By the time the sun had set that evening, Dick was back in the familiar embrace of the mountain. Nothing much had changed in the eight months of his absence, it looked the same as the day he had left for the mission with Batman; the mission with the Joker that had gone terribly wrong. Looking back maybe he should have come to see the team before he had run away, but he was short on time before Batman would have realised he was gone.

Dick sank into one of the sofas in the TV room. All of that seemed so long ago now. It all seemed so trivial compared to what was currently happening. He closed his over tired eyes, allowing the burning sensation to pass. After the events of the previous night he had been unable to sleep throughout the day and now, Dick was exhausted. He was torn between hoping Christine would arrive quickly so that he could go and get some sleep and not wanting to see her just yet. As he sat in the silence of the cave waiting, he slowly sank into an uneasy slumber.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Wally slowly lowered the blanket down onto the sleeping teen. The young hero muttered something in his sleep but did not wake up. The speedster had heard from his Uncle that Robin had been in danger and that Batman and Christine had gone to help; he had been given no specific information, but by the looks of the boy before him, Wally guessed that it had been quite traumatic.

'Evening Baywatch.' Artemis blanched as Wally shushed her. 'Don't shush me...is that Robin?' She came to stand next to the ginger, looking down at her old friend as he slept.

'Yeh, Flash said there was some trouble in Jump. The Bats got called into help. Guess it was serious.' Wally moved the archer away slightly when the young boy started to shift in his sleep. 'Let's go in the kitchen, he looks like he needs the sleep.'

'So why do you think he's here?' asked Artemis, settling herself down onto one of the island stools. She looked behind her, making sure their young friend was still asleep.

Wally shrugged. In truth, he had had very little contact with Robin since the boy had left. Dick had briefly explained that it was because Batman would be able to track their communications; but after the news of Robin being in Jump City had spread, Robin still had not contacted his best friend. From the news footage of the Titans, Wally could see that his friend was stressed; the happy go lucky behaviour of the Boy Wonder was gone, replaced by a more serious exterior, Wally guessed that had something to do with whatever had gone down with Batman and that last mission.

As the teens looked back to check on their friend once more, they both jumped to see a female figure standing over him; neither of them had heard Christine enter. She gently moved some of Robin's hair from his eyes and adjusted the blanket around him. Robin still did not wake from his deep sleep, although his face relaxed from its somewhat anxious frown. She smiled at the other two in the room when she turned to them.

Wally would gladly admit that when he was first introduced to Christine he had been terrified. The woman had seemed so intimidating, so powerful, even when stood next to Superman or Batman. You could feel the power radiating off her, and that had scared Wally to the core. But then he had seen Christine and Robin together. Robin had been nine, timid and quiet (the exact opposite of what he would become), he had stayed by Christine's side for the first hour of their meeting. Christine had been so gentle, so loving towards the boy; her fingers brushing his hair unconsciously as she spoke with the other heroes. Robin had leant against her side, completely unafraid. That had been the day Wally had ceased to be afraid of the immortal avenger.

'Good evening you two.' She came and leant, gracefully against the island.

'Evening Ma'am.' Wally greeted her, he may not have been afraid of her, but he sure as hell respected her. There was a moment's pause before both of the Young Justice members looked back towards the couch.

'He will be coming back to stay with me for a while.' said Christine gently.

'Did something happen?' asked Artemis, she too had seen how tired and stressed her friend looked, even while he slept.

'I'm sure he will tell you in his own time.' She made herself and Artemis herbal tea, joining them at the island counter as Wally made his way through a sharing bag of dipping chips. After a while of quiet small talk, the smallest figure joined them at the table, he still looked tired but he smiled at his friends as he entered.

'How long was I asleep?' he asked, voice still croaky from his slumber.

'A couple of hours.' said Wally.

'Why didn't you wake me?' The question was aimed towards Christine and the tone was none to pleasant. Wally had never heard his friend take that kind of tone with his mom.

'You looked like you could use the rest.' said Christine, not rising to the accusing tone her son had used. Dick couldn't disagree with her, he had been exhausted. When Christine didn't look as though she was going to leave, Dick took the seat next to Wally, resting his elbows onto the table.

'So what brings you back Robin?' Artemis asked in a very pleasant tone. What she really wanted to ask was why he had left in the first place. The team knew it had something to do with him fighting with Batman, but he hadn't even properly said goodbye. However, Artemis could practically cut the tension between the two Bats with a knife, so decided it was best to keep the conversation light.

'Family issues.' Robin said bluntly.

'Finally going to work it out between you and Batman?' Wally cut in, but Robin shook his head.

'Batman and I are fine for the moment.' Even from behind his glasses, the two heroes could see their young friends eyes glance over in the vampires direction. Once again, Christine did not react. Finishing her tea, Christine finally rose from her chair.

'I think it is time we left.' she said. Like a swan on the water, she looked poised and graceful but her mind was working over time, wondering whether it was safe to take her son back to the manner or if she should take him to the watchtower, surely up in space Dick would be completely safe. But she could see from the way the sixteen-year-old was holding his shoulders that he was tired and agitated. The manor had the protection of the Batcave if they needed it and Dick looked as though he needed his home.

Robin said his goodbyes to his friends, promising to come and explain everything once the sun had come back up. His friends looked slightly confused at his wording but accepted it none the less. Robin then joined the immortal by the Zeta beams and they were gone.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

'I realise I am probably the last person you wish to talk to right now.' Once they were in the safety of the Batcave, Dick had removed his glasses and began walking further into the gloom, Christine stayed motionless. 'But I hope one day you will be able to forgive me.'

Dick stopped, turning his body slightly to look at the woman through the corner of his eyes. 'I've already forgiven you.' he said.

'Then why the coldness?'

'Because I don't understand why you lied to me all these years!' Dick suddenly yelled. 'I don't understand why you let me leave if you knew something like this was going to happen!'

'I didn't realise they would be drawn to you so strongly.' Christine admitted solemnly, 'This is a unique situation and I made a terrible, terrible mistake in thinking I could keep it from you. For that I am so sorry, I'm so sorry I put you in that danger, Richard.'

'And what about when I turned 18! Were you just going to let me continue as Robin until by chance I got killed and then suddenly became a vampire, were you going to wait till then to let me know the truth?' Dick's shoulders were heaving with anger as he shouted; his voice bouncing off the cave walls.

'I don't know what I was going to do. Dick, everything I have ever done was to keep you safe and make sure you were happy! I could never stand to see you upset, it cuts me to my core to think of how much I have hurt you. But Dick, you have to believe me when I tell you, that I did it because I love you.' she was starting to show some distress now, even though she tried to hide her pain, for Dick's sake.

There were tears in Dick's eyes, they fell and bled down his cheeks. All of a sudden he was calm, all his anger melting away. 'I know.' he whispered, sniffing and biting his lip. 'Mom, I'm scared.'

She wrapped him in her arms and he clung to her as he used to when he was small. Christine couldn't help but gaze at his hand as it clung to her arm. The same hand that had gripped her finger as she had said goodbye on his very first day of life.

Dick would be seventeen in a matter of months. In just over a year the fledgeling protection would fade and he would be vulnerable to the rogues, they would easily be able to kill him, turning him into a vampire for their own gain. That was something she could not let happen.

A/N Forewarning for the next chapter, I may have to do a time skip, just so I can avoid any more filler chapters. I am determined to get this story finished in the next month or so. So please forgive me, I know time skips are a plot cop-out, but its the only way I can think of connecting the two storylines I have in my head. Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review. Until next time, Karin x