The Robin Contingencies

They were called the Robin Contingencies.

They were a list of codewords and phrases that Darcy and Dick had started, and then each additional Robin had added on to over the years. Robin had a fifteen year legacy by now - that was more than enough time to come up with calls for help for almost any situation. If a Contingency was called - and it was rare that it was - all of the former Robins were alerted through a system that Oracle had set up, and they would start to move, immediately dropping everything and heading back to the BatCave to start the rescue op. It was a system that had only been tested a few times over the years, and every time it was called all of the Robins, both current and former, felt chills.

It was the one thing that even the big bad Bat didn’t know about, and they all planned to keep it that way. Because the first code that they all learned - the first one that Dick and Darcy had come up with, sitting at the kitchen table in the middle of the night - was enough to make them all wish that they had never heard of the Robin Contingencies in the first place.

But it was important. Because a Robin’s job was to watch out for Batman just as much as he watched out for them.

How does a robin build their nest? Would come the call. And while it was the first contingency to be put into place, it was the one that all Robins - former and current - dreaded the most. It meant that their father was in trouble, and no one else was able to save him. So it was up to them. Luckily, they had yet to use the code, but they all dreaded the day that they would hear it.

And one by one, they would send in their response - the phrase that said they had received the message, and were on the way. Every one of them had all of the codes memorized, waiting for a day when they might have to send in a reply.

Under the wing of a bat.

8888

Batman was walking through the newly finished Hall of Justice, his cape barely making a sound as it moved around his ankles. He was buried deep in a report - trying to finish the paperwork that he needed to get done so that he could get home before dinner. Dick had had a math test that morning, and Darcy was trying out for Gotham Academy’s gymnastics team, and he wanted to be home for dinner so that he could hear about how both of those things had gone. “I still can't believe that Robin's powers manifested at such a young age.” he heard someone say.

Bruce froze mid-step, silently thanking his cape for hiding the slight change in his steps. While the conversation wasn’t something he had ever really planned for, it almost made sense when he thought about it. None of his team were just human like he and the twins were. It made sense that they tried to look for explanations for their abilities. Looking to his side, he found exactly who he had expected.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, his voice ringing across the Hall and startling his colleagues. Wonder Woman, Flash, and Superman were all huddled together, talking about the current gossip topic in the League - his children. Ever since Robin had been introduced to the League, the twins were all that they would talk about. His final test for his kids had been to defeat the Justice League, something that they had done almost too easily, and without letting on that there was more than one Robin.

When asked, Darcy had admitted that they had been planning the takedown of the Justice League since the day that he had started training them - knowing that it would probably be their final test.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Diana’s warm voice. “Your partner - their powers are truly fantastic!” Diana gushed, and he couldn’t help the way his lips twitched slightly upwards at the thought of his children. Still, he couldn’t quite understand what they were talking about.

Batman narrowed his eyes. “Robin doesn't have powers.” he said slowly, studying the others.

Clark looked betrayed. “What?”

“They don't have powers.” he repeated, looking at the other Founders like they were stupid. He just didn’t quite understand how his coworkers could save the world on a weekly basis, but not know that his kids were normal - or as normal as twin acrobats raised in a circus could be.

Sometimes he genuinely wondered how he had ever considered the other Leaguers to be a threat in the first place.

“But how do they appear and disappear like that then?” Barry asked, looking lost. “And move the way they do? Normal people don't bend like that.” he shuddered slightly, remembering the contortionist poses that Dick had showed him the week before.

“Hn.” Bruce blinked - looks like he owed the twins ice cream, he mused. He had been sure that the Justice League would figure out the secret of Robin by now. “You really don't know.” he repeated.

Still, the gathered Founders just looked confused. “Know what?” Arrow asked as he joined the group.

Batman almost smiled, but held himself back - the last time he smiled, they all acted as though he was possessed. “I'll make you a deal.” he said softly, his voice easily carrying through the metal corridors of the Watchtower. “If you can learn Robin's secret, I'll tell you our secret identities.”

Clark was the first one to regain the ability to speak after that statement. “You're serious.”

“I am.” The Bat nodded. “You have two weeks.” with his piece said, the Dark Knight of Gotham disappeared into the shadows of the Hall of Justice.

“I hate it when he does that.” Oliver muttered.

8888

It had been a week so far of the different Justice League members trying to figure out exactly what Robin’s secret was. They hadn’t really made it a secret that they had wanted to know who the Batman was since he had first arrived on the scene, but it was his most closely guarded secret. So for him to have offered up his identity as the reward for learning Robin’s secret, it must have been good. But so far, they hadn’t found anything. Until Hal Jordan walked into the training room one day to find the kid in question currently hanging upside down from the rings that the Bat had placed specifically for them. “Hey, kid!”

The kid flipped effortlessly in midair, dangling from the rings with their cape in their face. “I have a name, Hal.”

“Sorry, Robin.” he corrected, floating up so that he was face-to-face with the little brat. Hal might not have liked the kid much, but even he had to admit that what they could do was impressive. “Look, I need your help. It’s about the Bat.”

The acrobat immediately dropped from the rings, flipping again to land on their feet on the ground from midair. They focused all of their attention on the Lantern, tensed and ready for battle - it didn’t take Hal long to figure out what he had said wrong. His eyes widened as he took in the slight look of fear on Robin’s face. “No, no, he’s okay!” he reassured. “It’s just information that I need.” he said, feeling awful. While he didn’t really approve of Spooky having any access to kids, he had also seen just how protective the old Bat was of Robin - and how protective Robin was of their mentor in return. He hadn’t meant to worry the kid.

It was almost adorable, really. There were plenty of other mentor-mentee duos in the Justice League, but none of them had the same relationship that the Bat and his Bird did. It almost seemed parent-like. But Hal laughed every time that someone brought that idea up. After all, who would trust Spooky to raise a kid?

Robin scowled at him, and he had to work to keep from flinching backwards at the miniature Bat-Glare that was being sent in his direction. Robin might be little, but they were still intimidating. “What do you want, Hal?” they asked, and the Lantern flinched. It always irritated him how the Bats used their identities like they were nothing, but refused to share their own.

So the Lantern started to explain - the conversation that they had been having in the beginning, Batman’s reaction to them talking about Robin’s powers. He told them about the ensuing conversation that happened, and then the bet that they made with Batman.

Robin stared at him - long enough that Hal started to shift uncomfortably. And then they laughed - that eerie sort of cackle that always seemed to terrify criminals, because they knew what was coming afterwards.

“Oh, this is perfect - I have to tell Agent A about this!” Robin cheered, doing a back handspring down the corridor.

“What?” Jordan asked, completely dumbstruck. That was not the response he had been thinking that he would get.

“Bye, Hal!” Robin called.

“Wait - aren’t you going to help us?”

Robin froze, then just looked at him for a moment - that same bland Bat-face that their mentor was so good at - before cackling again. “Are you kidding? Batman would kill me if I told you anything. I’m not telling you a thing.”

With that said, Robin disappeared, leaving Green Lantern standing alone in the middle of the gym. “Little bastard.” he muttered. But it was fine. They would find out the information on their own.