Hey peoples!

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(Virtual hugs to all!)

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LOLZ, enjoy!


_-_ATWFAU-_-

_-_-_YJ_-_-_

Dick cautiously reached his hand back to the guy. The grip he got wasn't as strong as he expected a mans to be, but he did notice that the guy was awfully skinny.

Dick was nearly standing when his side gave another agonizing shot of pain. He almost went back down to the ground, but the guy caught him halfway, half carrying half walking him to the motorcycle.

Dick wasn't used to this kind of help. The only help he received from Batman was a 'look out' warning and an occasion shove to the side to avoid a bullet and sometimes a trick Joker's card.

The guy set him down on the motorcycle extremely gentle. A bit too gentle than what he was used to. He had to wonder just who this guy was, why he wanted to help him, and how he knew where to find him.

He was pulled from his mind as the kid was set in his lap. Immediately, the blue-eyed, midnight-haired, boy turned and hugged his stomach. If Dick wasn't in so much pain, he would of thought the kid was kind of cute. He looked up to the rider, who pointed to Dick's legs and then himself and then the motorcycle.

Dick was lost for a bit. The rider sagged as if sighing and accepting that Dick was indeed, an idiot. The rider finally stepped forwards, throwing Dick's right leg over the other side of the cycle and got on himself. Gritting his teeth from the sudden movement, he wrapped his arms around the kid and held on to the mans shoulders.

He realized that the man must have been wearing leather. Looking down, he was correct. The man had on a full leather suit, complete with attached boots. Boots...with a heel on them? Dick shook his head. What this man wore was none of his business. His business was getting himself and the kid to safety. He needed to stay whelmed.

After revving the bike twice, the man sped off out of the alley. The boy gripped Dick tight, but Dick was used to high speeds. Really, going fast was the only way to ride a motorcycle. Any other way took away the beauty of the ride. And yet, Dick was concerned about his bullet wound, specifically his right side. He was getting hyper on this cycle, going fast always did that to him, and he worried that these adrenaline rushes would bleed him to death.

He took advantage of the kid a bit, sliding him over a bit so that he could use the kids body to try and stanch the flow of blood, but he eased off a bit when he noticed the kids eyes grew wide at the site of blood. Dick scolded himself. This kid just watched his parents get murdered, did he really need to see a guy bleed to death?

Turning a corner, the cycle tilted almost horizontal before rightening and going down a familiar street. Mountain Drive, aka Wayne Manor street. Coming up on 1007, Dick wondered how on earth he was going to get rid of this stranger. The bright-eyed kid could stay, of course until Alfred figured out what to do with him, but this strange man who didn't speak or remove his helmet and wore heels? Well, he'd have to go.

Stopping in the front, Dick got off trying to keep his pained face under control.

"Well," he said nicely "Thanks for the ride and rescue, but..."

He trailed off, purposefully hoping the stranger got the 'but you cant come in' meaning. He held the kid on his hip, struggling to remain standing. If only the guy would just rev his engine and take off, Dick could try and enjoy the rest of the night. He did have the best macaroni and cheese to look forwards to.

His fantasy of the leaving stranger was crushed when the guy got off his bike, snatched the kid from his arms, and marched to the manor door.

Dick was angry now. Not angry at the fact that this guy walked around like he owned the place. Not angry that the guy had marched in front of him, when Dick was the only one with the key. No, he was furious at the fact that this guy had snatched the kid from him. Okay, he hadn't known the kid very long, but he felt responsible for him. The two had a common fact; they both watched as their parents died. If Dick couldn't comfort this kid than no one could. This mysterious guy couldn't just come and take him from him.

Despite his injuries and pain, Dick marched right up behind the guy, kicking him in the back of the knee. The guy stumbled forwards and Dick grabbed the kid back before he hit the ground. Dick was not going to be pushed around. Not today. He still had plenty to look forward to, he would not let his day be ruined, nor would he be a push-over.

He didn't help the stranger up nor did her care the guy was still following him as he unlocked the door. Alfred would get rid of this 'lost puppy'. If anyone denied 'strays' and animals that followed Dick home, it was Alfred.

Walking inside, Dick tried to set the kid down, but he held tight to him.

