There was definitely going to be a wedding and it was all Tim's fault. Hadn't he ever heard the saying 'never say never'? You're never supposed to say never or whatever you're saying will never happen...does. It had been about six months since then but still, it was Tim's fault in her eyes. Luckily for Hailey, Tim hadn't been specific about whose wedding he was referring to so she was in the clear. But Dick was not.

Dick seemed stressed. Though he was not letting Bruce dissuade him of his choice to marry an alien. Not just any alien. A model. And one of the Titans. If anyone could meet and fall for an alien bombshell, it just had to be Hailey's brother. It wasn't weird at all. Note the sarcasm. Maybe Tim had been right when he said her entire family was crazy. This situation totally fell into that category.

Hailey was sitting at the top of the stairs waiting for Bruce and Dick who were currently in the front room to finish arguing. She hadn't even been able to greet her older brother yet. She didn't understand why Bruce was against his son getting married. Or why Dick wanted to get married so badly that he didn't want to wait to do so. It was as if he'd been bewitched. Then again, that was probably a side effect of being in love.

Hailey decided she didn't want that to ever happen to her. The love thing. It seemed like too much trouble. Her dad and stepmother were always fighting. Being married didn't seem like a good idea to her. It made more sense to just stay single like Bruce. And that was part of the argument. Bruce had never been married so he couldn't understand why Dick wanted to do it. Dick, however, wanted what his parents had. Hailey sighed. The two needed to agree to disagree. Because that was the only way that argument was going to come to an end. Alfred seemed to have the same idea when he decided to intervene and put the argument on hold until after dinner he'd said. Hailey scoffed. As if either of them would have a change of heart with a full belly.

Alfred called her down to dinner and Hailey raised an eyebrow at him. She hadn't realized that anyone noticed her perched atop the stairs. He hadn't even looked in her direction when he spoke to her. When Dick looked in her direction, she grinned and ran down the stairs. She jumped from the fifth stair up right into Dick's arms. He easily caught her and swung her around before he put her down.

"How've you been, Hailey?" Dick asked as he pressed her to his side. They walked towards the dining room like that as Hailey regaled him on her classmate Ben's newest injury and subsequent ride to the ER via ambulance.

"This time it was a concussion," Hailey said and pointed at her eye. "His pupil in his left eye was blown so large it looked like a cat's eye."

"How did he get hurt?" Dick said curiously. He looked over at Bruce who shrugged. He hadn't heard this story so it might have just happened.

"Well, Robert challenged him to see who between them could hold their breath the longest," Hailey said with a roll of her eyes and Dick grinned. "They're idiots. Everybody already knew that Ben would win. Steve said he would keep time. I was chosen as a referee to ensure that they weren't cheating. And that was the problem."

"How so?" Dick interrupted, still smiling.

"Because they weren't cheating. Even after Robert gave up, Ben still kept holding his breath," Hailey said becoming agitated and gesturing wildly with her hands. "I mean, come on. Once you won, you won. But then he turned maroon then purple and then blue. We were all shouting at him. Telling him to breathe. Steve ran to get help but by the time the nurse got there, Ben had passed out. She had to give him CPR! He hit his head pretty hard when he fell and that's how he got the concussion. The paramedics took him away and then everybody got really antsy. Steve and Robert didn't want to say anything. And they got mad at me when I told the nurse and the vice principal that Ben was holding his breath. I mean, they had to know what happened. And everyone else was throwing the three of us under the bus. Saying it was our fault. Only, it wasn't! It was all Ben. Because he's an idiot who can't stop getting hurt. But I didn't say that it was part of a dare! I'm not stupid. Anyway, they're not talking to me anymore. Just as well. Those stupid boys are always getting into trouble."

"I'm sorry, Hailey," Dick said, feeling bad about her losing the first friends she'd made at the academy.

