HALLOS! Tis not dead, just sleeping! ANywho, been planning this one for months and it was kinda like pulling teeth getting this done. So many stories I'm working on... anywho, here it is! Dick is leaving jump at last and going home. Ever wondered what long time kidnapping victims go through when they come home? I really don't know, but I'm thinking it's something like this. Remember, this is like early May in their timeline and the abduction happened before CHristmas. Fun times. Plus a leaguer cameo. Enjoy!

Dick-17 Damian-3

Home Flight

The new weight on his leg was hard to get used to, but it wasn't impossible to live with. The only thing Dick honestly wondered was how he was going to put on sock or boots. Tights were obviously out (pity), but didn't people get away with wearing socks while on the ankle monitor? And what was he going to do about bathing? He couldn't stand the shower right then.

Being under house arrest was going to suck. A little.

Looking across the short aisle of the plane, he eyed his warden for the next year. Warden, parole officer... Tyler Miller was a federal marshal assigned to keep him in line until the monitor was gone. Had to be in his mid-forties. A stocky Scotsman type judging by his complexion and general body structure, and one who served in the military because of his demeanor. The man gave him the stink eye as soon as they met. They were the same height, and that seemed to upset the man even more than having to babysit him. Dark red hair, sharp green eyes, square jaw, Dick knew he would not be able to pull anything past this guy. It'd take quite a while to even get on friendly terms with him.

The teen sighed to himself and looked back out the plane window, enjoying the view. Sure beat all the cars and trucks he was stuffed in for four months. Seeing the sky and sitting comfortably in one of Bruce's jets was wonderful. Having his dad and baby brother nearby even better. It was just them, his warden, a couple other agents (some FBI, others marshals as well), and Uncle Hal in the cockpit.

That was a fun reunion. For a minute, he forgot himself and hugged Jordon in front of all those people who didn't know anything. He and Damian nearly broke rule 3 right then if Bruce hadn't informed their company that Hal flew their planes in the past. Close call really, but it wasn't really a lie either. Hal Jordon, the test pilot, occasionally did fly Wayne planes.

'Wonder if I can get him to do a barrel roll...' The idea of the fancy jet spinning through the air when all these people didn't buckle up, got him to smirk for a moment. Funny to watch, but Damian could easily slip out of his seat and get hurt. Oh well.

"Excited?"

Dick looked over to Bruce in the seat across from him, watching his oldest son carefully. Damian slept in the car seat next to him, drooling a little on his batkitty. So cute. His other siblings were already in Gotham in order to finish up the school year. Gotham Academy ended their term in the beginning of June so they still had a month left. Kinda sucked, but Alfred was with them. The past two weeks they took finishing the legalities and paperwork felt like forever, and they had rushed to take care of his case quickly.

He really missed being in Gotham and being with everyone. He'd been dreaming about it for over four months. This was a wish come true, making the flight so surreal. Smiling slightly, the teen nodded. "A little."

The man nodded knowingly. There was one part about being Bruce Wayne's son that sucked big time: the press. One of Bruce's unofficial titles was the 'Crowned Prince of Gotham', making their entire mishmash family royalty. Just when were they going to upgrade him to king anyway? Anyway, proverbial royalty did not get privacy, especially when the first born made national news with his abduction. There would have to be a press conference soon, maybe a statement as soon as they exited the plane. Getting to the car would be a hassle.

But neither could deny being anxious to get home and see the others. How many things had changed in the manor? In Gotham? What would be waiting for them? Besides the press that is. It was going to be good having his feet in familiar territory again, some place safe and secure.

"Don't worry about a thing," Bruce reminded him softly. "Everything's been arranged already. We'll be home before you know it, and watching one of your favorite movies tonight."

"Really?" Despite the reassurance, Dick was still nervous. So much had happened... he hardly knew how to put the pieces back together.

"Attention all passengers and staff," came Hal's voice over the intercom, "we are entering our final decent pattern into Gotham Airport. Please secure all your seat belts and turn off all electronic devices. If you have any open food or drinks, please secure them in any way you can. I am not responsible for any wet or dirty pants that may occur while landing, and what comes out of your mouth is your own problem. Hold tight everyone!"

Bruce couldn't help but palmface while Dick held back a laugh, shaking slightly with mirth. Hal always knew how to lighten the mood. The agents with them all exchanged worried looks and buckled up, some of them hoping it was a joke while others heard the warning for what it was. His father groaned. "He's not invited."

"Awww..." the teen teased. "And I was so looking forward to having a popcorn fight with him."

"If he's there, you'll never enjoy the film."

"Dunno if I'd be watching things much anyway." He looked out the window to watch them go through the clouds. Maybe he could see Wayne Tower from there. "Jetlag, cuddles, and a dark room in a comfy chair equals early bedtime. I won't be able to keep my eyes open."

