Four

Warning(s): Language

Despite Beth's stubborn prodding, she never did learn why my dress got so dirty. I refused to budge from my story (even though I myself found it as flimsy as she did). I didn't want her to worry unnecessarily about me going out; I didn't need an overprotective mom figure. All my life I've never been closely monitored, and I definitely wasn't going to start now, best friend or no. Begrudgingly, the curly haired beauty finally gave up (with a roll of her eyes and a crossing of her arms might I add).

Regardless, while Beth finally stopped nagging me, my own paranoia did not. A week slipped by, and the nervous crackle of static that followed my every step clung to me like a second skin and refused to go away. Annoyed, but also willing to acknowledge that trekking about the alleyways of Gotham now made me unbearably apprehensive, I relentlessly tried to calm down my now rampant technological empathy. Ever since That Night (or as I like to call it, the-worst-date-in-the-history-of-terrible-dates), it was like my body sent out a homing beacon that caused every electronic in a twenty-foot radius to hone in on me. I felt like a giant electromagnet that had it's off switch destroyed. Every light seemed to brighten when I walked by it, cell phones rang insistently in the pockets of strangers, and the (admittedly useless) traffic cameras followed my every move. I've even had to quickly stop an idling car or two from tailing after me, much to mine and the drivers of said cars' horror.

Needless to say, I was freaked out and potentially scarred for life, no matter how much I tried to deny it. In Colorado, I never had to deal with random thugs wanting to rob me, nor caped and masked vigilantes swooping in to save my butt. Gotham though, I quickly learned, was a whole other can of worms.

...and then of course there was the problem of my wallet going AWOL. The day after my encounter with the thugs, I returned to the scene of the crime. I was probably being too naively hopeful by wishing my wallet would still sitting innocently on the pavement beside the ATM machine. Of course, it wasn't there. After interrogating a rather figuratively tight-lipped ATM machine camera (I'm sure I looked like a complete basket case while doing so), I resigned my search and headed back to my dorm.

I couldn't help but think the person who had swooped in to save me, who I had finally figured to be Robin, had taken my wallet. While I wouldn't have been too worried about that, I couldn't help thinking that he saw the extent of my abilities while he knocked out the goons behind me. It was because of this that I not only thought some petty criminals would come after me, but some curious "superheroes" as well.

Eventually, when the second week rolled around after the incident, I finally convinced myself that nothing bad would happen to me. My powers dampened to a more manageable level, and I found myself going back to the previous daily routine I had established weeks prior. While it was undoubtedly awkward sitting a few rows away from Luke in English, everything else remained relatively the same. That relative sameness kind of unsettled me because honestly I expected something to change. But nope, nothing did.

"Leslie, are you even listening to me?" Beth asked, her eyes narrowed with a french fry poised near her mouth.

Caught in my internal musing, I blinked before glancing down at the half eaten burger in my hands. It had become a sort of tradition for us to eat greasy, unhealthy food every Thursday. It didn't really start up until the second week we'd started classes, but I figured it'd been almost two months, and it could be considered tradition now. It was one of the many things in my routine I could count on.

"Uh, yeah," I answered with a chagrined smile and a bat of my lashes.

"No you weren't, you freakin' liar," Beth replied with an accusatory tone as she pointed at me with her french fry. "What did I even say, hm?"

"Um, that you have a date with Ryan tomorrow…?"

My roommate looked at me with suspicion before popping her fry into her mouth. "Lucky guess."

Another sort of tradition that had started up, albeit more recently, was Beth's dates with Ryan every Tuesday and Friday night. Though I didn't think the couple intentionally made it out to be so predictable, I couldn't help but notice. I thought it was sort of cute, and I was silently really happy that the two got along so well.

I rolled my eyes at her dramatics before stuffing the burger into my mouth.

"By the way, Les, there was a package for you by the door step today," Beth said after a few beats of silence.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Who'd send me something?"

Beth shrugged as she pushed herself off the carpet that was in front of our coffee table and stood up. She rubbed her hands on the sweatpants she was wearing. "Not sure. There wasn't a return address on the package, so I just left it in your room." Beth cocked her head in contemplation before she gave another shrug. "Tell me what it is. It didn't weigh that much despite the fact it was a big box." With that Beth gathered up her trash, threw it away, and strolled over to her room so she could slip behind the door.

