Chapter eleven: Hold Your Colours

Batgirl watched Batman sweep from the entrance to cell B over towards the supercomputer wondering what he could possible want to talk to her about. Earlier he had merely said that they would be leaving early tonight to go check out a possible lair of the Joker.

After nearly two years living with Batman, Batgirl knew how to read him. They never went on a normal patrol together because it was inefficient as they covered less ground and when they did work together, it was whenever Batman knew for certain she would be needed. But he never took her on hunches.

The only explanation was that he wanted to talk to her and she had a suspicion that it had something to do which the hero he had just locked into a veritable prison cell. She observed him closely as he calculated the fastest route to the abandoned factory that had once produced joke shop merchandise. Batman was the hardest person to read. He was always so tight, so controlled that it was unnatural. Nevertheless, she persevered.

She watched as he typed in the address of the factor at over 80 words per minute and observed that he had to backspace once to correct a mistake. Most irregular. This suggested that he lacked his usual intense focus and his mind was elsewhere. His slightly elevated head position confirmed this as to attain maximum efficiency when typing he always kept the keyboard in the very bottom of his peripheral vision. No doubt, something was on his mind.

He quickly sent the tracked out route to the batmobile and turned to walk towards it. Batgirl followed. They quickly entered the supercar and went through the usual routine of the hydraulic lift lowering down before accelerating off down one of the multiple underground lanes. Recalling the map she had seen on the computer, batgirl knew their route first directed them to a second, smaller batcave that was maintained in case of emergency and also for convenience. As they turned onto the underground road that took them directly there, she calculated it would take just under ten minutes to reach it.

As she had thought, Batman spoke. As usual, there was no warmth, tact or consideration. Just facts and demands.

"After Beastboy knocked you unconscious, he broke out of the hospital wing and attacked me."

Batgirl frowned. She was still not over the fact that she had been taken out so easily. Something like that hadn't happened since she was 7 years old. She had accepted the fact that she had been tired, distracted and dealing with an animal shape-shifter, something she had never fought before, but she still saw no reason for her failure. As for Beastboy attacking Batman, she had already assumed as much.

"What you might not know," Batman said, as if reading her thoughts, "Is that our fight lasted six minutes and only ended when he fell unconscious due to the tranquiliser you administered to him."

Batgirl raised her eyebrows beneath her mask, surprised that Beastboy had lasted that long with the drug in his veins and engaging batman. It was impressive, but not quite enough to make her feel better.

"Furthermore, he got me. "Batman said with coldness in his tone. He took failure, even one hit, even worse than Batgirl. "Cracked a rib."

Her mouth dropped open. No one got him. Yes, it was a fairly minor injury but the last time he had been that hurt was in a one-on-one fistfight with Killer Croc. For Beastboy to have even laid a hand on the Batman, let alone crack a rib, was nothing short of extraordinary. The fact that he had so easily rendered her unconscious didn't seem quite so bad now.

"I watched the playback from the camera in the hospital bay and I don't think you really saw what form he took. Here." The small screen on the dashboard lit up under Batman's touch and displayed an image taken from a camera in the corner of the medical bay. Batgirl stood in her battle stance facing the camera, obviously unaware of the large, hulking shape behind her. She examined the picture with interest. He was tall, almost unnaturally muscled and even though his face was darkened, there was an undeniably animalistic, feral expression on his face.

"You didn't interact with him at all today, why?"

Batgirl glanced sharply at her mentor, put off by the change of subject. Batman did not ask such casual questions. He had to have some alternate agenda for his query, but she couldn't think what. She answered honestly.

"Nervous. Slightly scared. Didn't know if he change again."

"This is only the fourth time he has assumed such a form. It is not a common occurrence. I conversed with him and he remembers absolutely nothing of his time as his alter ego. He didn't even know of your existence until you appeared in the batcave today. He asked me to apologise to you for him."

Under her mask, Batgirl's eyes widened. Partly with surprise, partly with relief. She had thought him a violent and aggressive beast when she had awoken from her attack. This had progressed into a confused opinion of him following her observation of a cheery, relaxed Beastboy for a few hours. Now it all appeared to make sense.

"It alright. Feel bad for not talking to him now."

