A/N: Okay, first off, I'm deeply and terribly sorry for not updating in what seemed like months! I have two main fics out that I like to update regularly and then I have my other crossover fic that has been going so smoothly that I kind of forgot about this fic. But with the persistent asking of my little sister, Debbie, I got back into the swing of things and went ahead with this fic with a smile on my face. I really do enjoy writing this one. I hope you forgive me and give a review. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Just like I own a car I own some of these characters. (I don't own a car…yet.)

Chapter 7 Timeout

Bruce gave a relaxed sigh as he walked out of his study at around nine or ten at night. He had finally gotten done with most of his work that he had to do at home. He felt relieved and very happy that he had accomplished something important.

The house was quiet for a change. The kids were put to sleep an hour ago and Alfred must have been reading something downstairs in the living room or doing some dusting in the Bat Cave. Richard was…where was that boy? He should be getting ready for patrol.

Bruce stopped in his tracks as he walked into the kitchen. He watched silently as his son crawled under the table calling for something. He frowned when Richard whispered a curse as he came up with nothing. Bruce shook his head while walking up to Dick and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Richard went into freak out mode by this one touch. He gave a loud battle yell while grabbing Bruce's wrist and trying to fling the man around and throw him into a wall. Bruce had taught him this move and easily knew how to counter attack it. He quickly grabbed his son's wrist and pulled the light boy towards him. Richard stumbled with a sharp yell of surprise and was quickly stuck in a tight hold around his shoulders and his back pressed up against Bruce's chest.

There was silence in the kitchen for a few seconds as Richard told himself to calm down from the sudden scare as Bruce looked down at his son with great worry in his eyes. Richard had never once done that before to him. Why would he be so sensitive today?

"You can let me go," Dick said to Bruce while struggling to get out of the grip. Bruce said nothing and smiled slyly down at the boy as all his squirming and twisting was getting him nowhere. Richard gave a sigh and said, "Sorry for attacking you. I don't know what hit me."

"Maybe all this stress about your team is getting to you," Bruce said. "Maybe you should just give it all up now. You know that you can't win, Richard."

Dick rolled his eyes while going back to his worthless struggling. "I'm not admitting defeat," he muttered. "I'm fine." He didn't want to say that the real reason he had freaked out on him was because of all the threats of the serial killer. He would soon be next on her list. That was all he could think about that day in school, and the more he thought about it the more it started to scare him. What if things turned out exactly like in the bowling alley? She had been toying with him there. He would be a goner if that happened.

"Hey, relax, Richard," Bruce said calmly to his son. Dick gave a small sigh as Bruce rested his chin on his son's shoulder and went from keeping Richard in a tight hold, to lightly embracing him in his own way of showing his love for his boy.

"I need to get ready," Dick muttered.

"You have a half an hour," Bruce said. "Why can't you just relax for a few seconds? What happened to my energetic, peppy son?"

"He has responsibilities," Richard said with a joking smile. "He has a team to lead, school, and patrol. He also is having less sleep and just got over a cold. You're son is getting older, Bruce, and you can't change that. Let it go."

"Tough and serious one, ay?" Bruce said slyly. "I know how to make you relax." He started to rub and massage Richard's back. He smiled in triumph when he felt his son relax all his tension and let his dad do an act of kindness for him for once. Bruce understood that his son didn't like other's doing things for him, but once in a while he would let his dad do this.

"Aw, you're evil," Dick said with a small laugh. He winced when Bruce rubbed a knot out of his back. "Avoid the knots, Bruce. That was painful!"

"Quit your whining, Dick," Bruce commanded. "You have three knots in your back! Okay, I would call that stress. Maybe this whole team is too much."

Richard glared straight ahead with disgust on his face. Leave it to old Bruce to screw up a father-son moment! It was almost impossible to live with his father now. The two were too much alike. Even now, the two were battling it out to see who could a win a simple test of endurance over this team. So far Dick was losing miserably and Bruce knew it all too well and was attacking him at the worst of times.

