A/N: So I give all of you who read this my utmost apologies and approval to burn me at the stake for updating 5 months late... I've been super busy... AP Classes... College Stuff... FAFSA... Enough said... I've had most of this done by January but I needed to figure out the path I was taking this. I think I've figured it out so I wrote the end of this chapter tonight and I have parts of the next one done. Spring break starts soon so among the million other things I need to do I will write the next chapter. I really do wanna keep up with this. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

-2021-

"Daddy!" She said softly, as he kissed her mop of black hair.

"What day is it?" He asked her honestly not sure.

"Monday."

Dick let a groan out and let his head fall back into his pillow

"Ugh Mondays, the most dreaded day of the week." His daughter let out a small laugh that made his insides flop around with joy. "How about we skip Monday, Mari?"

"Huh?"

"No school, no work. Just you, me, and that TV." He pointed to the TV mounted on the wall before them.

"Okay!" Dick rolled his eyes knowing she was head over heels for this plan. While Mari loved to go to school (unlike any other child he knew) he had been too busy lately to spend time with Mari. Commissioner Gordon was setting up to retire soon and Dick was being prepped to take his place. This didn't leave him much time to spend with his daughter especially with his nightly activities.

"I'm going to go call you out sick and I'm going to call myself out sick after that. Then we go make dinner, what do you say Mari?"

"Sounds like a plan, Sam!" She yelled giggling.

Dick forced himself out of bed and walked down to the living room. Everything in the large apartment was white but accented by an array of colors. Kori always thought that life was good and precious hence all of the white, and that the people in your life brought color, hence all of the knickknacks around the room. Sometimes Dick simply couldn't understand how Kori could think that but he kept it this way because it made him feel close to her. Their apartment was large and way too big for the salary of a simple detective in Gotham, but no one ever questioned it due to Dick's past. None of them knew that Dick was self sufficient, always assuming he received funds from his former guardian.

"Hello Commissioner, I regret to inform you I have come down with the flu." Dick let a few fake coughs into the phone.

"The Flu eh? Your daughter has it too I suppose?" He said on the other end.

"Yes, sir."

"When Barbara was Mari's age she would get sick often and I would catch whatever damn cold she had. You know what always made us feel better?"

"What sir?"

"Popcorn and a Star Wars marathon. Enjoy your day off Grayson, you've earned it."

Dick laughed at the statement.

"Thank you sir."

Gordon hung up the phone and gave a call to Mari's school to let them know she wouldn't be coming in today. As soon as he hung up Mari marched into the living room after having brushed her teeth. She only looked half awake but she was as happy as she usually was.

"Your hair is a complete mess, little girl."

"I know." She said impassively as if she loved the birds nest her hair was becoming.

"Come here, Mari." Dick pulled a brush out of the drawer next to the couch and sat down. She came next to him and he brushed out her long black locks then took a pony tail and tied the mop up into a very messy ponytail.

"Now that's finished are you ready to make breakfast? What do you want?"

"Everything!" She yelled.

"Well then I guess you get everything!"

The pair walked into the kitchen and started to cook. Mari did mediocre tasks such as making waffles and toast but Dick also had her make blueberry pancakes. Even though Mari was tall for her age she insisted on using her powers to cook so she could see the pan completely while she made her pancakes. Mari had all the power her mom and she was a natural at using them. Dick put her through little training to make sure she was in control but when he realized she was he didn't stop. A part of him wanted to start preparing her for the future in which she would take his place. He didn't want to start too early though, she was only 6 after all, but her grandfather was insisting that she begin soon.

Eventually they finished their feast and ate all of it. Mari ate a lot more than Dick with that titanium Tamaranian stomach she had but eventually she become full and the two sat there unable to move for 20 minutes. After it passed the two found themselves blasting music and sliding around the hardwood floors in their socks. Mari often fell but caught herself by flying in the air before hitting the floor. Dick didn't fall except once and he ended up flying down the hall only to crash into the wall seconds later. Mari was soon on the floor after him laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. Eventually they retired to his bedroom and he took Gordon's advice and watched Star Wars, the originals not the fancy new age ones with loads of CGI. They went through 4 bags of popcorn quickly during the course of their marathon.

Late into the afternoon the door bell rang just as Luke and Vader were having their final showdown. Mari jumped up from the bed excitedly knowing who was at the door.

"Grandpa's here!"

She flew to the door instead of running simply because it would've taken too long. She opened the door only to be swept up in an instant by her grandfather. Dick rounded the corner and came into view of the hall and gave a warm hello and hugged the man fondly.

"Nice to see you, Slade."

