Taaaadaaaaaa

I'm back!

And better than ever!

Here is the next installment of my wonderful Teen Titans story. Thank you to all the wonderful responses!

It had been such a simple lie.

Fang and Kitten are causing problems in France, so I'm flying out there for a week to track them down and drag the lovebirds back here.

Minor enough villains that the team wouldn't worry about him being alone and personal enough that they wouldn't want to. Fang and Kitten really were in Europe; he just left out the fact that the two were locked away in a high-security prison. Robin was the only one with access to that information, so the Titans would never suspect.

He sat alone on the plane Alfred had sent for him. His hair was slicked back and a simple suit covered the numerous scars on his bodies. He felt so strange and exposed without his Robin costume on. After all this time he'd forgotten what it was like to be Dick Grayson.

There was a strange boy in the mirror. His hair was nicely done and he looked as if he belonged in the suit he wore. Obviously he had been raised in a good environment, well off and taken care of. What really drew him in were those eyes. They were searching and innocent. Those blue orbs were hypnotizing and large, never blinking, seeming to see in to his soul.

Is that really who he could've been? This boy with a privileged home life, innocent and carefree to the evils of the world? If he'd listened to Bruce all those years ago, maybe he wouldn't be the serious and uptight person he is today. Dick sighed, looking out the window, contemplating whether or not ignorance truly was bliss. He supposed it did not matter, he was in too deep now, and nothing could change that.

Not even Richard.

Alfred had been the father to the prestigious Bruce Wayne even before his parents were horribly murdered. He had looked at him as if he were his son over the course of his life, so naturally when Bruce brought home the broken little bird the butler had taken to him immediately. The young ward of the richest man in Gotham reminded him so much of the younger Wayne, so fresh off of the death of his parents. He was the grandson he would have wanted had Bruce ever settled down.

It saddened Alfred that in his 'son's' line of work he could never allow love in to his life. So, when he began to see Bruce smile more, allow breaks in his harsh visage he had built up, all because of this one boy, Alfred had been the happiest man alive.

Naturally it had hurt the man how often the two fought. It seemed inevitable that Master Richard would take off on his own at the young age of fourteen. Imagine their surprise when a few months later Robin turned up in some random city with a rag-tag group of metahuman teenagers. Bruce acted indifferently, but Alfred knew he had researched the four strangers thoroughly; just to be sure they were safe for Dick to be around.

Yes, it had hurt to see the boy grow from afar, but the elderly man never would have asked for him to return this way. After Bruce had not returned from his nightly patrol, Alfred had begun to worry. Once the twenty-four hour waiting period ended, he'd called up Commissioner Gordon. Normally Alfred would have never interfered in his ward's work, but he knew Bruce would never miss this day for the world.

The day of the Grayson's deaths.

Richard didn't know it, but every year after he left Bruce was sure to visit the acrobat's graves. To be sure they were clean and had a fresh dozen roses. As angry as Bruce may have been, he still cared for the boy and his blood. He would never let his son's true parent's resting place to go to shambles while the boy was away.

If only Richard knew that.

If only the two could just see that they needed each other. They needed each other to be themselves and to share the pain with another. The elderly man sighed as he drove to the location of Dick's drop off.

He just hoped it wasn't too late for them to know.

.

Jim was a family man. He loved his wife and daughter; they were the absolute world to him. After all, he'd died in order to protect them.

He'd also received a hearty slap for that stunt.

Not that he didn't deserve it.

After Barbra lost her mother he'd done everything in his power to keep Gotham safe for her, so that she would never have to lose anyone important to her again. He immersed himself in his work.

That was why, when he heard that the young ward of Bruce Wayne had lost his father again he had personally taken the case. Not that he didn't trust his cops (which he didn't) but this was personal. But, there was something fishy with the whole situation. Why had these men nabbed Bruce Wayne? It would have made sense if there were a ransom, but none had come up after three days.

No, Jim had taken on this case because secret identities were at stake.

Oh, he knew.

And he knows Batman (and most likely Robin) knows he knows.

He couldn't trust such a close case to not risk their heavily guarded secrets. Both of those boys had gone through too much loss, he didn't need to see Robin loose his mentor because some seedy cop decided he didn't like the vigilante doing his job for him.

When Jim had figured out Batman's identity he wasn't quiet sure. It had sort of just made sense to him that the richest man in Gotham would be able to create such amazing technology. He also had a perfectly valid reason to want to keep the streets clean. After Gotham's White Knight had taken in a ward and Robin's timely appearance his suspicions had been confirmed. The Commissioner was actually surprised no one else noticed it.

A stroke of luck, he supposed.

He had never even thought of holding Batman's identity against him, he had too much respect for the man to do that.

That was why it hurt him to have to call his protégé with the terrible news that he couldn't find his father. He had failed. Failed where the Dark Knight would never if the roles had been reversed. The last honest cop supposed if anyone could find Batman it was Robin, the flying Boy Wonder.

Now there was one more issue to take care of.

Gordon knew that Robin would not be bringing his team along with him…the Teen Titans. After all these years it was evident that Robin had honestly integrated himself in to his superhero persona and left the poor circus boy behind. If this were true then Robin wouldn't—couldn't—be making an appearance in Gotham, because that would raise suspicion if the two run-away Gothamites returned at the same time. Then Batman would really be mad when he returned. Unfortunately, that left Jim with one more phone call to make.

He just hoped Richard would understand why he was doing this.

Sorry if it's boring, but this chapter is necessary. This story won't be long, but this is the sort of tone it will be in the whole time, I like it, so there.

R&R!