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“Is everyone here? I think I'd rather explain this once.”
“Dude,” Wally said, frowning. “You are so channeling him right now, and you channeling him is never a good sign. What's up?”
“I am not channeling him,” Dick protested, reaching over to smack his friend. He'd been more sensitive to that lately, ever since the training simulation gone very wrong, and he knew when he was doing and when he wasn't. This wasn't about Batman. This was about him not sure he could get through explaining this twice because he was afraid there would be tears. Lots of tears. Even his tears, and Robin did not do tears.
“Guys,” Artemis muttered, rolling her eyes and getting laughter from the others. Dick managed a smile for her.
“Okay, so since we are all here,” Dick said, taking a deep breath. “I'm... I'll be... I'm... I'll be taking a leave of absence from the team.”
“What?”
That chorus was almost deafening, since Dick figured Kaldur was the only one who hadn't spoken then. He wasn't sure. It was hard to pick all the voices apart.
“I have to,” Dick explained, using his wrist pad to pull up images on the screens in front of the team. “I didn't want to leave us short-handed with Roy... well... but I'm going on a mission. A long term deep cover kind of thing. I've been preparing for it for a few weeks now. This is the relevant data. I was alerted to it by... a contact from an old case. One of the most recent victims was a member of Haly's circus, and that was what tipped us off to how widespread this was, though there were other indications of it—”
“What, exactly, is it?” Wally demanded, folding his arms over his chest. “If you're leaving us, there had better be a good reason for it.”
“There is,” Dick said. He pulled up images of the other victims. “All of these kids were acrobats or gymnasts. They had talent, enough to qualify for scholarships if not for the Olympics. They were approached by a coach offering to take them all the way there. Those that refused all had very suspicious accidents a few weeks after their refusal. The others...”
“What about the others?” M'gann asked. “What aren't you telling us, Robin?”
Dick let out a breath. “They're taken in for additional training, but not for the Olympics. More like one of us... on the dark side. The one from Haly's... His spine was broken and he was left for dead when he refused to kill.”
“And you're going to dangle yourself out there as bait?” Wally shook his head. “No. You're insane. You are not going.”
“If I don't, we won't be able to find out who is responsible for this,” Dick said. “None of the survivors came close to meeting the men or organization behind the project, and the coach has only been the same in a few of the cases. We can't track them without someone on the inside. I've got the training—”
“You're not the only one. There are others. There's a girl at yo—Artemis' school that could do it. She's an Olympic hopeful.”
“And an unlikely prospect because of her father, who happens to be the police commissioner and a friend of Batman's,” Dick said, though Wally would probably figure out that part of the reason Dick wanted to do this was to make sure that they didn't approach Babs with it. He was afraid they already had despite the fact that her father was the commissioner. He did not want to see her ending up like the kid from Haly's.
“This sounds extremely dangerous,” Kaldur said. “Are you certain you've given it enough consideration?”
Dick nodded. “I have. Batman and I have discussed it several times now. I've had extra training sessions with him, with Martian Manhunter, and Black Canary—”
M'gann frowned. “You had sessions with my uncle?”
“Yes,” Dick said. “With as many unknowns as we have here, Batman and I thought it best if I was prepared to block possible telepathic scans. Just low level stuff, nothing to set off any alarms, but if a passive scan was going to pick up on me thinking of myself by the wrong name, it would have been over in an instant. So I've been practicing.”
Wally looked at him, completely betrayed. “How long ago did you decide to do this? Months, wasn't it? Not weeks. Months ago.”
“I've been considering it since I found out about the incident at Haly's,” Dick admitted, and Wally's glare continued. He was still mad about not being included in that mission, but if he did the math, he'd know that Dick had found out about it at the same time as the team's unsanctioned mission where they tracked down the parasite and proved Haly's circus innocent of the thefts. “This is not a decision I made lightly. There are a lot of variables, and I know that as much as we plan, I can't account for all of them. I've tried, but things will change once I go undercover, and I know that. I'm not expecting this to be easy. I just know it's the right thing to do.”
“Then we will support you in whatever way we can,” Kaldur told him, looking around at the others for acknowledgment. Conner nodded, taking M'gann's hand as she blinked a few tears from her eyes, Artemis gave him a smile and a nod, Zatanna smiled at him, Raquel glanced at the others before nodding, and Wally just glared at him.
Dick hadn't expected that to be easy, but he was hoping Wally would be a little more understanding. Sometimes being the youngest member of the team sucked. They were all way too overprotective, though his oldest friend was the worst.
He forced a smile. “Good. I'm glad to hear that. There's someone I want all of you to meet.”
“Do you think they'll like me?”
