Revenge (Seqeal To Wrong Parent)

7--Investigation

"Okay, Robin. I'm here," Batman's voice came through my headphones. "You need to tell me what floor you were on."

"Uh," I thought about it. "It might have been on the second or third floor." I watched my laptop as Batman entered the apartment. There were shouts of alarm and people took out guns. "Put those down," my mentor growled. "I'm just doing an investigation." He pushed past the criminals and went straight to the front desk. He grabbed the man by the shirt. "Has a man by the name of Slade Wilson been here recently?"

The man gulped. "That information is classified."

Batman growled. "Tell me, before I break your face."

I could see the sweat pouring down the man's face, even in the dim lighting. Being threatened by Batman was never a nice thing. I was scared enough when Bruce yelled at me to clean my room after I'd put it off for a week. "Y-yes," the man said, voice shaking. "He moved out about a month ago."

"Which room was he in?" Batman growled.

"Room 15," the man said. "Second floor. On the right. It hasn't been touched yet since Mr. Wilson said he'll be back as soon as he takes cares of something."

Batman dropped the man and swiftly turned on his heel and up the stairs. It was three days after the meeting. Batman had come up with this idea to see if there were any clues to where Slade had disappeared to. There was a small camera attached to his cowl that allowed me to see what he saw. I hadn't left the cave since I was attacked and I was really bored. The team tried to get my mind off things, but it was no use. The thought of Slade coming back consumed me so much that I just felt numb. My stress levels have gotten so high, that I physically can't hyperventilate. It scared me almost as much as Slade coming after me. This wasn't health, I knew it, but I wasn't sure how to stop it.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. The only thing my stress affected was my sleep. I couldn't sleep more than hour at a time since my nightmares would force me awake and cling to me like a cold hand squeezing my heart. I found it hard to breathe and couldn't scream for help it I wanted to. I would just lie in bed, my paranoia eating away at me. Because of this, someone was constantly with me, either one of my teammates or a Leaguer. Right now, Captain Marvel was in the mountain somewhere, ready to come to my aid if necessary.

"Okay," Batman said, catching my attention. I turned back to the screen and felt a bucketful of dread hit me in the face. He was standing outside the apartment room that had been my prison. Could I really see the place that haunted me for the longest time? I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a deep breath. "Are you sure you can do this?"

"Y-yeah," I said, clearing my throat. "I'm fine." But I wasn't. My hands were shaking and my palms were sweaty.

Batman forced open the door and I saw the room was just like I remembered if. A shiver ran through me and I made an unintentional noise of fear. "Robin?" Batman asked. "Are you okay?"

I swallowed. "Y-yeah." He knew I wouldn't give up easily, so he moved forwards.

He walked through the house, taking everything in and trying to find evidence. It would be hard, since Slade had been gone for so long, but it was worth a shot.

I caught sight of a large brown splotch on the carpet and so did Batman. He leaned down to inspect it. "Is this your blood?"

I swallowed. "Yes."

I heard Batman give a growl and he stood up, determined to find new evidence. I saw the couch I had spent so much time on, the blanket carelessly thrown to the floor. The tv screen now had a long crack in it, from Slade's anger, I guessed.

Batman walked into the closet that had doubled as my room and found my blood still staining the floor. My t-shirt, which I had used to attempt to fix my broken arm, still lay discarded there. "What's this?" Batman growled.

"This was where I slept," I said quietly. I could tell Batman was almost ready to explode with anger, but he got a hold of himself. He swiftly turned away from the closet and went into the kitchen. Dishes were everywhere and it was a mess. There was still a dent in the wall where my head had hit when Slade had punished me for leaving a mess. What a hypocrite. I would have found it funny that Slade couldn't clean up after himself without me if I hadn't been scared senseless.

"There's a note on the table," Batman said, interrupting my thoughts. "It's addressed to you." He held it up to read it. It said Renegade- If you know what's good for you, you'll give yourself up. I know that the Bat will try to keep you as far away from danger as possible, so he' s here alone. Say your prayers, Batman. --Deathstroke.

"Get out of there," I said, my voice barely over a whisper.

Batman turned to leave and, just faintly, I heard beeping. Batman must have heard it too, because he ran towards the door. "Everyone out!" He shouted down the hall. I'd barely heard the words come out of his mouth when the sound of the explosion deafened me for a second. I let out a yelp and it took me a second to process what had happened. No, I thought. Please, no! "Bruce!" I screamed. My laptop only showed static and there was nothing coming from my headphones.

There were the sounds of hurried footsteps behind me and I saw the team and Captain Marvel burst into the kitchen. "What happened?" Captain Marvel asked, concern etched in his voice. Tears brimmed my eyes before I could stop them. "Bomb..." I said. "Bruce..."

The team gave me shocked looks. "I'm sure he's fine," Captain Marvel said, trying to stay optimistic. "He's Batman."

A choked sob forced it's way up my throat. "It...it was...S-Slade...Br-Bruce..."
"It's okay, Dick," Wally knelt down so he was in my line of vision. "This is Batman we're talking about. An explosion isn't enough to kill him."

"I'll tell the League and we'll find him right away," Captain Marvel said, still trying to sound upbeat. He spun and ran to inform the Justice League. My teammates came forward warily. I was in a fragile state of mind as it was and none of them wanted to provoke me into a full fledged panic attack.

Tears slipped silently down my cheeks. Wally wrapped his arms around me. "Shh, Dickie. It's gonna be fine." His words were enough to calm me down a little, but not much.

"He should lay down for a little bit," I heard Aqualad suggest, but it sounded far away for some reason.

"Right," Kid Flash replied, also sounding far off. He hooked his arms under my legs and lifted me up. I clung to his sweatshirt like a lifeline as tears ran down my face. Why are they so calm? I asked myself. Batman's dead! The thought forced another sob out of me. I buried my face into Wally's shoulder, trying to ignore the heat of my face. God, I hated looking like a baby in front of the team.

Before long, Wally had made it to my room and carefully laid me on the bed, pulling the covers over me. Then he pulled up a chair and sat next to me. "You look exhausted."

I scrubbed the tears away. "I'm fine."

Wally's eyes narrowed. "No. You're not."

I flinched a little. I couldn't even tell that lie to myself anymore. I didn't believe it anymore. "My stress levels have been abnormally high, causing me to lose sleep. Stress induced insomnia."

Wally chewed on his lip. "Just...try and get some sleep," he said finally. "And when you wake up, you'd better eat something. You've lost weight, you look sick, and...and it's scaring me."

I wasn't feeling the best, now that Wally mentioned it. I also hadn't been eating much since my encounter with Deathstroke. The only thing that could pull me out of my numbness was that explosion...

"Shh, just go to sleep," Wally said quietly. I hadn't noticed that I had softly started to sob. Wally let me cry. He simply stroked my hair in a brotherly way, letting me know he was still at my side. Eventually, my exhaustion got the best of my and I nodded off. I felt blissful emptiness when I finally dozed and and wondered, I guess Miss M is making sure I finally get some restful sleep. Then I let the warm feelings that my Martian friend sent me engulf me as I fell into a deep sleep.