-Dick has to make a decision-

"Alfred!" Batman cried as he came skidding into the cave. Sure enough, Dick's bike was gone. 

Getting out of the car, Bruce paced to where the bike had been. He clocked beside it a small silver device, which he identified as the tracer. So that's why the computer thought Dick was still here...

"Home already, sir?"

"Dick's gone."

There was a pause. "What do you mean?"

"His bike, it's gone, he removed the tracer." 

"But I checked on him merely an hour ago, sir."

Bruce sighed, staring down at the tracer in his hand.  

Dick was smart, smart enough to remove the tracer, but he was still just a kid. Fighting the urge to panic, Bruce tried to apply some logic: why would he remove the tracer? Because he didn't want to be found? Here things spilt into two options, either he was still so mad at Bruce he'd taken it off and then went to visit his parents, or he didn't want to get caught going back to Arkham. Both were plausible, but one worried him much more than the other.

"Alfred, try to contact Robin via radio, I'm going to look for him."

"Why should I?" Robin asked, key ring dangling from his fist.

"Because without my influence, your relevancy to the bat is going to just keep falling." He hummed. "What would Batman do? You said it yourself: he'd bend the rules for the greater good."

Dick looked down at the key ring. "How do I know you won't just run?"

"You're a young boy, and a crimefighter too, I bet you could beat old me in a fight." Strange assured. "Not that I will run, no, after you get us out of here I'll just take you back to my office for a long chat."

Robin bit his lip. "What about all the guards downstairs?"

"Surely a smart boy like you has already thought of something."

It was true, he was already planning to lower Strange out the window. "But--"

"You're starting to sound like you don't want to get the Batman's attention."

"No, I--" He sighed, jingling the keys in his hand. "Let me think."

The batmobile was speeding so fast it threatened to burn the tire tread into the road. It screeched to a halt at the gates. No time to buzz in, he'd just climb them.

He considered taking the stairs to let the workers know he was there, but there he felt a strange urgency. Like something was going to happen and he needed to figure out what before it did.

He used a grappling hook and scaled the side of the building. 

Once he was approximately in the same hallway as strange, he stood just out of view of the window in a narrow ledge. In the corner of his eye, he caught something colourful. Turning, he saw his own bird, Robin, standing before Strange's door, staring at it. 

Every once of Bruce wanted to storm in that second and take the boy home to safety. Instead, he cracked the window open and listened:

"Let me think."

"There's little time to think." The muffled voice of Hugo Strange replied. "This decision must be made this second."

"Okay, Okay, just..." Dick reached up, covering his ears, which he often did when overwhelmed.

"It's so easy, boy wonder, one simply slips the key into the lock and turns."

He'd heard enough, but as Bruce's fingers laced around the window pane, he heard Robin speak again:

"No, no I can't."

"Without letting me free, you'll never hear the full plan to make Batman pay attention to you." Strange replied warningly. "You wouldn't want him to continue neglecting you."

"No. I don't care if he decides he doesn't want me any more! Better than letting out someone who tried to turn all of Gotham into zombies!"

"What did we say before: everyone bends the rules to benefit themselves, even and especially Batman. You do want to be like the Batman, don't you?" He could almost hear the smile playing on the ex-doctor's face. "Of course you do, you love the Batman. You adore the Batman..."

"Yeah..." Dick admitted quietly. He stood there some time, shoulders slumped and head down. "But I can't let you out." He dropped something he'd been holding and it clinked to the floor; a keyring.

"We're so close to unlocking our potential, Robin, think."

"No! I'm done! I'm not letting you out!" Dick said, his chest tight, hands still over his ears. He kicked the keys down the hall. "I don't know how I got so close, I--"

Robin whipped around as he heard glass shattering through his clenched fingers. The window had been completely blotted out by a shadow in the foreground. 

"Robin."

"Batman?" He asked, voice trembling as he lowered his hands slowly.

"What did you do?" He ordered.

"I--"

But Bruce wasn't talking to him. 

"What did you do?" He demanded, slamming his fist into the door. 

"Ah, The Batman. I'm afraid this was your own fault for letting him out again after last time."

"You can't make us fight again." Batman said coldly. "You wanted that didn't you? You wanted to isolate him as much as possible so that he'd keep coming to you!"

"I'm afraid I'm just an opportunist, Batman. I, like you, break the rules for my own gain. I saw you neglecting the child and thought I'd offer him a hand."

"You were manipulating him." Bruce growled. 

"I just made suggestions, he put them together all on his own."

If Strange hadn't already been locked up... but he was. The bat sighed.

"Robin, take the keys back to the office." He said coldly. "We're going home."