"Hello, how ya been?" says the cheerful brunet that is the real Gardner LaRou. He watches the shop's door swing to a close behind this redhead and the little ding-a-ling goes almost unnoticed. He had been typing up a section of a five page essay on his phone that he has due the next day that he definitely had not been procrastinating on.

The male looks to be about seventeen, maybe a fresh eighteen. He looks around, looking a little surprised at the lack of customers despite it being the weekend. Then, he shrugs. "Nothing much. What's on the menu today?"

"Today's special would be the Forbidden Fruit Sandwich with a lil' side dish of cinnamon apples or oatmeal. Kinda on the breakfast-y side, I know, but it's delicious."

"I'll have that then with both side dishes if I can."

Gardner bobs his head, conveying a bright smile. He isn't usually this nice to customers but anyone who inadvertently helps him procrastinate on writing a thesis is a star in his books. He's about to turn around to begin the orders when the boy speaks.

"Wait, what does your name tag say?" he asks with his eyes comically wide.

The brunet raises his brows. "Er... it should say Gardner LaRou unless I grabbed the wrong apron."

"Gardner LaRou," repeats the boy with hair the color of flaming embers and sunset evenings. "That's your name? Gardner LaRou?"

All right, now Gardner has to furrow his brows in confusion. He nods his head slowly. "Yeah," he says. "It is. Does it offend you or something? Is my name tag crooked?"

Shaking his own head slowly, the freckled boy says, "No, no. It's just the Gardner LaRou who works here that I know has black hair and blue eyes and definitely shorter than you. You're clearly not him."

Right. Right, right, right. It takes Gardner a few seconds to be able to vaguely recalls his ex-coworker's words. Something about how, if anyone asked, the black-haired boy really was Gardner LaRou. Right now, however, it was too late to back out and play it off as a joke or mistake.

Hopefully, Gardner thinks, this stranger can be persuaded to forget about this and leave.

As bad as he is with them, Gardner wants to think that he's more than capable of keeping at least one promise. Yeah, just one.

"Look, whoever you are, I'm really not at liberty to discuss this right now," Gardner mutters under his breath, narrowing his eyes sullenly.

"Later, then," says the boy. "My name's Wally—Wally West. Look, it's really important that you tell me. Please."

"I don't know, kid, I promised him that I—"

Wally narrows his eyes suspiciously; they glow a flaming spring green, burning into Gardner's mind. "He's hiding something, isn't he? What's his real name?"

•••

"Dick, there's... there's going to be someone coming over in a few days to check up on you."

Raising his brows, Gardner moves to a sitting position on the couch he had been laying on for the past half hour. He sees Tim in the doorway, biting his lip as he leaned against the solid wood. The older boy says nothing, waiting for the younger one to respond.

"A visitor?" Gardner asks, frowning. "It's not a doctor, is it? I feel perfectly fine."

"Oh, it's a doctor of sorts, I guess," Tim says, giving him a half-smile. "Though, I'm not too sure if she has a degree. She used to hold counseling sessions when you were on the Team."

Blue eyes light up in recognition. "Black Canary?" he asks before he can stop himself.

Tim nods, moving closer so he can sit on the end of the couch. "She's going to be here at some point in the afternoon on Monday. I thought I'd tell you now so you can get ready."

"Wait, she's coming here? Bat Cave here or Wayne Manor here?" Gardner inquires. He furrows his brows. "Did Bruce decide to...?"

"Ol' man decided that she needs the full shebang if she wants to be able to help you," came Jason's disembodied voice. One quick look around reveals the male to be entering from the opposite doorway Tim had come through. He scoffs. "I think it's bull. We don't need anyone to help us with this shit."

"Jason, as much as I agree with you, it's Bruce's call when it comes down to it."

The anti-hero rolls his eyes, scowling. "Every damn thing is Bruce's call, huh."

Gardner sighs through his nose. Abruptly, he stands and looks back and forth between the both of them. "Get gruntled, guys," he says in an exasperated voice. "I'm going to my room. Alone, please."

With that, Gardner heads out of the room and his footsteps can barely be heard jogging up the stairs. None of the two boys left say a thing. Then, Tim can suppress the foul words about to come out of his mouth but he does nothing to conceal his glare directed at Jason.

"You're such a child sometimes," Tim points out. "I want Dick's transition back into this family to be as smooth as possible. I don't care if you have any unsolved issues with Bruce or anyone else but so help me if you make Dick feel inferior."

With one green eye twitching, Jason claps back with, "How the hell would I be making him feel inferior? If anything, it's Bruce. Goldie hasn't had the chance to make a decision for himself ever since he got back." He turns on his heel. Peering over his shoulder, he casts Tim an annoyed look. "Besides, can we even call ourselves a family?"

