I'm back with part 2 guys. This is probably about the length of the chapters that follow, which isn't very short but not impossibly long, either, I don't think.

Anyway, we're diving a little deeper into the real plot in this chappie, so enjoy!

Perhaps it was exhaustion. Or perhaps he'd over-thought himself to sleep. But by the time 6 o'clock came around, and his alarm began beeping, all Tim wanted to do was scream. He could skip school. There was no one around to tell him otherwise. But once Bruce returned, he would find out, and Tim wanted to prove that he'd held down the fort honorably. And then, their was also his perfect attendance at stake.

After a quick shower and fresh outfit, Tim was less drowsy. Truthfully, he only needed 10 minutes to fully wake up, no matter how much sleep he'd gotten. But during those 10 minutes...? It was like he was reverted to a normal, non-trained, 18 year old. He stumbled around, stubbed his toes, walked into walls. It was like he was on drugs or something.

It was while he was in the kitchen, microwaving a frozen breakfast sandwich Alfred had made (he could easily remember hearing Alfred say in his accent: those box sandwiches are absolutely atrocious, no, no, no, homemade ones are much better) that Tim realized the time. He'd missed his bus, which personally, Tim believed was a goal of the bus driver. And while Tim could run all the way to school quite fine, he didn't favor that route so early in the morning. If he hurried, he could make it to the next stop.

He grabbed his sandwich prematurely out of the microwave, put it in his mouth (yeah, it was just as hot as he'd thought it would be) and threw his book bag over his shoulder. He walked out the house backwards, the sandwich still in his mouth, his jacket half on, one hand pulling his tied sneaker on, and the other hand locking the door.

When he turned to face the world on that cold January morning, he was first met with a flash of light. And then another. And then another. His pupils shrunk at the bright lights.

This would be an attractive front cover.

He pulled the sandwich from his mouth, ignored the chatter that went up from the dozens of reporters and cameramen, and tried to make his way through the crowd. The past two days they'd been there, but he'd snuck out the back and avoided them all together. Today, his rush to the bus had made him forget, and now, he had to fight them.

"Tim, wheres Bruce?"

"Tim, are you always this late to school?"

"Where's that butler?"

"Do you have any comments on the Wigify Satellite?"

"Do you agree with your father's decision to bring it to Gotham?"

"Can you confirm that the Wigify is currently in the basement of Wayne Enterprises?"

"Does Bruce care about the threat of terrorists?"

Questions. Questions. Everyone wanted to know something. Tim simply ignored them and kept walking. He wasn't much better at reporters than he had been when he'd first moved in with Bruce. Of course, then, Dick had been there to bail him out. And Dick was a natural when it came to people. Tim…? Tim much rather preferred to be alone. Or rather, he preferred not to be pressured to answer questions he had no business answering.

The Wigify Satellite seemed to be the top news at the moment. Bruce had commissioned its design probably a year or so ago and now it was finished and ready for testing. Wigify was an artificial intelligence satellite designed to orbit the sun, accurately tracking and reporting it's solar blasts. This information could better help predict the weather.

(It also would help Batman out a ton, since the Wigify was in a prime orbit to connect to other satellites and scan the earth at lightspeed.)

The crowd followed Tim across the grass (sorry, Alfred) slowly, as Tim knew they would. Cameras were heavy, women wore heels, and reporters had to watch their step or else they'd fall on live television. But Tim had none of those issues, so the moment his feet hit the concrete of the sidewalk, he broke into a sprint.

This was not unusual for him, and most of the reporters cursed at him, but let him go. A few though, mainly young, ignorant, and spirited ones, attempted to follow him. But none of them followed him for long. In a few moments, he'd gained blocks on them. They did not have the stamina to pursue him. They did not have the energy to keep up with him. And they did not have Robin's legs.

Tim made it to the next bus stop early enough to finish his sandwich, and though it was out of character for him, he smirked at the bus driver who'd seemed especially happy until she'd seen him. For some reason, this bus driver hated him. But it did not matter. He had a secret with her. She'd been returning the bus to the lot, one day, when Firefly had had blown up the bridge she was crossing. Batman had dealt with Firefly, but Robin had saved this woman.

