Robin's Pov

I had never actually met her in a way that I could remember. From what I was told by Bruce, I was three years old when he found me in a burning building. No one else was in there. Once he pulled me out, he'd taken me home, and that was all I knew, except for the fact that Batman suspected the fire had been started on purpose. That's why he'd brought me home. If someone was targeting the family, it wasn't safe for me to be anywhere else. Nothing had come of it though, and honestly, I seriously doubted anything ever would. The only reason I recognized her now was that Batman, being who he is, and me being who I am, researched the history the best we could. While we had never been able to connect names for sure, we had found a single picture of my mom that I'd stared at for hours, trying to identify her. We knew my last name was "Drake" because my full name was written on the bed in the room I was in when Batman had found me. "Timothy Joseph Drake" was my name by birth, but in most situations, I was Tim Wayne. I didn't know my real birthday, so we simply counted the day Bruce had pulled me out of the fire. I knew close to nothing about my parents, but now I knew that could change. She was here. My mom is here! I couldn't stop myself. I knew she wouldn't know me. Not a chance. Even if she knew me, she wouldn't recognize me in my Robin suit. None of that mattered in the moment. The thoughts were too blurry to be anything more than pushed away anyway. I was standing on a dark street in Chicago, IL, staring at my biological mother for the first time in my life. Aside from a baby that couldn't remember anything. I ran to her. I needed to know who she was. Who I was…

Cardinal's POV

I didn't know what to do. Robin had frozen. Completely. He was staring at the lady as if he knew her. I didn't know her, that was for sure. Could that be his mom? He needs to be careful about his identity though… I kept the thought to myself though. Suddenly he ran to her. My breath caught in surprise, and though invisible thanks to the white cover of my eye mask, my eyes widened in concern. I pressed my finger to the earpiece and spoke to Batman, "Batman, I think Robin thinks he found his mom."

A pause followed before he answered. I looked back to where Robin stood next to the lady who looked pretty confused. From where I was standing, I couldn't tell if he was explaining it to her, or if he was so distracted finding her that he didn't notice her clearly lost expression as he hugged her. She was definitely uncomfortable but accepted it. I decided to give them a bit more space as I waited for what I should do about this. As Batman's voice came through on the earpiece, I turned into a dark alley nearby and began to climb an old and very questionable metal ladder that led almost to the roof. From there I was able to pull myself to the top, but it wasn't easy.

"I'm getting close to your position. What is he doing?"

I looked back for them, to see one of them, probably Robin considering it would be quite difficult the other way around, had pulled the other into the alley on over from the one I'd used. That was good. At least he wasn't just standing in the middle of the street to explain all this. Hopefully he's not saying too much. Or wrong. It looked like he was going to open and tell her everything. I relayed the scene to Batman.

Robin's POV

I had to explain it to her. She was my mom. Still, a small voice that sounded strangely similar to Batman's told me not to go into all this in public, so I'd pulled her aside to explain. It wasn't private, but this couldn't wait. She didn't recognize me in the least, but that wasn't surprising at all. I'd have been more concerned if she had recognized me.

"Look, I'm Tim." Not specific enough. So I continued, "Timothy Wa…Drake." I was not thinking very straight. I was less than a syllable away from throwing out my name as Wayne. None the less, I couldn't stop. I needed her to understand this. I needed to understand her. Where was she all this time? What happened? Why had they left?

She stepped back, eyes wide, clearly a bit shaken but recovered relatively quickly. Suddenly her face switched to a wide smile, that seemed familiar. I smiled to match it. Is that how this worked? Did parents really feel familiar whether or not you knew them? Just because you were part of them. It didn't make sense, but I didn't have time to care. I had found her, and she knew it too.

"After all this time!" was the first thing she said before continuing, "I thought you were dead!"

Everything about her was familiar, but in such a strange way. Like I'd known her and a small part of me remembered, but it was an uncomfortable type of remembrance. Of course it's uncomfortable, I should know her, and I don't. Not knowing your own mom should be uncomfortable. Still, it didn't feel right, but I shook it off. This was a new chance to get to know the person, maybe people that I should have grown up with.

"How about my dad?" I had to ask. I knew I could handle the answer, whatever it was. I thought they were both gone, it couldn't be worse.

She lost the smile for a brief second, and I assumed my answer, but just as quickly it returned, though she was clearly working through something in the back of her mind, "He's not too far from here!" She gestured loosely down the road, but moved her hand back before I could get any connection.

