Authors Note: Country music rocks. How is that for relevant?

"Since the last time we talked the walk has been hard. Now I know you haven't left me, but I feel like I'm alone. I'm a big boy now, but I'm still not grown. And I'm still going through it - the pain and the hurt. I soak up troubles like rain in the dirt."

Lord Give Me a Sign DMX

Oh Silent Prayer of My Thoughts

By: The BatThing

Chapter Seventeen:

Robin dumped his bike in the entrance of the hall at Gotham City Police Department Headquarters. He figured it'd be safe there, for now, and just hoped that nobody would think it was his. He felt rather un-cool with a bike. The boy paced across the floor and found the building rather … empty. He frowned as Montoya came towards him, hurrying down the hall. She was pale.

"If I had known you were going to take so long to get here I would have picked you up myself. What took so long?" She was apparently far from a good mood. It was the first time Tim had seen her upset like this, and he wasn't sure of the reason. It made him worry, something had to be wrong.

"I was out of town when you called. It took some time to get all the way back here. Sorry." He paused, seeing her expression faltering a little. "What's wrong? What happened? Is Gordon -"

"Jim is fine, everyone is … alright. As far as alright goes in this city." She paused and shook her head. "Apparently the Gauss Murderer has made another hit, guess where."

Robin considered and shrugged his shoulders. How would he know? Montoya had said that everyone was fine, so that meant it wasn't anyone here … and he had just been home so what did that leave?

"Bullock's in the hospital, he'll live – just suffering from some second degree burns and such. Apparently our criminal has decided to put his foot into the Police family." She frowned. "Bullock said that he didn't know what was going on till there were flames. What do you think about that?"

"B-but doesn't this guy have the same pattern of killing before hand, whoever he sets out to kill? We've researched this, and he kills the people and then burns their homes with them inside of it. Annika was the only one he didn't do this too, but she just didn't talk so -." Tim shook his head. "He let Annika live, and now he let Bullock live?"

"There is the possibility that it isn't the same guy." Montoya said.

Tim lifted his head, looking at her hopefully. "You think that maybe it's just someone else, or maybe an accident?"

"Well no." She shook her head. "Annika's family was murdered, and then their house was burned. I don't doubt that it was the Gauss Murderer for that situation. He let Annika live, maybe he felt pity for the girl, maybe he missed her."

"And what about Bullock?"

The woman shrugged. "We're still looking over the remains of his house. There isn't much to go by in this situation." She frowned. "It's troublesome though. I with your little Annika friend would talk to us. It would really clear a few things up."

The boy was quiet as he looked at her. "Don't you think it's weird that this has happened to two people that we know? I mean, it's a strange coincidence that I know the last two victims."

"Bullock's fire might not be from the Gauss murderer, remember that."

"It's still strange." Tim shook his head, something was telling him not to think too much. He didn't want to think too much. His thoughts went to Barbara oddly. He gave his head a firm smack, which earned him a disapproving look from the woman before him. "It's just weird, that's all."

"Well, how about you and I head over to the hospital to talk to Harv, alright?"

"Yeah. Ok."

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The hospital hadn't changed since Tim had been there last. He trailed behind Montoya, thinking to himself and nodding occasionally at the cops he recognized. Some were calling him Quinn now, probably due to Annika. The boy tried to put the pieces together. The Gauss Murders hadn't been his main concern these last few weeks, he had been more concerned with … well, the secret. If Batman were here, well, Tim was sure he'd get a lecture. People's lives were on the line, and the boy hadn't giving the situation his full attention – and now he was paying for it.

Annika and Bullock had suffered, who would be next?

"Hey!"

Robin lifted his head and saw Justin hurrying towards him, smiling. Montoya kept walking, not willing to wait for the boy. Something told Tim she was worried about her partner. He didn't blame her, even if they had been told Harvey was alright, she still seemed on edge. Bullock had always seemed to protect her. "Hi Justin, what's up?"