"Come on, kid. Let go." he said, shaking his hips, trying to make the kid slide down, but he was holding to tight.

In the kids attempt to stay latched to Dick's hip, he grabbed Dick's waist, right where the wound was. Dick screeched. He would have been completely embarrassed if he wasn't in so much pain. He wobbled in his pain induced loss of balance, but with the kid still holding tight to him, he couldn't move his legs to keep his balance.

He fell backwards...only to be caught by the stranger. He looked up through his crazed hair only to see that the stranger wasn't a guy after all.

Red hair covered most of her face as she helped Dick stand back up. She bent down in front of him to look the kid in the eyes.

"Hello," she said, her voice soft and smooth. "What is your name?"

The kid neither answered nor loosened his grip on Dick and when she reached her hand out to him he ran between Dick's legs, whimpering and threatening to cry and scream other wise. The girl huffed, not a bit swayed that she was being completely blown off.

"If you tell me your name," she said, her voice extra sweet, "I'll give you a special surprise."

For a moment, nothing happened, and for another moment, Dick didn't think anything would happen. But before he knew it, the kids head was peaking from between his legs, and slowly, the kid stepped in front of Dick. The kid was still leaning back heavily on Dick's legs, probably ready to dash if the girl made any sudden moves. He like looking at a wild rabbit.

"I wont hurt you," she said, leaning towards the boy.

Dick leaned forward himself, pushing the kid forward as well and silently encouraging him. Yet still, the kid didn't budge...but, he beckoned the girl towards him shyly. Getting the message, she leaned in to him, ear first as the kid whispered something in her ear.

"Tom?" she asked, pulling back.

When the kid shook his head, she leaned in again.

"Jim?" she said, uncertainty etched on her face.

The kid blew out an annoyed breath, then beckoned her over again.

"Tim?"she asked, certain she had gotten it right.

The moment she said his name, he darted between Dick's legs again. The girl smiled, standing up. Now that she was closer to his height level...and not catching him as he loss his balance, he could see she was actually pretty. No, scratch that, beautiful. No, scratch that too, she was gorgeous. She was beyond gorgeous. She was...was...totally amazing. Heavy on the mazing part.

She had large green eyes that actually looked unreal. They contrasted greatly with her strawberry red hair that Dick was sure was natural. Her skin, or what he could see of it through her leather suit, was so tan it almost looked orange.

"Kori Anders," she said, sticking her hand out to him.

He was a bit taken back with her hyper gesture, but the way she smiled, not only did it light her face up, but it seemed natural. It his him that she must be this happy all the time. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing.

"Dick Grayson." he said, his own voice sound deep in comparison to hers.

She made a face, her beautiful features scrunching up in an unknown emotion.

"That is really, your name?" she asked, then seemed to catch herself, "Not that that is a bad name...I was just-"

"No its alright," he said, stopping her rant "Actually, its Richard. My nicknames Dick."

"Well I like Richard better," she said.

She took a moment to look around herself before turning her attention back to my knees, or who was behind them rather.

"You brother is very shy," she said, trying to look around me so that she could see Tim.

"Oh," Dick said rather casually, "He's not my brother. I found him."

Kory looked at him oddly and Dick couldn't help but mentally slap himself. Found him? He sounded like Tim was a cat or something.

"He looks just like you though," she said, walking around Dick to see Tim, but Tim only went on the other side of Dick's legs, avoiding her. "The blue eyes and dark hair."

Dick tried to smile. Or talk. Or anything, but the sudden pain in his body was back. He felt as if his body were about to fall apart, right then and there. He'd been shot before, but the feeling never got any better. He closed his eyes, forcing the pained bile that threatened to come up to go back down.

When he opened his eyes again, everything seemed to be a mixed blend of colors. He tilted his head to the side, red, green, and orange blobs coming closer to him.

"Richard?"

He faintly heard Kory's voice talking to him. She sounded far away, her voice echoing and being nearly drowned out by the sound of his blood rushing in his ears. He raised his left hand slowly, rubbing his eyes and trying to get clarity back. Everything seemed as if it were moving in slow motion, even his own body.

He tilted back, just barely catching himself and just missing stepping on Tim.

