A/N: Wow! You readers are just so great! I got a whole bunch of feedback from you people even though I hadn't updated in forever! It made me so happy that I went right away to making another chapter for you guys. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything for this fic except for the killer and kids.

Chapter 9 The Real Killer

Richard gave a long sigh while shifting his weight to another foot. He stopped his work at the sink and looked over the tall stack of dishes next to him that were still dirty. Bruce had invited friends over, so they had extra plates and an elaborate dinner that Alfred took half a day to fix for everyone. Dick didn't eat much because he knew that his butler had left everything he had cooked with dirty just for him to wash.

"We need help," Lilly said to Richard from where his team was coming in.

"With one problem or for all of the many you have?" Dick asked her while submerging a few more plates into the water. The plates were from China and cost a lot, so Alfred had told him to wash them all by hand. This only made Dick's job worse.

"Homework, idiot," Lilly responded. The four kids all made their way to the bar stools across from the sink and presented their homework to him with different expressions on their faces.

"I'm busy," Dick said with a sigh.

"You're always busy," Amelia boldly pointed out. The kids all shook their heads to agree with her. Even Alex was in agreement with them. Usually he secluded himself from the others and didn't do much with them.

"Fine," Richard gave up quickly to make them happy, "After I'm done washing."

"Okay," Amelia said with a simple shrug. They all got comfortable on their stool and watched their leader continue washing the dishes silently. Dick didn't notice them at first, but after five minutes of them staring at him he was getting annoyed.

"You could help," he said sharply while giving them all a glare.

"Nope," Lilly said with a yawn. Josh shrugged in response. Alex hadn't heard him because of his headphones once again. Amelia shook her head no.

Richard glared daggers at them all while poring more soap in the sink. He snapped on the hot water with a disgusted grunt. His hard feelings quickly turned into ones of slight panic as he realized that he had put too much soap in the sink for it to handle. He bit his lower lip while wondering what to do to get all the bubbles out of the way. They just kept coming up!

Dick grabbed a handful of suds and blew it into Alex's face. The kid hadn't even realized that the sink was being over run by the bubbles and wasn't paying much attention to anything, so this new thing in his face freaked him out a bit. A loud yell of surprise escaped him as he flung backwards in his chair. This only knocked the stool off balance and sent the kid to the floor with a loud thud.

The kids erupted with laughter. Alex glared up at them as they giggled over his fall. Richard rounded the corner and helped Alex back to his feet with a small smile on his lips. He then took off Alex's headphones and set them on the counter with his homework.

"You guys are helping me," he told them all flatly. "You can dry, bubble boy," he added to Alex with a sly smile coming to his lips as Alex gave him a fierce glare. He didn't like that new nickname but the other kids found it a hoot and whopped with laughter.

"Amelia, you rinse," Dick gave them all directions. "Lilly, you can scrap the food off the plates and into the trash can. Josh, you put everything away." He then smiled wickedly to the team and they all frowned because they knew that meant that he was going to twist the situation somehow. "Let's time our work. If we get this done in fifteen minutes I'll do your homework with you. If not, you're on your own."

Richard started to mess with his watch to set it into stop watch mode. While he was looking down, the team suddenly went into action without a word. When Dick looked up to say go they were already going as fast as they could. "I guess this is really hard homework," he muttered to himself with a chuckle.

The teen spotted a CD/radio player next to the sink and couldn't help himself but turn it on to a station that was playing modern teen music instead of Alfred's boring classical junk. Richard smiled when hearing a new song start up. His team new it better than him and he could see them look over to the radio with smiles.

Woohoohoo
Woohoohoo

Debbie just hit the wall
she never had it all…

The kids besides Alex laughed as they saw Richard make an idiot out of himself by mouthing all the words perfectly, so it looked like it was him singing the funny song. But Dick knew he was getting to the fire producing kid because he was smiling a little.


…One Prozac a day
husbands a CPA
her dreams went out the door
when she turned twenty four
only been with one man
what happen to her plan?

By the time the familiar chorus came along, everyone was mouthing the words and dancing around the kitchen while still cleaning dishes. Richard finally found himself cracking up when seeing Lilly use a plate as a guitar and intensely played it. "Break it down, Lilly!" he yelled over to her while turning up the music so that it blasted into every ear in the room.

The others all laughed when it looked like Lilly was going to smash the plate and Dick freaked out. She pointed at him while laughing. Then the second verse came up with all of them mouthing the words to each other with giggles coming up every so often.

