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Duke Thomas had a lot to get used to.
First, he moved into one of the biggest manors in North America; secondly, he got adopted by Bruce Wayne; then, he found out that Bruce Wayne was Batman – some days, he still couldn’t believe it – finally, he became part of the Batfamily. And as weird as life with a billionaire vigilante was, for Duke, nothing was stranger than walking in on a stoic, anti-fun Damian Wayne in a heavy make-out session with his girlfriend. Though, in Duke’s defense, this was the library.
He couldn’t help but think back to the end of his and Robin’s first patrol together.
(One week ago)
“Why aren’t you panicking? I’m panicking,” The Signal loudly whispered to Robin after 20+ minutes of silence. “I’m freaking out.”
“Oh, relax,” Robin replied calmly. The fact that they were both strung to the ceiling by their feet didn’t seem to phase Boy Wonder V, and it was pissing The Signal off. “This crew is using alien technology to block any and all signals coming to and from this warehouse,” Robin stated calmly. “We’re trapped.” The Signal’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe it! That’s it? That’s all Robin was going to say? Rolling his eyes, The Signal once again tried to lift to reach the knot around his ankles, but his upper body screamed in protest. “I don’t think that’s going to work,” Robin stated nonchalantly. “Whatever they hit us with – the feeling is just now returning to my hands.”
“Why are you so lackadaisical about our current situation?”
“Why are you panicking? They aren’t going to kill us.”
“And you know that how?”
“Because they would have done – “
"Aahh!” A high-pitched scream interrupted Robin, followed by the sounds of gunfire. A growl was heard along with a “What the fu-ahh!” The Signal’s heart began racing in his chest. “I told you we’d be fine,” Robin stated.
“What the heck!” The Signal nearly screeched. Suddenly, a body came soaring through the door of the warehouse. Robin and The Signal turned their heads to the door simultaneously. The Signal’s heart jumped into his throat at the sight of four red eyes in the doorway. His world began to spin as he was hit with the realization that they were all about to die. He was going to die, and he hadn’t even flown on Bruce Wayne’s private jet. Life was so unfair.
“I’m sorry!” the figure on the floor began scrambling backward. Being that they had been ambushed from behind, neither Robin nor The Signal had gotten a good look at their captors. Now seeing one of them up close, The Signal felt embarrassed and ashamed. He was sure Robin was feeling the same way. “Please! Please! Please! Please!” the man was now on his knees. Boxes in the warehouse began to shake as Robin and The Signal began to sway from a supernatural wind. The Signal kept his eye on the entity who was surrounded by black…smoke. Was it smoke? The Signal studied it closer. It had to be smoke because it was definitely not goo.
A shriek caused The Signal to almost jump. A black tendril was wrapped around their attacker’s ankle and slowly dragged him towards the…spirit. The Signal glanced at Robin. Robin was only watching with mild interest while the once heavily armed gangster screamed and clawed at the ground. “Okay,” Robin eventually said, “I think he’s had enough. You don’t want to scare him to death.”
“What?” The Signal looked around. “Who are you talking to?” he asked.
“I wasn’t going to scare him to death,” a feminine voice came from the entity. The Signal shook his head, taking a second look. No longer the stuff of nightmares, the spirit’s form suddenly became humanoid. A shudder of relief ran up and down The Signal’s spine. He knew this hooded creature only by name. The out-of-character calmness showed by Robin now made sense. “But we had a date,” the female spoke as strolled up to the two young men while dragging the squirming man behind her.
She squatted down in front of the two hanging heroes, her head on the same level as Robin’s. “You sure took your sweet time,” Robin smiled at her, and The Signal stared in open-mouthed shock. Robin never smiled. He smirked, scowled, and sneered. But he never smiled. The Signal deduced he was in an alternate universe.
“I had to teleport from the other side of the country,” she replied, her powers slowly choking the perp, only releasing him when he was unconscious. “This is The Signal,” Robin introduced him. “My most tolerable sibling, after Cassandra, of course.”
“Of course,” the female echoed softly, letting the body hit the ground.
“Signal, this is Raven. My girlfriend,” Robin introduced, attempting to hide a blush that The Signal totally noticed.
“Hey, Raven,” The Signal smiled, “it’s nice to meet you.” Raven turned her head to him before removing her hood. This girl was the horrific creature at the doorway? This girl with the pretty, wide, violet eyes who couldn’t be taller than 5’4” was the four-eyed monster who took out who knows how many men? “Stop ogling my girlfriend,” Robin almost growled.
“I wasn’t ogling your girlfriend,” The Signal said. Robin scoffed in reply. “Hold still, both of you,” Raven said as her eyes glowed black, “let me get you down.”
Thirty minutes later, after getting healed by Raven and giving a quick statement to the cops, the three vigilantes watched from afar as law enforcement took over the crime scene. “How did you guys even get caught by those second-rate criminals?” Raven asked. At least 10 gangbangers had been captured, and miscellaneous contraband had been confiscated by the cops.
“They attacked us from behind,” Robin answered.
“They had alien technology,” The Signal muttered.
“Still,” Raven frowned at Robin, “you’re usually so on guard.”
“I know,” Robin said, “but I’ve been distracted all day.”
“You?” Raven scoffed, and The Signal silently agreed. “What in the world had you distracted?”
“Well,” Robin’s facial expression changed to a sultry one as he wrapped his arms around Raven’s waist, pulling her into him. “How am I supposed to concentrate when you insist on sending me pictures of- “
“Robin!” Raven slapped a hand over Robin’s mouth.
“Well, this evening has been…strange,” The Signal said with a furrowed brow. “You know, you could have told me your girl was on her way,” he added with a frown. “I wouldn’t have panicked so much.”
“It is okay to panic every once in a while,” Raven stated kindly.
“I liked watching you freak out,” Robin smirked. Of course, The Signal thought with an eye-roll. There was the Robin he knew and mostly loathed. “Be nice,” Raven muttered.
“Oh, we both know that I am very nice,” Robin replied, his voice dropping an octave.
“And on that note, I’m going to go,” The Signal said.
“I can teleport you back to the Batcave,” Raven offered.
“Um…” The Signal thought about accepting the offer but quickly changed his mind when Robin started nuzzling Raven’s neck. “I’ll be fine. I could use some air.”
“Well, be safe,” Raven added, seemingly oblivious to her boyfriend’s mouth on her neck.
“Uh-huh,” The Signal squeaked before sprinting away from the two. “And Damian says he’s nothing like his father when it comes to PDA,” Duke muttered to himself. “Give me a break.”
(Present)
“Dude, get out!” Damian’s voice brought Duke back to the present.
“Oh…uh…my bad,” Duke stuttered. “Hey, Raven,” he greeted the blushing empath before rushing from the library.
Yeah, there was a lot he needed to get used to.