With Secrets, Come Betrayal

Crap! Crap! Crap!

Those were the only thoughts that went through the Broker's head as he continued his sprint. His legs ached and his lungs wouldn't be able to take anymore stress. He may pass out any second. However, his choice was probably better than the alternative.

As he passed through a construction yard, the broker felt both his arms and legs wrapped around with something of a strong grip, causing him to fall to the muddied ground. Before he could free himself, his entire world flipped upside down when whatever held his feet raised him into the air and forced him to come face to face with the narrowed white lenses of Robin.

"You are a hard man to find," Robin said, clearly not in the mood for any games. Just as she was about to teach him a lesson, her gaze shifted behind the guy. "Fortunately for you, the big guy wants to talk to you."

She then raised him higher then turned him towards the face of the Dark Knight himself. Only his jaw and white lenses were easily seen as the rest of his body was practically a silhouette of his namesake.

"Serial Killer. Someone who thrives on torturing his victims before killing them with Scorpion Venom. I want a name."

The broker was quick to draw in breath, a shiver ran through his body when Batman described the killer. He immediately shook his head in response. "No No No, you don't want to be mixed in with the likes of him."

He then felt his scalp yanked back as Robin held him by the hairs. "He asked for names." She demanded.

His eyes darted between her and the Batman. If they wanted to find some sicko like that, it wasn't their loss. "You wanna fight a nutcase like him? Be my guess. His name is Tyrian Callows. He's some crazy faunus that was hired to take out a couple guys a few days ago."

While the name meant nothing to her, Robin did notice the sudden stiffness of Batman at the mention. Had they met before? Was he part of his old rogue's gallery?

"Alright big guy, now tell us where-"

Before she could continue her line of questioning, Batman clocked the guy in the face, effectively knocking him out. Robin barely had time to realize when her mentor turned away towards the exit.

"Hey, wait a damn second!" Robin called out, still in shock. "What the hell was that!? He was all ready to sing for us!"

Batman stopped in his tracks. He hadn't even turned around to speak to her. "I'll be dropping you off at the Batcave. From this moment on, I'll be working on this case on my own."

The lenses of her mask expanded. "What."

"It means that until this case is over, you're going to be staying back in the cave in the meantime."

"You're benching me!? Y-You can't do this!" Robin cried out, still unable to process his reasoning. "Is it because of Tyrian? Come on, we've faced far worse guys than him in Arkham!"

"It doesn't matter who he is. This is just something I have to do alone. Look Robin, there are times where I can't explain my actions to anyone. Even-"

"-Even to me." Robin finished, her face downcasted to the muddy ground.

For a moment, Batman turned and eyed his protege before shifting back towards the exit. While reluctant, the Girl Wonder followed behind.

Something was up.

Thwacks against the wooden dummy echoed against the walls of the Batcave. The sound of each strike grew louder and louder as each hit struck with more force than the last.

Ruby had kept to herself in the training area since she'd been dropped off hours prior. Sweat dropped profusely from her face while she continued her escrima pace on the dummy. Normally, she would've taken the time for some R&R, but…

Robin struggled to get off the floor, her arms ached and shook from exhaustion. She was battered and beyond bruised, but she needn't give up. Speedy was fighting her battle and he needed her. But soon her attention shifted when an ear-numbing scream came before her. She couldn't turn her eyes as she watched Roy clenched the bloody stump where his arm used to be.

*CRACK*

Her hand stopped mere inches from the door of her best friend's hospital room. Even from outside, she could hear the silent wails of Barbara who grieved over the devastating change in her life. To be have been paralyzed and then raped by the most disgusting man alive. It broke the Girl Wonder's heart to even hear about the state of her friend. If only she had just joined Bruce on patrol, then maybe they would've-!

*SNAP*

The sudden sound broke Ruby out of her thoughts. She only now noticed that the dummy she fought had numerous new chips in different areas and her two wooden escrima sticks had shattered beyond repair. With a sigh of frustration, she threw weapons hard across the training area then made her way towards the Batcomputer.

Nothing had been the same since the incidents a couple months back. R&R and any sort of sleep had become…haunting, to say the least, so she turned all effort into being Robin. Alfred had complained to her many times that she shouldn't push herself the same way Bruce did, but what else was she supposed to do? Robin had kept her mind busy and being busy was what she needed right now.

Of course, being benched from patrol had been a major setback to it, but that hadn't stopped Ruby from thinking about the case.

Something definitely fishy was definitely going on. Bruce wouldn't have just dropped her from the case unless he knew something she didn't. It wasn't just because Tyrian was dangerous. They literally fight enhanced crazy people every other week. No, there was something else. Something he didn't want her knowing.

