Batman needed a Robin. That was the reason he became Robin, to begin with. He hadn't been pushing toward being Robin. He'd seen the change in Batman when he lost Robin. It had taken a toll on the hero and Robin wanted to help him. He'd made a mistake back then of thinking he could turn to Dick for help. He thought that the former Robin would easily slot back into place. He hadn't taken into account that Batman wasn't the only one with issues that needed resolving. Back then Dick hadn't been keen on working with Batman again. After some time as Robin, Tim understood why there could be a conflict between the two. Not that he ever understood what had happened between Dick and Bruce.

Now Tim had to contend with a new Batman. One that he'd personally trained. Tim had been against it from the very beginning. He wished he'd gone against Batman's orders. He truly regretted ever listening to Bruce about Azrael. Because the cowl had gone to the man's head. He pushed Tim away time and time again once Bruce was out of the picture. When Tim tried to correct him, Azrael treated him like a child. He completely disregarded the fact that he'd been trained by Tim and that Tim knew better than most the true spirit of Batman and Robin.

Batman needed a Robin. But Batman wasn't listening to Robin. And because of it, a man was dead at the hands of the new, more ruthless Batman who'd taken it upon himself to be judge, jury, and executioner.

Tim needed help to stop Azrael. The Commissioner had his hands tied. He turned to Robin for help. Even went as far as to ask him to contact the previous Batman. Bruce was still overseas and injured. Bane had broken his back. Honestly, Tim couldn't bring himself to talk to Bruce about the situation he was embroiled in. The man hadn't only been injured but his spirit had been broken. Tim wished he'd never seen him break or that he would have never heard the words he'd uttered. To make matters worse, Bruce told Azrael that he was ready to take the mantle of the Bat. Something that Tim had not agreed with. It was Tim and the Commissioner and Gotham as a whole that was suffering under the new Bat that was put into place by Bruce himself.

Tim was angry not at Azrael but at Bruce. And he made the mistake of going to Dick for help. Dick was not in a good place. Not mentally. He was downright depressed. And he'd thrown himself into the police academy. He didn't have any time to play superhero. Not in Blüdhaven where he was living nor in Gotham. All due to the fact that his ex-fiance had not only moved to another solar system but had, within weeks of arrival at Tamaran, gotten married. The latest news Tim had heard, Koriander was with child. And Dick had not taken the news well. When Tim came to him for help, Dick advised him to let Azrael burn himself out. At the time, Tim had thought it was good advice. Azrael did seem overly stressed. But now Tim had a dead body and an out of control Batman on his hands with no one to turn to for help.

Trying to juggle school, his father, and being Robin had taken a toll on Tim. He hardly saw Stephanie anymore. Conner had stopped trying to reach out to him on matters of the team. Alfred seemed more worried than ever. And his father was growing overly concerned with the bruises he was sporting as of late. Bruises he didn't get from taking down the bad guys but from Azrael who fought him at every turn, literally and metaphorically.

Tim had to come clean to his father about the fact that he was Robin. All that earned him was a grounding that his father couldn't even enforce. Jack had recently remarried and sent Tim to a private school where he lived. Tim only came home for the weekends. But now that the cat was out of the bag, Tim didn't see the point in trying to placate his father with the superficial visits. Instead, he focused more of his attention on being Robin and cleaning up the messes that Batman was leaving in his wake. He successfully stopped Azrael from killing another criminal. But all that did was land him in Leslie Thompkins' clinic. He was forced to give up being Robin until his leg healed. That made his father happy. But Tim was seething. He asked Alfred to get in contact with Batgirl so that she knew to cover for him. He also talked to Stephanie and told her to do what she could to help Batgirl. He added a warning for her to stay clear of Azrael.

As soon as Bruce was back in Gotham, Tim found out but decided not to reach out to the man. Within a few weeks of his return, Bruce had successfully taken down Azrael. Bruce paid Tim a visit and apologized in Azrael's behalf. He promised that things would be better when Tim returned as Robin. Tim was feeling salty. He didn't accept Bruce's apology and to placate his father and Dana, his new step-mother, he quit being Robin. He was done. And he was bitter. For the first time in his short tenure as Robin, he truly understood Dick and how he could turn his back not only on Bruce but on Gotham itself. Though Tim was fairly certain that he was mad at Dick too.

