This is set during the Prodigal story arc in the comics where Dick substituted as Batman for Bruce and is partnered with Tim as Robin. I'm pretty sure Leslie never appears in this story arc, or in the Knightfall (Bane breaks Bruce's back) arc before it, so I had to speculate as to what she was thinking and doing during that time.

Batman and associated characters belong to DC. I own nothing but I like borrowing them.

Dr. Leslie Thompkins felt her heart jump when she heard a loud knocking at the window behind her. Just a year ago, she would have barely reacted to hearing knocking outside her third floor office at two in the morning, but it had been several months since she had seen Bruce and she wasn't sure at this point when, or even if, she would see him again.

She turned around and could vaguely make out a familiar cape and cowl shape past a thick curtain of rain. She unlatched the window, but hesitated before opening it. Was this the new, violent Batman who had been in the news recently? The reports had been alarming to her for many reasons, and she had been grateful that for the last few weeks (ever since they showed footage of a Batman-on-Batman fight) there hadn't been any stories about unusually violent behavior from Batman. The violent pretender must have left after the fight, but he could be returning now, as psychopaths in Gotham always did. Leslie found herself so disturbingly out of the loop about Bruce Wayne's current activities that she didn't have a clue about who the person under that mask might be. But she was a doctor, and she always responded to a call for her help, especially if the call came to her from someone stuck outside on a miserable, stormy night. She opened the window; the costumed figure stuck his head through and smiled.

"Mind if I come in, Les?"

Leslie suddenly found herself wishing that her visitor had been the new, violent Batman after all. That would have been less heart-wrenching than seeing the man she had known since he was nine years old wearing the costume that was a symbol of her failure to help another man she had known as a child.

She pushed her feelings aside for the moment and asked, "Do you need help? Where are you injured?" That was her first priority. Sorting out the circumstances that had led to him wearing the cowl could wait.

"I'm not here for me, actually. Let's get you out of the rain, buddy." Dick climbed in gracefully, then turned around and waved an arm out the window. He kept the arm out until it took hold of a smaller arm, this one wearing bright green gloves. Soon a sopping wet teen was also standing in her office, dark hair plastered to his face and a reddened bandage right above his elbow.

So this was the new Robin, the one whose appearance had caused her to give Bruce a thorough tongue-lashing the last time they'd spoken. She'd been fond of Jason; he had been rough around the edges, but every time she'd taken care of him he'd seemed to drink up every motherly gesture she used to comfort him when he was hurt. She'd been devastated by the news of his death. The only positive she saw coming from it was Bruce's vow to never take on another sidekick. The moment she found out he'd gone back on his word she'd confronted him about it, holding nothing back in telling him why his actions were completely unacceptable. He'd listened to her stoically, then left. She hadn't seen him since.

She was at the boy's side in an instant, unclasping his cape and pushing him gently into her office chair. She noticed that the teen was shivering so she went to the closet and grabbed a blanket from the stash of "vigilante emergency" medical supplies she kept there.

She draped the blanket around his shoulders, crouched down and asked, "What happened, honey? Where are you hurt?" She kept her voice gentle—whatever her quarrel with his mentor, she had nothing but pity for this child.

"Just my arm, ma'am." he replied, teeth chattering slightly. "We were in the middle of a drug bust and I stupidly rammed my elbow into some guy's teeth. Sorry to bother you, it's not that bad."

"I'd like to check it for myself before we make that judgement." she said, taking off his glove and unwinding the bandage around his arm. Underneath was a gash with ragged edges several centimeters wide. "Yes, this definitely needs treatment. It looks deep, and you should always take bite wounds seriously; they can lead to nasty infections."

"That's exactly what I told him." said Dick. He leaned on her desk and watched as she worked on Robin. "He didn't even tell me he was injured, I only figured it out when I saw the blood."

"We were on our way back to the cave; I was going to take care of it when we got there." Robin protested.

"I'd like to know how you thought you were going to stich that part of your arm by yourself. I've been an acrobat all my life and I still think that would be a little awkward." Dick sounded amused. Robin glared at him.

"It doesn't need stitches."

"Yes it does." Dick and Leslie said in unison. Robin's expression changed to borderline pouting.

Leslie got up from examining the wound and went to gather more supplies from her closet. "You'll also need to take an antibiotic as a precaution. Alfred hasn't come to me for supplies in a while, so I doubt the Batcave is stocked right now."

"Yeah, Alfred's unavailable right now." said Dick.

