Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Chapter Seven

Metropolis. I don't like this city much. It's always so bright, especially at night. I'm here because my first youngest brother, Jason Todd, just recently disappeared.

First Tim, now Jason.

My left leg still hurts from my break-in at Dagget's place. I try my best to not to show that I'm walking with a limp as I make my way to the Metropolis Police Department. I have to check in there before I can even make a move around here.

One of the other reasons I hate coming here is because the department is stricter. I can't really do what I did at Dagget's around here. I hate that.

The thing is they have to let me work around here, because they called me about Jason.

Jason's a soccer star. He had been kidnapped on his way back to his hotel here. It was on his way back from practice. Tim's best friends made the call to the police.

Conner Kent and Cassandra Sandsmark.

Yeah, I know. Two Cassandra's is confusing. Especially when someone like Tim hangs out with both so often. That's why we came up with slightly different nicknames for them. We call Tim's fiancé, Cassandra Cain, Cass. We call Conner's girlfriend, Cassandra Sandsmark, Cassie. It's pretty much what we used to call them, only without the hair color at the beginning.

Anyway, I'll be visiting them after I meet with one of the officers at the police department.

I hate them and they hate me. Mostly because we have different ways of taking down crooks. While the Metropolis Police force doesn't have that much corruption, the Gotham Police force does. Therefore, the good cops have very different ways of taking down crooks. Most of the cops can be trusted here, which means you have a lot more teamwork to go with. In Gotham, you're on your own. You can't trust anyone.

"Well, if it isn't the rogue detective," I heard a female voice announce as I stepped into police headquarters.

I knew that voice anywhere.

Detective Maggie Sawyer. We hate each other, but we also respect each other. We hate the way the other works, but we respect what the other fights for.

"So, came here for your brother?" She asked as she walked up to me.

"I know you didn't find him Sawyer, so just give me my clearance and let me do my job," I replied as I looked down at her.

"You inner-city cops are all the same," She told me with a roll of her eyes. "Especially you and Harper. You know he came by here yesterday-"

"What the hell is Roy doing here?"

"Well if you let me finish my story, you might find out why."

"I don't care about your damn story. Just give me clearance."

"Upstairs to register, you bastard."

"Thanks." I walked straight past her and up the stairs. I followed the sign and signed in when I reached the registration desk. Then I sat in a chair for two hours, waiting for the form to clear through before I could finally leave.

What the hell was Roy doing here?

With him here, maybe I do have someone I could trust in this city after all.

If he is here, I know where he'll be staying so I'll be seeing him soon. Really soon in fact. Conner and Cassie's apartment is just a few blocks away from the station.

I enter the building and take the elevator up to the eight floor of the building.

I know it's rude to enter without knocking, but I've never really been one for manners anyway. I bend down and take the spare key from under the rug and use it to unlock the door.

When I opened the door I got a great view of Roy and Donna making out in the middle of the living room.

Maybe I should have knocked. Then again…

"Well, I definitely didn't expect to be greeted by this sight," I said as I threw my bag at the two, who jumped apart at the sound of my voice. Roy caught it with ease. "Especially since I thought Cassie and Conner lived here."

"Conner's at work and Cassie's at the store," Roy replied as he dropped my bag. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Work. I guess you didn't hear about Tim and Jason."

"No, I heard, I just thought that Great Dick Grayson would be at the crime scene for hours before actually coming to say Hi to his friends."

"Well, you've never been one to think too much now have you, Roy? It's really not surprising you ended up being wrong."

"Like you're always right."

"What are you here for? Other than to reconcile with Donna of course."

"You know, before either of you pull me into this anymore than I already am, I'm gonna go," Donna cut in, grabbing her purse from the couch. She kissed Roy on the cheek before telling him, "We'll talk later," and walking over to me. She smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek as well. "I'll see you later, Dick. Nice seeing you again."

"You too," I told her before she walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind her.

"So, back together?" I asked Roy as I started walking over to the couch.

"I don't know. You kind of interrupted us before we could talk about it," Roy told me as he sat in the chair across from me.

"No, I interrupted you before either of you could jump out of your clothes and have wild sex right here in the middle of the living room floor."

"We would have talked about it after." Roy shrugged. I chuckled.

"So, I thought she was hooked up with…Terry Meltzer?" I guessed.

"Wow, you are way behind on her love life. She and Terry broke up eight months ago. She's been single ever since."

"So then she must have broken up with him-"

"A couple of days after our stakeout," Roy finished. "By the way, I'm here to help you."

"What do you mean you're here to help me?" I raised an eyebrow and waited for him to elaborate.

