This takes place right after the episode "Image" where Robin was leader. And it's several weeks after the last chapter. Thanks for reading!

(I was in the middle of writing this chapter and I would just like to say...I really wish they were a bit older:(. I feel like I have to dial things down so much. Ugh! But it is what it is… Let me know what you think!)

I own nothing.


The robotic female voice announced his arrival to the batcave. He stepped off of the platform and onto the cave floor. Robin made his way to the shower and changing area quickly. He sighed heavily as he sat down and started removing his uniform.

The mission had been a success but it didn't mean that he liked being the leader. He used to want it. He wanted it and he felt like he deserved it. He had been in the game longer than all of them and he knew what he was capable of. But...after the failsafe exercise he just couldn't bring himself to want it anymore. He had led most of his friends to their deaths, he had been assured that it was the only way, and he knew that it had been. It didn't make it feel any better.

And the mission to Quarac had come close to not being a success, not to mention Garfield. Maybe if they hadn't stopped… No, if he had ordered them to continue on Garfield and Marie probably would have been trampled by those wildebeests. Dick got onto a shower and started washing off.

As a leader, everything that happens is your responsibility. He was mature enough that taking ownership for his actions was not something he would shy away from, but one wrong decision…

He sighed again and tried not to think about all of the things that could have gone wrong and all of the things that did. He should have known that Garfield wouldn't take an order, he wasn't part of the team. And Marie was right, eight year olds don't take orders, not everyone was raised like him. He was taking orders at eight. He wasn't in the field yet but whenever he was training or in the batcave he had to take orders.

Dick turned the water off and wrapped his waist in a towel before getting out and slipping into athletic sweats and a thin t-shirt. He toweled his hair as he walked towards the laundry bin and deposited the towel as he walked out.

It was almost six o'clock in the evening and Dick was tired, but his mind was working too quickly to just sit down and rest. He wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to someone or not. Bruce wasn't even here, he was still in Quarac talking to the president and doing what he could to help restore order. He wasn't sure where Selina was. He could always text her but he didn't want to make her come all the way out here when he wasn't even sure if he wanted to talk about it. And some part of Dick didn't think he should need to talk to anyone. He was Robin, protege of Batman. Leading should be a given, it didn't matter what he wanted. In the world that he lived in everyone had to do hard things. He was pretty sure that leading would eventually be expected of him. He needed to be able to handle it on his own.

He decided to go upstairs and see what Alfred was doing. The butler had a comforting presence and he wouldn't push him to talk if he didn't want to. He grabbed his phone from where he had left it next to the computer before he had gone on the mission. Then he took the stairs two at a time and walked into Bruce's study. He took the fastest route to the kitchen where he knew the butler would be. When he entered the kitchen the man was kneading some dough but he looked up as the door opened.

"Welcome back, Master Richard. I saw that your mission was a success."

Dick sat down at one of the stools in front of the counter. "Yeah, Alf, it was."

Alfred went back to kneading and Dick watched him silently for a while. The butler broke the silence first, which was odd enough.

"Master Bruce will be home tomorrow arrounf eleven o'clock."

Dick nodded, "I figured it would be later."

"He was not needed as much as he thought he would be." Alfred informed him.

A timer on the oven beeped and Alfred moved to take fresh loaf of bread out of the oven before turning back to kneading.

"Is there something bothering you, lad?" Alfred looked at him knowingly and Dick shifted his eyes to his hands which were clasped on the counter.

"I'm fine, Alfie. Just wanted some company I guess." He answered.

"Ah." Alfred nodded and continued to knead.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while before Dick's phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that Zatann had sent him a text.

Are you back yet?

Dick winced, she had probably been pretty lonely with just her and Alfred in the house. Bruce had left about the same time that Dick had but he had stayed in a hotel and out of the action.

Yeah, just got back a few minutes ago. Are you upstairs?

He saw a typing bubble before she sent the text.

Nope, in the gym.

Dick smiled and hopped off the counter, "See you at dinner, Alf.

"Indeed."

He pushed the door open and made his way to the gym. When he entered Zatanna was practicing a few routines on one of the mats.

She turned and smiled as he entered. She walked over her and captured him in a brief hug before pulling away.

"How was it?"
"Good, we did what we were supposed to."

She nodded and turned, "If you aren't too tired could you help me with this combo Selina taught me? I don't think I'm doing it right."

He smiled and nodded and she walked back to the center of the mat. He took a seat on the bench and watched her go through it again.

He nodded when she stopped, "You almost got it. The only thing you're doing wrong is overextending your leg on the middle kick. If you do that with too much force you could pull a muscle or cause a cramp."