"It's the second Sherlock Holmes," the man stated with a drop of humor. "The one you missed the past few months."

"I'm in."

Grins grew on their faces. "I thought you'd be."

The plane jostled and jolted around them, waking Damian after a minute or two. With his daddy next to him, he didn't cry for very long and soon got used to the strange motion. Dick gave him a reassuring smile before glancing around again. He looked at his warden and saw the guy was scowling at him. Dang. He probably hated making it to Gotham more than anyone. As soon as they were in the manor and had all the rules and boundaries established, Miller would be his official babysitter. House arrest with this guy was really gonna suck. Glad he wasn't staying there with them.

Looking back out the window, the big brother pointed to what lay beyond to keep the kid happy. "Look! Over there's Daddy's work, and there's a big plane, and there's air traffic control. They make sure all these birds don't crash into each other."

"Awe we home now?" Damian was far from impressed. He really just wanted to go home. Their dad chuckled lightly before answering.

"Not yet. Just one more ride and we're there." Bruce winked at his oldest, confusing him for a minute. "I think you'll enjoy the last stretch."

"Being awfully secretive, aren't you Wayne?" Miller must have been listening in for a while, but it really wasn't hard. Luxurious cabin, but still it was a personal jet. "Won't even talk to us about security detail for your car."

"Who says we're taking a car?" That statement made Dick blink. Not taking a car? Wait, was the guy messing with them again? After a quick smirk, the CEO elaborated. "In my experience, the best security is spontaneity. The less people know, the better. And remember, you're not allowed to talk about this to anyone. Confidentiality agreements."

The agent grumbled to himself. "Stupid Interpol..."

"If your child singlehandedly took down an internationally acclaimed assassin, you would be worried about the repercussions too." The teen squirmed in his seat uncomfortably at his father's words. He didn't exactly take Slade down on his own, but he did ensure his capture. And when this went to trial, his testimony would be the key to locking him up for good. Deathstroke may even get the chair.

But by taking down Deathstroke, he unintentionally made enemies. Strong enemies. If they could hide who took him to the cops, there was a slim chance other underworld supporters and rivals of Slade's would leave him alone. A slim chance. The Titans and League knew, and he was safe with them knowing, but if there was a leak, ever, it'd be from the feds here, Interpol, or the cops involved in San Francisco. Slade had some pretty strong admirers, former employers, and rivals. Any one of them finding out what happen could mean his death.

Slade Wilson really did a number on Dick's life, even while incarcerated.

The plane landed on the runway with a noticeable thump, ending the conversation for the while. As it slowed to a stop, Hal's voice came back on. "Well it looks like we've reached our destination. Hope you still have your lunches because I'm famished. Anyone got a ham on rye? Maybe later. Thank you so much for riding Highball Air. You are clear to unfasten your seatbelts, walk around, get some feeling in those legs of yours, and await further orders from the master and chief at large. Be seeing you all again soon."

"What's that supposed to mean?" One of the agents wondered out loud, voicing what they were thinking. Captain Jordan was a very strange man indeed.

"It means he'll be flying the helicopter to the manor too."

"Say what?" They all turned to Bruce as he stood up to explain himself. Dick just stared at him for a moment, keeping a careful eye out for Damian as he started working his harness off of him.

The man elaborated. "One thing Dick's informed me of is how he traveled across the US without being noticed: in the back of a semi-truck, U-Haul, or jeep. Because of that, he's been uncomfortable in any automobile. I believe he is not ready to start being driven everywhere quite yet.

"Furthermore, there's already been several death threats towards us. My butler has reported receiving fourteen calling cards and letters."

"Leaks?" came the teen's weak voice. Already?

"To an extent." He gave his son a reassuring look. "We don't know what information is out there and what isn't. To avoid any confrontations," Bruce inclined his head to the majority of the agents there, official orders being established at the same time, "Dick, Damian, Mr. Miller, and I, will be taking a helicopter Captain Jordan is acquiring right now. He will be piloting us to the manor. I have arranged for cabs to transfer our luggage and the rest of you there as soon as we are in the air. I ran this past your superiors earlier and they agreed this was the safest course of action."

"And just how many people are out to kill this kid?" Miller gave Dick a critical glare, trying to figure out why he was worth all the trouble. The teen just sighed bitterly. This was going to be a long year. "I mean, come on! This... Slade Wilson guy... couldn't be that big of news. I've never heard of him."

The FBI agents gave him withering looks while his fellow marshals rolled their eyes. Dick pinched his brow before telling them something he hadn't shared outside of the Interpol's lawyer's office. "Do you remember when Amaury Lemieux, the French Scientist nominated for a Nobel Prize, mysteriously disappeared five years back?"

