***

Stepping out of the Porsche I wasn't sure if I believed what was right in front of. At first Kory's prophecies seemed ridiculous to me because Rachel was just a young girl. And although it was clear that she was powerful, I still hadn't managed to grasp just how much. Now the reality of it was like a slap in the face.

It seemed as if an explosive had gone off inside of the convent. Half of the building was now simple a pile of rubble as paramedic and police officers were frantically running around the scene attempt to help everyone that was still being rushed out of what was left of the building.

"She must've lost control." Dick muttered as he took in the scene infant of us. You could practically see his mind going to work in attempting to piece together what exactly happened while we all foolishly left Rachel on her own.

As I also attempted to piece together what could have happened I caught as glimpse of Mother Superior on the other side of the parking lot sitting in the back of the ambulance holding an oxygen mask to her face with shaking hands.

I absently hit Dick not he shoulder before rushing to the other side of the parking lot to the woman who Rachel seemed to have trusted. Knowing that both Kory and Dick were right behind me I didn't look back as I reached the nun.

"Where's Rachel?" I asked the Mother Superior as she held an oxygen mask to her face. Aware that I might have been slightly insensitive to her current situation I attempted to sound a little more comforting than I did only moments before. "Mother Superior, is she okay?"

"She left." The woman replied as she continued to hold the oxygen mask to her face. She seemed frantic, as if she still didn't completely understand what had just happened. "Ran."

Kory stepped forward, deciding to go with a less comforting approach. "What happened?"

"We just wanted to keep her here. Keep her safe, that's all. Where no one could hurt her and she couldn't hurt anyone." Mother superior muttered rapidly, and then froze in horror as she seemed to realize something. "There's no stopping it now."

"Stopping what?" Dick questioned, concern laced in his voice.

"There's no stopping it now." The woman repeated, looking at neither of us in the eyes. She seemed to have lost all sense of reason as she stared ahead with almost lifeless eyes. "Oh, God. God, forgive me. God, forgive us all."

A nearby paramedic noticing the nuns hysteria helped her to her feet taking her far away from the three of us. All we could do was stand there realizing the huge mistake we have all made.

"Why did you leave her here?" Kory asked us, her usual amused tone gone from her voice.

"In a convent full of nuns?" Dick replied sarcastically, clearly frustrated that he had once again lost Rachel. "Yeah, seemed real dangerous. You know, you're the one who stole my car and drove off."

"Yeah, I thought you could handle her for a few minutes, but I should've known better considering you ditched her in DC."

"No lo puedo creer." I muttered under my breath as I fought the urge to roll my eyes at how ridiculous these two were being.

Dick visibly tensed at her words, being aware of his own mistake. "I didn't mean to ditch her, okay? I was trying to..."

"You just couldn't handle her, so you left her with your friends. It's pathetic."

"I agree Kory." I replied still feeling slightly irritated as Dick for not telling me about his initial plan of leaving Rachel with Dawn and Hank. But I pushed aside the irritation knowing that right now I seemed to be the only one that was truly focused not pointing blame. "But it's also pathetic that you two are pointing fingers like two children, wasting time that we could be using to find Rachel. So can you argue about this after we find her?"

Kory nodded seeming to have relaxed instantly. "She's getting more powerful."

"Yeah, but she's still a kid." Dick countered immediately.

"Most importantly she's alone and scared and on the run." I remind them. "Which makes her more dangerous."

Thankfully we didn't waste anymore time, before deciding that our best course of action was to head to the police station and investigate whether there had been any reports of a girl running away from the convent on her own. We didn't really have a plan on what exactly we were going to do, but luckily Dick was actually a police detective and had easy access to the station.

"Whoa, whoa." Dick muttered as Kory was about to open the car door. "You're not coming."

"What? Why?" Kory questioned clearly offended by Dick's declaration.

"Kory although I love the look," I told her. "you're not exactly the definition of blending in."

Kory didn't seem satisfied with my response as she looked at the both of us defiantly. "I've blended in just fine."

"I've got the badge, and both you and Chey can't come with me." Dick argued, although I was sure we both knew the real reason why Kory couldn't step into the station. "Not to mention, you're wanted by the police. This is a police station."

Defeated Kory leaned back into her seat, seeming indifferent. "Hurry up."

