Song: Save Yourself. (Nightcored) 

Save yourself from the pain Robin feels.

(Robin's P.O.V)

Excalibur and I had finally made it to her city.

By 'her' I mean the 'wild animal who could never be tamed." Also, I do not know her name yet. So for now, we'll go with "Cat."

"Hey Robin, do you think we can find her?" Excalibur asked.

"I don't really know..." I yawned. "But I think we should rest for the night then gather information tomorrow... It's 2am..." I yawned. After Excalibur was caught up on all the information about the people we were going to find, and what had happened with the League,  Excalibur left to tell his family. I remember their shocked faces when they saw me. How devastated they were when they found out about the League's predicament. How Excalibur promised we'd save them.

I remember the doubt I felt when he said so.

"Might as well. We could search for a while, but it's hard to search an entire city without knowing anything about it..." Excalibur muttered, seemingly to be stuffing a yawn.

"Yeah. We'll find out more about the city in the daytime. We can scout everything then. Do you know where we need to go?" I asked. Excalibur nodded. Excalibur's parents' had contacted a friend they had in this city so we'd have somewhere to stay while we were here.

"I think it's this way... I know the general whereabout but..."

"Good enough. We'll find Cat tomorrow." I sighed, following Excalibur across the rooftops.

Neither one of us noticed the silent animal instinct user that was watching us from the shadows.

~~~~

"If you get too cold, there should be spare blankets over here." Louise said, pointing over to a corner.

"Thank you." I said. She nodded.

"Well, I'm going to bed now, night boys." Louise said, leaving the room.

I sighed and practically collapsed. We had finally reached our destination... Louise had let Excalibur and I sleep on the two couches she had in the living room due to the fact she had no spare rooms.

Meh. It was fine with me. Better then camping out. I had changed into some different clothes, but kept my mask on.

Excalibur was lying on the couch opposite me. His brown hair was also rustled, already looking like a mess. His brown eyes stared at me.

"Hey Robin?" Excalibur asked.

"Yeah?"

"What's your name? Your actual name? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'm just curious."

I stayed quiet for a minute, thinking it over. I never told the team what my name was. Batman made sure of it.

Would it matter if I told Excalibur my name? My identity? All that's protected by my identity has been taken from me, really...

What more could my identity protect? Barbara.

...

She was all I had left.

One day, I'll tell Barbara the truth about who I am. I'll live for that day.

But...

I'm starting a new life now, I'm sure of it.

And I had to throw the other part of me away.

"Dick." I stated.

"I said you didn't have to tell me, no need to-" Excalibur started.

"No. My name." I turned to face him. I took my mask off. "Is Richard Grayson. Dick is a nickname though."

"You... Actually trusted me. Wow. Wait. Dick Grayson? Sounds familiar..."

"Ward of Bruce Wayne." I stated as I shifted my body to face the ceiling.

"Oh yeah!"

"What's your name?"

"Name's Cameron. Cameron Blade."

"Nice to be fighting alongside you, Cameron."

"Same for you, Dick."

After that, silence passed between us. I almost fell asleep when Cameron asked me something.

"Hey... Dick?"

"Yeah?" I mumbled, not really paying attention.

"Does it hurt?"

"What?" I kept my eyes shut, the no sleep from the past few days getting to me.

"You've pretty much just lost everything. Does it hurt?"

"Like no pain I've ever experienced before." I stated, still not fully awake.

"Do you understand why it was so painful though?" Cameron asked. I could hear him shuffling.

"Sure... I do..." I muttered, falling asleep. "Because they all tried to murder me... without hesitation..." I fell asleep, not fully realizing what I had just told Excalibur.

~~~~~~

The sunny breeze rustled my hair. It was around 1pm. Excalibur and I were hanging out in the park, having just scouted the city. There was still a lot to cover, but we figured we should take a break and get something to eat. 

"This city is pretty peaceful." Cameron said. 

"Yeah." I nodded. "It's so different from Gotham."

"Gotham, huh? Hey Ro- I mean, Dick. Do you find this amazing? This city must be so much more different than Gotham."

"Yeah. It is. It's amazing. I can tell the air is different. I don't have to worry about things here. Well, I do, but not as much. Because of who I am, I travel a lot. But I don't really see things like these. It's amazing. It's so different from Gotham. People don't rely on Batman or Robin. They rely on themselves, the police, and the hero that lives here. Its like they're completely at peace. Despite the fact that there are no psychotic villains here, there are still villains here. But yet the people here clearly trust those who work to protect them. They rely on them to help them, but at the same time they rely on themselves. Its... Different."

Cameron chuckled, a smirk evident on his face as he looked down and closed his eyes. 

"Hey! Whats that look for?!" I shouted. "What do you know that I don't?"

"A lot, actually. Its just fun... Sitting here and hearing you talk about these kinds of things." Cameron asked. He looked up to a skyscraper. "Look up there." He pointed to the rooftops. "They're high, huh? It would take incredible balance to be able to move across those. So, that must mean Cat has good balance in order to move around the city." Cameron explained. I exhaled and looked up at the roofs. I could tell that the roofs were either thin or pointed, leaving no running room but instead more like you had to be able to walk across string in order to reach the other rooftop.

"You can tell all that just by looking at it?" I asked, staring up in slight shock.

"Your face is so innocent. Are you sure you're who you say you are?"