She's seen all the classics
she knows every line
Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink
even Saint Elmo's Fire
she rocked out to wham
not a big Limp Bizkit fan
thought she'd get a hand
on a member of Duran Duran.

When the chorus came back up again they all had air guitars. They looked like complete idiots rocking out to some head banging song "Bowling for Soup" had produced for people who lived in 1985. All the kids didn't even know what the lyrics meant, but the beat was hypnotic and catchy. But if they all were looking like drunks, who cared?

Dick couldn't find anytime he was more happier with his team. He could feel that wall being totally broken down as he rocked out with them and being a goof ball along with them on their level. With this act he felt like one of them for once. He wasn't the enemy or the evil leader anymore. He was a kid just like them and it felt so good.

"Um…Master Dick," a voice suddenly came up above the booming music.

All laughter and dancing stopped on a dime as the whole team looked up with wide eyes at Alfred as the loud music faded into background noise. The butler was glaring daggers at them with a thin frown on his lips. The man's arms were folded in front of him as his foot tapped on the ground. They had no idea how long he had been watching them, but right now they knew he wasn't too happy with them.

Richard quickly turned off the radio after they all got over their shock. All the kids became serious and rushed back to their chore silently. Richard cleared his throat before coming over to the butler. "Yes?" he asked quietly.

"A Susan Miller just called to see if you and the kids would come to the park tomorrow afternoon for some ice cream," Alfred said with confusion in his voice. "Isn't see a reporter? Why would she be interested with you, Master Dick? Or is it you who is interested becuase she mostly reports about that serial killer?"

"Susan Miller?" Richard asked while tapping his chin. He then remembered the reporter in the park who he had bumped into a few times. She was the lady that always bought his team ice cream when they were there. "She's cool, Alfred," he said with a smile. "Can you call her back and tell her that we will be there?"

Alfred eyed him for a few seconds before saying with a nod, "Yes, Master Dick." He then added sharply, "And no more playing the music so loud. I should band rock music from you, but that is your father's job. Continue with the washing." And then he left while shaking his head.

Richard smiled at his team while turning around. "Susan is buying us ice cream tomorrow, guys," he said while going back to washing. "So let's get all our homework done once we get home, 'kay?" They all cheered in response.

-Bruce-

Bruce gave a sigh while sitting down on his leather seat next to the Bat Cave's computer. He was done with work early and wanted to get back down to searching for this Serial Killer going around Gotham City. He cracked his knuckles before typing a few things. But there was one thing he wanted to look into before searching for the killer. He had forgotten to do so for a long time, but now he finally remembered.

He brought up all the bowling allies in Gotham and searched a few of them to see which one was the one him and Robin had gone into after the thief at the jewelry store a week or so ago. He found the right one and used his computer hacking skills to bring up the video tapping of the place. In a half an hour he had the whole tapping of when he had been knocked out by the bowling ball.

The man leaned back in his seat while seeing everything happen in night vision. He saw Robin and thief there lit up in bright green. Robin dodged a ball very deftly and Bruce smiled at the skill of his son that night. There was a few words exchanged then the thief unexpectedly threw her bag of jewels on the floor between both of them as if giving Robin a challenge. Then things got interesting.

Bruce leaned forward to look at his computer screen more closely while Alfred came down the stairs with a soft drink in his hand for the man. Bruce ignored his butler while seeing the thief pin Robin at one time and some more words were exchanged. Something she said clearly made Robin freak out. But Bruce couldn't hear anything and could only watch as the situation got worse for his poor son.

Alfred opened his mouth but saw that Bruce was thoroughly into what he was watching. Alfred gave a small sigh while deciding to watch whatever had gotten the man's full attention. He frowned deeply while seeing Robin pinned down on a bowling alley with a lady on top of him. He gave a small gasp as she pulled out a knife and pressed it against Robin's neck. He couldn't take it very far.

"When was this, Master Bruce?" he asked the man while pointing to the paused screen.

"Around two weeks ago," Bruce answered grimly.

"And where were you?" Alfred asked him.

"Knocked out," Bruce said quietly. Confusion swept over his face as he asked himself, "Why didn't he tell me about this? He was almost killed and he didn't tell me a thing! And that lady is more than just a common jewelry thief."

"Well, I think this video here clearly showed us that she is insane," Alfred said, frustrated. "But right now that's not the problem. I can't believe Master Dick never told you about this?"

