This chapter was impossible to write! I got stuck so many times! Augh, I don't even care if you like it. I finally got it to a satisfying place for me. So rawr. Also, life and a new job gets in the way. I feel like I'm making excuses but I'm not. Cold hard facts yo. Excuse my rediculously snarky attitude today, my week has been hell.

Dick made his way downstairs, no longer being cautious. He wasn't going back to his room, not until he saw his friends. The hurt from the conversation with his brothers and Babs transferred into anxiety. It'd been over a year since they had seen each other. What was he going to say?

A more pressing question; would they forgive him? Just because Batman had forgiven him didn't mean the others would. What he'd done was supposed to have been unforgivable. Batman was… Bruce was just an exception. Young Justice went by the same rules every superhero went by. Killing was cause for imprisonment.

Down the stairs, through the kitchen and the dining room, through the sitting room, past the guest bedroom downstairs, and in through the dancing hall Bruce used when hosting parties, he found the house silent and empty.

The mansion like this reminded him of how it was most of the time back home. There was usually never anyone in the rooms and before he became Robin, he found it very disturbing. It felt like he was always on edge, always waiting for someone to jump out and scare him. There never was anything but dark shadows and cold rooms.

A quick peek out the window and his team was found. They were gathered around something, but from the location Dick deduced it was the secret entrance to the Batcave. What were they doing standing around—

M'gann was establishing a mental link and Dick wasn't sure he wanted her inside of his head. It was a warmth he missed and her sweet voice echoed slightly in his mind. He didn't answer the call, choosing to his mind quiet, focusing on his team through the window. M'gann seemed to find him anyways and turned around. Instantly there was one less person standing in the backyard, and Dick was being tackled into a tight embrace.

"Don't you ever do that again!" Wally buried his face in Dick's hair. "Do you hear me?"

When had he gotten so tall? Dick hesitantly hugged back, not sure what he should say. Slowly, the rest of his team emerged into the room, following Wally's lead.

"Wally, you're going to suffocate him." M'gann chided softly. She only half meant it; the way Wally was desperately clinging to Dick, trying to hold back the tears of relief and joy and pain was somewhere between heartbreaking and heartwarming.

"I don't care!" Wally pulled him in tighter, refusing to part with his best friend.

"KF, you're squeezing too tight." Dick's muffled voice came from Wally's shoulder and he loosened his hold a bit.

"We thought you were dead!" Wally pulled away from Dick, eyes blazing in a half hearted anger. "Do you know how hard the past year has been?"

Dick looked away. They didn't understand anything about the past year; about the inner turmoil, the guilt, the regret, the loneliness.

"We were worried about you." Conner admitted, the gruffness in voice gone and instead a quiet concern took its place.

"Sorry." Dick answered softly.

"It wasn't your fault you were thrown across dimensions." Kaldur said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Dick gave small nod of acknowledgement.

They all looked so different. M'gann looked softer; less happy go lucky, but still a kindness unlike any other radiated from her. Wally was taller, his hair still redder than M'gann's blush and his freckles still his defining feature. He looked stronger and Dick knew he must be faster. Conner looked bigger as well; taking on that larger than life feel Superman was known to have. Since when had Kaldur looked so… regal? His head held high and his entire being emanating leadership. Kaldur had perfected what it meant to lead a team, and Dick regretted not being there to see him grow.

And Artemis—

"Where's Artemis?"

It was Wally's turn to look away. M'gann looked to Conner, and the clone shook his head. Kaldur spoke up after a moment of silence.

"We lost contact with her six months ago. We couldn't get a hold of her."

Artemis was gone? Dick tried not to feel hurt. They all thought he was dead, what was he to expect?

"And Zatanna?"

"We… sort of forgot to tell her."

Figures.

"Roy is here. He's gone right now, but he'll be back." Wally assured.

"So this is where you've been for the last year?" Conner asked, changing the subject.

"Sort of." Dick shrugged. "The Waynes were nice enough to take me in."

"We met your parents." Kaldur said. "Why did you not stay with them?"

Dick bit his lip hard. M'gann looked like she was frantically saying something via mental link, but Dick was deaf to it. He had gotten the gist of the conversation due to the rigidness that spread through the others. He decided to spare them from the awkward silence and shift gears.

"Where's Batman?"

"Training Bruce Wayne." M'gann jutted her chin outside toward the grave and Batcave.

