Dick Grayson, dressed in a Batman suit with his cowl down, was typing rapidly at the Batcomputer, staring concentrated at the bright screen, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

His siblings and girlfriend were sparring with each other in the large, spacious Batcave while he was absorbed in his work.

He giggled when he heard Tim swear. "No swearing, Tim. Not only you are a child but there are other kids in the room." he admonished him without turning around.

"Call me kid one more time, Grayson, and I'll make you regret being born!" growled Robin as he swung his katana to protect himself from the rubber bullets fired by Red Hood.

"For once, I agree with the brat." asserted Batgirl, who grunted in pain as Black Bat flipped her over and slammed her back onto the cave floor.

"Don't hurt her too much, Cass." said Dick.

"How did he know it was Cass?" asked Red Robin in amazement as he was offered a hand by Black Canary and accepted it. She giggled when the younger man glared at her, angry that she had beaten him (ignoring that Canary was a great fighter).

"-tt. Your stupidity amazes me every time, Drake. The answer is simple." Robin did a somersault, rested his hand on the floor, and gained momentum as he rolled through the air to hit the second Robin full in the face ( actually, full in the helmet).

The former antihero staggered back. "Damn it, demon, you're spending too much time with the circus acrobat." he blocked the Boy Wonder's next punch, pulled him toward him and then swept his legs, causing him to lose his balance and fall face-first to the ground. "But I win, as usual." he smiled arrogantly and his smirk grew to his younger brother's menacing expression.

"It was just pure beginner's luck, Todd."

"Keep believing that, brat."

There was a rustle, typical of Batman's cape, and everyone turned to look at the Batcomputer, only to notice that the chair was not occupied by the Caped Crusader.

When Red Hood turned his head, confused, he found himself staring into emotionless white eyes that contrasted frighteningly with the dark cowl with bat ears. He emitted a distinctly unmanly cry and jumped backward.

There was silence in the cavern as everyone dared not move a muscle.

The silence was broken by Batman who began to giggle. His giggle turned into a full-blown laugh as he leaned back on his knees to catch his breath. He looked back at Jason and burst out laughing a second time, this time followed by everyone else (including Robin) as well.

"This is not funny!" the second Robin shouted furiously.

"Oh my God." Black Bat wiped away tears of sheer amusement. "You jumped in ai-" she did not finish the sentence bursting into another fit of laughter.

Red Robin rested his arm on Robin's shoulder, who for once did not complain, as they both continued to laugh out loud.

Black Canary and Batgirl looked at each other and started laughing again.

Batman smiled in amusement as Red Hood pouted. "Really, Jay?" he said releasing a few chuckles.

"Shut up!" he growled but didn't startle anyone. He sighed when his family continued to laugh. "Why did you have to do that, Dickhead?" he grumbled annoyed.

"In my defense, I didn't mean to scare you." asserted the elder with an amused smile.

"Really? Then why did you disappear and magically appear beside me?" the former Boy Wonder asked in a flat tone.

"I didn't know you were going to jump in the air, otherwise I would have done it every chance I got." smirked Batman.

It was still strange for the others to see Batman smiling and laughing so frequently but slowly they were getting used to it.

"Besides, I thought the act of suddenly disappearing and reappearing only affected criminals and League members." crossed his arms with a cheeky smile the Dark Knight.

Red Hood growled but did not respond, silently cursing him.

"So, found anything?" asked Batgirl directly to his mentor.

Batman's smile faded and his eyes looked even more menacing.

It was incredible how Dick could go from a cheerful and carefree Batman to a dangerous and threatening Batman in little more than a second.

"Yes, I was able to locate Black Mask and where the gun smuggling and drug dealing will take place."

Black Mask, one of the most dangerous, powerful and feared mob bosses in all of Gotham City.

"Robin, you're with me on this one, the rest of you will be patrolling Gotham on a regular basis." he nodded to his partner to get into the Batmobile.

"Why must you two always have the most fun?" whined Red Robin, and Black Bat, beside him, nodded in agreement.

"Because we are the Dynamic Duo." declared Robin with an unusual mixture of grin and smirk as he climbed into the passenger seat.

The Batmobile emitted a deep starting noise and soon only the allies of Gotham City's leading vigilante remained in the cavern.