"Richard, come sit down."

He felt himself moving, but the direction and speed was unknown to him. He hardly noticed when Kory put her hands on his shoulder, forcing him to sit. It felt good to have the pressure of his weight relieved from his body, but he felt...wet. His brain clicked as he realized it was just his blood. No big deal. He was just bleeding to death on his step-dad's sofa. No problem.

"Richard what can I do?" she asked frantically.

Well basically, she could do a number of things. The proper way to ask was 'what should she do'. But then, he really wasn't one to correct the English language, he screwed it up, bashed it, and bruised it on a number of occasions. But according to him, the English language was screwed anyway, so why try and correct it?

Scolding his over-analyzing mind, he blinked and wiped at his eyes. Time to get whelmed and stay traught.

"Alright," he said, his voice firm and oddly calm, "Kori, im going to need a lot of stuff. I need you to run to the kitchen and get the medical supplies out the top cabinet, by the lazy Suzy. Then go into the drawers and grab a knife, gloves, tweezers, and a candle and match. Grab a bunch of paper towels too, some wet and some not. There's a sowing kit in the drawer by the stove, I need that too. We need a bucket of ice as well, wet it a little so that its a bit wet. If you see an old guy walking around, tell him to follow you."

He pointed the way to the kitchen and she ran down it. Turning his attention to Tim, he tried to think of something to keep him occupied. What was about to happen, wasn't going to be pretty...and probably pretty loud too.

"Tim," he said, getting the attention of the boy. He hadn't moved from Dick's side, and Dick knew he'd have trouble making him. "See that chair over there?"

He pointed to the far away chair. It was old, but barely tattered and extremely clean, thanks to Alfred. Tim nodded his head.

"My book bag is over there," he said, "Its a little heavy, but can you drag it over here?"

For a moment, Tim seemed hesitant to move away, but slowly, he slide off the sofa he was on, waddling over. Oddly, Tim dragged the book bag over fairly quick.

Trying not to move to much, Dick reached into the side of the bag, pulling out one of his other phones. He probably had about 20 of them. Each for a different reason, and some because he lost others. Doing the things he did, he crashed his phone a lot, so Bruce brought him a hand full. This was probably the only reason he wasn't freaking out about his discarded phone in the alley.

He pulled out some headphones and plugged them into the phone.

"What type of movies do you like?" he asked Tim, who just shrugged his shoulders. Tim just had to make things difficult.

Going out on a whim, he youtube'd Toy Story. No kid could resist that. He helped Tim get the headphones on and sent him to sit on the old sofa his bag used to be by.

Tim was totally engrossed in the film when Kory came back, her hands full and dripping from the few wet paper towels. She sat on the floor, laying the supplies beside her and looked up at him frantically.

"Lets setup," he said, trying to sit up better from his slouched position. "Get the sowing kit out and take out the thread. Set the thread in the rubbing alcohol and let it soak for a while."

"Now what?" she asked, finishing it.

Let the pain begin.

He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself. "Take the alcohol and wet a paper towel for me, then take another one and clean the knife and tweezers."

As she worked, he noticed her hands were shaking. Not good. He had only known her for probably 15 minutes, but already he needed her. With what he had planned, shaking hands was not any benefit to either of him. He just hoped she didn't get woozy when she had to see the actual wound.

She shakily handed him the paper towel and he took yet another deep breath. He hiked up the side of his shirt and pressed the alcohol-ed paper towel to the wound. He hissed loudly, trying not to draw the attention of Tim. Tim was happily watching his movie, he didn't need to be bothered with this sight either.

It was hard cleaning a wound when it still gushed blood, but he made do with what he could.

"Kory?" he asked, getting her attention. She was cleaning the tweezers frivolously, her hair looking like fire as she moved without really knowing what was happening. "There clean." he said.

"Nows the time to tell me if you have Haemaphobia."

She looked at him oddly. "A fear of seeing blood." he clarified.

She shook her head, shrugging her shoulders. Okay, so she didn't know. Well that was okay, she'd know soon enough.

"Okay, put on the gloves and grab the tweezers," he told her. That sentence probably scared the mess out of her, but he needed her to do this. If he did it himself, he could make things worse.

