The Trouble in You Is the Trouble in Me

Damian slowly tread over the crime scene. Looking at every small detailed trying to figure out anything about the robber. He wasn't quite sure why his dad wasn't here since they worked in a pair. But with Batman not being here that left more time for him to have some fun. There has been a string of burglaries and so far the suspect had been able to dodge him, Nightwing, and Batman. Damian was impressed thus far because of this. Knowing whoever it was would make a fitting entry into his rouge gallery. His continued to examine the crime scene and noticed one thing, none of the doors leading outside were locked and none of the glass had an impact pattern suggesting that they had attempted to leave yet. "If you want to be able to breath without the aid of a tube I suggest you come out and face me." Damian called out.

Dick smacked one of the training dummies in the Batcave training ring. He had gotten bored waiting for Bruce and Damian to show up from patrolling Gotham. So he might as well get a round or two of training in to prepare for whatever assignment that Bruce would give him this time. Since he had worked for Spyral and had gotten back into being Nightwing he had become the globe trotting member of the family. Checking out strange occurrences for Bruce.

@ blue robin

Melinda chuckled as she heard a voice call out and threaten her, and she lowered herself from her vantage point perched on a beam shrouded in darkness. Her heels clacked against the tile floor as she sauntered out, a smile crossing her lips painted a deep red. "Looks like a little birdy came out to play," She called out, her hand resting on her hip where her whip was coiled, standing several feet away from the person she had been doing her best to avoid. Her string of burglaries that she had been pulling off for the past few weeks had largely been unsolved due to her technique, but she figured it wouldn't take long for one of the bats to track her down.

Clarissa had one earphone shoved in her ear as she strode into the training room, tapping her fingers against her legging clad thigh to the music. She thought she was alone in the manor until she looked up and saw a man punching at one of the training dummies. "Oh," She said, a little startled, pausing her music and taking out her earbud. "Um, hi," she called out, taking a minute to look him over. Clarissa hadn't seen him before at the manor, but she figured that she had probably heard about him from Bruce. "I'm Clarissa, Bruce took me in a few weeks ago," She explained, not wanting him to be alarmed at her presence, as she didn't know if she had been talked about to the man before.

@ Prince Vegeta

@ blue robin
Damian looked at her and uttered a 'tt '. She was cocky, Damian liked that a little bit. He smiled and looked at her. "You have a nice technique. Nothing beyond Busch league but nice. The cops had a hard time with you but the term Gotham's finest only goes so far." Damian told her with a smirk. He pulled a Robinarang out and kept it in the palm of his hand. If she tried to throw the whip he would deflect it and go in for the grapple. "So do you want to surrender now or get your ass kicked first?" Damian asked as he cracked his knuckles.

Dick heard the woman enter the training room before she knew that he was there. He kept at it with his staff before dropping it and practicing his martial arts. He could hear her surprised tone as he stood there. "Ah, so you're the newest member of our little family." Dick said with a smile as he exited the ring and offered a friendly handshake. "You'll meet the rest at some point if you haven't already. Jason, Tim...Damian." Dick said with a bit of hesitation. He loved his little brother but he could come off, a little strong.

@ Prince Vegeta
Melinda tilted her head, smiling at his comment. "Oh, it's so sweet that you think I'd surrender to a little Robin," She replied, watching as he pulled something out and kept it ready in his hand. She took a moment before deciding her next move, catapulting herself forward and sliding her foot out to knock him out by his ankle. She had reserves about hurting him, as she'd spent a lot of time trying to get his attention with her crimes. She just wanted to play a little.

She shook his hand when he outstretched it, giving him a bright smile. "So I'm guessing you're Dick?" Clarissa asked, taking a guess. Bruce had explained a bit of the family as much as she could understand ever since he had taken her under her wing. She hadn't had the time to meet anyone after it took her some time to recuperate, but she was glad that she was able to meet Dick first. Even though Bruce didn't emote much, there was something in his eyes when he spoke about him.

@ blue robin
Damian smiled as he pushed his hands out to catch his fall. Swinging his legs around to bring him back into a fighting stance. "If that's the best you got then this fight is going to be easy. I've been doing this since I was one year old." Damian mocked as he dropped a couple of smoke bombs to cloud the air. He had her now since he had taken out the one thing most of the fighters in Gotham had to rely on. Their eyesight. Smiling he crept up behind her and attempted to put her into a headlock. "The other thing I have over you? I can fight in the dark."

