Sorry!

I've had exams and problems at home!

I'm currently on holiday but I have internet so I can get this chapter to you.

Also, Lizzy, if you're reading this, then I just want to say, with all my heart, with the whole of my soul... hi.

Enjoy!

Speedy couldn't believe the situation he was in. He had been invited to a movie night by a girl who he only knew because she had made his equipment. Also because she had given Oliver some advice about teenagers. What did an eleven-year-old know about teenagers? And why did it take Ollie so long to ask someone for advice?

He sighed and looked down at the fire escape. Why couldn't he just use the front door? Why did he have to scale the roofs of Gotham and then climb down to the window? There were front doors for a reason.

A cackle cut him from his thoughts. Without thinking, he had an arrow notched in his bow and was crouched down in a defensive position. He looked around him cautiously.

"Friend," he heard an amused voice say with a slight giggle. "I'm a friend."

From the shadows, Robin emerged with his hands in the air and giggles escaping his cocky grin.

Speedy grinned, putting away his bow and straightening up.

"What's a little boy like you doing alone in a big and dark city?" Speedy laughed sarcastically. Robin rolled his eyes and tutted.

"Grace said she invited you," Robin replied, heading to the edge of the roof.

"Yeah," Speedy replied, turning to Robin. "She also said to watch out for annoying birdies."

Robin looked like the world had offended him at that statement. He shot out a grappling hook and soon disappeared into the window. Laughing, Speedy followed him in.

When he entered, he saw Grace laughing her head off as Robin 'confronted' her.

"First of all, I am not annoying!" Robin was waving his arms around as he spoke. "I am a wonderful and nice person! I'm not annoying at all! Secondly, birdie is a name that only you call me! You don't refer to me by it to others! You just call me it! To my face! Not behind my back! Thirdly, why were you even talking about me when i wasn't here! I thought friends didn't talk about each other behind the others backs! You have betrayed me! I thought you were my closest, greatest friend but you just bad mouth me behind my back calling me names!"

Grace was laughing so hard, she was making no noise and was just clapping like a seal. Speedy couldn't help it and burst out laughing himself.

Robin looked between the two, shocked, offended and very very slightly amused. He grabbed two cushions from the sofa and threw them at the other two. Grace just got hit in the head and fell onto the bed, still laughing. Speedy halfheartedly raised his arms, partially blocking the blow. As soon as the cushion fell to the floor, Speedy leapt to the bed.

He was kneeling on the bed and had a pillow in each hand. Grace lying on her side behind him.

"The war has begun." as soon as the words left his mouth, Robin froze and Grace jumped up, one of the two cushions that Robin had thrown from the sofa in her hands.

Panicking, Robin looked around him. There was a clear absence of any form of pillow or cushion. He dove for the one he had thrown at Speedy but his move had been guessed and a pillow came swinging up in front of him.

Grace rushed behind Robin, screaming a war cry.

Robin managed to dodge the cushions that were swinging towards him from Grace but as he did so, Speedy scored two more hits.

Robin faced them both. They stood side by side. All the remaining cushions behind them. Robin didn't know how they had got there.

He went to move but they moved with him. They watched closely, anticipating his every move. His only option was to rush them and pray that they didn't see it coming.

As he started running towards them, they started running with him. They collided, four cushions hitting Robin.

After a scramble of confused limbs, Speedy had Robin pinned on the floor, one hand holding his right arm, his legs holding down Robin's legs and his other arm. The other arm held a pillow, poised to hit him any minute.

Robin couldn't see Grace. That was bad. He tried twisting but two cushions came at him, one from each side, hitting his head in a pincer movement. Robin had found Grace.

There was a pause, Speedy, and Robin looking at each other, a fearful expression from the masked face of the younger vigilante and a confident smirk from the older vigilante.

