So I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter done, but I was having serious trouble with a few things. But anyway I got it done and am currently working on Chap 4. On a side note, there will be another story after this and it will involve pairings, so I have a poll up on my page and I thought if anyone wants to read the continuation and want a say in the development you could do that, or just rev/pm me.

Also, some pairings/incidents/personality quirks will be brought up in this chapter, and if you think I'm bashing I apologize because that's not the way I meant for it to come off, but after rereading a couple of times (yeah I attempted to edit this time) I thought it may appear to look that way if you weren't reading from my point of view but I was not about to rewrite anything. This chapter is about Robin's past, his feelings, some of his relationships, and what he thinks about certain people and situations. Just what I imagine the inside of a 13 year-old Robin's mind may look like at the time.

So yeah, enjoy.

Make you say
Oh my, feels just like I don't try
Look so good I might die
All I know is everybody loves me
Head down, swaying to my own sound
Flashes in my face now
All I know is everybody loves me

Robin snatched the cell he used when in his civvies out of his pocket. Batman knew he would be busy with Superboy today and wouldn't want to disturb them, Roy and Wally were the only two people outside of the Bat Family who knew this number, but Roy hadn't called him since he ditched them for his solo Red Arrow gig, and Wally was a bit busy trying not to strangle Artemis in Mount Justice with their little assignment, so it couldn't possibly be them right now. So it had to be someone from the Birds of Prey, or his adopted brother. Seeing as Oracle only called him when he was back in Gotham or during emergencies, the Boy Wonder surmised that the only person who could possibly be trying to contact him was-

'NW,' he read to himself. 'Nightwing, wonder what he wants at a time like this?'

He was about to place the HTC SENSATION where it belonged in his back pocket in order to find another stack of books for Superboy to speed read through when he noticed two blue eyes staring at him.

"You can answer if it's important. Its fine," Superboy commented while pulling another random book from the top of his "must read" stacks. Robin almost laughed, forgetting that he had forced the clone to sit in a ridiculous chair that looked like a giraffe. He needed a place to sit after all, and the big comfy adult chairs in the bookstore were all occupied, and he was determined to make sure Supe-Conner- sat on something remotely comfortable that was not the floor.

"You sure?" Robin asked, feeling it vibrate in his hand before it began to sing again.

"No problem. Besides," he motioned to the miniature Wall of China the bird had built around him with a smorgasbord of literature. "I think I've got enough to read for now. And I do have my own two feet."

The children in the kid's corner giggled behind their books.

"Yeah, you're right," Robin laughed along, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll be back in a bit."

With that said the youngest of the Bat Family jogged out of the book store, almost colliding with a girl who held a stack of odd looking literature. Somehow he found his way to the rooftop of the three-story shop and rested his back against the fence that prevented anyone from falling… or jumping. It distinctly reminded him of the rooftops of those Japanese schools in the anime that Wally frequently watched-oh wait that was a secret. The phone rang once more and this time he answered without hesitation.

"Hi honey. How are things at the office," he chirped childishly into the phone. For a moment he wondered if his brother would play along without missing a beat as usual but decided that he wouldn't since this was his third call. Something was up with the older bird for sure.

"Hahaha little brother," the grim voice of Dick Grayson met his ears. "Why didn't you answer the first time I called you?"

"Well, why did you call me three times? Maybe I don't want to talk to you," he halfheartedly joked.

"If that were the case, you wouldn't have answered the phone just now," Dick replied instantly. Robin decided they knew each other too well sometimes.

'Damn, he's got me there.'

"And you would have turned your phone off, bird brain," the former Robin teased.

"No need to ruffle my feathers, Dick."

"Oh Timmy," Nightwing feigned hurt. "Are you making fun of my name," he laughed with what sounded like a tinge of malice in his deep chuckle.

"You sound like a moron. Anyway, how are things in Blüdhaven?" Timothy Drake asked, picking at his fingernails with his phone held between his shoulder and the side of his face. No matter what he did they always seemed to get dirty. He was pretty sure that Richard was also examining his nails.