-2015-

Dick was out for two days until his fever broke. Every so often he would wake up in haze and be able to see or hear what was going on around him. Most of the time Kori was there at his side looking worried, and sometimes it was Alfred. Alfred was always speaking to him, and it was always his unadulterated thoughts. Even though Dick could not comprehend fully what the man was saying, Alfred always looked worried or upset when he spoke which was so out of character for Alfred to always tried to keep a calm and collected manner. Dick also remembered heard arguing coming from downstairs but between who he wasn't sure. At one point Dick thought that he saw Bruce in the room. He looked the most worried out of them all and paced intently as if he had something he wanted to say badly, but Dick was sure that was a dream.

Over the two days that Dick was out several things had transpired. After she delivered Dick to his room Kori spent several hours by his side in worry. She fed him in his very weak waking hours and held his hand as he struggled through whatever flu was raging through his body. Alfred practically had to tear Kori away from Dick's side so that she could go downstairs and eat dinner herself. Around 6:30 Alfred came and simply forced the girl to come join him and Bruce for dinner. Kori was reluctant to say the least; this was the first time she has seen Bruce since the incident in the cave. Kori changed quickly into clothing more suitable for a dinner with the guardian of the boy she loved. Alfred led her to the dining room and the three sat down at the table. It was full of delicious looking foods that made Kori wonder how Dick could stand eating pizza every single day. Kori took a little bit of everything and even went back for seconds with no remorse.

"How is Dick doing?" Bruce asked her.

Kori looked up from her plate and swallowed her last bite before responding. As she did so she looked at Bruce. There as such a duality in him, even though the man was emotionless and stiff she could tell that he was deeply pained. His eyes were gray and unmoving but every so often the mask would crack and betray him. It was barely noticeable, but she noticed and so did Alfred but neither of them said a word about it.

"He is not well, but I have faith that he will be better soon."

"Good. Good…" Bruce said stabbing at his food but never lifting a bite to his mouth.

"So Miss Koriand'r, Dick tells me you are not from this Earth?" Alfred said trying to alleviate the tension within the room.

"No, I'm from a planet called Tamaran."

"Interesting, how did you come to live on Earth?"

"Well…" Kori ended up mimicking Bruce and pushing her food around her plate, "It wasn't exactly my choice to come here, but it was certainly my choice to stay."

"What do you mean it wasn't your choice?" Alfred prodded against his better judgments.

"Well I offered by the King and Queen as a sacrifice to the neighboring system who threatened invasion. I was imprisoned immediately and I was to be sold to the highest bidder but I escaped. Ro-Dick… He gave me refuge here on Earth and helped protect me. I met all of our friends that day and after we avoided the Gordanian invasion we just stuck together."

"Pardon me, ma'am but can I ask why you were the sacrifice?" Alfred asked, simply curious as to what her response would be.

"Well the King and Queen are my parents, and since my sister, Komand'r was next in line for the throne I was the most suitable for the sacrifice. The Gordanian's ended up killing my parents anyways, and the throne technically belongs to my sister but she has been imprisoned due to the alliance she made with the Gordanian's to steal my parent's throne."

"You're the Queen aren't you?" Bruce finally spoke taking a sudden interest now.

"Yes I am, but I have bequeathed my responsibilities to my k'norfka, the man who raised me until I am ready to take the throne, and if I never am the crown will pass down to his children."

"That's quite a sacrifice you are making to stay here." Bruce said.

"Not really. I never had friends as a child since I was restrained to the palace walls. So living in Titans Tower has been amazing. We celebrate so many great things together and our friendship is a strong one. Most importantly, I met Dick, and I love him more than I have ever loved anyone else." Kori rambled on while staring at her plate.

"I'm glad you are experiencing a good time here on Earth." Alfred said raising a glass to the air and then drinking it.

"I think you should go home, Kori." Bruce said abruptly.

"Master Bruce!" Alfred yelled angry.

"Excuse me?" Kori said completely shocked.

"You have a responsibility to your people to protect them. As the queen and only heir to the throne it is your responsibility to protect the planet which you represent. What you want here on Earth you can never achieve. As long as Dick is a hero he cannot be with you, Kori. He knows the risks too greatly to ever make anything truly serious. If anything this thing you two have going on is nothing but a great ruse fueled by lust."

"Bruce!" Alfred slammed his hands down on the table making his glass topple over and spill the wine on the linen tablecloth.

"I'm simply telling her the truth Alfred!"

"Excuse me, but who exactly do you think you are the person of?!" Kori yelled suddenly, she stood up and slammed her hands down on the table.

She winced slightly knowing she had butchered the common phrase, but rolled on with it as if she had not made a single error. She hoped Bruce would take that as a sign of courage and bravery, not of stupidity.

