Kory held her head down, keeping her eyes focused on her shoes as she walked further on the Downtown Gotham sidewalk. The ground was somewhat illuminated by broken street lamps lining the pathway, flickering on and off, reminding her of how lost she had become since she had been dropped off in the area.

She clutched her luggage bag tight as it wheeled alongside her, taking deep breaths and attempting to prevent tears from spilling onto her cheeks. Every few minutes she looked up, hoping she would eventually be able to locate where she was if she recognized a building, but everything here looked the same; run down, mysterious, and scary. Some buildings had brightly colored neon signs that were still turned on despite the late hour, and she contemplated stopping at some of them to try and find a place to stay for the night, but decided against it every time.

Her heart wouldn't stop racing. She felt trapped. As much as she began to regret leaving home in such a hurry, the last thing she wanted to do was turn back now.

Suddenly, her movement halted, and a shiver ran down her spine. Behind her, but approaching steadily, she heard the sound of car tires rolling on the road. A voice in the back of her head told her to begin walking, sprinting, running, but her legs disobeyed the command. Her chest grew heavy with anxiety as she listened to the vehicle come to a stop directly to her left, and she bit her lip.

"...Kory?"

"Whatever you are offering, I am entirely not interested, so please, just-" She stopped, and nearly felt her heart stop, as well, after the realization of hearing her name spoken. Her head lifted, and she turned to look at the car with an expression of deep confusion contorting her face. Unable to see properly in the dim lighting, her eyes squinted, and she took a few steps towards the curb to confirm her suspicions. "Dick?" She shook her head, not understanding what was happening. "What are you...why are you here?"

"I, uh..." The boy paused, seemingly as disoriented as she was. "It's not important. What are you doing here?"

Kory struggled to form a coherent sentence, partly from her state of disbelief and partly because she had yet to sleep. "I...escaped from my home." She paused. Escape wasn't really the word she was looking for. "Um...traveling some place else." She pointed a finger to her luggage, hoping that would help get the correct point across.

"You're running away?"

She nodded.

"But...you live near the suburbs, right?" Dick continued to question her, seemingly becoming more concerned as he did so. "How long have you been out here?"

Kory shrugged in response. Her acquaintance sighed and glanced down at the passenger seat of his car, picking up a backpack that had been placed there and moving it to the backseat, instead.

"This isn't a safe place to be hanging around at night. Trust me." He said. "I'd feel a lot better if you let me give you a ride. There's a motel I know of not too far from here and I've gotta stop and rest soon, I've been driving for a while." He seemed hesitant, but continued talking anyways. "At least let me drive you there."

A part of her wanted to argue, to make some bold speech thanking him for the offer yet insisting that she wished to continue her journey alone, but the common sense side of her brain screamed at her to accept the ride. It was becoming too late for her to act recklessly anymore, and she knew that if she denied this, she wouldn't get another chance to stop and take a break. Besides, Dick was someone she knew from school, sort of. Better to carpool with a classmate her own age than a sketchy stranger. She sighed, giving a slight nod before climbing into the empty passenger seat. It didn't hurt that he drove a nice car, either.

"You can leave your bag in the back, if you want." Dick said, offering a smile, but Kory's exhaustion levels prohibited her from performing the action of tossing her luggage onto the backseat. Instead, she shrugged again, and Dick took that as his cue to start driving.

Neither of them tried to initiate further conversation for a minute or two. Kory took this opportunity to glance out of the window, and decided that she was much more content sitting down than trudging along the sidewalk as she had been doing before. The occasional streaks of color that ran past her view as they passed various shops that were still open looked much prettier from inside of the vehicle. Parts of Downtown Gotham were actually very visually pleasing, regardless of how shady the area was.

"Um-"

Kory blinked, turning to face Dick as she snapped out of her sleepy haze.

"I don't wanna pry or anything, so you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to," He said softly, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him as he spoke. "but how did you end up over here? Did you really walk all that way from your house?"

"No." Kory replied, as she nervously traced her fingers over the green jewel in the center of the belt she wore. "I did walk for a while, but I was dropped off in the Downtown area not long before you appeared. A man told me he could drive me away from the city, but..." She sighed. "I do not know. I did not trust him completely, something about him gave me an uneasy feeling in my stomach. He was asking me a lot of questions about myself and it was making me nervous, so I told him I would prefer if he let me walk instead, and he seemed...offended, or angry, I suppose. He left me there and drove away very fast."

Dick's body stiffened anxiously. He swallowed before speaking again. "I'm sorry, that sucks. You should try to be more careful about hitchhiking around here, not everybody is like that guy."

"Hitchhiking?"

