You know how I said this was going to be a two-shot? Well, turns out I lied. I've been working on this for ages, but here it is! This is now a continuous story. Enjoy the chapter!
Oh... I don't own Young Justice. It would be really weird if I did, because I refused to watch it until a few mounths ago. I was convinced it would be a cheap Teen Titans rip-off... I still like the Titans a bit more, but I sure was wrong...
Black Canary sat down, exhausted. The entirety of the night before had been used listening to Ollie go on about how she had to help the team deal with the death of their youngest member. Initially, she completely ignored her boyfriend. Though she had volunteered to help with the training accident, Dinah did not think even she could help with an actual, honest to goodness loss.
The archer was not known for giving up, however, and continued pestering her. After hearing the billionaire go on about how scarred the children were, how he, Barry, and Clark were going to deal with Bruce, and how he was about ready to force Roy to take official therapy (It wasn't like he couldn't afford it.), Ollie delivered the final blow.
"I really just thought… Well, Dick wouldn't want all his friends to be in such mourning."
It was through this conniving, cruel, but very true point that Dinah had managed to drag herself to Mount Justice to deal with the surely mentally-scarred teenagers. Now sitting, she waited for the seat across from her to be filled with one of the unfortunate teens.
After about twenty minutes of waiting, Artemis hesitantly came in. Nervously, the young archer lowered herself into the deep green chair. After a moment of silence, the girl spoke.
"He went to my school. Every day he tried to talk to me, but I always thought he was just some annoying rich kid. I never paid him any attention. It was so obvious, yet I didn't realize that Dick and Robin was the same person."
Dinah leaned forward slightly, motioning for Artemis to go on. This was more than the blonde girl would say ever before.
"At the funeral… There were some of his friends from school there. He didn't have many, but they saw me. The glares sent my way just asked me… why I was there. Why, when I ignored almost every word he ever said to me, was I there? I just looked at his body sadly… One of his best friends, Barbara Gordon, was absolutely weeping. Her dad had to pull her away from the coffin to calm down. The look she gave me… It was full of cold… hatred."
Artemis closed her eyes tightly before continuing on.
"I-I deserved that hatred. I didn't know him, not really. I didn't really know Robin, and I definitely did not know Dick. I didn't trust either at all. Even after the incident with the Reds, I still didn't trust him with any secrets."
Dinah truly could not believe how much Artemis was saying. She could never get the girl to open up before, even though she was obviously hurting. Why was it that such a tragedy had to happen to help the archer to open up?
"What do you think you would tell Robin if he was here, Artemis?"
The girl opened her eyes, though she looked away slightly.
"I would tell him everything. He was trustworthy enough, he would understand, and... It would have been nice to have… someone to talk to about… that."
Of course, as Ollie's girlfriend, she knew what Artemis was referring to.
"Maybe it isn't too late to have someone know… You could always tell the team."
The teenager stood quickly.
"No! They would never understand… No one would ever trust me again! Do you remember how everyone reacted when we found out Kaldur was keeping secrets? No one would want me on the team!"
Dinah sat back.
"Maybe you should think about it, Artemis. Perhaps they will be as understanding as Dick would have been."
Artemis started to sweep out of the room, her long ponytail trailing behind her. The door was slammed as she left, leaving a loud noise echoing throughout the room.
A moment later, the door slammed again as Superboy entered the room.
"All right, Conner. Is there anything you want to talk about?"
Meanwhile, in Gotham City, three men embarked on a mission even harder than helping a team of teenagers heal through a friend's death.
They were going to attempt to help the father heal.
Thus, Clark Kent, Barry Allen, and Oliver Queen stood in the entrance hall of Wayne Manor, speaking in low voices with Alfred.
"Master Bruce is in young Master Richard's old room. I assume you know where that is?"
Clark nodded his head before speaking.
"Thanks, Alfred. We'll probably be quite awhile, so…"
"I'll be sure not to disturb you unless there is an emergency."
"Right. Thanks again."
The trio headed towards where they now knew their friend would be. When arriving at the room that used to belong to Dick, they saw the door was slightly open. What they saw inside was heartbreaking.
The room looked like nothing had been touched since the former occupant had left this life two weeks ago. Homework was still scattered across the desk in the back corner of the room, a few books were open on the soft red sheets of the bed, and there was even civilian clothes lying on the ground, doubtlessly from when he changed into his hero persona for the last time.
That, however, was not what was so tragic. What was truly heart wrenching was seeing Bruce standing next to the dresser, clutching a photo frame that help a picture of him and Dick together, and silently weeping. None of the three heroes had ever seen their friend so… broken.
Slowly, they stepped inside. The Dark Knight obviously knew they were there, he was Batman after all, but he made no move to acknowledge their entrance. Silently, Clark walked over to the broken man, placing a hand on his shoulder. Bruce turned his head towards the other hero slightly.
"Bruce, sit down, we have to talk."
Ollie started to move the books on the bed slightly to make room for Bruce. Though the other man's hand almost moved to stop him, the caped crusader sat down on the bed, still holding the photo tightly.
Clark breathed slowly, and then spoke to his friend.
"Bruce, we are worried for you. For the past two weeks, you've been more violent as Batman, and have not gone out in public as Bruce Wayne since the funeral. You're not yourself-"
The Man of Steel was suddenly interrupted by his broken friend.
"Clark, would you be yourself if your son died? That is, if you had a son. I forgot that you still refuse to even talk to the one you have."
Clark sputtered slightly upon hearing what his friend said.
"Bruce… Why are you bringing that up now? Superboy is beside the point!"
The Dark Knight shook his head slightly.
"No, he is a point. I envy you so much right now, Clark. You have a son, while mine is gone forever. However, you will not see how lucky you are. How is that beside the point?"
Since the Kryptonian was speechless, Ollie spoke to the fellow billionaire.
"Bruce, the Scarecrow came into Arkham with a broken arm, broken leg, and a concussion. He hadn't even taken out any fear gas before you started pummeling him."
The detective spoke quietly.
"He said that he was glad there was only a battle against one again. He mocked me about Dick…"
As Ollie was about to speak, the speedster next to him pushed towards their friend to speak.
"Bruce, almost every villain, even petty thieves, will mention Robin for quite awhile. You can't handicap every criminal you face."
Bruce continued to stare at the bright picture in his hands while he spoke.
"The Joker is still loose. Until he locked away where he belongs, I will not hold back. I owe that much to Dick."
The three heroes tried to reason with Bruce, but he ignored them, just staring at him and Dick smiling happily at the broken counterpart to the man.
Seeing there was no use for them there, the three heroes left the room. On their way out of the manor, they sadly shook their head at Alfred.
The Batman would not heal from the loss of his partner and son for quite awhile, if ever.
The rest of the team, as well as possibly a couple other people, will be the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed this one, though!
Please review, it gives me ideas for chapters!