Since Tim had been grounded from patrol for a week, the other Batkids took turns in doing his shifts. In the meantime, Barbara had to accompany her father, Jim Gordon, out of city so Tim had taken over the position of Oracle.

It was convenient enough for him because in that way, he got to be aware of all that was happening on patrol nights without stepping a foot out of the Manor himself.

Patrol nights with Nightwing were always the best, in his opinion. Dick had a quick sense of humor and his narrations of the events he faced at patrol were always quite capable of livening up Tim's mood.

On the contrary, patrol with Red Hood was always rather straightforward. He wouldn't refrain from reminding Tim every couple of minutes that he missed Barbara because she did a way better job than him. To which Tim would obviously reply something that would either result in Jay threatening to quit the patrol or forcing Tim to apologize.

However, it was the fourth night and Steph's turn on patrolling Gotham as Batgirl. She was quite excited because even though she went on patrol every now and then, it wasn't as frequent as the three brothers. And complete night stake outs were something she hadn't done often.

Currently, Batgirl was on her watch on a building that offered a clear view of the Iceberg lounge; a club owned by Gotham's infamous Oswald Cobblepot.

The vigilantes were informed that Oswald Cobblepot aka the Penguin was intending to make an arms deal which had to be prevented at all costs.

Hence Steph was positioned in the vicinity of the Iceberg lounge in order to check up on Penguin and his supposed deal.

"Batgirl, any sight of Penguin yet?" Tim asked through the microphone which connected him to the device attached in Batgirl's mask.

"Nope," she replied, using the binoculars to scan the area, "so far all I have is an empty street and cold gusts of wind."

He scanned the area through the Batcomputer, keeping track of the nearby street cameras as well, "keep me informed."

"About what? The cold?"

"No, about Cobblepot. I know your suit is insulated so it's useless for you to complain," he spotted Oswald's car heading towards the lounge, "he's arrived though."

"Noted, Captain," she replied zooming in on the car, "though it would have been better if stake outs had donuts too."

"If you finish this stake out well, the donuts will be on me," he answered, a small smile flickering on his face for a second.

Oswald Cobblepot was a strange man with a short but round stature and he waddled about exactly like a penguin wearing a tux and carrying an umbrella. He stepped out of the black saloon car and stopped at the entrance of the lounge as a man stepped up to him.

"Oh there goes, Mr Cobblepot has arrived," Steph mumbled, "but I don't think he's making the deal right now. Might have thought of waiting to go in, dontcha think?"

"Focus, Steph."

Tim himself was eyeing the footage closely which was being transmitted to the Batcomputer via the binoculars Steph was using.

Nothing suspicious happened as Oswald and his bodyguards stepped inside the club. Penguin's car was driven off as well and the street was empty again yet cold.

"Are you sure? Shouldn't I just go and catch him in the middle of it? I'm a hundred percent sure there's a deal going on in there," she reasoned.

Tim knew Steph was a little hot-headed and preferred to deal with each situation by force and at once. But he was also aware that if she stepped in the Iceberg lounge at that moment, it would only result in worse consequences for her.

That club was full of criminals and had more than two dozen of Penguin's own henchmen so going in there willingly seemed nothing short of a call for death to Tim.

"Not at all," he forbade her, "we don't have enough proof to catch him."

"To hell with proofs..."

Though he interrupted her, "Batgirl, trust me when I say this, it would be the stupidest decision of your life if you stepped in that club."

She groaned, shifting her position a little, "so you mean to say that I came here just to watch Penguin make some dinner reservations?"

He sighed, noticing the frustrated tone of her voice, and replied cautiously, "look, Steph, it's a good thing to wait sometimes. You can leave this perch and keep track of other points of Gotham. And after that's all done, you can finally come back home and get some rest. Look at the brighter side."

"The donuts are still on you, aren't they?"

His smile widened a bit, "yup. A promise is a promise."

"Alright then, deal."

Much to his relief, she didn't go to the Iceberg lounge, instead she made her way to the Bowery, one of the most crime riddled areas of Gotham.

Tim kept track through the map displayed at his computer showing her location after every five minutes.

"Oooh, maybe I do get to beat someone up tonight!" Steph exclaimed and the footage on the Batcomputer showed him a scene of two thugs trying to break into someone's car.

Tim shrugged, "someone's happy about that."

"Don't know about someone but I sure am."

