A/N: Couple of things I forgot to mention:
Firstly:italics are Robin's memories of his past and will probably (Read: will) be out of order. For example: in this memory Robin rcalls the first time he met Ana, but that is well before he left Batman's side. Anyway, I'll try to make it less confusing.
Secondly: Couples. Although there's hints of Ana/Robin-ness, it'll eventually be Star/Rob, not Ana/Rob. I'll probably throw in some Rae/B.B. and Cy/Bee too.
Thirdly: Crap, there was something else I wanted to mention, but I forgot it when I was wondering how this chapter got to be so damn long... oh yeah!Don't shoot me for these next couple of chapters. I have them all dress like normal people. -gasp- So if it seems OOC, don't shoot me.
And I've talked enough for now. Secrets of the Redbird
Chapter Three: Skeletons in the Closet
By day, Richard "Dick" Grayson appeared to be a normal twelve-year-old boy, who was extremely gifted at acrobatics. He was the youngest member of the "Flying Grayson's", a family of acrobatics that were part of the Gotham City Circus. But after a terribly unfortunate accident, Dick was now the only Grayson left out of a family of four. By night, the very same Dick Grayson was Batman's squire, Robin.
It had been a few months after everything had happened: his family's death, being sort of adopted by Bruce Wayne, finding out the Bruce was really Batman and forcing Bruce to let him become Robin. Dick had somehow managed to convince Bruce to let him go patrolling Gotham City on his own; it helped the Bruce had somewhere else to be that night. So, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, high above the city streets, Robin watched the dark and shadowy alleyways, and the abandoned lots and buildings.
After what felt like ages, he finally managed to find some trouble when he heard the alarms to a local jewelry store go off. He used one of his handy gadgets to get down from the ten-story building he had been walking on and ran after the thief. Unfortunately, he was much too fast for him, so he pulled out a metallic bird that Bruce called a "bird-a-rang". It was basically a bird shaped boomerang. Shrugging to himself, Dick threw it. The bird-a-rang made a long U turn and came back to him. Not expecting this, Dick almost didn't catch it. Almost. He decided to try it again. The second time, it went low, but it tripped the thief. Grinning to himself, Robin sped himself up and leaped onto the thief as he was getting up.
"Hey! Get off me, you little brat," The thief yelled, shoving Dick away from him. Dick stumble a couple of steps and then whirled around and made an attempt to punch the bad guy. He easily blocked it, and delivered his own punch, which didn't quite miss the pre-teen. As Dick was trying to compose himself, the thief took his chance and kicked Dick in the stomach, sending the kid to the ground. As the thief pulled out a knife that had been stashed away in the inside of his boot, Dick began to wonder why he ever wanted to get into this type of business. It was hard!
"Hiii-yah!" A female voice called out. Dick looked rapidly around the dark vicinity to find the source of the voice. He found it when a girl ran at the thief and managed to knock him over. Before Dick knew what had happened, the thief was screaming in pain and the girl was offering him a hand up.
"Hi, I'm Ana," she said, smiling. Dick returned it.
"Robin," he replied, slowly, making sure he didn't accidentally spit out his real name. Bruce's number one rule was keeping your true identity a secret. He had gone on for over an hour about how your identity was sacred and how much trouble you and anyone you were connected with would be in if any criminal discovered it. Dick wasn't keeping his real name a secret for fear of getting in danger; he was doing it so he wouldn't have to sit through another one of Bruce's lectures.
Dick looked down at the thief, who was currently rolling on the ground seemingly in pain, then looked back up at Ana. "Uh, exactly what did you do?"
Ana shrugged. "Kicked him in the nuts," she replied, and smirked.
Together, the two preteens waited for the authorities to show up and take the thief away to the local jailhouse. When the G.P.D. showed up, Robin gave a brief explanation of what happened, just like Bruce had told him to, and handed the black sack of stolen goods to the cop in charge. They thanked him, packed the criminal into the back of one of the cars, and took off. Afterwards, Robin turned back to thank Ana for her assistance, but much to his displeasure, she had already left.