Suddenly Fluffy walked past the door on the other side of the kitchen. Bruce had been too focused on something else to notice the fuzzy kitten walking casually by the doorway. Richard held back a small gasp of panic as he saw the animal. That was the thing he had been looking for before he attacked Bruce.

"Okay, enough love for one day!" Dick said quickly. He pulled out of his father's grip and bolted in the direction Fluffy had gone. How she got out of his room left Richard baffled, but he would be dead if Alfred or Bruce found out.

"Where are you going, Richard?" Bruce asked him sternly while coming after him.

"Crap!" Dick whispered to himself while picking up the kitten. He ran down the hallway, going the long way around the house to get back to the kitchen. When he got to the kitchen, he could still hear his father calling after him. Richard cringed as he flung himself behind one of the big counters in the middle of the room.

"Richard!" Bruce yelled while suddenly coming into the kitchen with confusion sweeping over his steady face. He then frowned while yelling, "You better show yourself right now!"

Richard didn't dare obey him because Bruce finding him with Fluffy would not be a good sight at this moment. The teen held his breath while trying his best to keep the fluff ball in his arms to settle down and stop squirming. It then meowed.

The teen froze as his eyes went wide in horror. Bruce stopped looking around and listened closely to see if his ears had been right. Richard then looked down and winced as the kitten meowed again. Dick stayed quiet and it sounded like Bruce had gone out of the room because it was in complete silence. He smiled slightly to himself in relief. He was so grateful that Bruce hadn't heard Fluffy.

Richard stood up while scratching Fluffy behind the ears. It stared to purr loudly, like it always did. The happy feeling quickly vanished when two big hands grabbed onto his shoulders and held him firmly there. Richard could feel the anger of his father without evening having to look at him. When Dick was little, he had brought in every kind of pet and tried to hide it from Bruce. It never worked and it only made the man angry so that one day he swore that if Dick ever brought in another pet he could be considered dead.

"Bye!" Dick said quickly. He dropped to his knees and instantly was free from the grasp on his shoulders because Bruce had been crouching on the counter to sneak up on him. The teen clutched the kitten to his chest while rolling to one side and jumping to his feet in seconds. He then took off down the hallway in a sprint to get away from his father.

"Bad move!" Bruce shouted after his son. The boy knew better than to bring another animal home. Bruce could already feel his eyes swelling up a bit and his nose getting stuffy because of his allergies. Wait till he got his hands on him! The man jumped off the counter and ran after Dick.

Dick was almost in panic mode as he ran down the hall. There was no safe place to go in this house and he knew that fact very well. Not even the roof was a good hiding place even though it was very easy for Richard to get up there. But the only good thing to do was to hide from Bruce and wait it out till the man calmed down. Where was the best place to hide?

Richard gulped down a lump of fear in his throat when his mind came up with the Bat Cave. Big, dark, and mysterious, it was the perfect place. It would be really risky going in there, and Richard was never the one who loved the dark when his father was after him. It was kind of scary. But it was the only good and sensible choice at the moment.

Bruce quickly followed the teen down into the dim cave. Richard had never had the guts to hide from him down here in the dark. But the teen wanted to play hide and seek, so Bruce was going to give it to him. But the boy forgot that his father was someone who loved the dark. He was the Batman for goodness sake! Of course he had the upper hand in this small battle.

"So you want to play games, Richard?" Bruce asked his son from the top of the stairs. He couldn't see Dick, but he knew for sure that he was down there somewhere hiding with that kitten of his. "Fine," Bruce said with his voice having a dark tone to it just like the Batman's. "Let's play."

Bruce locked the door behind him and didn't turn on the lights on his way down the stairs. He heard a faint meow and a "Shh!" to keep the animal quiet. Bruce smiled wickedly at the sound and slowly started to head toward it. If Richard was smart, he would be trying to move from his first position.