Dick smiled as she returned his handshake. He looked at her as his hand moves from a handshake and went into his pocket. "You would guess correct. So I can't tell are you a new Robin? Not to be rude but you seem to be a little older than Bruce tends to recruit from if you catch my drift." He asked as he went over to the gymnastic equipment. It was on here that he truly shined. He started to backflip and twirl like the gifted acrobat he was. "Also keep talking. I can multitask." He told her with a chuckle.

@ Prince Vegeta
"You're quite cocky for a little Robin," She called out, smoke billowing up in the room and clearing away her advantages of vision. When she felt his arms wrap around her from behind, she twisted out of the headlock, swooping away from him in a dodge roll. "A headlock? Your arms would feel much better around me in other ways," Melinda said, a giggle escaping her lips and echoing off the walls. She searched for him as the air started to clear slightly, uncurling her whip and wrapping it around one of the rafters. As she swung by him, she landed a kiss on his cheek, hopefully leaving a mark with her lipstick.

She colored a little at the prospect of being the new Robin, and she ducked her head slightly. "I'm not exactly sure what Bruce has planned for me, but he has me training a lot," Clarissa answered, watching as he moved to multitask by doing gymnastics and speaking to her at the same time. Her eyes traveled over the shining muscles of his arms and chest as they curved and stretched through all of his moves. He was more handsome than she had expected, when Bruce had talked about him. "Are you back now for awhile?" She asked, knowing that he had been away for awhile doing Bruce's work around the world.

@ blue robin
Damian felt her wriggle out of his hands like she was smoke. He clenched his hands in anger for a moment before smiling. A proper challenge it had been a very long time since he had one of those. She flirted with him some more and it confused him. Was this how father and Kyle's relationship was? The eternal dance through the moonlight? In her escape she swung by with a kiss for his cheek. If she thought that she was getting away that easily she was sadly mistaken. Pulling out his grappling gun Damian shot a line after her and was right on her heels. "You're not getting away!" he yelled after her as he threw a few Robinrangs at her in an attempt to get her to stumble.

Dick smiled and actually got a good look at Clarissa. She was rather attractive if not a little shy. A few months of training with Bruce would get her confidence through the roof. "Yes, for the time being. Bruce told me to come back to Gotham for a while so that he can talk to me about a new mission." Dick said as he launched himself into a perfect triple jump and landed it.

"I see you two have introduced each other already." a deep rumbling voice came from the entrance of the room. From the shadows Bruce came out still in full Batman gear. "Still stoic as ever Bruce." Dick told him as he waved to his father figure. "Indeed, meet in the central Batcave in ten minut...where's Damian?" Dick shrugged and looked at Bruce. "I thought he went patrolling with you?" Bruce stood still before exiting the training room. "Alfred call Damian back now." Dick smiled and looked at Clarissa. "He's better once you get to know him." Dick told her as he exited the training room.

@ Prince Vegeta
Melinda kept swooping through the rafters, dodging the few things that he threw at her as she tried to make her escape. She could see a window to her right, and in a moment, she threw herself towards it, kicking her feet out to impact the glass. She threw her whip up in a second to catch onto a window ledge, throwing herself up and grabbing onto the edge of the roof of the building. The broken window set the building's alarms off, and they echoed throughout the cool night air as she hopped onto solid ground of the roof. She made a run for it then, sad to leave behind Robin because she was having fun teasing him, but knowing that she was probably pushing it if she toyed around any longer.

Clarissa jumped a little when she heard Bruce's deep voice echo through the training room. She was going to have to work on a lot of things before she could truly become an asset in crime fighting if she couldn't even hear him coming. She nodded when he said to meet in the Batcave, shoving her hands into her pockets as she thought about how cold it usually was in that room. At the noted absence of Damian, she realized she had never really met him properly, as he never really stopped to introduce himself. Clarissa had only seen the back of the billowing Robin cape as he had walked away. When Dick moved to leave the training room, she followed, falling into step beside him. It was then she noticed the height difference, where her head only really came to the middle of his chest. If he was making her feel inadequate before, it was even more so now, because not only did he have the skills, he was well trained and muscular, while she was small and thin. "I'm sure. He's been nice ever since I met him, but I haven't had a lot of conversations with anyone since I got here. It made me a little stir crazy," She said with a small laugh.

@ blue robin
Damian continued the chase until she crashed through a window and he lost her shortly after that. "-tt- Damn it all." he muttered as he tried to figure out where she went. Right before he could pick her trail up again his comm unit crackled. "Master Damian you are being requested back at the Batcave." "Can't this wait Pennyworth? I'm in the middle of a pursuit." Damian already knew the answer to that but maybe he would get lucky this time. "Not this time young master. Damian scowled as he ran to his motorcycle and drove back to Wayne Manor.

