Dick had been watching the evening news, flipping through the channels when he landed on Star 8, Star City's biggest local network. And there, in bright flashes and with a big smile was none other than Timothy Drake. The report answered a lot of his initial questions - Tim had been off studying and that was why no one had heard from him - but Dick knew that there had to be more.

It didn't take long for Dick to put on his motorcycle jacket over his clothes (and uniform underneath that) and then hopped on the back of his Ducati. His destination was Star City. The drive didn't take too long, and by the time Dick had gotten there, he ducked into a local coffee shop and jumped on his internet phone. All it took was one email to Oracle, and he had an address.

Dick didn't pull up to the front of the warehouse until it was getting dusky - still too light for patrol. He cut the engine and left the bike tucked in between the buildings under a bit of tarp he found, and then came back around to knock on the front door.

To say that Dick was excited was an understatement. After his own arrival in Gotham and the welcome he had from Bruce and the New Guy, he was looking forward to seeing a familiar face.

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Tim took a deep breath and decided he allowed himself enough time to think about the past. He had work to do. He came down the fire escape, quiet from his training, and heard knocking as he came inside. He slowed his steps, pressing his back toward the wall, then allowed peeked around the corner.

If his jaw could hit the floor, the sound would be audible.

Dick was here? If that was the case, Bruce couldn't be far behind.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should have know they'd be here that fast. They probably had me pegged at Heathrow.

He could wait until Dick left and pretend he wasn't there. He could let Dick walk away and then go on as if nothing had happened. As it happened, he stepped around the corner and exposed himself, his hands staying in his pockets.

"Hey, Dick." Tim said. Dick would notice that Tim's voice was somewhat deeper now, and his posture signaled that he was relaxed, but ready for action at any moment. But the biggest change Dick would see were Tim's eyes; once upon a time, Tim Drake was a kid who smiled easily at danger, no matter which Freak was standing across from them. Tim wasn't the showman that Nightwing was, but he never lost the sense of joy or carefree attitude that came with being the Boy Wonder.

The man across from Dick Grayson resembled that boy in facial features only, and that resemblance was fading fast. Tim's eyes held what most people called 'the Thousand-Yard Stare', the look of a man who wears every horror he's seen on his soul and aged ten years for all of them.

"Why did you come here? How far behind you is Bruce?" Tim asked, not moving from his spot.

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It was Dick's turn to take on the stunned expression when Tim rounded the corner and walked up in the state he was in. Even that much more, when the younger man didn't exactly greet him. Asking him why he was there wasn't the greeting he expected.

Skewing his expression into a hurt one, Dick let his displeasure be shown as he shifted out of what was quite an excited sort of posture into a much more guarded one. Those words stung a lot, and usually Dick would let it roll off his back, but this evening it seemed to stab right home.

"Tim, I... I came to see you. Because I've missed you." he then said softly. "I came to see if you were still riding the lines and if you wanted to go flying tonight. I've not seen you in.. fuck.. almost ten years." You're the only family I feel like I have left. was left unsaid.

Frowning, Dick shifted back and pushed a hand through his hair and said "I saw you on the news and just came. Oracle helped me find your address, but I doubt Bruce is coming. I've not even seen or spoken directly him in.. three years? He doesn't patrol anymore - he's got a new kid who's still wet around the ears. I called Bruce for backup one night and he sent me a rookie without even alerting me to the fact."

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Tim's expression softened--slightly--at Dick's tone of voice. Dick came all the way here to see him, and Bruce hadn't bothered. He wasn't surprised, and it didn't bother him.

In fact, it made things a lot easier.

"A new Batman? Hm. I never thought he'd pass the mantle down. Whoever this new guy is, Bruce thinks he's worthy, so it's not really our business anymore." Tim said. He hadn't kept with Gotham news or anything, so didn't know who the new Batman was. Finding out would take some work, but not too much, considering what he already knew.

"I take you've never met the guy outside of costume. It wouldn't bug you so much otherwise." he said, walking forward and opening the door to the apartment. Inside, Dick would see that there was no furniture in the place, except for a dinner table that held the laptop and three external drives. There was wide blue-mat in the living room area, but nothing else in the way of furnishings. There were several large, man-sized cases standing in a corner at the other end of the room.

Beyond that was a wall covered in photos. If Dick chose to look there, one-half of the pictures on the wall are of dead bodies posed in strange fashion. Others are chalk outlines.

And one of them is the picture of a beautiful woman with black hair, dark eyes and a beautiful smile.

"How is Barbara, anyway?" he asked suddenly.

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After being greeted the way he was, Dick wasn't sure he wanted into that lion's den. Tim wasn't the Tim that Dick had said goodbye to and that bothered him as much as it bothered him that the newest Bat-Brat knew his name, but that Dick didn't know his.

"No, never met him. He's an arrogant cock though." replied Dick in a dark voice as he followed after Tim. The lack of furnishings didn't surprise him all that much. Tim had just moved back, though the obsession shown in photos and on the wall made him give pause. Dick was starting to put some of it together - Tim had some great loss, though Dick wasn't sure what. He didn't look too hard at the wall though, not wanting to intrude too much.

"Babs and I've not spoken either. In a long time." came Dick's soft reply. "I just got back to Gotham after living in New York for a long time; Babs does her Oracle thing, but she's pretty robotic these days. She won't respond to my requests to meet face to face."

Not sure what to do with himself, Dick just shoved his hands into his pockets and then gave a soft sigh. He was starting to feel pretty heavy-hearted about things, but he wasn't going to let onto that. Maybe ten years ago, he might have; but it didn't seem like Tim wanted anyone close to him at all. He was haunted by the past and whatever happened had changed him drastically.

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"Batman's arrogant? You know what they say. 'The more things change, the more they stay the same'." Tim offered.

He saw the Dick look at the wall for a moment, and knew he'd put it together sooner or later.

"It's a case I've been working on for awhile. A man I knew in Europe was framed for these murders while the real killer went free. He lost everything. I tried to help him, but I blew it, Dick. The girl in the picture died because I blew it." Tim said, bitterly. The story was true, from a certain point of view. Tim could have elaborated more, but he chose not to when Dick spoke of Barbara.

"I...I guess I always thought you two would figure things out. Why don't you just go to her and make her deal with you? She uses the computer to keep people out, but you know where she lives. She'd talk to you, I think." he says.

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Dick just shrugged some, not really feeling comfortable talking about Barbara. The honest truth was that he was afraid to confront her with himself, and wasn't sure if she would refuse him or not. He had done things over and over again to ruin their relationship. It was a wonder to Dick that she even still spoke to him at all as Oracle.

"I guess I always thought we would figure things out too." replied Dick in a low tone. "Everything has changed, Tim. Nothing is what it used to be, and nothing is going to make things be that way again. I've accepted that I messed up one too many times with Babs.." he then gave another shrug, "I guess I never considered that I might have another chance."

Sighing, Dick put his back to the wall and made a point of not looking at it at all. Whoever Tim was chasing, he would ask for help if he needed it. Dick was fairly sure that the man before him would want any help, family or not.

"I'm not going to patronize you and say that it wasn't your fault. I trust your judgment." Dick then said, "Just know that if you need help.. I'm here for you. Everyone grew so far apart in the time that you were gone. Lately I've been realizing just how much and it made me start to focus on what people meant to me, y'know?"

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