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Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Elephants, weird costumes, tigers, oooh those were nice, and . . . clowns.

Ugh, he was even dressed as Gotham's personal chaos clown. That was a sick joke. Selina almost turns around and leaves right there and then, but a bedazzled poster catches her wandering eyes. She stops in front of it and tilts her head as she reads the headline.

"The Flying Grayson's? Huh, maybe they'll at least be worth my time." She sighs in defeat and straightens her black overcoat and heads inside the huge red and yellow striped tent, lights and music flickers through the drawn tarp doorway as people mill inside. Voice behind one of the tents, low and gruff, catch her attention before she goes inside.

"I told you, they said they won't pay." A low voice hisses angrily.

Her ears perk up like a cat listening for moving prey. Hmm - interesting. She stays perfectly still, filtering the voice from the extra sounds in the tent.

"Won't pay huh? Well, we'll see about that." A rough voice sneers in response.

She blinks, she's heard those words before. Protection racketeers. On one hand she could find out whats up - but on the other hand . .  Eh, it's not really her business.

With a slight sniff she turns back toward the tent not giving that overheard conversation another thought. If it was a protection racket, it probably wouldn't go to far yet.

Minutes after, she squeezes herself past the packed bunches of people and accidentally shoulder checks a tall man in a black coat, the tents lights are dim so she can't make out his face as she maneuvers around him. He mutters an apology, she nods him of, finds her seat and sits down with a bucket of popcorn, the lights flicker and a spot light goes on, pointed in the center of the sawdust covered ring and the show starts.

"Ladieeeeees and Gentlemaaan!" A stout aging man appears in the standard ringmaster uniform, his hat taller than him, "I am proud to present! Haley's circus!"

Cannons filled with confetti go off with a loud bang, glitter bombs are thrown and the elephants start their parade.

Selina watches with less than mild interest. She sits there. Show, after show. Nothing interested her much. The tigers did some, but they should have had a longer act in her opinion.

Finally, the Flying Grayson's are introduced. She straightens a little, the rippling excitement in the crowd effecting her slightly now.

A flutter at the door vaguely catches her eye. She narrows them as a seedy looking man leaves with a cold smirk. Huh. She swears she's seen that face before.

The applause that rises up suddenly takes her attention away. Her eyes widen as a trio of acrobats fly through the air with practiced flips and jumps. She gasps as the boy performer of the trio catches her attention in particular. She stars in surprise as she watches his small, light looking, body flip and roll midair.

He was incredible. More than a performer, he had a natural gift. It was like he was born to soar through the air, but someone must have thought it funny to make him a human being instead of a bird.

Her breath stutters when he feigns a fall and saves himself last minute, landing perfectly, with grace beyond his years, on a platform and waves to the applauding crowd, a grin all but breaking his face as he soaks up the applause and cheers. He's a natural attention grabber - he loves it - he lives for it -

Selina doesn't know what it is, but she instantly falls for that boy. She wants to see him up close, she feels that strong urge she gets when she sees a beautiful cat and wants to collect it for her own.

This boy is amazing.

Then, his face shatters.

The crowd gasps. Somebody screams. Was it her? She can't tell over all the other screams of shock that ring out in the arena. The Flying Grayson's fall and meet their end on the hard sawdust covered floor.

Selina feels a horrible chill run up her spine as people run around, they were panicking. Her eyes drift to the boy, forgotten on his platform above as they flock around the dead man and woman. She knows they'd died. Instantly. She feels it. But she can't take her eyes off the suddenly destroyed boy above.

Crying.

Her carefully guarded heart cracks.

His name is Dick Grayson. Richard John Grayson to be formal. She'd was told he'd been whisked away and, after sever questioning, she'd finally figured out where the system had dumped him off too.

Gotham's Foster home. One of them anyway. She grits her teeth and clutches the papers in her hand tightly. She's been to one of these. Suffered in a place like this when she was much, much younger, and more defenseless.

No way in hell was that kid staying here another minute.

Selina saunters in, her leather boot heels clicking against the surface, hard, with purpose, determination, face set in a firm, I will succeed look, as she makes her way to the front desk of this godforsaken hell. Her skin itches from past trauma.

She walks fearlessly up to the simple gray desk that had an innocent enough looking woman behind it. She bites back a sneer, the woman that ran the foster home she'd escaped from had looked innocent enough.

Until she wasn't.

"I'm here," She slams the papers on the desk with such force the woman jumps and looks up at her with frightened wide eyes. Selina lowers her voice, willing her discomfort down, "Excuse me." She tries again, forcing the edge out of her voice, "I'm here for that child. A boy, Richard Grayson."

The woman looks at her dumbly, "Here? For him?"

Selina draws in a deep breath, she doesn't like this woman's' tone, "Yes." She says evenly. She really hates Foster homes, "I have the paper work. I will be taking him away from here. Now where is he."

The woman seems completely confused, "Um. . . down the hall. Sh-should be in his room still."

Selina didn't wait for more. She whirls away and rushes down the narrow halls with a slight feeling of claustrophobia.

God, how she hated Foster homes.

She sighs to herself. Her decision coming to her mind.

Shortly after the tragic incident, something in that boys' face made Selina snap. She'd decided to take him in. Adopted or a ward, whatever he wanted. She refused to let that beautiful child be wasted in Gotham. She'd told Maven exactly that. The poor girl nearly fainted. Selina smiles at the memory, she can't really blame her dear secretary, after all, Selina Kyle was known to be a ruthless cat lover, never one to take in a family . . .

She didn't know why she wanted to so badly and so suddenly. But she did know what that boy had felt. The terrible feelings of abandonment of those who felt like your life, was still raw inside her. She wasn't a heartless monster. She was just a free one. And she decides she was going to help this boy fight his future monsters.

One way, or the other.

Selina finds the room and taps at the non-sturdy door.

No answer.

She walks in anyway.

A small boy sits in the farthest corner of the dingy room on a tiny tattered bed, curled up in a ball, his baby blue eyes stare forlornly out the window.

She feels her heart tug again. Keep it together Selina. Since when have you been so emotional?

"Hello Kitten." She was glad her voice sounds soothing. It surprises the child enough to make him turn and look but not be afraid.

Selina catches her breath. All that natural dazzling talent of a shining performer, gone. All she sees now is a slowly disappearing husk of the golden performer.

"Who're you? Another news reporter?" He asks quietly, face remaining emotionless.

She swallows and bites her red lip, "No. I'm here to take you away from this place. To a better place." She says slowly, she really wasn't sure what to say actually, it wasn't like she'd planned this after all.

He blinks those bright eyes, now tainted by a shadow far too early in his life, "So . . . you're like . . . an angel? I have to say, I thought you'd be bigger . . . and scarier looking."

The elder woman freezes, "Wha-" Selina Kyle is tongue tied. No man or woman has ever done that to her. And here was this tiny child. . . surprising her words away.

"Well?"

She blinks, "Oh. No Kitten." She kneels beside him, resisting the urge to touch him, "I'm Selina Kyle, I saw what happened to -" She pauses at the slight panic flickering in his eyes, "- Anyway, I came here because I want to take you in. I want to give you a chance to move forward with your life. To find that brightness you had. What do you say? Want to come with me?" She gives him a gentle smile.

Where all these ooey-gooey emotions are coming from right now was beyond her.

He stares at her for a long moment.

"You mean . . . I'm not dying? You aren't an angel come to take me to my Mom and Dad?"

She chokes.

If anyone ever asks, she'd never tell. But Selina Kyle literally chokes on her own spit and tears up.

Crap it all.

She reaches out and wraps the boy in a tight, warm hug.

"No Kitten. I'm not. But I'll try my hardest to give you something at least a third close to them."

She feels the small frame stiffen for a minute. Then he relaxes against her and clutches her back, as if he's finally decided to let go of whatever was holding him up at this point. She holds her breath as a small sob escapes the boy. Then another one. And another.

He starts to bawl on her shoulder.

Selina hadn't felt a heart ache like this in a long time.

She signs whatever form needs to be signed as quickly as she can so she can whisk the boy away out of that horrible place. Away to, hopefully, a better future.

The woman at the desk was speechless when Selina had rushed in, signed, and took the boy by the hand without so much as a blink.

Five minutes after she had left, a shiny black car driven by an elderly man rolls in front of the foster home.

"Excuse me Ma'am."

The lady behind the desk gasps as a tall, well-dressed man walks in, making the establishment look wanting badly.

"I'm here to see a young Richard Grayson."

"Br-Bruce Wayne?" The Woman gasps again. Shocked. Two of Gotham's richest people had come in the same day in the span of one hour looking for the same boy? Just what was the big deal about this kid?

"Ma'am?"

"Oh, yes! Oh-" She feels breathless, "Um . . . I'm sorry Mr.-Mr. Wayne . . . but the boy has been take in already. Someone else just adopted him five minutes ago." She stares at the man, wide eyed and shaky.

"I see. The information as to who it was, no doubt, is not to be given." He says simply.

The woman shakes her head, "N-no, sir. I'm sorry."

He nods in understanding, "Well, I hope he's gone to a good home then."

Then he was gone.

"I can't believe you actually went through with it." Maven stares at the little raven haired boy now sitting on the expensive sofa in Selina's pent house.

"I did." Selina smiles, peeling off her coat and boots, "I told you Maven, there was something about this boy . . . and I want to help whatever that something is to bloom. If I had left him to the mercy of social workers and foster workers . . . they would have suffocated it." She sighs and hands her things to the incredulous red head, "Gotham does that to special people all the time."

"Miss Selina." The boy pipes up suddenly.

She turns and sits next to him instantly, receiving a surprised look from her secretary, "Yes Kitten? What is it?"

Maven can hardly believe her eyes or ears. Selina, the woman she'd know to be ruthless, sometimes cold, calculating even for the past decade now, was . . . suddenly so different.

"What do I do here?" He asks quietly.

The raven haired woman quirks an eyebrow, "What do you do? Well, we have a lot to do. Shop for new clothes, decorate your new room, find out your favorite foods, figure out what kind of school you want to go to. There's plenty of things for us to do."

The boy looks at her with those clear, impossibly blue eyes, "So . . . you're gonna be like, my new mom?"

She bites back her surprise, "Only if that's what you want Kitten."

He falls into thought for a silent minute, "Maybe, not yet." He says slowly.

She understands, "That's fine."

"Can - can I still do gymnastics?" He asks suddenly, "I don't think I can let that go."

Selina laughs, "Of course. I wouldn't dream of stopping you." She hugs the boy tightly, "You'll still fly, don't worry. That I promise."

Maven watches with growing interest. Maybe having a small human instead of cats to look after would end up being a healthy change for the sometimes scary business woman.

"What do I call you?"

"Selina. That's all. I'll never ask you to call me anything else."

"Ok . . . My friends all called me Dick." He says simply.

"All right then. Dick it is."

"What do I call you?"

Maven blinks when she realized the question was directed at her, it takes a moment because she forgot she was actually physically present, being caught up in analyzing the interaction, "Um . . me?" The red headed woman has no answer for that.

"Can I call you Auntie Mave?"

She wrinkles her nose in distaste and pushes up her glasses, "I don't-"

"That's a great name Kitten, what do you say Maven? Let him call you that?" Selina's sapphire eyes twinkle mischievously at her helpless secretary.

Maven sighs, she makes a small inner sacrifice, "Fine."

Selina laughes.

That was how her collection of boys starts. Little did she know what she was getting herself into.

Chapter Text

Catwoman. That was her second persona. Or maybe it was her real persona? She certainly had a lot more fun being a cat than she did being a business woman. She loved the thrill that ran through her veins, the rush she got from a narrow escape or a perfectly executed scheme.

It wasn't like she needed the jewels or priceless artifacts, she just had fun taking them. So much fun. Most people were addicted to drugs or alcohol. She was addicted to thrills and a certain Bat that was currently chasing her over Gotham's roofs in the dark.

How she loved when he chased her.

That might have been the biggest reason why she never stopped stealing. Because she could always count on tall, dark, and mysterious to find and chase her.

She laughs in the dark as he flies behind her. She stops and blows him a kiss just because it would irk him and she likes getting under his stoic mask, "A little slow tonight aren't we?" She smirks at the statue of a man a few feet in front of her.

"Hand over the diamond."

Selina purrs, "Now, now, we've been doing this long enough for you to know, " She flicks out her whip and lets it tie on a street lamp below, "Cats don't do what their told unless they want to. And sadly," She flutters her eyelashes, "I don't want to." And she jumps, flying downwards and disappearing in the alleyway before he could jump after her.

Selina sighs as she runs through and twists in the back alleys. She knew he'd give her some extra time to get away. He had the tendency to do that lately. Her eyes adjust to the darker landscape of the alley as she edges around a bend. She was taking the long way around on purpose, maybe he would catch up and they could - a loud clatter cuts her thoughts and stops her cold. Her clawed hand reaches for her whip as her eyes narrow toward the sound.

Silence.

She glares harder and tip toes soundlessly forward. Somebody was here. That much she knew.

A sharp, low string of curses catches her ears. A mischievous grin spreads across her flawless face, those were some tough words. By the sound of the voice it had come from a younger boy.

She sneaks around the corner, couldn't hurt to take a peek. Besides, the phrase, 'curiosity killed the cat' was a myth anyway. Her eyes widen in surprise at what she sees, not expecting it really.

A small boy in a tattered red hoodie was flitting around the freaking Batmobile! Her mouth falls open as she forgets where she is. The kid was moving so fast and so smoothly she hardly could believe that he was a common street rat.

He undid a few wires deftly, connected something she couldn't see and literally popped out the Batman's tires.

Selina almost laughs. She could only imagine the shock on the great and terrifying Batman's face when he finds out his tires had been pilfered!

She couldn't help it, she snorts.

The boy freezes and whirls around, glaring at the shadow she was standing in. She sighs, oh well, so much for watching the show.

"Hey! Who's there? I'm warning you, I'm armed." He calls out, pointing the tire iron at her spot.

Selina's grin grows more and more, something flickers in that boy, his voice had a slight rasp to it that she knew would grow up with one hell of an ability to seduce unsuspecting prey .

"Armed are you?" She purrs smoothly and steps under the flickering wall light.

The kid's eyes widen a fraction before he fixes it in a hard glare.

Dang. Boy had a fierce look that seems way beyond his age, "Yeah. Armed. Now leave." He snaps and grabs a one of the heavy wheels.

Catwoman smiles, "If you don't mind my asking kid, what made you think you could get away with lifting The Batman's tires?"

The dark haired boy doesn't answer as he rolls another one away.

"Come on. Tell a curious bystander." She coxes, careful to keep her voice soft and non-threatening.

He huffs, his shaggy bangs flutter up, "What made 'The Batman' think it was smart to park his car in Crime Alley?"

Oh, spicy. Definitely spicy. She likes it.

But Batman wouldn't. He'd swoop in any minute and he'd catch this kid. She had no idea what he'd do to the little punk but she doubts it would be good. Something clicks to life in her mind. She smirks and snaps her whip out, it coils around the stunned boy's body tightly.

"H-Hey! What the hell lady! Let go! This is my steal!" He struggles and pulls back, no fear in his face, just bubbling anger.

That was something. Especially since she could scare grown men into submission. Selina pulls him closer with one yank. He stumbles and yelp as she catches him before he hits the ground.

"Crazy lady, gonna-"

"Hang on there, Tiger, "She lifts his face up by his chin. Her breath gets lost on its way to her lungs for a moment as the boy glares viciously at her through a thick set of dark lashes with a fire lighting his mixed blue green eyes.

She sees something in that face. Her mind flashes back to years ago, decades even. Helpless, hurting, starving... But fierce. Determine. Strong.

"You hungry kid?" She asks suddenly, still staring at him.

Confusion skitters across the boy's face, "What?"

"You're not going to get away with those things. Batman will catch you. What I'm gonna offer you is much safer and more probable." She explains carefully, gauging his reaction.

The sharp face morphs into a sarcastic smirk, "Yah right lady, sorry but I think I'm too young for you, and I'm not that desperate."

Typical suspicious response. Her heart tugs, "Not for anything like that, Tiger. I promise. Just food, and a nice warm place to sleep. By yourself." She loosens her grip a little.

"Why? Why would anyone do that for nothing?" He counters darkly.

Selina lets her hold on the small malnourished boy go, "Let's just say, you remind me of someone I used to know. So, we got a deal?"

He glares a little longer. Clearly fighting fiercely inside himself. She waits patiently, listening in case Batman was approaching. A low grumble comes from the kid's stomach. He grips it and bites his lip, debating, emotions playing across his face, survival instincts clashing with street logic and -  "Fine. You win. But if I smell something fishy, I'm gone. Got it."

She smirks, Fishy? Hah, that was funny. She was a cat after all.

"Understood. Hang on minute."

She turns towards the detached tires and starts stacking them together. She half expects the kid to run off the minute her back was turned, so, to say she was surprised he was still there when she was done was putting it mildly.

"Ok Tiger." She hoists him up in a piggy back, "Hold on!"

With a crack of her whip, in three seconds they are air born. The boy's body had stiffened when she'd touched him the first time, she'd expected it to. Now he was tightening even more.

"Whoa!" He gasps as the wind steals his breath away, "This is AWESOME!"

She can't help but smile.

Batman is disappointed in himself. He'd let her get away. He'd let the criminal get away. Again. This had to stop. He couldn't do this anymore. She wasn't easy to deal with though. The only woman he'd ever dealt with that could distract him so easily, it was ridiculous.

He shakes his head as he lands soundlessly behind his sleek car. He'd have to find out who she was. They'd been doing this for years now but something was always stopped him from looking into her secret identity.

He stops.

His tires.

His security locked tires. They were gone. The Batman, for once, is shocked.

Who could have done that? He turns and sees, all four tires, with titanium based hubcaps intact, stacked carefully on top of each other, a red piece of paper stuck on top caught his eye.

He picks it up and reads it.

Dear, Tall, Dark, and Mysterious,

Your tires were almost jacked.

You're welcome.

Love, you know who.

P.s. The diamond's in the hole.

The dark knight lets out an exasperated sigh as he picks the brilliant stone from one of the empty hub cap bolt holes.

God, he needs ten aspirins after this.

Maven hears the balcony doors open. She lets out a relived sigh and heads toward the living room from the study. She was one of the only people to know her employers second persona. That's not to say she liked it when Selina went gallivanting out at night in a cat costume stealing and jumping dangerous heights leading on a nuttier man in a bat costume. Actually, it gave her frequent head aches and anxiety.

But Selina had always come home ok, maybe sometimes not in one complete piece but alive at least.

But seriously, it was wearing on her nerves.

"Thank god you're back! I just barely got - Gah!" The red haired woman choke on air, she quickly stifles the sudden cough with her hand.

A small framed, sickly looking, little boy with dark circles under his eyes and holes in his clothes was sauntering around with a too-big-for-his-size attitude, taking in everything as if he belonged there.

She gasps wordlessly.

Selina laughs lightly, "Deep breaths Maven. Deep."

"Selina! Wha-"

"Maven, this is Jason Todd." Selina had finally gotten his name when they stopped for a minute at the edge of a warehouse, "He's from Crime Alley and will be staying with us for a while."

Maven bites back another choke, "Ok, no! Selina, you can't . . . I mean, what will the press say? You can't just go around collecting little lost boys like they're stray cats! You already have at least ten cats! Be serious!" Her face was almost as red as her hair; she was so flustered.

"But Maven," Selina pouts, as if she was being deprived form something she really needed, "He's beautiful."

The woman glares and turns shrewd green eyes toward the little rat.

He stares back, unaffected by her scrutiny, "You got something to say lady? Say it to my face."

Maven gasps again, shocked by the rudeness that came out of his tone, "What . . ."

Selina stifles a laugh, "Isn't he darling." She places a careful hand on the boy's thin shoulder, Maven noticed the mild tenseness in his body.

What the heck was Selina thinking! This boy was a stick of dynamite! He'd blow up any second and they'd never see it coming! Crime Alley? For god's sake, the things that came out of that place were horrifying.

But . . .

Maven looks at her employers face as the raven haired woman looks down at the boy with a glowing fond smile.

Selina had come out of there herself.

That was probably the reason behind this. Maven swallows thickly and looks at the boy again. On second glance, he looks less ratty and  - He looks sad. No, more like pathetic. Barely even flesh on his bones. Probably just skin over whatever was underneath.

She relents, "Oh, all right. But this is your choice. You have to deal with it." She finally calms down but still keeps the displeased look on her face.

"Of course I'll deal with it." Selina waves her of and kneels in front of the boy, "Now Tiger, what do you want to eat before bed?"

Maven watches curiously as the boy's hard face falls away replaced by surprise, "Eat? I-I don't know. Whachya got?"

Selina grins, "Anything you want." She stands up and pulls off her mask, shaking out her beautiful dark hair, "By the way, I'm Selina Kyle, aka, Catwoman. You can keep that to yourself I'm sure."

He nods firmly.

"Good. Now let's go eat something."

Maven watches, still rooted to her spot. A headache growing already.

The next morning Selina sits at her kitchen bar, legs crossed, newspaper in hand and enjoying a refreshing cup of coffee. Isis, her black cat, the jewel of her collection of cats, sits next to her waiting for his morning nourishment.

"Mmmh, Diamond of Egypt stolen last night. Commissioner states Batman brought it in. Culprit is still unknown." The raven haired woman lets a soft smirk form on her flawless face as she sips the hot liquid, "Wonder who it was." She jokes coyly.

Maven comes in, hair in its curlers and still in her night gown, "Really Selina. You let that little urchin sleep last night in a clean bed with those filthy things on?" She was not pleased by the new comer at all.

Selina just likes him more and more, "Sorry, didn't have anything for him to change into yet. But don't worry, we'll fix that today. Is he still in the shower?"

"Yes. And using up all the hot water I bet. Have you told Dick yet? Or are you planning on keeping it a secret somehow." Maven is really cranky this morning.

"I haven't told him yet. But I will. As soon as he-"

"Morning Selina, Auntie Mave, what's for breakfast?" Dick Grayson pops in as if he knows they were talking about him. The poor boy was blissfully unaware of their new guest.

He'd been with Selina for nearly three years now, he'd moved quite far from the depressed little boy she'd met in the beginning. Every bit of his dazzle had come back faster than she had hoped actually. He was adored by nearly everyone he met now.

Especially Selina.

Maven gives Selina the stink eye and walks out as briskly as she can without seeming immature.

If Dick saw, he didn't comment.

Selina sighs, better now than later, "Dick, there's something I want to talk to you about."

"Hold that thought, Lemme just get a towel, I'll be right back." He turns, holding up a finger and rushes off towards the hall closet.

Selina blinks. She waits.

Dick grabs his towel and heads back towards his guardian, blissfully ignorant. Then his attention is caught by sounds from the bathrooms. He stops in front of the bathroom door. He heard the water turn off. Huh, was Auntie Mave already done showering? But he just saw her a few moment ago ...

Inside, little Jason Todd was running his fingers through his wet black hair, trying to comb it out.

Selina had given him a decent set of clothes, a black T-shirt and the smallest jeans she could find. They were still really baggy on him, the jeans slip down his bony hips constantly. He's not sure where she would get random boy clothes in the first place but he doesn't mind the size, they're clean and relatively new and smell nice. Which is more then he could ask for anyway.

"Ok. Now. let's see what I can score for breakfast then I'll book before things get weird." He'd planned to leave last night, but the bed had been so ridiculously comfortable that he fell asleep better than he had in years and didn't wake up. But he knows he can't stay here.

He is ok with Selina. But he doesn't trust that Maven woman, not after the way she looked at him - like he was scum, pitiable scum -but scum nonetheless.

Carefully, he reaches for the door handle and pulls the door open.

A dark haired boy jumps in surprise on the other side. The boy screams.

Jason hiccups and punchs him. Straight in the face.

The boy goes down in an instant, still shrieking, now grabbing his face. Jason is breathing hard, his pupils dilated, this situation was triggering danger signs in his brain which was winding him up for a fight.

Even though this boy looked too soft to be a threat.

"Selina! There's an intruder in our bathroom!" The boy shrieks.

Jason's eyes snap up, hand still fisted as he notices the lithe woman standing at the end of the hall, chewing her lip while seemingly biting back a laugh.

Jason slowly figures this isn't a situation he had to run from after all. He looks down at the still yelling boy.

"Hey! Shut up will ya! Some of us want our ears to last until old age." He snaps fiercely.

The boy stops, and sits up. His watery blue eyes raking over the intruder's form, "Who-who are you? Selina, who is he?!"

Jason decides he doesn't like the accusatory note in the boy's voice, he instantly feels defensive, "Jason Todd. Who the hell are you, wimp?"

Selina snorts ungracefully, surprising both boys, "Sorry, I meant to tell you but you ran off before . . .oh god!, that was priceless!" She gasps through laughs, unable to hide them anymore.

Dick stands up with a pout, "Me getting punched in the face is funny to you?" He snaps, a betrayed look on his bruising face.

The older woman composes herself, "No. That wasn't what I meant." She clears her throat, resisting the urge to laugh at them again, "Jason, this is Dick. He's my first ward, Dick this is Jason, I found him last night and he, if he wants to, will be staying with us." She casts the street kid a meaningful look when she says that.

Jason's face twists in disbelief, "Your name's . . . Dick? The hell?"

Dick glares, "Shut up, your name's dumb too."

"No it isn't, it's manly!"

Dick snorts this time, "Yeah, sure."

"God, and I thought my parents hated me. At least they gave me a decent name, Dick." Jason scoffs, a smirk appearing on his face when the older boy fumes and sputter indignantly.

"You're a little jerk!"

"Oooh, that hurt my feelings," Jason counters, feigning hurt, "You got another one Captain Co-"

"Ok. Enough. Both of you." Selina cuts off Jason's next insult, "Dick, go take a shower, Jason, you're not allowed to make fun of his name unless absolutely necessary, and Dick . . . you're older, act like it please."

The older boy looks depressed suddenly, "Great, just when I was getting over my depression, I get a younger brother I didn't want."

The look on Jason's face was a cross between shocked, disgusted, and hopeful. It was a strange tornado of expressions and Selina had no idea how he pulled it off, but she could guess he wasn't expecting to be called a brother by anyone.

Maybe this could work.

"Ok, ok, come on Tiger, we got things to do."

Jason looks at her, suspicion lacing his eyes, '"What kind of things?"

She ticks it off on her fingers, "Shopping for clothes that actually fit, shopping for more food since you ate most of it last night, and . . ." She regards him seriously for a minute, "Getting adoption papers to make you officially a member of this home."

She waits. Dick waits, although he probably didn't know what he was waiting for.

Selina waits to see what the kid will say. And at the same time her eyes are pleading for him to accept this invitation for a chance at a real life.

After a tense moment, Jason shrugs, his suspicion dropping, "Whatever. As long as you feed me. I think we'll be ok."

Selina thinks having a healthy, happy looking, young boy already living with her might have had something to do with his decision. She lets out a sigh she wasn't aware was waiting to come out, "Good. Come on then. I'll see you later Dick, and don't forget your report. It's due Monday."

She leads Jason out of the hall, while Dick protests all the way behind them. "Does this mean I have to share my room?!"

Selina laughs at his forlorn expression and deftly turns Jason away before he can say something scathing. They'll get along just fine she's sure, she smiles as they pass Maven in the living room, who gives her an 'I told you so' look.

Selina smiles wider, "It could have been worse."

Maven shakes her head and stares at the slowly forming bruise on Dick's face.

Oh god, this was going to kill her.

Arkham, here I come.

Chapter Text

They shot both of his parents, snatched him up, shoved him in a sack, tossed him in the back of a truck, and sped away in the night.

A little, black haired boy, with bright ocean blue eyes is sitting in the back of the cold metal truck. Forcing himself to not cry. He feels every bump and lump which tosses him around like a sack on the street as the criminals speed down what was, most likely, Gotham's main Highway.

Timothy Drake had just seen his parents killed, was kidnapped, and terrified in the span of one hour.

He'd come home from a trip to the park. He loved taking pictures of different people and how they lived their lives, he enjoyed capturing small moments that nobody ever gave a second thought to.

But when he had finally arrived back to his family's mansion. Blood. He'd stepped in a pool of blood. All the servants were gone, nobody was there, only his parent's bodies strewn on the floor, pools of their blood seeping out of them and spreading all over the once shiny marble floor.

He barely had time to scream when a burly man jumped out and snatched him up. There were two other men, one tied his hands and legs while he argued with the others. They were arguing in a language the little boy didn't understand.

"¿Qué hacemos con esto?*" The man tying him up said, his words sounded gruff and hurried.

The burly man holding him tightened his grip and answered, " matalo.*"

The third man that was listening intently, snapped suddenly, " No, nos lo llevaremos y demandaremos un rescate, ellos estarán desesperados.*"

The other two grunted for a moment, thinking this over, eventually they all agreed. Tim struggled as hard as he could, but being ridiculously small didn't help him at all. Before he could think of another way to escape, they shoved him in a bag none to gently and took him away.

So there he sat, in the back of a cold truck, fear freezing his already cold body even more. He didn't know what they would do to him. He didn't want to think about what they could do to him.

He shuddered. Tim was a smart kid, he knew kidnapping wasn't a small deal, things happened to children in Gotham who were kidnapped. Horrible things.

The vehicle gives a sharp turn, sending the boy flying against the metal wall. The tires screech, the brakes are slammed, Tim just barely misses getting a concussion.

He shake the dizziness out of his head, the truck stops. He hears the harsh rasps of the men as they get out, slamming the doors, and walking away. His heart pounds, where were they? Where had they taken him? He struggles against his ropes, and the bind on his mouth.

Have to get out.

He wiggles and rolls and shakes his head hard. The bind loosens. He almost has a chance, if he gets his mouth free maybe he could bite his way out of the ropes. Or scream. Somebody might hear him scream.

But then, that would probably attract the bad guys too. . .

He'd cross that bridge later.

Selina is out as Catwoman again. This time though, she wasn't after a jewel or priceless object. No, this time, she was out for revenge. Believe it or not it was for her boys back home.

Dick and Jason had been out the other day together, surprisingly, on the way home from school. They usually took the bus, or Maven would pick them up. But that day, Jason had gotten into a fight at school, as usual, and refused to get on the bus with the other 'losers' as he calles them. Dick, being himself, felt he couldn't let the younger boy go off on his own because knowing Jason, he'd get into even more trouble. So he walked with him.

A sect of a Hispanic gang jumped them, probably noticed their nice clothes, and nearly killed Dick. Jason fared better, but the fact that Dick had gone down had distracted him resulting in a bloody face and a broken arm.

When Selina saw what happened. Her blood boiled to the point of steam, she was not about to take that lying down.

Granted, these jerks probably did this to hundreds of people every day, but she wasn't a hero. She just wanted to make sure this didn't happen to her boys again. She found out the gang's name, Los Reyes Rojos, The Red Kings. Typical men who made their livelihood off of blood and felt empowered by it. It made sense, in a twisted way. Whatever. She didn't care what they called themselves. She was going to show them Red.

She'd been tailing this black truck for a while now. She wasn't really sure where it had come from or where it was going but she did know one of the men inside were a member of this gang. She'd only seen one of them when he looked out the window while driving.

Finally, it stops.

Selina waits until all three men get out and go inside a relatively harmless looking building. Ah, Gotham and its mastery of deceit. Seeing as they were completely clueless to her presence, she decides to wait. After a minute or two, with a perfect twist of her elegant body, she flips and lands behind the truck they'd parked. She eases her way toward the, no doubt, locked door. A dull thud snaps her attention away back towards the truck.

Catwoman stares at the truck. It wasn't moving and nobody else had come out of it. So . . . Why were there sounds coming out of the back? Being who she was, she decides to investigate.

With a self satisfied smirk to herself, she picks the lock on the handle with one of her claw tipped fingers effortlessly. For guys who flourished by spreading fear, they weren't very big on security.

Quickly, muscles preparing to jump, she twists the handle and pulls. The door flies open with a sharp clatter and jolt. Her heart jumps into her throat and nearly choked=s her.

Inside, was a little boy.

Battered, bruised, and bound.

Bile rises up in her throat as a sharp image flashes through her mind. A little girl, tied up, hurt, terrified, not knowing what was happening, but not yet old enough to understand what dying was and that the fear of it was what she was feeling

Without a second thought, she jumps forward and grabs the little boy by his tied hands. He looks up at her, petrified. Well of course. Seeing a woman in a black animal suit while on the brink of fainting was probably not the best thing for him.

"Shhhhh," She soothes quietly, pulling off her mask to reveal her soft raven hair and a gentle looking face, "I'm not going to hurt you. Here, let me get those off." She speaks in a low, soft voice, so not to scare him further.

On the plus side, it looks like he was calming down because his breathing was evening out. She cuts the ropes quickly and efficiently, the little boy practically falls into her arms and clutches her tightly, shaking.

Selina bites her lip as the boy begins to sob silently against her. He was saying something against her neck. She didn't understand what it was.

"K-killed them." Hiccup, sob, hiccup.

Killed them?

"Killed who?" She asks carefully.

"Mom-D-d-dad." He hiccups again.

That did it. Rage rushes through her so fast and so suddenly and with such force, she almost chokes on it. These bastards were going to pay. Dearly. And she didn't care if she got the goddamn Batman coming after her for it. They would pay.

"Here's what we're going to do." She pulls the slumping boy out of the truck, "First, what's your name pumpkin?"

"T-tim." He sniffs and wipes his nose on his sleeve, even though he'd been taught better than that.

"Well Tim, look, I'm going in there to put a stop to these nasty men, you're going to be a good little boy and hide behind that dumpster for me. Okay?" She waits for him to answer, maybe he'd be too scared to listen.

"Okay." He nods, his bangs falling in his eyes.

Selina resists the urge to brush them away, "Okay. Go. I'll be right back."

They never saw her coming. She snuck in, laced her whip and landed directly in the middle of their card game, snapping the big table in half.

Spanish curses fly at her, so do a bunch of chains, clubs, fists, and bodies. She ducks and dodges, flips and kicks at them like a superhero.

"What you want, crazy mujer gato!*" One man with a scar across his face and a furious broken accent demands as he hurls a whisky bottle at her.

She smashes the bottle with a snap of her whip and corners the man. Grabbing his thick jacket at the collar, nearly choking him, and digging her whip handle in his throat.

She bends down to his ear and hisses something unheard by the rest of the terrified men. Her victim gives a shudder, pales horribly, sweat dripping down his frozen face as he nods profusely.

She lets him go with a harsh shove, slamming his head against the wall, then, with a flick of her whip, she swings out before anyone else could get any bright ideas.

All Batman found the next night was a wreckage where that building used to be and no sign of its previous inhabitants.

Selina took the kid home. She does it without even thinking actually, as if it was just a natural thing to do. The poor little guy was so scared he wouldn't speak at all. She figures she'd have to figure out who he was and where he'd come from the hard way. By actually researching and looking.

But she did have one lead, aside from his name, he was dressed much too nice to be from a middle class family or the streets. Kid had on a Burberry shirt, and by the looks of it, it seemed to be his regular choice of clothing. An everyday thing. Definitely a rich kid. So all she has to do is find out which rich family of Gotham had a little rich kid named Tim. But first, she had to get him through Maven, Dick and . . . oh god, Jason. Jason, lively, violent, colorful, Jason. This oughta be fun.

Maybe they'd all be asleep. Yeah, after all, she had been out later than usual that night. Maybe they just all decided to go to bed by now and she could sneak the little guy into her room and sleep on what she would say to them in the morning.

She sighs, if only things would be that easy. She was pretty sure they were still up. Her suspicions are confirmed as she swings on the balcony with the boy clung tightly to her body. Oh well. Guess I should just get this over with. With a tired sigh, she pushes open the unlocked glass window and steps inside, holding her breath for the predicted moment.

Maven is sitting on the couch, trying to nurse a headache it seems. Dick is on his back on the floor yammering on about god only knew what. And Jason is reclined in the armchair, his broken arm in a cast, his good arm thrown across his eyes, the clenching of his jaw shows he was getting frustrated with Dick's jabbering.

"Um, I'm home?" She says carefully.

All eyes snap to her.

Maven gasps instantly. Dick's eyes widen as he lifts his head up from the floor weakly. Jason just stares, mouth open.

"Selina! You had us worried sick and . . . who-who is this?" Maven gasps again as she rushes toward the raven haired woman.

The boys are silent behind her. Strange. She'd expected more of an uproar. Maybe their injuries and the fact that they were on medication kept them too weak to explode. The silence continues as they wait for  - something. Selina looks at them all for their reactions as they stare at her. Maven's face contorts in a tornado of emotions in the span of five seconds. Jason looks strangely stony. Dick just looks confused.

Selina sighs, well, better explain, "This is Tim. He needs help, so we're going to be the ones to help him. Right Timmy?" She speaks gently and tries to coax the boy out of hiding in the crook of her neck. "Come on Hon, just look, you don't have to talk okay."

Finally, he raises his dark haired head and studies everyone with huge stormy blue eyes.

"Awwwww! He's so adorable! Look how tiny and sweet he is! Of course we'll keep him!" Maven suddenly gushes forward.

Everyone blinks in surprise at her sudden outburst. Nobody expected her of all people to coo. . . Like, ever.

"Hello little guy, my name's Maven, but you can call me Aunt Maven okay?" She continues to blubber, and reaches for him, the boy clings tighter to Selina.

The cat lover lets out a short laugh at both Mavens reaction and her disappointment when Tim didn't take to her coaxing, "Maven? What - I never expected you to react like this."

Her loyal secretary, seemingly catching herself, straightens and clears her throat awkwardly as the other two boys watch her with mixed emotions on their faces, "Um, ahem, yes - um, were did you find him?" She asked, deftly changing the subject.

"Where ever it was, put it back!" Jason suddenly snaps.

Everyone turns to look at him now.

He glares at the little boy, eyes flickering distrust and possible - jealousy? Tim just blinks back at him, no new expression on his face. Jason doesn't seem to know what to do with that so he pouts and crosses his arms to appear defiant.

Selina sighs again, "I can't, Tiger. He's an orphan. His parents were killed by the very monsters that nearly took you and Dick out just to get your clothes." Her eyes narrow at the memory.

Jason huffs at her statement, "Who is he anyway? He doesn't look normal. Are you sure he's an orphan?"

Dick lets out a sudden high pitched giggle, getting everyone's attention, the poor boy was weak and was suffering from pain and constant meds, it had been effecting his mind a little bit, "Daw, he is so cute! Can we keep him? I wanna pet him? Can I pet him? Don't let Jason touch him, he'll break him. He's so tiny, hi Tiny Tim. My name's Dick! I can't wait to be your big brother!" He continues to chatter on.

Jason rolls his eyes at him and gives Dick a disgusted side eyes look. Selina sighs a little, but smiles at them both anyway, she loves these weirdos even when they were a bit over the top sometimes. Maven just looks between all of them with a worried face.

Finally, after a few more minutes of noise, Tim looks calm enough for Selina to leave him for a moment with Maven and the boys, assuring him she would be right back and that nobody would hurt him here. He thinks on it but relents in the end anyway..

"Hey, will you watch him for a sec, Maven? I need to research something."

"Of course." Maven smiles, her eyes already glued to the tiny character.

Selina smiles back, really, Maven getting attached like that was unexpected. Her secretary barely dealt with Dick and she wasn't fairing too well with Jason yet. So to see the woman so caught on to Tim was one pleasant shock. Selina shakes her head affectionately and goes off to her room.

Within moments she searched and found out were the child had come from.

His name was Timothy Jackson Drake. His parents were Jack and Janet Drake. His father was the founder of Drake Medicals, and a renowned doctor. His mother was an entrepreneur for environmental tech.

She reads through, her finger slowly tapping the scroll down key.

They were both very prestigious and a set of Gotham's elites. They had established multiple charities; their latest was called 'Gotham's Future' and it was founded to help children with disabilities by providing them experimental, yet safe, artificial means of movement. Such as artificial limbs and even goes as far as internal things like bone structures.

Her lips fell into a small frown. Jack and Janet Drake. She knows them. She had met both a while ago at a charity fund. She mostly spoke with Janet; Jack had been extremely busy most of the time.

Janet was interesting. Smooth, charming, pleasant. Selina had actually liked them. Which was surprising since she never really liked any rich elite she was forced to deal with. She'd felt like they were good people for the most part. Janet had been fun. She always invited Selina to her soothing spa trips and world travels.

More than once they'd spend a week or so together, skiing in the beautiful Swiss alps, relaxing in the Bahamas, trekking through stunning exotic rain forests. They hadn't seen each other in a while though. The last time she'd spent time with Janet was when she asked if Selina wanted to secure a mountain to preserve it for the lions on it. That had been nearly five months ago.

But even with all the fun they had, Selina still had this gnawing feeling that both man and woman were neglecting something.

And now she knew.

They were always so busy, travels, meetings, charity foundations, anything for a press op. There couldn't have been any time left for Tim. God, when did they even have time to make a kid? His childhood couldn't have been a loving one. He couldn't have become attached to his parents. Jeez, she hadn't even known Tim existed. But then, who was she to judge? So far their death seemed to traumatize the kid. Or maybe it was the way they died . . . not that they died.

She was reading too much into this. Her head was starting to ache. She shut down her computer and stretches. By tomorrow, people will find out. The news will have it all over before the afternoon.

She could see it now. 'Jake and Janet Drake, Gotham's elites, Murdered.'

Just another gory story with gory details to tell the world to them. She grimaces, poor kid, he wasn't ready to be shoved in the spot light. But it couldn't be helped, with a story this big, some reporter is bound to come across the fact that they actually had a child and the child was no longer there.

Great, now she had to make up a cover story. After all, she couldn't very well tell them she'd found him, kidnapped by a gang, as Catwoman, now could she.

She sighs. She hates the press.

Deciding to deal with that bridge when she comes to it she gets up to check on Tim and the others, she lets the thoughts slide in the back and leaves her dark room.

What she walks into surprises her.

Maven is sitting there, staring in confusion. Dick looks emotionally hurt and was pouting. Jason looks horrified and terribly uncomfortable.

Timmy had actually climbed onto the armchair the violent boy was sitting in and had squeezed himself in next to him. He was poking at the cast in awe. Like he'd never seen one before.

"Does it hurt?" He asked quietly, still poking it.

This made the feline adoring female raise both brows. That was the first, clear, full, sentence she'd heard from him. And it was directed at Jason?

Jason looks lost. He clearly had no idea how to deal with an adorable little boy squished next to him, asking him questions and looking at him with big innocent eyes waiting for actual answers.

"Er, Um. . . no? It's hard. I can't feel it much, right now." He stutters. He's caught off guard. Especially since there was two way he could deal with things, food, or anger and snark - this situation couldn't be dealt with neither of those things and he was confused.

"Oh. Okay." Tim pats Jason's head gently, making the boy stiffen at the gesture.

Selina hides a warm smile behind her hand when she sees the color reaching up Jason's face, he turns imploring eyes towards her because he's not sure if this is okay or not.

Dick huffs, "No fair. I wanted to play with him first." He's still on the floor. Too weak to get up probably, which works out for Tim, otherwise, the older boy would have crushed the little guy already.

"He's not a dog, moron." Jason snaps irritably, trying to hide his reddening face with anger.

Maven shakes her head in complete disbelief, "This boy may be adorable, but I fear he's a horrible judge of character."

Selina laughs gently, "No. I think he picked the right one."

She continues to watch as Jason squirms slightly. Tim is talking to him, asking him questions about himself, surprisingly, Jason was actually muttering answers back. Dick is listening, still pouting, but he looks sleepy, so he'll probably knock out in a minute.

Between watching adorable wide eyed Tim, sweetly flustered Jason, and cute sleepy Dick, Selina realizes, she has literally collected three boys . . .

And maybe that should worry her but, call her a sap, she was sure she loved them all like nothing else in her life before.

Chapter Text

She really doesn't know why they suddenly found so much interest in her. All she wanted was to steal a priceless cat goddess crown. Then, she was jumped by at least fifty ninjas. She could have taken them, but in her defense, they cheated before she could and used a gas to take her out.

Now, Selina wakes up in a huge unknown room, bound hand and foot to a wall. Damn, and here she thought she'd be able to get home early. God, and she had promised to watch a movie with the boys tonight. Dick would not let her off easy for this.

She sighed to herself, focus, you can deal with hurt feelings later, first find out where you are and get out alive.

"Well Ms. Cat, finally awake I see." A low, accented voice comes out of the shadows, surprising her.

"What? Who are you?" She snaps, pulling on her restraints, narrowing her eyes to get a better look at the hiding figure.

"Allow me to grace your life with my image." He stepped out, a tall dark haired man, greying at the temples with a goatee of some kind and a big green cape swirling around him from his shoulders, "I am Ra's Al Ghul."

Whoops. She knew this guy. She'd had a tussle with his daughter a while back once. Talia, that woman was vicious and conniving beyond belief. Selina had nearly been bested by her too, she would have been, if she didn't pull one last disappearing trick at the end. As Catwoman she was an expert at using misdirection to her advantage.

"All right then. That's great and all, love your confidence but, sorry, why am I tied up in your headquarters? If you want to talk, this is not the best way to get my attention." She knows the sarcasm would probably get her nowhere, most likely end up in a worse situation, but she didn't really care right now. Al Ghul might be a feared immortal demon soul. But she was a tired, slightly drugged, and angry woman. Not even this fossil could get past that.

Al Ghul's dark eyes narrow, "I don't care for your pretenses. I just want information, and if you comply, you might get out with most of your body intact."

Ok, now he was just irritating her.

"What do you want Ra's, I can't see what anyone as low as you seem to think I am, could have to offer someone as high as you delude yourself to be." That oughta make him mad.

He glares swords at her, "You know the Batman. You spend your time distracting the detective from his goals, and take up valuable time. What is your connection to him? And his to you. Tell me that and I'll let you live."

"What? All this hoopla because you want to know if Batman and I are dating?" She snaps seriously done with being tied up at this point. Al Ghul could claim some kind of higher purpose to this. But in reality she knows, it was nothing. Literally, a waste of time on everyone's parts.

"Don't demean me woman, I crush worms like you daily. Answer the question. What is Batman to you?"

She snorts, "A fun catch."

A dagger embeds itself next to her head. She doesn’t even blink, just stares at the patience loosing man below.

"You foolish creature, you do not realize the importance the Detective's role in my empire is. He cannot fulfill his true place if a swine like you is distracting him. I will return in an hour. You'd better have a better answer for me than that. And if you escape." He whirls around, his cape fluttering out, "You will die."

Then he was gone.

Selina scoffs, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." She really doesn’t care for Al Ghuls megalomaniac act. She had better things to do. Besides, he gave her an hour, it was like he was inviting her to escape.

One minute later and she had picked herself loose and is out of the chamber, running down the hallway.

Now, to get out of here. She finds a window and looks outside. Damn it. In the middle of an ocean, on an island. That's where she was. Now she had a new problem, oh well, lucky for her she was very creative at solving problems.

Something stops her mid scheming.

Voices.

She twists away and stealthily ran in the shadows, climbs up a wall and waits. Three assassins turns the corner, mumbling something to each other. Her ears only caught a few words.

"Boy is stronger now."

"Maybe Master will see him soon."

"New swords are needed."

Boy? They breed and train children here? That is wrong on so many levels. But she couldn't think about that right now, she has to get out of here if she was ever going to see her boys again. And Maven, poor Maven, she wasn't ready to handle three boys all alone.

She decides to keep to the ceiling. With movements that would make Spider-Man jealous, she crawls upside down until she spots what must be an exit.

With a graceful flip, she lands silently on her feet and slips herself through the door.

Phew, home free now. She just needs a boat and- Her mind froze. This wasn't an exit of any kind. She was standing in room. A big room surrounded by training equipment, armors, weapons, and books. Lots of books.

Her eyes scan the area, this must be where they train. It was kind of small for training an army though.

"Who's there!" A sharp voice startles her.

She whirls around, her eyes connecting with a little boy. He was small, had a sharp impish face with bright green eyes. He is dressed in a casual ninja outfit, a long sword tight in his grip.

Her heart jumps, this must be one of the children here. Poor kid, couldn't be even in the double digits yet. He still has baby fat on his face. Her heart tugs oddly towards him.

"Are you another teacher, or an intruder?" He demands, rather imperiously for his size.

Selina almost laughs, "Let's call me a teacher. Who are you?" She walks a little closer, keeping her body relaxed, so as to not raise suspicion in the boy.

"I am Damian Al Ghul, I am an heir to the Al Ghul empire and, soon, the world." He replies  automatically.

"Oh really? Well, I can respect that kind of ambition." She bits back a laugh, he was so sure of himself, it was actually kind of adorable, "Who told you that?" She crouches in front of him on one knee, forgetting she was an escaped prisoner and that she still hadn't left her captors domain.

"Everyone. Ever since I was born. They tell me, when I am worthy enough I will see and train beside my mother and grandfather." He answers simply. Guess nobody taught the kid to be cautious. Or maybe they just taught him to be over confidant about everything.

Selina raises an eye brow, "You mean to tell me, you've never met your mother?" By now she had a pretty good idea who his mother was. Freaking Talia was breeding her own assassins now? Homegrown warriors. It made the cat lover sick.

"No. I am not to see her until I am worthy." He said it so simply, so emotionlessly, it actually scares the older woman. How could they do this to such a young life? The boy looks like he has potential for anything. But they were molding him, forming him, into the perfect assassin and probably future dictator. They were taking this child's life away.

Selina grits her teeth. She was never fond of people who drag others on a leash. Especially not when they were ruining little kids. She's seen a lot of destroyed kids in her time alive. It made her angry every time.

"Look, Damian, right? I'm not a teacher, I am an escapee, and I need your help to get out. What do you say you give me that help and I'll get you out?" She reaches a hand towards the suddenly surprised boy.

"Get out? Get me out? What are you saying woman? Defying the Head of the Demon will be the last thing you ever do." He says, not threateningly, just as if it was a straight fact.

Selina stands up, "I'm not afraid of Al Ghul. Not like most people. I have my own life; I choose what to do with it. I don't take kindly to those that try to take my life away or control it." She bends down suddenly, in a spontaneous moment, and kisses the boy on the top of his black haired head, "and neither should you." Then she turns and climbs up and out a window.

The boy stands stock still, eyes wide, as he watches her pick the heavy lock and slip out.

His little hand slowly went to his hair where she had kissed him. Nobody had ever done that to him before. What was it? He didn't understand. Who was that strange woman, that, with a few words, seems to defy everything he's been taught? His heart was beating abnormally, he wasn't sure he likes this, maybe he should tell someone. Or maybe he should stop her himself, prove he was worthy?

Or maybe . . . he didn't have to prove anything.

' I don't take kindly to these that try to take my life away or control it. And neither should you.'

Such words are considered traitorous. Damian stood there, new feelings taking hold of him. Which is scaring him slightly. Especially since he'd spent most of his little life repressing anything remotely related to feelings.

Catwoman is in a pickle now.

She can’t stop thinking about the little, ninja boy she'd left behind. She didn't understand why it was nagging her so much. It’s distracting her to the point where she didn't notice the assassins lining up behind her until one threw a dagger at her.

Now she is in a full blown fight for her life. Dodging and kicking and punching. She has to admit, this was a lot harder than fighting street gangs. These guys had skills. She could just barely keep up with all of them.

"Hey!" She yelps and back kicks a ninja who manages to grab her. The man goes down, she grabs his shirt and swings him around, full force, using his body to take down his comrades.

