A/N: I felt like I should write something again. Thanks so much to everyone for their reviews! Especially to those who just started reading my stories. They are really appreciated. I'd usually thank people but I haven't had a lot of time, so I will just thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all the reviews, favorites, and everything.

So, to thank you for all of that, have some fluff.

Also, just a note since I get this question a lot:

1) Hawkgirl is Hawkwoman. They're the same person in my story. I've grown up with her being Hawkgirl so I've left her as that in my story. If she features more in YJ as an actual character I may change her name. Until then, they're the same in my story.

2) Yes, I do mean to write Monitor Womb. In Justice League (both the cartoon and the comics) they call their central monitoring room the "Monitor Womb". Weird, but again, that's what I've grown up with. So... enjoy your new knowledge!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

"Oh crap!"

"It's the Bat!"

"Run!"

Every single one of Penguin's men fled as soon as Batman's shadow fell over their hideout. Not one even so much as raised a gun to him. No one dared. They'd all heard what had happened to Two Face's gang last night. Someone had the nerve to shoot at him and now all but three of the gang were in body casts at Gotham's hospital. Two Face had even surrendered to Batman.

"Penguin." Batman's growl was somehow deeper and more menacing than usual.

The short fat man with a beak-like nose immediately grabbed his umbrella, holding it in front of him like a shield. Its tip was pointed directly at Batman's heart. However, the possibly threatening look was ruined by the shaking going through the man's body. "Stay back or I'll shoot!" Penguin cried.

"Go on. I dare you." Batman hissed.

Penguin debated a moment. Did he really want to test that look? Batman's shoulders were tensed; his fists clenched tightly, his eyes narrowed, and his jaw locked. He was looking for a fight. Penguin gulped. He didn't want to end up like the men from last night. Or from this night.

He'd already heard. Batman was in a bad mood. There were very few times when Batman was in such a dark mood like this. The moods were never good for Gotham's underground. Even common street thugs got brutal punishment until most feared to put into action their plans. Batman was ruthless and more often than not, when he was in this mood, they were found out before they could even get started.

If Penguin hadn't already been halfway through this project he wouldn't have done anything at all. He knew better than to trifle with an angered bat. So very slowly he lowered his umbrella and held his hands up in surrender.

Batman's glare intensified, angry that he didn't get to beat the man senseless. Instead he grabbed a pair of cuffs and slapped them on Penguin.

"Did-did something happen to Robin?" Penguin asked as the sirens approached. He wasn't sure why he asked in the first place. Obviously something had happened to Robin. It was only Robin that could cause the Bat so much anger.

"No." Batman growled out. But the way he growled it only proved that Penguin was right. It was Robin.

Penguin coughed nervously as the police arrived on scene. They grabbed him, shoving him into the armored car. "I hope he gets better soon." He called to Batman. After all, when Robin was around, Batman was always nicer.

"Something happened to Robin?" Commissioner Gordon asked curiously as he went to Batman's side. Already the cops were clearing out. This had been their easiest week in a long time.

"No." Batman glared at him, making the Commissioner flinch. His gaze ran over the Commissioner for a moment. "Do you have a case for me?" He demanded.

"Nothing too important-"

Batman turned away from him before he could finish the sentence. If there wasn't work then Batman wasn't interested. He needed something to do.

"Did something happen to Robin?" Commissioner Gordon asked again.

"No. Robin is fine." Batman hissed. "Robin isn't a problem." That's all he said before he shot out his grappling hook and disappeared into the night.

"Master Bruce, put that phone down this instant."

Bruce jerked back like a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He stared at the butler for a moment, then at the cell phone in his hand. The butler's hand was held out expectantly. Bruce growled but handed over the phone.

"I just wanted to check." Bruce growled.

"You wanted to make him come home." Alfred clarified. "Master Richard is perfectly fine right now and is most assuredly having a wonderful time. I would not suggest that you interfere with that."

"I was not going to make him come home." Bruce protested. "I just wanted to make sure he is alright!"

If Alfred was any weaker of a man he would have rolled his eyes. "I know quite well what you were thinking, Master Bruce, and the answer is no. Allow Master Richard his enjoyment."

"It's been six days."

"And it will be four more until he returns. You can survive that long." The butler's tone gave no room for argument. He confiscated Bruce's cell phone and returned to his duties around the manor.

Bruce sunk into his study's chair, glaring at the wall.

Why had he ever allowed Richard to go on that trip? At the time he'd thought it was a great idea. He'd been so proud of him for making it to the National Math competition. Since he was only in third grade, going for their second highest division was a great honor and Bruce had been so pleased. Dick had been so excited for the competition that Bruce had let him go without another thought.

