Miss me? I've sure missed fanfiction. And downtime in general (heh, YJ pun... lol) I've been super-duper busy with Marching Band and highschool, and my brain has been mush. Hopefully this is a satisfactory 'we're baaaaaaaack!' type deal. lol. enjoy =D

Note: Probably a little late for a disclaimer, but uh... disclaim!

Ch 12

"So, where were we?"

"Where were you?" Raven shot back.

"Told my boss, Sergent Amy Rohrbach, that I have to help out my kid brother – which I do," he pointed at Robin, "And that I'm super-duper sorry, and all that, she yelled at me, said I needed to take a break anyway, sounded like hell myself, and told me to enjoy my day off."

"Sergeant-? You're a cop?" Cyborg asked confused. Nightwing shrugged indifferently, neither confirming nor denying the question. "And Rob really is your brother?"

"In all the ways that count, yes he is my brother. Now, tell me exactly what happened."

"So, let me get this straight: Batman forged a note from the mayor about a psych evaluation, sending good old Doc Leslie to check up on you all and Robby-boy. After pouring your hearts and souls out to her, well, besides Raven," Nightwing quickly amended, "You find out, 'surprise! She left out a few details,' and then the power went out, just as an intruder came in. Robin goes down into the basement, tower goes into lockdown, and you hear screams. Power comes back and you find Robin downstairs all beat up. You call me, I call on you, Robby has a mini-meltdown after temporarily forgetting a good half hour-or-so's time, we discuss good old Pirate-face, pull out some shenanigans, a few movies, and get to where we are now. I miss anything?"

Cyborg just blinked in response. "Uh…"

"There… was something else… A note," Raven reluctantly brought up. "I didn't want to worry the others before," she explained, pulling out the note from her belt. Its written in blood, as far as I can tell. Robin's blood."

Nightwing carefully grabbed the note with his gloved hands, unfolding it. He paled immediately at the message: 'Why so serious?'

"Why can't he just stay dead?" he asked himself. Aloud, he said, "If you weren't sure, this is about the 5th or 6th time he's been 'undead.' Most of the time's it's been phonies, but… this is just rubbing me the wrong way."

"You seem to know Slade as well as we do – and he's tried things like this before – could it be him?" Cyborg suggested, referring back to the 'dust' incident. "He's got brains, but his own tweak style. Recently he's been lying low…"

"Well we can't rule anyone out…" Nightwing admitted, "But it doesn't seem like something he'd do. He's all about personal gain. But we'll add him to the chart."

"Chart?" Cyborg asked in confusion. "What chart?" Nightwing looked at him in shock.

"You've never un-sensibly made lots of flipcharts, thus organizing your thoughts and wasting lots of trees? No funny pictures to go along with it? You haven't lived!"

"Sounds like something Beastboy did a few years back…" Raven said, rolling her eyes.

"Then we'll get along just fine. Trust me, it's helpful. But while the other's are out cold – where's Robin's room?"

"Huh?"

"His room? You know, the dwelling in which he resides on a day to day basis? We gotta search for clues, and what better place to start? If there really wasn't anyone down there, it was probably some form of drug screwing with his head. It could've been administered at any time." Leaning in a bit closer, he added with a wink, "Plus I need the opportunity to be an annoyingly nosy older brother."

Glaring, Raven asked, "Are you taking this seriously or not?" Nightwing's happy demeanor changed instantly.

"There is nothing I take more seriously than my family," he said, honesty dripping from his words. "Look – you've never dealt with the Joker. Whether it's him or not, he's involved, at least partially. He – it's personal. He's hurt a lot of people. A lot of our family. You haven't heard the half of it, or the worst of it.

"Things are going to get bad – you're going to see a side of Robin you've never seen. His human side. It's probably going to scare the crap outa you, to see him so vulnerable. You two especially are going to have to hold this team together. Especially if he's back. And we're going to need all the help we can get."

"… And who exactly do you suggest?" Raven asked, guarding her emotions with her monotonous voice. She was definitely going to need some meditation time…

Pulling out his phone, a smirk adorned his face. "Oh, I've got a few ideas… you kiddies just get some sleep – you're gonna need it. I'll take care of this."

"Uh, shouldn't you be getting some sleep too?" Cyborg reminded.

"Do you have coffee in the tower or a Starbucks nearby?"

"Yes…?"

"Then I'm good to go. Go enjoy fifty winks!"

"I'm not arguing…" with a yawn, Cyborg left. Stubbornly, Raven refused to leave.

"He went to the gates of hell for me. Literally. I can deal with a lack of sleep. Not that I'd be sleeping after everything."

With a shrug, Nightwing reminded, "Hey, it's your home, not mine. Do whatever you'd like." Starting a coffee pot and a tea kettle, (to Raven's surprise) Nightwing sat down across the table from her. He then removed his mask. "Alright, let's get started."

"But you- I mean, why did…?" she wasn't sure what exactly to say. Nightwing raised an eyebrow.

"We both know you know more than you let on. Tim and I keep in touch. He told me you've been in his mind. That was a two way street, and you know that as well as I do, 'Miss Roth.'" Scowling, she removed her hood.

"Alright. So we both know a little too much. While we're at it, I know what you were talking about before. About Jason Todd and Barbara Gordon. What he did to them." Nightwing nodded somberly.

"So you know what this means, if the Joker's back. What the repercussions will be if this gets out." She nodded in response. "Well good. Nice to know not everyone's clueless on this team. No offence."

"None taken. So where do we begin?"

"Lists. Lots of them. Searching start's when everyone's awake. Little details are the important ones. We need to be focused." Raven nodded in agreement.

"Bring it."

An hour later, they had, well, lists. Lists of villains. All villains in general. Ones tech savvy enough to craft some sort of android. Ones good with chemicals, ones capable of causing strong hallucinations, downright crafty ones, smart ones… the lists went on and on. But there weren't just suspect lists.

Evidence lists.

People-that-could-be-helpful-in-the-search-lists.

… And somehow a grocery list ended up there, but hey- they were tired teens. Cheeto cravings were totally normal. Obviously.

At the first sign of the others getting up, Nightwing immediately put his mask back in place, and started… cooking…?

"What are you doing?" slurred the tired-but-too-stubborn-to-admit-it-demoness.

"Makin' breakfast. Most important meal of the day, and all that jazz!" was his cheery response. She glared up at him.

"I hate morning people."

"I love the time difference."

Not tooo eventful, but hey - some cozy lil revalations and hinteroos. Just some fun to get back in the swing of things :) Love it? Hate it? Wish to beat me to a pulp for the mere suggestion that this chapter was good?

LET ME KNOW! ;)

THERE'S A NIFTY LITTLE BUTTON RIGHT DOWNTHERE! ENJOY ITS AMAZING SEND A MESSAGE FEATURE ;D