"Oh you know, same old same old," Dick said on the other side of the line. 'Kicked some mobsters… butts; smacked around a few crime lords: the usual. Damn my nails are filthy."

Tim noticed how forced Dick's words sounded, like he wanted to say something else, and arched a thin black eyebrow. He knew Blüdhaven was a violent city and the older hero didn't like talking to him about his crime fighting there when he could help it, so the discussion would be ending right about now. He didn't even swear in front of Tim, which was all fine and dandy in a way, but Tim hated that Dick couldn't talk in his usual fashion around him. The age thing was a bummer. The first time they talked about crime fighting Dick had spoken to Tim the way he would any ally, completely forgetting his age-it was easy with all of his accomplishments as Robin, his intelligence, not to mention they were great friends- but Bruce had heard, and he certainly wasn't happy with that. Nightwing was not the type to use profanity in every sentence, but that didn't change the fact that he did use it on occasion. Heck, everyone around Tim Drake swore, and he was use to it. Unfortunately, being 13 and all, Batman did not appreciate the first time he said hell much less shit while on a mission.

It wasn't his fault that Two-Face used that kind of profanity and it rubbed off on him for a second now was it? And of course Bruce hadn't bought his temporary insanity plea.

In any case, Tim leaned back on the fence more and slouched a bit in the process. Batman hated whenever he slouched, so he never did… Around the Bat anyway.

"Is something wrong, Night?" he asked, his voice prominently laced with concern.

"What makes you think something's wrong, Rob?" he nervously chuckled.

"Well for one you are a grown man and you're voice just cracked," Nightwing groaned at that. He probably hoped his heir to the Robin throne hadn't heard it but nothing got pass that kid. "And for another thing you usually don't call me so much. You always give up after the first time if I don't answer and wait for me to call you back. But then you don't answer and it becomes this kind of vicious circle."

"What? I always answer your-"

"Vicious circle," the current Boy Wonder sang out with a hint of his lighthearted nature laced through it.

"You sound like Jesse McCartney," Nightwing deadpanned. He knew Tim hated when people pointed that out. He didn't hate the singer, just being compared to him. It wouldn't have been so bad if it was just Dick, but no. Dick had passed this bit of information on to Roy and Wally, and then Wally told everyone else on the team. Not that the team ever bothered him about it, but when the speedster was bored he'd play one of the songs he'd downloaded onto his itouch on a speaker and everyone, excluding Superboy and M'gann who didn't comprehend what was so bad about it, would laugh behind his back. What was worse was when people asked him to sing, but he wasn't going to get into that at the moment. That was a different kind of vicious circle.

"I'm hanging up now," he grumbled with no real heat behind his threat. Of course he wouldn't hang up on his brother and sometimes partner. If it weren't for him, Tim would have never been in his position as the current Robin in the first place.

"Well don't do that," Dick whined. He was probably playing with that ridiculously long hair of his. "Oh, did I tell you I finally got a haircut?" Strike that. "It almost got burnt off, so I just decided to chop it before any real damage was done."

"Thank God, D, I was wondering if I'd have to take a pair of scissors to that mop in your sleep," Robin teased, snickering at the grunt from the older bird. "By the way, I kinda have someone waiting on me, so if you don't mind getting to the point of the conversation please?" Tim urged.

"Oh yeah. Well…" he mumbled. "I-I could just talk to you later if you're busy…" The young man trailed off.

"Dude, aren't you supposed to be older than me?" Tim imagined Dick rolling his eyes but nodding. "And yet you're getting nervous just talking to a thirteen year-old kid?" he chided, trying to annoy the topic out of the former Robin. Hopefully it works.

"Geez you always were rough on me. Well okay, I was just wondering," there was a long pause afterward and Tim had to pull the phone away from his ear to make sure Dick was still there. "H-how're you doing?"