"Your brothers just got kidnapped, Dick. I told my Commissioner that I needed to go help you out with it."

"And seeing Donna again?"

"I had no clue she was gonna be here," Roy defended and I knew he was telling the truth. He had come to help me, not to see Donna.

"Why's she here?"

"Art gallery thing. She's actually having a few of her photographs in it."

"Way to go Donna."

"That's what I said!"

"Was that before or after you started shoving your tongue down her windpipe?"

Roy rolled his eyes. "Just shut up."

I laughed and finally let the subject go. If I went any further with it, it wouldn't be as funny.

"So, you came here to help me. Why?"

"Why shouldn't I?" He asked looking at me as if I was stupid. "Dick, you're always there for me when I need you, this time I get to be there for you."

"Why do you do it, Roy?"

I don't know why I suddenly asked that question. Maybe because I still haven't been able to answer it myself. Maybe because my reason is the same as his. What ever the reason was, I asked it, and I'm gonna make sure he answers.

"What do you mean?" He replied as he relaxed in his seat.

"Why do you risk your life every day?"

"Because it's the right thing to do and because I wanted to make a difference in people lives."

"How do you do that?"

"What are you asking me for? It's the same for you Dick. I mean, think about it. Before you took that time off, only a few crooks were able to get out of jail, more officers started actually doing the right thing, and people looked to you as a hero. A light in a dark place. Now look how things are in Gotham after you were gone for only what? A month, month and a half. A dozen of Gotham's worst criminals are on the loose, people are scared again, and the people that stood up were taken down quickly.

"You're a hero, Dick, and you inspire other people to stand up for good! You make a huge difference in people's lives! You've always done that. You started with Bruce, Jason, and Tim, then Kory, then you went on to help change Gotham."

"What do you mean I started with Bruce, Jason, and Tim?" I asked him.

Roy laughed. "Come on Dick, I thought you were smarter than this.

"Before you became a cop, Bruce never donated to the force to get them new equipment. You changed his thoughts on how bad the Gotham police force is. If you never knew that, then you must not read the business section of the paper.

"Since you never talked to Jason these past few years either, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know you changed his thoughts on cops too. He found out from Babs that you were the one that caught that sniper who had tried to kill him-"

"Babs has a big mouth," I cut in.

"No duh. Anyway, you're also like Tim's role model. You always have been. He looks up to you and follows your example. Just like your kids.

"Everyone knows about that little story your mom used to tell you, Dick-again, Babs." I nodded in understanding. "Anyway, to everyone around you, you are that little miracle. That start of hope, cause that's what you give us. Hope that someday there will be more selfless cops out there; hope to be strong against even the toughest foes. The point is, you're everyone's little miracle and everyone else is yours. Everyone around you keeps you grounded and open, because without Kory or your kids, your brothers, Bruce, Selina, everyone, you'd just be this guy that had nothing to fight for.

"That's the answer you were looking for, wasn't it? Why you get up everyday to fight?"

I just sat there silently. Roy was right. That was the answer I was looking for. Why he thought I got up every day just to go out there and risk my life.

I got up because of my family. Because of the people I care about. To give them hope and to protect them and teach them that good things can happen.

Why does it seem like now-a-days everyone around me knows me better than I do?

Kory knew the answer. Even Ryan knew it, and told me in his own little way. Roy knew it. Why didn't I?

How is it that everyone around me knows me better than I do?

"I hate you," I finally told Roy. He immediately broke out into laughter.

The door opened up and in walked Cassie. Her hair was up in a loose bun as she carried in about three bags of groceries.

"Oh look, two more men living in my home for who knows how long," She said as she entered the house, putting on a sarcastic smile. "Get off your asses and help me with the groceries if you want to keep living in this apartment."

"You're just as nice as ever, aren't you?" I replied, getting up.

"Only around you, Dick," She shot back as she handed me two of the brown bags. I tossed one to Roy, who was still chuckling, before bringing the one I was holding into the kitchen.

It's good to see my friends again.

A/N: This will be the last time I update this story for a while. My sister's birthday is coming up in a few weeks and she wants me to write a Pokemon fanfic for her, set in the current season and wants it to be pretty long. This, of course, caused my muse to go haywire and come up with all these different ideas and to follow through with all of this I need a lot of time to research the show and the different types of Pokemon, because I haven't watched the show in years. Not to mention, I'm a little out of my element with this one, which makes it a challenge for me. Because of all this, I needed to clear my schedule up a bit and, since Year 3 is on a much tighter schedule then this one, I chose to put this one on hold for a while.

I'm not dropping the story! I want to make that clear to everyone. I'm just putting it on hold!

Anyway, I hope you all ejoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know what you thought!!!