A special thank you to L. VanDattae for betaing!

"Bruce, I don't want to..."

Rubbing Tim's back, Bruce looked concerned. "I know, Tim, but it's the only way. We tracked them all the way to this 'Ocean Waters' place. Both of your brothers are in there and I need you to go in there, make sure they're safe and get them out. All you have to do it get the gates open that lead to the ocean and I can handle the rest."

"I know, but..." Tim's eyes darted around as if someone was watching nearby. "You won't be there... and... and I don't want to do this alone."

Pulling his son into a strong hug, Bruce sighed. "Tim, you won't be alone. Both Dick and Jason will be with you. I know how you feel about being to far away from me, however I promise it will only be for a little while."

It made Tim extremely nervous to do this without Bruce. Since becoming a part of the family, Tim knew of his anxieties of being far from Bruce. He was well aware of how he would panic being too far from him. When he was young and with his Father and Mother, they had often threatened to leave him behind if he didn't keep up. That fear of being left alone with no one around had been enough to keep up with them until the day his mother died.

After that day Jack had become violent, often blaming Tim for her death. One of his favorite things to do was attack Tim without any notice or warning. It had been on one of these attacks that Bruce happened to be swimming by, looking for his two sons who had decided to play a game of hide and seek. It had shocked him that someone would step in, seeing as no one had before.

Bruce had swum right up to Jack, shoving him away. Shocked, Tim had hidden behind the large Merman hoping for relief from the pain, his small form shaking. Bruce had growled out a warning to Jack. Suddenly there was a fight between them. It only lasted for a few minutes before it ended with Jack running away. Tim had tried to follow but Bruce pulled him back claiming that he was now his. His what, Tim couldn't understand at the time until Bruce took him to a cave where he explained it.

After that day, Tim had become Bruce's third son.

It excited him a lot. He had heard about the Great Bruce Wayne of the sea. More excited when he met his older brothers. Dick had been easy to get along with. Jason took about eight months, but after that Jason had been protective. All of them had been shocked about Tim's age when he told them. The only thing good that came out of it was that Dick stopped baby talking him. Still they often treated him like he was younger than he was.

Their life had been near perfect.

Now it wasn't perfect.

It was broken.

Split.

And according to Bruce he was the only one who could bring them back together, but the thought and the knowledge of being separated form his adoptive Father...

"Shhh," Bruce comforted, rubbing his back. "It's going to be all right, Tim, I promise. It'll only be for a little while."

Crying a bit more, Tim nodded, knowing that it had to be done. So, after waiting for a few hours until that monster of a land dweller came down for his morning walk, Bruce helped Tim onto a rock where he pretended to be asleep. He didn't even move when the man approached him or moved him a bit. Once he was being taken away, that feeling of being cut off from both the ocean and Bruce made him want to scream. He heard Bruce call to him, telling him that he was a good boy, and it calmed him down a bit.

It wasn't until he got out of sight that Tim couldn't handle the pressure weighing down on him and he jolted, nearly being dropped to the ground. A minute later he was hauled into the building before being thrown into a sack! Thrashing at it, he struggled, feeling trapped, suffocated, and his heart was pounding so hard he thought that the whole sea could hear it despite him being on the land.

Suddenly the bag was overturned and he was tossed into water. Relief filled him for only a second when he felt the change in water. Not something he was used to but at least cold enough to live it. Popping out of the water, he gasped into the air before looking around, startled at seeing a land dweller place for the first time in his life.

It was ended by two familiar bodies slamming into him, trapping him between them.

"Timmy!"

"Tim!"

"Dick! Jason!" Tim cried happily, hugging back, their tails all swishing happily. "Are you two alright?!"

"Yeah!" Dick nuzzled his head. "I'm so happy to see you!"

Jericho looked up from the book he was reading.

After his Father had left, he'd decided to let the mermaids have their little reunion. He figured that this new mermaid might have been the youngest in their family. Both Nightwing and Red Hood seemed so happy to see the little green-tailed mermaid that he didn't have the heart to make them train at the moment.

They were showing him all around their area where they preformed. Nigthwing wanted the small one to see his favorite place, which was that clam shell, and while he was showing it off, Red Hood closed it again trapping the blue-tailed one inside. The small mermaid looked like he was giggling and even more so when Nightwing pushed it back open and started to argue with Red Hood.

"So, he found him," a voice said. "No surprise there, huh?"

Smiling, Jericho stood up. "Hey, Wally, what's up?"

Wally West shrugged. "Stopped by to make sure that everything was running smoothly. Aaaaand... Your dad said to give you this."

Taking the collar, Jericho sighed. It was a green one, the same color of the new mermaid. "He decided to name him Robin?"

"Yeah," Wally crossed his arms. "Named a mermaid after a bird."

"Yeah." Jericho laughed before sitting down on one of the rocks next to the side. "So, how have you been? Haven't seen you since you started to build the arena and home for the mermaids."

Wally took a seat next to him. "Been pretty busy since Bart's parents died."

"Oh that's right." Jericho frowned. "How's he doing?"

"Better now. Before he didn't talk, and you know how that kid can talk. So, Mermaid Trainer..." Wally grinned. "How's it feel to be training not one, but three mermaids?"

"Well, Nightwing listens way better than Red Hood, but between you and me I think Red Hood is mocking me most of the time. I don't know how Robin's going to do yet since he barely got here a couple of hours ago."

"First time I've seen them up close." Wally said. "Hey, think I can meet them? I want to get a picture for Bart."

"Sure." Jericho leaned down to the water, patting it. "Nightwing! Nightwing, come here!"

Nightwing came swimming over with both Red Hood and the new one following. When they popped up, Nightwing was grinning ear to ear before he suddenly looked as if he had been slapped in the face, staring at Wally wide-eyed, mouth hanging open in shock.

"Whoa," Wally grinned. "What's up with him? Never seen a red head before?"

"Strange, he's never acted like that before." Jericho stood up and patted the water, urging the smallest mermaid closer to him. "Come on, let's get this on."

Red Hood nudged Robin over, saying something before pushing Nightwing aside, who shook himself before rushing away to a nearby rock and laying on it, curling up. But his wide blue eyes continued to stare at Wally almost as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Jericho watched for a second before leaning down and clasping the collar onto Robin's neck, but he didn't fail to notice the mermaid's trembling.

Wally stuck around for another hour. They talked, tossed fish into the water before his friend stood up, saying he had to go and pick up Bart form school. Jericho waved him off before looking back at the water. Robin was doing something. A bunch of fish were eye level with him, holding so still it was eerie.

Soft wailing made him look at Nightwing. Frowning, Jericho wondered what had upset him. Walking over, he tossed a favorite fish to the mermaid. He ignored it, still looking at where Wally had left. Sighing, Jericho looked back at the other two. Red Hood was in his skull, watching everything before turning to splash the people starting to fill the stands for the afternoon showing. Robin had gone to hide somewhere else, but the fish stayed perfectly still... unmoving.

Groaning, Jericho patted the water to gather his mermaids. "Why do I have a feeling this show is going to be a disaster?"