Hey everyone, I hope you had a good week. As promised, chapter eleven of Hourglass. The next chapter will be the last. Thank you all for reviewing and alerting and favoriting, I kept getting the e-mail throughout the week and believe me, I was ecstatic. Well, I won't hold you back any longer with this one, so read on.

It was on the outskirts of some major metropolitan town but Barbara didn't care. When she was fourteen she lost her best friend, fifteen her mentor, and seventeen her father. Her city had fallen to ruin after the deaths of Batman and the Commissioner, crime raging through the streets without stop, villains rampaging without challenge, and people fleeing in fear. Barbara had tried to save them, tried to save Gotham, but she wasn't strong enough.

In the end that's all it came down to: she wasn't strong enough. But now she was strong enough and she had the ability to try and she would, she owed it to who she once was, what Gotham was, to who her Father and the Dynamic Duo once were. And if there was one thing she would never do, it would be letting them down and losing it all, not again.

. . . . .

I watched the body of my best friend as he flew through the air, firing and shielding, attacking and defending, the red magic of Klarion clashing with his gold and I felt fear. Future Barbara had said that this was the day, the day my best friend would die. I couldn't believe it, but it was hard not to when you saw her eyes. Her past, our futures, had scarred her and you could see it clearly there. But honestly, Wally didn't care; his best friend was trapped and was in danger, why would he care about the messenger.

But it seemed that there was no need to worry as Klarion used his portal to escape, leaving only torn land and singed trees as proof of his existence. But Barbara saw another problem first.

"Fate!" she called and he paused.

"What do you desire, Time Traveler?"

"Release your current host, Fate."

"I will not. We made an agreement."

"Please. You may have me as a host, but it is imperative to the future. You must, please." He studied her for a second.

"What have you seen, Traveler?"

"I have seen cities fall, people die, heroes be destroyed. I have seen chaos reign. And I will not see it again." He studied her once more, as if he could see the truth in her words in her eyes as well. And then he began to drift down.

"Very well."

It was so close, so close to everything being alright. Robin would be free, Barbara would have stopped her future, and I would have my best friend back. His hands were on the Helmet now and the outfit was flickering, the mantle of Fate fading back to Robin. Everything was fine. And then. Because we're heroes and there is always an 'and then'.

A vibrant spear of red energy flew through the air and the cruel laugh of the Witch-Boy filled the space it left. Barbara dove for the Helmet and slammed it down and Fate began combatting the attacks in her stead. They were both filled with rage and this only increased his power. But all of it was lost on a majority of the heroes present.

For in their arms was Dick Grayson, ringed in safety was Robin.

"H-Hey," He said, smiling weakly.

"Hey, Shortie," Artemis greeted, her voice shaking.

"Hi- Hi, Dad," Dick said, his blue eyes turning to Bruce.

"Hello, Chum. Alfred missed you, said the Manor felt empty," (A/N have you noticed that whenever we write something like this, they always say 'Alfred missed you,' when it's 'I missed you'? Just kind of entertaining to me, blame the butler.) Dick chuckled a bit.

"I'm sure he did," But his laughter soon turned to massive hacking coughs that caused his features to distort in pain and Bruce and Wally to tighten their grips. "I- I'm alright," Dick assured them weakly, even as blood trailed from the corner of his mouth. "I'm fine. We can go home and," He stopped to cough again. "And we can have Alfred's cookies and I won't have to wear the Helmet and-"He cut himself off. He knew how unlikely it was.

Because, after all their efforts, his escape, and everything else, they could not take him home. Klarion had seen to it. For the single shaft of light, that had flown in small inconsequential seconds, had pierced his stomach.

. . . . .

Dick just lay in their arms, saying things and answering, but completely numb. He didn't have to sacrifice himself, he was free, and he was dying. He had briefly glimpsed the older Babs, but it didn't really register. Klarion vanished again and some part of him was glad and the other unhappy that he hadn't detained Fate longer.

But Robin was a Bat and Bats didn't do shock and denial. Their style was more 'face the music and show it who's boss'. Batman's, of course, was a lot more whelming, but he was Batman. That truly should explain everything. But the gist was in both and Robin would live up to it, even as he could feel his energy draining, weakness filling his limbs and clouding his thoughts as he tried to focus, gripping Batman's uniform to try harder. But still only a few words filtered through.

"…spell…gi-..chance…it…h-..choice," Well that made absolutely no sense, nor was it relevant. He tugged on Wally's hand and Batman's cape and they both leaned down.

"Th-Thank…you," He breathed. They both stared down at him.

"Rob, you're not gonna die, of course you're not gonna die, you'reRobinandyoucan'tdie!" The rest was lost as Wally began speaking faster in agitation. Robin tried to answer him, but more blood filled his throat and he began coughing again harder this time. Finally he lay back into Batman's arms in exhaustion.

"Thank you," He breathed again. Very few heard it, but they understood. And then his blue eyes slid shut and his breathing harshened.

"His heartbeat is erratic," Superman said, his voice ringing with helplessness. Batman stared down at Dick again, this boy who had wormed his way into his heart and his life and found he couldn't regret any of it. He turned to Fate quietly.

"Do it,"

And Fate raised her hands.

. . . . .

Seconds, years, hours, months later, no one truly knew, she lowered them again.

"It is his choice now. I can meddle no more in his fate,"

"He will make the right choice," Diana said, voice firm. No one answered for a long while.

"He better," Artemis said in reply. She was the only one to say anything.

Well, I hope you liked it. Yes, I just left Robin's life in question. Yes, I did just make Future Babs Fate. And yes I have one chapter left to resolve it all. Wicked fun, in my opinion. As for the 'It is his choice now. I can meddle no more in his fate.' line, Fate just seems like a guy who uses puns a lot, from what we've seen. I decided not to deny him. Thank you for reading. Have an asterously wonderful week and please review,

SMM

P.S. In reference to the title of the chapter and because I didn't bother to restrain myself. Yet So Far