No Secrets

Alexnandru Van Gordon

THIS IS MY FIRST ONE-SHOT! I had to write this for my little sister because she had been so good lately and I reached a small writer's block for The Boogie Man. I will return to this, but I had to write this first…

DSCLAIMER: Nope.

IMPORTANT: Robin is Richard Grayson and he is about eight or nine years old.

Let's go—

Richard had pets when he was in the circus…the circus animals to be more precise. There was Eleanor the elephant, and the tigers, and the monkeys…but he never actually had a real pet. He couldn't when he was an acrobat because they were constantly on the move, and Bruce wasn't the animal type. It was enough for the man to have a kid who ended up as his side-kick in the end. They were always caught up in patrols and school, that Richard wouldn't have the time to take care of the pet himself. If not for Alfred, it would probably die…

But when summer came, school was over—and that left time for a pet.

Too afraid to ask Bruce for one, Richard had to think up how to get one the hard way. The most logical explanation was to adopt one and find it out on the street. But street dogs weren't exactly tame and Bruce would know it was in the house within a five minute time limit. That guy was spooky sometimes. He was psychic like Alfred on the odd days, though he was absolutely oblivious on how to take care of an eight-year-old boy. It took Alfred to remind him that he wasn't as strong, fast or cold as he was…

Thank God for Alfred.

It was one night when he had separated from Batman on patrol that the chance to find a pet arose. It wasn't usual that Batman let Robin go off on his own at such a young age, but tonight was one of those few rare nights were crime was at an ultimate-low. All he could say was that if Batman ever found out what he was up too, it would be like treading through hell waters.

He shivered at the thought.

Jumping down from a short building, flipping in mid-air and landing in a cat-like crouch—he heard a noise to his left. Something hit a trash can and scurried further into the shadows of the alleyway. Either it was a rat or a stray pet—Robin wishing for the latter of the two. He was close to Wayne Manor—maybe if he ran he could sneak a dog home.

"Hello?" He called out, not afraid if some bloke heard him. If he did—then Robin would beat the tar out of him. "Anyone there?"

He started off and knelt beside a pile of cardboard boxes where the animal had last been. Two glowing eyes blinked up at him before it walked out into the light and—

"Meoooooooow."

A cat? A cat…Oh well. It was a cute little kitten and he really didn't mind. Cat's weren't as active as dogs and would probably have a better chance at not breaking something. That, overall, was a good thing when you lived in a museum like place with artifacts as ancient as time itself standing out in the middle of no-where, just begging for a little boy to break them…

Robin shook the thought from his head and picked up the small kitten. It wasn't that dirty either. White fur, little glowing eyes—it purred and snuggled up against his chest, settling in his arms as though it had longed to be held like that again. It had no collar and no way to identify where it came from—a small cut on the back of its left ear. Besides that, it was as good as new—his kitten.

With the kitten he hurried back to the batmobile and opened the trunk. There was a small blanket back there that Robin used sometimes late in the night when they drove home in the cold. It was cold tonight too, but he could handle it. The kitten needed it more than he did.

Wrapping the small fluffy white creature, he placed it gently back in the trunk as it slept and closed the trunk door quietly. Then he heard something behind him.

"Looking for something?"

He spun around, slapping himself mentally for letting his mentor sneak up on him, and rubbed the back of his head. "I was looking for the blanket."

"Isn't it in there?" Batman asked in his stoic voice, walking toward the car. "I was so sure—"

"Alfred took it out to clean it. I forgot." Robin finished for him. No doubt Batman thought that was peculiar, but the man tossed his worries aside. He was too tired to question his ward on this night.

Heart thumping loudly in his chest, Robin slipped into the passenger seat and didn't say a word the whole while back home. His main concern lay with the kitten every time Batman pressed down on the gas…

RRR

Returning to the cave, Robin pretended to be tired to account for his slowness. When Batman went off to change, Robin snuck to the back of the car and opened the trunk, hoping to the dear lord above that the cat wasn't dead. Luckily for him, it snuggled out of the now warm blanket and stretched out with a small yawn. Then it leapt into Robin's arms and brushed up against his chest as it purred softly.

He really liked kittens now.

Watching out for Bruce and Alfred, Robin ran up to his room and hurried off to bathe. The kitten was locked up in his room and he didn't want to imagine the sort of things it would do while he was gone.

"Is something the matter, Master Dick?" Alfred asked with an arched eyebrow. Richard had dressed as quickly as he could manage without falling and nodded, running back toward his room. "You look like someone is after you…"

Bruce would be if he ever found out—but the goal was to make sure he didn't find out.

Running toward his room, he just about knocked Bruce over who had made his way to say goodnight to the boy. He caught him by his shoulders and allowed a small smile to come across his face before he laughed quietly. "Ready for bed, chum?"

