Interested Bystanders
Part 6
"Yeah hi, it's me.
Meet me in Aparo Park tomorrow at ten AM. Tell the others." That was it, no need
to waste time with details until they were in the park.
On the other end of the call the recipient pushed number four on his saved
numbers phone list, Roy smiled, it was about time. "Wally? Call the others,
we're meeting Robbie at Aparo at ten tomorrow morning, It sounds like he has an
idea."
"You got it. Heck, it's about time.."
* * *
"So that's the
deal, you all good with it?"
They former Teen Titans, all in civilian clothes, were sitting on an old and
tired picnic bench, close to the Gotham River. No one looking too closely at
what might be floating by.
"You think it will work?"
"No idea but it's worth a shot and I suspect it's the only one we have. I've
already talked to the JLA and they're in." He took a beat. "Okay, except for
Bruce but that's not a surprise. We don't need him for this, it'll be okay."
"'You sure?"
"Yes." Period. End of discussion.
No one said anything about Dick's arm still being in a sling or the fact that
his own mentor was the only one opting out without a word.
* * *
'I insist that some
kind of statement be given, that the young man be brought out and prove that he
is—as is being insisted—healing and will be all right after the terrible
shooting we've all seen footage of. I, for one, intend to speak to Senator
Helmsley and members of Congress to see what can be done to insure that these
youngsters are taken care of and have offered my own home as a sanctuary for
Robin to recover in, should he be as well as we're being led to believe.'
* * *
"Sir, may I intrude
for a moment and inquire if you've heard anything from Master Richard? I
hesitate to say anything but I'm concerned about his injury and..."
"Nothing directly, no but Clark said that his surgery went well and he believes
that the infection is draining. And he's out of the hospital."
"Well that certainly implies good news, I would think."
Bruce turned the page of his newspaper. "I suppose." Alfred fixed Bruce with the
original Batglare, the look Batman had appropriated as his own but it was a pale
copy compared to the original and forced even the Batman to respond. "What?"
"If that young man, if that boy has closed the door to this house, the life he
had here and to us I want you to know that I will hold you personally
responsible."
Seriously not in the mood for this right now. "You know that I pulled Robin to
protect him, Alfred—you know that and I don't want to hear any more about it."
"You will hear what I deem necessary and you will listen to me when it happens
without a stream of complaints on your part—I fear that in the last few years
you've occasionally forgotten yourself and I'll not have it any longer."
"Alfred..."
"And I'll thank you to change the tone of your voice when you speak to me.
Master Richard is the light in this old house and I'll not allow it to be
extinguished because of your paranoia, do you understand me, young man?"
"He's the one who walked out." C'mon, Alf...cut me some slack here.
"With you pushing him beyond all reason. You will talk to him and convince him
to return to his rightful place and if you do not, I will myself—and, either
way, you will welcome him with opened arms and gratitude and I'll brook no
argument."
Bruce knew when an argument was lost.
But that didn't mean he'd go along with the tantrums flying around the Manor
lately.
* * *
"A surprise today
at the Capitol Building. During the scheduled hearings regarding the forced
disbanding of the Teen Titans, the former members arrived to give their
testimony regarding the circumstances and reasons for both their forming and now
their being declared too young to assume such responsibilities. It was startling
afternoon. This is Clark Kent reporting, please stay tuned for details."
The proceedings were in progress when Senator DiGrassi was handed a note asking
that the former members of the Teen Titans be allowed to speak. With the news
cameras trained on him, he willingly agreed so long as they would remain for
questions after their former leader had his say.
The members of the Teen Titans walked into the conference room number twelve
wearing civilian clothes, suits and sports jackets for the young men, Wonder
Girl in a conservative dress. Robin's left arm was in a sling and the former
Titans who maintained secret identities wore their masks.
They looked just like what they were, people about to testify in front of
Congress and the national media. Robin too his seat front and center, his
friends behind him. There was a loud murmur from both the Congresspeople and the
audience.
"First of all, I'd like to thank you for allowing us to speak. There have been
countless rumors and mistruths spread about us the last few weeks and we
appreciate this chance to set the record straight.
"To begin, despite reports, I'm not dead. (This was followed by a laugh from the
room.) Obviously I was shot by Joker and further injured when I fell, but I'm
recovering and have been told by doctors to expect to be back to normal and to
make a full recovery within a couple of months. For what it's worth, the bullet
went through my shoulder without any major injury and my fall was broken by a
ledge. It looked a lot worse than it was. I was given immediate medical help and
I've started on Physical Therapy to regain full use of my arm and have been told
by my doctors to expect no lasting affects."
He took a paper out of a folder, changing the subject away from himself.
"After my injury was broadcast we're all aware of both the public and legal
reaction; the outcry insisting that the so called junior members of the
vigilante groups cease and desist and we've have been prohibited from our
chosen. There are also efforts to remove us from our various homes and place us
in some kind of foster care 'for our own good'.
"I speak for all of us (his glanced back to the other former Titans behind him)
when I say that we'll fight this last part—being removed from our homes and
families—and won't accept that happening. The fact is that we all have people
who love and support us, just as I'm sure your own kids do (here Robin looked
straight at the Congresspeople sitting in front of him).
