EDIT: TW GORE

College is keeping in the writer's block void please forgive me and have a lil sassy Robin

Batman couldn't believe his eyes when a young boy in a suit came to his rescue. Surely this child wasn't saving him from a hardened criminal. He was Batman for God's sake. This was a hit to the ego if there ever was one. The child did flips and kicks, seemingly winning the fight with ease. His punches were rather weak so he took the defensive route. Tony Zucco fell to the ground, wrapped in a tight rope from the boy's grappling hook. "Who are you?" Batman asked, picking his jaw up from the floor. The boy's attention moved towards him and a small smirk grew on his face. "I'm Robin. I'm new to the hero scene but it looks like I started just in time," he answered. He untied the ropes that held Batman and took a step back, his hand outstretched to the hero. "Nice to meet you Batman." Hesitantly, Batman shook his hand. Who was going to train this child hero? Did their parents know about him running the streets? What was he going to do with him? "This isn't a job for children," Batman told him sternly. He couldn't see the eyes behind the mask but Batman could tell Robin was rolling his eyes. He sure was sassy. "Neither is it a job for billionaires with a newly fostered child back home," Robin retorted. How could he possibly know that? Now Batman was at a loss. Should he bring Robin to the police? No, that could give him the motive to leak his identity to the world. That would put his ward and butler in much more danger than they needed. Should he just leave Robin to do his own thing? No, Robin might go after a big villain and get himself hurt or worse. It wasn't like he could just leave him wandering the streets either. He didn't know what the kid would do with information like that. Maybe he'd sell it to the highest bidder. "This isn't the place to speak openly. I'm taking you to the Batcave for questioning," Batman said. He tried to be as stern as he could but Robin wasn't fazed by it at all. "That's fine by me Batsy."

At the Batcave, Robin jumped out the car and looked around. "Who told you who I am?" he inquired. If some criminal had this information, there was no telling what would happen. Part of him was blaming Barry or Clark. They'd be the most likely to post a status and accidentally tag Bruce instead of Batman. "Nobody, I just know who you are. Do you know who I am?" Robin responded, taking a seat on Batman's desk. There was something teasing in his tone. Bruce shook his head dejectedly. Something about the young hero was so familiar yet he couldn't put his finger on it. "Tell you what, I'll tell you my ID if you train me to fight like you. I won't say a word about your ID to anyone," Robin said. The offer was a good one. Batman could keep his eye on him whilst training him and make sure that he wasn't punching above his weight. Although, he would have to cut down the amount of time he spent with Dick. The poor boy was losing out on so much nowadays. Then again, the League seemed more than happy to start being integrated into his life. Maybe Dick could spend more time with someone like Diana or Oliver. This could work out in his favour. It's not like he could always be with Dick anyway. He had his work and being Batman. He was sure his fellow heroes would be more than happy to play babysitter. Sure Alfred wouldn't be too happy about the idea but he'd warm up to it in time. He always did. "Alright, Robin. I'll train you to fight but you have to fight with me. No going off on your own." Robin grinned widely and nodded his head. 

"Sounds great to me," he responded. Batman sat down in the chair opposite the computer, ready to make a full mission report on the day and a new profile for his new partner. He'd never had a partner before. He was insistent on working alone at all times. He barely let the League get involved with his business and they had been heroes when Robin was in diapers. Yet the apprehensive feeling he got was drowned by excitement. Robin would be a great way to relate to his ward. They seemed to be the same age so he could see how every action he made would affect a boy of that age group. It was the perfect parent training that he desperately needed. Well almost perfect.

"When did you take that photo?" Robin asked. On screen, there was a full body picture taken of him. "I didn't. The cave automatically takes full body photos of anyone new that enters. Makes things like this much easier," he answered. "I need to know your real name. It's a new requirement for the League."

"Ethan Bennet," Robin replied carefully. Batman dismissed the hesitance in his voice as nervousness. This information would leave the young hero vulnerable if it ever got out. "Who's your parents?"

"Kara and David Bennet. They're not around much so I wouldn't worry about them finding out about this," he answered. Again, he was careful in how he spoke. Batman put it down to nerves and put the finishing touches to the profile. "Well Ethan, welcome to the Justice League." Ethan grinned at him. "Great. I should probably get going before my Dad gets worried. See you tomorrow night?"

"See you tomorrow night."

5 years later...

"Robin I need you to deactivate that bomb or we're in big trouble," Batman ordered. They were standing at the edge of some crumbling building with Kid Flash by Robin's side. The situation was life or death but when was it not? "He could die if he goes down there!" Kid Flash argued. He was red in the face and had built up enough courage to stand up to Batman. Robin put a hand on his shoulder to try and take away that anger but it wasn't working. "We could all die if he doesn't. It's for the greater good," Batman argued.

"The greater good? He's your so-partner!" He received a frown from Robin before correcting himself. "You could never see him again!" Kid Flash yelled back. He would've gone further but Robin stopped him. "Get your ass out of here before he kicks it," he warned.

"But he-" A firm Robin glare was shot his way, taking the heat out of the argument. The ginger pulled him into a tight hug before letting go. "Don't get yourself killed baby bird, M'gann will kill me," Kid Flash said. Robin nodded but made him hurry along to run into a fight he couldn't join.

Now it was just them. They stared at each other for a moment to get a grip on the situation. Robin really could die. Batman didn't even have his parent's contact details and he had no clue on how he would break the news even if he found them. "Bruce I know I could die. Like it's a lot higher than usual," Robin put rather too frankly. Bruce didn't want to admit that Ethan was like another son to him. He felt awful ignoring Dick all the time to see Ethan but he needed the training. "I need to tell you something before I go. Promise me you won't get mad." That didn't sound good. It sounded awful. What could Ethan possibly be hiding? "I promise I won't."

