"If I fall fast asleep it's just because I feel so safe with you. It won't take much to wake me up. When I fell down you raised me up, that's gravity. When I fell down, you were standing there, waiting for me. You raised me up, welcomed me home – that's gravity."

- Tree63 'A Million Lights' -

Oh Silent Prayer of My Thoughts:

By: The BatThing

"I told you! I told you already!"

Tim backed away quickly from the kitchen upon hearing the yelling coming from the room. Clearly someone came to call, and whoever that person was wasn't making Gordon happy.

There was silence, and then Gordon drilled away with his argument. "If you ever call here again I'll press charges, understand? I respect you and I'd enjoy it if you did the same for me." And with that there was a booming clatter, the phone being hung up.

Robin considered sneaking back to his room, but for some reason that didn't seem right. He had a feeling whoever was on the phone with Gordon probably had something to do with him. The boy had brought a lot of problems into the Commissioner's life. That much was for sure. Taking a careful step into the room, Robin smiled momentarily, only to feel his face flush. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just accidentally -."

"No, it's fine." Jim said with a sigh, falling into a nearby chair. He had a hand to his forehead. "What a day, I hate to say that things might be getting worse, but it appears they very well could."

"Wha-what's up?" The Boy Wonder didn't want to make the man mad, but he had a feeling Gordon was inviting him to ask with the last statement.

"Some family who doesn't think highly of me, that's what." The man slowly looked at Robin. "They called me about a Quinn who is a bad impression on their daughter, and how I'm to blame for that."

Tim felt his mouth fall open. "Annika's parents called! Are you serious?"

With a slow nod, Gordon spoke again. "At first it was just a request that you stay away from their little girl, I told them I'd tell you that – but things quickly sped out of control. They started to blame me for the way Gotham is, and then other things. They said you're punk kid with a dirty mouth who is quickly teaching their daughter bad habits. They suggested I look after you better – due to the fact that you're making friends with small children and perform daring stunts."

"The complained because I walked on the merry-go-round?"

"They said it's a children's park, not a gym." The man chuckled. "Actually, looking back on it – the whole ordeal seems rather humorous."

"When Annika and I first met, she did mention that her parents didn't like you much." The boy tried to think back to anything else the girl might have said. "Her mom and I talked a little, well, not really, but she didn't seem upset with me."

Gordon shrugged. "There are people like that in the world, but these people seem to have that to an extreme. I guess I should feel sorry for them, they lost their home in the bombing."

Tim gave his head a violent shake. "Then they're just being selfish. At least they still have their whole family, they haven't suffered anywhere near what we have."

Jim cleared his throat, getting to his feet. "So I think it'd be best if you stay away from that little girl, and well, from the whole family – if you can avoid it, the playground too. The last thing we need is people digging into you and your staying with me."

"Sure."

"Hungry?"

Robin smiled up at the man. "Yeah, a little."

"Me too, what do you say we go out for food tonight, I don't feel much like cooking." Gordon grabbed his coat off the back of the chair and started for the door.

Tim hurried to his room, grabbing a sweat jacket and pulling it on as he ran to catch up with Jim.

Tim screwed on the cap of his water bottle and placed it down on the table. Across from him sat Jim, drinking his coffee and appearing to be in another world. The boy glanced around the small café, wondering what time it was. It had to be late, seeing how they were two of the four costumers there.

"You don't like your Cheezy Mac 'n Franks?" Gordon questioned with a smirk. He glanced down at the boy's order – barley touched.

"I've tasted better." Robin admitted, staring at the food before him.

A silence fell between the two once more, and Jim shifted in his seat, leaning back. "Yeah, this place has never had the greatest food, or coffee for that matter."

The boy cocked his head, squinting slightly. He kicked his feet slowly, causing the chair he sat on to vibrate. "Then why come here?"

"You're, um." He paused, thinking how to word what he was saying. "Your dad and I, we always came here."

