The metal clamped on a lock of her hair, slowly running down, straightening the dark hair as it went. She was almost done when her phone started ringing. Holding the straightener in one hand, she picked up her mobile and answered.

"Hold on a moment," she instructed, putting the phone back down on the basin. She finished straightening her hair before looking at the ID of the person who called. "Hey, Wally."

"Hey," greeted her friend's voice from the device. "What was that about?"

"I needed two hands," explained Riley, turning off the straightener and walking out of the bathroom and to her dresser. "So, how much have you been missing me?"

"Heaps," assured the red head. "The missions aren't quite as fun without you, especially with the new girl."

"Be nice," Riley scolded, pulling underwear out of her top draw before bumping it closed with her hip.

"Rob, Speedy, or Red Arrow or whatever his going as, may feel like he doesn't have a place in the team." Wally's voice faltered towards the end of his statement making it apparent how much Roy leaving hurt him. "I k ow I'd feel the same way if a new speedster joined."

Riley dropped her garments onto the bed and put a hand on her hip, sighing deeply. "Wally, Roy knows we care about him and the two of us have made it clear that we want him on the team, even if that means dropping Artemis. And, Dude, you know you're irreplacable."

"Thanks, Rob," muttered the boy.

He paused for a moment making Riley roll her eyes and drop her towel, starting to put on her underwear whilst waiting for Wally to talk. She had a funny feeling he was hunting for food. He tended to forget to talk when he was looking for sustanance. It was when Riley was trying to put on her bra whilst still holding her phone to her ear with her shoulder that Wally started talking.

"I met a pretty cool guy today."

Riley put one bra strap on before changing the ear that the phone was on and put the other strap on before clasping it at the back. "Who is he?"

"Kent Nelson... What are you doing?" Wally asked in confused voice, obviously hearing the strained noises Riley made as she tried to get dressed whilst still listening to him on the phone.

"Getting dressed," Riley explained, looking for a shirt. "Kent Nelson? Isn't that Doctor Fate?"

"Yeah, he's now in the helmet though," Wally sighed sadly. "Wait, was I talking to you naked?"

"Me naked or you naked?"

"You naked." Wally gave a short laugh. "Kaldur just gave me the weirdest look."

"Yes, and anyway, back to Doctor Fate!" Riley interrupted with a chuckle, wanting to steer the conversation to the topic that had peaked her interest.

Wally jumped into a telling of the mission from when he started hitting on M'gann that day to when he finished the day by yet again hitting on M'gann. By the end of it Riley had a few things to say and had neglected to finish getting dressed and instead was sitting on her bed.

"I can't believe I missed that! Dude, you doct-out! That is awesome. and Nelson seems really great but, Dude, you need to stop lying to M'gann. If you really do like her then you should be honest, otherwise she may just fall for the guy you're pretending to be." Riley grabbed her shirt, starting to put it on.

"See, this is what I tried to explain to Nelson. He told me to find a Spitfire, someone who wouldn't let me get away with anything. He meant Artemis but even if I could put up with her, she doesn't let me get away with anything. You let me get away with the things that don't affect anyone, I don't need to find a Spitfire, and I don't substigate M'gann to what she subjected Superboy to."

"That is true." Riley tried one last time to zip up her shirt before sighing. "Wally I have to put the phone down for a minute." The moment her hands were free it was much easier to get the top done up so that its light blue material sat comfortably on her torso. "Alright, I have about five more minutes to talk before I have to go but I'll be hunting for a skirt."

"What are you getting ready for? Lunch with your dad?"

"No," Riley said slowly, worried how Wally would react. He could be more over protective then her father at times. "I'm having lunch with a friend."

"Male friend or a female friend?" Wally asked in a stern voice.

"Wow, a question my dad didn't ask," Riley joked as she pulled on a knee length white skirt. When she only received silence, she knew that it wasn't going to work. "It's a boy."

"So a date?" Wally's voice took on a deep quality that Riley wasn't used to. It called for answers, and had the air of authority.