"What...what are we doing with the tweezers?" she asked, eying him carefully.

"We need to get the bullet out."

Watching the color drain from her face was like watching an orange drain of color. She went completely beige, making her hair look more like a blood kind of color, which in reality, was completely ironic. But she seemed to snap out of her trance and almost immediately, her shaking stopped.

"Just tell me how," she said, her voice suddenly confident.

Dick blinked for a moment. Just seconds ago, she was in a full-out-freak-out mode, and now she was ready to operate on him without a moments notice? Okay, he could take that.

"Give me another alcohol-ed paper towel, it bleeding too much."

She handed it to him, still waiting instruction.

"Im going to try and keep the wound clean for you," he said through grit teeth as he pressed on the paper towel, "But keep in mind, its still bleeding. I dont have the proper stuff to completely keep the blood out your way, so it might get messy. I need you to take the tweezers, go into the wound, find the bullet, and get it out. You have to grab the bullet, and the bullet only. Be careful not to grab any tissue or flesh. And please remember, this is my body. If you move to fast or something, you can rupture another vein or hit a muscle or something."

She nodded. Her face was still drained of color, but she seemed confident enough, and her hands had stopped there violent shaking. She looked at his wound for a moment before going in.

Queerly enough, she was gentle and he could hardly feel a thing. She found the bullet, which wasn't as deep as he thought, and pulled it out easily, dropping it onto the floor with a sigh of relief.

"We're not done yet." he told her. "Now, take the candle and light it."

She seemed exhausted, but complied with his wishes. If only she knew they probably weren't even halfway done.

"Hold the knife over the fame," he said, when the candle was lit and going.

He waited as the knife grew red in heat. He was not going to like this. Not even a little bit. He just hoped he turned up Toy Story as loud as it could go and that Kory wouldn't mind his screaming.

"What now?" she asked, her gave curious.

Dick wiped the wound again, its bleeding having decreased a bit.

"We're going to burn the wound closed." he said, purposefully avoiding her gaze. He'd gotten her to pull out the bullet, but burning his skin closed? He wasn't sure if she'd go along with that one.

"Really?" she asked, disbelieving.

Dick nodded his head at her. Really. This was probably going to traumatize her. He was already 'matized', why not throw in the trauma as well. She took a deep breath and nodded her head.

Sweet, she was on board!

"Okay," he said, needing yet another paper towel to clean the blood, "Im going to hold the would closed, and your going to put the knife where the skin meets, okay?"

She just nodded her head, getting closer so that she could act fast.

"1." he counted, preparing himself.

"2." he pushed his skin together and closed his eyes tight.

"3!"

There was 4 things that came out of what happened; three positive.

Positive: He did not scream like a little girl.

Positive: Tim neither turned nor acknowledged Dick's howling.

Positive: Kory didn't sway or burn any other part of him in his jolt of pain.

Negative: It hurt like crap.

She held the knife down until she was satisfied. Dicks face was still in the sofa, where he had smashed his face in attempt to smother his own cries...and hide his tears. He lay there for a moment, as Kory wiped the burned flesh with a alcohol-ed paper towel.

Wiping his face in the sofa fabric, he finally sat up. They still weren't finished. One of the perks of being a ninja: you learn to avoid things like bullets. One of the downsides to fighting crime: the pain and injuries that come along with it are a killer.

Kory sat back, even more tired and mentally exhausted.

"Still not done." Dick said, his voice strained and gruff from his crying.

Kory looked as if she might cry too. But instead, she asked, "What next?"

Dick had to give it to her though, he had put her through crap all night. Attacking her when she came to help, making her give him wound operations, she had gone through a lot. Much more than any other usual girl would even allow herself to go through.

"We have to stitch it up," he said, and pointed to the ice, "But first we have to numb it."

She held out the ice to him and he grabbed a piece, pressing it lightly to the wound. Kory grabbed a piece too, lightly running it over the burnt flesh. This poor piece of flesh had gone through so much. It was his knew favorite body piece. Wally of course, would have a field day-after his initial shock- when he saw the scar. Dick would be sore for a while, but he'd get passed it.

