Work Text:
“Hey, Rob? Will you come see this?”
Wally’s voice sounds hesitant. Which usually means something extra bad is going down.
Dick makes a beeline past M’gann and Artemis on the couch, dodging Superboy right beside them. “Sorry!” He chants. “Sorry! Just gotta get to th—oh.”
Oh, man. This sure is extra bad.
Wally’s staring at the wall mounted TV, looking grim. It’s playing a news story, live from Gotham. Police cars surround City Hall, armored trucks stretched out at every direction. A group of men, armed to the teeth, stand at the entrance of City Hall, one of whom has stepped forward with a megaphone. Batman stands near the steps, arms up, staring coolly at the barrel of the gun aimed in his direction.
Scrolling text across the bottom of the screen proclaims: CITY HALL TAKEN HOSTAGE, BOMB FOUND IN UPPER FLOORS
The leader of the hostage takers raises his megaphone to his lips. “Batman,” He booms out. “You have the code we want. If you do not give it to us in a three hours’ time, then we blow up the building, and everyone in it.”
He taps the side of his head, where a gray metal box is infused to his temple. “And don’t think of lying to me. I can read your thoughts.”
“Here,” A piece of paper is placed in his hands. “This is a code. I need to keep it safe. Keep it on you and don’t lose sight of it, no matter what.”
Oh. Oh shit.
Dick turns instantly. “Where’s Kaldur?” He asks. “We should—I mean, I should…I should go. I need to help him. Batman, that is. I need to go help—”
“I’m here,” Kaldur says, running into the room. He’s already suited up. “Just saw the news. I’m going to go talk to Red Tornado, get this to the Justice League. If needed, we’re ready to provide backup, but Superman alone could help out…”
“And I thought I was fast,” Wally comments. Everyone ignores him.
Dick shakes his head. That’s a non starter. “Kaldur,” He says. “The League’s out on a space mission. Batman told me this morning.”
“Why?” He stares down at the paper in his hands. “What is this?”
“Aw, damn,” Wally mutters. M’gann covers her mouth with her hand.
“So, what does that mean?” Artemis asks, looking between them. “Does that mean we go in and handle this?”
“We gotta,” Dick says, a sinking feeling in his stomach. “I mean. I gotta. You guys don’t have to—”
“Don’t be stupid, Rob.” Wally says. Superboy nods in assent. “Of course we’re coming. It’s our job.” Wally looks at Kaldur, inclining his head. “Right?”
Kaldur hesitates. “I…” He says, conflicted. “I think we should. However, I need to make sure that we’re prepared, I don’t want anyone getting hurt on my watch.”
“C’mon Kaldur,” Dick pleads. “This is why we’re here, right? Sidekicks are around for when superheroes are doing something else, right? So let’s sidekick and…kick sides.”
Kaldur wants to go in too. Dick sees it in his eyes.
“I’ll probably go in anyway,” He warns. “Because, you know. Gotham business and all.”
This gets Kaldur. “Fine,” He sighs. “You’re right. We’re here to cover for anything the Justice League can’t handle. This very much falls in our purview.”
Dick nods. “Thanks, guys,” He says. “But. I mean. There’s kind of an extra element to this.”
“Just keep it,” Confused, he hides it in his pocket. “I’m trusting you to keep this safe. Do the right thing.”
“What do you mean?” M’gann asks. “Because it’s Batman?”
“I mean,” Dick says. “Sure. But there’s something else too. I’ll explain on the way, but we gotta go. We gotta go now.”
“So,” Artemis says, eyes locked on the world below the bio-ship. “You have what those guys are after, huh?”
“Yeah,” Dick says. His fingers clench inside his gloves. “At least, I think so? Batman gave it to me this morning. All casual-like too. I didn’t think it was something like this…he just handed me a piece of paper and told me to keep it safe. Why he didn’t put it in the cave instead, I have no idea—anyway. I’m literally the only person who had this info so I think I’m needed there right now.”
Wally gives a low whistle. “Well, damn,” He says, shaking his head. “Classic Batman, huh? His secrets have secrets.”
“Wally!” M’gann hisses, but Dick can only chuckle without humor.
“He’s not wrong,” Dick says, shrugging. “Everything’s need to know with him. Even if it’s something I need to know. Especially if it’s that.”
“He trusts you,” Superboy says, simple, direct. “He wouldn’t have given you that information if he didn’t.”
“Still,” Artemis says, hesitant. “Kind of a dick move. Sorry, Robin.”
Wally and Dick exchange quick, amused glances. “No arguments here,” Dick says. He frowns. “But, like. You guys know Batman. He always has a plan. He must’ve known he was gonna come handle this after I left to come here. So why did he give me this? What was his play here?”
