AN: Can I just say that you guys are the best? I've even got people from Bangladesh reading my fic! You're reviews are so sweet, I think I'm gonna DIE! Thank you soooo much!

Disclaimer: Me no own.

It had been exactly one hundred seventy-nine hours since Whisper had awoken from the training exercise, and only three of those hours had been spent on sleep. Thirty minutes after the entire Team had been sent home to get some rest, Whisper managed to fall asleep, only to awaken an hour later after experiencing a particularly horrible nightmare. The only time the teen had slept since then were those few moments when his fatigue would get the best of him and he would rest for a moment, only for his eyes to fall shut without his consent.

Other than that, Whisper had fallen back into what always made him forget about the pain of losing loved ones: training. A kick, a punch, then another kick and the combat dummies lay scattered along the floor. But still, Whisper refused to stop.

He hadn't been to the music room since the 'Incident' and why should he? He used singing to let out his feeling and why would he need to do that if he wasn't affected by the stimulation? He was used to sadness and overcoming it wasn't hard. Sadness was a frame of the mind, so if he pushed away that unneeded frame of the mind, and everything would be fine. He would be fine because he wasn't giving them any reason to punish him.

Saving the world required training, but not crying. That was simple enough; mourning was unacceptable and training was needed. That was the only way he would be okay, the only way he would be fine.

I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine.

When Dinah accepted the job of helping the Team through their...tough situation, she didn't think it would be this difficult. She had already spoken with a defensive Kryptonian, a 'tough' archer, a burdened Atlantean, a peachy speedster, and now, she was staring at the only member of the Team able to beat her in combat. She was slightly dreading what Whisper had to say.

"Look, Whisper, I know you must be hurting..." Dinah's speech dwindled off, leaving a chance for the teen to finish the sentence.

Whisper's position didn't change; it remained in the flat, cool expression his face had seemed to be stuck in over the last week. "I'm fine."

He spoke with such utter confidence, leaving no room to be second guessed, Dinah was tempted to believe him, if not for the fact that he had just witnessed his teammates' death as well as his own. Sliding forward to position her elbows on her knees, Dinah tilted her head slightly. Whisper wasn't like the rest of the Team, that was for sure. If she was going to get through to him, she needed to try a different tactic.

"Why is it that you seem to feel a certain need to be fine?"

There was absolutely no reaction to the statement. Slowly, he answered, precisely and clearly. "It's not a need, it's a fact. I'm fine."

Dinah exhaled. Whisper clearly wasn't going to open up to her any time soon, if ever. Maybe Bruce could get through to him; he knew the teen better than she did.

Ferocity. That was the word that came to mind as Batman watched Whisper attack a defenseless punching bag. There had been no question about whether or not the boy had skill, but this was something different entirely; the speed and power behind each punch was surprising, if not slightly worrying. Batman didn't know where Whisper had learned to fight like that, but he wondered why he had never shown this much potential before.

That is, until the Dark Knight noticed just where the punches were landing. About a foot below the top of the punching bag: where the neck would be, easily snapped. Both sides of the middle area: a swift kick could collapse a person's rib cage. The base of the cylinder that was closest to the ceiling: get enough momentum and the skull would be bashed in. Whether consciously doing it or not, Whisper was aiming to kill.

Batman hurriedly cleared his throat; Canary had been right, Whisper did need help. The teen froze in his position before spinning around and standing straight as a board, watching Batman as he made his way over. The two stood for a moment, observing the other, before Batman broke the silence.

"I see you've been training."

A part of Whisper was tempted to say a sarcastic remark about being 'Captain Obvious', but he just settled for a curt nod.

Batman had never been good at being delicate when it came to emotions, so he just settled for a blunt approach. "You're coming to the Manor with me."

"Yes sir."

The lack of snarky comebacks and whining complaints only increased the worry that Batman felt at that moment. Bobbing his head once, the man turned and strode towards the Zeta Tubes, somehow knowing that Whisper would be right behind him.

It had been a long time since Alfred had seen a young teenager in distress, but that didn't mean he wasn't able to recognize the signs. The feat was made easier by dealing with someone who had a habit of hiding his injuries after patrol; one had to focus on the details to catch such things.

However, Alfred also recognized that the young master was going to have to find comfort from Master Bruce. That was why, after serving a lavished dinner that Whisper hardly touched, he left the two males to their business, or in other words, watching an action movie in the entertainment room.

After a particularly large explosion (Was it bad that it reminded Bruce of the majority of the Team's missions?), the billionaire grabbed the remote, muted the movie, and started talking before he lost his nerve. Bruce was never good with emotions and offering sympathy was never an easy task, especially when dealing with a teenager.

"Black Canary said you were having trouble dealing with the exercise." Bruce internally winced. Smooth Wayne, real smooth.

Whisper didn't move, just remained sitting with his arms crossed. "I'm fine."

Bruce sighed and leaned forward in his chair, pressing his hands together. "Whisper," he deadpanned, "You've hardly slept in a week, you've been training nonstop, and you haven't once gone into the music room. You're clearly not fine." Aargh, why did I agree to this? Dinah much more of a therapist than I am!

The teen clenched his hands tighter. Why was it that he could stare down a master assassin that was talking down to him, but a single sympathizing sentence from Bruce Wayne set him on edge? "Yes, I am."

He emphasized a word; is that good? "Then you won't mind playing me a song or two?"

Whisper turned to face Bruce, now slightly curious. Did he just... "What?"

