A/N: This took way too long again. I have no excuse.

Warnings: Gay sex is gonna be mentioned again (still no real explicit descriptions though, but Dick is still 15), as well as the character death from last chapter.


Three weeks had passed since Jason's death. The Joker was currently in a bat-induced coma, so Bruce had at least started to sleep a few hours per day again. Dick had told Roy and the team everything that happened. All of them mourned the little Robin, he'd made more friends in the year he spent with them than he thought. They made him a tribute in the cave and everyone who knew his secret identity showed up at his official funeral.

Dick couldn't help but cry a lot. He felt pathetic, but nobody held it against him. Wally comforted him, Babs comforted him, Zatanna comforted him and Roy of course comforted him as well. Miss Martian initiated a team-hug with Dick squished in the middle that nobody could escape.

The acrobat's smile started to return slowly. It was weak at first and didn't hold the same careless joy as before, but it was back. The whole team breathed a sigh of relief when Nightwing was 'whelmed' again for the first time after his brother's death. Maybe it would take some time, but Dick would be okay.

Right now, he was in his room at school, cuddling with Roy under the blankets to escape the icy November winds outside. It was only late afternoon, but he felt like he was slowly drifting to sleep. He didn't really mind though, his bed was so comfy and Roy's arms around him made it feel even warmer and safer...

Meanwhile, a young boy entered the school's office. He looked around nervously, but the woman behind the counter greeted him with a friendly smile. "Hello, little one. Can I help you with something? Are you lost?" Her sweet tone annoyed him a little, he was ten, not three. No need to baby him.

"I'm not lost. I came here to visit Richard Grayson. I'd like to know where his room is." He knew the school allowed visitors on weekends. There was no reason to deny him that information. The woman looked it up in her computer, handed him a piece of paper with the room number and gave him a description on how to find the dorms and the correct room number.

That was unnecessary, he already looked it up on the school's website, but he listened to her anyway, it would have been impolite to interrupt her. When she was finished, he quickly made his way to the room with the correct number. He stood in front of it for a while, double-checking if he had the right room and gathering up courage. He was nervous, but now that he'd come so far, there was no way he'd turn around.

He took a deep breath and knocked. The first ended up being really quiet and nobody moved behind the door, so he knocked a second time, a lot louder than before. Finally something shuffled behind the door. The boy's heart picked up speed as he heard footsteps approaching the door.

He was faced with a grumpy looking redhead. "Who are you?" He sounded just as grumpy as he looked, too. "I want to talk with Dick Grayson." The other's face got even grumpier as his question wasn't answered. A bit more, and he'd be able to compete with the grumpy cat. "Listen, kid, I have no idea who you are, but Dick certainly didn't invite you over, so go home." He wouldn't give in so easily. "No." He shoved one of his feet forward to ensure the door wouldn't get shut right in front of him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just throw you out of the building, brat."

The boy smirked. Reasoning was his strong point. "If you'd do that, I could tell everyone you spend your nights hunting criminals with bow and arrow, Roy Harper." Well... he didn't actually know that for sure, it was just an assumption he made and while it seemed logical and likely, he had no actual proof. Nobody would believe him. But a good bluff was usually worth the risk.

Roy suddenly grabbed him by the collar and yanked him inside, slamming the door shut behind him. His backpack got ripped from his grip and he found himself pressed against the wall. "Who are you?" Roy asked again, this time a lot more aggressive. Well, seemed like his assumption was right.

He didn't answer, searching the room instead (only with his eyes of course, it wasn't that easy to move when someone a lot taller and older than you pressed you against a wall) in hopes of seeing Dick Grayson, but it was empty. Roy took his silence as an invitation to search his body. Probably for weapons.

Well, oops.

Of course someone who knew his secret identity and threatened to make it public would be seen as a potential enemy, even a kid. Maybe he should have been nicer, he still needed to find Dick Grayson and Roy Harper could be really useful for that...

