Yes I'm still on hiatus officially, but after reading about a certain event's heroes, I felt this had to be done. Another one shot, pre-dami

Dick-13 Timmy-6

School Invasion

Gotham Academy is possibly one of the safest schools in the nation, believed to be the safest in all of Gotham. So when Dick heard the school's lock-down alarm, he only thought it was another drill. After all, he couldn't hear any shooting. Like the rest of his classmates, he just found a comfortable corner of the room and took out his cellphone to play a few apps until the drill was over. He didn't think anything of it.

At least until he received a call from Timmy. Confused and curious he answered it. "Timmy?"

"Dick!" came a scared harsh whisper. "I'm scared!"

"Timmy calm down," he started, getting to the edge of his seat. Those around him looked up from their games, curious. "What's wrong?"

"Someone's making loud noises and I can't get Daddy!"

"Loud noises…"

"Loud bad noises! Worse than on TV!"

The young teen straightened, his eyes growing wide as he tried to keep his voice level. His teacher was giving him a reproving glare but he didn't care. There were a few sounds he freaked out over, and since he couldn't hear any thunder and the rest were superstitions, he could only be talking about one thing. "Timmy, where are you?"

"I'm in a closet!"

"Anyone with you?"

"Uh huh. My class! Mrs. Holkahm said to stay in here and be quiet! That's why I'm whispering."

"That's very good. Now you need to be very calm okay? Try to think of something happy, something nice. Like Alfred's cookies or… Mystery Dog. Ignore the sounds you hear outside." Those listening to him's eyes widen. Now they knew this wasn't a drill. Something was going on at the elementary division next door. They were in lock-down because of what was happening there.

"But I'm scared."

"I know you're scared," Dick continued, hiding his own fear as best he could. He couldn't have the kid having a panic attack in the middle of all of this. Timmy was already terrified of the sound of gunfire because of what happened to his biological father. He was just in the next room when it happened and found the bodies after all. "But letting yourself be scared isn't going to make the bad noise go away. Take a deep breath and think of something good far far away. Imagine you're back home and we're playing with the dinosaur. Daddy's there, and so is Jason and Cass and Alfred. Uncle Clark can be there too. We're all safe back home and just playing around like usual. It's hide and seek. You love playing hide and seek. You always seem to beat us."

"There's a lot of people hiding with me." The kid was starting to calm down, not breathing as harshly at least. But he had to be accurate, no matter what was going on around him.

"Sardines then. It's reverse hide and seek. Did you remember to turn on your watch?" The signal watch/tracer/mini utility tool they all wore would be really useful then. Whichever Leaguer was coming to help would be able to find him faster that way.

"We're only supposed to use it if we get kidnapped," Timmy corrected him, reciting what their dad said months ago.

Dick licked his lips, trying to calm himself just as much as he was trying to calm the boy. "This is one time you can use it too. The bad noise will stop sooner if you turn it on. Can you do that for me now?"

"Uh huh…" He could hear the kid put the phone down for a moment so he could use the thing properly. His hands were too small to handle both his phone and the watch. He used that moment to inform his classmates what was going on. They were getting confused and worried looks, his teacher included.

"Someone's attacked the elementary school, some gunman."

"Holy…" Several seventh graders clapped their hands over their mouths, gaping at him. Only one other in the class had a sibling there. Dick had three. Their teacher looked ready to faint, using the wall for support as he asked questions everyone was thinking. "How did they get past security?"

"Don't know," he murmured, "but if Joker's any indication, a determined crazy can get passed anything. Timmy you still there?"

"Uh huh." He could hear the fear in the boy's voice. Must have fumbled a lot while turning on his tracer. "Where's Daddy?"

His big brother took several deep breaths to calm himself, keeping the fear from his voice. "Daddy's going to be there as soon as he can. But I need you to be quiet now, just like in hide and seek. Just… Just listen to my voice and only my voice okay? Can you do that for me?"

Timmy sniffed on the other end, trying to stop his tears. "Uh… uh huh."

"Okay then… uhmmm…" His eyes looked around rapidly, trying to think of some way to calm his kid brother down. "Story. How would you like to hear a story?"

