Disclaimer: You know the drill. Me don't own.

As I said before in my other story, these first few stories are an into to my Batman AU. You don't have to read these in any order, and the true action will come in a story I'm working on. I'll post it when I finally lay out the foundation for my little Bat World. To see my AU outline, go to my profile page, which will list all the changes and events that happen within each story.

An Ace in the Hole

"Dick, what could be so important that you have to wake me up at 7:00 on a Saturday!" Tim followed his elder brother up the stairs to the Clock Tower.

"Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep." Tim's glare was rivaling the Bat's. Luckly for Dick Grayson, Tim's glare needed a bit more practice. "You know, for a Robin, you're not much fun to be around."

"Fun ends at 2:00 and starts at 10:00." Tim growled at his older brother figure. "Now tell me why you dragged me out of bed!"

They arrived at the door to the apartment and Dick moved in front of the door. "OK, we are about to enter dangerous territory."

"What, did you leave the toilet seat up again? That's the problem living with two girls."

"No! Babs doesn't know about this yet. I'd like to keep it that way. Cassandra is watching the creature as we speak."

"The creature?"

"Croc is a little lizard compared to this thing. This thing is a monster." Dick slowly entered the code on the keypad and waited for the full body scan before the door opened. "Now, stay quiet and follow me."

Tim rolled his eyes, but shrugged and followed Dick into the home of Batgirl, Nightwing, and the base of operations for Oracle.

Tim took in the initial sights of the apartment; the entire room was trashed. Stuffing from the couch was everywhere; lamps and other objects were scattered across the floor. Claw marks lined the walls . "Dick, what the hell happened here!"

Before Dick could answer though, they heard a scream coming from another room. It was easily recognizable. "Cassandra!"

Both Dick and Tim sprinted towards Cass' room. Tim arrived first and tried the door knob. "It's locked!"

"Stand back!" Tim did as he was told and Dick tried to kick open the door. Mentally he cursed the reinforced frames installed just last week. 'Bruce and his stupid safety precautions,' he mentally cursed. "Tim, on the count of three, we both try. OK?"

Tim nodded. They both stepped back as far away from the door as they could.

"OK, 1...2...3..." The two rushed the door and just about when they should have impacted the door frame, it opened causing them to fall through the opening. "Oof!"

Cassandra Cain, standing to the side of the door frame after opening it, looked down at the boys she considered her family with a confused look on her face. "What you doing?"

Slowly Dick and and Tim stood up and brushed themselves off.

"We heard screaming and thought you were in trouble." Tim explained.

"No, not screaming. Laughing." The two boys looked at each other. Suddenly, something came up to the side of Cassandra and all three looked down at it. Dick quickly moved behind Tim, to use him as a human shield.

"Dick," Tim spoke calmly.

"Yeah?"

"Is this the creature?"

"Yeah."

"Dick."

"Yeah?"

Tim turned around and punched his older brother in the arm hard. "You're an idiot!"

"Ouch! What the hell!"

Now Tim's glare was exactly like the Batman's. "You woke me up because of a stupid dog!"

Not even Batman's glare could compare to the one Tim was getting from Cassandra. "Not stupid! Ace smart!" She jabbed a finger into the boy wonder's chest. "Ace is smartest dog ever!"

The dog looked up and seemingly smiled at Cassandra. Then turned its attention to the former boy wonder and the present Robin, baring its fangs and growling.

Tim and Dick stepped away, and Tim finally got a good look at the dog. The body was wolf like but the coat color was black with tan accents; the dog looked like a mixed breed between a German Shepherd and a Rottweiler; two breeds Tim had some experience in the past with during his night job. The size of the dog was enormous; it had to stand at nearly 26 inches and must have weighed somewhere around 100 lbs. It was by far one of the biggest dogs Tim had seen this close up. He was now starting to understand why Dick was freaking out.

End of Chapter 1. R&R please!

If you have any questions or comments, maybe even some suggestions, send me a PM.