To be better

"Because you asked?"

His response seemed to surprise them. Again, Aaron didn't understand what was so complicated about helping people. Superman didn't go save the world because he was being paid; he did it because he was a good guy.

"Does the Nest not help you guys?"

Riko shifted. Her posture was upright and exuded unease. "How do you know about that?"

"Because Shug-R kept mentioning it during the Iceberg Lounge mission and even a few hours ago. She was talking to the Nest, right?"

Riko and Izzy shuffled next to one another and exchanged glances. Finally, Izzy sighed and said, "Yeah, well…the last time we received a transmission was right after the Iceberg mission. Right now, Shug-R is attempting to contact Duke and the Nest but nothing so far."

"Are the Bat Family in danger?"

Izzy bit her lip. "Maybe."

"Or they could be ignoring us," Riko said, a comment which immediately garnered a hateful glare from Izzy.

"Would you please just shut up, Riko."

A snort. "They abandoned us before and I'm sure they would do it again."

"They did not–"

"Alright, relax." Aaron teleported in between them and held them back by the shoulder. "We have two injured men upstairs. Let's try not to wake them by arguing."

Riko softened and Izzy lowered her fist. The Robina had the stereotypical Latina temper, quick to use her fists when tempted.

"Trust me, Aaron. Batman Incorporated isn't as good as you think it is." Riko's declaration drew intrigue and confusion. He released her shoulder and let her continue. "During the Robin War, when We Are Robin was at its peak, we fought the Court of Owls."

"I remember," Aaron said. "It was all over the news."

Her eyes and lips went flat with thinly hidden rage. "What they don't tell you is what happened afterwards. We were trained by the original Robins, the main four. It was brief but it meant everything to us. And then they told us to stop. Just…after the fight, after all the loss, we were told to stop." Riko scowled, her bottled up frustration and fury flowing through her words. "Dre almost died of depression and **** overdose because he couldn't fight crime. He ended up in Arkham Juvie with Shug-R and all the other former Robins who weren't sanctioned by Batman's brand. Me and Dax barely escaped."

"And then you decided to work for Xavier Pearl and XP industries," Izzy added spitefully. "You guys turned from vigilantes to mercenaries. You nearly killed Duke!"

"Because we had ****!"

"You could have just talked to us!"

Riko was glowing blue, a sign of metahuman energy. This was not good–

"We did!" Riko snarled. "You just said you had better things to do!"

Aaron was the only thing stopping them from fighting. He stood his ground, hands pulling their weight down, making sure they wouldn't swing at each other or godforbid throw their superpowers around. It was a tiring job. Listening to them yell and vent and relentlessly attack one another wasn't fun. For him, a stranger, it was like spectating a sibling fight.

"Okay, okay." He extended his arms fully, pushing them apart far enough to stop the engagement. "I get it. You're angry." He stopped to think. "Let's just go."

"Go where?" they said in sync. Immediately, animosity brewed but Aaron spoke before it combusted. Thank god for it–they were shooting daggers at each other and he was sure if they were holding any they would have thrown them without blinking.

"To O'Malley's for drinks." He looked at them hard, grey eyes freezing them in place. "You are over eighteen, right?"

"I'm twenty-two, she's twenty-one," Izzy remarked, sounding offended.

"What about Dax and Dre?" Riko's blue hair flipped as her head gestured at the upper level. "We can't just leave them–"

"Shug-R is already keeping watch over them," Aaron replied. "Now come on. Let's go."