He heard a toilet flush and a door open, but couldn't see it. Must've been right in his blind spot. "Roy? What are you doing? And who's that kid?" There he was! Dick Grayson! But instead of greeting him or saying something smart or somehow wiggling out of Roy's grip, he just stood there. Like a total idiot. Completely awestruck.

When Dick had left his nest of blankets and Roy for a quick visit to the bathroom, this wasn't what he'd expected to come back to. Roy let the kid go at his slightly scolding tone, but only shrugged. "I'd like to know that too..." The boy didn't move at all, eyes fixated on the acrobat. Roy poked him tentatively. "I swear he was moving just two seconds ago..."

"Did you ask him?" Roy gave him annoyed look. "Of course. Apparently, his first name is 'I want to' and his last name 'talk with Dick Grayson'."

"Oh, so you came all the way out here just for a talk with me?", Dick addressed the boy directly, "I'm honored. Care to tell me your name, so I can thank you properly?" The kid seemed to get out of his daze slowly, lowering his head and mumbling something in response. Dick knelt down to meet the kid's size and gave him an encouraging smile. "Sorry, I couldn't understand that, can you repeat it for me?" The boy nodded and took a deep breath.

"T-Tim. My name's Tim Drake." Dick remembered the Drake's vaguely. Did they have a son? Did they ever bring him to a charity ball from Bruce? He honestly couldn't remember. Keeping all the names and faces of all the socialites at Brucie's parties in his head had never been one of his strong points.

"Nice to meet you, Tim. You must have some important business with me, right? Wanna come in and tell me? Even though I wasn't expecting you, so I didn't clean up beforehand..." Dick kept his nice smile on during the entire conversation. It seemed to work on Tim, who slowly began to speak with more confidence.

"Yeah, thanks." He tentatively walked over to his backpack and clutched it to his chest, eyes suspiciously trained on Roy. Just what had he done to scare the poor boy like that? He'd have to have a serious conversation with his boyfriend later on about the proper way to treat children. "Can we... Can we talk alone?"

"Of course!" Dick answered immediately with a big smile. Roy seemed like he wanted to protest, but Dick gave him a pointed look. The archer rolled his eyes and went to pick up his shirt. "Fine", he grumbled, "I'm gonna go get myself some coffee." With that, he left the room.

Dick flumped down on his bed, gesturing for Tim to take the chair that stood in front of the desk. The boy sat down, a little flushed. "Sorry if I... interrupted anything." Dick blinked a few times. Then he flushed even more than Tim. Okay, with him and Roy both being shirtless, with ruffled hair and an unmade bed in the middle of the afternoon, he saw how this looked suspicious, but... This boy couldn't be any older than nine. Kids grew up way too fast these days.

"Oh no, you didn't. We were just lazing around, really." The acrobat knew his smile looked probably really fake and he didn't make his situation any better, but luckily, Tim didn't seem to want to dig any further in this subject.

"I'm gonna get straight to the point then. I want you to go back to being Robin." Tim stated that in a calm voice, not the slightest hint of doubt in his voice.

"What?" Dick blinked. "But..." He needed an unsuspicious answer to that, and fast. "What are you talking about?" Not the best, but still. At least he hadn't given himself away immediately.

"Don't play dumb with me." Maybe the kid was gaining confidence too fast. He reached into his backpack and handed Dick a bunch of photos. All of them showed him as Robin or Nightwing, somewhere on the roofs of Gotham and in one of them, he wasn't wearing a mask. Even though the shot wasn't from the best angle or the best quality, you could still clearly see Dick's face. "I know these are not photo-shopped, I made them myself. I know you're Nightwing. I know Bruce Wayne is Batman. And I know that Jason Todd died wearing a cape, not during a climbing accident."

The acrobat tried to grasp the fact that a child he'd never seen before was sitting in his room, telling him about his secret identity, that nobody ever figured out completely by themselves. And... he wanted him to be Robin again? How did that make sense? But Tim just continued to talk. Now that he'd started, he told Dick everything.

