So this was a story idea that just hit me today, and I HAD to write it! So I'd REALLY appreciate it if you all would tell me your opinions about it, and if I should continue!

Also, if anyone is OOC, please tell me so I can try and fix it! And if any of you have advice for when it comes to writing a character (how they talk, act, etc.) please tell me! I really want to improve in any way I can!

Enjoy!

Jack sat inside a small coffee shop, peering out at the city of Gotham.

It was dark, and scary at night time, but it was the closest thing to home that he had now.

It had been a year and a half ago that the Airachnid and M.E.C.H accident happened. His mom was dead, and Jack couldn't stay any longer in Jasper. The government wanted to send him to an orphanage, and so did the 'bots (for his own safety), but that wasn't what Jack wanted.

So he'd left. He'd stuck around long enough to attend the funeral for his mom that the government had paid for, and then he'd packed all he needed to survive and left.

It had been four months later that Jack had finally settled in an abandoned warehouse at the edge of Gotham city. He figured that the 'bots and government wouldn't find him there, with so many people around.

So for twelve months now, he'd lived in Gotham. He did odd jobs for money, and never told anyone his name. At night he'd continue mourning his mother's death, but whenever day came to the city, he'd pull himself together and go earn his keep.

Jack was shaken out of his thoughts when the bell at the door chimed and two people walked in. Jack recognized the man as Bruce Wayne, the richest man in Gotham, and the man's young companion as his adopted son, Richard Grayson.

The teen was around Jack's age, and was talking animtedly to his adoptive dad. The man in return smiled slightly.

Jack looked back to his drink, taking a sip. A small smile came to his face as the warmth of it curled in his belly. It felt welcome compared to the chilly evening.

He jumped in surprise when someone suddenly dropped into the seat across from him. Jack looked up, and saw it was Richard Grayson. A glance to the counter revealed his adoptive father ordering a couple of drinks.

Storm colored eyes turned to the smiling teen across from him.

"Hey! I'm glad I'm not the only kid here." He said. Jack simply blinked, shrinking back slightly.

The other didn't seem to notice, extending a hand.

"I'm Richard Grayson. What's your name?"

Jack hesitantly shook the hand, slightly taken aback at the callus' he felt. Still, he said nothing, earning a strange look from Richard.

"Uh...Are you okay?"

Jack nodded, pulling his hoodie down more, feeling safe within the hood. Richard tilted his head, leaning forward slightly.

"Hey, c'mon, it's not like I bite or anything!"

"Richard."

They both looked up to see the speaker was Bruce Wayne. The man gave his son a stern look.

"Leave the poor kid be. Not everyone likes to talk to anyone their age."

Richard pouted, sticking his tongue out at the man. Jack couldn't help but let out a small laugh. When the other teen looked at him, Jack shut his mouth, teeth giving an audible click. It took him a moment, but Jack finally gathered the courage to reply to Wayne

"It...It's okay, sir."

Richard grinned, pointing a figner at Jack.

"Aha! So you can talk!"

"U-uh...Yeah. I can." Jack mumbled quietly, taking another gulp of his hot chocolate.

While Richard chatted aimlessly, Jack simply listened, nodding when it was required and sipping at his drink. Only when the last of his hot chocolate was gone did Jack speak. He frowned at his empty cup.

"Aw man..." He mumbled to himself. He then turned, looking around for a trashcan. Spotting one about twenty feet away, Jack tossed the cup. It landed in the trashcan with a hollow sound.

"Wow, good aim." Richard said, grinning at Jack. "Do you take sports at school or something?"

Jack paused at the mention of school. He hadn't been to school in ages, having run away at the very end of Summer break. Over a year and a half of school was missing from his education, a rather large chunk, all things considered. Finally he replied.

"Uh, yeah." He lied. "I do."

Richard smiled, easing back in his seat.

"Man, you're lucky! I'm always too busy to get into any sports."

Jack felt a vile feeling twist in his chest. He wasn't lucky. Not at all. He'd lost his mom and friends, and couldn't show his face at all, fearing that his face would be caught on a camera and lead the government or the 'bots to him.

No. Lucky was one thing Jack definately was not.

