"Hm," mumbled Barbara as Dick rose out of bed, "Going already?"

"Not yet," said Dick, "I'm just getting some stretches done now that I'm all limber."

Barbara scoffed and rested her head on her hand as she watched Dick rise from the bed, take a few steps away, and bend over. She smiled at the sight of her naked, slender boyfriend bending over. The soft light of a streetlamp shone through Barbara's curtains across his body. It was nice having him visit Gotham. He had done so infrequently since joining the Titans, but things were a little different in Gotham now. As pleasant as Dick was to look at, Barbara knew she had to tell him the news before he went out.

"Hey Dick," said Barbara nervously, "There's, uh, something you should know."

"What's that?"

"Are you going out as Nightwing tonight?"

"Probably. What is it?"

"You should know that there's a new vigilante working with Batman."

"You're kidding," scoffed Dick, standing up straight and turning to Barbara, "What's their name?"

"...Robin."

Dick stared blankly back at Barbara. Barbara shrugged uncomfortably.

"He… replaced me," said Dick.

"Dick…" said Barbara, getting up and walking over, "It's not like that."

"I came up with Robin," said Dick, "That identity is mine."

"I guess Bruce thought differently."

"Yeah, no kidding."

Barbara reached out to Dick, but he instinctively pulled away. After a moment of consideration he walked over to his duffle bag and began digging through to get his Nightwing equipment out.

"It was one thing when he forbade me from being Robin," he muttered, "but to give that title to someone else…"

"Dick," said Barbara, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to have a chat with Bruce," he said, "Does he know I'm in town?"

"Probably."

"Right," sighed Dick, "If he still takes the same patrol route, I know where to find him."

"Are you sure you want to do this now?" asked Barbara.

"Yes," said Nightwing, putting on his mask.

Nightwing stood atop the gargoyle and looked down on the building below him. There was Batman, right on cue. He hadn't changed his Saturday night patrol route. Nightwing hooked his grappling gun to the gargoyle and began his repel down the side of the building, eventually swinging out and leaping down in front of Batman.

"...nice costume," said Batman dryly.

"Thanks," responded Nightwing in kind.

"I'm to call you Nightwing now?"

"You certainly didn't seem to want to call me 'Robin.'"

"Hm."

"Speaking of which, Batgirl mentioned your new sidekick."

"Did she?" frowned Batman.

"You don't seem surprised," noted Nightwing, "Did you know I was coming?"

"I guessed you would one of these nights," said Batman, "In fact, I was counting on it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Robin, now!"

Muscle memory was a powerful phenomenon. Just hearing Batman shout those words made Nightwing's body tense for action. There was a moment of hesitation when he realized Batman hadn't said that to him. Batman dove to the side and a blonde woman in Nightwing's old Robin costume charged him.

Nightwing was still making sense of what was happening when the new Robin tackled him, sending both of them flying off the side of the building. Nightwing still had his grappling gun in hand, so he fired it back up at the gargoyle and swung the two of them safely to the street below. The abrupt stop in their momentum knocked Robin off of him.

Nightwing looked over the woman's costume as she got to her feet. It was Dick's old one alright. Same red shirt, black cape, black boots, and green leggings with a yellow utility belt. Only this new wearer was shorter and had boobs and hips, so the shirt was notably tighter and the leggings bunched up at the butt and ankles. It couldn't have possibly been comfortable.

"So you're the new Robin," commented Nightwing.

"And I'm guessing you're the old one," she nodded.

"Is fighting me a part of your training?"

"Sure is."

"So that's how it is."

This was typical of Batman. Setting up a controlled scenario like this was a standard method of his training. Batman knew Nightwing wouldn't actually injure this new Robin, so it was a relatively known environment to test her abilities in.

Nightwing gritted his teeth at the implication of being used as a test. Batman always seemed to treat this kind of thing so distantly and abstractly, as if they weren't people with feelings. Now that Nightwing was no longer being forced to obey Batman, this pissed him off more than ever.

Robin went to throw a punch as Nightwing held up one hand to block it as he angrily rushed in for a counterattack. Only instead of following through on the punch, Robin suddenly shifted and delivered an uppercut to Nightwing's gut. He coughed as the wind rushed out of him before stumbling backward.