Curious now, I stood up as well and walked over to my door. I wiped the grease off my hand and turned the knob.

My room was dark, so I walked inside with my arms held out in front of me like some sort of zombie. After stepping over a few piles of clothes, my knees bumped into my bed. I crawled on top of it and patted my hand against the wall until I found the wire that led to a plug for some Christmas lights that hung above my bed. Grasping the wire, I poked at the wall with the plug until I was able to find an outlet and finally cause a warm flood of dim lighting to wash over me. Blinking so that my eyes could adjust to the light, I turned my attention to the box that lay at the foot of my bed.

True to Beth's word, the package didn't have a return address, and the only writing on the box was a few scribbles that spelled out my name. Suspicious, but still predominantly driven by my curiosity, I grabbed at the edge of the box and pulled it towards me. I frowned at how light it was. The size of the box certainly belied the true nature of what lay inside it. It weighed about as much as a bag of feathers. I shrugged before digging my hand into the tape that held the box's top flaps together. I caught my nails on the edge of it and yanked it back. The tape came off surprisingly cleanly, and I balled it up before throwing it over towards my door. Moving the box's flaps, I stuck my hand into to the dark crevice.

My hand patted around a few seconds before it caught the edge of a postcard attached to something leathery. My brows furrowed as I pulled the thing out. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach when I finally saw what was in the box.

My wallet lay in my palm, looking as shiny as it had looked the night I had left it at the ATM. A rubber band wrapped around the middle of the black leather, allowing a crisp, white note card to be bound to it.

I swallowed the saliva that pooled in my mouth before lightly yanking the note card off my wallet. The rubber band rolled off with it, and I quickly flipped open my wallet to investigate it. After a thorough search, I noted that nothing seemed to be out of place.

I turned back to the note card, a sense of dread wrapping around my stomach. I picked it up with shaky hands and flipped it over. In the same scrawl that adorned the cardboard box, the note card simply read,

Found this. Thought you might want it back.

-R

"Holy shit," I breathed, my heartbeat increasing. Robin had been to my dorm. He knew where I lived...He could know practically everything about me now! I felt a distinct fear sink its claws into me. Batman might know what I am now.

I threw the note card away from me, and I watched as it fluttered to the ground. I turned to my wallet and patted my fingers around its sides. I closed my eyes and sent out my empathy just to make sure some sort of tracker wasn't hidden in it. When an electrical signal failed to radiate from my wallet, I allowed myself to relax, if only slightly.

Licking my chapped lips, I pushed myself off the bed. I grabbed at the box and stuff the note card inside of it. I then swooped down and grabbed the ball of tape so I could toss it into the box as well. I opened the door, peered over at Beth's, and then tiptoed my way to our door. I unlocked it and slipped outside.

When I returned to the dorm after dumping the box in the dumpster just outside the dorm building, I darted into my room and tucked myself deep under my blankets. It might have been a bit childish, but I secretly hoped the blanket could ward off my fears...or Batman. Either one worked. It might be weird to be afraid of Batman even though I technically haven't done anything wrong (so what if I cheated a time or two on a test, I hardly think that warrants a crime-fighting vigilante attention). Just the thought though of him finding out about my powers and deeming me unsafe terrified me.

I've seen what happens to people with these extra abilities. I didn't want to be locked in a place like Arkham...and I definitely didn't want to be a superhero.

"Beth! Be-eth. Bethy-poo. Elizabeth Marie Johnson!"

"Oh my gosh, Leslie I swear if you don't shut-"

"But it's important, Bethy-poo!"

The curly haired girl looked up from the finance textbook sprawled out in her lap and over at me with a scowl carved into her face. "Fine, I'll listen if you stop saying that."

"Saying what? Bethy-poo? I dunno, I kind of like it, ya' know? Makes you sound less intimidating."

"Leslie, I have test I need to be studying for, so please, spill whatever you want to tell-"

"Okay, okay, sheesh." I rolled my eyes before I practically bounced over to her and hung myself around her shoulders. I pressed my cheek against Beth's with a wide grin. "Guess what?"