"You watched him today. What do you think of him?"

Batgirl didn't bother with surprise at her mentors inside knowledge; she was well used to it. Still not knowing where this was going and learning nothing from a quick body language scan (he remained as closed off as ever), she answered.

"Seems nice. Happy. Curious. Heal fast. Not like meat. Strange body movement."

Silence pervaded for thirty seconds. The only sound being the batmobile's purring engine reflecting off the closed in stone. Batman spoke again.

"Cassie," he started, immediately grabbing Batgirl's attention. They never used their real names in costume. "I'm going to ask Beastboy to stay for a while."

Batgirl blinked in surprise. She had known something was up, but hadn't seen this coming at all. Mind quickly analysing, it all started to make sense. Batman had taken her grudge against Beastboy for knocking her unconscious away, persuaded her of his capability as a hero and lured her into stating how well she thought of him. In the span of five minutes, he had created a solid platform for friendship between the two. She shook her head, silently marvelling at his incredible ability to manipulate. Now she was set up to accept his announcement that Beastboy was going to 'stay a while.'

"Why?

"I see potential in him, untapped potential that is not being exploited. I believe with the correct training he can be twice as capable a hero as he is currently is. Also, I feel it will be good for you to have company your own age; it will give you a chance to improve both your social and language skills. Alfred has also been badgering me to get a hobby and Beastboy's powers intrigue me, he would be most interesting to study. Most importantly of all however, is his discovery of my identity and I need to ensure that he can be trusted with the information."

Batgirl started at the revelation. That was big news.

"How he find out?"

"Beastboy came across me as Bruce Wayne once and remembered my scent. His realisation was completely accidental. And absolute."

Batgirl's brow furrowed. She opened her mouth to ask how that was possible but shut it as she remembered the body language Batman had exhibited that morning. She quickly connected the dots and moved on to her next question.

"What about titans?" Batgirl asked, knowing he had a team back in Jump City.

"I'll contact Robin once Beastboy has made his decision. I just wanted you to know first."

Batgirl nodded. "Think he'll say yes?" she asked, unexpected hope in her chest.

Batman's eyes focused on the road as the secondary batcave came into view.

"I know it."

"Sit."

Beastboy sat down in his seat at the kitchen table in the batcave. Not having to rely on crutches he sank heavily into the chair; legs still not completely healed, not taking his eyes off the Batman who matched his gaze.

He had awakened that morning from a dreamless sleep, feeling refreshed and well. Yesterday had been spent in complete inactivity, creating a surplus of energy that had gone into healing his body that night as he slept. He had jumped out of bed and found a pair of jeans, boxers, and a plain white t-shirt waiting for him. Vaguely wondering who had been last to wear them, he had pulled them on with distaste missing his skin tight uniform. He had only been stumped by the voice activated door to his cell for fifteen minutes. Eventually getting the passphrase right, he had bounded into the empty batcave, observing it with fresh eyes and a heart full of optimism, remembering Batman's words from the night before.

Around twelve, Batman had entered and now here they were facing each other across the table. Beastboy still felt nervous in the famed hero's presence, but his good mood, hope, curiosity and excitement at the Dark Knight's statement the previous night was overpowering his apprehension. Besides, it was in his nature to joke and laugh. Not for fear induced silence.

"I'll start by making my position clear Beastboy." Batman started abruptly. "I'm offering you the chance to stay here and train." He paused to take in the shape-shifters reaction.

Beastboy was uncommonly focused. He had been astounded, astonished and amazed far too much in the past twenty-four hours and was determined to try and show some intelligence. Nevertheless, the sudden offer hit him like a ton of bricks. Questions raced through his mind, but in the brief time he had spent with Batman, he had found that the hero was always way ahead of him.

"Care to elaborate?" Beastboy slowly responded.

"I'm going to be completely honest with you; I'm not proposing this out of kindness or concern. Primarily, your powers intrigue me and I believe that with the right training, you can vastly improve your abilities. Furthermore, you know my secret identity and that is not something to be taken lightly." His eyes narrowed.

Beastboy gulped. Batman had admitted that he had been right. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing. "You said you could help me with my… transforming problem."