If she knew Tim was Robin, she would probably hate him less. Probably.

Tim always sat at the front of the bus. Those spots were always empty, and he could get off first because everyone else wanted to sit at the back of the bus. When the bus pulled up to the school, Tim was out first, on his way to his locker before most of the kids got off the bus.

School was nothing but a mission to Tim. He had but 3 objectives: take notes in every class, make it to every class on time, and hand in homework/ace quizzes and tests. As long as those objectives were met, Bruce was happy, and that was a mission well done. Of course, there were little targets to complete in between the objectives, but focusing on the main ones helped Tim make it through days faster.

His first class was Conceptual Physics, his easiest class of the day. So after stopping briefly at his locker, he marched down the hallways to his class.

He hadn't even said anything. He'd just been walking down the hallway at the end of the school day. Of course he'd heard them coming. Of course he'd already anticipating their next move. At their trajectory and speed, there had been no way they were aiming for anyone but him. He'd counted 62 different ways to quickly outsmart, outrun, outfight, and outbeat the captain of the football team and his little league of assassins. But as far as anyone knew, Tim was just Tim. Hadn't even had a karate lesson. So when the football team seized him, and shoved him in a locker, he was counting to 10 not out of fear or panic, but out of an attempt at self control.

Oh, if he could just beat them up a little. He'd be content for the rest of the year, he was sure. He could have the whole team on the marble floors in 3.6 seconds, and, he could make it look like an accident. Despite the fact that they each weighed at least 100 pounds more than him, was at least twice his height and five times his stature.

But Bruce would have a conniption if Tim did something other than cry and beg, so that was how he ended up in a locker. No crying and begging, but no fighting either.

He heard the team and entire school, it seemed, laughing as the halls cleared and emptied. They thought they were leaving him there frightened and screaming for help. But Tim was only waiting for them to leave so that he could kick the door off of the locker. He could of picked the lock from the inside, no problem, but at the moment, he just wanted to go home.

He left school out the back and walked down the crowded streets of Gotham. Usually, Alfred would have met him in the front, and he'd be driven home. But Alfred had gone back to England to help 'revive', as Tim called it, a sick friend back to health. After years with the bat family, Alfred could do more than just cure and heal and stitch and bandage. No, he could revive.

Alfred wouldn't be back for another two weeks. He'd have returned sooner, of course, if Tim had told him Bruce was missing. Alfred didn't baby him, but he wouldn't leave him home alone either. So Tim didn't bother the man with the issue just yet, hoping to give Alfred more time in his hometown.

Tim hiked his backpack up higher and went into a nearby coffee shop. When he walked home, he usually stopped to get himself coffee, if only because he knew Bruce disapproved of him drinking it. Stunting his growth and all that. But Bruce wasn't exactly 'paternal' so Tim's coffee drinking was usually only met with a mild bat-glare.

As Tim waited for his coffee to be ready, he stared at the menu displayed in bold letters on the wall. He calculated that that total price of everything in the store came to $756.39. It took him 5.2 seconds to get that answer. He liked numbers. They were exact. They didn't change. Didn't fail. Adding two certain numbers would never deviate. It was constant.

He liked consistency more than anything.

The door jingled as two men entered the store. A quick glance around, and Tim found that he could see the customers through the reflection of the coffee pot behind the counter. He didn't want to turn around to seem obvious, but he didn't necessarily like people behind him, either, so he watched the two men through the coffee pot.

They were both tall, at least 6'3". The taller one walked with a slight limp, was approx. 180 pounds, sandy blonde hair, gray eyes, most likely in his late 50's. The shorter one bounced when he walked, had a much faster gait than the other guy, probably 170- something pounds, had a small scar above his eyebrow, black hair and brown eyes.

Tim analyzed everyone that way. It was not that these men seemed suspicious, but it was simply that they were in his presence. If Tim turned around and looked at them, instead of speculating through the reflection of a small coffee pot, he could get a lot more details about these men. But as it were, his coffee was finished.

"-warehouse 14." the taller man was saying as he approached the counter besides Tim, "Blew to smithereens few days ago. Boss said it was no accident."