Kaldur steps in here, ever analytical. “It is possible,” he begins. “That he gave it to you so you would return now. And he would have a plan that he needs you to complete.”
Well. That does sound like Bruce. “You think he’d warn me beforehand,” Dick muses. “Or not. I mean, look who I’m talking about right? Keeping me in the dark is probably part of whatever grand plan he has in mind.”
“If that’s the case,” M’gann says. “Then we should trust his process. Right?”
“Sure,” Dick says. He pictures the gun in his mind, pointed at Bruce’s head. He looks down at the ship. “Let’s go faster.”
They land the bio-ship in the park a couple blocks behind City Hall.
“Right,” Kaldur says. “Gather up, everyone,” He gestures at them all to huddle up. “Our goal is to get Robin to Batman. It’s us against a group of men with advanced weapons capability. We don’t have a lot of information about these guys, so be cautious. We might run into a surprise or two.”
“One of our missions? It’s guaranteed,” Artemis mutters
“Too right,” Wally mutters back.
“Shut up,” She says, rolling her eyes.
“Anyway,” Kaldur puts a pointed emphasis on the word. “Here’s our plan of attack. Artemis and Superboy are the first prong of attack: you guys need to draw fire and attention away from the doors to City Hall. Artemis, park yourself at a distance and fight ranged. Superboy…” He points at him. “Cause chaos.”
“Smash!” Wally says, enthused.
“Oh my god,” Artemis groans.
“Once you two draw some fire,” Kaldur continues. “M’gann, help us get in unnoticed. Then you and I will be prong 2, and we’ll engage anyone else inside the building.”
M’gann gives him a quick salute. “You got it!”
“And finally,” Kaldur turns to Dick and Wally. “Kid Flash. Grab Robin, and try to locate Batman as fast as possible. If needed, you can draw the fire of anyone else around him. That way, Robin’s path is free and clear. If you need backup,” He taps his forehead. “Let us know.”
Wally also salutes, but there’s a…less sincere quality to it. “I can do fast,” He says.
Kaldur turns to Dick. “Robin,” He says. “Link up with Batman. He’ll probably let you know how to proceed. If he can’t…use your own intuition. It’s better than you think. And be careful about that leader, his potential ‘mind-reading’ may be an issue.”
Dick nods. “Right,” He says. “Okay.”
“When are we going in?” Wally complains.
Kaldur gives him a look. “Soon,” He says. “The moment Artemis and Superboy are situated and get started, we move.”
“They’re taking forever,” Wally sighs. “Aren’t we on a time limit?”
“They know,” M’gann steps in, ever patient. “They’ll get it done. Just wait and see.”
Wally sighs again. “You ready to roll, Rob?” He asked turning to Dick.
Dick tries to give him a ready-to-roll smile. “Of course,” He says, stomach in knots.
It’s not like he hasn’t saved Bruce before: he has. It’s not even like he’s gone in on his own to save Bruce: he’s done that too. Hell, he’s doing it with a team now. It’s so much better than it was before.
But.
Bruce giving him the code nags at something inside his head. Why would he do that, and why wouldn’t he explain what it was? He can’t figure it out, can’t tell if this is the right thing to do, if this is what Bruce has been telling him without saying it out loud…
Sometimes, Dick thinks he can read Bruce better than anyone in the world. Other times…other times, he knows Bruce is inherently unreadable.
Wally must notice. “Hey,” He says, elbowing him lightly. “Dude. You good?”
Dick swallows. “Yeah,” He says. “Just, you know. Feeling the ‘over’ in the whelmed right now.”
“Rob,” Wally says, but before he can continue, they hear a commotion up near City Hall.
“Get ready!” Kaldur says, and Dick tenses instantly. “They’ve started!”
Kaldur holds an arm out, and they wait for his signal. “Okay…” He says. “They’re drawing them out. More have emerged…okay, now. Go!”
Dick runs, feeling more than seeing Wally hold himself back to keep pace with him. He follows the path Kaldur has chosen, ducking behind cars and items and people, before slipping to a side door and shutting it.
The GCPD quietly let them go through without comment.
“Alright,” Kaldur says, breathless. “Kid Flash. Can you run a quick check through-”
They’re interrupted by a shout, and Dick hears the pounding of footsteps coming in their direction. “Never mind,” Kaldur says, adopting a fighting stance. “Grab Robin and run. We’ll take care of this group here.”
“Aye aye, Captain!” Wally says, instantly grabbing Dick into a carry.
