"Who's that?" Drake asked, pointing at a picture of Dick and Tim. They were taking a break from school and devouring Alfred's chocolate chip cookies with milk.

Tim turned to look at the picture Drake was pointing at. "Oh, that's Dick, my older brother." he told him simply. "He was adopted by Bruce, like me." Tim sounded like he admired the man very much. Drake was trying to get familiar with Bruce's associates and looked around for a picture of Jason. He didn't find one.

"The butler, Alfred Pennyworth, he's really friendly, he seems like family." he pointed out nonchalantly, Tim nodded.

"Alfred raised Bruce after he became an orphan."

Drake diverted his gaze. "I'm sorry."

Tim shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "There's nothing for you to be sorry about, it's not like it's new news to the press either."

Drake nodded. "So, tell me more about your family."

Back in the Batcave, Bruce was hunched over the Batcomputer, typing furiously on the keyboard when Alfred walked in. "Master Bruce, may I ask what you are doing?" Bruce aknowleged the man's presence with a low grunt but didn't look up. "Suspicious of Master Tim's new friend, I suppose?" Bruce looked up at him at that.

"He enrolled today, Alfred. Not many people invite themselves to other classmate's homes in such a short time. And Tim isn't the type to go inviting people over that easily, you know that." Bruce told him, Alfred nodded understandingly.

"There is nothing wrong with being concerned, Master Bruce. But do keep your suspicions to yourself until you are certain Master Allen is a threat. Master Tim is well capable to look after himself." with that, the butler left the cave.

Bruce couldn't deny that Alfred had a point, but now he had another detail to consider. Could Allen Smitheson be lying about who he was? He could've approach any other student, why Tim? Tim was well trained to dissappear in a crowd. What if Allen Smitheson was involved with the bomb and hacking? But what if it was just coincidence? Bruce rubbed his forehead and ran a search on Allen's name. If he had used credit cards or passport or if he had went to the dentist, he would know about it. He wrote a note to Tim about the new case and decided that if Tim saw the same potential connection to Allen, he would tell Batman about it. He left the note open on the large overhead screen so Tim would see it when he came in. He left the cave to tell Tim and Alfred that he was leaving for work when he heard Tim and 'Allen' talking.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm not someone who's comfortable with talking about family to strangers either. It was just a question I'm usually asked. I'm sorry." Allen said apologetically. "It's just... my family is complicated, nobody talks about it. It's like... taboo." Tim quickly assured him it was alright, no harm done. Allen looked truely relieved. "Whew! What would I have done? Losing my first friend in Gotham on my first day at school?"

Tim smiled at that. "I know the feeling." The two exchanged sheepish glances and chuckled like old friends. It was rare to see Tim so comfortable with anybody else. He had a sense of family and camaraderie with Nightwing and trusted the Batclan explicately, he was friends with his partners in the Young Justice. But outside the mask, he had few friends. He crossed his arms and leant on the doorway.

Surprisingly, it was Allen who noticed him first. That should've raised at least seventy different alarms in his head but it didn't. Allen nudged Tim and nodded in Bruce's direction. "I'll go find Alfred and see if he has some more milk leftover." he announced and strutted off with his glass.

"I take it you won't be coming on patrol today?" Bruce asked, Tim shook his head furiously.

"I doubt he's stay here that long." he told his father. "He said he needed to be back home in about half-an-hour." Bruce nodded.

"I'll be going on ahead, find me later." He patted Tim's shoulder and smiled before leaving.

"Okay... not the kitchen." Drake muttered when he found himself in another deserted room. He was completely lost. He glanced at the grandfather clock and noticed the time. "Oh, man! I gotta go!" he exclaimed when he stopped short. "Strange... I couldn't have been here for more an an hour... oh. The clock's broken! Sneaking little, er, big machine, almost tricked me!" He poked at the clock's hands. He had seen many grandfather clocks but in his opinion, grandfather clocks should always be functioning. It gave a sense that wonderful times never stopped. It was a naive and hopeful dream. He shrugged his shoulders and continued probing the clock face when he heard a distinct click. He started and looked around. But the noise had undeniably come from the disfunctional clock. He tilted his head and moved the hands again. He moved the long hand a whole round and again heard a click when it reached 47 minutes. He tried the short had for good measure and found the same thing happened when the hand reached 10.

