Notes: So I messed up my chapter numbering (there is no chapter eleven). So this is the second chapter 13 with the one Robin.

Chapter 13 - Robin

Night fell and Wayne Manor appeared silent. There were a few hours before patrol where the people of the manor were free to sleep, compile information or train. Mar'i lay on the floor of Damian's room, her hair spread in a fan across the ground while Damian stared at her from the bed.

They both knew that they would be going out that night. Nightstar and Robin couldn't be caged. There were only a few things to clear up beforehand.

Like how Robin wasn't supposed to be out and how Mar'i wasn't supposed to know.

"I'll just claim you're an idiot and heavy sleeper," Damian said with a shrug. His excuse if anyone caught him on the streets.

Not that it saved him from consequences if Robin was caught on the street.

Mar'i knew that. She also knew where his best chance of not getting caught lay.

"If we're going to sneak out, now would probably be the best time," she mused. "We've got a while before any of them turn up on the streets."

"You're not seriously thinking of going out?" Damian questioned curiously.

Mar'i was confused. "Haven't we spent the last few minutes talking about this?" she questioned. "Of course I'm going out. I can't take a night off just because I'm fighting with dad."

"He'll find you."

"Oh, probably," Mar'i waved his concerns off. After all, "and your father will find you."

"Not if I'm smart about it. I was trained by the League of Assassins."

"Doesn't Batman destroy them on a yearly basis? And didn't you disown your mother's side of the family?"

Damian glared, face flushing a little in embarrassment.

"-tt-. You shouldn't believe everything your father tells you."

Mar'i gave him a knowing smile and didn't say anything. They needed to get ready. Robin had a costume hidden in his room and Mar'i could fly to where she had a spare hidden away.

Dick could hear them coming from a mile away. Robin's complaining came through loud and clear. However, he really only had ears for the voice which was patiently and half-mindedly responding to the Robin's insistent questions.

"Nightstar?" he questioned, moving around the building to find them sitting at the edge.

Nightstar gave him a tiny wave and nervous smile.

"Grayson?" Robin questioned in surprise. Then he gave Nightstar a suspicious look because she didn't seem surprised. She knew this was part of her father's patrol route.

Dick walked over and sat down next to them. Both Graysons were nervous and stiff.

"Do we need to talk?" he asked Nightstar.

"No," she responded. "Unless it's about how Robin's been grounded."

Dick gave her a surprised look and checked the Robin sitting next to her. It was still the broad-shouldered, still growing Robin who was beginning to look a lot like Batman. So he hadn't been replaced.

"But, he's right-" Realisation hit later than it should have. "Oh. He snuck out, didn't he?"

"-tt- Technically, we both snuck out," Robin corrected. "After all, I had an interesting visitor today. One who insisted on sleeping over."

Nightstar and Dick shared a look. It was heavy with lots of different emotions on both sides.

Robin continued, "and I don't know why she didn't just sleep in your old room."

"Where-?" Dick started.

"Robin's room. I helped set up an air mattress for the night."

Dick thought about that for a moment before asking, "and the rest of the family?"

"Baffled. Although Red Hood managed to make a few jokes about it."

"I don't get how they don't figure it out. I even mentioned she's Colin's friend. Why would anyone who wasn't in this line of work be friends with both Colin and I?"

"I don't know, inform me if it happens," Dick commented dryly. "But, thanks for having her over. Um..." He fell silent, causing an awkward silence to fall over the group.

"Does it really matter if they find out?" Robin finally asked Dick. It was a question which Mar'i was suddenly asking herself.

"If they do, then so be it. She is my daughter and I won't deny that."

Something squeezed painfully tight in Nightstar's chest. She felt like she was going to cry. She didn't want to spill hot and stinging tears right now. Not while she was on a roof with her father and her father's old protégé. A change of subject was in order.

"Robin's grounded," she deflected, "so we need someone to inform him of where everyone is so he doesn't get caught."

Dick realised immediately what they were after. He did wonder if he would have been hearing from his daughter, aside from a single text saying she was okay earlier that evening, if she hadn't needed a favour for Damian.