My smile returned with the news. I couldn't believe it. I was going to get to know both my parents! Her expression changed to curious as she looked back behind me towards the street, and I followed her look, but saw nothing. I looked to her again, and tried to figure how she was responding based on her face, but she was proving very expressive and I couldn't fully make it out. "What?" I tried to sound more concerned, but I couldn't be. Not really. I had three hundred and sixty-four more days to be concerned about someone jumping me on the street, and I really didn't want to think about now.

She looked unsure about asking, but after a second, did, "So, your Robin, huh? Is Batman with you, or are you by yourself this time?" She still seemed uncomfortable, which made me wonder. Maybe she left because someone's following her. I wasn't sure which was the answer she was looking for, but I answered with the truth, "Batman shouldn't be too far behind me. He's headed to meet me here."

She stared at me for a second and swallowed hard. It struck me as odd, but then I thought about it. Everyone's scared of Batman. That's the point. Once, I assured myself, I decided to try and help her out a bit, "Is that…"

"Good! I wouldn't want you out here by yourself, there's some strange people out here." She cut me off. I was a bit taken aback but relaxed back again at the sentiment. I could get to like her. I knew I could.

"So, where have you been living?" She continued, almost leaving off the "g" at the end.

I hesitated for the first time. I knew I shouldn't put Batman's identity out there, but I already had for anyone willing to look. All they'd have to do it look up my name. Bruce Wayne adopting a kid wasn't very subtle. Still, it bothered me to just say it. Batman was so careful. I'd already given her mine, maybe I shouldn't hand her his. She was still looking at me, seeming genuinely concerned. I wasn't sure what was worse. If I said, "Bruce Wayne", she could easily assume that he was Batman, but if I said "Batman" she was one Google search away from knowing for sure. That answered my question, "I live with Bruce Wayne." I said it quietly, leaning closer to her to minimize others hearing. Most people freaked out about that, and honestly it got old, but it also meant I was unsurprised when she looked unsure what to do with that information. That's when she paled, and her eyes widened even further. I'd seen that look a ton of times. It meant Batman just appeared behind me. The part that confused me is that she looked somehow more natural than she had.

Cardinal's POV

I really didn't want to mess up their moment, and I wasn't sure what to do other than wait. I'd already let Batman know what was going on, and he'd be getting there soon. He'd know what to do. I sat back on the mostly flat roof and decided to wait. It was a nice view, but not very interesting until I saw Spider-Man in the distance swinging towards me. I wasn't really sure why he was coming, but he really seemed great last time. Still, I stood in preparation for his arrival.

"Hey! I don't think I got your name last time we met…" He smoothly landed on the roof, almost in a clean jog, clearly showing that this wasn't his first time. He must have been doing this for a while. I could still hear the smile in his voice, further confirming his friendliness.

"Cardinal." I started, happy enough to see him. There wasn't anything else really going on that I could or should be apart of.

"Oh, cool! I'm Spider-Man, well you might know that, anyway, nice to meet you!" He offered a handshake, which I accepted after a slight hesitation. My smile back to him was my response.

"Are you busy?" He asked, his hand interrupted from going back to his side by his slight shrug.

"No, I'm actually kinda bored."

"Cool! I mean, not cool that you're bored, but you wanna' hang out? We could do some cool roof-moves!"

"Sure!" It sounded fun to me. I need to learn a few things anyway. "I don't really know parkour, though."

"That's ok, I'll show you some stuff!"

"Awesome!"

With that, he bounced off, explaining himself as he went, as I tried to keep up. Being concerned about Spider-Man's credibility was no longer a thing in my mind. Not really.

Batman's POV

I wasn't surprised Tim's mom was alive. I wasn't even surprised that he'd found her. What I hadn't expected was for him to know it. I had a growing suspicion of who she really was, and it was about to be confirmed. Part of the reason Tim hadn't found out more about his biological parents is because they hadn't left a lot of evidence behind. The other reason was because the evidence they had left behind, I didn't let him find. Nothing was helped by him knowing what I was pretty sure was true. Despite all that, here we were. I walked around the corner, suspicion confirmed.