Riley was stunned into muteness by the way her friend reacted but when Wally snapped her name, she squeaked out a reply. "Yes." She then continued to rush out an explanation, "he's nice, a year older than me, in the same math class. His actually really good at math! And we're going to the best burger place in Gotham, better then the place you took me to in Central City. I'll pick you up one the next time I'm heading to the mountains. Extra pickles, right?"

"Rob," Wally started slowly. "If you get into any trouble, call me and I'll be there is minutes! I'm serious! If he tries anything, or you just get sick of the date, call me."

"I promise." Riley looked at the clock beside her only to give a slight jump of surprise. "I've got to go. I'll call you later, and I want to see that helmet! See ya."

"Talk to you later."

Riley hung up, slipped on her shoes, grabbed her bag and ran from the room. Alfred had already agreed to drive her to the café, and was not planning to tell her father about who it was she was having lunch with. The whole drive there Alfred was humming to himself, in a way that seemed completely innocent but Riley knew he was teasing her by the fact that every third note was then turned to a tune resembling the wedding tune. Even though she knew it wouldn't work, she gave Alfred the bat-glare. He simply smiled back at her.

She got out of the car with a quick goodbye and walked into the café, spotting Ashton sitting in a booth. Walking over, she watched as he noticed her and waved with a smile. Riley returned the silent greeting before sliding into the booth, sitting across from the boy.

"I still can't believe you said yes," Ashton exclaimed after a few moments of silence.

"Why wouldn't I say yes?" Riley played with the corner of her menu.

"Well," Ashton took a breath. "You never seem to pay much attention to me, and there are a fair few people who would want to go out with Bruce Wayne's daughter."

Riley felt a sickening swirl go through her stomach. She knew there were plenty of people who wanted to use her. "Are you like them?" She raised her blue eyes to his green, making sure she appeared to be an insecure teenager instead of a human lie detector.

"No, I don't care that you're a Wayne," assured Ashton. "You're a Grayson anyway."

Once assuring herself that he was telling the truth, she smiled, relaxing enough to get to know Ashton better. He seemed like a decent person to Riley. Deciding to see how the date would go, she opened her menu and started scanning over its contents. When the waiter came over, Riley ordered, not bothering to look at the price, or worry about what Ashton would think of her for actually eating more than a salad. Spending so much time with Wally made her not care. It wasn't like she wouldn't work it off later in training.

Ashton gave her an unusual smile once he had finished ordering his own. "Do you always eat like that?"

"Pretty much," Riley answered with a bob of her head. "Except when my friend and I order food, I always get double. He's always still hungry after he eats his, so I order double for him."

Ashton's smile turned into one of amusement, though Riley could tell there was more behind it. "Sounds like you do that a lot."

"A bit," agreed the girl, "we've known each other for four to five years." Riley politely thanked the waitress who put their drinks on the table, happy for a chance to change the topic, since Wally seemed like an inappropriate one.

"So," Ashton started as Riley took a sip of her lemonade. "I know you like math, but what else do you like?"

"Video games." Her reply seemed to peak her date's interest. "Computers, tech really."

"You used to be an acrobat. Aren't you into that anymore?"

Riley gave an awkward smile and looked away, out the window. "I retired!"

"Why? From what I've heard, you were good at it."

The girl had thought her tone had had a sense of finality to it, making it clear that said topic was off limits, but Ashton seemed to not have heard it. "It's not so fun to be 'the Flying Graysons' when you're the only Grayson."

Ashton smiled and nodded, as though he understood. "Do you ever think you'll go back to the circus?"

It was her training as Robin that stopped the pain from flickering across her features. "I don't know. I've never thought about it." She looked over towards the kitchen, being glad to see that their food was about to arrive. "Can we change the topic?"

"Of course." Ashton gave a start. "I should have thought, sorry. What kind of movies do you like?"

A large smile spread across her face as the safe question. From there, it didn't take long for them to discover that they had similar tastes in movies, though not in music and only a handful of their video games overlapped, but they were able to offer some suggestions of games to play. They sat in the small restaurant for two hours before Riley saw the Wayne car pull up outside.

