Normal POV

Bruce stood inside the lobby of the old abandoned theater holding the briefcase full of money. It was 2:58 and he hadn’t seen or heard from this Gunman guy. He hoped Dick was ok.

Two more minutes had passed and it was now three. He looked down at his watch then looked around. Still he saw no one.

“Hello,” Bruce called to the empty room.

Bruce looked down at his watch again then sighed.

“You have the money?” a low voice asked from the shadows.

“Where is my son?” Bruce asked getting a bit angry.

Gunman laughed then stepped out of the shadows dragging Dick with him. Dick’s hands were tied behind him and there was tape over his mouth.

Bruce’s eyes went wide when he saw the giant bruise on Dick’s cheek. Dick looked up to Bruce then looked away. Bruce could’ve sworn he saw regret, or something like it, in his eyes.

“Here’s your money,” Bruce said as he threw the briefcase down at Gunman’s feet, “now let my son go.”

Dick looked up at Bruce surprised. ‘Did he just call me son?’ Dick locked eyes with Bruce and Dick could see fear in Bruce’s eyes. ‘But Batman doesn’t get scared.’

Gunman squatted down, pulling Dick down with him so Dick fell on his knees, and opened the briefcase.

“It’s all there, you have my word,” Bruce said, not taking his eyes off his son.

Gunman took a few more minutes to look through the money. When he was finally convinced that it was all there, he closed the briefcase, stood up, gripping the briefcase tightly, and then threw Dick at Bruce, causing Dick to land hard on his chest.

The fall knocked the wind out of him, but he had his head up enough so his chin didn’t bust open on impact. Bruce quickly reached down and helped Dick up, pulled the tape off his mouth, and undid the ropes that were binding his hands. When they both looked up, Gunman was gone.

“Thanks,” Dick said, not even looking at Bruce.

Bruce grabbed Dick and pulled him into a hug which surprised Dick.

“Are you ok?” Bruce asked after he broke off from the hug. He looked Dick over from head to toe. The only thing he saw was the giant bruise he saw earlier.

Dick only nodded, still not able to look or even speak to him. Bruce looked a bit worried at his answer, but left it alone and placed his arm around Dick’s shoulder and led him to the door where Alfred was waiting for them with the car.

Once they stepped out the door, Alfred came around and gave a sigh of relief when he saw Dick. “Ahhhh, thank heavens you’re alright, Master Richard,” he said as he opened the back door of the car so they could get in.

Dick gave Alfred a small, weak smile before he got in the car. Alfred looked to Bruce, worry etched on his face once again. Bruce merely looked at Alfred sadly, let out a sigh, and then got in the car.

Robin’s POV

He walked in there, gave him the money, and then hugged me like I didn’t do anything, but this whole thing is just another example of what a problem I am to him.

I know I’ve made him give up millions, if not billions, of dollars because I’ve been kidnapped and held for ransom. Yeah I know that he normally saves me as Batman before he has to give the money up, but what if he wasn’t Batman? What if he was just a regular guy with lots of money?

I’m a target for anyone that wants money, and a problem for Batman.

How can he really need me?

Normal POV

No one talked the entire way home. Dick just sat there and stared out the window and Bruce went from staring at Dick to staring out the window. Alfred occasionally glanced in the rearview mirror to check on both of them.

When they got home, Dick opened the door of the car before the car had completely stopped, and ran into the mansion, then up to his room and slammed and locked it. Bruce didn’t run, but quickly walked inside and searched for his son.

He finally checked Dick’s room and found that the door was locked.

“Dick?” Bruce asked as he knocked. “Dick, can you please open the door? I need to tlk to you,” he said after a few seconds of silence.

He waited a few more seconds and listened for any kind of movement, but heard nothing. “Dick, please,” he said as he knocked again.

Again he waited a few more seconds and then finally decided just to let him be alone for a while. ‘I’ll try to talk to him during supper.’

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Dick laid on his bed as quiet as he could. He didn’t want to talk to Bruce or hear how much of a disappointment he was to him. He just laid there through Bruce’s pleas. ‘He’ll give up eventually.’

After a few more minutes, he couldn’t hear Bruce knocking on his door or asking him to open the door, so he determined that he had given up and left.

He got up from his bed and went over to his window and stared out. ‘Would Bruce’s life be easier without me?’ He continued to stare out the window for about ten more minutes then went over and laid back down on his bed.

‘All I am is a problem. That was the last thought that went through hi head before he fell asleep.

That was the last thought that went through his head before he fell asleep.

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The next morning, Bruce sat at the table alone, eating his breakfast and reading his newspaper. He got called to work as Batman, so he missed supper last night, and let Dick stay home last night so he could rest up. He figured Dick didn’t get much sleep the night he was kidnapped and that was why he didn’t open the door when he tried to talk to him.

Bruce looked up from his paper when he heard someone come in the dining room.

“Good morning, Dick,” Bruce said with a smile. “How’d you sleep?”

Dick just gave him a small smile and said, “Fine.”

“Good,” Bruce said as he picked his paper back up, and Dick’s smile went away.

Alfred came in and sat a plate of eggs, bacon, toast, and a glass of white milk in front of him. Dick looked up and gave Alfred a big smile.

“Thanks, Alfred.”

“You’re quite welcome, Master Richard,” Alfred said, smiling back at the boy and chuckling a bit, then turned and headed back into the kitchen.

