WARNING::::::::::: Spoilers for Batman's past. (Yes, Batman's past_)

OMG! An update? WHAT IS THIS?

Okay, my excuses are as follows:

Yesterday, I was puking out my stomach.

For the whole week before that, I was in Oklahoma.

So... please forgiveth meeees!

I own nothin.

Robin shrugged, finishing off his glass fully. "Are you guys going after me- er, Robin?"

The Martian began to telepathically put everything away, his back to Robin. "Perhaps, though Flash has not been successful for finding the coordinates for your dimension or time, whichever it is." He turned, eyes piercing. "Perhaps, we will go after you- after our Robin- when the portal is ready."

"Or perhaps my Team will find me first."

J'onn smirked. "It is a race against time."

"Hardy har."

There was silence as J'onn circled back around and inspected Robin slightly. "Shall we call you something different than 'Robin'? That name is confusing to all of us, and I believe that a different name shall better equip our situation."

Robin paused, biting his lip, before saying, "Just call me Dick, I guess. I know the League all know mine and Bruce's identities."

J'onn nodded, then continued to inspect the teen. "So, you said you are thirteen."

Dick nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fourteen on the first day of Spring. I think Wally's already planning a huge surprise party."

The Martian smiled softly to himself. That did sound like a speedster- especially 'big brother' Wally-speedster. "Do you have a Speedy in your dimension or time?"

"Oh, yeah. We've got plenty of- ah... I'm not sure how much I should say," the teen stopped himself, sheepishly rubbing behind his ear. "I mean, if I am from the future, I wouldn't want to do any damage or anything."

J'onn nodded once more, and Dick was struck by how different the Martian was from his niece. While M'gann was bubbly, hyperactive (at times), and always talking and asking questions, J'onn was much more secluded and stoic. That had been one of the reasons Dick was shocked when he first met Miss M. He had wrongly assumed that all Martians were anti-social.

"How are we gonna find out if I'm from the future or a different universe?" Dick inquired J'onn. The Martian frowned slightly, then paused.

"I suppose we shall contact Batman. After all, he shall find out about Robin's disappearance soon enough, and we need his help."

Dick slid off of the bed and proceeded to do a small front-flip to force blood to rush to his fingers and toes. "I hate holding still. Most of the time, for small stuff, I don't even bandage it. Bandages get in the way and restrict my movement."

J'onn allowed a small smile to grace his lips. This Robin was a bit more talkative than theirs, but was still similar in his interests and ticks.

"We should get you some fresh clothes," the Martian began as he turned towards the door. "I do believe that I can contact Green Arrow to gather some items. Our Speedy is your age, though he might be bigger."

Dick nodded then turned to take in his surroundings.

While he did so, J'onn stepped out the door to converse with his teammates. Diana spoke up first, her voice shaky. "Is he really Robin?"

J'onn didn't answer right away, pausing to think the question over. "I do believe he is Robin from the future- his mental wavelengths are the same, if not matured-"

John couldn't help but snort. "Robin? Matured? God, now I'm scared."

Barry hid a snort as he looked to his shoes, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, what now? I mean, avoiding it doesn't really help..."

Shocked by Barry's wise statement, the others paused. Shayera spoke up first. "Right. You and John can call Bat-"

"Why us?"

Diana was suddenly in Barry's face, poking his chest as steam practically lifted from her nostrils. "Because you two lost Robin, you two let Ra's send him into an alternate time period, so you two will contact Batman and you two will take the fall!"

Both men turned to each other, gulped, then nodded and abruptly left. Shayera ruffled her feathers and cracked her neck, trying to soothe her nerves. Diana sighed, then turned to her friends. "We need to get him some fresh clothes, at least."

"I had considered contacting Green Arrow," Manhunter explained, a hand out. "Speedy is larger than Dick, but his clothes would fit better than any of ours."

"Yeah," Shayera chuckled lightly. "And I don't think he'd want to wear a dress."

"Naw, I wouldn't."

