When Dick was done with his afternoon shift in the kitchen he headed to one of the small rooms that was used for private tutoring sessions. He had been a bit surprised that Bruce and Martha had asked to meet with him there instead of just dropping in on him in his room like they had done when they needed to check in before. Well, it had mostly been Bruce. Maybe Martha thought it would be more polite to make a formal appointment.

Martha looked like she had come straight from work. She was wearing a neat blue blouse and had a folder of papers placed in front of her. Bruce was wearing what Dick had learned to recognize as his casual clothes, which basically was a t-shirt over scrub trousers.

"Dick!" Bruce called out as soon as the door was closed. "You haven't tried to do anything crazy since I last saw you, right?"

"Not yet." Dick grinned at Bruce as he pulled out the chair on the other side of the table to sit down. It occurred to him that this set-up was almost like an interview. "It might be time soon though."

Bruce frowned. "Have they started causing trouble again?"

"Not for me. Those hackers they had tracking me down apparently left town. They don't really tolerate people leaving so now they're trying to go after them."

"That's not good…" Bruce reached out as if to pat Dick on the shoulder or ruffle his hair like he tended to do over the past few visits. And stopped, like he was suddenly unsure of himself. Which was a pity. But Dick caught himself and shook his head slightly.

"No but they're good at what they do and they've already made it out of Gotham. They'll be able to hide for a while. What this means is that the Owls currently aren't focusing on finding me which gives me space to act."

"Are you seriously planning to go back out there, again? You've just finished healing up!" Bruce leaned forward, looking alarmed.

"Someone needs to do something and now, while they're distracted, is the perfect time to do it!" Dick's voice grew more pressured as he laid out his reasons. It was nice of Bruce to care, but did he have to care so much?

"Dick," Martha said calmly. "I understand you aren't going to back down from this but we want you to be safe while you do it."

"I know. And thank you both, again, for what you're setting up in the cave. It's going to be really helpful when they come after me again." It was a matter of if not when and DIck knew it, though he noticed that Bruce and Martha both frowned at that.

"We actually have a plan that should help stop them from being able to come after you again." Martha flipped open her folder. "The Owls get away with what they do because they operate in the shadows and nobody knows about them, correct?"

"Yes. And they have a vast amount of resources to continue funding their operations." They had been over this before and Dick wondered why Martha was bringing it up again.

"So if we don't want them to get involved in something it needs to be public. Something people will notice."

"It won't completely stop them but it would be a strong deterrent."

"And even if they are distracted right now, how high of a priority would you be to them?"

"Not high right now but...probably pretty high when they have the time to focus on me." They had been pretty dedicated to the whole idea of their Grey Son, their perfect talon. They were going to want him back.

Martha nodded. "So we have a plan. If you are more publicly visible it will be harder for the Owls to come after you."

"How is that a good plan? That would also allow them to know where I am. Even if I suddenly become famous no one in Gotham is going to care about me enough to raise a fuss if I go missing."

"We would."

"You're just one family."

"One family with a great deal of influence in the city. We always try to use that power for good and raising a fuss if something happens to a close friend of ours is a good cause."

"Even more so for a member of our family," Bruce added.

Dick frowned. "Your family?" What was going on here?

Martha sighed. "I was working towards that."

"Why would I be a part of your family?"

"It's simple," Bruce said. "I want to adopt you. If you're willing."

"Excuse me?!"

Bruce grimaced as if that was not what he meant to say, at least not yet. He seemed halfway surprised that something even came out of his mouth - let alone the rather sensitive topic they were about to bring up. That he had agreed to let his mum take the lead on for that matter.

"As I was explaining," Martha flipped open her folder, shooting her sheepish son a glance, "We think it would be beneficial for your protection to have you publicly connected to the Wayne family. Also, we like you and enjoy having you around."

"No." Dick stood up, in the process shoving his chair back hard enough that it banged into the wall. He glared at them in his best approximation of Tobias' piercing stare. "That is a terrible idea. They nearly killed Bruce, this is just giving them more reasons for them to go after you guys. No."

"From your own analysis of the situation, and considering your past experience with them I'd say you're an expert on them, you currently aren't their highest priority. And since they just messed up their attempt on Bruce they probably aren't going to want to try anything else very public so soon if they want to remain under the radar.

