I know that Bruce said not to get involved, but I can't do it. I can't just stand here. I race out into the square, expecting a confrontation, but the thugs immediately disperse and evacuate. One of them is looking back at me as he disappears around the corner.

I reach Tana and kneel down next to her, and it's hard for me to think as I stare into the hole that used to be her eye. Her mask has been ripped off by the shot, and is lying on the pavement, one eyepiece shot out and the other one smeared with blood. But as her remaining eye twitches, I realize that she's still alive. For the time being. The bullet didn't hit a vital part of the brain, but she's bleeding out, bleeding internally, in her head, no less. If Batman could just get here—

I fold the cape into a pad and press it to her face to stop the bleeding, but when I do, she gives a small groan of pain and her good eye flutters halfway open. "What—"

"Keep still, Tana," I say urgently. "Batman's on his way, you're going to be fine, okay?"

Her speech is slurred as she starts going into shock. "Wasn't supposed to survive that—"

"Tough, Tana." I know that I should be keeping quiet and keeping her calm, but I can't. That bullet was meant for me. "Why? Why did you do that? We gave you your life, and a home and… why would you just…"

"True—" she chokes, coughing, trying to speak around the blood that's flowing into her mouth. "Family—worth—" She's struggling to put together the simple sentence, but can't finish, and leaves off with, "Moron," as her left eye falls shut again.

"Tana?" I start to panic as she doesn't respond. "No! Help!" I look behind me and see reporters starting to gather into a cloud. Tana is clever—this is what she wanted. In case Cobblepot had figured out my identity, she gave them apparently legitimate proof that Dick Grayson was not Robin. I put myself in front of her so that they can't see her face. "Somebody get help!"

All I get in response is the flash of cameras, and whispers of "Is that Dick Grayson? The kid Bruce Wayne adopted?" and I'm ready to scream and fly at them when I feel Tana being lifted from my arms, and Batman is standing in front of me. "Meet me at the cave."

The ladder to the Batplane is directly behind him, and he grabs onto it, the autopilot taking off and carrying them both away between the skyscrapers. When I turn to leave, I'm confronted by a mob of reporters, trying to edge their way in, to get the inside scoop on Robin's identity.

"Why were you here, Richard?"

"Did you know Robin?"

"Who was he? Who was Robin?"

I'm trying to shove past them, but am blocked by a giant camera and a lady wearing too much makeup. "Richard, you may have been the only person to see Robin unmasked, and we should be able to remember him and pay respects to the boy who helped keep our city safe." All the other reporters are nodding their heads wildly and shoving their microphones at me, and I feel my temper starting to rise. I snatch one of the recorders nearby and nearly spit into it.

"You want to know about Robin? No, I don't recognize him. And it shouldn't matter. He's a boy who wants to help keep the city safe, and that's what we need to remember. You left him here as he was bleeding to death. But the joke's on you, because he's not dead yet, and he won't die. Now get out of my way!" I chuck the recorder as hard as I can in the other direction, and its owner sprints to retrieve it, followed by a hoard of other reporters who want to try and get a copy. As they're busy, I run to the motorcycle and leap on, and from then on, nothing comes between me and Wayne Manor.

As I slide to a stop in the Batcave, I can see the Batmobile parked crookedly in its spot, and my bloodstained cape lying forgotten on the tile floor. It's the floor farther up that I want, the one with the bed and operating tools where Alfred usually patches up Bruce when he's broken something. Now I see Alfred bending over Tana, sedatives already flowing intravenously, and Bruce standing behind with his arms crossed, cape on but mask off. He notices me as I'm running forwards, but catches me before I can approach the bed and reassess the damage. "Stay back and let Alfred work, Dick."

Tana's not breathing. "But—"

"No exceptions. Come on."

In a few minutes we're back upstairs in the mansion. Bruce is still wearing most of his uniform, though I don't think he realizes it. We sit at the long table in the dining room, meant to sit up to fifty people, though we only ever occupy the few seats at the end. On most days, it's cool to be in the great hall, but now all I can see is the darkness and emptiness and the cobwebs gathering in the corners of the enormous room. A cup of hot chocolate sits in front of me, but I don't drink it. Bruce made a cup of coffee for himself, but he doesn't drink that either, sitting back in his chair with his hand to his head, likely fighting off a headache.

"Is she gonna be okay, Bruce?"

"It's a miracle she survived at all, Dick. She went into cardiac arrest shortly after I got her to Alfred, but we got her heart working again. Her vitals still hadn't stabilized when you arrived, and she could easily slip away from us again."

There's a slight pause, until I say, "You thought she couldn't be trusted."

"I had my doubts after she sold you out to Maroni, but apparently I judged wrong. I got a report from the Commissioner, Dick. Tana got access to all the records, managing to prove that they were falsified, and even dug up some transactions from Cobblepot to the Gazette, proving that he was bribing them. The information she found is being held at the police station, and sent to the Times, as well as several other papers. But she did it. They're hailing Robin as a fallen hero."

