Dick Grayson barely held back a yawn as he sat in front of the Batcomputer despite the fact that the patrol had been over for more than an hour.

"Don't you think it's time for bed, Master Dick?" he heard Alfred's voice coming from the stairs.

Dick sighed and turned in his chair, looking directly at his grandfather's disappointed frown. He did his best not to shudder from that look and offered him a tired smile. "Not yet, Alfie. I need to be able to find out a thing first." he said, turning back to the light screen.

"This 'thing' you speak of is the same thing that has been plaguing you for months and months?" asked Alfred not moving from where he stood.

"That's right."

"Don't you think you're overdoing it by spending hours in front of the Batcomputer every time after patrol when you could be using those hours for a more useful activity? Maybe like sleeping."

Dick sighed, noting the clear sarcasm in the butler's voice. "That's something I promised myself I'd find out. No matter if it takes another few months or whole years, sooner or later I will succeed in my goal."

Alfred raised an eyebrow at the determinacy of his first grandson. It was clear that whatever the young master's goal, he was determined to succeed, no matter what. The stiff lip of the British butler turned up slightly, knowing that Master Richard had reinforced his own stubbornness and determination from Master Bruce.

"Will you at least share your research objective, Master Dick?"

Dick stopped typing for a couple of seconds before turning to stare at the butler with such seriousness that Alfred has rarely seen on his grandson's face. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

On another occasion Alfred would have resented Richard's silly question but, given the serious attitude of Master Dick whose blue eyes shone with a steely intensity, he let it go for this time. "Of course, young master."

The last Flying Grayson looked at him briefly before nodding, perhaps more to himself than to Alfred, and motioned the older man to approach the Batcomputer screen.

Once Alfred stood before the large screen, Dick silently pointed to some of the many open windows. The English butler's wise eyes scrupulously studied the different pieces of information, frowning several times, until they encountered one window in particular.

"Oh Lord!" exclaimed Alfred bringing a hand in front of his mouth, his eyes never leaving the spot he was staring at highly surprised.

There were very few things that shocked the omnipotent and omniscient Alfred in his entire life but this one probably surpassed them all.

He remained frozen in place, unable to look away from what he was staring at.

"You understand why I have to do this, don't you?"

Dick's low but soft voice roused him from his own bewilderment, and Alfred hesitated to answer the young man. "I understand, young master. But you must know that you don't have to."

Richard's eyes became determined. "I know that, Alfred. But this is something I want to do. Nothing will change my mind. As I said before, even if it would take years and years, I will find out."

Alfred nodded, a small proud smile on his face. He put a hand on his grandson's shoulder and stared at him intently. "I am sure you will succeed, Master Dick."

Dick smiled. "Whatever it takes."

"Your secret is safe with me." Alfred reassured him after seeing the silent question in the young man's eyes.

The acrobat relaxed and sent him a grateful smile before resuming studying the information and typing quickly on the computer.

Alfred took this as a silent invitation and took his leave, leaving the cavern where the only noise that could be heard was the light ticking of keystrokes.

More than a month had passed since Alfred had discovered Dick's intent, and the latter was still working on his case.

"Come on." he muttered to himself, his eyes narrowing angrily. "Where the hell are you?"

At some point in his quest his temper was running out. He had to get up from his chair and growled, punching the cave wall forming an impressive hole for the strength of a human being.

His roar of rage echoed throughout the cavern, grateful that no one inside the manor could hear him. Ignoring the flailing bats, he leaned his head against the wall, just above the crater he had formed a short time before, and took slow and deep breaths.

After using a breathing technique Bruce taught him, he was able to quell his anger and sit back down in front of the Batcomputer without the risk of breaking the big screen.

More than an hour passed until Dick discovered something interesting and potentially useful for his research. His fingers began skillfully typing with impressive speed as his eyes fluttered from window to window until two windows opened simultaneously.

His eyes fixed on the first one where it contained the image and profile of the man he was looking for. After making sure it was exactly that man, his eyes focused on the second window that contained instead a red dot on a geographical map, indicating the man's location.

