A/N: Anyone else notice these chapters are getting longer? Thanks for the reviews.

Geez, five chapters and I still have to say it, I own nothing.

Chapter 6

Apparently none of the others could figure out if what she'd done was disastrous or genius. Cyborg was steadily leaning towards side of disaster.

"Cyborg, he was totally fine with it, and besides it's not like I gave away confidential information," Raven said her voice rising slightly above the normal calm.

"I didn't say that Raven," Cyborg said also going up a few octaves," I'm just thinking of what will happen when he tells Terra, or Jessica, or whatever."

"How do you know he'll tell her, is she his secretary?" Raven thought this was another lame excuse; Cyborg had made up his fair share lately.

The younger Titan's were sitting on the couch just as they had been when Raven and Cyborg had had it out about calling the League all those months ago. The only reason they were doing this now was because the said adults were getting settled into the temporary guest rooms the Titans had set aside.

Secretly the adults had known the teenagers needed time to fight this out and were just giving them some privacy.

So, there they were in the common room.

Beast Boy spoke up," Well, Raven, from what we saw at the school they seemed pretty tight, for brother and sister anyway. She'll want to know where he's going."

"Exactly," Cyborg started up again," He also mentioned his dad a lot, whatever he's gotten into doesn't seem to have given him a long leash, that's all I'm saying."

Raven sighed in frustration. She hated to admit it but they had a point," Look, I just gave him the option, it's his choice what to do with it."

"Yeah, true," the half- robot said. He felt a little deflated. He'd thought finding a constant factor, Sean and Jessica's address, would make him feel a little more stable, but it hadn't. Now they'd just run out of certain things to figure out.

None of them knew what to do now. Beast Boy had been the one to follow Sean the rest of the way home, and he checked out the house. It had a lot of up to date security features, some that looked homemade. So, there was no chance going to him and it seem like a casual visit.

They didn't want this man posing as his "father" to be on lookout for them. So, even though they were all experts in getting past security systems it didn't help in this case.

"I wish I could have at least gotten the name of this so called father," Raven plopped down on the couch beside Starfire," But he wouldn't tell me anything."

As she said this Beast Boy suddenly perked up and started rummaging through his pockets.

The others stared at him," Friend, what are you doing?" Starfire asked sweetly.

"I put it in here somewhere . . .," he muttered," Aha! Here," he handed a very crinkled up piece of paper to Cyborg.

"What's this?" Cyborg took it and read it.

"While you were yelling at Raven while she hacked the computer I found the filing system," Beast Boy announced proudly," I found their file and jotted down some useful information," he tapped the first thing on the paper," like the name of their legal Guardian," his grin stretched from ear to ear.

"Oh, wonderful, Beast Boy!" Starfire exclaimed.

"Yeah, good job," Cyborg said," Wait, you got the name but couldn't have saved us the trouble and gotten the address?"

"I didn't see it in there, and Raven dragged me out before I could look," the changeling explained.

"You know, I didn't see it on the computer either," Raven said thoughtfully.

"He likes his privacy," They all jumped at Batman's deep voice. The man never failed to make a silent entrance.

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy twisted on the couch to face him.

"I mean that this particular school only requires the student's address to be filed in the superintendent's office, which would require a warrant to get into, upon request it would otherwise be made confidential," Batman explained," So, it wouldn't be found in, say, a counselor's office," he raised an eyebrow at them.

They stared back in disbelief.

"Dude, how do you know all that," Beast Boy said in awe. Now that the shock of Batman's first visit was over BB would probably revert back to his hero worship of the senior crime-fighters.

"I have connections," Batman muttered vaguely. He walked over to Cyborg who handed him Beast Boy's note," Carlisle Martin," he thought for a minute then walked over to the computer.

That's the beauty of the modern world; anyone of any real significance is posted all over the internet. All one has to do is type and click.

Anyone who had enough money to pay for two kids to go to that private school, and enough influence to have his most personal information made confidential had to be somewhere in there.

The results came in flash. Batman clicked on one, and they all read.

The headline was one of those corny things newspapers think are so great, and it was obviously not front page worthy, probably went in the business section, but it was the most interesting thing the team had seen in three months.

Carlisle Martin inherited his late father's Experimental Brain Research Labs this week after a long two month wait. Arthur Martin's will was finally approved and released to be read. C. Martin was quoted earlier today reassuring the public of his intentions

"I would never dream of changing the system my father set in place. This company has made numerous breakthroughs in neurologic research and we will continue to do so."

