Jason, Tim, Cass, Steph and Damian sat at the lunch table of their school, Gotham Academy, as they ate their snack. It had become practically a tradition for them to eat together even at school, since they had no real friends because everyone else either despised them for being Wayne or because they just wanted their money at the end of the day.

But that's okay: they didn't need any friends when they could rely on each other (not that they would ever admit it out loud, of course).

The Wayne family noticed how much more rigid Damian had become since the day they attended the gala.

It had been just over a week.

Of course, Damian had done very well in trying to hide it, but the others now knew him very well and knew when a member of their family was not well.

Tim looked at his only younger brother and wondered if what Dinah had said was correct.

Could Dick really be a father to Damian?

He shook his head and decided no, but not because Dick was no good (in fact he would have been a very good father) but because Tim seriously doubted that Damian would want him.

After all, it was Damian himself who said that he was Bruce's blood son (and, ironically, he was also the one who clashed the most with the billionaire, even more than Jason).

Tim was about to open his mouth, although he himself did not know what to say for, but he was preceded by Jason.

"I assume your conversation with the golden boy went nowhere, Demon Child."

Timothy wanted to facepalm but restrained himself.

Way to start a conversation, Jason.

Surprisingly, Damian did not send any death glances toward his older brother and merely huffed. "Not that it's any of your business, Todd, but there was nothing I needed to talk to Grayson about."

He didn't even seem surprised that the others knew the topic of his previous conversation with Grayson.

"It's bullshit and you know it." Stephanie asserted, more rudely than she intended.

"Brown, I appreciate your concern for me personally" the tone of voice in which he said it suggested just the opposite. "but I would appreciate it more if you would keep your mouth shut next time."

The blonde frowned but decided to remain silent. If this discussion had happened months ago, Steph was very sure that Damian would have attacked her with a fork.

Although it didn't seem like much, Steph had to admit the improvements Damian was having since he was in Dick's care.

First of all, he had no longer tried to kill anyone (fortunately for Tim), and that in itself was a great step forward given the people who raised him (especially his grandfather, Ra's Al Ghul).

In addition, although few could see it, he had become more polite and his patience had greatly improved.

He was showing his more human side, the childlike side that he was (though only toward Dick but one step at a time).

This was all thanks to Grayson.

So yes, Steph had to admit that what Dinah had said made a lot of sense and rested on a very solid foundation.

Dick was the best person in the whole world for Damian and the results were already showing.

Apparently her thoughts had also reached the minds of her siblings, given their thoughtful expressions.

Cassandra absentmindedly drummed her fingers on the table. "I think Dick might be the best person to fill that role."

"-tt. It's obvious, otherwise I wouldn't have made him take the cape and cowl." Damian declared firmly, effectively tricking Cain's question.

Tim acknowledged this to him: he evaded Cassandra's question very well.

"You know I wasn't referring to that." the girl with Asian features said in a flat tone.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Maybe that you can see Dick as your father figure?" blurted Tim, unable to contain himself any longer.

Sooner or later Damian had to talk to his siblings as well as Dick about this delicate subject.

The bat-glare he received, however, almost made him regret mentioning it.

Almost.

Damian was about to speak, probably hurling some well-aimed insult at him, when the bell rang, declaring an end to the interval. With a snort Damian stood up and walked away, heading for his classroom.

"I thought he was going to kill me." Tim released a long sigh he didn't know how to hold back and his muscles relaxed.

"Nah. Dickhead taught him too well. He probably would have cut you in half with his katana when we got home." chuckled Jason with his usual mocking laugh.

Stephanie and Cassandra, who were sitting to the second son's right and left respectively, both threw elbows at his sides. "That doesn't help at all." said the blonde ignoring Jason's insults directed at her and Cass.

"I say we mind our own business and not intervene, leaving the matter solely in the hands of Dick and Damian." proposed Cass, getting nods of the head from Tim and Stephanie and a grunt from Jason. "Fine. See you later." she said as she stood up and, with a final wave, headed for her classroom.

