Seriously, I blush with all of your compliments. You all are so, so sweet! I'm happy you guys are all for me updating twice a day. It should be a long story-I think maybe over 30 chapters. But at the same time, these chapters aren't as long as others, so it makes me feel like it's short...

Uh, enough bumbling from me.

Bruce hurriedly rapped on the door. The time between his knocking and the opening was nearly nonexistent. Commissioner Gordon eagerly nodded him inside. A muttered thanks, and Bruce was sitting down in a chair next to Barbara Gordon.

"Dad, what's going on? Who was that kid?"

"That kid, Barbara," Jim started, "is supposed to be dead."

She was obviously confused. "I don't understand."

"The boy you saw tonight was the same boy who saved me and my parents nearly thirty years ago. He died protecting me." Bruce explained before he stood and ran a hand through his dark hair.

Barbara stared at him. "How is that even possible? That kid told me he was only thirteen years old!"

"He spoke to you?" Bruce was instantly on his knees in front of her, gripping her shoulders lightly. "What did he say? Tell me everything you know."

"He didn't say very much." Barbara tried to remember everything. "He didn't answer most of my questions. But I guess he was scared, I mean, I pointed my gun at him. I was scared. After that guy…"

"It's okay, Barbara." Jim pulled Bruce back away from her. "Take your time."

Bruce guiltily looked away from her. He had forgotten that just a little over an hour ago, she was about to be raped. Yet somehow Robin had saved her. The child had saved someone again, despite how small and frail he was. He wasn't dead, though. This time he hadn't taken a couple of bullets.

"I thought he was crazy. He asked me if I was alright… and the only other question he answered was about his age." Barbara thought for a moment. "He knew my name Dad. He called me Babs. I met him before, once. We ran into each other, but he ran off."

"Anything else? Anything at all?" Bruce gripped the golden belt in his pocket. Carefully, he pulled it out, once again tracing the grooves with his fingers. It had become therapeutic over time. "I need to find him."

"Is that…?" Jim peered closely at the belt, squinting past his thick glasses. "It was his, wasn't it?"

"I remember!" Barbara stood up, suddenly. "I told him it was dangerous, that he should stop playing around! But he said he wasn't playing. He said he was protecting. Like he was some sort of…"

"Hero." Bruce finished. "Thank you. Where did you say you saw him?"

"In an alley near 2nd."

"Got it."

"Bruce?" Jim asked. "What are you going to do once you find him?"

"I'm going to thank him." Bruce smiled. "Then I'm going to feed him. When I saw him earlier today, he was taking food from the charity event I was at. I don't think he's living anywhere, Jim. He keeps running away from me. I don't know why, but he just looks so scared."

"He didn't look scared at all when I started to talk to him." Barbara said. "He looked so concerned and caring… I want to apologize to him."

"I can only pray we find him before someone else does." Bruce clutched the belt harder. "I don't want to see him hurt again."

Two weeks had passed since he saved Babs. He was exhausted, only getting a few hours of sleep a night. He was constantly on patrol, but extremely disturbed at the lack of villains in Gotham. There was no Joker, no Clayface, and no Penguin. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

He made the mistake of not watching where he was going. He was too engrossed in his thoughts to realize he'd run into a very large black limousine. It set the car alarm off and he nearly had a panic attack. A very familiar face stepped out of the car, turning off the alarm in the process.

Dick spoke without thinking. "Alfred."

"Oh heavens, it is you." Alfred stared at him for a minute, and Dick had to hold himself back from leaping into the old man's arms and crying his eyes out. He was so tired of running all of the time. "You are the young man who saved the Wayne's all of those years ago, aren't you?"

Robin numbly nodded. Alfred was here. He could trust Alfred. It wouldn't ruin Alfred's happiness if he hugged him, would it? No, it wouldn't ruin Alfred's happiness, but it would ruin Bruce's happiness. Alfred would tell Bruce. Bruce was always looking for him.

"You do not look well. Would you like something to eat?"

Robin nodded again. Alfred was always so kind, so generous. It would be fine if he allowed himself to eat. Alfred wouldn't tell on him, would he?

"Don't," Dick swallowed, "tell Bruce, okay? Don't tell him I'm here."

"Come, sit inside and I'll give you something to eat. I promise not to say anything."

Dick blinked back the tears and obeyed. He missed being on the inside, with Alfred in the driver's seat and him in the back, making jokes and complaining about something Bruce had done earlier in the day. He was rewarded with scones. Alfred had always made scones whenever he was feeling down.

"Thank you." Dick said weakly. "I've missed these."

Alfred gave him a strange look, but didn't say anything. "If I may ask, why are you avoiding Master Bruce?"

Dick hesitated. Alfred had already given his word. "I'm protecting him."

"Protecting him from what?"

"Me." Dick answered sullenly. "I'll make him unhappy if he catches me. So I have to run so he'll stay happy."

"If I may say, Master Robin," Dick started at the name, reminding him he was no longer Master Dick, as he once was, "he has been waiting to tell you something for a very long time. It is not only Master Bruce. I have also been waiting to tell you something."

Dick stared at him. Alfred wanted to tell him something? What could Alfred have been waiting to say? How did Alfred even know him? He had only saved Bruce and his parents, right? Alfred hadn't been there.

"Thank you." Alfred said quietly. "Without you, I am so very afraid of what would have become of Master Bruce, Master Thomas, and Lady Martha. You have saved their lives, and I am sincerely grateful."

"Alfred?"

"Yes, Master Robin?"

"Am I dead?"

The question threw Alfred off guard. "I do not know."

"Because I don't feel alive anymore." Dick answered, looking down at the scone in his gloved hands. "It's supposed to be better this way. Bruce is supposed to be happy and everything is supposed to be perfect. But I… I don't feel happy, Alfred."

He couldn't stop the tears and he couldn't stop his mouth. All of the exhaustion and emotional trauma wore on him and now he was reverting back to a lost child. Intelligence made way for desperation, and the adult like speech he'd normally used when talking to others was now nothing more than fragmented, vague sentences spilled out between uneven breaths.

"I did something bad Alfred. I didn't mean to and Bruce said… Bruce said I was just like them and I didn't mean it! And then… and then I was there. I saved Bruce and I died—but I'm still alive and it hurts and I don't know what to do! I've never done this by myself!"

He sobbed then, in front of Alfred and the tears soaked through his mask dripped onto the scones. All of the emotions he'd pushed back for so long came flooding back and out. Alfred had moved into the backseat and cradled Robin's head to his chest. For the first time, Alfred didn't know what to say. What could he say to this child who was suffering so much?

Against his better judgment, Alfred allowed the boy to leave; to crawl back into the shadows to hide. But at least he'd been able to get some information out of the child. It was becoming more and more confusing. Who was this child and what was he?

Hey guys, I just wanted to answer a question down here below.

JediApprenticeLastQuest told me she was a bit confused about the seven years in the future thing. Robin saves Bruce and his family in the past, and then sort of time jumps again to the future. However, that is not what Robin is referring to. The date on the newspaper is seven years into the future from when Robin was just hanging with the guys of Young Justice. Sorry, I should have been clearer with that.

If anything else confuses you, please tell me and I'll try to make things clear here if I haven't already made it obvious in future chapters. Love hearing from you guys, it's truly spectacular!