Tim has nothing to say when he finds himself as the last remaining person in this room. He shakes his head and gets up. Supposing that things could be worse, he decides to head upstairs to his own room. Maybe he'll check up on the boy who came back home. Who knows.

He leaves.

•••

Gardner picks at the food on his plate. It's some Austrian dish, apparently, and as appetizing as it looks, he finds that he isn't very hungry. He sits there, staring at his plate.

It just doesn't feel right. This whole arrangement. It's too disconcerting for him and he doesn't know how to feel. Well, he knows to feel anything but content what with the discomfort.

He looks up when he hears Bruce clear his throat. "Dick," says the man. "I just wanted to let you know that—"

"Black Canary is going to be my own personal therapist here? Yeah, I heard." He spares a sideways glance at Tim. "Tim told me."

"I see," Bruce says.

Tim gives the table a tight-lipped smile. "And I have something else to tell you," he says. "Well, all of you."

Everyone falls silent, looking up from their plates. Even Damian, who had joined but refused to look anywhere near Gardner, can admit he's a little intrigued. When Tim announces that he has to leave for Jump City in a day or two, no one's surprised. Though, Gardner does add in his own two cents.

"On Titan related business?" he asks, tilting his head a little like a confused puppy.

The soon-to-be-departed male nods. "Yes, actually. The Team went on a mission a while ago under my watch and something interesting had... taken place," Tim says, trying to remain vague. "If I don't take care of it soon, this could evolve into a bigger mess. My team has given me two days before they really need me back."

"Huh," Gardner says, looking back down at his plate. His eyes narrow ever-so-slightly. If he's thinking of something, he doesn't breathe one word.

Silence rolls back in like a heavy fog. It's Terry's turn to offer a tight smile. "How bad is it?"

"Nothing too bad. Just an enemy of the past," Tim replies. His eyes turn to steel and his expression grows grim. Gardner looks up curiously, uttering not a word of his silent thoughts.

•••

Now, there's a small crater in the wall of his—er, Dick's room. Gardner stares at it, observing the cracked paint and then to his hand where there's a light layer of dust and particles. His lips quirk upwards on one side.

"Sorry about that," he says to no one. Hands clapping together to get rid of the debris, Gardner spins on his heel and faces a standing photo of Dick Grayson and his first family.

Depicted on it is a smiling boy around the age of five or so with bright blue eyes surrounded by a familiar man and woman. Gardner sighs and picks it up. His own jewels burn into the photograph.

"What happened that night?" he asks, continuing to stare with empty eyes. He tears his eyes away when a knock is heard on the door. Quickly, he sets the frame back down and swallows. "Who is it?"

"It's Terry."

"Oh. Come in," he calls out. Gardner watches as the door opens, allowing Terry in. Peering in, Terry beckons for the other boy to come closer. Curiously, Gardner does so just as Terry walks in and closes the door behind himself.

Dropping his voice to a whisper, Terry says, "Wanna go out somewhere?"

Gardner's brows rise faster than hot air in a hot air balloon. He narrows his eyes ever-so-slightly. "You mean sneak out?" he whispers. His blue eyes light up. "Are you sure?"

Terry grins. "Sure I am," he says. "Look, you need a bit of fresh air after last night, 'kay? Dick, I know you don't like being trapped and if I know you, you feel pretty trapped right now."

"You're not wrong there," Gardner mutters. "Won't we get caught though? The windows have alarm systems and we can't just walk downstairs and out the door."

"Leave it to me," Terry says with a wink. "Dress up. Try not to look recognizable."

With that, Terry leaves. A plan hatches inside the dark abyss of Gardner's mind. A voice in the back of his head is telling him not to follow through with it. Obviously, he disagrees with the voice and starts finding something to wear. He goes with a hooded denim jacket in shades of grey and black with tan cargo shorts and a white tee underneath the jacket. He walks over with sneakered feet to pick up a beanie that he tucks some of his hair into and then he slides on a pair of shades.

Everything fits like a charm.

•••

"Dick, what the hell did you do?"

"It was an accident."

So, here's that chapter I promised y'all in Trouvaille. If you haven't already, you should check it out. ;)

I sincerely apologize for the length. It's a bit short and poorly written because I had terrible writer's block and barely any time to write what with school and all. :/ The next chapter may take a while. I've been stressing out about my grades since first quarter ends soon and report cards are distributed before break next month. Gah. I have all As and two Bs so far but my test and essay grades may change that. I know, I'm sorry, I'm probably being whiny but my parents are so strict about my grades and they make me even more strict about my grades.

Please consider dropping a review. They really make my day.

Anywho, I've been through a lot these past few weeks. :/ Hopefully I can get a chapter up soon. If I can't, I am so sorry about that. School is so much more stressful than I thought.

Oh, so, Tim's going back to Jump. Nothing too important going on there as that's still dealing with the sequel I may or may not write.

I have a few new story ideas. Someone help me.

Have a lovely day! :)