"Well, not much, my partner and I were just visiting Bullock. Though, well, I didn't really get to see him." Justin smiled. "He's in a foul mood, not that I can blame him."

"Yeah, it sucks."

"Yeah. Bullock isn't the type to lie in bed and recover while people visit." Tim smiled and tossed his head a little. "I haven't seen you in awhile, what have you been up to?"

Justin frowned at this. "My partner doesn't let me do much. I'm mostly stuck in the office. Where have you been? It's been like, a week or two since you were around. Are you getting busy?"

The boy shook his head, planting his hands in his sweatshirt's pocket. "Nah, just doing odd jobs here and there, you know."

"Yeah well, you and I need to get together and hang out sometime." The young man said with another smile. "I better go find my partner, head out before he gets upset. I'll talk to you later, Rob."

Tim made his way to Harvey's room and entered to find the man glaring at Montoya. She was lecturing him about being so rude to the doctors, and listening to what they said. It was sort of funny to see.

"Hey, what the hell is he doin' here?" Bullock growled, pointing a finger in Tim's direction. "Didja' come here ta' complain about the work I assigned? 'Cause you better run if that's the case!"

"Cool it Harvey, he's my partner on the Gauss Case." Montoya snapped, hands on hips, but a smile on her face. "That's why we came, this isn't a social call, I'm afraid."

The detective made a face at the two standing at his bedside. "What do ya' want ta' know? One moment I'm readin' and the next the house is on fire."

"Harv."

The man sighed with a glare. "So I called the fire department, and tried ta' put it out myself. I got burnt, dat's when I decided ta' get out."

Tim wasn't sure how this was going to help, it was clear that Bullock would have told them everything they needed to know. From the sounds of it he was as clueless as they were. The boy couldn't help but think that it was a 'natural' cause. Old oven, bad microwave …weird wires.

Montoya kept asking questions, and Bullock gave straight answers, each time looking more and more annoyed. Tim didn't blame him, the man lost his house, he was probably in pain – and to top it off, it was clear that there wasn't any obvious reason for the cause. Well, not yet at least. The boy waited until he decided it was alright to head out. He said his goodbyes to an upset Bullock, smiled and waved to Montoya, and headed out … for home.

He just wasn't sure where home was yet.

When he got outside the rain was falling heavy, forcing him to pull on his hood. He gave a little shiver, lifting his head and looking above at the sky, and watched the grey clouds for a moment. Moments were passing by, and he didn't notice. The boy stood on the steps of the hospital staring up at the light grey clouds passing overhead.

"Are you alright?"

"Ehm?" Tim turned to look at some woman holding her jacket tightly to her body. She looked slightly concerned, though not overly so. Her hair was frizzled from the rainfall, and Robin wondered if she knew about it. "I'm fine, just spacing, heh."

"Oh, yes." She smiled and then gave a nod, starting to walk away.

Tim watched her for a moment and then it dawned on him how kind she had been to ask the boy such a thing. Gotham people could fool you at times. "Hey!"

She turned, looking confused.

"Th-thanks for asking!" He smiled and turned to head to Wayne Manor. His fingers crossed and he smiled. Maybe today Bruce will remember.

And the rainfall slowed a little.

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Tim shivered a little, pulling his black sweat jacket closer to his body and dropping his head slightly. It was an endless rain, always a light sprinkle – it seemed to go on and on. A week now since the rain had started, and it just kept going. It slowed at times, and it was never a heavy rain – but it was always there. It was miserable. The grey skies rolled on and on, whenever the boy would look up they would be there, like the rain. Miserable.

He was trying to catch 3A Gotham Square bus, along with twelve other people. An array of umbrellas surrounded the boy, all of which seemed to share the same mood as the weather. They were distant, a constant look of miserable. Some were reading, others simply waiting, none of them seemed willing to cast a smile. The weather just didn't let something like that happen.

