Dick was looking at the display on his arm where a blinking dot showed where the Batmobile was. But he found himself constantly glancing toward Reyna. She hadn't moved from the copilot's seat and had taken to staring out of the side window with her hand propping up her chin. He noticed that thescratches across her neck were fading. Shehad been like this ever since her visit to Camp Half-Blood. Dick had never seen her like this before: quiet, introverted, reflective. He wondered if something had happened during her visit. His display beeped at him, forcing him to return his attention to it.

"Is it almost here?" Charlie stood on his tippy toes to try and look.

"Almost." Dick said calmly, but inside he was trying to control the panic that was beginning to rise. Batman was calling. "Will you do me a favor, bud, and check on Reyna for me?" Dick glanced at Reyna again as his display beeped at him again. She hadn't moved.

"Okay." Charlie said with exaggerated disappointment.

Dick moved further into the woods before answering the call. "Going somewhere?" Batman's cowl covered face appeared on the screen.

"I just need to run a quick errand tonight. Nothing dangerous."

"Nothing dangerous? Then why need it at all?" Batman questioned.

Dick took a deep breath. He was going to have to give Batman something. After all this was mortal business. The thought stopped him for a moment, as he glanced again to where the plane was. Heturned his focus back to Batman. "I found a kid. I'm just taking him home."

"That's not your job description. Drop him off at the police." Batman ordered.

"No, I need to see this through. I think they wanted him for something."

"Who?"

"Not sure." Dick replied honestly. "But I don't want the kid leaving a paper trail."

"Does this have anything to do with Arkham Assylum?" Batman's eyes narrowed.

Dick had thought no one noticed them, as far as he knew with magic. "What happened at Arkham?" He asked innocently.

"A secret room was discovered with jail cells and a cutting table. Computers were destroyed. It reminded me of your handiwork."

Dick smirked. "I don't know what your talking about."

"Don't get in over your head." Batman's voice was firm but Dick swore he heard a note of concern in his voice. He didn't want to tell him that he thought he was already in over his head. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Keep an ear out for kidnappings." Dick decided it couldn't hurt to get the justice league involved. "Children kidnappings.""

"I will expect an explanation soon." He could feel Batman's searching gaze behind the cowl.

"Of course." Dick lied easily. Batman cut off the connection. The display returned and the Batmobile was parked right by the plane. Dick gave a slight sigh of relief. He made his way back and found Reyna and Charlie by the plane, looking over the Batmobile.

"Oh, wow. Are we riding in it?" He asked excitedly."

"No, I brought it so we could look at it." He said sarcastically. "Batmobile open." Dick commanded. The Batmobile doors automatically opened. "Of course we're riding in it. Get in."

Charlie enthusiasticly dove in. Reyna was more cautious.

"Does this use the internet?"

"It does, but I can disconnect it." Dick assured her.

"Okay." She folded her arms.

Dick realized she meant now, so he got in and hurriedly disconnected the Internet. Batman would love that. He could see his frustration now. "All clear." Dick called out. Reyna picked up Charlie and got in, placing him on her lap. Charlie's eyes roved across the many buttons. Dick was suddenly reminded of his first ride in the Batmobile. "Don't touch anything." He heard him say the same words Batman had said to him.

"Do I want to ask what they all do?" Reyna looked at them questioningly as Dick started the car.

"Some blow up stuff, you never know." Dick smirked, as he revved the engine, put it in gear and peeled out.

"Slow down. You have a kid in here without a seat belt!" Reyna admonished.

Charlie laughed with glee. "Don't worry, I'm a good driver." Dick grinned.

Reyna scowled disapprovingly at Dick. He shifted uncomfortably and slowly took some pressure off the petal. He found his way through the familiar streets of Gotham. Reyna had gone silent again, staring unseeingly out the window. He wanted to talk to her, but didn't feel comfortable saying anything with Charlie there.

Charlie lived in an apartment complex. He parked the Batmobile down a dark alley, and they all got out. Charlie happily led the way to his apartment on the third floor. A woman with red rimmed eyes and dirty blond hair answered the door.

"Mom!" Charlie shouted happily as he ran into her arms.

The woman cried, "My baby! My baby!"as she held him tight.Then she looked at Dick in his Nightwing disguise. Her expression changed as sherecognized him. "You. You're with Batman." She said with a note of worry. "What . . . ?"

"Mrs. Dunham, may we come in and speak with you for a moment." Dick interrupted.

She held her son close to her and nodded as she stepped out of the way to let them by. Dick stepped into the modest apartment, followed by Reyna. He saw the mother eyeing Reyna's Roman armor. "What happened?" She asked worriedly.

