A Renegade Knight

CHAPTER VI

To say the Bat family's reaction to Bruce's words were of shock was an understatement. The outcry from the three Robins was almost deafening in their pitch as the three brought up excuses, arguments and demands, pointing out everything from Dick's nature as the family's peace keeper, to promises made by the oldest son in his many years as a crime fighter. There were numerous calls for other heroes to be summoned, everyone from the Justice League, to the Outsiders, to members of Batman Incorporated. Ideas involving identity theft, mind control and alien invasions were thrown around and quickly dismissed. Even Jason got in on the act, voicing his outrage at Dick 'beating' him once again before Damian threatened to disembowel him, blaming him for everything.

The only person who remained silent was Bruce, the Batman watching his children self-destruct from the revelation, his mind running through all the possibly answers even as guilt welled up in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't been lying when he said he blamed himself for the creation of Renegade. Dick had been in a bad shape when the villain had first emerged, the death of Desmond Blockbuster and the loss of his job not been enough to spur the Dark Knight into looking into the life of his oldest. Spoiler's later mistakes and Dick's 'adoption' into a New York crime family had only left him in the perfect mindset for Deathstroke to exploit. Even then, when reports of Renegade started flooding in and Superman himself set out to intervene, Bruce had done nothing, believing that Dick could pull himself out of trouble. The boy had, but it had cost him everything. Bludhaven had almost been destroyed, and Dick had almost lost his life. Even now, Bruce didn't like to think of what would have happened if Clark hadn't come to the cave and almost dragged Bruce to the Haven to find his oldest as the city flooded with radiation. Dick certainly wouldn't have survived.

Finally, the cave fell quiet. Everything that could be said had been said. Every threat had been made. Like magic Alfred had appeared, bringing with him drinks, snacks and a cold pack for Tim's head. The Englishman hadn't even batted an eye at Jason's presence, instead wordlessly fetching extra for the rogue child.

Using the silence to his advantage, Bruce returned to his computer and begun his search, hooking into security cameras and police reports, looking for something, anything about Renegade. Tim's offer to help was quickly accepted, the teen taking over the search as Bruce turned to look into reports on Deathstroke. If Renegade was truly back, Bruce had no doubt that Slade Wilson was somehow involved. The man was just too good at manipulating Dick to be an innocent bystander in Renegade's actions.

Staring at the two detectives, Jason started to question how he had gotten himself in this situation. It seemed only yesterday he was trying to destroy his former family, attempting to murder Tim or Damian to force a reaction out of Bruce and Dick. But today, one little attack by Dick and the whole family was in a panic. It just wasn't fair. Even as a villain, it seemed that Dick was perfect. Sure, Jason would work to bring Dick down, to show Bruce just what his perfect little bird was capable of. But after that, Jason had no idea what he would do. If Tim was correct, Bruce was keeping watch over Jason and would not let him get away with anything. It seemed like once this was over; Jason would have to disappear for a while and hope the family wasn't stupid enough to try and come after him.

There was a small sigh at his side. Glancing down, Jason looked at Damian. He had to admit, despite all the crap he put the kid through, Jason liked him. Damian was violent, irrational and had an ego the size of a country, exactly like Jason. If Tim were like Dick (and since he was smart, dedicated and noble, as well as having the Robin mantel stripped from him for a younger model, he was very like Dick) then Damian was like Jason. And Jason knew that Bruce worried about that. Damian had been caught using violent methods and was even placed under a 'No Kill' order by the Dark Knight in an attempt to stop any murderous tendency coming out in the new Boy Wonder.