Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters to The Batman. They are owned by DC Comics.

Wayne Manor was illuminated by the warm rays of a sun burst through the clouds for the first time in a long time as Alfred stood before one of the many massive windows overlooking the front lawn and could see the rich green grass and beyond that the thick trees of the forest. He never realized that it was so green that it was distracting him from his duties. With duster in hand he smiled and turned about and headed to find the boy that lived in the Manor with the billionaire, poor Dick Grayson was in his own little nightmare, homework. Going up to the closed door his room Alfred gently wrapped and heard a muttered response. He slowly entered and found Dick sitting at his desk, head propped up on his bent arms staring out the window at the same scene that Alfred had just left.

"Ah, Master Dick, taking a break are we from school work?"

"Yeah," was the slightly bitter response.

Calmly walking up and standing beside Grayson Alfred's eyes cast out the window then flicked towards his companion as Dick slumped his head into his arms, "Ah," Alfred smiled, "Looks like someone wishes they could be somewhere else."

On the desk were several mounds of books all with different subjects; history, math, English, and even ancient philosophy. "What tipped you off?" Grayson muttered. He had been stuck here for a month Bruce since their battle with Bane and though Bruce never said it, he was looking at this as a form of punishment. Dick had been denied any chance of going out as Robin and instead been forced to go to school and only school.

"Why not reach Miss Gordon and have a few hours off? Might clear your mind." Alfred innocently suggested.

"Yeah," Grayson muttered without taking his head from the pile, "I'm sure he will let me."

Alfred didn't need to ask who that was referring to. There were only three men that lived here and the other one was deep within the mansion doing his own homework. "I'll see to Master Wayne and then prepare lunch," Alfred said as he turned and headed for the door before pausing just short and turning his head, "By the way, Master Dick, if you by chance do contact Miss Gordon I suggest you be ready."

"Ready for what?" Dick lifted up his head and twisted it about to look, but Alfred was already gone. Shaking his head lightly Grayson looked out the window then down at the papers he had spent hours on, but didn't seem to be making any progress. His mind was in a fog. First Joker and now Bane. Though he professed up and down that it was an accident, after awhile, he was feeling, deep down, that it was worth it. Bane, like the Joker, was a consummate criminal. Put away he would just break out and go back to doing what he was doing before. Robin didn't have any faith in Arkham or the people running the place. It was like putting the criminals into time out. After awhile they would be released and put him, Batman and Batgirl in jeopardy trying to put them back.

Now Grayson felt he was in prison, stuck in this sentence that would never end. He had been struggling for hours to get past the first paragraph of his report on the battle of Thermopylae. He was exhausted and didn't want to be here, but Bruce was insistent on keeping his eye on him and Grayson had no choice but to obey. With his head propped up on his bent arms and cupped hands Dick sighed and closed his eyes then came the vibration of his cell phone that his yes quickly looked for and picked it up and read the small screen. It was Barbara sending him a text message.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked. She hadn't heard anything from in a couple of days and soon she will finish this semester and be on her way to college, but Batman didn't seem to notice that. In fact, he didn't seem to notice much of anything in his partners.

He quickly tapped out, "Homework. You?"

Barbara was quick to respond, "Same. Trigonometry. I hate it. Prof. is a complete noob. You?"

Dick responded, "History"

Barbara's next message made him groan a bit, "Augh. Kill me. Just kidding. :P"

He was in no mood for jokes and when Dick didn't respond for a bit she tapped out, "I'm just kidding. What's on your mind? Haven't seen you in a while."

Dick had to be careful about what he sent. Bruce paid for and developed the phone he used and he was monitoring everything he did with it. "I've been benched."

Barbara, laid out on her own bed was kicking her feet into the air as she read the response and let out a long sigh. It was rather boring since Bane and Joker were killed off. They still did their patrols and would pick off some thieves, muggers, but most of the serious offenders were now gone, but with this Barbara was now able to do her studies and get her grades up, but now that she was able to do this she was hating it even more. She wanted action not studies as so did Grayson. "Still though," she texted, "when you're old enough, you can be your own vigilante."

"Yeah, wouldn't that be something," Grayson texted and then smiled when he pulled out from underneath his papers some of the doodles he had been doing in the meantime. He was not the best artist but he was starting to focus on what he wanted to be, Nightwing.

Just outside of Barbara's room Commissioner Gordon was having the rarest of times, being able to sit down and watch television in peace. Gently sipping a cup of coffee, feet propped up on the coffee table, he pulled up the 6 o'clock news that was going over the news that the crime rate in Gotham was at its lowest levels in ten years. The commissioner chuckled then took another sip, "Ain't that something." He knew two of the reasons as to why that had come about, but he kept it to himself knowing that it had come about rather by accident, but it was a beneficial accident. However, ever since then he had seen little to nothing of Robin and the Dark Knight never made any mention of him, he just carried on with his mission as though he didn't exist.

As for Batman himself, he was in the bowels of the cave, sitting behind his massive series of computer screens, tired eyes going over the information provided. There were news articles by the score going over the Joker and Bane and their many crimes, but also about their deaths. These two were two main criminals and their deaths shocked everyone, driving many other criminals to leave town or go underground. Lesser crimes were down even more than usual. It seems that fear was finally settling in to the Gotham thugs. They were getting the message but Batman himself was not pleased.

Finally though a message had come in from the harbor district, Mister Freeze had finally resurfaced and was seen going through a freighter that had just come into the harbor. He sprung into action departing in the Batmobile and he sent out a message to Barbara to meet him there, but not to Grayson.

"Oh, the big guy says to meet him at the dock. Mister freeze is back! Ttyl" Barbara quickly tapped out as she ran inside her closet and took out her outfit from a small locked box and donned it before jumping out the window.

Seeing the message Grayson didn't tap out a response knowing that by time Barbara received it she would be half way to the docks and didn't want a distraction. Putting the phone aside he folded his arms and collapsed his head onto the pile, letting out a deep sigh before his eyes opened to one of the many books he took from the library. He remembered the Spartans, their way of life. Every man was in the army and their only occupation was the harsh military lifestyle. He remembered they were taught, how they dedicated their lives to The State of Sparta. Their lives were meaningless if it wasn't given to The State. They were made specifically to fight. Looking at the book and seeing the painted image of a tall, muscular figure of a hoplite with its crimson tunic and cloak, spear and it's famous aspis, the circular bronze/wood shield. It had been their greatest symbol because in the phalanx nothing could seem to penetrate their shield. It was their defense. After staring at the picture for some time Dick stood up from his seat with a scowl upon his brow and left taking with him only his simmering determination. Going out into the hall he breezed past Alfred who was carrying a tray of cleaning supplies. Seeing the determined little boy go he merely turned his head and light said, "Master Dick, stop..." but Grayson was already going down into the Batcave. Walking away from it Alfred merely shrugged his shoulders. At least he tried to stop him.