"Hey, are you okay?" Richard asked, concerned as he caught Jack's frown from beneath the hoodie.

Jack blinked in alarm, then quickly shook his head.

"No, nothing. Just thinking. Sorry."

Richard smiled.

"Hey, it's fine! No need to apologize!" He insisted. He then leaned forward, leaning on his elbows. He then spoke quietly so only Jack could hear.

"If you need to get something off your chest, you can tell me. I'm good at listening." He offered, smiling at Jack.

Jack shook his head again.

"I'm okay. It's nothing I need to talk about."

Richard smiled, but it fell when his dad moved over.

"We need to get going, Richard." He looked to Jack. "It was nice meeting you."

Jack smiled hesitantly while the other teen groaned.

"It was nice to meet you both too."

The man gave him a slight grin before guiding Richard out with a hand on his shoulder.

"Bye!" Richard called hurriedly to Jack before they dissapeared through the cafe's door.

After a few minutes, Jack stood, shoving his hands in his hoodie's pockets. As he left, he smiled secretly to himself from within his hood.

That had been the first time he talked with someone at length...since his mother died.

When Bruce and Richard, AKA Batman and Robin, slid into their limo, the elder male looked at his adopted son with slight curiosity.

"I've never seen you so friendly and talkitive with a stranger before."

Robin's nose scrunched a bit.

"Yeah...I know, but...Well, something about him drew me in. He was just...so easy to talk to and had this sorta...kind, warm feeling about him. I couldn't help but talk to him."

The teen propped his elbow on the door's armrest, chin in his hand.

"I wish I could've learned his name, though. But I guess it's good that he's so cautious. I mean, especially in Gotham."

Bruce's face became thoughtful.

"Yes, but I sense there's more to it than that. There's more to him in general than we think."

Robin looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean? Really, Bats, you're way too paranoid!"

The man gave him a stern look, to which Robin merely smirked at. Sighing, Bruce shifted into a more comfortable position.

"It comes with the territory of being Batman. And while everyone has a side to them I don't know, there's something...off about that kid."

"Oh c'mon, he isn't a criminal!"

Batman gave him a look.

"Not off in that sort of way." He said, looking out the window. "He seems scared. He wouldn't tell you his name, nor did he show his face at all. We could only see his lower face, and he knew that. If I had to guess, he's hiding from something or someone."

Robin strightened, brows furrowing in concern.

"Hiding?"

His mentor nodded, and Richard couldn't help but feel worry bubble inside of him for his new-found friend.

Jack coughed roughly into the crook of his arm, holding a shovel in his other hand.

A heavy snowfall had blown in, and Jack had been hired to help clear the sidewalks of Gotham. It was Jack's rotten luck that had him coughing and sniffling. Of course he'd had to develop a cold, or even worse, the flu.

It had been a week since he met Richard Grayson in the small coffee shop. Ever time he thought about the other teen and his dad, how kind they'd been, he would smile. He remembered that night he'd talked to the photo of his friends and seperate photo of his parents, telling them about the two people he'd met. The two photos were the only things that remained of his past life in Jasper, Nevada, and talking to the people in the pictures always eased his loneliness.

After a small sneezing fit, Jack continued to push the shovel along the sidewalk, heaving away snow.

He jumped in alarm when someone suddenly grabbed his shoulders and turned him around. He came face-to-face with Richard.

The other teen looked him over, then beamed.

"It is you! For a sec I thought you were someone else! What're you doing out here, dude? It's freezing!"

Jack stammered for a moment before he managed to reply.

"I w-was hired to help shovel snow off the sidewalks." He said through chattering teeth.

Richard grimaced.

"That's gotta suck."

Jack shrugged, giving a noncommital sound before turning to try and continue his work. Richard, though, grabbed his arm.

"Heyheyhey! Wait a sec! You're in front of the Wayne Enterprise building, so you should come in! C'mon!"

Jack gasped as the slightly older teen dragged him towards the building they were in front of. It was, indeed, a Wayne Enterprise building.

"B-but I need to fini-"

Jack sneezed violently before he could finish his sentance, and Richard grimaced again.