He hadn't thought about the fact that the competition was being held in Orlando Florida. He hadn't thought about the fact that it would last ten days. He hadn't realized that that had meant he'd be without Richard's company for ten days.

Ten days without being able to keep an eye on him. Ten days not knowing if he was alright. Ten days of worrying, and hoping, and debating whether he should just rush down there to see his son. He would have had it not been for Alfred. The old man had insisted he let Richard do things on his own and make friends. Bruce never hated the idea so much as he did now.

Alfred returned to the study at dinner time. A frown creased his face. It had been hours since he was last here and Bruce had not moved at all in that time. He needed to do something about this.

Although every light was burning brightly in the Watch Tower, darkness seemed to encroach around the space station. Dark storm clouds seemed to invade the usually peaceful and pleasant atmosphere. They lurked in the corners and spread throughout the room, blanketing the whole station in a heavy layer of misery. Darkness hovered at the edges of everyone's vision. People's movements were stiff and worried, almost waiting for something to sneak up on them from behind. The dark cloud hung heavily on their shoulders and blanketed them.

An impromptu meeting had been called to address the situation. However, nothing had been said so far. No one could make words form yet. The darkness surrounded them, making them all nervous to be the first to speak.

"So," Flash broke the silence. "Does anyone know what's up with him?"

Unbidden, all their eyes flew to the source of the darkness, Batman himself. Batman was sitting at the central control of the Watch Tower. He'd arrived last night and promptly reassigned two days of monitor duty to himself. He hadn't left the seat yet. Not to eat, not to sleep, not even (Flash was sure) to go to the bathroom. No one had dared approach him. He was too angry, too dark, too brooding to stand. If he wasn't ordering someone around, he didn't speak. He simply gave everyone a cold calculating glare and returned to work.

"I have no idea." Superman answered when all eyes fell on him. As Batman's closest friend, everyone assumed he'd know.

"Robin?" Wonder Woman guessed.

"I called Alfred about him. He's safe and healthy." Superman said. "It isn't that."

Their eyes flicked back to the brooding bat. "Maybe it's a woman." Green Arrow suggested.

Flash snorted. "Right. Mr. Playboy himself is upset over a woman."

"It could happen." Hawkgirl said.

"Someone should ask him." Hal suggested.

No one volunteered. "He's right." Superman spoke up. "We should find out what's wrong."

Still no one moved. Their eyes looked at each other, all hoping someone else would take the chance. Although he was just human that didn't make Batman any less frightening.

"I'll go." Wonder Woman finally said. She looked at Superman. Somehow the two of them always got stuck with Batman-duty. They were always the two who were the spokesmen for the League.

The two flew up to the central control. Immediately Batman's dark glare fell on them. "What do you want?" He growled. His voice was low and dangerous.

"We wanted to know what… is up." Superman said. He felt himself groan at his wording.

Batman's eyes narrowed. "Nothing."

"You seem upset." Wonder Woman said.

"I'm fine." Batman's head snapped back to the screens.

"You seem darker than usual. More angry." Superman added.

Batman said nothing in response. Wonder Woman fiddled with her cuffs, worrying. "Is Robin ok?"

"Robin is fine." Batman spat. "Why does everyone assume something is wrong with Robin?"

"You're usually only this upset when he's hurt or something." Superman said quickly. "So we just wanted to see if he was ok or if you two had an argument."

"No."

Wonder Woman sighed. This was going nowhere. "Something is wrong Bruce. What is it?"

"I already told you. Nothing."

The two exchanged a look. Superman took a hesitant step forward. "Maybe you should go back to the manor." He said. "Maybe if you relax and-"

"I can't."

"Can't relax?"

"Can't go back. Alfred kicked me out." These words weren't so angry. Rather they were almost embarrassed.

"Oh." The two exchanged another look. "Did something happen with Alfred?"

"He said I was darkening the house too much." Batman growled, his anger returning. His eyes fell on the two heroes once more. "Now, do you have anything else to say? I know you have work to do."

And that was the end of the discussion.

The dark clouds seemed to have settled around the Watch Tower for good. Everyone tried to avoid the central control room now. Being in the same room as Batman was just too much. Martian Manhunter couldn't even be on the same floor as Batman's emotions simply overwhelmed him. The bat's emotions were starting to wear on the rest of the League as well. Tensions had grown, people were nervous, and anxiety filled the air.

"Are you sure we can't just kick him out?" Hal Jordon demanded.

