It took two weeks, one day, three hours, thirty minutes and eight seconds to convince Bruce to let Dick and Jason out of bed. They had been bored out of their minds and had finally recovered enough to move around the manor. Bruce still didn't allow them to go outside, much less on patrol, but at least they weren't bedridden anymore. It had been driving them crazy!
_

A knock on the door startled Dick awake. "Come in," he slurred, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He quickly threw a glance at the clock on his nightstand and groaned once he realised that he had slept in again. The door opened and Damian appeared in the threshold. "Grayson. Can we talk?" Dick nodded and patted the empty space beside him.

There was something in his baby brother's voice that was unnerving Dick; uncertainty. Damian was never uncertain, always self-confident, sometimes even too self confident for his own good- or the good of others. The young boy- sometimes Dick forgot that Damian was just ten years old- hopped onto the bed and sat cross-legged in front of his older brother. "I- uh..." He fidgeted with his hands and wouldn't meet Dick's eyes, his body tense.

"Dami?" Dick was really starting to get worried now.
"While you were away, father offered- he said- uh, I just mean..."
"That you could be Robin?" muttered Dick softly, smiling at Damian reassuringly. So that's what this was all about. Damian didn't want to stop being Robin, but was afraid of Dick's reaction. "Hey, I'm not angry," laughed Dick, smiling and leaning back into the soft pillows. "I was expecting this to happen someday soon, anyways." Damian seemed puzzled. "But I stole your identity... I was Robin only one time and it is already a part if me. You've been Robin for seven years now, how can you just give it up?" Dick just shrugged. "I am not giving anything up, I just kinda... outgrew Robin, you know."

Damian looked up, hope sparkling in his ice blue eyes. "Father said something similar. That you wanted to be your own hero, out of Batman's shadow." Then he frowned and cocked his head to the side. Dick resisted the urge to coo. Damian just looked too adorable, but said boy would probably skewer him if he'd ever say that out loud, so Dick just chuckled lightly. "But don't you need a new hero persona then? I mean, you aren't going to quit the team, are you, not after they took Jason, Tim and I in."
Dick quickly shook his head. "Of course not. I'll figure something out, don't worry, Robin." Damian smiled at him, a real, toothy smile. "Thank you, Grayson."
_

Dick sighed as he stared at the ceiling from where he was lying on his bed. It was somewhat after midnight and Bruce, Tim and Damian were on patrol, while Alfred and Jason were probably sound asleep. His eyes followed the lights that shone through his window whenever a car drove past the manor (which wasn't very often, considering that it was the middle of the night). Since they were back, Dick had insisted on sleeping without open curtains. It may sound childish, but he tried to avoid dark places. Dick sighed and ran a hand through his thick, black hair.

It had never been like this before. Kidnappings had never really scared him, except for the first few times and when it had been the real big bads. He was no stranger to pain and defenitifly no stranger to kidnappings.

Most of the time, his captors were after Richard Grayson, not Robin the Boy Wonder and expected the whole thing to end with a lot of money on their bank accounts (never really worked out well for them).

When he was kidnapped during his night job, he was a bit jumpy all the time, but most villains were just using him as bait for Batman (which didn't work out well for them either) and didn't lay a hand on him (Well, he did get knocked out a lot, but that was about it). And then there was- had been the Joker and the other regular Arkham inmates.

Dick briefly closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
Joker had always scared him, especially after what he'd done to Jason. In his first year as Robin, Batman was careful he didn't meet the Joker and Robin never really understood what was so dangerous about him. He had never been afraid of clowns before, until his first encounter with the maniac... He shuddered at the thought. Not a pleasant memory.

And now the Joker was gone and Dick didn't knew how to feel about it. Guilty, because he had taken a life, even if it was the Joker's? Relieved, because he'll never have to be afraid of him again? Scared, because he didn't recognize himself anymore? He'd pulled that damn trigger without a second thought...

"Damn it," he muttered, sitting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.
He knew he probably wouldn't get any sleep. Again. His nights had been restless since him and Jason had been rescued, the image of Joker's blood red smile burned into his brain, appearing behind his eyelids every time he closed them. He pushed himself off the soft mattress and made his way down to the living room. Maybe, if he'd watch something on TV, time would pass more quickly and morning would finally come.

As he reached the living room, he heard voices and frowned. Who else was up at a time like this? It sure as hell couldn't be any burglars, they'd have triggered the alarm. He slowly opened the door and blinked as he realised that the voices were coming from the TV.