"No," Batman cut in, "I said I might be able to help you. While I have some theories about your 'Beast,' there is no way of telling if any are correct without your cooperation, which brings me to the terms of my proposition.

"You will be granted the status of one of the batclan for the duration of your stay. In the unlikely event that your aide as a hero is required, you will be called into action. Otherwise, you will not leave the grounds unless given permission. You will obey the rules I have already laid out except rule three – the door one." He added, seeing the titan struggling to recall which rule the third one had been. "I am not able to promise any sort of routine or continued training. You will work around me and my times.

"Also, if I am to help you, your full cooperation will be expected and required. I don't care about tact, privacy or feelings. I care about results. If I ask you something, you answer. If I tell you to do something, no matter what it is, you do it. You will be worked to within an inch of your life. You will participate in a full psychological analysis and have every aspect of your life examined, no matter how personal or secret. You're all in or you're all out. Which is it?"

Beastboy sat stunned. Even with his focus entirely on the matter at hand (well it had wandered to Batgirl briefly but he had quickly snapped out of it), that was still a lot to take in. He took a deep breath and decided to stall.

"How long will this take?"

"However long it needs to."

"What about the titans?"

"I'll contact Robin and explain the situation to them. They can have solo heroes fill your absence. This is your decision; do not take them into account."

'So much for stalling.' Beastboy looked down at the stainless steel table and thought hard. On one hand this was a no-brainer. Batman was offering to train him! It was that simple, you don't turn down the Batman. But on the other hand, he would be separated from his family, his pack indefinitely. He didn't like the sound of that. He asked one final question.

"Do I have the right to leave whenever I want?"

"You can suggest it and I will consider it. Beyond that, no."

Beastboy looked up at the infamous hero, looking straight into his dark eyes. "I'm really putting myself into your hands aren't I?"

Batman met his gaze solidly, not to intimidate but more to confirm what the changeling had said. He replied crisply. "It's the only way this can work."

Taking in a deep breath, Beastboy looked away and considered. Thirty long seconds passed. Then sixty.

Eventually, he did what he always did in these situations. Followed his instincts.

Beastboy looked up, eyes strong.

"I'm in."

Anyone see that coming? What ramifications will there be?
Had a good time writing this chapter. I was pleased with how Batman's manipulation of Batgirl went; I thought it was a pretty good realisation of how he usually works. What you think? Could have been better?
Have a question, comment? leave it below.

Review Responses:
Kronk95 – I like the Changeling form as well. I wondered about the idea of Beastboy willingly becoming the Beast and what effects that would have on his body. Glad you like it.

Shugokage – I like writing Batman, his dialogue comes quite easily for me.

EX3451 – Yeah, I'm going to try hard to make the transition from immature goofball to mature goofball as realistic as possible. I agree with you, keep me straight with it!
Is 50 reviews a landmark? I actually know nothing about stuff like that. Was pretty chuffed when I reached 3000 hits though. Madness!

LiumD – Thanks for that, a really valid point. I hope Batman's proposition was heavy enough.

FF8cerberus – I've trying to make his reactions as realistic as possible. First off, people are afraid to face what is painful to them and in Beastboy's case it's safer and easier to put on a mask to cover up the pain.
As for Terra, those closest to you have the greatest potential to hurt you and when he was hurt, it broke through that mask he wears. I am going to be exploring more about what actually happened with Terra and his reaction to it.
People don't like change and usually it takes extreme circumstances for them to face issues and change themselves. I haven't scratched the surface of Beastboy yet mate.
As I said, I'm trying to take a fictional character and make him and his decisions human.

Alec33 – Me neither!

Mincymina – So it's my personal belief that no one ever came to this site for action or plot. They came for characters. I know I did. The characters and the interactions between them is the main focus of this entire thing for me. This isn't a romance story yet but it will end up there. As far as I'm concerned, the plot is there to facilitate the characters.
I made an author's note a few chapters back concerning this. If you want to know what the end pairings will be, all you need to do is look at my list of favourite stories – you'll get your answer pretty quickly (and find fics far better than this one!). However, if you want to wait and go through the romance plot as it is written, you can do that instead. Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading!
Farewell,
CJB