A Family

by BaconYourFace

What happens when two girls enter the Bat Family? Follow Christine Carter and Autumn Cross on their experiences as part of the family. Yes, Tim, Damian and Alfred are in this too (major characters, yes) Warnings: contains some gory scenes, swearing, and NO SLASHES. There are a few funny and fluffy chapters later on. Sucky summary but you get the point. Please read and review!

34. Brothers and Sisters

Chapter 34: Brothers and Sisters

Chris' POV

I wake up this morning to find Bruce shaking me. I slowly open my eyes and realize I am leaning on him. I look to my right and find my face buried in jet black hair. Who's leaning on me?

I begin to push myself up as Bruce slowly stands up. The person leaning on me stirs and slowly begins to lift himself up, too. When I am sitting up straight, I look at who was leaning on me as he stares back, his eyes kinda droopy and his hair tousled.

"Good morning Tim." I say.

"Morning," he replies, obviously tired.

I look down at the floor and find Dick and Damian still sitting there, fast asleep. Dick has his arm around Damian in a protective kind of way. Looks kinda cute...

A hand rests on my shoulder and I look up at Bruce.

"Wake your brothers up then go to the dining room for breakfast. I'll go check with Alfred and Autumn."

Oh yea...Autumn was with us...where is she?

Bruce leaves the room, and Tim stares down at Dick and Damian as I look past his head and at Jason, who is slowly waking up.

I look back down at my two brothers, but they still aren't stirring. I kick Dick lightly on the back.

"Dick...wake up..." I say.

He doesn't move.

"Demon. You're being hugged. Wake up." Tim says, but he doesn't move either.

I kick Dick a little harder. "Dick! Dick! Dick! Wake up! I want food! I know you do too!"

I notice his arm move a little bit. Good, he's waking up.

Tim slides off the couch and crouches next to Dick. I follow suit, but instead I sit in front of Damian.

"Dick...we'll tickle you if you don't get up. I know you're awake." Tim says and I smirk at him.

Dick shifts and moans, and I notice Damian's face twitch a bit.

I lean in closer to Damian's face. "Damian...I'll kiss you if you don't get up. You're awake." Just a threat. I would never kiss Damian. Except for a good reason. But what good reason is there to kiss him?

Suddenly, Dick's eyes widen, but surprisingly not Damian's. Tim looks at me in a funny way.

"Are you really gonna kiss him?" He says, but I can't tell his emotions based on his tone of voice.

"If I have to. He's not waking up. Of course I could let him skip a meal, but I think kissing him would be worse for him." I find the thought of kissing him disgusting, since he's my arrogant little brother who can be a pain in the ass. I might kiss him just to disgust him, but I'll probably just pull away at the last minute.

I'm about to lean even closer to Damian's face when Dick's eyes focus on us and he looks like his brain is actually working.

"Wait did I hear you correctly?" He says, his eyebrow raised.

"Probably." I say. "Why? You wanna kiss him and wake him up instead?" I ask my older brother, smiling mischievously.

"Bet he does." Jason says, still sitting on the couch, but now he's observing us. I look up at him. Huh...I kinda forgot he was there. I guess I'm still not completely used to having another boy in the house...

"Shut up Jason." Dick says as he cranes his neck backwards, but I can see him smiling.

"Oh c'mon Golden Boy. You don't have to be ashamed of anything." Jason smiles mischievously at Dick. Tim and I start laughing as Dick makes an annoyed face at him.

I stop laughing and focus my attention back on the sleeping Damian. His back is against the couch, and he looks peaceful. It's unusual.

"Damian...Damian..." I say as I lean in closer to his face.

"Do it. Do it." I can hear Dick and Jason cheering me on. Should I be worried? Nah.

I lean in even closer, but right before my nose can touch his nose, his eyes open. I can see some fear in his eyes.

"Carter get away from me!" Damian yells. I lean back and jump up before he can murder me. I start laughing as I run away from Damian. I can hear Dick, Jason, and Tim laughing behind me as I run out of the room, Damian right behind me.

"Carter! How dare you!"

"Keep running! We'll hold him back!" I hear Dick yell.

I run down the long hallway in the direction of the dining room.

"Carter! Todd do not touch me! Grayson! Get off me! Drake don't you dare do anything!" I hear Damian's pissed off voice somewhere behind me. Ah it's so much fun having brothers.

I take a turn and see the dining room door a few yards away.

"Chris! Run!" I hear Tim yell.

"He's catching up to you!" Jason yells, too.

I risk a quick glance behind me, and I see Damian, a mad expression on and his spiky black hair flying behind him as he runs after me. I've always known he's faster than me. I just have to make it to the dining room before him.

As I run, I notice a stool next to a large picture inside a fancy frame. Alfred was probably using the stool to dust the top part or something. When I run past it, I push it over behind me. He probably won't trip over it. i just want to at least try to slow him down.

3 feet away...2 feet away...

I hear an angry grunt behind me. I look back and see him in the air, his arms out, ready to strangle me to death.

1 foot...door.

I burst into the room and slam the door behind me. I run up to Bruce, who has a confused expression on his face. Alfred just placed some plates on the table. I grab onto Bruce's arm and stand behind him as Damian bursts into the room.

"I woke him up." I say to Bruce to answer his confused expression.

"Father! She tried to kiss me!" Damian runs up to Bruce and tries to run around him, but Bruce holds him back using the arm that I'm not holding on to.

"Just to wake him up!" I say in my defense. "Dick and Jason urged me on, and Tim didn't protest!"

Dick runs into the dining room, followed by Jason, then Tim. They're all panting, but they have smiles plastered on their faces.

"Father! Let me murder her!" Damian says as he tries to reach for me, but I'm just out of reach.

I look up at Bruce, and he's chuckling. "Damian leave your sister alone. She was just trying to wake you up. I don't think she was actually going to kiss you."

"True. I wasn't."

Jason approaches Damian from behind and picks him up, hugging him tightly so that he can't flail his arms and try to escape.

"Todd get your filthy hands off me!"

"You're the one with filthy hands. You lunged at Chris and would've strangled her if she hadn't slammed the door in your face." Huh. I've never heard Jason actually say my name.

I lean over and place my hands on my knees as I gasp for air. I was so busy laughing and running that I didn't even realize how out of breath I am until now.

I look up and see Damian looking at me. I know he would lunge at me if Bruce wasn't standing between us. I've been in a similar situation with Damian before. I know what to do.

"Damian. I'm sorry I tried to kiss you. Please don't kill me." I say between breaths.

He stares at me for a while. I stand up straight and feel an arm around my shoulders. I look to my left and see Dick, and he pulls me closer to him in a sideways hug. He's still smiling, but not as widely as before.

Finally Damian speaks. "Apology accepted. Just don't. Ever. Try. That. Again."

"I won't. But next time wake up the first time I try to wake you up."

"Agreed. Now may we please eat? I'm famished."

"Don't use big words in the morning. My brain doesn't feel like processing that kind of stuff." Jason says as he takes a seat at the table.

"Be quiet Todd. I will do as I please."

"Yeah...sure..." Tim says as he rolls his eyes. Damian glares at him as they both take seats at the table across from each other. I take a seat next to Tim, and Dick takes a seat next to me as Bruce sits at the head of the table. The seat across from Dick is empty.

Autumn's supposed to be sitting there...

I actually never really thanked her for what she did...for the world, for Dick, for Artemis, for everyone...should I? I think I will...I should be more courteous and "accepting" as Bruce and Alfred put it. Plus Tim seems to trust her, and Tim doesn't let his feelings take over ALL of his actions. I'm sure Tim has good reasons for trusting her...why am I in a different state of mind?

As Alfred puts the food on the table, he says, "It's so nice to see all of you getting along." We all look at him and smile at him.

"Thank you for the food Alfred." Bruce says.

"Thanks Al."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Thank you Alfred."

"Thanks Alfred."

"Gratitude Pennyworth."

"You are all welcome." He smiles at us as he leaves the room.

****Break****

Autumn's POV

I told Alfred I'm not sleepy. For the past three hours, I've been sitting on my bed just staring out the window, watching as the sky went from darkness to light. I didn't want the light. I wanted it to stay dark, but I couldn't do anything. At around 7 am, I stood up and pulled the curtains over the window.

Now, I just stare at my phone, for no reason. I small smirk tugs at my lips and I hug the pillow as I sit on the big ledge of my window with the nice, clean curtains still closed. I left the door slightly opened so that a little light can enter, and so I won't be completely blind in my room. Because to tell you the truth...everybody needs a bit of light sometimes.

I just stare at my phone, as if waiting for a text or a call to satisfy my boredom. But nothing.

I go to my contacts and open a message for Jake and look at the past texts like:

Jake: You okay?

Me: Yeah

Jake: -_- you expect me to believe that?

Me: Well yeah. You think I'm lying?

Jake: Sometimes you lie.

Me: Ouch. But when you put it that way…

Jake: Are you sure you're okay?

Me: Yeah man, just leave me to do what I wanna.

Jake: What are you doing anyways?

Me: Reading comics.

Jake: As usual. What comic?

Me: Walking Dead.

Jake: Not Marvel?

Me: Nah, didn't feel like it.

Jake: Oh hey, see you tomorrow. I have stuff to do.

Me: Okay.

Honestly, I was kinda disappointed that he had to go already because I was pretty damn bored at that time. I was just rereading that issue of Walking Dead even if I memorized the whole thing already.

I look at the cursor blinking in the message box and think about texting him. And for a while, I consider it. Nah. He might be busy.

So I move onto the next contact, R, and check out our old messages.

Me: Hey R.

R: What.

Me: I'm bored.

R: Good to know.

Me: Make me not bored.

R: How am I supposed to do that?

Me: I don't know.

R: Why not watch TV or something?

Me: Nothing's on.

R: Computer? Music? Something.

Me: Nah.

R: No wonder you're bored, you don't wanna do anything.

Me: I'm lazyyy.

R: You're bored but your lazy.

Me: Yeah.

R: Well, good luck with that.

Me: No don't go.

R: Why not?

Me: Cause I wanna text you.

R: Go talk to that Jake dude.

Me: He is boring me.

R: Everything is boring to you, isn't it?

Me: Yeah.

R: Well, I'm bored too. Wanna meet at some skate park?

Me: Yesss. Actually, I have a better place where we can skate.

R: Really where?

Me: Maybe you'll get to meet my friends if they're there.

R: Where…

Me: Just meet me in Crime Alley, by that abandoned subway.

R: Okay, yeah.

Me: Good, see you at 8. Bring your board.

R: Yeah, yeah. I'll be there.

I smile at his annoying tough guy act. But under that act is a caring compassionate guy.

I move my cursor to type something on the message box of R when my phone starts to buzz.

It's a number I don't recognize. I frown and furrow my eyebrows and press the green button on my Nokia. I press the phone to my ear and glare a hole through the wall. "Tell me who you are. Now." I try to sound as threatening as possible.

"Autumn? Is that you?" I narrow my eyes and harden my jaw and easily recognize the voice.

"Luke Snyder. Why do you have my number?"

"Woah. It is you."

"Never mind that. What do you want?" I bark.

"You sound like you're angry."

I roll my eyes. "Just tell me what you want and why you have my number."

A chuckle on the other line but I can feel him grimace even from here."Woah, straight to the point. And feisty...I like it." I mentally shudder. Gross.

"Just answer me."

"Okay. I'm bored. And I got your number from Jake."

I narrow my eyes. "Why would Jake give you my number."

"Oooh. No reason." He stammers. I'll kill Jake later. "So. Wanna go out?"

"What?" I scowl.

"You know. Hang out. Do something."

"Do what."

"I don't know. Maybe we can go to this new restaurant I-"

"No." I say immediately.

"Okay then. Let's just talk over the phone."

I sigh. "What is it?"

"Okay so you see. My mom and dad's not home and I was thinking if you wanted to come over."

"Don't you have housekeeping or something?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Talk to them."

"But they're just maids." I clench my fists. "They work for my family. Why should I talk to them?"

"That's bulls***, Luke. They may be working for your family, but they're still people. No one is lower than you."

"Okay, okay I'm sorry. So what's up?"

"Not much." I say casually, getting more comfortable with the conversation.

"Me neither. I've got a bazillion video games, but nothing's good. They're all crap."

"Then why do you have those video games in the first place?"

"I don't know. Just thought they'd be cool. But they turned out to be really crappy."

"Have you even played with them at all?"

"Erm...would you get mad if I said 'no'?"

I just roll my eyes and lean back on the wall, and I sigh. "That's just rich. You just like to waste money, don't you?"

"I wouldn't call it wasting…"

"You should be happy with what you have, Luke. Lots of people out there don't have the things you have. Some have nothing at all."

I remember those times, leaning by the wall, watching as my adoptive mom lied on the couch and just stared at the ceiling with clouded eyes and tears rolling down her pale cheeks and past her blue lips. I would hug myself, with the stinging pain of starvation tugging at me, gripping at my stomach, hoping Papa would come home and hopefully bring us something to eat. Anything.

I never want to feel like that again. I never want to starve ever again.

So in the orphanage, I always kept a small bottle of rugby with me. There was food at the orphanage, but there were young orphans who were so much thinner than me while other orphans hogged all the food. So I gave my food to the thinner and younger ones who hardly ate while I settled for the scent of the drug.

I would hide in the bathroom and take out my bottle of rugby and open it.

Rugby isn't supposed to be a drug, it's actually glue. But it worked as a good drug for kids like me, kids who starved. When I inhaled the smell of that drug, I didn't feel hungry. I didn't feel anything, I didn't feel pain. That's why I loved the drug so much.

But eventually it was discovered by the woman who handled the orphanage. Ms. Blanch-something. There weren't many hiding places in the bedroom that I had to share with at least ten other kids. So Ms. Blanch-something took away the only thing I had that made me feel better. I was left with nothing but pain. Quite literally.

She not only took the drug away, but she pulled me out of the bedroom by the hair, while some of the other orphans woke up that night not caring and going back to sleep. I cried and cried and scratched at the floor, but she was strong for a woman and I had become weak and skinny because of malnutrition and probably because of the drug. She pulled me to a different bathroom away from the other nice little girls in that bedroom. She dunked my head in the basin filled with water over and over again. She pulled my head up and I got a gasp of air and she pushed it back down. The entire time she yelled at me, things I couldn't hear.

Then after thirty, forty dunks, she let go of my hair and I laid there, my arms hanging on the basin, my lip bleeding and my face completely wet. I couldn't get up. She took a belt and whipped me until I fell to the floor and curled up in a bloody ball.

I didn't cry as she continued to yell at me and smack me.

