SHOUTOUT: Hi guys! Thank you all so much, for your support. I'd just like to let you know though, I'm not out of hiatus yet. However, because of all your support and patience, I wanted to at least post this chapter as thanks. So, thank you. However, more stuff has happened, so yaaaay....

I dropped my phone into dirty bin water. Yay. It may break soon. My email needs to be re-verified, so if the phone breaks, I won't be able to update anymore because I lost my password to my email... Yaaaay.....

So yeah, I am very sorry. However, thank you all so much for your support and loyalty.

Here's a little gift from me (a really bad one, sorry) to all you loyal fans out there! Thank you! :3

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The Justice League sat silently in their places. Everyone was too tired to say anything. They had finally rescued Robin. It was already slightly clear that he had changed as well.

"We finally got him back..." Wonder Woman muttered. Flash spun around in his chair somewhat childishly.

"It already feels better with him here. But you all do realize that we'll have to find out what happened to him eventually, right?" Black Canary asked.

"I fully understand. Stay on standby, Black Canary. His emotional scars may run far deeper than we realise," Batman stated as he stood up.

"Where are you going?" Flash asked.

"To see my son," Batman bluntly replied. He walked off.

"Wait... Yes! Daddybats has arrived!" Flash cried.

"Shut up, Flash," Green Arrow ordered, slouching tiredly in his chair

"You're no fun, green slime."

----

Batman shut the door behind him. The room he stood in was bright, making his dark exterior stand out. Only two people occupied the room he stood in.

Batman and Robin. The dynamic duo which had been broken apart half a year ago.

Robin looked up at Batman.

"Robin... No, Dick. I'd like to talk to you," Batman stated. The boy had only been up for a few hours, his only visitors being his adoptive brothers. No one else had been allowed in. Dick stared at Batman, his blue eyes shining dully. Batman frowned. His ward's eyes looked entirely different.

Before, his eyes used to shine and reflect the sun and all his happiness. His eyes showed how confident and cocky he was. They looked cheerful and innocent. But now they were dull. His blue eyes no longer reflected anything. Bruce could not tell what his ward was feeling at this moment. They say the eyes are the doorway to the soul. Someone had blocked the doorway with a steel wall, one Bruce could not see through.

Bruce pushed down his cowl and walked up to his ward. Dick said nothing, silently watching the man he had not seen for so long. Bruce sat down on a chair next to the bed Dick sat on.

"How have you been, chum?" Bruce asked, a slight smile on his face. To be honest, he didn't know how to start a conversation with his ward. It had been so long, and Dick had obviously changed, that Bruce did not know where to start. So he came to a conclusion; a false hope.

Slade had taken Robin. However, he did not take Dick Grayson. So Bruce would reach out to Dick Grayson; his ward, a simple circus acrobat.

"Hey..." Dick muttered, a slight smirk appeared on his face. "How has everyone been since I've been gone?"

"They've been pretty occupied. It's not the same around here without you. They've all missed you. I've missed you. Barbara is getting tired of our excuses, so you'll probably have to deal with her soon," Bruce chuckled, trying his best to ignore the awkward tension and act normal.

"That'll be a fun time. Death by a red head!" Dick laughed. Bruce smiled.

"Definitely a way to go." Silence filled the room. After a few minutes, Dick spoke up.

"You don't have to... You know."

"Don't have to what?" Bruce asked, looking back at his ward.

"Pretend. You don't have to pretend. You can just ask me. Whatever you or the league want to ask, just ask me. I may not be able to answer everything, but I'll try."

"I wouldn't know where to start," Bruce admitted.

"Eh? Seriously? The great Batman wouldn't even know where to start? That would be a first," Bruce chuckled at Dick's statement.

"Things have changed. You've changed. I wouldn't know where to start since I don't know what's happened," Bruce looked up at the ceiling.

"That's why you should have asked me straight away. Although, I am glad you tried to make an effort. To me, that kind of seems like an abnormal thing. Usually you'd just order me to tell you straight away. It's the same with him. It's weird having someone actually talk to me first before trying to find out what they want to know. It's... Unusual. It almost doesn't feel right..." Dick muttered, smiling sadly at the blanket that kept him warm. Bruce stopped staring at the ceiling and stared at his ward instead as he said these words.

"That's really how you think of me?" Bruce asked. Dick's dull eyes stared directly into Bruce's eyes.

"I will not pull my punches. Yes. That is how I think of it and how I remember it."

"I see. Guess we've both changed," Bruce muttered, trying not to let his heavy emotions overwhelm him.

"So, fire away," Dick said, unaffected by anything happening around him.

"What?" Bruce asked, pulling away from his thoughts.

"You came here to question me, right? Go ahead. I'll answer. I can't promise to answer everything, but I'll try," Dick smiled slightly. Bruce noticed a hint of warmth, but it no longer held the same meaning as it once did. Bruce nodded and pushed his earlier questions away, clearing his head immediately. He could worry about it later but right now he needed to know what had happened to Dick. He could probably get a few personal answers as well through his questions.

"What did Deathstroke want from you?" Batman asked, a stern look passing his face. He was with filled with DETERMATION to find his answers. (Undertale reference, btw people)

"He wanted me to be his apprentice," Robin replied simply.

"Why you, personally?"

"He believed I was the only one able to survive his training plus at a good enough age to do something with it as all further candidates were older and held no potential to continue learning," Robin explained, leaving out the part about Demi Wilson, Slade's daughter in whom Robin was associated with as a child.

"Why did he want an apprentice?"

"He wished to pass on his knowledge to someone regardless of what I'd use it for."

"What did he do when you disobeyed an order or did something wrong?"

"..."

"Robin?"

