Over time, Dick had learned how to hide, and to some extent control, his personalities. He knew how to hide when he switched, and he knew how to pick things up right where they'd left off. It was getting easier, he thought. So on the fateful day that he chose to leave for jump city, he thought he had it under control. He went out and formed his new team, and spoke honestly to them about his disorder. Some of the alters had told him it was the right thing to do. The Titans accepted it, and moved on, like it wasn't real. Like he wasn't split into pieces, like he knew he was.

The alters never came out in Jump- perhaps they were hiding? Yes, that was possible. He had been fighting with the Titans a year when Slade had captured him and made him his apprentice. From the moment he'd had to don that unholy uniform, Jack had taken over. When the situation got tough, he made sure he was tougher. He was out for a whole two weeks. Dick, having started to experience co-consciousness with his alters, had watched the whole thing, and had even tried to intervene at points. The only time he had succeeded was to tell Slade something that he himself needed to hear as much as Slade did.

"I already have a father." He looked up to see Bats circling overhead.

When Dick had run and gotten himself infected with nanoprobes, he didn't know what he'd been thinking. Or perhaps, more accurately, Who had been thinking. In any event, it had freed him and his friends, and that was what mattered. After the five of them had flown back to the tower and had gotten the probes out of themselves, the fear and panic had finally set for him. He excused himself to his room, and dashed inside, the familiar drowning feeling taking over his chest. His eyes shut slowly and his hands contracted once before opening again, revealing innocent eyes that began welling up with fresh tears. It was Christian, the one who always came out when Dick was hurting. He crawled over to the bed and reached over for a shoebox. He pulled a black communicator out, and pushed the button closest to the short antenna. A flickering batsignal said that his call was being placed, and he waited quietly, shaking and crying.

Hundreds of miles away, Bruce Wayne sat stoically in the Batcave, looking through the Batcomputer's criminal database. He was interrupted by a beeping sound. He ignored it, but it didn't stop. Where was it coming from? He looked to the other side of the computer to see his communicator flashing. Curiously, he flipped it on and was shocked to See Dick's peaked face on the screen.

"Dick?" He said in surprise.

"Daddy..." Said the pitiful little voice, and he immediately knew it wasn't Dick talking.

"What happened, Christian?" He asked gently. The boy dissolved into tears.

"I need you." He choked out. It was then that he realized the batsignal was out. The amount of conflict he felt was exhausting. Finally he said, in a quiet voice,

"I can be there tomorrow. Do you need someone there right now?" He asked. Christian nodded harshly.

"Okay. I'll see if Auntie Diana or Uncle Clark can come and see you." Christian's expression raised a bit, and he nodded.

"Bye, Tată." He said quietly. He quickly sent a message to the league, before loading into the bat mobile and taking off for the night.