A/N: To tell you readers the truth, I don't really know how Robin formed the Teen Titans or if it was even his idea to. This fic is not going to be off the comics, this is just my version of how Robin started the team and it is based off the T.V. show Teen Titans on Cartoon Network. So if this is not correct by the comic standards I'm sorry. And in the beginning of this fic Robin is only thirteen. With that all taken care of, here is my awesome new fan fiction! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters in this first chapter except for the teacher.
Leader In Training
By: Pixiegirl13
Chapter 1 The Daydream
Daydreaming does strange things to people. You can go to another whole world in the mater of seconds while the real one vanishes. It is amazing how the mind can do that to pretty much anyone, including the short, number one student in the front row in his History class.
Richard Grayson stared out the side window in the class room. His mind was totally somewhere else. He didn't even know that his teacher, Mr. Lairs, was still droning on about a Conestoga wagon in his usual, monotone voice. He could bore Richard out of his mind!
Right now the young teen was thinking of the night before, or should he say, that early morning at one? Richard was the adopted son of Bruce Wayne. The wealthy businessman was really the legendary Dark Knight, or commonly known as the Batman. Richard was, of course, his sidekick, Robin. So staying up till one in the morning for patrol was a normal thing for the boy.
Richard played back his kicks and punches of that night before. He noted where he wanted to improve or areas he was better at. But the thing that really stood out in his recap was the way he led a group of teens that had been kidnapped in a confusing broken down building on the outskirts of the city. Batman had been too busy taking care of the five bad guys who where waiting for the ransom for the three teens they had kidnapped.
Robin had gone in and helped the teens out of their binds easily as Batman fought. He had been ordered to get out with the teens. Robin had no hesitation and commanded order right away. But his problem was that he didn't know the place too well, and it would take him forever to find his way out. He did not want to risk the teens freaking out because of his confusion, and he most defiantly didn't want to make a complete fool of himself in front of Batman if he came out of the building an hour later.
Robin had taken the teens and used them as a team. They all knew the place better than he did, but each kid only knew a part of the place. Robin was leader as the kids put together the puzzle pieces of the maze-like building.
In only ten to fifteen minutes, Robin had all the teens out, and it had taken a half an hour for him and Batman to find their way around in there. But it had been such a good feeling leading something. Being with Batman so much as a sidekick, he was always looked down upon. Him telling Batman what to do was always out of the question. But that night had made him think deeply about his place by Batman's side.
What Richard did not know was that that thought was quickly turning into a daydream. And that crazy daydream would soon be a big dream and goal. And one day this small, sidekick teen would be the leader of the famous Teen Titans of Jump City. But this story is not about him as the leader of the superhero team. This story starts out with him sitting in a boring History class.
"Richard," Mr. Lairs said while looking over to the teen. Richard was quickly pulled back into reality, and he shook his head to come fully down to earth. He smiled weakly at his teacher as he tried his hardest to remember what Mr. Lairs had been saying. He had no such luck.
"Its seems like Mr. Richard, here, is staring off the new school year like my number three classes," Mr. Lairs said to the class while narrowing his eyes at Richard. The teen slumped down in his seat as the whole class looked over to him with smiles of amusement. In a number one class all the students competed for the top in the private school Richard attended. To see one of the smartest students daydream for once and get caught in the act was pretty good stuff.
"Sorry, sir," Richard said while avoiding eye contact. "I…" The bell rang before he could say anything else. The class got up with books all ready to go. They quickly made their way out of the boring, last period class. Richard was right behind them.
"Richard," Mr. Lairs called after him. Richard cringed at the sound of his teacher's tone and how he said his name. Richard always preferred Dick to anything else, but this teacher always called him Richard. C'mon! Even Alfred calls me Dick! Why can't this guy? Dick thought with a sigh and turning around to face the music.
"I'm sorry if I make you late to your bus, Richard," Mr. Lairs said. He took out a bucket of water and sponge. He handed them to Dick and asked, "Mind if you wash my board down as I speak with you?" He didn't wait for an answer of any kind. "Good."
Dick gave a sigh of defeat and started to wash the chalkboard down. He was not going to be late for his bus. He was going to miss the thing entirely! This made Dick a bit angry because he would have to walk all the way back home, which was around five to six miles away. Maybe he could call Alfred and ask if he could pick him up. But that would mean the butler would tell his dad. Bruce would go all extreme on him and make Dick stay home during patrol so he could get more study time so he could get better grades. He would defiantly have to walk home.
