"Okay, kids," he interrupted gently when they hadn't stopped after several seconds. "Let's get inside. We're all soaked, and this isn't exactly the safest place to be, uh…standing."

"…Sure," the boy mumbled, blushing as he realized Bruce had been right behind him the entire time he'd been lip-locked with Gina. They staggered their way down into the cabin, where the masked man and the girl sat on opposite sides of the table. After a moment of hesitation, Dick slid in next to his guardian, feeling an arm slip around his shoulders immediately. "So," he broached. "Did you find out anything interesting?"

"…Yes." The billionaire looked at Gina, who wore an expectant but hesitant look. "How much do you already know?" he asked quietly.

"I know my dad's…dead," she whispered, lowering her eyes. "And I know Uncle Matt is the reason why. Dick said it has to do with the oil?"

"…You know who we are?" Bruce breathed, feeling his son tense beside him.

"I…yes. But it's okay, I won't tell anyone, I swear! We already talked about it, I know how important it is that no one know. I won't even tell Marty and Margie."

He nodded slowly. "I thought you might figure it out. You're a smart girl."

"It was the scar that gave me away," Dick explained, easing as it appeared that Bruce wasn't going to go ballistic.

"Mm," he grunted, turning to examine his lip. We've really got to do something about covering it up better until it fades. "The makeup washed off. I'm not really surprised, in this storm."

"She knew before then," he shrugged.

"No one else made sense," she said. "Even if someone else my age had come after me for some reason, there's no way anyone I know can do the stuff you did back on the island, and then on the boat. That was so amazing," she beamed.

"…Thanks."

"In any case," Bruce pushed them back on track, "I appreciate that you're willing to keep it to yourself."

"I think I've put you both in enough danger already."

"Danger, schmanger," the other teen brushed off. "We're used to it."

"Excuse me?!"

"I didn't hear that," Gina bit back a laugh, covering her ears. "Really, I totally didn't."

"Please don't kill me," Dick requested of his guardian, only half-joking. That was really stupid, he lambasted himself. I can't believe I said that. Why don't I just whip out a birdarang and ask if she recognizes it? Idiot.

"…You know better than that," Bruce answered slowly, not bothering to clarify whether he meant that his ward knew better than to nearly out them or to think that he would kill him.

"Yeah…Sorry…"

The billionaire sighed. "As you were told, it was primarily about gaining access to the oil. Matt was a major player in arranging your father's death," he confirmed. "But he wasn't working alone. He had an arrangement with a company called Savant Commodities."

"…So the people who have been trying to get the leases pushed through the legislature hired those guards and kidnapped me? Just so they could buy dad's land?" she asked, looking confused.

"Not quite. There's another layer to all of it. The head of the section of Savant that's in charge of offshore drilling is run by a man you're familiar with. Jack Dunaway."

"Dunaway," she growled. "As if taking the love of his life away from dad wasn't enough, he had to come back and take his actual life, too? Just for some land? That's…that's fucking sick!" She paused, raising a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry, I don't usually swear like that," she apologized.

"It's all right," Bruce nodded, looking over as he felt Dick slip out from under his arm. He moved to the other bench, letting Gina bury her tear-stained face against his shoulder.

"…Is there anything else I should know?" she asked a few minutes later when she had recovered somewhat.

"Yes. Jack Dunaway knew what was going on, but he wasn't the person orchestrating it." He took a deep breath, knowing that what he was about to say was the worst part. "Lise Burnham-Dunaway crafted the whole plan, more or less. She was sleeping with Matt; I heard all of this from their mouths earlier tonight. A team of lawyers is forging a will to make it look like it was Bryant's wish that custody of you and stewardship over everything he left be given to Lise, since she's your biological mother. As soon as that was settled, she was to sell your land to Savant, or at least allow them access and use privileges. She and Dunaway stood to make a lot of money, and the courts aren't likely to object, since the sale would be a substantial increase in your assets. They arranged for you to be kidnapped because it would have looked too suspicious if the local police hadn't called in Social Services for you after your father was killed. With you missing, they were able to hold off on doing so, giving Dunaway's lawyers time to work."

"…That bitch," she moaned, her cheeks wet. "That complete bitch. I hate her. I hate her so much…" She shook her head angrily. "But what do you mean about the police? They…" She paled as she saw both of the males' mouths tighten. "They weren't in on this?" she gasped.

"They were," Dick whispered. "Practically the whole town was. LACPOD," he reminded her. "We don't think they knew much about the specifics – unless you heard something different?" he asked Bruce. Receiving a negative response, he went on. "But they knew enough."

"…Everyone turned on him," she said sadly. "He trusted them, he helped them when he could, and they betrayed him."

"I'm afraid people do that to each other far too frequently," Bruce commiserated.

"Marty and Margie are still totally on your side, though," Dick added.

"Denny's up top with Marty," Gina frowned. "But if the police force was part of LACPOD…?"

"He was on the island tonight because he was helping Dunaway," the masked man acknowledged. "But he had a wake up call, and insisted on helping me. If you can, try not to hold it against him. It sounds like he's had some rough times recently."

"Kevin," she whispered. "He fell apart after that happened. I always liked Denny. He used to give me a lollipop every time he saw me, when I was little."

Dick looked confused, but didn't say anything. He'll fill me in on the details later, he knew. We're going to have to tell Alfred all of this stuff, too. Ugh. God, I'm so tired. I just want to go to bed. "How are we going to break this?" he asked.

