Tomorrow will be back to the normal two chapters a day schedule.

To his dismay, he'd slept through a good portion of the day. Damian, Tim, and Jason were all at school, despite the snow, and Bruce was out at his various meetings and events. Martha had gone with Alfred grocery shopping and it was just Thomas reading the newspaper downstairs.

He pulled his Robin suit back on and engaged his utility belt. He hadn't trained in ages, and he was feeling so much better. Before he trained, he'd wanted to go exploring. He knew the manor like the back of his hand, sure, but he'd never experienced the Manor with so many permanent occupants. First was Jason's room. The walls were covered in pictures of bikini models and what Dick assumed were rock bands. The floor was littered with clothes and various papers. The bed was simple and then Robin caught sight of a very interesting red ski mask.

Tim's room was vastly different. Organized and neat, everything had a proper place and Dick was sure Alfred had helped him with it. There was no way a kid was this neat. Not a teenager, anyways. A large desk fitted with a computer was obviously the main focus of Tim's room. Deciding to invade the boy's privacy, he hooked up his own computer and hacked his way in.

Weird. Unlike what Wally had suggested all older males had hidden away in their search history, Tim hadn't entered a single porn site. Instead, the only point of interest was a few news sites—Metropolis news sites. From the way Tim had been acting the previous evening suggested he had a healthy obsession with Superman. Or perhaps it was Superboy. He'd keep a closer eye on Tim.

Moving on, Damian's room was disturbingly cute. Despite the expected toys every ten year old owned, Dick found many, many drawings of cats. An image of Damian and Catwoman cuddling with cats caused Dick to gag. There was no way those two were friends. Absolutely not. No, maybe Damian just really liked cats.

"Freaking me out." Dick muttered to himself. A cat clock in the corner alerted him to exactly how late he'd slept in. He'd only been up for maybe an hour and already it was past three. Dick could hear the front door open and five of the six missing occupants entered the house.

"Just stay out of my business!"

"Oh please! We all know you weren't just "hanging out" in front the corner store. What were you two doing, huh? You two have been getting awful close, Timmy."

"Just shut up! God, between you and Damian I might as well just shoot myself and save you the trouble!"

"Boys!" Martha's voice cut the argument to pieces. "Homework, chores, dinner—and don't go bothering Dick!"

"Feh, of course it would be Drake to allow Kent to coerce him into utter stupidity."

"Damian, I swear if you say one more word I'll deck you!"

"Boys!" Martha shouted again.

Dick panicked. The three were stomping up the stairs and he didn't want to be forced to answer any more questions. He hid in the bathroom and was pleasantly surprised to watch as all three entered their rooms and shut their doors.

Dick hid in his room for the remainder of the day, feigning sleep whenever someone walked into his room. It was seven o' clock, an hour before dinner, and Dick knew it was now or never. He was about to sneak out the window when a voice caught him off guard.

"What are you doing?" It was cold, and irritated. "You're the only one even remotely tolerable and you plan on leaving?"

Dick turned back to see Damian. "Uh, I was just getting some air."

"Right." Damian wasn't amused and continued to frown at him. "It's freezing and you planned on just getting some air. You were going to sneak out and go be a hero, weren't you?"

"Caught red handed." Dick admitted sheepishly. "I've been cooped up, and I need some room to stretch."

"You're not leaving unless you take me with you."

"No."

"You leave without me and I'll alert everyone to your lack of presence."

"I'm not taking you with me." This kid was seriously grating on his nerves. "It's dangerous and—"

"You did it when you were my age. That's what you said last night."

"I'm special." Wow, that couldn't have sounded any lamer. "I've been trained. You haven't."

"So let me watch." Damian smirked. "You claim Father taught you, so prove it."

"I already have."

"Not to me. Drake and Todd lie to me all the time. A made up story to go along with a time traveling poser; I'm not easily swayed."

Dick sighed. "I can't be worrying about you while I'm on patrol. You wouldn't be able to keep up anyways."

"It's your choice."

Growling, he shut the window. Damian looked a bit disappointed. "You give too easily. No fun at all."

Dick pushed past the ten year old tyrant. "Threaten me again and you'll be groaning in pain for more than just a few hours."

"Prove it." Damian snarked again. "I'll call it when I see it."

