Robin walked into the main room of Wayne manor to find both Bruce and Alfred sitting there, and both looking extremely pissed.
"Richard, sit." Bruce pointed to a chair across from him, this was not good. When Bruce used his full name it was for one of two reasons, he was trying to talk him out of a romantic relationship, or he was pissed to no end. Robin was going to go with the latter in this situation. He sat in one of the many red leather chairs that adorned the entryway.
"So, would you care to explain why you were out until ten forty-eight this morning?" Robin was glad he kept a spare set of sunglasses in the storage compartment of his motorcycle, other wise Bruce would have been able to tell he was hung over by the way the light affected him.
"Not particularly, can I go take a nap now?" He stood up to leave, but a glare from Alfred, Alfred of all people, caused him to sit back down.
"Master Richard, please remove the sunglasses." It had been that simple request from Alfred that had caused Robin to die inside. Did he know what he had done the night before? He had raised Bruce, and in a lot of ways they were similar, so it was possible he had caught Bruce on something similar. He slowly reached up and slipped of his sunglasses, revealing his slightly bloodshot blue eyes. When Bruce and Alfred saw this they shook their heads in disappointment; they had been afraid of this.
"I thought you knew better than this Richard, we raised you better than this." The anger that had been in Bruce's voice was replaced by disappointment.
"Oh Master Richard, what ever have you done?" Alfred was the same way, disappointment was woven into his not only his voice, but his facial expression as well.
"Look, I can't keep this from the League; they need to know about this. Also, you are on house arrest for a week, no arguments." It looked like it had pained Bruce to say that. Maybe it had; after all, Superman would hear about this, and Bruce did not want him to go to prison.
"You also have a visitor here to see you Master Richard. The young man is waiting for you in the living room." With that said Alfred turned around and left him and Bruce alone.
"Bruce…"
"Save it Dick, you don't need to say anything. I've lost faith in you; I am starting to agree with Kent." Bruce stood up and left a very shocked Robin standing sitting there, not knowing what to do. Bruce had given up on him, it was over. Once the other members found this out he was going to Arkahm, hands down, no questions asked. With the sad news that his mentor, the great Batman had given up on him, he went to great his visitor. When Robin opened the solid oak doors he received the best surprise he had in a long while, even better than Anny agreeing to be his girlfriend.
"Jericho," he exclaimed as he ran up and gave the small blond boy a hug that resembled one of Starfire's death hugs. Not being able to speak Jericho tapped Robin on the shoulder rapidly to let him know he couldn't breath.
"Sorry, it's just so good to see you? Why are you here?" Robin couldn't hide the excitement in his voice. It had been so long since he had even talked to another Titan over a communicator, let alone see one in person.
"Actually Robin, I have a serious matter to discuss with you," Jericho signed. Being the protégé of Batman Robin had learned sign language and understood Jericho perfectly, but was confused at the fact that this was a serious, not a social call.
"What's the problem? Do you need help with something?" Robin could only assume the mute boy needed help with something, and he would gladly help. Because no matter what, a fallen hero is still a hero, no matter what they've done.
"I came to tell you that my father is dead." Jericho's face fell a little at this, and Robin could understand why. The pain of losing a family member is something he knew all to well.
"I'm sorry for your…" Robin was cut off by a flurry of hand movements from Jericho.
"My dad was Slade, Robin, so are you really sorry for my loss?" This stunned Robin. He knew that Jericho wasn't one for taking about his past, and now he knew why. No, he no longer felt sorry for his loss, especially since he was the one who killed Slade. Slade who had helped SAW kill is friends, the innocent, everyone who had died.
"Didn't think so," Jericho signed. "I just want to ask you a simple question, was it you who killed him? He wouldn't have gotten smashed between the gears of his hideout unless forced into them. So, was it you?" The look on Jericho's face was stern, and serious. Robin didn't think he had ever seen Jericho this serious about anything, so he owed him a full answer.
"Yes Jericho, I killed him. But I will swear to God that it was an accident. He was trying to kill me, and I had to get a key from him to save either Starfire or Raven, not that it made a difference." The look on Jericho's face was now one of shame, and Robin had no idea why?
"I can't say I liked my father, but I did love him. I believe he did love me, and I always will. I am sorry for his actions and the pain he caused you; I tried to help him not be like that, but without success." There were now tears forming in Jericho's eyes, like he was the one who had performed his father's actions.
"Look, you did you're best Jericho. You can't blame yourself for Slade's actions; it's something you were never in control of." Robin spoke softly, trying to consol the blond teen.