Dick and Bruce both ate in silence. The silence was starting to get to Dick so he decided to break it. He looked up at Bruce.

“Bruce, I’m sorry.”

Bruce sat his paper down and looked up at him surprised, “What for?”

“For yesterday.”

“That wasn’t your fault, Dick. Some mad man grabbed you.”

Dick looked down at his plate, shame coming across his face again. “Like always,” he said in a whisper.

“What?” Bruce asked, not hearing what he said.

“Nothing,” Dick responded.

Bruce continued to look at Dick but Dick didn’t look back up at him. Dick just got up and walked toward the door.

“Dick?”

Dick stopped and turned around to look at Bruce. “I’m gonna get ready to head to the mountain,” he said before walking out the door.

Bruce sighed then picked up his paper again, but he couldn’t concentrate on the words. He couldn’t stop thinking about the way Dick looked after he mentioned the kidnapping. ‘He looked like he was blaming himself for what happened. It wasn’t his fault.’

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“Recognize Batman, 02. Robin, B01,” the computer announced to the rest of the mountain.

Wally ran right up to Robin. “Dude, you’re finally here!” he yelled, making Robin whence a little. Wally then looked to Batman. “Do you have a mission for us?”

“Yes,” Batman replied as he walked to the place he usual briefed the team.

Batman brought up the holo screen as everyone gathered around.

“This,” he started, referring to a man on the screen, “is Joseph Billing. He’s a scientist that has been working on a weapon called the Immobilizer. This Immobilizer is said to be able to stop anything that gets hit by it.”

Batman brought up a video of Joseph shooting an active volcano. The volcano was erupting and throwing lava and debris high into the air and all over the place. The beam from the Immobilizer hit the volcano for a few seconds and then the volcano stopped throwing debris and lava everywhere. Joseph then turned to the camera and smiled before the video went black.

The team just stood there very impressed except for Robin who just stood there lost in thought.

“Billing,” Batman continued after the video went blank, “has been missing for about a week now, along with the Immobilizer. The League and I have been trying to find him since he disappeared and yesterday we think we did.”

Batman brought up a map and showed them a location that was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

“You want us to go to the middle of the ocean? Who do you think we are, fish? Uhhh… no offense, Kaldur,” Wally said turning to Kaldur to apologize.

“None taken, but he is right. Are you saying there is an underwater base there?” Kaldur asked looking from Wally to Batman.

“Either that or somehow they’re cloaking the island or base that’s out there,” Batman replied. “Your mission is to go there and see if Billing is being held there. If he is, contact the League. This is a convert mission, do NOT engage unless absolutely necessary.”

“We will leave immediately,” Kaldur said.

Everyone turned to head to the bio ship, Robin at the back of the group.

“Robin,” Batman called before Robin got out of the room.

Robin turned and looked at Batman. “Yeah?”

“Is everything alright?” Batman asked as he walked up to Robin and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Robin replied. Batman wasn’t convinced.

Batman knelt down so he was eye level with Robin and placed his other hand on his other shoulder. “Are you sure? You haven’t been the same since I brought you home yesterday.”

Robin gave him a small smile. “Yeah. I guess the event’s still bothering me,” he lied.

Batman could tell Robin was hiding something from him, but just nodded and stood up. ‘I’m sure he’ll tell me when he’s ready.’ “Ok,” was all he said.

He watched as Robin ran off the catch up with the others. ‘Why won’t he talk to me?’

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The mission started off the way it was supposed to, that was until Wally slipped and fell down a hill right into the center of a bunch of guards. After that they did what they always did, clean up Wally’s mistake, get what they came to find, and then report back to a not very happy Batman. However, this time something new happened.

Robin wasn’t focused at all. He couldn’t stop thinking about how much of a problem he was for Bruce and that caused him to get captured while he was trying to free Joseph. Now the team had to not only rescue Joseph and the Immobilizer, but him as well.

This was not convincing him that he was useful. This situation was convincing him that he’s even a problem for the team. He felt horrible.

The team did, however, get both of them, and the Immobilizer, out safely, and got Joseph back to his home. Now they were flying back to the mountain.

Robin was sitting quietly in his seat just starring out the window. Everyone was talking to each other about the mission and what they did in the past week.

Kaldur noticed that something was wrong with Robin and walked over to him.

“Robin, is everything alright?”

Robin looked up at the Atlantian and smiled, no evidence of anything wrong showing on his face. “Yeah, Kaldur, I’m fine.” Kaldur was not completely convinced and Robin caught that. “Really. I’m just thinking.”

Kaldur nodded then walked back to the others. Robin watched then turned back to the window and all the sorrow and guilt came back to his face.

Robin’s POV

I put the team in danger. They had to risk their lives to save mine, as if they didn’t have enough to worry about.

Why am I such a problem?

I’ve let my team down. I’ve let Gotham down. I’ve let Batman down. I’ve let everyone down, even my parents.

Mama. Tata. I failed them. I let them fall to their deaths. I should’ve tried harder to tell them about Zucco. I should’ve tried harder to make them not go out there.

I’ve failed everyone I’ve ever cared about.

Who would want a problem child like me? Who would want someone who makes mistakes all the time? Who puts their friends in danger? Who almost gets the entire police station and everyone in it blown up?

Am I really needed?