Zatanna nodded and gestured to the mat, "Show me."

He laughed and nodded. He waited till she backed up then executed the move flawlessly.

"Ohhh. Okay, I see." She said and stood. He backed up again and watched as she tried again. This time she didn't make a single mistake. She turned to look at him expectantly waiting for what he would say.

"Perfect." He smiled at her.

She beamed at him and jumped a little.

"Finally! I've been trying to get this move for so long!" She breathed.

He laughed again, "Well congratulations, you just got it!"

She beamed again and then sighed, "Well, I guess I get to do a more advanced move now."

He nodded, still smiling.

She edged closer to him, "I don't suppose you would teach me anything?"

He laughed again, "I guess I could. I don't know how far along you are in training though."

She came closer and made her eyes all wide and adorable, "Please? Selina won't mind."

He smirked at her, "Fine." He said in fake exasperation.

She giggled and leaned closer to kiss his cheek. "Thanks!"

He just smirked at her before backing up.

"Alright, pay attention, Zee." He warned playfully.

"Yes, Sir." She smirked.

They continued training and practicing moves until Alfer called them for dinner. They both grinned and continued on to the dining room. It was just the two of them at dinner but it wasn't weird. They just talked and laughed and enjoyed each other's company. Dick didn't feel as bad anymore. He knew the feeling would come back and that he would have to talk to someone eventually, but right now he was content.

When they had finished dinner they walked back to the gym and stretched as their stomach's settled before going back to training. They continued like that until Zatanna got the basics of the complicated move. Then the magician had announced that she needed a shower.

They headed up the stairs together, "Hmm, or maybe I should take a bath. A nice soak sounds pretty good right now, maybe I won't be as sore in the morning."

Dick laughed and then tilted his head thoughtfully, "You know...the manor has a pool and a jacuzzi inside."

"Oh my god! I totally forgot about that!" She suddenly turned to him.

"Will you come with me?" She asked hopefully.

Dick cleared his throat, the thought of just her and him...in bathing suits...in the hot tub. Yeah, he liked that idea a lot. But he was still hoping to go on patrol, he doubted Bruce would let him go alone but it was worth a shot.

"Okay, but I'll only be able to stay for a little while." He smiled at her.

She hummed happily before slipping into her room. Dick moved into his own and closed the door as he changed into his black swimming trunks. He pulled a different t-shirt on and grabbed his phone before meeting Zatanna outside their rooms.

She had a baggy t-shirt on and he assumed her bathing suit was underneath and her hair was up in a loose bun.

She grabbed his hand, "Okay, honestly, I forgot where it is."

He laughed, "Yeah it took me a while to get used to this place too."

"At least I'm not the only one." She laughed with him.

It didn't take them long to reach the indoor pool area and the hot tub and Zatanna grinned.

"I can't believe I forgot about this place." She told them as she let go of his hand and made her way to the jacuzzi. Dick walked over to the closet near the door and grabbed two towels and set them on some lounge chairs next to the hot tub.

He turned and saw that Zatanna was already easing into the water. She was looking down and not at him so he let his eyes wander. He was raised to be a perfect gentleman by both his parents and Alfred and Bruce...but he was also a teenager. She was wearing a tan triangle bikini with high waisted bottoms. She looked good, she always did.

Dick looked away before she could notice him staring and took his shirt off before lowering himself slowly into the water. It was pretty hot but not too bad. Whenever Bruce and Selina used it they would always make it hotter and he hated it.

When Dick finally sat all the way down Zatanna edged closer to him and leaned her head back onto the edge of the hot tub.

"What have you been up to for the last few days?" He asked her politely, trying not to freak out about her being this close. He kind of wanted to wrap and arm around her but he wasn't sure how she would feel about that given their current clothes situation.

"Mmm, good actually. Selina came over one of the nights and we trained some more. Artemis and I hung out at the cave. I got to practice more with magic, I'm starting to get the hang of some of the more difficult spells. And Alfred was as accommodating as always." She answered.

Dick propped his elbows on the edge of the pool and leaned his head back, "Good, I was worried you would be bored."

She laughed, "No, there's a lot to do around here."

"Well, good." He said kindly.

"What about you?" She scooted a little closer to him and turned her face toward him.

"Well, Miss M, Connor, Wally, and I went to Quarac. The president was being controlled and forced to do Queen B's will." He saw her nodd out of the corner of his eye, someone must have told her about it already.

"You got to lead right?" She asked and he nodded.

She nudged him side with her hand playfully, "That's cool! I mean you're the youngest but still second in command!"

He let out a half-hearted laugh and hoped she didn't notice.