"The GCPD hasn't gotten any leads on the case and probably would have dismissed it as unsolvable by now if it weren't against someone as high profile as Bruce. You'd get the same kind of consideration from the authorities if the worst happened. And those are just the practical considerations.

"Anyway," Martha pulled out a case file from her dosset. "I'd say this is a pretty good way to get you back into the public eye. Maybe it's time for Richard John Grayson to come home." The picture of his 10-year-old self stared up at him, world-worn and weary. He remembered this picture being taken mere hours after his parents fell. He tensed.

"How do you know my full name? Where did you get that?" All of Dick's instincts told him to run the moment he heard the name Grayson. And for them to have gotten this kind of information...what had they been digging into?

"Because once, many years ago, we were looking to foster a child." Martha had projected an air of professionalism throughout their meeting but now her shoulders slumped. "We were there, that night, at the circus I mean. When your parents fell, we…" She paused.

"I guess what we're trying to say is that we looked at you and saw a world where that was, well, me." Bruce continued. "And that was a different situation. I would have still have had Alfred."

"Wait, you looked into me...back then?"

"Yes. We had almost got all the paperwork together when you went missing. Suddenly you were gone and no one would tell us what had happened. It would have been one thing if you had been released to a relative or moved to a different foster family but the way everyone else in CPS was dodging questions about you... We realised that something else was going on."

Martha breathed, collecting herself before plunging onwards.

"Obviously, we looked into it. Eventually we traced everything back to one woman, Margine Randall, the social worker in charge of your case. It wasn't the first time she had completely misplaced a child but it was the first time someone had been looking into fostering a child while she continued making rather… questionable decisions. We made sure she got thoroughly investigated by the New Jersey Child Protective Services and she no longer has a job."

"Not to mention several years of sentencing for what she has done." Bruce interjected grimly.

"Missing person cases were opened for you and the other missing children but nothing ever came up. Until you saved Bruce." Martha said.

Dick's mind was reeling. He didn't really remember Randall. Just a vague impression of a cold distant woman and running away, trying to orient himself in a large strange city. But it was overshadowed by his memories of the horrors of his early days in the Labyrinth.

At the time he had felt like he was alone in the world. His parents were dead, he had been taken away from his family in the circus. No one ever seemed to speak to him, just over him. But all that time there was a family who was trying to look out for him. Who wanted him.

And here they were, far too late. Dick sat back down and breathed.

"So how would this work? Dick Grayson reappears? And suddenly all's happy fun times? I don't think that'll work."

"Which is why we're going to stick as close as possible to the truth. You escaped a cult, who kidnapped you after you ran away from your mistreatment under Ms. Randall."

"None of this negates the danger of the Owls coming after me."

"We've been over that, Dick. The risk is probably less now than it would be otherwise. And…" Martha lowered her voice, "Alfred said this would be for the best."

"We aren't going to make you decide now," Bruce said. "But it is an option. You know what we want, to keep you safe and to hopefully give you a home. The rest is up to you and what you want."

"I'll think about it," Dick said. Deep down though, he already knew what he wanted. He wanted to be safe. He wanted to be home. But home disappeared alongside the crack of his parents' skulls against the sawdusted ground.

But now another home was being offered. And it came with a logical explanation as to why Dick Grayson could come home, from apparently, Alfred Pennyworth. Dick had the feeling, back then when he was in the Wayne's home, that Alfred definitely had something more to him. Something beyond the acting career and the graduation certificate from butler school of all things.

"I'm not saying yes. But I will consider it."

"That's alright," Martha said. She pushed one of her sheets of paper across the table to Dick. "We've already finished most of the paperwork so we can leave this with you. If you decide you want to come with us you can just finish your section of the form then come home." Martha stood up. "We've also just finished the final touches on the cave so we hope you'll come check that out soon."

As Martha left the room Bruce got up to follow her but paused to rest a hand on Dick's shoulder. "Even if you decide you don't want to be part of the family you will always be our close friend and welcome at our house."

Dick sat at the table for ten minutes, staring at the paper after the Waynes left. Then, decision made, he snatched up the paper and went to ask Tobias for a pen.