She lets him go mid twirl, he flew and took out at least five others. A sword came down, Selina whirls around and lashes out with her whip. She strikes anyone within reach. Her heart pounds in her ears, adrenaline rushing  through her, she was on a high now!

She fights them like a blur. Her mind was off, her body completely acting on its own. She was vicious, but they eventually ware her down by sheer numbers.

The feline female is pushed back, she flips, and rolls to a halt, her back presses against the wall, her breath hard and uneven. They all had swords aim for her.

She closes her eyes. I'm sorry Maven, Boys. If I don't make it. I love you. She couldn't move. Damn it. They had her!

Suddenly, a gas bomb explodes, catching everyone off guard. The ninja whirls around, choking, and tripping over each other. Selina felt the effects of the gas even as she tries to crawl away. A hand grabs her arm and slides something on her face. A mask. She looks up, bright green eyes peers back. Her sapphires widen in shock.

"Come. This way." The little boy whispers as he practically dragged her towards a shadowy set of speedboats.

"This one, I deactivated the trackers on it. You can get away on it." He says softly.

Selina's mind teeters. He is an assassin's child, he is helping her, he is . . . in desperate need of a future of his choosing. She decides she would make sure he gets that choice. With a swift dip, she scoops the stunned boy up in her arms, jumps in the boat and speeds away before anyone can figure out which boat was escaping.

"What are you doing?!" The boy yells, panic lacing his voice as he shouts over the motor.

"Giving you a choice kid." She says back, looking at him intently, "I can tell you're a smart kid, you have talents no doubt. They just want to take them and twist them for their own personal gain." She turns the boat towards her best bet for the mainland.

Damian sits there, a fight whirling in his own mind, "You don't understand. I have a destiny of greatness and-"

"What destiny kid? The one they wrote for you? No, if they really wanted you to be great, they'd let you find your own destiny. Don't you want to?" She asks, waiting for her words and questions to sink in, "If you want to spend the rest of your life under their twisted image, then fine, I'll take you back. But if you want to find out what's out there for you, you can come with me. I'll make sure you find what a real human being needs."

She is practically begging in her mind. Praying, hoping that this little boy would decide against Al Ghul.

She can’t imagine leaving him behind now. Not when she wanted to give the boy a choice for himself. A choice that she was never given as a child.

Silence, only the roar of the boat and water splashing on either side filled it.

"All right." He finally speaks.

Selina can’t help the smile that stretches across her face, "Good choice kiddo. By the way, I'm Catwoman, but you can call me Selina."

He raises a thin eyebrow at her, "Where are we going Selina?"

She throws back her head and laughs, "Gotham!"

By the time she finally gets them home, it was twelve in the afternoon, the next day.

Oh yeah, they were probably freaking out now.

Selina sighs as she pushes back her less than neat at the moment hair.

Damian stands next to her, still in his Ninja clothes. The boy hadn't said much when they got here. He just looks around, and studies  everything with wide, determine eyes. The poor kid really hadn't seen the real world before.

Sheltered, no doubt, so he wouldn't rebel. Selina grimaces, of all the things Talia has done, this had to be the worst.

"Come on Damian, up there is where I live." She points to the top of the huge building they were standing in front of. Damian looks up, mild surprise gracing his face.

"Up there?"

"Yup, my castle in the sky. And now I'm sharing it with you." And four others. But she left that part out, "come on, let's go in. I'm starving." She reaches out her hand, not really expecting him to take it.

The boy stares at it for a moment, then actually reaches back and takes it. Selina resisted the urge to hug him and his uncertainties tightly. She couldn't believe this little guy came from such a horrible woman.

As they went up, Selina prepare herself mentally. What she would say. How should she act. How could she explain? The press was already very interested in her personal life now, especially since she adopted Timmy. God, they barely left her alone anymore. How was she supposed to explain Damian?

Maybe say she rescued him from an abusive home? That could work, it wasn't a lie entirely anyway.

She opens her penthouse doors. Damian still clutching her hand, his face emotionless. The only sign she had that he was nervous was the tightness of his grip. She smiles gently, "Ready?"

He nods.

Good. Because she sure wasn't. She pushes the door open.

Dick comes flying out of the kitchen. Jason is running after him looking livid. Timmy pattering behind, a bowl in his arms. Maven is on the couch, her face red, her hair a mess, and she looks like she was about to pass out.

Selina gapes. Damian stares and actually backs up.

"Give it back!" Jason yells, jumping across the room and tackling the older boy.

They go down in a tumble, Dick laughing so hard he turns red. Tim just stands there and stares, bowl filled with something unknown still in his arms.

Maven gasps, "Selina! You're back!" She was more than a little breathless.

Everyone stops.

Dick under Jason, Jason mid-punch, and Tim just turns from where he was calmly standing.

"What is going on?" Selina is trying very hard not to laugh for some reason.

Maven looks hysterical, "My God! I thought you'd died, they were all worried about you, it was all I could do to distract them from going out to find you and then things went crazy and I couldn't handle it because of lack of sleep and what the heck is that?!" She finishes her nonstop rant with a deep gulp of air, her glasses falling off.

The other three boys all had their eyes on the little new comer attached to their Selina's hand.

Catwoman runs her hand through her hair, "Um . . . ok. This is Damian. He's an assassin in training. I saved him from a morbid future. Damian, these are my boys, their conditions vary, but I love them all. Dick is the smiley one," She points at the pretty teenager on the ground, who's smile grew bigger by the minute.

"Hi! Nice to meet you. You look cute. We're gonna have so much fun together. I can tell." He answers with an enthusiastic wave.

Damian blinks at him.

"That over there, is Jason, He's a little hard to get along with, but something tells me you'll manage." Selina continues.

Jason rolls off Dick and scoffs, "Great, more brats. Like this place wasn't getting suffocating enough."

Damian's eyes narrow at him.

Selina continues casually, "And this little fellow is Tim. He's a lot smarter than you'd expect. Also, less destructive."

Tim didn't say anything. Selina raises a brow when she notices the actually hostile looked in the little boy's ocean blues.

"And that's my trusted secretary and friend, Maven." She finishes her introductions and bends down to the boy's level, "So. What do you think, want to give them a chance and live here?"

The room went silent as everyone, with different hopes, waits for the boy to answer.

Damian finally, seeming to make up his mind, turns and addresses them all in a somewhat regal manner, "I suppose I can deal with them. But don't expect me to tolerate excessive stupidity. If I am irritated I will correct the irritation."

Jason let’s out a bark of laughter. Tim's glare strengthens. Dick stares, stunned. Maven actually gasps and falls back in the couch.

"What have you brought us now?" She mutters depressed.

"What was that? You don't sound like a kid? Why don't you sound like a little boy?" Dick asks suddenly, his face looking near panic for some reason.

Jason is still laughing.

Tim decides he didn't care for the new comer and sat down with the bowl still in his arms.

Selina sighs and rubs her forehead, "Damian's spent his short life among an assassins group. They trained him and drilled formal speaking patterns far beyond his age into him. He isn't a normal little boy. But that's okay. Nobody's really normal anyway." She places a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder.

Damian watches in fascination as Dick stares at him forlornly.

"You mean; he doesn't know what being a kid is? Like candy, cartoons, fun stuff?" He asks, seemingly afraid of the answer.

Selina looks down at the boy, "I'm not sure. Do you Damian?"

"Of course. I've read about candy and the like. I just . . . have never had or seen any of those things in real life." He answers as haughtily as he could to hide his shortcomings in the matter.

Dick lets out a horrified shriek.

Jason chokes on his laughter, "God, Dick, you're such a drama queen!"

Tim rolls his eyes. Selina caught it and felt a twinge of surprise. Since when did little Tim have an attitude?

"I fail to understand your reaction. What's wrong with you?" Damian snaps, evidently he didn't have much patience for situations he didn't understand.

Dick lifts his head, his impossibly blue eyes bore into Damian's bright green, making the little boy uncomfortable, "I accept!" He cries dramatically.

Everyone stares at him. Confused, and/or, amused. Mostly confused though.

"Accept what, you dimwit?" Damian demands, backing up now as the older boy advances  with a determine look on his face.

"I accept the responsibility to teach you about the real world!" He announces heroically, "You will learn how to be a real kid or my name isn't Richard John Grayson!"

Now he was overdoing it.

Selina bites back a laugh, Damian looks thoroughly afraid now.

Jason snorts and falls backward on the floor, "Idiot." He mutters through a smirk, watching Dick eagerly crawl toward the new victim.

Tim frowns, "Welcome Damian. I hope you like it here." Then he stands up and heads towards the kitchen.

Jason watches him go and sits up to follow, "Yeah, I'm sure it'll be a blast." He waves over his shoulder.

Dick continues to stare at the awkward boy, "Can I hug you?!"

Selina laughs as the older boy charges forward without permission and squeezes the little assassin before he could react.

Her eyes fell on Maven who looks one hundred percent done with everything. Selina decides  maybe the woman had endured a lot this past few years.

"Hey. Thanks Maven, for watching the boys." She says, sitting down next to the red head, "But, I understand that they are a couple of handfuls. If you want, I can find you another well-paying job and settle a housing situation for you. I understand if you want to leave." She really did. Although, to tell the truth, she wasn't sure how she'd survive without Maven.

Maven just sits there and stares at the struggling assassin child and enthusiastically dangerous hugging gymnast.

"No."

"No?" Selina didn't understand. She'd been so sure Maven had snapped by now.

"No. I couldn't, not now." Maven shakes her fatigue away, "Not after everything. I hate to say this, but I've grown attached to them. One more little boy shouldn't be any harder to add. They just drive me crazy sometimes. But then, so do you. I can't leave either of you now." She smooths back her hair calmly, "Besides, where would I go? Anything would be so boring after this." She smiles at Selina.

The raven haired woman smiles back, "Sure would."

"But you know, you're going to have to tell me how you found an assassin gang child."

"Yeah." Selina nods, "That's a doozy."

Her eyes glaze over as she thinks back to that. Talia would probably find out her son was missing. Old Ghul would probably throw a fit because Damian was his only heir. They just might come after him.

Her eyes narrow. They'd come after all of them. They'd hurt her boys. They'd take Damian away.

Like hell.

They were her Kittens now, and nobody was going to touch them.

Chapter Text

The headlines are big, and bold, and ugly.

Commissioner Gordon. Shot through spine in city hall raid. In comma. Doctors hold out little hope. . .

That's what they had to say about it.

Bruce Wayne's already prominent frown deepens even more. That's what they had to say about the poor man. It hits Bruce particularly hard since he had been there as Batman, and couldn't save his old friend. His heart aches, which made him all the stiffer looking on the outside.

Now he was on his way to the Gordons' residence, he hoped to atone for his lack of ability by taking in the man's daughter until he was recovered, and Bruce had already decided the man would recover.

"Master Bruce, we have arrived." A clipped accented voice informs him from the front seat.

"Thank you Alfred, I won't be a minute." He gets out deftly and walks straight for the door. It was for the best. She is all alone, and was suffering trauma. True, she has been left in the care of her aunt of some kind, and if she didn't want to come, he wouldn't mind. He just wanted to try, to feel like he could make up for his mistake. To make it up to Gordon for failing him that night.

The man grimly knocks on the door.

A minute passes. He waits still. He straightens his tie, fixes his jacket, steps in place a little. He knocks again.

Finally, he catches the sound of light footsteps. The door unlocks and a pretty red head with bright blue eyes appears. She looks tired, Bruce could see the fatigue of sleepless nights on her face and body. Her hair was messy and her clothes less than cared for.

"Yes?" Her eyes widens in realization, "Oh! Mr. Wayne? I - um - what are you doing here?" She sounds like him being there was unfathomable.

"Ms. Gordon. I have come on behalf of . . . your father. Jim was a close friend of mine and I want to make up for not being there when he needed it. I want to ask you to stay at my manor while your father recovers, I have also heard you've got a scholarship to Gotham Academy, my home is closer and I will provide you with room and food and transportation without pay."

There. He said it. If she wants to say no, that was her choice. But he did his peace. He did. But he still felt extremely guilty for some reason.

Barbara stares.

"You . . . want me to come live with you? But isn't that like . . . weird? Won't the press say something about it? I mean, thanks and all but . . . why?" She looks utterly confused.

The older man sighs, "I explained." This was wearing on the polite mask he has on, "I want to repay your father. Now, do you accept or not." He didn't mean it to come out so forced but it had.

She stares at him some more, clearly not sure if she should believe him or not, "Dad never mentioned you."

She was smart. Usually, his very presence would keep people from looking into the holes of his cover stories. Maybe he should just leave.

"Very well then. I hope you stay well." He turns to leave as un-awkwardly as possible.

"Wait. Mr. Wayne, your offer makes sense. I'll go. Besides, I want to be as close to Dad as possible and you seem like the best person to help me do that. I'll be out in a sec." She rushes back inside, slamming the door behind her.

Bruce blinks at the feeble door. What had made her change her mind? Being Batman, he starts analyzing what it could have been.

She comes back five minutes later, hat and coat on, a suitcase in her hands, slightly breathless, "Okay. Let's get out of here before she notices." She grabs his arm and drags him towards his black Mercedes.

With quick, slightly frantic movements, she slides into the seat like she owns it and slams the door, "hi there Mr. Driver, I don't suppose you could step on it?" She lean forward to speak to Alfred.

The elderly gentleman raises a prim eyebrow at her, "I could. If it was necessary." He pulls out and starts regularly once Bruce gets inside.

Barbara sighs and leans back heavily, "Thanks Mr. Wayne. You have no idea how suffocating it was in there."

Bruce catches himself from looking confuse, "Might I ask why?" Now he was worried about what else he'd missed.

She pushes her fiery bangs out of her porcelain pale face, "My aunt Gertrude. She's a real downer, I was nearly bored out of my skull, and she doesn't help me get my mind off of Dad. She just reminds me. Constantly, and I haven't been able to study, or sleep, or even breathe. So, thanks." She looks at him earnestly.

The older man gives her a controlled smile, "My pleasure. It's the least I could do."

Now he got it. She was suffering emotionally. That was a relief. For a minute there he thought she was abused. Okay, this was fine. He'd take her in for a few weeks, or months. Jim would be all right soon, he knew, and he could ease the guilt.

Yup. Sounds like a plan.

His family home looms before them.

"Whoa. Bats?"

Bruce's eyes flicker toward the trees she was looking at, "Ah yes, They . . . they're very persistent. Can't seem to get rid of them." He covers instantly.

The girl analyzes him. Bruce didn't like it. He was the one who was supposed to analyze her. He didn't like the turned tables.

"Okay then." She leaves it at that.

Maybe this wasn't such a good plan after all.

Three weeks.

Barbara had been at Wayne manor for three weeks. She was getting along pretty well with it. She learned the way around incredibly fast. Alfred found she had a wonderfully powerful memory. She had grown to be quick friends with the British butler. Bruce Wayne was a different story. He wasn't around, like, barely, ever. She wondered all the time where he went all night, and she asked more than once.

Alfred always said 'Master Bruce had a very strong dedication to a night job he does'.

Like that wasn't suspicious. She knows something was up with the man. The first clue was that she never heard of her father being friends with Bruce Wayne outside of occasional crimes involving him. She never thought they kept contact, and nobody could be that grateful.

The second tip off to the man's strangeness, were the constant bats. Bat sounds, bat nests, bat dropping. Normally, people wouldn't notice, but she notices everything.

The third tip off:

The cave she was currently standing in.

Her heart stabs in her chest. She can hardly breathe. Her eyes widen so much they burn. Bruce Wayne . . . is Batman.

This was only the biggest secret in all of Gotham. Bruce freakin' Wayne is the Goddamn Batman!

Her breaths come out short and fast as she descends the stairs. Her vision filling with high tech computers, machines, vehicles, and weird jumbo sized penny, cards, and a dinosaur? What was up with this guy? This place was a mixture of a child like touch, technology based, and creepy, all in one.

"You shouldn't be here."

She whirls around with a gasp, clutching her chest as if to keep her heart from exploding out of her rib cage.

There he was. Cape and Cowl. The entire shebang. Man, he was even more terrifying up close.

"B-Batman? M-Mr. Wayne?" She stutters, the shock still not settling in.

He lets out a heavy sigh, "I told him this would happen." He pulls off his cowl to reveal the piercing ice blue eyes he has, "I knew you were too smart to let things go over." He seems disappointed in himself for some reason.

"Um . . . I won't tell anyone but, um- can I ask . . . why?" She offers carefully, her eyes glued to him as if to search for an answer on his face.

He turns his back to her, brooding, "Because of a trauma years ago. One you probably already know about."

She did. Everyone who knew Bruce Wayne knew about the poor billionaire kid orphaned at eight. So this is what really happened to him. Interesting. He risks life and limb every night to do more for Gotham, and puts money and effort in the day to do more for Gotham.

To protect and help those who couldn't help themselves. That . . .was kind of like her Dad.

"So that's why you felt guilty about Dad. You were Batman, you were there and you couldn't-"

He turns on her, his deadpanned look scares her, "That's right I couldn't. That's why I brought you here. But I'm starting to think that was a bad call after all."

She hugs herself, offended, "I told you, I wouldn't say anything. I-" She squeezes her eyes shut, willing the pain of her father's condition to go away, "-I want to help." She insists suddenly, her eyes open and set in determination.

"No."

She gasps as he pushes her into a box, presses a button and sent her right back up to the manor.

She stumbles out and ends up nearly colliding with a less than pleased looking Alfred. She looks up from where she landed on her hands and knees.

"I don't care what he says." She stands up, a fierce look on her face,"my dad was nearly killed. I'm going to help. And he can't stop me." She balls her fists, daring the British man to disagree with her.

He just lets out a small sigh and takes her by the elbow, "Come Ms. Gordon, dinner is waiting."

So he chose to brush her off. She didn't care. She'd made up her mind. She was going to do something about Gotham's filth.

Even if she had no idea how yet.

Dick Grayson is not amused. Not at all. He glares at the three trouble makers sprawling before him. He is so not amused. And Auntie Mave wouldn't be either when she finds out.

"You guys had to do this in the kitchen?" He asks, his hand sweeping out towards the destroyed area.

There were pots and pans flipped everywhere. Sword marks all over the table and walls. The fridge was turned on its side, contents spilling out and broken, and he is pretty sure that was a hole in the window.

Jason, Tim, and Damian stare up at him as if they couldn't understand what he was upset about.

"Um - you said to get out of the dojo. So we did. What'd you expect when we're training with swords? Besides, we didn't kill any of Maven's throw pillows this time." Jason was the first to answer, defend, and point out.

Tim snickered, "Yeah, not like last time."

Damian adjusts himself and picks up his sword, "They're right Grayson, if anyone's to blame, it's you. That's what you get for being selfish." He seems pretty sure that it was all Dick's fault.

The older boy lets out a frustrated groaned, "God! I'm barely sixteen and I already feel old cuz of you guys!"

Jason smirks, "Huh, I thought I saw a grey hair the other day Dickie." He laughs when Dick swings at him and misses.

"Shut up! Jeez, this is nuts. Okay, let's clean this up before they come home. Or else."

All three stop, they look at him, waiting for the or else part.

Dick scowls, "Or else I release the most embarrassing photos Selina has ever taken of you guys at school."

That got them to help real quick.

It's amazing what the right motivation can do.

Twenty minutes later and the place is nearly perfect. All Dick has to do was explain the broken window. That wasn't too bad.

"I'm bored."

Wuh-oh. Jason is bored. That wasn't good. When Jason got bored . . . a lot of crazy crap starts happening. Dick needs a way to defuse this, fast. Aha!

"Let's go pick Selina and Auntie Mave up!" He announces.

"Yeah, that's a great idea, I want to take a look at those new shelter plans again." Tim jumps up and snatches his notebook, excitement clear on his face.

Jason groans, "That's great for geek over there, but what am I supposed to do?"

"Charlotte is probably at the front desk today." Dick offers, knowing Jason loves any chance he got to heckle the poor blond woman. Just because he was a little jerk like that.

Yup, that got him. He was up on his feet and pulling his jacket on in seconds.

Damian rolls his eyes, for a ten-year-old, he had really big attitude.

"Come on Dami, you have to come too. You know Auntie Mave will throw a fit if I leave you alone again." Dick reasons with the younger boy.

"Fine, just so you won't whine later."

"Leave the sword."

"Tt."

"Come on slow pokes! I'm not getting any younger over here!" Jason yells, already running down the hall, Tim right behind him.

Dick sighs. At least Jason wouldn't be bored anymore.

"Hi Charlotte!" Dick smiles brightly as he walks in, his troupe of delinquent brothers tagging behind him.

The busty blond woman gives him her best smile back, her left eye twitching, "Oh, hello boys. Come to see Selina again?"

"Yup." Dick nods, "That's okay right?"

"She was on a call earlier. You can go up and check." She offers, handing him a door key card.

"Thanks, hey you guys wanna-" Dick turns to see the boys had already scattered.

Tim found Jeff, the companies architect designer. Damian found the shelf of Japanese art, and Jason is already leaning on the desk, attempting to flirt with Charlotte.

Dick rolls his eyes, "I'll be right back."

"You won't be missed!" Jason calls after him, "So Lotte, I'm much taller than last time, have you noticed? Wanna go out with me now?"

The acrobat didn't hear the poor woman's response as the elevator doors block the scene. Dick snorts to himself. He has to admit, no matter how annoying his brothers could get, there was never a dull moment.

He actually has a hard time remembering what it was like before they had bombarded into his life. Even the memories with him and his parents got the boys twisted into them sometimes.

He shakes his head, no, those were some weird dreams he has once in a while. The elevator dinged and stopped on his floor. He walked out and headed directly towards Selina's spacious office without having to think.

A loud voice behind the slightly opened door stop him.

It's Selina.

She sounds angry and worried.

"What? What do you mean they out bid me? It was a set deal!"

Maven was in there, looking less than neat, "I mentioned as much. They didn't care. They only wanted the money. Selina, this is the third deal bought out from under you this month." She presents a chart to the raven haired woman, "Our business is slowing. And that shelter project still hasn't broken ground. The banks are threatening to pull out."

Selina lets out a frustrated sigh and places her head in her hands, "In other words, we need money, fast. God. I wouldn't care if I was alone. But it's the boys, I can't let this fall out or those social workers on my back will take them away faster than I can blink."

Dick's eyes widen when he hears that. He knew social worker were still looking into Selina's 'capabilities' as a legal guardian but . . . he never thought there was a chance she might lose them.

"I can't let that happen Maven. I promised them, I promised those boys that they would be alright." She continues, emotions seeping into her voice, "Catwoman can't help right now either. Not if I want to keep suspicion off of me. Last time I ran into you know who he promised he'd find out who Catwoman was and take her in. I'm boxed in."

Maven shakes her head, "We'll figure something out. We will. Just have to think a little harder. It'll be okay Selina. It has to be."

Dick swallows thickly as he watches Auntie comfort his mother figure. He walks back to the elevator numbly. His mind whirling around. He feels his heart clench and his stomach churn.

She could lose them.

They'd be taken away from her. Shoved in some uncaring Foster system that would break them. He would be okay, two years until he was legal. But Jason? Timmy, and Dami?

Oh gosh, Jason would run away. They'd never see him again. Tim would probably end up in a mental institute from snapping of mental trauma and Damian . . . his biological mother might come and get him.

Dick's heart breaks a little. He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't. The boy stumbles into the main lobby. Jason is still flirting with Charlotte. Damian is sitting in a chair by himself, looking through a magazine with a bored look on his face. Timmy is on the shiny floor, rolls of blue prints spread around him as he chatteres on with Jeff.

They looks happy. They were happy. Dick knows they were, his heart hurts again because they didn't know what was happening, what could happen.

His thoughts take a sudden 360, No. No, I'm not going to let that happen. Selina needs help, she needs Catwoman, but she can't be her right now.

He catches a reflection of himself in the metal doors of the elevator.

Then maybe someone else has to take the stage for a while.

Purple hoodie? Check. Purple tights? Check. Yellow insignia and accessories? Double check.

She's even nabbed a couple of Baterangs from his arsenal and spray painted them yellow too. She smirks at herself in the mirror and pulls on a mask with customary bat ears she managed to find at a costume shop. There we go. Look out Gotham! Batgirl's coming for you.

"Whoa! Ouch!" Batgirl groans from her landing spot on the hard roof. She was out looking for Batman and trying to get the hang of swinging through the building tops.

Needless to say, landing was a lot harder than she thought. She was having more trouble than she'd like to admit. So she wasn't a natural. So what, that wasn't going to stop her from doing what she wanted to.

A loud yelp catches her attention. The young red head crawls to the corner of the roof she'd assaulted with her butt and peers over the edge.

There he was! The great and jerky Batman in the flesh! Yes! Luck was on her side today. Now, if only she could figure out a way to convince him to let her help. She watche and studied his movements, she analyzed the momentum he used for transitions to the next position. He was good. Really good. If she could just get him to teach her, that would be great.

But the guy barely even looks at her since she found out his big secret. Even Alfred notices the excessive coldness in his 'master's' behavior towards her. Barbara bites her lip and narrows her crystal blues. A mugger was coming behind him with a drawn gun. He was in the middle of four other guys, it didn't look like a hard fight for him. She decides to help anyway.

Besides, Dad had taught her basic disarming techniques in case she was ever mugged.

She jumps without a thought and lands squarely on the mugger. He lets out a sharp, surprised, scream, as she whirls a leg and kicks him across the face, she grabs his wrist and elbow and flips him right at his accomplices, knocking two out.

Batman's eyes narrow at her as he takes the other two out without looking.

Show off.

"Um. Hi Batman I'm-"

"Going home." He snaps gruffly.

Barbara blinked, "Yeah, no. Actually I came all the way out here to help you out! Besides, you don't even know where I live." She counteres, hands on her hips.

Batman wasn't amused. He was peeved, she could tell. He walks towards her, looming dangerously, "Take off that ridiculous get-up and go back to the manor Barbara." He grits out.

She stares at him.

He glared back.

Nobody moved. The air was thick as they continued their silent stare off. The thugs groan a little but otherwise stay out. The wind blows Batgirl's hair and Batman's cape, producing a more ominous feel.

"You have me mistaken for someone else." She finally says and turns away, crossing her arms stiffly. No way he could tell already!

"Tell me another one."

"Ugh! No fair! You're such a know it all. Jeez." She gives in instantly and flashes him a fiercely angry look.

Batman didn't cave an inch, "Go. Home. This is dangerous work; you could get hurt. Then what do I tell your father?"

Her temper erupts without her consent, "Like hell!"

He stops in his steps. He doesn't turn around.

"Don't you get it! I'm doing this for my father! He spent his entire life giving and fighting for this crapped up city! Every day he went out was dangerous! Every night he got a call of a robbery or hostage situation or whatever, I sat home! Worried, terrified he wouldn't come back. And you know what he always told me? Sometime you have to risk a few things for things to get better for someone else!" She is shrieking at him now.

When her father was shot, she hadn't had time to let it process, to mourn like a normal teenager. It has finally boiled over now.

"He knew what dangers his job had, what might happen if he messed something up. But it didn't stop him. No way, and I'm not going to let you stop me either." She balls her fists, "I'm going to do this Batman, with or without your consent." She turns away now, hugging herself tightly, hating the tears that threaten her pride.

The air is cold. The silence, colder.

"You're sure about this?"

She gasps and turns towards him, eyes wide, "Yeah. I've never been surer of anything in my life. I need to do this Batman. So Dad doesn't wake up in a Gotham worse off than when he'd last seen it."

The man lets out a minuscule huff, "Fine. Better to train you to make sure you don't kill yourself then fight you on this. But I warn you, if we do this. You follow my rules. No. Exceptions. Got it."

She nods hard, "Yes! Yeah, I got it!" At least until she learns everything, then she would bend that rules a little.

"Right. Left. Dodge. Sweep!" Bruce sits in his high backed leather chair, barking commands at the lithe red head bouncing around in his bat cave. He is training her in basic combat first. More complicated things would come later. He still wasn't sure about this. He didn't think he could handle the guilt if something happened to Gordon's daughter.

He watches.

She dodges, gives a surprising leap, and kicks the robots head clear off.

Hmm, fast learner. Maybe she could handle something a little more complicated.

"Alfred, take the bot to level ten."

"Yes sir."

"Come on Brucie! That all you got!" She smirks, retying her messy hair up as another robot advanced.

Bruce sees the fire in this girl. She is fierce, abnormally smart, and fast. She just might have what it took to keep up with him.

"Hey!" Barbara lets out a yelp as this robot, it was faster, surprised her and grabs her by the leg, tossing her across the floor like a rag doll.

Alfred shuts the machine down as Bruce walks towards the fallen female.

She is breathing hard, and sweating as she tries to lift herself up on her elbows. Bruce smirks, "You want to keep up with me?"

She nods through gasps for air.

"Then get up. Now you'll really learn."

She stares at him as he beckons her forward, "Hand to hand? With you?" She asks, surprised.

He nods firmly, "Hand to hand. With me."

A grin nearly splits her face as she jumps up and prepares to get her butt handed to her.

Maybe she has what it takes to keep up with him after all.

"Hey! Where'd my doughnut go?" A confused pudgy officer stares at the empty spot, where his beloved pastry was sitting mere moments ago.

Dick presses himself against a brick wall, trying to keep his breath even. He'd stolen the doughnut. He had actually taken the doughnut right under the cop's nose! And hadn't got caught!

A strange sense of pride trickled through him. Huh, maybe he could do this after all! He was out, in the middle of the night, in a costume he'd made for himself out of his father's old circus clothes and a few accessories from a costume shop.

He has finally gone out, and now he's practicing on little things. Like doughnuts and keys and wallets and stuff. So far, he hasn't been caught. Maybe he could do this. Anything to keep Selina out of debt and his family together.

He laughs to himself and places the sweet dough between his perfect teeth. His body all abuzz with excitement as he climbs up the fire escape.

He grins at Gotham under him. Big, dangerous, gut sucking, Gotham. He wants to conquer it. Swallowing down the powdery treat, he dusts himself off and takes out his whip. It was one of Selina's old ones. With a quick push he runs towards the edge of the roof and jumps.

He flies. It feels amazing! He lets gravity try to play its familiar pull on him. No net, no wires to catch. Just him, the empty air, and gravity. He flicks the whip, it catches a nearby pole, and he swings over hundreds of people and cars below.

The lights and shadows blurs as he swings and flies with snaps of the whip and twists of his body. He misses this so much. The thrills light his body up, he loves them.

He always loved the thrills of falling and flying that rush through him. He understands very well why Selina does this sometimes for no reason. It is an addiction. And he loves it.

His new night life is going extremely well. He'd been at it for a week now. Nobody had noticed yet, so he figured it was okay if he didn't say anything. He was getting good though. By now he found he could snatch something from people just by walking by them and they'd never notice. He has a gift. Maybe it wasn't the best gift to have but it had to be done. Besides he is really loving his night life now.

Unfortunately, his day life was suffering a little because of it.

"Mr. Grayson!"

"Unh, the answer is red!" he bolts upright with a snort and yells out, his voice heavy with sleep.

Everyone snickers, except for the not amused teacher glaring at him.

He yawns and rubs his eye, "Isn't it?"

"No Mr. Grayson, it is not. Perhaps you should figure out the answer after class. In detention." The older man says with a strained voice.

Dick sighs and drops his head on his desk, whispers about his weird recent behavior reach his ears. His face colors slightly. Oh gosh, now what was he supposed to tell Selina?

"Detention? For sleeping in class?" Selina looks at the tired looking boy, slouching in front of her.

They were in the living room, he'd come home late and she'd wondered why. Only to find out it had been detention. But, why was he so tired to fall asleep in class? Come to think of it, Dick had been acting a little strangely lately. She'd just been too busy to call him on it.

"Well?"

He sighs, "It's no big deal. I just didn't sleep well last night and Mr. Mory's class is so boring, you can't really blame me." He explains smoothly.

Jason walks past and smirks, "Detention? Wow, the great Dickie Grayson's gone delinquent! I salute you, sir. Maybe you're not as lame as I thought."

"Jason. Homework. Now." Selina snaps, pointing to his room.

The younger boy continues to snicker and waggles his fingers at the sullen older boy before disappearing into his room.

Selina let out a sigh and massaged her temples, "Okay. Okay, that's fine. But if you continue to have a hard time let me know, I want to-" The phone's ring cuts her off.

She frowns at it and picks it up, "Give me a minute, Dick." She went into the kitchen.

Dick slowly tip toes to listen behind the wall.

"No. No, I already told you, I can make the deadline. Just wait alright. Yes, I still need the project to break ground but at least I'll pay you before the month is out."

Dick frowns, another money hog demanding she pay up faster than she could. He hates this.

"I'll get the money to you, just wait!" She hangs up the phone angrily and throws it on the table. The raven haired woman looks lost in her moment of privacy. Dick's heart hurt at her face. He's never seen Selina look so worried. She always acts like such a fierce, strong, carefree kind of person.

He didn't like to see her so tied down. Cats shouldn't ever be tied down.

He sets his mouth in a straight line and crawls to his room, his mind made up.

He'd pull a real heist for her. No matter what.

Chapter Text

"Dick. Dick. Hey, Dick? GRAYSON!"

Dick yelps and jumps as a sudden sting zaps through his arm. He turns towards the assaulter, rubbing the sore spot, "What? What do you want Jason?" He snaps, irritated, glaring at the younger boy.

Jason glares back coolly, "Get your head out of your butt will ya. Here." He shoves a thick book in Dick's stomach, hard.

"Wha - Algebra? Why do you have my algebra book?" The older boy looks thoroughly confused and lost now. How did Jason get his book? What time was it anyway?

Jason stares at him. His sea green eyes sweep over the acrobats face. Something was off with Dick. He could tell, not because he cares or anything, but the dude hadn't been sleeping too much lately. That was clear from the bags and dark circles around the usually, irritatingly, bright eyes he had. He'd been even more spacey than usual and half brained too.

What was going on?

"On? Nothing's going on Jay. I just haven't been sleeping well, that's all."

Jason realizes he'd asked aloud, "Oh yeah? You've been saying that for weeks now. And don't say it's nightmare," He continues cutting off the older boy who tries to protest, "we all get them. You've dealt with it longer. Plus, there's no noise coming from your room at night. I know, I sleep right next door." He crosses his arms and waits with a 'give it your best shot' look on his impish face.

Dick's shoulders slump, he scratches the side of his head slowly.

Now Jason knows something was wrong. Dick Grayson never did anything slowly.

"Di-"

The bell rings, cutting the rebel boy off.

"Sorry Jay, I'll help you with your homework later. Gotta go!" The acrobat shoves the book back in his little brother's arms and flies down the hall.

Jason blinks after him.

What?

He looks down at the book.

"Dammit Grayson. This is your homework!"

Dick runs as fast as he can, avoiding people clamoring in the halls deftly. Phew, almost blew it back there! He swallows the nerves out of his throat. Jason wasn't usually so perceptive . . . or maybe he was but he just never showed it? Dick doesn't know, he still has a hard time getting into the former street kids head. He'd expected Timmy to get suspicious first, but the younger boy had barely even spoken to him this past week.

Huh, now that Dick thinks about it, maybe he should ask Tim if everything was all right.

"Whoa!" He yelps as he runs, chest first, into another, smaller, body.

"Sorry!" He apologizes quickly, grabbing the persons arms to help them regain balance, "I didn't mean to-"

A flash of red hair and stunning crystal blue eyes make his words catch in his throat.

A smooth face looks up at him. A girl. Dick feels heat rise up his neck and reach his face. A very beautiful girl. Way to go Grayson.

"Um - can I have my arms back please?"

Crap. Dick starts, realizing he'd been staring, he lets her go as if she'd burned him and hides his hands behind his back, "S-sorry Miss. Um - I - already said that didn't I." Smooth Dickie, real smooth. He could just hear Jason saying that to him.

The girl's lips quirk up in a small smile. Dick finds himself shamelessly drawn to them instantly.

"It's okay. I wasn't really looking either." She tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "My name's Barbara by the way. You?" She tilts her head inquisitively.

Dick opens his mouth and closes it. Opens it and closes it again. Um, what was my name? He couldn't remember.

"Um... hello?" She waves her hand in front of the dazed boy.

Dick swallows and grasps her hand suddenly, surprising her, "Richard Grayson." He bows and kisses the top of her hand lightly, "Pleasure, my lady."

Idiot! Now you're way off. She'll probably freak out and you'll never see her again. Heck! She probably has a boyfriend! Gosh, he sure hopes she didn't. But with a face like that, he didn't hold out that much hope.

"Oh. Wow, okay. Nice - nice to meet you Richard." She says slowly.

He looks up, his impossibly blue eyes connect with hers. He stares at her again. A light color dusts across her flawless face.

"I have - have to go now. Sorry. Nice to meet you though, maybe I'll see you around sometime?" She carefully pulls her hand back to herself and tries to look composed.

Dick blinks, "Oh, yeah, definitely! I sure hope so. See you. Later, yeah." He stumbles over his words gracelessly.

Yeah. Now he could hear Jason laughing at him.

She nods and side steps out of his way, "Yeah. Later." She waves over her shoulder and turns down the hall.

Dick felt like she'd taken a part of his soul with her. He stares at the spot where she'd turned. His mind whirling around aimlessly at what just happened. He feels like he was floating. He definitely wants to see her again. Where did she come from? Who was she anyway? Barbara? Huh, He'd never forget that name. He did, however, completely forget where he was.

Until the last warning bell rings.

Crap!

Barbara feels strange. She is a little breathless and tingly. The spot where that weird boy had gripped her arms, prickles. She rubs them wondering what that was. Who was that guy anyway? She didn't know. Well, that wasn't a big surprise. As a scholarship girl in Gotham's most expensive academy for the elite kids, she wasn't accepted in their circles. So she kept to herself. He was probably one of the main jocks at this school. He didn't look snobby though.

But gosh, those eyes.

That color was breathtaking. She shakes the image out of her head, not now Babs. You've got things to finish before tonight's patrol. Bruce had finally decided she was good enough to patrol at least. Not engage in any real battles yet. But to patrol.

Barbara sighs, it was as good as she was going to get in such a short time.

Her phone buzzes in her shirt pocket, she pulls it out, "Hello?"

"Ms. Gordon. Master Bruce wishes me to inform you that tonight's activities are to be commenced by yourself." The clipped British accent of Alfred came through the speaker.

Barbara raises an eye brow, "What?" What did he mean? Why would Bruce suddenly let her do this alone?

"He says he will join you later. A meeting is going to run later than he thought. I do hope this doesn't inconvenience you."

She gets the message. Alfred was talking in code. Bruce has drilled that into her brain, if it wasn't a secure line, talk in code. In a short time, the young woman had come to realize the man was unhealthily paranoid.

"Okay. No, it's fine, thanks Alfred." She hangs up and leans against the cold wall. She was late for class, she knows this, but she didn't really care at the moment. Why was Bruce suddenly pulling back? Was he testing her? Did he want to see if she would obey orders when she thought nobody was watching?

She presses a hand to her forehead, knowing that man, that was probably it.

"Okay Brucie. If that's what we're doing. I am so ready." She whispers to herself. Batgirl was going to prove her worth tonight.

Selina stares at the tall, broad, smoothly suited man sitting in front of her. She is dressed in a casual black shirt and skirt, her hair pinned in an office style bun, her loop earrings dangled as she leans back and took a slow sip of her sparkling water. She hates this man.

Roland Daggett.

Rich. Ruthless. Egotistical. But most of all, heartless. He didn't care what he had to do or who he had to destroy to make his money.

She hates him. His latest projects were sweeping the ground right out from under her. He was buying her reserves and private lands faster than a race car on nitro. She felt sick as she keeps a calm, smooth exterior.

"So. What do you say to my terms Mr. Daggett?" She says calmly, using her sultry voice few men could resist. She feels like puking.

The man's cold dark eyes regard her, "I've read them. They seem a little desperate for someone of your amazing business strength to commit to." He's egging her on. She knows it.

Her fingers tighten on her glass stem just a little bit, "Not desperate, just willing. I need to make sure those lands aren't taken or else my projects won't happen. Call it a little bit of extra give to a negotiation." She leans forward, glass still dangling between her fingers. Her red lips press as she waits for the vile man's answer.

He smirks at her, not at all charmingly either, "I call it desperation. I'm afraid I'll make far more money buying you out than I will agreeing to your partnership terms. Sorry Ms. Kyle, but my answer is no. Good luck trying to piece things together. But I am taking those properties. Maybe you should endeavor for a more profitable career." He stands and straightens his jacket, giving her a sick, satisfied smile, "I've heard shelter volunteering is very fulfilling."

She stands up abruptly and let her face contort with calm, cold, anger. Her sapphire eyes burn with determine fire, "Won't accept my offer?" She grabs his tie, surprising the man with a smooth, strong tug, her face inches away from his, "Then, all I can say is, I tried to be agreeable." She shoves him away and grabs her clutch, her heels clicking on the restaurants polished floor, "Good luck with whatever you plan to do. It won't go far. I promise you that." She makes her voice lower in a threat.

She continues to walk, her head high as she heads for her blue Porsche waiting for her on the curb. She pulls the door open and slides inside. It wasn't until the car pulls away did she let out a frustrated growl.

Maven glances at her boss's angry face through the rear view mirror, "Didn't accept the terms?" She asks sadly.

Selina pulls the bun out of her shimmering locks and lets them fall messily down her shoulders, "No. The jackass was playing with me. Meeting me here just to demean me personally. I warned him, he'll be sorry. I'll make him sorry. I spent ten years developing that reserve, he is not going to get it that easily. I swear I'll make him pay for trying."

The red haired woman driving sighs, "So, I know I shouldn't encourage this but, what about Catwoman? Should she come out now?"

"I can't." Selina groans, looking out the window, pressing her forehead against it as the cars and people whiz by, "I told you, Batman is waiting for it. He promised the next time he saw me he'd find out who I was. And I believe it." She pouts slightly, "He will ruin the game. And if I go to jail . . . what do you think will happen to the boys? I have to lay low for now."

"But your business, -"

"I will figure it out, I know I will. I just might need more help than I am used to."

The car was silent for a full five minutes. Maven felt bad for her employer turned close friend. Selina had been working hard her entire life, excluding Catwoman, but this company and business was based solely off of Selina's need to help what couldn't protect itself. Cats and wild animals were just the tip of the ice burg. The clever woman's latest project was a children's home, a privately owned orphanage where lost, homeless, and abused children could go without being afraid or tormented or sold for scraps.

Maven wishes she could do something. But she wasn't able to compete in the corporate shark's bin. She was a middle class secretary with an unorthodox living arrangement. She had a normal childhood, regular schooling. Nothing too much to brag about. She wasn't cut out to go against elites. That much she knew. But Selina was razor sharp with the strength and ability to do that. Maven just wishes she had a way to help Selina figure out how.

"Maven."

"Yes?"

"Isn't there a charity ball being hosted by that Vreeland woman coming up?"

Maven runs through her thoughts, "Yes. I believe she just came back from a trip to Spain. It inspired her to donate in the cause of the run down Spain's history museum that shut down three decades ago. She plans to reopen it. But," she looks at Selina through the mirror again, "I thought you said you wouldn't be caught dead there? Remember, her grandfather was a poacher of rare animals?" She didn't know why she felt the need to remind her employer but she did.

Selina's delicate face wrinkles in distaste, "Yes. I remember. But Daggett was right about one thing, miraculously, I am desperate. Not proud of it, but it's true," She flips her hair over her shoulder as Maven pulls the car into her buildings parking lot, "I'll go, with my charms I'm sure I'll find a willing benefactor to partner with and get my projects out of that ass's claws." She pushes open the door and steps out elegantly.

"All right. I'll get everything ready. The ball is Sunday night." Maven calls out from inside the car.

Selina straightens her shoulders and lifts her sharp chin, "Done. I'll see you in a little bit Maven."

She waves and heads inside for the elevator. That was it. That's what she would do, and once she got her partnership she would be able to pull a fast one over Daggett no problem. And anyway, even if she didn't like it, Selina knew how this run scum city worked, and how handy a beautiful face and sculpted legs came.

She smirks at her reflection. Nobody would believe, if she told them, that such a beautiful, powerful person came for the filthiest, sickest, and most broken parts of Gotham. No one really expected to see someone from The lowest point of this city to rise this high. And yet, here she was.

Gotham had one sick sense of humor.

Dick licks his lips. They were dry from the nerves he had fluttering throughout his body. His head felt a little light. His stomach was doing summersaults. Unfair, it was doing them without the rest of him.

The teenager could hardly believe where he was in the dead of night. Even at night, Gotham was disturbingly awake. After normal people went to sleep, the weirdos and freaks came out to play in this place. Dick figures he could add himself there now.

He is crouching on a building that towered just over Gotham's History museum. He'd done some research earlier; a shipment of priceless ruby jewelry just came in from china. The display was set up earlier, no doubt with security system and all.

He licks his lips again. He hadn't broken into a real security system yet. God, maybe he was way in over his head. What happens if he got caught? He'd be unmasked and the entire world would know Selina Kyle's first ward was a thief. They might even make the connection that she was Catwoman. That would mean hell for his entire family.

No. No. He had to do this. If he didn't, their family was as good as gone.

But if he was caught . . .

Either way, it was a risk. Dick lifts himself up and reaches for his whip, a smirk spreads across his face.

It's okay. He loved a good risk.

Batgirl is bored. Very, very bored. Batman hadn't shown, true to his words. She couldn't help feeling like she was being watched though. He was probably around somewhere in the shadows, waiting to see if she would slip up and disregard his orders.

Oh boy, that rouses the rebel in her real good.

She sighs in the dark, her mask was getting annoying. She still wasn't used to it. Batman had insisted on an appropriate costume. Not the pathetic hoodie and tights she had on before. Now she is encased in a full Kevlar laced leotard complete with bat eared mask and bat symbol on her well-developed chest.

She looks like a Batgirl now.

She scratches at her chin and waits. This was the spot Batman had stationed her at. It's a corner roof of one of Gotham's problem areas. She snorts to herself, yeah, on the list of the twenty most dangerous areas in Gotham this one was . . . nineteen. She has found that out, it almost insults her how Bruce didn't even think she could handle at least number fifteen. Or that he didn't think she would find out.

He was underestimating her. She could tell, that's why she's playing by his rules for now. Until she gains the man's trust that she was dependable enough for this. She would prove it. She had to. For dad.

And before this was all over, she'd find whoever it was that hurt him. Batman hadn't caught the criminal. But she would. That was the biggest reason for this whole thing, she just hadn't mentioned it to Bruce yet. She probably wouldn't ever, but still, that's what she was going to do after she collected enough knowledge and skills.

Batgirl was going to make whoever hurt her father very sorry.

Her crime alert alarm went off in her pocket. She pulls the hand held device and sees a silent alarm had been tripped in Gotham's History Museum. Wasn't there a new exhibit this week?

Hah! Real crime and. . . . It was way off her route. She huffs. Batman probably knows about it already and was just waiting to see if she would go by herself.

She fights with herself for a full minute before letting out a frustrated growl, "Okay Batman! You win! I give up, I get it. Can we go stop the crook now! I stayed here for two hours, that should be good enough!" She shouts in the shadows.

Silence answers her.

Oh, he was good.

She snorts "Fine, but I want you to know, I tried okay!" She takes out her bat line and shoots it out, jumping off her ledge nimbly, she soars through the empty dark towards the museum with a nagging feeling she is being followed.

She is so fired after this.

Dick hold his breath as he carefully climbed back out of his smoothly cut hole. He only lets it out when he is safely off the building roof and halfway down the street.

Man, it had been harder than he thought. He'd done his research on the security system sure, but he didn't know there were so many cameras and laser alarms! He managed to block the cameras using the old 'picture of the scene in front of the lens trick'. Not really something to brag about, but it worked! Then he had to utilize some seriously fancy, bendy moves to flip through those moving lasers.

It figures Gotham's Museums would be secured like a prison base.

Might be why crooks keep trying to break in. It was a challenge.

But he's done it, and hadn't left evidence behind either. Those cop and robber shows really helped after all.

Now he is on his way home, slinking through the shadows with a priceless ruby held in his pouch that he has tied to his belt. All he needs to do now is find the right kind of dealer Catwoman usually uses and get the money. This pretty piece should bring in a nice amount. Maybe not enough, but it should help keep Selina up and out of the scrutiny of child services.

But gosh, is he tired. Maybe he would hang up the mask for a few nights and get some rest. But he could still use some training. He needed to brush up on some of his moves. He'd almost set off one laser back there. He flipped too low and just barely missed triggering the line.

But he's fine now. He smiles sleepily to himself as he climbs up the side of the apartment building they live in, the adrenalin buzz fading away.

Yeah. Everything is okay for now.

"Gone." Batgirl frowns, clearly disappointed that she'd missed the criminal completely. She's checking for any possible video footage. Nothing. Whoever it had been was a smooth operator. Didn't leave anything to remember him by. She bites her lip in thought, the job was aimed at the new exhibit, she had been right.

But only one of the rubies were stolen. Who was this guy? Why wouldn't he take all of these if he was there anyway? She didn't have any evidence except for the missing object. She doubts she'll find out anything else.

Her com buzzes to life in her ear. She presses two finger there, her heart skipping a beat, "Batgirl here."

"Report to the cave Batgirl, for briefing." Batman's gruff voice crackles in her ear.

She sucks in a silent breath, "Yes sir. Batgirl out." Sir? The heck did that come from? Whatever, tonight had been boring and disappointing. She feels even further from her goal than before.

She sighs to herself as she swings towards her destination, besides, she doubts Batman was going to keep her around any longer.

Sorry Dad. I tried.

Her heart felt just that much more broken.

Dick sighs, letting out his anxiety as he reaches his window and pulls it open. Thank god, finally home. His muscles ache and his brain is a buzzing mess. He just needs some sleep and then, tomorrow, he would figure out how to sell the stolen rock. Just some sleep.

That's all.

"A little late for an evening stroll dontchya think Dickie."

Dick jumps, his heart lodges in his throat, cutting off a scream as he falls inside and rolls into his dresser, banging his head. He doesn't move. The air is thick and his heart is pounding in his ears. Maybe if he laid real still the offender would think he was dreaming and leave.

Dick snorts. Fat chance. And here he was thinking he'd get to sleep tonight. He lifts his head groggily, his masked eyes connecting with impudent blue green ones.

"What are you doing in my room Jason?"

An unimpressed look is all Dick receives.

Chapter Text

"Better question Dickie. What the hell are you wearing?" Jason snaps back after three breathless minutes of staring Dick down. The boy thinks the elder looks ridiculous in his tight fitted black suit.

There was a belt with a whip to the side, his boots were light weight, a dark shade of blue, and went to his knees and there were dark blue strips running down his arms and coloring two fingers on each hand. The hell?

Dick sits up dizzily and peels off his domino mask, "What? This? Oh, it's just a little something I whipped up on the fly. Pretty cool huh."

Jason scoffs, "Pretty lame is more like it. Now stop trying to change the subject. I knew you weren't having nightmares. Your room's been too quiet for that. What are you doing Dick?" Now the younger boy was waiting, an impatient look gracing his sharp face.

"Um, can I answer that later?"

"No."

Dick sighs, "fine," he stands up and poses heroically, his hands on his hips, his head turned to show his amazing profile, "I am Gotham's brand new cat bugler!" He says in a high whisper.

Silence.

More silence.

Maybe some crickets.