"Yeah. Well, we stopped at an animal sanctuary on the Quarac border to help out a little family that was about to be hurt and we ended up getting caught up there for the rest of the night and most of the following day. The kid was hurt and Meg had to save him with a blood transfusion." He glanced at her and she looked sympathetic but nodded.

"Then we went and saved the president and Meg fought Simon." He finished with a small smile.

"Well, sounds like you did a good job." She grinned at him and he couldn't help but smile back. A real smile. She was too pretty to not smile at.

She moved closer and ducked under his arm so that she could lean on him. Dick smiled even wider at her and they both laughed.

"Oh my gosh!" Dick suddenly exclaimed, "I forgot to tell you about 'Hello Megan'!"

She laughed, "What are you talking about?"
He hurried to explain everything that they had found out about the martian on the Marie Logan farm, including Megan's obsession with her.

"Wow... I had no idea."

"Yeah we didn't either until then. Not even Conner knew!" Dick explained

"Kinda weird though." Zatanna laughed just a bit.

Dick laughed with her, "Maybe a little."

They continued to talk and laugh together for a while.


She hoped he wasn't leaving too soon. She had honestly missed him while he was gone. Not in an overwhelming or weird way. But the manor had just been a lot quieter and less alive while he was gone. She could tell that she wasn't the only one that could feel it too.

Zatanna continued to lean on him as he talked, she had also found that she loved it when he held her. There was just something about him, it was an indefinable quality but it made her feel safe and comforted. Plus, he was always warm and he always smelled good, not to mention his perfect body. She could feel his abs as she leaned on him and she definitely wasn't complaining. Okay...maybe she needed to calm down a bit.

Dick moved his arm off of the edge of the pool and draped it around her as she thought that and she smiled. Well...on second thought...maybe he was feeling it too. She turned her head to smirk at him but he was already smirking at her. She raised an eyebrow at him and he tilted his head.

"What?" He asked softly.

"Oh...I was just thinking about how I maybe...might have missed you." She tried to keep the laugh out of her voice.

"Weird," He was also trying to hide laughter, "I maybe...might have been thinking the same thing."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Prove it."

He didn't bother hiding a small laugh this time as he leaned down to kiss her.

It was another timid and soft kiss, but Zatanna wouldn't want to change that. That's how their relationship was. Whatever their relationship actually was.

He started to pull away and Zatanna placed her hand on his chest. She giggled a little when they broke apart and leaned on him again.

"Okay, so you missed me." Zatanna teased.

"I guess that proves you missed me too." He smirked.

"Oh that doesn't prove anything at all." She laughed and looked up at him.

He raised an eyebrow, "Really...I don't know Zee you seemed to really be enjoying yourself."

He smirked down at her and she sat up straighter. She lifted her hand off of his chest to rest it on his cheek, her finger tips ended just past his jaw and she hooked them before she pulled him forward. She felt his other hand brush her waist as she kissed him again.

When they broke apart again they rested their foreheads together and smiled at each other.

"Alright, that really proves it." Dick let out a shaky laugh.

"That was the idea." Zatanna nudged his side again while she grinned at him.

He just smiled and leaned his head back again, resting it back on the edge of the hot tub. Zatanna studied him appreciatively, he was really cute now but Selina was right, he was gonna be drop dead gorgeous when he got older.

She watched as Dick reached over for his phone and looked at the time. He sighed and she realized he probably needed to get out. Just then his phone rang, she got a glance at the caller ID and determined it was Bruce. She briefly wondered what time it was over there as Dick answered. She listened to the one sided call as she leaned on Dick.

"Hey."

"I'm hanging out with Zatanna."

There was a pause and she raised an eyebrow at the faint blush that appeared on his face. He cleared his throat loudly at his mentor on the phone. And then he fell silent while continuing to listen.

"Yeah, everyone is fine. Mission debrief was given by BC and we filled out our reports."

There was a longer pause this time.

"Why?"

She noticed Dick tense a little bit and looked up to his face. He kept it carefully neutral.

"Fine. Is Selina going out tonight?"

She slipped her arm around him absentmindedly as he talked.

"I'll be careful, Bruce. Please?" He was smiling a little bit now when she glanced up again.

"Thanks. Yes, I'll report anything out of the ordinary."

One last pause then, "Okay, bye. See you tomorrow."

She watched him end the call.

"I guess you're going on patrol then?" She asked him.

He nodded down at her, "Yeah, Selina will be here soon and I'll go out with her."

"Mmm." Zatanna hummed and rested her head on him again.

He laughed, "That means I gotta get out, Zee."

Zatanna sighed and sat up to plant a kiss on his cheek before letting go of him and slipping out of the water.