That was obviously not what he wanted to ask. The bird brain chickened out of what Tim now knew was the reason he called. He wanted to know about Batman. Well no, he wanted to know about Bruce Wayne. Tim could always tell when the former Dynamic Duo had been in a fight. Just before the Hottest Bachelor in Gotham got home smelling of perfume and alcohol, Dick would send him a message saying-

"G'night bro. Love you.

-D"

Tim shook his head. Those two really needed to work out their issues. Not only were they both heroes who worked together on occasion, they were father and son, although not by blood. Everyone in the Bat family had lost something, and that had brought them together in one way or another. Bruce, Dick and Tim had all lost their parents in some tragic accident. Luckily for Tim, his father was still with him, but he had always thought of Bruce as a second father as well as a mentor, Dick had been his brother from the beginning, and the others were his kin as well. It was just a natural instinct for a thirteen year-old to want his family to stay together; at least he thought so.

"Yo, T-dawg?"Nightwing called out. He knew Tim absolutely despised that name with every single fiber of his living being. If he could, he would give the name corporeal form and burn it to the ground."Timmy?" Dick called out for his brother once more, making him realize he had been silent for far too long.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I'm okay, just kinda confused I guess," Tim had responded without a second thought, clapping a hand over his mouth afterward.

"About what?" his brother asked curiously, an honestly concerned tone present.

'Okay, Boy Wonder, think. How do you get out of this one? It's not like he'll tell me why they've been fighting for two months. When it comes to talking about feelings Dick can be even more evasive than Bruce when he really wants to be… Oh! Superboy! That's it!'

"Well," he began, his voice rising an octave. "I've got this assignment to get to know one of my teammates better, we all do."

"Oh yeah?" he sounded genuinely curious. "Who'd you get?"

"One guess, bro. One guess. It's pretty ironic really," Tim challenged.

"Challenge accepted!" He grew silent for a moment before analyzing the situation out loud in a whisper. "Well you know Wally too well for anyone's liking…" Anyone meant Bruce.

"Thas' right Govna'," Tim smirked at his awful British accent that frequently reminded the former Robin of a very specific enemy.

"Man shut up. You know I hate Mad Mod, and I'm trying to think." After Tim had fallen silent he continued. "Let's see, Wally's out, and you pretty much know Kaldur, so it's between J'onn's niece-"

"M'gann."

"That crazy chick you think is infiltrating for the shadows-"

"Artemis Crook. By the way, you told me you'd look into her for me," the Boy Wonder scolded.

"Yeah yeah I know. I've been kinda busy with something though," he mumbled. "Hey, you're the brains of the family, why don't you do it?"

Tim sighed, flicking a piece of lint off his hoodie. "I promised I wouldn't hack the computer in the Cave, and if I don't live up to my end of the bargain, I'll be grounded from missions with the team for a month! That would seriously kill me dude!"

Dick couldn't help but chuckle aloud, causing his brother to smile as well. At least he wasn't being awkward anymore. "Alright dude, I'll check this Artemis chick out for you. Anyways, back to what I was saying. This Artemis chick-"

A laugh erupted from the young hero-in-training. He couldn't help it though: Artemis and Wally were probably both bleeding out right now, throwing insults and objects at one another.

"With that laugh I'm guessing she's with the Walls?" Dick guessed correctly and Tim was rewarded with an even louder, sadistic cackle. "Those two should just hook up already," he sighed.

Tim froze as he sunk into a lower slouch. "Dude. That's sick."

"Just call 'em as I see 'em little bro," was Dick's amused response.

"First off, you can't even see them, second how in the world could those two possibly work?" Tim grumbled. Sure, Richard Grayson took after Bruce Wayne in one way(being a total lady's man) so he knew more about women and relationships, but how could anyone think that Waltemis would ever happen? That would just be one huge disaster. Sure, couples needed to be different-have a relatively different approach and outlook on certain aspects of life-but those two were just way too different; Polar opposites. And although he had once heard Dick say the phrase 'opposites attract' he doubted Artemis would pull the stick out of her ass long enough for her to notice awesome KF really was, and Wally's mind bounced around different girls too fast to ever be trained on the blond archer. Not that Wally was a man slut like the men in Tim's secondary family, but he was a speedster with hyperactive hormones. Tim never judged his family or his best friend when it came to their attitude with women in the least bit, it was simply the way they were born to be, but he had never seen the point in chasing after skirts. Being in a relationship was just too full of drama for the little bird.

