"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."

-Galadriel

oOo

Alfred never went without worrying when it came to the Bat-business, that was for sure. He would call Batman when he was out too long, and he would hastily call Robin when Batman did not pick up. If all else failed he would make two calls; one to Dr. Leslie Thompkins and one to Superman, asking Leslie to hurry over with her medical supplies assuming severe injury, and asking the Man of Steel to find the location of his charges, and most definitely staying in constant contact.

Alfred had called at midnight for his usual half-night check-in and without a response, was about to contact Robin when the zeta tubes suddenly whirred to life. Alfred took a step back, confused as to why someone from the League was coming and then heard the tubes announce Team members.

The butler was an intelligent man and he knew that on the chance that a teammate might recognize him, perhaps from the television, both Robin's and Batman's identities would be compromised. He quickly darted into the shadows before the Team materialized and applied a mask over his face, concealing himself. He held in a chuckle while the Team looked around wildly with awe and excitement, and, channeling the master of shadows in him, glided into plain sight and cleared his throat.

"May I assist you?"

All the teens jumped, some more subtly than others, and Aqualad, the quickest to recover, replied, "I'm afraid there was a situation..."

Alfred did not know what to make of the fact that Kid Flash was not present, but he was certain that this situation was a dire one, and was the reason for the lack of communication from the Bat and his apprentice. he swallowed down his fear and bid Aqualad to continue. Of course, the ever skeptical Artemis jumped in before the dark-skinned leader could explain. "Who, exactly, are you again?"

The butler forgave her imprudence immediately and replied, "I am Agent A. Batman's assistant from his very beginning. You can trust me, Artemis, I assure you," And just to prove himself, he went on, "And you are accompanied by Conner Kent; Superboy, M'gann M'orzz (or Megan Morse as she is known in her non-Martian form); Miss Martian, and Kaldur'ahm; Aqualad, and your leader. But where is Wally West; Kid Flash? Is there something I should be concerned about...?" He had pushed himself very hard to refrain from saying "Wallace" when referring to speedster.

Aqualad, once again spoke. "We were at a theater in Happy Harbor waiting for Robin. We did not know for sure if he would come, but Wally had texted him to ask if he would like to see a movie with us..."

"Whatever were you doing at a theater this late?"

"It was a midnight showing," Miss Martian explained. "Ah," Alfred bade Kaldur continue. The Atlantean did so. "Wally received a call from Robin. Batman...he was stabbed. Kid left to transport him here, which means he will probably arrive soon, if he knows the way. We arrived by zeta tube... Robin called us and told us to come here. He thought perhaps you would know what to do..."

The Team watched nervously as the old man took a shocked step back, placed a shaking hand over his heart, and then, to regain his composure, took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Yes. I do know what to do. Please wait here." With that, Agent A swept to the computer and immediately contacted both Leslie and Clark. Batman had been stabbed before, but not while the Team was in existence. Perhaps they were simply overwhelmed at the fact that such a thing had happened to the seemingly invincible Bat.

Certainly living up to his title of "most faithful butler ever" Alfred waited patiently for the response that would save the Dark Knight's life

oOo

Kid Flash knew he was headed in the right direction when he saw the dark castle of Wayne Manor appear in his field of vision. He made straight for the Batmobile entrance and barreled right in, almost dropping Batman in the process. Agent A swiftly made his way over and placed his charge on the operating table. The Team members, still standing around awkwardly, took stock of the damage to Batman and silently made their way for the exit where KF had come in. Kid Flash himself noticed this and, after deciding Alfred had the situation under control, joined the rest outside.

"What, exactly, are you doing here?" he asked.

Artemis shrugged. "Robin asked us to come and make sure this 'Agent A' guy knew what was going on. Where is the little troll, by the way?"