"Yeah, uh...that's the word for doing that, getting a ride from somebody you don't know."

"Oh." Kory considered the word, fiddling with the handle of her luggage now instead of the jewel on her belt. "...May I ask what you were doing around that place, as well?"

"I was actually kind of doing the same thing you were. I decided to leave home."

"Oh." Kory said again. "Why?"

Dick contemplated his answer. "A lot of reasons. I feel like I'm mature enough to be on my own now, you know?"

Kory nodded, though she was having a difficult time paying attention due to her general fatigue. When she didn't respond, Dick cleared his throat.

"Anyways, we're almost at the motel." He said, stealing a quick glance at his passenger while she was looking away. She looked absolutely exhausted, and seemed like she was struggling to keep her eyes open, and yet she still managed to make his face burn up when he looked at her. This all felt like a dream to him, like he was going to close his eyes and awaken back in his room at the Manor with Alfred asking him what he wanted for breakfast. "Sorry if I bothered you at all, I was kinda hoping I'd be able to stay awake if I kept talking."

"You are not bothering me."

The car came to a stop in a parking lot not a minute later, and neither of them were sure that they possessed enough energy to get up. Ultimately, Dick left first, retrieving his backpack and luggage bag out of the back before Kory found the strength to open her door. They walked together in silence up to the main entrance of the motel, which certainly wasn't anything to get excited over, but it would suffice for an overnight stay.

Inside the building, a bored looking woman slouched over the check-in desk and barely lifted her head to acknowledge the pair when they stood in front of her. She had a name tag on her shirt that stated her name was Cindy. Her eyes were glued to a small television set that was attached to the ceiling on the far right of the lobby, and Dick had to clear his throat a few times before she brought her attention to himself and Kory.

"Can I help you?" Cindy asked, unenthusiastically, as she straightened her posture in her chair.

"Yeah." Dick said, taking out his wallet and presenting her with a credit card in his name. "I'd like to book two rooms for an overnight stay."

Kory shifted uncomfortably. "You do not need to spend the extra money on me." She said, in a whisper. "I do not feel right making you pay for a room of my own-"

"Nah, don't worry about it. " He protested. Cindy tapped her manicured nails on the counter, waiting for him to put his ID on the desk, as well, which he did.

"At least allow me to pay for it."

"Honestly, Kory, I don't mind." He insisted, as Cindy handed him his cards back and began looking around the inside of the desk for the room keys. "You don't have to pay me back or anything, this is on me."

Kory smiled slightly, still feeling like she should chip something in, but refusing to argue further. "Thank you."

Her smile proved to be infectious, as Dick found himself returning the gesture right back at her.

"Alright, you've got room fifteen," Cindy placed a key in front of Dick, then placed another in front of Kory. "and you've got room fourteen. Wi-fi's free, the password is 'Gotham 10'. Complimentary breakfast is held in that room to the left," She paused, pointing out the doors. "from six in the morning to noon. We hope you enjoy your stay."

They each took their room keys and headed towards the hallway at the back of the room, practically staggering from lethargy. Kory began to wonder if she would have to continue to do this much walking everyday from now on. She silently decided that wherever she was going to live would need to be near public transportation if she was going to make her way anywhere.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two found their rooms for the night across the hall from each other. Room fifteen had no tag on the door, and the number was written in bright red permanent marker instead. Dick pondered for a moment if perhaps he should have put more effort into finding a better hotel. Reluctantly, he swiped his key card into the door handle and opened it, half expecting a horror movie villain to jump out at him, or a mysterious substance to begin oozing from the walls.

"Dick?"

He turned around, keeping his hand on the handle.

"Thank you, for all you have done tonight." Kory said, quietly.

Unsure how to respond, he nodded, and they both promptly disappeared into their rooms.

/ / /

Rock music blared from an unknown source, jolting him out of his slumber. Without yet opening his eyes, his hands reached frantically for the clock on the nightside table beside his bed. Where was the off switch on this thing? More importantly, what was that tickling his leg?

He sat up, rubbing his eyes and remembering that he hadn't fallen asleep in his home last night. Throwing the bed covers off of himself, he noticed the culprit behind the tickling; a bug. A big, brown bug with lots of tiny brown legs.

Letting out a surprised yelp, his hands once again flailed around himself, this time in an attempt to fling the disgusting creature away, but managed to instead bang the surface of the nightside table. The music stopped, and he yelped again from pain, bringing his numb fingers up to his face.

"...Hello? Hello?"

The faint sound of a woman's voice was calling from next to him, and he only just now realized that the rock music had been his cell phone's ringtone, not an alarm. Reaching over to grab his phone from the table, he brought it to his ear.

