Wolf's golden-yellow eyes narrowed at the information Dick just told him, knowing that if the pack of the boy's father and uncle's birthplace are in danger then it must be something big for the half-Were to figure out what has happened.

"If that's the case, shouldn't we be doing something about it?" The beast asked, as Dick allowed his human-body to be turned into his Were-form and slowly picked himself off the ground.

"Both Arctic Wind and his grandfather told me to head back to Gotham City, and to find Hook Fang and Night Talon." He then leaned himself away from the tree, though he had to spread his forearms a bit more further apart to stop himself from falling back down to the ground. "They told me that they were at the Grand Canyon when the birds were spreading the words about something that just happened to the Canyon Pack and my grandfather, and that I need them to tell me what was it that happened."

Just by taking a single step forward, which made the dizziness grew a bit stronger, Wolf stood in his way, using his body like some sort of blockage to prevent the boy from continuing on forward.

"Brother, you can't go back to Gotham City." He told the small-wolf. "In the condition you're in and since you've just woken up from a three suns sleep, you'll be too vulnerable to defend yourself, let alone be able to go on a three to four suns travel to your territory, even if I were to accompany you on your journey. Not to mention, the rest of our pack mates will be suspicious to why you want to go back to your turf, when we finally get to have you spend time with us for a whole seven suns. I'm just surprised that you're still able to hold yourself up on your own, even though it may not last for very long if you keep pushing your body too hard beyond its limit."

"Well, Wolf, that's what Weres typically do: We push ourselves beyond our limits, to help us overcome those limits and boundaries when worse case scenario were to ever occur." Dick took another step forward and nearly fell to the ground if Wolf hadn't used his head to stop the boy from falling face-first to the rock-hard ground. "But you're right about one thing: I can't travel back to Gotham without drawing any sort of attention to myself, either as a human or wolf." His Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes scanned around their surroundings. "There's got to be somebody or at least a creature to help me find Hook Fang and tell him to stay in the city until I get back."

"Why not me?" Wolf asked, looking a bit offended that his pup-brother and pup-figure isn't thinking about sending him to be the messenger and tracker for the Were and raven, when he can travel to the city and back without anyone from the Team getting suspicious of him being gone except to go hunt.

"You'll draw too much attention if you go wondering the city on your own, either by day or night. The reason nobody got any more suspicious about you, despite you being too big for any dog breed to ever reaching the size of, is because I had a collar on you and I was right beside you. However, on your own, you'd be attracting attention just as Hook Fang did that had him being taken to the pound. And, honestly, I don't wanna go back to that place that smelled of carcasses of animals who were put to sleep."

"...Urg, point taken." Wolf agreed, feeling his two stomachs doing flips and had to use all of his will to not vomit or regurgitate food out of them. Although, his instincts told him he should give the boy some sort of food for not eating anything for three days and almost listened to his instincts to feed the malnourished pup, when the boy stopped him.

"Wolf, don't even think about it and please focus to the actual problem we have." Dick warned, sending him a glare of a warning to not do what he knows is on the animal's mind. "Look, it's pretty obvious that we're going to need a bird's help to do the task, so I need you to try and bring us some kill in an attempt to bargain with the bird to help us out. I would go off and do it myself, but I have a feeling you won't let me and my body's probably going to fall out on me if I try to force myself to sprint."

Wolf snorted at the last sentence the boy spoke.

"Right, I'm on it." With that being said, Wolf lifted his snout in the air and took in a few whips of smell, already catching the scent of some rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks and even mice coming around the area, and off the beast went.

'Good. While he's off getting some kill, I better try and make myself useful.' Dick thought, as he slowly and carefully moved his body to the tree he was leaning on to face it and placing his front paws as high as they could go on the trunk of the tree, having to use his claws to hold him up against the bark and to not fall down. "Hello?" He barked out, calling out for any critters that are in the tree he's keeping a firm grip on. "Excuse me up there. Can I speak with you for a moment?" Nobody in the tree answered the pup, but his nose tells him that there's an animal in the tree, a bird to be precise, and wasn't going to give up that easily. "I just want a few minutes of your time, so if you would please come out and talk to me, I'll be on my way and let you go back to sleep or continue on with your nightly hunt." Again, nobody replied or a sound was made in the branches, which has finally gotten on the boy's nerve on being ignored. "Alright, up there. You've asked for it."

Letting out a sigh, the pup crouch down to the ground and then, using whatever strength he got in him, launched himself towards the closest branch in his reach, which he had to grab with his fangs. Then, swinging himself back and forth for a bit, he released the branch from his fangs and hurled himself to the next branch above him. Righting himself on the branch, Dick was finally able to leap from branch to branch, going a bit higher in the tree and not in the least worried on falling when his body would wanna tip itself over. Four leaps and three hurls later, the pup stood in front of an owl's nest in a tree and there, inside of the hole in the tree, is a Great Horned Owl... He wasn't happy or even in the bit relieved when he saw the owl.

'Of course, it has to be a Great Horned Owl. Why am I not surprised?' The boy wondered, as he stalked over to the bird and gently nudged it with his snout, since it has its head turned to the inside of the hole. "Hey, wake up." He told the bird, who simply shifted its body a bit from being nudged and then went still. Letting loose a low growl, he nudged the bird again, with a bit more force than the last one. "I'm talking to you, Bird." Once again, the owl refused to wake up and the boy just had it to almost wanting to choke the bird to make it his first kill in weeks. Without much of a warning, Dick jammed his head into the bird's back and that action, alone, woke the owl out of its sleep and have it

"Ahhh! Nest-Thieves! They finally came to take my tree!" It screeched, flapping its wings against the bark and backing away from its home, bumping against the pup's legs and looking up at the young Were-pup. Hopping away from the pup, the Great Horned Owl folded its wings on its back and turned his head from side to side. "A wolf? In a tree? That's what woke me up?" The owl questioned himself. "What is a wolf doing in a tree? I know for certain that wolves are known to being Land-Runners, not Tree-Climbers."