"I have to go," she announced, grabbing her bag, and pulling money out of her purse and put it on the table to pay for her lunch.

"Do you think your adoptive father will let you come on another date?" Ashton asked hopefully, watching as the dark haired girl slid out from her side of the booth.

Riley thought for a moment before smirking. "I could probably talk him into it. I'll see you at school."

They said their goodbyes before Riley made her way outside, getting into the passenger seat of the dark tinted car. It didn't surprise her as much as her father had hoped when she saw that he was the one driving.

"This isn't the Batmobile," she reminded calmly, doing up her seat belt. "You can't speed."

"Did you have fun on your date?" Bruce asked in an even voice.

Riley looked at the side of Bruce's head, wanting to gage his reaction to her next statement. "I did, actually. He asked me out again, and I'm gonna say yes."

No matter how much he had trained himself to school his expressions, he wasn't able to hide the way that his eyes widened in shock before narrowing in displeasure. "If he does one thing I deem inappropriate, he'll have many things to fear."

"Yeah, you and Wally!" Riley rolled her eyes. "I won't let him do anything but it is comforting to know you both have my back."

"Wally doesn't know who you are though," stated Bruce, glancing at her suspiciously.

"He doesn't need to know. I think he was planning to talk you into teaming up with him if he thought something was wrong." Her father seemed to find it believable, since it did sound like something Wally would do. "That reminds me, I have to call him so that he doesn't think Ashton performed a virgin sacrifice or something."

"I'm glad to hear that," Bruce muttered to himself.

Riley frowned, not know how Wally's paranoia was a comfort to her father. She pushed it to the back of her mind, since it didn't really affect her. Once she got home, she called Wally, sitting on her bed, listening to it ring. It hadn't even rang twice before Wally's voice sounded through the speaker.

"What happened?"

This straight to the point question made her laugh. "We ate lunch and talked. Take a breath, Wally. I'm fine. You are honestly worse than dad some times."

Wally was silent for a minute, making Riley worry, since speedsters couldn't sit still or stay quiet for too long. "Did you have fun?" he finally said.

"Yeah, and I'm going to go on another date with him."

"Bet Batman's happy about that!" chuckled Wally.

"I have a funny feeling that he will stalk me on my next date but on the plus for you, I'll be back doing missions with you tonight. Dad told me on the way home. I'm just going to have a shower first and then I'll be over soon. Don't forget you have to show me that helmet."

"Just don't put it on. I don't want to lose you."

After her shower, where she washed off her make-up and allowed her hair to turn back into its usual messy self, she went down to the cave to get changed into her uniform. Her father was sitting at the Cave main computer when she finished getting ready. She stood silently behind him, knowing Batman knew she was there.

Finally, he spoke up, not taking his eyes off the computer or halting his typing. "You will be working with the team for at least the next two weeks. After returning home from school, I expect you to finish your homework then go to the cave. You will either be on missions or training. Return here either in the morning to get ready for school or once you've finished your duties for the night. You won't be patrolling with me."

Robin was taken by surprise at Batman's blatant words "Will do," she agreed, using a strong voice. Once her father stood, she followed him through the Zetatubes to the mountain where they were to find out what mission they had.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sleep ended too soon and morning came too early. She was used to functioning on little sleep, but usually, when she finally did get to go to bed for a certain amount of hours, she fell asleep instantly but lately, that had not been the case. The most annoying part of the problem, though, was that she knew what was causing her insomnia.

She had barely seen Batman since her date with Ashton. On the nights that she dragged herself through the Zetatubes to the Batcave, and then up to her room in the Wayne Manor, he was on patrol, and whenever she returned in the morning instead, he was at work or asleep. When she returned home from school, it was a similar story; he was at work, or at the League Headquarters.

Whenever Alfred answered her question of where was her father, he always gave her a sympathetic look. He seemed to know what Robin was feeling, which wouldn't surprise her. He seemed to know everything about her and Batman.

With a tired moan, Robin tried to make her way from her room to the kitchen where she knew M'gann was cooking breakfast. It was made difficult by the fact that she couldn't keep her eyes open for longer than a second. It was as though her brain had wired her eyes so that they believed blinking was opening one's eyes for a moment, instead of closing them.

