Author's Note: Happy 4th of July everyone! This is my first one-shot story so bear with me. :)

Also…. Sorry for updating so late in the day… I was spending time with my family. :)

Anyway, please let me know what you think! Reviews are SO appreciated! They just make my day when I see that someone reviewed in the morning. XD

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the story. Cheerio!

Disclaimer: If I owned Young Justice do you think I would be complaining about the time skip rather than FIXING IT? No?
I do believe I've made my point… ;D

On with the show!

F.Y.I Robin is I think about 9 or 10 in this Fan fiction. So he's been Robin for a little while but he's still pretty young.

Like A Firework

...

Morning's light began creeping upon the dark sky, shining down on the many people below already well into their day; after all, preparations for the monumental event known as the Fourth of July starts early in the city of Gotham.

Party stores were just about wiped clean, and even now, shopping districts are packed to the limit of last minute shoppers.

The noise of the boisterous city was lost upon a lone mansion on the outskirts of Gotham. Its mighty figure stood resolute and with the sunlight just about peeking from behind it, the gigantic buildings beauty was plain for all to see.

Deep inside the many halls however, there was quiet and silence. But far below, there was anything but.

Bats swarmed and seethed in either terror or shock as their home was once again disturbed.

A long black vehicle came to a sudden stop; its sleek body was only paralleled by its intimidating presence.

With a click, the two front doors swung open and a tall figure stepped out into the artificial lights. His head snapped to his left and his covered eyes turned to slits as he stared at the passenger side.

The next entrant was not as quick to leave the safety of the car; his movements were slow and forced, and eventually, a mess of ebony hair emerged and a young boy was bathed in the white light.

Bright fabric was stretched tight over his small form, defined muscles outlined the probably once yellow parts of the suit. Dirt and scratches marred the boy's form, the longest of which was a slash starting at his right collar bone and trailing down his chest, splitting the R symbol he adorned clean in half.

His eyes were locked on the floor while cowl covered eyes were furrowed into a deep frown.

The other figure was akin to the bats that soared above their heads. He also wore a cowl however; in many more ways were the two different than they were similar. Heavy muscles rippled through the thick black suit he wore and his face seemed to be forever etched into a permanent scowl.

Dark and intimidating as the night itself, this was the one who struck fear into the hearts of Gotham's lowlifes.

This was Batman.

And this morning's subject of The Batman's fury was none other than a certain protégé by the name of Robin.

As the infamous Bat-Glare continued to bore holes into the head of said protégé, words were spoken between the two in a language that only they understood.

"You could have been killed."

It might have been the disappointed tone to it but more likely that it was just the thing Robin did NOT want to hear.

He let out a frustrated growl while his hands flew to his hair gripping it angrily.

"But I wasn't! If you had just let me go in the beginning it wouldn't have happened at all!"

"I left you in the vehicle for a reason. You specifically disobeyed me." His words dropped in tone signaling his growing anger.

"For the umpteenth time! I can handle myself! You can't just expect me to wait for you to come back every time you leave me behind! You don't trust me!" Robin's arms gestured wildly in front of him, following the tone and emotion of his words.

"You don't give me reason too. You showed that tonight."

"Tonight? You NEVER did! I'm not a child! You can't-"

"YOU ARE A CHILD!"

Robin shrunk back, the yell and the words cutting deep.

Batman had risen to his full height, towering far over his young ward.

His hands froze for a moment before they fell limply to his sides; eyes wide with momentary shock frowned once again but this time it wasn't out of anger. Before he could stop it, Robin felt his lip quiver for a moment; quickly pursing his lips together he shot his gaze off to the side pretending to just be frustrated.

They both stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity; Batman's furious voice still seemed to be echoing around the empty cave.

Suddenly, a light ding rang from behind them when the personal elevator came to a stop.

When the doors slid opened they reviled an elderly butler. He seemed to exude calm and respectfulness out of every pore; only a single raised eyebrow at the sight before him changed his impassive expression.