How he'd been a fan of him back in his circus days. How he saw what happened to the acrobat's parents. How he continued to be interested in his story. How he got saved by him while wearing the Robin costume back in his first months of being a superhero. How he figured out his and Batman's identity. And how Bruce's behavior towards criminals changed since Jason's death.

When he finally finished, he looked to Dick expectantly. Who was still amazed. "Wow", he breathed out, "you're a really smart kid, you know that?" Tim beamed at the compliment. "But as much as I appreciate your concern, I won't be Robin ever again. It's still weird to get advice from someone I don't know, but if Batman's behavior really bothers you so much, I'll try and help him. As Nightwing."

Tim didn't look satisfied with his answer at all. "That's not enough", he claimed. "Batman needs a Robin!" The boy had jumped from his chair and made a stubborn pouty face. So adorable...

No, he needed to stay serious. "Sorry, Timmy." He couldn't go back. The past was the past. He'd worked too hard to become his own man. He liked being Nightwing. Fighting alone. Fighting with Roy. Fighting with the team. Always with equals, never ordered around. Becoming Robin again would ruin everything. He just couldn't do it.

Even if that meant looking into the really disappointed face of a very cute admirer.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure Batman gets back on track." He ruffled through Tim's hair. "And you make sure to put that smart brain of yours to a good use."

Tim stood up, face still sad and disappointed. "Okay", he mumbled, "I'll go home then." He snatched his photos back, put his backpack back on and went to leave. Shortly before reaching the door, he turned back again, now a small smile on his face. "It was nice finally meeting you anyway. Maybe I'll see you at one of those boring parties." With that, he quickly made his way out of the door, nearly running into Roy Harper in the process.

As he made his way down the hallway and out of the school, a smirk began spreading over his face. So Dick Grayson didn't want to be Robin. Batman needed a Robin, he stood by his word. But a new idea already popped up in his head.

What better way to put his brain to good use than actual detective work?


Roy took a deep breath. Today would be their second try at a first time. It was the beginning of December, so the weather was bound to be freezing, grey and wet. No way they'd get snow this early on. Not the most romantic atmosphere.

Regardless, their date had gone well. They had fun and kissed sometimes over the table, with an audience decent enough not to stare at them openly the whole time. They had to hurry a little on the way home in order to get at least not completely drenched, but Dick had huddled close to him the entire way for warmth, so he enjoyed that too.

Nobody had called. Nobody was dead. There was no alien invasion going on. The earth was still turning. Roy almost couldn't believe his luck.

Okay. All the candles were burning. Condoms and lube were on his drawer. He hadn't touched any alcohol in days (gotta follow Batman's rules as best as you can, if you made a mistake he'd find out and hold it against you for the rest of your life. Especially when it concerned Dick). Now the only thing missing was-

"Wow. I gotta admit, these candles do make a nice atmosphere." Dick stood in the doorframe, smirk plastered on his face and gloriously shirtless. The towel he'd used to dry himself was still hanging over his shoulder. Roy smirked back. "See? Candles are great. They make everything seem beautiful, even my half-cleaned bedroom." His boyfriend chuckled at that. Candles also had the very practical use of stopping you from having to grab around cluelessly in the dark, while still not making you feel overexposed like a bright lit room would.

"You should still dry yourself off. You're gonna catch a cold if you keep running around in that wet sweater." The archer just smirked. "Oh? So eager to have me take off my clothes?" Roy pressed a kiss on his boyfriend's lips, pulling him closer. "Well, that would only be fair, wouldn't it?"

There weren't much more words spoken as they fell together on the bed that night. It wasn't perfect, with lots of fumbling and some awkward moments. But to them, it didn't matter. Like everything they'd done, it wasn't just physical. It was the feeling of trust, safety and belonging that would wash over those imperfections in their memory and make these few moments of pure bliss what they should be - perfect.


"Happy Birthday!" Dick blinked a few times. The last thing he'd expected when Bruce had ordered him home on his birthday was this. The whole entrance hall of Wayne manor was decorated with balloons and bright colors and basically anything else Bruce hated and forbade him from having on his other birthdays.

