Oh my god this fic is finally done. Thank you so much for your support and love and encouragement. You guys are all fantastic. This is the censored version of the epilogue but you can find the uncensored one on my A03 account. I have the same username there so it shouldn't be hard to find. Feel free to PM me if you can't find it though. Thank you again, I hope you like the final chapter.
Gotham, slowly but surely, picked itself back up. Ross had survived the fight, but Foley had died. No one even hesitated to install Ross as temporary Chief of Police, as the man had shown exceptional leadership down in the sewers. Robin had no doubt that when it came down to an actual vote, Ross would earn the title officially. A week after the federal troops arrived to help fix up the city and round up the remaining criminals, Robin officially turned in his badge and gun.
Gordon, of course, wasn't surprised. When he had returned to his house to find Bane and Barsad gone, he'd given Robin a knowing look, but didn't protest his story. After all, the true criminal behind the operation had been caught and had been moved to one of the state's most protected prisons.
Part of Robin wondered if it was wrong to let Talia live. It was no question that he had killed that day and sure it was criminals he had been killing, but that didn't make it better. And yet when it came to the most evil of them all, he hadn't even considered it, and now he had all the time in the world to wonder why.
At his core, he knew. But he wasn't quite ready to face it.
Life got boring. The city was quick to build a monument to Batman's sacrifice, and equally quick to move on. In more than one way. Talia had failed. For all the pain and fear she had caused the citizens of Gotham, they had learned nothing outside how to keep surviving even when the world was crumbling around their ears. If anything, she had only helped highlight how important the Batman was to Gotham's survival. But now he was gone, with no one to take his place.
There was a small funeral service at the graveyard by the Wayne Manor, with seven of them in attendance. Selina and Ariadne stood together, Dom to their right. Robin stood between Dom and Lucius with Gordon and Bruce's butler Alfred after him. It was mostly silent, and when the preacher had finished speaking, they were quick to disperse and leave Alfred alone to pay his last respects.
Robin walked back to the car Ariadne, Dom, and Selina had taken, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"So this is it then?"
"Yeah," Dom said. He was leaning heavily on the car, features pale and taunt. "I...after all this, I think I'm glad I came. Seeing who Mal really was...it helped."
"I hope," Robin said.
After a moment of hesitation, Dom pushed himself off the car to give Robin a tight hug. "You're still my brother, no matter what name you take. You're still the person I knew, maybe even better."
Robin pulled back, nodding. "Yeah. Thank you. For everything."
Dom gave a strained smile and then climbed into the back of the car. When Robin turned to look at the other two, Selina was hugging him tight before he could get a word in.
"Don't get yourself killed out there. I plan on coming back," she said.
"How about we go out for drinks instead of anything crazy?" Robin suggested.
The smile Selina gave him was more honest and genuine than any other expression she had given him in the past. "I like the sound of that."
She ruffled his hair and danced easily out of his attempt to grab her, waving her fingers at him before climbing in the car on the passenger side. Which left Ariadne.
"I hate you, just a little bit, for all this," she said, stepping into his arms and wrapping her own around his neck.
He pressed his forehead to hers, smiling a bit. "Yeah, that's understandable."
"But despite all of that, I'm still willing to say don't be a stranger," Ariadne said.
"Ari-" He began to pull back but she tightened her grip.
"No, you stupid stick in the mud, because that's still what you are." She smirked before growing serious. "I know you want a new life and to start all over, but keeping us as friends won't ruin that. So please. Just the occasional phone call. That's all I ask."
"Well," Robin said. "I do need to have a Christmas dinner that Selina's not invited to."
Ariadne laughed and pulled away. "Exactly. I'm holding you to that by the way."
"Alright."
Ariadne opened the driver side door. "Goodbye, Robin."
"Yeah, see you around."
If he was entirely honest, watching their car drive off made his chest tighten. He didn't have time to dwell on it though, because Lucius was stepping up beside him and grabbing his shoulder.
"Bruce Wayne's will was read today," the man said. He slid an envelope into Robin's hand. "Take that to the city hall. You'll get what he left you there."