"Just like a serial killer," Bruce thought out loud. He quickly rewind the video to the part the thief first had Robin pinned and had said something that scared him. Robin had said something and Bruce read his lips a few times to finally get it. "She was the serial killer!" he suddenly said loudly with eyes going wide.

"You have to be joking, Master Bruce," Alfred said in disbelief. "She only targets young male…teens," he said slowly while realizing that what Bruce had said was totally true.

"And doesn't this masked girl in this video look like someone I've seen?" Bruce asked himself. He cut a picture out of the video and typed in a few things and got the last report of someone being killed by the serial killer. It was a news paper article with the reporter's picture in it. Bruce cut that picture out and compared both pictures with a frown on his face. It was a perfect match. "Susan Miller," Bruce said.

Alfred dropped the drink in his hand in surprise and fright. Bruce looked at him with wide eyes while waiting for the butler to spit it all out. Alfred finally was able to speak and managed to say, "Richard went to the park an hour ago to see her because she was going to buy them ice cream!"

"No," Bruce whispered as fear gripped his heart. "I'm going after him!" he said over his shoulder as he bolted for the Bat Mobile. "She is not going to get my son," he said to himself while booting up his car. "Hold on, Richard."

-Richard-

"Hey, thanks," Dick said to Susan while sitting next to the young reporter on a bench.

"No problem," Susan said with a sweet smile. They both fell silent while watching the kids finish up with their ice cream quickly so they could play a game of soccer. They downed their treat in only two minutes while laughing at each other as they got brain freezes every so often. Even Richard laughed at them.

"So any more news on this Serial Killer you report so much about?" Richard decided to ask the lady.

"Why do you ask?" Susan said with a smile after eating some of her own ice cream. Concern was on her face as she said, "She does target ones your age. Do you ever fear that you will be next?"

This hit a sore spot in the young teen as he thought over what to say while eating his ice cream. "Not really," he lied with a shrug. "I'm at school all day then do homework or go to the park afterwards. I'm pretty safe all the time, so I don't worry. Thanks for caring, though."

"You're such a sweet boy, Richard," Susan said as if she was his mother, which always made Dick extremely uncomfortable. She stared at him while he shifted in his seat and finishing his ice cream quickly. He knew she was watching him but he couldn't figure out why. Maybe she's just daydreaming and not realizing she is staring at me, he reasoned with himself.

"Hey, I'm going to join them," Richard finally said just to get away from her stare. "You want to play?"

Susan laughed at this and said, "No thanks. You go play with them. I'll watch." Richard nodded while running out to the field his team was kicking a ball around randomly. His leadership skills were quickly put into use as heformed teams and rules. He could still feel the stare of Susan as he taught the kids better ways to kick and control the ball before starting up a game.

As if too quickly, the team got tiered and started to walk back to the bench Susan was still sitting at. The sun was setting and almost no one was in the park now. Once the sun disappeared there was only darkness and violence in the city. No one in their right mind would want to stick around once that happened. Only Batman and Robin would come out in the night.

"Man, I'm beat," Dick said while sitting on the bench with a sigh. The others collapsed onto the ground beside him. Josh seemed to be knocked out cold as he curled up into a ball and fell right to sleep. Only when seeing this was when Richard became somewhat alarmed. Lilly followed suit of the first kid and the others fell asleep just like the others rather quickly. Now Dick knew something was wrong.

"What's going on?" he said slowly while feeling extremely sleepy. He tried to fight off whatever chemical was battling in his body. He looked over to Susan with his vision getting blurry. She was smiling at him once again. Fear struck the helpless teen as he remembered that smile. It was the one of the serial killer's.

"I always keep a promise, bird boy," Susan said evilly. "Did you really think that I had forgotten about you?" Dick tried to shout a protest or at least something, but nothing came out of his mouth as his vision went black and he fell into a dark void of nothingness.

-Batman-

It was dark by the time he was able to get to the park. The Batman skidded his car to a stop by the sidewalk that led into the small park. Skillfully, the man jumped out of the car in a rush and landed on the sidewalk in a crouch. He didn't waste time and sprinted into the dark recreational area.

He raced through the different pathways in search for anyone. He knew that he was just way too late. Everyone was gone. Despair over took him as he ran through the place one more time. His heart stopped as he suddenly saw a dark figure lying on a bench next to a soccer field all alone.

"No," Batman whispered as he ran to the figure with emotions swimming around in his head. Relief swept through him as he saw his son lying on the bench with no scares or cuts on him. He checked his pulse and found out that his son was fine and was only unconscious for the time being. He picked up Richard and quickly got him to the Bat Mobile. He carefully put his son in the front seat and drove off to the Bat Cave. Boy, he would be made when he woke up.