They all jumped, even J'onn, and turned to see Dick standing there, a slight pout upon his lips. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his eyes were piercing. "So, what should we do? Just wait for Bats to get here? If we are gonna do that, I want to train. I'm guessing the gym is in the same spot-"

"Sloooow down," Shayera spoke, placing a hand upon the young teenager's shoulder. "You have a concussion- exercising could make it more severe."

Dick rolled his eyes, smirking. "Are you all gonna treat me like I'm eight, 'cause I'm not. I'm thirteen, and you might wanna get used to that. After all, we don't know how long I'll be here, do we?"

The three older heroes eyed each other before facing the teen again. Diana sighed, a sharp pain growing just above her left temple.

"Right. But you're not training right away," she spoke deftly. "Being older doesn't change the fact that you're injured. Go on to the cafeteria- you know where that is, right?" He nodded. "Okay. Shayera, go with him. We should try to keep this on the down-low, just in case. If anyone asks, say he's a victim of a case that we're working on."

Shayera agreed, despite not liking taking orders from the Amazon. The red-head placed a hand on Dick's shoulder, smiling gently. "What're you hungry for?"

"Roman?"

"Okay, kid. Chicken or beef?"

"Chicken, definitely."

"What?"

The Dark Knight's glare, even over the hologram, was chilling to the bone. John wanted to melt into a puddle- yes, the fearless Green Lantern was scared, was terrified, of the over-protective 'Daddy Bats', as Wally had dubbed him.

Barry spoke up first, his voice cracking. "Uhm... Well, see, Ra's al Ghul kinda sneaked into the Watchtower-"

"How the Hell did that happen?"

"We're not sure-"

"Find. Out. Now. John, you stay."

The Green Lantern swore as he turned around, his escape to no avail.

"Explain to me how you let Ra's al Ghul send my son to another dimension..."

"Crap."

Dick assumed that the time-travel, or dimension travel, they were all still shaky on which, had somehow made him hungry- he had never eaten this much. Shayera, smirking, sat across from him at the cafeteria table with her chin propped up on her fist. "Wow. Teens really do eat a lot."

Dick smiled at her, taking in all of her facial features. She looked the same as his Aunt Shay, besides the fact that she lacked a few lines around her eyes from years of glaring. "Yeah. I guess we do."

Other numerous heroes around the cafeteria were sending curious glances over at Dick, and whispers of gossip filled the air. Shayera ignored them as she watched the teen eat, slurping up the noodles and getting a bit of sauce on his chin. She bit back a giggle. He eats the same, for sure. "Do you want something to drink? Milk, soda, tea-"

"Sweet Tea?"

She nodded, standing. "No caffeine, I know."

Dick grinned as she walked off. Her costume was different by a bit, covering less of her stomach and with heels on her boots. Her mace was the exact same, though. His Aunt Shay wouldn't ever loose her mace. Dick even recalled that she had named it at one point...

Laughter drew his eyes and ears to the doorway, and he smiled even larger.

Roy was shorter by at least a foot and a half, and his muscles were smaller, but he was still taller than Dick by a few inches. His Speedy costume was made up of tight red pants, a red short-sleeved tunic and belt, and red gloves. His yellow hat resided on top of cropped red hair, and his domino mask hid blue eyes from the world. A smile was over his features, and Dick assumed he was rolling his eyes at Green Arrow's antics.

Green Arrow, his costume the exact same, stood behind his adoptive son, making a face as he told some tall-tale. On his elbow was an overnight bag, which Dick assumed had his clothes.

When Speedy spotted Dick, he froze. Obviously, no one had told him about the Older-Robin that had invaded the Watchtower.

"Who are you?"

Dick stood and crossed over. Apparently Oliver knew of his godson's adventure through time and space, because he pulled Dick tightly into his side in an embrace. The teen lightly embraced Green Arrow back as the man attempted to hide a sniffle. Roy just stared at his mentor like the man had gone mad.

"Roy," Oliver began, smiling, "This is..." he lowered his voice, "Dick. I'll explain later."

Speedy looked, astonished, at the shorter teen. He was skinny, but muscled around his arms. Probably from years of acrobatic training. His hair was still choppy and anime-like, his eyes a bright baby blue. "... Dick?"

