Title: One And Only: XVI

Author: D C Luder

Summary: Third in the (what is now, I guess) the Time Will Tell Series. Set four years after the conclusion of Life Is Good. The Family moves on and... apart?

Rating: PG 13

Infringements: All recognizable characters belong to DC Comics, not DC Luder.

Author's Note: It is highly advisable that you read Time Will Tell and Life Is Good or you may be a tad bit lost. I am writing this due to the numerous requests for a sequel. That and I am absolutely obsessed with the concept of the Bat and Cat living happily ever after.

A/N 2: An ENORMOUS thanks goes out to Chris for this ingenious chapter.

A/N 3: Selina's song in the shower is Learn to Be Lonely off of The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack. Why, because it's been stuck in my head for a week so it might as well be stuck in hers as well.

V

As I stepped into the den, I paused to see Barbara sitting in one of the new leather chairs curled up under a pale blue Afghan. In one hand she held a small booklet while in the other she held a large all-in-one remote. On the coffee table, I smiled to see a bowl of popcorn and two bottles of Root Beer.

"Movie night?" I asked as I approached her.

She nodded, "If I can get this remote to work…" she faced the hall entrance from which I had just come from, "Dick see if there's more batteries in the utility drawer!"

"Kay," he called back.

It had been less than a week since he had officially moved into the Clocktower and it had already seemed like an eternity. Having been on his own for several years, I had noticed how far his basic housekeeping and etiquette skills have lagged behind. The very day that we had moved in the rest of his belongings, Barbara had started right in by laying down a few ground rules as to veer him from turning her apartment into a bachelor pad.

The very next morning, Dick had nearly been evicted.

After a shower, he had nonchalantly selected a towel from the middle of the stack in the linen closet. A bright red towel with a pretty black and white pattern. It was a beach towel, one I had seen twice in my life and that I knew Barbara did her best to hide. So by having taken the towel out of its hiding space, Dick had inadvertently let all hell loose, especially when he hung it on the towel rack in between two soft peach colored towels. Sticking out like a sore thumb.

When I had found it, I nearly warned him to fix it, but then again, it would have been far more entertaining to see Barbara's face when she found it. Tim, who had come up for lunch that day, had come out of the bathroom laughing. When Barbara had asked what was so funny, he had replied, "The peach and red towel contrast in there is snazzy, Barb."

Needless to say, Dick promptly returned to using the normal colored towels.

I reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn, "Well, I'm going to get dressed, head out in a bit."

She nodded, "Sounds good…"

As I heard Dick's footsteps draw near, I reached for another handful, nearly dropping a kernel onto the floor. I shrugged, "Close call."

Before either of us could say anything, Dick stepped into the room carrying a small package of batteries and a plate of chocolate chip cookies, "What size batteries did you need? All I could find were double a-AAHHH!"

We both watched in utter horror as Dick's foot caught on the edge of the carpet, causing him to stumble and abruptly drop the plate of cookies. Crumbs flew everywhere upon impact, and the plate chimed musically as it bounced off of the floor. Dick caught himself on the edge of the credenza, managing to keep a strong hold on the little plastic container of batteries.

When I looked over at Barbara, my eyes widened to see that her brow had risen considerably and that her eyes had gone from a cool green to glowing embers of fury. As I slowly backed away, I realized that she had vacuumed that morning…

"Well, I better get going…" I whispered.

As I quickly changed into a club outfit, I could hear Barbara complaining that "for a kid who grew up on the high trapeze, you sure are a klutz!"

And as I slipped out the front door, I caught a glimpse of Dick on his hands and knees, frantically picking up cookie crumbs and muttering to himself, "Too many hours in front of the computer screens… Melted her mind or something…"

It was a little before eight when I got a call from Tim. I had been touring on my cycle, making my way to one of the remaining clubs on our high-priority list. After questioning the perp from last week and linking Black Mask to the missing persons, we had very little time for undercover work. I had done my best to hit a club or two each night, but we had put far more energy into searching the possible storage locations where he could have been keeping the girls until shipping them out.

"I'll be covering the side and rear exits," Tim's voice came over the comm. link, "But I won't be able to hang around long. I would give it a half hour maximum."

"Okay," I replied, "I'll see you later."

A soft grunt came over the line, "…See you then." Although he would never admit it, this was case was really getting to him. Tim never handled the unknown well, and this sure qualified.