Robin's POV

I looked to Batman only to see his reaction. Not because him standing behind me bothered me. It bothered most people. I usually liked it. I could be questioning some guy who thinks I'm a kid and a joke, but as soon as Batman shows up behind me, the guy's terrified. So long as I don't turn around, I can pretend it's because I've proven myself and not because the guy, who just about tries to embody fear itself, just spawned behind me. Batman's reaction was always a bit difficult to determine. It was one of his strengths, but I'd gotten at least half-decent at figuring it out. He stared at her like he also knew her, but in a bad way. A sinking feeling filled me, but again I tried to push it away. He often looked mad at people he wasn't really mad at. This could easily be one of those times. She looked very intimidated, but again, that wasn't unusual in the least. He didn't say anything to her at first, and she was the first to speak up, "Hey, Batman." She was trying to sound friendly, and honestly this was one time I wished Batman wasn't so scary. I wanted this to be normal, not hostile, but that wasn't an option. Batman handed her a small notebook with a pen attached to the side. I recognized that it wasn't a normal pen but not exactly what it was. I tried not to show the little bit of aggravation I was feeling. Obviously, he didn't trust her, and I wasn't surprised. Batman didn't trust hardly anyone, and sometimes it felt like he didn't even trust me. Of course he wouldn't happily give her information like I just had, and he never made small talk. She accepted, not breaking eye-contact with him, almost in a nervously pleading way, giving me a feeling that there was something both of them knew that I didn't, and I hated it. I was being left in the dark about my life. How long had I been in the dark about my life? How much does Batman know? I planned to ask about it as soon as the opportunity arose. As he released the paper to her, he gave one comment, and it wasn't to be nice and welcoming, "Stay in touch." The paper had a phone number on it. He turned to leave, increasing my aggravation. Does he really not get it? Or maybe worse does he get it? Did he get it this whole time? Did he really not trust me to know my own past. I hardened my expression, determined to save it for when we were alone, but it hurt to think about.

"Robin." That was all he said, but I knew what it meant. It meant we were leaving. It also meant he wasn't thrilled with the way I handled it. Honestly, what do you want from me? What if it was your mom suddenly alive and talking to you? I probably wouldn't share the last thought at all, and I followed him to disappear over the buildings without a word.

Cardinal's POV

Spider-Man was showing me so many ways to traverse the buildings, and we were having a blast!

"Look over there!" Spidey called out excitedly, adrenaline clear, as he slowed faster than I thought someone could, and only inches from the edge of the building, pointing to the tallest building I'd ever seen. It was full of crystal-clear windows that seemed to stretch the whole length to the top, the entire thing reflecting city lights in a way that appeared as stars in the night sky. It was an epic sight. I stopped to admire it, breathing in the night air, as he continued, "You know what would be really cool? Climbing to the top, jumping off, and swinging away into the dark!"

"That would be fun!" I responded picturing it, "We should do it."

"Really?" He said, also sounding like he thought it would be a great idea.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Cool! You'll have to climb up somehow though…" He was clearly thinking about how to solve it, "I mean, I can climb it, but I'm not sure you can. Can you?" The last part he directed to me with a look my direction.

"Probably not," I could hold onto him…I kept the thought to myself though, I wasn't going to ask him to bring me.

He swung off the side and I followed, a good bit slower, glad that he waited for me as we neared the bottom of the beautiful structure. It was enormous. I looked up and felt the building sway toward me as if it were falling. Thankfully it was just an illusion.

"So, how are we gonna get up?" Spider-Man asked me again.

"I don't know." I shrugged back.

"I mean, it's a little weird," he started obviously a bit uncomfortable, "but you could hold on, kind of like piggy-back style."

"Yeah, I mean I'm a lot younger than you, so it's not that weird."

"Ok, cool!"

With that solved, I slightly awkwardly grabbed onto Spider-Man as if it were a piggy-back ride, and slowly but surely, he began to climb the building, apparently entirely undisturbed by my added weight. As we went, I gripped a bit harder, and he picked up the pace as confidence grew. The building had to be over one-hundred feet tall. This was going to be awesome! Finally, we reached the top and stopped to enjoy the view. It was incredible. The giant apartment and department stores looked like tiny model homes with little lights from up here. Cars moved in tiny blurs of light speeding below up. The wind blew steadily past us. There was nothing like it. I breathed in deeply again, and turned to see Spider-Man, clearly also enjoying himself.

"Come over here!" I said, pulling out my phone. He bounced to me and we posed for a selfie overlooking the huge drop we were about to take. I put my phone securely back in my utility belt, to ensure it wouldn't fall out.

"This is awesome!" Spider-Man exclaimed, "Ready?"

"Yeah!" I looked back over the edge, "I guess I just hold onto you again?"

"Yeah, sure!"

I grabbed back on his back, gripping like life depended upon it, partially because it did. Then, he jumped. The wind blew past us, or us past it, faster than anything imaginable.

