Disclaimer: Young Justice and all related characters and story plots belong to DC Comics, Warner Brothers, and the network on which it airs, Cartoon Network. I am making no profit from this story whatsoever.

Author's Note: It's been a long time coming, but here it is. The final chapter, posted exactly when I said it would be posted for a change. It's a bit of a relief, actually. Now I can focus on the Earth 16 Universe, which is something I've been looking forward to for a while now.

Big shout out to my beta for the past three chapters, Marco CoolDude. Now, enjoy the chapter.

Epilogue

GOTHAM CITY

SEPTEMBER 12, 13:00 EDT

Bruce and Dick both woke up later than usual the next morning, though for different reasons. Alfred had been waiting for them when the Dynamic Duo returned to the Batcave. As soon as he saw Bruce limping, the butler insisted on tending to the injury himself, after which he sent the billionaire to bed with painkillers that also tended to act as sedatives if one was tired enough. And given the lack of sleep Bruce had gotten the previous evening, it was pretty much a guarantee that the pills were gonna knock him out for the night.

Dick's night wasn't as peaceful. He should have been ecstatic. Tony Zucco was in jail. His parents had finally been avenged. He would have understood if the reason for his insomnia was excitement, but that wasn't the reason he lay awake in bed until the early hours of the morning. No, it wasn't the trill of justice that kept him up, but a deep sense of guilt.

Of all the times he had disobeyed Batman, this had to be the worst. Even what had happened with Dent when he was first starting out as Robin seemed like a walk in the park compared to this (and that was pretty bad - Dick had nearly died, after all). It probably would have been better had he just stayed home. But then, what if he had stayed home, and Zucco ended up killing Bruce, especially since that injured knee was complicating things. Robin's arrival had distracted the crime boss long enough for the Dark Knight to regroup. However, instead of taking Zucco down himself, he'd had to talk the Boy Wonder out of taking the law into his own hands.

Definitely not one of his finest moments.

Bruce still couldn't put much weight on his leg when he woke up, much to his annoyance. Not wanting to worry either Alfred or Dick, he called Leslie Thompkins to see if she could swing by to take a look at it. The elderly doctor promised to come see him during her lunch break, which was why she was up in the master bedroom of Wayne Manor by one in the afternoon. Alfred had gone to prepare lunch while Dick hovered near the bed, watching Leslie examine Bruce's knee. His cellphone suddenly started ringing. A quick glance down at the device told him exactly who it was on the other end of the line. He excused himself and stepped out into the hall.

"Hey, Wally," said Dick, answering the call.

"Hey, hi! Wow, uh, didn't expect you to pick up."

"Why not?" Dick asked, confused.

"Well, it's just… I know it's been a rough couple days. I tried calling you last night, but when you didn't pick up, I figured you just didn't want to talk about it," explained Wally.

Dick sighed. Yeah, he knew Wally had to know what was going on by now. Might as well tell him the whole story. "Actually, I was out looking for Zucco," he said.

"You're kidding? Bats actually let you leave the house?" Wally was surprised. He figured that Robin would have been banned from active duty until Tony Zucco was behind bars.

"He didn't. I snuck out" said Dick.

"See, now that I believe," chuckled Wally. "So, how long are you grounded for?"

"Don't know. We haven't had a chance to talked about what happened," Dick said honestly. "Bruce got hurt confronting Zucco, so -"

"You guys found him?!" Wally exclaimed.

Dick nodded, even though he knew the speedster couldn't see it. "He's not gonna see the light of day for a long time," he confirmed.

"That's great, man. You must be relieved."

"Yeah, I am." In spite of everything, Dick really was happy to see Zucco finally get what was coming to him. He glanced into Bruce's room to see Leslie was packing up her bag. "Hey, uh, do you mind if I call you back later?"

"Sure, man, no problem," Wally agreed.

The two friends said their goodbyes and hung up. Slipping the cell back into his pocket, Dick returned to the bedroom.

"So, what's the verdict? He gonna live?" he said with a teasing smirk.

Leslie laughed. "Oh, he's had worse - you both have. All he needs to do is ice it and get some rest." As she said this, the doctor looked directly at the Dark Knight. "I mean it, Bruce. You need to keep it elevated, which means no nightly excursions for the next few days, at least."