Dick smirked at the bird's curiosity on seeing a canine in a tree.

"Well, I'm a different kind of wolf." He told the bird, who still gave the boy weird glances on why he was in the bird's tree. "But, listen, I need help with something and I was hoping if you would be able to help me with it."

The owl's feathers puffed up from his request, then crouched itself to the branch and held its wings up crooked in the air.

"And why should I help you, when you head butted me and woke me from my nap?" He asked the boy, who looked unimpressed at the bird's threatening pose before him.

'They always want to do this the hard way.' "Because if you help me by answering my questions, then I won't eat you like I should be doing whenever I see prey before me." He growled to the bird, licking his chops and showing the bird his fangs that he would use to grip or tear into prey. Rather than be scared by his threat, the owl simply stared at the pup and then stopped his threatening pose, letting out a deep sigh of annoyance.

"Why are you wolves so serious all the time?" The bird asked. "You didn't have to tell me you're going to eat me, if all you wanted are some simple answers to your problem, Pup." He then ruffled his feathers and turned his back to the boy, lifting his right-wing and cleaning his feathers. "The ravens, crows, falcons and eagles weren't kidding, when they say you creatures are always so uptight and have your furs in a bunch. Although, they never really say anything about Half-Weres behavior being the same as a Full-Were would."

Dick's eyes widen from the bird's words, not expecting the Great Horned Owl to figure out that he isn't entirely a wolf from just having to wake up from his nap and having to be sluggish and passive birds.

"You know what I am?"

The owl let out a small hoot and turned its head to the side, which sort of resembles a scoff, feeling a bit insulted that the boy would think it was really that stupid.

"Know what you are? How could I not know what you are? You reek of human, and the only ones who hang around with humans are adult Full-Weres, who're raised by humans, or Half-Weres in the same position." The bird's head turned halfway around and his big eyes stared at the Half-Were, looking rather a bit concerned and worry on how the preteen's legs shook the longer he stays standing in the tree. "Although, I was sort of expecting Half-Weres to be a bit more, well, bigger."

Dick flattened his ears from the bird's comment and let loose a low growl.

"Born prematurely, two moons early in human-time and a whole moon early in Were standards. My mother was the human and she ended up being very ill while pregnant with me."

The owl let out a hoot of surprise from the information.

"Oh...! Well, that explains much." The bird stated, before he started to flap his wings and circled the boy's head. "But hey, might I suggest before you go asking me for answers to your questions, that we should take this conversation to the ground? I can tell that you're not in the best shape of health to keep yourself in the tree and look ready to fall at any moment." Without waiting for an answer, though the bird can tell that the preteen would appreciate his suggestion, the owl got behind the boy's back and, using his talons to grip both sides of the Were's midsection, gently and slowly lowering the both of them back to solid ground. "I'd say, Boy, when's the last time you ate?! You're so light, I wouldn't be surprised if a crow can lift you off the ground and carry you into the air."

Once the pad of his paws touched solid ground, the boy allowed himself to drop to the ground and let out heavy pants of exhaustion from trying to fight off his newly claimed Vertigo while standing on a tree branch. The Great Horned Owl sat itself on one of the tree's roots, shaking its feathers when a wind ran through them to give them the chill of Winter still being present.

"Alright, Pup. What is it that you want to know?" The bird asked the boy, stretching its wings and letting out a long yawn on still being sleepy. "And, if you can, will you make it quick? I wish to go back to sleep and I'm very much tired from having to hunt for my meal, which didn't go so well, unfortunately."

Before Dick could answer, a voice from behind him stopped him from speaking.

"A Great Horned Owl? That's the sort of bird that you decided to pick to help us?!" It was Wolf and, judging from the way he dropped a family of four field mice, two rabbits and a squirrel from his mouth and flashed his blood-covered fangs to the bird, he was taking the owl's appearance the wrong way. "I can do a way better job than this Sloth-winged vermin can do in just seven suns in a moon's time!" The owl puffed up its feathers and let out a screech, flapping its wings out in front in case the white-beast thinks about coming for it.

"What did you just called me, Owl Killer?! How dare you name me as one of those Tree-Hangers, who will all end up being dead if they would hide better from the humans!"

Wolf dug his claws into the ground and lifted his tail up, getting to his challenging pose.

"It's a fact, Big Eyes! Why else is your own kind sluggish and passive during the sun?! Hell, your kind are easy targets to both humans and animals, which includes other birds, and your kind isn't anywhere close to being endangered like those Tree-Hangers!"

"Look who's talking, Human Slayer! At least not almost every species of my kind and breed isn't being depleted like you overgrown beasts! I'm just surprised that you wolves hadn't gone extinct yet, and that there are actual humans helping you monsters to keep living!"

While the two continue on arguing, Dick's head has grown a painful headache and the longer the two before him argue, the more pain his head gets and that, alone, can easily get him extremely pissed. He face-palmed... Or, while he's a wolf, face-paw himself, annoyed in where the direction his plan was going to.