The boy, who had been drinking his water, choked a bit as he dissolved into a fit of laughter. He clutched his stomach, laughing and laughing till he could catch his breath. "No way!"

"How is that funny?"

Tim considered with a chuckled. "Well, I guess you have to know him. That – and I can't see him eating in, um, heh, in uniform."

Gordon smiled, pleased to have made someone happy – it felt good to see the boy laughing. "He never stuck around for long, just to say hi really."

"That's so weird, I never knew that." Robin took a bite of his macaroni, grinning. "He's really weird though, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Like, he totally doesn't get anything, I swear, you try and make a joke and the next moment you wonder why you ever thought it was funny. Or how it was impossible to tell what he was thinking, I hated that. You know how most people, you can tell? Well, not with him."

Jim listened to the rambling and he couldn't help but smile at it.

"I never knew what was coming. Like this one time I totally ticked him off. I had done something really dumb to a bunch of important papers. Anyhow, a few days pass and my brother came up to me and he was like: what'd you do to make him so mad. I was like: what are you talking about? And as it turned out he had been upset with me for about a week and I didn't even have a clue." The boy shook his head, smiling all the more.

"Sounds like it's hard to communicate, I shouldn't be surprised." Gordon put down his coffee, wishing he had more.

"Yeah, he's crazy like that."

Gordon rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the boy. "I really should apologize to you."

A confused expression was his reply.

The man pushed away his coffee and sighed. "I hit you back there, this morning, and I shouldn't have. You were doing what you had been told to do, you were following orders. I let myself get out of control, and I can't believe what I did. There isn't any excuse for it, but I'd like to tell you I'm sorry."

The boy's faced was flushed at this. He shrugged his shoulders, looking away. "No problem. It's not a big deal."

"Yeah, yeah it is."

Silence.

"I've had worse."

"You trusted me, I hit you – it doesn't get much worse than that. Being hit by a stranger and being hit by me are two totally different things. So don't say: you've had worse. Even if you have, it doesn't change the facts."

Robin didn't reply.

"Your boss would probably strangle me if he found out."

"No, he really respects you."

Gordon smiled. "That doesn't help."

The boy smiled back. "But it's true."

The two got back around two in the morning, and headed straight to bed without even a goodnight to each other. Tim collapsed onto his bed, only bothering to kick off his shoes. He felt good, he and Gordon had talked things out - they had talked. The commissioner was starting to mean more and more to the boy, and as he thought about the night it slowly dawned on him. Bruce.

The boy felt butterflies take wing in his stomach and he shivered slightly, getting under the covers and hiding his face in the pillow. Guilt surrounded him, coming at all sides, never stopping, always circling. Tim forced in a deep breath, as if that could stop it, but it didn't. He lay in silence, feeling awful, feeling guilty, and feeling like he was worthless.

Bruce.

A battle raged in his mind, part of him telling him that his mentor was gone, and the other half telling him that Bruce was very much alive. And that was how the boy fell asleep, wishing he knew the answer, and hoping with everything that his guardian was alive.

Gordon realized he was awake, and wondering why that was. It was still dark, and with a glance at his clock he discovered it was only 5 in the morning. That was when he heard it. Someone was talking, and they didn't sound happy. The man slipped out of bed, pulling out from under his bed a box, and from that taking a handgun.

He walked, bare feet smacking the floor, listening for the voice. It came again, and the man realized it was from Robin's room. He made his way to the door, pushing it open, and found the boy in a heap on the bed, whimpering unintelligent noises.

"Robin?" The man gave the boy a shake. "Hey."

The boy's eyes fluttered open and he gasped, sitting up. "NO!"

Gordon was silent, not sure how to respond to that. He placed the gun on the nightstand by the bed.

Without any warning, the Boy Wonder started shake. It was uncontrolled, totally heart wrenching. "I wanna' go h-home! Take me home!" He pulled his head down, covering it with his arms.

