Disclaimer – Don't own YJ...etc, etc

Personal

By Red Blaze 16

Batman wasn't happy. Of course, that wasn't a new feeling. He wanted to be in Gotham. Batman knew that Robin was patrolling Gotham and he also knew that all the major criminals were either in Arkham or Belle Reve. Robin should have a quiet night and, if it wasn't, the boy was more than capable of handling any petty criminals that might be out on the streets tonight. The 15 year old hero had grown more confident in the last year or two. Some of that was due to working with Young Justice. Batman was proud of the young man his partner was turning into. Gotham's defender just resented having to attend the Justice League meeting, when a conference call could have handled the meeting.

It was the monthly check in meeting that the team held. Superman was leading the meeting, checking in with each team member in regards to their city: how was the crime level? Were there any puzzles or difficult areas that that hero could use another set of eyes on – Batman never requested another set of eyes in his city. He had already placed his report and now he waited for the rest of the team to report.

"Flash, anything to report for Central City?" asked the Man of Steel.

"Nothing unusual," replied the team's speedster. "Actually, Central City is quiet."

Superman nodded his head and moved on. "Green Lantern?"

But just as the name passed his lips, an alarm went off in the meeting room. Quickly, Batman keyed into the system, at the keyboard located in front of him, to find out what caused the alarm. But before he could investigate, a image suddenly appeared in the center of the table. The image was a close up of a man dressed mostly in black, with an orange and black mask. The focus was mostly on the man's shoulders and head, but the team had faced this particular killer before.

"Deathstroke!" said Superman, as he stood up from his chair at the head of the table.

"Greetings, Justice League," replied the assassin, as he scanned the table.

"What do you want, Slade?" demanded Batman, as he stopped trying to figure out the cause of the alarm.

Deathstroke stopped scanning the room as his gaze settled on Batman. "Always personal, Batman," he murmured.

Batman ignored the comment, more concerned on why the killer hacked their system to contact the Justice League.

"What do I want?" asked Deathstroke, still staring at the Dark Knight. "You don't have time for me to list everything I want, Batman."

"Then why did you contact us?" demanded Superman.

Though Superman didn't react to Deathstroke's comment toward Batman, it didn't escape the Dark Knight's attention. I don't have time? thought Batman. What have you done, Slade? Or going to do?

Deathstroke looked away from Batman and turned his gaze to the Man of Steel. Of course, the team only assumed he returned his gaze to Superman. With the mask on, the Justice League couldn't see Deathstroke's eye.

"I have...a message," replied the killer.

"I doubt you have anything to say that we'd be interested in," replied Green Lantern.

"Perhaps you won't be interested," said Deathstroke, glancing toward the green clad hero before he returned his gaze to Batman. "But the Dark Knight will be interested."

The image of the assassin readjusted. Instead of showing the killer for hire, the image showed a city. While most cities look the same, there was something about this particular city that anyone would recognize, especially when the city belongs to a member of the Justice League.

"Why are you in my city, Slade?" growled Batman, who easily recognized Gotham's dark streets and buildings.

"You're always so personal, Batman. 'Slade'. Never Deathstroke. So, I thought I would return the favor."

Again, the image changed. Instead of a view of Gotham's cityscape, the image focused on a rooftop. A figure stood on the edge of the roof, staring down into the streets below. Batman couldn't see the face, but he knew who that person was, even without the occasionally red and yellow when the cape the figure wore flapped in the wind.

"You stay away from him," demanded Batman, as he easily recognized his partner.

"Too late, Batman," replied Deathstroke. And though Batman couldn't see the man's face, he knew the killer was smiling.

The image cut out and Batman immediately rushed toward the zeta tubes. A few Justice League members also move toward the tube, prepared to argue with the Dark Knight about them going to Gotham with him.

"I know you don't like other heroes in your city," said Superman. "But..."

"Follow, but don't get in my way," replied Batman, before he stepped into the zeta tube.

…...

It took a few minutes for Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Women to step out of the zeta tube, located in a phone booth, and into a dark alley in Gotham. Without a word, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern took to the air, while Flash sped off to check back alleys. Batman sent out a grappling hook, to run the rooftops. He recognized the roof that Robin was shown standing on. He only hoped that Robin was around that area. The faster the team could find Robin, the happier Batman would be.

The team was only in Gotham a few minutes before a page went through the communication system. Superman had found Robin. A minute after the message went out, the team gathered on the rooftop that was shown in the image earlier.

As Batman landed on the rooftop and looked toward the unconscious form of his partner, he realized what Deathstroke meant by "too late". The boy was leaning against the edge of the roof. His cape was gone. His bo staff was gone. Bruises were already forming on his face and Batman could see blood seeping from an injured shoulder. But what worried the Dark Knight was his partner's lack of consciousness.