"Come on let's go." Dick stated as he stepped out of the car and reached out to help me out. It was ridiculous having the three of us squeeze into the Porsche, because there simple wasn't enough room or seats for the three of us. And the dresses the Kory and I were wearing wasn't making our current situation any easier.

"And what exactly is your plan?" I questioned knowing that he already had one and was just not willing to share it. A quality that reminded me a little too much of Bruce Wayne, though I shouldn't be surprised considering that everything Dick knew came from Bruce.

He didn't reply until we were at the entrance of the station, his entire demeanor changing. "Just follow along."

When we entered the station we immediately headed towards the front desk where an officer seemed to be working on report. Dick placed an arm around me waist pulling me closer as the officer looked up at us.

"Can I help you." He questioned as he stopped his typing, giving us his full attention. Considering that this was a small town, it was safe to assume that most days at this station were slow and he didn't have much to work on.

"I'm Detective Dick Grayson and this is my girlfriend Cheyenne Freemont." Dick began as he pulled out his badge, letting the officer look over his credentials. "We're here about a missing girl."

The officer looked at us slightly skeptical, before offering us a smile. "Long way from Detroit, huh?"

"It's our daughter." Dick replied, his voice cracking a bit. I was almost tempted to smile at his little act, but instead I placed and encouraging hand over his. Continuing with the act Dick laced our fingers together as he looked up at the officer. "Ran away."

"We're just very worried." I added as a single tear down my cheek. The officer sliding a box of tissues my way offered me a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure you understand. We had this terrible fight."

The officer reached out and lightly touched my other arm. "Don't worry Miss. We got a report on this earlier. Hunter shot himself. Said something about a tiger in the woods with a girl with purple hair, like this."

"A tiger?" A questioned dropping my worried mother act for a moment at hearing this bit of information.

"Yeah, a green one." A officer clarified with an amused smirk as he leaned closer to me. "He was drunk."

"Clearly." I muttered as I took Rachel's photo back, although this seemed a slightly unreliable source it was also the only one we had.

"What did you say that hunter's name was again?" Dick asked seeing as we were beginning to stray from our objective. And with this information if we were the slightest bit lucky we could possibly have Rachel with us by the end of the day.

***

Dick rushed out of the car slamming the car door behind him. Kory and I sat in the car together in silence sharing a look of mutual understanding before sighing in unison. We both got out of the car just as Dick began slamming on the door of the small home.

Dick was being reckless and not thinking straight. This was definitely not a normal thing for him, he was highly trained in keeping his emotions in check, in always planning out the best course of action for any situation. And now that we were at the home of the man who seemed to have been the last person to have seen Rachel, Dick has lost his concentration.

Kory and I seemed to always have some unspoken form of communication between us as we rushed towards the front door just as the man opened it.

"What do you want?" The man asked in a less than polite way, though I couldn't blame his attitude considering the way the Dick was seconds away from kicking his door down.

"Need to talk to you about the girl you saw in the forest." Dick replied immediately, and I knew that with his tone of voice we weren't going to get any information out of this man. He already seemed unpleasant, and Dick's attitude was only intensifying his already difficult personality.

The man looked at the three of us with a mixture of confusion and irritation. "What?"

"Did she say anything?" I interjected before Dick could continue, and although I attempted to sound more agreeable, this man didn't seem swayed by me. "Did you see where she went?"

"You know, I already talked to the cops, so you can fuck off." The man replied as he moved to shut the door in my face. Looking over at Dick I saw a dark look take over his eyes as he forced the door back, preventing the man from closing it. For a moment I felt a sense of shock at this outburst, that continued to show me just how much Dick seemed to have changed in the span of eight years.

"Hey! You can't do that!" The man yelled as he struggled to attempt to close his front door, but Dick was simply too strong as he forced the door to swing wide open. The man scrambling to gain his balance, when Dick got a hold of his shirt.

"I'm gonna need you to answer my questions." Dick stated through gritted teeth as he pushed the man back into his living room and kicking him back into his coffee table. Before the man had a change to regain his bearings, Dick bent over to get a hold of his shirt once again. "Did you see where the girl went? Answer me!"

"You're a psycho!" The man yelled as he got a hold of a beer bottle sitting on the coffee table. Just as he was about to attempt to use it, Dick forcefully grabbed the man's wrist. Yanking the bottle out of his hands and slamming it down against the man's head in a way that made me wince.

