It was a beautiful morning when Alfred was routinely preparing the breakfast. A tilted window in the panoramic glass wall next to the spacious kitchenette filled the room with a light breeze of fresh morning air and the chirping of birds in the front yard. A perfect morning in itself, if it wouldn't be shadowed by the quarrel between father and son.

Such escapades are nothing new for the old butler, considering the events of the past. However, the situation is inappropriate, especially for Dick's sake.

Alfred turned off the finnished coffee machine and put down his apron with a heavy sigh. Even though his foster son had already grown up so much, he still let his fear eat away at him and unnecessarily clung to a mask that tightly sealed his emotional world into a shell. Yet Alfred had assumed that over the course of the last few years this shell would slowly crumble sufficiently to finally allow the sight to the future.

It was exasperating.

And as he was already racking his's brains over the devil, it was not far away either.

Still half asleep, Bruce, dressed in a bordeaux red morning robe, entered the light-filled kitchen. As every day, he sat quietly at the large kitchen island and waited wearily for coffee to be poured for him, but there was one deviation. The billionaire was not sitting at the table in a half-straight position as usual, but rather leaned forward dejectedly, on his hands clasped at his head.

Alfred poured him the freshly brewed coffee, when he already started a conversation in a slightly sarcastic voice:

"Worries sir? I guess the ones with Master Dick weren't enough for you, apparently."

Bruce looked up and ran his fingers through his black hair once, exasperated:

"Well, it is obvious that even this matter wouldn't go unnoticed by you. When it comes to the Manor, you seem to be the better detective of the two of us."

Alfred raised a brow skeptically:

"Well sir, given the loud rumble of splintering granite last night and many indecent Utterances regarding your person in the course of this process, I came to believe there was a bit of a dispute between you and Master Damian."

Surprised, Bruce's eyes widened a bit:

"Splintering granite?"

"Apparently you were so sound asleep from lack of sleep that you didn't even notice the noise. Well one of the tombstones didn't make it through the night. Someone stole the sledgehammer from the tool shed and smashed it. I'm sure you can guess which stone it was. I'll have someone come out for this afternoon to clean it up."

Bruce looked out the large window for a moment and seemed to be looking at Wayne Cemetery, which was hidden behind trees and bushes.

He sighed heavily and resignedly rested his face on both hands:

"This whole thing has become a pure mess. But right now, Dick's situation just takes priority. The sooner he gets his memories back, the sooner I can be sure there will be no more danger from him."

"Sir, don't you think it would be far more effective to not keep Master Damian and at least Master Tim at such a distance? Especially with memory loss, isn't it just important to gather family and friends around him so that any memory pieces are stimulated? I know you have concerns, but don't you think it would be best?"

Bruce let out an amused snort:

"What's the best anyway? Tim has his hands full with Bludhaven and I know he takes his job very seriously. For him, a stable routine has just been established and this news would only tear him out of it again.

And Damian is beginning to underestimate the danger. Even though I have to admit that he has made some progress together with Jon, the situation still remains unpredictable. You just can't expect a wild lion to become a housecat just like that, and yesterday they both saw Dick more as such. They put their arms in the cage and touched him without even thinking that he could hurt them both. Anything could trigger him into such an impulse."

Bruce looked up and cast scrutinizing, annoyed narrowed eyes at his baffled butler:

"It didn't escape my notice, by the way, that you were covering for those two. I had noticed days ago that the boys must have sneaked inside the cave every day, but I let it pass for the time being and left them in your hands. But that went too far for me now. After all, this is not only dangerous for Damian, but also for Jon. I am also thinking for Clark's sake."

Alfred had raised his brows in surprise, while his foster son looked at him penetratingly. In fact, it had escaped his notice that Bruce knew about the boys, so he sighed in resignation:

"Truly sir, I was beginning to feel you had lost some of your acumen in all the caos. I'm glad to see that's not the case. Nevertheless, I would like you to have a little more confidence in the young masters. You have trained them and trusted them in battle. Then why don't you trust them with such family matters?"

"I told you before that it was for their own protection."

The billionaire ran his hand through his hair strained before continuing to speak:

"Give me some more time Alfred. I promise that I will also initiate the others at the appropriate moment and then I will also take care of Damian. But first I need time to think about the whole case."

The old butler gave his foster son a worried look before turning to clean the coffee machine. Quietly, Alfred added:

"I'm afraid it will be too late by then."

But Bruce did not seem to have heard this. Instead, the black-haired man pulled out his cell phone and typed a message: 

"I'll be meeting Clark tonight, by the way, to let him know about the boys."

The man took the last sip of his coffee before standing up and heading toward the door.

"Until then, I'll keep working inside the cave. Selina will probably be joining you soon. Would you be so kind as to offer her breakfast?"