Alfred had recently told Leslie that he was going out of country, so Dick's statement did not surprise her. Alfred, ever the gentleman, had chosen not to elaborate too much on the subject of Bruce during those months that he had been avoiding her. She was grateful Alfred had kept her in the loop enough to let her know when Bruce had recovered from his fight with Bane, but she didn't have any details about the situation beyond the fact that his physical health was restored. Alfred hadn't forced Bruce and Leslie to talk; he always preferred to let them settle their disagreements without his interference.

Leslie had, however, gathered enough details about the Wayne household to form a theory about Robin's identity. "How's your dad doing?" she asked him as she began to clean his wound.

Robin startled and looked over at Dick, who shrugged. "You're not the only detective in Gotham, Tim." he said. "Don't worry about your secret; I would trust Leslie with my life."

Leslie smiled. Her relationship with Bruce had its ups and downs, but Dick had never changed toward her over the years. Still as loyal and friendly as the day she had met him.

"That's how he got the job, Leslie." She detected a note of pride in Dick's voice. "He figured out who Batman was and confronted Bruce about not taking care of himself. You two should have a lot in common."

"I would prefer that our common interest wasn't taking care of a self-destructive vigilante." she said with some bitterness. Tim looked at her nervously, either afraid she would start to lecture him or uneasy about the syringe she had just picked up.

"Hold still. You'll feel a pinch, but I need to numb this before I put in the sutures." She took hold of his wrist to position his arm on the desk. As she let go a black glove closed itself on Tim's wrist and another one grabbed his upper arm; Dick was crouching down to help her by holding Tim's arm steady.

"Besides beating criminals and figuring out Batman's identity, what else do you like to do with your time?" Leslie asked, trying to distract Tim as she worked.

Tim shrugged slightly (one-shouldered) in typical teenage boy fashion. "I like to take pictures, I watch tennis and football, I play Wizards and Warriors with some other guys."

"Tell her about your girlfriend." Dick said in a sing-song voice.

"Is she pretty?" Leslie asked, sparing a glance away from her work to see Tim's face.

"Very." Tim answered. He was blushing.

"You'll have to think up a good story to tell her about these stitches, Timmy." Dick said. "A spectacular skateboard move gone wrong or something."

"I was just planning on wearing long sleeves for a while." said Tim. "It would spare me having to lie to my dad about it."

Leslie stopped in the middle of putting in a suture. "Your dad doesn't know?"

"I kinda started training while my parents were out of town. They traveled a lot, so it was easy to work on it without them knowing. Then my mom died and my dad was in a coma, and... well, I'm not sure how I could even begin to explain it to him at this point." Tim's expression was guilty; he avoided looking at Leslie.

Leslie continued suturing. "Keeping all this from your dad isn't wise, Tim. Secrets this big tear relationships apart and tend to come to light in the messiest way possible."

"I know. I'm working on it." Tim mumbled.

She wanted to say more, but it was two in the morning and he would need to sleep at some point. He didn't look to be any older than his mid-teens.

She taped some gauze over the sutures. "I'm going to get you an antibiotic. I'll be right back."

She returned to see Tim in better spirits; he was in the middle of laughing about something Dick was saying. She handed Tim a pill bottle.

"Take one of these twice a day for two weeks." she said. "Keep that wound clean and dry. If you see swelling or redness around it, or if you start to run a fever, go to the hospital. Your secrets aren't worth your life, Tim."

"I understand." he said softly.

She gave him a sympathetic look. "You must be tired by now. Go home, get some sleep."

"Thanks, Dr. Thompkins." Tim visibly perked up at the mention of sleep.

"Yeah, thanks Leslie." Dick chimed in.

Leslie watched as they climbed out the window, Dick keeping a hand on Tim's back, guiding him. "Take care of yourselves." She called out as they left.

"We will" came back faintly in return.

She shook her head and went to get some towels to clean up the rain and mud they had tracked into her office. She still wasn't pleased that another boy was risking his life as Robin, and she was frankly alarmed to see Dick in the role of Batman. But she saw some cause for hope in her interaction with them. For one, Dick hadn't yet allowed being Batman to drag him into darkness like Bruce had. Secondly, the way he treated Robin, teasing and protecting him in equal measure, led Leslie to believe that he was taking on the role of a big brother for this new Robin. She still wasn't happy that Tim was in danger out there, but at least now she knew there was someone she trusted watching out for him.

FYI: Tim's girlfriend at this point in the comics was Ariana Dzerchenco.

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