Thanks for the reviews! I do not own anything in this fiction, except for Alyson, everything else belongs to their rightful owners. Even Robin, sadly.

Chapter 7

(((((((((((((((((((!*((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

The next morning, Bruce was at the office before Alyson even got up for the day. She wasn't surprised not to see him at the breakfast table, now Dick not being there was a surprise to her. She had come use to him being there the past few weeks to say good morning to at breakfast. When she got back to her room she noticed that her basket of dirty clothing was getting rather large. Laundry day it is then.

She picked up her basket and carried it the best that she could down to the laundry room. It took her what seemed forever to get down there. Her basket weighed like a ton. She didn't see how Alfred could carry her basket down to the laundry room, including her dad's too, and not die from exhaustion. She felt like she was going to fall over any second when she finally got down to the laundry room. She could faintly hear the drier running inside. Great, she's in luck! Alfred was already inside. "Alfred? Could you please open the door? This thing weighs like a ton." Alyson called out to the older man.

It was a few minutes before she heard movement on the other side of the door. The door open to reveal that it was Dick on the other side of the room. She would have guessed that he would have let Alfred do his laundry too, she obviously should have known better to make assumptions. "Here, let me take that for you." He said to her as he took the basket from her. Their hands touched for a second, a shock running through both of them the moment that skin touched skin.

Alyson blushed madly and quietly thanked him. He moved aside to let her inside of the room. She moved past him and saw Alfred folding her father's clothes. "Good morning, Alfred." She greeted the old man before she turned to see Dick putting her clothes into the washer. She blushed again when he picked up her bra and raised his eye brow at it as he glanced at her.

It figures it had to be the one that she used for when she went to parties and anywhere important. It was the black and white striped laced rimmed one. "I highly suggest that you wear this soon. I'd love to see you in it, princess." He said to her, catching the look that she was giving him. "Sorry, if you don't mind me saying that in front of you, Alfred." He said to the old man as he tossed it in with the rest of her clothes.

Alyson's jaw dropped to the floor, looking between the two men in shock. Alfred chuckled softly to himself as he shook his head. He didn't say anything back to the young man, he just kept folding the laundry. "Well, you won't be seeing that one, or any other under garments of mine on me any time soon." She scoffed to him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

He just chuckled softly to himself and picked up one of his pieces of clothing that had just come out of the washer. "Leave that, Master Dick. I will tend to it." Alfred spoke up upon seeing the young man going to dry his clothes.

Alyson didn't say a thing as she went to help Alfred out with her dad's laundry. "I'm not use to be waited on." Dick said to him before he began drying his own clothes using martial art moves. Alfred and Alyson shared a shocked look at they watched him. He wrung the water out of a pair of his sweats, leaving a puddle of water on the floor. He used the mop to hang it up on the clothing line. He, then, used the mop to clean up the water. "You're clothes are gonna be a while, princess. How about another car lesson?" He asked out to her as he mopped up the water. He winked at Alyson before pulling her out of the room, leaving Alfred snickering alone in the laundry room.

In the garage an hour later, Dick and Alyson were working hard on her future car. As their conversation died, the many questions he had had before to ask her resurfaced to his mind. One he knew that he could get an answer out of Alyson from. He didn't want to seem like he was using her just for answers, but he really needed them. He hated feeling left out of the loop. "So can I ask you something?" Dick broke the silence between them. Alyson popped out from under the car and nodded her head to him confused. "Why is it that only one door is locked out of every other room in this place?" He asked out to her, trying not to get distracted by the fact that she had grease on her face.

For some reason it only made her look more cute to him. He shook his head of those thoughts, he needed to stay on task. "So I see you found the 'secret' locked room then?" Alyson laughed out to him as she rolled out from under the car fully. He nodded curiously to her as he helped her up to his feet. "Thanks." She told him. "So, did Alfred give you the 'dead wife' line when he caught you trying to get inside the room?" She asked him as she brushed herself off.

"Yeah, how'd you know . . ."