Thirty-nine minutes into my first undercover site, I heard a pair of soft voices and felt two pairs of cold eyes. When I turned to order a drink, I caught a glance of them, two late-thirties men, both pathetically trying to fit into a crowd a decade younger with stylish suits and slicked hair.

"Raspberry Lemonade, please," I said while laying a five dollar bill on the bar. While waiting for my drink, I played with a spare napkin and listened intently as their conversation grew.

"What do you mean that ain't good enough? Christ her legs are a mile long…."

"Keep your voice down, Dave. I know she looks the part but she's a foreigner. Hard to sell the customer a product they have in their backyard…"

The bartender returned with a tall glass and when she took the bill I told her to keep the change. She smirked and told me to have a good night.

I sure hoped so…

"Well, ain't much here. 'Sides, when do we have to meet up for the move tonight?"

The thicker of the two glanced at his watch, "About another hour in a half. Might as well get going, haven't even had dinner yet."

After downing three-quarters of the drink, I pushed the glass aside, still all too aware of the intermittent gaze the pair of men directed at me. As they set about moving off of their stools, I hopped off of mine as well, already reaching into my small purse for the tracer pin. I watched as they donned their leather coats and then proceeded to bump into them.

I flashed a smile and said, "Sorry, guys."

Just as I pressed the tracer into Dave's coat sleeve, he smirked and looked down the front of my shirt, "No sweat, hon."

I watched them leave through the front doors from the small crowded area in front of the bathrooms. The minute hand on my watched looped around another three times before I made my own exit, using the back door. Once out in the cool air, I contacted Robin on the comm. link, covering my conversation with a false cell phone, "Hey."

He paused, "Something come up?"

"You could say that. Let's just say our night just began…"

V

"Back up. Why do I always get stuck as back up?" I muttered to myself as adjusted my binoculars.

Barbara's voice sounded in my ear through the comm. link, "Well, you're the one who's been living on Easy Street while we've busting our butts---."

"Watch it woman. So where is everyone? I'm freezing."

She paused before replying, "Patience, young grasshopper."

"Patience my…" I muttered.

After Batgirl had placed a tracer on a suspect, she and Robin had been following the trace while I had been sent out to observe activity at a prospective hideout. It was a small storage subsidiary of a long-since failed exporting business. The building was leased by one M. Querade of which Barbara had quickly deduced as standing for masquerade. Black Mask exercising his limited creativity. In the last six months alone, the location that I was staking out had a consistent pattern of monthly boat arrivals and departures, generally around eleven at night.

Picking up the goods.

I had been suiting up after a peaceful hour of yoga when Barbara had come in to tell me that Tim and Cass had come across a new lead about an actual movement that evening. After donning the rest of my suit, I was deployed to my coordinates to keep an "eye an out" for any suspicious characters. So far nothing but then again it had only been a half of an hour.

After a quick tour of the warehouse and no sign of any human life, I snuck in as ordered, planted a few "eyes" and "ears" for Barbara and snuck back out. It was a well kept empty warehouse, pretty bare on the essentials and didn't show any signs of being a base of operations for a slave ring.

As I shifted my weight slightly to prevent cramping in my legs, the corner of my eye caught on something big and yellow. By the time I looked up, the vehicle had passed down the next street and out of view. I knew of a bussing program that delivered winos and derelicts to the docks at night so that they could keep the downtown of Gotham more aesthetically appealing.

"Nightwing?" a familiar voice asked over the comm. link that was much darker than normal.

"Robin, "I haven't seen much yet, but I've got my eyes open."

"Batgirl and I are en route, should be there in five minutes."

I paused, "Thought you were following the Luigi."

"It's Mario, first of all, and secondly they're heading in your direction. Sit tight," he said before closing the connection.

As I ran a gloved hand through my hair, I muttered, "Someone's been hanging out with the Boss Man too long."

"What makes you say that?" a familiar voice asked from behind that was just as dark as it had been when I was a kid.

I hid my surprise by adjusting my binoculars before standing to face him. "Most people say hello."

Batman looked passed me and down below at the warehouse. I read the unasked question on his face and answered, "Nothing yet. Robin and Batgirl are on their way… but you probably already know that."

He made a soft sound of acknowledgement.

As a child, stakeouts were my Achilles' heel. Not only was I ten years old, but I had never been one to bottle my energy long enough to sit through dinner let alone a few hours behind a pair of binoculars. Batman was well aware of my inability to sit still but had never really seemed to care.