'Why must this happen every time we wolves come across an owl, especially when we would ask the aid of the nocturnal creature?' Knowing it would be best to put a stop to the argument before they decide to claw at each other, he took action into his own paw. "That's enough, both of you!" He snapped, stepping in-between the owl and engineered-wolf, giving them both narrowed eyes and showing off his fangs to shut them up. "We're all burning precious time, with us trying to find a bird to help us and you with your sleep to hunt, but name-calling and arguing over nothing isn't going to help any of us at all!" He glared at the bird first. "As an intelligent nocturnal, such as yourself, you should know long ago and already learn on keeping your beak shut and ignore those who call you names, which is almost every animals that underestimate your kind!"

Wolf let out a chuckle of amusement, until Dick turned his glare at his friend.

"And you, Wolf! Why would you think, for even a second, that I would choose a bird, who has not much of a stamina or doesn't know much of his way in a large city, over you?! And before you go around and start a fight with an owl, know that I would choose you to do such a task if your presence can easily attract the humans' attention to prevent you from completing the task?" Both owl and beast lowered their heads in shame, with the bird folding his wings behind his back and Wolf flattening his ears in embarrassment. "Apologize to each other."

Dick backed away and, with his glare still on both of them, the two animals stared at each other and, simultaneously, bowed their heads to one another.

"Sorry..." They both said at the same time. Satisfied that it was over and they both truly mean it, Dick nodded his head.

"Good," he said. "Now, back to business." With his anger gone and taking in a deep breath to calm himself, the pup slowly laid his body down and stared at the Great Horned Owl. "What we want to know from you, is if you know of a bird who we can ask for help." The owl was actually surprised by the request the half-Were asked of him.

"A bird?" He said, cocking his head to the side. "That's all you want from me? A bird to help you two?" Dick nodded his head.

"We need somebody to deliver an urgent message to a Were." he explained. "I don't know him much, but he carries the mark of the half-moon on his neck. He and I are of the same pack and, what I heard recently from another Were-pack, something happened to our Birth-Clan and I need to have him remain where he's at for a week until I get back."

"Ahh... I see," the bird sighed out. "A Distress-Message Assignment. Such an obvious task for a raven to do. And where is this Were that you need the message to be delivered to?"

"By land distance, he's at least a three suns journey away from here, somewhere in the city of New York." The owl let out a hoot of surprised, with its eyes widening and some of its feathers rising a bit.

"That place? How can a Were, let alone a human-raised half-Were, ever stand living in such a place like that?!" Wolf groaned in annoyance at the bird's question, while Dick placed a paw over his head when his headache grew.

"Please, Bird, can you tell us if you know of a bird who can help us? It's really urgent that we get the message sent, ASAP, for I'm afraid time is of the essence that could be involved of a life or death situation to the Canyon Pack." The tiredness in his tone, along with the fatigue already getting to the pup, the owl chose to ignore his own question of New York and get back to the true subject.

"...I do know of one bird who might be able to help," the owl stated. "He's a raven, who you would, without a doubt, approve for the job."

"Sounds easy and perfect to hear... But what's the catch?" Wolf narrowed his eyes at the bird, standing over the kills he gotten for Richard in case the bird even thinks about trading the information of said raven for food. Sensing the large beast would kill him if he tries to talk in exchange for all the food Wolf brought, the owl bowed the upper-half of his body, showing to not being of any threat.

"No catch, I assure you." The owl said, holding in a shudder from the cold-glare of Wolf giving him chills all over his body. "The only problem, is finding out when he comes back from his travel." Dick cock his head to the side.

"Travel?"

"Yes, travel." The owl then spread his wings and flew up the tree, resting himself at the lowest branch close to the boy and Wolf. "You see, many of these trees are not very good to being permanent nests, especially when this area is very close to the humans' homes and sea. While the rest of the trees, like my own, had already been taken. However, lately, birds have been fighting over who should get the trees and who would either end up taking the un-safe trees, or leave to look for a better area to roost."

It didn't take long for the two wolves below the bird to figure out the, unfortunate, decision the raven had to make.

"We take it that the raven is one of those birds who got their nest taken away and is force to venture far for a permanent nest?"

"Exactly, Dog Breath." Gaining a low growl of a warning from Dick at name calling one of his pack member, even when perched high in the tree, the owl didn't push his luck and continued with his explanation. "Most of the time, he would be gone for two to three suns, always to return on the third or fourth before the rise of the sun. Other times, he could be gone for a whole week, but only when he believed to had found a nest, just to lose it to another bird or find it not safe as he thought it to be." The owl then slowly walked his way towards the near edge of the branch he's perched on, letting out a high hoot and pointing his hooked beak towards the direction at one of the trees that sat near the ledge of the ground the three are walking on. "For now, that tree, the one that sits closest to the ledge, is his temporarily roost." He glanced back down to the two wolves. "I keep watch over the tree, so that no birds would try to take it while he's gone. And, if memory serves me right, he should be coming back from his search; seven suns had passed and no bird brought me word of him finding a new nest of his own. If you wait long enough, he'll surely return and help you with your problem when he hears your reason."

Wolf and Dick let out huge sigh of relief from the news and got to their feet, with Wolf scooping up the kills he made back into his mouths and trotting over towards the tree, with the boy staying put for a moment.

"That's wonderful news to hear," the half-Were said. The boy lifted his head to stare up at the owl, who flew himself back to the branch towards the hole in the tree to get back to sleeping. "Thank you, Friend." The bird halted on his steps, clearly surprised to hear what the pup has just called him.

"Don't mention it, so long as I can get back to my sleep." The owl let out a yawn/mixed screech, stretching his wings in the process and shaking his body to rid away the chill that passed them by. "If you're done needing my assistance, I'll be going back to sle-"

"Actually, can you wait for a moment?"