"For what? They weren't my friends!" Hailey said dramatically. "Honestly, I have no idea how I always get roped into their stupid stunts." She said as if it was hard for her to believe how it even happened. Dick would've believed her too had she not grinned afterward. She just couldn't hide it. It was true, they weren't truly her friends but she always had fun when they dragged her into their reckless acts. Those boys reminded her of someone she'd lost. Like before, it was never meant to last. She hadn't expected it to either.

Dick chuckled and ruffled her hair which made her scowl. She ran her fingers through her hair to fix it. Right as Alfred began to serve them, the doorbell rang. Hailey shot up out of her seat and ran to the door. They didn't get many visitors but Hailey was starting to get used to meeting new people.

Since her adoption, Bruce had invited some of his friends over sporadically so that they could meet her. The first was Clark Kent who Bruce had chosen to be her godfather. At first, she thought it was weird until she saw Superman fly away from the manor and Clark was suddenly gone. Superman as a godfather. Sure, that happened. Like having had a brother who just happened to be Robin. Then she met Diana and a man named John twice. They were nice but nothing special. Kinda formal. Like regal or something. Hailey couldn't put her finger on it. After that Hailey was able to tour Bruce's place of work where she met Lucious Fox, another friend of Bruce's. He showed her lots of stuff the company was working on that maybe he wasn't supposed to and it made her giggle when she found that out. Bruce probably shouldn't have left her alone with Lucious. He'd almost signed the company over to her or so Bruce said dramatically making her laugh. She liked his friends a lot better than the socialites she'd met the night she'd met the Drakes.

Bruce had slowly been making changes for the better. He was home more often and just seemed in better spirits altogether. Tim being around during the summer had helped Bruce move forward instead of staying stuck in the anger loop he'd been in while mourning Jason's death. He didn't revert back to it when Tim left and for that Hailey was grateful.

Tim had gotten bit by the traveling bug just like his parents and had gone to Asia for a cultural something or other. He'd recently returned but she hadn't seen much of him. High school and his new social calendar kept him too busy to stop by as often as he used to. But Tim brought a friend over to meet her. Conner Kent who just so happened to be Clark's younger brother. Or so he'd said. They looked more like father and son to her but she kept that to herself. So she was very curious to know who had stopped by this time around. Maybe another relative of Clark's?

"Hey, you must be Hailey," said a redhead as soon as she opened the door.

"Yeah," Hailey said with a slight nod. "And you are?"

"Wally West," he said with a grin and stuck out a hand to shake. She shook it and smiled back gesturing for him to come inside. "I came looking for Dick, is he here?"

Hailey nodded and told him to follow her into the dining room.

"Wally! What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting up tomorrow," Dick said and stood up from the table to clap a hand on Wally's shoulder in greeting.

"There was a change of plans," Wally said and then his stomach growled. He rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Uh, mind if I join you all for dinner?"

"Not at all," Bruce told him and gestured for him to take a seat.

Alfred set a place setting for him and served him before he made his leave.

"So what brings you by?" Dick said before he took a bite of his food.

"Tina took off and my mom just… I had to get away and since I was meeting up with you tomorrow anyway, I thought I would just show up early," Wally said and shrugged. Then he turned to look at Bruce. "I can get a hotel room so you don't have to put up with me."

"Nonsense," Bruce told him and gestured upstairs. "We have plenty of room. You could stay here."

"Really?" Wally said surprised and looked at Hailey before he looked at Bruce again.

"Sure," Bruce told him. "Hailey has a science project you could help her with."

"You're supposed to help me, Dad," Hailey said with a slight frown.

"I need to speak to Dick after dinner," Bruce told her and then gestured to Wally. "Wally is a physics major, it shouldn't be too hard for him. If you get stuck, just have him call his uncle."

"Who's your uncle?" Hailey said skeptically.

"Um, you mean Barry?" Wally said then looked at Bruce curiously.

"Barry Allen is your uncle?" Hailey said in surprise.

"You know my uncle Barry?"