Batman needed a Robin. But for now, he would have to make do with Batgirl who was the only one left willing to work with Bruce.

When Tim recovered from his leg injury, he reconsidered having quit being Robin. He sat down with Dana and his father to talk about his return to the mask. Not to work with Batman but to rejoin his team. The Teen Titans. The team had made the move to San Francisco from New York at the behest of the Titans. They were needed there due to an uptake in crime by teens that had been trained to thwart law enforcement. Tim knew that he could help them uncover the root of the problem; whoever it was that was training them. But before he could state his case to his parents the Joker took over the news stations to call out Batman.

Jack was quick to tell Tim that he would not allow him to endanger his life as Robin. Not while the Joker was out wreaking havoc. Tim wanted to argue with his father but seeing the fear in the man's eyes, it stopped him from pushing the issue.

Barbara Gordon had been shot and left for dead. While in surgery a hospital spokesperson said there was no way of knowing whether the Commissioner's daughter would survive the attack. Tim knew that his father feared a worse fate for him than that. Unless Batman himself reached out to him, Tim would not get himself involved. Batman did not reach out.

Within a matter of days, the Commissioner who'd been kidnapped by the Joker had been saved by Batman. After which Commissioner Gordon held a press conference to thank Batman for intervening and to let the public know that the Joker was back in Arkham. News that Barbara Gordon's condition had gone from critical to recuperating was all over the news. Tim didn't regret not having been involved. Not when the relationship between him and his father was better than ever.


When Sasha Bordeaux took the job as a bodyguard to Bruce Wayne there were a few things she was not expecting. Her job description entailed shadowing her employer and securing the home. She hadn't expected to extend that protection to a thirteen-year-old girl. Or that she would find herself caring about the young girl. Things only got worse from there. She fell in love with Bruce. She kept her feelings to herself while enduring the girlfriends.

The first was Barbara Gordon. The Commissioner's twenty-four-year-old daughter came to the manor the morning that followed Bruce's return. She helped him with his physical therapy and had Bruce walking within a week. Barbara didn't go anywhere near Hailey. Sasha could tell that she held some sort of resentment towards the girl. Her curiosity got the better of her one day and she asked Bruce about it. Bruce had no idea what Sasha was referring to. Or at the very least pretended not to have noticed. Hailey seemed to be aware of Barbara's feelings and was careful not to be around the other woman. A romance quickly bloomed between Bruce and Barbara behind closed doors and came to a halt when the Joker attacked Barbara at her father's home.

Sasha accompanied Bruce to visit Barbara in the hospital but she didn't go inside the girl's room. From the hallway, Sasha heard them arguing, and Bruce's demeanor when he walked out of the room painted a clear picture. Any semblance of a relationship that had existed between the two before the attack was over. There was something other than the break-up eating at Bruce but Sasha never did figure it out. And she knew better than to ask.

The second was Vesper Fairchild. Vesper brought a smile back to Bruce Wayne's face soon after his breakup with Barbara. The intrepid reporter was pleasant to be around. And she endeared herself to Hailey fairly quickly. Sasha was professional around the other woman. She couldn't let her true feelings show. Or the hurt she felt seeing Bruce with a woman. One that wasn't her. Though she knew, objectively, that nothing could ever happen between her and Bruce, her feelings had a life of their own. Bruce and Vesper were the perfect couple until suddenly they weren't. Sasha didn't know what happened between the two but it all culminated on a night that Vesper was saved by Batman. A few tense days later, Bruce ended things with Vesper though the two remained friendly.

Sasha didn't put two and two together until she was tasked with unpacking Bruce's things while they were staying in Metropolis. Sasha found the Batsuit and everything she'd ever known about a Bruce finally made sense.

Before Sasha realized it, another unexpected occurrence followed. Bruce asked her to work at his side and follow him in his crusade as Batman. Sasha donned a mask and accepted without question.


"Hey, what are you up to?" Dick said from the doorway. His hair was mussed up like he'd just woken up. Hailey hadn't known that he was going to be at the manor, let alone stay the night. When she came downstairs for breakfast, no one was around. She figured Bruce and Sasha had to start their day earlier than usual. But Sasha left her a plate warming in the oven.