"Heading here, I guess. I kind of left him behind. He knew I'd be faster, especially holding Batman. Not sure Rob would have made it here in time..." Wally responded regretfully. Conner raised an eyebrow. "Well, what took you so long?" Kid Flash glared weakly before explaining, "Got lost once or twice. It's not like I have a mental map of the city." Suddenly spotting a small dark shape quickly moving in their direction, he pointed it out to the others.

"It's Robin." Superboy confirmed, seconds before the boy landed in front of them silently. "Where is he?" the urgent voice was somewhat raspy the others noticed, but they quickly responded and pointed into the Cave. Robin brushed past and was drawn into an intense but very quiet conversation with Agent A. Another noise drew the Team's attention back to the sky, where Superman's bright colors greeted them. The Boy Scout landed and scanned the group before also making his way inside.

The Team still said nothing when a grey-haired woman dressed in medical clothes rushed into the Cave as well. Knowing they would only get in the way, they waited patiently until Superman awkwardly made his way outside to them and said, after clearing his throat, "Looks like I'm not needed after all. I'm taking all you kids back."

And so , they went back in the cave, spotting the woman and Agent A rushing about and helping Bruce while Robin sat on another examination table, with his gloves, boots, and vest already taken off and already part way through pulling off his shirt. "Thanks guys," he mumbled in their direction as they made their way to the zeta tube. Kaldur nodded back at him and they all walked, one by one, into the tube and then materialized in Mt. Justice. Kid Flash and Artemis grabbed their things while Superboy, Miss M, and Aqualad all got ready for bed, all in deep thought.

Conner did his best not to make eye contact with Superman, and immediately stormed off into his room while Kaldur and Megan followed more cautiously. "So much for the whole movie thing..." Artemis whispered to Kid Flash as he entered his location into the zeta console. Wally shrugged it off. "Well, now I'm really hungry. Batman's a pretty heavy guy, that took a lot out of me..." and with that he dematerialized, Artemis and Superman following.

For each and every one of them, the entire night was simply awkward. Thoughts of Batman's injury, the mysterious Agent A, and Robin's predicament swirled around in their restless brains until sleep overtook them.

oOo

Leslie peeled off her gloves and wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand.

Robin was automatically looking up to her expectantly, waiting for a report. The doctor looked at him and, deciding his own injuries could wait to be examined until afterwards, sat next to him and sighed.

"The knife itself didn't hit anything major. He's got a pretty tender wound, though, so he definitely needs to rest and make sure to not pull his stitches. He has no other concerning injuries except for the stab wound in his side, of course, so I cleaned and stitched it up. It will naturally heal on it's own, but he's already lost quite a bit of blood so the only thing he can do now is sleep. Make sure he does absolutely no strenuous activities and keep a watch out for internal bleeding. I don't want him pulling his stitches and bleeding out even more."

Alfred, who stood nearby with Bruce, cowl-less and without some parts of his suit, affirmed Leslie's requests and went in cleaning up after the medical crisis.

Robin let out a satisfied sigh before peeling off his mask and burying his head in his hands. Leslie drew him close and rubbed his back for him while he silently cried tears of relief. "So," she asked to lighten the mood. "Which baddie was it this time?"

Dick looked up and rubbed his eyes. "Bane."

Leslie nodded and continued rubbing his back. Having finished his cleaning of the area, Alfred looked up and hurried over. "My goodness, Master Richard! You must be freezing in only your leggings! Why don't we put on some tea and rest in bed..." Walking off with the silent boy, the butler looked over his shoulder and said to Leslie, who was gathering her equipment together, "Thank you very much, Dr. Tompkins, for your services and on such short notice. I believe I can handle these two for now. If something comes up I will contact you."

Dick barely touched his tea. Alfred looked sadly at the boy and helped him upstairs, leaving him with a short message of "Goodnight, Master Richard. Sleep well." But Dick knew he couldn't do that. Not if the nightmares tormented him again tonight. And he had no doubt that they would.

IMPORTANT! If you have a good quote that might fit this story, please PM me! I'll give you a week or two to submit your answers. I know there's plenty out there that would work and you guys are all creative.