Lucius patted his shoulder and began to walk towards his own car. Robin stared down at the envelope, then looked back up.
"Mr. Fox!"
"Yes, Robin?" Lucius turned back towards him.
"Why would he leave me anything?" Robin asked.
"Perhaps, despite whatever he may have said, he saw something in you that no one, including you, has seen yet." Lucius gave him a nod, and an infuriatingly knowing smile. "I have a feeling I'll learn for myself just what it was he saw."
"You know the cryptic answers really aren't helpful," Robin called after him.
Lucius gave a small wave in response.
-.-
Robin picked up the bag and envelope Bruce had left him after the funeral, but for the next week or so, the parcels sat in the corner of his room. He got a job helping sort and hand out rations from the government. The stores weren't ready to be opened yet, but they would be in another week.
The lack of things he could do left him with a lot of empty hours to occupy. They usually ended up being filled with thoughts of Bane. He didn't feel as bad about letting him go as he did, and if he did feel guilty, it was fairly easy to reason out why.
He felt trapped in his skin and needed to find a way to burn the feeling out.
So, as his arm finished healing, he worked out. He had always been in shape, and that only increased as he tried relentlessly to wear his body out enough that his brain could finally rest. Eventually though, he couldn't resist the pull of the parcels in his room and two weeks after he got them, he took them to the living room.
He opened the letter first, propping his feet up on the table as he began to read.
Robin John Blake,
I've never been sure what to do with my tech should I die. I wouldn't want to push the mantle I took up on anyone, so I will leave it up to you to decide what Gotham needs.
Despite how little I know about you, I know one thing for sure. You care about Gotham's future enough to yell at me for not caring enough. That, by far, is what sets you apart from the rest. Your perspective of growing up here gives you an edge even I didn't have.
It is ultimately your decision what you do, but if you chose to take this on, never forget where you came from and what you've experienced. That is what makes you who you are. You cannot expect to have the strength to survive this life if you reject any part of yourself.
You should know that though. You're the one that made me realize it after all.
I wish you luck, no matter what you chose to do.
-Bruce Wayne
Robin folded the letter. He wasn't sure if Bruce felt the same way about him towards the end. He had killed after all, during the final fight. Then again, he had spared Bane and Barsad and even Talia.
He set the letter aside and opened up the small black bag. There was a folded piece of paper set on top of what appeared to be mountain climbing and hiking gear. He unfolded the piece of paper to see coordinates, and beneath that was the word waterfall, underlined by thick black marker. With a sigh, he set it all to the side and wondered what the hell he was supposed to do.
-.-
It took three days to decide what to do, and another two to find a store that carried a working GPS and flashlight. The coordinates led to one of the forests on the outskirts of Gotham, two miles behind Wayne Manor. He found the waterfall easy enough, but it took him a solid hour of climbing and hiking to find a place to hook up the mountain climbing equipment.
"This is a stupid place to hide whatever's so god damned important," Robin muttered under his breath as he approached the edge of the waterfall.
He had found a tree to hook the rope around to swing himself in at an angle that wouldn't result in crashing against the rock face. Jumping off the cliff and really letting himself fly; through the air, through the water, and into whatever it was that had been left behind for him.
"Will you take the leap?"
Robin whirled, startled to see Bane without his mask and dressed in cargo pants and a t-shirt like any other citizen. "How did you find me?"
"Barsad's been following you the whole time. When you started heading this way, I decided to follow you," Bane said, stepping towards him.
"You look...better," Robin said. "Not like Eames. But not quite what...Talia had turned you into either."
"The withdrawal has left me weak, but I am growing stronger." Bane stood beside him, staring over the cliff. "I'm still figuring myself out, Little Bird. I must thank you for making me question where my loyalties lay."
"Where do they lie now?" Robin looked into his eyes, trying to read what Bane was thinking.
"I have yet to figure that out. So, will you take that leap, Robin? Will you take a leap of faith?"
The words were like a shock of electricity to his chest and he straightened. "I have to. I'll unhook this once I'm through." He shook the hook that connected him to the cord. "You better follow after me."