A snort. A giggle. A laugh. Jason laughs. He laughs hard. Dick glares at the younger boy, his confidence officially defeated as Jason falls to the floor gasping through his hand, trying to stifle the sound. The acrobat was not amused.

"The hell Jason. What's so funny?" He snaps, clearly irritated.

The self proclaimed rebel child rolls on the floor and spreads himself out, his chest heaving, "God, Dick, this-" He snickers again, "This is probably the most hilarious thing you've done! This is why I haven't killed you yet." He chokes on another laugh, "For the comedy!" More giggles bubbled up the young teens throat.

A kick to his side stops that noise fast.

"Hey!" Jason bolts up with a fierce look on his face.

"Hey yourself. I'm serious Jay. I'm a new thief." He flops himself on his twin bed, "it's not funny."

"Yeah it is. I mean, what does a circus clown like you know about stealing? If anything I'm the expert here." Jason is clearly not impressed by the older boy's confession.

Dick runs a gloved hand through his messy hair, his eyes cast on the floor as he thinks silently.

"Dick? Why are you suddenly stealing?" Jason speaks up, actually realizing there must be a reason for his adopted brother's weirdness.

A loud sigh escapes the ex-acrobat, "Because Jason." He doesn’t want to tell the younger boy. He did not want to worry him, and knowing Jason, he'd probably react with some kind of violence. But knowing Jason, he also won’t leave until Dick tells him.

Dick sits up, "I overheard Selina telling Auntie Mave, that she was losing business and she can't be Catwoman because of Batman's stalking and social workers have been breathing down her neck lately. If she keeps losing money the press will make her come out as an unqualified guardian." He takes a deep breath and looks Jason right in the eyes, "And the city might take us away from her."

He waits for the blow. He scrunches his eyes shut and waits.

Nothing comes. Not even after an entire minute. It's as if Jason disappeared. Dick opens his eyes cautiously, wondering if this was a trick and looks.

The ex-street kid is sitting on the ground, elbows on his knees, hands clasped in front of him, his messy bangs falling over his eyes as he bends his head forward, staring hard at the carpet.

Dick swallows and slides off the bed to sit in front of Jason. He carefully reaches a hand to the younger boys broadening shoulders, carefully now, you could never tell what Jason was thinking, "Jay? Are you okay?" Dumb question, he knows it. He knows he deserves a punch for that one.

Jason nods slowly, "I mean no." He shakes his head, "I mean, I kinda knew, you know." He didn't look at Dick as he continues, "I kinda always, in the back of my mind, figured, all this, Selina, a home, food . . .you - you guys, it was all too good to last. Nothing ever lasts. I shouldn't have forgotten that."

The older teen stares at the slumping boy. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from Jason of all people! Punches, kicks, swearing even he expected. Anything but actual admittance to real feelings.

Dick's grip on the shoulder tightens, "Jason, you - don't say that." His heart pokes painfully for a moment, "I'm not gonna let this go okay. That's why I'm dressing up like a weirdo and running out at night. I'm trying to help Selina since Batman's such a giant jerk wad. Okay, it's going to be fine. I promise." Normally, he'd hug someone like this, but Jason was still unpredictable and he didn't like physical contact that much unless it was from Selina.

Jason raises his head to meet Dick's eyes, "I'm not gonna hold you to that Grayson," He admits calmly, "But I wanna help."

Dick starts, "Um . . . no. No way, me doing this is bad enough, but you too? Forget it." He lets Jason go and stands up.

"Why not? I'm a much better thief than you and I know Gotham's messes better than you. Besides, how're you gonna sell off that sparkler if you don't know any dealers." Jason points out, standing also, slightly proud that he was almost nose to nose with Dick now.

"I-I'll just figure out who's what from Catwoman's info." Dick offers lamely. He knew he had no solid lead to that yet.

Jason knows he knew and snorts, "yeah, like she's stupid enough to keep a freakin' list of her illegal dealers. Get real Grayson. You have no idea how to do this, I'm actually mildly impressed that you got that rock in the first place." Jason eyes the rock again, "Museum?"

"Yeah." The older teen sighs in defeat, "Look Jay, I'm exhausted, can we talk about this later?"

"Whatever. Even if you don't talk later, you'll let me help eventually. You don't know squat about how things work out there." Jason smirks smugly at Dick's defeated look as he walks out, "Night, Dick."

"Yeah. Night."

Jason closes the door leaving behind a very discouraged, very tired, supposed cat burglar.

Barbara waits for the 'you're fired' speech she will no doubt be receiving now.

Bruce just lets out a sigh, "You know, ignoring orders in a real battle could get you killed." He is still dressed as Batman when she got there except his cowl was off. Barbara stares at the middle aged man in confusion.

"Well, yeah I guess, if my reason for not listening was stupid." She says carefully.

There were dark circles under the vigilante's eyes, his icy blues look like they were looking at something far away. Babs wondered if he even had the energy to be angry at her for leaving her post.

"Barbara." He stands up slowly and descends his short set of stairs that led up the platform where his main control center was, "I don't want your father to wake up to a dead daughter. I don't want-"

"No! You can't fire me!" She suddenly bursts out, not expecting to at all, neither was Bruce from the evident surprise on his face, "I have to do this Mr. Wayne. Please don't stop me." She sets her jaw in a determine way as she looks him in the eye. She was a fighter with a brain, she was not going down like this.

Batman could see it, "Alright. We're going to step up your training though, if you want to be in the real field, you'll work until your bones fall apart." He says flatly, but all serious at the same time.

She can handle that, "Yes sir. Let's start."

Bruce can’t help noticing the flames burning in the young girl's eyes.

Reminds him of someone else he knows.

Man, Jason is right. I have no idea how to do this.

Dick mumbles to himself as he walks down his school's hallway, deep in thought. He'd been trying all day and he couldn't figure out how to get that stupid rock out of his hands and money in its place. Ugh, he hates it that Jay is right. Now he has to ask the little booger for help. God, he'll never let Dick live this down.

The teen runs a hand through his already tousled hair in frustration. It wasn't that he didn't want Jason to help, it was just that he was afraid what would happen if Jason got involved and they got caught and they got sent to juvie. That wouldn't make Dick's conscious any lighter.

"Excuse me."

Dick blinks in surprise, stopping mid step and gapes a little, "B - um, oh - uh - H-hi Barbara." He swallows the building nerves in his throat. He hadn't seen her since the last time he'd nearly run over her. Boy, she is as beautiful as ever. She looks a little tired though. He thinks that makes her all the more pretty.

"Yeah, Hi." She smiles at him lightly, pushing a stray hair out of her face.

Dick fingers twitch, “haven't seen you lately." No duh moron, you obviously don't share any classes with her.

She shrugs, "Guess we keep missing each other. Hey, I have lunch now, how 'bout you?"

Is she asking him to eat with her? Like a date but not a date but kinda like a step towards a date. Dick's heart fluttered, "Y - yeah I do."

"Wanna come and sit with me. Usually I'm alone anyway."

What? How? She was way to amazing looking to go unnoticed. Why wouldn't she be popular? Dick nods silently and follows her to the cafeteria.

Half the upper classes were already here. Dick follows Barbara to a back table away from the jocks and cheerleaders. It seems like this is where she goes without much thought.

They eat in silence.

It makes Dick fidget. He needs to say something. Anything! Get to know her some. . .

"So . . . you in any clubs here?" He asks as coolly as he can while taking a bite out of his mini steak.

"No. I'm a scholarship student, most people don't-"She stops and looks at him like a deer in headlights.

This confuses the boy, "What's wrong?"

She lowers her eyes to her pasta salad, "Um, Sorry. You're one of them. I shouldn't be saying this to you."

"One of them?"

"Yeah, one of Gotham's Elite kids."

Silence spreads between them. Their eyes connect for a touch too long and Dick colors profusely.

"No, I actually am a . . . um, orphaned circus kid. Selina Kyle was just kind enough to take me in. That's why I'm here. But I don't actually. . . fit." He explains slowly, watching for her reaction.

Needless to say, it came as a surprise when she gives him a warm smile. A judgmental look he'd expect, maybe a scoffing comment, like the ones he'd gotten the first year he'd started at this high society school. But no. She just smiles at him. Dick's heart-rate spikes.

"I'm the daughter of a police man and have no ties to money at all . . . well, until now." She lifts a fork of green and orange pasta to her lips, "Bruce Wayne has been kind enough to help me out. But nobody knows that so . . . keep it under wraps."

He nods quickly, "Sure. It can be our little secret I promise."

"Thanks Richard."

They sit there, their food forgotten, smiling at each other. Dick suddenly wants to touch her. Hold her hand, brush her hair, anything. His fingers inch across the table top towards her forkless hand.

Just a little-

"Hey Dickie!"

"Yow!" Dick squeaks and yanks his hand back, holding it like it had been burned.

Barbara blinks out of her trance and raises both brows at the sudden new comer that plops, all too comfortably, at their table.

"Who're you?" She asks without thinking.

The boy is younger than Richard for sure. But not by much. He is thin, but developed pretty well and his face was sharp. He had an impishly toothy smirk and a twinkle in his stunning eyes that just screamed trouble. Even the way he had on the school uniform spoke volumes about this kids lack of fear of authority.

"Me? I'm Jason," The cute boy tilts his head so that his bangs fell away, his eyes size her up immediately in one sweep.

Yup, definitely trouble.

"Um, Jason. What the hell are you doing here? Don't you have someone to beat up or something." Dick seethes through his teeth, furious that his kid brother was stepping in on his chance.

Barbara just watches the interaction.

The younger boy snorts, "Nope. Guess those losers finally got the hint. Anyway, just wanted to talk to you 'bout something’. But," He winks at Barbara suddenly and smirks, "I can see you're busy."

Dick gapes at the audacity of this boy, "Get out of here you little punk!" He snaps angrily.

Jason raises a scarred brow at him, now he notices Dickie's uncomfortable look and the interesting shade of red his face was turning. His eyes slide back towards the incredibly hot red haired girl.

Bingo.

A devilish grin spreads across his face.

"Sorry Dick, Was I interrupting something?" He leans against the table on his elbows, "Hi there, I don't think I've had the pleasure."

He was flirting! Dick Grayson could not believe his eyes. This little rat not only interrupted his moment, he was flirting with the girl he wanted that moment with! The little freak!

Barbara smiles back, she actually smiles at the monster, "Barbara. You must know Richard pretty well huh?" She takes his hand he so conveniently offered.

Jason? Shaking hands? Since when in hell has he ever been that polite?!

"Richard huh? Guess you finally decided to go by something less embarrassing Dickie? Whatever, won't change you anyway. And yeah, you could say we go back a couple of years. But forget about Dick, I want to know how a knock out like you ended up in this tormenting position with him?"

Barbara actually laughs.

Dick bristles. This was unfair on so many levels. He stands up abruptly and glares at the oblivious boy.

"If you want, I'm free after school, wanna-"

"On second thought, excuse us Barbara, I need to talk to my little brother." He emphasizes 'little' for Jason's benefit to get a reality check.

He grabs the younger boy by the shirt and practically drags him out of the cafeteria, stares following them, Jason waves at Barbara just to spite the angry elder boy.

Barbara's thoughts on this?

They're brothers?

"The heck was that you little freak!" Dick seethes at the younger smirking boy when they reach a safe secluded place in the halls.

Jason almost laughs, but he holds a cool exterior just to irritate Dick more, "What? She was hot. Besides, you shouldn't get so worked up, or are you actually afraid that I am more charming than you?" Now he was egging the older teen. They both knew it.

Dick lets out a huff, "Never mind. Forget it. What do you want anyway?" He decides to let this slide and apologize to Barbara later.

"Oh yeah, I found a great dealer that can rack us up a ton of cash for that little rock you got." Jason explains simply.

Dick turns white, "I told you to stay out of this!"

"Yeah. So?" Jason shrugs nonchalantly, "since when do I listen to you?"

"God, you-" A loud sigh escapes the ex-acrobat as he tries to release the irritation he felt because of his younger brother's sheer annoyingness, "Where?"

A snort comes out in response, "Like I'll just tell you. This is my bargaining chip Dickie boy, you let me help, I'll get us the dealers. Deal?"

If Dick was an impulsively violent person, he would have strangled Jason by now. He settles for a grouchy, "Fine. Deal. Tonight we sell this thing. Got it. And if we get caught and thrown into Juvie, you better not whine about it."

Jason smirks in victory, "No problem."

They strike hands.

God, Dick sure wishes he could figure out how this was happening.

Enough money to buy another penthouse in Metropolis.

That's what they got.

Dick's brain is still spinning.

Jason is practically floating next to him as they head home.

After school they'd both gone to the dealer Jason found, without revealing who they were of course, and the stubby old man, 'Rinny', gave them quite a deal.

Dang, Dick feels a strange buzz zip through him. Must be adrenaline from the transaction. It went so smoothly and fast only Jason seemed to be able to keep his head on straight through the whole thing while Dick spun around barely following. It was all nuts.

But now came a new problem. How was he going to get this money into Selina's account without her noticing? Maybe he could sneak it in a smidge at a time and she wouldn't be able to detect it.

Yeah, that could work.

"That was fun. We should totally do this again." Jason grins next to him, his arms casually folded behind his head as they walk.

Dick shrugs, "This should be good for a while shouldn't it?"

Jason shakes his head, "No way man, this industry moves faster than lightning. Besides I can deal with professionally stolen goods way better than the street crap I used to have to scrounge. We are so doing this again."

The older boy can’t help but notice the youngers energy as he bounces next to him.

"Maybe we can." He has to admit, it had been fun. He loves the thrill of flying through the roof tops and not getting caught. The adrenaline that came from a successfully executed heist was starting to draw him in. Maybe this was why Selina did it.

"Sunday night." Jason smirks suddenly, "There's a new exhibit being opened by a Vree-something woman. We could pull one for the newspaper." Jason says, getting more excited with each word.

"Um . . . just how do you plan to do that?"

"Come on Dickie, get your head in the game. We've got skills, well I do, we can get in her mansion before she displays it and get the crap out before anyone even knows it's gone." Jason was clearly enjoying playing this out in his own mind.

Thoughts whirl around in Dick’s head too, "No . . . not yet. Not yet. Maybe we could do something smaller. Something that doesn't show us yet. We've got an invisible edge right now."

Jason rolls his eyes, "Fine, then, while all those rich mongers are distracted, we can lift some of her personal collections. Huh?" He cocks his head with a devilish smirk, his energy radiating off, excitement coming in fast.

It’s contagious. Dick’s starting to feel the challenge. The amount of money they made form that small rock was good, but would it keep Selina's multimillion dollar company on top? Probably not. Maybe they could pull a heist like that, in a personal home. Besides, Jason seems pretty slick when it comes to stealing and fighting. Maybe this would work out better than Dick thought.

Sunday night.

Selina hates herself for this.

She is deeply regretting it. Not only is it cold, but she also has to spend the next couple of hours rubbing elbows with the less than tolerable rich stiffs of Gotham. She lets out a heavy sigh as Maven parks the car in front of the giant mansion that is surrounded by party goers arriving in their fancy attire and cars and police man to guard the, no doubt, precious things inside the expensive building.

She adjusts her thick plush coat on her bare shoulders and lets a tuxedo wearing man help her out and guide her towards the open doors.

God, the Catwoman in her just wants to rob these precious jewels and run for it. But no, this wasn't about her selfish urges. This was about her livelihood and keeping the boys safe. Just find some sucker that will do whatever you say and get the hell out of here.

That’s the plan.

Hopefully, it goes well.

"Hurry up Jason, Tim and Dami finally fell asleep and it's getting late. The party might end soon." Dick whispers loudly towards his closed closet doors in which Jason is behind.

"Keep your tights on dork-face. I'm almost done." A stifled reply came back.

Dick rolls his eyes behind his black domino. He catches a look at himself in the mirror. He thinks he looks amazing. He’s getting taller, and his muscles were better than most people would hope to have at this age. The tights made his butt look awesome and the color blue definitely suits him.

"Okay. Now I got it."

Dick gapes at his younger brother's entrance.

Jason smirks in triumph.

The boy is wearing a pair of fading brown cargo pants stuffed into a pair of thick shin high combat boots that look really heavy. He had on a tight red shirt that shows everything, over the past years the boy had bulked up really well because of continues food and training, and a black jacket rolled up to the elbows, he's shoved a black domino on his face that he clearly stole from Dick and pulls up his hood which is painfully red. On his belt he has a heavyset metal baton and a whip which he also stole from Dick.

"The heck?" Dick continues to stare, "You're going to wake up the entire universe with those boots, knuckle head."

Yeah. Cause that was the problem.

Jason snorts, "Jealousy doesn't suit you Grayson. And besides they're silicone based." He steps forward heavily to make his point, "Less noise."

This gets him an eye-roll, "okay, so that's what you did with your allowance."

"Doesn't matter. Let's go."

"Wait. I've been thinking-"

"Oooh, bad call Dickie, You'll hurt yourself," Jason needles flatly.

"Since it's not just me anymore, " Dick continues as if he hasn’t heard, "We need codenames. I already have one, you know, in case I run into someone. You need one too-"

"Red Tiger."

"Wha-?"

"Red Tiger. That's what I'm calling myself. You?"

Dick blinks for a second, confused as to how Jason came up with that name so effortlessly, he had taken days to think of his. But he is pretty proud of it.

"Oh, me? You can just call me the amazing Night Prowler!" He poses heroically.

"Laaame."

Once again, the poor ex-acrobats' ego has been shot mercilessly, "it is not! Red Tiger doesn't even make sense!" He snaps fiercely.

Jason scoffs, already opening the window, "Yeah it does. Selina calls me Tiger and my favorite color is red. See? Done." He says it as if it is the most obvious thing ever.

Dick bristles, "Whatever. Just get out." He stomps towards the window.

Jason crouches on the sill and throws a smirk over his shoulder, "Race ya!" With that he drops right through.

The older teen gasps and runs to the window to see the younger land on a ledge and flip onto the nearest rooftop without so much as a thought.

"Humph, reckless." Dick flys down right after him.

"Lovely to see you Ms. Kyle." A stunning red haired woman in a diamond set and a skin tight blue dress comes up to the trapped cat lover and flashes a perfect smile at her.

Selina pushes back her grimace and smiles back, just as perfectly, "Likewise Ms. Vreeland. Your event certainly appears a success. I hope it isn't in vain." She says smoothly, taking a drink from a passing tray.

Veronica Vreeland is one of Gotham's more eccentric billionaires. Her father was a stiff general in the army who had married into wealth. After her mother had died, Veronica had inherited the business and was a real flip flop when it came to what she wants to do with it.

The woman just couldn't decide if she wanted only pleasure with the money or to use it for others. She mixed masks so much, Selina couldn't stand her for it.

"Oh, I'm sure it won't be. My trip to Spain opened my eyes to the wonders and magnificent culture and art Gotham is letting them pass by. I only hope I will be able to return that beauty to this otherwise dreary city." Veronica answers with a dramatic flourish of her hand.

Selina resists the urge to roll her eyes, "Yes. I'm sure that's exactly what Gotham needs. Excuse me." She smiles silkily and turns to head towards a painting with fake interest.

The woman 'humphed' behind her and turns away, her expensive heels clicking loudly as she retreats from the disagreeable cat lover.

The raven haired beauty takes a sip from her drink to hide her growing smirk.

God, these things were so irritating. There was never anything interesting to look at or do to avoid mingling with empty headed snobs.

"Tell her I'll check in tomorrow, all right Alfred." Bruce finishes his call to his trusted friend just as an angry face woman storms towards him.

"Whoa, where's the fire Ronnie?" He holds her by her arm to stop her angry stomping in front of him.

"Ugh, It's that Kyle woman. She insulted my event. And after I tried to be civil to her too!" Veronica fumes, crossing her bare arms angrily.

Bruce lets out a small chuckle,"I'm sure it isn't that bad. Wasn't she the one who insulted your grandfather a while back?"

Veronica's face is priceless. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that.

"Yes. Yes, she is." The red head frowns harder, "I'll never understand how someone as uncouth as her could ever make it up these ranks."

"Where is she now?" Just a touch curious. Bruce has met Selina Kyle once or twice, but never for more than an extremely formal greeting and he barely even looks at her. He is always preoccupied when they cross paths.

Ronnie shrugs, "I left her in the gallery. Oh please Bruce, don't fall for that one. You could do so much better." She tugs at his arm in a straight attempt to distract him.

"I'm sure I can. Don't worry Ronnie, I'm just a little curious to see who this woman is. Especially since she seems to have the gall to insult you." He smooths over expertly.

Veronica sighs and lets him go, "Oh fine. Go on, have fun. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Bruce answers with a casual smirk and heads toward the gallery.

Nobody. Tonight is looking completely hopeless and fruitless. Daggett was going to win and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

She grips her wine glass tighter, as the elderly man she is listening to drones on in front of her.

"Oh Mr. Batche that's so interesting." She flatters absently as his colleagues that surrounds them agree.

God, I need to get out of here.

This guy is completely worthless, he’s a shipment company owner and he lost more money than he made. The only thing keeping him from falling out of social circles was that he was the Mayors cousin. But boy, is she ready to drop him. He's been droning on about shipping vegetables for half an hour.

Her brain is melting. She'd rather be doing anything else right now. Even snarling at Vreeland is better than this.

"The carrots are very tricky to package they don't snap of course. . . That’s why I invented a new way to- "

That's it. She makes up her mind. She opens  her mouth to excuse herself as politely as she can.

A baritone voice interrupts them all.

"Excuse me. Have any of you seen a Ms. Selina Kyle."

Everyone turns. Including the so named. Her eyes widen a fraction of a second.

Hello Gorgeous.

Bruce Wane smiles charmingly in her direction. And he is looking for her? Since when did he even know her name? She's only seen him twice at an auction. That wasn't to say she is displeased.

The man is a real looker. Tall, broad shouldered, and smooth as silk. She knows from the tabloids his reputation with woman is notorious but he did do good philanthropic work. He is also a little dense according to some sources. But charmingly so. A real character. Perfect. Her mind rewires its plan. This was just the sucker she needs.

"That would be moi."

Judging by the light that lights his eyes, Selina figures she has this in the bag.

Who's laughing now Daggett.

Chapter Text

"Wow. This place is huge!" Jason's eyes take in the entire estate as they sneak past the armed police. Selina could live in a place like this if she wanted to, but she was too set on easy and flexible, so she settled for a penthouse instead. But still, this Vreeland woman has some serious cash.

He wonders if she would even notice anything was missing after they stole whatever. He feels a grin stretch across his face as they dodged a spot light. These guys were serious, either that, or she paid one heck of a price to have them actually do their job.

That made him a little sick to think about it.

"This way Ja-Tiger, Up this wall, nobody's in the garden." Dick calls the younger towards the towering trellis of roses.

"Red Tiger, get it straight Night-Dork," Jason snaps as he pushes Dick slightly and nudges himself up a nearby tree, "You'd better hope this thing goes up to the right floor."

"Yah," Dick stops for a moment as he swings from one branch to the other, "I mean, I eyeballed it so. . ."

Jason resists the urge to face palm, "Great. Now we're relying on your eyeballs."

"Just shut up and climb that trellis thing, and avoided the thorns. They hurt." Dick snaps back as he waits for Jason to shimmy down a thick branch and reach for the huge construct.

Jason snorts at him, "Dope, Like I care for a few measly scratches. I've had bullets scrape me worse." He makes it carefully anyway and hooks his feet on the thickest rose vine he can reach, good thing he wasn't too heavy yet.

Dick on the other hand . . .

"Um, Night-Prick, There's a problem." Jason turns his head a little to see Dick sitting on a tree branch like a monkey waiting.

"Yeah?"

"I don't think this thing'll hold you." He says, tugging at the vines a little to prove his point.

The dark haired teen sighs, "Okay, new plan, you get through the window and let your whip all the way down, then I'll climb up. I just hope her walls aren't sensory detecting."

"Whatever. I'm going in." Jason finishes and leapt quickly, if a little sloppily, according to Dick later.

Dick holds his breath and waits as Jason manages to hike himself up on the window sill and proceeds in picking the handle lock. Three seconds and the kid was in. Huh, maybe this would work out well after all.

Three more second and Jay has the whip hanging out the window and tied securely inside the room.

Dick gracefully climbs up the side of the house, his hairs standing on end as he prays there weren't any high tech alarms on the walls. There weren't. Good. He rolls in deftly and lands lightly on his feet in front of Jason.

Both boys look at each other and grin in the dark.

They were in.

Glittery laughter flitters from Selina's corner as she leans elegantly against a wall, wine glass lazily tipping in her fingers.

She'd been talking to Wayne for the past hour and was pleasantly surprised to find out he was as shallow as they say he is. That just made manipulating the man all that much easier, plus, he was an incredible looker. That makes this less painful.

"No really, what do you do when you're not partying or giving money to the poor." She smiles coyly taking a sip and brushing a shiny strand of dark hair away.

Bruce laughs casually, "You mean aside from paper work? Not much I guess," His icy blue eyes twinkle mysteriously for a minute, "I live a relatively quiet life in my free time."

Selina swears she saw a hint of danger in that statement. She covers up her analyzing and smirks alluringly, "Quiet huh, well, maybe, if we make this a regular thing, that could change." Cue hand on arm trick. She was a master at seduction. This is nothing short of a child's game for her.

"Maybe we could." The rich man's voice drops a notch and he moves within an inch of her personal space.

She actually feels a chill run up her spine.

Damn. He is good. Really good. Got to be more careful than I thought.

"Mr. Wayne, I accept your-"

The lights go out. Women scream, glasses drop, men curse inelegantly, Selina feels the man next to her grab her arm and pull her towards a safe corner. Like she needs help staying safe. Pffft.

"What's going on?"

"Hang on, the lights aren't working."

"Someone call the police in!"

As if on cue, the doors are thrown open and a flurry of officers can be seen running in with multiple flashlights, "Is everyone all right?!" One of them calls to the frightened crowd.

"Yes, but what's going on, man!" A thick accented man speaks up loudly.

"Oh, this is not how this party was supposed to go!" Veronica makes a show of faking a faint against one of the police officers who catch her, flustered.

"Hang on ladies and gentleman. Nobody try to move, don't panic, we'll get the lights back on and then you can all leave safely." The first policeman speaks again, trying to keep things dialed down. Rich people could get pretty antsy when something like this happened in Gotham.

"Hanks!" A younger officer runs in, breathlessly, "Upstairs, someone's upstairs, Barns saw shadows moving up there!"

Selina listens to all this with growing interest.

"Thieves? Figures." She hears her companion mutter next to her.

She lets a grin cross her face, guess this party was getting hit after all, and for once it wasn't because of her. Hum, I wonder who it is.

"Quickly," Hanks starts, "You four come with me, let's just hope it's a normal guy with thieving skill and not one of those crackpots." I wanna live to my retirement. He thinks glumly.

Selina watches, her eyes glitter in the dim lights that flashes from the officer's hands, she is really tempted to go find out herself.

"What do you think Bruce, a normal - Bruce?" She looks and feels around. He was gone. Huh, where'd he go?

Jason is practically buzzing with adrenaline now. He'd just thrown the lights and he could hear the commotion that has started down stairs. Man, these rich people were such wimps. He smirks in the dark, under his hood, this was way more fun than it used to be. He carefully opens a safe and pulls out the many sparklers inside it.

"Whoa, this woman's loaded all right, she's got her best jewels locked up, I wonder what she wears to casual occasions." He quips as he casually stuffs the diamond and emerald sets in his duffel. Not really a high tech way to do this but whatever, it got the job done.

"Hey Ja-Red, you got them?" Dick hisses from his side of the room, "Cuz I think they're sending up the cops." There is a slight edge to the older boy voice. Jason knows what it means.

No matter how much adrenaline runs through you, there was always that paralyzing fear that you might get caught lying underneath.

"Got 'em. Let's blow this joint."

He can practically hear Dick's eye roll.

"Jason." The older thief suddenly hisses, "I saw it. Batman. He's here! We've got to move."

That sends a sure spike of fear through the boy's heart, Damn it! They'd just barley started and they'd already get caught by the Bat? No way, nuthin' doin', we are so not ending this here.

"Hang on Nightlight, Lemme just - yeah. Okay Dick, when I say now, you jump through the window and run like crazy got it?" He whispered back nudging the older boy towards the window.

"What are you doing?" Came the irritating question.

"Just do it." Jason doesn't have time to explain. They both crouch silently. Heavy footsteps land on the roof. A chill runs up both their spines as they hear the Bat walk slowly across the roof, his footsteps ominous and fear inducing, as if he knows just where the prey is and just wants them to squirm. Jason's face wrinkles in disgust, that probably was the real reason too.

His hand shakes just a bit as he lifts the matches he's stashes in his pocket just in case.

"Okay." He lights five matches at the same time, his face grim under his hood, "Now!" He throws them at the huge canopy bed and shoves Dick out the window. Both boys fall out and land with a hard roll on the ground below, something cracks in Jason's shoulder, he doesn't care. They run for their lives as the top half of the manor lights up right under the Batman's feet.

They do not look back.

Three hours.

It took three whole hours for these morons to put out the damn thing. Selina grumbles as a police man finally leads her towards an ambulance where Veronica Vreeland is sitting, blanket drapes over her shoulder, sobbing like a dying woman as her make up ran down her face.

"All of I-it. G-Gone!" She howls miserably.

Selina huffed, her elegant bun had come partly undone, most of it hung around her slightly soot covered face. Her long sleeveless red gown was ripped in multiple place and she had a couple of burn marks on her shoulders from trying to help a few of the women that got stuck behind her.

"I'm sorry Ms. Vreeland. But are you upset about the art or your home?" She asks without really thinking.

The red head sends her a scornful look, "The art of course! I don't care about the mansion, I have at least four others and besides it was insured." She sniffs angrily, "But all that precious Spain themed art. All gone, never to be enjoyed by the world again." She resumes her fainting in the arms of the nearest man.

Selina actually rolls her eyes this time, "Right. Such a tragedy."

"Selina."

She stiffens for a second before her mind registers the voice, "Bruce? There you are. I was getting worried, where'd you go?" She smiles gently as he drapes a medical blanket over her bare shoulders.

The man looks sheepish for a moment, "I went outside in attempt to see if I could help the police catch the thief in case they escaped. It was foolish though, they nearly killed me by throwing a match at me." He chuckles lightly, trying to brush it off.

This earns him a raised eye brow, "Well, nobody told me you were so heroic." She muses out loud and flicks ash dust off his broad shoulder, "I think I like it." She practically purrs, connecting her eyes with his.

The man gave her a small lopsided smile, "That's good to know."

"Ugh Bruce! You're alive! Thank god!" Veronica suddenly grips the man's arm and practically fell on him, "But my exhibit! I can't say the same for that," She laments, leaning against the man's arm.

"Veronica!" An elderly man in clear army attire shouts as he came puffing forward from the end of the ridiculously long drive way, maneuvering his way around people and vehicles.

The woman gasps and ran right to him, "Daddy! Oh Daddy, it's horrible!"

Selina snorts as the two untied, the woman in a sheer force of tears as her father dotes on her in concern. Some people just over did it.

"So. You and Vreeland seem close." She says, surprising both herself and the billionaire next to her.

Bruce looks at her suddenly, "Well, I have known Ronnie for a while now. Only one that wasn't too interested in my money actually. We never dated though, if that's what you're asking. Just friends. Besides," There was a smirk playing on his lips, "She's been married four times already."

Well. Today was just full of surprises.

"Hurry up moron!" Jason snaps at his brother as he waits impatiently for Dick to scale the side of the apartment building that leads up to the dorks window.

"Hold your horses Little Jay, just hang – on - Got it!" He breathes triumphantly and lifts the window carefully before falling through it with less grace than a monkey, "We did it!" He holds up his duffel bag from the floor in glory as Jason climbs through the window after him and closes it.

"You certainly did."

Both boys screams.

Four wide, terrified, eyes meet with four unimpressed eyes.

"T-Tim? Damian? Wha- This isn't - Um, it's all a dream?" Dick says desperately, only to receive a scoff from the youngest and an eye brow raised from the third oldest.

"The hell are you guys doing awake?" Jason demands, he is smart, he knows there is no way out of this one. Not with the way they both look right now.

Tim stands up from the bed he was sitting cross legged on, his face emotionless and frightening, "Here's a more productive question Jason. What are you guys doing awake?"

Damian follows right after, "And why are we not in on it?"

Both elders share a 'we're busted' look before deciding on what to do.

Dick takes a deep breath, attempting to compose himself in order to tell the story.

"Well, you see-"

Jason stands up and grabs both smaller boys by the shirts roughly and tosses them on Dick's bed, "Siddown twerps, here's the scam."

They spend the next hour explaining and arguing with each other about why Selina didn't tell them, why the boys were doing what they were doing and how the two youngest shouldn't help do this because it was dangerous only for both young boys to overcome Dick's pleas and win a spot in the slowly growing team.

By the time the clock struck three, all four had somehow managed to squeeze on Dick's twin bed and fell asleep in a tired heap, only to be found by a very confused Aunt Maven later.

Chapter Text

A loud sigh echoes through the empty school library, except for the annoyed looking librarian in the front. Barbara Gordon is bored, again. She is tired, sore, and annoyed at herself for losing so many times. Only to have to remind herself that Bruce had years of training on her. She only had ballet and some basic self-defense.

Plus, she wasn't all too focused lately.

One: Her dad's condition wasn't improving at all.

Two: That Dick Grayson boy. And his trouble brother, Jason, if she remembers correctly.

She'd gotten interested in them after that fiasco on Friday. She hadn't seen Grayson since, but she did look him up. All the while telling herself she wasn't doing this to be a creepy stalker.

Dick Grayson, the circus freak. The acrobat with a natural gift that was cut short due to the tragic death of his parents. She looked back through old newspaper articles back when the boy was big news. Selina Kyle had taken him in shortly after his parent's death. The illustrious woman was top of the news scoops for the past eight years. Especially since she adopted four boys in that span of time. And each had just as tragic and/or, ambiguous a story as the last.

Dick Grayson. Jason Todd. Tim Drake. And Damian Ghul. That last one sounded very off to her for some reason. Who had a name like that anyway? But that was them.

Four boys. Four incredibly odd boys, only one came from a high society family.

Dick came from a tent. Jason came from an alley. And Damian came from an abusive home. The heck was up with this woman? She sure picked an interesting bunch to take in.

But, as curious as she is, Babs decided she might actually like Dick, for whatever reason. And she wants to get to know him and maybe even be friends. It wasn't like she has much to do after school anyway. Except for training, and getting beaten black and blue while she was at it.

She bites her bottom lip in thought and pokes a little at the bruise forming on her side. Damn, should have seen that kick coming.

"Sorry, where can I find a book on the French revolution?"

Barbara's ears pick up the voice and recognizes it even before the owner makes himself visible. Dick is in the library, speaking to the librarian with an easy smile on his face. His hair is tousled from the wind outside, his white uniform shirt is tucked in politely and his tie is straight pressed. You would never know where this guy actually came from if you just looked him.

He looks every bit the rich role he'd been tossed into. Damn it, he was gorgeous. She bites her lip harder and burrows further in the arm chair she is sitting in. Her face feels oddly colored and she doesn't like it. The last time she liked a boy was way back in middle school and he'd been a royal jerk. It wasn't like she's afraid of men. No, she was just much more guarded around them.

She wasn't afraid of dating either, or actually making an emotional connection. She's just more cautious about how quickly she did it.

But this boy-

"Oh. Hi Barbara. I didn't think anyone was here during lunch." He appears suddenly and smiles at her.

The girl gasps and straightens and stares at him wordlessly. This boy just threw her guards right out the window and makes her forget her inner hurting, especially with that smile.

"Barbara?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, hi D-Richard. Nice to see you today." Damn these formalities. She hates making thing awkward.

The boy seems completely at ease though, "You too. Do you mind if I hang out here a bit?" He casts her a sparkling grin as he asks.

"No, go ahead."

He does. He sits right across from her in the paling blue armchair that seems to set off his impossibly blue eyes as he opens his book and takes out his notepaper and pencils.

She didn't mean to, but she stares in fascination. The minutes ticks away as she watches him read silently to himself, a slight wrinkle forms between his brows as he furrows them in concentration. His hair falls and flicks whenever he moves his head and she doesn't know how many thoughts run through her head just about touching it, or how soft it looks, or how it would look against her-

"Um, Barb? Are you okay?"

Shoot, he noticed! Crap, of course he'd notice. She covers her red face with her book quickly, "Yeah, why do you ask?" She says simply, proud how level her voice is.

He raises a brow at her, "You're – um - staring at me. Are you upset?" Realization seems to dawn on his face as he slaps his forehead with his palm, "Shoot, of course you are! Look Barbara," He closes his book and looks at her earnestly, making her gape in confusion, "I'm really sorry about Jason, it wasn't, I mean he . . . he can be a little jerk sometimes but he's not all bad and-"

She laughs.

The boy looks at her in confusion. The pretty red haired girl just laughs at him, poor guy, here she was staring at him like a creep and he thought she was mad at him? Was this guy adorable or what?

"It's fine Richard, really, I'm not angry about that. Actually, Jason seems kind of fun. Is he always like that or am I just lucky?" She smiles, her eyes twinkling mischievously at him. She notices as he blushes lightly.

"Um, n-no, he's just . . . um- he's weird like that." Not that I'm much better. He doesn't say that last part obviously.

It's true. He was a huge flirt. But for some reason he forgot how to flirt around this particular red head. He couldn't figure out why but his smooth cool exterior melts into a flustered and befuddled dork when he crosses her.

Dude, you so fell for her. That's what Jason would say. Lil' brat. Dick can hear him even when he isn't here!

"Okay, you know, I actually did a little – er- research on you."

Well, that wasn't a creepy thing to say. Not at all Babs, way to go. Moron.

"You did what now?" Dick looks at her, surprise littering his pretty face.

Now she's done it, he thinks you're a stalker, doofus!

"Um, well ev - everyone has a story here so I found out yours. You're pretty popular for a circus clown." There goes any chance of being friends. Why does insensitivity have to be her armor?

He just blinks at her for a minute.

"Oh! Yeah. That's fine, I don't mind, it makes sense I guess." He answers finally, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

She lets out a small breath in relief. He didn't find her creepy, great!

"But, that's kind of unfair now isn't it," He looks at her from the side, his eye lashes veiling his eyes slightly as he gives her a disarming smile, "Now you know facts about me, but I don't even know your last name."

That she can do, "Gordon. Barbara Gordon. How's that, Richard?" She gives him a smirk and leans closer on her knees.

He tilts his head smoothly, "Call me Dick, okay? I know, I know," He laughs at her face, "Jason did the same thing. Just go with it please."

She nods and reaches out her hand, "Nice to get to know you, Dick."

He takes it and just held it in his warmth, "Likewise, Ms. Gordon."

They smiles at each other like dorks.

Yeah, she could definitely like him.

"Hey guys, I'm home!" Dick calls out in the seemingly empty penthouse as he slams the door behind him and kicks his shoes off. That always pissed off Auntie Mave but for some reason he always forgets to pick them up. Jason just did it on purpose.

"Hello? Where is everyone?" He walks through the home looking for where his odd family could be hiding.

"Jason? Timmy? Damian!" Seriously, where are they. It's starting to weird him out. His older brother instincts he naturally developed are kicking in and usually when that happens his imagination would run away and freak him out.

Last night, they'd told Tim and Damian what was up and both youngsters were not happy about it. The social workers thing and Selina's falling business. Not the actual fact that now he and Jason were full criminal. They were some weirdly warped kids.

Instead of lecturing them or whatever, they decided they wanted to help. And nobody was going to stop them. Jason agreed and Dick felt like he'd been stabbed. Dang, these kids were all incredibly loyal to their guardian. Neither wanted her to suffer and they all unanimously agreed, Batman was a grade A ass.

Dick sighs and runs his hand through his hair. Now he has three little brothers to worry about, plus, Batman catching them and Barbara.

Gosh, he has no idea what to make of her. He likes her, a lot. Not only because she is pretty and, once you let your nerves go, really easy to talk to, she is also brilliant. Brain numbingly so.

But he can't stop to day dream right now. He has to find his missing brothers before Maven and Selina came home. A loud crash gives him a pretty good idea as to where they are.

The home dojo/gym/training room, whatever it was called. Selina had bought the buildings spare auditorium and made it into a private area for the boys to train or work out. Because being under the care of a rich Gothamite could get dangerous, kidnapping for ransom was a real thing.

Dick practiced his acrobatics in there and took up Karate and taekwondo classes the second year he was with Selina. Just in case. Jason was already a power house fighter, he just needed to refine his natural brutality with actual training. The youngest took up four different forms of self-defense and weapons. Damian's favorite weapons were blades.

Jason took up blade wielding shortly before Damian showed up, and when he found out the little snot actually liked swords and could fight with them, that set a good pace for their rivalry and practicing.

Tim was mostly a brainiac, but Jason, for some reason, refused to let the little guy go on without building himself physically too. So he made Tim take Karate and Jujitsu classes and spar with him as much as possible. He said it was so he wouldn't have to worry about picking up whatever was left of Tim if a bully messed with him.

In Jason's language, that just meant he cared. Tim understood that and ended up being a pretty formidable fighter. Although he never used his skills outside of practice or sparring.

Yet.

Dick runs a hand through his thick hair and pushes open the heavy set doors to their gym. Sure enough, there they all were. Jason's sparring with Damian, both have one sword in their hands and the match looks like it was intense, Dick can tell by how fast and hard both were moving. That's normal, Damian and Jason had 'fake' fights by actually fighting. It would be really unnerving if Dick wasn't used to it already. His eyes scan the big circular area and find Tim near the benches sitting on a blue mat, a laptop in front of him and at less fifty pieces of paper surrounding him.

Dick smiles at the massive contrast Tim's calm, thinking, aura had to Jason's and Damian's fire and death auras.

Just like Tim. Dick walks over, casually avoiding the fighting brothers. He sits down across from the small framed boy and tilts his head in a smile.

"What's up Timmy?"

The smart boy doesn't look up, he continues to tap away at his laptop, "Nothing. I'm just looking into some basics of IT."

That was an odd thing to look into randomly, 'Why?"

"Because, I figured if we're going to do this whole thing, chances we run into 'trouble' is really high and, realistically, you can't really win anything by running away. We need something to help our edge." Tim explains all while reading something at the same time.

Dick lets out a loud sigh, "Tim. We didn't decide for sure-"

"Yes, we did. You gave in remember, and don't think just because you're older you can somehow forget your surrender." The way he says that was colder than a twelve-year-old should know how to be.

Dick sighs again, "It's just-"

"Forget it Dickie," Jason interjectes while dodging a swipe from Damian, "You know how Timbo gets when he's made up his mind- hey!" He counters his youngest brother's sword swiftly and backs him up, "Watch your form, pipsqueak."

Damian scoffs, "Watch your own. If I was your teacher, I'd cry because of how horribly you carry yourself." He twists away from the glowering ex-street kid, "Not fit to wield a sword."

Jason snaps and falls into a duck, rolls forward and kicks the smaller boy straight in the gut, sending him rolling across the mat.

"Jason!"

"What!" Jason shrugs and blows his bangs out of his eyes, "He was getting on my nerves."

Dick glares, "So what? You don't cheat like that and - aw, forget it. Damian are you okay?" He skips towards the coughing boy and tries to help him up.

The small ninja refuses to be coddled, he always refuses to be coddled, "Let go. I'm fine Grayson, stop it!" Although, his refusing usually fell on deaf ears.

"Here, let me check," Dick pulls the boy closer while Jason snorts behind, Tim is watching with not hidden amusement on his face which all makes Damian color and snap at the oldest boy.

"I said stop it. Let me go while you still have your fingers intact." He seethes in a deadly tone.

Dick lets him go with a hurt face, of all the boys that he worries about, Damian caused him the most concern. True, the little boy was less prim and formal speaking than he was a few years ago, but sometimes the 'leader of the assassins creed' upbringing would come out if he was pushed into extreme anger or uncomfortableness.

"Yeah Dick, give the little highness some space. He will not be babied." Jason smirks at Damian's livid look.

Tim's face is suddenly split by a gleaming mischievous grin, "Considering his upbringing, you'd think he'd like the attention."

Both boys start laughing at nothing, just the fact that Damian looks like he wants to kill them is enough to rile both up into fits of giggles. Jason's favorite pass time is to troll everybody, and Tim's is to join Jason when he trolls Damian. Dick huffs as he places a hand on the ex-assassins' shoulder.

"Forget them Dami, guys I just want you all to know-"

"Boooooys!"

All four perk up, anger, teasing, and stress forgotten. Selina is calling them upstairs and they all decide that is most important right now. Jason and Damian drop their swords, Tim puts down his computer and Dick follows them all as they race up the stairs in a loud and messy clamor, scaring tenants and janitors alike.

Selina smiles to herself as she hears the familiar stampede coming toward the door. It's been a really long day and she just wants a nice cup of coffee, her boys, and some cats. Nothing too extravagant, just something to relax with.

She chuckles lightly when she hears Jason curse at Dick for punching him, Damian threatening Tim, and Tim snapping back with a sarcastic remark, and Dick telling them all to shut up. Yes, that was exactly what she needs after a long hard day, she peels off her heels just as Maven squeaks and throws open the door for all four boys to fall in still arguing.

"Hello kittens, did you all have a good day?" Selina gives them all a genuine smile as they straighten up and answer.

"It was decent," Tim smiles politely, "I got a few A's today, nothing too big, Mr. Langley says I should be in a higher grade than I am but he wants to discuss it with you first." Tim casually hands her a parent/teacher conference note.

Selina sighs and takes it, "All right then. Maven, Friday, make a note of it please."

"Done. Good work Tim." Maven coos, earning an eye roll from Jason and a proud smile from Tim.

"Big deal," Jason says dully.

His guardian turns to him now, "And you? How was your day? Any fights." She asks picking her nails as if it didn't matter if he got into any fights or not. It makes Jason fell less guarded and more likely to talk. She'd learned that a while ago.

He shrugs, "Nah, not today. Just got one detentions slip for-"

"Really Jason?" Maven sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose, "If you keep doing that, we won't be able to keep up the excuses anymore. You'll be kicked out."

Jason narrows his eyes, "I don't really care, Maven, besides, the teacher deserved it."

Dick squeaks next to him and Damian tries to hide a smirk, Tim just watches expressionlessly, you'd think everyone would be as used to Jason as he was by now.

Selina places a hand on his head with a small smile, "I'm sure he did. We'll talk about it later, " She kisses his forehead, relishing in the fact that he didn't stiffen as much as he used to.

"So . . . I'm off the hook?" Jason whispers to her.

She hums in amusement, "Nope. No dessert for a week."

Jason pales and bows his head. Taking away his dessert was like taking away his air for some reason. But it had to be done. Even though she really didn't care much for those self-righteous schools and their rules. But she was the adult here, had to set an example, kinda.

Dick sighs next to her, grabbing her attention, "You okay Kitten?" She looks towards her acrobatic charge. Now that she really has a minute to look at him, he seems really droopy, maybe a little tense and tired. Hum, there was something to talk about here. Later though.

"Yeah. Thanks, how was your day?" He deflects smoothly. Selina smiles, she'd taught him how to do that and the boy didn't even realize he was doing it.

She gives him a quick hug, "I'll tell you later, go take a nap."

Surprisingly, the usually hyper teen complies and heads towards his room. She almost misses the side glances shared between the other three. Now she turns her attention to Damian.

"How about you Damian? Any problems with anyone today."

Maven comes back into the room just then and raises a questioning eye brow at the suddenly sullen boy. He does not meet anyone's eyes but stubbornly stares at the ground.

Selina smiles, "Come on, you can help me make dinner tonight." She stretches a hand out towards him.

Damian casually takes it and lets her take him to the kitchen, which somehow ends up being their space whenever Damian didn't want to talk in front of the other boys.

Maven sighs and turns to Jason and Tim, both boys had suddenly disappeared. Oh, why did she even bother.

She storms off towards her own room to set up the next months' work schedule for her boss.

"Cut it out Dick-face!" Jason roars as he jumps off the couch like a wild animal and lands on the circus clown, both go tumbling and fighting and yelling at each other.

Dick had asked for it honestly; he should know better by now than to needle Jason after a long day in detention. But then, Dick wasn't really one to catch onto hostile cues. Or maybe he just didn't care.

Tim rolls his eyes from his casual perch in a comfortable arm chair, a book nearly as big as him in his lap, "You both make me embarrassed to be a male." He says, calmly turning a page.

"Shut-" Jason snaps between the scuffle he is in, "The hell - up - Tim!" Dick smacks him hard. Jason curses loudly and punches the older boy directly in the chest. Dick goes down in an over dramatic scream of demise and falls back onto the floor, faking a very convincing convulse of death.

Jason glares angrily, the urge to kill this boy were strong, "Leave me alone, you freak!"

"Ja-son-" Dick coughs violently, "How co-"Cough, "Could you do this?" He reaches towards the young terror longingly, "After all we've been through, you - you betray me . . ." He trails off and falls silent, death, apparently, overtaking him.

Tim snorts loudly and watches as Damian and Selina walk in at the exact moment Dick finishes his spectacular death.

Damien's observant eyes notice the anger in Jason's face melt ever so slightly as the fourteen-year-old tries not to laugh at Dick's sheer stupidity.

Selina sighs, "Come on boys, not tonight. Just be good, eat dinner, do your homework and go to bed okay." She says quickly, that's when Jason and Tim notice her outfit. The stunning woman is dressed in a very, very, tight black dress that reveals all but nothing at the same time, her lips are painted velvet red and she's wearing her good jewelry.

Tim puts his book down, this outfit could only mean-

"You going on a date or something?" Jason speaks up first, his anger well under control now, Dick still lay motionlessly on the ground at his feet though.

Selina sighs again, she's been doing that a lot lately, Tim doesn't like it, "Or something. Look boys, I have some things to take care of and a nice interested party is going to help me take care of it so, if you could-"

The doorbell rings, cutting her off, all the boys, except Dick, he was staying true to his dead man part, look at her. Selina's sapphires widen in actual unexpected surprise and confusion.

"Um, hold that thought gentleman." She pats her elegant bun absently and walks towards the door, forgetting she didn't have on her heels yet.

Tim climbs down the chair and gives Damian, who'd been sullenly silent, a questioning look. The little would be ninja refuses to answer. Typical. But he looks upset, Tim notices that, what was going on?

Jason seems to have the same thought pattern, but obviously more rapid and unrefined than Tim's, all three boys turn to look at who could possibly be at the door.

"Oh! Bruce, how-how did you - I thought we were meeting at the restaurant." Selina's smooth voice drifts to them, a slight octave higher than normal.

A deep, smooth, laugh drifts after, "I know, but Alfred wouldn't let me. He's old fashioned like this." A baritone voice reaches all the boys, raising hairs.

Even Dick looks now.

A tall, handsome, well build man in a casually expensive, pressed, dark blue suit walk into their living space.

The different levels of tense could have killed if it was a physical thing.

"Um, boys, this is Mr. Wayne." She says, a little strained as she smiles big for the show.

Tim straightens, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head. Bruce Wayne! The Bruce Wayne, he heard of this man, he'd read of this man, he even met him once when he was like six, but to see him here in front of him, in the flesh, six years later! The boy didn't know what to think. The man was legendary in so many ways, some good and some bad, but that didn't bother Tim, all he knows is that this man is capable of incredible things. And Tim wants to know exactly what kind of things.

The man smiles at all of them, Tim bit his cheek, that looks performed too. Interesting.