Without bothering to tell the bird why he stalls the bird from getting back to sleep, the half-Were made his way towards his pack-brother. From high in the tree, it seems like the smaller wolf was just staring up at the larger wolf, his gaze seeming to focus on the kills that hang within the white-wolf's mouth. The white-wolf then flattened his ears and, from what the owl could hear, was growling and something he believed Wolf was saying "Why should we give...?" before he couldn't hear the rest of the creature's sentence. The black Were-pup gave out a few barks and, after stomping his paws into the ground and a few grunts the pup made, the white-wolf lowered his muzzle to the pup.

Not being able to see what was going for a few seconds, the Were-pup came trotting back to the owl's tree... Held within his muzzle, the four field mice that the larger wolf was just holding within the grasp of his fangs. Curiosity caught the Great Horned Owl's attention, as he tilted his head from one side to the other, wondering why the pup brought the four field mice with him when he showed no intention at eating them.

Lifting the corner of his lips into a smile at the sight of the owl's curiosity, while ignoring the annoyed and disapproval look that his pack-brother is giving to him, Dick lowered his head and released the kills from his fangs, setting them in-between two roots that is in front of him.

"We wish to thank you for helping us with our problem... This seems to be a fitting and fair payment for your help, and a way to make up for disturbing you from your rest."

The Great Horned Owl rocked his head to the side, studying on what just happened and stunned by this pup, this half-Were to be precise, would extend his generosity to a creature such as he, a bird that many animals would referred to as vermin. Pleased at the stunned look on the bird's face, the pup gave him a quick wink with his left-eye.

"Not every one of us creatures believe you and your kind to being burdens; after all, we all have an important role in life." And just like that, he trotted back towards Wolf, jumping and licking at his face in gratitude for surrendering some of his kill, and the two made their way towards the tree, leaving the owl to take in what the nearly thirteen year-old Were-Pup just said to him before he swooped down and grabbed for the field mice, releasing his screech cry into the night sky, thanking the pup for his kindness to a creature such as himself.

Back in Mount Justice; in the Living Room...
"Why does he always do this?" Conner growled out, who sat in one of the single seater sofa chair in the living room.

Kaldur sat across from the half-Kryptonian, also in a single seater sofa chair, while Wally and Artemis sat in the ikea dark-green sofa. M'gann, being the only member not sitting with the Team in the living room, was making cookies to pass the time and hoping to not damage this sort of batch, considering Chocolate Chip cookies are everyone's favorite cookie to eat... As long as they aren't burnt to a crisp.

"He's hiding something from us," the half-Kryptonian continues to spew out his anger. "He knows why he's sick, and he's not going to tell us why?!"

"Conner, you must try to calm yourself, my friend." Kaldur calmly, but in a firm voice, told the angered teen. "Whatever reason Robin wishes to hide his illness from us, will be up to him to decide if he wishes to tell us or not, especially if it has any sort of connection to his identity."

His words seemed to only made the Kryptonian angrier, his hands clenching into tight fists, his nails digging into his palm and drawing out small lines of blood.

"We're his friends, practically his family! He should be able to trust us with his secrets, including who he really is behind the mask!"

"Now, Supes, you know why he can't give away his secrets to us." Wally lightly scolded his friend, trying to not make the sixteen year-old any more ticked off than he already is, despite himself also mad that their youngest friend is keeping something from them that most likely has to do with his behavior earlier.

Conner glared at the redhead, his nails digging into the arms of the chair he sits in.

"'Because Batman forbade Robin of revealing any secrets to us that would jeopardize their secret identity'." He growled out, having to hear the same subject for the last twenty-sixth time. "Did he also forbid him of ever letting anybody know if he's sick? If he's badly hurt, that would actually prevent him from going on a mission?"

Things were not going well in Wally's favor.

"Well..." He wasn't sure how to answer that question. The redhead nervously rubbed the back of his head with his hand, trying to figure out the best way to answer Conner's question that wouldn't make the half-Kryptonian any angrier, which he knew he wouldn't be able to accomplish. "He never really say, but I guess if his injuries and/or illness were to be linked to his identity, then I suppose that rule is applied to have Rob not tell us."

Nobody seemed to like his answer in the very least.

"Even if it meant he could end up being killed, just for the sake of keeping their identity safe?" Artemis snarked out, feeling disgusted towards the Dark Knight and his rules of forbidding anyone of them to know Robin's true identity.

Wally wasn't sure how to answer her question; the only ones to truly answer that question, would be the League. Though, if they were to come in to the mountain and listen in on their conversation, whether they asked them or not, they'd probably tell them to not worry about it and to not speak of the subject ever again... On a count, that Batman would glare them down and put the Team into immense training for even bringing up their questioning of the Dynamic Duo's rule of keeping their identity a secret from them.

Nevertheless, the redhead came up with an answer, from his own belief.

"I doubt that would ever happen, you guys. We haven't been into that situation."

"Not yet, anyways." Artemis muttered an added response, not caring if the others were able to hear what she just said.

"Well, yeah... But what I mean is, if Rob were to be in any dangerous situation that would endanger his life, he'd probably let us know, beforehand."

"You mean like how he let us know when he'd pull his disappearing act, twice, during our mission involving Cobra and Bane, before we went into battle?" Conner brought up, crossing his arms over his chest, apparently not looking convinced to Wally's words. He shook his head. "Not that I want to doubt you or anything, Wally, but it's obvious that Robin won't be telling us anything about himself, let alone if he's sick or could even be dying, when he listens to Batman's every rules and orders." His Sky-blue eyes glared at the red-head, as if trying to use his nonexistent Heat-Vision on him for target practice. "Well, almost every rules and orders."