Bruce was already opening the door to the hallway when Alfred answered him:

"Padon sir, but I've been in this profession long enough that you don't have to tell me such things anymore."

A smile crept onto the billionaire's lips:

"And long enough my butler that I haven't thought of you as such since a long time. Thank you for breakfast."

With that, the bat disappeared towards its den and Alfred returned to his duties before muttering more to himself:

"Let's just hope you make the right decision Master Bruce."

"Are you really sure you want to do this? I mean, not that I've ever really endorsed any of your plans, but starting phase two of 'Father can kiss my ass' right now is really dangerous."

"I'm not going to risk my dad wrecking Grayson. So I'm going to take that risk. Besides, I already told you, you don't have to be on this mission. You're welcome to fly home once we get there."

"And then risk killing you? Do you even know what guilt is and how many of that I would have if you bit the dust because I just took off? No thanks, I'd rather make sure to pull you stubborn away myself in a emergency so Batman can personally wash your scorched brain!"

"You surprise me Jon. Where did the coward go that I always had to convince before a mission? Apparently my teaching methods worked after all."

"As if your teaching methods had anything to do with it!"

They were flying over a park on the outskirts of Gotham that bordered a large lake when Damian, wrapped in a dark cloak, looked at his computer and said:

"We're here. Sure you want to come? You can still turn back."

Jon, however, just hung his head:

"Let's just do this."

In response, the Wayne heir held something out to him and pointed to the lake:

"Here, put this in your mouth and then fly us to the center of that streach of water up ahead. It forms a direct connection to our cave system, but you have to dive through narrow crevices for some time to get there. So make sure you don't lose the oxygen device and get stuck anywhere."

Jon just shook his head. This was going to be fun...not.

Some endless underwater passages and narrow cave crevices later, Jon was glad that he did not suffer from claustrophobia. Because this way, would have triggered more panic attacks than Batman had bats.

The two boys finally entered a huge hollow space with a seemingly endless ceiling. Jon was visibly impressed by the gigantic size:

"Woah, I've never seen a cave this big before! That must be over a hundred meters to the other end. Where are we?"

Damian walked toward the center of the nearly circular cavity and looked closely at the map on his computer before answering:

"We are right under the Batcave. My father built it over this rocky ravine back in the day. Usually it is filled with water, but because of the little rain we had for some time, it is empty right now. There is only one layer of metal between us and Grayson. However, here comes the hard part. As soon as we break through, the alarms will go off and all sorts of weapons will try to kill me. I'm counting on you to keep the bullets off my back while I free Dick and then I will destroy the machines all at once."

"How are you going to get them all at once?"

Jon swallowed hard as Damian also pulled some kind of bomb out of his pocket. The Wayne heir grinned devilishly:

"If I'm going to declare war against my father, I'm going to do it right. This nice thing I made is called an EMP bomb. It can destroy all the electrics in the Cave, and you know how much Batman has of them."

The Kryptonian looked skeptically at the questionable device, from which tens of wires protruded:

"Don't you think that's a little excessive? I mean this stuff is super expensive."

Damian, however, just rolled his eyes:

"-tt-, please. How many times has the Watchtower been destroyed and rebuilt by someone. The Batcave is a nice change. After all, no one has ever had the balls to blow up Batman's cave, and if I'm not taken seriously, action must follow. Besides, it buys us enough time to escape."

Jon scratched the back of his head thoughtfully:

"So we'll be the first ones that really destroy Batman's Cave."

But then the boy had to start laughing and his eyes started to light up:

"This is so badass. I'm already up to my neck in trouble anyway, so by now it doesn't matter if anything else comes along. Let's do it partner!"

He grinned and held out his fist to the Wayne heir, who looked at him in puzzlement for a moment. Finally Damian sighed, amused by this change of heart and commented with:

"Who are you and what have you done with the rule-following Superman knockoff?" before returning the proffered fist-bomb.

"As they say, rules are made to be broken. Dad may be law-abiding, but Mom is an inveterate reporter and quite happy to put herself above the law. And if I'm being honest, it's actually kind of fun to piss off our parents by now."

Jon's grin widened even more and if Damian was honest, he felt something like a spark of pride for his first student. He had made really good progress lately and by now had become a really loyal idiotic soul with whom one could steal horses. In fact, these were Damian's favorite.

He took off his cloak and put it in the bag on his back. Out came some sort of dark gray shinobi Shozoku and Jon was immediately on fire for it:

"Dude, you look like one of those ninjas from the movies. Can I maybe borrow that for Haloween? Those clothes are so cool."

Bored, however, Damian only replied:

"This is the traditional clothing of the Assassins and in itself no costume. Since I'm not Robin anymore at the moment, I just had to get the stuff out again. It's from my time in Arabia, but as soon as I don't need it anymore, you're welcome to have it. I'm not particularly attached to it."

