"Dianne! You got to come quickly there's been a fight on the playground!" Lisbeth said while holding her cellphone to her ear.

Dianne immediately got up from her desk stuffed a handful of nitrile gloves in her shirt scrub pocket and rushed to the playground. She saw two boys on the sitting on the ground with Tim Drake in standing in between them with two teachers on the sidelines. Mrs. Rose still on the phone with either Lisbeth or the principal. The boys looked worse for wear, but not life-threatening Dianne thought as she mentally started to triage them. She pulled her gloves on like it was second nature. The boys didn't have any life-threatening injuries Dianne thought. Tim Drake was sporting an eye that was starting already swollen. That was going to make for an interesting story.

"Come on back it looks like you all could use an ice pack or band aid," Dianne said as she gave Samuel Breckenride the lll a hand to help him get up and made she he was steady on his feet. He had blood dripping down his feet and his hands were starting to swell. She went to the next boy Franklin Carlton and helped him up. Tim was standing up and looking like he'd rather go back to class than go to her clinic.

"Come on Tim, you definitely need an ice pack," Dianne said as she got the boys to follow her. Samuel and Franklin sat in chairs while Tim choose to stand again.

"Ok Tim any other injuries I should know about besides your eye?" Dianne asked as she pulled out most of the ice packs in her fridge. She wrapped one in a towel and handed it to him first.

"No, Ma'am. Just the eye, can I go back to class now?" Tim replied.

"Not yet, all of you will have to go to the principal's office," Dianne replied.

She tended to Samuel and Franklin quickly and thoroughly. Ran though the right questions and checked for any possible concussion they all answered correctly, and their pupils were equal, round, reactive to light, and accommodation. If anything, Tim's blue eyes reacted sluggishly, but not enough to indicate a current concussion.

Dianne sent Samuel and Franklin to the principal's office and hesitated slightly, before asking, "Can I talk to you for a second and then you can go."

"Why not?" Tim replied, but it was forced and tight.

"Was Bruce, right? Are you dealing with bullies? I know you don't look like you were hurt as badly as the other boys, but I need to make sure," Dianne explained.

"No, they got into a fight, and I tried to break it up instead of getting a teacher. Apparently, Franklin's mom is a sloppy drunk and has a few strong opinions about Samuel's family that Franklin thought Samuel should know about. After Franklin hit me the fight stopped and I was able to get them to agree that they were fighting over something that really didn't matter that much," Tim explained. "They don't even like their parents or agree with half of what they say."

"Well, I am relieved to hear that you aren't getting bullied, Tim. Go on to the principal's office. If you start feeling dizzy, or seeing black spots have Mr. Wayne or someone take you to an E.R. you may need a CT scan or something."

"I'll let him know if it happens. He's going to freak out and hover when he picks me up. I have never met a man that worried so much about his kids, even if they really aren't his," Tim reassured her.

With all the boys gone Dianne started to chart what had happened when Lisbeth came waltzing in her clinic. "Dianne, when Miss Rose called me about the fight to get you to come she made it sound like it was going to be a murder scene. I can't believe I was eating my lunch and didn't see it on the security camera's myself in real time. I want you to see the footage. I keep watching it over and over, I want to know if I'm just crazy or if you see it too," Lisbeth said. "Also, Gotham Academy needs to give me a raise I just had to call three very powerful families and they all weren't happy. The Carlton's asked if I was sure, it was their son."

Dianne locked her computer and followed Lisbeth to the secretary's office and watched as Lisbeth pulled up the footage and she watched Samuel and Franklin start pushing each other. Franklin threw the first punch they didn't get far in the fight when Tim ran up and got between them getting sucker punched for his trouble. He didn't flinch, didn't waver, didn't stumble. The twelve-year-old boy took the hit that was causing his eye to black and swell like he was used to getting hit.

"If you're crazy then so am I," Dianne said to Lisbeth as the black and white video played. "We can't do anything unless Tim says he's being abused, or we witness it. I'm keeping a file of incidents that might lead to an investigation, but it wouldn't be enough to have Gotham's overwhelmed CPS do anything about it."

"I know," Lisbeth replied, "I really hate this job sometimes. You can obviously see something that's not right and your hands are tied in the worst ways. If Bruce was doing the least possible for Tim; that's more than Jack and Janet ever did for Tim. He probably would think Bruce to be a saint with talking to him once a day and listening for five minutes. Tim isn't the only one either," Lisbeth interrupted herself by interjecting, "Dianne, why didn't I take my ex-boyfriend up on becoming team truckers and seeing all of America and interacting with no people?" Lisbeth said spinning in her chair uselessly.

"Because you're a bad driver and he broke up with you for that one girl that owned her own rig and they teamed up and are making more money than both of us combined?" Dianne replied not unkindly, but Lisbeth was a horrible driver in her Toyota Echo.

"It's still sucks watching and not being able to make a bit of difference," Lisbeth said not touching the bad driver comment.

"I know, but at least you still care. You know how many teachers don't anymore? None of Tim's teachers have followed up with me. It's easier to not care about the kids. All the kids need advocates or at least someone who notices when something isn't right. The world would be a better place if more people actually gave a damn about kids."


"Bruce, Robin instincts kicked in and I didn't think about how suspicious it was going to look," Tim said as he got buckled in the car Brue was starting.

"Please be more careful, that's the same eye that got hit last night," Bruce replied as put the car in drive and looked at Tim's purple and black mottled eye.

"I know, it hurts like crazy and it's a good thing Dianne didn't ask for the towel that was wrapped around the ice pack, because some of the concealer bled on it," Tim explained.

"The principal told me to commend your parents on raising such a fine boy that ran into break up the fight, but that a teacher should be gotten in case something like that happens in the future to you. I wasn't surprised by it and I feel like a hypocrite for telling you to be careful. I just worry about you. I want you safe and unhurt. Batman may need Robin, but Bruce also needs Tim," Bruce said because Tim needed the reminder. Bruce would always try to keep him safe as Tim Drake (hopefully soon Wayne) and Robin.

It would be a lie to say that Tim's eyes weren't a little moist from all the foliage that was blooming in November. Bruce had never lied when he said that he would keep him safe and loved. Batman was always keeping him safe as Robin and looking out for him as Tim Drake when there was no apparent benefit to it.

Three months to the day of taking Bruce up on his offer of living at Wayne Manor. Tim didn't expect having Bruce as a kind of Dad to him but Tim had no regrets. Bruce talked to him like he mattered and wasn't an inconvenience. This was the best thing that ever happened to him and nothing could change that. Bruce would always be there for him.

(Or so seemed to Tim right there in Bruce's car because Bruce picked him up from school when they called about something small. Bruce who cared about Tim when only a few people ever had. This moment was a good one and Tim would savor it though all the not good ones that he didn't know were coming for him.)