Everyone in the room knew what he meant by his last sentence; it was no big surprise that both Wally and Roy knew about Robin's secret identity. Back then, both gingers were the only friends he ever had/made that weren't from his circus family or at Wayne Manor. And because he didn't want them to think he doesn't trust them, even though both older boys understand why he can't tell them who he really is, Dick chose to ignore Batman's orders and revealed himself as Dick Grayson to his friends/newly appointed brothers.

Immediately getting to what Conner is saying and what he may be suggesting, Wally got off the couch and waved his hands out in a defense gesture.

"Whoa! Hang on there, Supes. Roy and I didn't do anything to get Rob to tell us, let alone show us, who he is under the mask. Hell, we told him seventeen times that we had no intension of knowing who he is, especially if it means suffering the wrath of Batman if we gained even one hint on who they are."

"And did you and Roy suffered his wrath when he found out that Robin told you guys who he was?" M'gann, who finally came into the conversation and out of the kitchen, with fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies on a plate held in her hands, joined the team in the living room and taking her spot next to Conner.

A few spots of sweat appeared on Wally's face, his skin looking a slight pale from the Martian's question.

"When Batman found out that we knew Robin's true identity, thus knowing his own identity, he had me and Roy clean the whole Batcave from top to bottom, using nothing but a couple of toothbrushes. Took us a whole week to get the whole cave clean, and that's even with me using my super speed."

Kaldur, M'gann, Conner and Artemis gave him a blank look, a few moments of silence grew within the room. None of them would ever come to believe the choice of action Batman had decided to put both redheads through for learning both his and Robin's identity would be so… Unsophisticated?

"…Really? That was your punishment?" Artemis had thought their punishment would involve being shackled against the wall in a cage, with no access to any electronics or any sort of plumbing, and only being fed with dead bats or rodents. But that, wasn't even close to torment and sounded more of a chore given to them the very moment an adult relative knew it needed to be done but chose to have teens do it for them.

"It's not as easy than it sounds, believe me." Wally insisted, his skin color nearly going back to its pink-tan color but his eyes still holding fear from his terrible experience at the Batcave. "If Roy was here, he'd tell you how much of a nightmare it was on having to clean up all that bat guano from the ceiling, while fighting off the bats from attacking us in the face and trying to push us to our deaths."

The four teens stared at each other in questioning.

'…Is he serious about this? It was that bad?'

None of them could possibly imagine what it was like for the younger Speedster and former protégé of Green Arrow to be punished for Robin's choice of revealing his identity to them by cleaning Batman's own Batcave, but since none of them had ever been to the Batcave and if what Wally had told them is as bad as he stated… It was best to not push for any more details to what else they had to do in the Batcave, especially when hearing about cleaning the cave from bat dung almost made them wish M'gann never insisted on making cookies in the first place. More specifically, chocolate chip cookies.

"…Well… If you and Roy got punished for learning their identity, what sort of punishment did Robin get for revealing his identity to you guys?" The martian girl asked, hoping it would change the subject and get their minds off of the thoughts of rodent feces to prevent them from eating her cookies, which she's been greatly improving on baking.

For the first time in a long time, Wally didn't make any move to dive in for the food laid out for them, even when his stomach growled in anticipation to have something sugary to digest.

"Honestly, M'gann, I don't really know."

A moment of silence went by.

"…What…?" Conner growled out.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" It was plain obvious Artemis was trying not to lose her temper as Conner. Wally slowly scooted a few inches from Artemis, putting his hands up in defense, should she, and possibly even Conner, try to pin him down to force whatever secrets he knows about.

"It's what I just said, 'I don't know'!" He knew there was something about the spitfire-like attitude that made him fall for the blonde-archer, but seeing one of the downfall on having a demanding, stubborn girlfriend was a bit scary for the ginger to handle. "Whatever goes on with Rob's life, either it be as a civilian or in costume, it's always been kept secret from the League and us. I mean, Batman isn't really a conversational kind of guy and whenever somebody asks him what goes on in his life, all he does is glares at you until you either walk away or change the subject."

"Which means the League, even the founding members who started all this, won't ever be informed if either Batman or Robin's life were at stake?" Kaldur questioned, which earned an uneasy nod by the Speedster.

"…That still doesn't mean Robin has to act like him!" Conner was really trying to keep his anger down; the deep breathing through the nose could be heard even from the hallway, like an enraged bull ready to charge and trample whatever comes in its way. "If he revealed who he was over three years ago, even against Batman's orders, then he should be able to trust us with his identity, just as much as he did with you and Roy."

"Gotta go with Conner on this one."

"What?!" The redhead shouldn't be that much surprised that the blonde would side with the half-Kryptonian on wanting to find a way to know his best friend's identity, but he couldn't help but feel a little bit betrayed and jealous that his girlfriend wouldn't back him up on this. "Artemis, Babe, why?! I thought you'd be on my side on this!"

Artemis held up both her hands in a defensive manner at her boyfriend for his choice of reaction.

"I can understand why he has to keep his secrets from everyone. Trust me, I really do… But, we've been a team for months now. We never tried to get Robin to tell us who he was, but he knows everything about us. So, that should mean he'd know he can count on us to keep his identity a secret, sort of like Batman can count on the League to trust them to keep his and Rob's identity a secret."

