Disclaimer: Please refer to the disclaimers in the previous chapters, 'cuz I am tired of thinking new corny ones.

A/N: And yes, I actually uploaded 2 chapters within a few days, are you guys happy? xD Will this satiate you? Because I'll probably (surely) be gone for a few more days since my classes still hasn't ended (our school term starts in August, that's why, meaning I have no bloody vacation at this point) and I'm dying for my non-existent vacation to finally come… My grades will be out tomorrow though (hopefully) so wish me luck, readers!

Chapter 13: Speculations

They all turned and were instantly in superhero (aka alert) mode. They saw Dick suspended high up in the air − and he was now falling…

Roy and Wally were simultaneously panicking and gaping. They stood frozen to the ground, crying out for Dick. Barry moved quickly, he run high up in a tree and used it as a kickboard to propel himself towards Dick, he twists midair to catch the kid properly around his waist. Once Barry got Dick in his arms, he twisted more in the air and using his super speed, he created a small whirlwind that will dissipate in a few moments, but enough to gently guide them down to the ground.

"DICK!"

"UWAAAAAAAH DICKIE!"

"HUHUHUHUHU….."

Everyone gathered around Dick and Barry once they touched the ground safely, panicking.

"Are you okay?"

"Dick, child, shush, calm down you're safe now…"

"Uwaaaah…Dick, I- I'm sho- sho shorwy, huhuhu…"

"Dick… *sniffs* Don't do that again, huhuhuhu…don't scare us huhuhuhu…"

…a few seconds later and all the three children burst out crying as they held tight to each other.

The great doors of the manor opened with a bang, the great sound reaching them. Bruce and Alfred come running, worry etched in their faces.

"What happened?!" Bruce demanded as soon as he got close enough.

Dick ran to Bruce crying. His daddy immediately opened his arms and the child dove into them, Bruce immediately cradled his child close to his chest, hugging him tight and whispering calming words.

"What happened?" He asks again.

It was Roy who answered. "He just jumped... up past the tree… and then suddenly he was falling..."

Wally was trembling in Barry's arms. He whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "It's like he flew..."

Bruce frowns, but said nothing. The three superheroes looked at him meaningfully but he avoided their gazes, somehow in the back of their minds, they got the feeling that Bruce knew this would happen…

When the fuss died down, Bruce took the kids into Dick's bedroom, comforting them and basically distracting them from what happened earlier. If it was any other situation, the superheroes would have laughed because the Batman is willingly saying sweet words to kids. It's a memory to behold! Unfortunately, much more serious matters require their attention.

Like, why the bloody hell is Bruce obviously ignoring them which a) naturally raises their suspicions and b) Bruce, the freaking master subtlety is failing spectacularly right now, wow. More importantly, is it just them or is Alfred escaping from them?

"*ahem* Are you," Barry started with a horrible imitation of Alfred's British accent as he casually looped an arm around Alfred's shoulders while keeping up with his fast pace, "perchance, trying to escape from us?"

"To whatever reason did I gave the impression that I am escaping? To whatever reason should I, as you say, 'escape' from you? I am merely going back to my duties."

"Can we go with you then?" Barry asks him cheerily. "I'm sure you won't find our company as distracting, but as entertaining~"

Alfred internally sighed. "Very well then, can I expect your cooperation in the kitchen?"

"You can count on me and Barry," Oliver replied with a grin. "Dinah's a disaster in the kitchen."

"Hey!"

Barry pats Alfred's shoulder, a reassuring yet shit- eating smile on his face. "Don't worry; whatever we'll learn in the kitchen stays in the kitchen."

There's an elephant in the room.

Alfred kept quiet as he busies himself with dinner preparations. Not even bothering to look at them as they waited for him to start. As if, he thought, you're the ones who need me, I'm not going to start.

There's also a hawk in the room, watching Alfred's every movement with sharp eyes, and slowly growing impatient as the butler continues to ignore them. A few minutes later, the hawk reaches its limit and attacked the elephant in the room.

"Why on earth Dick can fly?"

Silence.

"…can you really call that flying?" Ollie asks nervously.

"His mother isn't Diana, we know that." Barry said.
"This may sound stupid," Ollie said, "but what if it is a lie?"