After a few moments of Beth waiting expectantly for me to continue, she sighed and glanced over at me from the corner of her eye. "Fine, what?"

"I got the internship!"

Beth's eyes widened and she smiled briefly at me before pushing me off of her. I laughed as I twirled away from the couch. "They called a few minutes ago. My first shift is tomorrow. Do you know what this means, Bethy-poo? I made it! I can finally start my lifelong goal of helping humanity grow technologically." I sighed dreamily before draping over the arm of the couch to where I was looking at Beth at an upside down angle. "It's so surreal."

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you got the internship. From what I've heard, it's really hard to get. So why don't you go out and get some celebratory ice cream or something?" Beth turned back to her textbook and I pretended not to hear her mutter the 'so I can get some actual work done' under her breath.

"Great idea! Want me to get you something?"

"No, no I'm fine."

I watched as Beth hunched back over her textbook, and I huffed like a dog that's being ignored by its owner. "Alright, I'll be back later."

I swung up from my upside down position and marched towards the door. I paused, then spun back to the living room to grab my purse. Checking to make sure my new wallet (this one had little dogs all over it, I figured I didn't want a constant reminder of my paranoia) was tucked safely inside, I slipped my phone out of my back pocket. I glanced up at Beth, and noted that she probably didn't even look up from her textbook.

"Okay, well, now I'm leaving," I mumbled while twiddling my fingers half-heartedly at Beth. When the girl only gave me the briefest of nods, I ducked my head and headed out.

When I finally meandered my way down the dorm building, my nose was buried deep into my phone, and I definitely wasn't paying attention. I had full confidence that either my peripherals or phone would warn me of anything coming my way. Too bad my phone didn't get the memo, and a rather interesting article on Superman had garnered my full attention.

I barely registered the couple in front of me, and unfortunately for me, I accidentally tripped over one of their heels. I gave a startled yelp, my hands flinging forward and smacking the person I had tripped over's back. The solid thump had them toppling over too, and I squeaked when I landed on top of them.

"Oh my gosh, I am so, so, so sorry!" I gasped as I scrambled back to my feet, my face practically on fire.

The other person let loose a loud laugh that bent him in half, and I turned to stare dumbfoundedly at who decided this was funny. "Dick?" I nearly screeched, and if at all possible, my face grew hotter. Dear God, smite me now please.

"You should see your face right now," Dick chuckled as he wiped at some imaginary tears. "Absolutely priceless."

"Yeah, well, maybe I should fix yours, asshole. And by the way, thanks for helping me up. Really appreciate it," muttered the person I had tripped over. I felt a ball drop in my stomach. Oh my gosh did I really just forget about the poor dude I had just tripped over?

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" I said while trying to smother the feeling of wanting to cover my face. I turned to assess the damage I'd caused, but I felt my brain stutter to a stop.

If I had thought Dick was hot, this dude definitely exceeded expectations. While he looked a little younger than Dick (more around my age actually), I couldn't deny that this guy held a certain appeal that I couldn't quite put my finger on. As he dusted off the dirt that had stuck to his knees, I noticed that his hands looked large and scuffed. My eyes trailed up to his face, and along the way I noted that he had a black jacket covering a white shirt that now also had a bit of dirt on it. His nose was where I momentarily stopped. It looked really nice, and if I were a more artistically inclined person, I'd say it looked like some marble statue's nose. His hair, a dark black, spiked up around his face, and I had the strange urge to ruffle it up more despite its already messy appearance.

Blinking, I realized I was staring, and I finally forced myself to look the guy in the eyes. I almost had a panic attack.

Startling light blue guys pierced my own, and I could see a glimmer of something I couldn't quite identify in his eyes (it looked strangely like recognition, but I'm pretty sure I've never seen him before), but cocky amusement quickly replaced it. It took me about .3 seconds to realize that he had totally seen me checking him out, and I looked away from his face and slid my hand up to rake through my bangs nervously.

"You done checking me out yet?" He asked, a smirk toying at the corner of his lips.