Dick would make a great dad for Damian.

Batman and Robin, bathed in darkness, stood atop Wayne Enterprises, watching the event taking place alongside the multibillion-dollar company.

It was an annual event that involved Commissioner Gordon giving a pep talk to the police force (whose corruption rate was slowly decreasing) and civilians for their courage and loyalty in not moving to another, less dangerous city.

It was also usually mentioned that the Gotham GCPD would do everything they could to save civilians and decrease the crime rate, but although they had good intentions, the results were quite poor.

After all, there were few cops who were not corrupt and actually wanted to save Gotham, such as Gordon himself but also Harvey Bullock (despite his hate for vigilantes), Detective Ellen Yin, and a few others.

This was probably one of the most interesting events the citizens of Gotham could ever attend (certainly more than the galas Dick and the others were forced to attend).

"And as a final thing," Gordon continued his speech. "I would like to give a special thanks to the vigilantes of Gotham City, who every day do more than their best to protect this city, literally sweating blood to allow us to live with increased security. They will never allow Gotham to fall apart, no matter how crazy and dangerous the criminals are: they will always be there for us.

"For this reason, I would like you to give a special round of applause to Red Robin, Batwoman, Black Bat, Batgirl, Red Hood, Black Canary and Nightwing." a resounding applause rose from the large audience and the commissioner smiled.

Smiling Batman brought a hand to his ear. "Did you hear that?"

"Loud and clear, boss." came Batgirl's voice promptly as she, Red Robin, Black Bat and Batwoman were patrolling Bludhaven.

"I'm surprised they didn't throw tomatoes at Gordon at my name." chuckled Red Hood as he was patrolling the south side of Gotham City while Black Canary the west side.

"They wouldn't have wasted tomatoes for you." joked Canary causing laughter from the various vigilantes.

"That one hurt, Canary."

Batman chuckled amusedly before turning serious again. "Be careful." and turned off the communications.

Robin frowned and looked at his mentor. "What about us? Why did he mentioned Dr-Red Robin and not us?" he asked angrily.

Never taking his eyes off the commissioner, the Caped Crusader signaled him to be silent, to which the Boy Wonder reluctantly obeyed.

"An even more heartfelt thanks I would like to dedicate to the two main vigilantes and protectors of Gotham, to the darkness and the light, to the Yin and Yang of our city, to the Dynamic Duo, to Batman and Robin, who will thrive for centuries to come, no matter who is behind their masks and cowls. A round of applause, ladies and gentlemen." the applause was even heartier as even some citizens whistled in appreciation.

"This, my boy, is dedicated to us." smiled Batman sweetly as he proudly rested a hand on his partner's shoulder.

Robin nodded stiffly at him as a strange warm and safe feeling made its way into his heart. It was something... nice.

It was nice that his efforts as the partner of the legendary Batman were so vividly appreciated by the citizens.

It didn't matter that the Batman with whom he imagined himself starting his vigilante career was not his father who, despite everything, never seemed to appreciate him.

Grayson was a much better Batman than his predecessor, and he was proud to consider himself Grayson's Robin.

He would not have wanted it any other way.

After about a minute the applause ceased and Gordon continued. "Any questions?"

A civilian raised his hand and the commissioner signaled for him to speak. "Is it true that Nightwing became Batman? And that therefore the first Batman is dead?"

At first Gordon stiffened slightly but then forced himself to relax his muscles. "I'm not sure." he lied, mentally searching for the right words to say so as not to cause some kind of big scandal or otherwise ruin vigilante reputations.

He was pretty sure that, somewhere, they were watching him.

"It is not important who is behind Batman's cowl" he began slowly. "but how he is carrying out his vigilante duties. Let's be honest with ourselves: without Batman we would be screwed and Gotham would have fallen long ago.

"If it were true that Nightwing took Batman's cowl, and I emphasize the if, it wouldn't bother me much since he's doing a great job as the Dark Knight."

"According to some testimonies he was seen joking, making puns, even laughing!" insisted the same civilian of before.