"Bruce, I'm Richard, not Ethan." Bruce wasn't quite following and his partner he could see that. It brought out a sad sympathetic smile. "I'm Richard Grayson," he explained.

The entire world stopped spinning in one instant. He was training his ward to fight on the streets. He was spending no time with him as Dick but as Robin. "When were you going to tell me?" he asked, his voice shaking with a sickly mix of shock, fear and panic. What if he had never found out? He would've thought that he lost both Ethan and Dick in one day. "When I thought I wasn't going to get another chance. If I survive I'll explain further but right now, I have a job to do." Bruce realised what he had just ordered. It shouldn't have felt different sending Ethan to do this rather than Dick but it did. He was losing so much if Dick didn't come out of this. There would be no laughter following him around or the constant sound of something, anything, that helped him think; that helped ground him to the home life he didn't know he wanted. "Richard wait-"

"You gave Robin an order B. Keep yourself safe," he said. Before Bruce could argue anymore, Robin was gone from the edge and was dead set on deactivating the bomb. His stomach did flips whilst he silently prayed that this didn't end awfully. Why hadn't he just listened to Wally? He may be a speedster but sometimes he knew what he was saying. Wait did Wally know Dick was Ethan? Scratch that he was going to kill him.

Twenty long agonising minutes went by and there was a loud bang from where the bomb once was. They could make out a small figure running from the ash cloud but he was too slow to escape it on his own. "Kid Flash-"

"On it!" he interrupted, already halfway there. At least speedsters were good for something. He was still going to kill him though. He watched as Kid Flash whisked up the limping figure that was his ward and race back to him. Robin was looking at Batman with a large grin. It seemed so dumb now that Bruce hadn't recognised that as Dick's grin. Then again, he hardly saw Dick grin like that. He wasn't in the house long enough to make him smile.

"What happened?" he asked as soon as Robin was close enough.

"There was a failsafe for the bomb. When I deactivated it, I set another one off and I barely had time to get out of there." Part of his leggings had been burnt off, revealing an array of nasty cuts and burns from his mid shin to thigh. Another lot of cuts and burns were dotted around his right side but he still grinned at them all. "Why aren't you screaming in pain?" Artemis asked, wincing at the sight of his wounds. "I'm used to screaming on the inside."

"Calm down my chemical imbalance," Kid Flash teased. He was still holding him tightly in a bridal style. There had been no attempt to return his feet back to the ground. "I literally have chunks of my flesh missing and you still thought that was appropriate," Robin deadpanned. Teasing annoyed him in general but it annoyed him, even more, when he could feel parts of his skin still smouldering. His team laughed but Batman stared at him. He almost forgot what he did before running head-on at a bomb. Probably wasn't one of his best ideas but somehow it still wasn't one of his worst. "Everyone clean up then go home. Robin, can you walk?" Batman asked. He wanted to settle this alone as quickly as he could. "Am I completely unharmed?" Robin retorted. Why did he get like this when he was hurt? It was just going to make the next few hours worse. Batman took Robin from the ginger's grip, causing the boy wonder to hiss in pain. "Guys remember me, I may not make it through the lecture this time," he said dramatically to his team as Batman walked away. They gave him a flurry of sympathetic waves before boarding the bioship. Batman put him in the Batmobile silently and got in. Robin lightly pulled the seat belt over him and clicked it into the buckle. His body relaxed against the black leather seats, his eyes closing to help. Everything on his right-hand side hurt awfully but his brain couldn't concentrate on that. He just told Bruce a secret he hadn't planned on telling for years to come. He'd made it five or so years without leaking it. Maybe he should've said it a lot sooner.

The engine hummed to life and he felt the car begin its long journey back home. Dick could barely keep his eyes open. "Why didn't you tell me the night you went out as Robin?" Bruce finally asked after a few precious minutes of silence. "Thought you'd say no," Dick answered.

"You could've said something in these five years," Bruce argued. He didn't sound angry. It sounded like he'd been betrayed. Dick understood why, even with his half-coherent brain. They had a level of trust that couldn't be broken but now Dick had done the impossible. "You liked Ethan more," he mumbled quietly. Unfortunately, in a dead silent car, Bruce heard the mumble loud and clear. "What made you think that?" He was becoming more aware that Dick wasn't doing too well staying awake. The pain must be telling his brain to shut down for a little bit. "Dick didn't get attention. You gave it all to Ethan," he tried to explain as best he could. Bruce supposed he was right. He spent a lot more time with Ethan, praising him and helping him with homework. He sighed and slumped back into his seat. "'m sorry Dad," he heard a small voice whisper. His eyes darted down to the boy in the passenger seat, desperately trying to keep his eyelids from closing. "Bein' Rob made you hang out with me," he added. Bruce let out a long sigh. "You mad?"

"No just. If you ever died as Robin-"

"Don' think like that," Dick interrupted as harshly. "I would've told you if I was gonna."

Bruce put on the auto driver so he could give his ward his full attention. "All those times you'd wake up with nightmares, those times where your bullies broke your bones, those times when you could hardly stay awake in the morning, were all because you kept this from me." He was staring at the boy so intensely. He'd never loved someone this much before and he wanted nothing more than to just rewind the years so he could be there for Dick more. So that Dick didn't have to hide behind Ethan. "Nightmares were all mine," Dick corrected. That made Bruce's head spin. Great. He didn't even think to ask about them. "Dad, please. I need Rob," he insisted. The desperation in his voice was too much for Bruce to bear. "You can keep Robin just no more secrets okay?" Dick nodded, happy with the deal. "I can't believe I didn't realise sooner."

"Same. So much for the world's greatest detective."