Jon was happy to hear this, but there was one thing he couldn't keep to himself. Stifling his laughter, the Kryptonian asked:

"If the clothes are from your time in Arabia, does that mean you haven't grown since then? At least they still fit you perfect."

Jon did snort now. It was just too divine how Damian just stared at him in bewilderment. But his amusement did not last long. Because suddenly the ex-assassin grabbed him by the shoulder and smiled at him. But not a friendly smile. More the one ,of a psychopath and Jon felt a chill run down his spine as he felt his murderousness and his counterpart calmly purred:

"I know more than 10,000 ways to make a human disappear and have developed more than 1000 methods to do the same to a Kryptonian. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to test them out yet. So keep talking and become my guinea pig for this. Even Daddy will never know what happened to you."

Jon swallowed hard and preferred to keep his mouth shut. If there was one thing he didn't do, it was underestimate his partner's abilities. After all, he had proven them to him many times before.

Satisfied with that, Damian went over a few last things on the computer and then looked with devilish anticipation towards the high cave ceiling:

"Then let's waste no more time and teach Batman a lesson. He needs one badly. What does your  father always say again? Up, up and away."

At the same time, in a small café in the city of Metropolis, two tall men sat opposite each other at a window seat and were ordering their food:

"Coffee, black."

"For me, the apple pie and a glass of water."

The waitress wrote down the order and then headed toward the kitchen.

Bruce looked skeptically at his longtime friend:

"Isn't it a little late for pie?"

Clark, however, just pulled his shoulders up in glee:

"You can always have a good apple pie. So what did you want to talk to me about?"

The billionaire leaned a little further against the back of the bench before revealing his request:

"I think it's obvious that we need to talk about Jon and Damian. Those two are increasingly disobeying orders and starting to rebel against us, in case you haven't noticed."

The waitress briefly brought them drinks and cake before disappearing back into the kitchen. Clark took the fork in his hand in anticipation as he replied:

"Actually, it's pretty hard not to see it that way, and I have my reservations about it too. But they are boys Bruce and Damian in particular is just at an age where he is testing the limits. I know he's not a normal kid, but that's exactly why I don't think he would do anything that would hurt the two of them."

The Kryptonian finished the sentence by popping a first piece of the cake into his mouth. Bruce, on the other hand, was not as relaxed about the whole thing as his feasting friend. Briefly, he took a sip of his hot coffee before letting the cat out of the bag:

"You underestimate Damian's willingness to take risks by far, Clark. The priority reason we're here is the fact that the boys have repeatedly, contrary to my knowledge, sought out Dick's proximity over the past two weeks."

At that, Clark nearly choked on his cake, while Bruce continued talking:

"They have put themselfs further and further in great danger by doing so. After all, you know best what Dick is capable of at the moment, and the two of them even went so far as to touch him without second thoughts."

Clark put down his fork, considering this worrisome situation, and now listened earnestly to Bruce:

"If I were sure Dick wouldn't hurt them, the whole thing wouldn't be a problem, after all. But right now he's like a wild animal, and as such he has certain instincts that can't be controlled. You saw him yourself. Right now he's just not human, and I don't understand his nature enough to be able to clearly predict his actions."

With a frown, Clark looked first at Bruce and then thoughtfully down at his cake. Jonathan is the most important thing in the world to him, and he'd be lying if he said it didn't fill him with rage at how carelessly Damian handled Jon's life. After all, he had trusted the boy with his son.

But Clark didn't let any of that show up on his face, except for his narrowed eyelids. Significantly colder, he now asked:

"What did you do about it?"

"I have banned them from Cave and placed Damian on the highest threat level of my security system. However, I doubt that will stop him for long. Especially if Jon is helping him. That's why I would suggest temporarily separating them again until this whole mess settles down. I don't want your son to suffer any harm because of me."

Urgently, Bruce looked into Clark's eyes, who returned the look thoughtfully. While he didn't like taking away Jon's friend he had made, he too saw no other way in the situation. He was just too afraid of something happening to his son:

"I agree with you. I'll tell Jon about it first thing tomorrow and make sure the two of them don't contact each other again for now. Can you lock down their HQ then?"

Bruce put his coffee back on the table before replying: "I will. Also, make sure they don't talk on their cell phones. After all..."

Suddenly, a ringing interrupted the two's conversation. It was the billionaire's cell phone and with a quick: "Excuse me a second.", he pulled it from inside his jacket to see who was calling. What he saw drove all the color from his face. He had expected it, but not the very next day:

"Oh, no."

Clark was surprised to see the face of his usually composed friend, and some bad thoughts crossed his mind:

"What is it?"

Bruce didn't look up:

"That's the Cave's alarm signal. Damian has broken in by force and knowing him, he has Jonathan with him."