"Then why," Jericho signed, his face getting serious again, "do you blame yourself for Red X's actions. You tried your best to stop it, but it wasn't enough. It was something you blame yourself for his actions, something you never had control over. Why don't you take your own advice?" Robin was standing there, blinking it bewilderment. Had Jericho really come here to talk about his father, or had he come here to try and help him; knowing Jericho, a little bit of both. He then smiled at the small boy, letting him know he understood what he was doing. Jericho smiled back, glade Robin got the message.
"Well Jer, I guess there's only one more thing to do," Robin said. Jericho looked at him confused.
"What," he signed. Robin cracked a smile.
"I have to kick your butt at video games." Jericho smiled.
"You're on." The two boys rushed upstairs, the gaming system calling their names.
…
Batman was walking along the corridors of the Watch Tower, his teeth grinding away at each other. How could Dick do this to him, after all the things he had done for him. After every single time he had put the target on his back to draw fire from Dick, yet he continued to dig himself a hole. Well he was done covering for him, done drawing the fire, done saving his ass. He could crumble to dust without him, and he was not getting anymore help from him. As he entered the meeting room that every member of the 'Robin Project' was in he heard Kent saying
"He could become a loose cannon, unpredictable, unsafe. I don't trust him."
"You were talking about Robin?" The one thing Robin still had going for him was the hard headedness of Earth's resident Kryptonian. Batman still hated the fact that Superman openly despised Robin now, even though he used to love him.
"Yes Bruce, I was. Do you have any new information for us about Robin?" The tone of the Man of Steel was like he expected a negative report. But he really didn't want to give him what he wanted, so he lied.
"No, he's been doing the usual. Now let's get this meeting over with, I have a date tonight."
…
Anny was sitting at her usual table in her favorite coffee shop, and her friend was late. It wasn't like her to be late for anything, especially something as important as this.
"Hey stranger, what are you doing here?" Anny turned to see her friends approaching and smiled.
"It's about time you showed up Harley, I almost thought you had forgotten." She was glad Harley had shown up, she had some great information for her.
"Sorry, but the job Mr. J had me doing this morning took longer than I thought. But enough about me, how've you been?" Her Jersey accent was making her a little hard for Anny to understand, but being friends for years had given her the ability to understand her most of the time.
"I've been good, and I had a great time last night at the party. The comedian was good; I think Joker might have liked him." At this Harley giggled
"Oh Anny, Mr. J hates comedians. He says they lack the vision he has, and he's right; none of them do." She said the last part a little dreamily, like it was wonderful that he was a psychotic villain.
"I also have some information for you. Robin and I had sex, and he is not eighteen. His eyes are blue and he is very protective of his identity. I think if you can figure that out you'll have him go crazy." Anny felt no guilt in telling Harley this; she was getting twenty grand out of all this. She had been a white trash party animal, and she was still a white trash party animal; she was just more culturally inclined now. Harley clapped her hands and squealed in excitement.
"Oh that is excellent stuff Anny, Mr. J will be very pleased with this." Suddenly the sound of laughter filled the air as Harley's phone went off. She smiled apologetically at Anny before answering it.
"Yes Mr. J? Of course, I'll get right on it. By Mr. J" She sighed before looking back at Anny. "I got another job to do, sorry. We should defiantly do this again sometime when I don't have anything going on." She waved back at Anny before walking out the door. Anny smiled evilly; she loved playing ignorant boys for suckers, especially when she got paid to do it.
…...
"Come on, that's the third time in a row," shouted Robin, furious he'd lost to Jericho in Mortal Kombat again. He owned the MK vs. DC characters one, so naturally he was Batman. He had not expected Jericho to pick Deathstroke, his father. And three times in a row Jericho had beat him.
"What can I say, my dad was a bad ass; even you have to give him that." Jericho had him there.
"Best five out of nine?" Robin did not want to lose.
"Ok, but prepare to lose." The boys were so engrossed in their game they didn't seem to notice Alfred checking up on them. Alfred was smiling; it was good to see Dick having fun again. As he entered the kitchen he saw Bruce walk through the back door, frowning.
"I take it a bad meeting sir." Alfred knew things were going to go bad with the news Bruce had about Robin, but he wasn't sure how bad.
"Superman wouldn't get it through his thick skull that Robin is not a bad person, so I didn't see it fit to share the information." Alfred chuckled, of course he hadn't.
"Well, I just want to let you know that Master Richard is in his room and is in a very serious video game competition with Jericho. He is also doing you injustice on his fighting game. He has lost three times to Deathstroke as you.
"Unacceptable, I better go show Jericho how a master uses Batman." Bruce walked up the stairs, a determined look on his face.
…
"I lost again," Bruce roared in anger. Alfred laughed; this was going to be a long day for the dynamic duo.