Suddenly, all pillows and cushions were dropped and instead of a pillow war, he was assaulted with tickles. He held on for as long as he could, pressing his lips together but nevertheless, giggles escaped from his mouth and full out, stomach aching laughs erupted from his mouth. He laughed and twisted as the two continued to torture him with the tickles.

The attack went on until they ran out of breath and were panting. They continued giggling and laughing occasionally as Speedy got off Robin and Grace began to stand up.

There were grins all around as they stood up, the night had gone off to a great start. They turned to the bed, occasionally pushing one or the other gently, still laughing at the smallest of things.

Speedy turned around, a mischievous grin on his lips, as he looked to Grace, about to say a joke, her eyes rolled back in her head and she went completely limp. She fell, hitting the bookcase. Robin was just stepping forward when the bookcase hit him on the head, knocking him out cold.

Robin was skipping behind Grace when he saw Speedy turn. Robin didn't trust that look. The look then changed to panic. What was happening to Grace? He couldn't see her face.

Robin watched her falling, dread settled deep in his stomach as he stood there, frozen. He registered her hitting the bookcase and went to step forward when pain exploded on the back of his head. He fell to the ground, dimly aware of Speedy lunging forward screaming his name. Speedy didn't know what to do. Robin was very dazed looking and bleeding from his head and Grace had a bookcase on top of her, just her arm could be seen from underneath it. He began by lifting the bookcase off of Grace. Grace was just moving enough to be breathing. Speedy watched as Robins eyes closed. Oh shit. He thought to himself.

Robin wasn't focussing on any of that. His eyes were fixed on the carpet. As darkness consumed his vision, the little fire, started by the little candle filled what was left of his vision. The back of his head managed to register that fire was bad just as the fire spread and the darkness consumed him.

Speedy rolled Grace over, checking her breathing. Once he had done that, he went to Robin, checking his head. It wasn't bad. Just enough of a hit to knock him out.

As Speedy went to move back a bit, he overbalanced in his crouch. He shot out a hand behind him to support himself but was met with a searing pain. He cried out, falling backward and clutching his hand to his chest. He looked to his side, panic filling his eyes at the sight of the not so small fire that was edging its way towards the big wooden chest at the bottom of Grace's bed. It had already reached the sofa, just beginning to climb up the leg.

He leapt up, glancing around quickly, looking for a solution. His eyes settled on the door to the lab. Grace kept a fire extinguisher next to the door! He thought to himself as he vaulted over the bed and went to open the door. It was locked.

His head whipped around in panic. There were two doors to the lab but he knew that the other door was blocked by a lot of stuff. He also didn't know how to get to it.

He kicked at the door. Solid. He ran to the bathroom, useless, nothing to carry water in. From the bathroom, he looked across the bedroom. The figures of his two unconscious friends and the fire at the edge of his vision, as it edged towards them. His eyes were focused on the door.

He took a deep breath and ran, positioning his right shoulder to the door. The door shuddered, splintering around the hinges but not opening. One more charge, however, and it would open easily. He ignored the pain in his shoulder and went at it again, the door falling in beneath him. He coughed a bit from the dust of the door splitting. He'd done it. He had actually done it. He looked around, eyes searching for the red of the fire extinguisher. Spotting it, he ran back into the room, ignoring the smoke that was choking the air from his lungs. He aimed it and fired it towards the fire which had reached Graces left shoulder. It was going to leave a burn. As her top set alight, he fired it towards his friends, putting out the fire near them.

Soon the whole area where there had been a fire was encased in white foam with two lumps underneath that were his friends.

Just because the fire was gone didn't mean the smoke was gone. Lightheaded, Speedy took two steps towards his friends, planning on digging them out but before he reached them, he fell, landing on his right side, searing pain shooting through his shoulder. The pain mixed with the smoke inhalation caused his vision to fade until he joined his friends.

oOo

The first thing Grace thought when consciousness graced to join her again was simple really.

I had an episode. How am I supposed to explain this to Dick?

