OMG! A chapter?!
I do not own Young Justice.
Chapter 9
"This is stupid," Jason, or, more accurately at this moment, Robin said as Batman drove to the Zeta Tubes. Batman glanced at his second son, but said nothing.
"I mean, I've been on patrol. Isn't that enough? I don't need to join Dick's little league, too."
"No names in costume."
Robin snorted. There was silence for a few seconds and then, "It's not like they'll like me. They'd never think I was Golden Boy; they know him too well. Wa- Kid Flash and probably Artemis will know instantly that it's me, and the rest of the team may put two and two together about, you know, both Robin and Robin's identity going missing at the same time." More silence. "Are you even going to tell them he's missing? It's been over a month and you've already got them searching for him."
"The Robin they know is currently on an extended undercover mission where he cannot make contact without revealing his position. You are filling in to-"
"Throw off public suspicion. I know. I know. Contingency Plan Jaybird. Doesn't make it any easier or more preferable…" Batman glanced at his son again. Jason was fidgeting, something that he didn't do very often in general.
Batman pulled into an abandoned alleyway and parked. He and Jason got out and then he set an electric lock, so that no one (else) could steal the tires, or any other parts for that matter. They set down through the alleyways until they reached an abandoned phone booth. Batman ushered Jason inside, and went ahead to Mount Justice in order to authorize him.
"Recognized. Batman 02. Recognized Robin B13. Authorization. Batman 02."
"ROBIN! Oh my god! Where have you been? Why haven't you been answering your messages? You have a lot of—," Zatanna paused as she slid into the mission room, the rest of the team trailing after her. Her face turned from excitement to confusion and disappointment. "You're not Robin."
Jason crossed his arms and scowled, glaring at the floor.
"Batman, what is the meaning of this?" Aqualad asked, studying the distraught kid next to Batman.
"Hey RJ. Batman promoting you?" Wally greeted Jason softly, the circles under his eyes showing prominently.
"Yeah." Jason muttered.
"Team, this is Robin," Batman started.
"Junior," Jason interrupted.
"Robin, Junior," Batman amended. "He's Robin's younger brother and will be taking over for Robin until Robin gets back." He paused, studying the expressions of those in front of him. None of them looked happy, but only Zatanna and Jason really looked upset. Superboy, Miss Martian, and Aqualad looked perplexed, while Wally remained in the perpetual state of worry he'd been in since Robin disappeared, and Artemis looked like she'd seen this coming. "On missions, you will call him Robin, and behave accordingly, so that the villains do not catch on that he isn't Robin. In your free time…" Batman trailed off, mostly because he didn't really know what they should call Jason in their free time.
"During free time, you can call me RJ, like Wally does, or any other appropriate name unless I nix it." Jason said.
"When will Robin be returning?" Aqualad asked.
Batman ignored the question. "We've located footage from a warehouse near Savannah, Georgia of one of the suspects in the Wayne case about a week after Richard's disappearance. Richard Grayson may or may not have been held at that dock. Your mission is to investigate and determine if he was there and for how long."
"Where's Robin? Why won't you tell us anything about him? He said he would be here, almost a month ago, and he never came, never told us he would be gone. What's really going on Batman? Why's he getting replaced?" Zatanna glared at the older hero.
"Robin is on a secret, undercover mission-"
"Bull. Tell us the truth. We're Robin's team. We deserve to know."
"Zatanna-"
"Don't 'Zatanna' me! Wally's barely eating in comparison to how much he should be as a speedster and looks like he's barely slept in weeks. Red Arrow looks much the same, although that could be in part due to his other issues. None of the Leaguers will look us in the eye when we ask about him, meaning they know something as well, but won't tell us unless you give them the go ahead. In fact, they didn't even tell us he was on a mission until after you did. Is Robin actually on a mission? Or is that just how you're hiding his disappearance?"
"You have your mission," Batman muttered to Aqualad underneath Zatanna's rant
"That's it, isn't it? Robin's missing and you don't want anyone to know. Well, we, as his team and friends, deserve to know! Why aren't we looking? If he's missing, we should be out there looking for him, not some stupid little rich kid!"
"Recognized Batman 02."