Richard was smart. The boy bit his lower lip while crawling on his hands and knees silently away from the table he had been hiding behind. He couldn't see a dang thing! I should eat more carrots, Richard thought randomly to himself. It struck him kind of funny that his thoughts were so weird at such a time like this. His father and him were playing an extreme game of hide and seek in a pitch-black basement and all he could think about was how he needed to eat more carrots for better vision.

Bruce waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. After a few silent minutes, he could finally make out a few figures. He let himself express a sly smile when noticing a moving white figure that just had to be Richard with his white T-shirt. Bruce looked down and saw that he was wearing a navy blue shirt. Dick wouldn't be able to see him in these kinds of conditions.

The man slowly and noiselessly headed for the faint, white shirt. He blinked a few times then stopped in his tracks. The shirt was gone! Where did the boy go? He had taught the kid a little too well. He hesitantly took a few steps forward then cried out in surprise when tripping over something.

Richard smiled proudly at his swift move as he heard his dad fall over his extended leg from where he sat behind another table. He clutched the kitten to his chest when getting to his feet and running to another hiding place. His father must have gotten used to the dark and could see him by now because of his shirt. Next time the teen was going to think before coming down here.

Well if Bruce was going to come after his shirt, then it had to come off. Richard quickly took off the white shirt and shivered a little in the coldness of the basement. He held the warm kitten up to his bare chest and then smiled slyly while flinging the fabric at his father then silently went to another hiding place.

There was a pause in the darkness till Richard heard Bruce say, "You got to be kidding me, Dick. I now have a shirtless kid running around in my dark basement. This can't be healthy." Richard couldn't help but give a small laugh at the thought, but he quickly got control over himself.

"Now you're laughing," Bruce muttered while looking around the room. "Just think about your punishment afterwards and that will shut you up right away." Richard didn't answer and stayed in his spot while listening closely to his father's footsteps. He couldn't trust his eyes in his situation.

"So tell me, Richard," Bruce asked his son after a frustrated sigh. "Why did you bring the thing in here?"

"Not mine!" Richard yelled suddenly so that his voice would bounce off the walls and come back at both of them a million times. "She's Josh's!" he yelled again and smiled as he heard his sentence coming back at him a few times. His father would never be able to distinguish where it had come from this way.

"Then how come you are so willing to take the price for it being in here?" Bruce asked him.

Richard slowly stood up while not answering the question. He had lost his father's footsteps and didn't know where the guy was anymore. He was about to take another step but suddenly the room was flooded with light because someone had turned it on and opened the door from the outside.

"FLUFFY!" Josh yelled down into the room before seeing the two in there.

Richard had no time to act. His eyes had gotten so used to the dark that it hurt to open them in this new bright light. He still couldn't see anything while Bruce had somehow heard the door open and was able to close his eyes before the lights had came on. He could see just fine.

Josh stood in shock when seeing Bruce quickly take down his son in seconds. He suddenly saw that Robin had let go of Fluffy and the kitten ran under a table to hide. Richard gave a small yell of frustration of his humiliating defeat as his chest was shoved down on the cold, metal floor with his hands pinned behind him.

"There you are, Fluffy!" Josh said while bounding down the stairs to collect his little animal. Bruce sat on top of his beaten son with a smug smile on his lips as he looked down at him. Richard started to squirm to get out of the hold. He quickly stopped with a wince as his dad put more pressure on his chest. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Josh," Bruce said to the boy who was holding his pet and not paying any attention to the family before him. He guessed that was what the two usually did because it seemed like Robin didn't like his father too much, and Bruce never really showed much attention to him.

Josh looked up at the man when his name was called. He couldn't help but chuckle at the position his leader was in. He was so used to seeing Robin kick his and the other kid's butts. Right now, seeing his leader like this, could be a once in a lifetime thing for him to witness.

