Disclaimer: Don't own characters. DC does. I just own the plot. Don't sue.

Chapter Nine

September 1, 2004

2:25 PM

Gotham Technical School

"First day of school and we already have at least two hours of homework ahead of us," Dick said as he, Kory, Karen, and Vic exited the school.

"Yeah, boy," Karen said as they all left the school grounds and onto the sidewalk, "But we don't work until late, so it's all good."

"Yeah and we can probably get the homework done in an hour if we work together," Kory said pulling on the straps of her backpack and walking backwards in front of the others.

"Yeah but that's just gonna be a problem," Dick replied.

"How?" Vic said slightly shocked, "Seriously dude, if we finish our homework faster we get more free time."

"Yeah and that's the problem," Dick said looking at Vic, "If we get hurt during…work, we have nothing to really blame it on. There's only so many times we can use excuses without any real reason."

"Like if we got hurt and said it was while playing basketball or something?" Karen questioned.

"Exactly," Dick replied, "If we say that to often, people will start asking if we're on a team, then we're gonna have to lie again and again until even we can't keep up with'em."
"So what if we actually join a team," Kory stated looking at all of them, "We can join the school teams and depending on our injuries, we can say we were just practicing at the manor for the next game."

"Yeah that ain't a bad idea, Kory," Vic said a grin stating to form on his face, "They're havin football tryouts next week, Dick you and I can try out."

"Works for me," Dick replied with a small smile.

"That reminds me Kory," Karen said looking at the red head, "Tomorrow they're holding Volleyball team tryouts, we can stay after and try out."

"That's cool with me," Kory said with a smile, "I love volleyball."

"We'll have to be on a sports team every season," Dick said looking at each of the others, "We're all really good at basketball, and volleyball and football season ends just before basketball season starts. We can try out for those teams after."

"That's cool," Vic said crossing the street and over to a pizza place, "But right now I'm starvin, lets grab a few slices."

Dick, Kory, and Karen laughed a little before following him in.

Meanwhile-Across town

"Mr. Logan!" Yelled the English teacher as she slapped a ruler on Gar's desk. His face fell from his palm and hit it, "It's the first day of school and I'm already boring you?"

"Uh," Gar said as he stared up at his teacher, "Is that a question or a statement?"

There were a few snickers from the around the class.

The teacher glared at Gar in response.

"Detention, right?" Gar asked with a small smile.

The teacher just nodded her head before going back to her desk to write up the slip.

"That's four today," Tim whispered across from Gar, "You tryin to make a record or something?"

"It's the first day," Gar whispered back with a shrug, "I always get bored on the first day, and when I'm bored I-"

"Drool like a cartoon character when it smells a good meal," Rachel interrupted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Gar looked confused at first until he turned to Tim and Babs and saw them pointing at his desk.

He looked down and saw a huge puddle of his spit on it. His eyes widened as he felt some of it on his face and around his mouth. He quickly wiped it off with the sleeves of his shirt just as his teacher walked back with his detention slip.

"I'll be here until six Mr. Logan," She told him, "I have no doubt you've probably received detention elsewhere as well."

She turned around and walked back in front of her class before continuing to talk about what they were supposed to accomplish by the end of the year.

Gar grabbed the slip, folded it, and put it in his back pocket.

"I hate the first day of school," He mumbled as he slumped in his chair.

"It's obvious why," Rachel said from behind him.

He turned around and gave her a brief glare that she just ignored.

Babs giggled silently before writing down a short note on a piece of her notebook paper and passing it to Tim.

He opened it up and smirked before passing it across to Gar.

"At least it's last period," He read quietly before looking up to make sure the teacher wasn't watching him before he wrote a quick response and passed it back.

"Maybe for you three," Tim read quietly. He flashed Gar a quick smile that made Gar glare at him quietly.

"Think of it this way," Tim whispered to Gar as the teacher went to write something on the board, "At least you have your afternoon full. We still have nothing to do."

"Yeah, this is how I really wanna spend my afternoon," Gar whispered back with a quick eye roll, "With a bunch of old, fat, bitchy teachers that'll probably have me write some two thousand word essay."

"So," Rachel whispered from behind him, "This isn't the first time you've gotten four detentions in one day, is it?"

"No," Gar said with a smile, "Usually I get five."

Rachel just rolled her eyes.

September 4, 2004

3:28 AM

Batcave-Training Room

Squeak.

Kory had just opened the door of the girls' locker room and heard the squeak of sneakers and the dribbling of a basketball. She looked down and saw that someone had changed the training room floor into a basketball court.

She walked out from behind the stands to check on who was playing.

There playing in his training clothes was Richard.

He dribbled the ball and walked toward the center of the court for a little while before he took off back down the other end and dunked the ball in the hoop.

"Not bad, Richard," Kory said picking up a ball off the nearby cart. She dribbled it for a few seconds while walking over to the center of the court. She dribbled for a few more seconds before shooting the ball.

It went straight through the hoop with a single swish.

"Not bad yourself," Richard replied picking up the ball and throwing it back to her.

She caught it with ease and repeated her shot.

"So," Kory said after she made another basket, "What're you thinking about?"

Richard sighed for a moment before shooting the ball in his hand across the court and into the other hoop.

Swish.

"I'm sorry Kory," He said after a few more moments of silence.

She looked at him questioningly. "Sorry for what?"

"For not being there," He said. Even though his eyes were covered with his usual dark glasses she could tell he was looking directly at her, "When your parents died."

There was silence for a few minutes.

They didn't talk.

They didn't move.

They just stood there and stared at each other.

"Why do you feel so guilty?" Kory questioned softly, breaking the silence.

Richard sighed again and walked over to the stands. He sat down in the first row and lowered his head and laced his hands.

Kory walked over and sat next to him cautiously.

"If I had been there that week," He started off still looking at his hands, "Bruce and I would have caught Zucco before he killed them. I promised myself I'd try to stop what happened to me from happening to anyone else."

There was silence for another moment before he spoke up again. "I failed."

Kory couldn't believe what she had heard in his voice. It was defeat.

She may have only met this young man a few weeks ago, but when she did there was just something about him that made her immediately respect him. When he first walked into that very room, she just saw something that made him different than the others, even Bruce.

He was a fighter. Someone who never gives up.

He was like her.

That's when it clicked. She knew what happened to him.

"Zucco…" She paused to gather her thoughts, "He killed your parents to, didn't he?"

She didn't wait for him to answer, "I remember, when Commissioner Gordon brought me to police headquarters, he said that I was the second kid to lose my parents to Zucco. You were the first, weren't you?"

"May 23, 1999. Yours were killed exactly one year later. Same month, same day, different time, different way." Dick replied after a few moments.

"I don't blame you or Bruce, Richard," Kory told him softly as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "It's not your fault that Zucco got out. You didn't know he would and neither did Bruce."

"It doesn't make the guilt go away," Dick said as he finally brought his gaze up a bit, "In fact, the guilt only got worse when we let Tim down. I know there's nothing we could've done to stop it but-"

"You can't help but always wonder 'what if?'" Both he and Kory finished at the same time.

They both looked at each other and felt something tug at each of their hearts.

They leaned in and just as they were about to kiss, a bright red light went off.

"Trouble," Dick said getting up. He was back to his old self in a matter of seconds, "Get changed, it's just us this time."

Kory sighed and silently cursed the villain that ruined their moment.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

Thanks for reading! Please review!