"I succeeded." he whispered in disbelief.

He remained in complete silence in a state of shock, still unable to comprehend that the mission he had set for himself was almost complete. The most difficult part of his goal, the part where he spent months without ever missing a day in dedicating himself to his mission, had just ended.

He had succeeded.

He slumped in his chair and put his hand to his forehead, closing his eyes to take a brief moment of rest. "I succeeded." he repeated again, still in disbelief.

A huge, satisfied smile appeared on Dick's face as he got out of the chair and performed several acrobatic moves out of sheer happiness.

"I DID IT!" he shouted from the trapeze as he launched himself into the air performing a quadruple somersault that only he in the world was capable of doing and landing perfectly on his feet with a bright smile on his face.

He was interrupted by a coughing fit behind him that almost made him jump. Turning sharply, Dick brought a hand to his heart. "Holy boots of Santa's elves, Batman!"

Alfred merely raised an eyebrow and the world's best acrobat laughed, waving a hand absentmindedly. "Sorry Alfie! Old habits die hard!"

The butler allowed himself a small smile before looking at his grandson with inquiring eyes. "I can't help but notice that you are happy, Master Dick."

Dick's eyes lit up and Alfred's heart warmed. "I found him Alfie!" he was practically bouncing on the spot.

His grandfather's eyes widened briefly in surprise before his expression became carefully neutral again. "Good job sir." he nodded.

The Wayne's eldest son smiled at him before turning serious and stopped hopping on the spot. "I will leave tomorrow morning with the Bat-plane. I will warn Lucius that I will not be there tomorrow."

Alfred nodded once more. He hesitated, his eyes showing an emotion Dick rarely saw on the butler's face. "Take him, Master Dick."

Richard's eyes darkened and an involuntary growl escaped from the young man's throat. At that moment Alfred knew he was talking not to Dick Grayson but to The Batman.

"Count on it."

Batman observed with a frown the empty room, probably a living room, on the other side of the window as he was camouflaged in the shadows beside the window, crouching on the building's outer ledge.

When after a few minutes he saw that still no one entered the room, he opened and silently closed the window behind him. He walked without making a sound and stood in the darkest corner of the room, disappearing into the shadows.

And he began to wait for the man to appear.

Two hours passed without any sign of the man, and Dick had already begun to tire after the first half hour, but he made an effort not to go around the house when he might be noticed by someone outside.

He was pretty sure that no one would take kindly to seeing the notorious Dark Knight in Belgium.

Once he had been to Belgium, he recalled with a sweet smile. With his parents on a tour of the Haly Circus. He was about five years old, if he remembered correctly, and it was the show before his debut.

He was torn from his thoughts when he heard the door open and close forcefully. He made sure to keep his breathing slow and steady as the man in question walked past him a few feet to head toward the refrigerator.

Batman had a chance to see the man's face from the reflection of a window and held back a surprised sigh.

It was him.

He might never have seen the man in person before, and decades might have passed since that tragic episode that occurred when Dick himself had not even been born but he had spent many, many hours studying his profile. He also knew that face, although not as well as now, even when he was Robin.

Old age hit this man hard but Dick felt no pity toward him. The only thing he felt was anger coursing through his veins as the feeling of desperate justice twisted more and more in his chest

This man never paid for the horrendous crime he caused.

He never paid for leaving a traumatized ten year old forever, with mental scars he would never be able to overcome.

Only a few times Dick saw the broken pieces of that traumatized and lonely ten year old in the face of the great adult he became.

Those few times were enough to break his heart.

Instead, this son of a bitch ran away like the coward he is and no one has ever been able to find him.

No one but Dick, that is.

And he would make this scum pay for his crime.

Batman held back a growl to avoid detection and moved without making a sound, placing himself behind the man who opened the refrigerator to put away the groceries.

A few seconds later the man closed the refrigerator and turned around. His eyes widened with horror and fear (and Dick thoroughly enjoyed that sight) and the man jumped up in terror. He stepped back and his back slammed against the refrigerator without ever taking his eyes off those emotionless white eyes. "W-what the hell are you?"