Tim smiled as he payed for his coffee, but his brain was reeling and his free hand already had his phone out. He walked away from the counter as he typed in access codes on his phone. In 1.3 seconds, the security in the coffee shop was hacked. He put his phone back in his pocket, pulled out an ear phone and left the shop.

"-musta been some incident then. Police just finished setting up a crime scene yesterday."

The audio coming in through Tim's earphones weren't accompanied by any visual feedback, so to normal Gotham citizens, Tim simply waltzed down the street with a coffee and his headphones in.

Warehouse 14 was Batman's last logged position. At the time of the explosion, the one that had destroyed the warehouse and the intercom connection Batman and Robin had been linked to, Tim had been on the other side of the pier. Batman had never told him what they were doing by the docks. He'd never explained why Tim was sent to the other side of the pier while Batman searched the warehouse. Tim had simply given a curt nod and agreed. As he always did. He wasn't one to question Batman.

When the entire warehouse blew, though, Tim had rushed to warehouse 14. But everything was over and settled by time he arrived. Batman was gone, no evidence was left, and he was on his own. He'd searched around for hours, tapping his earpiece, taking pictures, and gathering evidence. There were no hidden doors, though. No underground tunnels, no secret passages in the water. Just a flattened area full of scrap and rubbish where warehouse 14 had once been.

"Hope no one was hurt." came the feed once more.

"Yeah, must have been something faulty in that warehouse. Doubt anyone was nearby. It was abandoned anyway."

Tim reached into his pocket and cut the hack without looking. Those men knew nothing. They were just up to date on the news.

Tim was a few blocks from home when a black car pulled up beside him. His muscles tensed, but not visibly, as the front window rolled down, and a woman beckoned to him.

"Hey, Vivian." Tim said, approaching the car.

Vivian Landon was Bruce's office assistant. She was his... what, 40th assistant? She bore the same characteristics though as all the others. Tall, pretty, wore clothes that were way too tight and way too short. Tim didn't even need to know her to know she worked for Bruce.

If he was to run into someone from the Wayne foundation, Tim would have preferred Luscious. Luscious Fox was like a grandfather (second to Alfred, of course). The man had babysat him, entertained him, and helped him with homework whenever he'd been stuck at Wayne Enterprises with Bruce when he was younger.

"Have seen Bruce, Tim?" Vivian asked, and Tim noted that it wasn't like her to skip greetings.

She was always very formal. Less formal than Alfred, but more formal than most of Bruce's assistants.

"He's snowboarding with some friends in Switzerland." Tim said.

He noted this story to himself. He hadn't spoken of Bruce at all until that moment, but now that it was out, he had to keep it up. Switzerland was a hard place to get a hold of, but it was also very expensive and crowds similar to Bruce's rank often visited. It wasn't a half bad lie.

Vivian simply unlocked the doors, and Tim took it as an invitation. He got in the backseat, a old habit. Alfred never let him sit up front.

"What's wrong?" Tim asked, as Vivian pulled off.

"The Wigify," Vivian began, "Photos have been leaked of it in the Wayne tech building. The public is in a frenzy and the reporters are beating down the doors. We needed Bruce to make a public announcement. Someone needs to put the people at ease, else they'll break down the doors and destroy the thing themselves. They're afraid that if a terrorist got a hold of the thing, it could destroy the entire United States in less than a minute."

"And... what do you want me to do?" Tim asked, slowly. "I haven't spoken to Bruce in three days. I don't know how to reach him."

So very true.

"Doesn't matter." Vivian said, "You're the next best thing."

Tim wasn't sure what that meant, but he was pretty sure he didn't like it.

Once at Wayne Enterprises, Tim spent a good two hours in Bruce's office doing his homework. He had finished his homework in under a half hour, but he checked, and rechecked until just the sight of the pages made him sick. Luscious popped into the room every now and then. He'd check something on the computer, or grab some papers or books from the shelf, and then run off.

Another hour passed, and Tim had Bruce's assistant order him Chinese food. But that was the most exciting thing to happen, and it was making him anxious and itchy. Every minute he spent as Tim Wayne doing civilian things, was a minute away from being Robin, looking for Batman. He'd mentally went over all the evidence he had though, while spinning in circles in Bruce's chair and staring at the ceiling. But no matter how he looked at things, he couldn't figure anything new out. And that was both frustrating and angering.

