"Can I help you sir?" Bruce Wayne’s secretary looked up only to stare directly into the midriff of the young man standing impatiently in front of her desk. As her eyes reached upwards to seek a face, she instantly smiled and began twirling a long string of yellow-brown hair that adorned her face. She hadn’t seen a man look quite that handsome in a long time, well outside of a movie theatre that is.

"Yeah, I need to talk to Bruce.."

"Bruce?"

"You know that guy that signs your paycheck."

"OH! That Bruce. I’m sorry, it’s just no one ever calls him that around here. It’s always Mr. Wayne." She smiled at him again, this time radiantly. It was easy to see her mind wasn’t on the conversation.

"Is he here?"

"Is he expecting you Mr., I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name?"

The young man tried hard not to role his eyes. What was with women anyway? Why did most of them always act so.. well so.. goofy around him? Not for the first time this week or even this particular day Dick found himself wondering why all women couldn’t be more like Babs…

"Buzz him please, tell him his son is here." Dick watched as the pretty secretary’s eyes got as big as saucers. She was obviously even more impressed now that she knew he was the boss’ son. 'Great, that was sooo the wrong thing to say to her!'

Dick breathed a sigh of relief when Bruce came around the corner. He noted Bruce’s pleased expression when he first saw him. With Bruce he had learned to look for little signs like that since Bruce so seldom spoke of his feelings.

"Thanks but I see him now." Dick quickly moved away from her desk and in Bruce’s direction. Bruce noticed how fast Dick was trying to get away from his newest employee. With a mischievous smirk, Bruce started walking toward the blonde secretary. It was all he could do not to laugh as he seen Dick’s ‘Oh no’ expression.

"Trisha, have you met my son?" Bruce could feel Dick’s heated glare which made it all the more fun…

"So Brat, what brings you to Gotham today?" Bruce talked around a huge hamburger that was literally dripping with ketchup. A purplish onion bigger than the actual sandwich was giving him fits and Dick couldn’t help but reach over and try to prevent a catastrophe from happening.

"You actually like this cafeteria food?"

"Mmmhmm" Came the muffled reply. Dick shook his head in disbelief. At least he had something to hold over Bruce’s head. If Alfred ever found out that he was eating this stuff, Bruce would be in hot water for months. Dick’s eyes twinkled at that thought as he put it away in his mind for future reference.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about some family business." Bruce almost cringed when Dick approached the subject. This being the way Dick usually started on a subject that the two would wind up fighting about. Although he and Dick had been getting along better lately he still had vivid memories of personality clashes from the past.

"Whatever it is, I apologize…"

Dick stared at his foster father in mild shock. Only a small handful of times in all the years he had known him had Bruce ever apologized for anything. Now he was offering one before the conversation even got started. Dick realized it was Bruce’s way of asking him not to start an argument. He knew it shouldn’t surprise him that Bruce knew him so well, but somehow it always did.

"Somebody’s got a guilty conscience." Dick teased trying to lighten Bruce’s darkening mood.

"Son you don’t know the half of it…" Bruce just let the statement sit there, letting Dick make out of it what he would.

"Well, I need to talk to you about Tim." At Bruce’s raised eyebrow Dick knew he was heading into dangerous waters.

"Go on."

"You haven’t been spending enough time with him."

Dick’s scolding didn’t fall on deaf ears. Bruce counted on Dick for a lot of things and one of those things had always been to keep him ‘real’ as Dick called it. Bruce was a fierce workaholic both as the C.E.O. of Wayne Enterprises and as Gotham City’s dark avenging Angel the Batman. If Dick and Alfred didn’t keep him in check there would be no Bruce Wayne, only the Batman mind set.

"He’s been away at school Dick, it’s hard to match our schedules now."

"Oh. I see."

Bruce gritted his teeth. He hated having Dick on his case. It was much better to face a sermon from Alfred than a scolding from Dick. Dick had an annoying habit of not cutting him any slack.

"So I guess you should tell him that you are to busy for him then. That way he can stop expecting to see or hear from you. Especially now that he’s stuck in that prison of a school away from all of us."

"You’re not being fair Dick. You know that’s not what I meant."

"You wanna know what I know?" Dick’s voice was rising a little more each time he spoke and Bruce mentally braced for impact.