"You should know, since you come from Gotahm. Even though you haven't set foot there in decades." was the Caped Crusader's cold reply.

"W-what the heck are you doing in B-Belgium?"

For now Batman decided to let go of the man's audacity and his blunt question. "You should know why."

"I don't know what you're talking about, freak!" spat the man venomously, glaring angrily at the vigilante.

"Let's start with the basic questions. Who are you?"

"Shouldn't you know?" he boldly raised his chin in defiance.

Too bad for him Dick was getting seriously pissed off.

Before even the man could see it, Batman threw a strong punch inches from his head and dented the refrigerator. The man visibly gasped and recoiled, shaking like a leaf. "Pierre Vermeulen." he whispered.

"Wrong." growled Batman.

"That's my name!" he protested with an angry frown.

"Pierre Vermeulen, nothing is known about him except that he started living in Belgium in the last two years. He works in the main auto repair shop in this town.

"Paulo Fernandez, Argentine citizen who worked at a small post office and then suddenly disappeared from Argentina after three and a half years.

"Adriano Oliveira, Brazil. He worked in a supermarket that was really just a front for a drug deal. Just over two years and he too disappeared the moment he was declared a fugitive by local police.

"Alessio Ricci, Italian. He lived three years in the capital and taught geography in a middle school with a fake degree. No one knows what happened to him.

"Lenin Smirnova. This time we are in Russia. He became a riding instructor with a fake qualification, of course. After a year he was discovered by Russian police and disappeared without a trace.

"Alvaro Garcia, Spain. More precisely in Valencia. Here he worked for almost four years as a private guitar teacher. Guess what happened to him? He too disappeared into thin air.

"Adam Nováková, Slovakia. Lived here for more than two years as a librarian in a small town. Declared missing after a nasty fight with library staff who wanted to report him on charges of stealing money earned by the rest of his colleagues. The case is still open today.

"Philippe Bonnet. Worked in France as an electronics store clerk for a good five years. Disappeared suddenly without notifying anyone.

"Aleksandr Gevorgyan, citizen of Armenia for two and a half years before disappearing. He worked at a textile factory."

By the end of Batman's long list, the man lost all the coloring in his face which took on a very pale tinge. They stood staring at each other for a couple of minutes, Batman looking at him with half-closed eyes and the man breathing heavily instead.

"Did I forget something?" said Batman without advancing a step.

The man took a deep breath. "I-I don't know who all these m-missing people are."

"They are the same fucking person!" growled Batman punching the wall to his right. The man gasped violently and paled even more when he saw the hole he created. "And that person is you!"

"It's not me!" protested the man again, although this time his attempt was weaker.

The hero paused for a moment and took a breath to calm himself slightly from his temptation to kill the scum in front of him. He continued to glare at the man. "I listed those names starting from the most recent fake passport to the oldest. Before he moved momentarily to Armenia he had another name, this time the real name and he was a native of Gotham.

"Now," he continued, clenching his fists menacingly. "will you admit who you really are?"

The man remained silent for minutes on end and Batman waited patiently, knowing that he was putting increasing anxiety and restlessness on the older man. Just as Dick began to think the man would confess what he wanted to hear, he negatively surprised him. "I am Pierre Vermeulen."

The Dark Knight growled and lifted the man by his shirt and slammed him violently against the refrigerator, nearly knocking it to the ground in the process. The man screamed in fright and Batman threw a violent right hook at him, causing him to spit blood. "You're fucking not!" he growled. "Say who you are before I continue to beat you mercilessly!"

"Joe Chill!" he shouted in terror. "I'm Joe Chill!"

Batman gave a satisfied grin as his grip on Joe did not loosen in the slightest. "Exactly." he muttered darkly. "You know why I'm here, don't you?" when the assassin did not respond the vigilante growled and raised a fist threateningly.

Joe nodded frantically and Batman's fist stopped inches from the man's face.

"Say it." growled the Caped Crusader.