“Hey,” Dick says, a little embarrassed that Wally can carry him so easily. “What—”
“Hang on,” Wally says, and Dick slams his eyes shut before he’s hit with a burst of speed, and he can barely breathe. He hates this, he hates this so much, how can Wally stand feeling like this all the time…
Wally stops, and Dick almost passes out from the suddenness of it. “So I checked the building,” He whispers. “Twice over. There’s a group of guys guarding one particular door. We’re just around the corner from it. So that’s either the bomb, or Batman, or both. I’m gonna get you in there, okay? I’ll distract the guards and you can run in. Ready?”
Dick nods. “Ready,” He echoes.
“Okay,” Wally says. “Three, two, one.”
He zips forward, disappearing around the corner. “Hey, fellas,” Dick hears. “You know where to go for a building permit round here?”
“Get back!” A voice yells.
“It was just a question,” Wally huffs. “But fine. Got to go!”
“Get him!” He hears yelled back, followed by thundering footsteps.
He waits for them to subside, then peers around the corner. Only one guard is left outside the door.
Dick smiles to himself. Easy work.
He sidles up to the side, takes a breath, then pulls out a batarang. He lines it up, then tosses it. It makes a sound on the wall opposite, and the guard whirls around to look.
Dick moves, running up and grabbing a couple more batarangs from his belt. He flips onto the man’s back, delivering a kick to the face, then tossing the batarangs to knock him to the ground, unconscious.
He runs to the door, pulling out his lock pick and making quick work of it. He takes another breath, pushing it open slowly.
Don’t think his name, he tells himself sternly, remembering the leader’s mind reading. Think of him as Batman. Just Batman.
Behind the door is what is clearly some sort of large meeting space, largely empty except for Batman, who is chained to a chair in the middle of the room.
Dick gives a quick glance around the room and, seeing nothing, darts forward. “Batman,” He hisses, grabbing his lock pick again. “You okay?”
Batman looks up. “Robin,” He says, voice tight. “You—”
“Well,” A voice booms from a darkened corner of the room. “Look who we have here.”
Dick whirls around, grabs his batarangs from his belt. He prepares to toss them, and then freezes in place.
The leader’s gun is out, and pointed in the direction of B—Batman’s head. The gray box on his temple shines in the dim light.
His lips tighten. “Whoa,” He says, slowly putting his weapons back in his belt. “Okay. Let’s calm down here.”
The man raises his eyebrows. “I’m calm,” He says. “Now. Are you here for a specific purpose, or do we need to do something about this?”
Help, Dick thinks, trying to reach the rest of the team. “That depends,” He says. He glances at Batman (think Batman think Batman think Batman). “What exactly do you want here?”
“I made that pretty clear,” The man says. The safety clicks off. “I’m looking for a particular code. Since you’re Batman’s little sidekick, I’m assuming you have it?”
Dick keeps his eyes on Batman. “What is it for?” He asks. Batman doesn’t move a muscle.
The man raises an eyebrow. “The bomb, of course,” He says airily. “It’s experimental. Very powerful. It’s on a countdown at the moment. The code gives whoever inputs it control over when it explodes. So…” The gun light rests against the exposed part of Batman’s cheek. “Do you have it?”
Dick grits his teeth. He can’t give them the code. With this many people at stake, and an apparently accidental bomb? He can’t do it.
But…
He glances at Batman again. He can’t let him get hurt, either. But between Batman and a big block of Gotham? He knows what he should choose. He also knows what Batman what have him choose too.
“Ten seconds,” The man says, flat in tone. He starts a countdown. “Ten,”
Dick stares at Batman so hard his vision starts to blur. What do I do? He thinks frantically.
“Nine,”
Batman isn’t making eye contact with him. Give me something, Batman. He thinks, and then What if there’s something wrong with him? How was he caught just like that?
“If you tell him anything, Batman, he’s paying for it. Eight,”
Batman had given him the code. So he must have known something like this would happen. Which would also mean he needed something from him.
“Ah, so you do have it. Seven,”
Shit. Mind reader.
But what could it be? Did he want Dick to stay away from this completely with the codes? Is that why he gave them to him, why he didn’t tell him anything?
“Six,”
That didn’t make sense though. If he wanted Dick to stay away, he would’ve said so. Why did he tell him nothing? This means he needed to be here, right?
“Five,”
But if he’s needed here…what does Batman want him to do? Does he give them the code? And why would Batman want him to do that?
“You’re thinking quite hard there, sidekick. You don’t have much time left. Four,”
“Three,”
He’s out of time. He needs to make a choice, now. Batman stays silent and still.
“Two,” The man’s finger drifts towards the trigger.
Use your own intuition. It’s better than you think.
“O—”
“Stop.”
Dick’s voice is cracked, determined. “Fine,” He says, praying he’s making the right move. “Fine. I’ll give you the code. I have it right here.”
“Oh?” The man says. He keeps the gun trained on Batman. “Let’s hear it, then.”
