Talia was glad to have her son back and saw that he had grown taller than she had last seen him. She had heard of his progress at the fort and was satisfied with the outcomes.

However, she did not miss seeing the hostility in Damian's gaze toward Jason, another young boy she had taken under her wing and wanted to train to be the best warrior in their League.  She could feel that her son was upset so she decided to talk to him about it.

She didn't have to wait long as after dinner, Damian joined her as she was going out in the woods for a late-night stroll. She had a habit of going away from the base alone to clear her thoughts but as Damian asked if he could join her, she didn't refuse.

Together they left the base and the cold winter breeze engulfed them as they walked off to the forest.

"My son, how has your stay been at the fort?" Talia asked, her hand gently resting on the boy's shoulder.

"It has been as I expected," he replied but then added after a short pause, "I have something to ask you, Ummi."

"Of course, dear, what is it?"

"Who is Jason?" He asked, turning to look at her, "and how do you know him?"

She paused, thinking about what answer she should give him but then replied, "I met him once on my visit to Gotham. He is Baman's son."

"But what is he doing here? And he told me he had died once, is that true?"

She nodded, "yes. He died due to Father's mistake so he decided to rectify it by bringing him back through the Lazarus Pit. But Jason doesn't want to go to his family so I thought it would be better if he trains and serves in the League."

Damian was silent for a while, contemplating everything she had told him just then.

"But why are you so intrigued about him?"

He shrugged, "I fought against him on the day we left the fort to come here. I couldn't defeat him."

Talia sensed that her boy was bitter because of that defeat and probably viewed him as a rival. So she ruffled his head gently as she spoke, "that's because he is older than you and is trained differently. I am sure you will be able to defeat him once you complete your training and are on the same level he is."

"It has never been a problem before, I have thwarted opponents twice my age and size," he huffed, "then why not him?"

"Damian, dear, I know you are trying very hard to be the best but some things are not in our control," she spoke in a gentle tone, pausing the stroll and facing her son, "if you get too accustomed to never failing, you will get arrogant and if struck by defeat then, it will damage you worse. It is imperative for all of us to face defeat and accept it. I have done the same, and so should you."

Damian was surprised to hear that his mother, Heir to the Demon Head, had also faced defeat in her life. "Who did you face defeat from, Ummi?"

"Your Uncle Dusan," she replied, a nostalgic smile playing upon her lips, "whenever we train together, he always has the upper hand. He is an excellent fighter."

"Oh... And you're okay with that?"

"Yes, of course. He knows I have improved and have more chances of defeating him than I did in the past. But neither of us feels the need to prove our worth to each other."

He was silent for a while but then folded his arms defiantly, "but he's your brother. It's easy for you to say that and accept defeat from him."

She paused, thinking about the irony of the situation. In a sense, Jason and Damian were brothers too although not by blood yet both were unaware of the fact.

"Jason is not your enemy, my dear. You don't have to think of him as a rival," she tried to assure him, "he is my student and you are my son. I want you two to get along."

He clicked his tongue in irritation, turning to look away from her. Talia didn't say anything further as they resumed walking back to the base, knowing full well that it would be better if she gave him time to cool down first.

He would eventually come to terms with Jason, she would make sure of that.

***

Gotham was a mess.

After Batman had lost his Robin, things were going even more downhill as the vigilante seemed to be losing his calm. He was more violent on patrol, his patience seemed to be running out and if things continued in that way, he might end up getting himself killed too.

Richard as Nightwing patrolled alongside him to make sure that he didn't get himself hurt but he too knew that was no permanent situation to the problem. Months had lapsed into a year but there was no change in Bruce's unstable and volatile state.

That night too Batman was violent on patrol but Nightwing's attention got caught by a scrawny little figure struggling to get up to the roof of Gotham Tower.

"Hey, kid, what are you doing here?" Nightwing's voice shook the boy out of his thoughts and he would have stumbled if the vigilante hadn't picked him up and put him down on his feet safely.

Richard saw those features, a flicker of recognition dashing through his eyes. The boy in front of him was Timothy Drake, the only son of Jack and Janet Drake. He was quite a trouble magnet, Richard knew because he had saved him multiple times from getting abducted or killed and had given him lectures on staying safe which he apparently always forgot.

"I wanted to talk to Batman," he mumbled, holding a heavy brown envelope close to him.

"Look Timmy, if you want an autograph this is not the right time," he sighed softly, "B is... Well..."

Below Gotham Tower where the two of them were, Batman was fighting off some thugs who had ganged up on him. Nightwing gently took Tim's shoulder and steered him away from the railings so that the boy wouldn't see how angry Batman had gotten right then, making the thugs flee for their lives.

"I still want to meet him," he widened his blue eyes in a request, "please?"

Nightwing shook his head in a refusal, "you should be at home. Your parents will get worried for you and how many times have I told you before that it's not safe for you to be out here at night? Maybe at this rate, I'll have to drop you off at your place myself and talk to Mister Drake about this."

