177 [AT] Dressing...

[After Transition]

"How are Dick and Barbara? Are they recovering?" Batman questions as Alfred approached us along the walkway as Batman continues to stare at the Bat-computer say in his high backed chair while I stand a length always behind him staying silent and simply watching as he continues to work away on the Bat-computer analysing the new samples of Scarecrow's Fear Toxin which has been what he's been doing since we returned to the Bat-cave after we loaded Robin and Batgirl into the Bat-mobile after handing Scarecrow over to the police and the entire time his been pretty much silent and while that isn't much different than how he usually behaves when he's dressed up as a bat this time I think the silence is different since this time I've actually done something bad (if you can classify going out and defeating two different villains from Batman's rogue gallery as bad, though I don't see how you could classify that as bad) as I've disobeyed direct orders from Batman and ventured out on my own to fight crime and instead of stopping after defeating Two-Face I continued to venture throughout Gotham City and fight crime before finally capping off the night by travelling to Batman and his sidekicks' location where I again fought against another villain this time being Scarecrow and so I can't help but feel there's more to this silence with men awkwardly stood here as Batman goes about his business and lets me quietly stew, this is actually the first time I've heard a Batman open his mouth since we returned to the Bat-cave and he handed over Dick and Barbara to Alfred to take care of while he got to work and me being wholly lost and confused as to what to do in this situation decided to follow Batman around like a lost puppy which is why I've been quietly standing behind him all this time instead of running off to do some of my own shit. "Master Dick and Miss Barbara are doing just fine now, they are currently resting in bed with Master Dick in his room m and Miss Barbara in one of the guest rooms. How is your work going Master Bruce? Some luck, I hope."

"Indeed. After analysing this sample I can conclude that the effects of this new Fear Toxin while much stronger and longer-lasting since it is injected directly into the bloodstream it still eventually wears off and so both Barbara and Dick should be back to normal soon so there is no need to worry about them. The effects should have already worn off in fact so they show both be back to normal when they wake up, thankfully this new batch of Fear Toxin doesn't last too much longer than the gaseous version." Batman responds to Alfreds inquires and informs him that both Dick and Barbara should be back to normal soon after they wake up and while that's fine for Dick I still worry about Barbara since her father doesn't know that she's actually fighting criminals every day and night and he'd be quite worried when he goes home and discovers that she's not there and she hasn't left him any messages but I realise that that's a non-issue since there have been not one but two different villain crimes committed tonight and her father being Commissioner James Gordon will have his hands quite full with the paperwork and other stuff he has to do due to both of these incidents so he won't have time to go home and check on his daughter so Barabara sleeping here throughout the night should be fine, I was actually quite surprised to see when Batman and simply handed both Barbara and Dicks unconscious bodies off to Alfred and he manage to take them both away and up to their respective rooms with ease (since he used technology to do the heavy lifting) and the casualness associated with being so familiar with something that you shouldn't be familiar with and he was so nonplussed about it as well.

"Fantastic news Sir, brilliant. I shall head back upstairs to their rooms now and remove both of their restraints and take them off their sedation, I dislike having to see them both in such states. Don't worry Master Nick I can see that both of their current states worry you buy don't worry they are absolutely fine, it isn't the first time that one of these crusaders have come into contact with some mind-altering chemical or another and we've had to learn to restrain and sedate them after not taking such precautions the first-time round and it is much better this way." Alfred example explains when he sees the worried look on my face when he mentions the current conditions of both Richard and Barbara being that they are restraint ned and sedated and in their beds and I can understand why they would do such a thing as well since they may very well go on wild when they wake up and so they are kept sedated and the restraints are an extra measure in case whatever affected them may have had other effects like making them less vulnerable to sedation and so in case they resisted the sedation and woke up they would be restrained and kept from making havoc, I'm glad that the same samples I secured from Scarecrow worked to help us realise that both Barbara and Dick don't need securing after all which should go a long way when Batman finally gets around to dressing me down for my actions tonight and the fact that my presence helped them and the samples I secured helped them should at least mitigate some of the dressing down coming my way and maybe even net me some praise for my actions tonight which would be quite good actually since it would go a long way in properly gaining everyone's trust and working towards my eventual end goal which is to be trusted enough to walk away from here and not spread any secrets I've learned.