"Wha- Hey!" I shouted. Cameron chuckled.

"You're really something. You're so used to Gotham you don't notice the different in culture despite the fact its only in a different city."

"Hey! I notice this kind of stuff! But it doesn't really matter since it's just a different city and not a different country."

"You're wrong. Each city has its own trademark. It's not just the major cities that matter. A city may be smaller than others, however they still have their special points. This is what the Justice League failed to understand, and this is what I'm going to teach you." Cameron stated.

"Hey! I don't need teaching! I understand things fine! Besides, I already know this stuff, so did the League. They came to places like these and saw things while they saved it."

"No."

"I know what I'm talking about!"

"You may know what you're talking about, but your opinion is still flawed. Your eyesight is clouded and limited. You still do not understand everything. Only when you fully understand this, will you be able to see things in a different light. You probably don't understand what I mean, but I'm sure you will one day."

"I already understand..." I muttered.

"If you do, then answer me this; What is makes each city special?" Cameron asked, looking down again. He clearly didn't expect an answer. That only pissed me off more.

What makes a city special if it hasn't got anything to offer the public tourists?

(I'd like to see your answers in the comments, people. I wanna know what you think.)

"The tourist traps?" I asked, looking over to Cameron. He shook his head, not even looking at me. "Natural beauty? Things you can only buy here? Looks? Companies?" He shook his head at everything.

"Like I said, your line of sight is limited. I'll tell you myself what makes every city it's own and special in its own way. Then maybe you'll understand."

"What is it?"

"The people. No one in this world is exactly the same. They verify. From looks to dreams, to names, culture, beliefs, dreams, emotions, religions, fears, specialities - even reasons to live. Someone may look the same and act the same, but in the end they are different in their own way. Nothing can ever change that." Cameron explained. I looked at him in slight shock.

"Until you fully understand and what lies beyond this, your line of sight will be blocked. Heck, I doubt you'll even be able to lead a team this way. Not even he could teach you that. Not a single member in the League could teach you this as when they go to a new city, it's often on business. Night or day business. They come here and end up trashing the city where they had their fight. People cheer them on because they are a part of the 'bigger leagues' and for that they deserve to be treated as gods. However, there are cities where they rely on the daily superhero who does their best to protect them and does not rely on publicity or things such as the bigger leagues who make themselves known." 'That's not true. What do you even know about it?!' "No one even knows Cat's name, yet they trust her and carry on with their normal lives. I've been to Gotham. The atmosphere is different. Batman may be there to protect them, but there's still the fear of the lunatics who live there." I grit my teeth. 'Shut up, Excalibur.'  "No one here is like that. The higher one is, the more likely they are to fall. The League placed themselves too high up and they fell. That was their flaw." Excalibur explained as he stood up. "While it was a smart choice to create a Justice League, the idea was flawed to begin with. Their sights were blocked so they never truly understood. Precaution and experience are no doubtingly useful, however there is only so far that will get you. I suppose you lose the thrill that also comes with the job and you die inside." My head shot up. 'Thrill?'

"Do you understand, Robin? I'm sure you felt it. The thrill you feel when you first become someone who fights crime. There's always that thrill. There's always that fear. But over time, if you begin to lose this feeling, then you are clearly dying inside."

Cameron walked away.
"Think it over. I'll meet you at the square in 3 hours. 4pm. Try not to keep me waiting too long." Cameron waved his hand as he walked away.

Dammit!

~~~~~~

I sulked as I walked down the path, bitterly thinking about Cameron's words. What does he know anyways?!

"Hey Tomato! Whatcha doing?" An annoying voice asked. I looked to where the voice came from. I crouched in front of some bushes and watched what had caught my attention. A girl with bright red hair was being picked on by two other boys. Whats their problem anyways?

"Go away!" The girl with red hair shouted.

"Hey look! Her face is going all red! She really is a tomato!" Jerk one laughed. Jerk two rustled the girl's hair.

"Shut up! Stop calling me a tomato! I'm clearly not one!" The girl shouted, slapping Jerk Two's hand away.

"Oi, oi. Its not right to lie about who you are." Jerk one sneered, staring at the girl seriously. My eye twitched. I stood up from the bushes and walked towards the scene.

"And its not right for you people to be able to lie and pretend you're better or stronger when you're clearly not. Let alone judge others by their looks." I stated, shoving my hands into my pockets. The girl turned to face me. Her brown eyes looked at me, suspicion and curiosity sparking in them. I gave her a slight smile as I stopped in front of the two boys. My smile disappeared and I turned to glare at them. "Go away." I sent a batglare in their direction. Jerk Two nodded weakly and turned to leave. Jerk One, however, stayed and grit his teeth, sending me a weak glare.

"Like hell. You can't boss us around." Jerk One growled.

"True, true. But I can get rid of you."

"Shut up, you bastard!" Jerk One shouted as he threw his fist towards me.

~~~~

I sighed, dusting myself off. 

"What a nuisance..." I muttered. I sent a quick glare towards the two groaning boys in a heap on the floor. They never stood much of a chance anyways.

I turned to the girl, currently kneeling on the floor. I held my hand out for her. "You okay?" I asked.

"U-uh... Y-yeah..." She reluctantly took my hand. I pulled her up.

"Did those idiots hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Good."

"Who are you?" She asked me.

"Name's Richard. Nice to meet you."

"O-oh. My name is Cat."