Jason Peter Todd-Wayne banged his head on the desk with a groan as he ignored whatever his math teacher was saying.

He had managed to catch a few hours of sleep and now he also had to endure a boring math class?

No thank you.

As he effectively ignored the teacher, his thoughts went to the patrol from the day before.

Now, Red Hood could allow himself to admit that he was not as scary as Batman, or even Nightwing when he wanted to be, but how the hell did the criminal he pointed a real gun at not get scared?

It was something unthinkable.

And it ruined his reputation as a tough vigilante but that was another matter.

He would have asked the golden boy but he and the Demon Child had returned to the cave darker than usual, so out of the goodness of his heart, he had not asked.

Eh, he would have asked Dickhead when he returned home.

Before he could mentally pat himself on the back for his extraordinary intelligence, he was torn from his musings by his professor's dull voice and raised his head to look at him.

"Mr. Todd-Wayne, would you be able to illustrate the answer to the problem?" he asked the boy, though he already knew how it would turn out.

Jason looked at the aforementioned problem on the blackboard (managing in a few seconds to solve it mentally: he might not be the smartest guy in the world but he was still a genius out of the ordinary) before his gaze returned to the teacher. He replied in the most serious voice he could find.

"For me it's the onion."

Needless to say, he was kicked out for the entire hour.

Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne gasped when he heard his history teacher's voice shouting next to him.

"Finally Mr. Drake-Wayne has decided to embellish our existence by preferring the real world over dreams." his teacher said sarcastically.

"Sorry, it won't happen again." he replied with an embarrassed smile.

"You've been saying that since the beginning of the school year." she replied impassively while all the other students giggled.

Tim made a mental grimace.

He needed to solve his insomnia problem as soon as possible. Coffee was not the solution.

Or at least that's what everyone was telling him.

Coffee helped him a lot and he did not understand why others did not understand it.

Alfred repeatedly put sleeping pills in his drink to put him to sleep!

That devious butler...

With a sigh, the professor resumed the lesson.

Tim half followed her while the other half reflected on the problem that was happening in the family.

Could Bruce, his father, actually be dead?

He shuddered at the very thought and preferred not to think about it, clinging to the hope that Bruce would be alive and return home in one piece.

They just had to protect Gotham until he returned from wherever he was.

Yes.

They could do it.

And while he was waiting for him, Tim would do anything to try to avoid being drugged by Alfred.

...

Not a chance.

Stephanie Brown-Wayne and Cassandra Cain-Wayne were not paying much attention to chemistry class.

Steph was looking boredly at her fingernails while Cass observed a random spot in the classroom, the latter lost in her thoughts.

The night before she had been paired with Spoiler as a partner to watch and patrol Gotham and both had returned home dead tired.

It had been two days now that the crime rate in the city had risen dramatically (and it was already high in itself) and it seemed that the combined efforts of Nightwing, Red Hood, Spoiler, Black Bat, Robin, Black Canary, and Batwoman were in vain.

No matter how hard they tried with all the efforts they could muster, it was as if for every crime they stopped ten more were popping up at the very least, and this was literally driving the Batfamily crazy. If they continued at this rate they should have all been taken to Arkham Asylum to keep company the Joker and the rest of the psychopaths.

Eh, at least none of them had gotten out: common thugs were already enough, and she wouldn't want to think about if super-villains started wreaking chaos as well.

Gotham would literally go to pieces and fire and brimstone.

She returned to the present when Steph tapped her on the shoulder. "What are you thinking about?" she asked in a whisper to the girl with Asian features.

"About Gotham and how we're all going crazy." she whispered back. The other girl nodded in understanding. "How about you?" asked the blonde.

"To how Picasso every time he had to sign a document would take forever to write his own name." Stephanie replied seriously.

Cassandra facepalmed.

Damian Al Ghul-Wayne sighed as he listened distractedly to the English teacher.

I don't understand why first father and then Grayson had to firmly insist that I attend this educational institution when I clearly don't need it, unlike the others. It is merely a waste of time. He huffed mentally.

His thoughts ended at the speech Grayson told him during the last patrol. The thought that no criminal was more afraid of him (and to a lesser extent the others) irritated him to no end.

He was an Al Ghul! And, more importantly, a Wayne! How dared those mindless fools not be afraid of him? Of Robin?

He used all the willpower he had not to snarl and break the pencil in his hand.

