Thank you so much for beta reading this WhenUniversesCollide! Whenever I get the files back, I feel like I just want to toss my verson into the fire. The quality differential is that big. I really shouldn't be posting stories after 1 am, BUT I am sleep deprived so this all makes sense to me. Ah, what is next? Oh yes, the disclaimer is next! Why do I have to do a disclaimer anyways? The world may never know.

Disclaimer: I don't own DC, obviously.


Dick's P.O.V.

It is Friday morning, Bruce and I are eating breakfast when we hear the phone ringing. Alfred, being the amazing butler that he is, goes to pick up the phone. He answers the phone and addresses the caller by saying, "Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth speaking."

"Hello Mr Pennyworth, this is Princess Royal University Hospital. Jane Pennyworth, your aunt, has been admitted to the hospital. We are not sure how much longer that she will live, so we recommend that you visit as soon as possible if you want to see her one more time."

Alfred is speechless for a moment before he composes himself and replies, "Thank you for calling and have a good day."

What could possibly leave Alfred speechless?

Alfred turned to Bruce and said, "Would it be acceptable for me to take a few of my vacation days, Master Bruce?"

To say that I was confused would be an understatement. Who the heck could call that would make Alfie ask to use some of his vacation days? It's times like this when I wish that we would buy phones for the Manor that actually have caller ID. I was about to voice my confusion when Bruce, who must have seen the look on my face, spoke up.

"Of course you can Alfred! In fact, take the jet if you need it."

Now I was more confused. Did Bruce know what was going on? Probably not, Bruce would have told Alfred about what was going on if it were important, and Alfred asking for a few days off obviously made it so.

Apparently we were taking a no-questions-asked approach to the situation. Alfred replied to Bruce with a nod, "Thank you, good sir, I will be leaving after dinner tonight. Please do stay out of trouble during your nightly activities."

I felt like I should be able to say something, so I did, obviously. "Us? Trouble? Who do you think we are? Batman and Robin?!" I have a feeling that the others in the room didn't think that my joke was funny given the expressions on their faces. It's such a shame; I thought my comment was amazing. Maybe Wally would appreciate my joke more. I'll have to make a note to tell him about it. After my comment, we finished breakfast in awkward silence.


After spending all day at school, I came home for supper. We were all gathered in the dining hall when I realised that this would be the last meal cooked by Alfred for a little while. After a moment of wondering, I couldn't help but voice my concerns. "Bruce, what are we going do for meals while Alfred is gone?"

"Well, neither of us are that good at cooking so I was thinking that we could just do delivery."

"Delivery is feasible." What even was the root of that word? I was going to make a comment about what would happen if you were to remove the prefix, but now that I am thinking about it, I am not sure there is a prefix to remove. I really should look that up at some point.

That answered one question, but I am still not sure why Alfred is leaving in the first place. Bruce must have read my mind because he said, "One of Alfred's aunts from England had a heart attack, and the doctors are not positive if she will make it or not. That is why he has to leave on such short notice." There we go. That answers my two main questions. Now I just have to look up whether or not feasible has a prefix.

"Master Dick, I surely hope that you know that just because I am leaving temporally leaving doesn't mean that you can use your phone at the dinner table"

"Yes, Alfred," I sighed, tucking the device away before cocking my head. "Alfred?"

"Yes?"

"Does feasible have a prefix?"


At the airport

What do you say to a person like Alfred in a situation like this? "I hope that your aunt doesn't die." No matter how sincere that may be, it still sounds insensitive. As I am scrambling for words, Bruce puts a hand on Alfred's shoulder, looks him in the eye, and nods. This is one of those rare times that I wish I wasn't so reliant on words for communication.

I finally managed to scramble some words together in a last goodbye. "I hope all goes well while you are in London."

Alfred nodded appreciatively, always understanding, before turning and going through security with a tear in his eye.


Saturday Morning

Ah morning, the routine begins again. Oh wait! That's right; Alfred isn't here. I quickly get changed and put on some slippers. Huh, why are they called slippers? I always thought that they were to improve the wearer's grip while walking, not prove it. Speaking of which, if I had the time, I would prove to you why that word should really mean the opposite of improve. Why doesn't improve and disprove mean the same thing? Both of the prefixes are negatives. What is the point of all this? Oh yes, I was putting on my slippers so that I could ask Bruce what we are doing for breakfast.