Bullets from all corners of the Batcave were pouring down on Damian as he tried to crack the lock's code of Dick's cage, and Jonathan was clearly having a hard time repelling all the bullets fast enough. Sure, he was faster than the bullets, but nowhere near as fast as his father, and as time went on, it got harder and harder:

"Can't you fire this e-thing soon? I don't know how much longer I can keep up the pace."

Damian strained to hack the lock before answering: "I can't detonate the EMP bomb until the cage door is open. Since it's electronic, that won't work anymore once the pulse disables the system. Give me thirty seconds. I'll have it."

However, that time was already too long. Jon missed a bullet, so it was now headed unimpeded toward the Wayne heir. Shocked, the Kryptonian already cried out in warning, but this would not change anything.

But just before the bullet could enter the boy's body, Dick's feathered tail shot out through the sturdy metal bars of the cage and deflected the bullet in one swift motion. He screeched and hissed at these things that were trying to harm the boys and wanted to tear them all to pieces.

Finally, a clack sounded and Damian triumphantly uttered: "Well, there we go."

Slowly the gate slid open piece by piece, so the boy jumped back a few meters for safety's sake and waited with anticipation for Dick's behavior:

"Jon pay close attention now! I've unlocked it!"

The Kryptonian swallowed hard and, still deflecting the bullets, went to his friend, keeping Dick closely in the corner of his eye.

As soon as the gate was open, Richard dashed out of the cage in a rage and also immediately pounced on the many weapons that had locked Damian as their targed.

Relieved by this, the Wayne heir also immediately threw the bomb into the center of the cave and yelled:

"Jon, get down!"

A violent pulse spread throughout the Cave, destroying all the electronics inside. All at once sparks sprouted everywhere and lightning crackled around them before everything came to a halt and total darkness fell upon the Batcave.

They heard Dick still smashing things, but couldn't see anything until Damian pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket and shined it at Jon, whose hair was standing on end in surprise:

"I kind of remembered your hair looking differently. Are you all right?"

Jon hastily tried to fix his charged hair as he replied:

"One of those damn lightnings hit me. I really didn't think that thing would have such a powerful effect. Crazy thing. Oh, and...Richard's taking the Batcomputer apart right now, by the way."

Damian looked at the computer and saw Dick jumping over the many parts of the machine, which were being taken apart more and more. Jon stepped up next to his friend:

"He seems to be having a lot of fun smashing everything to pieces around here."

Dryly, however, Damian only replied: "He doesn't seem to have had a good experience with them either."

Slowly, Damian walked up to Dick and authoritatively draw his attention to himself:

"Richard, come here!"

At first, however, Dick only glared angrily at him, so that Jon was already bracing himself for the worst. But then the anger slowly subsided and the winged man obeyed the order.

Cooing, he came to a halt in front of Damian and seemed to examine him briefly before circling the boy with interest a few times and finally throwing himself tumultuously at him.

Jon's blood froze in his veins as he watched the Wayne heir being pinned to the ground. He was about to rush to his aid when he heard Damian's annoyed exclamations:

"Argh...Damn it Richard, get off me! Stop...oof...pressing yourself against me!"

Jon saw Grayson slowly rise, but not let go of Damian, so his friend eventually found himself in an unwanted hug and protested violently against it.

The Kryptonian couldn't help but laugh at him for that. This image of this grouchy stubborn boy being cuddled through with gratitude was just too divine.

But in the end, he was able to escape the clamp hold somehow, whereupon Jon took a rock to the head with the words:

"One word and I'll get the kryptonite."

But it had been worth it.

Damian annoyedly plucked his clothes straight again and then moved on to the next phase of the plan:

"We should get out of here quickly before my father shows up. The signal is down now, but he definitely got a message."

Jon nodded as Dick was now cuddeling him, but asked: "How are you going to do that with Richard?"

"I assume he will simply follow us. After all, he knows nothing in this world but us."

Suddenly, behind Damian, Richard stretched his nose up in an examining manner and seemed to be sniffing for something. Excited, he leaned in all directions to better catch the scent, which caught Jon's attention:

"Say...what's he doing?"

Damian was just turning around so he could investigate when Dick also leapt forward in one bound, sweeping the unprepared boy along with him and flying at breakneck speed down the underground street of the Bat Mobile.

Firmly, Damian clawed his fingers into the many feathers as he hung between Dick's shoulder and wing to keep himself from slamming into the street at high speed. A few broken bones would not be enough after such a fall.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, Richard broke through the thick iron gate that lay between them and the outside world and flew up into the night sky of Gotham together with Damian.

However, the latter did not found the whole situation funny at all. His feet dangled freely under Dick's body as he hung only with his upper body on the shoulder of the taller one and threatened to fall at any moment, which would definitely be fatal from a height of over a hundred meters and rising. After all, he did not currently possess a cape that would allow him to glide smoothly to the ground.

Damian's fingers began to ache as the headwind tried harder and harder to sweep his petite body away.