-Richard-

He woke up with a start. His eyes flew open and a small gasp escaped his lips as memories flew into his head. He expected to wake up in the hands of a psychopath just to suffer to his death. But he woke up in the Bat Cave on the cold medical table.

The teen had managed to scare Alfred who had been looking over him at the time he had woken up. The butler gasped while backing up to give the boy some space. The kid sat up in panic. He looked around the room in silence in search for something unknown to the butler.

"What is the mater, Master Dick?" Alfred asked him, confused by the kid's actions.

"Where is my team?" Richard asked him.

Alfred lowered his head as he fell silent. Richard stared at him as things sunk in. Susan must have taken the kids instead of him! But why them? Dick thought to himself. I thought she wanted me.

"You're staying here," Batman's voice suddenly said from behind Alfred where he was at the computer. "I know what you're thinking, Richard, and I'm forbidding you to go anywhere."

"You can't!" Richard exploded in anger while jumping off the table and coming over to Batman.

"Yes, I can!" Batman said sternly. "You knew this would happen, Richard. You knew that thief back at the bowling alley was the serial killer and she was after you, but because of your stupid, selfish pride you didn't tell me about it. Now those kids are out there because of you. The killer could be waiting for you, so you're not leaving this house till I find her."

"But those kids are my team," Dick said with his eyes narrowed as he looked up at his father. "I can't just do nothing! I'm going with you!" He stormed off toward the Bat Mobile but didn't make it far. Batman caught his wrist from behind and quickly caught the other. Dick struggled while yelling his frustration as his father hand cuffed him and drug him to a chair next to the computer.

"I'm sorry I have to do this to you, Dick, but it's for your own good," Batman said while tying the kid up to the chair with a sigh.

"Then let me go if you feel so sorry," Dick spat out while still struggling fruitlessly in his binds. "You can't do this to me! Can't you just trust me to take care of myself?"

"No!" Batman yelled into his son's face. Richard stopped short as he looked to the floor. "I can't trust you, Richard," Batman said with a hint of anger in his voice. "You've been lying to me for a long time now about your health and other things, and right now I'm being the good parent and keeping my kid safe for once."

"News flash, Bruce," Richard yelled back. "I wouldn't have lied to you if you would have been more open and understanding! I know that you've been playing me for a long time now with my team, but you never saw that I really wanted it. You thought I was just being stubborn, but I wasn't! I lied so you wouldn't get rid of my team. It was for my team! You don't and never will understand that, Bruce, because it is you who is stubborn! Deal with it!"

"You just got yourself in a whole lot of trouble, young man," Batman said through clenched teeth.

"For shoving your flaws in your face?" Dick asked with an angry smirk. "You do that to me all the time."

"If you don't stop talking this way you're going to be grounded for months," Batman said dangerously. "I'm going to search for the kids now and Alfred is going to look after you. If I find you gone by the time I get back, I swear you're going to get it."

Richard only responded with a death glare. He watched as his father walked over to the Bat Mobile and speed off into the city. Once everything was quite again Richard muttered, "Jerk! I can't believe he left me here!"

"It wasn't necessary for you to say all those things, Master Dick," Alfred finally said while slowly walking up to the boy. Richard didn't answer as he looked to the floor with his eyes still narrowed. Alfred put a hand on his shoulder and Dick resisted the urge to shove it off. The kid wasn't stupid. He was going to play every card in his hand till he was all out.

"He doesn't understand me, Alfred," Richard said with a weak sigh. He looked to the ground with the saddest look on his face as he waited for the butler to do what he predicted. I can't believe Bruce left me with Alfred, he thought. It's like he wanted me to search for my team. I just hope the poor butler takes the bait.

Alfred gave a long sigh before asking, "Can I make it up to you by getting you something to drink, Master Dick?"

Hook, line, and sinker!

"I guess," he answered quietly. "Thanks, Alfred." He gave him a false smile before the man went up the stairs to fix him something to drink. Then the real smile hit the teen's lips as he flew into action. I have an estimate of five minutes to get out of here! He thought while setting his eyes on one of his bird-a-rangs.

"Bingo."

A/N: Two more chapters and this fic will be done. Wow! I might miss writing this one. It was pretty fun to experiment around with it and make it fun. But I hope you guys have been as entertained with this fic as I have. Please give a review! Thanks!