Having the morning to herself, Hailey decided to spend some time reading in the library. She had a book open on her lap as she sped read. She flipped the pages too fast for anyone to think she was reading. The impression she gave was of boredom. Just flipping the pages because she had nothing better to do. But the fact was, she was able to read a lot faster than most people. She didn't think it was anything to boast about so she kept it to herself.

"Slowly dying of boredom," Hailey said with a sigh and closed the book. She looked up and over at Dick. She smiled automatically and then grimaced. She hated that she dropped her guard so easily around him. To her, Dick was her brother and she cared about him. But when Bruce was gone, no one, not even Dick, had come to visit her or called her to make sure she was okay. Hailey wasn't one to hold grudges but she couldn't help feeling hurt about what had happened. Dick didn't live in the manor with her and he didn't owe her anything but she'd fooled herself into thinking he cared about her. She wouldn't be making that mistake again.

"Bruce called me up. Said he was going to be out of town for a few days. So it's just you and me until he gets back, kid," Dick said with a smile.

"Oh," Hailey said and looked away awkwardly. So Dick was the go-to babysitter. "He didn't say anything."

"Yeah, it was something last minute. He left early this morning," Dick said with an apologetic smile.

"Ah," Hailey said and looked at the time. It was fifteen minutes to eight. "I have to go."

"Where?"

"School," Hailey said as she quickly walked out of the library.

"Bruce told me you were on spring break," Dick said as he kept up his pace with her.

"Spring break is next week," she said without hesitating. And since when was Bruce up to date with her school schedule. Oh right, Sasha. She kept him up to date with all his appointments and her school calendar apparently. "If he hadn't broken up with Vesper, I'd be spending it with her."

That stopped Dick short. Hailey took advantage of that and sped up. She was out the door and sprinting across the yard before Dick realized she was gone. She felt stupid running off like that but she knew that if she stayed, she'd fool herself into thinking that Dick was her real brother again.


"How are things?" Bruce said as soon as Dick answered the phone. He was sitting on the couch in his hotel room with Clark hovering by his elbow. Clark had wanted to see Hailey but understood why Bruce hadn't brought her along. They had work and it wasn't as easy to sneak away from a hotel room than it was the manor. Either way, none of that sat right with Clark. Though Bruce didn't think it was any of his business. And just to prove a point that his daughter was perfectly fine in Dick's care he called him on speaker.

"As good as they can be, I suppose. But why did you tell me Hailey was on Spring Break?" said Dick.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked with a slight frown. "Sasha made certain to let me know her school schedule before I called you."

"She said it was next week and ran out the door," Dick said with a sigh. "I'm not even sure what time—"

"Wait. What do you mean 'ran out the door'?"

Clark was looking at Bruce with a slight frown.

"Were you two arguing?" Clark asked suspiciously.

"What? Is that you, Clark?"

"Yes. But you haven't answered either of our questions," Clark said sternly. Bruce shot him a look. Clark shrugged.

"Why would I argue—never mind. But no we weren't arguing. She just didn't seem too happy with the fact that Bruce had left without saying goodbye as far as I could tell. So, what time does her school let out?"

"Sasha!" Bruce called out. Her room was adjacent to his and he knew she'd hear him.

"You didn't say goodbye?" Clark said with a slight frown.

"I—that's hardly the issue."

"Yes, ."

"Hailey said Spring Break is next week," Bruce told her.

Sasha frowned and grabbed the laptop that was sitting on the coffee table. She quickly keyed in a few strokes and showed the screen to Bruce.

"Dick, Hailey isn't at school."

"Why would she—never mind," Dick said with a sigh. "Do you have any idea where she would be?"

"Perhaps with Mrs. Suarez," Bruce said.

"Who the heck is Mrs. Suarez?"

"A woman who lives in Hailey's old neighborhood," Sasha elaborated. "She used to babysit her. Hailey makes it a point to visit when she has a school break. If she isn't at Mrs. Suarez's house, try the rec center."

"What rec center?"

"Sasha just sent you the addresses. She tutors at the rec center and takes self-defense and gymnastics lessons there," Bruce replied quickly.

"Really? Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

"Just call me back as soon as you find her," Bruce said while eyeing Clark's disapproving glance from the corner of his eye. "Though I'm sure she's perfectly fine. She can take care of herself."

"Then why did—nevermind," Dick said and hung up without saying goodbye.