"Hello gentlemen, Selina told me she had four young men in her custody but she didn't tell me nearly enough." He says politely, "I am pleasantly surprised.

Jason scoffs rudely next to Tim. The younger boys brain kicks into over drive. Oh no, that means Jason doesn't approve! That means Jason will say something outrageous and probably true! That means-

"Who the H-"

"Nice to meet you Mr. Wayne!" Tim cuts in quickly, noticing Selina's slightly relieved look, "It's on honor really."

The little boy stretches out a straight hand, his eyes taking in everything at once. Jason looks pissed. Dick is still on the floor, his eyes open, watching the man with no readable expression on his face. That could be. . . bad. And Damian . . . the little boy hadn't taken his eyes off the older male at all. That could also be bad.

Bruce looks pleased though, so that's good, "Nice to meet you too, young Mr-"

"Drake, Timothy Drake." Tim finishes politely, shaking hands with the man.

"Pleasures all mine. And you are-"

Selina coughs lightly when the man looks down at the stretched out teen who is watching him from there.

"Dick Grayson."

"Dick, stand up." Selina snaps quickly, covering up her laughter with firmness as the man looks with some confusion at the teen.

Dick stands up, "Dick Grayson sir." He says slowly, running a hand through his hair, "If you don't mind, I want to know what you're doing here."

Whoop, there it is. Selina knew that was coming. Four sets of eyes regard the rich man suspiciously now, some more obviously than others. She has to smooth this over or her well-meaning boys would ruin all their lives, "Mr. Wayne and I are going out for the evening boy. Bruce, this is Jason and that's Damian, they don't like strangers much. Now, be good and I'll see you soon!"

She tugs on the man's arm, successfully pulling him towards the door. He stumbles through some protests that were cut off when she quickly closes the door.

Four boys stand there. Four young men look at each other. Selina, their Selina, just flew out with some random rich man that looked waaaay more than just a rich stiff. They could feel it.

Tim finds it interesting.

Dick finds it suspicious.,

Jason is jealous.

And Damian . . . is confused.

Jason sits in his room, on his bed, throwing a baseball in the air as he leans against his cream colored walls. It is now twelve o'clock midnight. Selina still hadn't come back; he doesn't like it. It bothers him, something about that man bothered him.

Jason's good at reading threats, he needed to be to survive on the streets, but the problem was he couldn't read anything off that guy. Nothing, no hostility, no ease, no . . . nothing. Like he was a robot going through motions. Jason couldn't figure it out and he doesn't like when he can't figure something out.

He'd decided to wait until she comes home. He would confront her. Selina didn't usually date, she flirted, she teased, but she didn't date. Jason suspects with mild disgust, that was because she had a thing for the bat freak that haunts Gotham at night.

So why did she suddenly decide to go out with this guy?

Jason doesn't like it.

He tosses the baseball higher, his movements harder as the intensity of his thoughts picked up. He really wants her to come home. Why wasn't she home already? She couldn't be having that much fun.

A sick twist in his gut makes him think otherwise.

Selina's laugh twinkels down the hall as Bruce helps her out of the elevator. His laugh mixes with hers as they make their way to her door.

"Oh, I can't remember the last time I'd had so much fun," Not since she'd stopped Catwoman, "Thanks Bruce, I really needed that," Just like I need your money, "We should do this again sometime." She smiles slyly as she looks up at him through her thick lashes.

The man actually smirks. Selina would deny it, but that sudden little quirk that seems oddly out of place on his usually refined face made her heart actually flutter for a moment.

"We should. I look forward to it Selina." He carefully lets her waist go, "I really do."

Just what she wanted to hear. You've set the bait, caught the fish, now reel him in slowly.

She tips over slightly and places a soft kiss right on the corner of his lips, just barely, "Me too. Good night Mr. Wayne." She says, her voice dripping with a sultry note.

"Mm, Good night Ms. Kyle."

The beautiful woman gives him one last smile before slowly closing the door. She waits for a minute in the dark, listening to his footsteps going down toward the elevator.

A smile stretches across her face. She got her man. Her plan was working, now all she has to do was set up a scene that will make him aware of her struggle without her actually telling him. Then he'd help wholeheartedly and she can keep her pride intact. Perfect.

Isis meows against her leg, startling her out of her thoughts, "Oh, hello baby, miss me?" She scratches the black feline on his neck, "Let's see if those boys are okay too." She didn't miss the hostility and suspicion coming from Jason and Dick. Timmy seemed more open, because he was in better control of his emotions. And Damian just looked confused which confused her. What could confuse the little guy? She'd have to ask him.

Her eyes catch a dim light coming from Jason's room. His door is slightly open. She sighs, pulling out her bun and kicking off her heels as she makes her way towards the rebellious young man's living space.

Slowly pushing open the door, Selina looks inside to find the boy curled against the wall uncomfortably, huddling in a red hoodie, baseball resting on his stomach.

She walks in easily without noise, unlike Tim's and Dick's room, Jason's is impeccably organized and spotless, not even Damian kept his things this orderly. That was the one thing Maven couldn't complain about the ex-street kid, he loved to keep things clean.

Selina picks up the baseball and places it on his dresser before carefully adjusting the boy's body down on his bed.

Jason mumbles intelligibly when she shifts him, he blinks blearily up at her, his mind still half asleep, "S'lina" He mutters thickly, "Came home, s'late."

She smiles and pulls the blanket up, "We'll talk in the morning." She gives a small kiss on his forehead and brushes the unruly locks away, "I promise, Tiger."

The only response she gets is a soft snore.

Chapter Text

"Sector eighteen? Really?" Barbara was nearly floating, no, she is floating, except her feet were still on the ground. Bruce, Batman, just informed her that she is ready enough for a more dangerous section of Gotham to patrol.

"I said, if you can last longer than five minutes this time." Batman corrects sternly, "You've been training for a little over a month now, even though you've got natural talent, you're still nowhere near ready enough for-"

"Come on, give me your best shot." She isn’t  listening. She isn’t going to let him dampen her spirit. She was going to do this and Batman's doom and gloom wasn't going to stop her.

Batman fights back any external sign of irritation at her brashness and takes up proper fighting stance, "You’re move." He waits. She calculates her moves, he can see them.

This was going to be over fast.

Barbara sets her body up like he'd taught her, he can't see any major defects in it this time, pretty good. She releases a punch, he blocks, her leg comes in fast, his hand grabs her ankle and twists, she jumps, her entire body twisting with the ankle, Batman blinks for a split second, he never taught her that. She feigns left, he dodges her right, she jumps back, in a series of backflips lands behind and rounds on him.

Batman sweeps her feet out from under her before she can think.

That lasted twenty seconds longer than he thought it would.

"Sector twenty." He says coolly, giving her a hand.

She grabs it and flipped him over.

Batman is down.

Barbara stands up, blowing loudly, her hair a fiery mess, her breath a little too fast, "There, mister high and mighty. What do you say to that?" She's done it. She's floored Batman. Gosh, her confidence is skyrocketing. So are her nerves and heart rate. He’s going to kill her now isn’t he?

Batman stands up easily and looks at her without expression for a long breathless moment.

"Sector Eighteen." Is all he says and walks away.

Barbara Gordon can fly now.

Selina is in a very interesting spot right at the moment. Her boys staring her down while Maven and Isis watch, she swears Maven’s trying not to laugh.

"Well?" Dick has a demanding tone in his voice that probably deserved a slap. But she can't bring herself to be bothered by it. Their ridiculous interrogating and overprotectiveness is just too adorable.

"I told you boys," She leans back, faking a relaxed pose which they could see right through, "It's a work related thing."

"Tt, yes, that's what you would say, but we saw him. He didn't look like he'd come here for anything 'work’," Damian actually air quotes with his fingers, Selina’s amused, that is Dick's influence no doubt, ",related, he was taking you out."

"And, even if he is a prestigious member of Gotham's elites, you shouldn't be taken in so easily." Tim chides maturely.

Selina almost burst into a fit of giggles at his adorable serious look.

Jason rolls his eyes, "Prestigious my ass, all he wants is to bed-"

"Jason!"

Dick cuts him off mid rant and glares daggers at the fourteen-year-old. Jason glares back.

"You know it's true. He's that type. I can see it." He continues, his previous sentence flying over the younger boys heads thankfully. At least that's what Dick hopes.

"Ok, ok, ok, enough boys." Selina stands up, pets her cat and kisses each one of them on the top of their heads, good thing they are all sitting down, Dick and Jason are taller than her now, "I have to go, but don't worry Kittens; I'll be careful alright?"

They all give her less than convinced looks as she slips on her beige heels and heads for the door. Maven following closely behind, "We'll see you later boys!" Maven calls over her shoulder, "Have a good day at school!" She closes the door behind them.

The room is silent for a minute. Two more. Three. The only thing filling the air is each young mans thoughts as they try to decide what to accept or reject.

Dick decides they need to accept it for now and he knows it would be for the best. Besides, they were late for school, maybe he could see Barbara today.

"Let's go guys, we don't want any detention slips today."

"I don't like it, or him." Jason says, unhappy about Selina's date man.

"Let it go Jay, we can't really judge the guy, we don't even know anything about him." Dick tries to smooth over.

Tim clears his throat, "He's all over the news, papers, blogs, you name it. I'd say there is quite a bit of info on the man. Some of it isn't so great." He admits despite Dick warning looks.

"Tim-"

"Drake's right, why don't we just research the man ourselves? Then we can determine if he's worth Selina's time." Damian interrupts, for once agreeing with Tim.

"Guys! Stop it! This is Selina's choice, if she wants to go out with a freak from another planet we have no right to stop her!" Dick says, a little frantic now, fear of what his Brothers would do if they thought a little harder seeps into his mind, "Let this go. Maybe the guy's really nice? Just let it go."

Silence.

More silence.

"You don't like him either." Jason says simply.

"Ugh! School, now!"

Dick takes deep breaths as he hustles his annoying siblings out the door.

Jason has a headache and he is so not in the mood for this.

He’s currently in the middle of the gym, dodging hard balls while his loser classmates run and scream behind him like the world is ending. That wasn't what was pissing him off though, he’s already upset about this whole Wayne thing but today his gym teacher decided it would be 'fun' to pitch the lower classes against the upperclassmen in a 'friendly' game of dodge ball.

Friendly my ass. Half these freaks are out to get me for all those pranks and beat downs I gave them before. It was true. The leader of the junior football team, Morton Wilton hated Jason's guts, mostly because he felt threatened by the fast talking power punk that had the potential to steal his spotlight.

Therefore, making Jason his prime piece of meat to pick on whenever he felt like it, which caused a lot of fights, which Wilton lost the most blood on. He was taking vicious aim at the younger boy, hating every little movement the kid made as he dodges the balls so easily. How the hell was he doing that?

Jason notices, of course he notices, he just didn't care. He knows, with every shot Wilton misses, it makes him angrier. But that wasn't really a problem for the young rebel, Wilton would come after him, Jason would beat him up, Wilton would place the blame on Jason and get away scot-free, and Jason would get yet another punishment. Probably call in Selina this time too Oh boy, the last time they did that it had actually been fun.

But the dark haired boy felt that maybe Selina has too much on her plate right now. Maybe he should just keep it low key for now, besides, contrary to popular belief, he did care about what would happened to his . . . to the rest of them. He knows what kind of crap Gotham could drown you in, and he didn't want Tim or even mini Satan to have to deal with it.

Jason had drowned enough for all of them.

"Time!" The gym coach finally blows the whistle. Many kids just fall pathetically to the floor, most were already there, the upperclassmen were hooting and high fiving each other. Jason rolls his eye, those freaks really get a kick out of butchering smaller and defenseless people. Jerks.

"Hit the showers kids, and have a nice, probably sore, rest of the day."

Jason snorts this time and heads out, glad to avoid any of the junior jerks in favor of a shower. He heads towards the locker room, his thoughts secluding him completely, he can’t hear or register anyone else when he thinks this hard. What would Selina do if they couldn't get her enough money? She was the closest thing Jason had to a mother, his first one had ended miserably, even if she did love him, she hadn't enough to stay alive.

Selina is here and she is tough. Jason respects her for that. He feels that she gets most things he never even says out loud, she understands what it’s like to come from rock bottom.

He doesn’t want to let her go, or . . . or the others. Dick, that moron, Tim, that sarcastic ass, and Damian, the little prick, he doesn't want to let any of them go.

"Jason?"

The boy stops and blinks out of his thoughts, a gorgeous red head eyes him curiously. When had he come out of the shower? He looks down, fully dressed and clean, huh, guess I was thinking harder than I thought.

"Uh - yah, Hiya-" What the hell was her name? "B-Barbie, um 'sup?"

The girl regards him coolly, "Nothing, I just saw you and I don't usually see you and . . ."

He just stares at her, wait. Was she trying to see him? Could she possibly like him? Jason's brain does a little jig, like him more than Dick! Oh boy, if he got this girl for his girlfriend he could rub it in Dick's face for the rest of eternity.

"Have you seen Dick around?"

Aaaand there it is. Jason's flight plan crashes and burns. It’s always Dick. He can never win against the stupid puppy eyed flying clown. No matter what he did or what he said, Dick Grayson was always better and more wanted than him. Jason would be lying if he said he wasn't just a tiny bit jealous of the moron.

"No." He turns around, jams his fists in his pants and saunters off. Just go away. He thinks angrily.

Her footsteps speed up to catch up with him, "That's fine, hey you have a class here?" She asks casually.

Oh, so now she wants to talk to me.

"No, it's downstairs." He snaps sharply.

She bites her lip in silence, "Ok then. I'm heading down there; I could walk with you." She says simply.

He shrugs, keeping his disappointment under wraps, "Whatever."

Barbara studies him for a minute. He doesn't like it, he feels like she can see right through him even though he’s sure she can’t.

"I get it."

Jason stops suddenly and stares at her in confusion, "Get what?" What could she possibly be getting?

She gives him a stunning smile, "The tough guy act. I get it. I found out where you came from, and I get it. I've seen what happens to people down there. Coming from there you must be working through a lot of mental and emotional traumas."

Jason narrows his eyes, a sudden unbidden bout of anger wells up in him, "You don't get it. I am not some psychological study for you to pick apart. Seeing or hearing is not getting it. Cut it out. Go find your prince charming and leave me alone." Where the hell was this coming from? Why is he suddenly so angry, usually he restrains himself around girls, especially pretty ones, and this one hadn't done anything to him, he's only seen her once! But here he is, getting defensive and angry and wishing he could just disappear.

It’s not even because of the fact that she was looking for Dick that makes him mad. It’s . . . everything before.

He’s tired and irritated and just wants to go home. He hates this feeling, the feeling that everything could fall apart any second and he can't do anything about it. It makes him feel weak. He hates feeling weak.

"Sorry Um . . . forget I said anything. Sorry." She says quickly, pushing her hair aside, "See you around Jason."

Jason watches as she whirl away and walk in the opposite direction. He sighs and lets the annoying tension slip out of his shoulders, "Hey!"

She stops and turns slightly.

"It's ok. That wasn't. . . I'm not mad at you. . .Friends?"

She gives him a small smile, "Sure, friends."

Jason smiles back as she continues her way. Yeah, okay, friends. Whatever that meant. He'll worry about that later.

Dick stares at the headline in front of him.

'Spanish history museum opening today.'

Vreeland opened it, she actually opened the museum and put in all those priceless artifacts in it and they were all just sitting there, waiting to be taken.

Dick licks his lips, he’s already sold off, well Jason, sold off the things they took from that woman's mansion, plus the money they got from the ruby. Tim had helped figure it out. Selina hadn't even noticed the money was coming in, either she didn't notice, or she hasn't checked because she's been so distracted.

He doesn’t know. All he knows is that the company needs more. Selina needs more to keep her projects and land out of competitors hands. And Dick’s planning on getting it for her.

He straightens from the computer he’s sitting in front of, he’s at the school library, and heads towards the exit. He needs to find Jason.

A shout echoes through the halls.

Jason chokes as three quarterbacks hold him against the hard wall, two by his arms and one by the throat.

"That was a dirty trick with our footballs kid. Should have gone home while you had the chance." Wilton sneers, his perfectly straight teeth making Jason want to punch him more.

He'd pulled that prank yesterday. Glitter glued all their pigskins and stuck them to their benches. Wilton was trying to get revenge on the dodge ball court today but couldn't, so now he’s resorting to a good old fashioned beat down.

"S'the matter Moron, can't handle me on your own?" Jason mocks, getting another harsh slap on his face. Spots are swimming now, they'd banged his head pretty hard and ambushed him, Jason hates himself for not seeing it.

"Oh, little punk wants to play tough? Okay boys, show him tough."

One of them let’s his arm go for a minute to draw into a punch. Jason smirks with his bloody lip, big mistake loser, he punches the guy holding him by the neck first. A satisfying crunch sounds under his fist as the bigger male goes tumbling back, screaming bloody hell, holding his nose, which Jason can safely say is now broken.

The others jump him. Jason dodges an oncoming fist. The assaulter misses and knocks out his own friend. Another one tries to kick, Jason jumps and drop kicks two of them, side punching another, and round houses a fourth. Wilton is the only one left standing.

Jason cracks his bloody knuckles and smirks, a little sadistically at that, "Come on Wilty boy, you ain't afraid of me are ya." He taunts, his voice dropping a notch into darkness and the common Narrows accent slips out. He doesn't do that often, but when he did . . . even Dick’s afraid.

"G-get away from me you little . . ."

Jason punches him straight in the face. Hard.

Wilton goes down faster than a tower of Jenga blocks. Jason stands in the middle of the bodies, trying to calm his breathing and let the adrenaline pass through.

"Jason?"

The boy's sea green eyes widen as he snaps them up to connect with a familiar pair of bright blue, "Um . . . I'm innocent?" He tries.

Dick’s face doesn’t know what to say. Neither did his hanging mouth.

"What? Aw, come on Dick, it's not like you haven't seen me-"

"Shush! Come on, We've gotta go before they wake up or someone sees you." Dick grabs the younger boys arm and drags him out of the building quickly.

Jason does not complain.

" - So that's what we're gonna do." Dick finishes his briefing as he and Jason power walk down the street, he explained about the open museum and the artifacts that could rake in quiet a hefty sum.

Jason listened silently until Dick finished, "Okay then, so tonight we pull a big one huh?”

"Yeah, I had Tim check Selina's accounts, funds for her projects are running, Daggett enterprises is trying to buy her out. The jerk has it all waiting for him if we don't give her a boost." The older boy sighs and runs a hand through his hair, "so we just get in and get out, just like before."

"Except this time, I won't have to torch anything right?" Jason smirks at the memory.

Dick rolls his bright eyes, "I hope not. And we're not telling Tim or Damian either."

Jason stops mid step staring at the acrobat as he continues to walk, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," He starts quickly, "You clearly lost that argument and when Tim finds out he'll probably use his brilliant mind to cook up a revenge scheme on you that you'll never see coming. Bad call Dick."

Dick's shoulders slump as he sighs again, "We are not telling them. I don't want them to get involved, what if we get caught or shot at?"

"Okay fine. But you're taking the blame for this one. I'm just gonna be the innocent bystander that went along with it unwillingly."

Dick snorts, "Since when are you an innocent anything."

"Good point. Just a bystander then."

Dick chuckles and claps a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, "Come on bystander, we're late for dinner."

It should be simple. That's what Dick had said. Jason scoffs as he crawls through the tight ventilation system, sure stick me with the cruddy job.

It is late and both boys had suited up, things were just all the easier because Tim and Damian had gone to bed and Selina and Maven were working late. So they both decided it was as good as now.

Unfortunately, the museum had some pretty good security, all the windows and doors were set, so that only left the ventilation shafts, which were pretty small, Dick is still bigger than Jason. That makes him the most logical person to send in, this was the moment when Jason wishes they'd brought Tim or Damian along.

Stupid Grayson.

The ex-street kid grunts as he pushes the vent cover out and carefully climbs down, sliding to the floor silently. Okay, I'm in, now . . . all he has to do was find the security room and turn down the systems for a minute. He sticks to the shadows and avoids every camera he sees, hopefully not missing any.

A door looms in his vision. His lips stretch into a smirk, 'Authorized personnel only' Bingo. That’s the door.

With a quick step, he picks the lock effortlessly and slowly pushes the door open. It was a regular security room, TV screens stacked up on one side, all the feeds from all the cameras showing most of the museum. A guard is sitting in a swivel chair, his feet up, playing a game on his phone. Yup, this was gonna be easy,

Jason resists the urge to say something to scare the guard before knocking him out, Dick would kill him. Besides, being invisible was really important right now. He tip-toes towards the unsuspecting man in the dark. He holds his breath as the man suddenly yawns and stretches back, still unaware of the young figure behind him.

One quick swipe to the neck and the poor sucker doesn’t know what hit him. Jason lets out his breath and quickly taps the security off, then, not wasting another breath, he runs out to tell Dick.

Night Prowler is waiting outside patiently, scratching his head every once in a while hoping his brother’s alright. What’s taking him so long? Jason couldn't have gotten caught yet, could he?

He swallows thickly, his ears straining to hear something, anything that would indicate Jason.

A window flys open, successfully freaking the cat burglar out as he whirls around to see his missing masked brother, "Jas-Red, you almost gave me a heart attack! Did you do it?" He asks making his way to the window.

Jason smirks, grabs the elders' arms and pulls him up, "Yup, the security isn't so cheap here though, it has an automatic reset system, we have fifteen minutes, let's move."

So they do.

Batgirl sighs and flops heavily against the rough cracking wall of the building she's landed on. One robbery, two muggings, and one near rape in only three hours. Gosh, how did Batman keep up with this crap?

She's beat, the red head rubs her eyes tiredly, but she isn't going to tell Batman that. No way, he'd just twist it around to her not being ready for this. She sighs again and reaches in her belt, something buzzes suddenly and she really hopes it wasn't another mugging.

'Museum break in. Finger and Kane.'

She bites her lip, a museum robbery? Huh, she hasn't stopped one of those yet, and it so happens to be that new one Vreeland opened today, and it is in her sector. Great. Maybe this would bump her up on Batman's trust meter. Hopefully they were just regular thieves because she doesn't think she's ready for Catwoman or the Riddler yet.

She pulls her line and ejects it, better go check this out either way.

"Hey, check this out." Jason hisses through the dark as Dick makes a neat cut in a glass case that holds a priceless necklace.

Dick's eyes flicker to Jason's hand to see the boy holding a strange looking jar, "Those are cremation jars Ja - Red, they put ashes of dead people in there."

Jason grimaces, "That's nice to know." He carefully puts it back and goes to look for something less creepy to take, his eyes fell on a shimmering set of crowns, "Hey, think we should get one of these for Mother's day." He jokes reaching for the case.

Dick snorts but doesn't answer.

Three more minutes later and both boys have had their fill, "Come on Red, we got five more minutes left, let's vamoose."

Jason nods, "After you Night Princess."

"Night Prowler. Would it kill you to say it?" Dick corrects with an eye roll.

"It might."

"Whatever. Here, lemme boost you." Dick bends down and puts his hands together for Jason to step on, "Gosh man, you need to lay off the chili dogs." Dick grunts as he lifts the younger boy up.

Jason snorts and pulls himself out of the window, "If you ditch the coco puffs." He says reaching down to help Dick up.

Both boys grin at each other as they head out, they feel pretty good right now, not noticing the fluttering shadow that just landed overhead.

"This crap'll pull in a good amount huh." Jason whispers excitedly.

Dick rolls his shoulders and reaches for his whip, "I suggest we get it out as soon as possible." He says while reaching his arm back to toss the line. A sharp whizz cuts through the air and hits his hand hard, making him let go of the whip, "Yow! What the hell?"

Jason's eyes widen behind the mask, "Shit, it's him! Go!" He grabs Dick's arm and ran, fear creeping up fast after seeing that looming bat shadow. Batman's on to them! Crap, crap, and double crap! What're we gonna do now?

A yellow blur cuts past his face and lands in front of them. It blinks then explodes. Both boys yelp and turn around, rubbing their eyes fiercely, trying to get the smoke out.

"Red, we gotta split up! You take the back alleys; I'll lead him off!" Dick shouts suddenly as they pound down the dark streets.

Jason's heart is jumping in his throat, adrenaline roars in his ears, fear making him sweat, 'O-okay. Just, don't get caught."

"You too. Go."

They split directions both hoping the other wouldn't get caught.

Batgirl feels a smirk tug on her lips as she watches the thieves scatter suddenly. They weren't used to this, obviously they were new. She lets her line shoot forward and decides she would get at least one of them and question him. Maybe these were they guys that stole that ruby a few weeks back and she'd missed them. Hah, not this time buddy.

She flies in gracefully and lets go, flipping perfectly in the air and landing right in front of one of the thieves on a roof he just climbed.

"Dammit." She hears him hiss between his teeth. It's definitely a male, tall, incredibly well build and . . . something else.

She snaps her mind to the actually important matter, "hands up Buddy, unless you want to get hurt." She raises a hand, three yellow baterangs between her fingers.

A beat passes with neither moving.

The thief's posture falls back a little, she watches for any signs of attack carefully, always keep your eyes on your opponent. Never forget they're human too, therefore, as unpredictable as you are.

"W-wait . . . you're a girl?"

The hell did that matter? Batgirls brows scrunch together realizing nobody really knows about Batgirl yet, he was probably expecting Batman, his confusion makes sense now that she thinks about it.

She cocks a hip and places her hand on it, still holding her other arm posed for a throw, "Yeah, so what, I can still make you see stars."

He shifts back, his body tensing, "Sorry lady, no can do."

Shoot.

He cracks his whip and catches her leg, pulling her off her feet. She falls on her back, the wind knocked out of her, her baterangs flying everywhere. Crap, did not see that coming. Batman would so kill me for that.

She quickly jumps up, grabs the offending rope and pulls hard. The thief rolls forward and coils up for a kick. She jumps and roundhouse kicks him across the face. He stumbles back dizzily, grabbing the wall behind him, rubbing his jaw. She takes his momentary distraction and pounces, he dodges last second and punches her in the gut.

She chokes and punches back, bending to avoid his jabs. He does the same, only he would throw in unnecessary flips and twists between movements. She carefully watches his body as they fight, he's a natural, she can see it. The way he moves are filled with natural grace and he had training, good training. He's good, and he looks amazing.

Focus Barbara. Focus! Criminal, just stole a million dollars' worth of priceless stuff. Focus! But now that she's really up close him she can tell that he's young. Really young. There is no way he could be more than twenty something. His suit's tight, ridiculously so. She feels her throat tighten at the fact that she's unconsciously checking him out.

Unbeknownst to her, he was doing the same.

She sees an opening and lunges, he twists their bodies around and slams her against the wall, pinning her tightly between himself and the rough brick. Batgirl lets out a harsh breath, her eyes narrowing at him, her heart pounding in her chest, her body reacting in a very wrong way.

"Whoa, nobody told me crime fighters were so hot." He whispers, his face is close, too close. She can feel his heat and muscles through the suits. Dammit, this is so not how this was supposed to go.

"Yeah, well. . ." She struggles in an attempt to clear her slipping mind, "Obviously, nobody told you what happens to criminals either." She spits, trying to avoid his face.

Dick licks his lips absently, his eyes taking in the surprisingly gorgeous girl in a costume in front of him. Wow, he doesn't think this is how fighting a superhero would go. She's hot, majorly, and she's making him itch. Something about the mask makes him unafraid now, maybe he could play a little.

"You gonna arrest me Batsy?" He smirks, dropping his voice a notch, running a gloved finger down her arm, still pinning her.

Batgirl suppresses a shudder and glares, "After I beat you to a pulp!" She struggles and slips an arm out of his grasp and slugs him, hard.

He falls back, taking his body heat with him, she refuses to be disappointed and drop kicks him in the gut.

Dick rolls away and flips to his feet, his hormones mixing with adrenaline as he eyes her with amusement, He needs to get out of here before he slips up, "This was fun. See you around Batsy." He blows a kiss and flips backwards off the building.

Batgirl is too frazzled to catch him on time, by the time she gets to the edge, he had disappeared in the dark, leaving her alone with her whirling thoughts and a deep ache for something she can't place.

But damn he was hot.

Definitely not a run of the mill thief. Oh crap, Batman is gonna be furious.

A loud banging and the sun on his face wakes a very sleepy Dick Grayson up the next morning.

"Dick! Get up!" Tim's voice rings through his door.

The older boy yawns, "coming." He calls sleepily sitting up and stretching. Man, last night had been fast and fun. He smirks to himself as he stumbles out of bed, his eyes still closed as he remembers that hot Bat-chic, he feels a pull when he did.

He doesn't know there was a Batgirl, now he could totally understand the whole thing Selina has for Batman. Something about a costume on a perfect body just lights stuff up inside him.

He stretches and opens the door, a very unhappy looking Tim glares at him from the other side, "Mornin' Timmy-"

"Don't 'morning' me, you liar." Tim snaps coldly, "What's this?" He slaps a newspaper against Dick's chest.

The older boy grunts and opens the paper, his eyes bugging out in shock, his brain fully awake now.

"What!" A loud yell comes from Jason's room, followed by the half-dressed boy a second later. His hair a mess, his eyes are bright and angry as he hangs on his door frame staring at Dick.

Dick swallows, "They got us." He whispers quietly, just in case Selina or Maven are around.

Jason grits his teeth, "They . . . aw crap, I must have missed something! Now we're headline news." He hisses back.

Tim rolls his eyes as Damian comes out of Jason's room, unimpressed about everything.

"You guys are missing the point!" Tim snaps, "You went on a heist without us!" He reminds them, still angry about it.

Damian nods, "Idiots. And now other people know about you."

Dick looks at the front page picture harder, "It's blurry, you can't really see it."

Tim taps the paper in his hand, "Read Dick. Read."

"New Cat buglers attack The Spanish History Museum last night. Security Guard, Frank Miller is his name, says they snuck up and knocked him out, in attempt to get to the security controls. In an odd slip up – these new seemingly rookie, thieves weren't aware of the separate camera system set up outside of the museum. This was all the cameras could catch. The question still remains, who are these new thieves? And will they become a new danger to our city?" Dick chokes as Tim and Damian glare at him. Jason looks about ready to tear something up. Aw man, what if Selina sees this?

Selina's currently sitting in the love seat in the living room, a cup of coffee in her hand, her cat on her lap and the paper unrolled in front of her. She looks down to read it, her eyes widening at the headline.

She picks it up slowly and reads it with growing interest., "New cat burglars huh?" She muses to her cat, "Interesting, I wonder who I've inspired." She smirks, taking a sip of her coffee, "Maybe Catwoman needs to come out and meet them personally."

Chapter Text

Barbara stares at the floral designed plate in front of her solemnly. Her face is a little sunken in this morning, Alfred had noticed and insisted on a nice sandwich to make her feel better. She didn't really feel better, nice of him to try though.

Last night had been her first real mission and she blew it! Let the thieves get away. Telling Bruce that had been extremely difficult. She'd hoped for some painless lecture high in volume. But no. What he gave her was worse.

He just looked at her. Just stared. No malice, no anger, just . . . like some kind of hope had been crushed, some kind of empty disappointment. And that had been way worse than a tongue lashing.

He didn't even speak to her this morning. She bites her lip and blinks fast, he must be really disappointed in me. Forget that! I'm disappointed in myself! Shouldn't have let him get the drop on me like that.

She recalls the fight . . . it was a blur. She remembers everything perfectly but the feelings came back much stronger. She licks  her lips, absently thinking about the way they'd practically invaded personal space beyond invading. She feels the goosebumps trail up her arms and back as she remembers  the heat of his hand, legs - body all over her.

Oh God, there is no denying it. That freak had been hot. Really hot. And it felt like he was playing with her too . . . was this what normal thieves did? She shakes her head getting that daunting smirk out of it.

She needs air. It was Sunday, yeah, she could go for a walk to visit her dad. In fact, she stands abruptly, yells a ‘thank you’ to Alfred, and runs out the door, forgetting her cardigan.

She needs to talk to her father.

Selina raises a smooth dark brow as she sips her coffee. Hmm, these thieves sure had something going for them, she muses still looking at the clipping of the front page from this morning. She'd brought it with her to her office and it was still circling her mind.

Maybe this was a territory run? Catwoman disappears so someone else decided to move into her turf? Sounds plausible, but she still wants to meet them to find out herself.

A steady knock comes from behind her door. She straightens and places the clipping inside her desk drawer.

"Come in."

The door creaks open slowly, Maven pops in her red head and gives a tight smile, "Mr. Wayne here to see you Ma'am."

Selina resists the urge to curl her lips in satisfaction, "Let him in." Looks like she got her fish faster than expected.

In comes Mr. Bruce Wayne, tall, broad shouldered, and incredibly handsome, she wasn't going to deny that. And as much fun as it would be to take this man out, she had priorities.

"Ah, Bruce, so glad you could make it." She reaches out a hand which he takes and firmly shakes, "Please, sit. Welcome to my tiny corner of the world. Nothing compared to yours, I'm sure." Flattery would get you anywhere.

Bruce flashes a semi smile that still manages to make her heart flutter. Strange.

"Even so, this is still impressive." Ah, so he got the flattery thing going on too. Huh, smart man.

She casually leans forward, lacing her fingers together, "So, about why I asked you here-"

"No need to get all formal Selina, I know why you asked me here." He leans back with a slight relaxed air and looks at her with a small quirk of his lip.

She bites her tongue, but doesn’t show anything on her face, "Oh?" She smiles thinly, "Do you now? Then why, pray tell."

"I like to do some research on the people I plan to get involved with," This gets an eye brow raise from her, "So I did some brushing up on you." He stares her dead in the eyes in a way that made her strangely feel like a trapped mouse. She. Did. Not. Like. It.

"Go on." Oh god, if he brought up anything incriminating she is going to punch his lights out.

He sits up, "You've come from nothing. You literally have come from the very ally where I lost everything."

Easy Selina, easy. Don't kill him yet...

"You've fought and clawed-," She refuses to react to that word, "-Your way to where you are and to top it all off you've taken in some very interesting, and . . . unorthodox, boys to mold into respectable and happy young men. You are a marvel really."

She relaxes slowly, maybe this wasn't some two-bit attempt to deal her out. Maybe he was-

"I've also heard about Daggett and his attempts to take all this away from you." His eyes never leave hers, "So yes, in light of your struggles and dedication, I will help you."

There, he'd says it. She barely can get in a word edge wise. She just sat there and blinks. This man . . . has literally one upped her, so fast, she didn't even realize he was doing it. He is smart, calculating and . . . she didn't even comprehend. God, that scares her.

She studies him for a silent minute. Huh, guy has brains to go with that face after all... Interesting.

"Well, Ms. Kyle?"

She swallows, and stretches out a hand, "Deal."

He shakes it easily, "Not just yet. We'll discuss the details at my place."

She raises a brow at this.

He smiles, "I'm having a charity event at my manor and I would like you and your family to come. Does that sound agreeable?"

She thinks about it for a split second and decides there can’t be any harm to it, "Yes, I think I can manage that. Thank you Bruce."

He stands to go, "Tomorrow night, don't forget." And he is gone.

Selina leans back in her chair, suddenly very hot and jittery, God. . . this guy is good. Really good. She'll have to be more careful or else she just might find herself tied down by the world's most elusive bachelor.

Tim doesn’t know why this was happening. He doesn’t like it either. All he wanted to do was walk to Jason's school and go home with him and Dick today. Damian had refused and gone home alone, little brat, anyway, so here he is, minding his own business when all of a sudden he’s surrounded by several high schooler's . . . seniors by the looks of it, and on the football team by the further looks of it.

Tim sighs exasperatedly, and after all that he'd gone through to escape bullying at his own school. . .

"Look, I don't have any money on me, if you really need some, there's a few charity organizations I could direct you to." He says simply, refusing to back down from these vultures.

The biggest one snorts, "You hear that boys, little Drake thinks we want his money," Hideous gaffing ensues, "No. Oh, no, no, no, no, no little brat. We want something no charity can give us." He steps closer to Tim, the others do the same, forming a circle around the small boy. Tim doesn’t flinch.

This seems to confuse the seniors a little. Normal kids his size and age would be flipping the heck out.

What is this kid’s deal?

Wilton doesn’t care, he wants revenge and he’s gonna start with that punk ass's little pipsqueak of a brother.

Oughta send the right message.

"Really? Don't you people have anything better to do? Like study so you won't fail at life." Tim snaps, okay, so maybe Jason's big mouth had rubbed off on him and that probably wasn't a good thing but still . . . these guys were irritating him.

Wilton scoffs, "Let's show this smart ass what happens in real life when you piss off your superiors."

They all pounce on the kid at the same time. Tim grips his book bag and dodge down instantly, whacking one in the face with the bag which was relatively heavy seeing as it had several books in it. One guy down.

The others freeze for a second as Tim rolls backwards and into a fighting stance. Thank you Jason Todd.

What the hell, Wilton wilts a little, so the punk taught his kid punk to fight . . . but they were still bigger then this little snot. All of them begin advancing towards Tim again.

One charges him, Tim jumps easily and flips over the guy, drop kicking another one as he lands and casually punches Wilton straight in the gut before elbowing him in the face.

The bulky teen lets out a slew of curses and punches blindly, "Stupid little shi-"

Tim calmly dodges an oncoming fist and smacks Wilton in the back of his head, sending the football player sprawling all over his friends.

They all curse and fight to get up, yelping at Tim as the small framed boy dusts his shirt off and casually picks up his book bag, slinging it over his shoulder, he casts the idiots a pitying look, "Get a life, seriously."

He turns to continue on his way. Something stings his head. Tim hisses, his hand going to the spot, he turns, eyes narrowing. One of the idiots had thrown a rock at him in desperation. Tim looks at his fingers, blood. A little bit, but it was still there.

Tim grits his teeth as more rocks came flying, he dodges them as best as he could, one gets him right across the cheek though, successfully cutting it. The boy decides  enough is enough, he turns to go. Someone grabs him, Tim gasps as four of them pin him down with all of their weight on his smaller body.

Wilton stands above him with a dangerously large rock in his hand.

"This'll teach you freaks not to mess with-"

"HEY!"

Tim's eyes widen, as did everyone else's. Wilton forgets his rock and whirls around.

Jason stands there, glaring hell at them, his backpack tosses on the sidewalk, his body tense as anything, "Get. Off. My. Brother." He hissed venomously.

Tim actually felt sorry for these guys now. Compared to what Jason would do . . . Tim had barely touched any of them.

Wilton let out a slightly unhinged laugh, "Or what, freak, you gonna-" A straight punch to the mouth shut Wilton up real quick.

The others forgot Tim and charged like animals at the younger teen. Jason looked livid, especially since he noticed the cut on Tim's face. The younger boy swallowed and stood up as Jason, nearly literally, tore these jerks apart. Aw man, how were they gonna explain this one?

And to think, all he wanted to do was walk home with his brothers . . . so much for that.

"Seriously boys?" Maven was lecturing them something fierce when they got home, unfortunately Selina wasn't home yet so that left Maven to lecture them instead of actually listening to the story, "I can't believe you, well actually, yes I can. This is Jason's favorite past time, but you Timmy?" She sighed as she applied some antiseptic on the little boy's cheek, "I would never expect you-"

Jason snorted and rolled his eyes, he was bandaged up already, his arm was wrapped up, he had a band aid slapped over his nose and jaw and a few pieces of cotton taped to his forehead, "Look, lay off Mave, it wasn't Tim's fault those freaks were lookin' to hurt him to get back at me. Dirty ba-" One sharp look from Maven cut the boy off short, "Ba-ck stabbers." He finished with a snort.

Tim sighed, "I'm fine Aunt Maven, really I am." He tried to calm the woman as she wrapped his head like he was going to die if she didn't.

"Oh, lord knows what will happen to you when you get older. Good God Jason, can't you stay out of fights for once?" She continued wrapping as if Tim hadn't spoken.

Jason scratched his chin slowly, as if actually thinking about it, "Well . . . I guess. . . but then, what fun would that be." He smirked at the older woman's face.

She tightened Tim's bandage to a nearly painful tie, "Selina took you in so you wouldn't have to fight anymore."

Jason rolled his eyes at her, "What can I say Maven, it's in my blood."

She tightened the bandage more, Tim squeaked in protest, "Wish we could have it transplanted." She muttered before collecting the first aid kit, "dinner's take out tonight. Try to find something constructive to do until then." She walked out without another word.

Jason sighed, his shoulders slumped a little as his tough could care less attitude drifted off. Tim noticed and tried to focus on Jason rather than the blood stopping bandage wrapped around his skull.

"Jay?" He said, slowly getting the older boys attention. The band aid looking oddly in place as Jason looked at him. Maybe Jason was right, maybe he was just meant to fight and get into things like this.

"Look pipsqueak, I'm sorry for what they did . . . to you. They were just pissed cuz they couldn't get to me . . . and," Jason scratched his head, irritated now, "God they're such idiots- I can't even. . . just goes to show you, no amount of money or whatever, is going to make you better than the other guy."

Tim nodded and tried to ignore the growing dizziness in his head, "Yah. I figured that out a long time ago." He said solemnly, while slowly turning purple.

Jason studied the boy with his piercing sea colored eyes, "Good for you, you little snob."

Tim grimaced at the word, "Whatever." He stood up wobbly.

Jason stood up and grabbed him by the arm, "Hang on squirt." Jason reached around the shorter boy's head and began undoing Aunt Mavens knot of death, "Jeez this is tight. Hang on, lemme get it out before you go into brain arrest."

Tim nodded slowly and closed his eyes, kind of tired now, fighting wasn't his favorite past time, it always made him sleepy afterwards, were as Jason would get a kick out of the adrenaline for hours, "Hey Jason?"

"Yah?" Jason continued to work on the knot.

Tim grimaced as Jay accidentally pulled a couple of hairs, "Why do those guys pick on you?"

It was an honest question, Tim actually wanted to know, what could Jason have done to make those guys hate him so much.

Jason snorted in response, "Came from a crap hole and showed them all up, I guess."

Jealousy. Made sense, a lot of people didn't like outsiders like Dick and Jason climbing into their ranks by default. But neither Jay or Dick really cared about those snobs and their society, they both knew where they came from and that was who they were, those jerks were just afraid that they'd have to work for either the circus freak or street punk someday.

Tim snickered at the thought, like Jason was going to work in an office . . . Dick maybe, but not Jason. Never Jason.

"There, I got it. Sheesh, could she do it any tighter. Hey, you good kid?" Jason gripped Tim's shoulder as the boy snickered again, "What's so funny?"

Tim tried to picture Jay as a business man . . . it was hilarious, "Nothing Jason. Just. . . I've got some homework, see ya." He smiled now and headed towards his room while Jay scratched his head in confusion.

"Weirdo." He heard the older boy mutter.

Tim smiled wider, that was Jason Todd for you. Never gonna change. Tim liked him even more for that, no matter where he went, Jason was always the same.

Tim decided he liked his brother just the way he was.

Dick hoped Jason had gotten home in one piece, after that fight the other day with Wilton and his cronies well . . . Dick figured that wouldn't end well for anybody. He sighed, wishing he didn't have to stay so late, now he had to walk home all alone. Dick hated being alone, it reminded him of the foster home. He still had nightmares about that time.

He shook his head, his thick hair falling into his eyes and laughed nervously to himself. Gosh, last night had been near wild. First time anybody had seen them and now they were a blurry picture on the front page that proved their existence, they'd have to be even more careful now. If only he could figure out a way to keep Tim and Damian out of this and-

His mind flitted to last night's cape. Batgirl. Damn, Dick bit his tongue just thinking about it. She had not been what he was expecting and that was a good thing. Not only was she as inexperienced as he was but she was also hot.

Dick's mind flashed back to their fight, he remembered her flexibility pretty well, and every time those curves brushed him . . . he swallowed thickly, damn the tight suit, she was a hazard. A gorgeous hazard. Kind of reminded him of . . .

"Barbara?" Dick looked surprised as she crossed the street and stopped in front of him suddenly. They both looked at each other for a silent minute, "H-Hey, what are you doing here?" He could feel his cool slipping already, God, he wished he had a mask right now.

She pushed her flaming hair out of her face, "Going to visit Dad. You?" Her eyes glittered at him.

"Um, going home . . ." He said slowly unable to not notice her clothes. This was the first time he'd seen her out of uniform. She had on tight jeans and a brazen black Tee shirt that stuck to every curve of perfection. She also had messy hair but that was a whole other level of sexy.

She nodded, her hair falling around her face, Dick's fingers twitched to brush it back, he fisted them and tried not to look.

"Well . . . good luck I guess?" She said slowly, unsure of what to say.

Dick swallowed, "Where-where does your Dad live?" He said slowly.

She gave him a funny look, "My Dad's in the hospital, didn't you see the front page a couple months ago?"

Dick blinked, front page . . . he couldn't remember.

"Dad got hurt on a case, real bad. Been in a coma ever since." She elaborated smoothly, pushing her hair back again.

"Oh . . . oh God. I'm sorry Barb I wasn't - I didn't mean to - I mean I-" Shoot, now he'd gone and done it. Idiot, why can't you just offer to buy her ice cream or something?!

She smiled slightly, "It's ok. Really, Dick," She looked at him simply, their eyes locked for a minute too long, "I've gotta go though." She nearly whispered.

The boy swallowed again, "Y-yah. Me too. Bye Barbara, take care."

The red headed beauty nodded and waved as she continued on her way. Dick couldn't help noticing what well defined legs she had and the rest of her- God, I've got it bad don't I?

He sighed, stuffed his fists in his pocket and headed for the penthouse. Trying to ignore the aching inside his heart. He really had it bad.

"We're what now?" Jason demanded as all four boys looked at their guardian in confusion at the news she just gave them.

Tim put down his homework and tapped the table, "Are you sure he meant all of us?" He subtly gestured towards everyone else.

Dick sat up from his lounging position, "Cuz if he's sure he wants a crashed party we'll go but-"

"I agree with Grayson; we don't do well in . . . those kind of environments together." Damian said slowly, thinking up a scenario with a frown.

Jason scoffed, "Yah, guy must be nuts, either that, or he's just really bored."

Selina pinched the bridge of her nose, "Boys, I know the last time you all went to an event it ended . . . less than gracefully. But this time, I'm asking you, please, for my sake, could you all not be your amazingly delightful selves for just a couple of hours. I really need Mr. Wayne's-" She cut off for a second, " I need him to sign a deal OK."

All the boys glanced at each other, they all had thought the same thing; Could this be about Selina's falling business?

They all agreed silently too.

Jason rolled his eyes and stood up, "Fine. Whatever. No frogs in the punch this time." He shoved his hands into his red hoodie, "I've got some homework. Later." He sauntered off to his room.

Dick sighed loudly, "Ok Selina, For you. We'll do it for you."

Damian nodded firmly, "Otherwise we wouldn't be caught dead being civil to those empty headed peons."

Tim actually snorted, "Agreed. Now can I get back to my book?"

Selina smiled at them all, her eyes radiated more adoration than she would ever admit she was capable of. It was just something about these boys that brought this sticky, gooey, slightly gross, feeling inside her that Maven explained was a 'mother's love'.

God, when had she turned into such a sap?

She stood up and brushed her pantsuit down, "Thanks kittens." She leaned down and plunked a kiss on each of their heads, Damian pretended to not like it, Dick smiled and Tim excepted the kiss maturely.

God, she loved these dorks.

Now, all she had to do was convince them to wear suits and ties . . . yah. That shouldn't be too hard.

Chapter Text

Motivation is your Superpower!

Bruce didn't like it. Not one bit. It was actually slightly unnerving. It had been under the radar, so under the radar not even he noticed at first.

A series of thefts had taken place, but not just any thefts. Things that were stolen were actually, relatively, harmless but by who they were being thieved by . . . was what was bothering the dark knight,

Ninjas, from whatever evidence he could find, ninjas that worked for Al Ghul no less. He'd seen the mark on one of them. But that was just the tip of the dangerous sword. The things that these ninjas were taking made no sense, they were things Bruce was sure Al Ghul could get by easier means.

So what was this about? As long as Batman had fought this centuries old monster, he'd never stooped so low before.

"Master Bruce, your guests are arriving and you have yet to dress!" Alfred called in a clipped voice from above, breaking the younger man's concentration.

"I'll be right there Alfred." Bruce frowned at the screen harder, what was Al Ghul after this time?

"Come on Bruce! People are looking at me funny!" Barbara's voice rang out now, making him sigh in irritation, he really didn't like these parties. Or maybe it was the people. Yes, definitely the people.

Except Selina . . . she, and even her boys, had strangely caught his fancy, which was very strange indeed, because people that he actually liked were few and far in between.

"Bruce!"

He sighed again and peeled off his suit. Time to play his part.

"God, this thing's annoying!" Jason near whined as he pulled at the constricting fabric around his neck, "How to people wear this every day?" He muttered, still fidgeting.

Selina swatted his hand away, "I'm not a man, so I can't tell you. Oh, stop that Jason. Look, nobody else is complaining." She swept her arms out in the car to point out the other three boys that looked nearly as irritated as Jason was, just silent being about it. Jason snorted.

"We look like geeks." He said crossly.

Selina sighed and slid a hand through his dark, over grown, hair that he refused to gel, "No, you all look handsome."

"Geeks."

Dick tittered in response, Damian only gave a sharp nod in agreement. Tim ignored everything in favor of the window and the dark shapes flashing outside under the street lamps.

Their guardian bit back a laugh, "Just for tonight boys. I promise. The next time you'll have to wear a suit and tie will be at my funeral. Ok." She joked.

Her boys nearly glared at her.

"That's not funny Selina." Dick mumbled, looking at the floor as the car bounced.

Damian scoffed, "Like we'd ever let anything kill you."

Jason didn't look at them and Tim's face went blank.

Selina sighed again, "That's not what I- never mind. I love you boys." She said fondly instead, soothing all of their features now, "Oh look, we're here."

Indeed, they were. The huge drive way road they were going up lead to one of the biggest, grandest, creepiest looking house either boy had ever seen, even Tim.

It had its own lamp posts lighting the way to the door up front, which was opened wide as a steady stream of men and woman, bejeweled or be-tuxed lining in, being greeted by an elderly man.

"All right, Maven, park the car and I'll see you inside." Selina said simply then looked at her boys, "Best behavior right?"

They nodded, unable to take their eyes of the seemingly glittery splendor inside.

One by one, they slid out, Dick helped Selina because her dress was long, and they all made their way to the door, Selina casually holding her eldest charges arm as they neared the elderly gentleman at the door.

"Good evening Ms. Kyle, gentlemen, right this way. I hope you have a lovely time."

Selina smiled, "Thank you, you must be the Alfred I've heard so much about," she reached to shake his hand, "Charmed."

The British man took it gracefully, "Quite."

A snort escaped Jason catching both adult's attention.

"Might I ask what's so funny young man?" Alfred raised a thin brow at the boy with the messy hair and his hands stuffed in his suits pockets.

"Nothin . . . just your accent Jeeves. It's hilarious. Sound like an old movie or somethin'." Jason smirked, purposely thickening his own accent.

Selina smiled nervously, "Jason, that's enough."

To their surprise, Alfred merely raise an eye brow at them, "I happen to like the old movies."

They all nearly laughed, but Selina hurried them inside before they could ruin their good fortune so far.

Inside was alive and slightly crazy, in a refined, everyone was too stiff to actually have fun, kind of way. Dick decided he'd hold his gut and try to blend in. Try.