Then she realized she was sprawled on the floor, covered in some strange wet substance like it was a blanket and she could very clearly smell burning. Burning and burnt meat.

What was there to burn?

A slightly warm, stinging sensation on her shoulder revealed what the smell was from.

What set it on fire though?

Then she remembered a crucial thing.

The candle.

She went to sit up but dizziness brought her right back down as she succumbed once again.

oOo

Bruce was peacefully sat in his office working when his phone rang. It was his personal phone so it wasn't Batman related.

He picked it up, answering politely, not knowing who was on the other end.

"Hello, this is Bruce Wayne speaking." On the other end of the line, he could hear people speaking in the background.

"Hi Bruce, it's Louise," he heard a harried female voice on the other end instantly recognizing it as Grace's mom.

"Ah yes," he said actually smiling. "How's the Business trip going?"

"Absolutely terrible," she replied, obviously annoyed. "I am truly surprised that this whole Moscow department has not collapsed. Anyway, that isn't the reason I'm calling. Grace told me that she would call to tell me that she and the boys had successfully made dinner and that they were safe and sound by nine. Its half five here meaning its half nine over in Gotham and she still hasn't got in contact."

Bruce listened to her, thinking as he heard her pause and muffled voices talking as someone obviously wanted her attention.

"I know that I am most likely being paranoid but could you look into it for me, please? She is probably too engrossed in a movie or so but just to be safe."

Bruce frowned. He didn't believe in being paranoid.

"Of course I'll look into it for you," he replied reassuringly. "Whilst I get in contact with Dick, you should make some progress with my overseas department."

"Well what else is there to do?" she said mockingly. "Thanks Bruce. I'll be in a meeting for another hour or so. It could go on until after dinner. Just send me an email or message updating me if there's anything important. Once again, thank you so much. I'm sure its nothing."

"You're welcome," Bruce replied. "Have you told Grace about Sunday yet?" he asked absentmindedly.

"...no," she said hesitantly. "Have you told Dick?" she challenged.

"Of course!" he replied confidently.

"You haven't told him," she sighed. "See you Sunday Bruce. We both tell them tomorrow."

With a final goodbye, Bruce hung up the phone, letting Louise run off back to her meetings. Without putting the phone down, he selected Dicks robin number that was listed under 'R'.

As he waited for it to ring, he added Louise to his contacts. When the number went to voicemail, he stood up and headed to the grandfather clock.

He went down the stairs to the Batcave quickly but not hurriedly. He picked up his communicator and tried contacting Robin. He got nothing.

He tried Green Arrow who answered almost immediately.

"Hey bats!" he said, obviously worried about something. "How are the boys? Are they having fun? Is everything alright with them?"

Bruce sighed, rubbing a hand down his face before answering in his Batman voice.

"I haven't heard from Robin and can't get in contact with him. Grace's mother is having the same problem with Grace. Have you heard from Speedy?"

He heard Oliver become serious straight away.

"I've heard nothing. After he yelled at me for giving him no space I decided not to ask him much about tonight. I'll try him now."

With that, the link cut out. As he waited, Bruce headed to the changing room. Even if everything turned out to be fine, he was still too stressed to go back to his office and would prefer to be scouring Gotham for crime.

Just as he walked out, Batman's communicator went off.

"I… I can't get in contact with him." Oliver sounded terrified. "No matter how angry with me, he promised that he would always answer me. I've tried everything."

"Okay," Batman headed to the Batbike, choosing the faster option over the Batmobile. "I'll take it from here."

"No," Oliver tried protesting. "I'm coming to find Roy."

"You are not coming, there is no time."

"I am not losing Roy again!"

There was a very obvious pause.

"Again?" Batman asked suspiciously. Oliver had only officially adopted Roy a month ago. How could he lose him in that time?

"I…" Batman heard Oliver curse under his breath. "I'll tell you later," Oliver spoke as if he had made the greatest mistake of his life. "Right now, I am coming to help Roy."