"Patience, Dick," he had always reminded me, "Patience is a virtue."

I thought of how Barbara had just reminded me to be patient and it brought a smile to my lips. Before the Joker had taken away the use of her legs, I knew for a fact that she could hardly keep her foot from tapping for more than ten minutes.

It was just my luck that my solitude was broken, the action began. We stood in the shadows together, watching silently as car after car pulled into the empty warehouse. Generally, there were only two men in the vehicle, occasionally three. Marios or whatever. Not a single sign of a girl though. I was about to ask Batman if this was the wrong place, if this was just a drug deal, but he was gone.

"Son of a bitch, "I muttered while looking around the roof top. He did it to me?

"Pretty harsh language, there," Barbara's voice came in my ear.

"Yeah," I replied, "Too many years on the beat, babe."

"Anyway, the two amigos should be there any minute."

I paused before asking, "Anything coming up on the cameras? A few cars pulled in through the northwest entrance."

"No," she replied, "They parked, got out and starting chitchatting with one another. Nothing even useful, it's all baseball banter…"

"You know those bottom feeding criminals… Deep down they're just die hard baseball fans that didn't get enough hugs when they were younger." She stifled a laugh as I spotted the edge of a yellow cape on the other end of the roof I was standing on. "Well they're here, better go play catch up."

"Play nice."

After she closed the connection I began walking over, "Let the games begin."

V

For years I had thought of myself as sitting on the sidelines after my paralysis. As my role as Oracle developed and become pertinent to the Batman's war on crime, that feeling had all but dissolved. For some unknown reason, as I sat amidst my network system, cataloging video and audio feed from the M. Querade warehouse, I had never felt more alone…

"Batgirl?"

Two clicks replied which I translated as "I'm fine".

Being the stealthiest of the group, Batgirl entered the warehouse in order to get a closer look than what the cameras could offer. And unless absolutely necessary, she wasn't to utter a word. When Robin was going over this with her, I had heard her over the comm. link, "Just like old times."

I was checking in with her every five minutes. A little extreme but with the odds not being in our favor, I knew it was better to err on the side of caution. However, I left it up to Robin and Nightwing, you were working they way around the outside to contact me at their leisure.

Three out of four…

Batman had been avoiding me most of the night. His comm. link was sporadically on and only for a minute or two at most. Also, he had deactivated the tracer, a big sign that he was not in a good mood and that he certainly didn't want to be found. Which was fairly unlike him when something of this nature was going down in his city.

After a sip of green tea, I went back to watching the video feed. There were five cameras in place and none of them were showing anything of interest I had hoped for Tim and Cassandra's sakes that it would end tonight, but things weren't looking to go that way. Then again, appearances weren't everything.

After checking in with Batgirl six times, she finally had something for me. Her Morse code wasn't the best, but I could still get it, 'Found metal door. Bolted. Locked. Sounds behind it.'

"Might be where they are keeping the girls. Is there anyway else in?"

Two clicks. No.

"Tag it. I'll tell Robin."

One click. Okay.

I switched over to Robin's frequency, "We may have something. Heavy door that's locked and dead bolted. Batgirl says she can hear voices behind the door."

"It's a started. Where is the room?"

I waited a second for the tracer she had placed to become recognized by the system. "South west corner," I answered while bringing up the last recorded blueprints of the warehouse, "Seems as if that's one of the bigger storage rooms."

"Hm. How's the activity in the other areas?" he asked.

I glanced at the monitors before answering, "Not as much conversation. They all seem to be standing around and waiting."

"For Black Mask," Robin added. There was a long pause before he said, "I don't want to wait any longer. Tell Batgirl we're coming in."

"Copy that."

After I relayed the message to Batgirl, she responded in Morse that she had acknowledged and would be waiting for them before she moved on. I always found that as being the difference between us, for where she would refuse to deny orders, I would have been less diligent and would have acted on my own, despite the consequences. Hence why Batman and I had butted heads constantly while I had been wearing the mask.

On the third camera I noticed a flash of movement and then another. The boys were in and quickly heading in Batgirl's direction. I enlarged the screen that displayed the tracers in their suits as well as that of the man Batgirl had tagged at the club. Just as the three of them converged in front the room in the southwest corner, the Mario and his partner appeared to enter the building, on the tracer screen ad on one of the cameras. Like the others, they were big and strong but not outwardly menacing. After all, it was harder to kidnap a girl that was scared of you from first sight.