"You may have raised Robin but you do not know who he is. The man I love was a boy when he left this place. He went through many hard times but it was through his friends that he has achieved so much. You have no friends! You have no one you can call friends except this kind man who buttles for you! You are undeserving of even his kindness! I do not care what you think of me but do not insult my relationship with Robin, for he is my friend and I will love him dearly no matter what happens!" She then swept the plate up into her hands and started walking away from the table.

"Now if you excuse me I will enjoy my dinner with the man I love."

Kori spent the next hours repeating the moment over and over again in her head wondering if she had done the right thing. Over four years of being a Teen Titan she realized that she could not be bullied into submission by someone intimidating. It is what has caused her and all of her comrades into horrible situations. Now that she was staying in the Manor Kori had begun to understand Dick even greater, seeing how he grew up filled in a lot of gaping holes in their relationship. It was quite annoying but Kori realized that in some ways Dick was very much like Bruce. They were both fixated on their own ideals and convinced that their path was the right path. This is something that Kori realized Dick would struggle with in the future since he still struggles with it today. She watched Dick as he tossed and turned in his fever induced sleep. All she wanted to do was lay in that bed besides him like they had done many nights before. Alas she could not, at least not until he got better.

The next day Kori and Bruce avoided each other. Alfred and Kori briefly spoke to each other but it was minimal at best. Alfred offered his apologies on Bruce's behalf and told her that her outburst was justified. Despite all of Alfred's apologies Kori knew not a single one was from Bruce himself. It had been nearly 4 days and Kori had yet to spend any time with Dick. Most of the time was spent with Alfred or wandering about the manor. Kori found it was very easy to get lost, and it was very easy to shove away the regrets of the past. During her wanderings Kori found several rooms with paraphernalia in it that she could only guess pertained to Bruce's checkered past. As she wandered around the house that day she entered a room in the west wing she wished she didn't. Walking in she noticed instantly that she was not alone. Although his back was to hers Bruce's aura was unmistakable in the room. He sat in one of two leather chairs before a raging fire drinking a glass of some kind of liquor.

"Come in." He said as she approached.

"May I ask what you are doing?" Kori sat down in the chair across from him.

"I could ask you the same exact thing."

"I was looking around Robin's childhood home."

"Kori, can I ask you something?"

"Why do you call him Robin?"

"Because that is his name."

"His name is Richard or Dick, whichever. But not Robin, Robin is someone else."

"I don't understand what you mean?"

"Robin, Robin is a hero, like you, but Dick, Dick is a civilian, my ward. They are not the same person."

"Oh, I see. Well to me they are one in the same." Kori said simply as she looked around her.

"How so?"

"When I first met him, he was Robin. Then much later I met Dick, but the change of name did not change who he was or who he acted. A name is nothing more than what you call semantics. Dick told me you consider yourself two people; the man of Bats is who you truly are and Bruce Wayne is the mask."

"He told you that, huh?"

"Yes; but I must disagree." Kori looked at him with a sort of wisdom in her eyes, "I think you're Bruce Wayne and the man of bats is your mask. You try to cover up who you are with the man of Bats because simply you are afraid."

"And what brought you to believe this?"

"Robin, he was the same way. It caused him a lot of trouble because he did not know who he was."

"Did he find who he was?"

"Not yet but he will."

"Has he changed a lot?" Bruce asked.

"Yes a lot. He is an ever better person than when we first met."

"I'm glad. As you can probably see our relationship is strained so we haven't spoken to each other very much."

"He loves you very much."

"He's said that?"

"No, but he was very angry. I've learned that you only get that angry with people you really care about."

Bruce was a little stunned by what she had just said. Bruce suddenly wondered if he had pegged her wrong.

"I'm sorry Kori." He said honestly.

Kori let out a smile and nodded in acceptance.

"You're welcome in my home anytime. Please know that."

"I thank you."

"Now if you'll excuse me I have a guest coming over soon. I'm sure you'll love to meet her, so I suggest you be downstairs in a couple of minutes."

Bruce rose from his seat, brushed off his suit jacket, and left Kori alone in the room. Finally she had a moment to look around and take the room in. The room was full of photographs and objects. Some were school projects that Dick had clearly done as a child. Others were photos of Bruce and Dick doing everyday activities and milestones. Kori noticed that on one end of the room there was a portrait of Bruce and his parents and on the other hanging at the same exact place across was a framed poster for the Flying Grayson's. On the mantle of the fire place where they once sat Kori noticed photos corresponding to each end of the room which represented the two families. The photos showed a young Bruce and a young Dick on each side. At the centered was a photo of Dick, Bruce, and Alfred seemingly taken a short time before Dick left for Jump City. Kori let out a sigh wondering what had gone so wrong between the two men that Dick would try to escape to another city just to get away.