She heard a grumbling sound that, after a moment's thought, she realized was a chuckle, before arms engulfed her. Letting her head fall back, she rested against the solid form behind her. It was warm, like her blankets, and smelt like clothing fresh from the dryer and popcorn. She turned around in the embrace, cuddling into the form, enjoying the warmth it gave off.

Another chuckle rumbled the form, making Robin frown. "Stop moving," she pouted.

"You tired?" Wally asked, positioning Robin so he could lead her into the kitchen without letting go of her. When he received a nod, he went on, "Why? I would have thought you've dealt with longer hours before."

"Dad hasn't been talking to me," Robin admitted, her eyes still closed. "I don't know if he has actually been that busy, or if he's avoiding me, or he just hasn't realized because he tends to keep an eye on me."

Wally sat Robin down in one of the dining chairs before sitting next to her, touching her hand that her charm bracelet was on. "I bet it's either the first or the last. You know your dad cares about you."

Robin nodded, knowing Wally was telling the truth. Breakfast helped her gain some energy, which she was hoping would be enough to get her through the day. Her school day wouldn't have any difficulties unless there was something unrelated to school, or a sudden test.

As it was, there was something not on her schedule that appeared within her school day. She had yet to get back to Ashton about a second date, something he wanted to fix at that point. Riley was sitting in the library with Barbara, her head down on the table. Her friend had walked off to find a book for the homework subject she was doing. Luckily for Riley, she herself had already finished.

She had fallen asleep at some point, her head aching from its need for rest. It failed to gain any, however, for someone started shaking her shoulder. With a whine, she turned her head and opened her eyes, meeting green. "Hey, Wally," she muttered, closing her eyes again.

"Who's Wally?"

Frowning, Riley lifted her head and searched the person's face before her. Their green eyes were much like Wally's but without the constant mirth and where not coupled with deep red hair but brown, loose curls. "Ashton, sorry, you and my friend have the same colour green eyes. Can't believe I didn't realize that before."

Ashton smiled, sitting down in Barbara's vacant seat. "That's alright, I'm sure I'm better looking," he joked. "So, uh, I was wondering if you," he rolled his eyes as a means of keeping doubt out of them before sighing and admitting his insecurities, "if you actually wanted to go out with me again."

"Yeah, I had fun," Riley assured, trying to stifle the yawn that was begging to come out. "I've just been busy and I don't know if dad likes that me dating. He's been acting a little weird."

"So?" Ashton asked in confusion. "Does it matter? He's just your guardian and I'm not going to hurt you."

"He's not just my guardian, he's my dad, and he usually has a great reason for what he does," explained the dark haired girl. "I just need to talk to him first."

Ashton seemed to contemplate this before nodding. "Fair enough. I see your friend coming back, so I'll let you get back to sleep and she can have her seat back."

Riley gratefully dropped her head back onto the table, her arms providing a pillow. She was hoping she could talk to her father when she got home, since she had no homework left, but instead she ended up falling asleep for an hour before Alfred woke her so she could go to the mountain where Batman was assigning them a mission. Her father's words were quick and Robin couldn't tell if he even glanced at her under his cowl.

As much as it plagued her mind, she knew she had to push it away for the sake of the mission. They went to the Gotham City, to one of its numerous warehouses that illegal deals and trades took place and insects lived.

"You would think the Mayor of Gotham would get rid of all these warehouses," Kid flash mused through the telepathic link.

"Yes, but where would all the villains go?" Robin replied with a smirk. "They're like rats. Destroy their dwelling and they will find another."

"She has a point," agreed Superboy.

As Kid Flash nodded, something Robin could see since he was standing next to her, Aqualad spoke up in their minds. "Robin, Kid Flash, enter from the back and survey the layout of the room. I want to know if there are any dangers besides out target. Superboy, I want you to track down the target's location with your super hearing, when we go in, come in from the back. Don't lose him. M'gann, you are with me. Once we get the information from Robin, Kid Flash and Superboy we'll enter from the front and take down the target. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Robin said, jumping on Kid Flash's back so he could quickly run them inside. "Can we stop calling the guy a target? It sounds like we're planning to assassinate him."