Kory and I looked at each other unsure if we should interfere. Personally, I had never seen this side of Dick. I never thought that I would or that he had this side of his at all. We didn't know how much this man actually knew, yet Dick was acting as if this man was the reason for Rachel's disappearance.

"Did you hurt her? Did you touch her?" Dick continued to question as he began beating the man. "Did you touch her? Did you hurt her?"

I suddenly felt horrified as Dick continued to punch the man across the face. This simply wasn't right and I didn't know how he didn't realize it. Even Bruce Wayne wouldn't resort to this level of violence in such a vicious way, so I didn't understand where any of this was coming from.

"Dick!" I yelled, snapping out of my temporary state of horror. "Dick, stop!"

"Daddy? Daddy!" Another terrified voice cut through the room, this one successfully causing Dick to freeze, his fist held up high. Seconds away from giving the man another blow. We all turned towards the source of the voice, to find a small boy who looked no older the eight hiding behind the doorway.

Seeing the small boy forced me into action as I grabbed Dick's arm puling him away from the man. I attempted to look into Dick's eyes, but he avoided mine as he pulled away from me and walked out the door. Not sure if I should go after him, I stood there watching as the little boy rushed into the arms of his father who was bleeding out on the floor.

"I would never hurt no girl. No kid." The man told us as blood continued to flow down his face, from the possibly broken nose that he now had. He held onto his son tightly, and I could here the boy gently sobbing, only increasing my guilt for having allowed Dick to go as far as he did. "The only place out there is the old Caulder house."

"Where?" Kory asked seeming to be less affected by the scene infant of us than I was. I almost admired the way that nothing seemed to faze her, though it could do with the fact that she seemed to not be of this world at all.

"It's out on Danny Street. But it's all locked up. Ain't no one there."

"I'm so sorry." I told the man before rushing out of his home, knowing I had no right to be inside of it. Stepping out into the cold night air, I watched more a moment as Dick feverishly paced out in to lawn. While inside of the house I felt anger at Dick for going to the lengths that he did, mostly because I didn't understand them. But watching him now and seeing his own self-hatred, that anger disappeared.

Going down the front steps I wondered if I should say anything to him at all. For all I really knew I could only make matters worse. But, I thought of the Dick that I used to know and how that Dick would want to talk about what was troubling him.

"What happened in there?" I asked as I approached him. Dick froze as he turned to face me, the darkness in his eyes having disappeared. Now replaced with guilt.

This gave me the courage to reach out and take one of his hands with my own. I almost sighed with relief when I realized that he wasn't going to pull away from me.

"Talk to me." I encouraged him as I suddenly found myself placing my hands on both sides of his face, forcing him to meet my eyes. "Come on, Boy Wonder you can't keep this all bottle up. Sooner or later you're going to explode. What happened to you? Why did you change?"

"Because I trusted the wrong person!" He yelled, and I flinched taking a step back. Not because he just yelled at me, but because I felt the sting of his words.

Words that I knew were well deserved. In fact I deserved much worse. Dick seemed confused by my reaction for a moment before he was about to reach out to me, then deciding against it.

"I don't mean you." Dick clarified with a sense of defeat. "I mean Bruce. I never should have trusted Bruce."

It took me a moment to process his words, simply because they didn't make any sense. What I had seen of Bruce and Dick's relationship was like that of a real father and son. Granted the crime fighting aspect of it their lives created tension between the two, but Dick had always looked up to Bruce. He always seemed passionate about the job he did with his adoptive father.

"What are you talking about Dick?" I finally questioned needing to know more, although I probably didn't have a right to know. In fact I already knew more that I deserved to. "What happened between you and Bruce?"

"The old Caulder house on Danny Street." Kory announced as she stepped outside seeming not to notice, or simply not caring about the conversation we were currently having. I knew that this was it, that Dick wouldn't let himself be this vulnerable again. And I didn't know if Dick would ever be willing to tell be what happened with Bruce.

Though I had a feeling that this all had to be some kind of misunderstanding. Maybe I never had a great relationship with Bruce Wayne, but one thing I was sure about was that he love Dick. And I didn't want to be the reason why he had anymore resentment towards the man that raised him.

I couldn't tell Dick the truth if it meant that he would carry more hate.

"Then let's go get our girl back." I stated deciding that we couldn't continue on like this. Our priority was Rachel, and whatever emotional baggage we all seemed to be carrying was of little importance.

***

^^^A/N Seems like we're now at the half way point of the story. Tell me what you think so far!^^^