Stealthily she approached them both such that they didn't even notice she was right behind them.

"Wait, let me guess," she remarked out loud, making her presence known, "you forgot the key inside."

The two thugs turned around. One of them got completely terrified to see her, "it's one of the Bats. We've got to leave now."

Steph was watching them as if amused. However the second guy was adamant on facing her, "no. I've got this. She got nothing on me."

The first one was still in no mood to stay but Steph remarked, "what's the hurry, bro? He's got this."

Tim zoomed in on the car's number plate and realized that it was indeed Penguin's car. He had run the scanners on the computer, scanning for the possible object in the car which the thugs were trying to get their hands on.

The second thug took a swing at Steph but she blocked the punch and flipped him over, a reflex action perfected from constant training. He was thrown headfirst into the car, smashing the passenger seat's glass window in the process.

Seeing his partner hurt badly, the first one decided to make his escape.

"Where are you going, buddy? Don't you see, he's got this," Steph playfully remarked before throwing a batarang right at his feet.

Exasperated the thug made a swift turn at the end of the alley as Batgirl was right behind him.

"Did you miss his leg?" Tim asked knowing that if the batarang had truly caught up in his leg, he would have fallen down. But then he also knew that out of all the Batkids, Steph was the only one who struggled with her aim.

"Shut up," she answered slightly irritated, "I'm working on that, okay?"

She followed the thug until he hurriedly entered a stowed away cabin that was probably connected to a hidden warehouse underneath.

"He's gone in and I'm following," she spoke.

"Be careful," Tim replied, "you don't know how many people could be in there. And don't cut the connection whatever happens."

"Yes boss."

Being as silent as possible, Steph slipped inside the cabin as well. The place was dark and not a sound was to be heard.

"Batgirl, where are... Batgirl?" Tim's voice didn't quite reach her properly.

Steph stopped as the signals began to deteriorate, "Oracle?" She tried to re-establish her connection with the Batcomputer but failed to do so. Spinning around she noticed a signal that read: Explosive materials on site, this is a lead sheilded area. No radios, cell phones or pagers allowed.

"Shit, lack of facility," she swore under her breath, "guess I'll have to do without you, Oracle." She proceeded further in cautiously. "Come out, come out wherever you are," she mumbled in a low sing-song voice.

However instead of the thug she had been looking for, she was surrounded by about a dozen thugs cornering her from all sides.

"Aw man, by that I meant only the guy I had been chasing. The rest of you can go home," she remarked though she was keenly observing all her opponents, weighing out her next move. Some of them had wooden staffs and one even had an axe.

She knew she was up against people twice her strength but after all she had been trained by the best, so she knew she could handle it.

"Wait so you all want to fight me?" A slow smile spread on her face, "oh I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have angered you guys." However the moment the first thug reached forward in an attempt to catch her off guard, she had twisted his arm and thrown him afar.

"Game on."

***

Back at the manor, the minute Tim's connection to Steph severed he had gotten quite anxious. The last words he had said to her were to step out of the cabin and go in only when she had backup, but she had not heard him properly.

It seemed as if the area lacked facility because no matter what he tried, he couldn't gain access to her nor keep track of any devices in that building.

For a while his mind blanked out not knowing what to do, but then his senses kicked in and he checked other available connections to the rest of the vigilantes.

Batman had gone to Metropolis for a mission with the Justice League while Nightwing was in Bludhaven since it was that night when he visited his former city for patrol. The only person available was Jason.

He quickly established his connection to Jason. As far he knew, Red Hood was patrolling the suburbs around Gotham.

"Sup, shitty Oracle?"

"Hood, we need your assistance at the Bowery," Tim spoke immediately, "Batgirl needs backup."

Jason's voice was slightly alarmed as he replied, "send me the coordinates."

"On it," he sent the coordinates to Jay, "there's a shed down the alley and she went in after a thug. My guess is that it's some gang's hideout. There's no service inside so I lost connection with her ten minutes ago."

"Ten minutes and she's not out yet?"

"No."

"Right," Jason was speculating, "I've reached and I'm going in. You won't have connection with me either so all I want you to do is not to freak out, okay? If I'm not back within an hour, though the need won't arise for that, you'll have to call Nightwing and send the GCPD."

"Okay. Just hurry up."

"And whatever happens, don't you dare step out of the cave, got it?"

"Got it."