He'd also decided to make sure his brothers tried too, whatever this deal Selina had going on with Wayne must be important if she was willing to come to a party like this.

"Ok guys, let's stick together so they won't single us out and-"

All three had disappeared. Dick bit back an irritated growl and politely stomped off to find them as Selina made her way to the grand staircase where, no doubt, Brucie would be standing.

"Come on." He huffed to himself, his eyes sweeping around the mingling crowd and blinding jewelry, He idly wondered how many ruby bracelets he could steal before anybody noticed.

"Dick?"

Those thoughts flew out the window.

Dick whirled around to find an angel . . . no wait, that was Barbara, in a really, really nice dress. It was red and long with a slight slit up her shin and it hugged every curve the girl possibly had. Her hair was done up in an elegant bun and she had simple silver earrings and neckless to accessories her. To these snobs she'd seem underdressed. To him . . . she was the best one here.

"H-hi . . . Barb-Barbara. You look, um," Smokin' hot, sexy, gorgeous? "Nice." Well, that could work too . . .

She smiled shyly, "I . . . I've never been to a party like this before. And you look great too, but then, you've probably done this before." She ran a hand up her bare arm.

Dick forced his eyes not to follow that hand and looked at her, "Um, yah . . . yah, unfortunately I have-"

Someone shoved him making him stumble forward and nearly topple over Barbara, he caught himself and gripped her arms instead.

The both stopped and stared at each other in uncertain surprise. Dick became painfully aware of how good she smelled, like strawberries and vanilla, and how soft her skin was under his hands. Oh god, it was getting really hard to stay focused all of a sudden.

She smiled at him, her eyes lowering under her thick lashes, "Um . . .Dick?" She was whispering, why was she-

Dick realized how close he'd gotten and backed away some, regrettably letting her go, "Wanna. . . I don't know, dance?" He said awkwardly, rubbing his neck to get the feel of her off his hand.

She nodded, "Yah sure. That would be nice."

He carefully gave her his arm and led her to wherever it was these people had their dances.

Jason nearly snorted into his punch when he saw Dick lead that hot red head away. That jerk got all the luck. Just because he had nice eyes. Whatever. Jason didn't care, in fact he was too busy anyway. Busy trying not to kill everyone that dared give him a judgmental look, like that old geezer over there. Didn't these jerks have anything better to do than belittle him with their eyes?

Apparently not.

"Cut it out Jason." Tim muttered next to him as Jay chugged another cup of punch down.

"Cut what out, shorty?" Jason said, knowing full well what Tim was talking about. He had been chugging punch and scarfing little snacks the entire time, and he didn't care what those snobs thought about it. There was actually some good crap here.

"Stop being a pig."

Jason rolled his eyes, "You know how I feel about food Timbo."

Boy, did the kid know.

"Yah fine, but Selina said to be good, and getting all these weird looks from everyone isn't-"

Jason cut him off, "She said to be on our 'best behavior'. Considering I haven't hit anyone yet, I'd say this is pretty good."

Tim snorted in response, "Right. Sure. I'm going somewhere else." He turned and headed as discreetly away from his brother as he could.

Jason shrugged and swallowed a cracker with cheese.

"Hungry?" A deep voice snapped him out of his eating spree.

Jason straightened and turned around to find a slightly amused Wayne looking down at him. Jason decided he didn't like it.

"Yah, so? What's it to you." Damn it Jason, you're ruining it! Defiance was a strong trait in him unfortunately.

Bruce actually laughed, "Nothing son, just a question. You like your food?" He said casually, picking up a glass.

The boy narrowed his eyes for a second before deciding to answer, "Yah . . . I didn't have a lot of it growing up. Gotta get as much as I can before I can't anymore." The answer was surprisingly honest and had little to no malice in it that Bruce was actually startled this time as Jason simply reached for a roll.

That . . . was an interesting mentality to have.

"Until you can't huh." Bruce poured himself some punch and reached for another glass, "Why do you think you won't later?" Just curious.

"Look man." Jason squared himself up now and looked the daunting man straight in the eyes, "Where I come from, you don't take things for granted. You get what you've got for only a little while. But you wouldn't know that Mr. Fancy Rich. You don't know how people like me suffer out there. What we have to do to live another day. What we go through before we're cut down." With that said Jason turned to go.

Leaving Bruce with two cups of punch and a tight look on his face.

"Maybe I don't understand what it's like to live like that Jason." The sound of his name from this man's mouth stopped the boy short, "But I do know something about suffering."

Jason almost snorted at that. But Bruce's tight and hard look made the boy think maybe the guy might know a little bit about the dark side of Gotham. Maybe.

"Yah . . . well, whatever then. See ya, Mr. Wayne." He said somewhat respectfully. Surprising both of them as the boy walked off to who knows where.

Damian didn't like the stares he was getting. These people were all idiots, how dare they look at him like he was beneath them! He could slit every one of their throats and they'd never even know it was coming!

But he'd promised Selina to behave and she had made him leave his sword home. Besides, it would be messy work since he only had a dagger on him. Maven missed that one.

God, he wished he could go home. Back to the silent cats he loved so much, back to the paper and colors he had at home, this deal Selina had better be worth it, because if that man tried to hurt her in any way . ..

"Excuse me, are you looking for Selina?"

Damian stiffened as he glared at the man in question, his bright eyes narrowing up at the huge man with two glass cups in his hands.

"No. I am merely trying to avoid . . . everyone." Saying castrating out loud here probably wasn't the best idea.

Bruce flashed him a quick smile, "You know, there's something about you that I can't seem to place." Bruce stared at him a little harder, "Something . . . familiar"

Damian agreed, it was strange, but he'd thought the same thing when he saw Wayne the first time. Like he'd seen the man before but he couldn't remember where. It had bothered him for a while after. But then he blew it off as ridiculous. Wayne was a rich snob that Damian knew nothing of. Why would he have any remote connection to him? It didn't make sense so therefore wasn't true.

"Don't be ridiculous. You're just trying to identify with me." Damian brushed off, scowling while crossing his little arms for emphasis.

"Who were your parents Damian?"

God, that sounded strange. His name coming out of that mouth sounded . . . sounded oddly comforting. Damian snapped out of his thoughts and straightened.

"I don't know. My mother was . . . I don't know." He then pushed forward and passed the man without another word.

Tim smiled and made eye contact with anyone that looked his way. The judgmental jerks. But he still smiled, after all, getting on these people good side would be better than making them hate his family more, right?

So instead of scowling and wishing them all away, which he did, he took their pitying looks and twisted them with a smile, a grin, a polite nod. Just to make them believe that he didn't need to be pitied. Like he'd fallen off some high pedestal set in the future. He was Selina Kyles charge, there was nothing pitiable about that. Sure, his parents died barely four years ago but who cared? They didn't need to look at him like that.

He just mulled through the crowd, nobody really wanting to speak with him because he was a child with a sad story and they didn't know just how smart this child was.

That was fine, Tim didn't mind. He found talking to grown-ups with lesser minds tedious and irritating. They were all empty headed snobs, for all their Harvard's and Yale's.

"Bored?"

Tim's heart pattered as he stopped in front of Mr. Wayne himself, now that was a well-crafted mind, Tim could tell. One of the few people Tim didn't mind talking to.

"Yes, actually." The boy admitted, wondering where Selina was, she had gone this way after all.

Bruce nodded, "Have better things to do huh?"

"Yes. Studying for one." Tim casually put his hands behind his back and glanced around, "No offense, Sir."

"None taken. I get pretty bored of these things myself. Heck I wouldn't even do it if it weren't for a better cause." Mr. Wayne flashed the upraised boy a quick smile, "Yes, I have better things to do." He finished smoothly.

Tim bit back a smile, he knew Mr. Wayne wasn't an empty headed snob only after his guardian's body, that was absurd. This man had a lot of other things curling around. So many other things Tim wanted to know.

He could feel something different about this man. He was pretty sure his brothers could too, but they treated it with hostility because they couldn't figure it out. Whereas Tim was all excited to figure it out. It was like a game for his mind! Even though Bruce probably didn't know he was playing.

"Like what Mr. Wayne?" He ventured, just to see.

Bruce looked little Tim in the eye, "Like help people."

That was a nice solid and thoroughly vague answer. Tim nodded, "That's one way to pass the time."

"I find it more than a pass time Tim."

Holy- He knew his name! Bruce Wayne knew his name! Wait . . . Selina had told him, he probably read it somewhere . . . scratch that, Bruce Wayne remembered his name! That the name 'Tim' belonged to his face!

That excited the boy more than it should have.

"That's -That's great Mr. Wayne." Tim forgot what he was saying, he'd gotten so excited, "Um," Better go before you embarrass yourself "I should go find my brothers, thanks for the chat!" And he nearly skipped off, leaving Mr. Wayne a little confused but vastly amused.

Dick figured he'd gone to heaven without dying. Was that even possible? No, probably not. Well then, this was close. Here he was, a circus freak with hyperactivity issues, dancing with the most stunning girl he'd ever met, practically pressed up against him. The waltz, thank you Selina for the lessons, was quickly becoming Dick's favorite dance.

She smelled like vanilla and strawberries at the same time, and she was warm and soft and- his brain let loose as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Some party huh." She said softly, her lips practically brushing his neck.

Dick resisted a shudder, "Yah, sure is. Probably the best one I've been too." He said lazily trailing a finger on her back.

She breathed slightly, "Dick . . ." It was a low, barely there, whisper. Dick swallowed the lump in his throat, his hormones going nuts.

"Yah?"

She pulled back slowly from his shoulder, not too far, still in his immediate space, their noses were practically touching, "I . . ."

Her eyes lowered as she tilted her head slightly, Dick leaned closer practically feeling her lips against his.

A sharp scream scared them apart.

Dick's heart jetted miles a second as he whirled around angrily, what the hell?

An overweight woman in an over frilly silk dress looked appalled at a retreating body. Dick could have killed someone. No, Dick could have killed Jason! Damn little punk!

"You ok?" Barbara bit her lip as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

The boy looked at her for a second, Damn, he'd almost . . . tasted those lips. Jason was so dead.

"Yah . . . lemme just see what happened, I'll be right back." He smiled thinly and practically ran in the direction he'd seen Jason stalk off in.

The younger boy pushed through a door, that Dick was pretty sure he wasn't allowed past but, the older teen decided to go in after him anyway.

Inside was the kitchen. A big and surprisingly homey looking kitchen. A breakfast nook in one side and a few stools surrounding a marble island in the middle, everything was a nice glow of warm colors and Dick felt like he'd have loved this place if he lived here.

Jason was flopped on one of the stool, casually eating cookies that were probably not for him. Dick frowned and stomped up to the little brat.

"What was that?" He demanded.

Jason looked at him while chewing idly, "What was what?" He said innocently, surprisingly, Jason could fake innocence really well, even though he was anything but.

"Don't play that with me, you did that on purpose!" Dick snapped angry now. He really liked Barbara and really wanted to . . .

"Um, What? That Lady was being stupid and patronizing me. So I insulted her 'good looks' and left. These things are awesome by the way." Jason scarfed another cookie mid explanation.

"You promised Selina you know." Tim appeared out of nowhere scaring both teens to near screaming.

"Geez Timbo! Get a bell or something!" Jason gasped, clutching his chest, trying not to choke on his cookie.

Tim smirked, an unexpected and rare a thing on the boy, "Get your ears checked." Then he reached for a cookie.

"Hey! Those ain't for you!" Jason grabbed the tray out of short kids reach.

Tim felt pretty good right now and he wasn't to be undone, "Then it stands to reason that they aren't for you either." He reached for the tray.

Jason moved away, "Smartass. No!"

Dick pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "This is ridiculous."

"Yes it is." Damian walked in, all regal about him, he eyed the two fighting boys in distaste, "Really? And they say to look up to your elders. Tt."

For some reason, Jason found that comment more irritating than usual, "Here your high and mighty shortness! Chew on this." He shoved a cookie in the un-expecting boys mouth, nearly choking him to death.

Tim scowled, "Not fair, Jason!"

"Shut up dork. He asked for it!"

"No he didn't, and neither did you!"

Dick gapped at them. Damian was trying to not look like he was choking, but angry, Tim was acting his age for once and Jason looked really annoyed for some reason. And the cookies. . . Dick huffed irritably and snatched the tray out of Jason's hands.

"Hey!"

"Cut it out, all of you!"

"Todd tried to kill me with that confection!" Damian snarled wiping cookie crumbs off his face.

"It's a cookie, moron, it can't kill you. God forbid, you actually liked it!" Jason snapped back, his voice getting louder.

"All I wanted was one, Jason! And they weren't yours to confiscate anyway!" Tim interjected before they all started arguing over nothing.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you gentlemen take this outside of my kitchen." A sharp clipped accent stopped them all cold.

They all whirled around to find the butler, Alfred, looking at them all with a rather unimpressed look on his slightly wrinkled face.

"Uh . . . sorry Mr." Dick started first, Jason crossed his arms defiantly, Damian glared, and Tim blushed in embarrassment.

"I know my desserts were well made but I had no idea they could start a war." The elderly man said, in all serious tone as he reached for the tray Dick handed to him.

Tim laughed nervously, "Again, sorry Mr. Pennyworth." He was thoroughly embarrassed now.

Alfred raised a thin British brow at them,"I see. Well, since nobody seemed to have gotten hurt." His eyes flickered to Damian's scowling face, "Almost nobody. You can have the rest."

He handed each boy two cookies. Surprising them even more.

"But um . . . we-" Dick stuttered.

"It's quite all right Mr. Grayson. It's about time somebody appreciated these the way they ought to be appreciated." He gave them all a very sudden smile.

Even Damian forgot to scowl in surprise.

"Now, you'd better get going before the party misses you." With that he shooed them all out the door and resumed his work unfazed.

The boys all stood there and looked at each other.

"Ok . . . I gotta admit-" Dick started slowly.

"That guy's . . . kinda cool." Jason finished.

"Yah. I like him." Tim agreed, munching on his cookie.

"Tt, I suppose these aren't so bad." Damian said as he willingly bit a cookie this time.

"So . . . now what?" Tim wondered out loud, truth be told he didn't really want to be in this party anymore.

Neither did the rest of them.

They thought for a minute.

"Heeeeey." Jason drawled on suddenly, a wicked grin lighting up his face.

Dick felt slightly unnerved by it.

"What?"

"Wayne's loaded. Why don't we try our luck? Just for the hell of it." Jason was liking that idea more and more.

Tim decided he didn't, "Not Mr. Wayne Jason!" That would just be . . . a crime.

Jason snorted, "Why not? It's not like the guys much different than the other snobs we pick. It'll be fun!"

Dick hummed at that, "But what would we take?"

"Dick!" Tim said, appalled his older brother was rolling into this.

"Doesn't matter. Let's just find somethin' and see if we can pull it off."

"And how do we bring it home Todd?" Damian interjected, thinking about this too.

Tim nearly freaked. Sure, he'd wanted to help out but not on Mr. Wayne! God, this would look so bad if they were caught.

"Easy, we shove it in our pockets." Jason looked like that was the most obvious answer ever.

Damian rolled his eyes, "So something small and inconspicuous then."

Dick nodded, "Yah. Let's see..." He forgot about Barbara for the time being, "That door look interesting.

"Let's go." Jason smirked and casually made his way down the hall. Dick and Damian followed suit. Tim blubbered behind before giving up on reason and followed them dejectedly down the hall.

Oh god, this couldn't end well...

Chapter Text

Selina laughed. She actually laughed. It wasn't some rehearsed flirty laugh. It was genuine. So surprisingly real, that it shocked her system to no end as she realized she was actually enjoying Mr. Wayne's company.

". . .That wasn't the last of him though, believe me." Bruce finished his story with a sip of his drink.

Selina smiled and took a sip of her own, "Well, thorns aren't usually easy to take out." She mused.

Bruce nodded, "That is all too true."

They stood there against the stairs, watching the mingling crowd of finery and snobbery.

"I hate these things," She said suddenly, unexpectedly, "I mean . . . the people that attend them. Not the cause." She finished quickly.

"I know what you mean. And I agree. There's too many things to do . . ." He sighed and downed the rest of his drink.

Selina couldn't help notice his throat as he swallowed it. Man had good form, even his neck was fit. She in avertedly licked her lip before looking at her own glass.

"So, your boys." He started simply, dropping the sentence there.

Selina sighed, should have known this was coming, 'Yes, I'm sorry Bruce, they can be - unpredictable and-"

"Oh no. It's not that, I like them actually. Very unorthodox and . . . they each have a very layered personality. But, they're good kids." He said lowly, "They're good kids."

The raven haired woman looked at him surprised as a slight longing flashed across the man's eyes. She could have sworn he'd . . . no, couldn't, he was Bruce Wayne world famous Bachelor. What would he want kids for?

"They are pretty special." She admitted fondly. Boy were they. She'd tried to remember her life before the boys, but for some reason all she could recall was empty emotionless nothings. It felt strange to remember that she had actually been content with just her cats. . .

"That's why I'm willing to help Selina. I know about the social workers and their issues with . . . anyway, I don't think you want to lose those kids and I don't want you too. They deserve better than a foster home. So, how about we sign that partnership contract."

She could have kissed the man. She almost did, she would have, if people weren't watching them so intently. Gossip whores. She hated that.

She settled for a slightly controlled; "Thank you."

Bruce's eyes clicked to hers, he held them, "My pleasure."

She almost swooned.

Almost.

"This is a bad idea." Tim voiced his opinion even though he was pretty sure nobody cared about it.

Jason rolled his stunning eyes at him, "Yah, no duh. Of course this is a bad idea. But who cares? Now we've just gotta find something to heist and we'll get out of here before anyone notices."

"What about that?" Damian pointed at a huge painting of a couple that hung over the marble fireplace.

"Seriously brat?" Jason said in disbelief, "That thing ain't gonna fit in our pockets."

"Tt, open your eyes Todd." Damian retorted, "The things under the portrait."

Dick smiled like a dork, "Yah, Jay, the things Under the portrait."

"Shut up."

Dick cackled lowly as they tiptoed towards the painting. A few precious looking trinkets littered the mantle in an orderly fashion. They looked at them unimpressed, maybe just the gold watch was worth the effort of taking.

"This stuff's second rate." Jason said disappointedly, "It isn't even worth the trouble it'll take to sell off."

Tim breathed in relief, "Great. Now let's go before someone finds us." He'd help heist somewhere else.

Dick nodded, "Yah. Maybe we can hit a museum or something later."

Damian and Tim looked at each other, they had yet to go on a real heist, so the fact that Dick said 'we' sounded promising.

Jason looked annoyed, "Smart guy, this Wayne, probably keeps his good crap locked in a bank or something."

They made their way toward the doors and carefully opened them. Jason walked out first only to run into a very sturdy body.

"Yow, hey sorry man I- Oh crap."

Alfred looked down at them not so amused this time, "Lost gentlemen?"

Dick sputtered, "Uh, N-N-N-No, um, we, - we were - uh..."

"Admiring Mr. Wayne's family!" Tim blurted out, shocking the boys into confused looks.

Damian caught on faster though, "Yes, the portrait in there, very well done. Artist should be congratulated."

Alfred studied them further, and, although he'd never admit it, even Damian nearly cave under that look.

"Yes well, the Wayne's are a prestigious family. Now kindly go back to the party and no more exploring. Do I make myself clear?"

Who knew one little old man's eye brows could be so scary.

"Yes sir." Jason said suddenly and lead the way around the Brit.

Tim hide a smile, Huh, even Jason was afraid of the man.

Dick carefully made his way around the people, still a little disappointed that they hadn't found anything to heist, but oh well. There would be other crimes. Gosh, when had his mind gotten so twisted around? Loyalty made people do weird things. He vaguely wondered if he'd ever be able to stop thieving and go back to normal.

"Dick?"

Oh! Barbara! Dammit, I forgot! Dick whirled around to find the red head at a table, her heels off and her leg a little too visible. He swallowed and walked towards her.

"Hey, Barb, sorry I . . . My brothers, they're – um - very distracting." He finished lamely.

She smiled lightly, "It's fine, my feet were killing me anyway. Needed a break." She lifted one elegantly crafted foot and rubbed it tiredly.

"How do people do this all the time." She mused more to herself than anything.

Dick really wanted to massage her foot, he wished it was his hand running under the smooth curve and over the bridge and - he ripped his eyes away from her hand on it and forcefully looked at her, "Practice I guess."

She hummed in response.

It was quiet between them for a moment. Dick sat next to her, casually crossing his legs.

"I saw Dad in the hospital yesterday." She reminded him.

"Yah?"

"He . . . he's still out. No change, according to the doctor." She bit her lip in attempt to not tear up, "They aren't holding out much hope." She sat up with a slight huff, "But Dad's a fighter. Always has been, he'll make it through. I know he will." She rubbed one arm tiredly, staring at the floor.

Dick watched her slightly defeated form and felt really, really achy all of a sudden. He decided he didn't like that sadness on her. At all. He quickly reached a hand out and pulled the girl into a comforting hug without thinking. All he knew was he didn't want her to look so sad.

She actually sunk into him and sighed, "Thanks."

He rested his chin on top of her soft red hair, "No problem Barb. No problem at all."

He let her melt against him for as long as she wanted.

". . .Circus freak, of course he'd be after the cop's bitch. Who else would take him."

Jason grit his teeth, his hands balling as he heard those words from his place against the food table. He'd seen Dick hug Barbara, but, unfortunately, so had other people. Dammit Grayson, why do you always have to be so emotional?

He glared ahead to find Wilton without a mark on him, make up did wonders, so did plastic surgery, with at least three bimbos hanging on him and his gang of idiots, talking about Dick like he was the trash.

Jason didn't like it. Not. One. Bit.

Only he could talk trash about Dick. Not these filthy freaks.

"Oh Willy, maybe Clown boy has something he's trying to hide." A blond cooed while petting the nasty teen.

"Yah, he could just be bedding her to keep the cops off his tail." One of the goons said stupidly.

Wilton snickered, "Probably."

"Hey," one of Wiltons guys sneered, "Don't think the freak's above anything. Bet that's how he got up to our ranks anyway. Hear Kyles' not above banging minors. Maybe that's what all his flexibilities' for." He snickered while the others joining maliciously.

"Kyle's probably a whore anyway, no self-respecting rich is gonna take in a bunch of useless boys without getting anything out of it." Wilton snorted, "Out of all of them."

Jason growled, his stomach twisted painfully sick as his fingers tightened their grip on the plate in his hand, before he could think it through, he launched the glass plate, full of different foods he'd collected to eat, straight at the nasty minded snobs.

The girls screamed as it smashed right next to Wilton's face, missing him by an inch. The food and glass splattering all over him and his followers, cutting skin, to Jason's' satisfaction.

"What the hell!" Somebody yelled.

Jason glared at them, body coiled so tight it nearly hurt. Hell fire was no match for the fire Jason had aimed at them.

"You little prick." Wilton grabbed him by the collar as his goons descended after.

Well . . . Jason promised he'd behave . . . he never said for how long.

A shriek caught Dick's attention, along with nearly everyone else here. Barbara pulled away as they both looked where the noise had come from.

"-Asshole want another one!"

Dick almost melted in sheer horror, "Jason." his whispered, instantly realizing. He should have known better than to let him out of his sight, his first little brother was not a behaving type, not for this long anyway.

"Dick?"

"Jason." Dick stood up and practically ran towards the noise, Barbara right on his heels. People crowded around, not making it easier to get to the middle. To get to his brother. Dick wasn't sure if he was afraid for Jason or of the mess he probably made. His heart started to speed up now as he shoved more rudely through. Damn it! Move you over stuffed money hogs!

"Vulgar Child!"

"Isn't that Mark Wilton's son?"

"What does that little monster think he's doing?!"

"Street trash, never should be in out ranks."

"Somebody call the police!"

"Send him back to wherever he came from!"

"Move Dammit!" Dick elbowed a stout man in a tight Tux, making him gasp in shock and glare daggers at him. Dick didn't care. Barbara glared back for him. He had to get to the front, maybe he could still smooth this out, maybe? Someone shrieked. Ok, maybe not.

They finally reached the middle of the fray. Jason was in the center, of course he was, fist bloody, hair wild, his suit ripped in several places, he didn't even have a tie anymore, he'd used it to tie one of the jerk's hands together. Dick would have been impressed if he had time. He noticed the boy was tense, and angry, very, very angry. Dick had seen that anger only a handful of times. It was a part of Jason that only came out under extreme circumstances. It was also dangerous. Too dangerous.

"Jay!" He called out against his own better judgment. He had to get his brother out of here, but boy was Jason in for an earful later.

Jason's eyes flickered to him, fire practically burning in them, it was that momentary distraction that cost him. Two men grabbed him from behind. Jason hissed like a cat and fought against their hold, his body coiling taut and kicking the air straight ahead, the men wobbled and stumbled back as the boy fought nearly losing their grips on him, their faces more than a little afraid.

"Let go you frickin' Damned asses!" Jason hollered hoarsely, kicking one in the shin.

"Stop him, he's rabid!" A woman screamed, while faking a breathless faint.

"Horrid child, no respect for society."

Each cutting word, each hurtful remark, Dick felt them, he felt them stab into himself and his little brother. It hurt. Jason would never say so, but it hurt dammit.

His eyes caught hold of Tim and Damian's slightly scared looks in the crowd. Barbara looked livid. Dick had had enough. He strode up to the men holding onto his brother fiercely, and punched one. Square in the face. This got a collective gasp out of everyone as he yanked his brother free and towards him, Jason stumbled a little, dizzy from the suddenness, but he straightened fast enough to not look weak. The punched man howled on the ground.

Everyone exploded.

Dick subtly held Jason closer as he maneuvered them out and way of glaring and grabbing snobs. The people weren't having it. They have never been so insulted or disgusted before!

"This is not a zoo young man!" An elderly woman screamed, swinging her purse around.

"What atrocity." Someone hidden hollered.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you manners!" Glares, daggering glares followed this.

"You disgusting little worms! I told you they weren't worth anything!" A skinny woman snapped, her face contorting under the makeup.

"Get out of here! If you'll behave like a monster than go back where you were dragged from!" A tall man in a short suit nearly swung at them.

Jason felt Dicks grip tighten on his shoulder at that last one in defensive anger. His own anger flared up again. The noise was turning into a roar. A roar of society driven, money laden, silk encased monsters that really were no better than them, they just thought they were entitled to act like it.

"ENOUGH!"

Loud, echoing, commanding, and terrifying.

Instant silence.

Dick's grip became almost painful. Jason fought back a wince, his face hurt a little too much for that.

The crowd parted as someone walked through, the adrenalin and intensity thick in the air, Jason almost chocked on it, even though he usually liked that. The boys held their breaths as Bruce Wayne stepped through all the mess of squabbling people. If Jason was a crier, he would have cried. Now he'd gone and destroyed, no, incinerated, anything Selina had going with this man was charred and blown by the wind. Because of him.

God dammit, why was everything so messed up? Bruce looked at everyone around them with calm, clear, penetrating blue eyes, they almost seemed like they could figure things out just by looking. That made more than one person shudder. Barbara could feel the intensity of his eyes. The near Batman intensity he used on unsuspecting people. It nearly made her shiver.

Then his eyes fell on Dick and Jason. She stiffened. They all did.

"Really Mr. Wayne, these boys are dangerous. You should call the police. Look what they did to Mr. Easton! On those poor boys!" The overweight woman from before was there, defending out loud, daring to defend those in the wrong since no one else dared.

Jason's fist twitched. Bruce noticed. He also noticed the protective hold Dick had on the unruly boy.

"I believe this was not warranted without provocation." It wasn't a question. He stated it clearly, taking in everyone's eyes smoothly.

This got a disbelieving mutter out of everyone, some whispers bravely floated out at the absurdity of the words.

"But since I am sure there was some sort of provoking done I won't press charges-" Bruce continued

"Mr. Wayne!" The previous woman gasped, her face clearly falling in sheer horror, that most were trying to hide.

"I will, however, pay for any medical treatment and injury. Now thank you for participating in this charitable event, and I bid you all a good night." Bruce continued undeterred and firm.

That's it. That was said and done. Nobody crossed Mr. Bruce Wayne when he spoke like that. So people slowly made their way out. But not without casting disgusted glares at the boys in their departure and scalding whispered insults from the more boorish ones. But nobody could go against Mr. Wayne, so they left, thankfully without any more drama. Which is amazing considering Rich people loved extra drama. But this incident would spread. Fast. That was not to be unexpected. But for now, it was over.

"Alfred. Please take care of them." Bruce said simply, ignoring the lingering guests until they walked out.

Jason's brain whirled in sudden fear, Oh god, not the British guy . . .

Dick's fingers dug into his shoulder a little more in tenseness as well at the mention of British guy.

"Yes Master Bruce, right away." Alfred appeared out of nowhere and deftly ushered them out before they could blink, or figure out if he'd been there the entire time or not, "Right this way gentlemen. We will have you fixed up good as new in no time." He said clipped, avoiding Wilton and the other injured who were being helped out of the manor finally.

Say what now? Fixed up? Jason's brain couldn't get around that at all.

"Ain't you gonna . . . you know, punish us?" Jason asked stupidly. His head hurt, he wasn't thinking much. He didn't want to anyway; Dick could have slapped him.

Alfred gave a short scoff, "That is not my place. Your guardian however . . ."

Both boys shuddered, their eyes landed on Selina. She just stood there. Her face unreadable. Jason felt like screaming. She'd never, ever looked at him like that before. He'd disappointed her, he could feel it. His heart hurt a little, he felt tears well up unexpectedly, dammit, since when was he capable of tears!?

He crapped everything up.

"Ow, Ow, ow, hey! OW!" Jason yelped as the butler whizzed around dressing his wounds with stinging meds and ointments.

"Stop whining Jason. It's your fault." Tim said, while casually flipping through a book he'd found lying around. The hell was the little punk so comfortable for?

They were in a spacious room with a few well dusted and filled bookshelves littering the wall. A sitting room, Alfred called it. It looked like a library to Jason, but the British man insisted it wasn't. The library was much bigger.

Jason didn't get how much bigger it could be. But he decided not to press anymore questions or sarcastic remarks, so far he hadn't been punished. Unless this stinging liquid stuff the old man was dabbing on him counted as a sort of punishment. Sneaky dude, this guy. Jason could almost respect that, if it wasn't him the butler was stinging.

Ow.

"That was some fight Jason." The red headed girl, now in much more comfortable pants and tee, said as she sat on the ottoman in front of him. She apparently lived here so . . . yah, she was sticking around to do the lecturing since neither Selina or Dick, or Maven could do it yet. Thanks a bunch Red.

Jason rolled his piercing eyes, "Whatever. They asked for it. Made me mad."

"Anger is present in all creatures Master Jason, it is the ability to control it that separates human beings from all others." Alfred interjected smoothly, while dabbing a cut on Jason's bare shoulder.

The boy scowled, and sucked up a hiss, what was up with this Master stuff? And did the old man just basically call him an animal? Jason kinda wished he was brave enough to ask.

Damian walked in just at that moment, "Selina's talking to Wayne. She doesn't sound happy." He informed, a little smugly.

Jason could have kicked the twerp. The little 'I'm better than all of you' attitude bugged him to no end when the spawn upped up the annoying factor. He was just jealous because he hadn't started the fight first. Jason would mention that later, when he was among less dangerous people. What? The frowning red head and the stiff British guy with the medical supplies were dangerous. They weren't afraid of him.

Barbara sighed, catching his attention as she pushed a lock of fiery hair behind her ear, "Dick still moping on the balcony?" She asked quietly, eyes flickering to the walk through glass doors.

Tim nodded, "Yah. He's upset at Jason."

"What?!" Here he had gotten into a fight for Dickhead and the moron had the gall to be mad at him! That's just peachy.

"Come on Jay, you know why." Tim looked at him calmly. Little jerk and his perfect little manners.

Jason bristled. He hated this.

"Kindly stop moving sir, unless you want me to stitch your fingers together." Alfred said as he applied some antiseptic to his knuckles. Jason was too upset to wince or hiss this time. He stiffened and let the butler sew his busted skin while glaring at Tim.

Tim ignored him and watched in awe as the spry old man deftly began stitching the split flesh, the needle going in and coming out in neat little stiches all the way across Jason's hand. It was one of those interesting but gross things you couldn't look away from.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Tim asked curiously, eyes fixed to the rhythmic sewing.

Jason snorted, "Butler school. Right?"

Alfred gave him a wry smile, "Something along those lines."

Barbara was hiding a smile.

Jason noticed and looked at her in question, she stared back, not really one to back away from a stare down, neither was he, but he wondered what she was thinking as she smirked at him now.

"Problem Mr. Todd?"

That got a scoff out of him, "Naw. I am the problem." His shoulders sagged a little, "Dammit." He hung his head, tears shining his eyes again. What was this! He'd never been a self-pitying loser, this was ridiculous! Life wasn't fair, he was messed up, things were a bunch of crap . . . he knew this. Why'd he feel so bad about this one damn fight.

A soft hand slid on his bare shoulder scaring him a little. Jason swallowed his tears and looked up, Barbara smiled down gently at him, now she was pitying him. He didn't like it.

"Save it Barbie." He looked away and watched Alfred stich his skin with sick fascination, "I don't need your'feel goods'."

She sighed next to him, "This tough guy act get you places?"

Tim snickered behind her while Damian tutted in answer.

"Tt, he thinks it does." The little snot answered, folding his arms against Jason's anger.

Jason glared at them, "Like you're one to talk, your royal shortness." He snapped meanly, knowing Damian didn't like taunts about his small size.

Damian glared back now. Tim just laughed, gaining the younger boys attention and a kick for good measure.

"Hey! You little-"Tim near pounced on the brat.

"Not now." Alfred's clipped words stopped them both into obedience.

They glared and parted to sit on opposite sides of the room.

Jason snorted, "Losers."

A sharp look from stitching Alfred, stopped him short and made him sheepish.

Barbara smirked at the odd ability this man had into subduing the stubbornest jerks into obedience. She loved this man.

"Anyway, I'm sure Selina will understand once you explain why you got into that fight." She continued addressing Jason, "You do have a reason right?"

"Yah, but I ain't tellin' you." He snapped, the Narrows coming out of him like it usually did when he was being particularly defiant or angry.

She laughed softly and pressed her lips to his temple, shocking the fourteen-year-old stiff, "I didn't expect you too. Just make sure you tell her Ok? It'll be fine."

Jason stared at her wordlessly, his face tingled, and he felt oddly floaty. She was comforting him without even knowing what she was comforting him for. Jason decided he liked her. A lot. And maybe he should be less of a jerk towards her . . . a little less at least.

He missed the looks Damian and Tim shot him.

The door creaked open and Bruce appeared leading an apparently unfazed Selina behind him.

"Time to go boys." Selina said in a clipped tone.

Jason almost cringed, Dick came inside from the balcony and refused to look at him as he headed out the door. Well, that just made him feel worse. Thanks Dickhead.

"There, he should be fine Ms. Kyle, just keep him off that fist for a week or so and it should heal properly." Alfred said primly, collecting his things as Jason stood up stiffly, reaching for his shirt.

"Th-thanks Je-Alfred." Jason corrected himself for the sake of his life.

Alfred gave him a thin smile, "No need. Now, if you've all had enough of me, I bid you good night." The elderly butler nodded to Bruce and headed out of the room while the boys followed Selina and Bruce out the door, Barbara trailing behind them.

"Well, good night then Selina. Boys." Bruce said simply. No aversion on his face whatsoever.

Selina sighed, "If you want to call it that. Again, I'm sorry Bruce."

Jason cringed this time. She was apologizing, because of him. For him. He wished he could say something . . . but his throat suddenly decided to go dry and stop working altogether.

Tim noticed and kind of felt bad for teasing earlier. Damian pretended not to notice and studied the floor. Dick looked at Barbara who smiled towards his brother.

Jason just felt stupid and ignored everyone.

"Nothing to be sorry about." Bruce insisted kindly and kissed their guardian on the cheek, making them avert their eyes awkwardly, "Until next time."

This shocked all four of them. Next time? Jason's heart skipped, maybe he hadn't screwed everything up.

Yet.

"Care to explain?"

He'd been waiting for that. Jason knew it was coming. The ride home had been silent, Maven had gone to bed and Selina waited for Jason to explain. It was nearly three in the morning, things were getting fuzzy now.

Jason bit his lip and didn't look at her. Dick scratched his cheek and looked at Jason. Tim and Damian had been excused, although that didn't stop them from eavesdropping from the hallway.

"Jason." Her voice was softer than expected. Jason's eyes snapped to hers, expecting hard punishment, he got open understanding instead.

His throat constricted. He wasn't sure if he liked that much better than punishment. Punishment he could handle with anger or stubbornness or something, but understanding? Patience? He . . . wasn't sure how to handle those, they made him feel weak. His stomach twisted in guilt. He hated this.

"Um . . . I don't really wanna-"

"I think I deserve something." She said smoothly.

The boy sighed and scrubbed his eye with his fist, she was right about that, and Barbie had said . . . whatever. He took a deep breath and prepared, "Ok. Wilton and his freak's 've been on my case for weeks. Every time I beat 'em up and win though." He swallowed, "Last time, Maven probably told you, they tried to beat Timmy up . . ."

Selina restrained her anger then, "Go on." She urged. This was about Jason, no time to go into overprotective Cat mother mode. Not yet.

"Don't know why they hate me so much. Well, yah I do, but whatever. Guess they figured they'd get to me by beating up . . .them." He refused to sap out completely, he had some dignity left, "Then I heard 'em saying stuff about," He swallowed not looking at either of them, "About Dick."

Dick 's eyes snapped up at that in disbelief. Selina raised a brow, "What?"

Jason shifted, "Called him a freak and . . . other things." He wanted to tell them, wanted to tell them exactly what most of the freaks like those rich pricks were saying about Dick, about her, about all of them.

The older teen next to him drooped slightly as Jason refused to look at him. He would not show his weakness so easily, even if he cared about the jerk. Jason sucked in a harsh breath through his teeth and plowed on.

"Made me mad. Real mad. They think they're so much better than us, they're . . .bunch of - So I beat 'em up." His fists balled at the memory, lingering anger simmering up now. He let out another huff to calm down.

"For me?" Dicks voice was barely a whisper as he looked at his little brother in appreciating awe. The tone made Jason's head snap up against his better judgment to look at the older boy.

Selina resisted the smile that threatened her face, "For Dick?" She repeated calmly, aching to grab the boy in a hug.

Jason licked his lips, uncomfortable with the look Dick was giving him, "They made me mad. That's all. Dick's a lot of things . . . but they ain't allowed to call him them. Only I'm allowed to . . ." He trailed off, the looks he was getting from both of them making him really antsy now.

"Daawww," Three seconds and Jason was encased like a baby into a tight, bone crushing, breath stopping, hug by the overzealous teen, "I love you too Jay-Jay!" Dick hugged him impossibly harder.

Jason's squirmed, his face coloring brightly as he struggled, "Cut it out Grayson! Dammit, I-I'm not a baby! Dick!" Physical contact was not his favorite thing. Least of all from Dick. But the leech wasn't going to let go. Jason realized he really wanted to punch the guy now.

Selina chuckled lightly at them, "You know boys, I love you all, but sometimes," She smiled warmly at them, "Your loyalty surprises even me."

Dick had released his death grip on the younger teen suddenly, causing him to stumble and fall on the floor with a curse, and smiled at her bright and big, "Hey, if it wasn't for you, I'd be shipped off to who knows what kind of home, Jay here probably would be a drug ring leader, Timmy would be a depressed twelve year old millionaire with no real family and Dami would be an assassin prince. I'd say you deserve that loyalty." He reached over and hugged her too, "Seriously, you do." He whispered, refusing to get emotional as he thought of their night activities they had taken up for her.

Selina prided herself in her ability to not cry. But this warm hearted boy was about to make her do just that. She was so going soft.

"Come 'er you." She grabbed Jason and pulled them both into a hug. The younger boy didn't object too much this time, so he was a sucker for Selina's hugs, sue him.

Tim decided he deserved to be in on this too, he'd watched long enough and he refused to be a depressed twelve-year-old with no real family, he moved forward and yanked Damian forcefully behind, and dragged the boy in the middle with surprisingly little resistance and joined the other three in the warm hug.

Maven got up to see what all the laughing and giggling was about. Slightly afraid of what she would find seeing as laughter was usually back seated by yelling, running, smashing and/or cursing. To her surprise, she found a warm pile of boys and Selina sandwiched in the middle of them all, practically squashed but still glowing with a huge smile. Maven couldn't help the smile that stretched on her own face.

As backwards as this was, she knew Selina should have punished those two, but seeing her so happy was . . . rare. Maven didn't have the heart, or wasn't heartless enough, to ruin this. Selina had too much to worry about as it was and those boys were probably the only thing helping the woman to hold on.

She let them have their moment. She let them enjoy the small mismatched family they had managed to make out of each other.

Tomorrow though . . . that would be another story.

Chapter Text

Probably shouldn't be doing this.

Dick mused as he stood against the building, his eyes narrowing at the target. Madam Valore had just flown in from Paris, the elderly woman was famous for her vast collection of priceless trinkets and art from around Europe. She also owned a popular perfume brand.

This times prize was a two-foot-tall cat statue made of pure jade. Its eyes were actual rubies. Jason had said that he knew a guy who was into that stuff for no reason. So that's how Dick found himself out here, in the cold November air, waiting for a signal.

They'd left Tim and Dami behind again. Maybe those two would give up now.

He saw Jason's arm wave from the corner down below. Dick smirked under his mask and gracefully flipped down into the shadows. He sprinted to the other side and looked to see the woman closing her window of her expensive apartment, readying for sleep. She had the priceless statue in her room for the night. Tomorrow, it would be shipped off to God only knew where.

Tonight was their only chance.

Dick carefully climbed up the brick wall and reached for the window.

"I wouldn't if I were you."

He almost shrieked and fell off the building. His eyes narrowed as he looked at a cocky smiling boy leaning over the ledge of the roof.

No. No they didn't.

"Are you going to stay there like an idiot all night Grayson?" They did. Crap, Crap, and double Crap.

Dick cursed under his breath as he crawled the rest of the way up and flipped over the edge onto the roof, eyes narrowed fiercely behind his mask.

"The hell guys? I told you-"

"You did. We didn't care." Tim sat on the roof, his small self encased in a completely black burglar suit, he had a red hoodie thrown over it with a black hood attached to it and. . . . were those cat ears? His brother had cat ears sewn onto the hood, not to mention a few belts with a bunch of compartments filled with God knows what, and a black domino mask slapped over his eyes. His laptop was perched dangerously on the edge of his knee as the boy tapped deftly across it.

"Tim-"

"Red Claw."

"What?"

"Red Claw. That's my code name, Dami went with The Hunter." Tim said matter of fact like, still tapping at his keyboard.

Dick nearly pulled his hair out. "Really? Really!" That's when he noticed his youngest brothers outfit. A one-piece black suit like Tim's except smaller, he had his sword to his side, thick boots like Jason, and fingerless gloves, his whip was wrapped across his torso and over his shoulder. He had a dark green mask on and a shredded green belt wrapped around his waist.

Damian smirked, "It's better than Night Prancer."

"Prowler! Night Prowler! Get it right!" Dick's patience thinned.

Jason popped up now, with a confused look on his face. "Hey what's the holdup Night Princess?" His eyes widened behind his mask when he saw Damian and Tim in their getups, "Well . . . Ok then. Guess our party just expanded."

"No! No, not Ok. Tim!"

"You lost this argument Dick. I told you. Now, do you want to stand here arguing or do you want get that statue?" The boy wouldn't budge.

Dick hissed out a breath before giving up, if you can't keep them from joining . . .

"Fine. I was about to-"

"Trigger a window alarm she just set." Tim turned the screen to show them. "You really think with something that valuable in her home in Gotham the lady wouldn't take extra security measures?" He almost sounded condescending.

Dick sighed. "Ok. So now what?"

Jason cocked his head and twirled the dagger he had on his belt. "We could always go for a more direct approach."

Damian nodded with a smirk.

Dick paled, what had he done to them. "No! We just steal. Not hurt anybody . . ."

Tim agreed with a 'humph' and took out a little cat head shaped trinket out of his belt. "Here." He tossed it to Dick who caught it confused. "Put that on the window and it'll do the rest."

"Where'd you get this?" Jason eyed the little do-dad suspiciously.

"Jeff's prototype material. The guy lets me take stuff home, I tinkered with it. You're welcome." Tim grinned suddenly, surprising them in the dark. "Seriously, how'd you guys get this far without some technological edge?"

Dick sighed again. "Ok. I'm going in." He slid down the edge and flicked the device against the window. It stuck. Tim tapped furiously on his laptop.

"Aaaaaand go. Security disabled."

Dick bit his lip and carefully lifted the pane up and slid inside. The owner was fast asleep in her king sized bed under silken sheets. Good. He tiptoed weightlessly across the floor and scanned the dark.

His eyes caught the glitter next to her bed. Bingo.

With baited breath, he crouched on his knee and looked at the case. Probably secured. Tim said he'd taken the security down. Ok. Let's try our luck.

He reached for the case, the cat glittering behind it. He froze when the woman snorted and rolled over with a groan. He bit his lip and slowly lifted the case up and down. So far so good. He reached for the statue, slow, slowly . . . don't rush, it might be trapped . . . his hand closed over the figure, he yanked it out and stepped back silently.

Nothing happened. He relaxed and carefully climbed out the window, closed it and picked the cat device up. He flipped over the ledge with a triumphant smile.

"Got it."

The others smiled back.

"Let's go before we run out of luck." Jason suggested.

They all agreed and headed over the edge, all flipping with practiced ease onto the next building.

Jason smiled widely as they ran down the roof tops. "This one's a doozy!"

"How much?" Tim asked as he somersaulted through the air.

"Half a mil maybe!" Jason laughed. They all whooped excitedly not noticing the shadow behind them.

"So. Big night?"

The four of them froze mid leap. Dick landed on Jason, Damian rolled over, knocking Tim off his feet who flew backwards, this all ended up with the four of them sprawling on the rooftop, a tangle of limbs and curses.

They struggled against each other and looked up.

The horrific image of The Batman in all his darkness met their eyes.

Oh crap.

Batgirl zipped through Gotham smoothly, she'd just stopped a mugger and a store theft in sector eighteen. She felt pretty accomplished right now. That cat burglar fight she had a few nights ago had really dampened her spirits. But tonight she was out and ready!

A crash caught her attention. She stopped on the roof and looked over, something was on the alley ground below. A statue? No, a chair. She wondered why someone would-

A stream of black clad men suddenly began dripping out of the broken window.

Whoa. Ninjas. Al Ghul Ninjas. She'd been bored one day and had hacked into Bruce's criminal files. Al Ghul was at the top of bad guys list. But what were his Ninja doing in Gotham . . . throwing chairs out of windows. That wasn't very Ninja of them.

She knew they were up to something. She also knew she shouldn't confront them, or follow them or anything remotely near them . . . Batman would kill her if she wasn't dead.

She licked her lips. Screw that. First big time crime here I come. She flipped over and followed after the last black clad man.

This shouldn't be too hard. Just follow them, don't get too close, and maybe get an inkling on what their up to without getting killed. If I can do that and live, maybe Batman won't swoop in a raining punishment on me.

She sailed behind the army, paying close attention to her footing, Batman had told her she needed to after he swept her to the ground that one time . . .of many.

She quickly redirected her brain to the scenario in front of her. The ninja had all swarmed on the docks, Gotham was known for its shady activity at its docks. She shouldn't have been surprised. What did confuse her was that they weren't actually carrying anything. Huh, then what was that big show they did back there. Actually, now that she thought about it . . . the whole thing screamed-

"Lost, little bat?"

Batgirl whirled around, leg out to kick the stalker. He caught her leg easily, if he wasn't wearing a full face mask she'd have seen a mile-long smirk. She felt it instead. She hissed and jumped up, whirling midair and twisting her leg out of his grasp while kicking him with the other one.

Score one for Batgirl.

Except now . . . everyone knew she was there. The first ninja stood up from her kick and pulled out a very long, very shiny, very sharp, sword from his side.

"Oh, very nice form. But let's see how you do with actual weapons."

The others crowded in a circle around her. Batgirl narrowed her eyes to hide the fear in them as she set her fighting stance up.

"Don't worry little Bat. We didn't come here for you. But you will make getting our target much easier."

Dammit Barb, you just had to be the hero.

Batman. It was Batman. Tim's mind went haywire. This was the freaking Batman in the freaking Kevlar and flesh! Tim nearly passed out from disbelief. Batman had taken notice of them, was going to take them down, was going to take them to jail . . . and then everything would be over.

Everything. This guy was a grade A genius, Tim knew this, he also knew there was literally a sliver of a chance they'd get away.

"Four. There are four of you." Batman spoke again, for some reason he didn't charge at them like Tim had thought he would, I mean, take down should have been easy for the vigilante.

They were barely half his skill or height.

Jason's body tensed as they each stood up. "Yah, four. Someone give the guy a gold star."

Dammit Jason, shut up.

"Now what? You gonna beat us up and turn us in?" Jason continued, refusing to show any fear.

Tim swore Batman nearly smirked. Nearly.

"Depends. You going to resist?"

"Hell yes."

"Red-" Dick hissed next to him.

"No, He's right." Damian straightened out of his awestruck stupor and drew his sword. "We aren't going down without a fight."

Batman seemed to nod in acceptance as he practically flew through the air and landed in front of them, fighting stance made, he cocked his fingers in a come-hither motion and waited. Watched.

Tim bit his cheek as Jason and Damian sized the man up. They were going to die. Unless . . . Tim and Dick made eye contact for a minute. Then all hell broke loose.

Jason charged fearlessly forward and aimed a full forced kick, Damian went high and sliced with his sword. Batman ducked and twisted out of the way, grabbing Jason's leg and tossing him against the younger boy. Both rolled to their feet and charged again.

Tim melted into the shadows, wishing he could stay there. But he had an idea. Batman was underestimating them . . . . this was good.

Dick flipped over Jason and swiped the Bats legs, getting in a good punch as Batman dodged his leg. Dick was in the space now, Jason and Damian came from either side. Punches and kicks and stab were issued fast, really fast. But the Dark freak was faster, almost inhumanly so. Dammit. Come on Tim, hurry up already!

Batman was playing them, the boys could see it, he was playing them like a well-tuned instrument.

He ducked and dodged and barley even tried to hit back, Jason got in a good kick after Dick pulled his cowl down over his eyes, but that was it. Damian side sliced only to have Batman grab his wrist and use his body to take down both boys, sending them all rolling across the roof.

"Come on. I thought you were going to at least be a challenge." Batman was taunting them.

What. The. Hell?

Jason growled out as he jumped to his feet and round house kicked the vigilante right across the jaw.

"I'll show you a challenge!" The boy roared furiously. Batman caught his oncoming fist and smirked, successfully freaking the boys out.

"That it?"

"Nope! This IS!" Tim jumped out from where he'd been hiding and landed on the man's back, clutching onto him like a metal coil and stuck something between his shoulder blades, then he flipped off as Batman swiped at him and tilted his little head with a smirk of his own, "Gotcha." He pressed a button on his belt and the tiny devise he'd clicked onto the man let out a sharp electric shock all over his body, making Batman loose the use of his legs for a moment as he fell trying to get the device off.

Jason whooped as Dick grabbed Damian and motioned for them to get the hell out of here.

"Hah! Take that, you self-righteous ass!"

