young justice: babysitting the waynes

The beginning of the end

The bitter winters night air bit at Robins face harshly, like tiny insects as he swung through through the dark Gotham only slightly illuminated by the dull street lamps. It was only around 7pm though Gotham tended to get dark early in winter and with the hours of darkness increasing so did the crime rate.

The depressing, cold, wet winters of Gotham tended to make the criminals and lunatics anxious and on edge meaning the crime rate almost doubled from that in the summer. There was never snow in Gotham, only a depressing sludge that's only purpose was to make unsuspecting people trip. That was just Gotham for you, the city that despised its occupants almost as much as the rest of the world despises Gotham.

Dick was used to these bitter nights, he had been patrolling them since he was nine, but even then he couldn't help the awful feelings these nights tended to give him.

He landed harshly on a roof top of one of the Wayne industrial buildings , loosing his footing slightly making he tumble to ground. He hadn't been paying enough attention, something which is highly unadvisable to do in a city like Gotham. Those who look like there not paying attention or look like they haven't got a clue get killed. In Gotham it was survival of the fittest.

But Robin didn't have time to muse over the ways of the city. He had a deal to make. A deal that would hopefully save his little brothers life. But the deal would also loose his own freedom and as much as he dreaded it, he knew he needed to do it. For Tim.

He pulled himself to his feet, pointing his grapple hook at the nearest building, shooting the line out as it tugged harshly on his arm forcing him forward. He flew through the air, he loved flying though it wasn't the same with the grapple. Nothing could compare to the feeling of complete bliss and freedom he got when he flew through the air, wind hitting his face, 100s of metres above the ground. Freedom. He should probably kiss that word goodbye. He was never going to be free again.

He braced himself for his landing determined not to trip again, perfecting his footwork mid air as the roof neared.

He landed on the roof perfectly making Robin smile slightly wishing BRuce was here to witness his perfect landing. The smile quickly wiped of his face as he remembered why he was out this night.

"Smiling at your end, very fitting" he grunted to himself before, running off the edge of the building letting himself free fall for a moment, questioning what would happen if he just let himself fall. He would be reunited with his parents, his aunt and uncle and his cousin, that wouldn't be too bad. But Tim would die, he told himself shooting out his grappling hook again.

The warehouse was nearing.

He shot himself through the air once again, his arm slightly protesting as the rope pulled. The warehouse was in his sites.

He paused for a moment on the roof of the warehouse where Slade had saved his life all those years ago, looking down through a sky light into the supposedly empty room. It was actually how he remembered it the first time. Huge wooden crates covered 1/3 of the room and a chair lay tilted over in the middle of the room.

All Robin wanted to do was turn around, go back to the manor and hide under his blanket. Forget about Slade, like he had been trying to do since he was eleven.

He forced his body forward, his mind screaming at him to go home, leave finding Tim to the adults. But that wasn't an option. This was the only way and he would be kidding himself to tell him any different.

He subconsciously unlocked the sky light and stared down into the warehouse once more. One step, he told himself yet his feet didn't move.

Come on!, he thought to himself his mind screaming at him.
He jumped.