Take Dick's past relationships for example: he had been engaged to Koriand'r and Oracle-Starfire and Barbara Gordon respectively-and that had all gone down the crapper eventually. He'd dated and had one night stands, he'd even attempted homosexuality(which never surprised Tim) much to many of his friends chagrin. The results: Koriand'r running off to her home planet for a while, Babs and he had broken it off, he was currently single, and his ex from his gay period was hanging around with his first fiancée. Honestly, it was a mystery that he wasn't an emotional wreck, but also appreciated. If Tim had to pick up those pieces he'd probably end up a jaded adult with no tolerance for a romantic relationship. Though without his own experience he couldn't truly fathom-so he was just peachy with being a thirteen-year old kid with no firsthand knowledge of heartbreak. In fact, he preferred it.

"Yeah," he mumbled before finally sprawling full out on the roof. "I'm so not ready for girl drama."

"Just give it a year or two and you will be, now shut up so I can think. Guess it's between that martian chick-"

"Once again, M'gann."

"And Superclone," Dick chuckled, thinking his nickname for Tim's friend was clever. It so was not.

"His name is Superboy!" the teen all but shouted into the phone. "Or Supes… Or Supey… Possibly Conner… If he isn't too pissed with me that is."

"Sorry dude, didn't mean to step on your toes," Dick smirked on the other side. "I'm guessing you're with him then?" The silence was answer enough. "So how's it going with Super jr?"

"Fine I guess. Although I should really get back, Dick," Tim replied apologetically. He didn't want to hang up on his brother, but he did wish to get back to the clone three levels below him. He was probably bored stiff and about ready to leave if he hadn't already.

"Yeah, I hear you. Say hi to-err-people… for me…" Dick nervously chuckled on the other end, hopelessly wishing that Tim hadn't caught his awkward hesitation.

"I will. Tell Babs I'll call her later this week. And Night?"

"Yeah Big T?"

"He misses you too," Tim smiled. He obviously couldn't see it, but he knew Nightwing was beaming right back at him.

"Later, runt," were the last words Tim had heard. Hopefully he had helped Bruce and Richard's healing process a bit. When those two were suffering, the entire family suffered.

For a few minutes Tim just sat in silence. His phone had been pocketed, and his hands were resting on his knees. He had to deal with the rest of the day as delicately as possible. Superboy deserved some time off from missions, training, and brooding, so he was going to give it to him, and they were going to discover a few of Superboy's favorite things along the way.

Tim glanced at his watch and read 11:43. They'd definitely get everything done by the end of the day. With that thought in mind, Robin headed back down to his newfound friend. He had lost track talking to Dick for so long that by the time he got downstairs, Conner was not where he left him. He had moved, well Tim assumed he'd been forced, over to the sitting area in the corner of the room. What really shocked the shaded hero was not where he was, but what he was doing.

With children to his left and right, some in his lap, clinging to his muscular arms, the clone sat quiet and motionless, eyes slightly wide at a television screen. The area he'd been in had been cleaned up, with a single book left behind on the chair. Robin took the book and sat behind the child to Conner's immediate right.

"What're we watching?" he asked, gaining a joint "shhhhhh" from the seven children surrounding his teammate.

Conner's eyes never left the screen, which currently showed a scrawny, blue eyed, orange haired kid in a toga being trained by a fat, singing satyr. Hercules; the Disney movie with very little amount of actual Greece mythology. It was one of Wally's favorites, but Tim had never seen the appeal, kinda like their opinion on women. Instead of voicing his opinion on the movie, Tim silently sat and frequently flicked his eyes from the television to Superboy's stern, unwavering eyes. They were so focused on the screen that Robin couldn't help but watch the movie. Sure, it was no Count of Monte Cristo, but he'd seen worse. Oh yeah, Babs making him sit through a full session of 27 Dresses. Needless to say he avoided movie night with the former Batgirl from that moment on.