When Dick woke up he was in a bit of a haze and it took him a while before he felt well enough to get out of bed. Above all things he felt tired, but no longer sick. The queasiness had disappeared in his stomach and he felt like a new man. His first thought was for Kori, wondering where she was and how she was. The second thought was for Bruce, wondering if he had kicked her out. The last was for Slade and that made him cringe. Robin wondered if it would be too late to go and search for him. Questions filled his mind as everything that had happened with Zucco came back to him. Dick breathed in and out, not letting his mind be overcome in a panic. He shoved himself out of the bed and made his way downstairs only to be greeted by the sound of giggling coming from the living room. When Dick arrived he had to walk back in because he couldn't believe what he saw.

Bruce sat in a chair with his arms crossed, he looked perplexed and when Dick saw what he was looking at he completely understood. He stood still in the doorway completely astounded and Bruce was the first to see him. Dick read Bruce's face to what could only mean: I don't know what I've done. Sitting on the couch before him was Selina braiding Kori's hair. They looked like two peas in a pod together, enjoying each other's company despite the fact that they couldn't be any different. Bruce and Dick stared for a long while before the stinging awkwardness and jabs of anger returned from their last fight. Dick shifted uncomfortably as far away from Bruce as he could and Bruce sunk deeper into the chair, crossing his arms, and avoiding eye contact at all costs. Selina quickly noticed the shift in tension.

"Nice to see you Dick." She said sincerely, surprising Dick and Bruce. "I'm glad to see you are okay. Kori here was telling me that for a while they weren't sure whether or not to take you to the hospital."

"I feel a lot better, thanks for your concern Selina." He said with a little bit of wariness in his voice.

"Well darling, the boys clearly have some unresolved issues they need to work through so why don't we leave them alone. I can show you some tricks that helped me evade the big bad bat over there."

With that they got up from the couch. Both women went over to their men and gave a quick kiss, leaving both men confused and uncomfortable by the parallelism. Bruce and Dick sat silently for moments until one of them spoke.

"Dick-"

"Bruce-"

They both said at the same time.

"Let me speak Bruce." Dick said quickly, wanting to speak before he lost his nerve.

"I need you to tell me the truth, about the night. The night my parents died."

Bruce's remained unphased; he did not seem bothered or surprised by the question. Bruce's poker face only raised more questions in Dicks mind.

"What do you want to know?" Bruce was being painfully transparent in this moment. Of course not in his posture or features but the fact that he was acknowledging Dick's request for information was interesting if not terrifying for Dick.

"Zucco… Someone else was behind it, wasn't there?

"Yes, but till this day I am not sure who. Zucco was ultimately responsible for their deaths and it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I suspected there was more to the story."

"What caused you suspect someone else? What changed? What happened?" His words became quicker as they flew from his mouth, his anxiety present on his face.

"You attacked the Wayne Enterprises branch in Jump wearing the symbol of a criminal I had only heard scarce rumors of. Nonetheless I came to find this villain who was blackmailing you had the same face as one I saw the night your parents died."

"Slade was there?" Dick was on the edge of his seat.

"Yes, he had some sort of relationship with your parents. They seemed to be friends." Bruce said rubbing his temples, clearly becoming agitated.

"Why didn't you tell me this? What happened that night exactly!?" Dick said jumping to his feet, suddenly wandering in circles before Bruce.

"That was a painful night for me and especially you, Dick. Nothing particularly substantial happened, if something did happen I would tell you."

.Click.

Dick stopped pacing and looked up at Bruce. Whatever openness Bruce had moments ago had been shut off. Bruce was hiding something and Dick knew it. Most people wouldn't be able to tell. Bruce was very good and making himself sound earnest in his claims for trust. Dick knew better, he had one of the best insights into the man. One that not even Selina would have. He truly was the son of the Bat and as his son he knew the tricks of the trade and in many ways had adopted them into his own life. So when Bruce was willing to talk he would but in this moment he wouldn't get another word. Normally Dick would prod Bruce to speak but he knew he would get nowhere. He wasn't exactly sure if he trusted what Bruce was saying. From what he knew of Bruce he seemed to be telling the truth for the most part, but as Bruce was a shifting creature, constantly growing in skill, and after being separated for 4 years… Dick doubted himself.

"Okay… I'm going out for a while. I don't know when I will be back." Dick left quickly. He heard Bruce mutter his name as if to stop his sudden departure but he felt himself descending stairs and digging a card out from the pocket of his pants. Without a single careful thought, more like a single whim he dialed the number.

"I want to talk. When can we meet?"

A/N: So I added in time periods for you guys so you can better keep track of the shifts but for the records. Flash-forwards will almost always be at the beginning of the chapter. I'm saying almost because I may decide in the future that this may change but that this point I intend it to open up the chapter. I hope you liked this chapter and please leave a review, it will be deeply appreciated. :)