"Dick, do you know what it's like to be invisible? Well, neither did I until this," Tim gestured wildly to himself, even though Dick couldn't see it, "but I can certainly tell you, it isn't as great as some people would like to believe."

Dick tried to keep from laughing. "Timmy, it can't be that bad."

Tim took a deep breath as he tried to keep his anger under control. "Dick, I'm invisible! You don't see me! You are looking right through me! Normally, it's just in the metaphorical sense, and I've dealt with that…but this? This is ridiculous."

Dick stared in the direction that he heard Tim's voice coming from. "Tim, what are you talking about? I always saw you."

Tim hung his head…not that Dick could see him. "No, you didn't. You just saw what you wanted to see." Tim turned to go.

Dick didn't know what to say to that, but he knew that Tim was probably walking away at that very moment. The kid had a way of saying something that completely rearranged the entire way Dick thought, or made him question every move he had made, and then just walking away, as if Tim had told him good day or something. "Tim, get back here! We are going to have a talk about that last little statement. Tim!" He heard the creak of the door, and ran upstairs as fast as he could. "Tim, come on! You don't get to just say something groundbreaking like that, and walk away."

"The hell I don't!" Dick heard Tim's voice from somewhere down the hall.

He began a systematic search of the manor for Tim. "The kid that's already good at sneaking around is invisible. How did my life get this complicated?" Dick spoke out loud to himself as he shook his head. After two hours of searching the entire manor, Dick gave up, and went back to the cave. He needed to find a way to make Tim visible again, for his own sake, if not for Tim's.

After what seemed like forever, Alfred came down with a tray of food. "Master Dick, is Master Timothy still down here with you?"

Dick sighed. "No, Alfred. You haven't seen him have you?"

Alfred raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

Dick ran a hand through his hair. "I know, I know, no one has actually SEEN him, but you haven't heard him lurking about, have you?"

Alfred placed the tray down on one of the tables near Dick. "I assure you, Master Dick, I have not." Alfred waited until Dick had started to eat before going back upstairs.

After Dick finished eating, he went back to his room; he was staying at the Manor while they tried to make Tim visible again. He grabbed one of his mixed CDs to give to Tim. It wasn't anything special, just something that Dick thought would help Tim get his mind off of his current predicament. It was something Dick listened to when he was stressed out and needed a break. Dick walked into Tim's room, planning to just put the CD on his desk and leave--at least that was the plan until he saw a rather large, Timmy-sized lump on the bed.

Tim had himself covered with his blanket, and hadn't seen Dick yet. Dick moved to the side of the bed as quietly as possible, and then jumped on top of Tim. Dick wrapped his arm around where he knew Tim's neck was and gave him a bear hug. Dick then wrapped his legs around Tim's to keep Tim from kicking him. He didn't need new bruises on his shins. "Can you stop being such an immature mature person? Because being that much of a tight ass all the time has gotta give you cramps."

Tim tried to push Dick off of him, but he couldn't move with the cover wrapped around him the way it was. "What are you talking about?"

Dick wiggled slightly to get more comfortable, but kept Tim trapped. "We're going to find a way to make you visible again. And I want to know what you meant by, 'I never see you.'"

Tim sighed and tried to shift. "Could you move your elbow? You're killing my side." Dick moved slightly. "Anyway, you don't see a problem until it is blatantly obvious."

Dick's mouth hung open for a moment. "What does that mean?"

Tim attempted to throw Dick off again, but he couldn't. "Oh, come on! I give you verbal cues and two days later, you figure it out--after I have a meltdown."

Dick looked really confused. "What do you mean?

"Ugh" Tim muttered. "Would you just leave me alone?"

Dick shook Tim slightly to keep his attention. "No. What do you mean? Hints…like what kind?"

Tim rolled his eyes, even though Dick couldn't see it. "Look it's me…I don't tell you straight out when things are wrong and you don't get it when something is wrong. It's how it works. We deal."

Dick hung his head. "But it doesn't have to work that way."

Tim sighed. "Yes, it does have to be that way."

Dick suddenly looked very sad. "Why? Why does it have to, Timmy?"

Tim sighed again. "Dick, it just does. You don't get it…you can't get it, and I don't even want you to."

Dick got off of Tim and started to pace around the room. "But I want to try, Timmy."

Tim got off the bed and followed Dick around the room. "Yeah, well…good luck...I don't know what to tell you. Things are just really complicated, and my life feels like its spinning out of control. And being invisible isn't helping. Trust me."

Dick flopped down onto the bed again. "Yeah, I'm working on it. You know it would go a lot faster with some help."

Tim sat down next to him. "Yeah, okay…I'm coming. Can you just give me a minute?"

Dick stared in the general direction of Tim's voice. "Um, sure…I'll meet you down there."

"Thanks" Dick walked out of the room, and Tim headed for his book shelf. He grabbed a notebook and wrote one sentence. We talk all the time, but we never say anything. He closed the notebook and walked out of the room.

The End