"So Red Hood, or should I call you Mr. scream-very-little-manly?" said Black Canary with a mischievous smirk while a few giggles escaped her lips.

"Shut up, blonde."

Batman and Robin were perched on a beam, observing the scene below them. There were Black Mask and many armed men, as well as a few trucks where there were probably supplies of drugs and weapons.

Robin waited patiently for the signal from his more experienced partner. He did not wait long when he received a very slight nod in the darkness that only a few people in the world would have noticed.

With a predatory smile on his face he jumped under and with a hard kick to the head knocked out the first thug. He used the momentum to execute a backflip (he did not like the lessons he was learning from Grayson at all. For nothing) and landed perfectly on his feet while, in not even a second, he picked up several batarangs and disarmed a few.

"It's the Bat's brat!" shouted one of the thugs as he raised his hand holding his gun with the intent of shooting the Boy Wonder.

He didn't get far when a batarang hit his hand, disarming him, and he received a hard black-gloved punch in the face.

Batman landed between three people. He swept the legs of the first one to whom, while he was still in the air falling, he threw another kick at him, knocking him a few feet away. He executed a backward flick and threw a right hook and kick to the stomach at the second thug.

He rolled avoiding stray bullets and jumped over an abandoned car and then launched himself at the third man, hitting him in the stomach with a kick and causing him to slam into the wall.

In the meantime, Robin jumped between two criminals and slammed their heads into each other.

He turned with impressive speed and blocked his opponent's fist and then lifted him up and slammed him violently with his back on the floor. He jumped and delivered a violent kick to another criminal and then launched himself backward to throw a right hook to yet another.

Batman threw a roundhouse kick disarming one thug and turned 360 degrees in less than a second to throw a second roundhouse kick to his face.

He blocked a punch and painfully extended his arm backwards and punched his opponent squarely in the middle of the back. The delinquent fell to his knees screaming in pain but Batman grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him at a pair of armed men, knocking them both down.

He looked to his right and saw Black Mask taking from a truck a... bazooka?

And he was aiming it at his partner.

Damn.

"Get down Robin!" he barked the order sternly.

It was a proof of how much Damian trusted Dick when he ducked without question and thus narrowly dodged a missile that grazed his hair. The missile exploded on a stack of crates, doing all in all fairly harmless damage.

With a nod of thanks addressed to the Caped Crusader Robin returned to the fight with other delinquents.

Batman launched an explosive batarang that was placed on the bazooka. Black Mask had a few seconds on pondering what was going on before the bazooka exploded, throwing him toward the wall and he rolled for a couple of seconds screaming in pain.

Batman approached the mob boss as he smiled to himself at the screams of pain Robin was inflicting on the villains. He looked at Black Mask from the other side, towering over him and crossing his arms.

Black Mask smiled grimly from sitting, his shoulders leaning against the wall as half of his mask was gone, leaving half of his now-burned face visible from the explosion. "That was a mean move, Batman." he chuckled, showing his bloody teeth.

"But it will be less mean that you will end up in prison, Black Mask." the Caped Crusader smirked.

The criminal spat blood on the ground and returned the smirk. "Or maybe not."

Batman felt his blood freeze as he recognized the scream of pain as Robin's. His head snapped toward the direction of the sound and he saw his partner lying on the ground, a trickle of blood running down his forehead. A heavyset criminal was positioned over him, his knee putting heavy pressure on his back and a gun pointed at his temple. The villain was grinning evilly through thirty-two teeth.

Batman felt anger rising inside him and struggled with great difficulty to remain calm. Any reckless move he would make could cost Robin's life, his little brother Damian.

His white eyes fixed menacingly on Black Mask, who stood up smiling and clapping his hands in defiant applause toward the vigilante. He turned to his henchman. "Good job, Cody."

"But my name is Chester, boss." scowled the man.

"Same thing." waved a dismissive hand at the mafia boss.

Dick would have laughed if the situation had not been so delicate and urgent.

"Well," said Black Mask, drawing the Dark Knight's full attention. "I have more important things to do. Chester, if our uncooperative friend should move even an inch, shoot his little bird." he asserted and his henchman nodded. "I would love to kill personally both you and Robin but I have to rearrange my affairs." his smile turned to anger as he looked over the surrounding area.