"Not really."

"How about General Kosvak from Kaznia? Admiral Chekov?" One of these names had to stick. Maybe if he saw the results of Slade's work, he'd stop giving them a hard time. At the last one his warden's eyebrows shot up.

"Chekov? But he was shot in public!"

"That was Slade's handiwork." The acrobat gave him a chiding look. "He told me about a few of his hits. Bragged really. Didn't get any clients' names, but I do know who he killed, and how." The notion of not knowing clients was a bit of a lie. He pieced together a few of their identities, but that was only because of his background with the League. He had no evidence to back it up. "Knowing that potentially makes me a threat to his clients, and he had rich clients."

"According to Interpol," one of the other agents started, "Deathstroke is one of the top assassins in the world. The others belong to the rumored League of Assassins."

Dick and Bruce exchanged glances, remembering tales of other assassins who only occasionally worked as Ra's people. They knew where Deathstroke landed in the criminal underworld, and it was pretty high up the scale. Nearly beating the Justice League and escaping them gave him a lot of street cred. The others they knew of or dealt with were around his level too. It'd be hard to fight off against any of them should they try to make a name for themselves by taking him out.

Marshal Miller still had a dubious expression on his face, not quite believing how much danger Dick was in. "Okay... I guess that's a reason for the silence, but you could have said something earlier."

"My apologies."

"Hey there!" Hal took that moment to stride in, cocky grin on his face as he whipped off the pilot's hat from his head and passed it to the flight attendant he picked up. "Hold onto that, won't cha sugar? Not that great in a chopper. So! We're in luck!" He clapped his hands together, grinning at the Waynes in general. "An old air force buddy of mine has agreed to rent out his baby for a few hours. Kinda owe him fifty thou though. Mind-"

"I'll handle it. Ready to fly?" Bruce looked back to his boys just as Damian finally made it out of his seat on his own and touched the floor. Dick fetched batkitty for him before picking up the toddler and nodding. "Good. Let's go."

Before they knew it, their small party was out of the jet and in a copter, watching the world fly by. Dick insisted on holding onto Damian while they were in the air again, sharing the same harness as they soared over Gotham City. His warden was on his side as well while Bruce sat opposite them, keeping a very close eye on the boys. He looked ready to spring forth and catch them if they gave even the slightest hint of falling out the door. It made the teen grin.

"Paranoid old bat," he joked into the mic. That made Hal laugh in the pilot's chair while his father snorted.

"That's a sure rude thing to say to the man who bailed you out," Miller growled in response. Clearly he didn't like Dick much at all.

Bruce shook his head. "It's an inside joke. And you can't blame me for being paranoid. Helicopters weren't made for toddlers."

"Not yet at least," their pilot joked.

"Not ever," the dad enforced.

"Hey kiddo!" Hal started, grinning from ear to ear. "Wanna learn how to fly?"

Eyes shooting upwards, Dick gave Bruce a slightly pleading look. His response was a simple glare telling him to rethink that. He then looked over to his warden and cringed back. "Probably not until after I turn eighteen," he murmured.

"Well, maybe not in the air but-"

"Jordan..." Bruce's warning tone got him to cut it off.

"Fine fine fine... But I get dibs on teaching him!"

"So long as it doesn't include skydiving." A smirk crossed the man's lips. "He was very interesting his first time behind the wheel."

"Hey! I wasn't that bad!" Dick quickly objected. "The Studebaker's still in one piece isn't it?"

"Do you have a license?" Miller eyed the teen critically, carefully keeping his eyes inside the cab. Nearly everyone in there with him could tell he had a problem with heights, and that was rather amusing for them.

"Yes," he insisted. "Took Drivers Ed last year. Passed with flying colors. I drove everyone to school all last term, no accidents."

"Do you still have your license?" The challenge in his voice could not be mistaken. Bruce scowled at the marshal, not liking where this was leading.

"They haven't revoked it," the teen stated, holding Damian a little closer. Just why did this guy not like him? Because Bruce helped him get mostly cleared of charges?

"Until next term," his father started, "he'll be driven by either myself or Alfred. Should the assessment before then turn out well, he'll be permitted to drive to the school and back. That will be the only time the judge agreed he'd be unsupervised outside the manor."

"Fun."

"Speaking of which..." Hal's voice was a welcomed interruption. Dick was not looking forward to be under constant watch for the next year or so. This martial was going to be a pain when he was around. "If you look to your left, you will see trees, grass, hills, and one really big house with way too many rooms and more treasures than the state treasury! Stately Wayne Manor! Coming in for a landing folks!"