Dick smirked a bit as they headed into the Batcave. He wondered if Bruce was calling the whole Bat-Family or if it was just going to be them. As they walked to there Dick spotted Damian entering the Batcave on his motorcycle. Dick waved to him. "What's up little bro?" he yelled down. "Nice to see you didn't die Grayson." Damian responded. As the approached the main computer Dick saw Jason, Barb, and Tim standing there as well. Whatever Bruce had planned it was big. When Damian walked up Bruce cleared his throat and looked at all of them. "Everyone I am planning to resurrect Batman Incorporated."

@ Prince Vegeta
Melinda ran for it, jumping over rooftops as she made her way home. She was surprised that Robin didn't follow her, and once she was sure he wasn't trailing her quietly, she found the window to her room of an apartment building and slid inside. She sighed once inside, turning on a lamp and peeling off her mask along with the rest of her costume. Melinda dropped the several jewels she had collected from the store on her bed as she made her way for the bathroom, running a bath for her to relax her aching muscles in.

Clarissa was surprised to see all of the members of the Bat Family all standing around, and raised her eyebrow at the comment that one of them made in response to Dick, assuming that one was Damien. When they were all standing around Bruce, he made his announcement and she didn't know how to respond. If anything, she already felt a little out of place at the meeting since she only knew so much about everything, and she wasn't even exactly sure of her role in all of it either.

@ blue robin
Damian stood around and waited for his dad to get to the point. While he waited his mind went back to the leather clad woman that he had chased. There was something enthralling about her. She wasn't like the other women who threw themselves on him because he was the son of a billionaire. When he found out he was staying in Gotham he left and went to the shower room to rinse off after slipping out of his gear. After that he went to his quarters and just crashed. Knowing he had school in the morning.
(Seeing Damian and Melinda in high school together is going to be hilarious)

Dick smirked when Clarissa raised her eyebrows in response to Damian's comment. Damian was a little hard to get along with sometimes. But the little tyke was his brother and if push came to shove he would take a mauling from Killer Croc for him. Bruce went onto explain that they were going to go around the world and train new Batmen and Women to fight in case the world needed them. Damian would be staying with him in Gotham, Tim would be heading to Asia, Jason to Africa, Barbra to Australia, and Dick was going to be training Clarissa while they explored Europe. After that he handed them each a handful of files and went to go do Batman things. "So I guess we're partners. Welcome to the team." Dick said to Clarissa.

@ Prince Vegeta
Melinda woke up to the annoying sound of her alarm, rolling out of bed and getting ready for the day. She slipped on a cute black, tight fitting dress and put on minimal makeup before going downstairs to grab a granola bar and her bag, getting her keys on the way out the door to her car. She arrived early and sat and ate her granola bar before walking inside to her locker, putting on her favorite red lipstick in her locker mirror to pass time. Her mind wandered to the night before, thinking about Robin and their elusive dance around each other as they fought. It made her body itch to fight again, loving the thrill of it.

Clarissa smiled brightly when she was given files, almost to the point of jumping up and down with excitement. She was happy to have a purpose, and to be able to be trained by one of the best acrobats she had ever seen. "We're going to Europe!" She exclaimed in an excited squeal, not being to help herself. "It's such an honor to be able to be trained by you," Clarissa said afterwards, in a quieter tone, as she looked down to the ground again. She couldn't help but feel her cheeks burn pink, realizing that she was probably making herself look like an idiotic child.

@ blue robin
The alarm went off and Damian stood up. Titus looked at him and yawned. The old dog was starting to get a little slower than he was a year or so ago. Damian patted him on the head and smiled. "We'll go on a run when I get home okay boy?" Titus wagged his tail and licked his hand. Damian smiled and got dressed. Pennyworth was up and ready with his lunch and book bag. "Have a good day young man." Alfred told him. Damian grabbed both of these things and then jumped into his car. Sooner or later he was in first period chemistry waiting for Melinda his lab partner to show up.

Dick smirked. "Oh be warned. It's Europe but its also busting prisoners out of gulag, seeing the utmost depictions of poverty, and war torn areas." We are here to protect those who need protecting." Dick walked upstairs and went to the kitchen. The problem with their training is that they ate 15 times a day because of all the calories they burned. He looked at Clarissa as he poured a bowl of cereal. "Not to scare you just trying to warn you."

@ Prince Vegeta
Melinda slammed her locker shut when she was done, making her way towards her first period Chemistry class. She sat down next to her lab partner Damian, sending him a bright smile. "Morning, Wayne," She said, dropped her bag onto the floor and settling into her chair. The bell rang a few seconds later and the teacher began talking, and she rested her head on her hand as he explained the lab for that day.