Robin charged at Nightwing. He held up both arms to defend himself only for Robin to dive past him instead. She landed in a handstand and laughed herself back with a double kick straight to Nightwing's butt, knocking him forward and onto his face.

Nightwing suppressed a growl he rolled over and hopped to his feet. This newcomer had more fighting experience than he would have guessed. He couldn't let himself be outdone by this new Robin.

Robin charged at Nightwing again, but he was swifter this time. He sidestepped the lunge and drew two batarangs in each hand. Robin was turning around to face him when he whipped all four at her. He had managed to catch her completely off guard, with the batarangs successfully pinning her to the building behind her by her shirt sleeves and leggings.

Nightwing sighed in relief and exasperation. He looked up to the roof and saw Batman staring down at him before turning away and seeming to disappear. As much as Nightwing had been angry about being used in a test, he realized he had actually done exactly what Batman wanted him to.

Frustrated and impatient, Nightwing fired his grappling gun and swung away. He didn't bother attempting to follow Batman. He had a better way to find the information he needed.

"Wait!" called out Robin, struggling as her clothes held her tightly to the wall, "Isn't someone going to get me down?!"

"Her name is Stephanie Brown," explained Alfred, pouring the steaming tea into the cup in Dick's hand, "I'm dreadfully sorry you two had such a contentious first encounter. I assure you, she is quite the responsible young woman."

"Alfred," said Bruce tonelessly as he entered the room.

Alfred rolled his eyes. He knew Bruce well enough to know what he was going to say already.

"For heaven's sake, Master Bruce," he sighed, "I believe Master Dick has a right to know the name of the woman living in his old bedroom."

"She's living in my bedroom?!" realized Dick, "What gives, Bruce!? You have an entire mansion of bedrooms!"

"It… was the only bedroom in the house already set up," he explained, "and you made it clear that you weren't using it."

Dick swallowed an angry response, took a deep breath, and carefully set his teacup down. Bruce was only reinforcing his decision to leave this all behind.

"How on Earth did you find her?" asked Dick, changing the subject, "I can't imagine it was easy to promote auditions."

"She was already an active vigilante in Gotham," explained Bruce, "She went by the name of Spoiler."

"So she already had a codename," pointed out Dick, "but you still decided to call her 'Robin?'"

Bruce didn't respond. He only broke eye contact.

"I think maybe it was a branding thing?" offered Alfred, hoping to diffuse some of the tension.

"Barbara, Stephanie," said Bruce suddenly, "Thank you for coming."

Dick turned and sure enough, Barbara and a blonde woman were standing at the entrance to the sitting room. The blonde was the new Robin out of costume. Dick hadn't heard the two of them walk in, but Bruce noticed them without even turning his head. Dick tightened his jaw at the reminder of their difference in skill level.

"Hello," waved Stephanie awkwardly, "You must be Dick. Nice to meet you!"

"Likewise," said Dick, "But we've already met. I'm Nightwing."

"Oh my gosh!" gasped Stephanie, "Crap! That makes so much sense! I can't believe I didn't- Wow."

Dick had his doubts about this one.

"What is it, Bruce?" asked Barbara impatiently, "You said it was important."

"Not important enough to tell me," scoffed Dick.

"It is important," confirmed Bruce, ignoring Dick, "The Cluemaster has escaped from prison."

The tension across the room tightened. Barbara sighed uncomfortably as Stephanie froze up, staring at her feet. Dick looked to Alfred for an explanation, but the butler simply looked as tense and distressed as the rest of them.

"When?" asked Stephanie suddenly.

"Hours ago," said Bruce.

"Someone want to fill me in?" asked Dick after another moment of uncomfortable silence.

"I'm afraid the Cluemaster," explained Alfred, "is Miss Stephanie's father."

Dick nodded in understanding. Now Bruce's choice in Stephanie actually made a little bit more sense. She wasn't just some vigilante, she had that good old parental baggage that Bruce was so fond of.

"Suit up," ordered Bruce, walking out of the room, "We're going after him."

"I'm coming," added Dick, standing up.

"Very well," conceded Bruce, not even turning back as he continued to walk.

Alfred and Stephanie walked out of the room after him.