"WHEEEEE!" Damian threw his hands into the air excitedly as they tilted to the left to start their decent. Dick's warden clutched onto his harness for dear life while both Bruce and Dick smirked and leaned into it. From what they could tell, they were going to land on the west lawn, the flattest part near the manor. It also had a door straight into the kitchen. Warmth filled the teenager at the thought of what he'd be seeing first, especially who.

A landing never felt so good before in Dick's life. They had to wait a minute for the rotors to slow down before they even started taking off the harnesses on them. Bruce passed Damian back his favorite toy once they were free, removing their large headphones to hear better. "We're home."

"Sure are." Dick leapt out of the chopper and helped get Damian out before looking around. Winter was over and the spring planting was already completed. The local contractors really did a good job with this place. Even that old oak they climbed all the time was looking pretty good. Finally his eyes rested on the one thing he wanted to see. Darting forward, he shouted his excitement. "ALFRED!"

The ageing butler smiled, standing in front of the kitchen's side door to await their return. Just as Dick leapt up the small steps and wrapped him in a hug, he heard him say something. "Decorum Master Richard. Please!"

Laughing, the teen looked up at him a bit to rebuttal. "Not this time Alfie. Man I've missed you."

"And I you." Alfred wrapped his arms around the lad and returned the embrace. "Welcome home Master Richard."

They just finished fine tuning the anklet's range around the manor and grounds, checking the security, and setting ground rules when Alfred left to pick up the others from school. Dick endured the long list of lectures, instructions and restrictions while eating cookies and playing with Damian, occasionally making affirmative noises to satisfy the feds. It took much longer for his warden to be happy. But as soon as he was gone, Bruce was hacking through the anklet's program to expand the range, downward. They had to make sure he could enter the cave without losing the signal.

"This thing's going to be very annoying isn't it." Dick gave a heavy sigh as he thought everything over. Tyler Miller had a lot of restrictions, and over half of them copied house rules anyway. They barely won over him being allowed to do gymnastics and working the traps, which was good because he was really itching to do a few routines. Hadn't done any in months! Tried throwing them in during his heists, but it just didn't work.

Bruce grunted, finishing his task. "Probably. We just have to hope they don't look too closely at the blueprints. You'll be walking through walls frequently while in the caves.

"And try to keep out of fights," his father warned. "We don't want them having to replace this thing and finding the changes."

He shrugged. "It's not like I'll be leaving manor grounds."

"That's not the issue here." The CEO gave him a knowing look as he got out of his seat. "I'm more worried of it breaking and you being accused of running off. We have to be careful to make sure you don't get sent to juvenile hall. And if they look too hard at us, they'll find the League. All of that can be avoided if we play our cards right.

"Now, if I know right," an impish spark appeared in the man's eye, "Alfred should be home in a few minutes with the others. Damian's napping so..."

Grinning, Dick charged out of the study and towards the garage. "Thanks Bruce!" he called back as an afterthought, eager to see his siblings again. It was only a minute after he made it to the door that it opened and Cass came in, quickly followed by Jason and Tim. They didn't see him at first so he made it easier. "Hey ya peoples! Guess who's back!"

All their eyes fell on him while Alfred made it inside, a knowing smirk on his face. Tim's eyes lit up faster than the rest, darting around them to reach him first. "DICK! YOU'RE HOME!"

Their big brother laughed as the kid collided with him, picking him up into a strong hug. Cass and Jason soon joined them, laughing and hugging him gleefully in welcome. Questions and answer were repeated over and over again as they slowly made their way back into the rest of the house. Their father joined them a few minutes later, watching fondly alongside their butler. There may have been a camera flash during this reunion, but no one really cared.

They were finally together again, all of them. Safe and sound inside Wayne Manor. Took over four months to get there, but it happened. No words sounded sweeter at that moment than two.

Welcome home.

A/N: Whew... finally done! THere's more, obviously, to come before the epilogue (therapists, summer vacation, issues, ect) but now we're out of Teen Titan territory for a while. Guess this is the post Sacrifice arc... whoops.

ANywho, there will be other assassins in the future, namely Cass' biological parents. Not yet, but they are going to appear eventually. Hal's cameo was fun! Tyler Miller is an OC of course and will only exist until his anklet's off. Background character though so don't fret. THere's a lot of other things you may be questioning, so go ahead. I'll answer what I can and spoil some people. Didn't quite like the ending, but it'll have to do.

In other news, I've tenitively stated posting teh extended sacrifice arch on my Deviantart page. It still needs to be edited, a lot, but it starts at the important build up and goes through the epilogue. Tell me if it's good enough for new readers because I did an interesting intro at the begining of chapter one. Still working on it of course (I hate doing fight scenes and training. zero ideas) so I'm not ready to put it on FF yet, but i hate making people wait forever.

Ah well. Back to work!