"This is my city and you would just slow me down. Batman out."

Batman knew that Oliver wouldn't try and come. There wasn't much point.

Batman covered the distance from the cave to Grace's apartment in no time, arriving in the alleyway that housed the fire escape of her building.

He had scaled it in seconds and as he got onto the level of her bedroom, there was the faint smell of burnt carpet and smoke.

Batman was through the window in milliseconds. It took him a few more seconds to take in the scene before him. Closest to him, Speedy lay with a fire extinguisher by his hands. One of his hands looked burnt and the other shoulder was swollen.

At the bottom of the bed, the floor and surrounding furniture was covered in the contents of the fire extinguisher. An undisturbed lump was undoubtedly Robin. The slightly disturbed lump must have been Grace. She must have woken up and then passed out again.

Batman carefully walked towards Speedy, with him being the closest to Batman. He knelt down next to the teen and looked at his shoulder. It was dislocated. Speedy being unconscious made this much easier.

Batman gripped the boy's arm and shoulder. A 'pop' sounded and the shoulder was back in the socket. However, this caused the boy to wake up with a cry of pain.

Speedy started coughing. It went from normal coughs to great hacking coughs. Batman helped sit him up properly and supported him as he coughed up the smoke.

When the coughing subsided, his head rolled back. Speedy's eyes wandered over everything, not focusing on anything.

Batman positioned him leaning against the bed and left him after wrapping his burnt hand in a bandage.

Next, Batman went to Robin. He gently wiped away the foam and turned his partner over. He opened his eyelid to check his eye. Robins breathing was fine and so was his pulse. A head wound seemed to be the cause of his unconsciousness. Looking around, Batman made the assumption that the head wound was caused by the bookcase falling on him.

After cleaning the wound and moving Robin away from the foam, Batman moved onto Grace.

Her breathing was fine but her pulse was erratic. It wasn't consistent in the slightest. However, when he started moving her, her eyes fluttered open, a groan escaping her lips as she lifted her right hand to her chest.

Her eyes focussed on Batman before closing as if in pain. She took a few deep breaths; looking like she was in clear pain.

When Batman tried to help, she pushed him away, sitting up with her right hand clutched over her heart and her left arm trying to get support but failing. The shoulder wasn't moving.

"It's fine," she said, pain evident in her voice. "I don't need any help. I'm used to it. It's just going to ache for a bit." she said with a slight grin.

"What's wrong with your pulse?" he asked, wanting to know if there was a problem that needed fixing.

"Nothing's wrong," she said looking up at him, slightly panting. "It just isn't perfect. It's not killing me so I'm fine."

"You are not fine!" he hadn't meant to snap. "Your pulse has no pattern to it whatsoever. That isn't normal and most definitely not fine."

"My pulse is fine!" she raised her voice. "I'm fine! It's all fine!" tears streaked down her face as her voice raised in volume.

Her arm gave out and she fell to the floor, making the foam puff up around her as she fell into it.

"Why is your pulse like that?" Batman asked, trying to speak gently. "Is there a problem? A way I can help?" he was concerned for her. She was in pain.

"There…" she sighed, her head dropping back into the foam. "No, there is nothing that can be done." quietly, she added on to that, "it's just the price I must pay."

Batman was silent. He picked up Grace despite her mild protests and he put her down, sitting on the bed with Robin behind her and Speedy next to her legs.

It was only when he picked her up and foam fell away from her, did Batman notice that the left shoulder of her top was completely burnt away but her skin was just a bit red as if it had been sunburnt. He put his hand to it, to feel the temperature but Grace swatted his hand away.

Speedy's eyes were still unfocused. Robin was still unconscious. Grace was hiding something. And the room was covered in white foam.

"They need medical attention," Batman told Grace, motioning towards his partner and Speedy.

"There's a medical room here, fully stocked," she motioned for him to follow as she stood up, wobbly.