"Hey, Roy. It's weird, isn't it?"

Speedy nodded, his jaw open wide. He was at a loss for words. So, he said the first thing his teenage mind could think of.

"Do you wanna play Call of Duty?"

Dick smirked. "You know it."

Oliver butted in. "You should change first, and I think Shayera has some other stuff for you."

The boys turned to see the Thangarian walking forward, a glass of tea in one hand. And, behind her came in the Dark Knight. His face was hard, his Glare even more terrifying than usual, on a level normally saved for murderers and pedophiles on the streets of Gotham.

Dick, though, wasn't phased. Even when Batman came to stop right in front of him, he felt no goosebumps or shivers coming on. "Come with me."

Nothing more was said as Batman snatched the overnight sack from Oliver angrily, turning and stalking down the hall. Dick cast a sad glance at Roy and waved as Batman led him down to his laboratory.

After a neural scanner, hand scanner, voice activated lock, and five-digit pass code, Batman stepped aside for Dick to walk in.

The teen felt his breath hitch. This was the only thing that seemed drastically changed. The white-washed walls stopped abruptly to greet steel and lead-enforced floor panels. Numerous other tables held dozens of machines, all sorts of scanners and such, as well as weights and hand-tools such as scalpels and drills. Magnify glasses, beakers with rather suspicious liquids, and different Bunsen burners sat around in chaotic order. Other machines that Dick couldn't even name sat around next to glowing rocks and glistening acids. Several torn-apart 'Bat-tools' and weapons, such as batarangs and grappling guns, lingered in corners to be inspected for productivity and efficiency.

"Sit," Batman ordered Dick as he pulled out a stool in the middle of the room.

Dick did so, taking off his leather jacket. "Want me to take off my hoodie, too?"

Batman grunted.

"I take that as a yes."

Dick shed his hoodie to reveal a tanned torso, numerous whitening scars and a few fresher ones, blood red, speckled everywhere.

Batman turned-

And froze.

Bruce was angry. No- Bruce was furious. Furious at John and Barry for obvious reasons, furious at Ra's for obvious reasons-

But now, he was furious at himself.

The rest of Bruce's week was planned out already: do tests on this older version of his son, process them, question Ra's, not stopping until he found his micuta pasarea and brought him home.

He had gathered the needle and syringe, ready to take some blood samples, then turned.

What he saw made him want to go out and kill every gangster and villain in existence.

There were dozens of small scratches on the teen's arms and shoulders, most of which were fading into his dark skin. But, several larger ones, made by all sorts of makes as Bruce could think of- Shivs, ballistic knives, switchblades, hunting knife, scalpel- littered Dick's chest. He had two white circles on his stomach, gunshot marks, and a pinker one on his shoulder, right in between the socket and his collar bone. There was a thick, white hook-like mark on the teen's hip, going down past his pant line. Then, Bruce realized that there was a small white scrape underneath Dick's right eye, on his cheek bone.

The teen, having sensed his other-world foster father's discomfort, managed a small snort/smile. "Don't worry. Bruce- my Bruce- is really protective, too. I can remember one time he counted my scars and his- I had a third as many, but that's still a lot. He freaked out, and it took me and Alfred to calm him down. I was eleven."

Batman pulled down his cowl, and Dick sighed with relief. Bruce's eyes were angry, but his face was soft- as soft as the Batman's face could be.

He pulled off his Kevlar gloves and stepped forward, gently tracing the scrape under Dick's eye.

"That one wasn't actually patrol. It was a fight at school. You- well, Bruce flipped. He almost took me out of school. I was nine, I think."

Bruce's jaw clenched, and he nodded. He didn't want to know when or where all of these scars came from.

He knew the consequences of their job, but he still couldn't imagine his baby bird getting hurt like that.

"What tests are you gonna do?"

Bruce was pulled back into real life, and he grunted, "Blood test, hair test, fingerprint scan, CAT scan, and a few others. I want to make sure you don't have anything more than a concussion from the travel."

"Do you think I'm from an alternate universe?"