As I watched the latest arrivals join the group, I heard Robin's voice, "There's no way to get through this door without causing a commotion. How many men are on location?"

I did a quick count, "Almost sixty. All packing one form of nasty weaponry or another."

He paused, conferred with Nightwing briefly before responding, "We can't risk that…"

I noticed as a dark sedan approached from the east, slowly pulling into the warehouse. The next camera showed the car parking and the passenger stepping out, straightening his suit coat before donning a black fedora.

"Stay on your toes, boys, the Sionis just arrived."

Nightwing's voice came over my speakers, "Fear not, dear maiden, we hath hatched a plan."

Looking at the tracer display, I asked, "Why are you and Robin running towards the massive group of armed criminals?"

"Start a commotion over here and---."

"Dick, you're not ready for this kind of action," I growled, "You've hardly done anything in a year, at least not like this."

"Well, what kind of a role model would I be to thousands of Wingster fans if I bailed out on my buddy Robin? It'll be fine, O. Although you might want to call up the big guy, let him know what we're up to."

I sighed and muttered, "Would if I could."

"Ah, is he incommunicado?"

"Isn't he always?" I said softly.

"Touché," he replied, "As much as I would love to keep chatting with you, I've got some bad guys to beat up."

As I often did, I sighed as he closed the connection. Having a voice in your ear was a distraction in any scenario, but could be a fatal one when going up against that strong of an opposition. But where I was cut out with sound, I had enough visuals to last me a lifetime. The massive group that had been lounging around had reduced by half. The thirty that were left were in smaller group and were beginning to pan out throughout the building. Guard detail. All major entrances had four men standing by as well as major corridors in the warehouse itself. Even with all of the cameras Nightwing had set up, I still could not accommodate the remaining thirty men.

Just as I was about to break in and inform they boys of the change of layout, I spotted Nightwing's sleek form in the shadows of the third camera. It panned passed him and I paused it as it came over a small group of men, smoking and chatting softly. The dim hallway offered excellent cover for Nightwing as he leapt forward, knocking the group down with one tackle.

I watched as the men struggled to their feet, reaching for their weapons. Two bolos later, the men were snuggly wrapped up in Kevlar enforced line and falling over one another. With a few gas pellets, Nightwing finished them off with a smile as the men's eyes rolled slightly before closing.

Four down…

As Nightwing progressed through the halls, locating and putting down any unfriendly foes, I searched on another set of monitors for Robin. He wasn't registering on any of the cameras, which was either his good concealment skills at work or…

A flash of activity in the main room caught my eye. One of the larger groups, ten from my count, had remained in the larger room while the others had moved out to their respective stations. Black Mask had been one of the ten and as I did a quick count, I couldn't see him anywhere. While panning with the other cameras, Nightwing popped up on an exterior camera as he took out a group of lookouts. One perp got a lucky shot and I smirked to watch my beau retaliate with a puzzled look on his face.

Once had bound his challengers, I felt it was safe to contact him, "Nightwing, you might want to get back to the main room, something's got everyone antsy and Black Mask is missing---."

"I know."

"What do you mean you know?"

He paused, "All part of the plan, O, trust us."

When his voice had that clever, sneaky quality to it, I trusted him only as far as I could throw him. "What part of the plan has you outside talking to me and Robin inside fighting for his life?"

"Part B I think."

"Richard!"

He gulped audibly, "Just keep an eye on him and tell me when it gets out a hand."

Not in the mood to try and understand his logic, I went back to watching the main room. The nine figures had been reduced to five as four laid sprawled on the ground semi-conscious. Robin, armed with his bo staff, was quickly working his way through the group. I could tell by the look on his face that he was holding back as much of his anger as possible. It would be so easy to add an extra hit or one more bone than necessary simply because of what the men were guilty of.

Bruce often took on that look…

I cringed when a pair of men came up behind Robin and hit him in the back of the head with a wrench. He fell to his knees, the bo staff slipping out of his fingers and teetering to the floor. the two men who had snuck up on him quickly took a hold of his arms and lifted him up as another man removed his utility belt. Far too many had been victim to the countless nasties that rested within that belt.