Alfred then turned around and left walking along the pathway presumably to a cut through the clock entrance and go remove both Barbara and Richards restraints and take them off sedation leaving me alone on the platform with Batman who is still staring at the Batcomputer though he's continuing to just look at the formula for Scarecrow's new Fear Toxin most likely contemplating something in that brain of his and after a few minutes of silence I decided that I've wanted long enough and I can't standard and here forever and so I move to leave and go back to my room which is honestly quite barren and plain apart from all the tech laying around that I work on at work with Lucius Fox and I work on it in my spare time but that's all there is in my room, moving off and heading towards the pathway back to the entrance I stop my movements when I hear the swivel of a chair and I turn back around to see that Batman has turned to face me in his chair and not only that but he moves his hand towards his towel and with a quiet hiss his mask disconnects from his Batsuit and he removes his cowl and places it on a desk to the side before looking back at me but this time with the face of Bruce Wayne instead of Batman and figuring that we are about to have a talk I move back over towards him dropping a healthy distance in front of him. "Nick, it's time to talk. First of all, you disobeyed direct orders to stay at the manor and not fight crime until I permitted you to put on your costume and start fighting criminals, not only that but not only did you disregard my orders and go out to fight crime before I said you were ready but you took on not one but two of the most dangerous villains in Gotham without back up and without prior experience. What you did was reckless, dangerous and above all the actions of a hero."

"I know that I was reckless Batman but what did you expect me to do? You guys were being held down by the Scarecrow and someone has to take care of Two-Face so.. Wait, but what?" I begin to try and explain my actions to Batman to somehow come away from this incident and not be banned from my new suit and to not lose any of the trust that I had built up over these past three months but then I actually acknowledge the rest of his sentence and as opposed to the rest of his speech telling me I'm a disobedient idiot he ends it on a high note saying that my actions were actually the actions of a hero but it's not like my body just moved on my own when I saw someone in trouble and because of that I'm gonna get rewarded with 'One For All' by All Might (I ain't a fuckin Deku, am I?) because actually thought about my actions and I knew that I might well be praised for taking the initiative but with all the silent treatment that hope was lessening but now I know that I am actually more respected and trusted since I disobeyed Batman's orders to foul a bank robbery, this was the outcome I had hoped for when I resolved to leave the Batcave and head for the bank to take down Two-Face and while I didn't plan on getting involved with Scarecrow that should have also built up even more trust since I ended up saving all of them from Scarecrow though I don't doubt that Batman already had a plan to defeat him and help his sidekicks but it's the thought that counts right.

"I admit I was getting a bit worried when you were following my orders to the letter with no deviation from it at all since you are a teenager and you should be quite independent and not very good at taking and following orders, if anything your obedience was concerning but I'm glad that tonight you made up your mind and decided to take action going against my rules which shows that you have the makings of someone ready to be part of this world we live in. When Robin first started fighting crimes it was of his own accord although he and his own motives and I ended up helping him and training him and taking him along with me to fight crime, Barbara was just a high schooler who put on a Batman-inspired costume and went out to start fighting crime on her own to help out her father and I ended up bringing he run and teaching her to fight crime properly. They both did what they did without caring about my opinion and I'm glad to we that you are doing the same, go out your Suit away and get some rest. You'll be quite busy tomorrow, you'll be following me on patrol." Well, this worked out better than expected and Batman's telling me to get some rest since hell be taking me with him to fight crime tomorrow but I'm supposed to be an eager beaver right now so how can I promote the imagery and gather more trust from him. "Okay, great but you are still going to be going out tonight, correct? The night is far from over and I know for a fact you'll be going back out there and with both Barbara and Dick out of commission you've got no one to tag along with you, and I'm still fighting fit. No time like the present, am I right?"

Batman glances at me before nodding his head. "Very well, go to the Batmobile aid wait there. I'll be with you momentarily, make sure you have everything you need." Great, a night out fighting crime with Batman. Slowly but surely things are looking up, I'm keeping on keeping on...

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