"Man, how long have you been out here? C'mon, Bruce's here on business so we can go to his private office. It's got a big ol' fireplace and everything, it's asterous!"

"A...Asterous?" Jack questioned as he was dragged inside.

The building was warm, making his frozen skin sting. Richard pried the shovel from his hands, setting it by the door before pulling Jack to an elevator. After the doors shut, the two teen's waited to reach the top floor.

"So why did you take a bad job like shoveling? Trying to get extra cash?"

Jack ducked his head.

"Yeah...Something along those lines."

The doors slid open with a ding, and Richard grinned, pulling him out into a large room. Jack looked around in awe.

A large desk sat at the back by a large window that looked out over Gotham. On the walls were bookcases filled with many, many books, and a large fireplace was lit in the middle of the wall to their left. Two armchairs and a loveseat sat around the fireplace.

Bruce, who was leaning on the large window and looking over papers, glanced up.

"Look who I found!" Richard said, laughing (though it sounded more like a cackle to Jack).

Bruce raised a brow, but a smile played at the corners of his lips.

"I can see who, Richard."

"Hello again Mr. Way-"

Another sneeze silenced Jack, and Richard laughed once more.

"Cmon, let's get you by the fireplace. That should help defrost you." He joked gently, guiding Jack to sit in one of the armchairs. He then turned to his adoptive father.

"It's okay that I brought him up here, isn't it? I mean, he looked like he was freezing, so I thought..."

Bruce looked at Jack, silent for a moment as he watched the shivering form. His eyes fell to the red, raw and chaped hands the poked out from the large hoodie's sleeves. They shook from the cold, and the callus' stood out, prominent against the red skin.

Bruce's glaze cut to Richard and he nodded.

"It's fine. It's probably a good thing that you brought him in anyway."

His protege smiled thankfully before he sat across from Jack on the other armchair. Robin talked and Jack merely listened, basking in the warmth from the fire. The two teens remained like that for a good two hours while Bruce continued to work, but a sudden fade of Richard's voice made Bruce look up from the papers he held.

Both Robin and Jack were passed out on the armchairs, Richard snoring lightly and Jack simply curled up with his head on one of the armrests.

Bruce couldn't help but smile. Even Batman had to admit it was a touching sight.

Finishing his work, he put the papers away and stood. He moved to Robin, gently shaking him awake.

The seventeen-and-a-half-year-old yawned, peering up at him.

"Wh-what..? Oh...did I fall asleep?" Richard asked, sitting up and stretching.

Bruce nodded.

"You did."

Robin looked at Jack, grimacing.

"Do we gotta wake him up? I mean, the poor guy's probably exhausted..."

His mentor sighed.

"I can carry him to the car and we'l just have to wake him up long enough for him to tell us his adress."

Richard nodded, standing as Bruce went over to Jack, carefully lifting the teen.

The man was surprised by how light Jack was. For a moment, he wondered if the teen ever ate anything. He was severely underweight, and Bruce now honestly considered about talking with the teen's parents.

The three went into the elevator, then through the lobby and into the limo.

After carefully easing Jack into the back seat (Robin having to help pull him in), Bruce slid in, sitting across from them in the adjascent seat. He then leaned forward. Years of experience with Richard taught Bruce many tricks of how to wake up someone without startling them.

He eased a hand under the hood, running a hand through the soft hair under it.

"Hey, time to wake up." The teen stirred and Bruce continued to murmur to him. "There you go, that's it, easy does it."

Jack blinked blearily, not that his two companions could see, but when his head turned towards Bruce, they knew he was awake. Bruce smiled kindly.

"We're going to take you home, okay? Where do you live?"

Jack yawned, rubbing his eyes.

"W-...West Rovais street..." He mumbled before curling up and dozing off once more.

Bruce shook his head, though his smile remained as he turned to look at Alfred, who was driving.

"Well, you heard him. West Rovais street."

"Right away, Master Bruce."

As the limo pulled into the street, silence took over the car. Richard stared at Jack for a bit, then looked at his mentor.

"Isn't West Rovais street by the docks? I thought only warehouses are down there..."

"So did I." Bruce replied.

It took half an hour to get to the street Jack had told them, and as they'd thought...There were no houses in sight.