Batman lifted Robin into his arm and wrapped his other arm around Speedy, half carrying him, half dragging him.

Grace wobbled to the door, waving Batman off every time he tried helping her walk. She reached the door and tried opening it only to have it fall to the ground, burnt through.

"Huh." She looked at it for a minute. She then turned her hand over and there was a burn mark. The metal of the handle had retained the heat from the fire. "Oh," was her only response. She went even more wobbly.

Stumbling over the remains of her door, Grace reached the wall of the hallway opposite to the door. She leant against it, looking like she was going to fall over.

Batman carefully stepped over the door, still carrying and dragging the two boys. He followed Grace as she lead the way. She managed to wobble her way all the distance to a door that was as far as it could be without involving stairs.

She opened the door and walked in, collapsing into one of the two chairs in the room. Batman carefully placed Robin on the bed before dropping Speedy into the other chair.

Grace gave no further help so Batman approached the large computer in the wall. He typed in the supplies he wanted and was provided with them almost instantly.

Done with the boys, he turned to Grace.

"Give me your hand," he told her in his best demanding tone.

"Why?" She asked sounding genuinely confused.

"You burnt it on the door handle," he told her motioning for her hand.

"It's fine," she said guardedly.

"You burnt it," he said irritated. "Give me your hand now."

Graced just sighed, rolling her eyes and put out her hand, palm up. There was no burn whatsoever. Where there had been a burn, there was just a redness as if it had been sunburnt. He stared at it. Grace pulled her hand back, looking away from him.

Batman looked to his partner instead who was slowly waking up. Grace was staring at the wall emotionlessly and Roy was slowly focusing more, his eyes had stopped darting and started focusing a few minutes ago. He now was staring at one arm in a sling and the other in a bandage. Robin had fully woken up and was now looking between the three other people in the room.

It was deathly silent and none of them were looking likely to move, let alone speak. That was until Grace surprised him.

"We should do this again sometime," she said with a smile, a genuine smile.

"Can we open a window next time?" Speedy spoke up next. "It was getting a bit hard to breathe."

"Yeah," Robin continued on. They were smiling but not laughing although the amusement was clear in their voices. "We also need more cushions, there wasn't much neck support."

Robin rubbed his neck to emphasize his point. The three of them started laughing at their jokes. The laughter was broken when the doorbell rang. They looked around uncertainty.

Grace then stood, getting a pointed look from Robin towards her shoulder. She just shrugged and left the room, still wobbly. Batman followed behind her, to ensure that it wasn't someone dangerous.

When she got to the door, she looked through the peephole and was greeted with the back of a blonde persons head. She stepped away, thought about and then swung the door wide open.

Ollie jumped around to face Grace. She looked tired and wobbly, there were still bits of foam on her and her tops left shoulder had been burnt away to leave just her red skin, looking like it was just sunburnt. She had random bits of black charred areas on her, like some of her hair.

Grace waited for Ollie to say something, he didn't, he just reached to the side of the door and lifted up a holdall. Raising an eyebrow, Grace let him in where he dumped the holdall on the floor.

"What happened?" he asked her as soon as the door closed.

"I will explain later," Batman spoke up from the shadows, walking over to where the bag had been dumped. He opened it to reveal clothes.

"I bought some for Roy and then went to the mansion," Ollie began explaining. "Alfred said that you were here and he gave me clothes for you and Dick."

Batman nodded, leading the three back to where Robin and Speedy were waiting.

Following behind, Grace wasn't thinking of anything related to the thoughts of the others. She was too busy thinking.

When they entered the medical room, she couldn't help but notice how the scented candle's fire grew as she passed. And how it shrunk as she breathed out. She couldn't help but notice how it was affected by her being near it. How she was affecting the candle. She moved her hand slightly. The flame moved slightly. She could control the fire. That was new.

Thanks for reading and please be patient for the net chapter, I promise that it will be worth it.

Sheep Queen