Dinah shook her head. "Impossible. I know we doubted them at first, but 1) Diana never disappeared for months and never showed any sign of pregnancy and most importantly 2) Diana has Prince and I seriously doubt they can betray each other. Bruce never made any mistakes about sleeping with women before too…well, until now, that is."

They were too busy discussing among themselves that they failed to notice Alfred letting out an uncharacteristic derisive snort. Women they say, Alfred thought.

"Alfred!" Dinah cried. "Tell us what you know!"

Said butler calmly looked at her in the eyes and replied, "In all honesty Madam Dinah, I know nothing either."

Dinah and Ollie blanched. "What? B- but yo- you're Alfred! You're supposed to know everything!" Ollie sputtered.

Alfred frowns. "Doesn't knowing everything is Master Bruce's character? And to answer your question: Unfortunately, I really do not know." For sure anyway, Alfred added in his mind. "Master Bruce doesn't and won't talk about it." Because he himself isn't sure too…besides… "It hurts him, every time he speaks about it, no matter how miniscule of a detail it is, it hurts him."

The three grew silent as they mulled in that information. They were shocked to say the least.

"Bruce…is hurting…" Ollie murmurs. "Then he must have fallen in love for that person… deeply…like a true love…"

Alfred nodded gravely at that statement.

Ollie sighed and massaged his forehead. Bruce you idiot, why did you let that person go? I've known you my whole life and this is the worst mistake you could have possibly made.

Barry and Dinah only look at the two of them with confused faces. They can't say anything though, they can't really grasp the real significance of Bruce, cold and supposedly heartless, falling in love, unlike the two men who have known Bruce longer and understand him.

"If…Bruce loves her…and has fallen in love with her… why did he leave her?" Dinah asks pell-mell. "Or it's the woman's decision to let Bruce leave her?"

Alfred mouth twisted painfully. "…No."

Silence.

"What?" Dinah harshly whispers. Her breathing got ragged, and her shoulders are shaking with restrained rage. She never wanted to pummel something this bad. It's taking all her self- control not to trash the Wayne's precious kitchen, but oh, she wanted to destroy something, anything… "Y- you mean to tell me…that Bruce… just up and went with their child without asking the mother's permission?! Are you kidding me?! WHY HE'S A BASTARD! HOW HE COULD DO THAT! TO THE WOMAN SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH AND TO THE MOTHER OF THEIR CHILD NO LESS!"

Alfred remained calm but frowns deeply at her. "No, it didn't happen like that Madam."

"Then, WHAT. HAPPENED?" Dinah asks through gritted teeth. Ollie distractedly wraps an arm around her and rubbed soothing circles on her shoulder. Dinah visibly relaxed but still tense enough to create cracks in the glass she's holding. Alfred thanks his instincts for telling him to serve them in cheap, plastic glasses.

"I cannot tell you." Alfred said with finality.

There was another silence as the group were suddenly thrown back to square one.

Alfred sighed and decided to give them a little more insight. "It really pained him you know, leaving that person. Master Bruce once said that it was the most difficult decision he had ever made... and he admitted that the decision had hurt him greatly." A pause. "Personally, I can attest to that pain. During the times I visited him when he disappeared, sometimes I can see him strolling along the beach at night with tears streaming down his face… or sometimes he's outright wailing." There was a sad look in the butler's eyes as he internally recalled those memories. "Nowadays, I can't guess what he's thinking with that wounded look on his face when he looks at his family picture when he's with Master Richard."

"But, he doesn't do anything," Barry sighs. "He never even told us, and we never knew that he's… hurting all by himself…" He clenched his fists. "…when…he's always been there whenever we're down but we… *chokes* Do you think Bruce is disappointed with us? We failed as his friends didn't we?"

Alfred shook his head. "No, Master Barry. Master Bruce was never disappointed in you- unless you messed up something important of course. *chuckles* You're presence had helped him greatly more than he would like to admit… Frankly, I don't know where we'll be if Master Bruce hasn't met all of you."

They all smiled at that, but remained silent, as if relishing in the fact that they now knew that their friend needs them.

"How does he deal with the pain?" Ollie wonders.