After two more days of the darkness infiltrating the Watch Tower another meeting had been called to figure out what to do.

"Nothing seems to break him out of it." Wonder Woman said. "According to police reports he'd been rather brutal the past couple days in Gotham too."

"The criminals were all too scared to come out." Green Arrow added. "He's been like this for…" He counted on his fingers, "nine days."

"What do we do?" Hawkgirl asked. "We have to do something. Poor J'onn is having a hard time just because of him."

"Everyone is." Superman said. "I don't even want to be near him."

"I second Green Lantern." Flash spoke up, raising his hand. "Let's just send him back to Gotham until he is over this."

"I'd like to," Black Canary said, "but I fear he may end up hurting someone there because of his mood. It's safer to keep him here."

"Can we lock him up or something then?" Flash asked. "He's kind of terrifying right now. More than usual I mean."

"I never knew a bad mood could be like this." Wonder Woman agreed.

The group was silent for a moment. Then Green Arrow sighed. "How about we try to have an intervention?" He suggested. "We'll talk with him and try to get him to agree to calm down. Bringing the Mission up usually makes him act better."

"I second that." Superman said. Once everyone had agreed, the team moved towards the central control.

As they approached a weight seemed to press down on their shoulders.

"Batman, we need to talk." Superman said as soon as they entered the room.

Batman said nothing in return. His eyes were glued to the screen where there seemed to be some type of countdown clock. For a moment the League was distracted.

"What's that?" Hawkgirl asked. Maybe if it was a bomb or something they could send Batman after it. Maybe that would help lift his mood.

"Nothing." Batman muttered. The timer read: one day: fifteen hours: twenty seven minutes: forty two seconds. His eyes didn't leave it.

"Is there something going on?" Superman asked.

Batman quickly brought the timer down. "I'm just testing it." He growled.

Green Arrow coughed nervously. "Look, Bats, we need to talk about your mood."

"Obviously something has happened and we want to help." Wonder Woman said.

"Besides, it's starting to really get everyone else down." Green Lantern added. "And Martian Manhunter is really affected by it."

They tried, unsuccessfully, to get something out of Batman. Anything. Nothing happened. They got nowhere. Batman wouldn't admit to anything being wrong and refused to speak with them at all. The dark cloud didn't dissipate.

"Daddy!" Suddenly a ray of sunshine seemed to break through the clouds as an exuberant cry rang through the station.

Batman jerked up in his chair and spun around to face the ball of sun itself: little Richard Grayson. Robin rushed up the stairs. A blindingly bright smile was on his face and joy practically radiated off of him.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy!" Robin flung himself into Batman's arms.

The clouds started to disperse.

Batman clutched the boy to his chest, pressing his face against Dick's mop of black hair. The boy was giggling merrily and his arms wrapped around Bruce's neck. "Hi daddy." He said.

"What are you doing back?" Bruce asked. He pulled away, quickly checking the boy over. "You aren't supposed to be home for another two days."

"We were going to but Tommy got a concussion so we had to come home early." Dick said. He was bouncing up and down. "It was so much fun though, Batman. We won first place! And we went to Disney and I got to meet Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Rapunzel, Aladdin, and Mickey!"

"Really?" A smile spread across the dark knight's face and suddenly the clouds of despair and anger that had filled the place for days seemed to vanish.

"It was so cool." Dick emphasized. "Alfred told me I had to come up and see you as soon as I got back. I forgot my trophy at home. And my Mickey Ears. I got photos with all the characters in Disney, and we rode the rides, and saw parades, and they even had shows!" Robin's joy seemed to brighten the whole Watch Tower.

He turned to the League members who were staring in shock. "Hi guys!" He said, waving enthusiastically.

"You were… gone, Richard?" Green Arrow asked.

"Uh huh. We had a math competition in Florida. I was gone for eight whole days!"

Suddenly it clicked. The League looked at each other.

"Oh, did you win?" Flash asked.

"Yep! First place. I got a trophy and everything." Dick turned back to his father. "There's going to be another one in March. Do you think I can go to that one too?"

Batman's mouth pressed into a thin line. "We'll see." He said slowly. After this he was sure he was never going to let Richard out of his sight again. And for once, the League couldn't agree more.

Robin however didn't seem to notice this. He threw his arms back around Batman's neck and cuddled up to him. Batman cradled the boy in his arms.

"Did you miss me?" Dick asked.

Bruce didn't answer. Instead he pressed his lips against Dick's forehead and held him close.

Robin giggled. "I know, Daddy. I missed you too."