As a shorter man approached Robin, I gasped to see him reaching for his mask. Before I could call for Dick, I saw Sionis approach and promptly deck the one who had attempted to unmask Robin. Close call. As Sionis had his men bind Robin's arms, I made a call to Nightwing, "They have Robin."

"… Ah, that's not part of the plan. You get a hold of you know who?"

"No," I glanced at the tracer display, "Batgirl still tucked away in the vent above the storage room but there's no sign of him."

"Hunh. Well, guess I better save his red robin rump… Make you sure you tape SNL, it's going to be a long night."

V

We had no way into the storage room to free the captives.

I had no idea where Batman, Nigthwing, or Batgirl were.

I was concussed and being held captive by Black Mask.

So far so good.

I let my eyes droop as two bouncer-esque men held me up by the arm pits. Sionis and one of his higher ups were conversing a few yards away, just within earshot.

The assistant spoke, "Why can't we do away with him?"

Sionis growled lowly as he grabbed the man's coat collar, "If that one is here, he's not far behind. You want to piss the Bat off, do it on your own time, not mine."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do with him?"

Sionis glanced over his shoulder at me, "We teach him a lesson." He crouched suddenly and picked up a Batarang that I had used to knock out one of his flunkies. My eyes trailed him as he stood and approached a kerosene heater that had been used as a pathetic attempt to keep the occupants warm. He set half of the metal piece into the heater and then turned back, "You and your mentor are always sticking your noses into my business."

"Sounds like a personal problem," I growled.

He snickered to himself as he removed the metal piece and held in front of him. It glowed softly, reflecting off of the dark wooden mask and setting off slight flickers of brightness in his eyes. "No point in clipping your wings… You are member of his cult, training under him, working for him and perhaps you even share his ridiculous beliefs that this city will one day be a good and decent place to live…"

I slipped a knife from my glove and began nicking at the ropes around my wrists. When the criminals went into their monologue nonsense, it was an opportune time to start working on an escape. To keep him distracted, I locked my eyes with his.

"I think it's time to change your loyalty. He's old and weak, and his cause is hopeless. I however, have plenty of years to spare and a legion of followers to a worthy cause. I think it's time that one of his becomes one of ours."

There was barely six inches between us when he finally stopped. Sionis raised the Batarang between our faces and his eyes narrowed behind the mask. "Hold him still boys."

"Yes, sir," they replied in unison.

As I felt two pairs of iron arms tighten their hold on me, I relaxed slightly and held my ground. I even managed to hide my smirk when I saw Batgirl's shadow cross into my line of sight.

While Sionis made the attempt to slash at my face, I ducked and lurched backwards, forcing the two dumbbells towards their precious leader. One of them howled as the hot Batarang seared their arm, resulting in a loosened hold on me. I had cut at most of the ropes and with the new freedom; I was able to pull hard enough to snap them off. Before I could right myself, Sionis was already lunging and stabbing at me, rage empowering his actions.

Unfortunately, when angry, people tended to be careless. And off balance.

I landed a roundhouse to his side and completed a full turn before hooking him in the neck. Before he fell to the ground, I was already reaching for my utility belt and calling out to Batgirl. She had managed to take out six of the nine men on her own. That left Black Mask, who was on the ground gasping for breath and the remaining three…

"All taken care of, pal," I heard Nightwing boast as he knocked the last one out.

We closed in on Sionis after bounding the moaning mooks. He had burned himself on the Batarang, the flesh of his hand bright red as it clenched painfully. The other hand held onto a small radio that I hadn't seen. Just as I was about to kick it out of his hands, he rasped, "Drive them into the river."

Them. The girls.

"Oracle, What's the status outside!" I snapped as I ran towards the warehouse exit.

"No through traffic, not even foot traffic---."

A sudden crash interrupted her and it took a second for me to realize what it was as a bus crashed through the loading entrance of the warehouse's rear. As I jumped back to avoid being hit, I looked up to see countless young faces and heard please for help. A bus, they were going to load them onto the boat in a bus… How could I have missed that? Why didn't I know?

No time for that, I told myself.

"What was that?" Oracle's voice came loudly in my ear.

"Black Mask's last card," I muttered.

"EMS and police units are en route… ETA fifteen minutes."

As I told her to put a rush on it, I began running towards the bus, with Nightwing and Batgirl right behind me. A grapple would do nothing, hell; ten grapples wouldn't even have an adverse affect. Nightwing barked form behind me, "Blow the tires?"