I bite back a humorless laugh. "And it wasn't Robin and she hasn't fallen."

I finally start drinking my chocolate in lieu of anything else to do, and Bruce finally has a go at his coffee, and we're both sipping away when Alfred appears in the doorway. In a flash, my cup's back on the table. "What happened?"

"Not to worry, Master Grayson, young Miss Drader has stabilized. Her nerve tissue has only been damaged, not completely destroyed, and we should be able to heal parts of it. Her eye, I regret to say, is completely gone, but since the optic nerve wasn't completely severed, I'm certain that it should be able to connect to a Wayne Industries Bionic Optic Replacement. I'd move that project up on the schedule, Master Wayne."

"I'll do that, Alfred." Bruce gets up, taking his coffee with them.

"Is she awake, Alfred?"

"No, and she won't be for quite some time. I suggest getting some sleep, Master Grayson. It's been an exciting night."

I wait until Alfred's gone to sneak down to the Batcave. Tana lies peacefully under the blanket draped over the examination table, the machines monitoring her beeping and pulsing in a healthy, steady rhythm. She looks completely different with short-sheared hair, a lot like me, except that one eye is gone and the other, though closed, I know is silver instead of blue, like mine. Alfred's taped a sterile gauze patch over the spot where her right eye should have been. I sit there for a while, hoping naively for a bit that she might wake up, so I can thank her. But she keeps sleeping, and after a moment's hesitation I dig my lucky robin pin out of my pocket. "I like to carry it with me. I guess you didn't need it, did you?" I set it on her bedside table before creeping away.

I'm chewing on a piece of toast the next morning when the door to the Batcave opens and Alfred guides Tana out. She's back in normal clothes, a sweater and some jeans, but is wearing a black patch over her right eye. On any other person it might look funny, but it somehow makes Tana look more intimidating. She sits down at the table with a wince, and it's only then that I notice the rest of her injuries. Bruises are starting to appear on the parts of her arms that are visible. She thanks Alfred graciously as he slides a cup of tea and bowl of broth in front of her, before glancing briefly up at me and starting to eat.

The sound of her spoon clinking against the bowl is small and tinny, yet somehow manages to fill the hall and outline the silence. I clear my throat. "Thanks."

She pauses to look at me again, and it takes me a second to remember to focus on the left side of her face. She gives a simple, "You're welcome," and continues eating.

"That's it?"

"All that needs saying."

She's so oddly uncaring that I feel the need to say more. "I was going to go out there, and you knew that. You went instead and took the bullet that was meant for me, and you almost died for it."

"I didn't."

"Why did you do it?"

"Fairly sure that I already told you."

I didn't know if she remembered what she'd said back out in the square, since she was going into shock at the time. Finally, I grin. "You know, maybe you should just keep the patch. It suits you."

"I prefer having depth perception." But she's smirking, I'm laughing, and neither of us notices when Bruce shows up until he speaks.

"I've got an offer to make you, Tana."

Her spoon hovers halfway to her mouth. "What, apart from the agreement where I live here so long as I don't cause trouble?"

"Yes. I'm offering you full access to the Batcave and all secrets of the house, if you help Robin and I fight crime."

Tana looks, if possible, even more shocked than when I told her she could live at Wayne manor. "You two really have a thing for second chances, don't you?"

"You risked your life to save Dick's, Tana. You've proven yourself to me."

"Even though I broke into the Batcave for a second time and caused a power outage and stole the Batmobile?"

Bruce is almost smiling, which surprises me, and I start to realize how alike he and Tana are. "You did it to save Dick and get the election back on track. You did what I couldn't bring myself to do. You don't just have the skills, Tana. You're brave. I value that."

Tana cocks her head at him. It's probable that no one's called her that before. I try to think of what her employers might call her. Petty. Bitchy. Reckless. Convenient. Not brave.

Bruce adds, "Though, based on what happened, I'd understand if you didn't want to. It would be dangerous, and you've already sustained a heavy injury—"

"Are you kidding? I'd be so bored without it. It'd be a pleasure, Mister Wayne. So, do I get my gloves back?"

We found her gloves tucked into my uniform after last night. She apparently took them with her to get into the files. Bruce shrugs. "I can't seem to keep you away from them. Go to Alfred, he'll get your retina, thumb, and voice scans put into the Batcave's database. After that, we need to have a talk about Cobblepot. I don't think he's done."

Tana ducks out, but I'm fixated on Bruce. "He's not going to win the election. He knows that now. And he thinks he's killed Robin, so I'm safe. What would he do?"

