A/N: Holy Alert Emails, Batman! AHHHH, you guys make me feel loved! I'm serious. The amount of people wanting to keep up with this story is flattering me. Thank you, all of you people!

To my reviewers:

Dextra2: Glad you enjoyed it again!

Hount: Well, I did continue it soon! :D

grayember13: Oh… Wow. . I didn't think I was writing much cuteness into it, but with those two, I suppose it's inevitable! I'm happy you enjoyed it: here, have some more! (Just a little though. Had other things going on in this chapter.)

Tyra Kinami: That's what's been running around in my head for a while now. So I decided to share it with you all!

A reminder that will make sense as the story is read: Damian sees Dick as he expects him to appear. On patrol, or preparing to leave the 'Cave, he expects Dick to be in full Caped Crusader garb. If in the Manor, he expects civvies, etc. And no, he doesn't REALLY feel physical contact from him; his mind is just filling in the blanks.

"Italics in quotes would be Dick talking."

Chapter 3:

The next morning, Damian found his way to the kitchen, not too surprised that Dick wasn't anywhere to be seen yet. He figured that the elder was being lazy, as usual. As he sat down, a plate was set in front of him, again unsurprising. Pennyworth was prompt, if nothing else.

"Young Master, about Master Richard -"

"I know already," the young Wayne cut him off, biting into a piece of bacon. The butler looked stunned for a moment, but covered it quickly.

"Then Miss Gordon's message got through to you, I take it?"

"No. I found out on my own."

"I see. Would you be wanting to visit Dr. Thompkins, then?" Alfred watched the boy. Maybe it was unrealistic to expect Damian to show concern for his partner, but no emotion slipped past the stoic facade.

"-Tt- Why would I want to go there. I'm not injured, and even if I was, there are sufficient medical supplies in the Cave or Bunker." Quickly, the boy finished the barely adequate breakfast and stood to leave Alfred and the kitchen.

Dick had been wandering aimlessly after he left Damian to rest, and had ended up back in Leslie's clinic, next to his comatose body. A heavy sigh escaped him and his shoulders slumped. "Man... How lame is this... On a vacation, and I end up mugged, comatose, and all ghostly. The Titans won't let me live this down."

He didn't want to think about the possibility of not getting that chance. It really was pretty inevitable for the thought to cross his mind: what if he wasn't going to wake up in his physical body again? He shook his head, banishing such thoughts. No, he was going to wake up again and get babied and teased mercilessly by his family, and then have to deal with DaddyBats.

Just as Dick was about to perform an excellent imitation of Bruce in one of his brooding moods, a noise caught his attention. As he turned towards it, he caught sight of Barbara wheeling herself through the door, obviously coming in to visit with him.

"Babs..." he murmured, ghosting (literally!) his hand over her red hair as she took hold of his body's hand, like she had done the night before.

"Look at you, Boy Wonder..." Barbara sighed. "I've spent the last seven hours looking at information on comas. I should've known better, with my memory being this good. But... several articles talk about how someone speaking to a coma patient seemed to have positive results. But then again, all the fairy tales say that it's a kiss that breaks the spell."

Dick couldn't help the goofy look that spread across his face as his body received a lingering kiss from his first (and, let's be honest, longtime) love. Of course, it didn't work, but Gotham was far from a fairy tale castle.

Barbara sighed a bit and settled back in her chair. "Well, since a kiss can't wake the sleeping hunk, talking it is."

As she started to talk about the early days and their escapades then, Dick sat on his bed to listen, laughing, smiling or bowing his head and frowning with her at the various memories. Like their first kiss - that was a good one. Soon, though, Leslie came to the room.

"I understand you're worried, but the Commissioner called. He's on his way to pick you up now," the doctor informed her. After Barbara murmured her thanks, the older woman walked back out.

"I'll have to leave you to your beauty sleep, I guess. Dick... Come back to us, ok?" She leaned over to kiss his cheek, then slowly let go of his hand to wheel herself out.

"I'll try, Babs..."

Dick was staring at himself and wondering just HOW in the world he was supposed to get back to normal when someone else decided to visit. Bruce carefully moved a chair next to the bed, right where Barbara herself had been not long before, and sat down. It was only natural that his next move was to pick up the file kept near the bed and look over it, already working more frown lines into place as he looked over his adopted son.

"Hey there, Bruce. Couldn't pretend to work, huh?" Dick leaned towards his mentor a bit.

Bruce sighed and lowered the folder, pinching the bridge of his nose. The man was worried about him, and if Dick hadn't known him so well, he was sure to have found it shocking. It was, however, pretty surprising to actually be able to SEE the worry on the Dark Knight's face.

Unlike with the first Batgirl, Bruce showed no intentions of trying to talk to the coma patient, and seemed content to just sit there and observe Dick, knowing that he was still alive. Dick was just getting uncomfortable with the silence - he never really enjoyed quiet in groups - when the older man's phone started going off.

"Hey, that's not cool. You're supposed to turn your phone off in hospitals and such!"

Bruce pulled the device from his jacket and frowned at the number as he answered it. "How did you get this number," he demanded in a growl.