"Richard, I've noticed that you're not doing as well as all the other students this year," Mr. Lairs started. He just watched with a small smile as he saw Dick have trouble reaching the top of the board because of his height issue.
"Well, Mr. Lairs, I have other things to do in the day," Dick said. He bent down and jumped up to reach the top. His teacher was a bit surprised that the boy could jump that high. "I'm just realizing that there are better things in life than school."
"You're father didn't put you in this school so you could get C's, Richard," Mr. Lairs said. "You're in 8th grade right now, and already your grades are slipping little by little. You have noticed this, yes?"
"Yes," Dick answered after a pause. He finished cleaning the board and turned around to face his teacher. "I'll try harder next time. It's just that I have things to do."
"Like what?" Mr. Lairs asked him while raising an eyebrow in interest.
Dick scrambled for words. He had to pause for a few seconds to form a pretty lame lie. "I have chores to do," he said with a nod. He started to gather his books again and headed for the door to get out of there.
"Don't you have a butler?" his teacher asked him.
"Yeah, but Alfred is getting kind of old, so I…dust for him," Dick answered a little too quickly. Sorry, Alfred, he thought. And why did I say dusting? I HATE dusting! It's the worst kind of punishment besides not being able to go on patrol.
"Fine, Richard," Mr. Lairs said slowly. "But if your grades slip anymore I will be forced to call your father. Is that clear?"
"Perfectly," Dick said with an understanding nod. He then left the room with a shiver going down his spine. What a mean teacher! Dick thought to himself while walking to his locker. He could totally ruin my life by calling Bruce. How am I going to find more time to study? ... Teachers are evil.
Dick walked up to his house with his face all flushed from the long walk. His house was more along the lines of a mansion with dozens of old antiques in it that should have been in a museum. Under the mansion was the Bat cave. It was around five in the afternoon, and Dick knew Alfred would be looking for him to give him a small dinner.
Now, going through the front door would have been incredibly stupid on Richard's part. Doing that would alert Alfred that he had been outside while he was supposed to be doing his homework, and questions would be asked. Dick wanted to avoid all those questions. The best way to attack this problem was to go to his acrobat skills.
Richard ran through the grassy yard to the right side of the house. The sweat was slowly beading down his forehead because of his six mile jog here and because he was lugging a full backpack of homework behind him. He stopped next to a giant tree close to the house that went all the way up to the third floor. But Dick only needed to get to the second floor where his room was located. This would be a piece of cake!
The teen looked up the tree with a wicked smile forming on his face. Lately he was having fun pushing his luck with his father and sneaking around behind his back. He was testing to see where his limits were and how much freedom he could have now. Living life on the edge was becoming very entertaining, and he was doing it more often now a days.
Dick jumped easily to the first branch. His small, lithe figure started to skillfully jump and flip to the many branches as he worked his way upward. His parents that had died had been acrobats even to their death and had trained Richard to be one too. Right now he was using all his old tricks to get up to that window where his room was.
With one last jump, Richard was there. He scooted over his branch and leaned over to push open his window. He cursed when it wouldn't open. "Locked!" he muttered under his breath. His mind worked fast. He looked up and the solution came right away. He would just have to come in on the third floor. He could even see a window was left open. It was perfect!
Richard put his backpack on the roof next to his window. "Crap!" he muttered when it fell off the roof and landed on the grass with a soft thud. At least he could move around easily now. He flipped up to the next branch and then slowly kept going up. The branches started to sway under his weight when he got too high. He would have to jump from here.
Gritting his teeth, Richard looked up to the window he wanted to jump to. He was panting a little, but still smiling from this free feeling in him. He sprung off the branch and grabbed onto the windowsill. With a small grunt, he pulled himself up and found himself in Bruce's study.
Get out of here, Dick! Richard thought to himself. Do you want to get killed? I'll be so dead if he finds me in here! He quickly made his way to the door and snuck into the hall as quiet as a mouse. He tip-toed down the steps to the second floor then went to his room. He opened the door and shut it behind him with a sigh of relief.
A second after his mind rejoiced for his small victory, there was a loud knock on his door. Richard winced at the sound and then opened the door a little. He looked up with dread to see his father standing there. His hard blue eyes bore down on his son, who stood there with a nervous look on his face.
"Would you like to explain why your backpack was laying on the ground outside your room, Richard?" Bruce asked him while holding up the muddy and grass stained backpack. He watched as Dick deflated in defeat when he spotted the pack in his father's hands.
"How did you know it was there?" he asked while looking back up at Bruce.
"Next time don't forget that your father comes home at the same time you do and can see you from the end of the driveway," Bruce said sternly.