Dick looked over at him, and Jason cringed. He couldn't believe he'd said that. He was not that desperate. He shouldn't be. Hell, hadn't Batman come to him? Batman had chosen him to replace Dick, had let him in on the biggest secret in the world—Batman's identity—and Jason was going to be Robin. He didn't care what these people thought about him. He didn't care about any of them.
“Yeah, they'll like you, Little Wing. Even if you try and make it so they don't,” Dick told him, grinning. Jason felt like snatching his glasses and smashing them, but he had gotten the lecture from Batman so many times—you have to protect your identity at all times—and he knew if he broke Dick's glasses they wouldn't be able to go. They'd have to head back to the manor and Jason would get another lecture.
He would look better in the glasses, though.
But he got to go as Robin.
Jason was Robin.
This was awesome.
Not that he was going to tell anyone that. Ever. He wasn't. Jason was totally cool and calm about all of this. He was.
“Whoa.”
Dick smiled, clapping Jason on the back as the other boy collected himself and went back to his whole I'm too cool for this attitude. The lenses on the mask were a little too wide for Dick to buy it, but he let Jason have his moment anyway. The kid was kind of adorable, and Dick was almost regretting his decision to take on this mission because he was really enjoying having a younger brother, and he was going to miss Jason when he was gone.
A lot.
He shook the thought off, smiling at M'gann as she found them first. It should have been Wally, but from what Dick could tell, the speedster was still mad at him. “Robin! I mean... Oh, wow, this is strange.”
“No worries. I know it will be awkward for a while. I don't actually have a working name at the moment,” Dick said. He put a hand on Jason's shoulder. “This is Robin. Robin, this is Miss Martian.”
Jason blinked, watching her transform into a female version of Robin. She grinned. “Now I'm Robin, too. Like it?”
“Uh...”
“He's adorable,” M'gann said. “And don't worry, that thought you just had? It's between you and me, Robin.”
Jason flushed red, and Dick shook his head. Stop embarrassing him, M'gann. He needs to feel comfortable here, and it's awkward enough without extra teasing. He's kind of sensitive. Especially about the taking my place thing.
Of course, she said. I just think he's sweet underneath that tough guy act.
He is.
She turned as some of the others walked up to them. Dick had gotten permission to introduce Jason to the team here, wanting the boy to know the others before he was gone, wanting him to have something to aspire to, something to keep working toward in addition to being with Batman. Jason would need friends, too, and Dick wanted to know that someone was looking out for him. He knew Bruce would be, but it would help if others were, too.
He'd already gotten Babs' word that she'd help Jason at school. That was something, but Dick would feel better if the team was, too.
“This is Superboy, Aqualad, Rocket, and Zatanna. I'm not sure if Kid Flash and Artemis are here,” Dick said. “Guys, this is Robin.”
“No way. Robin can't have red hair.”
Dick looked over at Wally. “You're going to object to that? Seriously?”
Wally shrugged. “Look, we all know you have a thing for redheads—”
“Watch it, KF. He's going to get the wrong idea about a few things, and I won't be around to clean that mess up,” Dick said, shaking his head. He turned back to Jason. “Look, whatever you want to do with your hair, you do it. Don't feel you have to dye it because of me. Ever. You may be Robin now, but you are still your own person.”
Jason nodded. “Damn right I am.”
Dick grinned back at him. “You want a tour?”
“I'll take him,” Zatanna offered, and Jason stared at her for a moment before she took his hand and tugged him along. Dick shook his head. Apparently, she had a thing for Robins. Or something. He shook his head, turning back to the rest of the team.
Kaldur looked at him. “Your introduction of a new Robin means you are about to depart.”
“Yes.”
“We're going to miss you.”
Dick shook his head. “Not as much as I will miss all of you. Just... take care of him, okay? I know he's new and he doesn't have half my training and he acts whelmed but he is so not whelmed by all of this. He's still learning.”
“We'll look out for him,” Artemis promised. Wally gave her a look, and she elbowed him. “Stop being an idiot. He's your best friend, and if something does go wrong like you're so afraid it will, you will never forgive yourself for letting him go thinking you're mad at him.”
“I am mad at him. He's being an idiot.”
“Which I usually leave up to you,” Dick said. He shrugged. “This time I guess it's my turn.”
M'gann wrapped her arms around him. “We are going to miss you. I know I already said that, but I mean it. It won't be the same without you.”
“I think we can all agree with that,” Kaldur said. “I may have been the leader, but you have always been the support I needed.”
“I owe you my freedom,” Conner said. “If you don't come back, I'll come after you.”
“I know, but it won't be necessary.”
“Please. Like they don't all want it to be necessary,” Artemis muttered, shaking her head. “Half of them want to have to come to your rescue. I might even be one of them. Not that I want you to be in trouble, but if you are, I want to be a part of getting you out of it.”
Dick smiled. “I know. I have the best friends in the world.”