"Not the entire League Members know his secret, and will not be revealing them anytime soon." A new voice entered the conversation, startling the whole Team being caught in a conversation without noticing any of them noticing and, when all their eyes focused towards the hallway, they instantly flushed with guilt when they saw their youngest member entering the Dining Room, leaning against Wolf for support.

Wally was the first to his feet and was beside the twelve year-old in less than three seconds, gently coaxing him to lean on him and guide him to sit at the other end of the couch M'gann and Conner sat in.

"Dude, where'd you go? You shouldn't had left when you aren't feeling well." Kaldur and Artemis stood at both side of the Speedster, as M'gann scooted next to him and grabbed for the cookies And silently offered them for the small-boy. Robin smiled in gratitude to the Martian and took the smallest cookie on the plate.

"I told you I'd be outside, getting some fresh air and stuff." He took a small bite of his treat and express his liking by moaning in satisfaction, even though his stomach didn't want sweets at the moment and wanted to force the boy to cough it off.

Watching him eat the cookie, got Wally grabbing some off the plate and swiftly devour his portion, still giving the boy his annoyed, but concern look on his face.

"You were gone for almost an hour, Robin. We were worried you overexerted yourself and collapsed out in the woods." Kaldur, ever the calm, mature member of the Team, didn't hide the relief to see he was back in one piece. Though, had to scold the younger boy for heading off on his own, and in his I'll condition, no less.

"I'm fine, you guys, really." The Team was having a very hard time believing him. "I just needed some fresh air, it helps clear my head and calms me when distressed. Besides, I wasn't by myself. Wolf was with me the entire time, and would've brought me back if I'd collapsed or passed out. Even if I were off on my own and something did happen to me, M'gann would've probably sensed it and you would all come out looking for me the moment she tells you of my condition."

The group only stared at him, then Wally through his head back and laughed.

"I swear, you have an answer to everything!" Dick smiled at his brother, intrigued on how he can get all serious at one moment and then become an immature teenager the next second.

"That's not true, I'm afraid. Otherwise, I'd know of a way to get you to stop eating all the food in the mountain, like how you just finished eating all of M'gann's cookies."

"Wait, what?" Everyone stared down at the plate M'gann held in her hands that once hold her cookies and, just as the Boy Wonder just pointed out, they were all gone and nothing but crumbs are left on the plate. All but Dick and Wolf glared at the redhead Speedster.

"You chomping, self-minded glutton!" Wally flung himself off the couch and ran to stay away from his girlfriend who chases him with fists raised to smack him upside the head.

"I didn't do it on purpose, Babe! You know how I tend to eat, and wouldn't even notice I'm still eating until somebody sees me taking what's left over!"

"Yeah? Well, I'm going to make sure you remember what happens when you hog whatever food is being offered to all of us!"

A the rest of the Team watch the Speedster avoid getting caught by his girlfriend, Wolf came before the boy. His golden-eyes asking the obvious question: What will he do?

Robin gently rested a hand on top of Wolf's head and scratched behind his right-ear, his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes watching his friends enjoying the scene before them. None of them took notice of the low rumbling sounds he made in his throat, answering the generic-engineered canine's question.

"I'll wait... Right now, let's enjoy this moment of peace, bonding with our pack."

A Week Later; Friday, March Sixth...
For an entire week, the Team had the time of their lives: Going to the movies, shopping at the mall, played certain activities that they also made into training exercises to avoid slacking off and so much more. They all still had to attend school during that week, but wasn't too much of a problem and even did homework with each other to quicken their time to spend together.

The whole time, Dick made sure to spend as much time with the Team he swore he'd do, including Zatanna and Raquel, both who returned from their training by Diana on Themyscira on the third day of the week. Both were told by Kaldur and Wally what transpired while they were gone, but were instructed to not ask the youngest of the group of his condition and to enjoy what little time they have with their little-brother, before their next mission involves them working along side with the Justice League.

After a few months being on the Team, Dick's view towards the magician girl shifted into acknowledging her as his sister, having to grow out of his "Puppy-Love" state when his excitement for another potential pack-mate would be joining took over when she first came to the Team. He's just glad that they didn't kiss when they rescued the League from Vandal and celebrated New Year's, otherwise his human emotion could be in conflict with his Were-instinct and be uncertain of his feelings of Zatanna being his Life-Mate or not.

On the day before the last day of staying over at Mount Justice, the raven he and Wolf talked to had succeeded of the task given to him and informed the twelve year-old that Hook Fang is staying in the woods near Wayne Manor, having to follow the boy's scent to his den and wanting to speak to the pup before learning he'd be gone for seven suns straight. Which means by the time he returns to Gotham through the Zeta Beam, he wouldn't have to look too far on finding the Were and getting some answers about his father and uncle's birth den.

What surprised him the most, was that Batman didn't contact him the entire time. Sure, Bruce would come in as the Dark Knight whenever they're training at the mountain or even give him a call to make sure he's okay, but he actually kept his word on letting him spend time with the Team and didn't have him return to Gotham for anything. While it may be a huge relief to the others, it made Dick concern; even if he isn't involved with a case, he would be given at least a file or two to go over that would aid Batman or prepare the preteen for future battles that could help him solve a mission.

"Hey, Rob!" A mass dropped beside him on the couch, already knowing it being Wally from his voice. "Watcha watching?" The boy honestly wasn't paying attention to what was going on, and merely shrugged his shoulders.

'Strange,' he thought. 'I didn't bother checking to see what's being played on TV, and when didn't I notice how lost in thought I was to not realize it was still on...? Was it even on in the first place?'