Clarissa followed him to the kitchen, her cheeks becoming even more impossibly pink as he corrected her. Definitely an idiotic child, she chided herself. "I understand," She murmured, moving to sit up on the counter. "I've- I've just never been out of Gotham before," She said, watching as he poured himself a bowl of cereal.

@ blue robin
Damian looked up and waved absent minded at her. He already had a high A in the class without trying from the years of chemistry he had drilled into his head. He yawned and uttered another -tt- before looking over at Melinda. That's when he noticed something. Her lipstick matched th woman that had been committing the robberies. Damian smiled for a moment as he quickly thought of a plan to test a conjecture he had been thinking of. "Hey Mathewson, what are you doing Saturday?" he asked her.

Dick poured her a bowl of cereal as well. He noticed her turning bright pink. "I mean don't get me wrong there are a handful of places we have to go see and we can do some touristy things. But that's not our focus." he told her as he put the cereal bowls in front of both of them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your fun. I just want you to know."

@ Prince Vegeta
She looked over at Damian and raised an eyebrow. "Is Damian Wayne asking me out on a date?" She said, with sarcasm dripping from her voice. While Damian was smart and handsome, he wasn't ever much of the dating type, as she'd never really seen him with anyone before. She thought about Saturday, then, and about how she had been planning on attacking another jewelry store so she could see Robin again. Melinda thought it wouldn't hurt, however, to see what it would be like to hang out with Damian outside of school. "I don't have any plans," She answered his question, then, her hand leaving her face as she stopped resting on it and turned to look at him.

She smiled and murmured a thank you when he handed her a bowl of cereal, taking a bite before answering. "I know. It'll be fun enough protecting citizens and jailing some baddies and getting to train and watch you in action," Clarissa said with a smile, tucking some hair behind her ear as she then ate some more cereal. "Well, if we're going to Europe, then I'm sure I'm going to need a lot more training than what I have right now. Are you up to teaching me? Or do you have plans?" She asked, looking over to him, biting her lower lip.

@ blue robin
Damian smirked at her. "Maybe I am asking you on a date? Maybe I just want to pull a prank. You'll never know," he said with a smirk as he jotted his phone number down on a scrap piece of paper. The fly was in the web the minute she said yes. "Well then, I figured we'd do some homework or something on Saturday. Shoot me a text sometime this week and we can set something up." he told her as he handed her his number.

Dick smirked at her and leaned back in his chair. "I'll train you. By the time we leave Europe you'll be so well versed in so many different things you won't believe that you went in the same person you came out as." he grabbed a bag full of books and placed it in front of her. "You have homework for tonight. Read the first two chapters of the How to Speak German book. We leave for Berlin in three weeks." he told her as he finished his cereal and washed the bowl out. "Also get some sleep. Training begins early." Dick left to go to his room. He was going to have some fun training her.

@ Prince Vegeta
She watched him as he scrawled his phone number on a scrap of paper, taking it and tucking it into her pocket with a smirk on her lips. "I'll let you know," Melinda said, turning her attention back to the teacher. She had never really been able to figure out Damian even over the course of being lab partners with him, but she didn't expect him to ask her out, even to just do homework together. She figured she would just go along with it, as she didn't really get surprised often by people. It seemed worth it even if it was just a study date.

Clarissa took the books and nodded her head obediently, watching as he got up and left the room shortly after. She moved to get up and placed her bowl in the sink after washing it out, making her way to her bedroom. She changed into an oversized tshirt and nothing else, slipping into bed and reading the chapters that Dick had told her to. Clarissa fell asleep as she watched some videos online, her glasses lopsided on her nose and her blankets half on.

Damian smirked again. He turned around to listen to the teacher drone on and on about balancing chemical equations. Damian leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes for a bit. This was beginners stuff and it bored him. Damian was jostled awake as the teacher called on him. He woke up and yawned before walking up to the board and solving the equation in a few seconds. "Next time wake me up with a real challenge." he told the teacher as he went back to his seat.
(Skip to that Saturday?)

Dick woke up early in the morning to find Alfred making breakfast. "I will admit the one thing I miss whenever I am away is your cooking Alfred." Dick said as he sat down to hearty breakfast. Alfred smiled and nodded as he went to preparing a second plate of food. He looked over the file that Bruce had given him trying to make sure he knew every thing about their mission. "Shall I awake the young miss as well?" Alfred asked him. "Yes. We need to begin her training." Dick told him.