"Let's go!" Dick called as Tim shoved Jason and ran after them.

Jason smirked and saluted the dark knight cockily before turning and flipping a few times before he disappeared with the others.

Batman, for his part, was actually surprised, if only subtly, but still, surprised nonetheless. . . they'd got the drop on him.

He decided enough was enough. Batman pulled his line out and aimed. His comm. suddenly went off, stopping him from pursuing. He clicked it on, irritated, and waited for a second.

A shriek came through, jolting the man's mind completely around. "Batgirl?"

"Yah, sorry, was busy stabbing a ninja!" She answered in a way to casual tone.

Batman grit his teeth when he heard the word Ninja. "What."

A loud yelp was heard through the com. "Yah, um . . . maybe I kinda need a little help . . . a little." Another shout and a grunt.

"Where?" He was already on the move as she breathed hard.

"Milton creek, yow, Hey I need that for later, jerk!" She answered with a growl. "Now would be swell."

"I'm on my way. Stay. Alive."

"Yah." She laughed dryly, "Sure thing."

And just like that, Batman forgot about the crime protégée team and headed off to rescue his troublesome charge.

The next morning's papers were riveting.

Selina nearly laughed at the distraught rich snob that had demanded a press conference. Her precious jade ruby eyed cat statue had been stolen from her apparently not so safe apartment, and now she demanded retribution.

Selina never knew how much fun the news could be. She smirked to herself as she sipped her coffee wondering about the new wannabes and how they spiced up things so well when Dick came stumbling in, blurry eyed and yawning.

"Morning.'" He mumbled through a yawn.

She smiled at his sleepy kitty face, "Morning Kitten, sleep well?"

He smiled, "Yah . . . kinda." He went into the kitchen before she could ask him anything else, probably on his quest for Coco puffs.

"Like Hell Tiny Tim! I was here first. Get out!"

Aaaaand there's Jason. Grouchy, from the sound of it.

Tim's squeal tickled her ears then he burst into a fit of giggles, which made Selina laugh. Jason must have poked his sides; he was an embarrassingly ticklish little monkey. Tim rarely laughs or smiles, but when he did. . . it was bright and full. She adored that.

"Unhand him, Todd!" Damian bellowed as they obviously fought in the hallway.

"What? I thought you'd want Timbo down and out, your royal shortness." Jason scoffed.

She could practically hear Damian's eye roll. "Later, he needs to assist me in a school project at the moment, not that I need it." He hissed at Jason.

"Um - guys! Can I have my arms back now?" Tim piped up through giggles.

"Shut up, all of you! God! Can't even get a decent amount of beauty sleep around here!" Maven shrilled suddenly from her room. Successfully shutting them all up.

Selina laughs as all three boys sulkily walk out into the living space. They all looked as tired as Dick. . . . hmm. That was odd, did they all stay up or something?

"Morning Boys." She smiled brightly.

They each answered in their own ways and headed for the kitchen.

Selina followed to find them all crowded silently around a newspaper in way too much excitement to be normal.

"Boys?"

They all startled and looked up at her, each doing a great job hiding something akin to nerves...

What?

She narrowed her sapphire eyes at them, trying to channel her inner mom, she knew it was in here somewhere.

"Oh, hey Selina." Dick grinned forcefully.

Jason nodded and pretended to find the cereal box interesting.

Tim's shoulders hitched and he went to bury himself in the fridge. Damian followed him unconsciously and demanded the almond milk.

Selina watched their pretty well smoothed out jitters. Had to give them credit for that. But what were they so jittery for?

Her eyes landed on the news papers' front page. The heist...

"Since when have you all been so interested in the news, boys?" She asked, calmly sitting at the sturdy wood table.

Dick chuckled, nervous as anything. "Oh, we just wanted to see the game scores from last night, we missed it."

Smooth. Selina almost hugged him for how well he just covered.

She let it slide instead. Whatever was bothering them couldn't be that big a deal anyway.

"Alright boys. I have a ton of things to do today, so stay out of trouble, Ok." She stood up and placed an affectionate kiss on top of each of their heads. "See you all tonight."

With a small ta-ta, she skipped out, leaving four very relieved youngsters behind.

"You think she suspects?" Tim whispered while pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

"Tt, you're paranoid Drake, she couldn't possibly. . . . could she?" Damian's eyes flickered to Dick who was trying to chew his coco puffs.

"Nah - I mean, unless you guys weren't as carful." Jason said, tugging his hair as he glared at the two younger boys.

Damian looked offended and Tim frowned.

Dick stood up instantly. "No. No, it's nobody's fault guys. She doesn't know. But we should really consider early retirement. . . ."

All three looked at him in disappointment.

Dick understood. They liked the thrills. Just like him. Fighting Batman last night had been way too much fun after it was over and they'd gotten over the initial shock. They didn't want to stop. . . . and it wasn't even because they liked stealing.

Maybe this was why Selina did Catwoman at all.

But she still needed financial help.

Dick let out a tired sigh. "Alright boys, a few more shots, but we aren't doing this forever you know."

"Yah, of course not Dick." Tim nodded vigorously, excited, he still had a bunch of prototype gadgets he wanted to try out.

"Merely until we finish with helping Selina." Damian agreed and turned to his cereal.

Jason snorted. "Sure Dick. Whatever you say."

Dick had no idea what that was supposed to mean. But he took it and went back to his coco puffs.

A leather bound foot tapped furiously on a cold stone floor. Following the foot up the leg then middle then a face. A beautiful, deadly looking, woman in a skin tight suit glared fiercely at her injured Ninja that dared show their faces to her after their failure.

"...And he appeared out of nowhere. We. . . didn't expect such brutality from him when he was saving that child."

Talia Al Ghul wasn't interested in excuses. These peons would be dealt with accordingly.

"Of course, the Batman is often more violent when ones he cares for are in harm's way. In any case, you have failed. Death is your only future now." She turned away, hair fluttering around her shoulders as the ninja slunk off to be imprisoned.

This was not part of the plan. Batman had a new girl with him, whether it was a lover or a lovers' child she had yet to discover. It made her slightly angry, especially since he already had a child he should have known about.

Talia had been so sure that Kyle bitch would have told him after taking the child. . . four years and-

The woman's exotic eyes widened. She still had him. Kyle still had her son, she never gave him to Bruce. . . but why? Why wouldn't the woman just tell Bruce and-

Perhaps she didn't know either.

Talia smirked to herself. She could make this work after all.

Barbara had been staring out into library space forever now. The fight she'd had with Bruce last night, clear in her mind. Ringing in her ears, tightening her heart.

"You know the rules."

"I was handling it! Why don't you just trust me, trust that I can do this!"

"How can I trust someone who can't even follow a simple order!" He bellowed in her face.

Barbara clenched, refusing to cry. "I'm not a child! You're not my father, I'm doing this for him!"

Bruce's face hardened. "I am too. I took you in so you wouldn't be alone. I let you be Batgirl so you wouldn't seek revenge... I made a mistake on both accounts."

Barbara remembered the sting of his words. It felt liked he'd slapped her face, it hurt more than any training session ever had.

She hiccupped, her vision blurred.

"Barbie?"

She hitched suddenly, thoughts broken as she sat up, looking over her shoulder. Jason was standing there, red hoodie over his uniform, sleeves pushed up to bunch around his elbows, hair a mess, and sea green eyes glimmering with. . . she swore it was concern.

Barbara gave him a watery smile. "Hey there Jason. What are you doing here?"

Jason shrugged and ran his hand through his hair, it made him look like a rooster now. She almost laughed.

"I was looking for a book, have a lame paper to turn in and Selina isn't gonna let me get a motorcycle unless I pass everything into AP." He explained a little awkwardly, lifting the book he'd chosen.

Barbara's eyes sparkled, "Oliver twist? Good choice, didn't peg you for a classics guy though." She leaned her head over the backrest of the couch to look at him upside down.

She wasn't sure, but Jason may have blushed just then.

"Um, yah I - I l-like reading" He glared at his shoes with stubborn determination not to look at her.

Barbara liked that. This kid had a bunch of surprises wrapped up inside him, and each time you opened one it was exciting.

"That's cool, me too."

They stayed silent for a moment. Nothing but the librarians clicking on her keyboard echoed in the room.

"So. . . . what did you look so upset about?" He finally looked at her.

Barbara frowned a little, remembering. "Nothing. Just tired, and my dad's still in the hospital and - it's just hard, you know."

Jason nodded and surprisingly came to sit down next to her. "Yah. . . yah I know. I'm pretty sure your dad didn't put himself in there though."

Barbara remembered what she'd researched on this kid. One of the many lost kids of Crime Alley, drug abusing mother and dead beat dad. . . she felt for him.

"Hey, no point in being depressed over spilled milk. How 'bout we read some?" She coxed, shifting closer.

Jason flushed lightly and nodded. "Ok. Um - chapter one?"

She laughs a light tingle inducing laugh. "Yah, that's usually where stories start."

Turned out Jason was a really good reader, he had this fun ability to act out words without realizing he was doing it. He changed the voices feelings and just captivated Barbara's mind and made her want to laugh and cry when it called for it. He was a very good story teller.

She forgot about her problems and Bruce for one nice afternoon.

It made no sense.

Selina stared at her bank balance. Where did half a million dollars come from? She hadn't stolen or sold anything. She was pretty sure she was going to go under soon, yet, here she was, standing in front of her bank account, five hundred thousand dollars filling her vision.

What?

She bit her lip in thought, this made absolutely no sense. Did she hit a gold mine or something? It couldn't have been Bruce. . . they hadn't settled on arrangements completely yet. Although, she was pretty sure he was stalling just so he could see her more.

That thought made her flush with pleasure. Wait, shake it off Selina, no time to act like a love struck school girl.

She needed to figure out where this money was coming from.

Then, something like lightning struck her dumb, her heart gave an unexpected lurch as she gasped at the thought that shocked her.

The Boys. . .

They'd been sleeping later, the circles under their eyes was proof enough of that. They bickered over things and stopped whenever she entered the room. Last week, Dick had one ugly bruise on his arm that he blamed on a bully. . .

They'd all been acting weird.

But they wouldn't have. . . would they?

The room was stuffy and silent for a moment, everything faded into nothing as her brain screeched into a halt.

With a loud breath she whirled on her white heels and ran out of the bank, ignoring the odd stares she was receiving.

They so would.

"Come on Timbo! Try harder!" Jason yelled as he pushed Tim to run faster over the roofs they were currently using as a personal gym.

Tim coughed and whirled away irritated. "I am! And its Red Claw, Tiger." He smirked as Jason rolled his eyes behind his mask.

"Just do it already."

Tim took a deep breath and pivoted on his foot, launching himself into a run and then threw himself forward into a no hand flip, landing a bit wobbly on his feet.

Jason whistled. "Good job Red! That was good, not perfect, but good."

Tim resisted the urge to bow like a show off.

Dick's head popped over the edge. "Hey guys, Dami sees something." He hissed and slid back down out of view.

The other two ran to peek over the edge.

"Whoa. . ." Jason whispers as a they watch a trail of black clad ninja drip out of an office building.

"What are they doing?" Tim asked to no one in particular.

"Better question. Who are they?" Jason said before hiking his legs over and jumping down next to Dick in a smooth crouch.

Tim followed just as silently, which was good. Jason figured they could practice fighting more since he's got stealth down great.

"I've seen that crest before. They're from where Selina saved me." Damian said with a slight shiver that anyone would have missed if they didn't know him.

His brothers noticed though.

"C'mon Dami, let's hide this out." Dick squeezed the youngers shoulder. They all climbed back up to the roof in silence, each wondering what those jerks were here for.

And what were they doing in a Kyle Corp building?

"Well, I didn't want to believe it. . ."

They all froze, spines going shock straight.

Selina Kyle, in all her tight Catwoman suit glory, was staring down at them from above, hands on her wide hips. Eyes blazing blue through her cat mask at them.

They all instantly began stuttering like idiots.

She waited. Face unmoving. And waited, as they all fumbled and blamed and tried to explain.

Key word: Tried.

After a full minute of listening to useless garbling, she flipped into the air and landed in front of all of them. They all froze and shrunk back, Dick looking the worst out of all of them. He was always such a guilt hog.

"So, let me get this straight." She said evenly, trying to decide if she should be angry at them or pleased. "You did this because you were afraid I would lose the business then you?"

Dick nodded sadly. "I heard you. . . and Maven talking and you just seemed so sad and - and we all want to help and. . ."

She fought back the tears that dared blur her vision.

"You boys are so. . . Ugh." She surprised them when she reached forward and enveloped all of them in a hug. All five in leather cat costumes and masks, sharing a hug on top of a Gotham apartment building. It was a sight to see.

When she pulled back she was wiping tears away that had escaped. "You boys are just too much sometimes." She laughed shakily. She really didn't deserve them.

Jason scoffed and tried to hide his face under his red hood. Timmy rubbed tears away and Damian refused to come out from behind him.

Dick's face was grinning so hard she was afraid it would break.

"We really love what you've given us Selina. None of us wanted to lose it." He explained calmer now that he knew she wasn't going to kill them.

Selina sighed and ran a gloved hand through her Kittens hair. "I know."

Then a sharp pain erupted in her side, white spots flashed behind her eyelids and she gaps, crouching down and gripping whatever the hell just hit her.

The boys tensed and jumped as several metal stars came flying at them from the dark. Selina hissed as she yanked the offending weapon out of her side.

At least twenty men in black surrounded them instantly.

Salina's heart dropped, no – not now – not them . . . how did they find them? How - Her mind spun, desperation and fear gripping her like a steel hand around her lungs. The boys all crowded around her protectively, surprising her.

One of the ninjas leaned over and pointed at Damian, saying something harsh in a foreign language, Selina thought it might be Arabic.

Damian scowled so dark it almost scared her. Dick's hand gripped the little boy and shoved him into Selina's arms.

"You want him?" Dick hissed viciously, shocking even Jason. "You'll have to get through us first."

"No!" Selina screamed, heart in her throat, as all the men pounced.

She grabbed Damian, who was more than ready to fight, and ran.

"Put me down! I can handle this!" He shrieked.

Selina sighed, putting him down and grabbed his shoulders, looking him in his blazing eyes. "No, no Damian, they want that. They want you. They-" Something sliced her face. She gasped and fell back, Damian's eyes widened in fear.

Her vision blurred as several men advanced.

"Run," She croaked and stood. Why were her legs so wobbly? She couldn't breathe to well either. Stomach heaved as she tried to maintain balance.

They charged. She fought. They kicked, she dodged and tried to slash them with her claws. One grabbed her wrist and tossed her over his shoulder, slamming her into the ground. Selina cried out and kicked someone in the face.

Curses flew as fast as fists and feet. One was getting tired and pulled out a dagger. He slashed the woman across her stomach and went for a stab.

Selina stumbled and fell back, gasping, hand pressing to the gushing wound. Eyes unfocused, must have been a poison shurikun that grazed her face earlier.

She could feel it wearing down get system. Oh god, her stomach churned as she tried, in pitiful vain to stand as the ninja brought down the dagger, aiming right for her throat.

"Stop!" Damian growled like a feral cat and drop kicked the man away, then roundhouse kicked him straight in the groin. The ninja squealed, dropped the weapon with a clatter, and fell in a heap.

The other three advanced.

She couldn't make anything out. Except for Damian's swishing form as he defended her. Her head was lightening, her vision swirling like a kaleidoscope. How many were there? Three? Six? Ten? Her boys! She'd left them behind. . .

Oh god...

Something slammed across her head.

The last thing she saw before passing out was Damian being dragged down.

"Tiger, on your right!" Dick yelled as he flipped over a sword slash and kicked a ninja in the back.

Jason scoffed and kneed one in the gut, avoiding his blade and slammed him face first into the concrete.

Tim winced and performed a perfect round house kick and double punch to three ninjas in a row. "Do you have to be so violent?" He whined as he grabbed another man's sword and flipped him completely over, shocking the man that such a frail looking child could do that.

Jason snickered and punched someone else square in the face, nose cracked under his throbbing fist. "Yes." He smirked as the man fell bleeding. "Yes, I really do."

Dick rolled his eyes and executed a graceful triple flip before taking two out with a mid-air split. "We have to finish this now, Catwoman and Dami need us." He felt that sickening worry tighten in his stomach.

They'd run, but he saw at least five ninjas go after them.

He hoped they were alright.

"Halt!"

Everyone froze mid fight.

Dick turned to see a tall, black clad, man clutching Damian by the throat, a sharp blade pushing against his jugular.

Jason cursed. Tim went pale. Dick froze. His mind stopped working at seeing his baby brother in such a terrifying position.

Damian looked pissed and ready to bite the man's hand off.

"Don't do anything he says!" The child hissed.

The man's grip steeled harder and yanked him back, his neck fully exposed now, bent at an extremely uncomfortable angle.

"Don't..." Dick stepped forward, breathless. "Don't hurt him. What do you want?" He needed to get to Damian, to take him away, then he could stab this ugly child harassing bastard.

"We want you to stand aside. We are taking the boy, but we will spare you if you cooperate."

"Like Hell!" Jason seethed and pounced, Dick grabbing his shoulders, stopped his charge.

"No. Give us the boy and you won't get hurt." Dicks voice was like steel. Even though his heart was tattooing a hole in his ribs.

The man didn't move, but they could feel the smirk through his mask. "You are in no position to make demands boy. Move or we will kill you all."

"You're not taking him." Dick hissed and they all prepared to fight for their brother.

Damian saw. His heart cracked a little as he saw how they were willing to die to get him safe.

He couldn't let that happen. Not after everything, no matter what. He had a taste of freedom, now. . . They wanted him back. In his heart, he supposed this was always his future. He just never expected to get so comfortable with Selina and the others to the point where he forgot he didn't belong here. No, now it was time to end this before they all died. He couldn't handle that.

"No!" He shouted, surprising everyone. "I will-" He coughed due to the unnatural position his neck was in. "I will go with them."

"What? No Dami we-"

"Stop it. . . Grayson. . . just leave."

Everything felt like it had frozen over. Nobody moved. Dick's blood had turned to ice in his veins, his heart felt like it had literally been shattered.

"But we promised Dami, we promised not to let them take you back."

Damian shivered and squeezed his eyes shut. "Let me go, peon." He snapped at the man who instantly released him.

He rubbed his neck and glared at everyone. "You made a promise I knew you couldn't keep." With that, all the ninja fell away and crowded around the little boy to lead him away.

Dick, Jason, and Tim watched helplessly as they walked away. With their little brother.

"Dami-" Dicks voice cracked.

Tim felt his eyes well up and Jason spat.

"This isn't happening!" He yelled and aimed a punch at the nearest man who swung around and kicked Jason across the face, sending him sprawling in anger.

Damian turned and looked at them, forcefully hiding his sorrow. "Stop it Todd. You can't hope to fight them forever. Take-" His little body slumped like a ten-year-old should under the pressure before he turned into a cold little statue again. "Take care of Ms. Kyle." And he turned away.

Dick watched as they took his baby brother away, and he watched... helpless as he was consumed by the shadows of Gotham.

He was gone.

Dick choked on a sob.

Jason sat up angrily, rubbing his chin which would bruise horribly later.

Tim's body vibrated in fear and he shot away towards the back, as if he couldn't take anymore.

The other two followed him numbly, unable to process.

Bodies went rigid when they found Selina. . . on the ground, unmoving, and broken, in a puddle of her own blood.

Oh. . . oh, hell no.

Neither boy could believe what had happened.

Chapter Text

"Selina Kyle in comatose state. Leaves adopted wards alone. One missing. Authorities baffled."

Dick grit his teeth, crumpled the obnoxiously printed paper and tossed it over his shoulder. It fell into a waste basket with a smooth thump, ready for recycling.

Didn't these piranhas have anything better to do than hound him and his family? All week it's been nothing but news reporters and fake condolences and just - Dick felt like a fish drowning in a toxic sea that he didn't belong in.

Selina had been horribly injured and they'd barely gotten her into the nearest hospital that night, she'd lost way too much blood to be safe and they'd just managed come up with a believable excuse.

He couldn't even remember what they said at the time. Dick did, however, remember how tense and snappy Jason was, he'd almost punched a doctor out of anger. Tim was silent mostly, broody, he hadn't spoken much this week. Dick was struggling to keep everything in and look like he was in one piece on the outside for the sake of everyone.

But that was hard. So - so hard.

Selina might not wake up and Damian was gone.

His heart couldn't take much more. But he was trying. For Tim and Jason, he was trying. And poor Auntie Mave was buried up to her neck in work and paper work and social workers and news reporters. Dick knew they owed her so much.

But right now. . . nobody could get their bearings.

It all felt so unreal.

And painful.

Half the time he expected Damian to just walk in, Selina laughing behind him. Happy, safe. Home.

He groaned and buried his face in his hands, back hunched so far down he looked small, almost like a child again, a sad lonely lost little kid who was hiding in the dark corners of his room, wishing the monsters away. He felt miserable. His throat clogged as he fought back his fears and tears.

I can't do this. No, no - keep it together Dick. Your brothers need you. Smile, stay strong. You have to do this...

He took a deep, shuddering breath, and stood up, pushing his uncombed hair back and straightened his shirt. He needed to stand tall. To keep them together. It was the only thing he needed to do now.

Protect the family he had left.

Visiting Selina in the hospital was a lot harder than Dick thought it would be. He didn't like hospitals, they were so white and clean and. . . cold. People who went in there weren't usually happy. And many died in these sterilized rooms.

Dick swallowed hard as he walked in a zombie like fashion towards the shiny polished marble front desk.

A tall, dark skinned man smiled at him from behind. "Yes? What can I do for you?"

Dick forced a small tight lipped smile. "I'm Dick Grayson, I'm here to see Selina Kyle." He hoped he didn't sound as sad as he felt.

The man nodded and tapped something into the computer in front of him. "Kyle. . . ah, here you go. Room 53. Visiting hours' end at six."

"Thank you." Dick nodded numbly and took his pass from the nice man and headed for the elevator.

He'd left Jason and Tim at home. He didn't want them to see Selina in a broken state. Neither boy knew he was even here, which was probably for the best.

His heart gave a tight squeeze, as if someone had reached in and thought it was a stress ball the closer he got to Selina's room.

The elevator dinged and stopped on the designated floor. With a deep breath, he pushed through and walked down the hallway, avoiding any curious eyes that wondered what such a pretty boy was doing in a hospital. He really had hoped dressing in the oldest clothes he owned and leaving his hair a mess would be enough to keep anyone who may have been watching the news from noticing who he was.

By the interested stares he was getting, he was pretty sure it wasn't working.

He stopped suddenly in front of a door.

Room 53 shone overhead on the plaque. Dick Grayson had never feared a door so much before.

With shaking hands, terrified of what he would see, he opened the door.

It moved with a slow, ominous creak.

Dick stepped in, his heart felt like it had been tugged the wrong way in his chest, a lump too big for his throat clogged it, his mind sparked and stuttered to a stop.

There she was. Selina Kyle, the closest thing he had to a mother since his died. . . on the bed, a ghastly pale color, the sheets looked brighter than her. Her head wrapped up, her arm in a hanging cast, her abdomen wrapped up over thick stiches, wires sticking out of everywhere.

Dick couldn't look. His stomach twisted.

He was going to be sick.

How could he have failed so badly? How?

She was Catwoman, she shouldn't look like this. She was always so full of life and mischief and - and - she shouldn't be subjected to this!

Dick couldn't stand the pain and guilt that was eating him. He felt hot trails down his face, if he had been Jason the thought that he was crying would have appalled him. But he was Dick.

And Dick Grayson cried.

He took her limp, cold, hand in his shaking ones and wished she would open her eyes. The doctors said the toxin found in her bloodstream did nothing to help with the extreme bleeding.

Dick hated this. He hated the monsters who did this to her.

Hating was a rare feeling for him. But when he felt it - it was thick and nasty.

With an aching heart, he promised to himself, and to her, that he would find who did this and take back Damian. And make them pay for hurting her.

He didn't know how long he'd stayed. His body had gone numb on the hard plastic chair, so it must have been a long time. Dick figured they'd be worried about him back home. He'd have to give a good excuse.

Finally, he decided to leave. With a soft kiss to the unconscious woman's bandaged head he stumbled out of the room with a tear stained face.

Only to stumble into someone else.

"S-sorry, I didn't-"

"Dick?'

"Barbara!" Oh shoot. Dick's brain kicked up from slow sadness to surprised confusion.

The beautiful girl looked up at him then quickly looked away.

Was she. . . her face looked like - like she'd been crying. . .

Dick's heart tugged towards her, he felt her sadness and it called to his, "Hey," He placed a gentle hand on her slender shoulder. "You ok?"

She sniffed, her shoulders hunched and she shook her head before turning back towards him slowly. Her eyes were red rimmed and watery. She noticed his own blotchy look and gave him a sad smile.

"I heard about - about Selina. . . I'm sorry." She whispered sadly.

Dick swallowed. "You here to see your dad?"

She nodded, biting her lip, unable to meet his sad eyes. "Doctors are talking about moving him out. . . I – I wish he would wake up."

Dick's heart broke a little more as he suddenly reached forward and wrapped her up in a warm hug. Surprisingly, Barbara melted right against him and clung tightly, burying her face in his shoulder, wetting his shirt with silent tears.

And they stayed like that for a while.

Because they both understood.

Their pain reached out to each other and understood the others.

It was soothing in some strange way.

"What do you mean 'Incapable of performing her duties'?!" Maven screeched, hair falling out of its usually smooth and well-kept pony tail as she glared at the unemotional face of the eighth social worker she'd spoken to this week.

"That's what the city states. Ms. Kyle is out of commission, and we give regards but she is incapable of keeping these children, so it's felt best to take them and give them proper homes." The lady was stiff and completely cold.

Maven hated her. And those like her.

Selina was down and these vultures were trying to ruin the world she'd built for herself.

Well, they can all burn in hell, because Maven sure as heck wasn't letting that happen.

"Read my lips; you can tell the city, to fuck themselves!" And she slammed the door.

With a loud angry huff, she whirled around and stomped towards the phone. She was in no mood for good manners and upholding society statuses. She was angry. Very, very angry.

The phone rang, once. Twice. Four time. . .

"Answer, Damn you!"

"Hello?"

Maven colored, but her anger didn't let the embarrassment overtake her. She plowed on.

"I thought you said you would handle those social vultures! What do we pay you for?!"

"Oh Maven, yes um. . . well, we are working on the case, but it takes time and were trying to buy some, at least until Selina wakes up so this can be taken to court but-"

" First, to hell with those excuses, you suck as a lawyer! Second, I don't care what you have to do, just do it, and keep them away from these kids!"

"But one is gone and that doesn't ring well with the-"

"Fuck you!" And she slammed the phone down in fury with a loud clunk.

She bit back a shriek and slumped into the nearest chair. Oh god, these poor boys. . . although she wouldn't admit it much, she liked them. They were sweet and crazy, and they kept things alive.

If Selina woke up and found she'd lost them. . . Maven would never forgive herself. They've been through too much to be tossed out into Gotham's cruel clutches again.

With a deep sigh that came from her toes, she stood up and looked for her pumps. Somehow, ten years ago, when she'd signed up for this job, she didn't think keeping her boss's kids out of the system was part of it.

To say he was angry was in understatement.

Jason was livid. Pure red anger incarnated.

Those bastards dared hurt Selina. They dared take his brother. Hurt his family. Jason didn't care what Dick said. They needed to pay. Jason was hell bent on making them. It was bad enough that Selina was in a coma, reminded him too much of his first mom, but no. . . taking away Damian was breaking them.

Dick, for all his trying to be a bright side and smile to keep them strong, was breaking, Jason could see him breaking. And that hurt like crap. And Tim. . . . Timmy was a ghost. He wouldn't eat. He doesn't sleep, he barely speaks, just walks around, stays up all night reading, doesn't even tease Jason back anymore.

Maven was a ticking time bomb and Jason was rooting for her to blow. He was aching to kill. To hurt something, anything. Just to make this horrid monster that was eating a hole in his heart stop chewing.

He was hurting so much it felt like his bones were breaking under the pressure. The only family he'd thought would be around for a good long time, was broken. Just like he was. And it made him - sick.

And afraid.

And Jason only knew one way to deal with unwanted weakening emotions.

Anger.

Unbridled, red hot, anger. And he was completely fired up.

Dick told him not to. Dick said they'd be ok. Dick begged him not to do anything stupid.

To hell with that.

Jason needed to make them pay. He needed to hurt them like he hurt.

Then maybe Selina would wake up.

Maybe Damian would come back.

Maybe he could be happy with all of them.

Maybe Gotham would stop being a vindictive soul sucking monster for once. . .

Jason forced back a choked breath and slid out of his window.

Red Tiger was out to hunt.

And it wasn't for jewelry this time.

Dick felt something was off. Call it big brother sense or something. But he knew something was wrong. Which is why he was currently roaming their home looking for something - something out of place or missing or. . .

It was really late. Where was Jason?

A slight pang of fear rippled through him as he walked towards Tim's bedroom, a sliver of light beamed from the crack under his door. He was still up, maybe Jason was in there with him. The brash boy would often curl up with Tim when the smaller boy was sad or afraid of something. Dick had caught them a few times, but had never told anyone.

Jason had a soft spot for small, vulnerable things. Timmy, although he was fairly capable of taking care of himself, admired Jason and sometimes craved attention. No matter how much he insisted he didn't.

Tim was indeed awake. Dick noticed, with a sinking heart, that Jason was not with him. Crap. . . knowing Jason he was probably off doing something stupid...

"Hey Timmers." Dick said, his voice soft as he took in the hundreds of books strew all over Tim's messy room as the boy seemed to be studying at least three in front of him on his unmade bed.

That's when Dick noticed they were medical books on Comas and poisons. Guilt washed through him all over again in a horrible, he'd-been-punched-in-the-gut, kind of way.

"Hi." Tim answered, without looking up, flipping a page.

Dick fidgeted on his feet, unsure how to ask. "Um- Have you- I don't suppose you've seen Jay around?" Please say yes, please say yes, please say-

"No."

Damn it. Damn it all.

He was doing something stupid. Dick knew that. Now he needed to go out and find the little punk before he got himself killed. Ugh, way to make things more complicated Jason.

His silence seemed to trigger something in Tim's brain because the little boy looked up and sat, closing his book. "You don't think he-"

"That's exactly what I think, Tim. I have to go find him. Sit tight." Dick turned to leave.

"Wait!" Tim piped up and scrambled off the bed. "I'm coming with you."

"No Tim-"

"Yes! Jason could be in trouble and after everything. . ." Tim's lip wobbled, to the boy's embarrassment, he ducked his head, silent, fists clenching as he attempted to regain his composer. After a beat he took a deep breath and looked Dick fiercely in the eyes. "We have to stick together."

Dick would be a giant ass if he argued with that.

Batgirl needed air. Desperately.

She was near suffocating in the manor, Alfred was sweet and all, but not even his cookies could help clear up this tight cloud that was threatening to consume her in misery. Depression, some people called it.

And Bruce. . . he still hadn't spoken much to her since that whole Ninja fiasco. Plus, after he found out what happened to Selina, he'd gotten a whole lot broodier.

He was near mourning. And it was sweet. . . in a weird broody Brucey kind of way.

But she didn't need his cloud weighing down on hers. She needed to breath, and Gotham smog was better than suffocating depression.

So she snuck out Batgirl and took a run. Jumping off roofs, light poles, anything that could hold her weight. She wasn't really looking to beat anyone up, but if she happened to find someone. . . meh, she wasn't complaining.

But right now, she just needed to run, to jump, to fly.

She let out an exhilarated breath as she flipped and deliberately fell to the lowest roof without catching herself. With a small laugh, she felt the tension in her neck ease.

The afternoon in the hospital had been depressing. The doctors were holding out even less hope then before. She'd cried, because she just wanted her dad to wake up already. She missed him horribly.

And then Dick had been there. Barbara felt a silly smile cross her soft face when she remembered his hug. How he was in so much pain, she could feel it reach out to hers, to take hers away.

Even if his hurt was so much fresher than hers.

She didn't think she'd ever met any boy as sweet as Dick Grayson.

She wished her dad could meet him, maybe he'd even-

A crash caught her attention making her crouch to a stop and roll behind an AC unit. She peered over with bright eyes and saw a group of black clad men engaged in some sort of fight against - she couldn't really tell. Either they were fighting each other or someone was in the middle.

A loud curse and shout caught her eye. A flash of red and-

Wait.

Wait a minute.

A boy, a masked boy, a young masked boy was in the middle fighting like a rabid lion. She flinched when she heard the crack of the bones he was breaking in his rage fueled fighting. He was fierce. Red anger radiated off of him as he tore through the lethal ninja with a knife and a whip.

He was good.

Dangerously good. Brutal and intense.

Uh oh. Her eyes widen when she notices the darkened shadows that move in closer. He was about to be very, very overpowered. Well, she needed some stress relief anyway.

With a slight smirk, she flipped out and flew into the fight. A ninja was about to stab the unsuspecting boy, ready to split him in half. She landed on his head, hard, and round house kicked several attackers at once.

The boy froze for a moment and got a punch in the gut for his troubles. He hissed and whirled to his feet, knocking one man out.

"Who are you?" He rasped, trying to catch his breath as he kneed someone in the groin.

Batgirl scoffed and tossed her fiery hair over her shoulder, feeling his eyes rake down her body, Ok, so she was wearing something tight enough to show everything. . . couldn't really blame him for that.

"Mask for a reason." She tapped her mask as she twisted out of a clamping hold on her arm.

"No, I mean," He kicked a ninja out of his way, "Who are you, mask wise."

"Ooooh." She snickered and ballerina twirled away from a sword swipe, "I'm Batgirl. You?"

"Me . . . I'm - not your friend." He ground out as someone punched him in the solar plexus.

Wait. . . what?

She stopped for a second, trying to process that, unable to understand what he meant for the moment when something wacked her against her head sending her sprawling into a wall.

She gasped and lost balance as a ninja advance and fell into a stab.

Something barreled into him, both bodies rolled away violently. She stood up shakily as another body jumped and kicked yet another ninja out of the way.

"Why?" The lithe body spoke.

She blinked, slightly dizzy as an even smaller boy in a mask fell into the fray.

"Why couldn't you just stay home, Red?"

Red?

She looked and saw the first boy break out of the suffocating circle and join the smaller boy, back to back.

"You know why."

"Hey! Both of you, shut up and let's get out of here."

Batgirl whirled around to see. . . wait a second!

"Cat burglars! You guys are those-"

"No time for this!" The tallest, and by far sexiest, cat boy jumped off the AC Unit and kicked several ninjas away, yanking at the other two boys, pulling them into a run.

"Hey! Wait!" She gasped, realizing she was going to be left alone if she didn't keep up, plus they were criminals. . . yah - they needed um - pursuing?

So pursue she did.

The Ninja melted away into the shadows, laughing at them.

Talia Al Ghul liked a good show. But these boys were getting irritating. Perhaps eliminations were in order.

"Completely stupid!" Dick near shrieked as he and his brothers ran from the fight.

Jason scoffed, adrenalin still thrumming through his veins. "No. That was me getting answers."

Tim rolled his eyes. "How many did you get?"

"I - um." They flipped over a back ally, "I would have gotten them if that bat-chic didn't jump in." He finished lamely.

Dick screeched to a halt. "What?"

"You heard him. Although I find being referred to as Batgirl is distinctly more pleasing."

And there she was.

The only girl, other than Barbara Gordon, that could make Dick Grayson quake in his shorts. Damn it.

She walked towards them, eyes glittering through her mask, the Kevlar suit clinging and moving with her body like she had nothing on but too much at the same time. Dick swallowed, damn it.

"Haven't seen you in a while." Her eyes glazed over in attempt not to feel drawn to the oldest thief, body taut and telling a completely different story.

Dick twitched.

Jason and Tim winced.

God, they could feel the sexual tension from all the way over here. Jason found this slightly revolting. Tim was just embarrassed.

"Didn't think we were steady." Night Prowler smirked, trying to hide his nerves as she walked into his space, face a mere foot away from his.

And Batgirl refused to acknowledge the fact that she liked this.

"No. . . but a girl likes some fun now and again." Her hand 'accidently' brushed his chest.

They walked in circles around each other. Eyes never wavering, smoldering into each other's minds. Dick wished he knew who she was so he could find her and marry her.

But there wasn't time for this. . . no matter how much he wanted it.

"Fun. Right. Listen Bats, I have to go, we've got- other things to do and-"

"Right, like getting into stupid fights." Her attention instantly turned to Jason, and Dick suddenly wanted it back.

Jason shrugged, which irritated both Tim and Dick.

"What can I say. Trouble follows me."

Batgirl found this very interesting. She could swear, for some odd reason, she's felt that aura before. Like she's been around someone like this kid. . .

"Trouble is right. Care to tell me why you willingly started a fight with Al Ghuls' Ninja?" She circled Jason now.

The younger boy bit the inside of his cheek and notice Night Prowler's glare through his mask. Oh boy. This was even more fun than messing with Barbara.

"Like I said, I was getting answers."

She leaned into his space, eyes seeming to see through his mask.

"Did you get any?" She was teasing. Something about these boys made her feel fun. She liked them. God forbid Batman ever hear her thoughts though.

"No. That's your fault though. Care to compensate." Jason was doing his flirty tone.

Good God! Dick had enough as Batgirl snorted and pushed the eager boy away with a smooth hand on his chest.

Jason would take it.

Dick decided the fun was over. He stalked over between Batgirl and Red Tiger and snatched his pesky younger brother away, he was still in so much trouble.

Batgirl laughed as Tiger flailed around like a little kid with a potty mouth. Her eyes fell on the silent scrawny one.

"Hi." He said rather flatly.

Batgirl blinked. "Hi. I'm guessing you're the sane one?"

To her surprise, the boy smirked, that seemed. . . wrong on his little sweet looking face. "Sure. I guess you could say that. Nice to meet you. Bye."

And they were gone.

She sighed, feeling tingles up her spine. Damn it, and she'd really wanted to kiss Night Prince too.

Again. Thank God Batman didn't have mind reading powers. . .

"It was idiotic and irresponsible!"

"Why? Because you say so?!"

Tim sat on his bed as both older boys tore into each other with words. Blows hadn't been traded yet and that was mostly because he was here.

The minute they'd gotten in, Dick ripped off his mask and started lecturing Jason. Jason was never one to be lectured so he yelled back. Then Dick's voice rose. Then they started screaming at each other.

Tim hugged his pillow tighter at their livid faces, real anger rolling off of them in thick waves, making the room stuffy and cold at the same time.

"Why won't you realize what you did was selfish and dangerous?!"

"Because I was fine, you jerk ass! I had everything under control! I just wanted answers!"

"Yah, because they were so keen on giving them before! You can be so stupid sometimes!"

"Takes an idiot to know an idiot, Dickhead. Get off my case! You can't tell me what to do, you're not my dad, so fuck off!"

"I'm trying to keep you safe, Jason. So that you'll live to grow up!"

"Oh yah, cuz you did such a great job keeping Selina and Damian safe!" The sarcasm coming out of Jason was angry and fierce.

Dick looked like he'd been slapped. Jason realized a second to late what he'd said.

Tim froze, eyes going huge.

Dick stumbled back, eyes watering for a moment before he covered his hurt up and scowled.

"You're really a selfish jerk, Jason, and I'm sorry you had to be our brother."

Tim's heart thumped in his ears. No! No, they were going down a dangerous path. This wasn't how things were supposed to go! They weren't supposed to make things worse!

Jason looked ready to break something. Tim knew that had hurt worse than Dick stabbing him with a real knife.

"God you- I just want to - Arg!" Jason threw out a fist so suddenly Dick didn't dodge it completely and got punched in the gut, coughing out his air. "I never asked to be your little pet dog anyway, you giant circus freak!"

Dick wheezed and glared daggers at the younger boy. "Better a circus freak than gutter trash! You're more trouble then you're worth!"

Tim snapped. "Stop! Stop it you morons! You can't do this – you're making things worse. Damn it! Please!" The kids voice cracked, his heart was hurting his chest, he felt his vision blur in his desperate attempt to stop these two idiots before they went any further.

Both boys turned to look at the small boy, tension breaking for a moment in their distraction, Tim was already in tears. It was rare when Tim was emotional. It shocked them into actually stopping.

"Please." He whispered, burying his face in his pillow. "Selina won't want you to fight. Not now, not like this." He mumbled through the fabric.

Dick slumped and ran a hand down his tired face with a miserly sigh. Jason's eyes blurred, he rubbed at them angrily, clenching teeth as his throat tighten mercilessly, painfully.

"St-stop Timmy. Stop it." Jason felt his own voice crack, he hated himself for it.

Dick's heart was seriously believing that dying now would be much less painful than watching this moment. Dick swallowed thickly as he watched Jason crawl into the bed next to Tim, and for the first time in years, he looked like that little lost kid Selina had rescued as he pulled their younger brother into a rough hug.

Dick swallowed the giant lump of pain down and let out a broken breath.

Selina would be so disappointed in him right now.

He climbed into the bed and fit both of them into his arms with a silent sob. He missed Selina. He missed Damian.

He missed being a normal kid without too many worries.

He was supposed to keep them safe and together, not rip them apart. Jason needed him. Tim needed him. They all needed each other.

And he was sucking at showing them that they had each other. But he needed to try harder, because if he didn't, if they didn't realize they were all they had left. . . he just might break and nothing would put him back together again.

"We'll be ok guys." He whispered into Jason's hair. "We're a lot tougher than anyone knows. We don't need help. We can figure this out. I know it." He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince at this point.

Jason muttered something unintelligible under his breath, but clung tighter. Their fight clearly forgotten.

Tim sniffed and nodded.

Unbeknownst to the two elder boys. Tiny Tim already had a plan, it had been formulating in his brilliant mind since Damian was taken. And by golly he was going to execute it and Al Ghul will have no idea what hit him.

Nobody messes with his family and gets away with it. . .

Chapter Text

It all made sense.

Tim bit his lip as he tacked yet another newspaper clipping of a blurry picture of Batman flying through the dark Gotham air.

He backed away and took in all his work.

His wall was covered in pictures and theories and evidences'. Tim Drake had a small obsession with Batman since forever. He even had some pictures from when he was younger, that one time he caught Batman stopping a store robbery. That had been a fun night, Tim got a good angle then when he snuck close enough.

He used to tail Batman a lot back in the day, before the death of his parents. After Selina adopted him he lost interest on his photo stalking. But Batman was still on interesting topic to study.

Which he did.

And now it made sense.

Bruce Wayne.

Batman was Bruce Wayne. Tim figured it out and was sure. Very sure. the connection was pretty clear once you looked into it. Batman and Catwoman had an interesting dynamic. Bruce was infatuated with Selina and had send a very handsome donation to her charities after her accident.

And the weird feeling Tim got whenever he saw either Bats or Bruce. It was a disoriented feeling. But he felt it for both of them. Bruce and Bats were the same height, broad length and the chin. . . after crossing a hundred pictures, Tim knew not anybody could have that chin.

And Batman needed a whole lot of money to make those awesome gadgets. Tim knew, he'd worked on some random things himself and the cost for most parts was. . . heavy. Also Batgirl was unbelievably easy to figure out. Who else was a red and sounded like that? And finding out Barbara Gordon was staying with Bruce Wayne really helped his deductions out.

Then the DNA testing was icing on his cake.

Tim grinned, that night when they had fought Batman for the first time, when he jumped on him, he managed to get a tiny blood sample through his cowl. It was so cool and he couldn't believe it actually worked.

But the results were in and Tim had his answer. It couldn't be anyone else.

So.

Tim's plan was ready to implement. They were going to get Damian back before Selina woke up, and Batman was going to help.

With a devious smirk, he gathered his essentials and slipped them into his backpack. With a final decision, he slipped out of his darkened room and he closed the door.

Wayne Manor, here I come.

The monitor beeped steady and long. Jason glared at it through the glass window he was watching from.

Selina lay there, in that white hospital bed, unmoving. Pale, broken. Jason grit his teeth and hit the glass lightly with his fist.

Damn it, Selina, wake up. Please. He silently begged, wishing she'd open those bright eyes already and laugh at him. Tell him he was being silly for worrying. Tell him she was fine - tell him she loved him.

He blinked rapidly to keep tears at bay and turned away from the motionless body of his mother figure. The closest thing he ever had to a mother. Ever.

Ugh, now he was sapping out. He couldn't take much more of this aching in his chest. Sometimes he wished he was capable of not caring about anything or anyone. It would make things so much easier.

With a low sigh he let his hand slid off the glass and decided to head back home. Spending all Saturday staring at a near dead mother figure wasn't going to make anything better.

He could admit that.

With a deep scowl he shoved his hands into his jean pockets and slumped over, dragging his feet towards the elevator.

Barbara Gordon stared at him from the other side of the doors when they slid open.

"Oh, Hi Jason. . . visiting?" She asked gently, moving aside to let him in.

Jason swallowed and nodded, eyes on his shoes as he pressed number one on the pad.

"Me too. Dad's still out but I like to think that if I talk to him every day he can hear me and it'll help him come back." She trailed off as their eyes met.

Jason looked confused and sad. Barbara felt her heart ache for him. This couldn't be easy for any of them.

"Hey, maybe you should talk to someone too." She placed a soft hand on his shoulder.

Jason tensed and turned away, wishing the elevator would stop already so he could leave in a relatively unemotional state. Just stay numb. Angry is better. But numb's good too.

"Jason?"

"I don't wanna talk about it. Back off." He snapped through clenched teeth unexpectedly, surprising even himself.

Barbara backed away for a second before letting out a loud sigh. "Such a James Dean wannabe." With that she reached forward and wrapped her arms around the younger boy, shocking him stiffer.

"What are you-"

"Shhhhhh, this is therapy. I get it Jay. I really do." She whispered softly, determine.

To his utmost horror, Jason cracked. His eyes blurred and tears fell. He gasped and buried his face in her warm shoulder, clinging to her smooth form tightly, a sob wrenching itself out of his throat.

Barbara did not expect this sort of emotional release. . . at all. But she took it in stride and patted his back, rubbing circles in it and whispering comforts to him. She realized Jason Todd reacted to female affection much better than he must have with his brothers.

And he missed Selina.

Just like she missed her dad. She decided she needed this as much as he did.

By the time the elevator finally dinged Jason had pulled himself together and was wiping his nose, eyes red as he rubbed at the wet tracks on his cheeks.

Barbara pretended not to notice as they exited the building. The cold Gotham air filling their lungs as they walk down the sidewalk.

"I'm gonna call for a ride. . . do you need one?" She asks him suddenly.

Jason shook his head and continued to walk silently. It wasn't awkward. But he was coming to the distinct realization that he was crushing on Barbara Gordon. He liked her, she was probably the nicest and most fun girl he'd ever met. . .

Maybe she wasn't all that into Dick and-

"Wanna go out with me sometime?" He blurted out without warning. Face instantly coloring when she stops and stares at him, mouth slightly agape.

"What?"

Jason felt his heart squeeze as he backed away. "Nothing. Never mind. . . f-forget it." He turned and started to walk faster.

"Jason! Wait!"

He didn't. She ran after him and grabbed his arm forcing him to stop.

"Listen, that. . . it's sweet of you to ask Jay but. . ."

You're in love with Dick - yah, I figured. "But what?"

She looked at him through her dark lashes. "But I don't really. . . you're sweet and undoubtedly cute, but I think I'd rather be your sister than. . . girlfriend."

Jason felt his face heat up as he looked at her. She was definitely in love with Dick. Of course she was, who wouldn't. . . if he was a girl, he'd probably be to. Thank God he wasn't a girl.

"I get it. Sorry. . . it's just a stupid crush. I'll get over it." He gave her a halfhearted smile.

Barbara smiled gently. "I do like you though, take care of yourself Jason. Please." She gave him a side hug just as a long black vehicle rolled up and honked.

"My ride's here. See you." She waved and pushed her red locks out of her face as she rushed to the limo and flashed him one last smile before getting in and driving off.

Jason stood there in thought, he kind of felt stupid. Here he was hurting, Selina is in a coma, Damian is gone. . . and he asks a girl out?

Sure she said no. . .

But still, he shouldn't have, especially since Dick had a thing for her. That aside, he wasn't really ready for a girlfriend anyway. The lonely hurt inside him was messing with his head.

He sighed and headed home, hoping nobody was there when he reached it. He needed some major alone time.

Tim stared. Wide eyed and open mouthed at the huge manor in awe. In broad daylight it was ten times more impressive in its silent hugeness than it had been decorated and noisy.

Tim swallowed and gripped the strap of his backpack, steeling his nerves for what he was about to do. Confront the Batman.

Oh boy. I hope he doesn't eat me before I can explain.

Tim shook the image of himself being baked like a turkey and headed up the giant steps. With a deep breath, he pressed his finger into the black doorbell button. The chime was loud and resounded through the entire house.

Tim waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Maybe nobody was home? There weren't any cars parked out in the gigantic drive way, maybe. . .

"Yes?"

Tim jumped, baby blues widen as he took in the neat and prim butler with a professional face.

"Um – I - I um. . . I've come to s-see Bruce Wayne? Mr. Wayne. . . is he. . . home?" Great going. Smooth Tim, real smooth. If Jason were here, he'd be laughing until he turned blue.

Alfred Pennyworth almost smiled at the small awkward boy on the doorstep. But he was too seasoned for that.

"Yes. May I ask why you wish an audience with Master Bruce?"

The boy shifted, eyes averting the old mans. Then he took a deep breath and made fierce eye contact. "That is between him and myself, Sir. So please, can I see him?"

Alfred was impressed by the child's firm yet polite requesting. "Very well. I'm sure Master Bruce has a moment for one of Ms. Kyles boys."

Tim jumped a little before he remembered that Mr. Pennyworth had met him before. He followed the well-dressed man, feeling very out of place in all the grandeur of the manors entrance they passed in his baggy yellow tee and fading blue jeans.

He took in everything, wondering where the Bat cave was hiding. . . which door? Behind a bookshelf maybe? Ooh, that mantel looks like a promising secret entrance spot.

"Master Bruce, a young man wishes to speak to you."

Tim felt heat rise up his face at being addressed so importantly. Bruce Wayne was there, sitting in front of his big desk in a black dress pants and turtle neck sweater. He looked. . . terrifying, even out of costume. Tim braced his will and walked up as smoothly as he could.

Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Don't freak out, don't-

"How can I help you, Tim?" Mr. Wayne smiled a reserved smile at him.

Tim forgot how to breath. What was he here for again? Oh yah. . . this guy was Batman. . . he came for Batman's help.

He came to blackmail Batman. . .

"I um – um - you remember my name?" Idiot! Tim wished Jason were here to slap him for himself.

Bruce raised a dark-brow and his smile widened an inch. "Yes I do. I make it a point to remember the names of people I like."

Bruce Wayne likes me!

Oh God. . . maybe this was a bad idea.

"Um, well I-I gotta go -" Just leave, forget it, you don't know what you're doing.

"Hold on there, son. You came all the way here to see if I remembered your name?" Mr. Wayne looked unimpressed.

Tim's embarrassment sky rocketed. Then he remembered sad Dick. Angry, hurt Jason, comatose Selina. Struggling Maven and missing Damian.

He needed to do this. He had to. It was the only hope for his family.

He squared his small shoulders and took a deep breath.

With a last steeling of his resolve he turned and walked right up to Bruce's desk and looked the huge man in the dizzying eyes.

"You asked how you could help me."