"Dick…" said Barbara quietly.

"We can talk after we take care of this," said Dick, "You heard Bruce. Let's suit up."

Nightwing, Robin, and Batgirl all landed on the roof across from the suspected warehouse. Batman has split off from the rest, going to the other suspected warehouse. Based on what Batman had told them, Cluemaster was in one of them.

"I'll get a closer look," offered Batgirl, "You two wait here."

Nightwing remained crouched, watching the warehouse silently. Robin was crouched beside Nightwing, watching with equal vigilance. Several more minutes of this went by as they patiently waited for Batgirl. Thoughts swirled in both of their heads with thoughts of the other, but the tension rested on uneasy silence for some time. Then Robin started to shift around strangely. Nightwing looked over to see that her face was all scrunched up.

"Something wrong?" asked Nightwing.

"This is your old costume, right?"

"It is."

"Did you have any problems with ride up?"

"Um," muttered Nightwing uncomfortably, "Not really."

"So when you wore these tights," continued Robin, "They didn't grab your undies and drag them up to your throat by way of your butt every time you bent your knees?"

"...no."

Robin's eyes widened anxiously before she blushed and looked away. Apparently she had opened up just a bit wider than she had intended.

Nightwing's attention returned to the warehouse when he saw a flicker of light from the corner. That was Batgirl's signal. He turned to Robin. She nodded. Apparently she had been on the job long enough to recognize Batgirl's signal too. They both leapt across the way and climbed into the warehouse.

"Alright," whispered Nightwing, "What have we got?"

"It's weird," said Batgirl, "I did a quick sweep of the building and no one's here. Not in the main rooms at least."

"Any weapons?" asked Nightwing, "Vehicles? Stolen goods?"

Batgirl shook her head.

"Why hide in a warehouse if you're not going to make use of the space?" wondered Nightwing aloud.

"I wouldn't try to understand my father," added Robin quietly.

Nightwing and Batgirl both looked back to Robin for a second. Then they looked at each other. This wasn't a routine job for Robin. Dick and Barbara knew they'd do well to remember that.

"We'll find him," assured Batgirl.

All three repelled their way to the floor using their grappling guns. They slowly made their way through the empty warehouse, checking room by room for any sign of Cluemaster or his activities.

One of the side rooms was mostly empty, but contained an old and damaged metal bookcase. Nightwing approached it and looked at the books closely. Batgirl and Robin watched silently, unsure what he was up to.

"Hm," considered Nightwing, examining a particularly heavy book.

"No, wait!" called out Robin suddenly.

Nightwing opened the book and was immediately greeted with a stream of hot black liquid to his face. He cried out in shock as the sticky substance took hold, forming a thick layer of his face before slowly starting to harden. Nightwing grabbed at it and tried to pull it away, but only found his hands now stuck to his face. Mercifully, he was still able to breathe and his mask protected his eyes.

Batgirl rushed to Nightwing's side and tried to get a close look at the black substance. She quickly referred to the chemicals in her utility belt and pulled out one for such an occasion. Batgirl surmised that the substance was deadly once upon a time but only a nuisance now. She applied the anti-adhesive and helped Nightwing pull the gunk from his face. He shot Robin a dirty look for not warning him sooner.

"Sorry," she shrugged, "I didn't recognize the book at first, but he's used that one before."

"Why?" wondered Batgirl, "He's the Cluemaster, not the Joker."

"Right," nodded Robin, "So this is a clue, not a prank."

"What do you mean?" asked Nightwing.

"Here," offered Robin.

She walked past the two and approached the bookshelf herself. She grabbed either side of it and adjusted it a little, smiling in satisfaction when she realized that it was in fact attached to the wall behind it. With a little more shifting she managed to finagle the latch and slide the shelf to the side, opening a secret passageway.

Nightwing was impressed. He wouldn't have found that nearly as quickly on his own. He found himself smiling at the thought. Maybe there was something to this newbie after all.

"See?" smiled Robin proudly, walking through the newly opened doorway, "He's all about- WAH!"

She seemingly disappeared in front of them. Nightwing and Batgirl gasped as the walls released a burst of fog to hide the disappearance. Nightwing had just enough time to notice Robin falling downward into the fog, allowing him to correctly conclude the presence of a trap door. He ducked below the smoke and saw the opening in the floor. The same opening began to close.