Ms. Blanch-something...she was kind to the other orphans. She would be good to them. I know, because I saw. How she loved every little girl in that home, she loved them all.

Especially one girl that she obviously favored. She didn't even try to hide it. That one girl who had been in the orphanage for a long, long time, I've heard that she had been there since she was a baby, a girl just maybe a year or two older than me, and I only talked to her once telling her 'not to get your hopes up.' It was a wrong thing to do, but at that time I was tired. Until Ms. Blanch shooed me away like a dog.

But she was not mistreated in anyway. And I was glad that no one else was mistreated by that woman. No one but me.

I only hate myself a little for wishing that that woman had died somehow.

"Autumn? Autumn? Yoohoo. You still there?"

I blink. "Yeah, yeah. Still here."

"You got iOS 8? It's pretty cool."

"No. I don't have an iPhone."

"Me neither."

"Really?"

"Mine's an iPhone 6."

"No s***."

"Anyways, iOS 8 is just cool. I mean it's got new-"

"Cut the crap. I don't care."

"You'd be more interested if you had an iPhone of your own."

"No. I'd bet you five bucks just to prove you're wrong. Having a fancy phone doesn't change anything. All I use my phone for is to call and text. Don't care about the other features."

"Pfft. You're just saying that cause you don't have a cool phone like me." He says, but more jokingly than mockingly.

I can't help but smile at his idiotic humor. "Yeah, sure."

"Wait what kind of phone do you have?"

"Nokia." I say.

"Woah. Like those weird touch screen thingies?"

"No. The original old one."

"What really? I thought you'd be more like a Samsung person."

I shrug even if he can't see me.

"Your guardian didn't give you a new phone?" He asks.

"No."

"Well you should ask for one. Those kinds of phones should be extinct by now."

I roll my eyes. "If you say so…"

"You should really come over."

"Nah."

"C'mon. Why not?"

"Because I don't wanna." I tell the asshole lazily.

"I can show you some of my stuff and my room." Man, he's an idiot.

"No thanks." I shake my head and purse my lips. "Don't you have other friends to-" I stop myself. "Oh sorry. Forgot."

"It's okay…" He mumbles, trying to hide his hurt tone.

A silence takes place, until I grip the phone and sigh.

"Luke."

"Yeah?"

"We still need to finish that project." I can't see it, but I know he's grinning.

"Then you guys should come over. We'll do the next scene here in my house together."

"Okay. I'll tell everyone."

"Yeah, go tell that kid, Damian Wayne, and his friend Scott something. And Kai?"

I roll my eyes. "Damian, Scott, Tsina, and Jake."

"Oh yeah. Tell them to come over. Tell them the details to my house. You know where it is right?"

"Yeah." Then I hear footsteps coming towards my room. "Oh hey Luke. I'll just text you later. Bye."

"Wha- But!" And I press the red button on the keypad and end the call. I put the cell phone down on my lap and out stretch my legs and watch the shadow come towards my room.

Her tan-ish hand turns the door knob as she quietly enters my room. Her straight, dark hair is pulled back from her face.

I furrow my eyebrows and slightly cock my head. "Christine." She doesn't smile and neither do I, but she walks into my room without my permission.

"Hey." She starts as awkward silence washes in the air. "Dark room."

I shrug. "Well yeah. Addicted to the dark."

"But you kept your door open."

I lean back and face the wall as she just stands there. "I doubt you came here to make small talk." I look at her and suppress the urge to give her a glare. "So what do you want?" A long silence as the curtains slightly sway even if there is no wind present in this room and even if I hadn't moved it.

"Creepy." She mumbles.

I furrow my eyebrows and bring up my barriers so high and strengthen my defenses. I try to stop my eye from twitching and taking out my anger on her.

Because a voice in my head keeps on telling me that, she has every right to be angry at you. But you have no right to be angry at her.

Please shut up…

I know it's not like me to beg...but...ah, f*** it.

"What do you want?" I repeat, but with my voice as cold as ice. Maybe colder.

"I just wanted to say...thanks."

Her answer gets me off guard and I raise an eyebrow and lean forward, out of curiosity.

"Thank you for...stuff."

A question mark is evident above my head, trying to process this event. "For what? What did I do?"

She seems uncomfortable in this position, and just stands there in an awkward position. "You know. Saving the world...and rescuing Wally."

"What?" I blink. "I didn't do nothin'."

"What?" She gives me a confused look. I shake my head.

"I mean…" Street language isn't accepted in this gigantic castle. "I didn't do anything. Tim, your brother, figured it all out. Flash did the running. You and everyone else kept those dudes occupied. All I did was fly the ship and come up with a few minor ideas."

"Yeah but-"

"You should be thanking your brother and Mr. Allen. Not me."

"If you weren't there-"

"Then you guys would've figure it all out on you own." Which is true, because I was pretty useless, as usual.

She sighs. "Can't you just accept my thanks?"

"Well I don't deserve it."

"Stop degrading yourself. It's not like you're gonna die if you say 'You're welcome'"

I sigh. I don't think I need to say 'you're welcome' but if it will get her out of my room, I might as well. I have to sneak out of the house to go to Luke's house, and I can't do that if she's still here. Then I still have to call Damian.

"You're welcome." I say quickly and as quietly as possible.

She smiles a bit. Why is she smiling?

"What the hell are you smilin' about?" I say harshly. Oh whoops...I said a 'bad' word. Since she seems like such a perfect little princess she probably is gonna lecture me on how using bad words are...well, bad.

"Remember all those fights we had? Half of the time you told us we could kill you because no one would miss you, and it sounded like you really wanted to die. But I don't think you really wanna die."

"Why the hell are you bringin' that up?" Looks like she doesn't care if I swear.

She shrugs. "I mentioned death, and my mind made connections."

My mind sometimes does that.

"Why do you want to die?" She asks me, but she doesn't maintain eye contact with me.

I scoff. "Like I'd tell ya."

"Is it because life is a bully?"

"No it's a butt." I slap my mouth as she stares at me. I don't even know why I replied to that.

"It's a pile of bs." She says.

I move my hand from my mouth. "How would you know life's a pile of bulls***? You're life is perfect. You really are a princess."

She frowns. "My life isn't perfect. And I'm definitely not a princess. I may be living in some sort of castle with an awesome butler but," she chuckles lightly, "I'm not a princess."

I roll my eyes at her. "You can believe that. But your life is easy." Why are we still talking? I thought she was gonna leave the room earlier.

She chuckles again. "Compared to your life, maybe. But it wasn't for me. There are kids out in the world, the lucky ones, who have lived in a nice, comfy home with a mom, a dad, and maybe some siblings, ever since they can remember. I lived in an orphanage with other kids who were orphans, too. They just weren't there as long as me, so they couldn't really share my pain. The entire time I lived there, I thought that my parents just didn't want me, not because they died in some tragic accident or something." She sighs, then she approaches my bed and pats it, asking me if she can sit. I nod. Once she takes a seat, she continues.

"The lady at the orphanage was nice, though. She seemed to care for me. It was obvious she tried to give me the most attention, but that cost me. Most of the other kids hated me, so I was bullied, mostly orally, but once in a while it was physical. I cried a lot when I was younger, because I wanted to have a home and parents and be loved. I desperately wanted to leave that damned orphanage. I considered running away a few times, but there was no way I could survive out on the streets. Some of the kids in the orphanage, the ones who didn't hate me, tried to reach out to me, but they always ended up either being rejected by me or covered in bruises the next day. And the lady who ran the orphanage, the lady who cared for me for most of my life, she cared for me when she could. As I grew older, she began to care about me less and less from what I saw. At first, it was just because she got busier, since I guess criminals just loved killing parents, but then there was this one time she got really mad at me. And it was for a tiny reason, too."

She looks at me and hesitates. I shrug at her. I don't really know why she's telling me all these things, but she looks like she needs to say these things. I don't know why, but I guess it's because no one else has time to listen.

Christine continues. "It was one Christmas - I think I was seven - and I'd never really got Ms. Blanchard anything for Christmas even though she always gave me a little something. I decided to make her some hot chocolate as my birthday present." She chuckles. "The mind of a six-year-old." She continues her story. "I had seen her make it for some of the other kids before, so I had an idea of how to make it. When I finished making it, I brought it to her office, where she was filing some papers. I approached her and offered her the warm drink. She shooed me away, and she didn't even look up from her papers. When she moved her arm in a shooing gesture, she accidentally hit the ceramic mug, and it flew from my hands and landed on some of her papers. She yelped and grabbed all of the papers that were soaked in hot chocolate. She started yelling at me, and I kept saying sorry as I collected the pieces of the broken mug. Suddenly she shoved two pieces of tiny paper in my face, both wet. I realized they were both checks, one from the Wayne Foundation and one from Bruce Wayne himself. She continued to yell at me about money and a useless paycheck and s*** and I just ran out of the office, threw the ceramic pieces in the garbage, and ran up to my luckily empty room. I plopped onto my bed and opened my window as I cried. When I looked out the window, I could see some of those tall buildings where all the "normal-life" people lived. I also had a nice view of the full moon and the few stars in the sky. That night, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't loved and may never be loved. But still, my naive self made a wish to someday be loved and to have a family that truly cared for me, not some stupid crappy family that's secretly abusive."

Oh so Ms. Blanchard was a greedy b****. She probably abused me then because she wanted a steady flow of cash for being an "exemplary" caretaker and I was in the way of that.

"Well your wish came true. That sounds perfect." I say.

"Yeah...but because of Bruce adopting me, because I chose to become a vigilante, I learned about the world when I was ten." That's nothing. I learned when I was three. Wait. Wasn't she kidnapped when she was three? Maybe I should reread all of the BatComputer's files again...

"I got glimpses of it before then, but that was when I was really able to comprehend every disgusting corner of life and how cruel it really is. I've experienced a lot of pain in the past four years, both physical and emotional. And my emotional pain was mainly caused by lack of emotion from Bruce. I wished to be loved, and Bruce doesn't like to show his emotions that much, especially love. He finds that...especially difficult. So my first year living my new life was difficult, but I've been able to bear it. And I still am."

"That's the price of a family Christine. That's the price of getting your hopes up. It hurts so much when it crashes straight down. But it's not really good to be a pessimist." I stand up, take a few steps, and sit at the other edge of the bed.

"Why did you tell me all this?" I ask.

Christine sighs. "Because I've had all of my true emotions bottled up inside of me for my entire life and...I just needed someone to listen."

My eyes drop to the floor, "I know what it's like to have to bottle up your emotions. It's painful. It just wants to explode in your face, but you're trying your best to keep the bottle from blowing up because you know that once it blows up, it will never be good thing." She doesn't move, but I know that she knows what I'm talking about. "It always helps to talk to someone, to someone that would always listen." I sigh, "I know I'm not your favorite person, at all. I never will be, I know. But every time you need someone to talk to, to just listen even if you don't want advice, I'll listen, 'cause I know what it's like."

I purse my lips. "Thanks...and you can come talk to me, too...if you need to." She says as she gives me a small, fake-ish smile.

"Gotham is no place to live in. Just remember to stay strong and hold onto what keeps you going. Your brothers, your grandfather, and your father. I know that he doesn't show emotion, and it's hard, but he cares, your brothers care, your grandfather cares, they all do..." I sigh.

She looks at me, "I doubt that you know what it's like. To feel like no one in this world cares about you. To feel abandoned and alone. I saw that picture of a woman and a boy, probably your mom and your brother. You had a family, unlike me."

A small smile tugs at my lips, as my lips become glassy at their memory. I stand up and move to the drawer and take the picture. I carefully hand it over to her and she holds it with much caution.

"It's nice to have someone that cares. And it's nice to care about someone. But light only lasts for long." I sit back down beside her and look down as she examines the picture. "Yeah, they were like family. Not by blood, but they were still family…same thing."

"What happened to them?" She asks.

I breathe out a heavy sigh. "Well, they're dead now. Obviously." I run my hand through my hair in an attempt to take out the pain and secretly pull my hair. "We were some kind of small, poor family for a short time...even with mom's boyfriend beating me everytime he came home. I did everything to protect and help them...everything." I clench my fist and then let it go. I sigh, but I don't feel like being angry. "I took every beating from Mom's boyfriend just for the both of them. I stole and lied, just to give them one meal a day…I tried not to eat. Because I didn't wanna see my mom suffer." I shake my head as my jaw squares. "But then...my brother died. And you know who killed him?" I breath out, but the pain doesn't engulf me like it usually does.

She doesn't respond to the rhetorical question. "The Joker killed him. And you know what happened to my mom? She went under drugs and became horribly depressed. She couldn't even make herself a cup of coffee or heat water without her hands shaking and dropping the pot. The only thing she could do was scream at me and whip me. Papa, her boyfriend, continued to abuse me, continued to beat me until every damn bone in my body was broken, until my soul was broken. Then he ended up in jail…" I rub my eyes, I swallow that lump in my throat. "I didn't like it, but I tried so hard to survive on the streets for me and my mom...but guess what happened next...I found her body in the small, dark living room and a bloody rope tied to her neck. She committed suicide, after I gave her everything I could after nearly killing myself just to give us both food and water...she just...left me."

I look up at the ceiling in pain. "I held her hand that night. Her skin was already cold to the touch. And I couldn't save her from herself. I couldn't protect my brother. I was useless...I remember, the pain of that night. And as I grew up...fighting and fighting against this dark, cruel world...I thought...that the farther I got from that night she died...the less pain I would feel...but each day and each night that passes...the pain always triples more than the night before. Living with this kind of pain, the guilt, the agony...the memories...the horrible memories…" I stop and let silence drown us both, until I continue…

I lower my shaky voice into a whisper, "...it makes me want to take a gun and put a bullet right through my head…just to erase the memories. Just to take the pain away." I bite my lower lip and sigh. "It takes every bit of strength I have left to stop myself from taking a gun and holding myself at gunpoint right to my head. Or taking one of my knives and slitting my own throat…" I carefully take the picture away from her hand. "So don't tell me that I don't wanna die. Because I do. But I'm trying to hold on. And honestly, I don't even know what I'm fighting for anymore. I'm just fighting for some reason and I'm just going to fight. And I will continue to. But one day, nothing will stop me from dying the same way my mom did…" I smile, and stand up, and put the picture back in the drawer.

"You know you don't have to go through this alone. You have...a family...now. You have Jason, Alfred, Tim, Damian, Dick, Bruce, me... I know we don't really act like a family towards you now, but you just have to let us help. Maybe then you'll figure out what you're fighting for." I know she's right behind me, but her voice seems miles away. I sigh.