"I know that kid worships you. He thinks of you as a father. How do you repay him for his love and devotion? You push the ignore button because it’s to inconvenient now to spend any time with him."

"It’s not like that at all. You don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Really? So how come the kid calls me up, as depressed as I’ve ever heard anyone, and asks me to ask you if you would call him once in awhile. That is, WHEN YOU HAVE TIME!"

Bruce paid no attention to the employees that were staring at the two of them. He was used to Dick’s scenes.

"I didn’t realize…"

"Yeah I know. You’re kinda dopey that way."

Bruce glared at Dick but made no comment. What he wondered in awe, would he do without Dick to keep him ‘real’?

"That’s okay Dad, I understand. Yeah you and Dana go and have a good time. Yeah maybe next weekend." Talking on the phone Tim drummed his fingers on his computer desk as he heard the same old promises from his father Jack Drake. Jack had just married Dana and between that and his business he seemed to have no time for Tim anymore. Not that he ever really made time anyway, Tim mused.

"No I don’t mind at all. Have fun. Talk to you later."

Tim clicked off the cordless phone and then threw it across the room. It shattered as it bounced off a wall and to his disappointment that brought him no satisfaction. Sitting outside Tim’s window the Batman grimaced as he heard the crash. Dick was right. The boy was in pain. Batman mentally kicked himself for being so short sighted. Jack had never made time for the boy and now he was doing the same thing. The same thing he had criticized Jack for many times in the past. He watched as Tim went over to his dresser and picked up a picture of his parents. Tim’s mother Janet had died a few years before and it still hurt Tim a lot. He had confessed to Bruce once, that it wasn’t really his mother that he missed but more the idea of having a mother. Janet, like Jack had never been much into her parental role in Tim’s life. Janet and Jack had always left Tim alone with just a housekeeper to watch over him while they went off to exotic places and did who knows what while he sat their alone. Tim had made mention several times that his parents had never been home on holidays and often he spent Thanksgiving and Christmas and even his birthday by himself. Now, Batman realized with disgust that he was hurting Tim in the same way. Tim had become his surrogate son. Bruce had never meant for it to happen, had even fought against getting so attached to the boy. The boy had found his way into Bruce’s heart and try as he might he couldn’t ignore that the feeling was there. 'I might as well stop fighting with myself'. He thought. 'Jack and Dana might not want that boy in their lives but I do. More than that, I need him in my life.' Batman crawled quietly inside Tim’s window and made a mental note to thank Dick for the verbal thrashing he had gotten earlier.

"Geesh! You trying to give me a heart attack?" Tim’s surprise at seeing Batman embarrassed the teen. He didn’t want the Batman to think he could be easily snuck up on.

"You sound like Jim.."

"So what’s wrong? You need help on a case?" Tim’s voice sounded so sad and Batman wondered why either of his son’s cared about him at all after the way he treated them. He only hoped that when he made mistakes they still knew how he felt about them.

"No. I just wore the suit to make it easier to sneak on campus."

"So, why are you here then?" Tim walked over and locked his bedroom door and then to make sure his roommate stayed out too, he put a chair underneath the doorknob.

"I came to see you."

"Why? Who died? Oh wait, I bet you talked to Dick…"

"I.."

"Yep. Thought so."

"Tim, sit down. Please."

Tim reluctantly went and sat on his bed. Before him the Batman who had nerves of steel was pacing back and forth like he was nervous about something.

"Is this going to be a ‘ it’s not really working out’ speech?"

At that strange question Batman stopped his pacing and stared at the teenager with confused eyes. Tim sat on the bed, not looking at Batman but instead at the floor.

"What are you talking about Kiddo?"

With a heavy sigh Tim tried not to let Batman see his anguish. He had felt this talk was coming for a while now. Might as well get it over with.

"You came here to fire me right?"

"WHAT?"

"You mean you didn’t?" Tim’s eyes were glassed over with unshed tears he was determined not to let his mentor see.

"Of course not! How did you ever get such a ludicrous idea in the first place?"

Tim jumped up from the bed as though it was on fire as he replaced Batman at pacing around the room. Batman stood still watching his protégé wondering what could be going through his fifteen year old mind.