"Damn it Richard, fly back down!"

The boy protested, but Dick apparently didn't understand him. He was just so busy enjoying the feeling of freedom that the words didn't reach him.

Damian slid even farther down on him, whereupon his exclamation now grew louder:

"Richard! I swear to you, if I die now because of you now, my spirit will haunt you for the rest of your life!"

Indeed, Dick's attention now turned back to the boy at his shoulder. However, the words were only an unintelligible language to him, of which he was not capable of, and he simply did not understand why the little boy was so loud.

Finally Richard did exactly the opposite of what Damian actually wanted. In flight, the taller turned on his back, so that his passenger lost his footing, slipped off and now, with eyes widened in horror, plunged into the depths.

He still saw how Richard disappeared between the clouds, while he let the meanwhile scarcely 500 meters up to the ground, rapidly behind himself.

His brain ran at full speed, as it was looking for a way out, which would not process him to mud. And while he headed unbraked toward a busy road, only one solution came to his mind:

"Jon! Damn it Jon where are you!!! I could really use your help here right now!"

But no matter how many times he looked around, there was no sign of the Kryptonian.

Only 200 meters separated him from certain death and Damian just cursed this situation. If he would die because of such a banal crap, he would never forgive himself. His demise should not be so ridiculous.

But the ground was getting closer and closer and when Damian reached the last 50 meters, he automatically pulled his arms in front of him protectively.

Suddenly he felt something grab his right foot and slowly break his fall. Perplexed, the boy looked up into the confused face of Dick. He had grabbed him with one of his bird-like legs and now seemed to wonder why Damian couldn't fly. After all, the other one  of the two had no trouble with it.

"Jesus Richard, if you weren't suffering from memory loss, you'd be so dead right now! Drop me again and I'll forget myself!"

Dick just tilted his head. He didn't understand what the shorter one wanted from him and was thinking about his next move.

Coming to a final conclusion, he unceremoniously let go of the upset boy again, causing Damian to cry out in shock before heading towards the ground again.

However, this time the fall didn't last very long. Dick let himself fall backwards and followed him briefly towards the ground before catching the boy with his back. Instinctively, Damian clawed at the winged man's body in his state of shock, whereupon he regained height. It took the Wayne heir a moment to realize what just happened.

More than just angry Damian now sat down properly on Dick's back, While he was still growling:

"Richard I swear to you, as soon as your memories are back, you will wish you had stayed in hell."

But of course the latter had no idea what the boy was saying. Instead, he was just enjoying the feeling of finally being able to stretch his wings properly after all this time. He had been so tired of this cage.

In the heat of the moment, he rose higher and higher into the sky.

Damian meanwhile tried to call someone with a cell phone, but no one answered, which visibly annoyed him. Again he dialed the number, but got the same result. Finally he gave up and tried to locate Jon instead. But even before he could lock on to his signal, the muddlehead appeared among some low-flying clouds:

"Are you OK? I heard you scream."

Grumpily, Damian screwed up his face and stubbornly replied:

"I didn't scream, and you're too late anyway."

Astonished, Jon looked at Richard, who made no move to throw Damian off:

"That's funny, he's letting you ride him?"

"In my opinion, the least he could do, after he almost killed me."

"He almost killed you?!"

"Doesn't matter."

Damian turned his computer back on and briefly checked something. Relieved, he sighed and turned it off again before looking triumphantly at Jon:

"Batman's systems are all down, and he has no clue where we're headed right now. In addition, Richard is proving to be extremely cooperative. So the mission was a complete success. It's just too bad I won't be able to see my father's face when he sees what we've done to the Cave."

Jon laughed with glee:

"He'll definitely get grayer hair than Alfred. Even though I'll be grounded for the rest of my life now, it was definitely worth it. Not everyone can claim to have given Batman a good thrashing."

Damian just returned that with a satisfied nod and Jon flew through the clouds laughing lightheartedly in his euphoria.

Dick looked at the Kryptonian with curiosity. At first he didn't quite know what all the hopping and fidgeting was about, but then the only logical explanation came to him.

It was a game he was happy to play after almost three weeks of no exercise.

Damian noticed how Dick gained speed and headed for Jon. The winged man quickly flew over the surprised Kryptonian's head and casually ran one of his hands through his wispy black hair.

Puzzled, the Jon looked up. He saw Richard looking down at him expectantly and the boy quickly understood:

"Well, let's see."

Jon darted toward him and playfully ran his fingers along Dick's wingtips before disappearing into the clouds with another spurt. Damian frowned, guessing what idiot wealth would now follow. He clung tighter to the taller one's body as it too rapidly picked up speed and spurred on in pursuit.

With high speed they whizzed through the sky and wanted to catch the other and outdo them in their speed. Damian had great difficulty in not losing his grip again. He pressed himself flatter against Dick's body to avoid being swept away by the wind, while the other two had the fun of their lives.