He was so used to having the upper hand and being able to figure things out in short amounts of time. Who knew if Batman was being tortured right now? Who knew if he was only minutes away from death at that very minute? All the delaying on his part could cost Batman his life... and Tim his father.

No, he couldn't allow that to happen. If he couldn't figure it out on his own, then he'd ask for help. There was no shame in that. He liked help. Sometimes, anyway.

And the first person he thought to go to for help was none only but his oldest brother. His closest brother. Jason was dead, so Dick was really his only brother, but mentally, it seemed disrespectful to disregard Jason completely.

At the moment, Dick was in Jump City with the teen titans. No doubt they were busy, but Dick would make time for Tim. Especially with the problem he had.

Tim breathed a sigh of relief. He had a plan for now, at least, and he felt grounded. He was no longer floundering around in thin air looking for a way to tell which way was left and right. Now, he at least knew a direction to head in.

He had just finished writing a quick note for Luscious and was about to head back to the manor to change before Luscious himself ran into the room.

"Timothy," Luscious said, "We have a problem."

Tim was led down to one of many conference rooms. The giant rectangular room was full of men and women in suits, with tight buns, and clean shaven faces. They all looked very grim.

"In Bruce's absence," Luscious said, "Timothy here will have to represent the company."

Tim looked around himself quickly. He couldn't believe what Luscious had just said. Obviously, there was some other Tim in the room. The Tim he knew, had on converse sneakers. He had messy hair and a t-shirt on. He had a black book bag slung over his shoulders and headphones around his neck. The Tim he knew had never represented anything other than justice. And that was only behind a mask.

"Tim, the media's out of control," Luscious said, leading Tim past the shocked and slightly angry faces in the room, "And the public's right behind them. We need you to say a few words to get them under control, you understand I'm sure."

"Me?" Tim asked, shaking his head, "Luscious, you could do it 20 times better than I could."

"I don't have the authority to represent the company, Tim. You're the only one here who can."

Tim lowered his voice, looking behind him slightly at the scowling faces, "But I've never given a speech before, Luscious."

Luscious nearly smiled at him before shaking his head slightly. "You'll do just fine."

And then doors in front of Tim were opened and the flashing of lights and screaming and cold air told Tim he didn't have a choice anymore.

Luscious held up his hands as he led Tim outside and to a podium.

"Alright, alright." Luscious said, quieting the yelling of the crowd, "Now, Mr. Wayne is out of town currently, so you will not be hearing from him."

A ruckus so loud went up that Tim had to resist covering his ears like a child.

"Settle down, everyone-" Luscious tried.

"We're tired of waiting!" someone from the crowd yelled.

"Are you gonna wait until that satellite kills someone before something is done?" someone else cut in.

Singular voices became indistinguishable as their voices rose once more. Luscious was trying with vigor to calm the crowd down, but even with a mic, the crowds volume overpowered him and he went ignored.

Tim was panicking, and his hands was shaking, but he tried to harness some of Bruce and decide what Dick would do in this situation. No doubt, Dick would never let anyone talk to Luscious like the crowd was. And though their arguments weren't personal, Luscious was fighting a losing battle.

Tim straightened his back and squared his shoulders, then he put a hand on Luscious's shoulder. Luscious was mildly surprised, but stepped down out of Tim's way immediately. Tim took a deep breath, before leaning down towards the mic.

"Hey!" he yelled, and clearly, he understimated the volume of the mic.

His voice echoed and carried to probably Bludhaven. The crowd died down immediately, though, and he supposed that that had been the point all along anyway.

"Get down from there kid!" someone yelled, but before the crowd could begin their ranting again, Tim held up his hands.

"I know I'm not my step-dad." he said, "I know he's the only one who can really set everything straight. And I know that most of you won't take my word for anything. But, I know Bruce, and I know the kind of person he is. If there was any way that the Wigify Satellite could pose a threat to anyone, Bruce would shut it down. He cares a lot more about Gotham than any of you could ever imagine. He would never let anything bad happen to it, and he would never allow weapons that pose a threat to it to be within Wayne Enterprise walls."