I shake my head and turn around. I give her a toothless smile. I wave away her comment. "Enough about me. I'm not important." I purse my lips and arch my eyebrows. I wanna try something..."Listen. I want to help you...while I still can, or at least try. I know you hate me, but I don't hate you. I want to help you. We don't have to be friends, but we can be allies. And I told you, if you want someone to listen to you, and just listen and understand. You can always go to me." I nod and force a smile.

Life sucks. Everything hurts like a b***. Everyday, I fight my own war and everyday I lose every battle. But I will continue to fight. Because I wanna help others, I'll start with this family, they're all broken, and I wanna help all of them. So that when I truly lose the war, and letting my enemy win. So that when I'm gone, they'll just carry on, they won't mourn. They'll rejoice every time they hear my voice. I'll be looking down, smiling. And they'll be smiling back.

I'm not angry anymore...because I don't wanna be angry. I don't wanna be depressed either. I wanna be happy, but I can't... but one day I truly will feel happy. I just have to be patient.

She stares at me for a bit, but then she speaks. "Allies...okay. Thanks...for listening." She stands up. "And you can come to me, too. Maybe then, I'll hate you less..." She gives me a toothless smile as she makes her way to the door.

When she's under the doorpost, she turns around and looks at me. "Thanks again. For everything."

This time, I don't reject her thanks. "Don't mention it." And she leaves. I dial Tsina's number and put it under my ear. "Dude." I say, trying to shake off the pain, blinking my eyes.

Telling her parts of my story...hurts...but I'm not mad, I'm not sad either. I don't know what I feel anymore...

****Break****

Chris' POV

I enter my room and leave the door open a bit. I walk over to my bed and flop onto it.

That. Was. Difficult.

Now I know her a little better. Now I know why she has all that rage and agony inside of her.

And now I feel sorry for her. And sorry that I was really mean to her.

But I still can't completely forgive her for the pain she caused us. But that doesn't mean I can't overlook it.

I feel really relieved that I was finally able to say how I've been feeling. I never would've thought that I would ever say all those things to Autumn. And I never thought she would share some of her life story with me.

I'm surprised she doesn't hate me, after the way I've treated her for so long.

She's tough. I'm not. But it's okay. I'm actually kinda happy she's still alive today, that she's been able to resist putting a bullet through her brain. Or else I may have to keep those feelings locked up inside of me for my entire life.

I think that I've always known that I could trust her, since it seems that I was so eager with telling her my inner emotions. I guess my brain and other stronger emotions shot the idea of trusting her down.

And I guess I've always felt kinda sorry for her. I mean I did threaten some bullies for her. And I probably would've punched one of them if I hadn't warned them to run away.

So as of now we're allies...but I think that one day we may actually be friends. I don't see why not. Well, except maybe for the fact that she's slightly mentally ill. Well I think everyone in this house is (except for Alfred). I mean, we all dress up and go out during the night and beat up thugs to let out our emotions, especially our anger.

And now my brain feels dead with what just happened.

A knock on my door causes me to push myself up from my bed. I turn and see Dick standing in the doorway.

"You okay?" He frowns at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You didn't seem fine when you were lying on your bed just a few seconds ago." He enters the room and approaches me. "You sure you're alright?"

I'm happy he's concerned. I feel like he's been kinda aloof for the past month or so. I don't know why, but at least he's been acting like my big brother again ever since Wally came back.

"Yes, Dick. I'm fine." I lie back down on my back.

"How come I don't believe you?" He continues to stare at me.

"Dunno with you." I say as I stare at my ceiling, my plain white ceiling. For some reason it's kinda calming. Like among the chaos of my room and my life there's still something that's plain and simple that doesn't involve too much worrying.

"You look like you need some fresh air." He says.

"Nah I'm good." I say. I don't wanna get up anymore since my bed is so comfy.

"Who said you have a choice? Now we're going out. So get up or I'll force you to get up." He gets on the bed and sits next to my head. He looks down at me, blocking my view of the ceiling.

I look up at him. "What are you gonna do?" I frown at him.

"Tickle you. Duh." He says casually.

"Wha-Dick! No don't!" My eyes widen, but before I can get up or roll away he starts tickling my stomach. I crawl into a ball and laugh uncontrollably.

"Dick! Stop!" I say in between laughs.

"Are we going to the city?" He asks, a mischievous smile on his face, as he continues to tickle me.

"Yes! Okay! Okay!" I yell at him, still laughing.

He doesn't stop tickling me immediately. He continues on for a few more seconds until he finally stops. Even though he's stopped, I still lie on my bed in a ball. The bed moves, and even though I'm facing the other way I know he's getting off the bed.

"Come on Rachelle Grayson."

"But I'm too lazy to get up, Richard Grayson."

We both laugh. Rachelle was my birth name, and apparently our parents loved the letter R. I also think they loved rhyming words since his middle name is John and mine is Fawn. Once in a while, we use our full birth names at random times for no particular reason. I think it's just to remember our parents and the oddity of our names and to make us feel more like brother and sister.

I'm lifted off the bed and my face is buried into Dick's shoulder. I lift my head and watch as the door to my room gets further and further away.

"You're way too old to be carried." He says.

"I know." Well I didn't ask to be carried. All I said was that I was too lazy to get up.

"You're such a baby."

"Then why are you still carrying me? You could have put me down any time you wanted and yet you're still carrying me."

"Because you're my baby sister, and I want to carry my baby sister."

"I'm fourteen."

"And I'm twenty-three. It's a nine-year difference, making you my baby sister."

"But I'm not a baby. So please put me down so I can run back to my room and change." I say. He puts me down and I walk back to my room.

"Meet you downstairs!" I yell just before I enter my room.

****Break****

Tim's POV

I'm not the sporty type. But I need to get my mind off of things.

So I take the basketball and shoot it into the hoop. It falls through the hole and I run under the hoop to catch it.

I hear the sound of the ball bouncing as I dribble it, then I shoot it again and sigh.

I run towards the ball again and shoot it through the hoop.

This time, I miss and hit the wall instead of the hoop. It bounces back and I catch it.

"Drake." I look to the left to see The Demon Spawn standing by the door.

"Demon." I greet.

"I see you are quite fond of this game." He says, gesturing to the ball.

"Not really. I'm just bored and grounded."

He lets out a small "Tt." Sound.

"Wanna play? It's not as fun playing alone."

He raises an eyebrow. "No. I roll my eyes.

"You can drop the 'mature assassin' act you know."

"It's no act, Drake. I am more mature than any of you."

"Let's just play." I throw him the ball, and he catches it with his two hands. He stares at it for a while.

"What is the point of this game?"

I shrug. "Don't know. It's usually a game boys play...don't know why though."

"What are the rules? Do I have to kill you so I can throw the ball into the hoop."

I chuckle. "Didn't think you were capable of humor." I look at him, but he isn't laughing. He just has that usual frown on his face. "Wait, really? You don't know how to play?"

"Tt. I don't have time to learn this childish nonsense."

"I'll teach you." I blurt out. I outstretch my arms in a gesture for him to throw me the ball. He throws me the ball and steps into the court. "Okay, so this is how the game works…" I start explaining to him the gist of the game.

"Basically, I have to shoot the ball into the hoop and keep it away from you."

"Yeah. That's about it."

"Easy. Won't be a challenge."

"Right." I say sarcastically as I start to dribble the ball. "You have never even played this game before. What makes you think you'll win on the first try?"

"Because I am better than you in every aspect Drake."

The Demon is so arrogant. It's frustrating. He likes to make me angry a lot. But today, I don't feel like being angry. I guess you can say that I'm used to his arrogance.

And maybe it would be safe to say that he is my brother...not that I would tell anyone that.

I smile. "Yeah, sure." I mumble, and we start to play. He blocks me as I move for the hoop. still dribbling the ball.

As we play, a small smile tugs at my lips. And no matter how hard he tries to hide it, I can see a smile at the edge of his lips that he will deny forever.

****Break****

Damian's POV

Drake shoots a hoop and catches it. He's very sloppy, unlike me. I am only lowering my skills so that we can be evenly matched. It is no fun if I just keep on taking the ball and shooting the hoop.

I don't know how long we have been playing, but so far, it's a tie. I've lost count on our points a while ago. And for some reason, we just keep on playing and playing, trying to steal the ball from each other, even if we're both already drenched in sweat.

As he dribbles in front of me, I reach my arm out and steal the ball from him. I dribble it and shoot it into the hoop, but it bounces off the backboard and bounces to the left where the manor is.

Drake and I both turn our heads, waiting for the ball to either bounce off the manor walls or somehow manage to break a window. But instead we see Cross, her outstretched arm holding the ball.

"Hey," Drake says.

"Cross." I greet. She dribbles the ball and takes the ball with both her hands and throws it towards the hoop from where she's standing. She makes the shot, and the ball bounces away. Neither of us go and chase after it.

"Mind if I interrupt your little 'date'?" She smirks, and her eyes flicker devilishly for a moment. Then they return back to her normal callous eyes.

"DATE!?" Drake protests as I begin to feel disgustingly uncomfortable.

"Dudes. Just kiddin'." She smiles.

Funny. I haven't heard Autumn attempting to be funny since...before.

"What is it?" I demand.

She looks at me. "I need to borrow you," Drake and I both walk up to her as she reaches for the bench and throws us both our own towels.

I catch my blue towel and Drake catches his towel, which is identical to mine. Huh, she didn't get them confused. She really does help with the laundry.

I wipe off my sweat and we both walk towards her. "What for?" Drake asks.

"Project. We're in the same group."

I hum in response.

"Luke called. He's inviting all of us over to his house to finish off the project and shoot the last scene."

"Wait, what are you gonna do?"

"None of your-"

"We're gonna make a video." She explains as simply as that.

"Ah, I see." Drake nods slightly.

"Yeah."

"Wait. Aren't you grounded?" He glares in Autumn's direction. She puts on a small smile and her eyes start to brighten.

"Um…" She says, fidgeting with her fingers.

"Oh no. I'm not gonna cover for you." Drake frowns and crosses his arms.

"Please!" She begs.

There's a silence. "Are you okay, Autumn?" Drake asks.

"Something must be wrong. You don't sound very much like yourself." I tell her.

She cocks her head. "What makes you guys say that?"

"You don't say please."

"You never ask for help."

"And you hate Snyder."

She shrugs and gives us a toothless smile. "I'm just in that light-headed mood right now. But later on it will change, then again, and again…" She blows air into her cheeks and blows the air out.

A silence, as if everything but the wind and the dancing trees are on pause. We just stare at her for a while.

I look at her, trying to read her thoughts. But even before I was unable to read her thoughts. But, sometimes, I can read her real emotions. I look into her bright but callous teal green eyes to see if I can read what she truly is feeling right now.

And I see, past the brightness, it gets darker and darker. But instead of black, or red, in her eyes, I can see a light blue color flickering inside her eyes, just above her strong barriers.

"So...you gonna help me?" She looks at Drake. "And are you gonna come with me?" She looks at me.

Drake sighs. "Fine. I'll cover for you."

She grins. "Thanks man."

I walk up to her and she points to my dark blue shirt drenched in sweat. I get closer to her and I realize that I've gotten taller. We're no longer the same height.

"Ha. Demon's taller than you now, Autumn." Drake mocks.

Autumn just smiles at me. "That's good for you then."

I find it very frustrating and aggravating that it's difficult to annoy her. "Now, you…" She walks closer to me, unfazed by the stench of my sweat. "Take a shower then let's go."

"Don't tell me what to do, Cross."

"You gonna go to Luke's house all sweaty and gross?" I glare at her and she smirks and walks past me.

"No…" I mumble.

"Then get dressed!"

"Fine." I walk inside.

Tim's POV

We watch Damian walk in and I turn to her. "What?" She looks at me.

I look at her. "What's wrong?" I ask her, noticing something different in her.

She furrows her eyebrows. "Nothing's wrong…"

I can see past her lie. "Something is wrong."

"Why do you say that?"

"It just seems like it. I mean, you're usually all serious and demanding…"

She shrugs, "I'm just not in a bad mood…" I look at her and blink. "Anyways...Godfrey's at it again." I groan. G. Gordon Godfrey is that guy who's trying to make the Justice League look horrible and turn people against us. "He's such a-" I glare at her. "-butt. He's such a butt. I mean c'mon. What the hell does he want!?"

I shrug. "I try not to think of him."

"So you tryin' to finally be brotherly with your little brother huh?"

"Wha-"

"Cute."

"I'm not trying to-"

"Dude. So I talked with your sister." That shuts me up.

"You two didn't try to kill each other?"

"Wait. Why would I try to kill her?"

"I don't know, cause you hate her."

"I don't hate her…" She mumbles. "Anyways. She tried to thank me…"

I raise an eyebrow, trying to pull off the Alfred look. "That doesn't sound anything like her."

"I know. But dude, why did she try to thank me? What's up with her?"

"Maybe she's finally following what Bruce told her…" I mumble.

"Wait, what?" She frowns at me.

"Nothing!" I say.

"Oh, so it was Mister Wayne's idea for her to thank me?" She looks away from me.

"What! No!"

"That's just rich. The Bat actually tries." She rolls her eyes.

"No, Autumn, that's not what I-"

"You know what Tim. Forget it." She sighs.

"That's not true Autumn." I say.

She shakes her head. "Don't care. I won't dwell on it and make these kind of things worse…"

Both my eyebrows raise. "You're not mad."

"Why would I be mad?"

"You're always…"

"Angry? I try not to."

"But now you just don't care."

She shrugs. "Whatever man." She runs her hand through her soft dark brown hair, but as it shines under the sun it looks a dark hazel. Almost like Chris', but I think Chris' hair is a little darker.

"So that's what you do…"

"Hm?"

"You shrug it off...all of it...and try to forget about it…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

I sigh. "Forget about it." She says.

"Fine…"

"Good." She smiles at me...but I don't smile back. Her toothless smile is just making my heart drop. Because I know that her smile, no matter how real it looks, even if her eyes shine and her smile brightens up the day...her smile isn't real, and the brightness in her eyes is just another one of her masks. Because I know that she's desperately trying to hide the pain. It's just...sad…

She stuffs her hand into her pocket and rummages through it. She pulls out a piece of paper. "Here. When he comes back from the grocery, give this to Alfred."

"What is it?" I take it.

"Open it if you want."

I open it. It's written in her obvious hand writing, with sharp letters as if it was rushed.

Alfred. I'm going out...please, please don't tell Mister Wayne. I'll be back to help out with the chores later, so, so sorry. Important project to do and other stuff. I promise I'll help out later. By the way, happy now?

"Alfred notices when I'm gone, so he keeps on scolding me to at least write a note before I leave." Autumn explains.

"I see. Yeah, he gets really worried easily." I chuckle. "I'll put it on the fridge."