"Hey! Don't leave me here!" Jason winced as all eyes, including Zatanna's wrathful ones, turned to him. He fought the urge to run after Batman.
"Team to the Bioship." While they started to the hangar, Aqualad paused and put a hand on Jason's shoulder. "RJ, Welcome to the team."
Dick sat up on the bed and crossed his legs. Careful not to pull out his IV, he tapped his head to make sure his goggles were still there, and reached for his bowl of soup. Careful not to spill it on the soft, white clothes he'd woken up in shortly after his arrival, he began to slowly sip at the soup. As he ate, he observed the room around him. He wasn't sure how long he'd been in the room, and how long it had been since he was kidnapped from the alleyway, but it felt like ages had passed. There was a nurse in full scrubs over by one of the other kids, a girl with light brown hair and tan skin, faded by the lack of light. She had yet to fully wake up and looked to be about ten or eleven.
Including the girl and Dick, there had been five children in the room the first time Dick was full aware of his surroundings. Since then, a sandy haired boy who looked to be 15 had fully recovered and was removed from the room to go to whatever came next. Another boy, who Dick didn't really remember, had passed in the night, waking the other kids when the machine next to his bed had flat lined. The doctor and nurses had tried to save him, but to no avail. The body was gone the next morning, but the event had succeeded in rattling the other children.
The last of the room's occupants was a small boy of maybe four or five years. All Dick could see of him was a dark ball of hair. Dick could tell he was a fighter, though. He was the only one who Dick had heard speak. He had attempted to stab one of the nurses with a scalpel and probably would have succeeded if another nurse hadn't spotted him moving and stopped him. The boy had struggled to get up, shouting profanity at the nurses in Arabic, although his shouts were slightly below normal volume to everyone else. The nurses ended up tying him down and giving him a mild sedative. The boy had a bad reaction to it, and developed a small fever.
Dick was impressed. He wished he could show that much strength and energy, but the first month or so of starvation had eroded his muscles to the point where all movements were flimsy. He was finally regaining his strength, but had yet to regain his ability to speak above a whisper. Still, it was the thought that counted. When Batman got ahold of these numbskulls…Well, it would put the kid's efforts to shame; that's for sure.
The door slid open with a hiss, prompting Dick's eyes to flick towards it. To his uneasiness, another nurse, the doctor, and a tall man with several obscure piercings, tattoos, and long hair pulled back into a ponytail entered. The tall man was carrying a case and Dick involuntarily shuddered. He had seen the tall man once before, a few days before the sandy haired boy had been declared recovered and moved on. They had closed the curtains—kind of like they were doing now—and then there had been soft murmured voices and then the sandy haired boy started screaming. Dick scooted as far back on his bed as he could, away from the strange man. Along the way, he upset his mostly empty bowl of soup and, painfully, yanked his IV out.
The evil doctor frowned disapprovingly, and then gestured to the two nurses. They moved to Dick's end of the bed. The doctor picked up the clipboard. "He is gaining strength slowly, but smoothly, as expected. I believe he is ready. Vital signs normal. He still has about ten pounds to gain to be considered normal. Do you know his number? It's the one we accidentally skipped in the last batch." The tall man nodded.
"Huh?" Dick asked.
One of the nurses gripped Dick firmly around the middle and grasped Dick's right arm close around his body. The other flattened out Dick's legs, to which Dick fought valiantly but ultimately failed. The second nurse held Dick's ankles so that his legs would remain straight. While this was happening, the tall man set his case down on the bed and began to pull out tools. Finding the ones he wanted, he sat down on Dick's legs with practiced ease. Dick gasped at the sudden pressure on his legs. Heart sinking, Dick saw that the tall man had grabbed a tattoo needle. The second nurse let go of Dick's ankles, and pulled Dick's left arm out and taut.
He bit his lip to keep from screaming as the needle entered his skin repeatedly. Ten agonizing minutes later, the tattoo devil, as Dick decided the tall man's name would be, finished and wrapped the raw tattoo up. The second nurse released Dick's arm and he automatically brought it close to his chest.
"We're done here, for now," The doctor said. They cleaned up and left Dick alone with his pounding arm.
