:)

The night was still fairly early by the time Bruce returned home with two hundred dollars safely tucked in the bottom of his boot. Richard was waiting for him once again with a bag on his shoulders and another on by his feet. He threw the bag by his feet at Bruce's face the minute he walked in the door.

"Took you long enough. I bet all the druggies got away by now."

"One more word and you're staying home."

"Ouch, okay shutting up now."

Bruce glared at the kid and waited for him to exit the room before locking the door. They split up when they left their apartment both heading for the roof of some building to change into their costumes. Under the cover of the night, Bruce was able to change quickly.

He slide the armor he had on his body, clipped the slim black utility belt on his waist, and fashioned the mask in the shape of a bat over his eyes.

He had taken the armor from a military base in his early years of training when he was desperate to find anyway to get back at the criminals of Gotham for murdering his parents.

Finally, he threw on his long black hooded cape made of Kevlar fabric. By the time he was about to leave the roof Robin jumped over from a couple roofs away. His costume from his days as an acrobat adorned his body with a long cape made out of the same fabric as Batman's cape and a bird mask.

"I still cannot believe you stole the fabric for our caps."

"How many times have I dragged you to the store to return food." Batman warned.

Robin glared guiltily at his boots. "Whatever. Are we gonna go crime fighting or what."

Batman hated how he stole the material but when Richard became Robin he needed some type of protection. It made him feel like a hypocrite to steal it from the police station. The worst part was when it was reported stolen and then Robin showed up wearing a cape the next day out of the same material.

Gordon never blinked an eye but he got the feeling he just looked the other way instead.

The pair rushed over the roofs to a different part of town. Batman stopped Robin when he heard a lady getting mugged. They got their throwing stars that they liking to call batstars out of their pocket and threw them at the guns the thugs were carrying to eliminate the risk of being shot. After that they made short work of the group and threw them in a pile at the end of the alley.

"I think mine landed over here."

"Just find it."

The pair began searching the ground.

"Ha, got it!"

Robin held up the batstar he had thrown that landed by the dumpster.

"Okay I'll look for yours now. By the way I might be catching up to you."

Batman snorted and pulled a batstar from a trash bag it had cut into.

"I don't think so. How many have you lost this week."

"It's not my fault it's so dark out here and they are so expensive."

The pair flipped onto the roof and ran to a different area of city. They went through the city this way until the sun started creeping up on the horizon. They both rushed back to their apartment area, changed on a roof, stuffed there things in their bags, and walked back to their apartment door.

Once inside they crashed on the bed. The next day was Monday so Bruce set the alarm to wake them up for Richard's school.

When the alarm went off Bruce dragged Dick out of bed with the threat of no breakfast. He fixed him up a peanut butter sandwich for the day and booted him off to go walk to school. He watched as Richard bounced happily down the street with his new school supplies in tow.

It had been a strange day when he brought the eight year old to his apartment. Richard never even questioned when Bruce took him home from the orphanage without so much as a paper being signed. Adoption costs money and that was something he didn't have a lot of.

The orphan house didn't even look to see where Richard had gone. Children went missing too much in Gotham and the kid didn't have any relatives to complain. He often thought about his decision to take Richard in. His parents had died in front of him just like Bruce's but not only that.

He wasn't from Gotham and this city would have destroyed him. He couldn't stand the thought of the kid being sold to one of the many creeps within the city walls but the only way to insure he wasn't was to take the child himself. But sometimes he wondered if he took the kid in for selfish reasons.

Ever since he took him in he had something more personal than the city to fight for and that fact alone brought to life his long dormant smile.

Okay I think I'm done setting my stage. I wanted to give you a little background on the character's past and kinda how they came to be Batman and Robin while being poor.