"There's no time!" I cried back as the driver bailed from the bus, rolling upon impact with the ground.

I leapt over his form and watched in horror as the bus veered off the edge of the dock and crashed into the water. Without hesitating, I ripped off my cape and dove into the water a few yards away from the now vertical bus. The screams were louder and joined by panicked pounding on the windows. I inserted my rebreather into my mouth and swam quickly towards the emergency exit door on the side of the bus. It was just under the surface of the water, making it nearly impossible to pull it outwards. I pulled a Batarang from my belt, cut a circle into the glass and promptly kicked in the window. While water rushed in hands and faces rushed towards me.

After getting a few of the girls moving out that door, I noticed Batgirl and Nightwing had joined me and were working on opening the other emergency exits. There was no way of knowing how many girls were inside unless…

I swam down to the open entrance door at the front of the bus and slipped inside. Most of the passengers were at the rear of the bus, making their way out through the emergency exits. Most of them…

A pair of young women were in the second seat behind that of the driver's slumped, eyes closed, in their seat. I swam up, found weak pulses on both of them before giving them both of my rebreathers. As I worked at cutting their seat belts, I alternated chest compressions on both of them. Once freed, I grabbed both of them and swam to the rear of the bus.

The water couldn't have been more than forty degrees and it sapped the energy I had left quickly and swimming with two limp bodies didn't help any. With every, kick, I reminded myself that I was that much closer to the surface. That much closer to air and a warm blanket.

By the time we had reached the rear exit, the bus was completely submerged. We slipped through the door just before the force of the water pushed it closed. I kept looking up as I swam, much as a runner focuses in on the finish line.

The surface was chaos as the girls frantically swam towards the docks. After a few gulps of air, I treaded water long enough to find the same weak pulses on my two new friends. It took a while to hear Nightwing calling my name over the splashing water and cries for help. I looked up and found that he and Batgirl had thrown down a few emergency rope ladders and were helping the girls up onto land.

Almost there…

I tried to call back to him but I just couldn't get my mouth to work.

I swam in the direction of the ladders, the weight of the two girls doubling by the second. When I approached the base of the ladders, Nightwing dove in next to me and took one of the girls over his shoulder, "Hey, hero, don't hog all the damsels in distress."

"F-f-funny," I managed.

It was another half hour before all of the girls were safe on the dock. While we had been in the water freeing them from their water coffin, the ambulances and police units had arrived and had gone to work helping those that were already on the ground and locking up those who had been party to putting them in the water.

And concealment be damned, I took a big green blanket from an EMT.

V

"Only five stitches, Master Timothy, very impressive."

"Thanks Al," he replied.

As I snipped the end of the suture, I said, "Now rest here for a moment, I'll need to dress that."

The medical bay was fairly well sized for a patient or even two, but with three shivering, bruised and exhausted patients, it felt a bit crowded. Aside from slight cases of hypothermia, each had only a few selected bruises and cuts, only Master Timothy's requiring suturing. And in light of the scenario that had been described to me, it was astonishing that they were alive let alone unscathed.

They had pulled into the cave's entrance on their respected motorcycles, one after another. I had also expected the low growl of Master Bruce's mode of transportation but had been puzzled when it never came. Surely he had been in the middle of this catastrophic event…

As I retrieved gauze and adhesive tape from the cabinet, I heard Master Dick sigh, "You guys play too rough. Maybe I should go back to Bludhaven."

"Wimp," Miss Cassandra replied as she sipped her hot chocolate.

Upon arriving, I had them each take a hot shower to help raise their body temperatures and to don dry clothing before wrapping up in thermal blankets. After distributing warm drinks, I had ascertained that their injuries were minor and nothing that a good night's sleep would not fix.

While dressing the back of Master Timothy's head, I spoke, "Guest rooms on the second floor are turned out and ready whenever you are. If there's nothing else, I would hope to see you all upstairs shortly."

Master Dick stood and raised his brow, "Then again, you can't get those Alfred approved military corners on a bed sheet in Bludhaven…"

As they rose and made their way to the stairs, I called Master Timothy aside, "A tetanus booster, sir. As a precaution."

He nodded and dropped the blanket before raising his sleeve. I swabbed the area before injecting the serum, "There you are, sir."