He right in saying this establishment has made several significant breakthroughs that have helped thousands of people with mental disabilities. But their use of animals in their research has had Animal Rights activists and environmentalists in an uproar for years . . .

Below was a picture of the good doctor. He was rather handsome. He had dark hair, not quite black, but close enough not to be brown; green eyes, without a speck of blue or gray in them, clean shaven. His frame was tall and thin, not scrawny; he filled out his suit quite nicely.

It went on about the protesters and Martin junior's plans for new research and new technology. Batman skimmed the rest of the article and sat back in his chair, nothing else of real interest. It was dated around five years ago.

He closed that page and went to the one just under it.

Brain-Researcher Has Mental Breakdown

Carlisle Martin, predecessor to his father, Arthur Martin, had a nervous breakdown today in one of his many research labs. His assistant found him sitting in the floor staring at nothing, in the middle of a destroyed lab.

"He just kept mumbling about his latest project," the assistant says," and he kept repeating "control, just need control"."

The mental facility he's staying at won't release any more information, except that Dr. Martin's condition is much like one sees in all high stress jobs . . .

Again Batman sat back in his chair. This article was dated roughly two years ago. He knew the Martins' research labs through Wayne Enterprises and the media's regular reports on protesters and discoveries.

The only other articles were dated only a few months after and about his coming out of the institution fully recovered and getting back to work. His breakdown was a big thing for a while in the medical 

community, concerning what would happen to the company if Dr. Martin didn't recover. He had no children to inherit it.

Until now, Batman thought wryly.

The green shape-shifter interrupted his thoughts," Great. A crazy scientist kidnapped Terra and Robin, did some weird experiment; now they can't remember anything. Never a dull day."

"But, why?" Starefire asked," What does he need our friends for?"

Instead of answering her question Raven offered another explanation," I don't think it was a science experiment that did this."

Beast Boy stared at her," What? It's, like, totally obvious! We have a mad scientist on our hands," he threw his arms into the air.

Raven shot him her reserved-just-for-Beast Boy-glare and snapped," It's more complicated than that," she closed her eyes and tried to focus," A simple surgical change or some freaky brain-washing wouldn't block my connection like this."

"Yeah, I remember. You said you couldn't get a read on Robin at all," Cyborg said.

"Yes," Raven cracked open one eye to look at him," and the only thing that can do that is death . . . or magic. Very old, very powerful magic."

She fell silent her eyes still closed, and waited for one of them to speak.

"Can you identify it any other way?" Batman rumbled from the computer seat.

She sighed and opened her eyes," No," she huffed," Not without consulting my books. You have to remember I'm new to several forms of mind power. I haven't been around that long."

Batman thought about that for a second, you don't really think of a half-demon being around just as long as other kids. It was almost a humorous thought.

"Well, I guess all there is to do is let Raven do her thing. Unless you want some help," Cyborg raised an eyebrow in her direction.

But Raven shook her head," Most of it is in an ancient or dead language, you'd just get in my way. No offence."

"None taken," Beast Boy yawned," Just talking about it makes my head hurt."

"Me too," Cyborg agreed," let's talk about something else for a while," he looked around and saw Batman just sitting there, looking as stoic as ever, so he asked," You guys settling in alright?"

"Yes!" Starfire exclaimed," I do hope the gift I left on the pillows was sufficient. I could not find any mints or chocolates as they have in the Hotel Magazines, so I had to improvise."

Batman looked up, apparently he'd been deep in thought," Yes, we're fine," he said quietly, and then he looked up at Cyborg again and said," Actually, before I say we're fine I need to ask you about something."

"Shoot," Cyborg had been expecting this.

"You know Robin's identity," Batman said bluntly.

"Yes, we found the photographs in his room," Starfire smiled at him.

"Then you know what I'm going to say next," Batman's eyes swept the room, meeting each of theirs in turn.

"Don't worry Mr. Wayne," Cyborg leaned back on the couch with his hands behind his head," Your secret's safe with us."

"Certainly," Starfire floated over to the black clad hero," We would never tell a soul of you and your adopted son," she beamed at him, her smile radiant.

It was a little disarming to Batman, his brooding nature while he was under the mask didn't exactly put people in a smiley mood.

He gave her a tiny half smile when he answered," Thank you," then an afterthought came to him," And he's not actually my son, just my . . ." his smile disappeared and he looked away from her, forgetting to close his mouth.

Starfire's smile diminished a little too," What is wrong?" she became worried when he didn't answer," Did I offend you?"