I had to force myself to swallow the strangled noise rising in my throat. Avoiding direct eye contact, I promptly decided to ignore his question. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going, and it's totally my fault that you fell. I really should start to pay attention when I'm walking. I nearly run into people all the time and I..." I cut myself off before I could ramble on.

Raising one brow, the guy appraised me for a few seconds. "I'm fine," He curtly replied before turning to Dick, "You know her, Grayson?"

"Yeah, we met a few weeks ago when I went to go visit Barbara. Glad to see you're still doing good, Leslie," Dick said, a dazzling smile taking up his face.

"Ah, you too, Dick. I'll uh...leave you two gentlemen alone now...I think my roommate is calling me," I announced while shaking my phone at them. Right as I was about to turn and flee to the nearest restroom so I could go drown myself and end my mortification, an arm slung itself around my shoulders.

"Now, Leslie, there's no need to rush! We both know your phone's not ringing, and you were obviously out here for a reason. Why don't we go get something to eat? That way we can properly catch up, and I can introduce you to my brother, Jason," Dick suggested with a jerk in the direction of the guy I had knocked down.

"I'm not your brother," the newly dubbed Jason growled out with his arms crossed.

"Ouch, that hurts," Dick replied with mock hurt lacing his voice.

"Good."

After a few more playful and not so playful words were exchanged in a similar manner, Dick looked back down at me. "But really, Leslie, what do you say?"

"I...I mean, if you guys want to go get some ice cream, I was just about to go get some…" I finally conceded.

"Great! I've been craving something sweet lately to be honest. Do you have a place in mind? I know this one little parlor that has the best little bakery inside of it," Dick prattled as he steered me down the street. "Come on, Jaybird."

"What have I told you about calling me that?" Jason bit out, but when I peeked back at him, I noticed that he trailed after us.

I felt like my face had a permanent red glow on it. In all honestly, I didn't really feel up to eating with, admittedly, attractive boys...especially after I tripped over one of them and caused him to fall. However, the weight on my shoulders didn't disappear, and Dick's cheerful chatter filled my ears. I couldn't help but internally chuckle at his blabbering. He didn't initially seem like such a chatterbox.

We soon entered a tiny family owned ice cream parlor with a bakery inside of it. The person behind the counter, a round short Hispanic man with a black mustache that showed signs of graying, practically lit up when he caught sight of Dick, and excitedly greeted us in a rough voice.

"Mr. Grayson and Mr. Todd! What a pleasure to see you again! I was beginning to think you'd never come back here!" The man proclaimed with a wide smile.

Dick laughed. "I could never stay away from here, Julio. You're wife makes the best cookies."

"Haha! That she does! And who is your friend here?" Julio asked with an inquisitive glance. I still had Dick's arm draped around me.

"Ah, where are my manners! Alfred would be so disappointed in me!" Dick exclaimed. I idly wondered who Alfred was as I spotted the ever constant twinkle in Dick's eye brighten. He slid his arm off of me and gestured towards me with his hand. "Leslie, this is Julio Garcia. Julio, this is Leslie."

I smiled. "Nice to meet you, sir."

Julio waved a hand. "None of that 'sir', business. Please, call me Julio. Now, what can I get you?"

Jason hung back behind us as Dick immediately ordered some chocolate chip cookies, and I peered into the glass encasing the ice cream. When Dick got his order, he gestured towards a booth by the window and went to sit beside it. I was still ordering, so I nodded and continued to peruse the ice cream.

"Are you going to pick anything anytime soon?" Jason asked from behind me. "Some of us are waiting."

I glanced back at him. "You can pick something out before me if you want."

He shrugged and stepped beside me. "You know, they have some very good vanilla ice cream."

I scrunched up my nose. "I didn't peg you for a vanilla type of person."

"What did you peg me as then?"

I blushed when I looked up at him and noticed that he was staring at me. I've never been very good at talking to guys I find attractive. "I...I dunno, maybe a chocolate peanut butter type of person."

Jason gave another cocky smirk and shook his head. He told Julio that he wanted a single scoop of vanilla in a bowl. When he got it, he walked over to sit across from Dick. I stared at his back before I turned back to the ice cream.