"Yes. Anything you need."

Tim braced for impact. "We don't need Bruce Wayne's help. We need. . . Batman's."

The room was so silent you could hear an ant crawl. There was no air. It was as if everyone had disappeared and Tim had no idea how he was still standing, eyes locked on Bruce. On Batman. . . the king of death glares.

"I'm sorry, I can't help you with that Tim. I am not strongly acquainted with Batman. Perhaps you could ask the Police department. I hear his ties there are good." He leaned back and pressed his fingertips together not batting an eyelash.

Oh, he was good. So good, Tim doubted himself for a full second before he remembered his evidence.

"I think not Mr. Wayne." He pulled out his results. "According to my testing and deduction, you are the best candidate to be Batman, these tests show you are. . . So yah, I'm sure this is very nice information." He felt sick, but stood his ground.

Mr. Wayne eyed his papers. "Forged."

Was Wayne . . . testing him? "No, I have the DNA sample to prove it. Anyone can see it for themselves if they don't believe me."

Bruce eyed this kid. Surprise circling his mind. Where every criminal mastermind had failed, this little child had reigned supreme. That could be trouble.

"And how, may I ask, did you get this DNA?" He had him now.

Tim didn't even flinch. "Please, like you don't know who Catwoman is." Tim was entirely sure Batman did.

Bruce hated to be right. He knew alright. . . he was just hoping those Cat boys weren't. . . oh well.

"So here's my proposition. I didn't think you'd listen otherwise and I don't know how to contact Batman, other than committing a crime and even then you might send Batgirl, or should I say Barbara Gordon, and well. . . this just makes things easier."

Bruce waited.

"We need your help to find the Al Ghuls. They kidnapped our brother and we don't know why, or where they are. And you're Batman so, I'm sure you can find them. If you don't want to help-" Tim didn't like this part. "-then I can always send this little tidbit of info to Vicky Vale, see how she takes it."

Bruce's lips twitched. This kid was smart; he'd thought things through. "Are you. . . trying to blackmail me?" The thought was amusing enough to make him want to laugh though.

Tim's eyes narrowed. "You may be Batman with unlimited talents and resources." His face went dark, almost matching the Bat glare. "But you should know not to underestimate the little guy."

Bruce decided the kid had him there. And he liked this little guy for it. Not many small people had guts to stand up to the Batman, few big people even dared.

"Alright. Fine, I'll help you find Damian in exchange for you not telling anyone about my identity. Deal." He decided to play along with the kid. His heart was in the right place anyway and Bruce would rather help them instead of let them go off by themselves and probably get killed.

Tim let out a small relieved breath and reached to shake the large man's hand. "Deal. Thank you for your time, I'll bring my Brothers by tomorrow and then we can get to work, you can't keep us out of this or else."

"I look forward to it."

Tim headed for the door.

"Oh and Tim."

Tim turned giving the man a questioning look with slight worry along the lines, as if suddenly afraid Batman had figured out a way out of this deal.

Bruce flashed him an uncharacteristically bright smile. "I would have helped regardless of the blackmail."

Tim couldn't stop grinning all the way home.

"We're doing what?" Barbara blinked, uncomprehending what Bruce had just told her as he tapped at his giant computer console.

"Help find the Cat boys missing brother." He repeated bluntly.

That's it? No explanation? Nothing? Barbara felt more than a little irritated at the older man.

"Can you tell me why you've decided to help thieves find their missing member?" She placed her hands on her hips and waited.

Bruce went on typing.

"Bruce!"

He let out an irritated sigh and turned to look at the angered red haired girl. "Because they need help,"

"No! It's because they're with Catwoman isn't it? Come on Bruce, I know you're in love with her!" Barbara was done with being left in partial darkness all the time. "What? Do you think they'll like you after this? I mean. . . come on!"

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled loudly. "It's not because of that. Al Ghul has been active in Gotham for a while and now I find they were just after that boy. I'd like to know why."

Barbara stared at him hard for a moment. "There's something else. Isn't there?"

"They also know who we are."

"What?!" Barbara flipped and sputtered in shock. "How'd they find that out? Bruce?" She started to freak out. If these boys knew who she was. . . oh no! They would tell everyone, her identity would be ruined, and when her dad woke up he'd see the face of his daughter as a vigilante and-and-and-

"Barbara!"

"What!"

"Calm down. They won't expose us."

"How do you know?" Why the hell was he so calm? Because he knew something else he wasn't telling. . . that's why. Ugh, jerk.

"They won't. Now go practice your combat, you're slacking." And he turned back to his computer, ready to ignore her again.

Barbara broke at least three training bots after that.

Jason poked his head into the kitchen, hoping it was empty.

It wasn't.

Maven was pacing back and forth, beer bottle in hand, phone pressed to her ear as she yelled at whoever was on the other line. Usually he'd make fun of her and her stress. . . but this wasn't just stress, this was distress. And he had the sneaking suspicion it was his and the others fault.

Social workers were hounding the poor woman; they were going to take them by force if Selina didn't wake up soon. Jason bit back a growl as Maven swung an arm around in anger.

"No! No, we can't. You do that and these kids will rebel, they won't be treated like cattle. No, you won't! They're part of this family and nobody is going to touch them."

Jason had heard enough. He winced and slunk away, hating the entire world.

He couldn't stand those jerks, as if they weren't suffering enough, these freaks had to add extra suffering and-

"Whoa!" Jason gasped as his foot caught on something warm, sending him sprawling into the wall with a clattering bang, landing upside down. He blinked and saw Dick in a sleeping beauty position in the middle of the hallway, hands folded on his chest and everything as he stared stiffly at the white ceiling.

"What the Hell, Dick? What are you doing lying there like that?" Seriously, what was wrong with this guy now?

Dick let his head fall to the side, his impossibly blue eyes met Jason's confused teal ones. "I'm just thinking Jay-jay. About how most of our problems are my fault. Maybe I should have tried harder, but I was afraid - so afraid that you'd get hurt, that I'd lose everyone and I - I just didn't do anything right."

"Bullshit." Jason rolled to a seated position next to Dick's head. "You were always such a drama queen, and a guilt hog. It's not your fault Grayson, so stop acting like it is. Nobody knew this stuff would happen. And - there's not much we can do to change anything."

Dick let out a pitiful sigh that made Jason cringe at how sad it sounded. The older teen reached a hand out and placed it on top of Jason's head, gently ruffling his hair. "Thanks for trying Jason."

"I hate to interrupt your scheduled daily dose of angst, but can I see you gentlemen in my office."

The two older boys looked at Tim as if he'd grown another head as he walked past them in a nearly regal way and disappeared into his room.

"What is he-?"

"Beats me. Let's go find out." Jason quickly helped Dick up and they rushed to Timmy's room, half expecting the kid to be sitting in a throne or something.

Tim turned and gave them a radiant smile.

"We're going to be ok!"

Dick scratched his messy hair making it worse. "What are you talking about, Timmy?"

Jason snorted at the kid's wide grin and . . . did he just giggle? Holy God, Tim Drake just giggled. . .

"It's official, he's snapped. Tim Drake has gone looney tunes. . ." Jason shook his head as if mourning the loss of Tim's intelligence.

Tim rolled his eyes and punched Jason's arm.

"Ow! Hey-'

"I got Batman!"

Everything stopped.

Dick spoke up, slowly and afraid. "Tim. . . . what do you mean, you got Batman?" He eyed the small boy in worried fear. Maybe Tim really had snapped - from too much stress?

"Guys! I'm not crazy, look-" He jumped on his bed and yanked down the rolled up wall poster filled with his evidence and pictures and a general mess only he could understand.

Jason let out a low whistle. "Yep, officially cracked."

Dick looked very, very concerned. "Tim, how long has this been going on? Why didn't you tell anyone-"?

"GUYS!"

Both boys shut up as Tim glared at them.

"I've found out who Batman is, this is my evidence and deduction board. I went and asked for his help. He's going to help us find Damian! Jeez, I am not crazy." Tim finished with an offended pout.

Dicks eyes bugged so big they could have fallen out of his head. Jason froze, completely unable to uncomprehend this.

"You - know. . . who. . ."

Dick gasped, "How?!"

"I told you-"

"Who is he?" Jason interrupted, suddenly very interested in Tim's probable insanity.

"If I tell you, you guys have to promise you won't say anything. .. it could jeopardize the fragile set up I've got."

"Yah, yah, whatever, who is he Timbo?" Jason wasn't interested in ratting the man out, he was interested in blackmailing him.

"Bruce Wayne."

Silence almost choked them again.

Until Jason burst into a laughing fit so hard he fell to the ground. Dick sputtered loudly, eyes so wide they hurt.

Tim sighed and rubbed his temples, looking a million years older than twelve. "You guys. . ." Seriously, why did they have to be so immature?!

"No - No, give me a minute!" Jason gasped through cackles.

Dick sat down, eyes fixed on the ground, face slack as his mind numbed his entire body.

It wasn't the fact that it was Bruce Wayne. . . it was the fact of how much sense that made. . . God, how does nobody notice? It seems so obvious now. . .

"Can you listen to me now." Tim demanded stiffly as Jason collected himself and sat up cross-legged, wiping tears out of his eyes.

"Carry on." He motioned for Tim with a deep breath as if he wasn't laughing his head off mere seconds ago.

Tim let out a suffering breath. "I'm blackmailing Batman into helping us track down Damian."

Dick let out a breath and stared at his little brothers determine face.

"You're doing what?" Jason blurted out, eyes widening in what Dick had the sneaking suspicion was excitement.

"Blackmailing Batman." Tim restated matter of factually.

Jason jumped up with a whoop and hooked an arm around the skinny boy's neck, giving him a noogie. "Look at that! I didn't think you had it in you! Way to go, Timbo."

Tim laughed as he playfully shoved Jason away and looked at Dick's uncertain face.

"Come on Dick, it's the only way to save Damian. You're in, right?" Please be in. . . Tim begged silently, he wasn't sure they could do this without Dick. Although Jason wouldn't think so. Tim would rather they had numbers, the ninja clan was scary at least. Horrifying at most.

Dick took a deep breath and nodded. "Yah, yah, I'm in, for Damian."

"Right." Tim smiled and got off his bed. "For Demon spawn." He grinned cheekily as Dick laughed gently, ruffling his already Jason-tousled hair.

"So, when do we get going?" Jason asked, after they calmed down.

Tim bit his lip. "Tomorrow. . . also. . . there's something I should tell you."

His older brothers looked at him expectantly.

"Batman knows who we are too."

"What?!"

Chapter Text

"Bruce Wayne, huh." Jason mused out loud, looking up at the big building in front of them. "Makes sense I guess, I knew that guy was wacked somehow."

Dick snorted in amusement. "Wacked is right... are you sure Tim?" He still wasn't sure if they should trust Batman, regardless of who he actually is.

Tim nodded firmly, pushing his long bangs out of his small face. "Trust me guys."

Jason was pretty sure he didn't want to trust Tim after the scary British guy answered the door.

"Ah, Master Bruce is expecting all of you. Right this way." The old man gave them all a crisp nod and lead them inside, through a huge marbled entrance and down a long corridor that freaked them out a little, towards a sitting room.

Once they were all inside, silent, with pensive faces, the English man brought forth a silver tray filled with nice half sandwiches. After biting into one, Jason was pretty sure anyone who could make a sandwich taste this good wasn't all to bad.

The minutes passed.

No Bruce Wayne.

They were getting antsy.

Nothing happened, except for Jason eating most of the sandwiches.

Dick was starting to fidget, his leg bounced up and down in nerves. Tim was trying hard in attempt to keep a calm exterior, although he was starting to feel like an insignificant mouse in the huge chair he was sitting in. A big grandfather clock rang out in a deep bell signifying the change in hour

Where was this supposed Batman?

Then that clock opened... and Bruce Wayne stepped out.

Tim nearly squealed in delight. Dick stood up instantly, eyes huge in question, Jason jumped and stiffened, eyes narrowing just in case this nut-job tried anything.

Bruce turned to them, took them in for a moment then nodded and pointed them towards the entrance he just came out of.

Silently, they all obeyed and slide down the pole.

They never did figure out why they did. . . But when they got there . . . it was so big -

And - and - and...

They all forgot how to breath.

Tim actually squealed this time and Dick couldn't believe his eyes. Jason drooled over the awesome, shiny, black, bat-mobile in the far corner of the huge glowing cave.

This place was awesome!

Neither boy stopped to wonder why Batman was showing them, of all people, his secret hideaway. Neither cared... they forgot why they were there for the moment and ran off to look and possibly touch everything.

"Oh wow! Look at these state of the art consoles and lab equipment!" Tim giggled like a kid in a candy store, which this for him, probably was.

Dick whirled in circles and laughed. "That's a biiiiiig penny."

"Forget the copper, check out this freakin' Dinosaur!" Jason exclaimed running towards the huge statue and attempting to climb its leg.

"Enough." The command was flat, and firm. Not hostile and scary, just really firm.

It compelled them all to freeze and then drop in front of him.

"Ok, Mr. Wayne, how are we going to do this?" Tim spoke first, surprising Dick with his mature tone.

Jason's lips twitched at the little kid looking up at Batman speaking like he was at eye level with the dark knight.

It was adorable.

"Simple. I've located the most recent Al Ghul base, it's an island off of Brazil." As he spoke, Batman tapped a few keys on his computer and pulled up a huge 3-D map of the island.

Dick narrowed his eyes at it. It wasn't a big island, maybe they could find Damian. "And you're sure Dami's on that island?" He asked stiffly, crossing his arms.

The older man shook his head. "I'm not sure of anything right now, I don't even know why they want your brother in the first place."

"He's an Al Ghul apparently." Jason answered and let his eyes wander back to the Batmobile as if what he just said didn't matter much.

But his comment made the large man stiffen. He literally clenched and froze. The boys gave each other confused sideway glances as they stared at Batman.

"Um, so... can we go now?" Dick piped up, choosing to brush Batman's odd reaction away.

That seemed to snap him out of it. "Yes. I have transportation ready. It will be dangerous... how well will telling 'you to stay put while I handle this' work?"

The boys gave him flat looks.

"Not well." Tim admitted first.

"Not well at all." Dick agreed.

"We'll probably end up hotwiring one of your rides and following you." Jason smirked.

Batman let out a small sigh. "Right." And here he was hoping they wouldn't be coming. Clearly, a stupid thing to hope for.

"Ok Bruce, I need answers, look, I get that things with Al Ghul's can get personal for you but-" Beautiful Barbara Gordon burst in and completely froze, bright blue eyes attaching to all three stunned boys. Well, two out of three looked like they were freaking out.

Wait... wait!

"Dick Grayson?!" She gasped, hands slapping her mouth.

Dick tensed so hard his face turned red.

Jason coughed and turned to Tim who didn't seem to be turning a hair.

"You knew... didn't you." He asked the smaller boy.

Tim nodded simply. Jason didn't know if he wanted to laugh or smack him upside his head.

"Barbara, there's no time, I have something to deal with-" Bruce started.

"You're Night Prowler?" She wasn't listening. "And you... you're-"

"Red Tiger, yah." Jason forced a smirk.

Barbara's face contorted from shocked to betrayed. "You're criminals. This is - and... and you've put your baby brother into it?" How could they... she'd thought Dick was sweet, honest... a good person. Not a thief.

Dick pushed past his guilt of her words. "It was for good reason, I swear... I never wanted-'

"Forget this Dick, we have to go." Jason cut in, sensing a dramatic argument rising between the lovebirds.

Barbara looked like she was going to cry. "You're Night Prowler... I -I liked you Dick, I really did." She looked so disappointed. "Why do you do it?"

Dicks shoulders slumped. "You wouldn't understand." He didn't look at her.

Barbara's face cracked a bit.

Bruce cleared his throat. "This can be dealt with later."

She turned on him now. "And you knew! Why didn't you tell me? Forget that, why are you helping them? You're the straight edged guy that can't bend rules!"

The older man regarded the frantic red head calmly. "I'll explain later. Now, we have other things to deal with. This way boys."

Barbara glared daggers, and if Bruce was a lesser man he would have caved... unfortunately he was Batman, Batman never caved... even if he lived in one.

"Fine. I'm coming with you."

Bruce turned and frowned. "No, It'll be dangerous, I don't need-"

"I don't care. I'm coming, if it's so dangerous then you can use all the help you can get. I'm going and I'm finding out what's going on." She already had her costume in her arms. "Give me a minute.

Batman sighed tiredly and pressed a button on his console.

The boys had been watching the conversation intently until the ground started to shake, something cracked the air and they saw a sleekly crafted black winged jet land in front of them- woah! A mini plane just laded in the freakin' Bat-cave!

"Sweet." Jason nodded appreciatively. "It got cup holder?" He teased.

Batman smirked back. "Four of them."

Jason laughed.

Dick pushed back the tightening in his stomach and admired the aircraft too, he reached out and touched the cold black paint, his refection stared, slightly distorted, back at him.

Tim was near hyperventilating as he jumped around the craft, taking in all the technical details and rattling off facts that probably only Batman understood.

"Ok, I'm ready. Let's jet."

They all turned to see Batgirl, as sexy and sleek as the air jet.

"Nice." Jason winked at her making her roll her eyes.

Dick tried to smile but he couldn't meet her eyes, and Tim smiled knowingly.

Barbara flipped her hair back and walked past them all. "Come on, we don't have all day."

Batman agreed. With that they all boarded the Batwing, that's what Tim called it, and were zipping off to only Batman knew where.

Hang on Dami, we're coming.

The island wasn't all that large, but the vegetation was killer and thick. Anybody or anything could be hiding in there, and neither boys nor Bats would notice until it was too late.

Dick decided he hated Al Ghul's. One: for taking Damian. Two: for living in such a difficult place. Seriously, talk about overkill.

The trees seemed to rip into the sky. It was hot, even though there was no sun and the moon shone brightly, although not much of its rays were making it to the ground. Batman had to turn on a dull light so they could walk through without stepping on any snakes or tripping on any roots.

The trek there had been mostly silent. Batgirl casting spares looks at Dick as they'd flown, Tim and Jason were much more interested in the flying part while Dick just sat there glum and guilty.

He'd really liked Barbara too. At least his attraction to Batgirl was explained...

But that didn't matter anymore. She had looked so - so unhappy when she'd found out. Dick shook the thoughts out before they could tear his resolve apart. Damian first. Your own issues later.

Once they'd landed the boys slipped into their respective costumes, courtesy of Tim who thought to bring them and plunged into the jungle. Batman had a plan, they were to stick to the plan as much as possible.

Al Ghuls were not to be underestimated.

Although Dick didn't like the separation part of the plan.

"There it is." Batman's voice was low and gravely as they entered a clearing. A large concert building, hidden very well by trees and plants, sat in the middle, seemingly nobody guarding it.

"So now what?" Jason whispered as they crouched closer.

Batman handed each of them a small round object. "I doubt there will much of a signal in there, Al Ghul likes old fashioned dynamics. But if there is, these will help keep you out of whatever security they do have for a while. Just stick to the plan, follow those blue prints I gave you and try, try not to be found out until we find Damian. Got it."

"Got it." Dick affirmed stiffly. "Let's go."

They nod to each other and start crawling towards the complex. This was insane. Dick couldn't believe what was happening. They were going inside a building that had possibly a thousand ninja in it and... and- Damian was worth it.

He was.

Dick was going to get his brother back, they all were, for Selina's sake and theirs.

Once they reached the building, Batman started tapping on the wall, looking for something. He rapped his knuckles up then down then... that sounded like a hollow sheet of metal?

Dick watched as Batman used a small, yet powerful, laser to cut out what looked like concert but was actually a camouflaged ventilation shaft.

"Cool." Jason smirked as Batman pulled away the opening.

"Tim." The dark man turned towards the small slightly fidgety boy. "Use the hacking protocol I gave you. Be carful, go straight then follow the prints on your wrist console. Find their mainframe and shut this place down."

Tim swallowed and let Batman hoist him up and into the shaft. "What about you guys?" He asked worriedly.

Jason snorted. "Worry about yourself shorty. We've got this."

"Be carful, please." Dick begged quietly, eyes connecting with Tim's to prove his point

Tim nodded. "I will." Then he turned belly down and started an army crawl up the shaft.

Batman slipped the vent back into place and signaled for them to move in. He hacked through the locked back door and they walked into a dimly lit hall.

Jason blinked hard, "You know... they really need to get a new interior designer for this place. My room looks like sunshine compared to here."

Dick snickered as Batgirl rolled her eyes.

Batman grunted. "Focus."

Suddenly Night Prowler gasped, his foot catching on something. Batman whirled around, a loud crunching sound came from over head and came down so fast he barley had time to grabbed Jason, tuck the protesting boy under his cape and jump back. Batgirl rolled towards Dick, they both flew backwards as a loud crash nearly deafened them all when a huge metal wall separated them.

Dick started to panic. "Batman? Jason?!" He pressed against the cold wall. "No, nonononono, No!" He pushed fruitlessly against it. "Stupid, stupid, why didn't I see that trap there. God... we are so dead we-"

"Clam down!" Batgirl grabbed his shoulders and spun him around, pressing a hand to his throbbing heart, her voice lowered. "We'll be alright. We just have to stick to Batman's plan as best as we can... calm down Dick. You're brothers will be ok." She comforted the nearly hyperventilating boy.

Dick breathing calmed, he slowed down and took in Batgirls scent. He wished he could hug her right now. With one more deep breath he straightened from the wall and nodded.

"Guess we go forward then huh?"

"Yah... we'll search the left half of this place, Batman will search the right... it'll be ok. We'll find your brother." She slipped a hand on his forearm as they started to walk.

Dick bit his lip, feeling bad about her forgiveness. "I'm sorry Barb for-"

"We'll talk about this later." She interrupted. "Like when we're not in a possibly life threatening situation."

Dick agreed.

Come on, Damian... where are you?

Jason was angry. Terrified actually... but anger covered that up nicely. When the wall had separated him and Dick, he sort of blanked out. What the hell are we supposed to do now? He'd forgotten about Batman who, all things considered, looked like he was on vacation. What the hell?!

"Are you enjoying this?" Jason couldn't help asking, although he sounded much more hostile and accusing then he'd meant to.

Batman didn't even look at him as he lead the way down the narrow hall. "Not in the least. There's too much I don't know and that in itself makes me uneasy."

"Right, you're a control freak aren't you?" Jason maneuvered behind the shadowed man, resisting the urge to grab his cape in the dark.

Batman grunted in response. The way he did it sounded like that sound itself was answer enough for any question.

Jason felt a bit miffed about it.

"So why are you Batman anyway?" Distract, I need to distract myself before I go raging into something stupid.

Batman didn't answer.

Of course he wouldn't

"Ok. Fine... what are you going to do with us after this is over? We know your secret... whose to say we'll keep it?" He egged just to be a jerk.

"Because you're not bad kids and I believe you have better things to do than mess around with Batman. For your sake, I hope you do."

That sounded threatening. Jason almost smirked, he couldn't help it, it was the Crime Ally defense he'd grown into. Smirk in the face of a threat, makes them crazy. And it's fun.

"Why are you helping us anyway?"

No answer.

Ok then.

"Are you-"

"Enough with the questions." Batman near growled as he focused on the walls ahead.

Jason snorted, even Batman got annoyed. Nice to know...

"Fine. Then I'll tell you something." Jason's eyes sparkled in the dark. "I'm the one who took out your tires a few years back. I would have gotten away with it too... but Selina found me and- the rest is history I guess."

Batman actually stopped and turned to look at the young teen. "You? You took out the tires?" He almost sounded surprised.

Almost.

"Yah." Jason preened. "Would have gotten a nice price for 'em too."

"Those were security rated tires with a lockdown system... how-"

"Piece of cake, all you gotta know is some wiring techniques and basically your set for any system. I've detached an alarm or two back in the day." He was really enjoying the flat look on Batman's face right now... maybe this would come back to bite him in the ass later... but still.

Batman's lips twitched, shocking Jason now.

Was he . . . was Batman trying not to - smile?

"You're a smart kid..." Then he turned back towards his goal.

Jason blinked... what... what was that supposed to mean?

Damian glared at the curtains. Heavy orient design, thick red and gold colored and blocking absolutely nothing. Damian knew on the other side was a wall, no window, no form of a breach of any kind.

He'd been here for a week and he was tired. He hated this place. He hated the men that came and tried to train him. He hated the women that looked at him with fear in their otherwise dead eyes. Most of all he hated that woman...

That deadly looking woman that he felt he should know... but something inside didn't want to.

Damian remembered when she first came, staring at him with dark green eyes, taking in his small appearance and smirking...

He felt a strange sense of Deja Vu when she looked at him.

He wished he could see his brothers again. Normally, being the slightly closed off boy he was, Damian wouldn't admit he missed anyone... but he did.

He missed Dick and his overbearing tenderness. He missed Jason and his crude humor and fierce temper. He even missed Tim with his snobbish intelligence and weaknesses... He wondered if Selina was awake now, if she'd ever wake up. He dreamed this all had been his fault to begin with.

He should have known... should have remembered, that one could ever really escape their past. Especially a past like his.

Damian sighed into his large feather filled pillow. This room had every luxury except freedom. Books in many different languages, weapons of multiple origins, and silk draped on everything. It was heavily decorated with an oriental theme... but still-

He'd never been more uncomfortable in all his life.

He wanted to go back. To go home...

He needed to-

The large doors to his room unbolted and pushed apart. There she was, the dangerous woman in a tight leather suit. She walked into his room and slammed the doors behind her. Damian stood, as tall as his four feet allowed, and glared right up at her.

"I am told you refuse to partake in any sparring with the men." She said in slightly accented voice.

Damian sneered. "They're beneath my talents. I demand to know why you've brought me here, woman, and what do you want? You've kept me locked up for a week. What is it you want from me" He was getting stir crazy and he really, really wanted to stab this lady... badly.

The woman smirked, it reminded him of a snake, her black lips taunting him as her venom colored eyes gleamed with hidden malice. "I don't want anything from you, I merely want you. After all, don't you think a mother deserves to have her son."

Damian felt like he'd been punched in the gut, all air flew out of him as he stumbled back a bit, eyes unwavering, seething. "You are not my mother." He hissed.

She smirked wider. "Of course you wouldn't know that. That bitch took you away so young you didn't have a chance to realize you are related to such greatness. Oh Damian, you're an Al Ghul, you know this, I am your mother, Talia, daughter of Ra's, the head of the demon. You are heir to this great empire and I have taken you back from those that have wrongly snatched your destiny out of your grasp." She reached a long hand towards him.

"I just want you to accept your greatness, my son." She slipped her hand into his hair.

Damian snapped and slapped her hand away, recoiling in disgust. "I- you... I don't want to be your heir... I was happy with-" His eyes actually blurred. Damian prided himself in keeping his emotions in check, but right now... he just wanted to feel like a normal ten year old kid.

Her face darkened. "Those tramps have destroyed your strength. They do not deserve you. Believe me, it is in your best interest that you forget about them, the sooner the better. They made you weak Damian, I have brought you home to give you back the strength you were born with."

"Leave me alone!" The boy's voice cracked as he spun away and jumped over the bed and huddled in a tight corner, hugging his keens to his chest as he fought with his unfamiliar panic and sadness coiling in his stomach and tensing his limbs.

Talia seethed. Those filthy tramps have destroyed her sons mentality, it would take years to adjust him now... her father will not be pleased. He might even have Damian killed and replaced...

How she wished she could run her sword through that Kyle bitch...

"Dead end?" Dick blinked at the solid wall in front of them.

They'd tip-toed for so long... this couldn't just be a dead end.

Batgirl frowned at her wrist, she had the layout of the fortress on display on her wrist screen. "This makes no sense. The specs say there should be a lab this way... we didn't read it wrong so-"

"Woah!" Dick yelped and disappeared. The entire hall lit up red and alarms started blaring.

Batgirl jumped and whirled around. Where did he... "Dick?!"

His face suddenly popped up in front of hers through the wall, panic showing through his mask. "It's a hologram cover up!" He shouted over the blaring alarm as he slipped an arm through and snatched her by the wrist, yanking her through the wall with him.

Batgirl blinked, they were suddenly standing in an empty well lit room that wasn't there before.

"Wow... their labs are-"

"Um, Babs... I think we have bigger problems." Dicks body tensed as ninja started appearing through the walls.

Batgirl swallowed and grabbed her baterangs. Night Prowler snatched his whip and gave it an extra hard whack on the floor as both he and Barbara were encircled, forced back to back, bodies tensed and ready.

"So... who wants to go first?" He spoke against better judgment. Batgirl rolled her eyes.

The ninja attacked.

Batman was being annoyingly silent as he hacked through a door while Jason stood by and watched, an unimpressed look on his face.

"So, what happens if Damian isn't here?" He asked calmly, arms crossed as he leaned uninterestedly against the wall.

Batman grunted and continued to tap away at his wrist console.

"Seriously Bats, what if-"

"He's here."

"How do you know? You said you weren't sure." Jason was pretty sure that's what the man said.

Batman sighed tiredly. "Yes I did. But that was before I noticed the security."

"What's up with the security?" Jason was confused now. What was this guy on about anyway?

"Ra's Al Ghul isn't all that great with technological advancements. His daughter on the other hand... she's very good at keeping up to date. Besides, the man's in Persia and these men fight like her. She's behind this and according to your information, Damian is an Al Ghul. I'm pretty sure Talia is strongly connected to that."

Well... that was a through explanation.

The door clicked as it unlocked.

"How come alarms don't go off when you do that?" Jason questioned, more curious then he should be.

Batman smirked a bit and didn't answer.

Half way down the new corridor the entire place lit up red and alarms blared deafeningly in their ears.

Batman turned a glare on Jason.

The boy pushed his palms over his ears and shrugged. "It wasn't me, I swear!"

Batman frowned... then Dick and Barbara... oh no, Taila was about to find out she was being hacked.

He just hoped Tim could get through alright.

Talia glared as she watched her ninja run down the blaring hallways, past her. She seethed, someone had broken through her fortress!

She hated to think who it was. It couldn't be Catwoman... she was out of commission according to her men. And Talia was pretty sure those boys weren't nearly smart enough to-

"Batman! Batman has breached! He's on the third floor, some men have engaged his lackeys in lab twelve." A tall ninja fell to his knee in front of her.

Talia's anger pushed higher. "Find them. Find them all and bring them to me." She hissed.

The ninja ran off before she even finished.

She turned away and stomped towards her weapons room to prepare. What was Batman doing here?! This was unacceptable, those little beggars went and involved her beloved...

Unless he knows.

He could have learned of it and was now come to take his son back...

She bit her cheek, well... if it's Damian he wants... he'll have to get through her first.

Damian heard and understood all the commotion through his door. He couldn't stop the sudden happiness that bubbled inside his heart

They'd come... they'd come for him.

They really wanted him...

Everything that wrenched hag had said to him held no meaning.

He grinned to himself and ran to select one of the many swords that woman had supplied him with. If worse came to worse he'd be ready.

He was going home.

And Talia Al Ghul wasn't going to stop him.

Meanwhile, Timothy Drake had managed to squeeze undetected into the mainframes control unit and was now hacking through every safety protocol and security measure.

With enough time he'd be able to send this place to hell.

Hopefully, Batman and the others would get out in one piece.

Because Al Ghul isn't going to have a clue what hit him.

Chapter Text

Water. It feels like she's floating in water.

But she wasn't... right? She wouldn't be able to breath if she was...

But if she's not in water, then where was she? Something was burning. Was it her eyes? No . . . maybe it was her stomach. . . whatever it was it felt like it was spreading, she couldn't feel her arms, legs were. . . numb. Burning numbness that, somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she shouldn't feel.

Suddenly she gasped, sapphire eyes blown wide as she coughed, chest heaving, cold sweat sliding down her forehead.

Her eyes burned. Everything was so bright. A constant, irritating, beeping echoed in her brain, she felt like that's been there for a while now and she's only just noticed. Something pricked her heart. With a loud gasp as if she's been stabbed she suddenly jolted right up in bed and instantly fell back from the overwhelming dizziness that nearly made her upchuck.

A woman with dark hair squeaked and looked at her like she just came back from the dead.

The woman wore white... white. Everything was white. Selina felt she knew where she was, something niggled in her brain, trying to tell her where she was.

"Where-where..." Her voice croaked unattractively, her vision was blurry, all she could tell was everything was white and some blue melded into it. She blinked rapidly, her breathing was heavy.

"M-Ms. Kyle. . . um, I'm nurse Stones and. . . um, you've been in a coma for about a week and -"

"What? What are you -" Her head throbbed. . . wait. . . wait! She remembered suddenly, the memories flooded her mind like a grotesque movie, making her stomach twist emptily. the fight with those ninja freaks. . . her boys? Her boys! She didn't know what happened to them, the last thing she remembered was Damian being dragged away.

"Oh my god!" She threw her blanket off her legs. "I have to go, now!" I have to know if they're alright. . .

"You can't do that Ma'am, we need to check if your -"

"I'm fine, get off me, woman!" Selina grit her teeth and pulled out the IV cord and heart wires like a madwoman, scaring the nurse. She couldn't have been much older then Dick. Maybe she was a training nurse?

"Ms., Please -"

Selina ignored the young nurse and stood on wobbly feet, she gulped a deep breath and straightened, forcing herself forward.

She had to find her boys and no hospital was going to stop her.

"Ms. Kyle, please! You must let us check you're vitals, this isn't safe for you-"

"Are you the doctor?" Selina snapped, face baring her emotions blandly as she tried to elbow her way past the growing amount of 'concerned' staff members.

"Yes, you've had a hard week you need-"

"What I need, is for you to get the hell out of my way Doc, I may have been out for a while, but I'm not staying down." She prided herself on her capability to keep emotional calm. But right now . . . she just wanted to kick these guys in the ass and run home to her boys.

Please be all right, please. . . please God-

"No- you can't just walk out like that!"

She threw her mussed hair over her hospital gown clad shoulder, even sickly and pale and weakened she was still furiously beautiful as she bared her teeth at the surprised doctor.

"Watch me."

Several shouting matches, one fist fight, and one phone call later, Selina Kyle was hobbling out of the Hospital with her aching head held high, praying she didn't fall and trip and die on the way to the parking lot. That would have ruined her grand exit tremendously. And she didn't have time for embarrassments.

Her eyes settled on a familiar Benz waiting for her on the curb with Maven in it.

She couldn't help the feeling of relief as she slid into the seat and fell back against the cool leather. Her head was pounding, maybe the doctors had been right about her conditions after all. Not that she cared, she had to get home and make sure her boys were alright and- wait a second. Something wasn't right here, something felt stiff and off.

Maven was silent . . .

"Maven. . . it's good to see you." Selina started, voice cracking a bit. Her throat was dry. She really could use some water. And food, real food. . . and a long bath. But none of those needs resonated in her head yet.

Maven didn't answer for a moment. "You too." Silence. . .?

What was up with her secretary? Maven would usually be lecturing her brains out or informing her of everything she'd missed or what her boys have been up to or... The silence was starting to eat at her. And she started to freak out a little as her mind suddenly conjured up a very horrible thought.

"Maven. . . are the boys -"

Mavens hands were white on the steering wheel as she clutched it tighter, Selina noticed the tightening of her shoulder line too. Something was wrong. Her heart started speeding up as her mind whirled with the horrid possibilities that could have happened.

The boys were dead. The social workers took them away. They ran away. . . they - they -

Selina gasped as she hitched forward, brain fizzing out as the car lurched to an abrupt stop in the middle of downtown traffic.

Selina's brain kicked into full panic mode. "Maven where are the boys?" Her voice came out more accusing than she'd meant it to. But fear wasn't letting her feel bad about it.

Mavens shoulders shook. Selina caught her watering eyes in the rearview mirror. Her heart plummeted and she felt like she'd been stabbed all over again.

"Mav-"

"They're gone! They're gone alright! I don't know where, when or how. . . B-but they've been missing for two days and I didn't tell anyone because if the social workers got wind of this they would. . . does it even matter? I don't know! I'm caving, I tried Selina, I did. . . I didn't want them to be taken away but I didn't give them the emotional support they needed and it's all my fault they're gone and I am so, so, so sorry, I mean. . . they drove me crazy but I - I loved those little brats. . . almost as much as you. I did. I am so sorry, I can' t-" Her sobs cut her frenzied rant off as she bent over the steering wheel and cried. Her glasses blurring from the tears.

Selina's heart ricocheted around her rib cage. The world seemed to slow. . . she felt something break inside her. Gone . . .

They were gone. . .

They were. . .

She imploded and burst out of the car, she ran, wild hair and all, down the street, maneuvering around stilled cars like a cat, ignoring the honks and curses thrown at her as she did so. She had to get home, she had to find them, she needed to . . .

She ran.

Ignoring Mavens screams to come back.

No, no, no, no those ninja had been Al Ghul minions. . .

They'd been after something. . . Damian, after Damian. . . They could have taken them all!

Now she was really panicking, nobody would ever believe the calm and sultry Catwoman or Selina Kyle could panic with such vigor over four little boys.

But they were her boys. . . and she couldn't let anything happen to them.

She bowled over the building superintendent and punched the elevator buttons forcefully. It wouldn't go fast enough, she almost ran up the stairs.

With shaking fingers, heavy puffs of breath, and crazy look in her eyes she unlocked her door and burst into the penthouse.

"Dick! Jason, Timmy! Damian! Please. . . where are you?!" She gasped, a strange feeling crept up her throat and squeezed it. . . she couldn't breath, her lungs were to small for air. She was seeing spots, the world was spinning. She felt hot, drowning tears slide down her face as she fell to her knees.

She'd almost died and now they're gone.

Gone.

Gone. . .

And she didn't know where.

Her heart broke in fours.

"Take that ya jerk!" Batgirl hissed as she kicked the last man standing in the nuts for punching Dicks face.

By the time the adrenaline cooled everything had basically stopped moving, their breathing slowed as she took in the scene. The entire lab was broken and battered and there were black clad men groaning or out cold all over the place. She felt her heart pound in her ears as she bent over to help up NightProwler who was groaning just a tad from the loss of air a gut punch gave him.

"You ok?" Stupid question, but she had to ask for the sake of asking. He coughed as she lifted him up to support himself against her side.

"Yah, peachy." He gave her a crooked grin, it would have been much more impressive if his lip wasn't split and bleeding and his eye wasn't swollen purple.

"Yah. . . good." She took in his body heat, the hard line of him pressed into her curve, she still couldn't believe this was Dick Grayson. . . the only boy she'd ever crushed so hard on, and he was a technical criminal.

God. . . why did he have to be so hot for?

"Batgirl?" His voice was a bit horse against her cowl covered ear.

"Yah?" She could feel the heat of everything rushing everywhere. They had to get out f here before someone woke up. The energy from the fight was getting to her and was slowly forming into something she didn't really want to deal with at this particular moment. . . not really.

"I'm sorry about -"

"Forget it NightPaws. I'll get over you." Yah right. She'll try . . . she'll try like hell but -

Dick shifted to stand on his own feet and placed a startlingly gentle hand on her cheek, the leather gloves were seriously impending his warmth, she wasn't sure she liked that.

"Barbara, I'm serious." His eyes, swollen or not, bore through his mask into her lens-less ones.

"So am I." She needed to forget about him after this. . . Batgirl couldn't love a -

"I really, really, like you - um, like a lot." He cleared his throat, a bit awkward, but didn't break any kind of contact, eyes or physical.

Barbara's heart gave a traitorous flip. I really, really, like you too. . . God, do I. But - but- but...

"Dick I - you - can we please - do this. . . somewhere else. . ." Her voice trailed off as he came closer, she was slipping away, forgetting that they were on a deadly mission. Forgetting that they were standing in a freaky lab with a bunch of unconscious assassins around them. Forgetting who they were dressed as. Forgetting. . . everything but him.

Dicks lips found hers.

Soft and a little dry but plenty warm.

And it was like a strange 'finally' feeling as they connected and she literally melted against him. She tasted blood, it mixed between them, she didn't care, it was like she'd been ripped out of her own body and was now floating over head, watching. Her nerves crackled under her skin as his hands found their way to her waist and brought her closer.

She squeaked lightly, hands gripping his shoulders, pressing tighter, trying to breath and feel all of him. God, her senses were fighting each other trying to take all of him in. It was as if something inside her connected with him, warmth pooled in the bottom of her stomach as her heart throbbed with his, his hand tangled into her red, red, hair and she was losing it as he tugged sending sparks fizzling down her spine and - and -

They really shouldn't be doing this here.

"Dick." She pulled away, eyes blinking in attempt to refocus on earth, her breathing was slightly short and mingled with his as he touched their foreheads together.

"Yah, yah. . . I know, I just. . . I just thought if we don't make it out at least-"

"Shut up. We have to go." She refused to let him finish that thought. They'd sort this out later, right now they had a mission.

"Come on." She grabbed his hand, ignored the gymnastics performance her belly started and ran towards the exit.

They had to complete this mission.

"I didn't think they'd be this angry!" Jason yelped as he dodged a sword and tripped on a crate, he flipped over on his knees just barely missing a dagger to the gut.

They had been ambushed after somebody, probably Dick, set off an invisible alarm and these ninja guys just came swarming like ants after a sugar cookie! Seriously, where did they all come from? He was actually losing his breath, they'd been at this for a while now and these guys were relentless.

Batman, however, seemed to be having no trouble taking on all of them at the same freaking time.

"Focus Red, focus." He growled out as he ice bombed several jumping ninja. "If I know Talia, she's waiting for us."

Jason huffed and gave a brutal kick to a ninja with a sword and successfully broke his nose. The man went down screaming.

"Haha! Take that you son of a-

"Red!"

The warning came to late. Jason's jeer froze in his throat when someone suddenly punched the boy in the back, right in the middle of his spine, his nerves screamed for a full second then he fell forward, unable to move as a heavy boot pinned him down in an instant.

Jason choked and spat out the dirt that got in his teeth as he tried to move, his arms were grabbed and yanked back far enough to feel like one more tug and they would break, tears blurred his eyes from pain, he grit his teeth, refusing to scream, he stopped moving.

Batman stopped mid fight, the air froze and burned at the same time as the mans presence suddenly became huge, even the ninja he was fighting backed away when he bared his teeth in anger. "Get. Off. The. Boy." His voice was low and deadly, screaming painful promises if they didn't comply to his command..

Jason actually freaked out a bit.

"Stop this nonsense!"

Something crashed. Someone yelped as something else crunched. Jason's heart was in his ears as everyone turned in the direction of the noise. It can't be . . . please, please-

"Hey!"

The doors flew open and NightProwler and Batgirl came running in, a pile of assassins on their heels, Jason's heart dropped. He didn't have enough air and the boot in his spine wasn't helping. Dick looked dizzy, Batgirl looked like her arm was dislocated, she almost got a knife to the head for her pains.

"Gu-ack!" Jason choked as his arms were pulled back further when he tried to move out. one well pulled twist and he'd be armless. His brain was starting to fuzz . . . no, no-keep it together Jason, keep it together.

Batman let out a sudden hiss and threw himself into the fight, before anyone saw him coming, in attempt to stop Batgirl from killing herself by continuing to fight with her injury. Dick was spinning in literal circles, mumbling random words as he tottered around like a drunken moron, and by some miracle, he managed to duck, spin, twist and utterly avoid all blows and somehow gave plenty right back. It confused his opponents greatly.

Jason would have laughed if there wasn't a knee trying to break his back.

Typical Dickie.

They fighting escalated. Baterangs flew through the air. Swords slashed, poisoned daggers stabbed. Batman broke heads, Batgirl was trying to get to Jason. Dick looked like he'd pass out any second, the blood dripping down his side wasn't helping. Jason wanted to scream, he wanted to fight, he couldn't move. . . God, this was a mess, they were loosing!

Batman went flying and smashed against a wall with a loud bang, Batgirl shrieked and threw several baterangs that sliced a few unsuspecting ninja but distracted her enough to get punched in the stomach for her troubles. Dick was being held down like a rabid dog and he was snarling enough to sound like a rabid kitten.

The pressure in his back was rising, Jason waited for the bones in his body to give out. . .

They were going to die. Selina wouldn't even know what happened to them and Damian, they'd lost him, he would be stuck here with these monsters. He couldn't breath, the dirt and dust filled his burning nose, spots started to swim before his blurring eyes. . . Oh man, God. . .this . . nothing was making sense. We're gonna die, we're all gonna-!

"Enough!"

The word rang out loud and clear and resonated off the walls cutting through the fighting just as Batman broke free.

Everyone froze.

And looked up to see a tall, lethally built woman in a tight black suit walking calmly. She looked like a walking sword.

Jason hated her on sight.

She leaned on the balcony railing overhead as she looked down at all of them in an arrogant, you are insects, type of way.

"Well, well, I must say, this is a surprise, Beloved." She had a low voice that probably killed as many men as her sword did.

Batman sneered. "It shouldn't be. After what your men have been doing in my city, you should have been waiting for me."

She tutted. "But they weren't after anything you deem important."

Jason felt like throwing up. Dick wasn't moving. And Barbara looked like she wanted to kill someone.

Batman straightened and punched an assassin that tried to stop him without so much as blinking. "Where's the child you took Talia?" He didn't waste any time.

The air was stiff, filled with heavy breathing and some groans. Jason wished he could check on Dick, but the knee in his back wasn't letting up, he needed to puke on someone.

A slow, slippery smile slid across the woman's cruelly beautiful face. "Why do you want to know?" She countered, leaning forward smoothly, as if this was just a friendly conversation she was having with her neighbors.

"You took the child from Gotham against his will. I protect children of Gotham, you taking him is my business."

"Oh but, Beloved, he is mine you know, that Kyle tramp stole him from me." Talia sauntered down towards the stairs, voice deceitfully calm.

Batman didn't speak for a moment. Jason was afraid he'd drop the whole thing.

"Does he want to be here?" Batman said, finally.

Talia threw back her head and laughed. "It doesn't matter. He is mine, and my fathers heir, you cannot expect us to worry about what he wants. He has a great destiny given to him. Whether he wants to accept it or not is unimportant."

"No child should have their will taken away, Talia. You aren't fit to be a parent." Those words must have tasted strange on Batman's tongue because they sure sounded strange to Jason's ears.

Something in Talia's eyes flickered. She snapped her fingers and a door opened, four men holding chains dragged in a fighting animal. . . wait -

Jason's eyes bugged out when he realized it was Damian. They were dragging Damian in chains like he was a rabid wolf or something. . . well the way the kid was fighting they weren't entirely wrong.

"Look at him!" Talia spoke loudly as she sauntered down towards the enraged boy and grabbed his hair with a clawed hand, forcing him to look up.

The boy looked absolutely murderous. His small chest heaved as his eyes blazed. Jason had never been so proud.

Now if only he could get out from under this jerk. . .

"This is an Al Ghul, Detective!" Talia hissed as Damian tried to wrench away from her.

"Let them go!" The boy shrieked. "Let them go! You can't hurt them, you bitch!" He tried to lash out.

Talia looked angry as she drew her hand back and slapped him hard across the face. The boy grit his teeth and spat out blood. He turned his head and gave her a horrifyingly dark glare that almost looked like -

Jason was sure his eyes were going now. . . he could have sworn the kid almost glared like Batman - ?

"This belongs to me." Talia whirled around. "And I don't care how many years of punishment he has to endure, he will be ready to accept his destiny as the new demon head of the league of shadows."

Batman looked furious. "How can you people do that to a child."

Talia laughed, cold and unkind. "Practice. But I'm not completely foolish Beloved. I know your stubbornness will be the death of you. I know you won't stop until you 'Save' this boy, so - fight me for him, and if you win you may take him and I will not raise a hand to take him back. Do you agree?" She was playing them. Jason could feel her smugness all the way from his spot on the floor. But . . . what was she playing at? Something unsettling filled the room they were all suffocating in.

Batman's fists clenched.

"Release the other three and I will fight."

Talia's vile smirk grew wider, like a snake waiting for it's dinner to die. "Done."

The weight was suddenly lifted. Jason gasped, choked on dirt, and sat up on his knees dizzily, taking in stale air. His lungs burned, his back throbbed and he was pretty sure he'd need physical therapy after this. God, this bastard was going to pay.

Damian's hiss caught his attention.

The tension prickled all the way down Jason's spine as he turned and saw what made the kid go all cat mode. He felt like growling now.

Talia's body was poised, tense, beautifully set in a perfect, deadly pose, everything stopped for a full second, no sound, no air, no movement, as if they'd all been turned to stone, including time. Then she shattered it with a battle cry, Batman flew right back at her. Their bodies clashed and Jason felt sick to his stomach. The woman was fierce... bloodthirsty.

Batman was actually struggling.

Talia hissed when he kicked her in the gut, then she drew out claws from nowhere and slashed the man across the chest, parting three slits into his Kevlar suit. Batman went on as if he didn't notice the blood starting to drip and met her blow for blow, something cracked on someone, they both went on fighting like animals. Graceful, hungry, angry animals.

Jason fought back a whimper, his back stabbing pain through him, and crawled to Dick who still hadn't moved, despite being released.

"Grayson. . . hey. . . Dickie?"

"Mmmh?"

Jason felt his stomach loosen and make him sick with relief. Until he heard Batman shout. His stomach felt like it had dropped to his toes. He turned and saw a gleaming sword embedded in the huge mans shoulder, The blood spurting out as the hilt sparkled in the dim lights. The woman smirking like a bitch. . .

She knew she was winning.

Barbara groaned and stood up, her legs shaky, she couldn't fight. Jason saw the anger in her eyes. Dick coughed, "help, help me up Jay-" He wheezed as Jason took his arm and lifted slowly. His mouth was dry, Batman continued to fight. They were loosing. . . and Damian was watching the whole thing with unbridled fury covering his fear and misery. . .damn it.

Come on Tim - hurry up, please.

We are so gonna die. . .

Tim's breathing came out harsh as he crawled out of the vent.

All systems are go, he'd done it, he'd set everything up. The virus was eating away at the systems as he stood there. And when it was set . . . ooh boy, fireworks were gonna fly. Now all he had to do was find the others and get everyone out of here before they all turned into crispy midnight dinners.

Got to find them.

Countdown initiated. Self destruct sequence activated.

Ten minutes until self destruct.

The base blared to life, sirens and red lights flashed.

Tim grinned, oh I am good.

Now to get the hell out of here.

Talia aimed a dagger at Batman which he stopped by grabbing her wrist and twisting while pulling her over his injured shoulder. She didn't cry out, she merely flipped and escaped his grasp so quickly it didn't look like he'd had her at all. Oh, but She almost had him. Her Beloved could fight better than any man on earth, maybe even out of it. That was why he was worthy of a battle with her like this. She kneed his jaw and kicked him down into the ground, twisting out of his loosening grip, she flipped back and pulled her arm to throw the final blow. Ah, this game was always so invigorating, he usually had the upper hand though, he was distracted this time. His downfall. She brought the dagger down for his heart.

The lights flashed red.

Self destruct activated.

Eight minutes until self destruct. The computers blared in a robotically calm like fashion.

The daggers tip stopped short of piercing a second layer of skin. Her eyes widening in realization. He always had the upper hand.

"No!"

Batman stood up and spat out blood. He turned a vicious smirk toward the assassin woman. "Yes. Red, now!"

Jason pushed back his growing nausea and jumped, kneeing the guy that had been holding him down in the face for good measure. With a smooth flip, slipping out of any grabbing hands, he used a baterangs Batman had given him earlier and threw it mid flip, it slashed through Damian's chains. He fell to the ground with a gasp as Jason ran up to him. Everyone exploded, the fighting started all over as Jason grabbed the little snot. The boy looked like he was going to hug him, instead he picked up a sword and bared his baby teeth at the angered woman.

