"Master Colin, your brother is here to take you home." Alfred said, standing in the doorway to Damian's room. Colin looked up at him, standing up off the chair. He grabbed his bag and looked back at the door, to see the empty doorway.

Damian walked with him to the front door, discussing their project the whole time. In the end, they only got a very little amount done on their homework. Other activities (which had absolutely nothing to do with the small love bite that was beginning to form along Colin's neckline) had stolen the time from them.

Tim was standing beside the front door, chatting idly with Dick about university.

"My classes are going really well." Tim said. "I'm glad I took a gap year to sort out everything that happened. It really helped."

"I'm glad to hear you're doing okay, Tim." Dick said, resting his hand on Tim's shoulder comfortingly.

"Thanks Dick." Tim replied, seeing Colin descend the stairs. "Hey Colin." He said, smiling at his adopted brother.

"Hey Tim," Colin said. "I thought mum was going to pick me up in an hour." He admitted, looking at his brother curiously. Damian hung back deliberately, having learnt years before that openly insulting and/or threatening to kill or injure Colin's older brother did not end well.

"I've got a long weekend and I thought we could hang out for a while." Tim said.

"Sure!" Colin agreed eagerly. "I'll see you tomorrow Damian. We can do some more research in the library." He said, following Tim out the door.

"We will need to work on my laptop together to piece the project together." Damian said, tucking his hands in his pockets.

"Oh yeah. I guess I should tell my mum I'll be here tomorrow as well." Colin said, turning around to look at Damian.

"I thought you were working on your project this whole time." Dick said, looking at Damian curiously.

"It is a very detailed project." Damian replied stoically, his face perfectly blank. Colin smirked and turned around, speeding up to walk beside Tim.

"What's that smirk for?" Tim asked, smiling at the faint blush on Colin's cheeks and the edge of a small bruise peeping out from under his shirt collar.

"Nothing." Colin said quickly, avoiding Tim's eye.

"Sure." Tim said, jostling Colin's shoulder playfully. "I'd cover up that hickie before mum sees if I were you. God knows what she'll say when she sees it." Colin's hand instinctively covered the area where the mark in question was, blushing harder.

"Did she ever catch you with one?" Colin said, hoping to catch his brother out.

"Mum never had the chance. Alfred taught me how to cover bruises with make up." Tim replied easily, betraying no secrets. "I'll teach you when we get home." He said, reaching the motorcycle he'd arrived on.

"Thanks Tim." Colin said, taking the spare helmet and fitting it over his head.

Ten minutes later, they were sat in a hole-in-the-wall diner, looking over the menus.

"How's everything at school?" Tim asked, putting the menu back down on the table.

"It's going really well. I'm starting to get consistent B's in pretty much everything." Colin said, looking at his brother.

"What can I get you two?" The waitress asked, standing at the table. They quickly ordered and gave the waitress their menus.

"How's university?" Colin asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"A lot better than it was." Tim admitted. "I'm glad I can still ask Babs for help on the writing side of the course. I can do the practical stuff easily, it's just writing all down which annoys me."

"But it's okay? You're okay, right?" Colin asked. Tim's expression softened and he smiled at the red head.

"Of course. It's just a bit stressful. I'm totally okay, Col." Tim reassured him. Colin nodded and watched as the waitress placed their food on the table.

"What about you're out of school activities?" Tim asked, tucking in. There was a tone in his voice which Colin caught onto instantly.

"It's going okay." Colin said, taking a bite. He kept his voice relaxed and loose.

"What about your special skill? Have you given it your grand début yet?" Tim asked, glancing at Colin.

"You would have heard about it if I had." Colin answered, not meeting his eye. "I haven't found the right moment." He said.

"That's alright, Colin. Keep it as an ace up your sleeve if you want to." Tim said kindly. He knew Colin was unsure and self-conscious of his 'special skill'.

"I know." Colin said, breathing a little sigh.

"Hey," Tim said, catching his attention. "Why don't we go see a movie at the weekend? There's that new action film that looks pretty good." He suggested, smiling at the way Colin brightened.

"That sounds great." He agreed.