"...Hi?"

"Dick?" The voice asked. She was obviously waiting for him to recognize her, but he was still trying to fully awaken, and he didn't. "It's Barbara."

"Oh. Sorry." He said, rubbing his head and forcing himself out of the bed. The bug that had previously been caressing his leg was now quickly crawling around the carpet, and his whole body shivered at the sight. "I just woke up."

"Where are you?"

"In Gotham."

"I figured." Barbara replied. He thought he heard other voices in the background, but he didn't ask. "I told Bruce you wouldn't be able to get very far so late at night."

"You're with Bruce?"

"Yeah. He called my dad and I when he woke up around an hour ago."

Dick moved over to his luggage, taking out a fresh change of clothes and laying them out on the bed. "Why?"

"He thought I might know where you were. He was worried about you. I mean, he didn't say that, but it was pretty obvious."

"He was worried?" Dick echoed, stepping into a pair of jeans.

"Totally. He was pacing when we got here."

Dick continued to get dressed as she spoke, holding the cell phone against his cheek and pulling a black t-shirt over his head.

"I mean, from what he was saying, he kind of has a right to be worried. It sounds like you got out of here really suddenly."

"Suddenly to him, maybe." He mumbled.

"And to me, and Alfred." Barbara stated. "And to the rest of your friends, probably. Did you even tell anyone you were leaving?"

"No." Dick said, sitting down to tie his sneakers. "I didn't have to tell anyone, I'm eighteen. I can leave if I want."

"Yeah, you can, but you can't really believe that nobody's going to notice you're gone, Dick." There was a pause, neither of them knew quite what to say next. He heard her sigh. "Listen, I'm not telling you to come back or anything, I'm just making sure you're, like, alive."

"I'm alive."

"Just be safe, okay? Wherever you're going."

"I will, Babs. I promise."

"Alright. I've gotta go reassure Bruce that you're not being held hostage." Barbara said, jokingly, and Dick chuckled at the remark. "Talk to you later."

"See ya."

He ended the call, hearing his stomach grumble. A glance down at his phone's lock screen told him the current time was 7:30 AM. Deciding he was going to go check out the complementary breakfast, he put his backpack on his back and grabbed his luggage bag, making sure he wasn't leaving anything else behind in the room.

As he walked down the hall towards the lobby, he couldn't help but feel guilt creeping up from the pit of his chest. Another side of him disagreed; why should he feel guilty? With all the arguments and heated discussions that he and Bruce shared from time to time, he had to know this was bound to happen. Had his guardian really expected that Dick was going to stay at the Wayne Manor forever and mold himself into the perfect, proper son for all the tabloids to report about? He needed his own identity apart from his adoptive entrepreneur father's.

Of course he would bring Barbara and the Commissioner into their personal problems, too. The guilt he felt quickly turned into something else. Frustration? Anger? His face was beginning to turn red as a result of his mixed emotions, and the breakfast room was drawing closer. What was it going to take to show Bruce that he wasn't a child anymore? That he didn't need anybody watching over him?

This had to happen. He had to prove himself to Bruce, he had to.

He stood in front of his destination, feeling more confident than ever as he opened the doors, and-

-and there was Kory, sitting by herself at a small, round table in the middle of the room, and now nothing he had been thinking about was important anymore. There was a half-eaten plate of pancakes drenched in maple syrup before her. She lowered the fork in her hand to grab a chunk of the treat, then raised it to her lips, which were glossy, and tinted dark red. Her fiery hair was pulled up into a bun, while two wavy sections of it remained down and fell to her collarbone. Today, though, only her shirt, which had short sleeves and started at her shoulders, was purple. The rest of her outfit was composed of black shorts, a necklace with a green gem that hung low on her chest, and a pair of black sneakers.

His legs felt like spaghetti. If he didn't get his food quickly, he was going to embarrass himself.

Hoping that her focus was planted on her pancakes, he snuck around the area where she sat and gathered a plate full of his own breakfast. For what proved to be a crappy motel, they had a surprisingly nice array of breakfast food to choose from, and he opted for a cinnamon raisin bagel with a glass of milk, picking up some cream cheese while he was there, as well. Now that he had his plate, he turned around, once again distracted by the good looks of his acquaintance. Would it be weird if he sat down at her table, or would it be more odd if he deliberately picked a different place to eat?

Not entirely sure of himself, he slowly made his way to the table where Kory sat. Before he could change his mind or bring his breakfast back into his room, she turned her head, catching a glimpse at him, and a bright smile appeared on her clean, well-rested face.

"Dick!" She called out, pointing to a chair across from where she sat at her table. "Come sit."

