Matt got the whole story of what had happened in pieces over the next day and a half.

Officer Hawk had gotten him back to the hospital at the end of it, but Max had hacked his file and they had quietly transferred him to the cave where Terry had already been resting. The official story, or at least the one his mom knew, was that Wayne had offered up space in the manor since the hospital had been flooded with new patients both from the dome explosion and the spores. The number of cases from the latter was a lot less then it might have been but the number still wasn't small.

Word had gotten out that a meta human was at least partially responsible, which the public didn't like. They didn't know the meta was a kid though, so at least there was that. So far there had been no sign on Thorn, alive or dead.

Matt recovered quickly overall. He seemed to have developed a bit of an immunity from his first exposure to the toxin so even though the second exposure had been more concentrated, it faded faster. Terry wasn't as lucky. He had multiple hairline fractures in his legs and Matt had already seen the bruises. Matt offered to do what he could after he was allowed out of bed, bringing Terry food or books or just talking with his big brother. It was a relief to finally be able to openly ask questions. Terry seemed just as pleased, once he learned of Wayne's tacit approval of the knowledge.

Neither of them seemed happy with his actions as Robin.

When Barbra Gordon showed up at the end of the second day Robin figured that 'not happy' was about the best he could get.

"He is a child Bruce." Gordon snarled at Mr. Wayne.

They were in the middle of the cave, but not otherwise trying to be felt no guilt eavesdropping when they had to know he was there.

"You were all children." Wayne said. It wasn't a denial but it wasn't exactly agreement either; Matt decided to take that as a good sign.

"And that somehow makes it better? No, I know how you are Bruce. I know exactly what you see in those boys. Matt is not another Tim."

Mr Wayne looked over at where Matt knew the suits were lined up in their glass cases. "If he's not allowed to be like Tim, he'll end up like Stephanie."

Matt couldn't see Gordon's face at his angle but he could see the anger and frustration in the line of her back and set of her shoulders.

"He's already ended up in the hospital. How badly does he need to get hurt before you draw the line."

"Did you know, he was hurt before too-"

"I know," Gordon interrupted him, "I debriefed Ian personally. He agreed because he recognized the scar. I'm not sure Matt realizes that officer Hawk could practically pick him out of a lineup now. Those domino masks never did anything to hide a person's features."

Matt winced. That comment was definitely directed at him.

"Hawk is a good man, and you'll keep an eye on him, but Barbara, you're still missing the big picture."

She crossed her arms, "Oh and what's that?"

"He's not the only one out there anymore. You've seen the numbers: Splicers, meta-humans, artificial augmentation. When I first put on that cape, I had to deal with the mob - maybe a few crazies. By the time you and Dick joined up there were people like Doctor Freeze, Poison Ivy, Bane. Real Threats, real super-villains even if we didn't call them that at the time. The pattern is repeating." Wayne's voice was low, slightly imploring but not angry not even very intense for all that he was clearly invested in the subject.

Gordon shook her head, "So you'll throw a couple kids through the meat grinder for the greater good?"

"They know what they're getting into."

"That's always your excuse. We had no idea, any of us. We might have thought we knew but we were wrong."

Bruce was silent.

"Fine. I've never been able to stop you from doing anything, but I'll remind you that Batman is a vigilante not a hero. I will be going after them, and if I manage to catch them I will make sure they never put on a mask again even if I have to lock them up to do it."

Wayne almost smiled. "Whatever you need to do. As I recall, I've never been able to stop you either."

They just looked at each other for a long minute. Then Barbara Gordon turned and headed back up, out of the cave.

Bruce turned to look at where Matt was hiding in the shadows of the doorway. "Well?"

Matt stepped forward slowly. He looked at the computer, the trophies, the costumes in their cases. Finally he looked up at Mr Wayne.

"I did get hurt this time, but it wasn't because I was being Robin."

"It was the second time. Running into that building without a plan was foolish."

Matt shrugged, "I did have a plan. I even had backup. I just didn't have a filter mask."

Wayne snorted out something that might have been a laugh, "Fine. I'll speak to your mother about some sort of internship. If you want to keep doing this, you're doing it on my terms. You won't go out there again until I think you're ready."

Matt nodded, "Or there's another world-ending emergency that requires all hands on deck."

Wayne looked like he wanted to protest that statement, but couldn't.

Matt grinned up at him, "So, when do I get to meet the Titans?"

the end

Hope you all had as much fun with this story as I did guys, and thanks for reading.