It had taken quite some convincing for Robin to meet with Batman tonight. A few days of patrol on his own must have left the vigilante feeling lonely. The thought made him smirk as he ran over buildings and jumped from rooftop to rooftop, but it vanished soon after. He didn't want to have another talk with the big bat. Yet, something had made him follow his invitation after all. He tried to tell himself that he needed to talk to his mentor, that this was what he needed and therefore what he should want. It didn't quite work. He just couldn't help but still feel betrayed and disappointed. The lack of trust his mentor showed had never hurt as much as it did now. It wasn't even the fact that he didn't tell him his secret identity, Robin didn't reveal his either, after all (Although that was different), or that he didn't trust his protégé with the location of the cave. It was that he did not have enough faith in him to stand on his side against the Justice League. What bad would it have done to tell them that he knew Robin's identity? It would've been enough to calm any worries the other Leaguers came up with. Seriously, Batman was just being a coward.

He arrived at the location Batman had sent him to see his mentor standing next to the Batmobile. What, did he want to go on a field trip? Robin made his way over to stand in front of the Dark Knight with an emotionless expression. Batman sent him a shallow nod in greeting which Robin returned. Then Batman walked around the side of the car and entered it, waiting for his protégé to follow. Hesitantly, Robin opened the passenger door and lowered himself onto the seat, his eyes on his mentor as if waiting for him to say something, but Batman just waited patiently until he had put on the seat belt and started the car.

"Wait. Where are we going?"

"The cave." Batman replied, voice as gruff as ever.

Robin furrowed his brows.

"Um, what about the blindfold?"

"You won't need it."

Now he just openly gaped at him.

"What do you mean, I won't need it?"

Batman was quiet so long Robin thought he wasn't going to give him an answer, but then he spoke in an unsually soft and quiet voice.

"I am done keeping this from you."

He wasn't sure if he had heard right. Batman was showing him the location of the his oh so secret hideout? Just like that? What had gotten the man to change his mind?

"Are you serious?" he asked carefully, as if Batman were going to start laughing any second, telling him it had been a joke. Now that I would like to see, Robin thought. But the answer he got assured him the man was not there to joke.

"I'm Batman."

"Right."

And at that moment, it didn't matter to him that he had long since known of his mentor's identity and the secret location without him knowing. The fact that he was now willing to share this with him made him unbelievingly happy.

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

Having arrived at the cave, the Dynamic Duo exited the black vehicle Robin had driven in so many times he was confident he could drive it himself by now. (Not that Batman was ever going to allow that.) Standing a few feet in front of the gigantic computer illuminating the space of the hideout, Robin did his best to look expectant and exciting. Then came the big moment (more for Batman than for his partner) and the Dark Knight pulled off his mask, revealing, who robin had always known was behind the costume.

"So... you're Bruce Wayne."

"You don't seem too surprised."

Robin shrugged and grinned at him.

"I dunno. Guess I never really believed the whole playboy act in the first place." He frowned. "It is an act, right?"

Batman, or now Bruce, only smirked and winked at him, making Robin wonder if he might be wrong about the man after all.

"Oh, don't worry young sir. Master Bruce is just messing with you."

Robin looked in the direction the voice was coming from to find a very familiar looking butler descending the stairs, a tray with two steaming cups in his hands. Robin smiled brightly at the man.

"Agent A!"

The man put the tray down on a table next to the computer.

"I believe it is in order for you to call me Alfred from now on," he corrected in his british accent that Robin always loved to hear. "I have brought coffee and hot chocolate, all as usual."

"Thanks, Agent- I mean Alfred!" a beaming Robin replied, taking a sip from his drink.

Bruce walked over to the table to pick up his coffee as well.

"Thank you, Alfred."

Alfred nodded in acknowledgement. Robin turned to the butler, a questiong look on his face.

"Did you know?" he asked.

"What exactly should I have known of, Master Robin?", Alfred inquired innocently.

Robin nodded in the direction of Bruce, sipping his coffee, cowl down. The butler's expression did not change much, but if you looked closely, you could see the faintest outline of a smile adorning his features.

"Ah, yes. Indeed I did. Master Bruce asked me for advice concerning his idea, after all."

Robin laughed.

"This is funny every time."

Bruce raised an eyebrow at his protégé.

"What is?"

The grin on the boy's face betrayed the fact that it was funny to him, not Bruce.

"The dark and mighty Batman, asking for advice of the wise british gentleman, Alfred Pennyworth."

Bruce rolled his eyes, when he realized what his partner had just said.

"You know Alfred's last name."

Robin, quickly seeing his mistake, gave him a duh look.

