First Chapter in a Neko AU I have been planning in a while.

Kay... I promise this is not as bad for Tim as it looks... it gets really fluffy next chapter and I really don't mean to be so mean to him... Okay I am going to write you Tim fluff because I am extremely sorry...

Dick really shouldn't have watched that horror movie this afternoon. Granted it wasn't particularly scary... But it did happen to be about a sewer monster, which wasn't the best thing as Killer Croc had just escaped. So yeah Dick really shouldn't have watched that horror movie.

It was made worse by he and Batman spitting up on patrol with the notion that if either if them found Croc they do not engage and radio for back up immediately. Which was why he jumped out of his skin at the soft rustling noise coming from a distinctly dark area of the alley he was in.

The waged the internal war of whether or not to call Batman. Because, of course, it could be Killer Croc, or it could be some badly placed newspaper rustling in the wind whose sound was being amplified by the shape of the alley way... curiosity won out in the end and Dick slowly approached the rustling darkness.

As he got closer it became apparent that the sound wasn't rustling at all but a soft mewling crossed with louder purring. It sounded like a cat, but not like a cat. Whatever it was it was in distress; and Robin never left anything in distress.

Dick approached cautiously, not wanting to scar the creature, expecting to find it curled up in the corner. He did not expect to be confronted with two small boys with cat ears and tails.

Cases of feline mutations in humans had been in the news recently, although cases had only been reported in the Far East and Europe, where genetics labs were looking at preventing diseases using xenogenetics and samples had infected the general populace. It was heralded as an international disaster, all projects were shut down immediately, the problem was it took about a year to eighteen months for cat features to develop, so they didn't know cross-contamination had happened until it was far too late.

There had been no cases in the States, the companies involvement had no plants here, but then again this was Gotham, if there was going to be any under the table research gong on it *would* be here.

The closer he got to the kids the more he could make out. They were just so tiny, one couldn't be more than three and he was mewling in an almost pained way. Dick edged closer getting a pathetic hiss from the older boy as a warning, one Dick didn't heed.

What he found made him step back with a gasp

"Robin to Batman, we have a situation on Forth and Weston"

"Croc?"

"No -"

"Robin what exactly is more important than finding Killer Croc?"

"Starving children"

By the time they got back to the manor Batman was seething. He was doing his silent brooding thing, and for once Dick didn't blame him. The two sleeping bodies on his lap were plenty reason enough. The small, tiny, one's bones were showing, like he hadn't eaten for at least a couple of days. In fact his chest looked like it was skin stretched over bone; you could see each rib in high definition. I t frightened them to mote him, he was just to delicate, so fragile, he felt as though he could break at any moment. But they had to move him; he was dying; malnutrition and starvation. The older one wasn't much better, but he was older, better fed, stronger-

street hardened

-as though he was used to living here in the run down dangerous part of town. His hands were calloused, his face and clothes were dirty an, his eyes were narrow and his face bore suspicion at every turn.

It was a look than should not be on a child, no matter their living circumstances

It made The Batman's heart clench with sadness.

The journey to the Batcave had never taken so long.

The little catboy? child, was cold, too cold for Gotham's warm and muggy summer nights. Thought the silence of the cave you could hear every laboured breath.

They laid his is barely breathing body on one of the gurneys and stepped back as Alfred took control of the situation with a small gasp of "Oh my!"

They took the small opportunity to get changed into something… more comfortable, as it was going to be a busy few days.

"Alfred, why are we not doing anything?" they were sitting next to the medical gurneys waiting.

"Master Richard?"

"Why are we not helping them more?" Alfred had that look in his eyes. The one you get when he knows something you don't but he is trying not to be patronising about it.

"Master Richard we are doing all we can-" he held a finger up to the protest on the tip of Dick's tongue. "Starvation is a serious matter, we cannot feed them lots of food at once, their bodies will reject it. However, the older one will be able to have a small amount of solids when he wakes up the younger one however is getting doses of water and glucose for the moment. Then, when he a little stronger he can have some high in sugar fruit juices, and after that he can move on to small amounts of food."

Dick's eyes dated down to the side, aimed at the floor, in embarrassment, he really didn't think that Alfred wasn't doing anything he just felt so useless, there were two tiny boys almost dying in front of him, and they may have died still if he had taken their mewling as paper rustling or some other random alley sounds. It just hurt that literally all they could do now was wait.

"Young master just be glad that you found them, you gave them this chance, they are not in some dirty alleyway waiting to die, and that is because of you. Remember that Master Richard." Alfred always knew exactly what to say and when to say it.

Whatever he was going to reply was cut off as he looks back to the other gurney and found two large blue slit eyes staring back at him, still drowsy and full of fear as they darted between the three other members of the room.