Nightwing leaned forward and forced the trap door open, fighting against the mechanics trying to close it. Soon the smoke had faded and both Batgirl and Nightwing were looking down into the trap Robin had fallen into.

"Ouch," said Batgirl.

"You got that right," squeaked Robin, "Do you think you guys could let me out of here?"

Robin hadn't fallen far. The uneven shaft had countless bumps and edges. The back of Robin's utility belt had snagged onto one such edge, catching the tights along with it. The result was Robin's plummet being halted by a gravity-strength wedgie, leaving her helplessly hanging there.

"When you put it that way," mused Nightwing, "I guess that costume did sometimes have problems with ride up."

"Sooner rather than later please!" added Stephanie through gritted teeth.

Batgirl took out her grappling gun and clicked a switch on it. She held it over the opening and the cord slowly descended down the shaft before resting on the small of Robin's back as she hung there. Batgirl sucked her teeth. The opening was too narrow to lower the cord into Robin's hands. Then Batgirl had an idea.

"Sorry about this," she offered.

"Sorry about what-? YIPE!"

Batgirl pulled the trigger and the grappling hook was reeled back up at high speeds. Along the way, it hooked onto Robin's utility belt and lifted her out of her current wedgie and into another one that was speedily hoisting her out of the hole by her butt, bumping her along the walls as it did. Batgirl gave one last yank to pull Robin up and out of the hole, stepping back as the blonde sidekick collapsed onto the floor, grappling hook still securely hooked to her belt.

"That's… one way to do it," said Nightwing, releasing his grip on the trap door and letting it close.

Robin slowly got to her feet, unhooked the grappling hook from her belt, and began to subtly pull at the seat of her pants to undo the wedgie. Given that the pants were already too small and had just been violently forced up into deeper crevices, she wasn't having much luck.

"For Pete's sake!" she hissed in frustration.

"Make that quick," said Nightwing as he continued down the hall, "We must be close."

Robin rolled her eyes and shoved both hands down the back of her tights, manually removing her underpants. She blushed as she caught Batgirl snickering out of the corner of her eye.

Soon the trio found their way to another door. They all looked at one another. Batgirl and Nightwing both shifted their focus to Robin, who seemed a little nervous. After looking at the other two she steeled herself and nodded. They all assumed fighting stances as Nightwing delivered a powerful sidekick to the door, knocking it clear off its hinges.

"Batman!?" cried all three.

Batman said nothing. He was standing across from them on the far end of the room, staring back intensely. After a moment or two he approached them.

"What kind of trick is this!?" demanded Robin, "Where's my dad?"

"Safely behind bars," said Batman, "where he's been all night."

Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin all looked back at Batman in confusion. They looked to each other for answers. Then Nightwing's face hardened. He glared at Batman.

"So this was another one of your tests?" guessed Nightwing angrily.

"I needed to know how you three functioned in the field together," said Batman.

"And you didn't think to ask!?" yelled Nightwing, "Or have us go on a mission together knowingly!?"

"An effective test like this necessitates that the subjects be left in the dark." explained Batman, "If you had known I wanted you working together, I wouldn't have learned as much about how you interact."

Nightwing clenched his fist and readied a response. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled, letting his muscles loosen. There was no winning this argument. Nightwing turned around and left.

"...Nightwing?" said Robin.

"Robin," said Batman sternly, commanding the woman's complete attention, "return to the batcave. We have some more training to discuss. Batgirl, you're on patrol duty for the rest of the night."

Batgirl and Robin both nodded and left as well.

"I'm right about this!" shouted Dick angrily.

"I know you are," said Barbara calmly.

"I-!... Thanks," sighed Dick after a moment.

"So you're headed back to Jump City?" clarified Batgirl, "Already?"

Dick and Barbara were both in one of Wayne Manor's living rooms. Barbara was sitting on the couch in a grey hoodie and loose blue jeans. Dick was angrily pacing the room in a blue T-shirt and black skinny jeans. Dick suspected that Bruce had installed recording devices in the room listening to their every word, but he wanted Bruce to know how he felt anyway.