"You've got a cool grandfather."

I look at her and smile. "Yeah...he is the coolest grandfather…" I admit.

"You know what I noticed? Everyone has been getting taller but me…"

I shrug. "You're only twelve. Late bloomer? The hormones must-"

"Shut up nerd." She puts her finger over my lip and shakes her head. "I don't wanna hear that scientific crap." She takes her hand off my lips. "It's just that everyone has been growing up...and I don't-"

"Wanna grow up?"

"Yeah...next thing you know you'll be in college, then you'll have your own job and your own family. Richard will move out. Jason will...I don't know...Christine, Damian. You'll all grow up…then life will go on until it ends…and..." She sighs and looks down. Then she looks up, her eyebrows furrowed. "What was I talking about again?"

"Huh?"

She shakes her head and shrugs. She pats my shoulder and walks towards the door. "Gotta go." I watch her walk into the house. She has been trying so hard to forget her problems and forget the pain...

I furrow my eyebrows and sigh. I walk towards the door with my towel over my shoulder.

***Break****

Dick's POV

"Dick, where are we going?" Chris asks me. We're in my car, and we are driving over the bridge that connects Gotham to the rest of the world. Well, one of the bridges.

"To get fast food. I haven't had it in a while, and I'm really craving it." I reply.

"Alfred will be upset that you don't want to eat his food anymore. Would you like me to break the news to him so you don't have to see his disappointed face?" I glance to my left and she's giving me a smile.

"No! That's not what I'm saying." I reply just as we enter Gotham's city limits.

"Yeah I know. But which place are we going to?" She asks me.

"I don't know. I'm craving burgers. I was thinking In-N-Out."

"You and your healthy habits..."

"Hey! Everyone should be eating healthy, and In-N-Out has pretty healthy burgers!" I say, getting all defensive.

"No I know. I have nothing against In-N-Out. Their burgers are yummy. But I know this pretty good burger joint. It's this tiny little place, and my friend brought me there because his mom knows the person who owns the place and they have good burgers and breakfast food. You interested?"

"Sure. What's it called?"

"Emily's Diner." She says.

"Oh yeah, I've heard of that place." I pull up my mental map of Gotham. Ok, so I need to turn right at Ponderosa Drive...that's a few blocks away.

"Hey bro?" She turns to me.

"Yeah? You alright?" Her voice sounded uncertain.

"Sure. But, how do you feel about Autumn? Because we all know how most of us feel about Autumn, but I don't really know how you feel."

I actually don't really know how I feel about Autumn. All I know is that she hurt us, but Bruce, Alfred, Tim, and Damian seem to trust her. I'm not sure if that means that I should trust her too.

"I don't have any hardcore grudges against her, but I'm not entirely happy about her living with us still. I've gotten used to it, and I think there's hope for her. Why do you ask?"

"Umm..." Before she can answer my question, I park in front of the diner and Chris immediately exits the car. Is she avoiding answering the question?

I get out of the car and look up at the red letters spelling "Emily's Diner." I look over at Chris and she's smiling at me.

"Hurry up slowpoke I'm starving!" She's already moving toward the two glass doors that are the entrance to the diner. She looks up at the sign, stops walking for a second, and then continues walking.

I smile back at her. It's been a while since the two of us just hung out together. We used to do it a lot when Chris was younger, but she got older and busier and it didn't seem like she wanted to hang out with me anymore. At least now I know she still kinda does.

I walk over to her. When I reach the doors, we walk inside. The place really is tiny; I count only 10 tables, not including the ones outside. The smell of burgers and the sizzling of the grills fills the entire place and makes my stomach growl. There are only a few people here right now, occupying four of the ten tables, and there's no line to order, so that's good.

Chris and I approach the register where a lady wearing an apron and who has short, light brown hair is smiling at us.

"Are you two ready to order?" She asks us.

"Give us a minute please." I say.

She nods and goes into the kitchen. I look up at the board with the menu items and read what's under "Burgers."

"What do you want?" I ask Chris.

"Classic BLT. How about you?"

"I was thinking the Western BBQ burger."

"Oh that's a good choice! Your friend got that last time you came, Christine." A voice makes me look behind the counter again.

"Hi Sydney." Chris says to the girl. She's wearing an apron similar to the one our previous waitress was wearing, and her blonde hair is tied back in a neat ponytail. She's wearing a striped, pink and white long-sleeved shirt underneath her apron. "Who is this?" The girl says, gesturing to me.

"This is my brother, Richard."

"Nice to meet you, Sydney." I say, smiling at her.

"Her mom owns the place." Chris explains to me.

"Oh? Is your mom Emily?" I ask Sydney.

"No, she's my grandmother. She wanted to open a diner but by the time she had enough money and time to do so she was already too old, so she left the job to my mom."

"That's nice. Can we order now?"

"Oh sure! I'm assuming you're getting the Western BBQ Burger?"

I nod in response.

"And you, Christine?"

"BLT please."

"Ok! But you got that last time when you came here with Tyler and your friends. Don't you want to try something new?" She asks.

"No it's fine. Maybe next time." Chris smiles at her.

"Alright. That'll be $8.47 please."

I take out my wallet as Chris walks away, probably to get a table. I give the money to her and she gives me my check. I thank her and walk away as she disappears into the kitchen. I take a seat across from Chris.

"When was the last time you came here?" I ask Chris.

"It was a graduation thing. Tyler's mom and Sydney's mom know each other pretty well, so we all came here."

"Oh ok." I say. "So what do you want to do after this?" I ask enthusiastically.

Chris shrugs, unenthusiastically. "Dunno. I was kinda planning on going home and working on homework and watching Netflix."

"Aw c'mon! We don't usually hang out like this anymore! We can go to the mall, the docks, an amusement park maybe..."

"Why are you trying so hard to get us to hang out? We can just chill at home and play on the estate or watch some stuff together."

"But you need some fresh air! You're always cooped up at home."

"I get enough fresh air after hours." She frowns. "Now what's up? Why do you want to hang out so badly? Is it because you're moving out soon?"

My eyes widen. "What are you talking about?"

She doesn't answer my question immediately, as if to see whether or not I'm lying about not knowing. "You used to talk about wanting to move out of the manor and living somewhere else to get away from Bruce and all the chaos - you said maybe Bludhaven. Back then, I didn't think you were serious, since you still haven't moved out, but you seem to be a little aloof lately. Are you already planning on moving out without telling anyone?"

I stare at her, shocked. How could she think I would move out without telling her, or at least plan on it?

"No! I'll admit the thought has crossed my mind plenty of times but I don't plan on going anywhere just yet. Did you really think I would move out and not tell you? My little sister?"

She shrugs and mutters, "I don't know."

"Well I'm not moving out anytime soon." In the corner of my eye, I notice Sydney walk out of the kitchen with two plates. "Now stop thinking about that." I say to Chris. "Our food's here."

Just after I finish my sentence, Sydney approaches us with our burgers.

"Chris here's your BLT."

Chris says "thanks" to Sydney as she places the plate in front of her. Then, she grabs my plate.

"And Richard here's your Western BBQ Burger."

I smile up at her and say, "Thanks."

She smiles back but doesn't say anything in return. Instead, she turns around and heads behind the counter to take the order of the couple that just walked in.

I look at my stuffed burger. The smell of it makes my stomach growl. I look up at Chris just as she takes a bite out of her giant burger. I look down at mine, pick it up, and take a bite. The taste of the burger fills my mouth.

"This is really good." I say with my mouth full.

"I know right!" She says after she swallows her food.

I swallow my food. I could just start rambling on about something else, but something Chris said is bothering me.

"Why did you say I've been aloof? It's not like I'm disappearing in the middle of the day like Jay sometimes does."

She stares at me. "Well, it's not exactly that you're aloof, but more of you've been acting differently."

"I have?" Really? Am I? If so, then I'm not aware of it.

"Yeah, like sometimes you aren't around, other times you're especially happy, other times you're kinda gloomy, but it's mostly that you're oddly silent at certain times. As if you're always deep in thought or something."

I look down at my burger. A lot has happened recently: Autumn moving in, Wally coming back, but still unconscious, everyone asking me to come back to the Team...there's so much on my mind. That might be why I'm always "deep in thought." I might be inadvertently doing it.

I sigh. "It's just that with Wally back, I'm remembering how I felt when he...died...when the Team slowly began to crumble, and how my closeness to Wally made the crumbling speed up, since I took his death pretty hard. I thought that taking a break from the Team and staying here in Gotham might help both them rebuild themselves and me recuperate from losing my best friend. But with Jason back, and the introduction of Autumn...and the fact that they're all living with us...it's just a lot of emotions being felt at the same time and I'm having some trouble controlling them..."

I look back up at my little sister. She hasn't eaten her burger except for that first bite. She's just staring at me, and in her eyes I see some sadness and kindness.

We are silent for a while, the two of us just staring at each other, unmoving. Then, Chris' lips move and form a smile that warms my heart. That's all she had to do...smile. Then she stands up and approaches my side of the table. I scoot over and she sits down next to me. She looks up at me.

"It's okay. Just remember, you're not alone. Ever. If you ever just need someone for anything, you can always go to someone. To me, Alfred, Tim, maybe Damian...hell, even Bruce, if it's an appropriate situation. But Dick...I know you already know this, but I'm saying it again. We love you, and we will always be there for you." She says in a quiet, sweet voice.

I look down at her and smile. I love my little sister. She's what I have left of my past, of my family, even if she was never really a part of it back then. And I'm thankful that she's so much like me in these kinds of situations than Bruce. She's understanding, caring, and always helpful.

And I'm thankful for my odd, messed up family. Because they've helped me become who I am today, and I like who I am.

I pull my sister into a hug, catching her off guard. At first, she just sits in a stiff position (she isn't used to hugs), then she relaxes and hugs me back. We stay like that for a bit until Chris speaks.

"Can we let go now? I feel kinda awkward..."

I let go and look down at my burger. I forgot I was hungry for that moment in time. It was nice.

As I pick up my burger to take another bite, Chris pulls her plate to her from the other side of the table. Before she takes a bite, she speaks. "Do you want to go ice skating?"

I grin. "Of course I want to! Remember when you first came into the family, one of the first things we did together was go ice skating?"

"Of course I remember. You, being the graceful, acrobatic person you are were a natural at it."

"Well it's also because I had practice." I interrupt.

"And then there was me, who had never ice skated before. I was really clumsy and kinda scared because the ice was so slippery and I fell so many times no matter how hard I gripped onto your arm."

I laugh, and she laughs too as she leans back on the booth chair.

"Yes, but that was four years ago. Now, you can skate decently and you no longer have to grip onto anything."

"Yup."

We both laugh for a bit, eating our burgers simultaneously.

As our laughter dies down, Chris says, "Ah memories."

"I miss the old days. And who we were back then."

"Yeah...growing up is tough."

"Especially for us."

"Yup..."

Sydney slowly approaches us. When she reaches our table, she asks in her sweet, kinda high pitched voice, "Are you guys going to take that to-go? Or are you still eating?"

I answer. "We're still eating. But thanks for the concern. Oh and tell the chef that he or she is an amazing cook and..." I take out my wallet and pull out two tens. "...that he or she gets ten dollars for tip. And you, Sydney, get the other ten dollars. Thank you so much."

Sydney grins at me. "Thank you so much, Mr. Wayne."

"Oh it's no problem." I say.

When she walks away, Chris speaks. "You're oddly in a good mood. I mean, a better mood than usual."

"I know! And I'm feeling very generous for some reason." It's probably because we're going ice skating, which has become a pastime for Chris and me.

"And Mr. Wayne?" Chris raises an eyebrow at me. "Doesn't that sound kind of odd to you?"

I shrug. "It does. It sounds like I've become the man Bruce is, which by the way isn't what I want, but...I don't mind."

"Okay." She says in a high pitched, doubtful tone. I just smile at her as we take bites out of our delicious burgers.

****Break****

Damian's POV

We both get in the car. Autumn holds her phone to her ear. "Yeah Luke, we're on our way. Quit buggin' me." She says, getting in the car beside me.

I'm wearing a simple black shirt, the sleeves are halfway my arms, and cargo pants. She sits down beside me and closes the door. "That's cool. See ya man." She presses the end button on her phone and shoves it in her back pocket. "Man, what an ass."

I scoff. Her phone is one of those old Nokias. "You need a new phone." The driver starts the car.

She looks at me and shrugs. "Nah. I'm satisfied with my phone."

"Your loss."

The car starts to move out the manor gates. The sun shines brightly and refracts through the tinted glass. I try to shield my eyes from the sunlight. "I should have brought shades."

She gives me a toothless smile as she reaches for her other pocket. "Yeah." She remarks. "Too bad you didn't." She says, pulling out a black pair of earphones.

She connects the plug to her iPod watch. She plugs one earphone in her ear, she offers me the other one. "Wanna listen?" I stare at the earphone for a while. I reconsider, then I take the earphone and put it in my ear.

She plays the music and I look out the window.

The song starts with a catchy tune and drums and a guitar.

I've heard this song before, I just can't place my finger on the title. It's an old song, that's what I know.

A/N: *Bat glares at anyone who doesn't know this song*

The voice starts soft.

Robert's got a quick hand.

He'll look around the room,

he wont tell you his plan.

He's got a rolled cigarette

hanging out his mouth.

He's a cowboy kid.

Yes, I know this song.

Yeah! He found a six-shooter gun

in his dad's closet, with the box of fun things.

I look at her and raise an eyebrow. She's mouthing the song and bouncing her leg as she listens to the song. "Pumped up kicks?"

She turns her head to me and smiles, but more like a devilish grin. "Yeah."

A/N: You'll get the vibe if you listen to the song while reading. But your choice.

I don't even know what,

but he's coming for you. Yeah, He's coming for you!

"Foster The People. 2009." She says.

I let out a small smile and turn my head towards the window.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, outrun my gun.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, faster than my bullet.

The trees continue to pass by, green, bright and alive. The sun continues to shine through the glass, but it doesn't bother me as much anymore.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, outrun my gun.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, faster than my bullet.

The trees turn into white, big mansions. Estates.

Daddy works a long day.

He be coming home late, and he's coming home late.

And he's bringing me a surprise.

'cause dinner's in the kitchen and it's packed in ice

"I like this song." I blurt out.

I look at her. "Cool."

"I thought you liked rock more."

She shrugs.

I've waited for a long time.

Yeah the sleight of my hand is now a quick-pull trigger.

I reason with my cigarette,

Then say, 'Your hair's on fire, you must have lost your wits, yeah?'

"Well yeah. Rock, hard rock, metal, screamo. Mostly rock and metal but yeah. I love rock. I'm just trying something else. Nothing mainstream though."