The billionaire's frown deepened. "No. I don't think so, but I want to be sure. J'onn told me your wavelengths were very similar to Robin's."

Dick nodded, biting the inside of his cheek. Bruce gently rapped his shoulder. "Don't. Bad habit."

Dick couldn't help but smile.

It took about two and a half hours before all of the tests were done. Dick wouldn't admit it, but he was exhausted. He had already been at the Watchtower for about five hours, but he had also come from a mission with the Team just before he 'teleported'.

Bruce saw the teen's growing weary. He tried not to smile. Richard, Richard, Richard...

The man turned and grabbed the overnight bag before tossing it over to Dick. The teen just barely caught it, and Bruce sighed to himself. He must really be exerted...

"I assume you know where my room is?"

Dick nodded, his eyelids drooping.

"Good. Go on and shower, then get changed. Sleep."

"Don't need to tell me twice..." the teen muttered as he slipped out of the room.

Bruce sighed, running a hand over his face. The tests were running, the machines beeping and whining as they processed blood, bacteria, prints, and ext. He wondered if Robin was being taken care of...

Then again, if Dick was such a great kid, Robin should be fine.

Was Robin sleeping?

Was he eating?

Was he playing?

What was he doing at that moment?

Was Dick's Batman treating him well?

Was Bruce treating Dick well?

Bruce groaned to himself as he massaged his temples.

He just wanted his little Robin back...

Dick groaned as the hot water in the shower ran over his face, rolling down his neck to his shoulders, and over his fatigued muscles. Gently, he rested his forehead and hands on the tile wall.

He would never, never show it, but...

He was scared.

He was terrified...

He'd never been in a 'boomy-tube' situation before. That was all League stuff, stuff that Uncle Barry and Uncle Hal and Aunt Dinah dealt with. Stuff Bruce dealt with. What if he couldn't get back? Back to the Team, back to his best friends, his brothers, his sisters...

What if he was stuck in the past forever?

And what about all of the TV stuff about time and space unraveling and everything? How did he not remember this? How was this new, if it was in the past?

It hurt his head thinking about it.

So don't think about it... Just go with the flow, Dick... Go with the flow...

"You were my best student, you know."

Batman glared at Ra's as the man inspected his nails. "You really were, Bruce. Your anger was just the momentum you needed, but when you refused to kill... Well, you're limiting yourself, Bruce. You know that."

"I don't have time for your bull, Ra's. Where. Is. Robin?"

Ra's chuckled before looking up at his ex-student. "You know. What you don't know is the precise coordinates of where he is."

Suddenly, Batman had Ra's pinned to the wall. His face was inches from the villain's, his teeth grit as he growled. "Where is he? Where the Hell did you send my son?"

Ra's laughed again, louder this time. "What are you going to do to me? Didn't we just go over this? You. Don't. Kill."

"I might just start unless you talk..."

"Bruce, Bruce, Bruce... We both know you don't have it in you."

Bruce's glare hardened, if that were even possible. There were several long, agonizing moments.

Then, Bruce flung Ra's across the room, cracking the glass that led to the 'backstage'. "I'll be back for you later..."

As he stormed out, slamming the door shut, Bruce felt a smaller, smoother hand on his shoulder. Gently, the hand pulled him around to face Diana. The Amazon had tears in her eyes, though she was still smiling. "We'll find him, Bruce... I promise."

The Dark Knight said nothing, just turned and walked away.

I'm not very happy with it, but I like the Bruce/Dick bonding piece. Young!Roy will become a bigger part in the next Older!Robin chapter, but I don't think I'll bring Young!Wally. Young!Kaldur will NOT daybeau, and I have planned for Older!Roy to be in the next chapter.

ANY IDEAS?

I know that Older!Robin's side is a lot more serious than Younger!Robin's, but that'll even out eventually. I'm kind of in a rut right now, though, and I need YOUR GUYS' help!

PLEASE: send in any 'alterior motive' ideas, or some kind of ending or dramatic, climatic thing you'd like to see.

Thanks for reading!

God Bless, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

~Scotty