He had promised Grayson and father (he ignored the twinge in his heart at the mere thought of the man) to behave himself and not to draw too much attention to himself.

Which is hard to do when you are the biological son of one of the richest men in the whole world.

And the fact that his stupid classmates annoyed him with their stupidity didn't help his murderous instincts toward them at all.

And he had also promised that he would not kill anyone.

Now that he thought about it, however, he had not promised to inflict nonlethal injuries.

He smiled to himself.

He would find a way to bring the katana to school.

The hardest part would be hiding it from Grayson and Pennyworth, but he would find a way.

Dinah Lance was worried about her boyfriend. As soon as the kids had gone off to school, Dick had holed up in the Batcave for no particular purpose. He was sitting in front of the computer with his eyes closed but was not sleeping but contemplating something.

She had tried several times to get him out but no luck.

"Alfred, could you please make an attempt to get him out of there? It's two already three hours that he's been sitting there with his eyes closed! It's worrying me."

Alfred assumed a grim expression. "I'm afraid I know what Master Dick is thinking."

Dinah's ocean blue eyes brightened slightly. "Really?"

Silly question of course, the young woman realized as soon as she had spoken it aloud.

After all, what did the old but astute butler not know?

"I am quite sure, Miss Dinah, however, I'm afraid I cannot share the information with you." he informed stiffly.

"Really?" she asked impassively. When he nodded, she sighed. "All right, thank you anyway."

When the British butler turned away, Dinah frowned.

What is going through your pretty little head, Dick?

All of Gotham City's vigilantes were in the Batcave (they were spending more time there than in the mansion and Dick made a mental note to make up for it).

"Listen Dickhead, I have a question for you that is plaguing my fantastic thoughts." Jason began but was quickly interrupted.

"I didn't know you could think." stated Tim with a smirk as Damian and Steph sneered.

"And I didn't know you could be so annoying! Wait a minute, I knew from the first time I saw you!" retorted the second son.

Dick intervened before Timothy could retort. "What did you want to tell me, Little Wing?"

He frowned slightly at the nickname Dick gave him when they first met and ignored the warm feeling that came with it.

He would never let Dick know, although he thought he already knew.

"To make a long story short, criminals are no longer afraid of Red Hood and this is unacceptable! It damages my tough guy image!" he complained, crossing his arms.

"Really? That's your problem?" asked Katherine impassively.

"Leave him alone. Jason has an ego as big as a building thirty stories high." asserted Stephanie.

"We all have egos as big as a building thirty stories high." replied Jason raising an eyebrow, daring others to counter.

"Eh, that's true." admitted Dinah with a shrug.

"Let's get back to the main topic." intervened Dick with a slight amused smile on his lips. "What did you mean when you said criminals are no longer afraid of Red Hood?" asked his little brother.

"What I meant." he replied with a smirk. He sighed when the other sent him a mini bat-glare. "I had knocked out three idiot thieves and one of them openly challenged me. So my response was simply to point a gun at him. Although I noticed a slight fear, he laughed in my face! Can you believe it?"

Dick and Damian exchanged a worried look, mindful of the important talk they had last patrol.

"Do you know something we don't?" asked Dinah, noticing the exchange of glances between the two. She put her hands on her hips and looked directly at her fiancé.

It was Damian, after an affirmative nod from the major, who explained to each member of the Batfamily the consequences of how the entire criminal world of Gotham is reacting to Batman's death/disappearance.

"We have to do something or else Gotham will go to hell!" exclaimed Stephanie as she raised her arms in the air in frustration, immediately giving the butler an apologetic smile.

"And what can we do without Batman? As the little demon said, without Batman the criminals aren't afraid of us, no matter how threatening we are." Tim pointed out, ignoring the younger boy's murderous stare.

"Then we just have to be more threatening." smiled Jason dangerously, hitting the palm of his other hand with a fist.

Cass shook his head. "No matter how threatening we are, it won't work. We have to admit to ourselves that, without Batman, Gotham's criminals are not and will never be afraid of us again. Maybe only Nightwing and I would succeed, but it would still prove useless."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree with Cain." Damian reluctantly admitted, getting an amused snort from the girl.

"So? There is absolutely nothing we can do to improve the situation?" asked Dinah sadly, almost resignedly.