He pointed to a bookcase nearby and his classmate grabbed the first one he could find, handing it over. He never heard of the book before but it was a normal to small size and had a dragon on the front. Timmy liked to hear fantasy stories, and his class was united in helping him keep the kid alive. "Dealing with Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede. Chapter one, 'In Which Cimorere Refuses to Be Proper and Has a Conversation with a Frog. Linderwall was a large kingdom…'"

It was little over two hours later when Dick was finally able to get to his siblings. Jason was being interviewed by the police and by The Inquisitor for having pulled the alarm leading to disorienting the three crazed ex-security guards of the school. Superman was the one who came to the kids' rescue, personally coming to each room to give the all clear for the kids. Everyone knew and trusted him after all. Terrified kids were soon distracted by meeting him, making the whole situation less traumatizing.

Bruce wasn't too far from the interviews, sitting on a bench and holding his younger two tight to his chest. Cassandra was content holding onto her father's jacket and leaning against him with her eyes closed. Timmy buried his face into the man's shoulder, shaking madly from the whole ordeal. One of the gunmen had gone into his classroom. Dick heard it all over the phone.

The man looked up to the teen, worn from worry and concern for the younger ones. Cass was mostly okay, but she was also shot during her early years as training by her biological father. She was a lot harder to scare with a gun, which was both a blessing and a curse. Timmy's trauma though, that was by far the worse and they all knew it. Orphaned at three because of something he only heard… Hearing it was all he needed to be scared. Dick was the only one completely safe during the fiasco, and the only one who could do nothing but talk on the phone until help arrived. He held the book in his hand, unfinished and wondering if his brother would hate it because of the experience. His eyes were the same as his father's this time around.

Bruce looked back down to Timmy, murmuring in his ear. "Timmy, Dick's here. I think he needs a hug. Mind helping with that?"

For a moment the kid shook his head, then stopped and nodded, finally leaving father's shoulder. A bit sluggish, the boy scooted away from his dad, and was swiftly picked up by his big brother. Like a koala, Timmy hung onto him for dear life, burying his face now in the teen's blazer. Dick held onto him tightly, resting his head into the boy's hair. Knowing his baby brother was alright when he was so scared before was a comfort he never thought he'd have under these circumstances.

The place was supposed to be safe, and yet it was attacked by those who knew what they were doing. It looked like the only safe place they'd ever know was the one underneath the manor. Nothing was truly secure, only felt that way until some maniac decides otherwise.

Slowly he sat next to their father, gaining comfort that his family was safe. Soon Jason joined them, the adrenalin and excitement of his part in all of this starting to drain away. The police still needed their statements and Alfred needed some time to get a secure car over, else they'd have left as soon the dust cleared. The ten year old had acted brave and confident until then, but it crumbled very easily once he was out of everyone else's view. Jason was soon on his father's lap, leaning heavily against his broad shoulder, shaking slightly with his arms wrapped around him. The kid was tough and brave, but he was still a kid.

After a minute or two of silence, Bruce murmured over their heads just so they could hear. "You did good today, all of you. And you all came out of it alive. That's the best we can hope for."

It stung Dick a little bit hearing this. He didn't do anything but talk Timmy out of a panic attack. That should have been Bruce's job. He looked up to him, glaring slightly. "Why couldn't Timmy get in contact with you?"

The man looked down to him in understanding. "Because of the same reason I couldn't get you on the other line. Jason had called me, and the two of you were busy on your phones. I managed to get a hold of Cass, but for the most part she was fine."

He blinked, not thinking as clearly as he usually would. "Oh."

It made his father smile a little, nudging the teen a little. "Get some rest. You all deserve it. I'll tell you when Alfred's here."

Dick blinked a few more times, vaguely realizing that like the others, he'd been functioning on adrenalin ever since Timmy called. He was just a lot better at handling it. Nodding, he leaned against their dad and closed his eyes. Tomorrow would be another day, and they made it through that one.

*Dedicated to the survivors, victims, and heroes of the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown Conn. Shooting, Dec. 14, 2012.*

A/N: yeah, I felt that having Timmy and Dick talking through the whole similar kind of event would be best. Yes Bruce still sends them there after all of this, but also takes a hand in improving the security. Jason is a little hero here and Cass was just in the building mostly unaffected by it all. Dick's school is just next door in my cannon so his place would also be in lock-down. the book Dick used to try and calm Timmy down is real and it's one of my favorites. Wrede is awesome! I remember lock-downs back in high school and thought they were boring.

As for my feelings about the shooting... I can only say psychos with guns are the problem, and a determined person can and will do anything they want regardless of what others try. My sympathies and prayers to everyone involved, and my thanks to God that he accepts every child straight home regardless of their state when they died. This knowledge helped me through losing my best friend when I was 7, and through every child's death ever since.