"He's alive, Batman," said Superman, who could hear the boy's heartbeat.

Batman stepped toward the boy. In the last year, Robin had grown, but he was still a slender young man. While it wasn't as easy to pick up the boy as it had been a couple years ago, Batman could still hold his partner in his arms. Holding the youth tight against his chest, Batman could see a bump on the back of the boy's head, which was probably the reason why Robin was unconscious.

"He needs medical attention," stated Wonder Woman.

Batman nodded his head. Though he didn't want to ask for help, the Dark Knight glanced toward Green Lantern. "I need to get to the zeta tube quickly."

"Are you taking him to Mount Justice?"asked Wonder Woman.

"No,"replied Batman, as he stepped onto the green platform provided to him by Green Lantern. "Watchtower".

As he held the boy, it felt like forever before Batman arrived back in the alley. It was a tight squeeze, to fit both himself and Robin into the phone booth, but the Dark Knight refused to let his partner go. A moment later, Batman and Robin arrived at Watchtower.

Recognize Batman 02

Recognize Robin B01

The robotic voice continued to call out the Justice League, as Batman rushed from the room toward the medical area. A room was already prepared, by Black Canary, and quickly Batman set Robin down on the table. Since most of the League members knew who Robin was, Batman wasted no time removing the boy's mask, while Black Canary removed the red tunic.

The boy's pale chest already showed signs of bruising, but it was the puncture wound in Robin's right shoulder that worried him. The wound was still bleeding and Black Canary put a compress on the injury.

"Batman, there is some tearing around the wound's edge," stated the blonde hero.

Batman didn't reply to Black Canary. In a matter of minutes, Batman and Black Canary had Robin stabilized. With an IV in Robin's arm, and the wound stitched closed, Batman has nothing to do but wait till Robin opened his eyes.

…...

Slowly, a pair of blue eyes opened and looked around the room. His shoulder hurt. His head hurt. But he was glad to be alive. And, with a quick glance around the room, Dick knew he was safe. Though he had only been in the medical area of Watchtower once before, he recognized the room. After his team had saved the Justice League from Vandal Savage, the older team had insisted on the younger heroes being checked out medically. Maybe it was because most of the League was made up of the mentors of Young Justice and were concerned about their sidekicks or maybe it had to do with the League knowing that, while under the Light's control, they had tried to kill the younger heroes. Robin always guessed it was a little of both.

With his shoulder throbbing, Dick tried to move as little as possible. The teenager glanced around, before he settled his eyes onto the man sitting next to him. In a chair pulled up on the left side of the bed, Dick had a moment to examine his partner. While Bruce was in most of the Batman suit, the mask was pushed back and laying against the back of Batman's neck. Eyes closed, Batman appeared to be sleeping, but Dick knew better.

"Bruce?"

Slowly, Bruce's eyes opened and brown eyes met blue. In a rare display of affection, the older man placed his hand on Dick's left wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"How do you feel, Dick?" asked Bruce.

"Not feeling the 'aster," replied the teenager.

"Tell me what happened," demanded the older man.

…...

Earlier in the night

Robin glanced down. The alley seemed empty. Though he had only been on the streets for an hour, he had already stopped two attempted muggings, one attempted rape, and one attempted grand theft auto. All things considered, it made for a quiet night, which was great. It was Friday night and Robin knew the rest of the team was gathered at Mount Justice. Robin wanted to be there also, but he had told Batman he would do patrols until the Dark Knight was done with the Justice League meeting.

The night would have been perfect, except Robin felt like he was being watched. The young hero didn't consider himself the paranoid type, but he felt like someone had been watching him ever since he stopped the first mugging. Sometimes, Robin would look around, but when he didn't see anything, the teenager would wonder if his mind was playing tricks on him.

Maybe not enough sleep, thought Robin, as he glanced around once more. With a sigh, the boy grabbed him grappling hook, ready to check on the next alley.

"Hello, Robin."

Robin spun around. Standing half way across the rooftop was a man dressed mostly in black. Though slim, the man was taller and more muscular than Robin. Robin didn't recognize the man, but based on the orange and black mask covering the man's face to the sword sheath sticking up over his left shoulder, Robin could guess that the man wasn't a friend.

"You know my name, but I don't know yours," replied the teenage hero, as he removed his hand from the grappling hook, leaving it on his belt.

"Deathstroke."

"I've heard of you," replied Robin, drawing out his bo staff. While the Boy Wonder hadn't recognized the man, he did recognize the name. Robin had overheard Batman mention that name before when the Dark Knight was speaking with other Justice League members. While the teenager didn't know everything about the man in front of him, he did know one thing. The man was a killer. "Why are you in Gotham?"

