Identity Crisis

Family Issues

Batman stood in the shadow of Titans tower. Though impressed, he was also surprised that his son had chosen such an obvious place for a hideout. He easily bypassed the security and made it into the tower without a hitch.

He flipped on the lights which illuminated a large radio, TV screen, couch, and table with a half eaten pizza sitting on it. The Dark Knight almost laughed as he imagined Dick spending his days here, with other teens. It must've been a nice experience for him.

"I know your there, Batman," Robin's voice emanated from a control panel.

Bruce turned, "Dick—"

"Robin," Dick corrected him, "Or maybe not- I hear my names been taken."

Batman sighed, "He's not replacing you, he's---"

"Isn't he?" Dicks face appeared on screen, "Why are you here? I told you to stay in Gotham."

The truth was that Bruce had planned on coming for a while now, hoping he could patch things up with Dick. When this business had come up, he'd seized the opportunity, but it appeared that Dick wasn't quite so eager, "I came to help," he lied, he had to find the right time to apologize.

"You and I both know that's not true," the slightest of smiles threatened the Dark Knight's face when he heard this, he'd taught Dick well. He wondered, was it to well?

"Did—" Dick seemed to choke before continuing, "Did Barbara tell you to come?" he scoffed and shook his head, "She never did like conflict."

"Dick," Batman sighed, "She misses you," Robin's expression didn't seem to change as Bruce continued, "Alfred misses you, I miss you..." The Dark Knight looked down, trying not to betray any emotion, but he missed Dick, he missed his son.

"I'm sure Jason will do fine in my place," Robin responded, his voice stone cold, "Now, about the call?"

Bruce sighed, disappointed that his son appeared untouched by his words, "The girl, Vicky Morris," he began, "Appears to have no criminal record, volunteers at a local soup kitchen and she's made the honor roll almost every year she's been in school," he paused to think ,"As far as I can tell she's a model student, there was no reason for her to go Rogue."

"People aren't always what they seem," said Dick, glancing down in hesitation, "Including one of my teammates,' he sighed.

"Beast Boy?"

Robin nodded, "I can't think of any reason for him to go rogue except—"

"Except Terra," finished Bruce.

Robin looked up in surprise, "How did you—"

"It didn't take much," said Bruce, glancing around the tower, "Do you have his location?"

"Forget it Bruce," he said, "My team, my problem," he reached to turn off his communicator, "And one more thing Bruce," he added, Bruce looked up at the screen attentively, "Get out of my tower."

Bruce watched as the screen went dark, and subsequently the towers alarm system began turning on. In a few minutes the defense system would engage; chances were, he could beat it, but he knew it would only make things worse between them. He shut the doors behind him and hopped into the Batmobile. It looked like he was going to have to use his last resort. He flipped a switch and a red blip appeared onscreen, he revved up the engine and began following it. The tracker in Robin's arm.

                           ________________________

"And you didn't come to us because..." asked Gar as he took a sip of his milkshake.

"Because Red X doesn't trust you!" exclaimed Vicky over the table, "And frankly, neither do I. I mean, you Titans were the ones who tried to arrest him in the first place!"

"Vicky," Tara protested, "That was for stealing, and you know—"

Gar placed his hand in between the two, "None of that matters now," he said, "The moment I lied to Robin, we stepped outside of Titans jurisdiction," he sighed heavily, "We're own our own now."

There was a jingle at the door and the three turned their heads. Red X stepped into the café, carrying something beneath his cape. "Where were you?" asked Vicky as he took his seat next to her.

His eyes smirked beneath the mask and he lifted his cape. Vicky's jaw dropped and her eyes widened as she saw what lay beneath, "Oh my Gosh," she said, lifting it onto her lap, "You actually—" she covered her mouth, to emotional to complete her sentence.

Red X nodded as he gazed happily at her. Sitting in her lap was a tiny pug wearing a mask, and a cape with a blue letter Y fixed on it, "You said you wanted a super pug so..." he shrugged, "I got you one."

She placed a hand on her heart and squinted up at him, "Oh my—" she could barely choke out the sentence, "That is so sweet."

"Where did you get the pug from?" Gar asked. Red X glanced around suspiciously, but before Beast Boy could do anything Tara placed her hand on his arm and looked at him pleadingly.

"It is really cute," she said. Gar sighed and looked into the animal's joyful little pug eyes.

"Fine," he sighed, "We can keep the pug."

"Yes!" Vicky and Tara high-fived each other over the table.

"But we have to get back to work," Gar interrupted their celebration, "We have to figure out what's going on before Robin finds out."

Red X looked at him skeptically until Vicky reached out to him with her free hand, "Tara's my friend," she said, "We can trust them."

Red X nodded, "Alright, we'll do it."

"Okay," Gar sighed, "You have to tell us everything you know."

"I had to find Slade," Gar looked at him curiously, "He- he knows something about my past," he stammered.

"Wha—"

"X can't remember anything up to a certain point in his past," explained Vicky, "He doesn't even remember being Dick Grayson."

"So, you didn't even know your secret identity?" Gar looked at him thoughtfully, "I always thought you were hiding it. Like you were Jason Todd or something."

"Who is—"

"I'll explain it later," Vicky glared at Beast Boy, "The point is, all he remembered was Slade, and the only lead he could find to Slade, was you, Terra" she pointed at Tara.

"Vicky, you know I'm not—" Tara's face grew troubled as she spoke, "I'm not Terra."

"You were right all along green boy," Vicky continued, "X and I investigated it. Everything checks out."

"You're wrong," said Gar somberly, "She's not Terra."

"You think I didn't do my research," Red X stood up defensively, "I spent years tracking her and your saying—"

"No one's saying anything X, so calm down," Gar gestured for him to sit down, "I know that she's not Terra because I know that you're not Dick Grayson."

Red X sat down abruptly, "What did you say?"

"You're not Dick Grayson," he repeated.

"What do you mean?"

"I know where Dick Grayson is and it's not here," he sighed, "He's with the Titans."

"What!" everyone yelled at once.

"We have to get to Titans tower, he said grabbing his smoothie as he stood up, I'll explain everything there, but first—" he looked X, Y, and Z over from head to toe, "Tara needs a costume."