"Dude? Hey, Rob!" Wally shook his shoulder, recapturing the boy's attention. "Are you alright?" Underneath his shades, Dick's eyes widen a bit in shock. Did he actually lose focus on Wally? His silence told the redhead that something was up. "I asked what you're planning to do on your birthday, because we do a party with the Team if you want to." In another term, his friend was really telling him that he wants to have a party here so he can eat a ton of sweets and not be criticized for the massive sugar he'll consume. Unfortunately for Wally, his best friend/little brother doesn't feel the same.

"I'm not going to have a party, Wally, and have no intention on wanting to celebrate it." Dick's reply made the sixteen year-old gap in shock.

"...Dude, what the hell's wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong with Robin?" M'gann asked, who came from the hallway when coming out of her bedroom.

Wally said, "He doesn't want to have a party, or want to celebrate his birthday in two weeks!" The Martian girl shared the stun with the Speedster, gaping at the younger-boy.

"You don't want to celebrate your own birthday, Robin?"

Since Wally's birthday party went without a hitch, despite having to be called on a mission in the middle of it and resumed when they all got back from completing their part, she became a big fan on wanting to do parties for the whole Team's birthdays, including the anniversary of the forming of the Team and some of the other holidays. She didn't minded that Robin didn't want a party like they did for Wally but to hear he has no intention on wanting to celebrate his own birthday at all, that was very puzzling for the Martian.

"Why don't you want to celebrate it, Robin? And when exactly is your birthday?"

His response, a simple shrug from his shoulders.

"I just never see any particular reason why people want to celebrate it." With so much honesty, Wally didn't know how more stunned he can be. "Besides, I'm content on my birth being an ordinary day to me, but will be grateful to those who wishes me a happy birthday, which is on the first day of Spring."

Be redheads shared a look with each other, silently having a conversation of their own. They're both in an agreement on what must be done.

"Dude, you're getting a birthday party." Dick knew it'll be pointless to try and convince them to not to, even if he were to use Batman as an excuse to get out of it. He just let the two have the win and come up with a plan on what they'll do for the party, heading for the dining room to get food in the process for Wally.

Seeing it now being his only chance to leave before they start bombing him with questions on what he wants to do and what he wants for his birthday, he quietly got off the couch and made a beeline for the Zeta Beam. It's nearing five, which means Alfred will be home to plan dinner and Bruce will either be home around that time, or be held back late from work again.

The thought of food made his stomach growl with protest, which'll mean another another skip day for the twelve year-old… Which also had been going on more recently than he normally does, and has even been turning in to bed sooner than the others. Stopping in the hallway, Dick checked on his pulse and pinch a part of his skin to see if he's getting dehydrated. Despite his heart seemed to had slowed a bit, both tests told him he's physically fine but in the back of his mind, he knew something's going on with him. He quickly continued on for the Zeta Beam and typed in the secret coordinates for the Batcave, but just as he was about to step into the beam, the sound of running paws caught up to him.

"Dick!" Followed by a grunting bark, Wolf sprint for the boy and stood beside him, slightly panting. His golden-yellow eyes held concern and even sadness of the boy's silent choice to leave. "What's going on? Did something happen?"

All Dick did was stared back at Wolf beneath his shades, eyes widening.

'First zoning out in the living room, then not paying attention to Wally, followed by skipping more meals and sleeping in early, and now not sniffing out Wolf's scent?' Without a doubt, something is wrong with him, very wrong.

"I need to go," was all he said. Before Wolf could get the chance to ask him for anything else, the boy thrust himself into the beam and, one moment he was at Mount Justice, then the next he's in the Batcave.

"RECOGNIZE: ROBIN, B-0-1!"

The sound of bats flying over his head is all he heard, jumbled voices going over him.

"Dick's back!"

"He's returned!"

"Something seems to be bothering him."

"He doesn't look too good."

"Is he okay?"

"He's been gone for too long!"

The voices of the bats, all talking at once and continued rambling, only made a headache form in his head. A few minutes passed and he heard no sound of Alfred coming down to the Batcave, meaning the butler isn't home. A few sniff in the air verify as more proof that he's home alone and when that information got through the pulsing of a migraine growing, he forced his body to move.

He ran up the staircase, nearly rammed the grandfather clock off the wall, almost yanked the Study Room's door of it's hinges, sprinted down the hallway, flung himself to the bottom of the first floor before the front door and barely got himself to close one of the two doors he pulled opened. The every instant he knew the door closed behind him and outside, he finally allowed himself to turn into his Were-form and made an immediate dash for the woods.

He made a straight path through the barn's field, avoiding the horses grazing and not hearing Lună or Cobalt calling out to him. He kept in running, dodging tree-roots and jumping over rocks sticking out of the ground. In the back of his head, he knows not to reach the outer limits of the forest and sought out for the river he and Lună road to tell weeks ago.

His limbs trembled like hello with each step he made and knew the spots will soon blind him, leading to his body to collapse from exhaustion and possible dehydration.

'Almost there,' he thought to himself. 'Must be near water... Must hurry to water...!' His ears, flattened to his head, caught the sound of rushing water and knew it's just behind the bushes coming out. His paws skid for a moment before he forced his legs to launch himself over the shrubs... Where, when he got over the plants, he found himself heading for a large Timber-wolf with black covering most of it's body, sat up from laying beside the riverbank.

With quick reflexes, Dick forced his body to turn sideways and dodged the wolf's face before rolling in the sand and landed into the water on his left-side. Almost immediately, the Timber-wolf came to the boy and pulled him out from the water by the scruff.