Idiot! Richard yelled at himself in his head. He gave a sigh and nodded while running a hand through his jet black, spiky hair. He heard Bruce give a tiered sigh and thought, here it comes. Prepare for the worst!
"Three whole weeks of dusting and no patrol for tonight," Bruce said sternly. He almost smiled at the stunned and angered face his son gave him. Bruce knew he was being a bit extreme with this punishment, but Richard was getting older. That meant Bruce had to come down hard if he ever wanted to control him.
"You're being unfair!" Richard yelled up at his father. "All I did was come home late. At least let me go on patrol with you tonight!"
"Since when was life fair?" Bruce asked him. "Now tell me why you tried to sneak around behind my back."
"My teacher wanted to talk to me," Dick answered right away. "I had been daydreaming in my History class. It was no big deal, and you're just blowing this way out of proportion."
"You better not be slacking with your grades," Bruce said while pointing a finger in Richard's face. "If you are, then no patrol for a week or till your grades get better."
"It's not that!" Richard said loudly into his father's face. "My teacher is just out to get me. He's evil!"
Bruce frowned some more at his son. "You're sounding very immature right now, Richard," he said. "Now, I want you to stay in your room till I get you. Work on that homework of yours." An after thought hit him when he smelled his sweaty son, and he added before Dick could slam the door in his face, "And go take a shower. You smell."
"You're impossible!" Richard hissed back before storming off down the hall to the bathroom.
"Don't tell me that you're still made at me for the other day, Robin," Batman asked the teen sitting next to him in the Bat mobile. It was a day after Richard had been sentenced his dusting punishment, and he was still kind of sulking about it.
"It took me three whole hours to finish the house today!" Robin said while holding up three fingers to get his point across to Batman. "And it was only because I daydreamed for once in class."
Batman let himself express a hint of a smile at his son's actions. He was turning into a teenager all right! That rebellious spirit would be working full time very soon. He would have to keep showing him where his place was.
"What were you daydreaming about then?" Batman asked Robin with a small glance to the teen beside him. He was in a good mood because patrol was over for the night and they both had done a good job.
Robin opened his mouth to say something but then stopped. "It was nothing," he then muttered. He stared out the window as the buildings flew by at what seemed to be light speed. Even though his eyes were covered up by his mask, Batman knew that the teen was frustrated and was holding something inside. It was his job to get it out of him.
"No, tell me," Batman said. "Don't forget that I was once your age. I daydreamed too."
Robin gave a long sigh and prepared to tell Batman what had been on his mind for the past two days. "Okay, I'm serious about this," he said with a small smile. "I want to start my own team of superheroes and I will be leader."
There was a long silence in the car. Batman stared straight with his face a mystery. Robin watched the man for any signs that he had heard him. He bit his lower lip and waited for his father to say something, anything.
Batman then did something that Robin did not think that he would ever do. He laughed. Robin's eyes went wide with surprise at first. He then narrowed them in anger. He couldn't believe that his father was laughing at his idea.
"I'm sorry, Richard," Bruce said while controlling himself. "I just don't see you as a leader."
"No," Robin said. "I could do it! I'm tiered of being sidekick. I want to lead something of my own. I'm getting older now."
"You're still way too young for a team of your own, Robin," Batman said with his voice back to its serious and stern tone. "Where do you get these wild ideas?"
"This isn't a wild idea," Robin protested. "I even have a few of the members picked out. Some have awesome powers that could be put into good use. We need a new team of superheroes. Gotham City isn't the only city that has villains in it. At least consider it, Bruce! I'm begging you!"
Batman said nothing for a long time. Robin stared at him with his face pleading for this team of his. Bruce was thinking hard about this. He knew that Robin could never be leader at this age. It was most likely an idea he wanted explore and toy with. It was only his rebellious spirit coming out. He didn't like to take orders from the Batman and that was all. Well, he would teach Robin what it meant to be leader. He would have to learn it the hard way.
"Fine," Batman said with his voice emotionless.
"YES!" Robin shouted with joy.
"But!" Batman cut in sharply.
"Aw, man!" Robin moaned with his mood changing drastically in seconds. "Does there always have to be a twist in your plans? Why can't it just be yes or no? Would that kill you?"
"If you complete your training as leader then I'll let you pick your team and city," Batman said.
"Training?"
A/N: I think this first chapter was a bit boring, but you never know. But this gets good fast so please stick with me! But please tell me how you like it in a review. Did it suck out loud or did you like it? Just give a review! Thanks!