"Thanks Alfred," he said quietly. A quick look at him and he could have been any normal college student that was exhausted from a long weekend out on the town or up all night writing a last minute paper. If only that were so.

"Have you heard form Bruce at all?" he asked suddenly as he pulled the blanket up over his shoulders.

I paused as I disposed the needle and syringe, "I am afraid not, sir."

Master Timothy nodded slowly, "Didn't think so."

I reached out and touched his upper arm, "Tim… Your bravery and valor tonight… Master Bruce must be very proud of you, young sir."

He nodded again and then turned away to hide the disappointment on his face from me. Master Dick and even Miss Cassandra understood their personal accomplishments and although Master Bruce's appreciation was valuable to them, they did not rely on it. Over the years, I have watched Master Timothy become dependent on his mentor's gratitude, of which was unfortunately rarely expressed.

"Well, I'm sure it will be quite some time before he is home. Perhaps it would be better to talk things over with him in the morning," I suggested as I let my hand return to my side.

"Perhaps. Good night, Alfred."

"Good night, Master Timothy."

I busied myself with cleaning up the medical bay and then the costume vault. As the roar of the Batmobile echoed in the cavern, I checked my pocket watch and noted that it was half past two. An early night for the caped crusader. I waited for the engine to cut before revealing my presence.

"Good morning, Master Bruce."

He stood, unmasked in front of the massive computer display that he had spent years in facing. As he rested his forearms against the chair, I noticed that he was looking down at his hands. The same exhaustion I had noticed in Master Timothy's young form was present in Master Bruce's.

"Sir?"

He looked over at me before standing up straight, "How are they?"

"They fared quite well, sir. No major injuries to report. All are taking a well deserved sleep in the guest rooms, sir."

After a slow nod, Master Bruce spoke, "Good."

Silence fell between us, one in which I would have usually filled with prying banter. But the look on my face discouraged such an act. Instead, I asked, "Is there anything I can get you, sir?"

"No, no Alfred, you've done enough tonight," he said as he walked towards me. I stepped aside and let him into the costume vault.

"Very well then. Good night, Master Bruce."

"Night…" he muttered.

As I climbed the granite steps, I reminded myself that it was better to confront things in the morning and not when Master Bruce had so many of his weapons in arm's reach. No doubt his charges would also have a few questions for him and surely he would pose his own inquiries.

Instead of progressing to the third floor to inform Ms. Selina that her husband had returned, I proceeded to my quarters. Dawn was a good two hours away and I would be an old fool to say I as well, couldn't use a well deserved sleep.

V

I woke to the sound of Selina singing. Loudly.

Squinting to fight off the sunlight, I glanced at the bedside clock to see that it was nearly nine in the morning. Isis was sleeping in a ball on Selina's pillow and when I pushed the blankets off of me she raised her head slightly and peered at me with one eye.

When I sat up in bed and ran a hand through my hair, I heard her, "Child of the wilderness, born into emptiness… Learn to be lonely… Learn to find your way in darkness… Who will be there for you, comfort and care for you, learn to be lonely. Learn to be your one companion." I looked over to see the bathroom door was ajar, letting out light and steam.

With no hopes of falling asleep, I rose and walked towards the bathroom as Selina continued singing, "Ever dreamed out in the world, there are arms to hold you. You've always known, your heart was on its own. So laugh in your loneliness, child of the wilderness. Learn to be lone---," she suddenly stopped and shut the water off.

When I passed through the bathroom door, she stuck an arm through the partially opened glass door of the shower, "Morning."

I nodded and went to the sink to brush my teeth and wet down my hair. I had showered before coming upstairs last night and my hair had dried chaotically.

"Interesting story on the news this morning. Something about a bust on a slave trade ring. All criminals are in custody and no innocents injured. Mysterious masked vigilantes suspected in participating in the rescue too." Her arm snaked out again and retrieved a towel before slipping back inside, "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

I ignored her as she stepped out of the shower and approached me. Her reflection in the mirror was far too cheery for nine in the morning. Selina paused beside me and cleared her throat. I sighed and took a side step to allow her access to the sink. We had a full sized bathroom with two sinks and a massive counter in front of an expansive mirror. And no matter what, she had to make use of whatever sink I was using.

"So how did it go?" she asked, her tone a bit more serious.

"Fine I guess."

"You guess? Detectives don't guess," she remarked as she spread a dollop of toothpaste on her toothbrush.