Not long after Dick gained his tattoo, the room cleared of nurses. Knowing he was probably leaving soon and realizing they had, likely accidentally, overlooked his IV for the time being, Dick wrapped his blanket around himself. He heaved himself to his feet and, using the rolling IV pole for support, wandered over to visit the room's smallest occupant. The small boy was still strapped down to the bed. He looked to be about three feet tall and scrawny like the rest of the kids in the room. Messy black hair stood out against sickly skin, cheeks red with fever. He kind of looked like a mini Bruce.
In addition to a plethora of mostly healed bruises, there was an old, small cut by the kid's right eye. It almost looked like a sword nick. Dick reached his right hand out, still clutching his left to his chest protectively, and moved the boy's hair out of his eyes, to get a better look. The kid's eyes shot open and he instantly tried to escape his confines, causing Dick to jump back reflexively, and almost fall. Finding there was very little give in the straps, especially in his current state of health, the kid stopped struggling and fixed Dick with a fierce, hate-filled glare.
Dick blinked at the glare. Yep. He definitely looked like Bruce. Icy blue eyes intensified the effect. With a little bit of tweaking, this kid would have the perfect mini-Batglare. Dick wondered briefly if they were related, but decided probably not. Bruce would have told Dick if he had another son, and that other son would probably live in the manor with them. Jason did. Dick gave a small smile.
Noticing that his glare was having the opposite effect than what he intended. The boy opened his mouth and spewed out in Arabic. "Untie me, you simpleton. You snatched the wrong kid. When my grandfather hears about this, he will come in with his army and tear this place to pieces and kill everyone inside with a sword and then kill you, and then—"
"Your threats need some work." Dick interrupted; glad Bruce had insisted he learn Arabic. "And some more information. I'm actually as much of a prisoner here as you are. Except I can walk and you can't." He was kind of impressed that the kid had such a large vocabulary though. You know, for a four year old. He reached forward and undid the straps as he spoke. "You will want to stay in bed. You have a fever, and would not make it far if you tried to run. Wait until you are better, and I would be glad to help you."
The kid was silent for a minute, the glare softening on his face to be replaced by an expression of uncertainty. He jumped up the instant the straps were off, but almost immediately fell, probably due to swimming vision caused by the fever. Dick caught him, and gently guided him back into bed.
"What's your name?" Dick prodded, pulling the covers over the kid's shivering body and tucking him in. The kid didn't answer, looking at him in confusion. "I'm Dick."
"That is not a name. That is an appendage. Do not take me for a fool." The kid spat out, going back to his glare, but there was no fire behind either action. Dick's smile grew.
"Well, I'll concede that point. But Dick is my name. It's short for Richard."
"Oh… My mother said that I have a brother called Richard, but that he is undignified swine not worthy of my father's attention and that I shall eventually take his place because I am superior."
"…" Dick stared at him. That was an odd idea. Sounded like a direct quote. Did the kid even understand fully what he was saying? "Okay… What does your father say about that? And since you have not told me your name. I'm tempted to call you Toothless."
"Toothless? Where do you get a despicable name like that?" Dick decided to wait. "My name is Damian…" The kid said finally, looking down at the sheets. "I have never met my father." Dick opened his mouth to respond when a hand grasped his shoulder.
"What are you doing out of bed?" An angry nurse asked Dick. The nurse dragged Dick away from Damian and plunked him down on his bed. He forced Dick to lie down, while he reattached the IV and took several measurements. Dick tried to sit up, but the nurse pushed him back down again and pulled out the straps, binding him to the bed.
"Hey!" Dick said, struggling against the binds. The nurse made sure they were secure, inserted something into Dick's IV, and left.
Damian poked his head up and twisted to look at Dick, blinking hard to get rid of his dizziness. Dick demonstrated his helplessness briefly, causing Damian to give a small smirk. Dick gave him a smile back, glad to see some improvement, and then leaned back down and sighed. So much for socializing.
Introducing Robin II and Damian Wayne!
Sorry this took so long, got writer's block on a part of it. The part with Dick and Dami was done (three months ago), but I wanted to include the part with Jason. It finally cleared completely this morning.
My beta Inkblackfingers posted a couple of fics. She's a good writer, so go check her out.
Review, please.