"... Have to keep all your senses open; anything can give away a thug about to pull a sneak attack." Batman said in his stern tone. Nodding eagerly, Batgirl promised herself she'd start spending more afternoon workouts with a blindfold on.

"That all the notes for tonight, teach?" She asked. Silently, Batman nodded, then turned back towards the massive computer screen covered with recent police reports. As she slipped off her cowl, Barbara happened to glance over a couple of them, and frowned.

"Hey... Those are from Star City, not Gotham. What gives?"

"Something's been bothering Green Arrow at the last couple League meetings. I thought I'd see if I could figure out what it might be." He pulled up one document in particular, a small article with a fuzzy picture of a figure leaping over rooftops.

"Star's New Status as a Haven for Archers?" Barbara quirked an eyebrow at him, and Bruce pulled off his own cowl before sighing.

"This was taken three weeks ago while Arrow was very publicly bringing down Vertigo on the other side of town. Apparently, he's got a fan, who's been shooting down small time crooks and muggers while bigger game is occupying Ollie's attention."

"Aw, now doesn't that sound familiar." Still talking from the changing area she had moved to, Barbara asked the exact question that had been bothering Bruce for several days. "Think G.A. might take him on as a partner?"

"Would be nice to know who he is, first." The Dark Knight muttered.

"I heard that. And as you oh-so-delicately dropped to Dick when I first came here, you knew who I was for a lot longer than I suspected who you were." She emerged in civilian clothes once again. "Speaking of Mister pixie, I thought I might step upstairs before I left, see if he needs any help with his science homework."

Bruce rubbed a palm over his face. "Did he tell you he blew up the lab table yesterday?"

"Again? I gotta hand it to the kid, he's almost as destructive in his civilian ID as Robin." Chuckling, the college student entered the elevator leading from the Batcave to Wayne Manor above.

Only a few minutes after she had left and Bruce returned to scanning and cross referencing the news reports, he received an incoming transmission.

"Speak of the devil," He muttered, answering it.

"Hey, Bruce!"

"Oliver. What do you need?"

"Well, ah- are you alone at the moment?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Ye-es." He replied, drawing out the word.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something. Batgirl got started on her own, right? How did you take it?" Realizing instantly where this was coming from, Bruce was careful to arrange his thoughts before answering.

"At first, I was very discouraging of her behavior, tried to tell her to go home, and generally made it a point to avoid contact with her."

"... And after that?" Ollie sounded anxious over the line.

"She stuck around, learning and proving herself to me."

"And that was enough for you to accept her as a partner?"

"The final push came when she was able to bring down a villain's airship by herself, since I was... preoccupied."

He could practically hear Ollie mulling this over. Bruce waited a minute before speaking again.

"This is about the vigilante who's been copying you, isn't it?"

A very deep sigh made itself heard from the man on the other end of the transmission. "I managed to spot the guy last night, and tailed him across the city. He ducked into a run down apartment building in a pretty bad area, and I got close enough to catch a glimpse of him through the window. Bruce, he... He's just a kid."

The comparative size of the figure in the handful of photos had already led Batman to suspect that, but hearing the worry in Ollie's voice was disconcerting.

"Maybe not as small as Robin, but definitely younger than Batgirl. And, he's gotten a costume, a bow, even made his own trick arrows! A teenager in the slums, for crying out loud!"

"Impressive."

"Yeah... Yeah, I thought so. And he's been doing a decent job, too. Crooks that would have had the luck to get by me scot-free can't make it past him. But, Bruce, I'm afraid he might try bigger stuff, get in over his head - I've got enough to deal with in this city without worrying that a kid copying me is going to get himself killed."

"So, you called me, who's had both a teen and a kid make their own uniforms and force their way into being my partners, for advice on how to get this boy to stop." If it weren't so serious, Bruce might have chuckled at the irony.

"Um, yes?"

"Hmph. Do you at least have a name for this kid?" The silence gave Bruce the fun image of Ollie staring blankly ahead with his mouth hanging open in dismay.

"... No, but I've got the address of the apartment he went into."

"Send it to me, I'll see what I can find out about him."

"Thanks, Bruce-"

"Don't thank me yet. As soon as we know something about him, I'm making you at least talk to the kid."

"-Excuse me?"

"Ollie, I will come to Star City if necessary. Forcing this boy out will mean approaching him. More than that, if you might consider actually working with him."

And on that note, Bruce had the satisfaction of hanging up on a startled Oliver.