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, outrun my gun.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, faster than my bullet.

"You don't like to go with the usual flow, now do you?" I ask her.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, outrun my gun.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, faster than my bullet.

"Nah. I hate mainstream. I don't hate pop no more. I realized that. I just hate those annoying mainstream songs."

"Me neither."

(Run, Run, Run, Run. Run, Run.

R-Run, Run, Run.

R-Run.

R-Run, Run, Run.

R-Run.

Run, Run.

Run, Run.

Run, Run, Run.)

"Then what songs do you listen to?" She asks. "You never told me."

"Well I had no time to listen to music back then. But I like more classical music."

"Really?"

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, outrun my gun.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

"Yeah. But there are times when I like to update myself with these rock songs as well."

"So we have some common taste in music."

You better run, better run, faster than my bullet.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, outrun my gun.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, faster than my bullet.

"Apparently so."

"Name some bands."

"Sleeping With Sirens. Black Veil Brides. Linkin Pa-"

"Those bands are awesome."

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, outrun my gun.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,

You better run, better run, faster than my bullet.

"Yes they are." I agree.

"But I've also taken a liking to old songs, too. Mostly 1980s."

"Thats-"

"Weird? I know."

"No. Just. Different."

She smiles at me. "Cool."

"We're here." The driver says, and I look out and see a large green gate, wired with a security system. I giver her the earphone and she keeps it.

I open the door and walk out. She walks out behind me. "Thanks Walter." She says to the driver whose name I did not know until now. The driver nods at Autumn and she closes the door.

The black sleek car drives away as we stand in front of the steel gate.

Autumn walks up to the gate and presses the button on the intercom without hesitating. "Hello?" She says.

"Yeah, who are you?" The voice over the line says.

"It's me, Luke. Damian's here too."

"Cool. Cool. Come in." She lets go of the red button on the intercom, steps back, and the green gates open, revealing a brand new looking, bright, mansion. We both walk towards the door avoiding the green, wet grass. The gates closing behind us.

The door opens, revealing the immature, annoying boy wearing a red shirt and below-the-knee shorts. "Guys. Welcome to Mi Casa." He outstretches his arm and lets us in.

"It's too late to turn around." I mumble.

He closes the door behind us. "Everyone is already upstairs in my room."

"I bought the USB." Autumn says, walking up the stairs in front of me.

"Good, good." Luke says, leading the way.

We walk down a hallway, until we stop in front of a light blue door. He opens the door.

There is a messy queen sized bed, two bean bags, a flat screen TV, and a blue carpet on the floor. "Aw, I thought it was the pizza." Daly pouts, sitting on the floor.

"You guys are here, finally. We can start." Rein opens his laptop, sitting on one of the bean bags.

Snyder closes the door behind us and jumps on the other bean bag. "Great. Stuck in a room full of imbeciles." I grumble, walking to the bed and sitting down on the edge of the messy bed.

Autumn walks beside Jake. "Let's start." She says, plugging her USB into one of the ports of Rein's laptop.

****Break****

Autumn's POV

I throw Tsina one of the props. "Okay, let's finish off the last scene." I say.

"I'll finish the editing at home." Jake says. I nod.

Tsina catches the dark robe, but she doesn't stop ranting. "He thought that we're living in the 20th century! I can't even. I swear." She throws up the middle finger with her annoyed look.

I roll my eyes and chuckle.

"Why did he even take the job? He's supposed to be teaching us! He's the teacher, so teach! That's his job!" Tsina complains.

I sigh. "Yeah, well we're all stuck with that teacher for the rest of the year." I tell her.

"I agree with Kai, here. He is a complete idiot. Possibly more idiotic than Drake." He mumbles.

"Can you guys stop. There's nothing we can do. It's not like we can go on strike or anything." Jake says, typing.

Luke points at Jake. "That's a great idea. We should go on strike!"

"What the hell?" I say. "That's just idiotic. Students don't go on strikes!"

"They could." Scott says, taking a bite from the pizza. "We could find a way for our school to kick him out."

"He's such an imbecile. Why did the school even let him teach us?"

"True." Jake nods. I roll my eyes and Damian stands up and takes the video camera. "Everyone does hate him." Jake says.

"He is very frustrating. If I can just-"

"Shut up Dami. There's no need for violence."

Tsina puts on the black robe and the black cloth over her head. She walks in the bathroom and Damian follows her inside. I follow them and turn off the lights. "Daly come here. Your effects." He rushes over to my side and stands by the lightswitch.

I walk into my position and Damian holds the video camera. "Now." he says. I walk into the bathroom and turn on the lights. Damian continues to record.

I walk in front of the mirror and wash my hands. I look at the mirror. The lights start to flicker, and from behind me, the shower curtains open. Tsina, wearing the dark cloth all over her body moves forward and walks towards me. My eyes widen. She places her hand on my shoulder and I pretend to be afraid.

"Done." Damian stops recording and we all stop. Tsina removes the dark cloth and I turn around and walk up to Damian. "Last scene's done. We're all good."

We all walk out of the bathroom, the camera in my hands. In the room, I stop to see Jake and Luke glaring at each other in silence. I feel that the tension in the atmosphere is so heavy, it could crush me.

"Guys." They both snap out of it and look at us. I walk up to Jake and give him the camera. "You okay?" I ask him, concern in my voice.

He takes the camera and answers. "Yeah."

"Good. We're all done then."

"Cool, now that that's out of the way, how about we all hang around?" Luke offers. "I can order more pizza, my treat."

Scott's face brightens. Damian sits back on the bed and lets out his signature "Tt."

"I'd rather die in a hole than spend my day with you imbeciles." He says, but nobody minds him. They're kinda used to it.

Jake looks at his laptop, typing. "No thanks. I've got other things to do."

"Well. My dad is still at work. I can stay for a while." Tsina says.

"I'll stay for a while. Hang around with Tsina and Scott-"

"And me!" Luke says. "I've got loads of stuff. Video games, movies. Lots of s*** to go through."

"Wait. Cross. You're going to stay here with these...morons?"

I furrow my eyebrows. "Hey dude. Not cool. Don't call them that." I start to defend them.

He crosses his arms over his chest. "Fine. I'll stay too. This is better than spending the rest of the day with Drake." I sigh.

I look at Jake, his laptop shut. "I'll stay too." He looks up at me. "I'm staying if you're staying." The sunlight comes in through the curtains.

I can feel Tsina smile. "Cheesy, but cute." I glare in her direction.

Jason's POV

Roy places a hand on my shoulder. "See you around." He says, walking out of the diner.

"Yeah." I mumble, holding onto the cold cup of coffee.

I sit on the stool in front of the counter. It's an empty shop, except for a couple of people. Soft, old music is playing in the background. I don't even know why the hell they're playing 1980s music.

And why the f*** is it so soft when the song is obviously an old, pop song? Some people are just so stupid. I needed some time out of my city, so I drove away a few miles outside Gotham. I don't know why. Maybe I'm just trying to get away, or maybe I'm looking for something.

The song switches from a soft song to a louder song. And for some reason they make the volume louder. I sigh. The day is just happy. Great. I don't even know why I stick around. I'm wearing a brown jacket with a white shirt inside and cargo pants.

The waitress puts down a chocolate cake down on the counter in front of me. I look up at the old woman. "I just had the coffee."

"It's already been paid for."

I take a sip of coffee when a woman sits right beside me. She has blonde curly hair, her soft locks of hair covering one of her blue eyes. Her fair skin glows under the sunlight. She's wearing a purple tank top, and her back is arched, showing off big breasts. She's also wearing tight skinny jeans, and her nails are glossy and the tips are white.

She looks at me and blinks with her long eyelashes. Her lips are pink and slightly round-ish.

"Uptown girl…" Then the song gets softer and changes to another newer song. The woman orders a drink and takes it. The song starts with a happy guitar and drums.

"So she said what's the problem baby

What's the problem I don't know

Well maybe I'm in love (love)

Think about it every time

I think about it

Can't stop thinking 'bout it"

She looks at me and I look at her. "Um...hi." She says.

"Hey." I nod. "You're the one who-" I gesture to the cake.

"Yeah." The flocks of her blonde hair sway as she talks. "Try it. It's my favorite in here."

I look down at the cake - well it does look good. I pick up the fork and shove a slice in my mouth. "Aw hell. That's good stuff." I comment after swallowing.

She smiles. "Well, yeah. That's why it's my favorite."

I smile back at her.

"So um...where are you from?" She asks me.

"Gotham. Jason. Jason Todd." I introduce myself, but she doesn't say her name. "You?"

"I'm from Jump City."

"Then what are you doing here?" I ask, continuing the conversation.

"I'm a flight attendant. I visit Gotham a lot though." She takes a sip from her drink. "My flight's on Wednesday. So while I'm here, I was thinking of doing something-"

"Fun?" I ask, with a small grin on my lips.

"Just something."

"Well Gotham sucks. It's best you don't go in the city." I suggest.

"It's not really my choice. I can't just mope around doing nothing all day."

"True. But try to stay out of trouble here in Gotham." I tell her.

"Now that's gonna be hard." She says, chuckling slightly.

The song changes again.

Hail (hail)

What's the matter with your head, yeah

Hail (hail)

What's the matter with your mind

And your sign an-a, oh-oh-oh

Hail (hail)

Nothin' the matter with your head

Baby find it, come on and find it

Hail, with it baby

'Cause you're fine

And you're mine, and you look so divine

I cock my head slightly, listening to the song. I give the woman a slightly disturbed look, shaking my head slightly. "I think they got the generation wrong." I comment.

She chuckles. "Yeah. But there's nothing wrong with a little old music."

I nod. "We do need a little old fashioned stuff in our generation today."

She smiles. "But seriously? Look around the diner. It's an old fashioned diner and the music is like what? 1980s? I don't even remember this song."

"Well, I don't think you're as old as that."

She chuckles. She puts her hand under her chin and examines me. "You look around twenty." She says.

"Actually I'm nineteen, but good guess."

The flock of hair continues to cover her one eye. She gives me a light smile while I smirk. She looks at her silver watch. "Oh listen. I have to go." She takes a piece of tissue paper and her pen from her bag and writes something down. "But I'll talk to you later, okay?" She hands me the table napkin and walk towards the door.

I look at what she wrote.

Did she just-

Is that a-

Why would she-

Isabel

Call me

310-925

She did. I place my payment for the coffee on the counter and leave the diner, with the all knowing smirk of mine.

Come and get your love

Come and get your love

I close the door behind me as the soft sound of the chimes on the door signals my exit.

****Break****

Damian's POV

"You're such an imbecile, Snyder." There are blood red splatters all over the wall and my face. My vision starts to turn red, but I grip onto the gun and continue to shoot.

I hold onto the black controller, shooting every walking corpse I see. Snyder started to freak out when his lifespan was down to one bar so he got eaten alive. "Damn it!" Snyder curses.

"Ha. My turn!" Daly says, jumping onto the bean bag and holding onto the controller.

Blood splatters all over the screen as I shoot another corpse right through the head. "That's not fair, this game cheats!" Snyder says.

"Or you're just a crappy player."

"I agree with Dami. Button mashing isn't gonna work." Autumn laughs. She's seated on the bed listening to Kai talk to her. Rein has been taking turns with me. If one of us loses, the other will replace the one who lost when we move onto the next game. Not that I've lost.

I vouched that I go first, and of course, I won.

We finish this game and move on the next one.

"My turn Damian."

"Fine." I get up and Rein takes my place. I move to the bed where Autumn has Rein's laptop on her lap.

"Hey Dami." She says and moves over to let me sit beside her.

Kai looks at us both. "You two know each other? Like, before this group?"

"Why the hell would you say that?" I ask, hoping that she hasn't connected anything.

"First, she calls you 'Dami.' Then, you two came here at the same time." I look at her. We look at each other for a while, but she doesn't look worried that the truth might unfold: that she's actually living in the Wayne Manor. She seems to already have a lie planned out.

"Yeah, we've known each other." She says, looking at Kai. "Before I transfered." She smiles at Kai.

"Oh…" Kai says. Then Cross places an arm over my shoulders. "We're like brother and sister." She smiles.

Kai nods. "Okay."

"Cross. Get your arm off me." I swat her arm away and glare at her. She shrugs and gives me a toothless smile, pursing her lips. She turns her head back to Kai. They're watching a short trailer. I furrow my eyebrows and lean in. "What movie?"

"Sea of Monsters." Cross says.

"That's really old." I tell her.

"But she hasn't watched it!" Kai says.

"It's a s***ty movie." I point out.

"See! Even Damian agrees!" Kai gestures to me.

"I don't know. It looks like a good movie…" Autumn says.

"But if you read the book, you'll see how crappy it is. I'm just like, what the f***."

"I haven't read the book. But yes, it is a piece of crap."

"They messed it all up! Kronos isn't supposed to - you know what, I'm not gonna spoil it."

Autumn laugh. "I don't know. I'll find time."

"You have to!" Kai shakes Cross' shoulder. "You have to!" Kai stops, then pulls out her phone from her front pocket. She's wearing a simple camo shirt and jeans. "Hello?" She says.

I turn to look at Autumn. "This is your new friend, huh?" I ask her.

She smiles. "Yup, pretty much."

"Suki." Kai says to Cross.

"Ooh! Tsina, put it on speaker!" Kai does so and the voice of a girl comes up.

"Hi." The girl says on the other line.

"Who is that?" I demand Autumn for an answer.

"Her sister. My other friend."

"Suki!"

"Autumn!"

Kai looks at Autumn. "Watch…" She smiles. "Suki. Guess what happened earlier. Autumn bumped her head on the closet wall."

"OH MY GOSH ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU OKAY?" The girl yells over the phone.

"Yeah, man. I'm fine. Calm down!"

"Are you sure you're okay? Are you sure?" Tsina laughs and holds out her palm. "Told you so." Autumn rolls her eyes and pulls out her wallet and five bucks and hands it to Kai.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah Suki. It's all good. But now I'm five bucks short because of your sister." Autumn smiles and keeps her wallet.

"What, why?"

"What was the bet?" I ask.

"Oh, I said that Suki wouldn't react like that when Tsina told her. But Tsina said that Suki would react like that. So we bet five bucks."

"And you lost." I say.

The girl laughs on the other line. "Oh, okay guys. I have to go. See you later Tsina."

"Okay, bye Suki." Kai presses the off button.

"What a weirdo." I tell them both and they laugh.

"You don't know her." Tsina says.

"I hardly know her. But yes, she is very weird. But not super weird, just pretty weird. Haha." They joke, laughing, but not mocking her. Just messing around. "She has funny reactions." Autumn says.