"Yeah, Dick gave me his number," Hailey pointed at Dick who smiled crookedly at Wally and nodded. "I just had a few questions but then he offered to tutor me, which was great because I had fallen behind. With his help, I ended up with the highest grade in the class. So now they have me in the honors program. I really need help with all the science stuff. It's just not my strong suit." She said with a pout.

"Well, you're in luck because it is mine. I'll help you, no problem."

"Awesome."

"So, when is this project due?"

"Tomorrow," Hailey said with a shrug. She'd put it off because she really really hadn't wanted to do it. And she was starting to hate science. Not only that but she'd misplaced Barry's number and forgot to ask Dick for it again.

Bruce sighed and Dick laughed. "You have your work cut out for you, man."

"No kidding," Wally said under his breath. "Alright, walk me through what we have to do while we eat and then we'll jump right on it after dinner."

Hailey groaned but she started to tell him what she remembered about the project. Wally listened and nodded. He was determined to help her ace it. And he was grateful to get his mind off his current problems with his girlfriend turned ex and his mother getting on his case about dropping out of school. He just thought it would go a little different. Like going out and getting a few beers with Dick to celebrate his new lease on singlehood just as Dick was about to tie the knot. Actually, the new turn of events was probably for the best.

Hailey fell asleep in the middle of the project. Luckily they'd been working on it in her room so she fell asleep on her bed. Wally covered her with an extra blanket he'd taken from the closet and finished the construction. Hailey had already finished writing the report so he didn't think it was cheating too much especially when he finished the construction in a few seconds thanks to his speed.

By the time Dick came looking for him, he was already walking out of Hailey's room. They went downstairs just in time to greet Roy Harper and his daughter. It was a lot easier for him to arrive early than to try to arrive on the day of the actual tuxedo fitting, which was what they were going to do the next day. After Roy put his daughter down for the night, the three boys stayed up late watching movies and catching up.


"Hi, what's your name?" said a high pitch voice right by Hailey's ear first thing in the morning.

Hailey gasped and sat up scooting over on her bed in fright. She blinked at the little girl and swallowed hard.

"I'm Lian," said the little girl who couldn't be more than two years old.

"Uh, hi," Hailey said and managed to look up to see a redheaded man walking into her room. He stopped short only a few paces in after seeing her expression. Hailey swallowed hard. "Who are you?"

"That's my daddy, silly," Lian said and giggled.

"Lian, you can't just walk into other people's rooms without permission. Apologize and come with me downstairs to get breakfast," said the redhead sternly.

"Sorry, I just wanted to say hi," Lian said and waved as she hopped off the bed and ran to the doorway to take her daddy's hand.

"Sorry about the intrusion," said the redhead with a small smile. "We'll leave you alone now."

Hailey nodded and when the door closed she pressed a hand to her chest. She was breathing fast and trying to make sense of what the heck had just happened. At first, she thought the little girl was a ghost who'd come to haunt her and she couldn't just get over the frightening chilling feeling that had overcome her at the thought.

"What the fuck?" Hailey said in such a soft voice even she had a hard time hearing.

A knock on her door practically made her jump out of her skin.

"Hailey, come down for breakfast before Wally eats everything," Dick said from the other side of the door. He laughed and argued with someone else, probably Wally, before he headed downstairs not even waiting for a reply.

Hailey shook her head. Hailey hadn't seen this much commotion in the morning since Jason. She teared up and wiped her face before jumping off her bed. She decided a quick shower before heading downstairs was in order just to clear her head.

When Hailey went downstairs, she was assaulted with so much happy noise that she suddenly felt herself feeling a little lonely. Why hadn't the manor been teeming with life like this while her brother was still around? The redhead, Lian's dad, happened to look her way when she walked into the breakfast area. Their eyes locked and he seemed to notice something in her expression because he quickly looked away and garnered Dick's attention from his current horseplay with Wally. He whispered something to Dick in his ear and then Dick was suddenly looking her way. He grinned and walked up to her to greet her with one of his hugs that made everything feel better.

He kneeled before her and brushed her hair back. "Good morning," he said softly as if there wasn't still a lot of noise coming from behind him.