The children surrounding Tim's teammate almost made him release the chuckle he'd been concealing behind his tightly shut lips. The Boy Wonder wasn't very good with kids, but he had to admit that they were quite adorable. They gasped and hid their faces whenever something they dubbed "scary" happened. When something funny, like when the Pegasus took to the skies with as much speed as he could muster despite Megara's pleading and messed up her hair, they erupted with an infectious laughter that even had Robin letting his guise fall for brief moments. And when Hades' failed attempts at killing "Wonder Boy" failed they jeered at the God of the Underworld, and cheered their hero on. All in all, Robin could not help but be charmed by them, especially the frightened little girl who had been sitting alone in a corner, entranced by the movie but apparently ostracized by the other kids because she was obviously smaller and wore large round glasses with two cute vibrant red braids falling off each shoulder- undoubtedly she was dorkier than the others who had been reading picture books while she read Nancy Drew books. Yet somehow despite her obvious reluctance to join in the festivities, Robin felt her presence behind him. When Hades blew his top and had become a bright crimson self instead of his normally azure state, she had grasped his hood tightly, causing him to secretly smile. And even more surprising, she has wound up sitting beside Robin, hands tightly wrapped in his blue hoodie, while his arm protectively rested around her slim shoulders.

By the time the movie was over, she had mysteriously ended up comfortably in his lap while he lightly encased her with his arms, and the two teens had to pry their little ankle biters from their bodies. Their parents had shown up just in time to offer different incentives to release the two teenage boys- such as ice cream, cookies, and the like.

The crimson haired child, who Tim guessed was only around five or six, had easily relinquished her hold on him and had gone back to her seat in order to continue her previous reading. Tim found it odd that her parents had yet to arrive, and kneeled to her eye level despite Conner's grunt of annoyance. Her bright gray irises sparkled in the bookstore's soft lighting and Tim could not help but smile.

"Hi, what's your name?" he asked sweetly.

No response.

"My names Robin," he tried again. Her intelligent eyes spared him a glance. "And that there is my very good friend, Conner."

"R-Robin?" came her shy reply.

Tim nodded, reaffirming his name.

"L-like the bird?" she asked. "Or the superhero?"

"Like the bird," he replied, offering a gentle smile.

"My daddy said not to talk to weird boys," the young girl quickly whispered, eyes nervously darting. "A-and my uncle is a superhero. He says he'll beat anyone up who even looks at me wrong!"

Conner gave another irritated grunt, but Tim paid him no mind.

"Well then your uncle is a very good man," Robin said, his smile never faltering. "See, I just want to know if someone will be by to pick you up soon. Don't want you here all alone, you know? People even weirder than us might come along."

"Hope!" the two boys heard a familiar voice ring through the children's corner. Their eyes traveled to the voice and surprise surprise, there stood the young man they had seen in the pet store.

"Uncle Malachai!" the girl excitedly hoped out of her chair and ran to the teen who smelled faintly of dog shampoo. "You took so long!"

Malachai's stone gray eyes met his nieces matching ones and he smiled brilliantly as he lifted her from the ground and spun in a circle once before his legs seemed to falter. "Sorry Hope, Uncle Mal had to work an extra half hour because the person who was supposed to cover my shift was chasing dragons all morning long."

The girl the two teen heroes now knew was Hope frowned. Her brows furrowed with distraught and disbelief. "Uncle Mal, dragons do not exist," she countered, arms crossed, causing the dark haired teen to gasp as he shifted her in his arms.

"What are you talking about? Of course dragons are real!" Tim replied. Malachi seemed to notice the other two and smiled at them.

"See? Even Rob and Conner know! How can you say they don't exist?"

Hope seemed to think it over, her eyes scanning all three faces. Finally, she gave up and hugged her uncle's neck. "I don't care, I just want to go back to your place so you can make some pasta!" the little girl exclaimed as she bounced a bit.