But it would not be the last time he'd see her.
-☺-☺-☺-
"Oof - damn it."
Robin sat up and groaned; it was never fun to wake up because you fell out of bed. Though, he could hardly remember the last time it had happened - if he did so at all. And it happened during yet another dream that was related to his past. He was beginning to see a pattern here.
He got up, and was about to flop back down on his black and red colored bed, when he got strong feeling that something was wrong. Releasing a large yawn, he grabbed his mask and made his way into the living room. Sure enough, as he opened the door he heard the frustrated voice of the girl in his dreams: Anabelle. She was sitting at the computer.
"This is Nightingale to Robin, come in. Repeat, Nightingale to Robin, come in," She paused, to release a frustrated yell. "God damn it, Tim, just answer me."
Robin frowned.
"Something wrong?" he asked, holding back another yawn that was fighting to come out.
"No," Anabelle replied, forcefully.
"Are you sure? Usually people, well, teens, aren't up at -" He looked at the digital clock on the kitchen wall, "-seven A.M. for no reason other than something being wrong." Anabelle didn't reply, just started tapping her manicured fingers on the computer desk, irritably. After a few minutes she spoke, but not to Robin.
"Nightingale to BatGirl, come in. Repeat, Nightingale to BatGirl, come in. God damnit!" Anabelle turned to Robin, looking thoroughly annoyed. "Did Babs ever do this to you?" She asked hotly. Robin shook his head.
"Just how involved with Batman are you?" He asked. Anabelle held up a communicator that was shaped like a bat.
"Involved enough." She shook her head. "It went off about a half hour ago just as I was coming back from getting my motorbike that I left ten blocks away from where you found me. I've been trying ever since to get through to someone. No such luck," she sighed. "...At least it wasn't a distress signal."
"Want to go check it out? I don't like that no one's answering," Robin said, coming over to her and leaning over her shoulder to look at the computer screen. Anabelle fell silent, thinking about it.
"I suppose it couldn't hurt," she said finally, and Robin went back to his room to get fully dressed, Anabelle doing the same.
A half hour later, Anabelle and Robin were on their motorbikes, jetting down the practically empty expressway that would take them to the heart of Gotham City. Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire had piled into the T.Car and were following close behind. They were the ones that were excited about this trip, even Raven. Cyborg and Beast Boy were hoping to get a look at the bat cave, while the girls were hoping to discover something about the boy wonders past. Anabelle and Robin, however, weren't so thrilled about the trip.
"...You didn't ask if I was on Batman's team, you just asked if I had been talking to him," Anabelle said, over the loud roar of the bikes engine.
"You should've told me," Robin replied, equally as loud.
"Grow up, Bird Boy. The world doesn't revolve around you." Anabelle dared to bring her bike closer to Robin's so they wouldn't have to yell so loud. "Nice bike, by the way," she teased. In comparison, her bike was far nicer. Hers was colored in black, silver, and navy blue.
"Yeah, yours is so much better," Robin shot back. Anabelle laughed.
"That's better!"
The conversation inside the T.Car was less realistic, due to the fact that Beast Boy had launched into his theory about how robotic mind eating zombies could be living in the depths of the batcave - or worse, giants mind reading squids! Dun dun duuuuun... dramatic music.
"Beast Boy, you are one sad, strange little boy," Cyborg said, when Beast Boy paused to take a breath. Raven gave a small chuckle.
"Dude! I am not a little boy."
"So, you're admitting you're both sad and strange?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow. Beast Boy looked back and forth between the Goth girl and half-robot. He crossed his arms and slouched down as far as his seatbelt would permit, mumbling something about "big idiots". Cyborg laughed.
"Aw, look Rae, you hurt his feelings," He said, teasingly. Starfire was the only one who didn't quite understand that Raven and Cyborg were only playing around with their green skinned friend.
"Do not be upset, friend, I do not think you a sad or strange little boy," Starfire said, with a smile. Beast Boy looked at her and beamed.