A burning feeling hit his leg and he remembered how he had gotten skinned. Luckily, he just needed to clean it and wrap it. He didn't know if he could bare it if his leg was as bad as his side. He'd definitely die, and so would Kory, if he to do this again.

Once he felt his side was numb, he dropped what was left of the ice and pointed to the sowing kit and candle.

"We need to make sure the needle is clean," he said, as Kory searched through the kit. "Run the needle through the fire a few times and then get the thread that's been soaking out."

She pulled the thread from the rubbing alcohol and pushed it through the eye of the needle.

"Okay," he said, prepared to talk her through this, "Tie a knot at the end of your thread and then poke the needle through here."

He pointed to the end of his wound about 3 mm down from the actual cut. She took a deep breath and did as he said. His side was so numb he hardly felt a thing.

"Pull the thread through until it is stopped by the knot."

As she did this, Dick looked over the couch towards the kitchen.

"Poke the needle through here," he said pointed next to her previous stitch, "Pull the slack of the thread through and tighten firmly, but don't kill me please," she smiled a bit.

He pushed the skin together at the same time, making sure the thread was even and went straight across from one side of the wound to the other, as opposed to jagged or crooked.

"Bring the needle across the cut and crossover the wound with the thread." he said, pointing with his other hand to show her, "Poke the needle through the skin about 3 mm below the cut again. Pull the slack through again and keep going."

As she sowed, he looked back to the kitchen. Where was Alfred? Normally Alfred would have picked him up at the train station, or at least greeted him at the door. Normally, Alfred would have been all over this kind of stuff. Normally, Alfred would have already had dinner made and Dick would have come home to the smell of cheesy macaroni. Normally, wasn't today.

His day had begun amazing. He had went through school with high spirits. Aced all his quizzes...pop quizzes. He had pizza for lunch. Tossed a bully down some stairs- although he claimed he had tripped and it was an accident. But sometime after the mission, things had turned sour. His entire happy checklist was tossed out like yesterdays french fries.

Macaroni and cheese- didn't seem like it was going to happen.

Bruce being home- not happening.

Alfred making cookies- he wished. He could use some useless junk at the moment.

The only thing he did look forwards to was Friday...well, today.

"Now what, Richard?" Kory asked, reaching the end of the wound.

"Tie a knot at the end of the thread and make it as tight and close as you can," he said, stifling a yawn "Cut the remainder of the thread just above that knot and viola- finished."

She did as he said with a smile, then, she cautiously and slowly leaned back, making Dick laugh.

"Its okay, we're done," he said, not mentioning his leg on purpose. He could handle that himself.

He looked over to Tim, who was asleep on the sofa, the movie's light dancing across his face.

"Thanks, Kory." he said, "For everything." She had rescued him, in more ways than one.

"It is not a problem." she said, smiling cheerfully. "Well," she said, standing up, "I must be going now. I have school in the morning."

"Yeah, me too," he said, standing up with her.

"I had an...eventful night." she said, giggling. "And I would go out on a whim and say that Robin did too."

Dick froze.

"Robin?" he asked.

She pushed him playfully. "I saw you change in the alleyway. I...I perhaps followed you," she said quietly, "It was how I knew to come get you."

Dick blinked at her. Could his secret have been blown that easily? Had anyone else seen him shed his costume in the alley?

"I wont tell," she said, waving a hand in his face, "I have a secret, too."

This caught his attention. He turned to her, face probably still drained of color. What would Bruce say when he found out his secret was blown?

"Give me a target." she said, happy again and bouncing.

"Uh...Tim." Dick said, turning back to the sleeping boy.

"No!" Kory said, "Something you dont care about."

"How was I supposed to know?" he said, defending himself "You just said give you a target."

She huffed at him and then pointed to a plant in the corner.

"Shoot away," Dick said, shocked when his term turned out to actually be on point.

Her hand glowed a brilliant shade of green, much like her eyes. She held her hand up, throwing the green light towards the plant, demolishing it. Dick had a feeling she hadn't meant to blow up the entire corner, but she did get the plant.

"Whoa!" he said, grabbing her hand. It was still warm, but it seemed to be completely back to normal. "Where are you from?" he asked. Most of the heroes he knew were either martians, from a different planet, or the result from some freak accident. It would be interesting to know what category she fit in.