"A lot of ways," Alfred replied and refilled their cup with tea. "Distractions, mostly. But… as you have said Master Oliver, Master Bruce has fallen in love, deeply, madly… like a fool he goes back to Italy once a year, around the same time he met that person, and hoping that they could meet again… or just reminiscing those wonderful yet painful memories... He vehemently denies those reasons of course, and simply said he just misses Italy itself and it was the most wonderful time of year to go back."

"Italy huh," Barry whispers to himself and propped his chin on his hand. Doing that action though had inevitably diverted his gaze on the newspaper lying beneath his elbow. It suddenly clicked to him and he looked at Alfred as more realizations dawned on him.

Alfred immediately noticed his wide- eyed looked and sternly warned him not to say anything through his burning blue eyes. But how could he? It all makes sense now, Barry thought furiously. Dick - his dimples and his supposedly ability, the place, their time of disappearance and their wrecked selves… it all matched to be just called a coincidence.

His jaw dropped and the Queens were quick to notice.

"Barry, what wrong with you?" Dinah asks. "Did you choke on a fly?"

Alfred is still staring intently at Barry, the warning still present in his eyes. Ollie frowns at Barry as the speedster opens and closes his mouth like a gasping fish, his eyes looking sacredly at Alfred and flickered down once to the table and then looked away as if he saw something frightening. Ollie looked at Barry carefully, and then slowly dragged his gaze down to the table where Barry has his elbows propped up. He blushed.

"Barry, seriously," Dinah asks again, genuinely worried now. "Are you okay? What's happening to you?"

Behind her, Dinah failed to notice her husband's crimson face until he started sputtering.

"Ollie? Honey, what's happening to you too?"

"B-but… I- I can't… i- impossi- Bruce is…how…who…I should…no, uh…I…"

Poor archer is having a hard time wrapping around the sudden insights he's gaining, but his brain keep connecting the dots− the very same dots that the speedster had connected moments ago. He can't believe this…his brain feels like it's going to explode any second now…but the biggest question is... HOW THE BLOODY HELL IT IS POSSIBLE?

He passed out.

"HONEY!" Dinah jumped from her seat and fussed over him. Alfred and Barry exchange knowing glances. Dinah noticed their look and screamed for them to spill.

"He figured it out," Barry said simply. "Or at least we all have the same speculation."

"Figured what out?" Dinah snaps. Barry simply smiled sheepishly. He suddenly noticed the time at wall clock nearby and let out a very feminist screech.

"Oh my gooooooosh! Iris is so going to kill me! We're supposed to be at the salon by 5! Yeesh, gotta dash! Bye, Alfred! Bye, everyone!"

He immediately rush out and back to Central City.

Dinah gaped after the speedster even long after he disappeared. "D- did he just… left us?! Coward, never answered my question! Arrrrghhhh!"

Dinah feels so frustrated that she unconsciously shakes Ollie awake. Alfred sighed and gave up, knowing how Dinah could get when she's this worked up and pitied the blond man who is getting dizzy with his wife's crazy and unstoppable shaking.

"Miss Dinah here's a clue: I know who Dick's mother is."

Dinah's head whipped towards him so fast it's a miracle she didn't get whiplashed. A scowl and a pout that somehow works together are decorating her beautiful face. "But you just said you don't know her!"

"I never said it was a 'her.'" There was a pause as he lets that sink in, knowing there's a small possibility that Master Bruce will kill him once he learned of this, of him spilling his most kept secrets, and he will.

"A- are you saying?"

Alfred nodded gravely. "You've been asking the wrong question Miss Dinah. It isn't about who is Master Richard's mother is. The real question is and always has been: Who is young master Dick's father?"

Dinah was absolutely stupefied and Ollie fainted once again. Later on, Alfred successfully managed to wake them both up.

Dinah is still in disbelief. "Sooo Bruce is apparently bisexual and unknown man managed to knock him out... this is soo hard to believe yet I also know that it's nothing but the truth."

To regain some of her lost dignity from her mental stupefaction earlier, she teased Ollie about such possibilities. In which her beloved husband replied, "Honey! Have mercy on me! Do you even know how much pain it brings me just imagining a baby coming out of a, a m- man's ugh, uhm...IT'LL RIP ME APART!"

Dinah winced and look at Alfred for answers. "It is indeed impossible. So, how?"