"Let’s face it. I’m no Dick Grayson."

Batman’s mouth dropped open slightly in surprise. Where had that come from he wondered?

"No one asked you to be Tim."

"No you didn’t ask me to be. Of course you didn’t ask me to be Robin either. It was Dick’s idea, and mine, but never yours. You went along with it because Dick and Alfred asked you to but you never ‘wanted’ me."

Batman held his breath for a long moment. How to handle this he had no clue. Give him arch criminals trying to take his head off any day. Parenting was a far greater challenge as far as he was concerned.

"I admit.. that I wasn’t too happy with the arrangement at first; it had nothing to do with you though. I was concerned, still am concerned, for your safety."

"Yeah I know, and believe me I don’t want to slip up and get killed and cause you to put yourself through hell because of a dumb mistake that I made. That’s a lot of pressure by the way…"

"What’s bothering you son? Just come out with it."

"Son? I’m not your son. I’m not anybody’s son. I’m barely even your partner. Every since you’ve come back to being Batman you have hardly even acknowledged me. It’s so bad that when you do call me my heart slams into my rib cage because I’m thinking ‘if he’s asking me for help, it must really be bad’. I know I failed you with JP…"

"What do you mean?"

"When Jean-Paul was filling in for you, he was going through… I don’t know what he was going through. Anyway I couldn’t help him get through it. You depended on me and I let you down."

"Timothy I can honestly say, you have NEVER let me down. Not one time in all that we have been through together."

"Ha that’s a laugh! What exactly have we been through- TOGETHER Bruce? Seems to me I’m always alone. If it wasn’t for Dick feeling sorry for me enough to hang with me once in awhile I swear I think I would go nuts." Tim’s pacing stopped. He had run out of energy. Why he wondered, did he feel so drained all of the sudden?

"Do you want to quit being Robin? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?"

"Yeah I wanna quit." Tim sat back on the bed still not looking into his mentor’s face.

"Alright. If that’s what you want."

"Oh don’t get me wrong. I love being Robin. It’s like the only time I get to really be me."

"So why quit then?"

"Because it hurts to much…" Tim’s eyes again dropped to the floor.

"It hurts.. to be Robin?"

"Hell yes it hurts!"

"I don’t understand."

"You never did."

Batman sat down on the bed beside the young boy who had come to mean so much to him. Batman sensed somehow that if he handled this badly, he could lose the boy forever. The thought of losing another son was far more than he could take. It was that painful image of life without young Timothy in it that caused the Batman to reach out and take Tim’s hand in his. He had to take his other hand to Tim’s chin to turn the boy around to look at him. What he seen there frightened him. Tim’s icy glare cut into him as he jerked his face away from Batman’s touch. Batman however refused to let go off the youth’s hand.

"Explain it to me."

"I did."

"Again, please."

"Look no one has ever wanted me my entire life. When I met you, I thought it would be different, thought that you were different, but your not. I’m not a son to you or a partner. I’m a soldier in your personal little war. It’s okay. I’ve always known that. I went into this with my eyes wide open, except…"

"Except what Tim?"

"Except I never counted on loving you so much. It hurts like the devil to know that you don’t care about me. It hurts knowing that you wish it were Dick at your side."

"THAT IS NOT TRUE!"

"Remember when you were poisoned and you almost died? You kept calling me Dick. I guess till then I had fooled myself into believing that you felt something for me. But in your hurt, frightened and confused state all you could think of was Dick…you couldn’t even remember my name."

Tim’s jaw jerked and he clenched his teeth tightly. He would not cry. No matter what. He would not cry.

"Oh my God son, is that what this is about? Listen to me. I didn’t want another Robin in the beginning because I was afraid. Not an easy thing for me to own up to but it’s true. I have however become.. quite accustomed to your presence in my life."

"Oh gee, thanks." Tim pulled his hand from Batman’s but to his aggravation Batman took it back into his and held it firm.

"I admit that I tried hard not to care for you. It wasn’t that I had anything against you Tim. It’s just that.. well, frankly I didn’t want to be hurt again. You can understand that can’t you?"

"Yeah I guess so."

"I’m not good at handling relationships. Not good at… expressing my feelings. It’s one of many of my character faults. The one I most wish I could change. It caused me major heartaches with Dick and Jason and now with you as well."

