Disclaimer- I don't own Young Justice.

I love all the reviews! XD So how are you guys liking this so far? Please review after reading!

Note- If Alfred sounds OOC (out of character), it's because I'm not used to his personally. Sure, I've watched tons of Batman cartoons but in every one, Alfred seems to have a slight difference in his personality. -_- So NOT helpful. And then I have to try to write his personality. Ha! Sounds like a bad joke, huh?

Chapter 3

Bruce couldn't believe his eyes, hoping that this was sort of prank that Dick was playing.

"Dick, this isn't funny," Bruce said loudly, his eyes scanning the room for any sign of movement.

There was none.

"Dick, I'm not joking. Come out," Bruce tried again, his heart threatening to jump out of his rib cage.

"Master Bruce? What's wrong?" Alfred's voice could be heard from down the hall.

Bruce turned towards the door. "I can't find Dick."

Down the hall, Alfred was frowning. "Are you sure this isn't one of his pranks, Master Bruce?"

"I'm positive."

"Oh dear," Alfred murmured as countless scenarios played in his mind.

Back in Dick's room, Bruce was checking for any sign of a kidnapping when he noticed that there was an envelope on Dick's desk. Curious, Bruce picked it up and turned on the lamp that was on Dick's desk. Now Bruce could read that the letter was addressed to him.

"What did you find, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked him, suddenly behind Bruce.

Unaffected by Alfred's sudden appearance, Bruce held up the envelope. "This."

Alfred frowned slightly. "Master Bruce, why is it addressed to you?"

"I don't know . . . But I will when I read it."

"Very well. Shall I start breakfast?"

"Yes."

And with that dismissal, Alfred silently left Bruce to the envelope.

_Bruce's POV_

He was now sitting on Dick's bed, his eyes locked on the mysterious envelope. Why was it on Dick's desk? If it was from a kidnapper, why was his name written in Dick's handwriting? Why couldn't he find Dick?

Those thoughts swarmed his mind, his heart ready to burst. He wasn't used to feeling all these emotions and not knowing where his son was. It scared him and honestly, Bruce never did like being scared.

. . . Maybe it's a letter from Dick to give me a glue where's he's hiding. He always liked that game when he was younger.

But that didn't get rid of Bruce's bad feeling; it only made it worse.

Exhaling softly, Bruce opened the envelope with steady hands and pulled out two pieces of paper out. One had writing on it while the other was blank. Turning his attention to the one with the writing, Bruce discarded the other piece of paper next to him and began to read the first piece of paper.

When he was done reading, Bruce's heart nearly stopped.

. . . Dick's . . . gone?

His mind couldn't process what he had just read, his eyes blinking slowly. He couldn't believe any of the words that had been written on this paper. It just seemed to be nothing but lies, lies that were suppose to anger him. But why? Why would Dick need Bruce to be angry with him?

Why did he even need to leave in the first place?

Bruce's eyes stung with tears that he refused to shed. There had to be a logical explanation for this . . . Right? There was no way that Dick actually felt what he had described in the letter. There just wasn't . . .

Right?

NO! Dick never even gave any sign of this kind of anger! If he had truly felt this way, I would have known! I would have known . . .

Would he have? How could he when if he wasn't at work, he was with the Justice League? How could he when he barely got to spend time with Dick? How could he when he was such a cold person?

How?

. . . Bruce didn't know. That was why when he got off Dick's bed, he forgot about the blank sheet of paper and its own mystery. He forgot that when you wrote a letter, you didn't put a blank sheet of paper behind it. He forgot everything except the chaos that was now within him . . .

All because Dick wanted to protect him and the others from what he would be forced to do.

A/N- That was a sad chapter . . . Is it wrong that I enjoyed writing this chapter? I hope you all review! This was published on 4-22-12 with the length of 849 words.