The connection with Jason severed as well indicating that he had stepped inside the cabin. All Tim could do was keep his eye on the vicinity of the cabin through the camera footages he had succeeded in linking to the Batcomputer.

And though Jay had asked him not to freak out, he knew the case was totally opposite. At times like this, he wondered how Barbara could remain calm and collected in such situations. So far he had realized that Jay had been absolutely right and only she was fit for her job as Oracle.

"Drake," he spun around to see Damian, "what happened?"

"Nothing," he replied.

Dami seemed to have noticed his uneasiness as he remarked, "you're never this fidgety."

"I'm not freaking out, okay?"

It was probably one of the very rare times that Tim had somehow lost his composure with him and though given normal circumstances, Dami would have gotten outraged at him for speaking to him in such a manner, he said nothing as he took a seat beside him.

Tim turned his attention back on the camera footage and kept checking every now and then for any signal to connect with either Steph or Jason.

A couple minutes passed in uncomfortable silence. But shortly afterwards the door to the cabin opened and Tim zoomed in at the entrance immediately. Red Hood had stepped out along with Batgirl who was holding on to him for support. He couldn't make out much since the footage was pixelated from zooming but all he could see was that Steph had gotten hurt and was limping.

Instantly, he reconnected with Jason.

"Send the GCPD," Red Hood spoke, "we can't afford to let them escape."

Without even a second's delay, Tim alerted the GCPD, sending them the coordinates as well as the rest of the information Jay had told him.

Apparently, Penguin had made the arms deal and their materials were hoarded in the warehouse underneath that cabin and a lot of men from Cobblepot's gang were placed on guard.

The police arrived and the forces swarmed in fully armed in order to tackle the subdued criminals in there. They had an explosive management squad with them as well since it was probable that the place was riddled with explosives.

But all Tim could think of was about Stephanie. He had no idea what had happened to her and the thought plagued him to the edge of his wits.

"Calm down, she'll be fine," Damian mumbled.

"It's all my fault, if I hadn't been grounded, I..."

However Tim couldn't complete the sentence as the entrance to the cave swung open and Jason entered. He was carrying Steph in his arms as she seemed to have lost consciousness.

"Dami, call Dr Thompkins please," he spoke, "tell her to come here as soon as she can."

Damian did as he was told and informed that the doctor was on her way.

Tim rushed towards them as Jason laid her down on the stretcher in the healing unit of the Batcave. Noticing the pure worry on his face, Jay remarked, "it's not that bad as it looks, Babybird. She had tackled more than half of them before I arrived even."

"She's unconscious," Tim reasoned, looking down quite horrified at the state of his best friend.

He nodded, "she will be fine, trust me."

Dami went to alert Alfred and returned with both the doctor and the butler.

"Master Tim, Master Jason, we will take over from here," Alfred gave Tim a reassured look.

The three of them stepped out to the main area of the Batcave though the horror in Tim's eyes hadn't subsided.

"It's not your fault, Drake."

Upon Dami's remark, Jason realized immediately why Tim was so terrified, of course the kid was blaming himself again.

Sighing wearily, he grabbed him by his arms and bent down to be on eye level with him, "look here, Babybird. I might not be as good as Dick is in handling your self blaming crises, but I know that much; it's not your fault, okay? Batgirl was doing great, she only got a little hurt which was quite expected. We are all used to it, you are used to it. So stop blaming yourself for this and get a grip, for Christ's sake."

"I don't know... If I hadn't been grounded, I would have been out there instead of her."

"Exactly," Jason nodded, "and you would have gotten hurt even worse. Because out of us, you're the one who has absolutely no sense of self preservation."

Damian clicked his tongue as if pitying his situation and remarked, "Todd's right. Get a grip, for Christ's sake."

Soon enough Dr Thompkins emerged accompanied by Alfred. They turned their attention to her as she told them that Steph had hurt her leg which she had taken care of, other than that she had thankfully received no severe injury.

"She just needs a little rest and then she'll be good in no time," the doctor offered Tim a gentle smile as she stepped out of the cave.

"Master Tim, I'd suggest you to bring the donuts you promised her," Alfred remarked, "because she did excellent at the stake out."

He nodded in reply, "right."

Jason clapped his hand on his back a little roughly though Tim was used to it, "and since you're grounded, I'll go fetch them. Keep my fees ready for me when I get back, got it?"

Despite himself, a faint smile flickered on his face, "got it."

***