Taking the atmosphere as an invitation to leave, he set down the trey he carried gracefully and attempted to slip away but was stopped mid step.

"Alfred."

His voice was collected and devoid of emotion, a plain mask that he slipped into often.

"Yes sir?"

"Take Robin to his room. He won't be going out on patrol with me for a while."

"Of course sir. Come Master Richard."

The old butler had picked up on a few things over the years, one of those being observation skills. He of course automatically knew that something had gone wrong otherwise Robin wouldn't be grounded. However, what worried him was that as he led his young charge away there was nary a objection in sight.

The rest of the walk was traveled in silence as they navigated their way through the vast hallways and stairs of Wayne Manor.

Their steps came to a halt; it was only then that the silence was broken.

Robin reached forward and opened his door slowly.

"Good night Alfred."

His small and dejected voice tore at the aging man's heart; a comforting smile grew on his face before replying.

"Good night Master Dick."

A nod of acknowledgement was all he got in reply as the boy closed his door with a small click. Staring at the oak before his face Alfred let out a deep sigh, he knew this was going to be a long day.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Robin leaned against it and slid slowly to the carpeted floor. Thoughts swirled around his head like an angry hive of bees; He stared off into space for a moment before firm fingers grasped at the edges of his mask peeling it off.

Gripping the small piece of fabric tightly in one hand he stood up and took a few short strides before collapsing on his bed. Spread eagle over the top of his sheets he stared hard at the ceiling as his thoughts went rampant in the quiet room.

"I am a child to think that he would trust me… I just get in his way."

A heavy sigh escaped his lips and he felt his eyes start to water.

"How can I ever show him I am capable if he won't let me?"

His eyes wandered around the dark room; soon he was facing the window. He stared at it for a moment before an idea struck him.

He sat up abruptly and slowly but surely, an excited grin spread over his face.

After Alfred left Dick's room, he made his way back down to the cave. As soon as he entered the sound of furious clicking filled his ears.

"Master Bruce?"

"Not now Alfred." Came his hasty reply.

Undeterred, the Bat butler continued.

"Master Bruce, might I inquire what happened on patrol last night?"

Sighing heavily Batman stopped typing and peeled the dark cowl off his head, becoming Bruce Wayne again. He pinched the bridge of his nose before he opened his mouth.

"At 8:56 PM last night I intercepted a call that a large gang war was going down in just a few hours over what I still don't know. When we got there I told Robin to stay in the car and wait for me. He did not." He ended with a change in tone from just relaying information to frustrated anger.

"The fight broke out, I got caught in the middle, and Robin had joined in as well. A guy had a knife to his throat Alfred. I managed to knock his feet out from under him but he still cut Robin."

"Ah, I see. That is why Master Dick is so upset. He wanted to help and ended up needing your help."

"He had no business getting out of the car!" Bruce stood up furiously, knocking his chair aside in the process.

As always, Alfred remained calm and composed and with many years of experience on his side he gave Bruce pause with his next words.

"Master Bruce, did it not become his business when he became Robin? Is this not what you have been training him for?"

He leaned on the consol in front of him for a moment, staring at the swirl of information in front of him thinking about all that had been said.

The old Butler smiled knowingly before he turned to leave.

"I'll go start on lunch, shall I?"

And once again, the Dark Knight was left alone with his thoughts.

Several hours passed of either Bruce doing hoards of research or some tedious experiment and before he knew it, it was well into the day. Sifting through yet more reports one about current events popped up. It was a video clip of an average TV reporter, her voice was calm but her face told of her excitement.

"This is Jenifer Riker reporting to you live from Gotham square. Here we have the finishing touches being made to the fireworks that are sure to be the most beautiful yet! Preparations have been going on all day; everyone is sure going all out this 4th of July! Over here we have-"

Bruce exited out of the newsfeed and leaned back in his chair for a second. He had honestly forgotten all about it. He allowed himself to drift back to when he watched fireworks with his parents.