"It's also been written and debated what kind of homes we come from where we'd
be allowed to pursue a path as admittedly dangerous as what we do can be. Well,
most of us come from backgrounds in which either we were victims of crimes
ourselves or saw and lived through significant injustice of one kind or another
and this is our reaction to that. We do what we can to make wrongs right; it's
how we've chosen to rectify wrongs where we see them.
"I think it's been clear for years now that we don't act on our own. All of us
(another glance behind him) have mentors in the Justice League who help us,
guide us, answer our questions and are there for us. I have Batman, Kid Flash
has Flash, Speedy has Green Arrow and so on. In addition to that we all know
that we can go to any member at any time. I know, speaking just for myself,
Superman has become a friend I know will be there for me and he knows how much
that means to me.
"And being able to say Superman is a friend I can count on is a pretty major
deal, right?" More laughter in the room.
"Aside from having the JLA to help us, every single one of us has had to pass
detective tests in our own jurisdictions, as well as field tests for the FBI
and, in some cases, Interpol. Despite what's been written, we aren't a bunch of
out of control kids—we've been trained by the best and passed every test that's
been thrown at us...we're not just a bunch of rogues.
"Beyond all of that, I think that our record speaks for itself; as the Titans
we've met and bested Trigon, Brother Blood, the Fearsome Five, Deathstroke,
Blackfire, Wildebeest, the Brotherhood of Evil, the Society of Sin, Deathwing
and on and on. The reason we have prices on our heads is because we're good at
what we do and to stop us because of an occasional injury or arbitrary age
guidelines is...wrong. We've spoken among ourselves and we'll simply pick up
where we've been forced to leave off as soon as we turn twenty-one or accept the
offers we've had to continue our work based in foreign countries.
"We understand the risks in what we do—we've all been hurt and none of us has a
death wish, but we've also all decided that this is our life's work and we
intend to continue. We'd much prefer to do so without fighting the law, but we
will continue."
Applause broke out, silenced quickly by the Committee Head pounding his gavel.
"Silence, silence or I'll have this room cleared." It took a minute, but finally
the room was quiet. "Robin, do you mind if I asked you a few questions, keeping
in mind that you're under oath?"
"No, I don't mind sir."
"Thank you and I'd like to start out by saying that you and your friends have a
remarkable record and have made extraordinary contributions to our nation and
it's security, for which we're in your debt, however, be that as it may...Would
you please tell us how old you were when you began your identity of Robin and
why?"
"I was was a few months past my ninth birthday and I did so to attempt to
capture the people responsible for my parent's deaths."
The good Congressman too a beat. "..And did you succeed?"
"Yes, I did."
"How old were you when you formed the Teen Titans?"
"I was fourteen, we all were, except Garth—Aqualad, he was a year younger. And
all our parents or guardians or mentors knew and supported us."
"Even knowing that you could, and were injured?"
"They didn't like to see us hurt so we trained a lot and tried to be ready for
any situation—usually we were and were fine."
"And if you're hurt?"
"The superhero community has medical facilities at it's disposal, we use them.
They're very good and they always helped us."
"And if they were unable to help you, if one of your members were killed, what
then?"
Robin paused, there was no easy answer to that. "It's happened and may happen
again, we all know that. It's difficult, it's always hard to lose a friend, and
we are all friends...but we all go into to this knowing that it could happen. We
just try to be prepared and as well trained as possible so it doesn't happen."
"May I ask how many times you'd estimate that you've personally been injured
while working as Robin?"
Oh crap. "I'm really not sure, a few."
"How many times would you estimate that you've been hospitalized from injuries
you've received while acting as Robin?"
"I'm not sure, a few." Not counting the times Alfred treated him or Dr. Leslie
took care of things. "Maybe three or four, I guess."
"And your current age?"
"I'm eighteen."
"I see." The man let it go to look over a list he had of prepared questions,
letting Robin's answer to hang in the air like the proverbial lead balloon,
then, "Do you regularly attend school?"
"Yes."
"'Get good grades?"
"Yes."
"'Plan on going to college?"
"I'm not sure. I've thought about it but I'm not sure it's the right thing for
me—personally, I mean."
"What about the other Titans? Do any of them have plans for higher education?"
"You'd have to ask them, sir. I don't know."
"I'd like to ask you what your reaction is to the massive amounts of publicity
given to your latest public injury, the shooting and that terrible fall. That
film has received tremendous air play, do you feel; responsible for the
thousands, if not millions of young children who see you as a hero and role
model having to watch what could well have been your death?"
Cripes. "It's not like I planned it...sir. And I guess that my sitting here is
proof that I'm okay." Bad answer, bad answer.
Another committee member held up a series of color photographs depicting a vast
display of flowers, candles , get well cards and stuffed animals left on the
sidewalk at the scene of the shooting. "As a role model, surely you must realize
the effect your well-being has on impressionable youngsters. Did you know that
three youngsters tried to kill themselves when it was reported you'd likely been
killed?"
Holy crap. "Are you serious? No, no, I didn't know that. No one told me. Are
they all right?"
"Luckily, yes but that doesn't change the fact that you aren't operating in a
vacuum, what happens to you, good or bad, has repercussions."
"Yes, but, I mean, that's terrible but I had nothing to do with it. Those kids,
I had nothing to do with it and if they were maybe a little unstable or upset
about something else, I really don't think that makes me responsible."
There was an awkward silence in which the Committee Head finally said, "We'll
break for lunch, please be back in one hour. When we come back I'd like to call
the Reverend Dimsdale to testify."
TBC