"I knew you only loved me for my food," the odd teen chuckled before glancing at the two heroes. "Thanks for taking care of the little runt guys."

Robin smirked, his hands now in his pockets. "No problem. She's awesome."

Malachi smiled as they bid their goodbyes. Conner had only offered a curt nod and looked away. The clone quickly realized his teammate had been holding onto the book he had set aside for further research. Despite his wide range of encyclopedic knowledge from wars to plant names, Superboy had no idea how to handle the subject covered in the yellow paperback book in Robin's clutches. The Boy Wonder, back from his high on children, found Conner staring at his chest, and remembered the literature he was hugging to his torso.

"Did you want this?" Robin asked, his eyes trained on Conner's behind his shades like a hawk. He noticed then something he hadn't before; Superboy had incredibly expressive eyes. It was new to him; seeing his eyebrows furrow in frustration and uncertainty, his lips pursed tightly-forcefully. Like he wanted to say something but wouldn't allow himself to.

"I-yes-no… I don't know," he grunted, crossing his arms and glaring at a random spot on the floor. "It's stupid."

"It's not stupid, Conner."

The clone cocked a thick black brow at that.

"Sorry, I don't really know what to call you yet. Your hero name isn't really appropriate for public," Robin whispered as a teen couple passed them.

"The name is fine," the clone sighed. His problem was now obvious to the Boy Wonder, the solution even more so. "Never mind, let's just go. I don't need it or anything."

By the time the clone looked up from the spot on the floor his partner was gone without a trace- not an uncommon feat for Batman's protégé. Superboy's eyes darted around the room with alert. Had he just disappeared or had he been taken while the clone had not been paying attention?

"Con," Robin called from behind him. The larger team flinched and whipped around to see his partner. He sighed in relief. Robin only chuckled. "Alright there?"

"Can you just not do that when we're not fighting," Conner said while shaking his head. "I thought someone kidnapped you or something."

"Sure," the bird chuckled. A brown paper bag hung from his right hand, which Superboy took full notice of.

"What's that," Conner asked cautiously.

"What, this?" he taunted, waving the bag before the larger male. "A present for you."

Setting the bag in Superboy's hands, Robin could only smile. Superboy was openly suspicious, but delved into the secrets of the mystery bag anyway. It was heavier than he thought, and the shuffling from inside indicated two books at least. The first book he pulled out was the canary-yellow book he'd set aside while Robin was outside entitled The Grammar of Society: The Nature and Dynamics of Social Norm written by a Cristina Bicchieri. The second was a very thick book with a dark, mysterious cover. Crime and Punishment written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

"What's this one?" the clone asked, holding up the foreign literature he hadn't seen in his stacks before.

"Crime and Punishment. Thought you might like to know my favorite book as well," the Boy Wonder said while absentmindedly picking at his fingernails once more.

"Did you buy these?" Superboy inquired with something akin to concern laced in his deep voice.

"Yeah. Don't worry, it's no big deal, really. Just think of it as a gift from one friend to another," Robin said with ease, erasing any doubt Conner may have had. He began exiting the bookstore,, whistling his ringtone to himself when he realized he had only taken a piece of toast as his breakfast that morning and it was now catching up with him. "Hey, Con?"

The clone only looked up at the odd sound of his new name.

"You mind if we go out of order on this list? I'm kinda hungry," Robin asked, his hand on his stomach for emphasis. He already knew the answer, but he pouted anyway just in case.

Superboy shrugged as they turned a corner on the sidewalk, the little bird scanning the streets for somewhere he deemed satisfactory while his partner simply followed, thinking how Robin had been guiding him everywhere, like a leader should. The way he imagined a father would probably do.

Last chapter it was puppies and this chapter it was children. What will I do next? This is Mal's last appearance… Don't even know how he and Hope wiggled their way in there.

Yes I made incredibly obvious references but I don't care, I found them incredibly lame while talking to a friend about them, and she convinced me to somehow leave every single one of them in there. The magic of friendship~