"Yes—" Richard shot out his hand and caught the doorknob before Bruce could. "Goodnight!"

There was an awkward pause before Bruce leaned against the door to stop Richard from entering. "Is there something…wrong?"

"No." Richard fought back, eyes narrowing in a small frown. He tried to sound insulted. "Why does everyone think that?"

Bruce shrugged, crossing his arms and still leaning against the door. "I don't know…Maybe because of the way you're acting?"

"Humph! You're so mean. Do you want me to act super tired, or something?"

"No…I was just going to tuck you into bed." He leaned off the door and was about to open it when Richard leaned against it this time.

"I'm a big boy—I can tuck myself into bed!"

Bruce smiled again, entertained by the small boy's comment. He knew something was up—it was only a matter of getting it out of the boy. "Really? But I want to do it."

Bruce put a hand on Richard's shoulder and began to pull him away from the door—when Richard suddenly pressed against it harder. "Then adopt another kid." He retorted, not really meaning it.

"One is just enough for me, Dick." Bruce sighed, laughing to himself inside. Something was inside the room and he wanted to find out what it was. "As annoying as you are, I like having just you and Alfred around."

He grabbed Robin before he could complain and lifted him up so that he sat on his hip, an arm wrapped around his back to keep him up. "I can walk on my own." Richard muttered—eyes suddenly growing wide when Bruce reached for the door. "And I don't need to be tucked it—honestly!"

Richard reached out an arm to stop Bruce's, but the man had longer arm and opened the door as Richard started to grow pale. The door swung inward and…

Nothing. It was pitch black inside and nothing could be heard.

Curious, Bruce reached for a light-switch, still holding the boy so he couldn't run inside and hide whatever he was hiding. Whatever it was…it wasn't there.

Maybe he wasn't hiding anything at all?

Richard sighed mentally and kept himself form laughing out loud. "Sorry." He muttered, playing along to the act. "I didn't want the monster to get you."

"Monster…" Bruce breathed, placing Richard on the bed before eyeing the entire room. There was nothing out in the open, but one could never know… "Yeah, but I can beat up a monster. Why would you want to go inside on your own if a monster was in here?"

"He's my friend." Richard shrugged, slipping under the covers. Secretly he was wondering where the heck the kitten was. "And he only eats adults."

"I see…" Bruce gave once last glance at the room before tucking Richard into bed. He was so suspicious, but still…Richard was getting better at hiding secrets. "Goodnight, Dick."

"Goodnight." Richard replied—and then he jumped up from beneath his covers. Bruce, sitting on the edge of the bed, almost fell to the floor, when something white and fluffy climbed out onto Richard's lap, snuggling up close to him as it purred.

How the heck did the boy sneak a kitten into the mansion?

Richard began stroking the small kitten with a look of melancholy on his face. His eyes turned, full of guilt, toward Bruce who was still trying to figure out how his surrogate son had almost gotten away with such a feat. "Richard…" He started in a low serious tone…

"I know." The boy sighed. "She shouldn't be here—it was just a thought."

"A though? It looks like a kitten to me."

Richard's shoulders slouched as the boy prepared for the worst. The kitten sat up on his lap and licked its paw, turning its innocent eyes toward Bruce. Bruce wasn't a man who was easily moved—besides the fact that he loved Richard—but somehow he couldn't stare at the kitten without feeling warm.

The kitten jumped and crept toward Bruce, settling itself onto his lap as it persisted in purring until he scratched it behind the ears. He sighed in defeat…Why did Richard have to bring back a kitten? A dog would have been easier to say no to…

"I hope you know you can't keep him."

Richard made a small face, but relaxed. "I know…but can I keep her for tonight. I promise I won't try this again—but please…?"

If looking stern at the kitten was one thing, looking at the boy's face was even harder. Being a tough guy, he wasn't used to losing to cute.

He tried to frown…but it only came out as another sign of defeat. "Only tonight." He muttered, lifting the small kitten and handing it back to Richard. The boy's face lit up as he laid back, the sleeping kitten in his arms.

Closing the door to Richard's room, Bruce found himself face to face with Alfred, a curious look on the butler's face.

"And…?" The older man implied, a smirk starting at the corner of his lips.

"One night." Bruce replied, holding up his index finger for emphasis. "One."

"Yes, Master Bruce, of course."

"I mean it."

"Most certainly, Master Bruce."

He frowned to himself as he started down the hall toward his room. He knew that somehow Richard and Alfred were going to stretch one night to one week to one year to…

-A-

Emily (little sister): Yeah! Thank you, Robin.

Alex (my real name is Robin): You're welcome. I hope the rest of you people liked this too. I wrote it in about fifteen minutes, so please excuse any mistakes.

Emily: Tell him to write another one, people! Please…? (Puppy dog eyes.)

Alex: Ummm…Maybe…

Until Again,

Alexnandru Van Gordon