She should have known that this was about the stupid door the second that Alfred had said she had been waiting for him that day in the garage when she wasn't, that that was what had happened. "He said the same thing to me when I was like ten, and was trying to get inside the room too." Alyson told him as she rubbed her arms with a slight shiver.

The garage could get really cold at night, especially if you're a skinny stick and only in a tank top and jeans. "You ever get inside of the room?" He asked out to her. She nodded her head as she tried to find something to help her get her mind off of the cold. "So what's inside?" He asked out to her. Alfred didn't seem like he would just let someone in where they're not suppose to go. He had to wonder just how she got inside the room. "How did you get in the room anyways?" He asked out to her before she could answer his first question.

He was very curious guy, she noticed. She was finding out something new about him every day it seemed. "It's just my dad's study. I have no idea why he locks it, but it's just a study." She told him. "There's this old serious elevator thing that the maids used to use to send food up when the past generations lived here. This one just happens to go to the study since it's above the old kitchen." She explained how she had gotten into the room to him. She saw the confused expression on his face and rolled her eyes. "My great grand parents renovated. They moved the kitchen up from the basement and made it bigger." She told to him. He nodded, now understanding a little bit more.

"Do you think . . ."

She knew exactly what he was going to ask her. "It won't fit you, Dick. I'm just barely able to fit in it now, and I'm like half the size of you." Alyson explained to him, squashing his plans of how he was going to get inside the room. He looked over at her when he heard teeth chattering and just noticed that she was trying not to shiver in front of him, and was failing miserably at it.

He shrugged off his sweat shirt as he walked up behind her and placed it on her shoulders. She jumped out of her cold skin, having not have known that he was behind her. "Does everything you own have a Robin on it?" She asked him as she saw the robin on the back of the sweatshirt. He gave her a puzzled look. "I saw your bike helmet the first day that you were here. It has a robin on it, if I'm correct." She explained to him.

He nodded silently to her, the thought of her sneaking through his room gone from his mind. He wouldn't have been surprised if it was about a few weeks ago, but now? Now, the thought hurt. Though, truth be told, the thought was not unwelcomed that much. "You not like robins?" He asked her.

She gave him a look, clearly asking him if he was insane. "Believe it or not, Robins are one of my favorite birds." She told him. He raised his hands up in a mock surrender.

He noticed that she wasn't shivering anymore, but he could tell that she was still freezing cold. "Let me guess your favorite." He said to her as he gave her a quick look over. "Your favorite bird is either . . . a dove or a blue jay?" He asked her. Her jaw dropped to the floor, or it would have if this was a cartoon. He chuckled softly to himself at the look on her face. "So which one is it?" He asked her, a grin playing on his lips when he knew that he was right.

She felt like an open book when she was with him. She didn't know if she liked that he knew her so well or not. "It's a dove." She told him. "They just make me think of snow. I love the snow." She said to him shyly. She didn't want to sound weird. "How did you know?" She asked him. He titled his head as he looked down at her.

She seemed to shine in front of him. She always looked best in winter colors. As far as he could tell, he's only seen her in blue and white. "For me? A dove makes me think of angels. So do you." He said to her honestly. She giggled softly and playfully hit him on arm. "What was that for? I mean it. You really do." He laughed out with her. He didn't care how cheesy he sounded, he was being totally honest with her.

He knew that they've only known each other for a few weeks, but he already knows that she's different from all the other girls that he's met before. "You're so cheesy, you know that, right?" She said out to him with a laugh, still rubbing her arms from the cold hitting her bare skin. She had gotten side tracked and completely forgot to actually put on the sweat shirt.

Dick chuckled slightly and nodded his head, giving her credit on that one. It was a really cheesy line to say to her. "Lets get you back inside the house before you freeze to death." He said to her as she slipped her arms into the sweatshirt. She nodded, silently thanking him before she followed him inside the Manor. Dick still wasn't going to give up on that 'secret' door, but needed to make sure that Alyson was warm and not going to freeze to death on him.