About 20 men were lying on the ground, unconscious from the pain.

"See you, heroes." Black Mask walked toward a truck.

Batman was in conflict with himself but one thing was certain: he had to keep Robin safe.

The problem was how.

Batman looked at his partner who was struggling in every way and insulting the big man on top of him, but he was too big for him to be able to get out of the potentially deadly grasp.

Next he watched as Black Mask was getting closer and closer to a truck. If he had lost him it would have taken hours, if not days, to track him down and disrupt another gun and drug ring of his.

Chester was watching him closely, ready for any reckless move.

His eyes rested on Robin, who firmly returned the gaze. The younger half of the Dynamic Duo gave him a very slight nod, and Batman easily understood the signal.

The Boy Wonder painfully bit Chester's bare arm, who screamed in surprise at the sudden pain, and the Caped Crusader threw a batarang at him, hitting the gun. Batman leapt at him and hit him in the chest with his feet together, sending him flying backwards violently.

He turned to Robin who was having some difficulty getting up and who frowned at him. "Don't just stand there, Batman! Follow that imbecile Black Mask!"

Batman nodded with a small, amused smile.

His head snapped in the opposite direction and he saw the truck, driven by Black Mask, drive off. He grabbed the grappling hook and fired. The line attached itself to the overhang of the vehicle's roof and he flew toward it.

At the last second he stepped off the grappling hook line and smashed through the back door of the truck with a solid kick.

"What the fuck?" exclaimed Black Mask in surprise and looked at the rearview mirror. "Damn!" he visibly raged and swerved hard to the right.

The sudden change in direction caught Batman off guard and he slammed into the wall of the vehicle, grunting. He recovered quickly enough but this time the truck swerved to the left and he slammed into the opposite wall again.

He heard the villain laughing at him and decided it was time to end it. He launched himself forward and struggled against Black Mask for control of the truck. The vehicle skidded first to the right, then to the left, and so on, until Batman saw that they were crashing into a stack of crates with the symbol of ignitable risk.

"Perfect." he commented impassively as Black Mask muttered a 'we're screwed.'

Soon the explosion came.

With a grunt Robin managed to get up. He looked angrily at the stupid criminal who had managed to catch him off guard.

"-tt. Stupid delinquent. It was just a fluke." muttered the boy, distractedly kicking him in the back of the head.

His head snapped up when he heard and saw a large explosion. The truck flew violently until it destroyed itself every time it bounced off the ground.

Grayson!

Ignoring the pain he ran toward the site of the explosion. Once there his eyes behind the mask darted in every direction until they rested on a helpless figure on the floor.

With his heart in his throat he approached it and discovered that it was not his Batman but Black Mask, the mask completely gone and with many burns on his body and with other injuries (the only sign that he was still alive was the slight raising and lowering of his chest) but, apart from him and what was left of the truck, there was no trace of the Dark Knight.

Where the hell are you, Batman?

He gasped when a hand landed on his shoulder and reflexively turned around with the intent to beat up anyone who dared to touch him.

His fist was easily blocked and it took a few seconds before Robin registered that the figure in front of him was Batman, completely unharmed.

"How...?" he left the question hanging, and was very curious how his partner did not even have a burn wound.

Batman gave a mischievous smirk, and the Boy Wonder already knew he would not like the answer.

"Because I'm Batman." he replied in a low, dark voice. When Robin looked at him frowning and with the promise of a slow and painful death, he sighed and pointed with his thumb at the defeated mafia boss. "I threw him very hard off the truck and then I threw myself off too. Piece of cake."

Robin admitted to himself that he was surprised. "...-tt. I would have done a lot better than you, Batman."

The more experienced vigilante chuckled and ruffled his partner's hair. "I'm well aware of that, partner." a few seconds of silence passed. "Did I scare you earlier by suddenly appearing?" he asked with a smirk.

Robin huffed indignantly. "You must be more foolish than I had thought for just thinking that, Batman."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"You are very wrong."

"Wait until I tell Red Hood and the others."

"I'll kill you before you get the chance."

"Threat received, partner."