I roll my eyes. "Tt."

"Hey guys." We all look at Snyder, who has started a movie. "Wanna watch a movie?" He throws us some popcorn and chips. The whole weekend was spent watching movies...why am I not surprised?

Autumn's POV

They play the movie, turn off the lights, and open the chips. I sit on the queen sized bed beside Damian and Tsina. It's fun to mess around sometimes and act like everything is normal. It's fun to act like just some normal, sane civilian.

But I've noticed how long this day is lasting. And I don't feel like I want the day to end. It's a pretty good day; Christine and I talked, I saw Tim and Damian get along for a while, and now I get to hang out with my friends. It's cool.

Then out of no where, I just wonder what Jason's been up to. I hardly see him around; we don't even talk anymore. He's always MIA. What's up with him? He always looks like he has some migraine, like he wants to just get away from everyone. I wonder...if he has started to hate me. Maybe that's why he doesn't talk to me anymore...

The movie starts. To Kill a Mockingbird. It was the only movie Damian was okay with watching.

As I watch the movie, a small smile continues to tug at my lips. I hug my knees. Jake squeezes between me and Tsina. "It's a nice movie." He whispers in my ear.

I smile at him. "Yeah. It is." I look at Damian, who's watching me and Jake. "Don't you think so?" I ask him.

He nods, silently, looking at Jake. I smile at him, and then turn my head to look at the flat screen again.

Then below the TV, there are small cardboard boxes on the floor, stacked on top of each other. Why did I only notice that now? I continue to stare at the boxes, blinking.

I shake my head. "Kid, when you get older. I don't want you to hang out with boys." My dad's voice says in my head.

"Um...okay?" I remember cocking my head.

"Daddy...where's my Mommy?" I remember asking my dad. "Other kids have a mommh. Where's my mommy?" I asked him.

"I don't know kid. She left." He told me.

"When is she coming back?"

He looked at me. "She's not, kid. Quit dreaming." Ouch. What was wrong with Dad?

I remember piling boxes in front of the door, trying to block it. "Daddy please. Daddy don't leave. Daddy no, stop it!" He was walking towards the door. He bent down on one knee.

"Fine. I'm not leaving no more."

"Daddy you're lying. You always say that. You always say that this is the last time. But Daddy you're not leaving no more. Daddy you're mine!" I hugged him so tightly. But in the end, he left.

I smile. I remember my dad. But it's funny, and weird. Because when I remember my dad...I always feel angry or sad...but right now, I'm not...I'm not angry or sad. I know the pain is there, but I don't feel it. The weight of the world is heavy, but it's not bothering me anymore.

Jake looks at me, pulling me out of the memory. "You okay?"

I smile at him. "I'm fine."

Damian's POV

I look at her. "I'm fine." It doesn't seem like a lie. It doesn't seem like the truth either. She's confusing, frustratingly confusing. She's always been confusing and indecisive. Even back in The League, she was never really sure of what she wanted. But I knew that there was one thing that she wanted...and that was her father.

I remember hearing her yell and scream, trying to run after her father, trying to get to him. I remember how badly she missed her father. There was this one time...she went to me for help. She asked me if we could go to Sweden. She convinced me somehow...we went all the way to Sweden to see her father, and all she wanted was to give him a coin that said "Number 1 Dad." She sneaked into the hotel. I waited for a few minutes outside, and when she came out of the hotel, her eyes were puffy and her face was grim. She told me that she threw the coin in her father's face.

After a few days, she was perfectly fine.

We continue to watch the movie in silence. Until slowly, our number starts to decrease. Daly had to go, Rein and Kai had to leave, leaving just me, Autumn and Snyder.

He turns off the TV and takes a seat on the bean bag. "Damian. Did you call 'em!?" She asks.

"I did." I nod.

She sighs. "Can I just walk-"

Snyder walks right up to Autumn and asks, "You two are carpooling?"

"Yeah." She answers him, lying.

"So you know where she lives?" He asks me with a devilish grin.

"No-maybe." We say at the same time. We need to give Autumn a low profile, and living in the manor as another homeless orphan is not a low profile. She is already getting bullied as it is.

"He knows where I live…" She mumbles.

"So you two are pretty close?"

She hesitates. "Kinda…"

I cross my arms. "Tt." Snyder looks at me.

"Hah, so where does she live?" He grins.

"Why the hell would I tell you?" I scoff.

"I don't know. Cause I asked you?"

I furrow my eyebrows. "And if I don't wanna?"

Autumn stands up. "Yo. Guys. You both have bad attitudes and you're both acting like dicks right now for no reason. What the hell is wrong with you two?" We both look at her. Snyder is a whore. An asshole if not.

Snyder looks at Autumn. He looks at her, then down at her arms. She notices this and covers her arms with her rolled back sleeves. Snyder looks back at me. "She's right."

I furrow my eyebrows. I shake my head. "Let's go Autumn." I take her by the arm and pull her out the door. "Thanks! Bye, Luke!" She yells as I pull her out of the room. We run down the stairs. "Damian. Don't be rude!"

"I don't like him." I open the door and we walk out of the mansion and out of the steel gates. "He likes to stick his nose in other people's business."

"So?" We wait outside the mansion gates. She shakes her head. "I'm just gonna walk." I look at her as she walks towards the wrong way.

"You moron. You're going the wrong way." I walk up to her.

"Everything was fine until you just stormed out for no reason."

"I don't trust Snyder! Something is wrong about him."

She shakes her head. "Yeah, he's cocky. He can be a prick. But dude. Don't be rude! I don't think you should-"

"Something is telling me that you shouldn't trust him. Something is wrong about him." She turns around and walks briskly, but then I catch her by the shoulder and turn her around, her dark hair flipping as she turns her head.

"What is wrong with you? Why do you care about who I trust and who I don't trust?" She asks, softly, but still annoyed, yet not angry. "Luke is my friend. Dude…I've gotta talk to him tomorrow."

I shake my head. "Fine."

She turns around and I let go of her. She walks away from me, still going the wrong way. I sigh. "Autumn, where are you going?" I ask her. She doesn't answer for a while as she walks away from me.

"To do stuff." She's not angry, just annoyed.

I sigh, annoyed. "Where?"

She stops and smiles at me. "Wanna come?"

****Break****

Autumn's POV

"Shshsh." I wipe the tear out of Carl's eye. "Let me take a look." He outstretches his arm, showing a red gash. I start to clean it up as he continues to cry harder. "It's okay…" When I finish patching the wound up, I smile at the boy. "See that wasn't so bad, now was it?" He wipes the little tears and I pick him up and walk to Damian.

"Damian, this is Carl." Damian just stares at the boy. I'm surprised he hasn't made those comments about how this is so stupid or how he hates kids. "Mister Damian." We both look down to see Coby tugging at Damian's sleeve. "You're the boy in the newspapers. With Mister Bruce Wayne."

"Yes." Damian says formally, looking down at Coby. "He is my father." Damian says.

"Woah. He's your daddy?!" Coby asks.

I put Carl down and bend down to Coby. "Where's everyone else?"

"In the other buildings." He says casually. "Some are going swimming." He adds.

"Why don't you go play with them for a while?"

Coby smiles. "Okay! I'll tell them you're here!" He takes Carl with him and runs away.

"Is this where you sneak out to every time after school?" Dami asks.

I smile and nod. "Yup." I think he thought I sneaked out to sell drugs or something.

"There are five buildings, four compounds. This one, the main one, is where the teachers sleep. Out that door," I point to the brown door, "is a way out to the backyard. Well, more like a huge field for everyone. There are three compounds, one compound is for the babies, 0-7yrs old. One compound is for 8-15. The other one is for 15-above. Then the last compound is the school for all of them."

"So what do you do here?"

"Oh, I hang around with them. Teach some of them, help them out. Come on, let's go." We walk towards the door.

"How'd you get here?"

"Coby. That little kid you saw earlier. Got him out of the streets."

We walk out through the door going to the field. There are lots of kids. Some are my age, some are older. A girl, taller than me, around 15 yrs old walks up to me. "HIII. AUTUMN!" She says happily.

"Hi Mary Anne!" I greet.

"Who is this?" She gestures to Damian. Damian just looks very disturbed by Mary Anne's appearance.

"Oh, this is Damian."

"HIII DAMIAN!" She says, enthusiastically, smiling with her crooked teeth. She turns around and runs towards her friends.

Damian leans in closer to me. "What's uh...wrong with her...eyes…"

One of Mary Anne's eye is orange and the other one is blue. The orange eye is just hanging and hardly working so her eyelid is slightly closed. There's also something wrong with her brain. She's very childish for a fifteen year old. "

She was born that way. Sad how not everybody is born normal…"

Ms. Anthony walks up to me and when she looks at Damian, her eyes widen. "You're Damian Wayne." She recognizes immediately. "You're Father, he sponsors this orphanage." She shakes his hand. "I've never met his son in person."

"Yes. Well…"

"Autumn. How did you get him to come here?" She asks me.

I shrug. "I know people." I smile.

Ms. Anthony nods. "Will you excuse me please. Again, nice meeting you." She smiles at Damian.

We continue walking towards one of the compounds. "I never knew this part of Gotham exists." He says as we walk on the path avoiding the wet, wet grass.

"What do you mean?"

"I never thought that Gotham is capable of becoming bright."

I sigh. "Neither did I." We continue to walk towards the compound. We walk in through the large doorway and take a right where I can see a few bedrooms. We go up the stairs on the right. There are many more bedrooms. We walk down the hallway, where at the end is a door bigger than the others. I knock and open the door.

I peek my head in, and the whole floor is filled up with beds. On the right side is the girl's side and on the left is the boy's side.

We walk in, and most of the kids stand up while some prefer to stay seated. Lisa's on the bed, obviously, her wheelchair sitting beside her bed. "Hi guys." I smile.

"Hi Autumn!" They say happily.

Damian walks in beside me. His eyes widen. "Oh no."

****Break****

Tim's POV

I finish my lunch. Bruce stands up from his original spot, wearing his black suit and tie. "I"m going to a meeting, Tim."

"Bruce...can I invite a few of my friends over?"

He thinks about it for a while. "Why would I let you do that?" He asks.

"Uh...because I'm bored and I've been a good boy?" Well, it's true. I'm probably the only 'tame' one among all of the Wayne kids.

He sighs. "Fine...you need to improve on your social skills anyways. You know the rules."

I smile. "Thanks Dad." He walks out of the dining room. Once I hear the front door shut, I jump out my chair and out of the dining room. I grab my phone and quickly dial the numbers of my friends.

"Hey, wanna come to my house? My siblings aren't home."

****Break****

"Hi Tim." April says. She walks in along with my other friends.

"My brothers aren't home. And I did promise I would show you guys my house. And well, here it is."

They all walk into the Manor, gasping and looking around. "Woah…" One of my friends says "Sweet…"

"Master Tim." We all turn to Alfred. "Would you like me to prepare some snacks for your friends?" He asks.

"Yes, please." I nod. He turns to the kitchen to prepare.

"You've got your own butler?"

"He's more of an old friend-slash-grandfather." I say.

"Tim." April walks up to me. "You have to show us around."

I let out a small smile at April. "Okay." I say simply.

I lead them around the manor, showing them around. When we get to the bedrooms, April comments. "Wow. You have a lot of brothers."

"Three brothers, one sister."

"Three?"

"Yeah…"

"I thought you only had two brothers."

"It's...complicated...the other one just recently came home…"

"So what...like a long lost brother or something?" One of them snorts.

I smile, moving down the hall. "Something like that."

"Who's in here?" I turn around to see April open the door to Autumn's room.

My eyes widen and I quickly move towards the door to close it. "Nobody." I state blatantly.

April looks at me suspiciously. "You have four siblings. One dad. A butler-slash-grandfather. So who's in there?" She asks.

I shake my head and repeat, "Nobody."

"Really?" I take her by her shoulders and turn her around. She stiffens and I walk towards my friends.

"Yeah, really." I mumble.

We continue the tour, and suddenly one of my friends asks. "Do we get to meet your siblings?" She asks from behind me.

"Pray that you don't." I shake my head.

"Cool. You have your own library!" My friends slip into the library and turn on the lights. "Woah…"

I smile. "I know right. All the information I could ever need, right here."

"Wow." April facepalms, "I just realized how such big nerds we are." She chuckles.

I smile. "We're huge nerds."

One of my friends, Derek, steps forward and puts his hands on his hips in a Superman pose. "That only means we are superior than normal human beings!"

"Come on Derek." I pull him out of the library. "You want me to continue the tour or not?"

****Break****

Autumn's POV

"C'mon, Damian!" This is the perfect place to let time pass. It's already 5:00. And surprisingly, Damian didn't kill anyone.

The entire time, he actually just kept his mouth shut, making small talk with the kids. We walk towards the front door with Coby, Lisa (on her wheelchair of course), Jewel, Ron, and Ms. Anthony behind us.

Roni smiles and waves at us goodbye. "Bye." I smile back at him. Lisa rolls towards me, takes my hand, and places a dark blue and purple bracelet made from a rainbow loom.

"Here." She smiles at me.

"Did you make this?" I ask, looking at the pretty bracelet.

"We all did!" She says happily. "We all helped make it!" Then she points to Damian. "Even he helped make it!" She laughs.

"Thanks." I awkwardly hug her, but then she gives me a warm hug back. I gently let go and give her a warm smile. I look at the bracelet and then glance at Damian, who has looked away, trying to hide his face. "Thank you too Dami." I grin. He continues to look away.

"Come on now, children. They need to go soon." Ms. Anthony says with a warm voice.

"Yes. We have to go now." Damian agrees, opening the front door.

"Yeah. Bye guys." I look at all of them. I see Jewel looking down.

"Bye now…" Damian and I walk out the door.

"Bye! Bye!" They all say to us.

Then suddenly Jewel runs towards Damian and hugs him tightly. He stiffens, eyes widening. He glances at me. I only chuckle. Jewel hugs Damian for some time.

Damian just stands there, awkwardly stiff, not knowing what to do. Then finally the little girl lets go of him, "Um…" He stammers.

Jewel raises her arms, wanting Damian to carry her. But instead Damian just kneels down and looks at the young girl. "You're nice," She says, smiling at him, "but can I ask you one last question...please?" All day, Jewel has been asking Damian random questions. I could tell it was annoying him, but he stayed patient. (Weird huh?)

"Alright…" He says.

Jewel looks down, sadly. "Do you...do you...have a mommy?"

Both mine and Damian's heart break at those words. Ouch. I can see in Damian's eyes that something has just shattered, and I can tell that he doesn't know how to answer. "Do you?" She asks again, looking up at him this time.

