Doubt (Young Justice Fanfiction)

Where It All Started

Working with Batman has never been easy, this was no exception. He'd been spending hours working on a case involving the Joker, barely taking breaks to do anything other than looking to see if I was also keeping up with the security cameras and checking for clues. I knew what I'd signed up for when I joined this team, or rather when I decided to become Batman's sidekick, so I wasn't too bothered. It was good to be able to do something good, to be able to help the people of Gotham. Though there were times I sometimes wondered what my life would be like if I hadn't started working with him, I wouldn't go back and change things if I could. I liked being Robin, it was a good way to help out.

"Aha, there he is." Batman suddenly chimed in, looking towards me. "Robin, let's go, he's in an abandoned warehouse just south of here."

"Sure thing!" I nodded, deciding not to question how we hadn't just started checking abandoned warehouses since that seemed to be the villains' favorite places to go when they kidnapped anyone. The mayor had been taken, so it wasn't a surprise that they'd take him somewhere most people wouldn't want to go. I jumped into the Batmobile, looking at him as he got in normally. I didn't have to jump in, I didn't have to be so energetic, it was just more fun that way, a reminder of where I came from and who I used to be before this. Batman patted my head, then started driving, weaving through traffic to get there as fast as possible.

And that was how we ended up in the abandoned warehouse before I could fully come up with a plan on how and where to search. Batman seemed like he had everything figured out, he searched silently for clues while I couldn't help but make a little sound, doing a tiny happy dance. It'd been a while since I'd been able to get out and fight crime, it wasn't every day I got to do it since I had other responsibilities like school and managing friendships, plus training and studying new ways to investigate. It was a lot of work to be a sidekick and the son of Bruce Wayne at the same time, but it was worth it. I wandered farther into the warehouse, farther from Batman. I didn't notice someone walking up behind me, but it didn't take me long to figure out someone was there. Sure, it was because I was slammed against one of the pallet racks in the building, but I still noticed it, didn't I? Before I could think to block, the attacker, the Joker, hit me in the head with his elbow, dazing me as I tried to process the attack. If I hadn't been caught off guard, I probably would've blocked it. Joker went to kick me in the chest next, but Batman swooped in, separating the two of us and pushing me behind himself. The Joker kicked the metal, then jumped up and down, holding his foot. "Batman, seriously?! You know how much that hurts?!" he complained.

"That is the last thing I'm worried about right now, Joker." Batman didn't seem amused with the Joker's antics. While the Joker was distracted by his own whining, I yanked off a rusted piece of the pallet racks, then lunged at him, pushing the improv weapon against his throat and shoving him against a wall with it. He kneed me in the stomach, forcing me to stumble back as he let out a deranged laugh. I looked at Batman, noticing he still hadn't made a move to attack the Joker. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that he was only there to watch me fight the Joker. Why wasn't he acting like his normal self? This was a battle, I was in the right mindset, why wasn't he? Was something wrong with him?

"Focus on Batman, Joker, the Boy Wonder is just a distraction." The Joker chuckled, looking at Batman. "He can't keep me distracted with him, I know that the real fight is between us."

"Wow, he's really gone off the deep end, hasn't he?" I mumbled, though that wasn't really much of an observation, almost anyone could tell he was insane just by looking at him after all.

"Robin, focus." Batman reminded, dodging a punch from the Joker before blocking another one that was aimed at me.

"Right, sorry." I knew that I was supposed to keep my head clear and in the game or else bad things could happen, I made Batman's job harder by losing my focus. Speaking of focus, the Joker had gotten behind a large pallet rack, he pushed it over, probably to try to crush both of us while we were momentarily distracted. We both dodged out of the way, but a sharp piece of metal flew up, heading straight for Batman's face. I knew it could blind him, so I smacked the piece away with my hand, the gloves I wore were thick enough to protect my hand. Joker had run around us while we were focused on dodging, he kicked Batman in the back right before he could whip around to face him, but that didn't stop Batman at all. He turned and punched Joker in the face, the Joker stumbled back, growling in frustration and covering his freshly bleeding nose. While the Joker was still in one place, Batman grabbed him by the shoulders, shoving him against a wall and holding him still.