Part 1 – Chapter 4
"Is it true?" Barry looked from Bruce to Selina and back again, seeing the answer in their faces. "How?"
"I will be the first to admit we were young and stupid," Selina said.
"I have no regrets," Bruce said to that. "My only problem with this situation is how Dick found out."
"Yeah, from you two yelling it to high heaven," Barry pointed out. He sounded annoyed, only because he felt hurt on Dick's behalf. Selina glared at them both and he realised they had interrupted her. "Continue."
"We were young and stupid and had no idea who the other person was under their mask. So, I gave the baby away to a young, loving, kind couple whose own child perished in the womb."
"The Graysons," Barry realised. "You chose them. And that's how you knew your baby was Dick."
"He wasn't my baby. He was theirs. I just… carried him for them," Selina said. She was trying to explain her feelings on the matter. "I think the baby I carried was always meant for them; why else would I have met Mary Grayson in the hospital?" Unconsciously, her hands went to her stomach as she remembered the woman who offered comfort to a stranger even when she was in pain. And then she thought of the tears of joy Mary had cried when Selina handed her baby Dick. The small smile her husband had, the first smile Selina had seen since meeting him.
The couple had not been able to thank her enough. It hadn't erased their pain of losing a child but they said they would be able to move on and shower this miracle child with the love it deserved.
"Perhaps it would be a good idea to explain that to Dick," Barry said. Selina's words had floored him, if only because he couldn't imagine what she had gone though.
He had been able to piece most of this together now. Batman and Catwoman had a one night stand and Catwoman became pregnant. She left, possibly because she didn't want to burden Batman. Then, when she had the baby, she met Mary Grayson in hospital. Selina decided to hand the baby to them and return to Gotham. Years later, the Graysons would fall and the baby, now a child, would be adopted by his birth father with neither of them aware of their blood connection.
"How did you react when you found out?" he asked Bruce.
The stoic man huffed.
"I tracked down Selina to ask, of course."
"After he banned Master Dick from patrolling as Robin, 'for his own protection' and spent a day and a half moping around the cave."
"Alfred!"
"My apologies, sir. Is spending a day and a half trying to figure out 'how could this happen' a more appropriate way of phrasing it?" Alfred's tone made it clear he was saying something he had heard a few times during that time.
The computer announced their arrival at Mount Justice. Both Robin and Kid Flash were wearing civvies and sunglasses. Robin was walking behind Kid Flash with his lips curled into a smile. Kid Flash was shooting worried glances at Robin.
"Hey! Do we have a mission today?" Artemis asked from the kitchen. She was gulping down water after spending the morning training.
"I doubt it," Kid Flash responded with Robin nodding in the background.
"Wally, why did Robin come in with you?" M'gann asked, curiously. "I thought you lived in different cities?"
"Robin spent the night at my place," Kid Flash told her.
"Why?" Artemis asked in an unimpressed tone.
"Why? Because we're friends? Haven't you ever had a sleepover with friends before?"
"No."
Wally gasped, making his shock theatrical with a hand over his heart and a surprised expression.
"That's not good," Robin said softly. "Sleepovers can be fun. You stay up all night and eat and play games. They're actually a very good bonding activity."
"I want to try a sleepover!" M'gann said raising her hand in excitement.
Kid Flash glanced back at Robin, who was watching M'gann and Artemis talk about whether they wanted to have a sleepover. Robin didn't look as pained as he did before as his mouth wasn't pressed as tight and he wasn't tensed to bolt. As he thought about it, he realised that Robin probably wasn't going to go back to the manor that night. Not while he freaked at the mere mention of Bruce.
"We could have a sleepover tonight," Kid Flash said. "Bring out some pillows and blankets, build a fort-"
"Paint our nails!" M'gann squealed.
"Uh, you and Artie can do that," Kid Flash informed her.
"No way. And my name's not 'Artie'."
"It is a good idea for team bonding," Aqualad input, "I will put the idea forward to Batman."
Robin went stiff and tense. Kid Flash moved closer, offering whatever support he could with his presence.
"Robin?" M'gann questioned. Superboy had even perked up, looking over the moment Robin's heart seemed to stop. His face was sporting a worried frown, his eyebrows knitted but not angry.
"I'm going to my room," Robin said. He pivoted on his heel and stormed down the hallway, leaving the team looking to Kid Flash for answers.
Kid Flash shrugged and bolted after Robin. Something told him that he needed to stay with his friend.
In the end, Aqualad told the team that they were all staying in the mountain that night, unless they had somewhere more important to be. Both Superboy and M'gann lived at the mountain and Artemis didn't have anywhere else to be, although she did call her mother to let her know she was staying with the team.
"I guess this is sort of like a sleepover," Artemis pointed out. M'gann blinked in surprise from where she was sitting next to Superboy on the couch and Aqualad nodded in agreement from his spot on the floor.
"If only Kid Flash and Robin would come out," M'gann sighed, looking down the hall.
Superboy thought about it for a moment and then stood up. He had been trying to listen in on Robin and Kid Flash and hadn't been able to hear much. Leaving the other three in the common room, he wandered down the hall and stopped in front of Robin's room.
"Kid Flash? Robin?" he called, knocking on the door.
Kid Flash glanced over at the door when Superboy knocked. He was sitting on Robin's bed, hugging a pillow while Robin did yoga on the floor.
"Do you want me to get that?" he asked as Robin twisted himself into a pretzel.
"Hmm," Robin hummed with a nod. Kid Flash was growing increasingly worried at Robin's lack of words.
"Hey, Supes," Kid Flash greeted as the door slid open.
"Uh, what is Robin doing?" Superboy asked, looking past Kid Flash to Robin on the floor.
"Stretching," Robin responded, untangling himself and bouncing to his feet.
Kid Flash narrowed his eyes. That was not what Robin had said to him.
"Oh," Superboy stated. He continued a moment later with, "the team is staying here tonight. Aqualad says it's a sleepover."
Kid Flash spared a glance at Robin; how many times had he done that since the previous night? He wondered if Robin would be okay with this and where Batman was.
"Did Aqualad talk to Batman?" Robin asked emotionlessly.
"No. He said we're staying here the night and that's it. Why? Should he?"
"No. No need," Robin responded. He considered joining the team for the 'sleepover'. Kid Flash watched as his lips were pressed together, his head tilted back and eyes staring off into the distance. A thinking pose.
"Come on," Kid Flash said, grabbing Robin's hand and pulling him along. Robin offered no resistance as they followed Superboy back down the hall.
Kid Flash didn't say anything but that worried him. On a normal day, Robin would have pulled his hand out of Kid Flash's with a laugh and then disappeared on his own way, leaving the rest of them to catch up.
[Confirmed - DG's biological parents are CW and B. CW handed baby DG over to his parents.]
Wally had a crazy moment, wondering why his uncle has used Dick's abbreviation and not Robin's. He had abbreviated Catwoman and Batman, not Bruce and Selina.
Wally quickly read the text from his uncle before deleting it. He needed the information to help understand why Dick was so upset however, this felt a little too much like talking about Dick behind his back. Wally felt slightly guilty about it.
"Got the popcorn?" Artemis called out.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" he called back. He grabbed the bowl of popcorn from where it was quickly cooling in the microwave and dashed back. He plopped himself between Artemis and Robin, receiving cried protests as he sat half on Artemis' leg and ended up squishing Dick up against Superboy.