"Want to hear a joke?" He asked, and received three very loud "No's". His frown returned and he spent the rest of the car ride sulking. Luckily for him, the ride lasted only ten more minutes. Soon both Anabelle and Robin pulled off the main highway and took a series of side streets that eventually led the team to the very large mansion that belong to the billionaire, Bruce Wayne, alias Batman. After the long drive up the recently re-paved driveway, the two leaders dismounted off their bikes and walked up to the large double oak doors.
"Whoa," Beast Boy said with a whistle, as he gazed at the mansion. Cyborg rolled his eyes, and sighed as he got out from behind the wheel and slammed the door shut. He walked over to Beast Boy.
"Beast Boy, it's just a - wow." He broke off mid-sentence when he got a good look at just how large the Wayne Manor really was.
"Never in my life have I seen such a magnificent building such as this!" Starfire exclaimed gleefully. Raven brought up the rear, and expressed her feelings in a single monotone word.
"Nice."
"It's okay," Anabelle and Robin said in unison. They looked at each other, and Anabelle laughed. It had been so long since they ad done that. Robin cleared his throat awkwardly, and turned to Cyborg.
"Knock the door down," he said. Cyborg nodded and walked up to the door, cracking his mechanical knuckles.
"If you say so, Cap'n," He replied, and kicked the door clear off it's hinges. It landed a foot away with a loud, mind-numbing slam, which made the Titans wince.
"Hello?" Anabelle called, walking into the main entrance hall. Of course, like any mansion that belonged to a billionaire, it was very fancy with a white marble staircase that had silver veins, a shiny marble floor, expensive paintings hung on the cream colored walls, and nearly a dozen doors that led to different parts of the mansion. "Hello?" Anabelle called out again, and Robin echoed her. One of the nearby doors opened and everyone went into battle stance.
"I assure you that there isn't any danger here, Miss Woodsen," a gentle voice said. Anabelle and Robin dropped their stances, and physically relaxed. It was only Alfred, dressed in his butler outfit: a black suit. Anabelle grinned, but it faded quickly.
"Hey Al," she said. Alfred smiled at her.
"Good morning, Miss Woodsen. I'm surprised to see you back so soon. How is Mister Harper doing?" Alfred asked, looking concerned. Anabelle shrugged, and gave a sad sigh.
"He's in China right now supposedly getting help for his addiction. The last time I spoke to him, which was a week ago, I think, he told me he was practicing some Chinese martial art called Moo-Gi-Gon. I really hope that's not Chinese for lots-of-heroin." Anabelle replied. Behind her, the titans looked at each other in confusion.
"Wait, who's Harper and why does this sound familiar?" Cyborg asked.
"It sounds familiar because you know Speedy's in China practicing martial arts. But what you don't know is that he's also there to try to kick his nasty addiction to heroin." Anabelle explained.
"Why did we not know about this? How did it happen?" Robin asked.
"He and Oliver Queen, better known as the Green Arrow, had a falling out a few months back. Instead of coming to one of his friends, he, like every other idiot, turned to drugs. No one knew about this because we all thought he was going out on dates with his "girlfriend". I just happened to stumble into him while he was on one of these "dates". Let me tell you, it wasn't pretty."
No one said anything right away. The news about their friend's drug addiction had taken them beyond surprise to the point where they were speechless. Who would have thought that the boy who Beast Boy jokingly called Robin's clone was capable of doing something like that? Robin sure as hell wouldn't have... would he? No body wants to believe that their friends can become addicts to anything harmful, but to truly believe it's not possible would be to live in a world full of lies and deception.
"Yes, it is very sad. I do hope he gets better and comes back to Steel City soon. But on a lighter note, it is very wonderful to see you again, Master Dick," Alfred said, breaking the sudden silence. All eyes fell on Robin as the butler continued. "Is it most unfortunate that Bruce isn't here to see you. He left on a business trip just last night." At this piece of information, Anabelle quirked an eyebrow.
"Are Tim and Cassie here?" She asked.
"Why, yes. Would you like me to fetch them for you?"
Anabelle opened her mouth to say yes, but thought better of it. "Actually, could you just make sure they don't leave? I'd like to have a little chat with them after I get out of the shower I'm going to take in about five minutes."