The bus rolled to a stop near a small stream of dirty water rushing to the gutter, and Tim hopped over it. He flashed the driver his student ID and boarded with the others, silent and hoping to get a reasonable seat. On Gotham buses – that was hard to find. He never enjoyed riding the bus system, but he didn't have much of a choice. Jim had asked him to come over, told him that things had cleared up enough … for now.

So here Tim was, trying to make his way to the house, and wishing the sun was out so he could have ridden his bike. The bus smelled like wet dog. Bleh.

An hour later, Robin knocked on the front door to Gordon's house. It wasn't long till the door was swung open and Jim took a step outside, smiling at the Boy Wonder. "Welcome back!" He shook Tim's hand. "I bet you were homesick. Montoya said you were putting a lot of time in on the Gauss Case, so you haven't had too much time to miss us, right?"

Tim smiled a little - it was nice to be missed. "I just wish all the time I put in would get me somewhere." The boy shrugged his shoulders. "The guy is a no show, wherever I go … it's like he's a ghost."

"You'll figure it out, Batman taught you – you'll figure it out." Jim and Tim entered the house and it surprised the boy at the sight. Boxes were all around and things were packed up, the furniture scarce.

"What the?"

"I didn't tell you … we're making a move. It's closer to the station, and further away from … well, Annika's memories." There was a frown. "She can't live here, not right by her old house. It's too much for anyone to have to live with that sort of pain. A constant reminder of how things use to be." The man shook his head as he looked out the window.

Robin let the words sink in and hung his head a little. "This is your house, Jim. Can you really just up and sell it? That seems like a big move for you … and it seems wrong." The boy knew memories of Barbara filled this house, it seemed so wrong that the man was leaving it all.

"I think moving would be best." Gordon smiled at Tim, a sad smile. "This house does have a lot of things that I will miss, but like I said … it takes a strong person to live with a constant reminder of how things use to be. I'm not as strong as you might think, Robin. I don't want to ever forget, but seeing things day after day and knowing … knowing she's gone is too much for me."

Tim listened in silence, not meeting the man's eyes. Feelings of hurt whelmed up in the boy's heart, gravity seemed wrong. "You're as strong as I always knew you were, Jim. You have yet to prove that you can't handle something."

"Well, do you want to see the new house?"

"Yeah. Where's Annika, by the way?"

Gordon signaled to the back door. "She's out there, probably at the playground. She spends a lot of time there. The first thing she asked me when I told her we were moving was if the new house would have a park. Fortunately it does. She then told me that you'd be happy to know that, because you like the playground."

Robin smiled. "I guess she and I always ran into each other there."

"Could you go tell her we're going to the new house?" Jim asked. "I'll load some of these boxes into the car."

"Sure." Tim headed out the back and found the girl on the playground, like Gordon had said. She was jumping rope, and doing poorly at it. The rain seemed to have no affect on her ability to play outside. She was wearing a pink windbreaker, a pink hat, pink boots … clearly she was a girl. "Annika!"

The girl stopped skipping and looked up. She saw Tim and her smile flourished. "You're back!" She squealed, running at him, the rope forgotten.

Tim stepped back, surprised at the young girl coming his way. He wasn't use to such obvious affection. The girl was clearly expressive in her emotions. When she got to him she leapt up and hugged him.

"Jim said you wouldn't be back for a while! He said that you were working on something big, and that it could take a few hours. So I just went outside and decided to jump rope. Did you see my new jacket and hat? Montoya went shopping with me for clothes. We got a lot of stuff! You should see my room at the new house, I have a these things from people at Jim's work! And look at my necklace!" The girl pulled at a chain around her neck, showing Tim. It was three simply rings that hung on the chain. "They all say something. This one says future, this one says luck, and this ones say promise!"

"Wow." Tim smiled at her. "Who gave you that?"

"I don't know, he said he was your friend. I think his name was Julius."