"It was a nightmare." Jim offered. "Try and calm down."

"I want to go home." The boy repeated, starting to practically hyperventilate. "I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home, now. Home – now, home, now, home, homehomehome."

"Calm down!" Gordon instructed, sitting beside the boy. "Robin, calm down. You can't go home, you're here – this is your home now. You are home."

The boy covered his ears, shaking his head. Never before had he felt like this. He didn't care how immature he sounded, or how dumb he looked. It didn't matter anymore, not now. All that mattered was him going home, and being with his family. Right. Now.

"You can't go home." Gordon said again, this time louder. He pulled the boy's hands down, forcing the boy to listen. "What would Batman think if he found you like this? Is this the way you're supposed to act? Is this what he taught you? Is it?"

"Home, right now, I need to go home. Now!"

"YOU CAN'T!" Jim got to his feet. He stood before the boy, looking down at him. "Alright? You can't."

Tim sat on his bed, a few tears cutting down his cheeks. The boy looked up at the man, and then jumped up, throwing his arms around him. He held tight, and buried his face into the man's chest, silently crying.

Gordon slowly returned the hug, unsure of what to do. "It'll be ok, you'll see, it'll work out."

And as soon as they had hugged, Robin pulled away, scrubbing at his eyes with a passion. "Yeah."

"Thirsty? Milk?" The man made his way to the kitchen, knowing that the boy might be thankful for a moment to regain his stature. In a few minutes the two sat in the kitchen, Robin drinking chocolate milk in silence and Jim boiling water for tea. "Bad dream, I take it?"

Tim nodded, pushing a hand through his damp hair. "Yeah, pretty bad – real too." He took another sip, and then placed the cup back down, looking at it sadly.

"If you don't like chocolate milk you can have something else, I just -."

"It's fine." The boy interrupted. "It's just at home I'd always get this crazy drink, Quick. It was like, my drink when I couldn't sleep. This isn't Quick."

Jim smiled, not sure what else to do.

"I just miss them so much." Tim admitted. "And I feel like they've been taken away, and I can't rescue them, but I should. And then Batman, he's alive, Jim."

"Robin -."

"I know what you think, and I don't want to hear it."

Gordon sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Fine, that's fine."

"He's alive, and one day he'll come and get me."

All at once it struck Jim, with the boy's words he felt a fear begin to grow. What would happen if the Batman did return? What then? Robin wouldn't be there anymore, the man would be all alone, all over again. The thought worried him, and he quickly assured himself that there was no way the Dark Knight would return. He watched, slightly jealous of the Dark Knight, as the boy drank down the milk.

The two stayed up a few hours, watching different TV shows, none of which were any good. It was close to seven in the morning when Jim looked over to find Robin, the Boy Wonder, fast asleep. A smile sprouted across the man's lips and he got to his feet, taking down an afghan and covering the boy – then he got ready for a day of work.

To be continued …

Trunksblue: I do pick on Tim, I do, I do. LOL, but its fun to do – I don't know what I can write if I don't have drama in each chapter. Things might cause me to fall asleep, you know? XD I stole your smile, I hope you don't mind, but it's very useful. Thanks so much for the continuing support! I really, really appreciate it.

Delia Ra'Nar: Hi! I thought of you as I wrote the part with Annika's parents calling, lol. How you asked if she'd play a part – well, she is starting to more and more. And it's not a good part, more like trouble. I was pleased to hear you enjoyed reading my nonsense, and hope this chapter is to your liking! Thanks, as always, for reviewing!

Shadow Avenger: Hey, hey. I really think you should be updating your ol' Raging Beast Boy fanfiction. I'm not one to talk, seeing how long I take to update, but I'm just saying. I'm getting desperate, checking once a day. I rarely find fanfictions that can keep any of my interest. I can think of probably a handful, I hate reading. So yours is one that can keep my interest, so you should update. See the logic? I do. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Talk to you later.