Young Justice: Last Hope

Chapter 17: The discovery

After making absolute sure there wasn't anyone who could see him Dick headed to the Batcave, thinking that the dark knight wasn't there, but he got proven wrong once again when he hears the car returning and the two heroes jump out, instantly noticing him "What are you standing around for, get Alfred" Shadow says shocking her friend out of his place and running of to get the butler "Oh dear, what happend?" Alfred asks tending to the injuries "Shadow first" Batman says eying the cut over his partner's right eye "I'll be fine" Shadow says "The car just went out of control for some reason after we put some criminals behind bars" she explains "You'll have to remove you mask or I won't be able to see the wound" Alfred says, so Shadow turns the chair around and takes of her mask "If you're lucky that won't scar" Alfred says checking the injury before putting some stuff on it "Hey Batman, I've been wondering, where do you sleep?" Dick suddenly asks and Shadow says without thinking "There's another hidden floor here" "Can I see it?" the overly curious boy asks, so Batman says "Maybe when you're a bit more usefull", though Shadow doesn't miss the dissaproving look for her poor lie "Hey, where's Robin?" Dick asks and Shadow freezes in her tracks "He's training" she says, but Dick says "That's a lie! You freeze whenever his name is mentioned", Batman glates at his ward and says "What happened to Robin in none of your concern", Shadow takes a deep breath as she puts her mask back on "Look, if you're only going to bother us then leave" she says, though it's obvious she's trying not to cry "Right" Batman says as he gets up and he walks to Shadow "You have permission to punch him" he whispers earning a sad smile "Master Richard you shouldn't bother them this much" Alfred says and Shadow walks over "I really wanna punch you right now, but I feel like this will be more helpful to both of us" she says and hugs him "I'm just glad it's not you fighting villains out there at the moment" she says before letting him go and walking of, missing the slight smile from her mentor as she heads to the elevator.

The next day at school Amber, Barbara and Artemis are having a quiet lunch when that is intertupted by a very hyperactive Dick Grayson bouncing over to them "You're in a happy mood" Artemis comments and she glances at Amber who just shrugs "Would you believe me if I told you the batcave in under my house?" Dick asks, but both Artemis and Barbara say "No, we wouldn't" "It's true and Shadow gave me a hug last night, saying something about being glad I'm not fighting villains. Didn't make much sense, but still" Dick continues and Artemis pats Amber's back who nearly chokes on her lunch "You were in bed all night" Amber says after drinking some water "I was worried about you so I checked on you" she adds, Artemis lools at her and she sighs, this was a mess. "Let's have a sleepover tonight" Dick suddenly suggest "Bruce said we could each have a sleepover once" he adds and the three knew there was no going back. To make matters even worse he invited the hero fanatic as well "I am so doomed" Amber mumbles letting herself fall against Artemis, luckily Oliver Queen walks over, obviously in disguise, but it was easy to spot "Amber, Bruce told me to pick you up after school, he said you wanted to learn how to ride a horse and asked me if I could help you, you'll be staying the night at my house" he says and Amber says "Right, I completely forgot I told him that", though she made a mental note to thank Bruce later. That evening she's at the batcave and she runs to Batman "Thanks for getting me out of that situation" she says earning a chuckle "You will spend the rest of the night there, now why can the elevator you use go further down?" he asks and Shadow smiles "I wasn't lying to him, well not completely" she says and the two walk over and head down "Impressive" Batman says seeing a lot of boxes with materials and a work area in another room "Well you could convert this in a bedroom, but I needed to put my tools somewhere else then my room now that he lost his memories" Shadow says and they hear voices above them "Come on Dick, where are they then?" Artemis asks and Shadow whispers "Wasn't me, but she figured it out anyway". They head back up and while the kids are admiring the vehicles they head to the computer which is turned on, so they habe no trouble looking busy "Then the largest group would be... Here" Shadow says pointing to an area on the map that was showing where all the crime is, this obviously gets the groups attention and they turn around to see the two there "Wow, you were right!" the boy says running over to the duo "Who are you?" Shadow asks as she keeps studying the map as Batman changes the search object "How rude of me, I'm Drake, a really big fan of you" the boy says and Batman scans him from the corner of his eye "Karate club?" he asks, but Artemis says "Disbanded, he's now the president of the superhero newspaper at school", that being said Shadow narrows her eyes "Come on Bats, we won't get anywhere by staying here" she says standing up straight and she stretches, though the sleeve of her uniform slightly moves and Dick is able to see a cut that he had seen on Amber "Tours over" Batman says and he and his sidekick leave. Once they do however a glass cage covers both Barbara and Drake and sleeping gas comes from it, so the two others take their schoolmates and leave "That was Amber" Dick says in the living room "How would you be able to tell?" Artemis asks and Dick explains "Amber had a small accident in the kitchen this week, not sute why since that rarely happens, but she fell down and got a cut on her shoulder, Shadow has that same cut at exactly the same place". Artemis nods slightly, she had heard about it already "But you can't be sure" she says and gets pulled towards the girls room "One way to find out I guess" he says, they search the entire room until they come across a hidden panel, which is easily activated and an elevator appears in the wall "I think we have our proof" Artemis says earning a nod.

However he only knows for sure the next day, when Amber comes back in the evening and he notices a small faded cut over her eyes "Staring is rude" she comments and wants to walk on, but he stops her by saying "I know you're Shadow Raven, then Bruce has to be Batman" "What if I am Shadow Raven?" Amber asks and she rolls her eyes at the lack of answer "Bye little bird" she says and walks on to her room "Why'd you call him that?" Bruce asks and Amber smiles "To stir up some unwanted memories" she says and adds "And to get Robin back". Bringing unwanted memories was a success, as Dick would come down more often, terrified of the nightmares he's getting, as for getting Robin back, he started to remember things in the form of dreams or sometimes nightmare "You like torturing him" Batman concludes as they get ready to head of "It's payback for making me suffer this much, heck even Connor noticed my behavior changed, which is saying something" Shadow says earning a sigh and a 'Good point' from her mentor.