"I'll follow you anywhere, Robin. I just need you to lead the way."
Robin turned, back to the cliff. He gave Bane one last look, then took a deep breath before finally jumping and letting himself fall. The wind rushed past him, and the water tore at his clothes and skin but then he was through and without a beat of hesitation, he released the hook and landed in a pool of water.
He pulled his flashlight from his backpack and after a few solid whacks got it to turn on. The light revealed little, only that he was in a large, open cavern that was damp and mostly covered in water.
There was a loud splash as Bane landed beside him. For a moment, they stared at one another, but then Robin held out a hand. Bane seemed to relax, and when he took it, a feeling of warmth, familiarity, of coming home washed through him. Together, they stepped further into the cavern.
The ground shook and rocked, lights overhead, lights Robin hadn't seen before, flickering on as a platform before them began to rise out of the water. His chest tightened as he realized just what it all was, but it was still too soon to know for sure. There was a staircase facing them leading up to the top and without any hesitation, Robin released Bane's hand to run up it. Bane wasn't far behind, and they stood at the top together as the floor unfolded to reveal several hi-tech monitors and a computer and cabinets and containers holding who knew what. And finally, at the center of it all, a glass container rose up to reveal the batsuit.
"Oh my God. He...this is what he meant, when he said to take up his mantle," Robin whispered. "He's given me all of this. All..."
"He wants you to be the next Batman," Bane said, stepping fully out onto the platform before turning to face Robin, a challenging look in his eyes. "I thought this was exactly the type of life you were trying to escape. I thought escaping this was why you erased Arthur."
Robin stepped closer. "I didn't erase Arthur. Not completely. I couldn't if I wanted to, just like you can't ever erase Eames."
"What are you saying, Little Bird?"
"I'm saying that we're two complete idiots," Robin said, unable to fight the wide grin stretching across his lips as he moved passed Bane to the huge computer desk.
"Oh?" Bane moved to stand beside him.
Robin leaned his hip against the desk to face him. "The whole time I've been here, I've been trying to be someone else. Not Arthur, not me but someone good, someone better, someone who didn't break all the rules."
"Yes, I noticed," Bane said, brow furrowed in confusion.
"And you're the same. With Arthur, you became Eames, or tried to, but you can't just fake that sort of love and walk away unscathed," Robin said. "Not even Talia could."
"You're going to have to be more clear," Bane said.
"Talia tried to wipe out Eames, just like how I tried to wipe out Arthur. But we can't wipe out our pasts, Bane. It doesn't work. We may not be Eames and Arthur anymore, but they're still a part of us. I thought I was fucked up for still wanting to help you, for still wanting to stay with you and be held by you, for still loving you," Robin said, grabbing Bane's shoulder with one hand, the other moving up to cup his jaw. "We're still the same. Arthur and Eames weren't fake. They just weren't complete."
The guarded, ice-cold look in Bane's eyes melted away as Robin spoke, and for the first time in all Robin's time knowing the man, he felt as though he was finally seeing the real person. Bane's hand surrounded Robin's the warmth making his heart flip.
"Perhaps...you are right. You always were wiser in ways I did not understand," Bane said, voice low. "I've spent a lot of time thinking. Morphine withdrawal leaves a lot of time for the mind to wander after all. I do not want to be Arthur and Eames. I am not that man any longer."
"I don't want that either," Robin said. "We have a chance to actually be ourselves now. Fuck what everyone else might think, I'm not losing you again."
A flash of heat flared in Bane's eyes and he wrapped a possessive arm around Robin's waist. "I'm not letting you go either, Little Bird."
Robin pushed himself up onto his tiptoes, hands framing Bane's jaw as he pressed their lips together. The taste of Bane's lips was the same he remembered, though the feel of his skin under his hands was different. Different, but certainly not bad. Bane's hands slid down to grip his waist tight, so tight Robin knew he was going to end up with bruises, but that just made it better because he wanted to see them in the morning, in the following mornings, proof that it was all real.