"Once you and I have cleared out, I think the easiest thing would be to have Denny call out the Coast Guard or the state police," Bruce ventured. "He can give them the details on Bryant's murder and the kidnapping. Gina, you can tell them about the oil side of things. Make it sound like you overheard a lot while you were being held on the island and kind of pieced it together for yourself. Try to downplay our role, if you can; I'm sure Lise will tell them about me, but the less they know about our involvement the better." If nothing else, maybe we can keep the fact that there were two of us out here tonight under wraps. Lise wouldn't have seen Dick, so that's feasible. "There shouldn't be any problem getting people to start talking once they realize it's all coming apart, and there's plenty of physical evidence back in the cave."

"So my mother and uncle are going to jail. I swear, I'm going to have to move to another town after this is all done…"

"…Your uncle won't be going to jail."

"But you said you heard him admit to arranging dad's murder!"

"Yes. He did. And then Lise killed him." He glanced away from her frozen expression. "I tried to stop it, but I couldn't get inside the room fast enough."

"…You know what?" she puffed. "That's…that's okay. I mean, it's not okay, but…it's okay. I loved him, but what he did…what he did was so wrong. I wish he hadn't died, but…I can live with it." She craned her neck to look up at Dick, whose shoulder her head still rested on. "Does that make me a bad person, do you think?"

"No," he answered. "I think that makes you human."

"Good." She sat up and nudged the boy, wanting out. "Thank you for telling me all of that. And for finding it out, too, of course, and coming to save me, and…and all of it. If you don't mind, I'm going to go up to the wheelhouse and talk to Marty. He needs to know about this, too. I think…I think I'll ask if he and Margie would be willing to take me. I don't really have anywhere else to go, and I don't think they'd mind. I'll let Denny know what you said about calling the Coast Guard, too." Her face darkened. "And after I've done that, I'm going to start thinking of something new to call this boat. If it's mine, I don't want it named after that bitch." Standing up, she brushed her lips across Dick's cheek. "You should have your dad check your head," she ordered. "You hit it enough today, after all."

"…You didn't say anything about your head!" Bruce exclaimed, straightening in his seat. Did she just refer to me as his dad? his mind queried happily.

"Thanks for that," he groaned.

"No problem," she smiled softly before she turned and ascended to the deck.

He glanced over to find Bruce giving him a stern look. "I did too tell you," he pouted. "I told you Markowitz knocked me out, remember?"

"And the other times?"

"They…well, they weren't as hard, I guess," he said lamely. "Except maybe when you crashed a boat into us and I got thrown into the windshield," he shot. "That one hurt."

"Come here. Let me look."

"You'll have to take the mask off to really do it right," Dick said as he slid in next to him. Fingers began testing the sides and back of his head, and he closed his eyes. Even when a sore spot was found, it was still nice to feel those worried hands doing their work. He knew Alfred would insist on repeating it himself later, but for now he was content to just let Bruce be as thorough as he wanted. I freaked the hell out of him, I think, so I'm not going to complain if he takes his time to realize that I'm fine.

"We're not taking them off until we're back in the car," he said firmly, feeling the teen slumping slightly under his hands. He'd finished checking for cranial injuries, noting a couple of bumps as well as the bruising that was just visible along the edge of one side of his mask, and was now just massaging his scalp, combing his damp hair back and grateful to have him safe beside him. He's earned a little relaxation. He ran a great investigation, took out the bulk of the bad guys, and freed the hostages. He even got the girl, he smirked. The look softened into a wistful smile as his son gave in to his exhaustion and snuggled against him. "Tired?" he teased, shifting so he could hold him more comfortably.

"Mm-hmm. Aren't you?" he yawned back.

"Yeah. It's been a long weekend." He squeezed him, evoking a tiny hiss of pain. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he shook his head, digging it deeper into the crook where the man's neck met his shoulder.

"…Is that where you were shot?"

"…Yeah."

"Sit up and let me see," he frowned.

"It's fine! It's fine. You just bumped it is all. You can look at it all you want later, okay? Just…I just want to sleep right now…"

"…Okay," Bruce agreed slowly. "But you know Alfred will have a fit when he hears you didn't let me check it."

"Mmph. I know. I'll deal." He was silent for a moment. "…Shouldn't we call him and let him know we aren't dead?"

"Oh, shit," the billionaire cursed. How did I manage to forget to do that? One hand left Dick's side to flick the channel to Alfred's frequency. "Alfred? Can you hear me?" He might not be able to, I haven't tried calling for a while and the storm's gotten worse since we spoke last. As he'd feared the case would be, all he got was static. "No good. He's probably having a damn heart attack worrying," he sighed. "Speaking of radios," he addressed the figure in his arms, "why didn't you use yours to call me when you woke up on Gallagher's boat?"

There was no answer. "…Dick?" Listening to him breathe, he realized that he'd fallen asleep. Quick on the heels of that thought was the discovery that his own eyelids were dangerously heavy. The boat was still pitching as they fought their way through the hurricane to land, but he trusted that Gallagher knew what he was doing. Their ride thus far had been much smoother than the way out, at least, and that was enough to convince him that he could safely take a nap. "You're a bad influence, kiddo," he breathed, leaning forward to rest his head on top of the teen's.

Gina came back down a few minutes later and couldn't help but grin at the pair. I barely even know them, but that is painfully adorable, she shook her head in amusement. "Sleep tight," she whispered, turning off all but one of the cabin lights. "You earned it."