And we just keep moving on. :-) Before I do though… Delia Ra'Nar, as for Batman giving Tim the suit, in the comics he does give it to him and then send him on the streets. For me, I figured that Tim might need a bit to get use to it and the different sense of balance and all that, thus my AU there. Hope that explains the choice a bit.

To all other reviews, thank you once again for all the kind words. They mean a lot to me and help me to know that people are still enjoying the series.

Like They're Sleeping

December:

The room was freezing. Tim put his hand to his lips and blew attempting to warm them. Looking around, he found the morgue was just as depressing as it looked on television.

"Come here," Bruce ordered sharply. Tim turned and found his mentor standing before a large black bag. Mentally sighing, knowing what was held in that bag, the teenager moved to stand beside Bruce.

"Not everything about being Robin deals with fighting," the older man began keeping his eyes set on the bag. "We're also here to solve murders and, more often than not, this is what we face," he gestured to the body bag. "You have to get used to seeing death."

Tim nodded his head as Bruce grabbed the zipper. "This is a twenty-five year old man. He was in the Crows area and found out the hard way they do not like trespassers."

The bag opened and instantly the teenager felt his stomach clench and he had to resist the urge to look away.

Breathe, he told himself as he looked the dead body over. The man had been shot three times, once in the shoulder, neck and upper forehead. His body had turned a pale blue and the bullet holes had become slightly puckered. Aside from those features, however, the man looked rather peaceful.

"This isn't the death you'll see on the streets," Bruce said as he gestured at the man's face. "There will be blood and gore out there. There will be people who are dying as you reach them and there is nothing you will be able to do to help them. You have to comfortable with death. You have to be able to separate any emotional reactions you have to seeing the dead and dying because, when you see them you are the only source of companionship to the dying and the only person able to find the killer of the dead."

Tim removed his eyes from the dead body and looked at his mentor. "How do you get use to it?"

Bruce zipped the bag and moved to another table without answering Tim's question. He opened the newest bag and the teenager's eyes fell on a middle-aged woman who looked like she had been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Unlike the first victim, this one still had blood splattered on her not yet having been properly cleaned. Tim looked closer and saw that a part of the woman's skull had been crushed in and…

Dear God, that's her brain! Tim thought and instantly backed away from the body, nearly tripping over his own feet. He felt all color drain from his face and swallowed the rising bile. Bruce re-zipped the bag and stepped to the young man.

Placing a hand on the teenager's shoulder he spoke, "The only way we get use to it is by seeing it everyday and remembering that these are no longer people, but victims whose murders need to be solved. We have to remember that we now fight for them and are their only hope of redemption."

Tim nodded his head and ran a hand through his hair. Bruce looked at him a moment longer. "You okay?" He asked, unwilling to stop the lesson but also not wanting to have Tim utterly traumatized.

The teenager looked his mentor directly in the eyes. "I'll get there," he promised and moved in front of the next table.