"Try as I might, I have no idea what to do." admitted Tim disconsolately, biting his lip nervously and hating that he was unable to come up with a plan to solve the problem.

"What do you think, Dick?" asked Kate to the eldest Wayne, who had remained silent until that moment.

Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to say something.

A resolute expression made its way onto Dick's face and everyone could feel the aura of strength and determination being emanated from the young man.

Dick looked at Alfred. "It is time." he stated with firm resolve.

The butler nodded, albeit with minimal reluctance. "I knew the day would come sooner or later, but I never expected it so soon, Master Dick." he said softly, looking at the younger man and marveling at how he had grown and matured so quickly.

Richard shook his head, a shadow of his smile barely perceptible. "Neither did I, Alfred. Neither did I."

Everyone looked confused at the scene, having no idea what is going on and what the two were talking about.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Jason, posing the question they were all wondering.

Dick ignored him and, with a sigh, headed for the Batcomputer. The others, though confused, followed him.

The acrobat pressed a button on the computer. "Batcomputer." he began, closing his eyes. "Activate the "Heir to the Cowl" protocol."

Everyone present opened their eyes wide and staggered backwards simultaneously.

Wouldn't that mean...?

"Password?" came the robotic female voice from the computer speakers.

Dick opened his eyes again and looked directly at the lit computer screen. "Flying Grayson."

""Heir to the Cowl" protocol activated. Authority: transferred. Funds: transferred. Welcome, Richard John Grayson-Wayne, The Batman."

There was a strange noise and everyone turned toward the display cases. They were shocked when in one of the empty display cases there was now a variation of Batman's suit.

It was the same as Bruce's suit but the only difference, which only the most observant eyes would be able to notice, was that it was slightly smaller than the original, fitting Dick perfectly since he was not as tall and sturdy as his adoptive father.

Everyone's mouths hung open as Dick positioned himself in front of the shrine, observing the suit he would wear from then on until Bruce returned or...forever.

The firstborn turned and smiled slightly at the shocked faces. "Let's get ready."

Five minutes later, the last to return was the new Batman.

"Man, I can't believe you're actually doing this." Red Robin affirmed, still shocked.

White eyes looked at him and he suppressed a shudder.

Like father like first-born.

"It is the only way to protect Gotham. Batman, contrary to what many believe, is not a mortal man. He is a symbol, a legend who never dies and will forever watch over Gotham. Ever since I became Robin, I have always thought that one day this would happen and, as such, I have prepared myself as best I could." he declared with absolute firmness, never wavering.

Cassandra hissed. "Now that was a motivational speech, big brother."

"How did you manage to make this suit? And how did you hide it from us?" asked Black Canary, crossing her arms.

"Wait. You didn't know either?" asked Batwoman to the blonde who shook her head. "Now I'm curious how you managed to hide it even from Black Canary."

"Three words: Alfred and Lucius. As for how, you don't even need to explain it." Dick stated simply.

"In fact, if Grayson wants to do something without letting others know, he can do it without any problem." Robin said boredly.

Before anyone could add anything, the computer sounded an alarm. Batman ran toward it. He imprecated under his breath when he realized the reason.

"What's going on?" asked Red Robin, slightly alarmed.

Batman turned to each of them and the room seemed to drop below zero as white eyes pierced each of them.

Not even ten minutes had passed and already he was doing a great job as Batman.

Now all that was missing was the practical part, which was kicking criminal ass.

Speaking of that...

"Every single patient in Arkham Asylum has escaped," he growled.

Some of them paled. "A-all of them?" asked Spoiler.

Batman nodded abruptly. "Let's hurry. The Bat-signal is active. Robin, you're with me. Red Hood, you're with Black Canary; Red Robin with Black Bat and finally Batwoman you're with Spoiler. Have Oracle tell you the coordinates of the super-villains but leave the Joker to Robin and me." he ordered.

He turned to the others. "No matter if it takes all night and morning, I want all the inmates to return to Arkham. Gotham must understand that Batman will never die." he growled.

"Wow, already he's acting like the first Batman. Careful, the criminals might not notice the difference." chuckled Red Hood.

Black Canary was afraid. Afraid that Dick might become just like Batman was in the early days: closed off, reclusive, and difficult to deal with.

As if he could read her worries, the Dark Knight turned to her and sent her his typical smirk, silently reassuring her that it will not happen. She was slightly reassured by this but they should have had a good talk.

