CHAPTER 5

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[Gotham City. March 13, 09:30 CT.

Dick Grayson POV]

David was an easy-to-read guy, and at the same time, puzzling.

By this, I meant it was clear to see he was depressed, with how he behaved and such, but it was hard to know what he knew, like my identity.

Before the day I burnt his kitchen trying to make a soufflé, I was sure I knew everything there was to know about him, and yet.

When I told him I was Robin, he reacted like someone that already knew about my identity.

Perhaps I was overthinking the entire situation, his kitchen was burning at the time, so his reaction could've been perhaps dulled by all the fire around, but still, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

Perhaps his sister had told him.

Then again, Batman was absolutely certain Black Canary would not do such a thing unless it was absolutely necessary.

Which meant, that David had, if my suspicions were right, figured out who I was, and by connection, Bruce was all by himself.

As far-fetched as it felt, it was the only thing that made sense.

That, or he simply didn't care, and reacted to my revelation according to that parameter.

I blame Batman for this.

If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here in my room making conspiracy theories about my friend. Without him I wouldn't be looking so much into things.

I sighed.

In the end, who cared if he knew beforehand.

—•——•——•——•——•——•——•——•——•—

[Gotham City. July 21, 07:30 CT.

Bruce Wayne/Batman POV]

The court of owls had disappeared.

They knew I was onto them, and elected to hide and cease all activities for the time being. I didn't like that, it meant they were fully aware of what attacking David meant, which means, this was a risk they were willing to pay.

I scowled at the thought.

They were a few reasons why such an organization would want him, his power was amongst them. Someone with the same destructive capability that makes Superman a threat.

Perhaps even worse.

A single shout from David could level entire countries to nothing but debris.

We were not prepared for that.

Not nearly enough.

And in the wrong hands, the damage he could do was unimaginable.

So, as to avoid that, we had to prepare for what was to come. His powers would unavoidably be known, sooner or later. Meaning he had to be prepared for power hungry individuals hunting him.

He needed to be able to fend off their attempts to acquire his power.

His training regime needed to increase even more.

"Computer, call Black Canary," I spoke, sitting in front of my computer in the Bat Cave.

—•——•——•——•——•——•——•——•——•—

[Star City. August 25, 20:30 PDT.

Oliver Queen POV]

I was sad.

Sad that Roy wasn't like David.

I mean, here I was, training my protégé, and all he wanted or ever talked about was, when would he join the league.

"Speedy, you need to aim higher," I spoke, pointing at his bow.

"I know," Roy replied, sounding rather annoyed.

Maybe I should ask Dinah to switch protégés.

"Well, then do it," I smiled at him, inwardly laughing at my previous thought, as if Dinah would allow that, she would probably canary cry my balls off.

"Why are we even doing this?" Roy scowled, turning to glare at me, "You know I'm good with the bow, and never miss, why do you keep delaying my entrance to the league?" He added, his tone bordering the line of shouting.

"Roy, you are not ready, but soon you will be," I said, for like the hundredth time this month alone, "Between you and I, what you want will happen next year, so don't worry," I winked.

Roy sighed, "A year," he almost sounded hopeful. Which is better than his usual angry tone, I wonder when and why he changed, he used to be so cheery.

"It's not that bad," I smiled, "Even Black Bolt is joining during that time,"

Roy scowled even harder, "Your other protégé," he scoffed.

I blinked, before sighing, "Not really, God knows the kid doesn't like using a bow and arrow, but I do train him from time to time,"

"At least he gave you a better name for your base," Roy sighed, a smile creeping up his face. "Even I have to admit, the quiver sounds better than the arrow cave,"

I still feel deeply offended I didn't make that connection before.

"Yes," I chuckled.

—•——•——•——•——•——•——•——•——•—

[Star City. December 19, 19:30 PDT.

David Lance POV]

In the ever changing life of a hero, situations always escalated out of hand rather quickly.

This year my life started with an attempt at it. Then, things escalated, more training, more fights, less free time.

I frowned at the thought, right now wasn't the time to reminisce about the past, right now I had to focus as I ran through the ceilings of Star City, following two masked individuals, unidentified individuals.

I looked at them and decided to test the waters as I flung a few knives at them, to which they ducked under their trajectory, without stopping or slowing down.

Trained assassins perhaps, I wonder why two trained assassins were after a simple suburban doctor, questions for later.

Concentrating in the battle, I fired a rope with my rope gun to the next building so that the grapnel embedded itself, as I swung into the battle closing the gap between us.

The assassins stopped.

I waved at them.

"You should've let us go kid," One of the assassins remarked, pulling a knife out.

"He should've," The other assassin agreed, doing the same.

Two against one.

I liked those odds.

The assassins made their first move, both rushing at me at the same time, one in the front and the other trying to flank me while I got into position.

Then at the same time, both assassins attacked with careful coordination bringing their knives down on me, one to my back, and the other to my chest, but a knee and an elbow attack to their guts foiled their combined efforts, as both assassins doubled over in pain.

However, before I could seize this opportunity.

Both assassins recovered, one more than the other taking a few steps back, now in a defensive stance.

Seeing how they attacked, I only had but a few moments before they would try another combination, which meant I had to break up their dynamic. The one in the front had taken more damage, as the force of a kick is exponentially stronger than an elbow attack, therefore, the one in the back was in better condition to attack me, and possibly land a hit.

So, this time, I took the offensive, running towards the assassin that had tried to attack me on the back.

The assassin, realizing what was about to happen, rushed towards me, clashing with me. For a brief moment, we traded punches while the other assassin recovered.

However, I had the advantage in this clash, which eventually ended with my first colliding with his jaw one last time, knocking him out.

By this time, assassin B had recovered his breath and was running towards me, knife aimed at my neck, it was too late. I ducked under his attack, grabbing his knife arm as it passed through thin air, before taking a step forward slamming his body to the ground.

I had won, all thanks to what Dinah and Bruce had taught me these past few months, which was to consider every battle like a chess match. After all, every fight was all about keeping track of where all the pieces were.

"Black Bolt, do you copy me?" Dinah asked through the intercom.

I looked at the assassins out cold on the floor before pressing a button on my belt to reply.

I had a few buttons for communication through radio, each button would play a voice line through the coms.

"Enemies defeated, awaiting for pickup," and this was what the voice line I had selected said.

"On it," Dinah replied, cutting communications.

I sighed, pulling out a rope from my utility belt, tying the assassins before they awoke from their deep slumber. It was after all like they said, better safe than sorry.

"Good job," Dinah complimented as she arrived where I was, smiling at the sight of the assassins being out cold.

~It was surprisingly easy,~ I replied, whoever had sent them to kill the doctor had money, not enough to hire the shadows, but enough to hire pseudo-competent assassins, second-grade ones.

"Any idea who sent them?" Dinah asked, kneeling in front of the duo.

I shook my head, as I signed, ~As you know, interrogation it's not my forte,~ kind of hard to acquire information when you can't talk without blowing them up.

Dinah snorted, "I suppose you have a point, fortunately for you, I am very good at just that,"