"Tamaran." she said proudly, "Its-"

"Let me guess, another planet."

She nodded her head. Okay, so she fit under the 'from a different planet' category. No problem, he had plenty of friends like that.

"My sister and I just got here yesterday." she said. "We start school tomorrow. Earlier, I had come out for some fresh air. I wasn't worried about her, she does her own thing normally. To her, I merely exist. I was near the train station, heading back home when you came out. I knew the station was shut down, so I kinda followed you."

Dick nodded his head. He had been stalked by an alien from the planet Tamaran, and he hadn't even knew it.

"After you got shot," she continued "I was going to go and help you, but you found Tim and I knew I couldn't get you both back at the same time. Especially with him clinging to you like he does."

Tim did cling to Dick a lot, but he had just lost his parents, so Dick figured it was only natural to be clingy.

"So I went home and took my sisters motorcycle then came back to get you." she paused for a moment, then snapped to him suddenly "Then you hit me!"

Dick held his hands up in innocence "Technically, I only tried to get you in a hold. Not that it worked to well. Your a good fighter."

She blushed and Dick had to admit, it was pretty cute. She in general was amazing. She came to his rescue, stitched him up, and...she can burn a whole corned with the flick of her wrist. Yeah, she was amazing.

She looked back to Tim.

"I feel so horrible. I wish I was there earlier, to help his parents."

Dick rubbed his arms, suddenly cold. Everyone was always a pinch too late. No one ever made it one time, at least, that was how his life story went.

"I guess I better get back home," Kory said, after a minute, "New school and everything."

Dick walked her to the door. His body still felt sore and numb and Dick really wanted to take a hot bath, but he still had a mountain of homework to do and he still needed to find Alfred.

"Perhaps I'll come by and check on Tim." she said, turning outside of the door to look at him.

"I wont be here tomorrow," he said, his cheeks suddenly going pink, "But I'll...we'll...be here all day on Saturday."

Kory smiled and nodded, stepping to him and giving him a hug. With her happy, cheerful, nature, he didn't think she really meant anything by the hug. But he knew his cheeks were flaming by now. When was the last time he hugged a girl?

"Then I will stop by on Saturday, to make sure Tim and you are alright." she said, backing away.

How much redder could his cheeks get?

All he could do was smile, nod, and shrug his shoulders. He wasn't feeling exactly like Mr. Cool. And, the way she emphasized the fact that she would see him too? Well, it made him feel funny.

"Be careful!" he called as she sped away on her sister's motorcycle.

He felt like a complete idiot, letting her go home alone. If he, Robin, had a hard time then she, a girl, would too. He just hoped she didn't live very far and got home safe. He scolded himself for not getting her number.

He closed and locked the door behind himself, taking a deep breath. He felt as if he had been holding it the whole time. He had just met the girl. Normally, he laughed at girls for their over conscious state. Normally, they irked him when they flirted. Normally, he could talk to them without blushing and making an idiot of himself. Why was she different?

The thought was cast aside when he heard a shrill shriek. He immediately knew the high pitched scream was Tim and ran down the hallway, his body still crying out in agony to him. Racing into the foyer room, where he had left Tim, he was relieved when he saw Tim was alone and not in the hands of some madman.

The moment Tim saw Dick enter the room, he jumped out the chair and ran to Dick, locking his arms around Dick's leg. Dick's leg cried out to him in anguish, but he pushed the pain aside. Picking up Tim, he wiped his tears with the back of his hand and made his way to the kitchen.

A bunch of the drawers were open, but Dick supposed it was from Kory as she looked for the tools they needed. He set the still tearful Tim on the counter and began closing the drawers. He pulled off the last remaining paper towel, making a mental note to replace it, and went back to Tim. He dabbed at Tim's face, trying not to look into Tim's large blue eyes.

Dick remembered how his mom used to wipe his face like this when he cried. She'd talk soothing to him while dabbing his face. Then she'd let him have a snack and remind him that she loved him.

"How old are you?" Dick asked, keeping his voice soft.

If this helped sooth him when he was younger, he figured he ought to try with Tim as well. After all, his mother was better with children then anyone he knew.