As she began cleaning her teeth, I said, "I wouldn't know. I wasn't there."

"Whuh?" she said through a mouth full of foam.

I turned and leaned against the counter's edge, "I wasn't there."

Selina spat and rinsed her mouth out, "What do you mean you weren't there? Biggest case of the year, master criminals, dozens of flunkies with sub-machine guns and hostages... And you weren't in the middle of it all?" She pressed her palm against my brow, "You must be ill."

I brushed her hand away and walked towards the door.

"Come on, Bruce… You have to admit it's unlike you to take the backseat on things like this."

"I didn't. It was Tim's case, it was his to handle. He had things under control."

She followed me into the bedroom, "I'm not saying I don't agree with you. Tim did a bang up job. It's just surprising to not see…"

I turned to face her, doing my best to keep my face neutral, "To not see what?"

She shrugged and looked up at me, "For once, to not see you risking life and limb. Not that I like seeing Tim or Cass or Dick recklessly crusading around town."

As much as I wanted to be angry at her for pointing out so simple of a fact, I couldn't be. It was Tim's case and he pulled through with it just as I had on thousands of others. Although it had been difficult at first, I had taken a smaller role and had allowed them to figure it out on their own. If things had taken a turn for a worse, I would have had to step in and take charge, but they hadn't…

"Were we still going to the park this afternoon?" she asked suddenly as she pilfered through the closet.

"Doesn't matter."

"Well, it doesn't matter to me. It does matter to a certain curly haired cutie down the hall."

I nodded slowly as I looked over at her. She was holding a lavender silk spring dress up to her form and inspecting it in the mirror. When she caught my gaze, she arched her brows and mock-glared at me, similarly to when I had caught her cleaning out a penthouse safe decades ago.

A lifetime ago.

"Well," Selina said, "Since young Timothy did such a marvelous job, I think congratulations are in order. And not the awkward pat on the shoulder and grunt that you seem to think expresses your feelings oh so well."

"Yes, dear."

I donned jeans and a dark turtleneck before leaving the room. Mattie was up already, bed made and stuffed animals carefully aligned in front of her pillows. On the ground floor, I heard her giggling in the den. I had expected her to be playing with Taffy or even one of her dolls. What I hadn't expected was Mattie sitting across from Tim on the floor, playing a game of checkers.

The very second I paused at the door, Mattie jumped up and ran over to me, "Daddy!"

"Good morning, kitten. When did you get up?"

She shrugged as she hugged my legs. A moment later, her hand ensnared my thumb and she dragged me over to sit with her and Tim. Opting for the couch, I sat behind Mattie and looked down at the game board, "Close match."

Tim smirked, "I have the disadvantage. I haven't played it in ten years."

"Dick says that if you snooze you lose," Mattie said as she moved her red checker forward.

I smiled slightly and Tim laughed out loud, "I guess he's right."

I watched as they finished the game, Mattie winning by a long shot. My daughter asked where her mother was and I answered, "Up staires getting dressed," I tugged at the sleeve of her pajama shirt, "Why don't you go up and pick out some clothes. You still wanted to go to the park?"

Her blue eyes widened, "Yeah!" Before I could say another word, she had turned and skipped out of the room and down the hall.

"Too much energy for this early in the morning," Tim commented as he began collecting the checker pieces.

I nodded, "She gets it from her mother."

When he looked up at me, he was doing his best to hide a smile. Once the game was safely in its box, Tim stood and put it in the credenza in the back of the room. I stood as well and took a step in his direction, "Listen, Tim… I wanted to…"

He turned and faced me, making it that much harder.

"I wanted to congratulate you. And Cassandra. You did a good job last night. Over the last few weeks even…"

He nodded and kept looking at me, "Thanks Bruce. Not like it was hard though. Only saving thirty some odd girls from a bus that was sinking into Gotham Harbor. Piece of cake."

"Did someone say cake?" Dick's voice asked from the hallway.

We looked over to watch him enter the room. I cleared my throat, "Don't you have your own home?"

He shrugged as he approached us, "Yeah, but who am I to refuse Alfred's raspberry pancakes?"

"Of which are ready for you, Master Dick," Alfred announced from the doorway.

I watched as the two boys followed Alfred out into the hallway. Just as I was about to join them, I saw Tim pause and look back at me with a slight smile on his face.

… Batman needs a Robin….

That he does.

V