Feeling slightly less awkward about the situation now that he was invited to eat with her, he obeyed, sitting at the empty chair and placing his plate on the surface in front of him.

"I feel I must properly thank you for helping me." She said, putting another piece of her pancake into her mouth. Something about watching her eat was making him flustered, so he looked down and began to spread cream cheese onto his bagel.

"It was no problem. I'm glad I could help."

He wasn't sure what else to say, and she seemed pretty content finishing the rest of her food, so he let her be for a bit while he began eating. The breakfast in this place was good, but he made a mental note to try and find a more quality hotel the next time he needed somewhere to stay. He glanced up at Kory, who was nearly done with her food, and wondered if she had as dysfunctional of an experience trying to get to sleep last night. Most likely not, she seemed like she was in a much better mood than he was. Although, being able to spend this short while with her was already starting to cheer him up.

She yawned, stretching her arms out to her sides. "Dick," She said, pushing her now empty plate to the side of the table. "Do you ever get a feeling about a specific thing?"

He put his bagel down. "Yeah. I do."

"I have a feeling about today. I think it is going to be positive. More positive than my previous day."

"That's good." Dick responded, taking a sip of his milk.

There was another brief silence between the two of them, and Dick used the time to try and complete the rest of his food.

"May I ask you another question?"

He brought his attention back to her, trying hard not to stare. "Sure."

"I have a friend that I met here, after I moved. Her name is Raven." Kory began, picking a strand of her crimson hair and twirling it around her finger. "She believes in many things I was not entirely familiar with before I met her. Once, she described to me how she thought that there is a..." She waved her hands around in the air above her head. "...a type of power in the universe that determines how everything will happen...fate, I think that is the word she used." She smiled. "Do you believe in the fate?"

Dick nearly choked on a piece of the bagel he was now desperately trying to finish eating. "Uh," He coughed, drinking the last of his milk. "I don't know. I don't think...a lot. Um, about that, a lot, I mean-"

Kory laughed. "It is all right." She rested her face on one of her hands, which was leaning on the edge of the table. "I am not entirely sure I believe in it, but it is an enjoyable thought to me at times."

She sighed, though her smile still remained on her face, and Dick stared into his empty plate, somewhat studying his reflection on the shiny surface. A moment later, Kory stood from her chair, looking down at her luggage, which she had brought into the room with her.

"I should leave soon, if I am to be traveling again today."

Dick stood up, as well, brushing some crumbs off of his shirt. "Yeah, I guess I should, too. I'll check us both out of our rooms."

He adjusted the strap of his backpack and headed towards the lobby once more, but turned to face Kory again halfway to the door.

"Where are you headed, if you don't mind me asking?"

She opened her mouth as if to speak, but ended up closing it without generating a response. "I...am not sure." She looked down, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Honestly, I had not expected to make it this far away without returning back to my home."

"Oh."

"...What about you?"

"I, uh, hadn't really thought out a plan, either." Dick said, quickly running a hand through his hair. "In the long run, I was kind of thinking about California."

Kory's eyes, which were no longer facing her feet, seemed to sparkle with curiosity. "California." She repeated, then quietly mumbled the word "emocionante" to herself. "Well," She said, clutching onto the handle of her luggage. "I will be seeing you another time, then, Dick."

"See you around." Dick said, walking closer to the door, but once again stopped when his hand touched the handle. "Kory?"

She still remained standing in the same spot, and lifted her eyebrows at the mention of her name.

"...If you don't know where you're going, you're, uh," He cleared his throat. "you're welcome to join me. If you want to."

The question didn't seem to register in her mind at first, but after a minute of thought, her head nodded softly, and she made her way over to him, her luggage wheeling behind her. "California." She said, for a second time, as they left the breakfast room. "It is warm there, right?"

"Yeah." Dick said, unable to control the goofy grin spreading onto his face. "It's usually pretty warm."


Author's Note: Wow, okay, first of all, I'm super sorry that it took me, like, three weeks to crank this thing out. And I always seem to get kind of weak with my writing towards the end of a chapter, I'm not entirely sure how to fix that yet, haha. Hopefully you guys don't mind too much.

Also, Barbara is here! I couldn't help myself from including her somewhere, I love her character. In this AU, she's a couple years older than Dick, and they've known each other since Bruce became his guardian when he was a kid because she and her father (Jim Gordon) are friends of Bruce's. She's a good friend of his, kind of like a big sister. She likes to look out for him.

Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to publish, but I can't make any promises. I've got multiple commitments IRL on a weekly basis that take up some of my free time, amongst other things, so I'll update when I can! As always, lemme know if you're enjoying the fic so far. I love hearing your feedback!

- Maya