Parade of a Thousand Birds

Chapter Seven: Questions

Robin sat at the interrogation table, handcuffed to the table, however he does not seem to mind as he whistles to himself. He looks at the one way mirror and smiles. "I know I'm good-looking. But isn't staring at me getting boring?"

Batman and the League were behind the mirror arguing amongst themselves.

"He is only a child, Bruce." Wonder Woman Protested

"Yes, this child has been trained at a young age, he is well toned and deadly. He might be young now, but he had to be even younger to be at the level he is now." Batman frowned.

"Horrible, to be raised up to kill." Aquaman commented, eying the boy.

"Someone needs to go in there. The kid's remarks are getting worse by the minute." The Flash complained.

" And we can't have Mr, Broody over here interrogate him." Green arrow mused a bit. "The boy takes it as a challenge.."

Robin sat in the room, kicking his feet up onto the table, about to doze off before the door opened. "It's about time Bat--" He frowned. "You aren't the Bat." The boy pouted, disappointment clearly showing on his face.

Black Canary sat down across from the boy. The League thought it was the best course of action. "I am sorry to disappoint you." She gave a small smile. " I just want to ask a few questions."

The YJL showed up right after Black Canary sat down, their eyes curiously glued onto the small boy.

Robin gave another wide grin. "wait a second I know you." The boy cackled. "Black Canary! Another bird!" The boy chirped a bit, leaning on the table. "A lot different seeing you in person though, your picture totally looks meaner in your file."

Black Canary frowned slightly. The boy must of hacked into their member files. She leaned back in her chair and relaxed her features. "So why were those assassins after you Robin?"

The boy shrugged "They are sore losers."

Batman's jaw clenched. This boy was being short with them.

Superman placed a hand on the Dark Knight's shoulder, shaking his head. "Give it time."

Black Canary nodded slowly "How did they lose? What was the game?"

Robin smirked a bit. "They lost because they didn't have the skill and the game was called life."

Batman lost it, the usually level headed hero, stormed into the interrogation room and slammed his hand on the table. "I will take it from here, take the kids with you on your way out.

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"So this Penguin character in Gotham  does he waddle? I bet he waddles!" The boy laughed. It has been an hour and the boy has yet to give them any real information on who he was and what he was planning.

Batman pinched the bridge of his nose. his already small patience threshold was wearing thin.

"What's wrong, Bats? You want to know so much about me yet you aren't sharing at all. Sharing is caring Batman."

Batman was about to share a few punches.

Try talking to something close to him. Martian Manhunter said into Batman's mind. The boy seems to be protecting something or someone. He has a surprisingly strong barrier around his mind, that is all I can get from him. But I do not sense any ill will.

So this was just a game to the child. Batman frowned. The young martian M'gann earlier said something about the circus being his family. Is that his key to get the boy to talk. "So why did you make a circus?"

"Why does your breath smell like bat poop." Was what the boy replied.

Batman heard muffled laughter from The flash and his eyes narrowed at the one way mirror. The laughing stopped. He turned back to the boy who seemed pleased that he got a reponse from behind the glass. "So you do not care that you threatened many lives because they were near you." The boy's smiled faltered, but only for a brief moment. Batman found his way in.

"Just like I told the Martian girl, I do not care about them."

"So you would not feel an ounce of guilt if one of them died, murdered, because of you?" Batman pressed on.

The boy gulped slightly, his eyes shifted away from the Caped Crusader, not saying anything.

"Were you just using them as human shields to save your own skin? They didn't mean anything to you anyway right? How many did you plan on sacrificing? Ten? Twenty, All of them?"

Bruce you are going to far! Wonder Woman interrupted over a mind link. But Batman ignored her.

"Shut up.." the boy was staring at the ground, fists clenching.

"And you took them in, I bet they were willing to lay their lives down--"

Robins body twisted, The next thing he knew the boy was on the table and kicked Batman in the jaw, eyes murderous.

"Don't you EVER talk about my family like that!" the boy screamed at, chains from the handcuffs clinking together. "You don't know anything!"

Batman sat up and rubbed his jaw. That kid definitely could kick, but now he knew that he broke through the child's games. He slowly sat back down in his chair, looking at the enraged teen. "I can't 'know' anything until you tell me what is going on. You are still trying to protect your friends at the circus, aren't you?"

"Not friends. Family." The boy said quietly, his fire diminishing and looking like he was on the brink of tears.

Bruce felt a bit guilty for pushing the boy over the edge, but is was the only way. He waited for the boy to sit back down before replying. "Why did you deny about caring about them?"

"To protect them."

"How?"

"If I broke ties, they would not be hunted down while I was gone. Assassins don't go after people who are not leverage." The boy sniffled a bit, trying to keep a composed face, but was failing. Tears betrayed him and started falling down his cheeks.

Batman frowned deeply at this.The boy was simply leading the League of shadows away from the circus. The boy didn't care about his own life, but was unable to live with anyone else's being put in danger.

"I could never use them.."His voice cracked "I-I could never let one of them s-slip through my fingers.." More tears fell ,slipping from under the mask and down his cheeks. He was just a frightened child still. Bruce had  gone overboard.

"How about we take off that mask so we can talk face to face." Batman said soothingly, taking off his own cowl in hope that it would show the teen that he trusted him.

The teen shakily lifted his arms to his face, first unsure of what to do. It took three minutes of absolute silence before the boy gingerly peeled away the mask, revealing the brightest blue eyes that still had tears in them.

Bruce was taken aback at the kid's face. The kid looked even younger than he imagined.

The boy seemed to read his mind and managed a weak smile, after wiping his tears away and sniffling.. "Hey, you were not what I was expecting either."

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A/N

Hey everyone! Me again. Just wanted to let you guys know how awesome you are for voting and commenting (you know who you are!) It means a lot and I am glad to hear that my storyline is interesting. Hurray for sassy Robin in the future! Anyways, I hope you keep on reading and continue to enjoy my story!