It was Wally, Hailey realized, he was exuberant enough to fill the entire manor with cheer. Just like Jason used to. She hadn't noticed it the night before. But she liked Wally. And he didn't remind her of Jason. She just suddenly missed him so very much.

"Are you okay? Are there too many people here? I could get rid of one or two," Dick said with a small playful smile. He was talking soft enough for only her to hear.

Hailey swallowed the lump in her throat and shook her head. "No. I just think Jason would have loved to be here for this."

Dick let out a slow breath and nodded. His smile was crooked for a moment and then he grinned. "I think so too. I would've made him the ring bearer. You think he would've liked that?"

Hailey snorted then she started to laugh.

"What? He would've made a great ring bearer!"

"Yeah, if you had the power to de-age him!" Hailey said with a grin. "He was too old and he would've punched you in the face for even asking."

Dick laughed then and shrugged. "Probably." He stood up and ushered her towards the table. "This is my friend Roy Harper and his daughter, Lian."

"I already met her!" Lian said and jumped out of her seat to sit on Hailey's lap. "She's the bestest!"

"Lian!" Roy said exasperatedly.

"Did you now?" Dick said with a small chuckle and waved Roy's worries away.

'It's okay,' Hailey mouthed to Roy who nodded gratefully.

"And you're right, she's my bestest sister."

Hailey rolled her eyes. "I better be since I'm the only one you have."

Dick chuckled but didn't say anything else.

"So what do you want to eat?" Lian asked, turning to face Hailey. "That one or that one or that one." She was pointing at the different platters on the table as if each one was for a single person.

"This one!" Hailey said pointing at Lian's nose.

"No, silly! You can't eat me!"

"Aw, chucks. Well then maybe that one," Hailey said pointing at the scrambled eggs.

"Eww! You like eggs? They're yucky!"

"Shh!" Hailey said, placing a finger to her mouth. "Don't let Alfred hear you say that or he'll start to cry."

Lian nodded in agreement and clapped a hand over her mouth. Roy was smiling at their interaction. He took the chance to serve Hailey since she couldn't do it herself with her hands full of a toddler. Then he plucked her off of Hailey's lap so that she could eat.

Hailey headed to school after breakfast and came back home to an empty house. The wedding would be in two days time and after having only met two of Dick's friends, she was actually looking forward to it. Even Bruce seemed to be in a better mood after Dick left. Though Hailey could tell he wasn't happy about Dick's decision to have the wedding so soon after his announcement of the engagement. But there wasn't any changing Dick's mind in that respect.

In the end, Hailey left the manor the morning of the wedding accompanied by Alfred and Tim. Bruce decided he had more pressing matters to attend to which no one with a half a brain believed. Alfred even called his excuse codswallop. Bruce nearly looked at him sternly before he retreated to his office. Hailey giggled under her breath but quickly stopped when she noticed the unshed tears in Alfred's eyes before he'd completely turned away. She swallowed hard and looked at Tim who sighed and followed after Alfred. Hailey quickly followed but couldn't help looking back towards the office. This wasn't something small she realized. But once Bruce set his mind on something, it was hard to change it. She just hoped Dick wouldn't be so angry he'd never stop by the manor again. Then she slapped Tim on the arm when they reached the car.

"Ow, what was that for?" Tim said rubbing his arm.

"Never say never ever again," Hailey said in a hiss.

"What?" Tim said as he got in the car. He was so confused. He looked at Hailey who refused to look at him and he sighed. "Why am I friends with crazy people?"

"Face your demons, Tim," Hailey said, making Tim look at her befuddled. "Because it really takes one to know one."

"Like attracts like, after all," Alfred said wisely as he pulled out of the driveway.

Hailey burst out laughing and Tim groaned realizing Alfred was siding with her. Hailey's laughter and Tim's dismay made Alfred's lips twitch.

The day was looking up for the butler. And he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Things couldn't possibly get any worse after Bruce's faux pas. The wedding would be splendid indeed.