Jonathan saw Dick darting toward him again and dodged, flying close overhead. To his surprise, however, he felt something graze his foot. Perplexed, the boy turned in midair and looked incredulously at Damian's raised arm. With a cynical grin, the latter rebuked:

"Always expect the unexpected, you lame slug!"

Jon's amazement abruptly turned to pure joy:

"I'll show you who's the slug here!"

So they whizzed along in the bright moonlight between the many puffy clouds and Damian felt truly liberated for the first time in a long time. No more expectations, no more orders, no more Batman. Just his two loyal idiots and him.

After some more dashing and laughing, their little game had taken them over the treetops of a forest and suddenly Dick stopped. It was so sudden that Jon could not stop in time and collided with Damian, causing him to fall off Richard's back. But Jon grabbed him immediately.

Confused, the two boys watched how Dick disappeared between the forest canopy and the Kryptonian asked in surprise:

"What's going on now?"

Damian drew his brows together suspiciously. He didn't like the look of this:

"I don't know, but we'd better get after him fast before we lose sight of him. Use your hearing."

Jon complied and so the two boys also disappeared between the dense treetops.

It didn't took long before they found Dick crouching against a large oak tree. Jon landed a few feet behind him, so they didn't immediately see what he was actually doing. But with each step they got closer, the picture cleared up piece by piece. The leafy forest floor around him was drenched in red. Again and again sounds of tearing flesh filled the musty air and now they also saw what he was actually holding in his hands.

Apparently Dick had heard a doe and flew into the forest to tear it, so that he now tore and ate the innocent animal in front of them.

Jon had a queasy feeling at this sight. Just a moment ago, Dick had been playing peacefully with them, and the next moment he attacked another creature totally out of context. Something just wasn't right. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Damian, on the other hand, simply stepped toward him:

"Richard we don't have time for this now. You can eat later, and besides, we don't kill."

Determiningly, the Wayne heir placed a hand on his feathered shoulder.

Jon saw disaster coming before it even happened: "Damian beware!"

Richard's instincts took over and he wanted to defend his prey by any means necessary. But before he could attack him, Jonathan pulled Damian out of the way in time for Dick's sharp teeth not to hit him, but to wedge themselves into Jon's impenetrable arm. The boy braced himself against Richard's superhuman strength and tried to hold him back, while his arm was already beginning to ache under the enormous pressure.

Horrified, Damian cried out: "Richard, stop!"

But the winged man no longer seemed to notice this. Instead, his aggression now hit Jon's Kryptonian half in full measure. His feathers slowly began to turn green and Jonathan felt the strength in his body dwindle and he was less and less able to resist, finally reaching the point where Dick's teeth penetrated his arm.

Jon cried out in the face of pain otherwise unknown to him. It drove sheer horror into Damian's face. This was just getting completely out of hand.

Jonathan fell to his knees, powerless, while his blood ran from the corner of Dick's mouth and mixed with that of the deer on the forest floor. He bit down harder, bringing tears to Jon's eyes. The boy desperately tried to push Richard away with his free arm so that he would finally let go. But he no longer had the power to be able to fight against this force.

Damian kept screaming at Dick, but when Jon's body finally went completely limp under the Kryptonite and the glowing tail lifted menacingly, he had had enough.

He quickly pulled out a couple of bullets from his pocket and tossed them into the air. Instantly, the entire section of the forest was enveloped in bright white light, leaving Dick no choice but to let go of the boy to protect his eyes.

Damian wasted no time and pulled Jonathan away from the shrieking taller man, behind a thick tree. Agitated, he patted Jon's cheek to get him awake:

"Jon, do you hear me? Damn it, pull yourself together and wake up!"

However, the flash bombs didn't buy them as much time as before. Thanks to the lights in the Batcave, Richard's eyes had slowly become accustomed to light, so he could now see again only seconds later.

Slowly he stepped towards the hiding place of the two boys and Damian let go of Jon so that he could quickly pull more weapons out of his bag, which he would also use. Step by step Richard was getting closer and the smaller one was getting ready to attack.

But when Dick was only two meters away and Damian already about to throw the first bomb, the taller one did something unexpected. He lay flat on the ground and put his head between his hands while whimpering sounds escaped his throat. Apologetically, he looked up at Damian, who watched this behavior in surprise.

Briefly the boy thought about what he should do now. Finally, he sighed in resignation and put the weapons away:

"It's alright. It was my fault, after all."

Damian went back to Jonathan and looked at the bleeding wound on his arm. It was deep and both muscle and bone were injured. However, nothing Jon's body couldn't heal in no time. Nevertheless, he took bandages out of his pocket and began to treat the wound. Even more so because he was responsible for it.

However, when Damian had removed the blood and was about to clean everything with disinfectant, the burning pain drove Jon back to consciousness:

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Damn that hurts!"