"Are you alright?" The wolf, the Were Dick recognized to being Hook Fang, asked in concern and looking over his wolf-body for any signs of damage. When he saw no injuries but noticed the unusual deep breathing, Hook Fang dug his nose through Dick's fur to smell for illness. Barely by a single sniff, the adult Were pulled back and his eyes shined with great concern. "You're going to go through Rush, soon. Aren't you?"

*Whimper* He should've known that would be it. How could he be so forgetful at a time like this, especially since his thirteenth birthday's coming up? His father, uncle, even his Cousin Johnny warned him to beware of the symptoms he'll be experiencing every seven years after his first Rush at six years old.

"Auh, auh!" Something came out from the tree above the bushes Dick jumped over and landed itself on his side, knowing it being Night Talon. "Here! Pup, arrive!" The raven light nibbled on the boy's left-ear, forcing the pup to yelp in pain. ~Click-click~ ~Click-click~ After letting out his signature call out, Night Talon hopped off of Dick's body and flapped himself into Hook Fang's back. "Confirm. Pup, Rush soon."

*Grrroowwlll* While in his weakened state, Dick knew the grown isn't directed towards him and is more of expressing his own distress of the information. "Your stomach needs fresh kill," the full-Were stated.

"Night Talon go, find kill." The raven swiftly took off into the air, leaving Dick alone in the company of Hook Fang. With his mind slowly catching him up to memory, Dick tried to get himself off the ground and only succeeded on sitting up while his body remained laying down.

"I need you to tell me something," he started the conversation. "But before that, I need you to verify something, first." Hook Fang silently nodded to the boy, given him his permission to ask him whatever he needs to be confirmed, as he settled himself beside half-Were to help dry him quicker from his landing in the river. "My father and uncle are twins, brothers who left their birth den to live amongst the humans, hoping to find their future Life-Mates and prove that Weres can truly love alongside them."

Hook Fang's eyes widen from the information Dick's giving to him, but remained quiet to allow the boy to get to the point.

"When they were still alive, they'd tell me and my older-cousin, along with our traveling Circus Family, stories of their home at the Canyon Pack. In many of their stories, they speak of a close friend their father adopted as one of his own, when his mother and father died from a forest fire while leading a herd of bison to safety."

Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes stared up into golden-yellow eyes, not needing to say anymore when it's clear the full-Were realized what the boy wanted him to confirm... And as a response, the adult Were leaned his head down and nuzzled it with the boy's, whimpering with mixture of great sadness and utter joy.

"...Whose pup are you?"

"...The eldest twin, Brave Heart." As the two nuzzled each other, Dick lifted his nose and licked the few tears that escaped from Hook Fang's eyes. "I still kept the Blood, and our existence, hidden from my human-packmates. The only ones who know, are the animals who can see pass my human-form and the wolf you saw with me when you were taken by the humans."

Hook Fang's tail thumped against the ground and his eyes shown great pride towards his newly found nephew… Until they widen in sudden realization and pulled Dick up against his body with his paw, his golden-yellow eyes roaming around the area on high alert.

"We need to go." He reached for Dick's scruff and pulled him off the ground, carrying him away from the river and back into the trees. "Night Talon and I have been searching for you, for so long. Now that we've found you, we must leave." The urgency in his voice told the boy his adopted uncle is afraid of being seen and while there isn't humans anywhere near the perimeter of Bruce's land, it wasn't man Hook Fang's afraid of being seen by from staring up at the sky.

"Wait!" He barked, shifting and snapping his jaws until his fangs grazed the small-whiskers of the full-Were's muzzle and found himself dropped to the ground. Hook Fang tried reaching for his nephew again, but stopped dead in his tracks when Dick snarled at him. "Who are you trying to avoid? And I need to know: What happened to my grandfather?"

Hook Fang stared, stunned and mortified, down at the half-Were, while Dick continued snarling at his uncle.

"I've been cut off by my Were heritage for nearly five years, and just heard from Artic Wind and his grandfather that something happened to my grandfather and the Canyon Pack three years ago. Nobody's telling me what happened, and told me to hear it from you." The hurt in his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes flashed in his gaze, but he refused to allow any tears to be shed. "I want answers, and I need them." He ceased snarling, and slowly got himself to sit down. "Please, Uncle... I have a right to know what's going on, or what has occurred with one of my Blood-Kins."

Silence went by the two Weres, both staring at one another, waiting for one to make the first move... Finally, Hook Fang made the first response. He stalked over to his nephew and, gaining silent permission, sat before the pup... And, let out a deep sigh.

"...You're right... You have a right to know what happened..." *Whiiimmmpeerrr* "And you need to know what occurred, three years ago."

Whatever it was, it's very serious.

"...Then, tell me." His heart raced and dread fueled his body, telling him that the news will tear him apart... Possibly, even more so, than the death of his Blood-Pack. "What happened to my grandfather?"

A low rumble, mixed with a soft whimpering, left Hook Fang's throat and looked ready to let out a deep, mournful howl. But, true to his words, he's going to tell his nephew the terrible news. No sugar-coating, no hesitation or delays... He just said it, plain and simple, straight to the point.

"...Your grandfather is dead," he answered. "He was murdered, all for the title of alpha... By a descendent of the cousin to your ancestor, Richard the First... Your Kin-Blood cousin, Black Mane."

TBC

I've decided to change Raven Claw's name to Night Talon; Raven Claw sounds more to what a Were (perhaps another animal) would be named by and I prefer to have Weres and other animals have names that separates them from each other (as much as they could).

R&R