The color drained from his face, worrying Nightwing further, "no, please don't tell him anything."

"Wait, why?"

"I don't want to disturb him," the boy mumbled, his head hanging low in disappointment, "he'll get angry at me if he finds out."

Nightwing glanced over the rails himself to check whether Batman was alright but there was no one down there. At least not anymore.

Then he turned to look back at the scrawny little kid with the brightest blue eyes and the worst sense of self-preservation. "Alright I won't tell him but you are going home now."

He took out his grapple gun and was about to lift Tim so that he could take him to his home when a flash of black caught him off guard and he stopped to see Batman towering over them.

Tim immediately freed his arm from Nightwing's hold, thinking it was finally his chance to talk to Batman and get it over with.

Nightwing grimaced, not knowing how the elder would react to the little boy asking for an autograph.

But much to his shock, an autograph was the last thing Tim could ask for.

He gave Batman the packet and spoke up, "Mister Wayne, I am Timothy Drake and I accidentally hacked into your Batcomputer a few months ago. I know it sounds bad but I swear I did not do anything to it. I can fix it for you if you let me become Robin."

The two of them were staring down at the boy in shock.

Bruce or rather Batman had not been expecting that kid to spew out so many worrying things in a single sentence. It was taking him time to process too while Nightwing was just frozen in shock and confusion.

"Wait Tim, I think you're mistaken," Nightwing tried to do something to convince the little boy that his assumption was wrong, "why did you call him Mister Wayne? He's not Bruce Wayne. Definitely not."

"Like you're certainly not Richard Grayson, I get it." The kid shrugged and just like that Nightwing shut his mouth, shocked at what had just happened.

Bruce had opened the packet and was looking through the pictures Tim had taken along with his stapled notes of evidence that they were indeed the Wayne family in suits. It seemed the boy had been observing them for a long time and deduced their secret even though he was just twelve years old and apparently harmless.

"Take him home," Batman's gruff voice broke the shocked silence and Nightwing nodded, springing into action as he lifted Tim up and took out his grapple gun.

"But I wanted to talk about this! I swear I have not told your identities and I never will. And I can definitely help in securing the very weak firewalls your Batcomputer has so that no one can hack into it again, honest!"

"Enough of the blabber, kid, you're in enough trouble now for you to start messing with us," Nightwing replied while Bruce was still engrossed in the evidence Tim had given him.

"Hey, I need that packet back if you're not keeping our deal," Tim tried to resist but Nightwing wasn't going to let go of him.

Batman finally looked at the boy closely and he stilled, a wave of fear striking him at last to see that unreadable but intimidating expression on the vigilante's face. He had just beaten up those thugs quite badly, and Tim didn't want to be next.

"We'll talk about this later," Batman remarked, "go home. I'll find you myself."

"Oh... Okay," he stopped resisting Nightwing, "um, thanks."

And just like that, Batman left, taking the evidence with him.

Nightwing sighed, leaving Gotham Tower with Tim, "you know what, Tim, sometimes you need a good kick in the ass."

Tim finally laughed at that remark, just then realizing how dumb his whole approach had been but somehow worked, "I know."

Richard dropped him off at the gate of his house but still couldn't believe the nerve of that little boy to do what he had just done.

But then he asked the question that was bothering him, "how did you find out?"

Tim controlled the urge to smile as he replied, "I saw you do a quadruple somersault once. I've seen you do it back at a performance with Haley's Circus too. That's how I knew."

Hearing about Haley's Circus from him made him go silent as it reminded him of the Flying Graysons, his parents. He sighed softly, shaking himself out of his past memories to focus on the present.

"You get yourself in trouble on purpose," he rebuked him, "I'll try and talk to B on your behalf but only on one condition."

"Okay sure, what is it?"

"No more negotiating with vigilantes, no more loitering at rooftops, and definitely no more instances of getting yourself in danger on purpose. Understand?"

Tim thought about it but then nodded, "these are like three conditions but fine, understood. You keep the end of your bargain and I'll keep mine."

"And definitely no telling others about what you know."

"I had no intentions of doing so even if you hadn't warned me but okay, deal."

Richard watched in surprise as instead of going in through the front door, the boy climbed up a tree and dropped in through an open window on the first floor. He waved him goodbye and then disappeared.

"What in the actual hell just happened?" Nightwing mumbled under his breath, still in shock about it all.

That kid, Timothy Drake, was so far the weirdest twelve year old he had ever met. And that weird twelve year old had just blackmailed them with their real identities to negotiate becoming Batman's Robin.

He was also the stupidest twelve year old he had ever met, Richard thought, because who in their right mind would ask to become Robin himself?

Considering what fate had fallen the most recent Robin, it was even more unbelievable that Tim wanted to be the next one.

***