It was three days of awkward conversations about his health and struggling to get a good sleeping pattern before Robin finally got his chance. Unfortunately, just as he was about to jump off the icy roof, he was called out to.

"Hey, Wonder Boy!"

Dick slipped momentarily and had to catch himself on the drain pipe before scrambling back up onto the roof. Looking up at him and smiling wide was Barbara Gordon.

"I knew Wayne was hiding you all to himself. How's it going, kid?"

From behind him inside of his bedroom was a very smug Damian, smirk of triumph on his face. He was really starting to hate this kid. Babs wouldn't stop talking to him once she'd managed to corner him.

"Don't you wear anything other than that costume?"

"It's not a costume." Dick answered. This Babs was more annoying than his Babs. Then again, Batgirl was always teasing him and doing whatever she could to make him "feel like he had an older sister" and it wouldn't be fair if she didn't "treat him like a younger brother".

"You were running away again, weren't you?"

"Not running away, going out on patrol." Robin deadpanned.

"Can you take off your mask?"

"No."

"I can't stand not seeing your eyes. It's sort of creeping me out." Barbara frowned when he didn't answer her. "Going on patrol, huh? Still not giving up the superhero business?"

"Gotham doesn't sleep." Robin answered bitterly. "Every night there's a chance for me to save someone."

"You still think you can save the world?"

"I don't think, I know."

Barbara scowled. "You're just a kid. You're going to get hurt."

"It comes with the job." Robin snapped. "If I don't, no one will. Not anymore, at least."

"That's what the cops are for. That's what my father is for." Barbara shot back. "You should focus on going to school, getting to know your new family—"

Robin stood. They weren't his family, they were Bruce's. He wouldn't ever forget that. Dick Grayson was forever on his own.

"Where are you going?"

Robin didn't answer and promptly opened the window back up. Search party or no, he was going on patrol. He could tell it wasn't just Babs who felt this way. They all were treating him like a kid in a Halloween costume. He remembered the disapproving looks from Commissioner Gordon when he'd first started. He'd proven himself then, and he would prove himself now.

"Wait!"

Robin didn't wait. It was time to shine. Grappling hook out, he gave Barbara a look before launching off into the night.

"You let him go?" Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. "He's just a kid."

"I know, that's exactly what I told him. He just… flew away." Barbara chuckled at the joke. "You said he took down Two Face?"

"By himself." Jason added. "Saw it myself. Kid's got some serious skills. Not to mention toys."

"Then he should be alright." Tim shrugged. "If he can take down Two Face, then who knows what else he can do? He did say he's been doing this for five years. He's bound to know what's doing."

There was a huff from the corner of the living room. Damian was absolutely furious. That Robin kid had completely blown him off.

"We should go after him." Martha suggested. "He's only just recovered from a fever and concussion. He could relapse."

"I agree." Babs was surprised when her coat was suddenly handed to her by Alfred. "Oh, thank you."

"Let's go then." Bruce sighed. "Boys, I want you to stay here. Mom, you too. I'll take Dad, Barbara, and Alfred."

"What?" Jason growled. "I understand leaving Tim and Damian, but why can't I come?"

"It's still a school night. Besides, I don't want you get hurt."

"I lived in those streets for years, Dad. I know how to keep myself out of trouble."

Bruce frowned. "I said no. It's hard enough to keep track of three people, let alone four. Jason, stay here tonight."

Jason growled again before stalking off to his room and slamming the door. Alfred sighed. Barbara raised an eyebrow.

"Well that was tactful."

"Let's move. I'll talk to Jason in the morning."

A high pitched ringing alerted the search party and they stopped to allow Bruce to answer his cell phone.

"This is Bruce."

"You'd better get down here to the station."

"I'm about to go find Robin, can it wait?"

"Oh, trust me, you don't want to wait."

"Fine. I'll be there in five." Bruce shoved his cell phone back into his pocket after ending the call and turned back to his family and Barbara. "Change of plans. That was Jim calling; he says we should get down to the station."

"What about Dick?" Thomas asked.

"Something tells me he's involved in whatever it is the Commissioner wants."

AmaraRae, there is still plenty left to go, so no worries. I'm still debating on exactly how long I want to draw the story out, but it all depends. There's a lot of action coming up and I hope no one gets bored or tired of this before all the exciting parts pick up.