"Ehy! Batman doesn't smile!" Red Robin teased him.

Batman's smirk grew. "A smiling Batman is scarier than a scowling Batman."

"He's right, actually." Black Bat admitted with a shrug.

"Now go. Spoiler, a word."

The blond approached Batman confusedly, who waited patiently until only he, Damian and Steph were left in the cave. "If this is a lesson or something can't it wait?" she joked, crossing her arms nonchalantly.

But Dick saw past the demonstration of bravado and noticed the insecurity and anxiety she radiated. He removed his cowl, allowing Steph to show her all his true emotions and in an attempt to comfort her. "This is not a lesson, Steph. But I had bigger plans for you."

Now Spoiler's attention was drawn sharply. "What plans?"

Richard ignored Robin, who impatiently stomped his feet on the floor, and walked toward one of the empty display cases, followed by Steph and Damian. "As you well know Batman needs a Robin to watch his back and vice versa." Stephanie nodded. "And I am more than honored that Damian will be my Robin." he said, resting a hand proudly on Robin's shoulder.

No one missed his blush but they ignored it.

"However, traditionally there has always been a third person as well."

The gears in Spoiler's head turned until they clicked and she held her breath, not daring to come to too hasty conclusions but especially not risking raising her own sudden hopes.

Dick smiled sweetly at her and gave a nod to Alfred, who nodded in return, and the butler pressed a button on the Batcomputer. A new uniform filled the display case and Stephanie could not hold back a surprised and excited gasp.

The uniform consisted of various shades of purple, including cape and cowl, but what really caught the girl's attention was the yellow bat symbol.

Stephanie mechanically approached the display case, completely enraptured by the dress in front of her, and rested a hand on where the bat symbol would stand.

"I talked to Barbara and Cassandra about it earlier to get their confirmation which I finally got." Dick began, looking with a sweet smile at the joy radiating from his little sister. "Will you be my Batgirl?"

Steph turned sharply, her eyes showing a multitude of emotions such as disbelief and shock but the ones that stood out the most were happiness and gratitude. The young girl threw herself on Dick, who caught her easily and hid her head on the crook of her older brother's neck. "Thank you Dick!" she whispered softly, her voice tinged with thanks.

Damian averted his gaze and muttered away, allowing the two the brief personal moment.

Dick smiled softly and hugged the 14 year old tightly in his arms. "You will do a great job. I know your full capabilities and I know you will carry Batgirl's mantle aloft just as you did Robin's. Never doubt yourself. I trust you completely." he said in a tone of voice that was gentle and at the same time absolutely convinced.

"T-truly?"

"Truly." confirmed the Wayne eldest son.

The fears and anxieties that had slowly captured Steph faded. Her mind had already panicked, freaking out if she was not good enough like Barbara and Cassandra, two absolute legends, and she knew she was nowhere near their caliber.

But despite her restlessness Richard's words calmed her (as they always did) and eased her fears. If Dick, the best man Steph had ever met, believed in her then perhaps she could do some good and be truly useful.

Besides, the idea of being Dick's Batgirl attracted her more than she was willing to admit.

She reluctantly went down to Dick and immediately missed the warmth that only her older brother could radiate. She quickly wiped away her tears of joy and gave a huge grateful smile to the firstborn who smiled back at her.

"Go change." the acrobat pointed to the locker room. "Tonight Batgirl will make her return to Gotham and the criminals will think twice before confronting her."

Steph's smile increased and the girl gave him another hug before taking off with an excited shriek (which startled some bats) toward the locker room with Batgirl's uniform in hand.

Dick chuckled affectionately and turned his attention to Robin who approached him. "I trust your judgment, Grayson."

Dick smiled, knowing that this was Damian's way of accepting Stephanie as Batgirl, and tousled his hair. "Thank you, partner."

He got a brief smile from Robin.

In a few minutes Steph came out, fully dressed as Batgirl. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" the blonde bounced in place electrified with a big smile on her face, her eyes shining with happiness Dick had never seen on his face, and his heart melted immediately.

The 20 year old nodded, putting his cowl back on. "Let's go. From now on, a new era will begin in Gotham, and we'll be the stars of it." he solemnly declared, getting smiles from both Robin and Batgirl.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Alfred nodding at him with a small smile on his face.

Batman smiled back.

Gotham was not going to die.

Not over his dead body.