Gordon was now losing patience.

Who did this idiot think he was to belittle the hard work the first Robin was doing as Batman?

He was ready to rudely express his thoughts when a familiar voice preceded him

"Gordon, Gordon, Gordon."

All heads snapped toward the voice and paled when they noticed that it belonged to none other than Two Face.

Batman and Robin frowned.

"Oracle, since when did Two Face come out of Arkham Asylum?" asked Robin harshly, angry that a super-villain had come out of the asylum without any of them knowing.

"According to my sources no one has come out-wait! The communication just came in!" even the former Batgirl was angry at the lack of communication.

Robin growled and made to jump when Batman's gloved hand stopped him. "It's not the right time yet, Robin."

"-tt." the Boy Wonder went back to watching the event that was taking a turn for the worse.

Gordon and the other cops immediately threw out their guns and pointed them at the former prosecutor. "Keep your hands where we can see them! And don't do anything foolish!" shouted Bullock angrily.

With an exaggerated sigh Two Face raised his arms. A smile formed on his lips and he said a single word.

"Now."

At this signal about fifty armed men came seemingly out of nowhere and surrounded the crowd, which consisted of about a hundred people (besides the fact that it was live streaming).

Batman silently cursed and activated his communications. "Red Hood, Black Canary, we have a situation of fifty armed men and Two Face holding hundreds of people hostage, including cops. You must come as soon as possible." he ordered, growling as his eyes saw the cops drop their weapons and raise their arms harmlessly.

"Roger that, Batman. ETA eight minutes." replied Canary seriously.

"Give me five minutes and I'm there for scarred face." stated with a clear smirk in his voice Red Hood.

"Get moving." and the main vigilante turned off the communications.

"What do you want, Dent?" asked Gordon abruptly.

Two Face approached him with a slow pace. Reaching about ten inches away, he picked up his coin and tossed it. He caught it and turned it over and over, as if contemplating the commissioner's question.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, Jim." the former district attorney smirked as he called his former friend by name.

"You no longer have the honor of calling me Jim." Gordon stated darkly.

Two Face lost his smile and with great speed threw a hard punch at the commissioner, who stumbled backwards dazedly.

Robin looked at his mentor who growled dangerously and smiled to himself.

Two Face was going to pay bitterly.

As the crowd erupted in chaos at seeing the beloved commissioner injured, the Caped Crusader signaled to Robin, silently communicating to him with a single glance to bide his time while he swooped down stretching his suit to glide toward his enemies.

Two Face looked up only to catch a glimpse of the Dark Knight in all his legendary glory in the air, his black cape fluttering behind him as the moon projected his image into the dark sky in a strange but efficient play of projections.

It was a beautiful sight to behold.

Two Face had barely a second to register that Batman was gliding toward him when a solid fist connected on his jaw, sending him flying away.

Batman landed in a crouch and rose to his full height, his cape seemingly hiding him in the darkness of Gotham. He remained unperturbed as some fifty guns were aimed at him.

The vigilante took a quick glance at Gordon and saw a black bruise forming on his face. Barely holding back a snarl, he turned to the supervillain who was struggling to his feet. "What the hell do you want this time, Harvey?"

Harvey spat blood and approached cautiously until he stopped a meter away from the hero. "What do I want?" he repeated, drawing a gun from his jacket and pointing it at the vigilante. "I want many things, including your death. However," he lowered the gun and looked directly at his opponent. "I am disappointed that the real Batman is dead, and that a poor substitute is standing here in front of me right now."

Batman emitted an animalistic growl, frightening many criminals and also many civilians.

Dick was so fed up that people saw him as a poor substitute for the original Batman, as if he were a clone gone bad.

He didn't like the position he was in either but still he made the decision to wear the cape and cowl.

For Gotham.

For his family.

For Bruce.

But also for himself.

And he never regretted for a second that he became Batman.

He would do it again every single time.

Nothing mattered anymore.

He was now The Batman.

And he would prove it once again.