"Don't worry, Doc. Alfred and I will make sure he stays put," promised Dick.

"Indeed, we will," agreed Alfred, who had just entered the room carrying a tray of sandwiches.

"I don't doubt it," Leslie said, "I'll be back to check on you in a couple days, Bruce."

"Alright, Leslie. Thanks," said Bruce, giving her a cordial grin.

Alfred placed the lunch tray down on the nightstand. "Shall I see you out, Dr. Thompkins?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you, Alfred." The older woman said her goodbyes to the Dynamic Duo as she followed the butler out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Dick sighed softly as he sat down on the bed, facing the older vigilante. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Dick, it's just a bad sprain," Bruce replied. He nodded towards the tray. "Why don't you take one of those sandwiches? I know you haven't eaten anything yet."

"I'm not hungry," said Dick with a shrug.

Bruce raised an eyebrow at the obvious lie. "Is there something on your mind, then?" he prodded gently.

Dick turned his head away. Leave it to the World's Greatest Detective to see right through him. "I'm sorry about what I said," he whispered finally.

"You didn't mean it," Bruce absolved. From the moment the words had left the boy's mouth, the Dark Knight had known it was the anger and the grief talking, not his son. It wasn't in the Boy Wonder's nature to be vindictive.

Dick nodded slowly. "You were right when you told me not to come. I should have listened to you," he said. "This case was too personal for me, and you knew that."

"No, Dick. That's not why I wanted you to stay home."

Dick turned back, surprised. Bruce wasn't looking at him, his dark eyes fixed on the portrait of Thomas and Martha Wayne hanging up on the wall. It was the one that had been hanging in Dick's room right after he moved in. They'd eventually replaced it with an enlarged photograph of John and Mary Grayson while the Wayne family portrait had been moved into the master bedroom.

"Zucco took so much away from you, caused you so much pain… I couldn't stand the thought that he might… take you away from us, too…" he confessed softly, clenching his fists.

Dick didn't know what to say. Suddenly, it made sense, all of it. Tony Zucco wasn't afraid to kill, and Dick was a material witness to his crime. How long would it have been before Zucco came after him?

He couldn't repress the shudder that ran through him, something Bruce saw out of the corner of his eye. He looked back at the teenager with a reassuring grin and held out an arm invitingly. Dick accepted the gesture, twisting his body around so that he could curl up against his adoptive father's side. He felt Bruce's arm wrap around him, protecting him. Just like he always did, as Bruce Wayne and as Batman.

GOTHAM CITY - FOUR YEARS AGO

MARCH 30, 23:58 EDT

It only took six days for Dick to discover the Batcave. It was an accident, really. He'd been looking for a book to read in the study and just happened to pick up the one that triggered the bookshelf to open up, revealing the staircase leading down into the caverns below Wayne Manor. He'd been extremely excited to discovering his guardian was the famed Batman. Bruce, for his part, was relieved that he didn't have to keep lying to the boy about his nightly excursions.

The Dark Knight spent the better part of the next day showing Dick around the Batcave. To his amazement, the child was a fast learner. He'd quickly gotten the hang of the batarangs and the grappling gun. Even the Batcomputer proved to be no match for him. The kid had a gift for hacking that rivaled his own. Dick was proud of himself for impressing the hero, suspecting that was no easy feat. And he loved learning about Bruce's life as the Batman. Being able to help people, to ensure that no one ever had to suffer the loss of a loved one… Dick could only guess how amazing that was.

By the end of the night, both Bruce and Dick had reached the same conclusion.

"I've been thinking, Dick," Bruce started to say as he tucked the boy into bed for the night. "I don't know if I have what it takes to raise you properly."

"Yeah, kind of noticed you're never around," said Dick, smirking. "But if not Bruce Wayne, what about the Batman?"

Bruce nodded in agreement. "We'd have to give you a name," he said.

Dick hesitated for a moment. He already had a name in mind, one that meant the world to him. "How 'bout… Robin?"

"Like the bird?" questioned Bruce with a raised eyebrow.

The boy nodded as he explained, "It's a family name."

GOTHAM CITY

SEPTEMBER 12, 13:18 EDT

Dick smiled at the memory. Sometimes, he forgot how similar the Dynamic Duo really were.

"Thanks, Bruce."

"Any time, Dick. No matter what happens, I'm always here for you."

THE END!

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