Confused, he looked at his injured arm:

"What the?"

"Richard bit you, if you remember, and I was just bandaging the wound. So hold still." He replied dryly.

Perplexed, Jon stared at Damian, who was now continuing to bandage the arm. Jon tried to gather himself piece by piece and keep his composure before nervously asking:

"Where's Richard now?"

Damian didn't look up as he answered emotionlessly:

"He's lying next to you."

Hastily, the Kryptonian turned and actually caught sight of Richard immediately diagonally behind him, sitting and staring at him with wide eyes. Instinctively, Jon wanted to slide away from him, but Damian's hands held him determinately in place:

"Stay still. He's calmed down. So you don't have to be afraid of him. Besides, it was my fault."

Checking, Jon looked once again at their problem child, which also immediately examined him, with excited tail wagging, joyfully. Bloodthirsty was definitely something else.

Damian was just fastening the bandaged arm around Jon's neck when he continued:

"I didn't stitch up the wound because of your healing skills. So for now, don't move it so everything can grow together properly."

Jon looked at the perfectly tied bandage for a moment before, to Damian's surprise, he started laughing. Confused, the Wayne heir inquired:

"What is it?"

"I never thought I'd have to wear one of those things. And on top of that, Mister-Perfect, you admit you made a mistake. Pinch me, because I think I'm still dreaming."

Damian didn't need to be told twice and flicked him angrily against his airhead:

"Oh shut up you blabbermouth."

The Wayne heir started to put the bandages back in his bag when Jon asked him:

"Say, do you actually have a pen on you?"

Skeptically, one of Damian's brows rose:

"What are you going to do with a pen in the middle of a woods?"

Jon smiled back at him with twinkling eyes:

"Well then, you can sign your name on my bandage. That's how they always do it at school, and I've never had one before."

"You do realize that those Neanderthals only do that on plastered bandages, right?"

Jon snorted: "Doesn't matter. So do you have one?"

Damian reached into his pocket again and pulled out a black sharpie.

Annoyed, he removed the cap before asking:

"And what should I write on it now?"

"Well, just anything."

Damian didn't think twice and was about to apply the pen when Jon stopped him again:

"Wait, wait, wait. Don't you dare write super dork on it!"

Exasperated, Damian hissed:

"-tt-, if it is the truth."

Again he thought hard before the black lead finally colored the white fabric and Damian, careful not to let the fabric slip and hurt Jon, started to write.

Meanwhile, he informed Jonathan of what would happen now:

"I'll be traveling alone with Richard from here on, by the way."

Disbelieving, Jon looked up:

"Wait, what?"

"We're going to have to hide, and I don't know yet for how long this is going to last. This is not something for you Jon. You belong in Metropolis with your parents."

"But you can't go roaming around alone with Richard. What if he goes crazy again?"

"I have someone who will help me. However it's better for you not to know who it is."

Skeptically, Jon drew his brows together. While he was reluctant to leave Damian alone with Richard, he understood why he couldn't come along. Unlike Batman, who was used to seeing his son in life-threatening situations, his parents would be worried sick. And Jon especially didn't want to do that to his mom.

Finally, the boy scratched his head in agreement:

"Oh well. I'll fly back home when this arm has healed a bit. Man, I'm already looking forward to my mom's headbutt. But promise me you'll be careful and come back."

Damian grinned at him cynically: 

"If you're careful, you'll never get the big payoff. Thats my opinion at least. If anyone asks you about tonight, just say you weren't here. The EMP destroyed all the footage, so no one could prove something else. Then maybe the head bashing will be a little less intense."

Jon skeptically noted a lapse in that suggestion and pointed questioningly at his bandaged arm:

"And this?"

However, the elder had a solution for that as well:

"In our HQ, underneath my weapons chest is a secret compartment with a Kryptonite-infused sword. Just say you cut yourself with it."

Jon's features slipped:

"Should I question that you possess such a thing?"

Damian just finished his last written letter and then just said dryly:

"Better safe than sorry."

"And silence is sometimes gold."

Resignedly, Jon looked down at the two words that now adorned his bandage and made him look in surprise at Damian.

The latter, however, just looked to the side, grumbling, and hissed:

"Don't you go imagining things now."

But Jon saw through his counterpart's gestures by now and had to start giggling, which only pushed the corners of Damian's mouth further down.

Finally, Jonathan happily turned to Dick and demanded:

"Hey Richard, come over here and write something on it too!"

Hesitantly, the addressed came closer, not sure if Jon was angry with him and Damian doubted the use behind it:

"You do realize he can't write, right?"

But Jon wasn't fazed by that:

"It doesn't matter. It's the thought that counts. Could you help him with that?"

Damian just shook his head before taking Dick's hand, placing the pen in the clumsy fingers.