"Take the thing up to your room," Bruce said calmly to the boy. "Alfred will talk to you about it in the morning. Have a good sleep." Josh thought that the man was kind of nice and thanked him with a weak smile while heading for his room. Right when the door closed the attitude of the man changed.

"Here it comes," Richard muttered to himself. I'm dead now. I should have never taken care of Fluffy. Stupid cat put me in this position. But I had to do it to win the trust of Josh. Plus, the thing was just too fluffy to kick out of the house.

"Nice trick with the echo," Bruce said down to his son. "It worked and was quick thinking. But that won't change my mind about punishing you. Now, what should I do with my misbehaving son this time?"

"Not make me go to school for the rest of my life?" Richard suggested weakly. He winced again as his dad applied more pressure to make the boy shut his quick mouth. "You asked," Dick muttered up to him.

"I could ground you, but what would that do?" Bruce asked while tapping his chin in thought. "Taking away your team would be a little bit too extreme. Plus, I like seeing you suffer with them around."

"No questions there," Richard murmured.

"How 'bout one of your old punishments?" Bruce asked him with a wicked smile coming to his face. "You deserve a timeout."

"Oh crap," Dick muttered. "Oh! C'mon, Bruce! Don't!"

"With your protests I think it will do you some good," Bruce said. He picked up his son and dragged him to his big chair in front of his computer. The whole time Richard complained about the matter as he desperately tried to get away. He was fruitless in this matter, and just ended up tied to the chair with a cord tightly holding his small body there.

"Comfy?" Bruce asked him sardonically. Dick only gave him a dirty glare and decided to not answer any of his father's questions. Bruce just shrugged and pulled up a stool to sit on. He booted up his computer and typed in a few passwords. "We'll skip patrol tonight. Last night gave me a big bump on the head from a bowling ball. Who knew that lady could throw something that heavy so quickly. But I decided to look into this Serial Killer and see if I can track the person down or figure out who the person's next target is."

Richard glanced up at his father with some fright in his eyes. He knew who the next target was. He was tied up to a chair right in front of the man. Dick then looked down when he saw that his dad had noticed his expression even though the kid had let out such little emotion.

"You okay, Dick?" Bruce asked his son with some concern in his voice.

"I'm stuck to a stupid chair because of a freaking cat," Richard said to him sarcastically. "I'm fine."

Bruce pondered the thought of keep asking his son questions, but he knew that it couldn't be that important. His kid could sometimes be a bit over dramatic anyways. If it was a big deal Richard would have expressed it out loud to him by now…wouldn't he?

The father looked back at his son with some uncertainty in his eyes. Richard was already staring up at him steadily. Bruce was surprised to see a teen there, in the seat, instead of his little boy. Where had his kid gone? Since when did he suddenly change into this semi adult?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Dick asked him with some hesitation in his voice.

Bruce was at lost for words for once in a lifetime. He then smiled warmly at his son and said, "I just saw something that I hadn't seen before."

"What was it?" Dick asked, confused. The teen then smiled slyly while saying, "If this is a lesson on discipline and obedience then I'll pass. But I would love to learn how to get out of this cord. That could be useful information."

Bruce frowned. His rare, friendly feeling was gone and replaced with his commanding, strict side that was his usual countenance in front of his son and at work. "You have five hours left in timeout," he said sternly down to Richard. Dick gave him a dirty glare but kept his mouth shut to prevent himself from getting extra time in the chair.

Bruce went back to his computer silently. At times he glanced down at his boy. The teen had accepted his fate by now and was taking this time to think deeply. There was that deep look in his eyes as he stared ahead silently and motionlessly. Bruce remembered when he could know exactly what the kid was thinking. But right now he was wondering what was going on in the teen's head.

So many things had changed.

A/N: Here you go! Sorry again for not updating in a long time. I'm not even expecting too many reviews for this chapter. I'm sure so many have forgotten about it already. Oh well, I like writing this fic, so I'll keep going with it even if people review or not. Happy New Year to all of you!