I go out into to the hall to find him sitting on one of the couches at the bottom of the staircase. As I walk down the stairs, I call out: "What are we doing for breakfast, Bruce?"

"I don't know about you, chum, but I am in the mood for sadistic humour. Would you be opposed to eating at Mount Justice?"

I reply to him with a gasp and mock hurt, "I thought that you knew me better than that. I am always in the mood for sadistic humour. So, what are we waiting for?" I smirked.

On that note, we raced to the Zeta Beam, fully uniformed of course. We couldn't have Batman be at Mount Justice and not in his scary costume, could we?

We hid our bikes near the fake phone booth. Before I continue, yes Batman has a motorcycle too. Why would he not? We go through the Zeta Beam, and the computer calls out our designation.

As it turns out, Megan is the only one at the mountain and awake. She was cooking breakfast when she heard us come in. I would like to point out that the only reason that she was able to hear us come in is because we wanted her to.

"Hello Batman, Robin, would you like some breakfast?" she asked sweetly, glancing at Batman the whole time.

"Yes," My mentor replied gruffly. I felt the need to throw out a quick "Please" to the end of his reply.

"Is it ok if we have pancakes?" asked Miss M as she gets out more eggs.

"Yes, we are going to have training all morning and end with lunch. Will you be ok cooking for everyone?"

"Of course, Mr Batman, sir."

I could tell that Bruce was enjoying this. Probably enjoying it too much. This also answered the question of what we are going to do for lunch.

Kaldur walked into the kitchen and was startled when he saw me and Batman standing there. He cleared his throat and said, "Good morning sir, is there going to a mission today?"

"No, Kaldur there will be not; however, we are going to be having training this morning so have a light breakfast and gather the others. Because of the short notice, Black Canary is unavailable for training so I will be in charge today."

Kaldur nodded then looked me in the eye. "Do you want to contact Wally, or should I?"

"I'll text him." As Kaldur leaves the room to get Conner, I do as I said and send Wally this message: "Hey Wally, you have to come to the mountain for a pop quiz delivered by Batman himself ;)"

After a few seconds, he replied: "Ah man, here I was thinking that I could have a Sunday when I didn't freak out at some point"

His reply brought a smirk to my face. Bruce noticed my happiness and sent me a questioning glance. I just show him my phone's screen and Wally's reply brings a barely noticeable smirk to his. Of course, nobody notices our exchange because we are Bats. If you get rid of the 'ex' in 'exchange' you just get 'change' but that already means something. What is it with these words? This is ridiculous; it doesn't even make any sense.


After Training

Training was fun. Bruce even let me show off my regimen, so I got to enjoy the look on the Team's faces when they saw what I do every day.

Now we are having the lunch that Bruce mentioned earlier, and he is sitting at the table fully decked out in his Batman gear. It is truly a sight to behold, and I am the only person acting nonchalant about it. This must have been what Bruce meant when he said that he was in the mood for sadistic humour. Well, I can't say that I am not enjoying everyone else acting awkwardly when trying not to. I'm trying not to smile. I really am, but it is just so hard not to.

This is just a situation where you have to be there to enjoy it. Well, for me to enjoy it more because you would be probably freaking out about eating lunch with Batman more than the team was.

We were eating in silence, the only noise is the clatter of our silverware as we eat our steak. I can't help but burst out laughing when Batman says in his gravelly voice, "Would one of you please pass the salt?"

I never knew that lunch could be this fun. Fun for me, at least. I don't think the others are having such a great time. I, for one, won't be passing the salt because I want to see who cracks first. As it turns out, it is Megan who did it. She passed the condiment with a quiet "Sure."

I continue the trend of "You crazy Bats!" by wearing my Robin suit. Everyone else is in their civvies, which just adds to the humour. As we finish up eating, Batman looks me in the eye and nods. That means that I can stay here this afternoon while he goes back to Gotham. Yay!


I pushed everything back by a day. I will explain why in the author's note in the next chapter.