"Of course, Ana," Alfred replied. He gave a small bow, and was about to turn and leave when he stopped. "I believe there are fresh towels in your bathroom, if not all of the bathrooms." Anabelle smiled.
"Thanks, Al, you kick ass."
Alfred disappeared through one of the doors with a laugh.
"How many bathrooms does this place have?" Beast Boy asked.
"Um... the ones in Bruce's, Al's, Cassie's, Tim's, and my bedrooms, then there's like five on the first floor... a lot," Anabelle said with a laugh, turned to Robin, her laughter dying slightly.
"You should probably change. I dunno how Tim's gonna take to someone else bearing his alter ego, even if it was yours first." She started to walk up the staircase. "Hey, maybe the others should change too. Just to see how it feels to have alter egos. For fun, ya know?" Without waiting for an answer, Anabelle jogged up the rest of the stairs and vanished around the corner.
-☺-☺-☺-
The Wayne Manor was something entirely different when there were teenagers around. "The Moonlight Sonata" could be heard playing softly through out the first floor of the mansion, but as you went up to the second floor the beautiful harmony was drowned out by almost metal rock, loud enough to make the walls shake.
As Robin got dressed into his street clothes that Alfred had provided, he could hear Anabelle playing Nightwish's "I Wish I had an Angel" as clear as if he was standing in her bedroom. Of course, her room was down the hall from his, but it was still playing very loudly.
He looked over himself in his ceiling to floor mirror. He had chosen to wear the outfit he usually worse when he went out on his motorcycle: black leather pants and jacket, black boots with out the steel tip, and a red t-shirt. Of course his mask was still on. He had gotten used to keeping it on all the time. It was getting to the point where he felt weird without it.
"I wasn't aware that Dick Grayson wore a mask," Anabelle said. Robin turned around in alarm to see Anabelle leaning in his doorframe with her arms crossed and smirk planted on her face. He couldn't help but look her over. Her hair was pushed back by a black headband, a pair of black sunglasses with a white frame sat on top of her head as well, she had black eyeliner surrounding her blue-green eyes, ruby red lips were the same as usual, as was the amount of jewelry she wore, a lavender colored t-shirt hugged her upper body and showed off her midriff, dark blue flare jeans hugged her fit legs and covered the tops of her boots with a three inch heel. She laughed. "Like what you see?" Robin snapped out of his trance, and shrugged.
"It's okay," he replied, resisting a smirk. He knew his comment would bother her. And he was right.
"Okay? Gee, Grayson, you look okay also. No really, is that what you plan on wearing?" She walked over to his closet and fished through it, ever now and then pulling something off a hanger and tossing it on the bed. Robin looked at the clothes on the bed with slight interest. It was a long sleeved black shirt, a short-sleeved button up red shirt, and black jeans. "Put the red shirt on over the black shirt, leave it unbuttoned, put the jeans on... and you can keep the boots. Call me when you're done."
Robin did as he was told and when Anabelle came back she ripped his mask off, revealing his crystal blue eyes. He blinked and looked around to see if anyone else was there. Anabelle rolled her eyes.
"Please, you have nice eyes. I dunno why you hide them," Anabelle said.
"Gee, thanks, mom," Robin replied.
"Hold still, Mister smart-ass." Before he could question her, she was shoving sunglasses on him.
"Well isn't this a cute sight."
Anabelle froze, and Robin looked over her shoulder at the person who just spoke. He never met him, but he had an idea as to who it was: Tim, the other Robin. The look in Anabelle's eyes told him something else: it wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation between them.
A/N: Remember: it's not Robin/OC, it's gonna be Rob/Star. Oh, and I know Robin seems a little OOC, but remember. Ana knows him, and honesty, would you even try to act different around someone you've know for years?
In other news: is anyone else pissed off that Cartoon Network pushed off next weekends ep. for some stupid Batman movie? I love Batman and everything, but I love TT more. I just found out about that ten minutes ago. So annoying.
Also, don't forget toreview!