Dick blinked a couple times. Normally, that voice came from the cowled version.

"Talia." Oh, that would explain the tone. "What sort of proposal... No. I said no. I've seen what those pits - I refuse." The man stood up and walked to the door, still on the phone, and gave one last regretful glance back before storming off, argument back in full swing.

Dick frowned at the departure. Sure, it had been a little strange to hang around with his adoptive father while he was visiting an unresponsive body, but he couldn't help but feel a bit slighted at the departure. Especially when it was prompted by Damian's mother calling.

"Well... She offered to let him use a Lazarus Pit for me... I don't even want to think about what she wants in return."

The acrobat shook his head a bit and looked at himself again for a moment. He couldn't take sitting in there right now... Barely a thought later and Dick found himself on the roof of the clinic, looking up at the sunshine and smog of the city.

(The following scene was written by BlueMoss. Go read her other stuff! BM: I'm a guest speaker! Hahahahahahahahaha)

Tim wasn't sure what he expected to find. When Oracle called him two days ago and told him that Dick was in a coma, he wasn't sure he could believe it. Something in the back of his mind was telling him it was a joke. No way Dick would have let himself get mugged and put in the hospital. Had to be a joke, had to be.

But there he was, laying in that bed with all manner of wires and tubes hooked up to him. Tim didn't move for a long time, taking in the sight. Like he was waiting for Dick to jump and yell "April Fools!", but he didn't. Tim stood over his brother, utterly defeated.

"Damn."

He let out a sigh and slumped into the chair next to Dick's bed. Tim's mind pushed out the sadness and replaced it with guilt.

"I'm sorry, Dick. This is my fault."

Tim leaned forward and rested his forehead on the side of the bed. He shut his eyes tight and had to take a few deep breaths. Dick had called him before he went on his trip.

"Hey, you should come with me! It'll be fun and you've been working so hard lately." "Sorry, Dick. I can't. I have a lot of stuff going on." "That's exactly why you should." "Maybe another time, OK?" "Sure, sure. Let me know when you can pencil me in."

Tim sat up and leaned back in the uncomfortable chair, running both hands over his head and screwing up his hair.

"If I had been there... If I had gone with you this wouldn't have happened."

He was quiet for a while, listening to the hum of the machines that were keeping one of his best friends alive. His shoulders slouched and his arms hung useless at his sides.

After a long time Tim stood. The chair was getting painful.

"I'm here for you now though."

Tim's face contorted into one of disgust. How did he even have the right to say that? He looked to the side and clenched his fists in anger.

"Yeah. Here now that I can't do anything. Now that there's no way I can help you."

He turned to face Dick again and his expression softened.

"Some hero I am. Can't even save my brother."

Tim put his hand to his face. He had to get out of this room. If he didn't he was going to fall apart. And the smell of the clinic was making him nauseous.

"I'll be back later," he spoke into his palm. He turned and left, making a beeline to the door onto the street. When he got outside he took some deep breaths, keeping his eyes closed. He wanted to throw up. He just couldn't stay in there, but he felt like he was abandoning Dick...again.

"Tim?"

He looked up to see a familiar face.

"Steph? ... Are you here to see Dick?"

"Umm... I saw him this morning. I actually came looking for you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, Barbara told me you were over here. Said you looked pretty numb. I wanted to see how you were doing."

"Numb, huh." His eyes were unfocused, looking past her. "Yeah, I wish."

She closed the gap between them in one bound, pulling Tim into a tight hug. "Don't say things like that." she spoke into his shoulder.

He didn't hug her back. "Why not?"

"Because Dick would never want you to feel nothing. Because if you feel nothing then you are nothing. And you definitely are not nothing Tim."

The words struck home and he wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug. "I'm sorry. It's just this is my-"

"Don't you dare say that this is all your fault. I know you're not that selfish."

"But if he..."

She pushed him away, holding him at arm's length. "He's not going to die OK?" she said, like saying it out loud was helping her to believe too.

Tim studied her. How was she being so strong? Why can't he be that strong?

"OK?" she repeated.

He nodded.

Her eyes lit up and she smiled. Like his nod was all she needed to confirm it. "Good. Let's go get some pizza." Stephanie grabbed his arm and led him away. Tim knew that any protest would have been met with a fist to his face.

Besides, pizza sounded pretty good.

When Damian returned to his room some hours later, he found Dick standing next to the window in there. The young crime-fighter narrowed his eyes at the intrusion. "What are you doing in my quarters, Grayson," he demanded.

Dick smiled and turned to face him. "Sorry, Little D. I wanted to talk to you."

"And you felt the need to break into my room, to do it." Damian snorted and folded his arms over his small chest. "What could you have to say that is so important?"

"On patrol tonight... I'm going to stand back and evaluate your decisions and performance. Consider it a... test." Dick gave him a bright smile. "I know you'll do great."

A/N: This one was actually going to contain visits from my whole list of planned ones. Since it was starting to get pretty long (in comparison to the other chapters), I decided to split the planned events into two chapters.

This story is actually moving a lot faster than I thought it would…

Actual Word count: 1911