She smirked when she noticed him staring at her, but she didn't say anything. After all she eyed him the same way when he stepped out next to her.

They wrapped themselves in towels and took a minute to dry off before grabbing their clothes. They walked up the stairs together like usual. When they reached their rooms Dick stopped her and tugged on her wrist till she was pressed against him. She hugged him back easily.

"Be safe." She sighed.

"Yes ma'am." He answered her.

He let go of her and smiled before disappearing into his room. She sighed once again before slipping into hers.


Dick finished drying off then sighed in annoyance when he realized he would just have to change again when he got to the cave. At least he would get to see Selina, he didn't get to see her as much as he was used to. When she was at the manor she was usually either with Bruce doing...whatever it is they do, or she was training Zatanna. And Dick was a lot busier than he used to be between school, the team, training, and patrols. He was glad he was getting some one on one time with the woman he thought of as his second mother.

He smiled to himself, he was glad he had gotten someone on one time with his favorite magician too. He hadn't really been expecting that little hangout to take that kind of turn, but he was happy about it. Their relationship had been pretty much full of flirting like that, but they hadn't actually kissed since the night in the theatre.

Thinking about her had him beaming as he walked out of the batcave's training room fully dressed in his Robin uniform. He didn't even notice when a certain feline suddenly appeared at his side.

"Kitten, I think you're a little love struck."

Robin whipped to the side to find a smirking Catwoman leaning on her bike.

Robin ran a hand through his hair, "No, I'm not."
The woman laughed, "Bruce and Alfred mentioned you two have been spending a lot of time together."

Dick rolled his eyes through his mask but he couldn't completely dispel his grin, "Well, we do live together. It's kinda hard to not spend time with her." He told her smartly.

"Mmhm." Catwoman smiled at him.

Robin mounted his own bike, "Can we just go?"

Catwoman slid onto hers and looked over at him, "If you ever want to talk about it or need advice or anything you know I'm always here."

"I know, Selina. Thank you." He told her sincerely and she nodded.

They raced out of the cave together, after all they had a job to do.

It was a pretty easy night. They stopped a few muggers and a low level ATM heist. The Batsignal never lit up so there was no need to go see Gordon. Patrol with Catwoman was always fun, she didn't mind talking as they worked. She would even quip at the bad guys with him. And at the end they stopped by an all night diner and got a milkshake each. Now they were perched at the top of a parking garage in Reatton.

"Something's bothering you." Catwoman said after a sip of her drink.

Robin just shrugged. She was right, he was still a bit bothered by his turn as leader. He kept wondering how many ways he could have done things differently that would have kept Garfield from getting hurt. But he also knew that this was the sort of thing that comes with the job.

"Batman told me you were leading that last mission." Catwoman started, she knew him well enough to know that he would clam up and not tell anyone if he waited too long.

He sighed, "Yeah, and I don't really like the idea of having to lead anymore."

"Why's that?"

He shrugged again, "Because it's my plan and my orders. If something goes wrong that I put into play then it becomes my fault. And in some cases it becomes a reflection of me. I mean if I do a bad job then so does everyone else. I don't want to let anyone down and I don't want to be the reason people get hurt."

He ran a hand through his hair, " And I know that it's just part of the job, but I don't want to be the one that calls the shots. And I've had leaguers telling me since I was little that I'm going to do great with the league. It's not that I don't want to, but I just don't know if I can be what they expect me to be. I don't know if I can be someone that gives the orders and lives knowing that whatever happens, happens because of them."

Catwoman was silent for a moment and Robin hoped she didn't think any less of him.

"Kitten, I know you've been doing this for a long time. Longer than some of the league members in fact, but that doesn't mean you can't be a kid. You have a lot of responsibilities and you will unless you decide you don't want this anymore. No one would fault you for that by the way. But they only say that and trust you to lead because they know you are capable of making the right choices."

She wrapped an arm around him, "And leading a team, or even leading the whole league, doesn't make you responsible for every little thing that goes wrong. You give the orders to your best ability and they follow them to the best of theirs. But it doesn't mean you can see everything coming and it doesn't mean that nothing is going to go wrong. Part of being a leader is preparing for things to go wrong and doing your best to make sure they don't happen again."

He sighed and nodded, "Thanks Catwoman."

Dick felt her squeeze him a little tighter, "Anytime."

With that they headed down to their bikes and took off toward the cave. Robin only had a few hours before school.

The point of this chapter is just to kind of show how their relationship is developing. They flirt with each other and kiss and they are happy to be around each other. But, on the other hand, they still don't tell each other what's really important just yet. And it shows a little bit of what they're struggling with.