"I wonder I Dick will even want to watch the fireworks with me…"

For the last few years since Richard Grayson became Bruce Wayne's ward they had never seen the fireworks together. There had always been something; and every time Dick would say it was fine but Bruce was now wondering if it really was.

He looked back at the picture of Gotham Square frozen on the screen before letting out a defeated sigh.

"I guess I have no choice then. After all, 'they are going to be the most beautiful yet.'"

Then, a rare thing happened indeed. Bruce Wayne smiled. Not a fake smile, but a true smile.

…

When he finally reached Dick's room he knocked ever so lightly before speaking.

"Dick? I want to talk to you."

Silence…

"I shouldn't have said that earlier, it was unfair."

Once again he was met with only silence, this time however he couldn't help the rising panic he felt in his gut.

"Dick? Dick, answer me."

Now, he was worried, but refusing to give into his fear he tried again.

"Richard? Open this door! NOW!"

Panic overwhelmed him and with on swift kick, he smashed the door in.

"DICK!"

Everything seemed to be in perfect order, except two things:

One: Dick was gone.

Two: The window was slightly ajar.

This meant one thing.

Footsteps behind him signaled the butler's appearance, so a shocked voice was not a surprise.

"Master Bruce! What's going- Oh dear."

Bruce's grasped his forehead, facing the ground he shook it back and forth sadly.

Dick had snuck out.

It was weird to be swinging from rooftops while there was still light out Robin decided; He had been hunting down the thugs from earlier with little success, and it was growing darker by the minute which meant the chances of not being caught by Bruce were getting slimmer.

Landing softly on yet another rooftop Robin took the opportunity to observe and crouched down close to the edge. He had only been there for a few minutes when he heard exactly what he'd been wanting to hear.

A small skittish looking man slinked down the alley towards a burly man with a cap and cloak to mask his features.

"I-I-I got w-what you want-t-ted."

The big man looked down his nose at the stuttering coward.

"You sure you weren't followed?" He asked in a deep voice.

"O-oh y-yes, I'm-m-m sure."

"Humph, you don't sound like it. Anyway, give me the package. Hurry up! I don't have all night!"

"Yes-s S-i-ir"

Even after struggling with it for a little while, he finally handed over the item. It was a medium size box and by the way the larger man slightly strained to lift it, the thing was definitely heavy.

Believing he'd found his link, Robin followed the man in the shadows as he ran like the devil was at his heels.

"If that's not suspicious I don't know what is." He chuckled to himself. Villains these days really couldn't hide very well.

About 20 minutes later Robin found himself overlooking an abandoned warehouse.

"Really? A warehouse? Geez, and they wonder why they keep getting caught."

He jumped down and landed silently behind some crates.

The man he had been following burst strait through the open door -correction- missing door and right on inside.

"This'll be easier that I thought I guess."

Robin snuck forward, moving from crate to crate until he was pressed up against the wall to the left of the opening.

He warily peeked around the corner and had to keep from gasping out loud.

The place was packed to the gills with thugs. He was thinking that he would find a few that had escaped from the fight earlier, not all of them!

Seeing a pile of barrels just inside the room, he slid in undetected and now began spying from his new hiding spot.

The large man placed the "package" in the center of the room along with a few other boxes.

There were words of congratulations and a few well done's, but sadly he didn't find out any more because right at that moment he was hefted into the air.

"Look'ie wah I fund!

Robin on instint twisted his body in order to try and kick the thug that grabbed him but it didn't do much good. The hit made contact with his shoulder but he barely flinched.

"Oooh, ooh! I gots me a fighter! Can I kill 'em? Plez oooh plez Shark!"

Shark as he was called stood up, he had scars running from his ears down his neck in stripes on both sides and had a very intimidating presence.

He stared for a long moment at the immobile child in his brute's arms before a viscously sadistic smile split his face.

"Sure. Have fun."

Robin was petrified. He couldn't move, (after the last kick, the brute put him in a headlock and caught his legs) and this guy wanted to kill him.