"10:47 p.m, Thomas and Martha Wayne died." he mused. "It can't be coincidence." He prodded and nudged the door until it swung open, it lead into an elevator. Drake paused momentarily, wondering if it was a safe decision to pry. He decided, it was Gotham. Everybody had secrects. It was only fair, lots of people outside of Gotham also had dangerous secrets and he never pried more than neccesary. He pushed the door closed and moved the clock's time to 7:28. the time of his own parent's death. He left no room for second thoughts and left, calling out Tim and Alfred's names. He needed serious help if he wanted out of this place.

Unbeknownst to him, his movements were caught on the security camera and immediately forwarded to Oracle. She watched him, a hand hovering over the phone that would immediately put her through to Bruce or anybody else who could stop him. She let out a sigh of relief when he walked away from one of Gotham's biggest secrets. She slouched back into her wheelchair, wondering why he didn't take the elevator. Of course, she would have stopped it between floors and called Batman to clean up the mess but it was in human nature to satisfy their curiosity, wasn't it? She waited and watched as Allen found a very helpful Alfred and said goodbye to Tim before leaving. She waited a good ten minutes before calling the manor. She explained the situation to Alfred who she knew would make a calm and reasonable decision and tell Bruce about the incident. Barbara would never cease to admire the man.

"Allen did what!" Tim was incredulous. He had read Batman's note and had just come back from patroling with him when Alfred broke the news to them.

"You seem to have some trouble hearing, Master Tim, I will repeat myself. Master Allen may have realized Master Bruce's identity as Batman." Tim paled considerably.

"'May have?' you mean you're not sure?" Bruce asked as he pulled his cowl off.

Alfred nodded. "He found the secret entrance through the grandfather clock but perhaps by a sense of nobility, never reached the Batcave. He seemed to understand that people had secrets that he had no right to know and left." he explained. Bruce said nothing but it was apparant to his two companions that he was greatly impressed.

"If he doesn't ask about it, then we will pretend we don't know. Keep a sharp eye on him." he ordered the other two. He went to check on the progress of his research on Allen as soon as Tim and Alfred left. He was met with the most worriesome words he could hear at the moment. 'Name not found'. There were related searches listed. Anybody with the given name 'Allen' or anybody with the surname 'Smitheson' would show up. None of the names refered to anyone that could be the Allen Smitheson in question. He searched the name in the school records and found it easily. Allen Smitheson was registered in Gotham Heights but not in the system. It had been hacked. Just then, his phone rang, it was Oracle on the other end.

"I know, I know." Was the first thing she said to him.

"You know what?" Bruce demanded.

"That the Gotham Heights records have been hacked and that Allen Smitheson isn't a real person." Oracle stated simply. "I'm running a search on his face now. I've got to go. I'll call you if I have anything."

"Oracle, wait." Bruce ordered and was satisfied not to hear a click on the other end. "Search up case records involving families in L.A in the last ten or so years. Search for deaths that occurred at 7:28."

"You got it boss." Oracle replied and hung up.

Tim let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair as he watched the security feed of Allen by the secret entrance to the Batcave. Allen knew, he had to know! Even if he didn't, he knew the Waynes had a dangerous secret. Would he start avoiding him tomorrow? There was a light tap at his window and he peered out to see Nightwing hanging on the window sill, waiting for him. It would soon be morning so Tim took pity on his older brother and let him in.

"So little brother, what's this I hear about someone bombing empty warehouses and hacking police files?" Nightwing asked as light-heartedly as he could manage. But it was obvious that Tim didn't want to talk about it.

"It might be Allen." Tim stated, Nightwing blinked, bewildered.

"Okay... who's 'Allen'?"

"My new classmate at school."

Nightwing tilted his head to the side. "I'm sorry, I'm completely lost."

Alfred knocked and walked through the door at the exact timing Tim needed. As always. "I believe I could help by explaining the situation. But first things first, when was the last time you've had a full meal?" With that, the wise butler firmly escorted the protective older brother our of the room.

Tim groaned and fell back on his bed. He had only a few hours before he had to show his face at school again and face, well, try to face Allen. He turned on his side and wrapped his blanket around him. He tried to sleep. He knew it wouldn't happen.