"So are you confirming that the Wigify is in the basement of Wayne Enterprises?" questioned a reporter.

"I'm not confirming or denying anything." Tim said with a shrug, "Mainly because I don't know. But also because it doesn't matter. Whether the Wigify is in space or underground, its purpose is to help improve our lives. And Bruce would never allow it to be used for anything other than its intended purpose."

Another ruckus went up as people threw out theories about what could happen and all the different ways the Wigify could be hacked and stolen and used for 'evil'.

Luscious held his hands up, and most of the noise went down. It seemed like everyone was on an energy decline, though. If Tim could just keep that up, he might be able to save Wayne Enterprise from a massive riot and/invasion… and his reputation, as well.

"I know you're all concerned," Tim said, when the crowd quieted down some. "But don't you think this has gone through Bruce's mind already? Don't you think he's already installed fail-safes that make sure nothing horrible can come out of this? Guys, this is Bruce we're talking about. I know for a fact that his cell phone is set to self destruct if it's taken 5 feet away from him. And that's only for his backup cell phone."

There was a low, unexpected laugh that went through the crowd and Tim looked to Luscious. Luscious only smiled and winked at him though, so Tim assumed that what he'd said had actually been funny. The funny thing, though, was that he hadn't meant to be funny.

"So let's say," came another reporter's voice, "someone got around all that security, then what?"

"Like most of Bruce's equipment and machines," Tim explained, "they come with a minimum of three fail-safe plans. The more dangerous the machine, the more failsafes are installed. One of which, most definitely, is self destruction. Only he knows the codes to initiate them, but in the event that something happens to him, he has several machine operated procedures that would commence to secure all of his machines and inventions."

A low murmur went up now, as everyone seemed to discuss amongst themselves about this new information.

"I hope Timothy's answered most of your questions," Luscious said, stepping up to the podium and grabbing Tim's shoulder, "But at this time, we're shutting the conference down and taking no further statements or questions."

Tim had heard Luscious and many other people make that statement, but crowds usually objected openly to it. For some reason, though, this day they did not. Most of the crowd just turned to leave, while others stayed to take more pictures. But there was no open dispute like Tim was used to seeing.

Luscious led Tim back inside, where the stern and hard faced business people were now standing and clapping for him.

"You really got us out of some trouble-" someone said as Luscious led him by.

"Yeah, that crowd was ready to charge in here-" someone added.

"You're not a bad speaker-" a lady mentioned.

Tim said nothing though. He finally felt as if he could breathe again. Out of the spotlight and away from all the cameras, he felt 10 degrees cooler and a million times calmer.

Luscious led Tim to the hallway before giving him a light shove.

"Bruce will be mighty proud of you when he hears about this." Luscious said, "I'm certainly proud of you. But for now, why don't you get on home. I've still got some things to close up here, but you deserve the rest of the day off."

Luscious winked at Tim, and Tim couldn't help but smile. An hour ago, he didn't think he could do it. Heck, tomorrow, he still probably wouldn't believe that he'd made a public address. But the moment Luscious went back into the conference room and closed the door, Tim's real reality set in. The truth of the matter was, he was still alone. Bruce was still missing.

But at least now, he had somewhere to go. At least now, he didn't have to spend another night in the empty Wayne manor.

Vivian had offered Tim a ride home, but Tim didn't want to risk her finding no one was there to greet him. Though he doubted Vivian would walk him up to the front door, or take suspicious note of the fact that Tim had to open the door himself, instead of Alfred, he wanted to take no chances.

So two bus rides and short taxi ride later, Tim was tossing his backpack on the kitchen floor and heading down to the batcave. He packed himself a suit, opted to go to Jump City as just Tim, and was ready to leave within a half hour. But before he left, he went through the protocols of locking down the house twice. The last thing he needed was someone breaking in. He went into the bat-computer and connected its system to his cell phone, so all the security the bat computer took note of would notify him while he was gone.

With a rev of his motorcycle engine, he sped through the tunnels leading out of the cave and after a few sharp turns, he was on Main st and on his way to Gotham's borders to see his brother.

So what'd ya think? Let me know in the comments, k?

See ya all next week!

-TheForgottenName