Kid Flash laughed as Aqualad grumbled. "What do you want me to call him?"

They had entered the warehouse, allowing Robin to look around. In one corner was the 'person', for lack of better words, was smashing boxes and machinery. The moment she laid eyes on him she thought of a name they could use.

"Ew, how about Mud-Monster."

"Robin," M'gann scolded in a kind voice.

"What," Robin defended herself. "He looked like he was caught in a mud slide and now his face is melting off of him."

"Ew," M'gann agreed.

Since the warehouse wasn't that big, it didn't take long for Robin to describe the layout and since they could easily see the big Mud-Monster, Superboy didn't need to use his super hearing. The three others rushed in, which Robin thought was stupid, since the taking by surprise strategy was always the best with stronger foes.

Everything happened so fast. Robin and Kid Flash tried to join the fight, but it seemed to be one sided, the Mud-Monster's side winning. Superboy, who kept charging the enemy, was the first, landing painfully on the ground.

Aqualad gave confusion instructions, telling Kid Flash to try and come at the guy from behind with Robin playing distraction from the front. It didn't end the way Aqualad was hoping. The Mud-Monster seemed to predict what they were doing and ignored the bird-a-rangs that became lodged in its chest and instead turned, swiping at Kid Flash, whose feet were stuck to the ground by some of the mud that had fallen from their enemy.

Robin's eyes widened in shock when she heard the sickening thud mixed with a mild squelch as her best friend landed. His eyes were closed but his chest were still rising and falling, giving her comfort. She shot a glance at Aqualad, who hesitated. Figuring that their leader was stumped, she rushed forward, bird-bombs at the ready, only for Aqualad to charge in front of her, not realizing what she was doing.

She skidded to a halt only to see M'gann's leg be grabbed by a hand coated in a thick quantity of mud. The Martian was thrown to the ground next to their two team mates. It was only then that Robin thought of something. Batman had told them that this monster appeared after radio activity at the swamp at the rim of Gotham. That meant that there was a high chance that this thing was completely made of mud, which meant that if she electrocuted it or blew it up, they would be done and could get their friends out. The only problem was that Aqualad had started swinging his water swords, making it hard for Robin to get close enough and with M'gann unconscious they couldn't communicate with thought.

"Aqualad," she called, trying to get at the Mud-Monster He didn't hear her though, meaning she couldn't set her plan into motion with him so close. "Aqualad, I have an idea." Again no response as she ducked a punch from the monster, then jumped high, trying to land a kick to its face. Instead, she received a punch to the stomach, making her fall. She didn't hit the ground straight away, but was kicked first, making her fly across the room. Pain shot through her body before black dots appeared in her vision. Her eyes closed.

"Robin, sweetheart, wake up," a soft voice whispered as the top half of her body was lifted off of the ground.

Opening her eyes, she waited for her vision to clear before responding to the person holding her. "Daddy?"

"Yeah," he said before looking over at Superboy who made a pained noise. He lowered Robin to the ground again and checked on the clone.

Robin tried to repress the pain she felt that had nothing to do with the fight and instead turned to Kid Flash, who was still unconscious. It took a few shakes but finally he started mumbling.

"Do you have food?"

"No," chuckled Robin, helping him up as Aqualad finally got M'gann to wake up.

They made their way back to the mountain under Batman's guidance. The moment they had stepped out of the zetatubes, Batman turned. "I need to talk to Aqualad. The rest of you, hit the shows and head home."

"I am home," grumbled Superboy.

Robin lingered behind Aqualad, figuring her father wouldn't mind her hearing, and that way they could go home.

"Just Aqualad," Batman added in the same, cold voice.

She tried to hide the frown that wanted to appear on her face. Instead she walked off to her room, stripping off her costume and jumping into the shower. She showered quickly and got dressed in civilian clothes, her sunglasses in place.