But even though he was there, judging by his facial expression, he hadn't been the one in charge of decorations. He also (probably) hadn't taken part in the joyful declaration upon his entrance. But luckily, there were enough other guests to make up for it.

Everyone from the team who knew his secret identity was there. Being the fastest, Wally was the first to hug and personally congratulate him, as well as pulling him inside so they could start the party. There was music, cake, drinks - even some alcoholic ones for a cheers in the beginning, that were closely watched by Alfred (a horde of drunken teenagers was the last thing the elderly butler would ever allow in the manor) - and of course, presents.

Bruce had gotten him a bike. A black bike with the Nightwing symbol on it and all kinds of cool gadgets included that he'd have to try out later. His mentor didn't say anything about it, only handing him a manual, but according to Alfred, Bruce mostly developed and built it by himself. He even accepted the thank you hug in front of everyone.

Alfred provided the cakes - no one else was allowed to bring one - but he also presented him with a classical music collection to hear when he needed to relax. Tim - still with sunglasses on - gave him a self-made collage of photos and articles that were all Nightwing-related, apologizing he couldn't think of anything more personal. Dick couldn't wait until Bruce deemed him ready with training so he could properly introduce this adorable boy as the new Robin and a new little brother to the team.

Barbara - also still with sunglasses - provided him with a photo album of his friends at his old school who'd all paid a little and bought him a gift card for a comic book store. He got sunglasses with the bat symbol from Wally, a magic-enhanced TV remote that would float to him at his command from Zatanna (he gave her an extra-tight hug for that, so amazing), two tickets to a circus show from Artemis and Raquel, a DVD with the whole second season of Sherlock from Kaldur, a cereal mug with the Nightwing symbol from Billy and a book with baking recipes from M'gann along with metal bent into superhero symbol shapes (Nightwing included, of course) by Kon, so he could make superhero cookies.

Dick made sure to hug everyone. He hadn't even gotten a single present he didn't want at all, because they all knew him so well. Friends were an amazing thing to have. He made a note to himself to tell them more often how much he appreciated them.

The last one to give him his present was Roy. It was a little pendant. A blue bird that resembled the Nightwing symbol, but was way more detailed than the stylized version on his costume with a red arrow. But the peak of the arrow was above the bird's left wing and pointed in the same direction as the bird's beak, so it didn't look like the bird would get hit by the arrow, but rather that they were carried by the same wind, aiming for the same destination.

The acrobat had no idea how his boyfriend could have possibly gotten this. It was too specifically them to just be a lucky find in a shop and it didn't look handmade, either. Crafting beautiful things had never been Roy's specialty. Dangerous things, maybe. But there was no way he made that himself. Meaning he probably went through a lot of trouble and/or paid way too much money for this.

Roy got a long and passionate kiss in return. And the honor of the first dance with Dick, once everyone was stuffed with Alfred's awesome cake.

Of course, he couldn't claim Dick the whole time. He had to dance with Babs too, and even Wally was insisting - even though it would have been an insult to everyone who took pride in their dancing skills to actually call that dancing, it was more like hopping around roughly in time with the rhythm while shouting the parts of the lyrics they knew and laughing the rest of the time.

He fulfilled his duty as a big brother too, showing Tim how to dance at parties, because it was totally different from the dancing at the charity balls his parents dragged him to. And M'gann was nice enough to shift down to his size so they could properly dance together. The slow songs were obviously reserved to Roy, though.

When everyone else had already gone home, the two of them laid together in Dick's bed, cuddling together satisfied, but tired. Dick pressed a chaste kiss to his boyfriend's lips. "Thanks. Today was really great." Roy huffed, a little embarrassed. "Well, if you tell me you don't plan on actually celebrating your sixteenth birthday, of course I have to take care of it myself. And the girls and Alfred did most of the work, anyway, I just started it."

It didn't really matter to Dick though, as he began drifting to sleep in Roy's arms. He had a great family, great friends and a great boyfriend. If this was supposed to be his happily ever after, he sure as hell wouldn't complain.


I could end this here. But I won't. I'm not that nice. :D