"Yes…" he said softly, now unsure if he answered correctly.

She looked down. "Oh…" Then she looks back at him. "What's it like to have a mommy?"

I step in and hold her shoulders. "You know what, you're too young to think about those things right now. Why don't you go inside before you catch a cold."

She looks up at me. "Okay…" She runs inside the house. As the door shuts, Damian stands up and looks at me. He puts on his dark shades.

He sighs, his eyes looking down in deep thought. "That was-" He doesn't finish.

"Haha. Now I know your weakness!"

"What! I have no weakness!"

"And there we go! We have the old Damian back again!" I grin.

"What's wrong with you?" We start walking.

"EVERYTHING!" I let my grin grow bigger.

He looks at me, slightly annoyed but trying to hide a smile. "Don't tell me you're turning into Grayson."

"Oh hell no!" My grin disappears. "Don't even compare me to that dude!" I shake my head as my grin returns. We continue to walk down the street.

I suddenly smirk. I connect my earphones to my iPod watch, then I shove one earphone in his ear. "Can you not?" He says, starting to get seriously annoyed.

I play the song.

"Hail (hail)

What's the matter with your head, yeah

Hail (hail)

What's the matter with your mind" I start to sing along.

"And your sign an-a, oh-oh-oh

Hail (hail)

Nothin' the matter with your head

Baby find it, come on and find it

Hail, with it baby

'Cause you're fine

And you're mine, and you look so divine." We just continue to walk down Crime Alley.

"The music helps me forget." I tell him.

"I can tell…" he nods, keeping an eye out for some muggers.

"Dude. That was fun. Yes?" I ask him. He just glares in my direction, rolling his eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" He asks again.

I roll my eyes and shrug. "I don't know...I feel high…" He raises an eyebrow and I chuckle. "Happy music is cool. Just not mainstream. So I stuck with the oldies." The world is still black, just a slightly lighter shade of black.

He stares into my eyes, looking for an answer as we walk. Finally, I give up, sigh, and stop walking. He stops walking too. "I'm tired of hurting. So I stopped." I smile sadly at him. His eyes pierce through me, then he sighs and shakes his head.

"It's fake." He says simply.

I shrug. "Well, what do you want me to do?"

"I don't know."

I shrug. "It's easier this way, ya know. If I show everyone I'm happy then everyone will be happy too." I don't need to burden anyone with my problems, okay?!

He shakes his head.

I sigh. "Dude. It's cool. That's life. Gotta suck it up."

Then he looks at me. "That's what Mother told me."

"She did?" Cool. I shrug. "Let's just go man."

"Back home?"

"Yeah, back to the manor." We keep walking, quicker this time, still listening to music.

"You will still have to deal with Father."

I sigh heavily. "Ughhh. I don't wanna."

He rolls his eyes. "You brought this on yourself."

I hear the click of a gun and look forward to see a man holding us at gunpoint. We stop walking. He looks deeply into our eyes. I doubt this punk knows who Damian is. This is probably just some random mugging. He's wearing a black hoodie over his head which covering his eyes and nose.

He doesn't say anything...okay so maybe this isn't just some random mugging. I look at Damian and shake my head. He groans. I turn back to the man. He doesn't look like he would shoot us, since his arm is slightly shaking while he holds onto the gun. He won't shoot. He probably hides his face to hide his fear.

I roll my eyes. I quickly turn around and put my hand on Damian's chest. I push backwards, grab his hand, and run down the alley behind us. We continue running down the alley.

"I'm no coward!" Damian snarls.

"Yeah well, they can't see two random kids kickin' ass! And you, my friend, have a reputation!"

We keep running. I glance behind me and see that he's still following us, but he's not shooting. Stupid ass. He's got a gun. Why won't he use the thing?! He already pulled the safety and whatnot. Shoot!

We take another sharp turn down another alley, and down another one. "Faster Dami!" We continue to run as I laugh, running through my old neighborhood. Damian grunts in response. We keep running and running until finally we lose him by another sharp turn.

We lean on the wall, breathless. "We could have fought him off." Damian grunts.

I shrug. "We could've." I personally think Robin and Phoenix would make a cool team. "But nah. That would be stupid." There are just some fights you've gotta run away from.

"You sound just like Father." I flinch as my eye slightly twitches.

DON'T DARE COMPARE US TO HIM! The voices hiss.

Shuddup.

"Dudes will get suspicious. We can't take that chance, now can we? Wouldn't wanna sacrifice your identity just to take down some punk." It's not worth it. "Besides, if they figure out your identity…"

"I know." He says quickly.

I let out quick breaths. "That was random."

"What did he want from us?"

"What a lot of people want. Money, or maybe pleasure." Or he could have just been stalking us.

He glares at me. "That's disgusting."

"That's life." I reply.

"Well, there is no denying that." His eyes drop as he agrees.

I nod. "No there isn't."

We continue walking and this time in silence. She looks down as he thinks. "About that little girl…"

"Jewel?"

"Yeah…she asked me that question…"

I nod, "she was dropped off in the orphanage by her dad when she was like 2 years old...she never met her mom...and it's made her sad…"

He doesn't say anything after that.

Tim's POV

"Bye guys!" Derek walks out of my room.

"See ya." April says.

"Thanks for coming." I tell him.

April sits on my bed, reading one of my books as I am typing on my laptop.

"That was fun." She states.

I nod and hum in response.

"What are you doing over there?" She scoots closer to me, watching me type.

"Extra credit."

She chuckles. "You're such a work-a-holic."

"And you're a nerd." I tell her.

"Aren't we both?" I close my laptop.

"You know what? I'm hungry. Want some snacks?"

She smiles. "Okay."

I get up, open the door and walk out of my room. We both walk down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Alfred is peacefully drinking tea while reading an old classic. "Good evening Master Tim. I suppose you and your friend would like something to eat." He says without turning around or waiting for me to even say anything.

"Yes please, Alfred."

He stands up and April and I walk into the dining room. Soon, Alfred comes in with some food.

"So Tim. How's it like living here?" April asks.

I shrug. "It's okay...I guess."

"Okay? You practically live in a castle with a rich father, a butler, and four siblings! And all you have to say about your life is that it's okay?"

Oh she doesn't know the half of it. Literally.

"Having four siblings isn't really the best thing in the world. Besides, I really don't feel that special living here. To me, it just seems like home."

"I feel you. Any place can feel like home." She smiles at me.

"Yeah..." I smile back politely.

There is a short silence in the room as we eat our food. The silence is disturbed by my phone ringing in my pocket.

I look down at the caller ID. Bruce.

"Sorry I have to take this." I say as I stand up and walk out of the dining room.

"Hello?" I say after I press the answer button and hold the phone up to my ear.

"Hello Tim. How is hanging out with your friends going?" Bruce's voice asks on the other line.

"Pretty good. Almost everyone has left. One of my friends' parents is running a little late, that's all."

"Alright. I'm just checking up on you to make sure everything's alright."

"Well everything is perfectly fine. Thanks." I say, wanting to hurry up the conversation so I can get back to entertaining my guest. I feel bad for leaving her alone.

"I'm also calling to let you know that since Christmas is coming up, my advisors have suggested that we host a Winter Ball Fundraising Event due to a dearth in funding for one of our co-experiments with STAR Labs. It will be held in the manor. I was thinking maybe you would want to invite your friends. It's semiformal, and as long as they bring a certain amount of money they are welcome to come."

"Oh...okay. Thanks for letting me know. I'll invite them."

"Good. And make sure they bring their families. Let me know which families you are inviting so I can put them on the guest list and have a formal invitation sent to them."

"Okay. When will this be?"

"Not sure yet. We are still in the process of planning, but we are just trying to spread the word ahead of time."

"Alright."

"Also, tell your brothers and sister about this, too. I'll explain it further once I get home."

"Okay. See you later."

"Bye." The line dies.

I pocket my phone and walk back into the dining room, where Alfred is entertaining April. Thank God for Alfred!

"And another time, Master Timothy, along with his younger brother and sister - oh speaking of which. I was just entertaining your guest so she wouldn't be bored."

"Thank you Alfred." Although I'm not so sure about what he was telling April...

He returns my thanks with a small smile. As he walks to the kitchen door, I take a seat next to April.

"What was Alfred telling you about?"

"Oh nothing really. Just some moments you and your siblings have had."

I raise an eyebrow at her. "What kind of moments?"

She gives me a mischievous smile. "You'll have to ask your butler because I won't tell."

Alfred...what were you telling her?

"C'mon April. Tell."

"No." She keeps that mischievous grin on.

"Please?"

"Sorry."

"Why not?"

"Because."

I give her a disappointed look as she continues to grin at me.

Somewhere inside the house - near the front door, probably - I hear a door open and close and the sound of laughter.

"Hey Alfie." Dick's muffled voice.

"Hi Alfred! We went ice skating!" Chris' enthusiastic voice.

"Welcome back. Hope you two had fun." Alfred's muffled voice.

"Who's that?" April asks me.

Before I can answer, Alfred opens the door to the dining room and walks in, followed by Dick and Chris.

"Oh...um, hi." Chris says, looking at April.

"Hi..." She replies.

"Master Richard and Miss Christine, you may sit down and eat what is being served if you are hungry. If anyone needs anything else I will be in the kitchen." And with those words, Alfred leaves.

"Dick, Chris. This is my friend April." I introduce as I stand up. April stands up, too.

"Nice to meet you." Dick smiles as he puts out his hand in a handshaking gesture. April shakes his hand.

"Hi. I see you around school sometimes, right?" Chris says.

"Yeah. I see you around, too."

April's phone beeps in her pocket. She pulls it out and reads something on it. "Oh sorry guys my mom's here." She turns to me. "Thanks for inviting me, Tim." She stands there, but fidgets a bit with her feet, as if deciding whether or not to step forward.

"My pleasure. Thanks for coming." I smile at her.

She turns to the door, and on her way there says, "Nice to meet you, Dick. And see you around, Chris."

"Bye!" Dick says as she walks out.

"See ya!" Chris returns.

When April is out of sight, Chris turns and looks at me, an eyebrow raised. "Did we walk in on something?" She asks.

"What? No! We were just two friends hanging out."

"Just the two of you? How did Bruce even allow that?" Dick asks, a grin forming on his face.

"I obviously invited more." I make a face at him.

"Yeah. I mean, there's no way Tim would survive asking only a girl to hang out with him, which by the way is a date." Chris says, a grin forming on her face as well.

I just make annoyed faces at both of them. Then I remember what Bruce told me. "Oh! Bruce called and mentioned that there's going to be a Winter Ball here and that we could invite friends as long as they have money. He'll explain it in further detail later."

Chris groans. "Ugh...dress shopping..."

"Does this mean I have to buy a new suit?" Dick asks.

Chris gives him a funny look. "Leave the clothing problems up to girls, Dick." He rolls his eyes in response as Chris turns to me. "So does that mean you're inviting April? As a date?"

"No." I give her a funny look. Why would she even think that? "April is just a friend."

She hums in response. Dick gives me a curious look. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Wow...you really are blind." He replies.

Now it's my turn to give the curious look. "What?"

"Dude! She likes you!" Chris gives me a disbelieving look.

"What? No she doesn't." Right? There's no way she likes me.

Chris turns around and waves a hand at me. "Whatever. You be blind. I'm gonna see who I wanna invite."

Dick follows after her. "Like who? Tyler?" I can see him raise his eyebrows.

"Oh shut up he's just a friend." She pushes his arm lightly.

"Yeah...sure..."

"I mention a name once and you go straight to assumptions!" Her voice slowly becomes distant.

I hear Dick laugh.

"Well anyway, who are you thinking of inviting?" are the last words I hear clearly from their conversation before everything becomes muffled.

Autumn's POV

Damian and I walk into the Wayne manor. Damian grumbles and takes off his dark shades. I go looking for Tim, who is in the dining room, alone, faking a sour face for some butt reason. "Hey Tim what's up?"

He turns to us. "Where have you guys been?"

"Oh ya know. We went jogging."

"What? I thought you were going to-"

"She didn't mean it literally you fool." Damian interrupts. "We ran."

"Why?"

"Cause we wanted to." He rolls his eyes.

"Dude, is Mr. Wayne home?" I ask.

He looks at me and shakes his head. "No. Dick and Chris are." Okay. Awkwardness during dinner later. "But Bruce is on his way."

"Oh, I need to tell you guys. Bruce is preparing some kind of Winter Ball." Tim says. "Well, Damian. Good luck with that."

"Autumn." They both look at me, "You shall suffer with us."

"But I'm not a part remember? I'm a secret." I'm not even supposed to step foot in this household. "Masks." Tim says as if that explains everything, "I can suggest that we all wear masks, "that doesn't make sense, it's a winter ball, not a masquerade."

"So? It's our party, we can do anything we want."

I groan. "Whatever man, I'm not gonna look for a dress unless Mister Wayne says so. Now, if you two don't mind, Imma think of my excuse." I walk out of the dining room.

I run up the stairs and change into comfortable home clothes - shorts and a T-shirt - and slippers, yes. I tie my hair up into a ponytail and take a quick glance at the mirror.

I smile at myself, looking happy. Then the mirror image changes, and I see a girl with sad, glossy blue eyes, huge eye bags, and bruises and cuts on her arms.

"You know the smile is fake." She tells me. Her voice is soft and full of fear.

Then she turns into a girl with red eyes and an angry scowl stuck on her face, bigger bruises on her face. Her hands are dripping with blood. "So stop lying." Her voice is booming and full of rage. "Stop lying to everyone, stop lying to yourself!" She screams.

Then the image turns back to me, but now, I'm frowning. I shake my head. "It's cool. I don't need to live. I just need to survive." I nod and put on that toothless smile again. I blink twice.

And for no reason, no reason at all...Ryan Cross' ghost appears instead of my own reflection. He looks at me with sad, green glowing eyes. And he slowly shakes his head, his green glowing figure making me slightly dizzy.

I smile at him. "Good to see you again. Ryan."

He tries to mouth something, but then he fades and disappears. "Again. Random." Or is it?

Slowly, I turn away from the mirror and then I run out my door and shut the door, tightly. Creepy. Aw man, HE'S HAUNTING ME!

Actually, in retrospect...that's kinda cool...but also creepy! But cool at the same time. I don't know, I can't decide. I'm kinda indecisive with these kind of things.

It's too bad...he's just a ghost now….I have this sudden urge to hug him and call him "dad" even though I don't want to call him that.

I take a deep breath and let it out. I walk down the hallway and down the stairs. "Hi Alfred." I call for him as I walk into the kitchen where he is beginning to make dinner.

"Good evening Miss Autumn. I see you have taken my advice on leaving notes." I wouldn't call it 'advice.'