Eventually, I decided on getting some coffee flavored ice cream. I held out my money, but Julio just waved it off. Not one to pass up free things, I smiled broadly at him and thanked him for my ice cream.

I walked over to the booth, waffle cone tightly clenched in my hand as I licked at the treat inside. Dick looked up from his phone, his eyes flickering to the ice cream in my hand. "I see you finally picked something," he said with amusement drenching his tone.

"Yeah, it only took you, what? Ten minutes?" Jason drawled as he licked the ice cream on the spoon in his hand.

I looked at them both with a deadpan expression before dryly stating, "You guys were the ones that dragged me here...literally."

"We're joking," Jason replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey, Leslie, why don't you come sit by me?" Dick suggested before I could reply. He shot Jason a brief glare, but the way that his face reverted back to its constantly amused expression made me think I'd imagined it.

"Uh, sure." I slid in beside the black haired boy. We sat in silence for a few moments with me just absently licking at my ice cream cone, Jason staring out at the street with his spoon dipping in and out of his bowl, and Dick texting (I'd gotten better at not being nosy during my teenage years, so I was able to successfully block out the words residing on the edge of my thoughts). When I couldn't stand the silence any longer (okay so I caved even though like a couple seconds passed), I blurted the first question that came to mind, "So...what's this about you two being brothers?"

Jason opened his mouth to say something, but Dick intervened before he could. "We're not technically brothers. We're both adopted actually. Our father is...well..." Dick looked a little uncomfortable then, and I felt my curiosity pique.

"He's Bruce Wayne," Jason stated bluntly.

Both of them looked at me expectantly, like I was supposed dissolve into a fit of excited giggles or something. I will admit, I did feel a bit of a whirl in my stomach at the news, but I just blinked in mild shock. "You mean to tell me your...dad...is Bruce Wayne? As in the Bruce Wayne? Like, Bruce Wayne of Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

"Oh...okay."

Dick stared at me with faint surprise while Jason turned back to gaze out the window with his spoon in his mouth. I looked at them both in confusion when they failed to respond. "What?"

"That's it? No fangirling? No freaking out?" Dick asked.

"...No? Does that thing happen often? I mean, that's really, really cool that your dad is like, one of the richest guys, and the CEO of my dream company, but I mean, I'm not gonna like, explode into happy fairy dust now that I have a way to meet Bruce Wayne. I mean I get that he's like supposed to be super hot and all-and he is a part of a super successful company-, but isn't he sort of...no offense, super vain or ditzy or something? Besides, I'm already guaranteed to meet him thanks to my new internship at his company."

Dick looked extremely amused by my thoughts on Bruce Wayne as he muttered offhandedly,"I guess that's one way of putting it." Jason snorted at that.

"So you have an internship there? When did that happen?" Dick asked after a moment of processing the rest of what I said.

"I was called this morning and told that I got the position. That's sorta why I was out and about…I wanted to celebrate," I replied before nibbling on my ice cream cone.

"Well, I'm glad I forced you to come with us then. I'd hate to think you didn't get ice cream because of us."

"Actually, it would've been my fault because I tripped over you…"

"In any case, I say we give a toast to your new intern-" Before Dick could finish his sentence, his phone started ringing. I tried to ignore the sound (I'd been doing so good lately, no slip ups for a few weeks now), but I found my eyes sliding over to Dick's lap. The smart phone sat cradled in between his legs, the screen lit up with an unlisted number emblazoned where the contact name would've been. "Ah, let me get this real quick. Leslie, you mind scooting out?"

I did just that, my curiosity returning as the older boy slid out behind me and walked over to the door and stepped outside. I really wanted to not listen in, honest, but the phone I had been diligently ignoring seemed to be calling out to me more than normal. I stood there, my hand curled around my cone, melted ice cream trailing down my fingers, and listened (slightly) unwillingly.

Most of the conversation I was able to block out, but a few whispered words came through. The person on the other line sounded like they were telling Dick about something happening in a place called Blüdhaven. I couldn't quite catch what it was about, only that the other person sounded like they wanted to have Dick check it out...though what Dick could do to "check out" this Blüdhaven place (It sounded really creepy now that I think about it. I mean who names a place that sounds like Bloodhaven?), I didn't know. Dick replied with a terse affirmative before hanging up on the person.

