a/n: OMG! I'm sooooo sorry I haven't updated in a little while! I couldn't use the internet because I was grounded

Tim jumped from building to building in his spandex Robin costume. There were some burgalaries on Smith street, and he stopped them. Then there was a bank heist downtown. Then a kidnapping attempt in the slums, and a kidnapping rescue mission he had to attend to also in the slums.

After a few hours of delivering roundhouse kicks and signature Robin moves, Tim felt dead tired. In a brief moment where his intercom wasn't delivering news about a nereaby crime, he took a little detour. Maybe he could sit down on the edge of a building, just to rest. That would be good.

Twizzler's House of Voodoo was still awash with police tape, although the investigation had ceased. The owners must be hesitant to come back so soon, Tim thought. They must be pretty traumatized after dealing with such an ordeal. Tim could only imagine how frightening Hocus Pocus must be to someone who'd never known the true face behind the evil.

Tim sighed.

"Oh, Melena…" he said to himself, "…what happened to you?"

He could see her now, is his imagination. That shy girl in the back of the class. Her baggy sweaters. The way she always seemed embarrassed when anyone so much as looked at her. How had such an innocent Girl become such a harbinger of chaos and Pain?

Now Tim felt more depressed than he'd been all night. With still no crimes to be notified of, he reached up and pressed a small button on his mask. His ear devices filled with music. Tim listened to Taylor Swift for a few minutes. It surely didn't need to be a big deal, and yet it was. He and Kon used to make fun of her music. They laughed at it. They made fun of the kind of people who listened to it. Then, after a while, it seemed like the joke was on them. On more than one occasion, the Two had broken into song together while on patrol or just in the car together. Tim had to turn off the music, because it was making him too emotional. Still, he began to hum. He contemplated getting a coffee when…

"BOO!" came a voice from behind.

Tim already had his staff ejected and aimed at his surprise visitor. However, he immediately calmed.

"Nightwing!?" he asked, incredulous. He was so shocked.

"Ha ha," Nightwing said, laughing. "Hey there, little dude."

"Very funny," said Tim.

"I can't believe I really scared you," Nightwing said, still laughing.

"You didn't scare me," Tim replied.

Dick Grayson still laughed. He was always such a joker, that Dick. No matter the circufrances, he always found a way to make laugh. It was all part of his circus upbringing. For him, it was natural. Sometimes it even got him into trouble. Tim wasn't used to that kind of confidence or showmanship. Even though it didn't really bother him, it made him anxious. He felt weird. He never knew quite what to do whenever moments like these arose. He wasn't like Nightwing-he couldn't match his energy.

Nightwing stopped laughing. "I'm sorry, I know things have been rough for you. Maybe that wasn't the best move."

"No," Tim said firmly. "No, you're fine."

The taller bird crossed his arms. "No. It was wrong for me to mess with you like that, especially given the circumstances."

"Oh my God, will everyone just get off my case about that!" Tim erupted. "The truth is, things have been rough for me. My best friend died, and my other friend died too, but in…a different way. But everyone treating me like glass isn't making anything better. In fact, it makes me feel kinda worse. So please—don't apologize. Do scare me! Please, I just want things to feel normal."

Nightwing stared blankly.

"Um, okay. Will do."

"I'm sorry," Tim said. "That was probably weird."

Nightwing, sensing the awkward tension, needed an out in order to make everyone feel more comfortable.

"By the way," he said. "Your ear piece frequency was jamming with mine. I didn't know you liked Taylor Swift!"

Tim blushed, and Nightwing laughed once again. "Ha ha!"

When he got done laughing, the two bird men sat at the edge of the building and looked down at Twizzler's. Dick told Tim about the awful crime Hocus and Klarion had committed earlier. They'd broken in while the storeowner's pimply nephew was alone managing the counter. They'd broken almost every bone in the poor lad's body during their heist.

"What all did they take?" Tim asked?

Nightwing huffed. "A lot of stones and crystals. The entire voodoo doll rack was swiped clean. Hocus also grabbed a book of summoning rituals, but tossed them to the side. Apparently, they weren't what she was looking for."

"Why did you leave her alone!?" Tim demanded, when the story was over.

"I don't' know," said Nightwing.

Tim placed a black, gloved hand to his chin. "Maybe she placed a spell on your mind?"

Dick contemplated this. "It is possible, but I felt fine!"

"It's possible?" Tim asked. "I guess magic is real after all, and we just have to deal with it."

Nightwing shrugged. It was true, in the past year so much crazy stuff had happened. It was natural that the public was skeptical about the Theory of Magic. Most people were willing to say that there was always some rational, scientific explanation for even the most fantastical things! Even just tonight, a news lady had a whole segmeant where she explained that Nightwing putting Klarion into a book was all about physics, and had no magic involved.

"At least we still have Klarion," Tim sighed. And it was true, at least they had one piece of assurance that everything would be okay.

"We do! We do have Klarion!" Nightwing said joyously. "So there's one thing we don't have to worry about."

"Where is that book you put him in?" asked Tim.

"Oh the book? Oh, why yes. It's right here in my bah. The one I have strapped on my—wait! My bag! It's empty! What!? What's going on? It was right here!"

The two heroes frantically looked about the rooftop. Tim brought his bird-binoculars to his eyes to scan for any clues. There! Through the binoculars, his and Nightwings footprints were to show up as yellow. Lucius Fox had designed it that way. But there, behind them, was a set of pink footprints walking up, and then walking away. They were fresh. Someone had stolen the book while they were talking!

"Oh no!" said Tim.

Dick sighed. "They'll be long gone by now."

"We have to find them!"

"NO," Nightwing said calmly. "It's getting pretty late. And I know you have school tomorrow. So you go home, I'll track them down."

Tim groaned. There was no use arguing with Dick, he was practically an older brother! He was always so protective and bossy with him. Now, as Tim glided over the city with his grappling hooks, he was reminded of those sleepovers with Kon, and the texts Dick would send them about keeping quiet.

Those were the days, old buddy. Tim thought.

In the alley below, a face grinned up at the oblivious passing Boy Wonder. Her hand tightened on the rustic book between her hands.