With an angry yell, the small monster threw himself forward and slashed at anyone who dared try to stop him from getting to her, to the woman who would be his mother.

She gasped and blocked, forcing him back with her own dagger.

Jason knew he should stop him. . .

"This is for taking me away from them!" He shouted and slashed at her arm. Talia fell back in surprise, no scream, just surprise and . . . was that pride in her eyes?

Jason felt sick. He needed to throw up.

"This. Is for what you did to them!" Damian slashed again, more viciously, landing a cut on her arm. "And this-" He whirled around and kicked her in the gut. "- Is for what you did to Selina."

Talia choked on the ground, and coughed out blood, a sickening smile stretched her bleeding face as Damian leveled a sword to her throat. She looked up at the seething young boy and smiled wider, eyes dark and . . . happy.

"Oh, you would have made such a splendid demons head, my son."

Damian grit his teeth and pressed the tip to her jugular, bending in low. "I am not. Your son." He hissed.

Jason was almost afraid of him. Almost. . . if he didn't know the kid liked fruit loops and sleep with a beat up old stuffed panda at night, he might have been.

"Damian." Batman's voice was hard and final. Cutting the tension and fighting and screaming alarms. "We have to go."

The blaring over head was deafening them now. Jason was sure they'd all be hearing it forever. The countdown was terrifying. Yah. . . they should go.

"Guys!" Tim burst through the doors, seemingly unaware of all the assassins mauling around, he looked a bit frantic. "Oh, there you are! We need to leave, like now!"

Four minutes to self destruct.

"Now, now!" He pressed on and ran to Dick, who was thankfully conscious, and helped Jason lift him up.

Batgirl hissed as she stood up and stumbled towards them. Batman waited for Damian who hadn't turned away from his mother.

"We need to go." Batman spoke softer now.

Damian shoulders shook a bit as he glared at the beaten woman under his swords blade. His body screamed to finish her, like some old embedded muscle memory.

Dick hitched forward. "Dami, please. . ." His voice cracked a bit as he begged their little brother to come back. To not go through something he could never take back.

Damian shifted, the alarms shrieked over head. He sheathed his sword. "Don't you ever come near me or them again." He threatened, voice dropping, if tone could make ice, Damians' would have made a snow storm.

Talia sat up as he walked towards Batman. Her smirk was starting to freak Jason out, Dick wobble against him as they tried to turn around. Batman lifted Batgirl up and reached an arm toward Damian who surprisingly went to it and latched on.

But Talia wasn't done yet.

The alarms blared, she'd escape fine, there was just one more thing she had to say.

"Oh, Beloved."

They all tensed, and barely turned. They couldn't help it, curiosity was strong here, she could have laughed if her throat didn't burn so much. "Take a good look at the boy."

The flashing red lights made everything seem three times more scary, even that simple request.

Batman glanced at Damian.

Everyone felt prickles go up their arms, as they all automatically looked at the kid too. Damian, he was a bloody mess at the moment. . . terrifying looking even, cuts all over, clothes torn, blood dripping out of a cut on his forehead and down the line of his baby face. His eyes still burned with hate that should not be possible for a little boy to feel. It freaked them all out.

Talia smirked. She knew what she was doing. "I'm sure you'll discover something to do with your son."

Two minutes to self destruct.

"What?!" Jason felt the ground spinning as Talia stood up and managed a dark chuckle.

"Good bye. Beloved. Enjoy the next demons head." She whirled on her heels and disappeared through a door as if she hadn't been nearly killed by her own son.

Nobody moved. All eyes were on Damian who had frozen completely.

One minute to self destruct.

Tim broke first. "We need to go, now!"

They all shattered and ran. Batman grabbed the small boy because he wasn't moving and they all took off towards the exit.

"Go! Go! Go!" He shouted as they all forced themselves past their pain and ran as hard as they could.

Thirty seconds to self destruct.

"Oh my god!" Batgirl hissed as she fell and stumbled on her knees.

"Babs!" Dick couldn't turn around. Jason grunted as he felt his shoulder creak under the older boys weight.

Batman grabbed the girl and lifted her up, still running.

Ten. . .

The turned down the long corridor.

"Tim?"

"Keep going straight!"

Nine.

Eight. . .

"We are so dead!"

"The doors, Jason!"

Seven.

Hearts were pounding.

Blood was rushing.

Six.

Five. . .

They burst through the doors and tore into the jungle.

Four.

"There it is! The Batwing!"

Three. . .

They pulled and pushed and shoved and cursed as they tried to climb into the jet.

Two.

"Guys!" Barbara screamed.

Batman stabbed the ignition.

One. . .

The entire complex exploded. The force of the explosion shook the ground and sent shock waves through the air, thick dust swarmed the sky as the explosion deafened anything with ears. The water shook and rose in a huge wave, the island trembled.

The jet whooshed out of the thick cloud and into clear safe skies.

One more second and they would have been -

Inside the jet everything was silent.

The air was thick. Tense. Gut tugging. They were all stiff with fear and shock.

Nobody moved. Nobody dared look at each other. . .They barely even breathed.

Jason finally cracked under exhaustion and fell back into his seat with a loud exhale.

"God. . . being a hero sucks!"

That seemed to break everyone out of their shocked states. Everything instantly moved, they all talked over each other, attempting to hug Damian, congratulate Tim, and mess around with each other and Batman's jet and they didn't stop until they finally got back to Gotham.

Nobody mentioned Damian being Batman's son though.

Not yet. . .

They still couldn't get it through their heads. . .

Chapter Text

Touching down in the Batcave turned out to be more awkward then the boys thought it would be.

Bruised and battered and tired, they all wondered what Batman would do with them now.

Once they all exited the jet, Dick turned towards Batman, his brothers sidling behind him automatically, Jason with a defensive look, Tim concern, and Damian just confused and unable to look at anyone in the eye for once.

"So..." Dick drew the word out, it says more than one word should.

Batman's straightened posture changes and he actually sighs out loud. A tired, human sound which surprised everyone present. Pulling off his cowl, revealing two tired bright colored eyes he regarded them with something close to regret.

"Go home." And he turned away heading for the stairs.

Batgirl bit her lips and pulled back her cowl as well, watching Bruce walk away.

"Babs?"

Barbara turned towards Dicks questioning face and gave him a half smile. "You heard the man. Go home. . . before he changes his mind."

Dick swallowed thickly and nodded, face holding a tight expression as if he wanted to say something but didn't think he should.

Jason nudged him and placed a hand on Damians shoulder. "Let's go Dickie, Short stack here must be beat. . . I sure am." He gestured to his own bruises in an attempt to be funny.

Tim actually snickered and fisted his hand in the edge of Jason's jacket. "We're going to have to look into those."

"C'mon Dick. . . Dick?" Jason's face fell when he noticed the pained look Grayson was giving Barbara.

She seemed to notice too and it must have bothered her a lot because she walked right into the older boys space and kissed him suddenly.

Jason rolled his eyes and looked away, slightly miffed, mostly grossed out.

Tim wrinkled his nose and covered Damian's eyes who scoffed at him.

"I'm not a child, Drake, I know what-"

"Yah. . . still, though." Tim shook his head and wished the two would stop already.

It didn't look like they would any time soon.

Jason cleared his throat loudly, reminding both that there were other people in the cave.

Barbara pulled away and blushed, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Dick groaned and glared at his younger brothers.

Jason raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously, get a room. Later, right now, we're tired, sore, and starving. Can we go please. . ." He finished, voice straining to not sound aggressive by the last syllable.

Dicks shoulders slumped as he turned back to Barbara. "See you Babs."

She nodded, biting her lip. "Yah, probably." She teased as the boys headed out of the cave.

She watched them all ascend the stone cut stairs and hoped they wouldn't run into Alfred on the way out.

Dick cast one last furtive look at her over his shoulder and gave her that heart melting grin that always hit its mark.

Jason groaned ahead. "Come on, Romeo!"

Barbara giggled as they left.

She really hoped everything would turn out alright.

After all. . . they were still technically criminals. And Batman could only excuse them so much.

After barely escaping Alfred, the boys actually walked home, in normal clothes of course, they were all so tired and Damian had actually started to weave on his feet.

They were all silent. Which wasn't normal. Dick figured it was because of that elephant following them home. . . somebody had to say something or else they'd all be awkward and worried forever.

Dick didn't like that thought.

"So Dami. . . did you know Batman was your dad?"

Tim took in a sharp breath, Jason snorted and Damian looked. . . Afraid?

"No. No I did not." He finally answered in a uncharacteristically small voice. "If I had, don't you think I would have gone and told him that myself."

Dick didn't like the sound of that. "You mean. . . you would have left us."

Damian didn't say anything for a moment as they walked. A dog barked at them when they passed it down a corner. Sounds of the city engulfed them and somehow made the not silent silence feel worse.

"Damian?" Dick prodded, waiting patiently for the little boy to answer.

"Perhaps." He finally said, startling everyone.

"Can't say I blame you." Tim spoke out now, slightly deadpanned.

Jason scoffed. "Why? As far as I'm concerned, Batman's a self righteous ass that would probably drive you crazy. . . I mean, he can't be all sane if he runs around dressed up as a Bat and fighting crazies for a crap city like this. . . willingly."

Dick shook his head. "Maybe it's because this is a crap city he does it. Maybe -"

"Maybe he's really trying to help Jay." Tim finished, he was still a fan of the Bat after all.

Damian frowned. "I doubt I would have been very happy with him though."

Dick startled. "Wait. Do - do you want to go live with him, Dami?" That thought scared him a bit, but. . . the Bat was the kids real father. Dick couldn't really blame him if he wanted to -

"I don't know."

Nobody said anything after that.

"What the hell?!"

"Not very eloquent. . . but, well expressed." Tim said to Jason as the four of them stared, wide eyed and shocked at the scene surrounding their building.

At least twenty police squad cars were surrounding the area, men in black and blue uniforms were milling about talking to each other, checking the parameter, jotting down random things they saw, eating doughnuts. . .

Dick rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands in exasperation. "Maven must have flipped out harder then I thought - is that a national guard? What?!"

Damian sighed loudly and shook his head. "Leave it to that woman to make things worse."

"No! For the last time I don't want to give a statement, get out of my face!"

They all froze as Selina came marching out, hair a mess, face drawn and tired, a uniformed woman was following her exasperatedly, waving a notepad in the air as the cat lover stomped away from her.

"I told you I didn't want to call these morons, Maven." Selina hissed as she grabbed frightened Maven by the arm, "I will find them on my-" She froze and looked up, all anger and worry melted right off her face leaving disbelief behind.

"B-boys?" She gasped out, a hand clapping over her mouth. Maven froze next to her.

Dick stepped forward, awestruck and relieved and guilty and. . . so, so, happy she was awake.

Jason let out a sudden whoop and ran like a cannon towards the woman. Tim followed suit and Damian was dragged forward by Dick as they all ran into the waiting woman's arms, shocking everyone as they shouted and hugged and cried against each other.

"You're alive. . . oh my God - you're all-" Selina hiccupped and hugged them harder.

Jason refused to show his tears as he clung to her harder then the rest. Tim buried his little face in Jasons' jacket, he was squished in between Jay and his mother figure. Dick and Damian were in much the same position as they hugged the other side.

She actually sobbed. . . not caring who saw as she hugged them closer, swearing she wouldn't let them go again. Ever.

Selina Kyle had grown so soft it would be shameful. . . if she cared. She had never been happier then when these boys stole pieces of her life and stuck their own into it. . .

Never been more miserable then when they had been lost.

And would never be so grateful as she was to have them back.

They pulled away, she took each of them in, eyes shining with leftover tears. "Oh my God. . . what happened to-"

"We'll tell you later." Dick said gently, holding on to Damian tighter.

Suddenly a high pitched squeal startled them all as Maven came bolting towards them from her frozen spot and grabbing on to them for dear life, blubbering something about losing them and how sorry she was and. . .

Since when had Aunt Maven ever been this emotional?

She surprised them each by hugging them individually and kissing them each on the forehead. . . even Jason, whom had always been her least favorite, was given a warm endearing hug and kiss that made him feel oddly warm inside.

"Don't you boy's ever run off again." She finished, wiping away tears and straightening her messy pony tail in an attempt to regain her composure.

That's when they noticed everyone staring.

A policeman stood up. "Um - so. . . you don't need us to find them anymore?"

The small, strange, patch work group let out a series of laughs as the officers all looked on in confusion.

After much needed baths and dinner the boys all settled in the living room, something they didn't think they'd be doing again, with Selina, telling her the story as she listened with shock and Maven bustled about patching up Dick and Jason, Damian had already been checked and was now sitting cross-legged on the floor, forcing himself not to scratch the Band-Aids on his face.

"And then he let us go." Dick finished the story with a tired exhale as he leaned back into the couch. He skipped the part about Bruce Wayne being Batman though.

"Ow!" Jason huffed as Maven tightened a bandage around his arm.

"Don't you 'ow' me, mister. I can't believe you boys are as reckless as all this to. . . I told you you'd be a bad influence on them." She snapped at Selina crossly, having found her stern attitude again after all those emotions.

Selina's eyes sparkled at her. "I can't believe you boys are that good at it, and to work with Batman like that all so you could get. . . I - I am honestly not sure if I should ground you or reward you." She pushed back her loose dark hair and shook her head in disbelief.

"I really collected quiet the litter haven't I, Mave."

Maven shook her head and patted the now grumpy Jason on his. "That's one way to look at it. Soup, anyone?"

"Yes, please." Dick grinned as he shifted on the couch, Tim leaned against him sleepily.

"I'm just so happy you boys are alright and Damian. . . I'm sorry. . . about everything."

Damian shrugged. "It wasn't a total loss I suppose. . . I found out who my father was after all."

Selina took in a sharp breath. She still hadn't gotten over that fact in the slightest. How could a woman like that she-Demon. . . it boggled her mind that Batman would even stoop that low and-

"I've decided I don't really want to live with him." Damian continued, surprising her.

"But. . . if he's your real father Damian-"

"I know, perhaps he'll fight you for me. I'm not sure but I don't want to ruin - " His green eyes flashed over all of them. "- This."

Dick felt his throat clog up as he looked at the stoic little boy that had been forced to grow up too fast. He couldn't imagine his life without him. Without any of them.

He prayed Batman - Bruce Wayne wasn't going to try to break them.

Selina let out a sigh and bent down to hug the little boy. "We love you Damian, but if you want to live with your father, whoever he is, we have no right to stop you." She was trying to make him understand that he had a choice, no matter how painful it might be to them all.

Jason rolled his eyes and stood up. "Yah, yah, enough of this crap. I'm going to bed. Later." He waved them off and nearly stomped to his room, the door closing loud enough to be just short of a slam.

The others all looked at each other in confused silence.

"He's sad." Tim poke out suddenly in a small voice.

Selina looked at him and nodded worriedly. "I know. . . Give him time. Jason was never one to take emotions in so well."

Damian scoffed and stood up. "Why would he be sad for? We've all returned safely and alive and you're awake, why should he be upset?"

"Because Dami." Dick stood up and stretched. "He doesn't want you to leave. Which you might - eventually." He gave the little boy his own sad look. "None of us really want that but we aren't going to stop you if it ends up being what you want."

"You're all ridicules." Damian stood up too and turned away with a frown. "I've already decided. I won't leave. Just because we might be biologically connected doesn't mean he's more important then any of you." It seemed like the kid was forcing back a shake in his voice. "He'll never give me what I already have. End of discussion." With that, the kid attempted a snobby walk towards his room.

He just ended up looking like he was forcing back tears.

Dick wanted to go after him and squeeze all the love he could into him.

Selina smiled at them all.

"Welcome home boys."

"So, you gonna arrest them?" Barbara asked, leaning over the mans arm chair.

Bruce was trying to tune her and his thoughts out by reading. It wasn't working so well. Barbara had not stopped pestering him about the boys and Selina, who he found out was awake and well. He wasn't going to lie, that news may have made him a bit happy.

"C'mon Bruce, answer the question. You know who they are. Are you going to-"

He slammed the book shut. It echoed through the study as he stood up and looked at the persistent red haired girl who stared right back.

"If you're going to keep pushing this, I might as well tell you. No, I am not going to arrest any of them. Mostly because they're minors and-"

"You're crazy in love with Catwoman." She flashed him a teasing grin which he reciprocated with a scowl.

"And I don't want to ruin their lives. So I am going to offer them something else. And if they accept, then we will be well on our way to healing Gotham of five thieves." Bruce spoke as if he'd already planned for that very thing to happen. Barbara sucked in her cheeks as her eyes wandered in thought. "Sooo. . . what happens if they say no to whatever you're offering them?"

Bruce disappeared and Batman reared himself out as he leaned into the girls face menacingly.

"They won't say no, if they know what's good for them." With that he turned and walked away stoically.

Barbara grinned after him and shook her head. "As if."

Whatever Bruce had planned, Barbara was looking forward to it.

"Bruce Wayne wants what?" Selina stared at Mavens serious face as the red haired woman handed her, her expresso.

"You heard me. He wants you and your boys to meet him at his manor for lunch this afternoon."

Selina stared at her harder. Mind whirling as to why Bruce Wayne wanted to see them?

She hadn't heard from Bruce for a while, and she was up to her neck in social workers. It had only been a week since the whole fiasco and they wouldn't let up. She was deemed unfit to be a guardian of four boys by the state and they were fighting her. She had gathered the best lawyers in the city but...

There wasn't really much they could do.

The only thing that wasn't going down hill was her business. Somehow, thanks to the boys escapades and Mavens ridiculously hard work, she had rise back up while unconscious. It was a small mercy. . . but what was the point of her business if she couldn't have her boys?

"One O'clock." Maven was saying as she handed Selina a stack of paper work. "They'll be waiting for you."

"They?"

"He has a butler you know, and that pretty red haired girl. . . the commissioners girl, I think." Maven answered as she headed out of the office.

Selina stared after her in confusion.

Why would Bruce Wayne invite them all to a private lunch?

Something was off here. . . she had a strange feeling she knew what it was but she couldn't bring it to the forefront of her mind.

Oh well. . . a lunch date with Bruce Wayne. . . how exciting.

"It's a trap." Jason hissed as they all walked up the stairs to Bruce Wayne's manor.

After Selina had told them and insisted they dress nice, they'd all freaked out internally and almost rebelled. They knew who the man was. . . they didn't tell Selina. . . they were horrified that he'd changed his mind and was now luring them all in by acting all nice and businessman like so they would come unsuspecting and he'd sic his Gotham Police jerks on them.

Jason was so tense his jaw was clenched. Damian had turned himself into an emotionless statue that creepily minded them of Batman. Tim was distracting himself by reciting the periodic table from memory. Dick was forcing smiles to come out just so Selina wouldn't see how jumpy he was.

The old butler guy opened the door.

They all instinctively flinched as Selina smiled widely.

"Alfred. Lovely to see you." She shook the mans hand daintily as he bowed professionally.

"Likewise Ms. Kyle. And you as well young Masters."

Jason swore the old mans eyes were twinkling with teasing. He was mocking them. . . he totally was.

"Right this way, please, Master Bruce and Ms. Gordon are in the dining room awaiting your arrival."

They all followed behind Selina quietly and orderly, eyes darting everywhere, half expecting a swat team to burst through the walls and shoot tranquilizing darts at them.

"You boys alright?" Selina asked suddenly, making them all flinch again.

"Uh, yah, yah. . . no problems here. We're fine." Dick covered quickly, forcing an easy smile as he sweated under his polo sweater.

Her eyes analyzed them all for a moment before she decided to drop it and turned back to the butler.

They entered the dinning room faster then the boys would have liked.

Jason grabbed Dicks arm and yanked him subtly back. "We are so screwed, man." He hissed worriedly.

Dick nodded and smiled. "Oh yah." He whispered back through his teeth as they arrived at the table. Bruce Wayne, sitting there in all his dark glory and powerful form, smiled at them all. Barbara was sitting silently next to him, eyes down on her food. She didn't look at anyone.

Tim swallowed hard, his eyes huge. Damian couldn't look at the man without feeling a bit inferior. He didn't like that feeling.

"Welcome, all of you." The man stood up and, much to he chagrin of all the boys, kissed Selina on the cheek, surprising her. "Please, take a seat. Alfred's pasta is to die for, really."

That set all of the boys on edge.

Bruce noticed.

He smiled.

They all sat and stared at their spaghetti. It smelled amazing. Jason decided if Damian left, it would probably be because of this cooking.

Tim carefully picked up his fork and spun a neat spool of noodles as Selina smiled at Bruce. Damian didn't touch a thing, Dick was praying nothing was actually poisoned and bit into a garlic bread stick. Jason fought with his will power to not eat. . . gave in after a full minute and slurped everything down heartily.

Well, if it was poisoned at least it was a great last meal. . .

Barbara watched them all through the corner of her eyes and almost laughed. She hide it with a glass of water.

"So Bruce," Selina started, leaning on her elbows, fingers laced under her chin. "To what do we owe the honor of this invite?" She had that coy smile on her face. The one she used to get information out of people.

Bruce Wayne's eyes flickered as he set his fork down and looked at the beautiful woman. "Other then wanting to spend time with you and your spectacular boys?"

She laughed prettily at that.

Bruce grinned, "actually I want to tell you something." His eyes flickered to the staring boys, ". . . if you'll follow me for a moment."

All the boys instantly stiffened and glared at the man, who very easily ignored them and held out a hand to Selina who took it rather bashfully.

"Be right back boys." Mr. Wayne flashed them another disorienting smile as he lead their mother figure away.

Alfred cleared his throat. "Would anyone care for dessert?"

Nobody answered. They were all to busy mentally debating if they should follow after them or not. Alfred took that as a 'yes' and headed towards the kitchen.

Barbara couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh, cut it out you guys. If anyone should be suspicious it's us." She stabbed a tomato in her salad and laughed at them.

Dick looked at her, for the first time since they'd walked in. "We aren't killers, Barbara."

"Yes, but you steal from innocent people." She countered a bit harshly.

Jason snorted. "Innocent, right. Jerks who have money coming out of their ass' and can't spare a dime for a starving kid they pass everyday on their way to make more money."

That made Barbara tense a bit. "Stealing is stealing. . ."

"Barbara." Dicks face was serious. Very serious. She wasn't sure she liked it. "We stole because our family was in jeopardy. We didn't hurt anyone really and I don't know if you'll get it but, for kids who didn't have much before until we all came together because of Selina. . .we're willing to do anything to keep us this way. Thankfully it didn't require hurting anyone. We just. . ."

"We didn't want to fall apart." Tim finished for them all.

"Because this is all we got." Jason continued, refusing to back down as he crossed his arms defiantly.

Damian nodded. "It's all we've ever had. . . as nauseating as that sounds."

Dick smiled, for real this time. "Can't you see how much we mean to each other, Babs? I couldn't let them be taken away because Selina's business was falling apart because of some rich sharks that don't care about anything except money. . . I couldn't let them go. Ok."

Barbara felt her heart ache just a bit for these four lost little boys. Her brain was insisting they were still wrong. Which was true. . . but her heart understood. Family was the most important thing to them. . . she respected that.

"I get it, still though-"

Dick grinned. "Yah. . . still."

Their eyes connected for a moment and they forgot everyone else. Barbara relished in the jumpy butterflies as his hand reached across the table and slid over hers, warm and comfortable.

She liked that feeling a lot.

Loud, irritating kissing sounds snapped them out of their trance.

Dick glared as Jason made obnoxious sounds and Tim snickered loudly as Damian imitated a gag.

"Oh, don't stop on our account, no really." Jason mocked, fluttering his surprisingly long lashes at them.

Tim's snickers turned to full laughs. "We'll find Brain Bleach somewhere." He teased through his giggles.

Damian smirked. "You look like breeding fish."

That did it. Barbara blushed and started laughing somewhat embarrassed. Dick glared daggers and itched to throw his salad plate at his irritating younger brothers as they laughed at him.

"Shut up. All of you! Geez, wait until you guys have a crush, I am so paying you back!"

"I'm your crush?" Barbara tittered, eyes fluttering, flirty.

Dick stuttered and blushed.

They all laughed harder as Alfred watched them all silently, tray of ice cream bowls in his hands and a gentle smile on his face.

Master Bruce might have had the right idea after all.

Selina couldn't believe what she was staring at.

The Batcave. . . the Goddamn Batcave!

She was standing in it. . . after walking through a moving clock and - and-

"Bruce?" Her eyes searched him, trying to picture the man in Kevlar and pointy ears. . . surprisingly, it wasn't that hard. That was - kind of terrifying.

"You-you're - what?" She was trying to process how this man, and the Bat were one and the same and she. . .had the hots for the Bat and growing affections for - she needed to sit down.

"Going to run out screaming?" He spoke finally as she shook her head in disbelief.

"No. . . I just - didn't expect - I mean -" She blinked a bit. "- I think I might have known, the boys story. . . that means-" Her heart started pattering louder. "You're Damian's-"

"Father. Yes. I am. I'm only angered that I didn't know sooner." He answered stiffly.

She gulped in air and frowned. "Are you blaming me for that?" He better not be. . .

"No!" He looked at her, shock actually showing on his ridiculously handsome face. "No, I'm not. I blame Talia and - it isn't your fault. Actually, I'm grateful you took him in the first place." He walked closer to her, she didn't' move. "I can only imagine the guilt I'd feel if I found him after they were done training him. . . a savage, assassin without any feelings or morals or-"

"You're welcome." She smiled softly, appreciating this broken mans confession of gratitude.

His eyes connected to hers and she forced back a shiver. "That's why I wanted to offer you something. That's why I showed you. . . I know about your boys and what they've been up to and. . . Catwoman-"

She sighed and crossed her arms. "You're going to threaten jail if they don't stop right?" Figures. Batman always put the law first.

And she was really liking him too. . . Both of him.

"No, I want to give you something instead. I've recently come across your social workers problem."

She sneered. "Bastards don't know when to quit. If they think they're taking away my boys-"

"They won't."

She looked at him in surprise. "What?" What was he saying? He couldn't mean-

"I've taken care of it. But that's not what I wanted to tell you." He placed a hand on her arm and pulled her a bit closer. Selina felt herself heat up as she looked up into the mans crystalline blue eyes.

"I want to make a proposition." He said, voice dropping a notch right above Batman level.

"Yes?" She looked at him slyly, hand pressing against his chest. Putting on the flirty look she was so good at, even though he made her feel like nobody else could, a ridiculous teenaged girl in real love for the first time.

"I want you and the boys to live with me."

Selina's heart tattooed itself against her ribs as he bent down slightly and pressed his lips to hers.

The woman practically jumped right back and kissed him harder, liquid heat pooling and rushing throughout her body as she took him in.

Took both of him in.

"I spy with my little eye. . . something old." Tim droned, they were all lazily scattered around the sitting room, waiting for Selina and Bruce to come back.

Jason snickered. "Alfred."

"Better watch yourself Master Jason, I'm not so old as to be unable to deliver swift punishment to rude little boys."

That got everyone but Jason laughing as the boy blushed, his ears red and mumbling apologies.

"You know what Alfred." Dick grinned at the older man. "You're pretty cool."

"Yah, anyone who raised and tolerated the Batman has to be awesome." Tim smiled as he sat up.

Alfred remained poised. "I will accept your compliments young sirs. But there will be no more cookies." He stated flatly.

They all groaned as Barbara laughed at them, she was laying her head on Dicks lap as they talked, she looked incredibly comfortable, her hair splayed all over the boys black jeaned legs.

"Stop laughing at our misery." Jason snapped, lamenting the loss of the butlers cookies.

Barbara laughed harder. "Oh guys, you're so whipped already. You know the cookies is how Alfred gets whoever to do whatever he wants." She teased as the Butler pretended not to hear her.

Tim ginned. "Totally understandable."

"Yah it's like-"

"Boys."

Everyone sat straighter as they all turned their attention to Selina standing in the arched entrance with suspiciously mussed hair and incredibly bright eyes.

Bruce stood beside her, hand resting all too comfortably on her shoulder to please the boys.

"You ok?" Dick asked instantly, trying to decipher the situation.

Selina smiled wider. "Better than ok boys, I have something to tell you."

Jason groaned. "Please don't say you're pregnant or something."

Tim smacked his arm for that. Dick would have done it but he was too far for it to be dramatic.

Bruce's eyebrow rose in slight surprise at them as Selina laughed.

"No, no, nothing that life changing." She glanced at the tall man next to her. "Yet."

Damian froze. "What?" He refused to look at the older man, keeping his eyes firmly on his guardian.

Barbara even sat up, eyes searching Bruce's face for answers which it didn't give, obviously. The man was incredibly good at pretending to be a statue.

Selina took in a deep breath and sat down on the armrest of the love seat. "Mr. Wayne here has. . ." She looked at the man again.

Dick felt odd looking at her smile like that, his stomach tightened. She was practically glowing. . . weird as that sounded. Selina never glows. Not because of a man anyway. What the hell?

Jason's fists balled as Tim tensed a little and wiggled in attempt to shake the tension off. Damian looked like - like Bruce. Except smaller and angrier.

"He's asked me to come live with him. And to become his permanent business partner." She finished.

Barbara sat up ram rod straight, eyes shooting fireworks at Bruce. "That's great!" She exclaimed. "Now you don't need to steal -" She cut off and smacked her hand over her mouth. Idiot. . . so, so stupid! Bruce was going to kill her!

Selina laughed. "Oh, don't worry hon. I already know." She gave her boys a sly smirk.

They all deflated instantly, as if her knowing the secret had untied them from some invisible pole that was keeping them so stiff.

"If you know. . . then - then why would you consider something like that?" Dick asked dully.

"Dick," The beautiful woman placed a gentle hand in her Kittens hair. "You know why."

Jason gagged. Tim blushed and Damian looked irritated.

Dick just sighed. "What about us?"

"I swear if this guy thinks he's taking you away from us -" Jason started, punching a fist into his hand with a glare that actually impressed Batman.

"No, don't worry Jason. I would never ask Selina to choose between you and me. Never." Bruce answered, hand on his chest as if to say 'I give you my word'.

Selina smiled again. "He's asking if we all will move in with him."

Stunned silence met these words.

Alfred let out a tired sigh.

The boys all looked at each other in shock and uncertainty.

Finally Damian looked up with suspicion lacing his fierce eyes. "Why?"

Bruce knelt down to the boys level so easily it actually surprised them how such a big man could do that. "Damian," He placed a large warm hand on the boys small shoulder, "I'm truly sorry I didn't know about you until now. But that doesn't give me a right to ask you to leave your family for me. So I want to take all of you in." He gave the boy a strangely warm smile.

"Besides," His eyes twinkled as they looked up at Alfred, "I've been told I've been missing out on not having a family anyway."

"Very true sir." Alfred nodded in approval.

Barbara took Dick's hand. "Well. . . what do you guys say?" She silently prayed they would pick Bruce. Please pick Bruce.

Dick looked at Jason. Jason looked at Tim. Tim glanced at Damian. Selina waited, watching all of them.

Finally they all turned their eyes to Bruce.

Dick spoke first. "Is this what you want, Selina?" He asked softly.

She smiled. "Doesn't matter. It's all for you boys. I promise, whatever you want. It's your choice." She was giving them a chance to say no. A choice. Choice was something she never had when she was their age.

Dick bit his lip. "I'd be ok with it. Jay?"

Jason shrugged. "Don't expect me to become an angle or something. . . but yah, whatever."

Tim grinned suddenly, his face looked like it would split. "Yes! I'm great with it. This would help everyone, Selina will have a more stable business, the social workers will leave us alone and-" And we'll live in the same place as my hero!, "- and we don't have to steal anymore." He finished a little giddy.

All eyes turned to Damian. The little boy hadn't taken his eyes off Bruce yet, as opposed to avoiding looking at the man.

"Damian?" Selina coxed a bit.

The little boy let out a long suffering sigh. "Fine. I don't care really, just that Drake won't stop whining if I don't say yes."

They all laughed much to the child's chagrin, Dick ruffled his hair and earned a scowl, Jason punched the kid playfully in his arm and Tim flicked his head.

Selina turned to Bruce. "Well. . . looks like you've just got yourself five extra house guests. I hope Alfred's ok with that?"

"Quite alright Ms. Kyle." Alfred looked calm and collected as always. Bruce knew he was beaming.

Heck he felt pretty good too. Bruce Wayne hadn't felt this light in. . . since he was eight years old.

Selina turned and placed a kiss on his jaw. "In that case, consider us permanent."

The boys all agree and turn to Bruce with questioning looks.

"So are you like what? Our dad now?" Tim asked out.

Dick shook his head, "No, can't be, Selina adopted us, he didn't."

"He's technically my father." Damian pointed out, unclenching now.

Jason snorted. "Poor you."

Bruce smirked. "One step at a time boys. One step at a time."

"Hey. . . what about Aunt Maven?" Tim blurted out, "Are you inviting her too?"

"Of course."

Everybody laughed and the boys decided if Selina could look this happy then maybe becoming permanent guests at Batman's house wouldn't be so bad after all. Besides. . he had awesome toys which they were so going to - borrow.

Three weeks later and they all had things settled.

Selina had signed a partnership with Wayne enterprises, her company was holding stronger than ever. She rented out her penthouse and tied up all her loose ends. After a grueling wait, the social workers finally backed off and she had the boys wrapped up and ready to go.

The move had been rather effortless, but noisy.

First came the fight over who got which room where. Then it was about school, if they'd move or stay in Gotham academy. They ended up staying. Then came the rules. . . God, Selina wasn't sure the boys would be able to handle all of Alfred's rules.

Remarkably, they lasted the week and actually seemed to enjoy the older man. And Bruce. . . he was rarely around but when he was she noticed the effort he made to get into their lives.

He laughed at Dicks jokes. He helped Tim with computer mechanics. He attempted to bond emotionally with Damian and he taught Jason how to use a bow which the boy loved.

All in all. . . the man was easily melting into the boys hearts and she loved that very much. She felt as if a huge hole inside her that she didn't know she had was filled up with the idea and reality of having a family.

And even though Bruce was just her boyfriend at the moment. . . it really felt like a family.

Maven moved in too.

Surprisingly the no nonsense secretary kicked it off very well with Alfred. They both bonded over years of servitude to spoiled rich people. Selina laughed and asked what Maven found in common with the elderly man.

Maven had said he reminded her of her late grandfather. It warmed her heart to be close to someone like that again.

Selina loved this. All of this, so much.

And she knew neither her nor her boys would have things any other way.

It wasn't for the first time she's thought about how lucky she was to have taken that little sad circus boy and help him grow into a laughing acrobat with a heart bigger then anything. Or how lucky she was to have found that scrawny rough and tough street kid taking Batman's tires and let him grow into a young man with a future. How fortune smiled on her when she found kidnapped lost child without any knowledge of love and helped nurture him with several hearts to help him grow and teach him to love back. How lucky she'd been to escape Al Ghul and take the wonderfully talented little boy that would have become twisted and ruined if Al Ghul had kept him and gave him a choice to grow the way he wanted to.

She loved them. With all their mistakes and flaws and quirks. She never knew this was what fate had in store for her, and for the first time in all her life she realized, as she watched Dick laugh, Jason tease, Tim snicker, Damian scowl, that starting of a little girl that came from nothing only to grow up and give shelter to these young boys was the best thing to ever happen to her.

This was what she'd wanted all her life. A family, something she's never had. Couldn't have ever foreseen for herself.

And now. . . it was hers.

They were hers.

Her family.

On the other side of the city Barbara Gordon was walking to her fathers room for the millionth time since his accident. She felt very odd and shaky today. She hadn't been getting much sleep but that was mostly because Dick insisted on late night tutoring. . .

She smiled sleepily as she remembered how little actual work they got done last night. Kisses and cuddles were quickly becoming her favorite thing in life. She just wished she could tell her Dad about Dick.

She was pretty sure she was a little bit more then crushing on the adorkable boy by now.

She walked into the room. The heart monitor flat lined. She jumped and instantly panicked.

"Dad!" Se screamed, tears already brimming. No! NO! He can't be -

Commissioner Gordon groaned as he sat up dizzily, connecting wires bunched in his hand. "Someone get me an aspirin and a whole lot of beer. And where are my glasses?"

Barbara burst into tears and ran to her father and hugged him, tight. But not tight enough to make him pass out. "Daddy! Oh my God, I am so glad - you - I - I thought you'd never wake up." She sobbed into her fathers light blue medical shirt.

The greying man let out a relieved sigh and rubbed circles into his daughters back. "I'm here Barb, I'm not going anywhere."

She pulled away, face red and tears streaming down it as her lower lip trembled. "Oh Daddy."

Jim cupped his daughters face and smiled, his face hurt from lack of movement, but he gave her the best smile he could muster. "Nothing can keep your old man down. You know that." He rasped, voice horse from disuse.

She hiccupped and nodded. "I missed you so much." She gave him a watery smile and wanted nothing more then to hug him forever.

"I'm pretty sure I missed you too sweetheart." Jim brushed her hair aside. "But uh - I'm afraid I have a couple of blanks in the old memory bank. You're gonna have to fill them in."

Barbara laughed gently, so happy to see her father awake and well, a little thin, but she planned on fixing that.

She spent the entire afternoon telling her father what he's missed, minus the vigilante and life threatening stuff. She rattled on about Bruce Wayne, she warmly told her father about Dick Grayson, which he gave her a skeptical look on, she hastily recounted her adventures with Alfred and Ms. Kyle and her Boys and basically informed him about what all of Gotham already knew about Bruce Wayne sudden new family.

Within a few hours the doctors deemed Jim Gordon healthy and alive much to their surprise, he'd be released tomorrow.

Barbara Gordon was incredibly happy and now firmly believed that perhaps Gotham wasn't all horrible and could churn out miracles after all.

Chapter Text

Epilogue~~~

Five years later.

"My God! Where's the veil? Dick! Dick, where is the veil!? I swear if you boys took it out for some sort of science experiment - " Maven screeched as she ran back an forth looking for the gauzy material with embedded pearls in her short black pumps that shone as she flew around the room.

Selina laughed, standing up from her seat. "Easy Maven, they can't hear you. Too busy planning the after party. We'll find it. In the mean time, how do I look?"

Maven stopped and took in a deep breath, nearly ten years with these boys and their shenanigans had taught her how to deal with sever cases of stress. Alfred therapeutic tea helped too.

She turned and took in her employers form.

Selina smiled radiantly, her hair done in an elegant French braid, pearls and diamonds strategically braided into it as a lovely diamond hair clip wrapped around the entire bun and glittered blindingly under the florescent lights. She had on a tight fitting trumpet dress, pure white with soft cream accents, pearls sewn into the flourishing gauzy skirt. It was sleeveless and dropped well down her chest and glittered, showing off her curved shoulders and long elegant neck.

In short, she looked like a wingless angle.

"Beautiful." Maven suddenly realized her eyes were blurring. Strange, she still had her glasses on. . . oh - those were tears. . .

"Thank you." Selina laughed breathlessly, eyes shining, "I never thought I'd ever get married." She spoke gently, wistfully even.

Maven sighed and adjusted Selina's satin bow, "Neither did I, but you are. . . and to the freaking Batman no less -" She shook her head as if she still couldn't believe it. Because she didn't.

Selina laughed again. "Not so loud, do you want those words on the front paper tomorrow?"

She clasped Mavens shaking hands and gave her a radiant smile. "Thank you Maven, for everything you have ever done for me. I couldn't have gotten by without you."

"Oh, pshaw, you're just saying that to make me cry."

"It's working."

The two woman smiled at each other and went in for a hug.

"I'm so happy for you, Selina." Maven sniffled as they pulled away.

Selina brushed away her own tears, carful not to smear her makeup. "You and me both."

Barbara burst in suddenly interrupting the two older women's bonding, looking perfect in her elegant light blue brides maid gown that shimmered with light satin sheen and hugged all her curves wonderfully. Selina had a sneaking suspicion how much a certain young man would be drooling once he saw the young woman so tastefully dressed.

"I have it." She smiled, pushing back thick red curls, her lips were painted a dark red that gave her a more mature look. "The veil, see - perfect. Just like you." Barbara had warmed up hugely toward Selina, even if she didn't live with them since her father had taken her back home, she visited everyday and she went to the same collage as Dick. As far as Selina was concerned, all Dick had to do was sign a marriage certificate to make it official.

Not like she had room to talk though. She and Bruce were probably worse then the young couple. Scratch that, they were definitely worse then the young couple.

"Great, hold still!" Maven snatched the floaty piece and instantly attacked Selina's head.

Barbara let out a gentle sigh and handed the bride a bouquet of blue and purple roses.

"There. Perfect." She smiled as Selina twirled for show.

"You're going to stun him so much he's going to forget to say 'I do'."

They all laughed and waited for the music.

Jason scowled as he tugged at his suit. He hated monkey suits, they itched and made him feel stiff and hot. And would those annoying girls stop staring and giggling at him?!

He hated weddings. . . granted, he'd never actually been to one. But still - if they were all like this he was pretty sure he'd hate them all.

He didn't like this. Any of this.

Ok, so they were living with the guy for a long while now, but did Selina have to go and marry him? Geez, it's like she's trying to make things harder.

Jason scowled harder, hoping his look was intimidating enough to scare those tittering air heads off. Why did Dick actually enjoy this kind of attention?

By the time he'd hit sophomore year he was getting as much attention as Dick was from girls. . . maybe more so because Dickie Grayson was taken and he wasn't. Damn it. Now he was in collage and things were infinitely worse. . . there were a lot more single girls in collage.

And now Selina was getting married and he didn't know how to cope with that. He would admit it. . . he kind of liked Bruce. . . a lot.

Ok, so the man had grown on them to the point were he was actually like a dad, definitely better then his previous so called dad - but Jason wasn't fond of change. Nineteen years old and he still hated it when things happened and he didn't know they would.

Seriously, they'd only announced their engagement last week!

Jason so wasn't ready for this. . . how could they be.

He worried mostly, worried, that despite their five year dating - and getting married was just a formality at this point . . . he was worried it would burn to the ground - worried something would break them - afraid Selina would get hurt. His worries were illogical and he knew it . . . but still.

"Hey, hey, Jay-Jay!" Dick chirped as he bounced up, no literally, they guy bounced, to his younger brother.

"Get lost Dick-face." Jason grouched automatically. Mostly out of habit than actually meaning it. Besides, Dick wouldn't leave anyway. Nope, he'd hug Jason until he couldn't breath instead.

As impossible as it seems, Dick Grayson had gotten ten times more annoying as he got older.

"Aw don't be sad Jay, this is it! The big day, Selina is finally tying the knot, we all knew it was coming." Dick nudged him, "about time anyway."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Yah, yah. . . why does she have to go spend her honeymoon all the way in France for. For two weeks."

Dick laughed, "Seriously Jason? Separation anxiety? Aren't you getting too old for that?"

"Fuck off, Dick."

Dick only laughed harder as Jason punched him in the arm and sent him barreling over into the ground just barely missing Alfred's painstakingly set refreshments table.

Tim walked in, phone in his hand, eyes glued to it as he casually stepped right over chortling Dick and tapped Jason on the shoulder.

"Hey, we might have a problem. The ice sculptures Alfred ordered melted on the way here because the trucks in-vehicle icing system broke down and they didn't realize it until it was too late. Who's gonna tell him?" Tim Drake was seventeen now, much taller then he was before, only just barley getting to five-ten last year. He was thin as anything and had a horrible sense of self maintenance. His hair practically drowned his face for most of his life.

Still brilliant as ever though.

Jason snorted. "Make Damian do it."

"Oh no you don't!" Damian burst in defending himself. "I told him about the broken chandelier last week. It's your turn Todd." Damian had also grown, at fifteen was as tall as Tim, much to the older boys annoyance, more emotionally capable now too, but still. . . arrogance made him who he was unfortunately.

"I am not facing the old mans wrath, ok. I've got enough problems with this monkeys getup." Jason emphasized his discomfort by tugging the blood red tie around his neck that was starting to feel like a noose.

Damian huffed. "Tt, it's just formal wear, Todd. Get over it, Father requested these suits specifically and since it is his day-" Damian had also grown amazingly close to his biological father and was looking more and more like him everyday, it kind of was starting to freak Jason out.

"Yah - um, guys - as riveting as this argument is - seriously - who's telling Alfred?" Tim cut in, shaking his phone at them.

Dick sighed, having collected himself and brushed back his dark hair. "I'll do it. Hang on-"

"Do what, Master Dick?"

They all jumped and someone squeaked, not to mention names but. . . Jason may have shrieked a little.

It wasn't his fault! Alfred was like a super secret ninja spy guy. He put Batman's stealth to shame. . . seriously.

"Um - well - uh. . ." Dick froze up.

Jason rolled his eyes but remained silent. He wasn't in the mood to be eaten alive or worse, to feel guilty. . . even though it wasn't their fault the ice guys were idiots.

The church music started.

They all panicked and shoved and knocked into each other just barely scrambling for the door as Alfred lead them out into the main hall.

It was time and they were so not ready for this.

Alfred was right.

Bruce knew he would never live it down if he said those words out loud. But right now, as he stood on the alter, in his best suit, blue rose in place, watching in awe as the beautiful woman he was about to marry walked up towards him, that was all he could think.

Jason and Tim stood by him as Dick lead their mother up the walkway. Damian carried the ring and Barbara stood to the side waiting for Selina to get there.

It was a small wedding, only close friends and relatives of Bruce and Barbara. The boys had none to speak of. . . except Damian - but inviting Talia al Ghul to Selina's wedding probably wouldn't have gone over well.

So here he was, standing on an alter, a place he never dreamed he'd be. Ever - he never believed he could love enough, not after his parents death.

He had always thought Batman was all he had and all he would ever have.

But he'd been wrong.

Batman was what Gotham needed.

Not Bruce Wayne.

Bruce Wayne needed a family. A real one to make new memories with. To be happy again. . . Alfred was right.

He should thank his surrogate father.

Selina stood before him, breathtakingly elegant and ready.

After the wedding.

Everyone waited. Bated breaths. As the priest started the traditional ritual.

Bruce barley registered any of it, he was to lost in the incredibly alluring woman across from him and she didn't seem all to focused on anything other than him either.

The 'I do's' were exchanged in an absent-minded way, the rings transferred. The kiss was momentous.

Jason groaned. Dick tried not to laugh as Tim shifted a bit awkwardly. Damian wasn't really looking. He was too busy thinking about what this meant for all of them.

The ceremony ended with an uproar of rice and bouquet throwing as the newly wed couple ran down the stairs with smiles for miles, laughing and nearly giggling as they were wished well and happy, climbing into their waiting blue Mercedes, Selina reached out and pulled each of her boys closer through the rolled down window and kissed them each on the forehead.

"Remember boys." She whispered as the crowd cheered. "I loved you first."

They each gave her a kiss in return and smile, warmth, despite uncertainties, filling them up. They waved as the German model car sped away with their adopted mother and now. . . new father.

Each boy looked at each other. Unsure of what to do now.

Barbara bound up and grabbed Dicks arm. "C'mon guys, the after party's gonna rock - no matter what Maven tries to stop us from doing." She smirked alluringly at Dick who instantly caved and followed. His brothers rolled their eyes and tagged along.

Jason looked back for a moment at where the car had turned and disappeared.

Change wasn't his favorite thing. . . it really wasn't.

The party was elegant with a touch of actual fun. People laughed and danced as opposed to all those snobby parties Jason had ever attended with his brothers.

He was currently leaning against a wall, drinking something, he wasn't sure what, as he took in all the sparkling lights and brightly colored clothes of the excited people.

The energy was making him sleepy.

He wondered where his brothers were.

Ah - there's Tim. . . talking to some random blond? And it looked like he was blushing. Well Damn. . . Jason was pretty sure he would get a lot of mileage out of that one.

Damian was avoiding, adamantly, all the several freshman girls after him which made Jason snort.

Dick was. . . where the hell was Dickie?

"Hey Jason."

Oh, there he is.

"What?" Jason wasn't really in the mood to snap. He wasn't happy about Selina leaving for two weeks but. . . he was ok. For now.

"I'm really glad Selina could be this happy Jason. Us too." Dick leaned against the wall next to him and looked out at the party goers. "Are you happy Jay?"

Jason shrugged. "Most of the time. Yah, I guess. I'm just gonna miss her, that's all."

Dick smiled gently and nudged his brother. "Me too. Hey, can I tell you something?"

"Even if I say no, you'll tell me anyway."

Dick laughed. "True. So um - I'm gonna ask Babs to marry me."

Jason choked on his drink.

Dick waited patiently for his over dramatic brother to start breathing again.

"Well damn Dick. . . aren't you going a little fast?" Jason wiped his mouth to hide his surprise. He knew Dick was crazy in love with the girl but not. . . to this point yet.

The circus boy shrugged. "I love her. That's all there is too it Jason, so why not?"

"Because you are immature and therefore incapable of having a family." Jason offered rather stiffly.

Great, yet another change.

Dick shrugged again. "I don't know, when I'm with Babs. . . I feel like we can do anything together, you know. No, you don't but maybe you will, someday." He smiled and threw an arm around the younger males shoulders. "I'll be waiting to tease the hell out of you when you do."

Jason snorted. "Right. . . whatever."

They fell silent for a moment. The air slightly thick as Jason began to feel a bit down.

Dick noticed. "I love her, Jay. . . please don't get all pouty now. I'll still be your big brother you know."

"Cut it out you ass, I'm not-" Jason watched as Barbara appeared in the crowd half dancing as she laughed a bell like laugh, when her eyes fell on Dick she brighten like the sun and her eyes shone like stars.

Jason glanced at Dick. He looked ten times more sappy.

Good God, how could he crush that look.

"I'm happy for you Dick. Really - it's about time."

Dick's face brightened even more, how the hell was that even possible?

"Thanks Jason!" He grabbed his brother into a hug which Jason secretly enjoyed but resisted anyway.

"Just don't freak her out, ok."

"Brother, she knows me way to well to be freaked out by anything I do now."

Jason rolled his eyes. "TMI, Dickie, TMI."

They both laughed as Damian escaped the grabby girls and Tim came blushing over.

"Hey guys. . . this party's dragging, huh?" Dick spoke out suddenly surprising them.

"Seriously? But you love this stuff." Tim pointed out, trying to look unfazed.

An impish grin spread across the oldest boys face. "Yah, I do, but don't you think Gotham's lonely tonight. Bat and Cat aren't here soooooo..."

He let that drag.

Jason's face lit up in understanding. "Hell, yes!" He fist pumped the air.

Damian smirked. "Count me in, I'm being oppressed by those females anyway."

Tim sighed long suffering. "Fine. . . but when Alfred finds out."

"C'mon!" Dick nearly giggled as he headed out the door waving at Babs who shook her head with a smile as they all ran out.

Fifteen minutes later, Night Prowler, Red Tiger, Red Claw, and Hunter were whooping and flying over rooftops through Gotham's dark smoggy skies.

An alarm rang out and they all grinned.

"Looks like this is a job for-"

"Don't you dare, Dick." Jason snapped, taking out his whip.

Dick grinned wildly. "- A job for the Cat Bro's!"

They all groaned, threatened Dicks life, and headed down to beat up the idiot who decided to mess around in Gotham city while they were around to protect it.

That is how little different moments in time changed these boys fates and made it something completely new.

Made them into something completely new.

But they don't know that.