The cave was practically empty for the time being; Batman's got his hands full with the case while Alfred thought baked cookies would've helped with her mood so he'll be stuck in the kitchen for the time being. The perfect opportunity. But she had to move fast, there was no telling when either could just pop back into the cave.

As soon as she sat in front of the computer, Ruby was quick to search for any files related to one 'Tyrian Callows'. Initially, she had found nothing; No Police records, Birth Certificate, or even any sort of Government record. Her search would've continued, had her access to the Batcomputer suddenly been locked out.

She knew this failsafe. This happened whenever unauthorized users would attempt to search for any highly encrypted files only accessible to Batman. Whatever Bruce was hiding, it was for his eyes only. Ruby wouldn't have been shocked if even Alfred didn't know.

The only way to bypass it would be typing in the correct password, which she was fortunate enough to have already known. I mean, seriously. Who the hell would have their password be the full name of their ex girlfrien-

Access Granted

Bingo.

A surprisingly colossal amount of files soon popped up on screen. Ruby knew that Bruce had been one for paranoia, but holy hell was he paranoid. And while many files would've been of interest in the future, what caught her eyes was a single folder: Tyrian Callows.

One click of the folder and everything one needed to know about the assassin came to view. And boy was it everything. It wasn't just a collection of records; It was a detailed review and analysis on Tyrian Callow's life and murders. Everything was here: Government records, Criminal Records, Known Victims reports, A full analysis of his MO and Psychology. The entire thing was comparable to an autobiography.

Talk about a Goldmine. Alright, to start, let's cross-reference his old cases with the new ones. Assuming Tyrian's MO hasn't changed, I may be able to find a pattern and learn where he could strike next. Hell, if I am quick enough, I may be able to even join Batman in catching this gu-

Ruby's entire world then halted when her eyes had caught a single name under the Known Victims section.

Known Victims:

…

…

Summer Rose

…

…

T-That….c-can't be right. S-She left for a mission from Patch years ago. She died protecting a village from large swarms of grimm. She was a Hero. T-This can't be right.

All it took was one click of a button, and in doing so, finally broke her. It was a detailed report on the murder of Summer Rose near the outskirts of Mistral. Her eyes only widened more when they reached the discovery of the body. The pit in her stomach grew deeper with each passing sentence. What got her to have finally stopped reading was the date of creation for the file itself. A couple days after her mother's disappearance and a full week before she had been officially declared dead.

We…We've been lied to. Me, Yang, Dad, Uncle Qrow. Authorities told them she died fighting to save people. Bruce even looked into-

Bruce.

He knew. This ENTIRE time! He KNEW! Six years of service to the mission and he kept it from us!

He lied….He LIED to us! He LIED to me!

"Apologies for taking my time Ms Ruby, but I had wanted to-"

*CRASH*

Ruby's gaze then shifted behind her. There stood Alfred, the shattered porcelain plates and snacks laid forgotten by his feet, his eyes filled with nothing but shock as he read the report on the Batcomputer.

He didn't even know. Bruce kept it from everyone, even from him-

A sudden ring from the Batcomputer broke the two from their thoughts. It was Batman, calling from Mantle. They didn't need to answer it because the computer had already auto-accepted the call.

"Robin. We have a Code Purple. Joker just escaped Arkham and is loose on the streets. The maniac had something planned in his Cell but none of us could decipher it. For tonight, I'm going to let you-"

"You…You bastard…" Was all that initially left from her lips.

The line went silent, but not dead. He was still listening.

"You lying bastard!"

Still no word. And Alfred hadn't even shushed her for her language.

"For more than 6 years!,I have trusted you! For years, I have worked alongside you and gave everything for the mission! You were my mentor…."

…My father figure…

A strong flow of tears rolled down her face while her body shook as she gripped the console. With all her might, she smashed her hands on the table.

"When were you going to tell me my mother was murdered by that monster!?"

The Cave was silent from any sort of speech, only the screeches of the disturbed bats echoed off the walls.

"...We'll discuss this later." Was all that Batman said before ending the line.

He hung up…Didn't provide any sort of answer and just hung up….GRAAAAHHH

Ruby screamed as she grabbed her chair and chucked it towards her old Robin suit. The glass case shattered into millions of pieces and fell to the floor alongside the suit itself.

Although her breath hadn't slowed and body was stiff from her anger, she still made her way towards the Batjet. The Joker was on the loose and Batman needed her help.

This isn't over, Bruce.

Sorry for the long wait. I have re-edited almost the entire story (Omakes included) by fixing some errors, rewrote some scenes, and even adding more scenes to enhance aspects of the story. Volume 1 of the story is almost about to wrap up so I hope ya'll enjoy this in the mean time. I would like to thank you all for the support, please leave a review or a comment on the story, and I hope you enjoy.

I do not own any of the characters. All characters and names used are owned by either Rooster Teeth and Detective Comics (DC).