"Well, yeah. I do my research on people. I did it on Bruce Wayne, too."

Bruce relaxed and even allowed himself a small chuckle.

"I taught you well, I see." he teased.

"Too well, perhaps. I fear the young Master might just know all of your secrets." Alfred cut in with the hint of amusement in his tone.

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

"Did you tell him you already knew?"

They were in the park, sitting on an old, rusty bench, where they had agreed to meet, after Robin - Dick - had told his best friend that they had something to talk about. He shook his head at the question.

"No. Wouldn't that be mean? After he finally got over himself I think he deserves to believe he had made the big revelation." he explained.

Wally snorted.

"I still can't believe how you manage to keep everything from him. I mean, he's the world's greatest detective, right?"

"Nah, that'd be me," Dick replied, making both boys laugh. "But, actually, I didn't exactly ask you to come here so we could talk about Bats."

Wally looked surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You see, I've got a little problem at the Academy. Someone I won't be able to simply scare away."

Dick nearly burst out laughing at the incredulous expression of his friend.

"What? But that's never happened before!"

Dick rolled his eyes.

"I know. But this isn't just any student." He gave him a meaningful look. "This is Artemis."

That seemed to interest Wally.

"Artemis? I thought she lived in Starling City. Y'know, with her uncle."

"Uh, well... she doesn't." He decided to keep the fact that the female archer was not really Green Arrows niece to himself; it was Artemis' secret to tell. "Anyway, she lives here and just transferred to Gotham Academy." He sighed. "On a Wayne scholarship."

Wally groaned and leaned back against the bench.

"How comes he puts you into more trouble than I do?"

Dick shrugged and continued with his speech.

"Just yesterday, Barbara told me how she'd met a new student and that she got interested in the whole ghost story thing. She was way too persistent and Babs barely managed to get her to back off just a bit to warn me."

"Sounds like Artemis."

"Yep. And because I know how she is, I believe it would be best to... let her in on it. Slowly."

"What? Why?!" Wally exclaimed, loud enough to draw attention of other people walking by.

"Calm down. You know why. It's my best option and I think we should trust her."

Wally looked uncertain.

"Are you going to tell her about Dick, or about Robin, as well?"

Now Dick did not seem so sure himself.

"I don't know." He thought for a moment. "I'll start with just Dick, but if she finds out that wouldn't be fatal."

Wally shrugged and send the ebony a smirk.

"You know what wouldn't be fatal, either?"

Dick looked at him and as soon as he saw the smug expression of his friend he knew what was going to come.

"It wouldn't be fatal if Batman found out."

And a part of him actually wanted to agree immediately. A man that he had subconsciously dubbed dad should be one he could trust. But the part of him that reminded him of what might happen should he find out and not accept him had built a wall that was too high to climb from his side.

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

He was in the ring again. There was no crowd, no ringmaster, he was alone. The inside of the circus tent was brightly lit, although he could see that it was putch black outside, like there was nothing but him and the tent. No place he could escape to, no help he could call for. The somehow tense silence felt like it was slowly suffocating him.
He looked down from his location on the trapeze and suddenly felt sick. He needed to get down. He needed to get out. Determined to find a way out of this terrifying situation, he took a step back, only to find himself walking forward. He desperately tried to back away, but every time he commanded his legst to move back, they did the opposite. It did not even occur to him to try it the other way round, and soon it was too late and he walked off the platform. He could not scream, so he fell quietly, but fast towards the ground, eyes wide and heart pounding in his chest. But the expected crack, accompanied by the inevitable pain coming from such a high fall never came. It was as if he fell right through the ground, into the black nothingness he had been able to see from inside. He fell for what felt like forever, before he lanfed somehow softly in a small, empty room. It had the usual four walls, which were almost blindingly white. He tried finding a way out, but the walls were stable and too high to climb. Suddenly, he sensed a presence behing him. Turning around, he came face to face with Batman. The Dark Knight pulled down his cowl and stared at Dick, his face as emotionless as ever.

"Bruce?" Dick called out, surprised that he sounded so small and fragile.

Bruce took a step towards him, holdibg out his hand and suddenly smiled reassuringly.

"I can help you get out. You just need to trust me." he said.

Dick hesitantly reached out, but pulled his hand away in the last second.

"Come on, little Robin. Trust me."

Before he could make up his mind, Bruce started to fade away. Dick quickly tried to grab his hand, but he went right through. He kept calling Bruce's name, but he couldn't stop him. It wasn't long until he was all alone again. He had waited too long.

"No..." he whispered, tears were flowing from his eyes. "No. Come back, please. Dad..."

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

I do not own Young Justice or any of the DC Universe characters.