"Wooooo!" Spider-Man called out to the air, as I continued to hold, feeling the surge that outdid any roller coaster. As we neared the ground, He flung his wrist, but nothing came out.

"Wait?! Why isn't this working!?" His voice was strained and I couldn't hold in my own stress, "What's wrong!?"

"It won't shoot! My web-shooter won't work!"

"WHAT?!"

He continued trying desperately to connect a web to a building, but nothing came. Finally, he shifted himself to prepare for the brunt of the fall, as my eyes closed instinctively, and I nearly broke my arms and hands holding to him so tight. I couldn't breathe right. At any moment we were going to hit concrete. I started feeling sick to my stomach, but that was the least of my problems. Suddenly we bounced as if off a trampoline. My eyes tried to open, but wouldn't make sense of anything as we bounced again, landing on a net. Spider-Man finally let go of me and we both laid there, no idea how we survived for an eternity. My breathing finally slowed to normal, but my whole body was shaking. His voice came through, as shaky as I felt, "Are. You. Ok?" He went for a breath between each word, and I knew why.

I released a breath that was supposed to bring with it a "yeah", but it was probably too quiet for anyone to actually hear and understand. Finally, he turned and moved to get up, still bouncing the net below me. It took me a minute longer to convince myself that I was alive enough to move, but I eventually did, turning on my arm to see how we were still in one piece each. The edge of the net had a small, yellow symbol with a bat in the middle. That's when it finally made sense. Batman had caught us. Uh oh. He's going to judge me so hard. He's going to be so mad. I'm definitely getting fired.

Then I saw him. His expression was unwaveringly hard, but he said nothing. I got off the net and dropped the space between us and the ground, that suddenly seemed rather small. Spider-Man was clearly trying to figure out what to say, but I didn't even bother.

"Uh, thanks for the save, Batman! That was like, really impressive!" He tried but still reached over his head to rub his own shoulder clearly dealing with a variety of nerves.

"Why didn't it work?" I said turning to Spider-Man who was getting most of Batman's glare that could kill a fly or a spider…

"Uh," He looked at his wrists and rolled up the sleeves to check his web shooters, "I think it was too much change in pressure too fast. I didn't think that could be an issue. Guess it can… So, are you sure you're good?"

"Yeah, you?" I wasn't completely sure, and my arms hurt from holding on so tightly, but I was sure enough.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm really sorry about that!" He directed it at Batman as well as me.

"It's ok." I encouraged. He sounded really genuinely concerned. Batman did not think it was ok, and it didn't say so either.

"Well, glad you're good! I guess I'll see you guys around!" Spider-Man said, still a bit tense about Batman's lack of response, but running away, troubleshooting the web-shooters as he went. Batman looked to me, apparently at a loss for words, which was a bit scary. I wasn't sure when he'd gotten here, how he'd found us, or where Robin was.

"Thanks" I felt pretty small under his stare, and he continued to say nothing. He unstuck the net and walked off, which I took as a sign to follow him. It was a guess, but I didn't feel like asking for clarification. He seemed really mad at me. He approached a wider, empty area right outside the city and did something that made the place in front of us hold what must be the Batwing. I followed him inside, admiring it as we went. It was huge and camouflaged. The inside had a large control panel with two seats. Batman took one, and Robin, who looked rather unhappy considering how he'd looked last time I saw him was in the other. What happened? I'd ask him later. Apparently, Robin has brought his motorcycle into the Batwing at some point which only further confirmed how big it really was. We took off and flew a little while before Robin turned back to look at me, "Where were you?"

I was pretty sure I could see Batman's judgment, but he didn't answer for me.

"I was waiting for you, and Spider-Man came over, so he started showing me parkour stuff. Then we decided to climb up a really cool, tall building, and jump off, then swing, but apparently the web-shooters don't work at that height, so we fell, and Batman had to catch us." It seemed kind of stupid explaining it now, but it was really fun at the time. Robin clearly thought it sounded stupid too. "Are you serious?!" Still, he had a bit of a smirk, like he agreed that it could be fun or was just amused by the idea in general. I nodded, but I knew it wasn't a real question. Then I asked my own, "How did it go?" His face dropped and turned to a bit of aggravation and his eyes switched to the floor. Then he shrugged. Clearly it wasn't good, and he didn't want to talk about it right now. We continued the rest of the flight where I mostly drifted in and out of sleep, which came as relief after the long days of driving and the intense skydiving with Spider-Man. Slowly I closed my eyes, the calm hum of the engine and lack of other sound helping to lull me to sleep.