Batman was waiting for her by the zetatubes but she didn't stop, simply walking straight through. She heard her father appear in the cave as she made her way out of it. She instantly went to her room, changed into gym pants, a sports bra and a tank top. After that, she went to the gym room, working on her acrobatic tricks. She practiced on the rings until sweat poured down her face. Riley flipped, letting go of the rings only to catch them and hold herself upside down. Her arms burned painfully, but she worked through it, bringing herself down so her arms were out to the sides, straight.

"Just Aqualad," she growled, remembering the voice her father used as she ignored the tickle of the sweat as it ran down the side of her face. She lifted herself up, her feet pointed before flipping herself again, letting go of the rings. There had been too much force behind her release, making her fly away from the rings. She landed on another piece of equipment but couldn't balance herself and stumbled away until she slammed into the wall. Anger boiled inside of her, making her turn and punch the wall, leaving a deep dint. She stalked over to where she left her bottle of cold water.

It's tempreture felt pleasant against her forhead as she took a seat, but it did little for the doubts and fury raging inside of her. Her father ignored her for a week then used that voice on her. "What the hell did I do to deserve that?" she growled, opening her water.

The door opened and someone cleared their throat, drawing her attention. "Master Bruce wishes to see you," Alfred said with a blank face.

Riley contemplated ignoring him, but decided against it, knowing Batman would just hate her more. Instead she got up and followed Alfred in silence. He led her to the door leading to the backyard, opening it for her. Instantly a basketball was bounced into her hands. "What's this?" she snapped.

"Training," Bruce explained in a voice barely hiding his humour. "Hand-eye co-ordination."

"One on one?" she asked hopefully.

"If you can handle it," joked her father with a smile.

Riley bounced it passed him with a laugh, following after it. Bruce tried to take it from her, only for her to shot the ball through the hoop. Unfortunately, Bruce caught it once it fell through, allowing him to dribble it to half court. By the end of their match, it was 8-12 with Bruce winning.

"Cheat," teased Riley, passing the ball to her dad.

Her father chuckled before starring off at the garden, his face contemplative. "So, this boy," Bruce started, turning his gaze onto Riley. "How do you know him?"

"Ashton? He's in my math class."

"So his a year older then you." Bruce paused. "Is he any good at math?"

"Top five of our class," assured Riley, before figuring she should defend Ashton further. "He tutors kids at Gotham public, and his grades have never slipped below a C besides the year his uncle died. I checked."

Bruce took a deep breath, making Riley realize that he was about to make rules for her to obey. "If your grades slip, you are both in trouble, if he finds out about you being Robin, you are in trouble, and if Wally has to stop worrying about virgin sacrifices, he is dead and you are grounded for the rest of your life."

Riley frowned, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "You want Wally to worry that Ashton is going to kill me? Is that so if I break the first two rules you can have an accomplice in hiding the body?"

The innocent, confused look on the girl's face made Bruce know that the last rule was unnecessary. No matter the amount of horrific things she saw as Robin, or simply from living in Gotham, she was still innocent when it came to a particular topic. Something the fearsome hero was thankful for.

He smiled and drew her close to him, giving her a one armed hug. "I'm so thankful you're my daughter."

Riley's face broke out with a dazzling smile. "Thanks, Daddy." Her smile dropped for a moment as she thought of the voice he used earlier. It was his Batman voice! The one he used on everyone but her. It was a cold, distant and calculating voice that fearful shivers down everyone's spines when they heard it. He had never, ever, used it on her before and she couldn't work out what she had done to deserve it, but she also did not want to be told. So she kept quiet and put on a cheerful face, convincing herself it was a onetime thing.

Yet another chapter already. I'm rather proud of myself. I'm also hoping to have a chapter of 'Still Friends?' finished soon. Sorry to the reviewers who are dying to see Wally become jealous because unfortunately, I'm taking this particular plot point in another direction, but that does not mean that there isn't going to be some juicy Ashton- Wally conflict. Though I could be just teasing you all. I am evil after all. My friends have theorized at least ones that I am secretly a Gotham villain but then they remember that Batman has never been taken down or had a villain fan girl ask for Robin's autograph. R and R please.