"Let's start with your side of the story first." Dick gestured for her to start.

She offered them a seat as she held her son close to her. "It was just supposed to be a well-check. The next thing I know, they were rushing him to the hospital. They told me to meet them there. But when I got there, no one knew anything about it. Even the police didn't take me seriously. It was like my son never existed."

"They, who?" Dick asked calmly.

"Dr. Longfellow and Officer Page."

"I see. We found Charlie in a jail cell in an underground lab. Mrs. Dunham, do you know what a metahuman is?"

"You mean those people that have powers?"

"That's right. With each generation the meta gene is becoming more and more prominent. Not all develope powers, however."

"Are you saying that Charlie has, . . . is a meta?"

"He has the meta gene, but I don't think he has any powers."

"So they took him because of this gene?"

"That's unclear at the moment, but it is the only thing that stands out. I would suggest keeping a low profile for a while. If you are able to, maybe leave town. Definitely avoided doctors. You can be certain that I will be looking into this."

The mother held her son closer to her, and nodded her head.

"I'll check in on you once in awhile." Dick stood up.

"Thank you, Nightwing." She said gratefully. "And you, . . ." She looked at Reyna expectantly.

"Praetor." She supplied with a tight smile.

"Praetor. I dread to think what the world would be without heroes like you."

Dick felt his world tilt for just a moment as the implications of her words suddenly included an entire world of heroes she knew nothing about. Reyna smiled. "It would be a very dark world indeed."

Dick had a vision of the few monsters he had encountered, ruling ruthlessly over men, and the thought chilled him. "Be careful." Dick said as a final farewell.

Reyna was quiet as they got back into the Batmobile. Dick pulled out a slip of paper with an address on it.

"Where are we going?" Reyna demanded.

"To that kid's house. I thought that you would want to notify the parents of his death. They're not far from here." Dick looked at her curiously, as he turned on the vehicle and put it in gear.

He watched as she clenched her teeth and her eyes became distant. "Of course." Her tone was neutral, but she looked sick.

"How did it go?" Dick tried for conversation as he navigated the streets. Reyna raised a questioning eyebrow. "At Camp Half-Blood." He clarified.

"Fine." She looked away.

"So they buried him?" Dick asked.

Reyna looked down at her hands. "Yes. He was claimed during his burial."

"Really? Can I ask by who?"

"Potestas, or Kratos by his Greek name. God of strength and power."

"Is that good?"

Reyna sighed, giving the impression that she was tiring of this conversation. "It's good. Some kids never get claimed. It was a nice touch to the funeral."

"I see." Dick focused on driving for a bit, but he lack of conversation bothered him. "I went to a funeral recently." He blurted out. He hadn't meant to bring it up, but now that it was out, he just started talking. "He was my best friend. He wasn't even supposed to be there. He was retired, going to college, had a girlfriend. He was living the dream. And I just had to go and interfere."

"He was a hero?" She asked softly.

"He saved the world." Dick gripped the wheel in rememberace.

"Then he died a hero's death and will have a hero's reward. He will have peace in Elysium."

"Elysium, that's your heaven." Dick remembered from his Greek mythology class.

"Yes. Many half-bloods are there." She turned to look out the window again. "I too resently buried a good friend, a fellow Praetor. He too was going to school, had a girlfriend. He had saved the world so many times already. He shouldn't have had to sacrifice himself to save the world one more time. But I guess that's what real heroes do. They answer the call, no matter how it interferes with their life."

Dick felt a knot loosening in his chest. "Yeah, I guess you're right. The thing that bothers me the most is I keep thinking that if I had never got his girlfriend involved, or if maybe I had been there, I could have saved him."

"Maybe if I had trained them harder, prepared them better, they would still be alive." Reyna continued his train of thought.

Dick looked over to see her soft eyes looking back. A warmth spread throughout his chest. They both looked away and Dick felt a small smile form on his lips and a giddiness he hadn't felt since he nailed his first flip without his dad's help. "Sounds like you've been to a lot of funerals."

"One hundred and thirty-two since I became praetor." Reyna said with a sigh. Dick felt like he had missed a step. He looked over to see her looking back out the window. "I am so tired of going to funerals."

Dick pulled up to a small house in a run down suburb in Jersey. She looked at the house with dread across her features. "It'll be alright, I'm with you." Dick reassured her.

She gave him a small smile. She then sat up and a determined expression covered over the sadness that had been eminating. Before him was the feirce warrior he had become accustomed to seeing.