Dick couldn't breathe. "W-what did you say?"

"They're down in the cave—are you okay?" Wally furrowed his brows, watching Dick's face drain of color and his hands start to shake.

"Why? Why would he do that?" Dick whispered to himself before running past Wally, M'gann, and Kaldur. He almost made it past Conner, but the Superboy caught his arm, halting his journey.

"What's wrong?" Conner demanded, voice just forceful enough to let Dick understand he wasn't going to let him leave without an answer. "Why is that a bad thing?"

"You don't understand—"

"You're right. We don't; and we never will unless you tell us. I'm sick of the secrets! There's been too many with you and with Batman…" Wally trailed off in his outburst.

He hadn't meant to yell at him, but with all this stress of losing him and the grave—that grave was haunting. It represented the fears and the nightmares they'd been experiencing for the past year. Why was it there? What was the purpose of it if Robin was still alive?

Was there any point to keeping his identity a secret anymore? Dick wasn't even wearing his mask. They'd already met his parents, already met his brothers, and now Batman was training Bruce—

"It's bad because Bruce is happy. This isn't the life for him—for any of them! This Bruce can't… he doesn't need to force himself into this life." Dick felt the pressure on his arm disappear, but didn't look up at any of their faces. "Batman knows this, so why…?"

He didn't wait for an answer that none of his team could give, instead going to seek out the answer himself. He opened the entrance to the Batcave and slipped inside.

The sight that greeted him was a memory he would not soon forget. Batman kicked Bruce in the chest, sending him skidding across the cave floor. Bruce groaned in pain, but rolled over and shakily got back up.

"Tim just died because you weren't strong enough to stop the enemy."

There was pain inside of the Batcave, it was heavy in the air and Bruce looked as if he'd been struck ten times harder than Dick knew he had been. With a loud cry Bruce leapt forward, throwing everything he had into a punch, only to be knocked once more to the ground.

"Jason was just blown up by a stupid mistake you made in judgment." Batman's voice was cold and it cut not only into Bruce, but into Dick as well.

Again and again Bruce got back up, no matter how much pain he was in, and continued to strike back at Batman. For each failed attack Batman would declare another loved one dead. For each time Bruce got up, Dick could see his heart breaking.

Bruce never gave up; even with his body's weariness, he never stayed down. Admitting defeat meant submitting his loved ones to their deaths and turning his back on them. Bruce Wayne would never allow that.

For over two hours, Dick watched them train, he listened to the deaths—a new scenario for each new round—and watch Bruce struggle to get back up. Finally, he collapsed, too exhausted to move. It was a strange moment, an extreme sense of loss and Dick didn't know he was crying until a tear drop fell from his chin.

"At this moment, you've done all you can. Remember this moment and how it feels. This fight—giving your all will never be enough. There will never be a reachable goal and the enemy is countless. This fight will eventually end you, and you must face the reality of this. You cannot save anyone unless you are willing to reach this moment for every innocent person out there—and even those who are guilty—and know that it wasn't enough. We do not have super powers to save us. We have only ourselves, and it will surprise you what the human body can accomplish.

You will become the night. You will become what the cops can never be and you will save the lives who would be otherwise lost. This is a war, and there will be casualties, but you will learn and you will protect those dear to you. Never will you allow yourself to falter because as soon as you do they are dead. This is what Batman is."

With the swoop of his cape, Batman turned to face Dick at the entrance. Gone was the fear of ruining Bruce's life. Gone was the dread and the sick feeling of failing Bruce in his moments of weakness. Bruce Wayne had made this choice not because of him, but for him. Jason, Tim, Damian, Barbara—they would need a Batman just as Dick needed one when he was a scared little boy watching his parents fall. This was a necessity for this world.

Okay, for the people who have been messaging me about that one dialogue piece in chap 15—you all know the one. I thought for sure I had fixed that and I'm so sorry. Should be fixed by the time you go back and reread the chapter to figure out what I'm talking about. I changed my mind midway through the chapter about how it was going to go down, so I changed it but completely neglected the utter stupidity of the dialogue. I sincerely apologize.

Okay, should be only 4 chapters left, if that! It's drawing to a close and I'm almost relieved. As much fun as writing this has been, it's been a pain in the rear as well. Things that should have gone better didn't, but l guess you all liked it well enough to keep reading. Thanks for reading, by the way. It really makes me happy to see reviews and such. Y'all are real sweethearts, you know that?