"I murdered Martha and Thomas Wayne!"

When Joe admitted it aloud Dick felt rage rising within him.

This man had killed Bruce's parents, his mentor and father, just for a fucking robbery gone wrong.

In a way he killed his grandparents.

And he created the legend of Batman, bringing nothing but sadness, anger and pain to Bruce Wayne who never had a chance to arrest his parents' killer.

Tracking down the many aliases in the as many different states that Joe created for himself was the most complex detective work Richard ever completed.

It took almost a year and began a few weeks after Bruce's funeral. Only when Dick was seriously injured, and during the period when the Court of Owls caught his family, the acrobat had given himself mornings off and gone to bed earlier.

But otherwise?

Dick had spent entire months searching for the killer of his mentor's parents, and he spent a maximum of two hours in front of the Batcomputer every single night.

But it was worth every single second.

Perhaps that is why Bruce never got over their deaths unlike Dick himself did.

Tony Zucco, the murderer of Dick's parents, has been arrested and is serving his time in prison, and when Batman and Robin arrested him (and it was also their first case together), the acrobat felt a great boulder lift from his chest.

Of course, the pain still remained but was greatly lessened in the years to come as he created another loving family.

His adoptive father, on the other hand, could not say the same and it broke his heart.

"Fine." growled Batman, barely restraining himself from hitting the scum in front of him. "I will take you back to Gotham and you will rot in prison until the end of your miserable days. Do I make myself clear?" he hissed dangerously, his white eyes staring coldly into Joe Chill's frightened and terrified ones.

The latter nodded shakily and Batman punched him in the temple, rendering him unconscious.

The Dark Knight smiled sadly.

I hope you can rest in peace now, dad.

"Come on! When is Dick coming back?" whined Tim from his seat on the couch.

"Don't be a baby, Drake!" Damian threw a pillow at him but his brother caught it on the fly and settled it behind his head, sighing then contentedly. The younger Wayne emitted a contemptuous snort.

"We know you miss your daddy, Damian!" teased him with a laugh Stephanie putting an arm around Dinah's shoulders.

Damian's cheeks blushed and he silently cursed his sister. He then concentrated on gently stroking under Titus's chin while deliberately ignoring the others.

"By the way, do any of you know where the hell golden boy is? He didn't even show up for lunch." asked Jason to the room at large. Everyone shrugged in response.

"All I know is that Alfred said his life is not in danger." said Dinah squinting thoughtfully.

Cassandra smiled amusedly. "Of course Alfred knows where Dick is."

"Oh for fuck's sake!" suddenly exclaimed Tim, nipping any further discussion in the bud and looking ahead with wide, incredulous eyes.

All heads snapped toward the direction Tim was looking, curious and a little worried since the third Robin rarely cursed. When they read the news headline they opened their jaws wide.

Joe Chill, the culprit of the horrible tragedy that left Bruce Thomas Wayne orphaned by his parents Martha Wayne and Thomas Wayne, has finally been arrested nearly 30 years after the murder that shocked all of Gotham. He was found bleeding and unconscious in front of the police station. The question arises: is the person responsible for his capture the notorious The Batman or someone else?

They remained frozen in place, shock and disbelief coating their features.

"What the fuck?"

Jason expressed exactly the thought they all had in mind.

"Surprised?"

The new voice jolted them into a defensive posture, only to relax when they saw Dick, dressed as a civilian, leaning casually against a wall.

The window next to him slightly wide open made them realize where the acrobat entered from.

Dinah pointed first to the television and then to her boyfriend, confusion and shock still imprinted. "Did you do that?

The acrobat huffed. "Who else?"

"That's what that file contained." Tim whispered softly, his blue eyes brightening as he easily came to the conclusion.

Dick nodded with a bright smile on his face.

Facing slightly from the kitchen, Alfred smiled and sent silent thanks to Master Dick for the wonderful news he reported.

His heart warmed knowing that at last Master Thomas and Miss Martha could rest in peace.

The Bat Family looked at each other, silently communicating the same message.

Now Bruce can rest in peace.