This is just a short chapter, kind of a filler, but it is a miraculous update. Well, here you are, and enjoy!


Gotham Heights, Wayne Manor

April 29TH 8:47 a.m.

Jason's Pov

"Ah," I yawned as I stretched my arms. It was definitely too early to be doing anything, but a deal is a deal.

Alfred opened the door of the sleek black car (which I did not steal any tires from) and led me into the Wayne mansion.

"Master Bruce is awaiting you in our library," Alfred told me, as he guided me up two flights of stairs and past a couple of grand-looking doors. Well, this is Bruce Wayne's mansion after all.

There were a few weird things that I noticed about the doors though. The doors that we passed on the right side of the stair case each looked a little different, and I don't mean by design. There were six rooms on this side of the floor in total. The third one had its door left open just a bit, but I could make out a king-sized bed and a polished mahogany desk filled with countless items.

I stopped to get a better look at the billboards hung up over the desk. There were news articles, and a couple of photos of Dick and his friends. The one in the center stood out from the rest with its dark background. It was a picture of Dick, Bruce, Alfred, Karie and this girl in the center beside Dick. it must've been taken a few years ago, because Karie, Bruce and Dick all look a lot younger than they do now. Karie had her arm around her shoulder, while Bruce had a hand on Dick's shoulder. Dick and the girl were had really big smiles on. The reason I found was probably because they were holding each other's hands if you looked at the picture close enough.

"Master Jason?" called Alfred. He walked slowly back to where I was standing in front of the bedroom. "Is there something particularly captivating about Master Dick's room?"

I quickly folded my arms and looked the other way, with my head held high. "Nothing much, just those photos of you guys on his wall."

Alfred surprisingly boldly walked straight into Dick's room and leaned to run his eyes over all of the photos. I stood awkwardly just outside of the room, not sure if Alfred had purposely walked in so that I could see the photos, or if he really wanted to see them himself. He continued to look at all of them, not saying a word. I guess it was both reasons.

I walked in slowly, finding a place beside Alfred to admire Dick's collection of photos. There was a picture of this tanned, blonde girl and Dick, who looked really surprised that the photo was being taken. Another was this red-haired guy stuffing his face with-are those Chicken Whizees? Then there was the photo in the center; who is that pretty brown-haired girl?

"Do you see something amusing, Master Jason?" Alfred asked.

I jumped a bit, my mouth falling open. I stopped myself from asking, but it didn't work. My curiosity always gets the best of me. "Who's the pretty girlfriend?"

Alfred was the one who looked almost amused; he wasn't completely because his frowning mouth defeated his raised, surprised eyebrows. With a sigh, he answered my question, "She was Mistress' Karie's younger sister, and Master Dick's girlfriend."

"Oh." What else was I supposed to say? After all, Alfred did just use 'was' instead of is. Ugh, I know I shouldn't be asking him this, but again my curiosity wins out. "What happened to her?"

"That is a story that you will find somewhere else in this manor, but not here," Alfred said. He sighed again, but this time he was a lot sadder. "Absolutely not here."


Wayne Manor, Library

April 29TH 9:00 a.m.

Bruce's Pov

"Ah, Jason, good to see you made it," I greeted him as warmly as I could. "Thank you, Alfred."

"Not a problem, Master Bruce." Alfred bowed, sent me a short but clear look before leaving us.

I glanced at Jason who hadn't caught the look, but was too busy staring at the high walls of the collection of books in my home. What had he done before he and Alfred made it to the library?

"Why don't you take a seat, Jason?" I suggested, sitting myself down on one of the many velvet cushions located in the library.

"So what are we going to do first?" he asked, looking around the library again, and then finally meeting my eyes.

"Well, I'd just like to have you take a diagnostic to see where you are for each category," I explained.

"Category? Wait, did you say that there was more than one?" His green eyes widening from the sudden realization.

"Of course," I answered. "There are all of regular things that you would learn in school, your physical capabilities, a doctor's appointment and an IQ test."