"Sorry. Never meant to cause you any problems." Tim’s voice was still ice cold and Batman knew he wasn’t the only one who had learned to put up emotional blocks to protect his heart.

"I think you know that’s not what I meant. Somewhere down the line, as hard as I fought against it, you became.. more than a soldier. Then as time went by you became more than a partner… Now as I’m talking to you I see my youngest son in great pain. Pain that I have apparently caused. You’ll never know how much that hurts me. I wish I could bring as much happiness into your life as you have brought into mine. I know that will never happen. If you insist on loving me Tim then you have a hard road in front of you. If you don’t believe me ask your brother. Dick has all kinds of horror stories about the scars I’ve left on his heart. God knows I never meant too. Just like I never meant to hurt you. It just seems to always happen that way with me."

Batman grew quite and moved by his words Tim turned to face him. He was surprised that Batman had taken off his mask, when he had exactly Tim was unsure. Tim’s defenses almost weakened but he stopped himself.

"You kept calling me Dick…" He sobbed. He couldn’t help it; the tears had a mind of their own.

"Son, you said it yourself, I was hurt, frightened and confused. I was afraid that I was going to die. It wasn’t dying that I was afraid of but of not fixing my broken relationship with your brother. He was on my mind because I knew I had hurt him and I didn’t know how to make it right. I love him so much."

"I know you do."

"But Tim I love you too. Just as much as Dick."

"Yeah right."

"I do son. Please, you have to believe me. I don’t care if you don’t want to be Robin anymore. That’s your decision and I’ll go with whatever you decide. It’s Timothy Drake that I can’t bare the thought of losing…"

Tim realized that Bruce’s hand was shaking. He found himself looking into the depths of Bruce Wayne’s soul as he stared intently into his dark blue eyes. He had no doubt now that Bruce was truly speaking from the heart. Just as he had decided to believe that maybe just maybe there was a place for him on this earth and maybe just maybe someone actually loved him as much as he loved them, just then a loud noise came from just outside the open window. Both Tim and Batman turned in its direction to find Nightwing standing there grinning at them affectionately.

"Ahhh, I just love happy endings. So you guys gonna hug now or what?"

"Hug?" Batman looked almost panicked. The comical look sent Tim and Dick both into a fit of laughter.

"What? What’s so funny?"

"You should have seen your face when you said hug!" Tim continued laughing until Batman reached over and pulled the boy to him. Tim went completely still as though in a state of complete shock. Batman held him tightly for a few seconds and then released him. The stunned youth looked at him with so much emotion in his eyes that the love seen there almost blinded the Batman.

"Where’s the camera when you need it?" Nightwing quipped. Batman got up from the bed and began walking towards his oldest son with a gleam in his eyes. It was Nightwing’s turn to look panicked as the Batman reached out and pulled him to him, holding him there for several seconds. With that accomplished the Batman put his mask back on and slipped out the window into the night.

"Dick? You okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so. What the heck did you do to him? That wasn’t the Batman I know…"

"Yes it was."

"The Batman I know DOESN’T hug.."

"Maybe not, but I think he always wanted too…"

Dick stared at his surrogate little brother curiously. Suddenly Tim reached out and as if to hug Dick too, laughing as Dick jumped out of the way.

"Man don’t you start too!" Nightwing continued smiling as he walked back to the window. "Oh, and one more thing kid- I don’t hang around you because I’m feeling sorry for you I hang around cause you’re my little bro. Got that?"

"You..you heard ALL that? How long were you out there man?"

"Long enough.." Nightwing turned to go but thought to add just one more thing.

"And as for you not being a Dick Grayson… Well to quote Sean Connery… There can be only ONE."

"That did it! You are sooo dead Wing!" Tim reached behind him picking up the remains of the phone and throwing it at Nightwing as he exited stage left out the open window, laughing mischievously.

Tim sat back on the bed amazed at what had just come about. With a grin that lit up his entire face he reached down and picked up his badly injured phone. He had calculus homework and a history test to study for but for the first time in a long time, he didn’t mind. He didn’t mind at all. Tomorrow would be Friday, that meant that tomorrow night, Batman and Robin could fly together cleaning up the streets of Gotham….

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