"Can we not speak about this one?" Robin asked quietly, trying to keep his mind off the blood and gore that tormented his mind. Robin's hand subconsciously moved to his right arm, gripping it tightly. Just below the shoulder on Robin's arm was a mark that had been burnt into his skin. This mark read the simple letter of 'S' and would forever remind Robin of his chains and the suffering he had been put through.

Batman mentally noted Robin's reaction to the question and made a mental note to see what had happened to Robin's arm. Despite the fact that Robin had been shot in the stomach, the League could not bring themselves to see what other kind of injuries Robin had been inflicted upon.

"We'll skip it, but I'd like to know eventually," Batman said, his worry increasing dramatically when Robin refused to answer. Batman continued to do his best to push his emotions to the side and ignore them whilst he questioned Robin.

"Why did you go with Deathstroke that day?"

"We made a deal."

"What kind of deal?" Batman asked, narrowing his eyes at his formerly missing ward.

"If I went with him willingly, he would not activate the nanobots."

"I assume you mean the nanobots inside our systems, correct? They were actually a big clue to finding Deathstroke since we managed to reverse the signal and trace them back once we had found enough out."

"How did you get them out?"

"It wasn't easy. In fact, we barely got any of them out. All I could do really was shut them down so Deathstroke had no means of activating them should he decide to."

"Nice," Robin smiled, somewhat reassured that the nanobots would have no effect on any of the League or team members. Batman gave small smile back before straightening his face again.

"Was there anyone else in Deathstroke's hide out?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"A man named Wintergreen. He was Deathstroke's butler."

"I see. Do you know if Deathstroke ever had contact with anyone?"

"The League of Shadows. The Court of Owls. Various different assassins... The Light a few times."

"Who are the Light?"

"I'm not entirely sure. They hired Deathstroke for something but I'm not entirely sure what. It was an organization. I don't know who of or what of, but I didn't recognise any of the voices. I only heard Deathstroke speaking to them once, and at that time..." Robin suddenly trailed off. Batman noticed Robin begin to shake. "At that time..."

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Robin," Batman reassured. Batman felt his blood boil as he immediately realised that whatever Slade had done to Robin when he found out had left Robin with an immense emotional scar. Robin's shaking slowly died, meaning he had managed to change his thoughts to something different.

"I didn't recognise the voices, but it seemed like voice filters were being used. I saw about eight silhouette and I couldn't really identify them. I'm sorry, I don't actually know anything about them..." Robin muttered loud enough for Batman to hear.

"Its okay Robin, you still gave me helpful information. Did Deathstroke have any plans for the League?"

"Not that I know of. He showed no interest in the League. The only time they were mentioned was when the nanobots were brought up."

"Did you ever leave Deathstroke's base?"

Robin hesitated, guilt and fear striking him hard. "Yes, but only once." Robin lied. He had left several times.

"Why? What did you do when you left?"

"I..." Robin muttered. He could hear his heartbeat in his ear, threatening to burst. How could he tell Batman what he did? He knew he would have to tell Batman about his newfound scars and the torture eventually, that he could deal with. But how could be possibly tell Batman that he had killed someone before?

But then he remembered Jason and Damian. They've killed people before and Batman still accepts them, despite the regular arguments. But still. That didn't matter. How could be possibly tell his guardian that he had killed the man who killed his parents?! Bruce would think he did it out of vengeance! He would hate him! He would despise him, throw him in prison! Sent him back to Juvie even! Slade was right. Batman would see him as no more than a traitor. He really was Renegade.

Robin felt himself become dizzy as Slade's word recoiled in his brain.

"You're offically a traitor, Renegade."

"Your first kill. I wonder what the League would do, should they find out about this."

"You'll never escape your chains, Robin. No matter where you are, you'll always be chained down by something, someone, somewhere. It's a shame really. It's a waste of potential. But there's nothing I can do except guide those chains and make use of them, even if it only means chaining you down further."

The world began to spin for Robin, Slade's words repeating and echoing throughout his broken mind without mercy until Robin's own words played in his mind.

"Somebody... Please save me... I don't think I can hang on any further."

Batman shot up, concern and fear clouding him as a stream of tears flew straight down Robin's face as the boy began to shake uncontrollably and he entered a panic attack.

"Robin! Listen to me, Robin! You're not with Deathstroke anymore! You're at home, where he can't reach you anymore! You need to snap out of it and calm down. Whatever he did to you, isn't going to happen again. He can't reach you anymore!" Batman urged, shaking the boy slightly to get his attention. Robin's dull tear filled eyes stared at Batman blankly, as if not even recognising the man's existence.

Batman pulled the boy into a hug, desperately trying to calm him down. Regret hung on Batman, making the Dark Knight regret his question. He had already found out plenty of information to work with. If Robin could no longer answer his questions today, then that would be fine. He could ask him any other day, because Deathstroke wouldn't be going anywhere near him so Robin had plenty of time to recover despite the fact he may not actually ever fully recover.

"Listen to me, Robin. You're not with Slade anymore. He's not going to hurt you anymore, your fine. It doesn't matter what you did, your still family. Please calm down. I promise I'll always be here for you..." Batman muttered. Tears continued to stream down Robin's face but his shivering had calmed down.

"But I ki-killed s-somebody. I killed h-him." Robin whispered. Batman froze. "I killed Tony Zucco..." Batman felt himself stop entirely. His thoughts, his mind, his heart, his blood. Robin had killed somebody?

Bruce couldn't bring himself to care at that moment. Bruce pushed past his inital shock and held the boy closer. "It'll be okay..." Bruce muttered, holding the boy as tight as he could. Robin let out a sob and clung to Bruce's costume, sobbing miserably into his shoulder while Batman calmed him down.

For the first time in a long time, tears slipped from Bruce's eyes.
"I won't ever let you go ever again..." Bruce muttered.