During the time it took to get over being scared he had already lost too much and the beast was thundering towards the water edge.

The rest of the thugs had come out as well, jeering and rooting in delight of their new entertainment.

A large meaty hand wrapped around his torso, completely enveloping Robin's smallish form. He only had a second to think before an awful voice filled his ears.

"Hold your breath."

And he was shoved into the water.

Robin's head was spinning, his legs and arms clawed out desperately for something to grab in vain. A weight was keeping him down, it was pressing hard on his back and he couldn't escape from it.

His eyes started to go dark, the murky water around him started to slip away. His lungs burned for air and just when he thought he could take no more he was yanked roughly out by the arm.

The voices sounded far away, the jeering muted somehow; as his head broke the surface he gasped and sputtered for air, far too weak to fight the one who held him.

Then, he heard a voice right next to his ear making his skin crawl.

"Tha' waz fun… I go'na likez watch'in you die."

He wanted beg, he wanted to plead, just shoot him instead! But he never got the chance, as he was slammed into the dark waters once again.

His whole body ached; his lungs and head were on fire, he was so afraid. As the seconds dragged on however, he wasn't even afraid anymore… He was just tired, so very tired. At the back of Robin's mind though he did realized that the weight was gone.

As he floated around so he was facing the surface he could make out shapes and colors running around. He heard shouting and yelling, distorted and garbled by the water they made no sense.

Robin's sight started to go dark again and he barely registered the fact that he was sinking. Just above him, a dark figure appeared; his eyes closed and one last thought raced through his mind before he fell into oblivion.

"Ba-Batman."

Robin woke up to cold. Wet and cold. He shivered involuntarily. He felt something warm around him and snuggled deeper into it, but then like a switch his brain turned on.

He wasn't alone.

His eyes snapped open and when he looked up he saw the caped crusader staring back.

"Wait, why is Bruce here? Where am I? What happ-"

…

"Oh no."

He looked up into his mentor's eyes with the classic guilty puppy dog look.

"Batman, I-uh-"

"Don't say anything."

It was now that Robin wished that he were a turtle OR that this whatever he was sitting on would oblige and swallow him whole. It was only then that he took notice of his surroundings and found much to his surprise that they were on a rooftop.

"Robin." Again he tried to shrink back into himself.

"Yes?" Came his hesitant reply.

"I'm glad you're alright."

Dick's eyes went wide.

"Wait…You're not mad?"

"I'm furious! But that doesn't change that I'm glad you're…That you're…Alive."

His voice lowered to such a sad tone that the young hero was caught by surprise.

"I'm so sorry I snuck out… I… I just wanted to prove to you that I was strong too. I guess I failed at that huh?"

"You didn't. Robin, I'm glad to have you as my partner."

The boys face lit up like any kid on Christmas morning; almost as though it was timed solely for them, there was a high pitched whine before an explosion of color rained upon the sky.

The next few minutes were spent in silence, (Excluding Dick's 'oohh's and ahhhh's) when Bruce wrapped his arm tighter around the little bird beside him.

"He was right."

Robin looked up at his mentor quizzically.

"Who was right?"

"My Father. He once told me that nothing could match fireworks with your family, I now know what he meant."

He stared at the small boy with a smile on his face before continuing.

"There really is nothing better than watching fireworks with your son."

This time, he didn't even try to hold the tears back; Dick leapt up onto his father and started bawling his eyes out.

Within a few minutes he had calmed down and they continued to watch the fantastic works of art in the air above them.

If at that moment, some random person were to look up to that roof they would have been aghast, for what they would have seen was Batman holding Robin close and for the first time in years grinning happily.

OK, I just finished writing this at an evil hour of the morning so if you see mistakes, that would be why. So, it turned out being posted in the wee hours of the next morning but hey, I tried. T^T

Also, I probably won't have time to update my other stories for a few days so please bear with me. I promise there won't be another wait like last time… That was ridiculous. =.=

Anyways! I hope you enjoyed and please review!

Good day to you all!

~Automail-gHost