Dick feels around in his pocket, pulling out the piece of paper. He unfolds it, then reads out the string of numbers. “39. 62. 40. 27. 14.” He pauses, then reads the final string. “84.”
Finally, finally, the man puts down the gun. He taps the side of his head “You’re telling the truth. I could hear it. Excellent,” He says. “Thank you most kindly.” He speaks into an earpiece. “You got that, fellas?”
Dick runs towards Batman. The man lets him do it. “Seems like your trust in the kid was misplaced, Batman.” The man says. “You’ll both be blown sky-high soon.”
Dick’s hands shake around the lock pick. “Sorry,” He chants, working to free Batman. “Sorry.”
He thinks he did the right thing. He thinks so. But he’s getting nothing from Batman, and the ominous feeling in his stomach grows…
The chains fall off, and Batman pounces.
He leaps, grabbing the gun from the man’s hand and tossing it away. “Robin!” He snaps. “Secure the gun!”
The man laughs. “It’s too late, Batman,” The man says. “We have the code. You can’t do anything about…”
He pauses, frowning. “What…”
Batman reaches a hand out, ripping the device from the man’s head. He screams, dropping to the floor. “No more of this,” He says. “You’re not reading anyone’s thoughts any longer.”
“Batman!” Dick runs up to him, gun tucked in his belt. “The code. He’s—”
“Nothing will happen,” Batm—Bruce says, whirling around to make his way out the room. “The code you have is a kill switch. The bombs are disarmed. All we need to do is clean up the scene now.”
Dick’s head spins. “What…”
“Get your team,” Bruce demands. “Reconvene and return with them. I’ll see you at the Batcave this evening for the debrief.”
He sweeps out of the room without another word.
Dick breathes in deeply one, twice. Then, only shaking a little, follows Bruce out of the room.
“What was that?” Dick demands.
He paces the floor in the Cave, running a hand through his hair. “Bruce? What was that?”
“You did well,” Bruce comments, stepping out of the Batmobile. “Your friends, too. You all handled yourselves exactly as you should.”
Dick gives a disbelieving laugh. “Okay. Thanks. Can you tell me what all that was? What happened?”
Bruce hooks his fingers under the cowl and removes it in one quick motion. “Simply put,” He says. “I’d been following this group’s activities for a while. And their experimentation with mind reading. And their attempts to get their hands on the bomb. So, I got there first, and got the kill switch.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Dick asks. He peels off his domino mask. “I really should’ve known—”
“You couldn’t know,” Bruce says. He starts to make his way towards the Batcomputer. “Because of the mind reader. I needed to set this up so he thought he would win, so that he would reveal himself and use the kill switch on his own. And to do that, you had to believe what was happening at face value.”
Dick follows him. “Why?” He asks. “Because he would read my mind and find out?”
“Precisely,” Bruce says. He takes a seat in front of the computer, completely unbothered. “So, I gave you the code without explanation. I sent you on your way. I made sure Red Tornado turned the televisions on to Gotham News. I needed you to come in, ready to help, thinking you had the codes they needed. Therefore, when your mind would be read, they’d thing they would have exactly what they needed.”
“But wouldn’t they read your mind too?” Dick demands. “And know you were planning this?”
“Not if I keep the plan away from my surface thoughts,” Bruce says. He begins to type. “You’re not well versed in this yet. However, it requires concentration. So I needed someone else there who could handle the part with the code, and I’d take care of the rest.”
Dick collapses in the chair next to him. “So,” He says. “You were banking on me showing up there and knowing to give them the code? What if I hadn’t?”
Bruce nods. He still doesn’t look at him. “You would,” He says simply. “Because you would think it through and approach the answer logically. Which you did. I trusted you to do this, and as you can see, I was correct.”
Dick just sits there, mind whirring. He shouldn’t be upset about this (Bruce trusts him) and yet.
Yet…
“You always do this,” Dick says, frustrated. “Over and over again. When you tested my team. When you made us think we were in danger. When you,” And here he feels a phantom pain, somewhere deep in his tooth. “The owls,” He mutters to himself.
Here, Bruce’s typing pauses. “What?” He asks
Dick shakes his head. The pain subsides. “I—it’s nothing. You did it for a reason. But…” He crosses his arms. “I…I don’t want to be kept in the dark. We’re partners.”
Bruce gives him a weird look. “Yes,” He says. “That’s why I trusted you with this. Nobody else could’ve done it.”
Dick looks down at his lap. “I…I guess so,” He says.
“Good,” Bruce’s typing resumes. “Go get some rest. We’re heading out again later tonight.”
Dick hops off the chair, heading towards the exit. The sounds of typing follow him all the way to the door.
Trust, He thinks, trying his best to believe it. Trust.