"To teach Batman a lesson," replied the other man, as he lunged toward Robin.

Robin dodged out of the way and moved away from the edge of the roof. Robin did best when he had room to move and fighting Deathstroke near the edge of the roof didn't seem like a good idea. The older man immediately turned toward Robin, as he tried to punch the boy. But, again, Robin found himself moving fast enough and the hit missed. Knowing that dodging the killer wasn't enough, Robin moved in, as he kicked out toward the older man's left knee. Evading the boy's attempt, Deathstroke slid passed the boy and grabbed the cape the boy was wearing. Jerking it hard, Robin found himself pulled backwards. The young hero, off balance, hit the ground hard.

"You are better than I thought you would be," said the older man.

"I'm full of surprises," replied the boy. On his knees, Robin spun his bo staff toward the older man.

Not expecting the attack, while the boy was still on the ground, the bo staff clipped Deathstroke's right shoulder. Robin flipped back onto his feet, just as Deathstroke lunged toward him again. This time, Robin knew the older man was toying with him. The attacks were coming faster and Robin was able to dodge less and less. A punch to his side, knocking some air from the hero, followed immediately by a sweep and Robin found himself back on the ground. As the teenager flipped to his feet again, Deathstroke grabbed the cape.

Prepared this time, Robin quickly released the cape's clasp, before the older man could use it to pull Robin off balance. Expecting more weight, but only getting cape, Deathstroke was thrown off balance. Robin moved in close. Quickly, he spun his bo staff around and struck Deathstroke in the face, just below his left eye.

With a growl, Deathstroke stepped in and grabbed the bo staff, jerking it from Robin's hands. While he jerked the staff away with his right hand, Deathstroke clenched his left hand into a fist and back handed Robin across the face. The blow landed hard and Robin, stunned from the force behind the attack, hit the ground. On his stomach, Robin attempted to push up and get back on his feet, but he suddenly felt the weight of the heavier man on his back. Slammed back down, Robin attempted to buck the older man off, but Deathstroke grabbed the boy's right wrist and cranked it behind Robin's back. For a moment, Robin wondered if the older man planned to break his arm and almost missed the sound of sliding metal.

Robin had only a moment to realize that Deathstroke had drawn his sword before his right shoulder flared with agony. The sword, driven through Robin's right shoulder, bit into the rooftop, pinning the young hero. Not able to hold back, Robin cried out. With the boy pinned, Deathstroke got off Robin and stood over the boy.

"This is a lesson," growled Deathstroke, as he knelt next to Robin and placed his left hand gently on the hilt of the sword. Slowly, Deathstroke pushed the handle away. With the sword still in Robin, the boy groaned, his shoulder on fire with pain.

"Batman made it personal by insisting on calling me Slade," continued the older man, as he pulled the handle toward himself. Though he didn't normally enjoy torture, Deathstroke did enjoy hearing the young hero attempt to not give in and scream out his pain.

"I gave him time," as he pushed the handle away again, "to show me the respect I deserve. By calling me Deathstroke. But the Dark Knight refused." This time, Deathstroke jerked the handle back toward him with a twist, dislodging the blade tip from the roof. Robin gasped as tears formed in the corners of his eyes. "Since he insists on being personal with me, I made it personal for him."

Without further comment, Deathstroke stood and jerked the blade from the boy's shoulder. He drew back his leg and kicked Robin in the side. The boy slide across the roof and slammed into the roof ledge. His head connected with the stone lip with a loud crack. The last image the young hero saw, before his eyes went dark, was Deathstroke moving toward him.

…...

Back in the Watchtower medical area...

Dick finished telling Bruce what happened, ending with him losing consciousness. For a moment, the older man said nothing, but his thoughts raced, focused on the killer for hire.

"I'm sorry, Bruce," came the young voice.

Quickly, Bruce turned away from his thoughts and looked at his adopted son. "Why are you apologizing?"

With his left hand, he waved toward his injured shoulder. "I failed."

"You didn't fail, Dick. I did," replied Bruce, as he placed his right hand on the boy's left shoulder.

"What?" asked Dick, confused. "Did he tell you he was going to attack me?"

Bruce shook his head no. "I should have realized that his ego wouldn't have allowed for me to call him by his name. I should have known that he would consider it a slight and retaliate somehow."

"Bruce?" asked the teenage hero. "How could you have known he'd go after me?"

"I promise you, Dick," replied the older man, as he ignored the question. "And I won't let this stand. Deathstroke will pay for this."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, this storyline is going to be multiple one shots. Each "chapter" will have it's own title. And...don't forget to write a review and let me know what you think. :)