"You do realize you're making a huge mess right now, right?" Jason remarked.

I jumped a bit when he said that, not even realizing I'd just been standing there staring out at Dick. I turned to the other dark haired boy, noticing that he'd finished his ice cream and was now just reclining in his seat with a slight curl at the end of the corner of his lips. I looked then down at my hand and internally groaned. My hand was drenched in caramel color liquid, and I could tell that it was already sticking stubbornly to my skin.

"Well I do now," I deadpanned as I grabbed at some napkins that sat in the middle of the table.

"You do know Grayson has a girlfriend right?" Jason continued.

I didn't. I mean he's good looking, so why wouldn't he have a girlfriend? "I mean...I figured? Is it Barbara?"

Jason's nose crinkled in disgust. "Barbie? Hell no. It's some girl he met...out of town." The way he said the last part made me think he wanted to tell me something else. I didn't say anything about that, but I did catalog that for further examination at a later date. "Her name's Kori...at least that's her nickname."

"Well good for him."

"Yeah, so you should probably tone down on the staring there, blondie."

"I was not staring at him!"

"Oh right, you must've been admiring Dickie then, huh?"

"I-I-Oh my gosh, I wasn't doing anything like that! My eyes just happened to in his direction when I was thinking!"

"Sure...thinking about that Dick."

My face and ears felt really warm when I caught onto the double entendre. It got worse when the topic of our discussion walked in with a smile plastered onto his face.

"Sorry about that guys, I just got a call in from work. I need to go cover someone's shift. Sorry for skipping out on you like this, Leslie. Especially since I sort of forced you to come," Dick said with an apologetic tone.

"Uh, it's fine, really. I understand," I replied quickly while running a hand through my hair. Hopefully it covered my ears enough to where Dick couldn't see how red they still were.

"Okay great. I guess I'll be seeing you later then?"

"Er, yeah. Have fun at work."

"Oh, he will," Jason chimed in before he stood up to leave too.

"Oh...well...good I guess?" I said as I watched Dick give Jason a pointed look and then turn to wave at me.

"You take care, Leslie, and don't be a stranger." Dick turned and said goodbye to Julio as well before he made his way outside. Less than three seconds later Jason also left with nod in my direction.

I stood in the parlor, a little confused as I watched the two boys disappear into the crowds. Their quick escape left me a little dizzy, and it took me a few seconds to realize that I was just standing there. I threw away the rest of my soggy cone.

It wouldn't be until much later that I realized that I should've followed the boys...or at least asked for one of their numbers. Of course, by then it'd be a bit too late.

"You know that one person I encountered a few weeks ago?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I think I remember. Why?"

"That was her."

"Oh? Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah...I don't want to tell Bruce yet though. I want to be certain. Last thing I need is him thinking I'm being a dumb kid and not take me seriously."

"You do realize it's impossible to keep anything from him, right? He's going to find out, one way or another."

"Yeah, well you better not tell him, dickhead. I don't know why I even told you in the first place."

"Because I found out about it? Like how Bruce will. You really shouldn't be out patrolling alone while the Joker is on the loose. You know how anal Bruce is about that."

"Shut up. I know what I'm doing."

"Always so rude...I'm just trying to watch out for you. Didn't Alfred teach you any manners?"

"Didn't you have a mission?"

"...Touché."

I told you it'd be a while before an update didn't I? Also an explanation on some things is that this is a slightly AU story with a lot of comic elements still tying into it. My time line's a little confusing (even to me sadly), but this takes place basically about 5 years after Jason is taken in by Batman at 12 (I couldnt quite find his real age anyway pre new 52 so yeahh…that the basic origin we're going with btw, the one where he's stealing a tire and all that). Anyway this story is 5 years later, Jason's 17 and basically about to not be robin anymore...I think you know what that means. Barbara, is also not getting paralyzed until later on after Jason's death. She should be around...20ish at this time along with Dick. But yeah, just wanted to clarify that the time line for this is a little wonky.

Side note: yay, about to actually start the good stuff after this!