Jason's face grew dark quickly and he sunk into the velvet cushions. "I'm not liking the idea of taking all these tests, and that doctor's appointment."

I scoffed faintly. "I never asked if you liked any of it or not, I only asked for you to beat the streets, and you agreed. All of these diagnostics are just the first step to it."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get them over with," Jason mumbled, crossing his arms and staring at the wooden floor.

"Great, follow me then." I stood and lead him to the many tables found in the center of the library. "Just take a seat here, pick up a pencil and take as long as you want. On an extra note, I'll be stopping you after an hour per diagnostic so that you can take a break before moving on to the nest one."

I pulled the chair out for him to take a seat, and he docilely complied. He didn't even say a word and just started to work.

Good, he can follow instructions with minimum guidance. At least, that's all his body language is telling me for now. I walked out of sight from him to make him feel more relaxed and comfortable, but I was really trying to better observe his behaviour. Let's see how much potential he really has...


Gotham Heights, Wayne Manor

April 29TH 4:08 p.m.

Dick's Pov

"Welcome home, Master Dick. Is there anything you would like me to get for you?" Alfred asked, as usual.

"The usual Alfred," I said, smiling when I saw his knowing look. He knew that he didn't even have to ask. "I'll be down in the cave."

"Of course, Master Dick," Alfred said, bowing respectfully. "If that is all, please excuse me."

I gave him a small nod, before passing him and entering my private room. I smiled at the painting of mom and dad up above the lit fireplace, as always. I leaned my elbows in the back of the chair, paying homage to my parents and the memories that this room held to me.

Once I was done, I turned around to the old grandfather clock in the room and turned the hour hand to '10' and the minute hand to '48'. The clock slide to my right after the sound of a 'click' and revealed the same old stair case to the hidden cave below.

I was surprised to find Bruce sitting in his chair, studying something on the Bat Computer.

"Surprised to see that you're not at the Watch or Wayne Industries right now," I said, walking over beside him. I looked up at the files he was looking at but they were some common stuff like a bank robbery, a kidnapping, you know, the usual. "Did something come up in Gotham, or world news?"

"No," was his empty answer.

I waited for Bruce to say something else, because I knew he always got quiet when he had to talk about serious things. At the same time, when he does, he'd be very blunt and straight-forward about it.

"I made Jason take some diagnostics today," he started. "His math skills are just below average, but they are exceptional for his time out of school. Literacy needs some work, same with science, history isn't so important, physically fit for his age, and everything else was either fine, or needs some work."

"Alright," I said, imagining myself for a second tutoring Jason in math (I was a mathlete after all), before asking Bruce, "and what about the other diagnostic?"

"Impulsive, stubborn, terrible eye contact, and sassy," Bruce listed off all the bad points. "Then again, he's also very determined, can follow instructions with minimum guidance surprisingly well, and good-willed."

"If I remember correctly, I was never stubborn or had terrible eye contact," I smiled.

"Yes, but you are definitely impulsive and sassy," Bruce said, his lips stretching into the smallest grin.

"Old habits die hard," I argued jokingly.

"Especially for people who have dense heads," Bruce added. He leaned back in his chair, staring at everything on the Bat Computer. He sighed. "We'll just have to see how everything goes."

"So how and when are you going to tell him?" I asked, already thinking what he was thinking.

He scoffed when he saw my knowing smirk. "We'll need Alfred too."

"Karie will take part too, no doubt about it," I laughed. "I haven't felt some aster in a while, not with all the slow missions you've been sending us on."

"These slow missions have been happening more frequently lately. Which leads me to suspect that someone if up to something," Bruce said, resting his chin on the back of his hands.

"One more question then," I said. "When does he get to meet the team?"

"Like I said before, Dick," Bruce mumbled into his hands. "We'll just have to see how everything goes."


Now it sounds like a real plot might be starting, but I actually don't have anything planned due to my muse being terribly uncreative lately. Any suggestions for anything about the plot or future chapters are all welcomed! Lastly, Happy New Years to everyone!

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