"I don't have any friends named Julius that I know of."

"Jim knows his name." Annika went back and got her rope. "You want to see me skip? I'm really good! Jim taught me how to do it! He said I'm good."

"I saw you when I was walking out here, you were good! But Jim says we're going to the new house, so you can show me there, ok?" The boy started to move back towards the house and Annika followed close behind him.

"Quinn?"

"Huh?"

"Where were you staying? Jim said you were staying with a doctor. Are you sick?" Annika grabbed the boy's hand and clutched. Her blue eyes looked into his. "Are you going to die?"

Tim couldn't hide his surprise. He supposedly been staying with Leslie, but he hadn't expected Jim to tell Annika that. Oh well. "I'm not sick, I just … the doctor is like my aunt. I was just visiting for a while. I do that every now and then."

The girl thought about that, but not for too long. "Did you know that Jim said I might be able to stay with him forever?"

No. Tim had not known that little fact. He frowned at this. It wasn't bad news or anything, but he had been sure that Jim wasn't planning on keeping the girl. It was a temporary thing – until they could find a better home. Gordon just seemed so … so … vulnerable. Barbara's death was still fresh, it seemed. This should be good news, Tim, stop being an asshole and smile! "That's good Annika, are you happy?"

"Yeah, that means you and I will be brother and sister."

Ok. "Kind of."

"Are you adopted by Jim?"

"No."

"Shouldn't you be adopted by him? You live with him."

"So do you."

"He plans to adopt me though. Does he want to adopt you?" Her questions were sincere, but rather blunt. "Why wouldn't he want to adopt you? Huh! Do you not want to be adopted? If that's the case then you should think about it, because I don't think anyone else will want you."

Robin blurted out a laugh. "Thanks Annika!"

"What?"

"Why wouldn't anyone else want me?"

"You're old. Do you have a girlfriend? Are you married?"

"No."

"I think you're supposed to have one by now, Quinn."

This was one strange girl, or maybe all seven year old were like this? Tim certainly didn't know. He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I'm just not very normal."

Annika made a face. "Do you not like Jim? Is that why you don't want him to adopt you?"

"Annika …Jim can't adopt me because I'm not up for adoption." Tim tried to think of a good story.

"Up for adoption … what does that mean?"

"It means that … that … I don't need to be adopted. It's kind of like if you see a dog and you want to buy it, but you can't because it has owners already."

The girl looked confused. "So you're already adopted?"

"No." Tim lied. "I'm just too old to be adopted."

"Then your dog story doesn't make sense. You should have said that the dog was too old to be bought." Annika pushed the door open and looked at Tim with a strange expression. "Then I guess we can't be brother and sister if you aren't adopted."

To be continued …

Trunksblue: You didn't say that about Bruce's glare? Hmm, I better look through and double check. I need to keep better track of what people say. Someone suggested it and I was like: Good idea! LOL. Well, thanks anyway. XD My desk was being used by a renter of the house. I just got it back! Yea! As for my Ghosts in the Closests fanfiction … it's still going, just rather slow. LOL. Very slow. I wrote some more for it, but not a chapter yet. I think I have two pages. Bleh. Cross your fingers that I'm inspired to write. This is the only fanfiction that I can write with ease. I think it's because I've been writing it for four years and not many people review. It makes me not care so much … so I can write much better. XD XD Thanks for reviewing, son. ;)

Terra89: Hey! Yeah, the comics and the cartoon series are so different! I started the cartoon first, then moved to the comics, then ended up with both. I love getting comics, its fun! You know what I mean? The guys are always like: A girl in the comic shop! My friend comes with just so guys will say that to her. I tell her such things are shallow. XD Yeah, that is the universal question … will Bruce remember? LOL, good question! Read to find out … haha! How is that for endorsement? I think I could sell things or something, I'm that good. ;) Thanks for reading, I'll be sure to update soon … I hope!