Dick was the one who knew the Batman family best. He was the one who could best monitor their movements; his knowledge challenged only by Oracle.

Mar'i woke to sunshine on her face. She hummed happily and rolled onto her back, eyes closing against the pillow as she bathed in the warmth.

From nearby, there was a low groan, grumbled and the rustling of sheets.

"There'll be none of that Master Damian," Alfred commented as he moved through the room. "You have a guest who needs to get up for school and you need to cultivate the image that you were here all night, getting a good night's sleep."

"Like they'll believe that," Mar'i commented in a half-asleep manner as she cracked an eye open to check the time on her phone. She quickly calculated that she could sleep five more minutes and still get ready for school in time. "He could claim he spent the whole night training in the gym or something." She started to drift off again, not really paying attention to anything around her unless she had to.

"Are they even up?" Damian grumbled. He was up. Mar'i could hear his footsteps across the floor.

Her nose crinkled in annoyance. Five more minutes would have been nice but she couldn't drift off if people around her were waking up.

"Get up you lazy Grayson," Damian commented.

Mar'i cracked open an eye to see Damian standing by his wardrobe, half-undressed.

"No," she grumbled closing her eyes again. She didn't need to see him changing. Plus, the sun was warm and she never wanted to move from this spot.

"Miss, the family are expecting you to be down for breakfast. They are putting an effort into appearing like a normal family while they believe you to be an ordinary citizen," Alfred pointed out.

Mar'i sighed and sat up.

"Can we tell them?"

"So you can be lazy? No way," Damian said.

"But, they'll probably all go back to sleep after I leave," Mar'i complained.

"I won't," Damian said it like it had been a challenge. "If you need sleep so much, then maybe you should stick to your day job."

Mar'i growled at little at that but got up, grabbing her bag. Alfred had washed her clothes from the previous day, leaving her to wear her uniform again.

The table was set up just like it had been for dinner. Except, everyone seemed drowsier and a little less appraising of her.

Mar'i sat down and poured herself a bowl of cereal. Across from her, Jason was munching on some cut up apple. Tim seemed to be falling asleep in his coffee and Bruce was reading the paper.

"Where's Cass?" Damian asked as he walked in. He didn't seem tired at all. Mar'i wondered if that was because he was used to it or if he was just a really good actor.

"She's sleeping in," Jason responded. "Something about working late last night."

"-Hh-," Bruce huffed in a warning. At least, Mar'i thought she heard a warning in there. She couldn't be certain.

Jason rolled his eyes and bit down violently down on his piece of apple.

It seemed like a normal morning. At least until the door was thrown open with a bang.

"Master Richard-" Alfred started.

"Mar'i! What did you to my clocks?" Dick yelled, startling almost everyone at the table.

"Clocks?" Damian questioned with raised eyebrows at the two Graysons.

Mar'i made a show of chewing her cereal and swallowing before answering.

"I put them ahead one hour. Thought it might get you moving faster in the mornings." She glanced over at her dad. He didn't seem too mad. Just frustrated. And scruffy. He hadn't shaved with a shadow of hair around his mouth and chin. His hair was sticking out. She wondered how he had made the drive here without managing to tidy himself up.

"I almost had a heart attack, girl! What did I do to deserve that?"

Mar'i rolled her eyes. She had warned her dad the previous night, right before she and Robin left him to patrol. She had told him to not trust the clocks but, she guess he hadn't figured it out until after he woke up in a panic, believing himself late.

"I did that days ago. While you were on your trip," she informed him. That just said how much her father usually relied on clocks.

Dick seemed to calm in seconds. Or maybe he was in shock.

"Seriously?"

"I seem to remember a rather mischievous Robin doing the same thing many years ago when Batman wouldn't let him go on patrol while he was away on a business trip," Alfred commented, guiding Dick to a seat and offering him coffee and cereal.

"Karma," Damian snorted into his hot tea.

"Don't knock the classics," Mar'i informed the table.

Jason was glancing between them, trying to put the pieces together while Tim looked like he had been shaken awake.

Bruce finally put the newspaper down.