"Maroni has fled town, his men either hiding or scattering. Cobblepot is coming under fire for bribery and falsifying information. It's clear that he's not going to win the election, but if he's arrested on his own schedule, he'll bail himself out, and he's in deep enough with the underbelly of Gotham to just strike again. On the other hand, if Batman goes in now, he can turn out the illicit contents of Cobblepot's house before he can hide it all, and get him straight to Harvey Dent and Gordon to make sure he stays put away. At the beginning, I couldn't peg anything solid on Cobblepot himself. But now, all Cobblepot is is a criminal, wanted for political crimes and trying to kill Robin. Batman has all the reason he needs to strike."

I grin, cracking my knuckles. "Finally."

"But I think that it's going to take all of us."

My grin fades a little, and I look at Bruce skeptically over my half-eaten toast. "Bruce, he's a fat aristocrat with an obsession with birds. And he'll have fewer people willing to work for him now that he's lost the bid for mayor. How dangerous can he be?"

"Don't underestimate him, Dick. Never underestimate anybody. Be ready. We're going tonight, provided our new member is up to it."

When I go down to the Batcave later, Tana is sitting on the examination table again, stock still, as Alfred does some work in her right eye socket. He sits back after a moment, asking, "Can you see?"

The eye now housed in her right socket is grey and metallic, with a blue lens at the front where her iris was supposed to go, and no pupil to speak of. But as she blinks, white begins to spread across the metal like a frost, as the lens takes on a silver hue and develops a dot in the middle. Tana looks up and down, and to the sides, and nods.

Alfred wipes the sweat off his brow. "Thank goodness you didn't lose any bigger nerves or we wouldn't have been able to fix them. And this eye is just a prototype, so there's plenty of room for improvement."

"Thanks, Alfred." I see her blink a couple more times, then look towards me, the pupil dilating and contracting. The bionic replacement is stunningly real. "How often will it need a recharge?"

"This model? Every three days. And keeping it in incognito mode will drain the power, but we'll be looking to improve that."

Tana hops down from the bed, looking around the Batcave before focusing on me. After a moment, she says, "Dick, you have food on your face."

I'm still standing at the Batcave's entrance, a good hundred feet away from where Tana is standing. Scrubbing a hand across my mouth, I realize that I do, though not a whole lot. "You can see that far?"

"Now I can." Alfred is putting his tools away, but aside from that, the Batcave is deserted.

"Where's Bruce?"

"He left a while ago to go back into town. I believe he's visiting with Mr. Fox."

"You are correct, Mr. Pennyworth." At that moment, I see Bruce entering the cave, with another figure striding ahead of him, clutching a black canvas duffel bag emblazoned with the Wayne Industries logo. "Bruce here tells me that there's a new member of the team, who needs outfitting." Mr. Fox stops short of Tana, who's surveying him with guarded uncertainty. Fox extends a hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Tana. Mr. Wayne and I have been working together for some time, and I'm always prepared to lend a hand to the Bat and his friends."

Tana takes it. "So are you the person I thank for my eye?"

"It's working, is it? Good." Fox strides over to the nearest table and unzips his bag. "But Mr. Wayne has informed me that the Batman has a new, unnamed ally, and that you are the person I should talk to about getting her outfitted." Fox winks. "He says you know her best." Gesturing to the open bag, Fox continues. "This is a generic uniform, microweave, tough and light, much better than what you're used to. Utility belt with all the gizmos you'll ever need, including the ones off of Omen's old belt, only this belt can withstand a weight of up to two-hundred pounds, in case it's ever needed in an emergency. I've taken the liberty of disguising the gloves, since Omen is dead and apparently would prefer to stay that way, and the mask is the type that Robin wears. All generic, all prototypic. Plenty of room for improvement should Batman's new friend want to come up with a more distinct look. Oh, and she'll probably want to come up with a name for herself before the public does."

Tana is testing the fabric with her fingers. "Got any recommendations?"

"The rest of the family appears to be a nest of flying creatures, but you're wall-climbing suggests something else. Perhaps a gecko, or frog."

Tana shrugs. "I'll come up with something."

Fox leaves after a gracious thanks from Tana, and by that time, Bruce has suited up. "My guess is that Cobblepot will be on the top floor, in the comfort of his office-suite. However, that floor will also be the most heavily protected. Tana, I want you and Robin to take the garbage chutes as far up as you can, since you'll fit. I've picked out a window leading into a storage room on the second-to-top floor, which I'll go in through. If anyone sees Cobblepot, they hit their signal to call the others to their position. If we haven't caught sight of him within the hour, we rendezvous at the service closet on the fourth floor down. No one takes Cobblepot on their own. Understood?"

"Understood," I say, and once Tana's put her mask on, she contributes her own "Gotcha."

Bruce departs, heading for the Batmobile, but I show Tana to the motorbikes. "Do you know how to ride?"

"Grayson, if it's been left unattended in the streets of Gotham, I've figured out how to work it."

I toss her a helmet, and we follow Bruce out of the cave.