"Jason?" His younger brother looked up. "What the fuck are you doing up?" grumbled the younger boy.
"I could ask you the same question," countered Dick as he motioned Jason to move and dropped down on the couch next to him.

"I couldn't sleep," admitted Jason, not taking his eyes off the TV, where he was watching some cooking show. "Me neither."
Jason sighed and glanced briefly at Dick. "Are you okay?"
"I'm holding up."
"Don't lie to me, Dick. We've been through this together."
"...But you haven't killed anyone."
Jason was silent for a moment. "And you wouldn't have almost been killed for a second time in a row."
They watched in silence as a Chinese man told the audience how to make spaghetti bolognese. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, but Jason felt the need to say something.

"You saved my life."
"By taking another's."
"It still counts, doesn't it?"
After a short period of thinking, Dick whispered, "I don't know what counts anymore, Jay. I wasn't trying to kill him, I swear, I really wasn't."
"Maybe not, and maybe you haven't. Whoever took him and knocked everyone out could have saved his life."
Dick didn't look convinced. "Maybe."

"Thanks," muttered Jason suddenly.
The older boy raised a playful eyebrow. "Did you just thank me for saving your life?"
"Shut it, Grayson, or I'll shove that thanks right up your ass."
Dick laughed quietly. "Some things never change." He smiled sadly at his brother. "How long do you think we can keep it a secret?" Jason shrugged. "You know that they wouldn't judge you. You didn't have a choice, Dick."
"But I don't want them to know."
"Then let's hope that no one slips up and that they don't figure it out by themselves. They have a thing for snooping around in others' businesses."
"Yeah, they do."
_

"Dick?"
The sixteen year old looked up from his homework. He had to catch up on a lot of school stuff before he'd finally return to Gotham Academy in two weeks. "Yeah, Bruce?"
"Come with me."
Dick nodded and followed Bruce down to the Batcave. "What are we doing here?"
"You'll see," was all he got in response from his adopted father. Bruce had finally legally adopted him and that had been one of the best days in Dick's life.

Bruce pointed to a showcase that was covered with a black cloth. "Take it off." Dick frowned, but walked up to the showcase anyway, pulling down the cloth with a jerk of his wrist.
He gasped at what he saw.

A suit. A black body suit with a matching domino mask. On the chest was an eye-catching blue bird, stretching its wings down over the shoulders to the elbows of the suit. "I thought you could use a new suit, Dick. Of course you are only allowed to wear it once you've fully recovered, but I thought you might want to see it."

Dick smiled, and placed his fingers on the glass. "It's perfect," he breathed, already falling in love with it. "And I have the perfect hero name." He could see Bruce raise his eyebrows in the reflection of the showcase. "That was fast." Dick smirked. "I have been thinking about this for a long time now, Bruce. The suit just triggered something inside of me, something that... I don't know how to put it..."
Bruce smiled knowingly. "There is no word for it, Dick, but I know what you mean. I have the same feeling every time I see the Batman suit. It's like butterflies are rampaging in you stomach, isn't it?"
Dick laughed. "Not how I'd put it, but yeah, I guess you're right."
Bruce smiled. "So, what about your new name?"
"What do you think of the name 'Nightwing'? A certain Blue Boyscout gave me the idea."
_

"We want to help," whined Dick, pouting at Bruce, who just raised his eyebrows unimpressed. "No."
"C'mon," tried Jason, crossing his arms in annoyance. "It's been three weeks, we can go out now."
"No."
"Urgh! It's hopeless!"
Tim snickered, already in his Red Robin costume. "Can we go now, Bats."
"Yes."
"No."
"You're being childish, Jason."
"Fuck you!"
"No thanks."
Damian wrinkled his nose. "Gross."

"You two can stay here and do some research. Lately, children and teenagers from the age of six to eighteen have gone missing. The kidnappers don't seem to make any differences between race, skin colour, gender, religion or social status and no ransom demands have been made. Everything I have on the case is in the files on the Bat-computer. Just look for Project W.I.N.G.. We'll be back in the morning."

And with that, Batman, Red Robin and Robin left the Batcave. "This is your fault," pouted Dick, glaring slightly at Jason. "You were being too pessimistic."
"Say what now?"
_

A/N: One more chapter to go. The next one will be the epilogue.