The latter didn't quite understand what that was all about, and watched with great interest as the smaller man guided him towards the bandage. Fascinated by the fact that this strange elongated thing left a black trail behind it, Dick didn't even notice how his assistant steered it in a certain direction.

Finally, the two finished their artwork and Damian put the pencil away again before saying: "That's something this idiot would scribble on, even in his right mind."

Jon looked at the scribbled something that slightly resembled a heart. Amused by this, he laughed out loud:

"It's perfect."

Gratefully, Jonathan wafted through the feathers on Richard's head, who cooed in relief that his little friend held no grudge against him.

Meanwhile, Damian now pulled out the cell phone again and dialed the number. But the result remained the same:

"Now I can use you for once and you don't even answer!" He hissed more to himself and now plugged in his computer. Concentrating, he tracked the outgoing signal to his counterpart and manked the location on his digital map.

Finally, he turned back to Jon, who was still dealing with Dick:

"I'm going to fly away with Richard now, since I don't know how much time our flight will take and we have to get to my contact before sunrise. With that, it's goodbye for now."

One last time, Jon wafted Dick through the soft feathers and then gently pushed him away.

Puzzled by this, the winged one tilted his head and stared questioningly at the Kryptonian, when Damian interjected as well:

"Richard come here."

He complied and Damian climbed onto his back before the boy turned to his friend once more:

"Try not to start too much trouble without me."

With that, the two disappeared between the dense treetops and Jon looked down at the neatly written 'thank's partner' with a wide grin.

Shortly after leaving the forest, Dick stopped once more in mid-air and looked around for Jon. He didn't understand why the boy didn't follow them and was about to fly back when Damian stopped him:

"Hey, wrong way! He's not going to follow, so fly that way now."

Richard saw the boy on his back pointing off into the distance, but looked back down at the forest. When the pushing away gesture occurred to him, however, he reluctantly flew away from the forrest.

Clacking, a small key slid into the sturdy front door of a spacious apartment and a young man with dark hair stepped into his moonlit livingroom. Listless and tired, he dropped his heavy bag, as well as his brown leather jacket, carelessly to the floor at the entrance, before the brunette cracked his neck and greeted the room as he stepped further inside:

"Hello Safe Apartment."

For him, it had been a really tiring night, so all his limbs were aching, and because of that, instead of the bed in the next room, he simply went to the closer couch of the living area:

"Hello couch."

The couch creaked open briefly in protest as the heavy body simply dropped onto the soft cushions and came to rest on it. Whether couch or bed, there was no difference between the two for him anyway. On both his unaccustomed back got along pretty well:

"And hello well-deserved closing time."

This stupid drug gang and their damn Si-fi guns. No one could have suspected that they suddenly join forces with the gun dealers of the southern city. What a bunch of jerks.

Half asleep, the brunette's blue eyeslits lifted once more and slid to the open front door before closing again in annoyance.

Fuck, he had forgotten to close the door behind him. Yet the couch had just gotten so comfortable and getting up seemed like torture. What a shitty day.

Grumbling to himself in annoyance, the young man forced himself to move his limbs once more and push his body up.

He yawned loudly as his sleep-drunk legs shuffled, more poorly than they should have, across the wooden floor to the open door behind which lay the nighttime outside world.

His fingers were just reaching out for the handle when suddenly a gust of wind threw him backwards and he found himself sprawled backwards on the dark floor a few feet away.

Instantly wide awake, the brunette wanted to jump up immediately to blow this intruder a second Asshole in his butt. But before even one of his feet could push up his body, something pinned his arms and legs firmly down, making escape impossible.

His gaze wandered wildly to what captivated him. Were those...wings?!

Following his instinct, the brunette resisted with all his might, but as much as he tried to get free, he couldn't fight against that strength.

In a flash, a hand suddenly shot down next to his face, startling him out of his struggle against those restraining limbs, whereupon his movements paused. The blue eyes widened with adrenaline, now scrutinizing their snarling counterpart.

The sharp teeth gleamed menacingly in the pale moonlight that fell through the large picture windows of the adjacent living area, and thanks to the light that shone through the open front door, rough contours of the body covered with blue feathers could be made out.

Fuck, what the hell was such a monster doing here?!

Immediately he resumed the fight against the unyielding limbs. The brunette concentrated all his strength on his right arm to free at least one of his limbs:

"Shit, shit, shit...fucking shit come on! Let go of me you fucking animal!"

But for this action he only got more angry snarls.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a cloaked figure peeking over the monster's shoulder and a familiar voice was cynically greeted the brunette:

"Hello, Todd."

Instantly, hearing his name, Jason paused in confusion.

Only slowly did the synapses in his brain connect the childishly snide voice with the strangely small figure, and as if struck by a bolt of lightning, the realization promised him only the psycho Gremlin himself:

"Demon brat?!"