"I think it's best," sighed Dick, finally ceasing his pacing, "Sorry, Babs, but you know how this kind of stuff affects me. I'm a better hero leading the Titans than I ever was here. At least it feels that way."

"I know," nodded Barbara, "I just miss you is all."

"I guarantee there's a spot on the team for you too," said Dick.

"And one day maybe I'll take you up on that," said Barbara, "but for now, I feel like Gotham is where I belong. I can make better use of Bruce's data than anyone, even him. Plus I think it's good to have heroes around who challenge him now and again."

"I wouldn't count on Bruce ever learning," said Dick, "but I understand."

"You should say good-bye to Stephanie," said Barbara plainly.

"You're right," nodded Dick, "She did a good job the other night. We should tell her. Lord knows Bruce won't. Speaking of which, think she's alright?"

"Bruce didn't pick her arbitrarily," said Barbara, standing up and joining Dick as they walked out, "She'll manage. I quite like her."

"Of course you do," said Dick, "You're both huge nerds."

"Hey!" protested Barbara, giving Dick a playful punch in the shoulder.

They arrived at Dick's old bedroom. Dismissing his bitterness at that particular factor, Dick calmly knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Dick and Barbara entered. Dick smirked. Stephanie had decorated this place more than he ever had. Pop musician posters lined the walls and the bedding had been changed to a red and pink set with a matching rug and vanity. Stephanie herself was sitting at the vanity in a large white T-shirt and a loose pair of grey sweat shorts and a poorly fitting pair of white socks.

"Hey you two!" she smiled, hopping to her feet.

"Hey Steph," smiled Barbara back, "How are you holding up?"

"Pretty good," said Stephanie.

"Bruce was totally out of line using your dad like that," said Dick plainly.

"Maybe," replied Stephanie meekly.

"He was," assured Barbara.

"Yeah," said Stephanie, "Alfred said that too."

A moment passed where none of them could come up with something to say.

"...but you still did great!" offered Dick suddenly.

"Really?"

"I'd say so," said Dick, "I mean you're the one who solved that stupid hidden passage riddle. Plus you held your own in your fight with me."

"Really?" lit up Stephanie.

"Well," said Dick, rolling his shoulders, "I mean I took it easy on you."

Barbara, knowing Dick's tell, smiled and shook her head from behind him. Stephanie, noticing this, chuckled to herself.

"Did you?" she asked with a confident smile, "So when I kicked your butt to the pavement, you meant to do that?"

Dick scowled. Both women snickered.

"You know," said Dick calmly after a moment, "Maybe it's not so bad having a little sister."

"Aw!" smiled Barbara.

"Yeah," said Dick as he walked toward Stephanie, "So now when I'm mad at you, I'll just do this!"

"Wait a minute-!" pleaded Stephanie.

The nimble blonde went to dive to the side, but Dick had a considerable height and reach advantage. He easily clotheslined her with his right arm and brought her in for a headlock. Stephanie went to kick Dick's leg out, but Dick recognized the technique from when Bruce had taught it to him and instead used the attempt to swing Stephanie off and body slam her to the ground. He then rolled her onto her back and grabbed the back of her shorts.

"No no no- AH!"

Dick had gripped the shorts and pink and white striped boyshorts underneath in two firm underhanded fists and hoisted Stephanie off the ground and into the air. Stephanie let out a squeal of discomfort as both her shorts and underwear raced straight up her butt. Dick concluded by hooking the back of the underwear waistband to the coat hook on the wall. Stephanie's whole body convulsed as she fell into the even sharper wedgie.

"Yikes," mused Barbara, "You've adapted to your new familial role quickly."

"Eh," shrugged Dick as he left Stephanie and walked out of the room.

"Wait, guys!" realized Stephanie, "Isn't someone going to get me down?!"

"Headed to the airport?" asked Barbara as she followed Dick out.

"Not yet," said Dick, "I thought I'd grab a bite to eat first. I haven't had a Gotham style pizza in ages. Wanna come?"

"Guys?!"

"Sounds good, Man Wonder," smiled Barbara, taking Dick's hand as they headed out.

"Guys!"

Rrriiippp...

"Oh no…"

RRRIIIPPP!

Thud!

"Ow…"