Batman was lost in his own head apparently. He continued to stare off into space, and then he said almost in a whisper, "My ward."

The Titans all looked at each other. The next instant Batman had gotten up and was gone from the room, not even a flicker of his cape was seen going out the door.

The teenagers sat there for a moment watching the door.

"Think we should follow him?" Beast boy said," Just in case."

"Oh, I have offended our guest," Starfire said, green eyes downcast.

"No, Star," Cyborg said," I think he's just crazy."

Clark was just trying to figure out what the pink and green blob wrapped in plastic, sitting on the pillow was when there was a pounding on the door. He took one last look at it and rushed to the door and hit the button to open it.

Batman stood there, mask off and wild eyed.

"What happened?" Superman had never seen Bruce look quite as crazy as he did now. Bruce was always a little crazy, but he never looked it. Well, until now.

Bruce walked into the room, not answering.

Clark closed the door, still watching his teammate," Bruce," he said slowly," What happened?" he asked again.

Bruce turned to face him," He's only my ward," he said simply.

When he didn't go on Clark asked," What are you talking about, Bruce?"

"I never adopted him, he's still only my ward," he said this like it was the most obvious thing, and started pacing like he did when he was agitated.

"Bats, you're not making any sense," Clark was beginning to worry," Are we talking about Richard?"

"Of course we're talking about Richard, who else?" Bruce said impatiently.

"But you adopted Richard," Clark said, then thought about it," Didn't you?"

The look Bruce gave was all the answer he needed. Well, okay, Richard was his ward, big deal.

"I don't get it," Clark said, trying to get Bruce to elaborate.

"How can you not get it?" Bruce's voice was at a higher pitch than normal," I practically shoved him out the door myself!"

"Bruce, just calm down. Have a seat and tell me what you're talking about."

Bruce didn't sit, but he tried to explain," I never adopted him. When Richard left do you know what he said?"

"Was I supposed to?" Clark was getting more confused by the second.

"He said," You've made it more than clear that you don't want me," I thought he was just talking about as my partner, but he was talking about as my son," Bruce paused and looked at Clark.

Clark was slowly clueing in," So, you think that because you never adopted him, he thought you didn't want him?"

"Yes!" his voice was rising again.

"Bruce," Clark bit his lip," Why would he think that?"

Bruce's shoulders slumped a little and he sat down on the bed," I just never really thought about it before," he thought for a second," When he got hurt I did everything I could to make him stop wanting 

to be Robin, I tried to push him away from it. I just didn't realize I was pushing him away from me in the process."

Clark was silent as Bruce gathered his thoughts. He thought he knew where his friend was going with this.

"Do you know what ward says to a kid Richard's age?" Bruce didn't wait for Clark's answer," It says I took you in because I felt sorry for you; I don't really care anymore than that."

He paused again, staring at the wall, so Clark asked quietly," And what would he have thought of adoption?"

Bruce thought a minute," That I wanted him, that he could belong with me, and Alfred, that he had somewhere to go and someone to come to anytime he needed it. A family."

Someone who loves him more than air, Bruce thought.

"And after he was shot you tried to protect him the only way you knew how," Clark said.

Bruce nodded, and then rubbed a hand over his face," I called him a liability Clark, in that last fight, we haven't spoken since," he had the strangest look on his face, like he was totally lost.

"Well, why didn't you adopt him when you knew he wasn't going to leave your guardianship anyway?" Clark asked.

Bruce laughed, no, it was more like a scoff," Do you have any idea what the court would say about that? A playboy billionaire adopting a kid," he shook his head," When he was younger I just didn't want to drag him through that. There's another strike against me, he thinks I wasn't willing to fight for him, either."

He began to stare at the wall again.

"How do I fix this?" Bruce asked in a whisper, and Clark didn't think Bruce remembered he was still in the room.

"Well, first you have to fix his memory," Clark said with a half smile," After that, I guess just tell him."

Bruce finally looked directly at him that lost look still on his face, so Clark said," Yeah, it's that simple."

Bruce nodded and looked around," I suppose it is," he mumbled then his gaze landed on Clark's pillow, " What is that?" he asked pointing at the pink-and-green-plastic-wrapped blob.

"I think a certain Tameranian's attempt at good ol' earthling hospitality," Clark said simply.

He thought he saw it move a little.

A/N: Ugh, I'm sorry. I think I just sort of lost my train of thought in this one- but I'm working on the next one and I'm back on track. Thanks for reading. Need I ask for reviews or is that implied?