Bruce glared down at the two in front of him. From the second his former protege stepped in with two cloaked figures, he knew that it was going to be a long night. The one Jason dubbed as 'Shadow' seemed not to be at all impressed with the bat cave , nor did he seem to take any interest in Bruce himself. The lack of respect in his presence disturbed him, even his own protégés tended to flinch in his presence . " So what you are telling me, is this boy—"
" Your son. Yes. I thought we covered this already Bruce." Dick waved his hand absently. He was not really a fan of drawing things out longer than they had to be. That is why he appreciated Damian's 'I am your son' blunt announcement that seemed to get everyone's attention. Short, sweet, and straight to the point. Thanks little demon.
That's another thing that disturbed Bruce, the fact that this teen knew his civilian identity as well as the others. And the fact that he is under the league of shadows, made his blood boil. They caused him to lose his first son, the first Robin, and now they flip his world upside down once again. Bruce stared at the young boy, who was trying to size him up and look tougher than he seemed to be. However, he held the stave of a trained soldier, leave it to Ra's to train kids so young. The boy named Damian, his son.
"Are you going to stand there and stare at him all day? No 'I am your father' drama? Disappointing." Dick scowled, leave it to Bruce to have absolutely no reaction. He has seen statues with more emotion than him. Welcome back home Dick, nothing has changed a single bit. He was going to have to deal with this as well as never revealing his identity..pain in the ass this going to be. Plus he is going to be surrounded by his replacements, the second one seems a bit stalkerish, he will need to be careful around him.
"I believe it is fair that you show us your face, Shadow. Everyone else here has seen each other's faces." Jason said, which brought even more attention to Dick.
"I never asked to see your ugly mug." Dick grinned darkly, at least he could still tease the little bird. "I am here to watch over the heir. My existence is not important to know. If it makes you feel better, I could stay out of view.
" No." Bruce scowled. " I want to be able to see you at all times." He needed to keep an eye on the teen, he might be reporting back to Ra's...he most certainly could not be trusted.
"Awe, don't trust me Bruce?" Dick places his hand on his heart " You hurt me so." Dick turned to Damian " Just because you are here, does not mean that we are are not training today." Dick frowned slightly when a thought struck him. He had trained the demon child..in his fighting style. Surely Bruce would notice similarities. The question now is if he would connect it to common League of Shadows' fighting or The Robin that he lost. " Perhaps you would want to train with your new...brothers." Those words tasted sour in his mouth. They were not family, they were replacements.
Bruce had to admit that this Shadow character was diligent and well trained. He seemed to have a good grip over the situation, even though so much chaos was going on. In all honesty, Bruce was curious of the teen's skills. He must be at his level if Ra's left him in charge of his heir. Heir..this is going to be hard to adjust to. " That is not a bad idea..we could access the—"
" I decline. I do not wish to train with copy-cats." Damian defiantly said. He wanted to stay training under Grayson, not with the boys that would never live up to his mentor's skill. He had already made up his mind on the matter. "I will not train with competition. I will become Robin. I have more of a right then these disgraces." That's right. He was trained by the original, he is the actual son of Bruce Wayne, he was the best choice to be at Batman's side. He was going to prove to both Grayson and his father that he was far more worthy.
Dick froze slightly at Damian's words. He knew that Damian was going to go after the position, but to be so blunt. Perhaps he rubbed off a bit on the boy, and he could not help but smirk with a little bit of pride when he glanced up to see the outraged looks of the imposter Robins. " Little bird, why not show them why you are worthy, put them in their place?" That's right, show them that they cannot replace him that easily, show them how to truly fight. Dick placed a hand on Damian's shoulder. " Bruce , I believe he wants to prove himself to you, so let's go to the training room."
Bruce could not be live the words coming out of this child's mouth, wanting to fight to prove his worth? Does he understand that he has trained these boy's single handed? And the way he speaks, it is as if he had known the original Robin. Bruce's heart ached a bit when a thought of his first son appeared in his head. These two are not copy cats, they were just honoring his son's name. The letter from that day told him to carry on, and he vowed he would do so. " I will allow them to train, however I do not agree with the way he speaks to my proteges. They are not copying anyone–" Bruce was cut off by a bitter laugh from 'Shadow'
" You replaced him within a year! You must grieve rather quickly then.. He must have not been as important as you claimed. " Dick was thrown against the wall by Bruce. He laughed again , smirking. " Did I hit a nerve?"
