didn't realize was that even Batman had his off-days. The criminal element noticed least of all. This was because an off-day for Batman made him more dangerous, not less. In any case, it wasn't worth worrying about, far as Robin was concerned.
So long as it didn't come up again, it didn't bear thinking about. He already knew where he stood on the issue, and knew that even Batman in a bad mood could do nothing to change that. And he knew also that the words he'd said let Batman know that this was the case. Far as he was concerned, that case was already closed, and never should have been opened.
October 11th, 06:03 AM
"Hey, Rob!. Haven't seen you much this week. Where have you been?," Kid Flash asked.
Robin thought about answering that. Batman had been keeping him busy with extra training, and dragging him along on the nightly Gotham patrols. He simply hadn't had time to visit Mount Justice, and no emergencies had arisen that were worth calling him in. It was beginning to really grate on Robin's nerves. Batman seemed intent on putting the training wheels back on, an idea Robin was fully resistant to. He'd been operating under his own rules for years now, coming and going when and how he pleased, taking Batman's words as advice rather than orders.
But something made him hold his tongue. There was a look in Kid Flash's eyes that said the question had been merely a courtesy, that his friend had something else entirely on his mind. Something he wanted to talk to Robin about, but hadn't been able to because the latter hadn't been around. It was earlier than Kid Flash usually arrived at Mount Justice, leading Robin to suspect that his friend had come early in the hopes of catching him before he left for the day.
"You look like a canary that's been chewed by a cat," Robin comment dryly "what's up?,"
"Nothing," Kid Flash replied, but made no attempt to hold to the lie "you know I care about what we do, right?. That I know it's really important?,"
"Sure, of course," Robin suddenly knew what this was about, and didn't really want to talk about it.
But he didn't say so, and made no attempt to change the subject to something easier.
"And you know what it's taken me to get this far, all the effort I put into this?," he gestured to the suit he was wearing, but Robin knew he meant his powers rather than the costume itself.
"What are you driving at?,"