Alfred shook his head and explained. "How Master Bruce got pregnant is still a mystery to us… but answers came from the Amazons."

"The Amazons?" Ollie repeated, then his eyes widen in realization. "Diana! That's why she kept going back to her home 7 years ago!"

Another nod from the butler. "Yes. Miss Diana took care of Master Bruce during… his pregnancy till childbirth. At our stay there, the gods revealed something. That whomever Master Bruce met came from another world and that things work differently there. They never specified due to respect of that place's own gods, but they said…that the fact that Master Bruce got pregnant means that he is the man's soul mate and he now has a womb which can accommodate the growing child within him." Alfred took a small breathe before continuing. "In fact, the gods revealed something…more. They berated Bruce for leaving the man. For they are soul mates and they aren't meant to be apart."

"What does that means?" Dinah asks.

"Is this…" Ollie said, "…one of those cliché yet is actually true and is only supposedly seen in cheesy romance novels where there are consequences when soul mates are apart from each other? Like the other dying due to loneliness or something? Or going crazy?"

Dinah gasps. "Honey! How can you say such terrible things? Where did you even come up with that!?"

Ollie blushes again. "Believe it or not, but I was a romantic when I was in high school. I love reading romance novels like a sappy fool."

Dinah cooed. "I never knew this, why did you stop?"

Ollie smiled bitterly. "There was no real reason; I just decided to focus more on the… future. My family's business, that is. I wish I could now when I have time."

Dinah took his hand and smiled sweetly at him. "Tell me more about it later, okay?" Ollie smiled back goofily and nods.

Alfred would have happily left them to themselves but Dinah quickly snapped back to her serious self.

"Someone from not his world, huh," she said. Her brain instantly came up with Superman and J'onn, her friends from the Justice League but immediately dismisses the thought. J'onn is still heartbroken from the loss of his own family and Superman is… well, Superman, a goofball of a reporter who she'll doubt will get a woman until a couple more years. "Wait, what consequences? Is Bruce experiencing one?!"

"Heartache." Ollie answered distractedly. Dinah glares at him and told him to be serious. "I am serious. I mean the literal heartache, Bruce hides it well but I've known the guy for years. He's heart has been bothering him for months now."

"Really?" Dinah gasps.

"It is true." Alfred confirmed. "Unfortunately, the gods told us that there was no way to stop it or even relieve it. In fact, they also said that the pain will only intensify as time goes by."

Dinah gasps again. "That's terrible."

"Fortunately," Alfred smiles. "It is not supposed to last long. Apollo has predicted that Master Bruce and his soul mate will meet again."

"We can't wait for that to happen! What if something worse happened to Bruce? We have to help Bruce find this soul mate of his! Whoever he is I'm sure we and the others are willing to search for him!" Dinah exclaimed with pure determination.

Ollie muttered something to himself. "Maybe the man isn't really unknown to us all."

Dinah heard him and glared. "What was that?!"

Alfred suddenly perks up as he heard Bruce's footsteps from the 2nd floor and immediately pushed them out of the kitchen.

"Alfred?!"

"Go," the butler replied. "Master Bruce is coming!"

Upon hearing this, the couple rushed out of the mansion and into their car. The sound of their vehicle leaving can be heard when Bruce finally arrived at the bottom of the stairs where Alfred is waving goodbye at the couple.

"Goodnight and have a wonderful party!"

A second later, Bruce approaches him, looking absolutely worn out.

"Alfreeed..." he moaned and gave his butler a perfect imitation of Dick's irresistible puppy dog eyes, "fooooood…and coffee."

"You sound like Master Dick."

"Hush."

Extra:

When Alfred went back to the kitchen and noticed the still unfinished dinner preparations, he shook his head bemusedly and mumbles to himself, "...They said they would help me in the kitchen..."

A/N: Umm… how about leaving some reviews to boost my ego? Hahahaha~ hope you enjoy! And yes, I'm talking about the Greek gods here.

Replies:

GrandNinjaMasterRen: ummm…. Ps. It's not a stupid question though, haha xD

jayswing96: Can you call this chapter fluff, even though it's between Ollie and Dinah? Hahahaha xD

OrionAurora: Sooooooooon~ veeeeery sooooon… if I updated.