Hello again guys. Well here's the next chapter in Richard Grayson's Story. By the way, since I got a laptop for Christmas, this is not Microsoft Word like the other stories are. Let me know if there are any problems minus spelling/grammar mistakes since I am not the best speller in the world. Also my thoughts and prayers go out to anyone living in the northern U.S getting slammed with snow right now.

Thanks and enjoy.

Dick and the family went back to the house while Dick carried the little puppy home."Don't worry puppy, we're almost home. Alfred will help you get all better, right Alfred?"

"I will see what i can do sir." Alfred responded.

"Birdy you had us scared to death. We were all at different spot looking for you. Alfred and Father had the grounds, I had the water, Jason had the woods, and Tim had any of the neighbors." Damian explained.

"Dick why did you wander off?" Bruce asked lighting the way back to the house.

"I didn't mean to. Ike said there was a puppy who got hurt in the woods and we had to go help him."

"Why didn't you come get me?"

"I wanted to but Ike dragged me to the wood. Then we found him, but i fell in the hole."

"Well what happened to Ike?" Jason asked getting angry.

"He went to get you. Isn't that how you found me?"

"Dick Ike never came to get us. When we came out to play with you and you weren't there, we all came and searched for you. The only reason Jason found you was he was in charge of searching the woods for you." Tim explained also getting angry.

"But...Ike told me he would get help."

"Birdy you can't trust Ike. I wouldn't be surprised if he set that trap in the first place." Jason said.

"But Ike doesn't have a dog. Where did the puppy come from?" Tim asked.

"I think the pup was at the right place at the wrong time. But i will be having a conversation with Ike's parents about this." Bruce said.

"Don't even bother Father. Ike's parents let him do whatever he wants. He could even murder someone and they wouldn't care." Damian said.

"That is no way to raise a child." Alfred commented.

"We can worry about that later. Right now lets focus on getting the puppy healed." Bruce said and the family at last made their way home.

"Lets get the puppy to the med-bay." Bruce said.

"Med-bay? Wait, there's a Batcave here?"

"Of course. We don't want Gotham to be in ruins when we get back now do we?" Tim said. Alfred then guided the family to the living room where there was a grand piano. After playing a few keys on the piano, a secret door opened.

"That's so cool." Dick said. The batcave wasn't as big as the one in the manor but it still was a decent cave with a Bat-computer. training area, weapons wall, and a few Bat-vehicles. Dick took the pup to the examination table. "Okay puppy, Alfred will take care of you now." He told the puppy and the pup licked his face.

"I'm sure he has a name other than puppy Birdy." Jason said coming over and putting his hand on his little brother's shoulder.

"But what if he already has a name?"

"Birdy he's got cuts and bruises all over him. I'm surprised that he warmed up to you so fast." Tim said.

"Is he gonna be alright?"

"I'm sure he's gonna be fine sir. Now i need you to go upstairs and get something to eat , get a nice warm bath, and straight to bed." Alfred said putting gloves on.

"But Alfred…"

"No buts young man. You will not do yourself any good if you collapse from exhaustion."

"But what about puppy?"

"I'll be tending to the young pup. You and the pup look exhausted. Tomorrow you and the pup can play and we can find out more information about our little friend."

"Well...okay." Dick said and went over towards the pup now laying his head on his paw. "Okay puppy. I have to go to bed now. Alfred is going to make you feel all better. Don't worry, he's really nice. I'll be just upstairs if you need me okay?" The pup gave a soft whine and Dick rubbed his head and gave him a gentle kiss.

Break*Break*Break

Dick woke up the next morning and immediately got out of bed and ran to the cave. "Puppy?" He called. "Puppy where are you?" He ran towards the medical bay and saw the puppy standing up looking around. "Puppy!" Dick screamed and ran towards the puppy. The pup too ran towards Dick and started licking his face. "I told you i'd be back. You look so much better now." He said rubbing and scratching the pup's ears.

"Morning Dickie." Bruce called now coming in.

"Morning Bruce. Look at puppy!" He said excitedly.

"Alfred got him all healed up for the most part."

"He sure did. Bruce, why would anyone want to hurt puppy?"

"I don't know Dick. Some people are just so cruel in the world."

"You know Birdy, you really should think of a name for the pup instead of calling him puppy all the time." Jason said coming out of the elevator.

"I did! I think i want to call him...Ace. Do you like that puppy?" Dick asked only to get licked on his cheek.

"Hang on Dick. Having a dog is a big responsibility. You have to feed it, walk it, take him to the vet, and give him baths. You can't rely on Alfred to take care of him."

"I can do it!"

"Yeah we'll help too. It's the least we can do for keeping Birdy warm last night." Jason said rubbing the pup.

"Well, i still don't know." Suddenly the elevator opened again to reveal Alfred.

"I thought i might find you down here sirs. Breakfast is on the table sirs." Alfred said.

"Thank you for making Ace feel better Alfred." He said giving him a hug.

"You're quite welcome sir. Is Ace his name?" He asked.

"That's what i named him. We want to keep Ace."

"You do? Does Master Bruce know about this?"

"Yeah the old man knows." Jason answered for Bruce.

"I still don't know."

"I don't know if this helps sir, but after close examination I have concluded that he is a 4 week old Great Dane, he's also been trained to obey whoever his master is, and does not seem to shed sir."

"Please Bruce? He's been hurt just like I was and he even saved me. We've got to make it up to him. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" He asked going over to Ace and hugging his face while giving his baby blue puppy dog eyes. Bruce then rolled his eyes realizing that there was no way he could refuse the boy's plea with those eyes.

"Alright Dick, we can keep Ace."

"Yes! Did you hear that Ace? You get to stay with us!"

"Now Alfred is not going to be the only one taking care of Ace. You boys are in charge of taking care of Ace."

"Don't worry Bruce. We'll all take care of Ace, won't we Jason."

"Yeah sure."

"Well if we're gonna keep him, we're gonna need some necessities."

"Does that mean another trip to the store again?" Dick asked.

"It sure does. What do you say we get some breakfast and go get some stuff?"

"Okay."

"Just as long as mother doesn't show up again." Damian said.

So now we have a new member of the Bat-family and his origins will be revealed in the next chapter, which is one review away from reaching the 100 review mark. As promised, I will keep my word and posting 2 chapters without posting chapters for my other stories. FYI this chapter doesn't count towards those two chapters since we only have 99 right now.

Remember to review.

LaurenHardy13