His fingers trailed along the edge of Bane's cotton shirt, finally getting up the courage to push beneath it and run over skin and muscle. Bane took control of the kiss then, backing Robin up against the desk and without a beat of hesitation, Robin hopped up onto it, twisting his legs around Bane's waist and rutting against him.
The way Bane's hands roamed over him was different than anything Robin had held before. Hard, possessive touches, rough and then all at once a gentle brush of fingers along his jaw or throat. the combination unexpected in the best way possible. So lost in Bane's mouth, his taste, and his hands, it took them both awhile to register that they were making out on a dead man's desk, but when he did realize it, Robin pulled away.
It was odd, seeing a look of such concern in Bane's eyes as the gesture, but Robin snuck another quick kiss to let him know it was fine.
"We're making out on the Batman's desk, surrounded by hi-tech weapons and computers. You think maybe we should take this some place else?" Robin asked, pressing his forehead to Bane's.
"The floor would work," Bane said, light amusement in his voice.
"The floor? Hell no. Not unless you can find me some blankets and-"
Bane pulled away and immediately headed for some of the cabinets and began to pull them open. Robin couldn't stop the goofy smile on his face at the action, and he supposed in a weird sort of way it was kind of romantic. He let himself slide off the desk, pulling his shirt over his head and shimmying out of his wet jeans as Bane got his hands on a few blankets and piled them together on the floor along with what looked like lotion and a box of tissues.
By the time Bane turned back, Robin had stripped down to nothing and was leaning back against the desk, a smirk on his lips and an eyebrow raised in challenge. Bane was on him in a heartbeat, his kiss all tongue and teeth and painful and glorious. The fabric of his clothes was rough on Robin's sensitized skin, and as Bane laid him out across the soft blankets, he clawed and pushed at Bane's shirt.
"Someone needs to teach you patience," Bane said as he pulled back, large thighs bracketing Robin's hips and keeping him effectively pinned as he peeled off his shirt.
"Then go ahead and teach me."
-.-
The larger man was courteous enough to roll them onto their sides after he finished, drawing Robin close as he slid out of him. Robin didn't like the empty feeling, but he comforted himself with another kiss, open and sloppy and wet as their hands roamed over one another's shaking bodies. He wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure there were words that could correctly describe what he was feeling, so instead Robin just pulled away enough to look into Bane's eyes.
He saw his emotions reflected back at him there, and his chest felt warm and full to the bursting point. Unable to help himself, he stole another kiss and then tucked his face into Bane's neck as his body finally began to come down from their actions. After awhile though, he pulled away and got to his feet, stretching and popping his back. Bane's gaze slid over his form appreciatively.
"You're gorgeous," Bane said in a low voice.
"Not so bad yourself," Robin said with a sly smirk. He paused a moment and then turned away.
Despite the damp of the cave and the sweat cooling on his chest, Robin was quite warm. He had a feeling the cave was heated somehow, and he could tell the flooring of the platform was heated when he walked across it with bare feet. He stopped before the glass container that held the batsuit. He would have to resize it, or make his own, because there was no way he'd fill in Batman's suit, literally and figuratively.
His chest felt lighter, so light he wanted to laugh. For weeks, he had been stuck in some sort of odd limbo, caught between John and Arthur when neither could accomplish what he wanted. Growing up, he had been a lot like Mark; watching the Batman do what he couldn't, saving people without causing even more harm or damage.
As John, he was limited by rules and regulations. As Arthur, he had gone too far, killing for convenience, and taking as much bad work as good. But as who he was now, as Robin, he could save people and keep his moral code strong. He was certainly no Batman. He wasn't going to make the mistake of trying to be someone else, not ever again. He'd be something new, something better.
Robin turned back towards Bane, who was reclined in their makeshift nest of blankets. They had a long way to go before they found themselves and found just how they worked together. He'd even say they had a long way to go before they truly trusted one another again. They had a lot of things to sort through, but Robin knew they'd figure it out. The odds, for once, were in their favor.
They were both done moving from shadow to shadow of their true selves. They were done burning themselves to a pile of smoking ash over and over again. Robin had found the fire, his fire, and he wasn't ever going to let it go out.