Yes! He showed emotion! The billionaire quickly calmed his inner thoughts; he was not a preteen schoolgirl. "Then you wouldn't mind playing me a song?"

Whisper looked at his feet. When I was with the Talons, I had to obey their requests but I wasn't allowed to show emotion. Singing is showing emotion so what do I do? Aargh, Bruce! Why do you insist on confusing me? Slowly, he muttered, "I'll...I'll think about it."

Bruce briefly placed his hand on Whisper's knee before relaxing back into his chair. The amount of compassion he had just shown had exhausted him; was it always this hard dealing with teenagers?

The Batcave was designed to be dark and sinister, but honestly, Whisper saw it as anything but. Walking along towards Bruce, who had just returned from patrol and was updating the security system, the teen was once again reminded of this. Though, the thought did nothing to shift his neutral expression.

Upon arriving at Bruce position in the 'Bat-throne' as Whisper had formerly dubbed it, he took a long look at the codes scrolling along the screen. Unbidden by his head, his mouth said, "You left a backdoor open. You need a few more codes-." Suddenly, Whisper cut himself off, before looking down at his feet and mumbling a quick, "Sorry," hands clenched at his sides.

Bruce frowned and turned to face the boy. Seeing the stiff, almost frightened position of Whisper, his eyebrows furrowed further. The billionaire slowly stood, walked over to the teen, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Bruce tried to ignore the slight tensing of Whisper's muscles as he said, "Whisper, it's all right to speak your mind. I'm not going to hurt you."

Dull brown eyes looked through a curtain of bangs; was it just Bruce or were Whisper's eyes slowly changing color over time?

Sighing heavily, Bruce insisted, "Showing emotion isn't a weakness. Sometimes, you need to let those feelings out. Understood?"

Whisper bit his lip. The Talons had insisted showing your feelings was a bad thing, but here was Bruce, outright contradicting that statement; it really ended up as being who's advice Whisper trusted most.

Whisper felt like slapping his forehead at that epiphany; it honestly was a matter of who he trusted most, and in any case, Bruce won.

Giving a soft, "Yeah," Whisper nodded before heading up into the manner, Bruce watching him ascend the stone staircase. A tune was playing in Whisper's head and he already had a letter forming there, too. The teen stopped a few feet away from the clock as a large yawn overtook him.

Maybe he would get some sleep first...

Dinah usually had a set routine in which her morning proceeded; wake up, get the mail, eat breakfast, and proceed to the Cave or Watchtower, whichever was deemed necessary at the time.

However, when she opened her door and picked up the mail, she didn't expect a small envelope with no return address to fall from the stack. Retrieving it curiously, the heroine walked back into the kitchen, opening it as she went.

One could say she was surprised to find a handwritten letter that filled the front of a looseleaf piece of paper. Sipping her coffee, she sat at her worn table and began to read, only pausing slightly when she saw just who it was written to.

Dear Canary,

A lot of people don't realize that all the good things in life can be taken away in the blink of an eye. For those who know what it's like...well, one can never get over that. Going from being in the best situation possible to the worst situation possible is a harsh eyeopener and when it happens, you can only hope you get out of it only changed slightly.

But the thing is...I was changed a whole lot more than slightly. I can't give you details and I would appreciate it if you didn't bring it up at the Cave, but I'm willing to try to communicate. If you're willing to listen, just keep reading; I'll know if you do.

I grew up with the best family anyone could ask for. I was loved so much by each and every one of them. I think that's what made it worse when they were taken away from me. I was...taken under another's 'wing', so to speak, but I wasn't exactly treated the same. All I got was harsh words, training, and punishments, and through it all, I guess they managed to change me from the stereotypical mama's boy to what I am today (Only worse. I've mellowed out a lot in the past few months). I still remember what happened the first time I cried in front of my new 'guardians', but sometimes, I really wish I didn't...

Reading the vague, yet so descriptive letter in her hands, Dinah felt a few tears come to her eyes. Out of all of the Team members, Whisper had been the least willing to talk, but here he was, sharing what, in a way, could be considered his life story.

She really needed to ask Bruce what he said to the kid.

AN: Eh, I like the ending but a lot of the Bruce/Whisper interaction doesn't satisfy. Oh well, I hope you guys like it.

And in my attempt to explain Whisper's inner workings, I give you 'GSDLover's Guide to Understanding a Former Assassin!'

When Dick first dealt with tragedy, which is to say, watching his family die, he was punished if he showed emotion and trained the majority of the time. Because the Talons forced him to skirt around the problem, he just shoved it to the back of his mind and let his instincts and determination guide him.

When Dick saw his second 'family' die, it struck him so deeply his subconscious pulled a 'M'gann' and didn't distinguish the difference between experiencing tragedy and being with douch-bag assassins and experiencing tragedy and being with caring adults named after animals of flight (Batman and Canary), so he fell back onto his instincts. Those very instincts caused him to skirt around the problem and just ignore that he was with friends, making him revert back to 'assassin-mode.'

But, Bruce got all sweet and save the day! And yes, Whisper did write a new song but you won't hear it till the last five chapters or so. MWAHAHAHA!

READ THIS: I need help! Give me your opinion or recommendations on these two matters. They WILL matter in the long run!

1) I need an evil-sounding Spanish (Like from the country Spain) name! Any ideas?

2) Would y'all rather see Dickie-bird injured and unconscious and stuff or would you rather see him worse for wear but still bantering with Bruce?

I NEED answers for these two questions! Review and answer, please!

-GSDLover