"I'm out of hiatus now."
"I'll update now."
*Disappears for four months.*
"Yeah sure seems legit, Lilly."

I'm sorry.  XD But then again, I've been updating things amongst other things, except for this book. :")

,,,god I hate this fic so much. Can I not just rewrite it now? >~>

~~~
Batman took a deep breath, calming himself down. This wasn't anything major. It was just a simple trick that he had learnt. It made him even more dangerous, yes, but this was still Robin.

This was something they could obviously get through.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Batman asked, fully over his initial shock. Robin bit down on his lip, contemplating if he should say anything more or not. Batman narrowed his eyes.

"Robin, if there is anything else that needs to be said, it is now."

"I... Guess I should probably tell you..." Robin mumbled, realising that Batman was right. If he didn't come out with it now, then it might be too late.  "I'm... Not sure if it's actually true, but... Wintergreen said that I... might be dying. He said that one of my injuries or something is becoming terminal so... But again, I'm not sure if it's 100% true." Robin recalls Wintergreen's grim face when he first told him the news. Robin doesn't usually doubt Wintergreen, but it wasn't something that he was willing to accept so easily.

But then again, all of Deathstroke's apprentices have died in the past, haven't they? In which case, he's just another statistic to that. It wouldn't exactly be a surprise if he died. 

He recalls the anger on Wintergreen's face. After telling him the news, he then stormed off and from what Robin heard, likely got in some kind of argument? Though at that point, it really had just been Wintergreen furiously yelling that he wasn't old enough for such complex training. It had been too soon, apparently. Everything Robin did was apparently "too soon", wasn't it? 

How long was he supposed to stay a kid for, anyway?

Robin couldn't bring himself to turn to anyone, even if it was just to check their reactions.

"But like I said, I really don't know if it's actually-" Robin started but Batman was quick to cut him off.

"We'll have some tests performed immediately," Batman stated, his voice clipped. Robin received no other verbal response as Batman turned and left the room immediately. Robin didn't turn around, knowing fully well that Jason and Damian were still there. 

Silently, Jason walked towards Robin and picked up his shirt, holding it out to the scarred boy. Wordlessly, he held it out to him. Robin still didn't turn around but he took the shirt from Jason's hand and slipped it over his head and stared at his lap. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do and their reactions certainly weren't helping. 

The room was silent for a few minutes once more and Robin could feel himself becoming anxious, though he forced himself not to fidget. He didn't dare lift his eyes once to meet one of the gazes of his brothers. 

It was once again Jason who made the next move, taking a step forward and wrapping his arms around Robin.

"It'll be okay, Little Birdie. We'll sort this out," Jason whispered, voice surprisingly filled with emotion. Damian joined the hug a few seconds later.

~~~

Batman stared at the results in his hands, completely horrified. There was no doubt anymore. It was confirmed.

Robin, his son, was dying and there was nothing he could do about it. His injury was far too severe. It was too late for it to be treated now. Nothing could be done, except watch the time go by.

The time that Robin had left to live anyways.

Terrified, Batman quickly looked up at the statistics to see how long he would have left with his son before he lost him forever.

5 months. Dick had 5 months left to live. And Bruce would damn well make sure they were the best 5 fucking months of his entire life.

~~~~

Returning to the manor had brought tears of happiness to his face as he finally registered everything for the first time. He was back. It wasn't an illusion. It wasn't a drug-induced dream.

He was home for real.

For the first time in so long, Dick laughed, a weight lifting off his shoulders. A smile brightened up his features as he took in the sight of his home, his brothers beside him.

"Welcome back, ya little nuisance," Jason laughed, patting his back as they stepped further into the room. Tim ran forward, a grin threatening to completely take over.

"Alfred baked cookies!" Tim gasped, looking towards the doorway before turning back to his brothers. His eyes first connected with Damian's, then Jason's before landing on Dick's. The two shared an intense look before breaking out into a sprint at the same time. The two olders were on their heels a second later.

"Me first!"

"Drake, stop right there!"

"Those things are gonna be all mine!"

Dick let out a cackle as he raced behind Tim, more than ready to leap over him in order to reach the cookies he hadn't had in so long. As Tim reached the corner, he didn't slow down enough and he ended up crashing into the wall. Of course, he easily recovered as he only hit the wall with his side, but he had lost his momentum, allowing Dick to take the lead as he all but sped towards the kitchen, still laughing his head off. It had been so long since they did this.

Just as Dick reached the kitchen, he heard an angry yell come from Damian behind him.

"GRAYSON, I DEMAND YOU STOP MOVING YOUR LEGS RIGHT NOW!" Damian bellowed, his loud voice bouncing off the walls. Dick cringed slightly at the volume, his sensitive hearing taking a hit. Slade had improved his hearing incredibly, but Dick was still getting used to the sensitivity of it all. How Superman dealt with his hearing a daily basis was beyond him, especially since Superman's hearing was even more sensitive than his.

Regardless, Dick completely ignored Damian and burst into the kitchen, scanning the area quickly just as he spotted the older butler. His heart beat frantically in his chest as he realised he had yet to actually speak to the butler since being rescued, let alone see the old man.

He sprinted forward, Alfred calming turning around to face him, placing a batch of cookies on the table. Alfred knew by now that they were all a bunch animals when it came to his cookies and would surely bulldoze anything that stood in their way, including each other.

Dick snatched three cookies from the tray as he ran past, the cookies only being his secondary goal. Without stopping, or even slowing down, Dick ran straight into the butler, wrapping his arms around the old butler. Alfred stumbled back a few steps from the force, Dick following him in his path. Once Alfred had steadied himself and took a breath to regain the one that Dick had knocked out of him, Alfred wrapped his arms around the young man, returning the gesture.

"It is very good to see you again, Master Richard," Alfred greeted warmly, holding the boy tightly. Dick blinked, eyes dull but tears swam in his eyes, threatening to fall and scatter his facade entirely.

"You too, Alfred," Dick mumbled. Deciding that there was no point in putting up a facade at all, Dick dropped it completely and allowed his emotions to show. The tears fell but they were quickly absorbed by the butler's clothing. The old man released him and Dick took a step back and smiled as he looked up at him.

"Oddly enough, you've grown," Alfred pointed out, a smile turning his lips upwards. Dick's jaw fell.

"Oddly-?" Dick started, shocked by the man's words. Was the man expecting him to stay small forever? He was going to have a growth spurt eventually!

"He's still a shrimp," Jason's gruff voice interrupted them with a snort. Dick spun around, outraged.

"I'm not a shrimp!" Dick yelled. 

"Yeah, you are," Jason scoffed.

"I agree with Todd," Damian stated before Dick had the chance to retort, turning around as he munched on a cookie.

"I'm growing!" 

"An inch a year, impressive," Tim muttered, nibbling on his own cookie.

"Hey! Like you have room to talk!" Dick snapped. Tim rolled his eyes but chose not to speak. 

"It is very unlikely that you will be growing any further," Damian stated. Dick glared at them.

"Take your opinions," Dick started. Jason opened his mouth to say something, likely to say that it was indeed a fact, but Dick beat him to it. "And your facts and shove them up your asses," Dick hissed. 

Dick grabbed the cookie tray from the table, ignoring its heat that threatened to burn his skin and stormed off towards his room. He was used to heat anyways. He had grown a tolerance towards it during his time with Deathstroke.

"Because I'm not short, I'm growing," Dick finished as he entered the hall. He completely missed the victorious smirks behind him. Without even realising, Dick had already slipped back into their old daily rountine.

~~~

...I dunno. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

*Gets ready to write another Puzzle AU*

If you're still here, then thanks. 

- Lilly