I nod. "I'm sorry I was gone all day.. I apologize.

"No need to apologize Miss Autumn, but I assure you, Masture Bruce would be quite furious that you disobeyed his orders."

I sigh. "I know. I'm in trouble. Anyways, Alfred. I wanna help."

"Alright." He sighs, knowing that I'll be too stubborn to leave the kitchen without some chore given to me. "Help me prepare dinner." He says.

I smile. "Cool." He's never allowed me to help cook dinner before.

Damian's POV

"Something's wrong with Autumn." Drake says, standing up.

"I know." I look at him.

"She's too...happy."

"I know!" I start to get frustrated by him pointing out the obvious.

"You have any idea what's wrong with her?" Tim asks in a hushed tone.

I sigh. "It's fake."

"Oh…" He nods.

"It was never real." I tell him. "It's all just a play."

"So she can gain our trust and then betray us?" He suddenly asks, but I shake my head.

"I know Autumn."

"How well?"

"Well enough to know that this time she isn't messing with our heads."

Drake blinks. "Yeah…I wonder what made her change."

"Figure it out for yourself, Drake." I walk out of the dining room and to the game room. I plug in my Call Of Duty game and start playing. But half my attention isn't given to the game.

I don't know what made her 'good' again. I don't know what changed her. Everytime she would pass by us or talk to us, there would always be that heavy dark aura around her. But now, I don't see that aura...I'm not saying I see a brighter aura...I just...don't see anything at all.

She said she was tired of hurting...so she stopped. I never knew you could do that. It's if she had just thrown away the burden. But I know that her smile is fake, that she's hiding it all. But how long will she be able to keep all of that anger and sadness in check?

I lose the game, but then I restart, and I continue playing with no reaction.

"Do you...do you...have a mommy?" The little girl's voice said. "What's it like to have a mommy?" I sigh and lose the game as quickly as it started.

****Break****

Autumn's POV

During dinner, I keep quiet as usual. I don't dare to open my mouth except to chuckle with the weird stories Christine or Richard shares or the comments Damian gives and the teasing Tim receives.

Mister Wayne is in his usual spot at dinner. I'm surprised he actually came to spend dinner with his family considering his busy schedule. He seems to just stay silent as usual, watching every move his children make.

And if I look closer, even from where I'm sitting, I know that Mister Wayne has that small, hidden smile. It reminds me that he's a father to his children and that he is proud of them all. I bet he's surprised that they can actually be put in a room without killing each other, especially the boys.

"Hey...where did Jason go?" Richard asks.

"I don't know." Tim answers.

"Does it matter?" Damian says.

"Nobody really knows where he goes." Christine comments.

"Do you know where he went?" Tim turns to me. I look at him and slightly open my mouth, but then I remember that Mister Wayne is watching...I don't want to speak in his presence, so I just shrug.

"I wonder what my Little Wing has been up to." At those words, Bruce Wayne stands up and walks out of the room.

"Tt."

"Little Wing. I can't believe Jason doesn't kill you when you call him that." Christine chuckles.

Richard smiles. "He hates it when I call him that. But he calls me Golden Boy, or Circus Freak. So we gotta even the ground rules."

I try my best to hide a smile.

****Break****

Richard is the last to stand up and finish his food. Everyone but the two of us have already left. Once he stands up, I take the plates and the cups two by two to the sink where they can be washed (I'm just helping Alfred of course).

As I walk back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room, Richard watches me. Then he suddenly takes my arm and glares down at me. And for some reason, I feel like fading away and turning invisible just so I can hide. "Where is Jason?" He asks, seriously.

I shrug. "I don't know."

"You're his sister. He would tell you, wouldn't he?"

I stay silent for a moment, and I answer hesitantly. "Probably at a bar." I mumble, and I gently pull my arm away from him, knowing that he won't hurt me. I walk back into the kitchen and help Alfred with the dishes.

I help him wash the dishes in silence. "Do you know which bar in particular your brother might've gone to?" He says, with a scolding tone in his voice.

I shrug while I dry one plate. "I have no idea. He doesn't tell me everything and I don't tell him everything either." Why do I feel like Jason and I are drifting apart? Is it because he's much older than me? Is it because of the bulls*** that's been happening lately? He did say that Autumn and Jason are siblings...that Phoenix and Red Hood are completely different people...then why does it feel like that neither Autumn and Jason nor Phoenix and Red Hood are siblings?

We hardly talk now...it's as if we live in completely different worlds now. And I don't think it's because I'm growing up.

Alfred raises one of his eyebrows. "Are you absolutely sure about that?"

I nod. "Yeah...we hardly talk now...and I don't know why." Maybe he's finally started to hate me.

Alfred smiles at me. "You do know that Master Jason has been busy lately, with college, his other life, and many other problems." Alfred says, as i f he's reading my mind. "He's simply busy, that's all. Never take it as a sign that he has come to ignore you." I nod, unsure if I believe him.

We were much closer before all this s*** happened.

"Yes Alfred." I mutter.

****Break****

I finish watching an episode of The Walking Dead. I close my laptop and lean back while sitting on my bed.

I stare at the mirror. I stare at myself.

I promise. That's what I told Jason. That's what I told my brother. And that's what he told me.

I sigh and place my laptop on my bed. I get out of my bed. I glance at the digital clock on my bedside table. 1:32 am.

Woah, it's pretty late...or is it early? I can never know. It says AM, but I haven't slept...so is it early? Or is it late?

Anyways…

I walk out of my room, not wearing any slippers, to Jason's room. I silently open the door to find nobody in there. I sigh. Then my eyes move to the window. I open it and climb up to the roof. The wind blows as I stand on the roof barefooted, staring at nothing.

I look around and then I get back in through the window and out of Jason's room. I quietly shut the door, knowing that if someone was awake, they would probably hear me by now. I make my way down the hallway, pressing my ear on each door to see if anyone is wake. I slightly crack open the door to Tim's room to take a peak. He's sitting by his study table, his head rested on pieces of paper and his eyes closed shut. I close the door.

I press my ear on Christine's room to hear soft music playing. I don't bother to open the door. I wouldn't wanna wake her up, or disturb her if she's already awake. Then I open the door to Damian's room, to see nobody in there. Probably out on patrol with Batman. I keep walking down the hallway, sliding my barefeet on the wood to make no creaking sound. I open the door to Richard's room, but he's nowhere to be seen. I shake my head and close the door. I keep walking down the hallway and down the stairs. Then I go into the study. I stare at the old grandfather clock for a moment in silence.

I brush my fingers on the wood, feeling the cold, concrete-like touch on my hand. It's smooth and well polished. I open the grandfather clock and walk down the stairs, the cold, hard concrete shocking my feet once I set foot on one of the steps.

Nobody's in here, and the vehicle is gone. But all the bikes are parked, including Nightwing's and Red Hood's.

I silently walk towards the computer, my feet brushing against the concrete. The computer is big, obviously more upgraded than the last time I hacked in. A password appears on the screen. I furrow my eyebrows and start typing all the possible passcodes I can think of.

I try again and again. I get so desperate that I put down I am Batman, but it still doesn't work. I sigh and sit on the swivel chair. I turn the chair around in frustration, then the chair slows down and makes me face a glass case, the glass case with an old tattered Robin suit.

I stand up and stare at it, placing a hand on the old suit. Sir still hasn't taken the uniform out...I mean, who would have the heart to take it out?

I look down at the golden plaque card.

Jason Todd

A good soldier.

It still hasn't been changed. At all.

I stare at the domino mask and I see my reflection, my face in front of the tattered mask. I turn around, back to the computer, and sit back down on the chair. From the chair, I continue to stare at it. I guess The Bat is reminding himself not to let history repeat itself…

But he should know...there are somethings you just can't change. Fate is a funny thing, that's for sure. You'll never know what could happen next. You'll never know what fate has in store for you...or for the people you love.

I take one last look at the uniform, at the tattered embedded R insignia on the right side of the chest. I blink and look back at the computer. I have one last chance, or the computer will send an alert.

Slowly, I start typing the first word that pops into my head. I don't know if I'll get this correct though.

C-H-I-L-I D-O-G

It starts to load, and then it opens up. I smile. I start searching through the maps and then the trackers. Knowing Batman, he probably has a tracker planted on everyone. Probably even me...oh damn.

I check out the trackers and see Jason's dot on the map, in a bar by Park Row. There's another dot going towards that bar.

I smile. Richard's gonna need help getting Jason out of the bar. Richard might be strong enough to carry the dude, but he's gonna need help especially when Jason's drunk.

****Break****

Dick's POV

I pull into one of the few available parking spaces. Through the windows of the bar, I can see a lot of people. Not surprising. This is Gotham, and people are bound to have bad days here. And when you have a bad day...you go for a drink.

I get out of my car and head into the bar. I can hear the loud music (Highway to Hell) blowing from the stereos before I even step inside. But when I get in, the loud music nearly makes my ears pop.

The bar is pretty crappy. Some glass shards litter the floor, and I have to be extra careful not to step on one. As I walk through the crowd, I'm jostled back and forth between moving bodies. As I scan the crowd for Jason, I notice different kinds of people in here: bikers, women in short dresses, men in suits, men and women who just look like they're downright drunk, and here and there there's a "normal" looking person.

Sitting at the far end of the actual bar (there's tall, circular tables around the room) is Jay and some girl with wavy, short blonde hair. They're chatting, and the girl says something that makes Jason laugh. His laugh is loud and obnoxious, and just by looking at him I can tell he's drunk.

As I make my way to them, I step on a few pieces of debris. Man this place really needs to get cleaned up. And why are there so many people in this bar? There are other bars around Gotham.

When I am only a few chairs away from him, Jason notices me. But instead of getting up and excusing himself, he orders another shot of tequila. I sigh and approach him, not acknowledging the girl.

Over the loud music, I yell, "Jason c'mon," as I shake his shoulder.

The girl looks at me then looks at Jason and stands up. She's wearing a shiny purple backless dress, that reaches below her knee. "I'm gonna go now. Hope we can do this again sometime." She smiles and gives him a wink.

Jason returns the gesture with a drunken smile. "Yeah. See ya, Isabel." He yells after her.

"You got a girlfriend?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Nah. What are you even doing here?" He takes his shot.

"I came to get you, since you can't even drag your own lazy ass home. Now c'mon. It's late."

"I don't wanna." He says quietly as he stares into his shot glass. Then he looks up and calls over the bartender. He pours more tequila into the tiny glass.

"Jay you're drunk. If you stay any longer you're gonna have a horrible hangover when you wake up. And Alfred hates your hangover attitude." I know he has a high tolerance, but really Jason?

He stands up and smashes the shot glass against the bar, sending glass and drops of tequila everywhere, including onto my grey shirt. "I don't care about what I'm gonna feel tomorrow, and I don't care about what Alfred thinks. Hell, I don't care what anyone in our damned family thinks! Just leave me alone! Go back to mommy Alfred and daddy Bruce and little sissy Christine."

I grab his shoulders tightly. "I'm not gonna leave you here. Everyone is worried about you. Just come home Jason!" I say, getting irritated with him.

He violently releases himself out of my grasp. "Shut up! No one cares about what I do, where I go during my free time! You guys barely pay any attention to me! Now go home before I bash your skull in."

"JASON COME TO YOUR SENSES! You know what you're saying isn't true."

He makes a motion to lunge at me, and I put up my hand, getting ready to defend myself. Suddenly, someone shorter than the both of us runs and stops between us.

"Autumn? What the hell are you doing here?! You should be at home." I yell at her.

She completely ignores me and turns to Jason. Out of nowhere, she raises her arm and slaps him.

"DON'T GO AROUND SAYING NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU! You're dishonoring all the people who actually do by saying that, including me. You should know I care about you, and so does Richard," she gestures to me, "and Sir, and Alfred, and everyone else we live with. Now stop only thinking about yourself and get out of this damn bar!"

Jason holds his cheek and in his eyes I see anger as he stares down at Autumn. She, however, remains unmoving and doesn't avert his gaze.

Now it's my turn to step in between a potential fight. I grab Jason's shoulders again. "Little Wing. Listen to me. We only want the best for you, and that's for you to get out of this bar. You're not the best when you're drunk, no one is. We're doing this because we care about you. So please..." I release him from my grasp. "...listen to us. Just cooperate."

His shoulders relax and he looks past me. "Lemme send you on a highway to hell..." He whispers to himself, threatening Autumn while referencing the song. I don't bother turning around to see her reaction, if she even heard him over this loud music.

"Jason. Let's go." Autumn says from behind me.

"Just one more drink." He slowly sits down in the chair as he orders another drink.

"C'mon Jason. It's better if we go now." I say, calmer than I was earlier.

He waves me off with a gesture and a grunt.

I hear an exasperated sigh from behind me. Autumn pushes past me and grabs Jason's arm. "You've had enough to drink. We're leaving." She pulls on his arm so hard that Jason falls onto the floor. Jason doesn't get up. Instead, he just lays on his side.

"I don't wanna go." He whines.

"Come on you big fat baby. Get up." I tease.

"No."

"Fine then." Autumn continues to pull on his arm. She slowly drags Jason across the bar floor. She doesn't get too far, though. Only a foot before I sigh and lift Jason up by his other arm. I put his arm over my shoulders and drag him out of the bar, Autumn walking behind us.

The cool night air hits the three of us as we walk out of the crowded bar. I relish the moment for just a second until Jason jolts and hurls onto the concrete, barely missing my shoes.

"Jase...disgusting..." Autumn says as she comes up next to us and stares down at the puddle of puke.

"At least he did it now instead of in my car." I drag him past the puke and toward my car.

Autumn grabs Jason's free arm and slings it over her shoulders, lightening the load a bit.

We approach the car and I open the back door with my free hand. Slowly, Autumn and I ease him into the back seat.

"Bro you're heavy." Autumn says.

"He claims it's because of all his muscle but really it's his fat." I comment.

"Shut up..." Jason mumbles to us. Autumn and I smirk.

I get into the driver's seat and Autumn sits in the passenger seat next to me.

I start the car and drive out of the parking lot.

The ride is silent until we reach the freeway. I feel uncomfortable sitting in the silence with this girl that I break the silence.

"You didn't have to come and help get Jason. I had everything under control."

She scoffs. "Sure you did."

I sigh. People with attitude irk me. "Well this just worsened your reputation with Bruce. He's gonna be angry when he finds out you sneaked out of the manor."

"Only if someone ratts me out." She retorts.

"I'm not going to. He probably already knows." I say.

She sighs. "Yeah I know. The whole 'I'm Batman' thing made me suspect so."

I hum in response, and we drive in silence the rest of the way.