Tim held up his hand and Dick knew he was silently counting his fingers. After a moment, he turned his hand around, holding up all five fingers. Dick nodded. He didn't remember being 5. He tried to push all memories before age 9 away most of the time.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

Dick knew he was hungry, he hadn't had anything since he was at the cave- and that was only a water. When Tim nodded his head, Dick went to the refrigerator, stopping when he noticed a piece of paper was stuck under a refrigerator magnet. He immediately recognized the neat cursive of Alfred's hand writing.

Dick and Bruce, I've had to go away to England for a few weeks or so. You may recall, I mentioned it a few weeks ago. My distant aunt is sick and is in need of aid. The two of you shouldn't have any problems while im gone. Order out if cooking is to ambitious for you. I shall return in a few weeks.

-Alfred.

Well apparently, Alfred wasn't aware Bruce had to fly out to Russia. And apparently, Bruce didn't remember Alfred had to fly out to England. Neither one knew they had left Dick home alone.

Dick shrugged, being home alone wasn't a big deal. Of course, being home alone for a month was. Half of him wanted to call Bruce or Alfred and explain the situation, but the other half knew that they both left because they had important things to do. Dick didn't want to be the reason his step-fathers Russian branch went under, and he also didn't want to take Alfred away from his sick aunt. Alfred was old, making Alfred's aunt even older. Who knew, this could have been the last time Alfred even saw his aunt. Besides, the old butler worked too hard, it would be nice for him to get away for a while, even if it was to do more work.

Dick grabbed the milk out of the refrigerator. He went into the cabinet grabbing the cereal and two bowls and two spoons. He'd think about what to do later. Handing Tim his bowl of cereal, Dick glanced at the clock. 4:53 am. He'd have to wake up soon for school. Speaking of school, he had a ton of homework to do.

He finished off his cereal quickly. If he wanted even an hour of sleep, he'd have to finish his homework quick. He turned to Tim while rinsing out his bowl.

"Whats wrong?" he asked, when he noticed Tim wasn't eating.

"Mommy says I shouldn't eat breakfast after lunch." he said.

It was the first time Dick had actually heard Tim say actual words. His voice was tiny and so soft Dick had to turn off the running water to hear him.

"She wouldn't mind," Dick said, drying his bowl and putting it back in the cabinet.

"She'll be angry." Tim said, beginning to eat his cereal.

Dick froze as he put his spoon back in the drawer. He had been wrong. He had thought Tim had understood; his mommy wasn't going to be mad. His mommy wasn't going to know. His mommy was dead and she wasn't coming back.

"Tim, I thought," he started, unsure how to continue "Tim...your mommy...shes not going to...you dont have to..." he stopped, looking at Tim's face. His wide blue eyes stared at him, ready to believe everything that Dick told him. His eyes were trusting and willing to do whatever it was Dick told him too.

How could Dick tell a kid his parents were dead when he w as looking at him like that?

"Your mommy wont mind this time." he settled on.

He knew, this was a bad idea. The longer he kept this from Tim, the harder it would be in the future, but he didn't have the guts to tell him.

Dick went into the cabinet and pulled out the gauze. He had been so distracted earlier, he forgot to put it on. He wrapped his waist and cleaned his leg, wrapping that too. As Tim finished his cereal, Dick placed the bowl in the sink. Tim rocked back and forth, his drowsiness finally taking over again.

Dick left the kitchen, Tim in his arms, grabbing his book bag and turning out lights as he went, and went up to his room. What he would do with Tim was a mystery. Dick had school later, he had to go to the the cave that day, Tim had no clothes nor any pampers or pull-ups or whatever Tim was using at the moment.

Laying Tim on his bed, Dick took off Tim's shoes and went over to his desk, turning on the lamp. Pulling out his algebra book, he opened to the correct page. He sighed, he still had work to do.


A/N: *Giggle, giggle* I dids it. I finishz a chapter! *Claps stupidly*

*Clears throat* Anyway, what'd cha think? I know, poor Robbie, he went though a lot, right? Now we all know why they try and avoid getting shot so much. Plz Read and Review as always. I'll try and get another chapter out soon. Dnt forget to check out my other W.I.P. (work in progress) A Test of Faith.