Things finally felt sort of normal. Of course, none of the Waynes really knew what normal was for their situation but it felt like the bumps in their journey were gone.

Jason got on the basketball team at school and it was now a regular family activity to play together on a Thursday. Anyone with Jason on their team was sure to win so they had to make a rota on who could play with him which week to avoid cheating allegations. His coach commented that he was one of the best players Gotham Academy had. The coach also helped motivate Jason to care about school. 

He got into reading more, taking a liking to 19th-century work since he found the fancy writing "funny." Though his family knew this was just a cover for loving the plotlines. He wasn't the best academic but he was smart enough to place high in the class. It was a constant push to get him to settle for more than just the minimum effort. He'd been moved up to a grade in accordance with his age now so he didn't have his intelligence hindered by what he was learning.

Tim was the prize of Gotham Academy. He was considered a genius and was entered into every club to do with intellect. He was considered the smartest kid there and teachers were battling one another to make sure he remained in their clubs despite scheduling issues. Tim found it fun and honestly it was a big ego boost. He was much cockier now and used his smart wits to weasel his way out of the bullies that were presumed to come his way. This was helped by his brothers though he didn't need to know that. His growth spurt put off a few of the teasing. Bruce suspected he'd be able to graduate early and already had a trust fund set up for his probable university as well as whatever career followed.

Every Saturday, Bruce would take him to his dad's hospital room. It was weird seeing him again after so long but it felt right. He'd sit by his father's bedside and tell him everything that happened. He hoped that some day his dad would be awake to hear it although he'd definitely leave out details of the two months he spent with Joey so he didn't get a heart attack right after. The doctors were cautiously optimistic that he would wake up and when he did, Tim would be there.

Dick was...well he was Dick. Like Jason, he was brought up to a grade that everyone else his age was in and was doing quite well in classes aside from English which he hated with a passion. He didn't have many friends though he was well known by everyone. People knew who he was, they just didn't hang out with him. He didn't mind though.

He was known as the kid who did circus tricks and soon people connected him to the lost Grayson. He'd found out that his disappearance had actually garnered a group of conspiracy theorists who had theories ranging from he was deported to he was murdered to keep things quiet about a secret mob running Gotham. Dick didn't engage with them. The gymnastics club was "too snobby" for him so he filled his time watching his brothers in their extracurriculars and doing tricks for anyone who wanted a show. He was rusty but it was nice to finally create joy rather than strike fear into people.

The memory of Joey was just that. A memory. The boys had their therapy sessions and Bruce did what he could to support them. Dick was now on medication to help with his night terrors and found that they worked fairly well. They didn't fix the sleepwalking but no one brought attention to it. Everything was seemingly perfect but Tim and Jason's academic and sporting success had adverse effects.

It was Tuesday when things went wrong, the day the boys spent some time in the park where Bruce would meet them for a short walk. The park was fairly close to their school so they were allowed to walk there by themselves as long as they stayed together. To get to the park, they went a way no students did which normally didn't pose a problem. 

Tim was bragging - though he would claim it was just a recounting of a story - where he'd solved a math problem faster than the rest of the class and how the teacher was praising him. His brothers listened to him ramble, occasionally shooting each other with taunting looks. 

That was until a man jumped out. They knew exactly who it was and their blood ran cold. It was Joey. He was brandishing a knife and stared at them with a sick grin. On protective instinct, Dick punched the man in the face and yelled at his brothers to run. They were hesitant at first but when he screamed the order again, they fell into old habits and left. 

"Shit shit shit!" Jason shouted as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He held onto Tim's wrist tightly to make sure they stayed together. He was holding on so tight that he suspected there'd be a bruise there later but that wasn't important right now. 

Behind them, they heard a shout of pain before silence. Neither of them looked back to see what happened. Tim felt sick to his stomach. He felt himself grow pale as he tried to keep up with his older companion. They kept running and running until they saw the park in view, then saw Bruce waiting on the usual bench.

Unknowing to the situation at hand, Bruce waved to the two boys. He assumed his three wards were having a race and perhaps Dick wasn't playing along or was talking to a school friend when the younger pair decided to run off. It was only when they got clearer that he noticed Tim was crying and Jason looked terrified. He gulped. Dick wasn't with them. He ran to meet them, his phone at the ready to call whatever emergency service they'd need. 

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"Joey! Had a knife n Dick- oh God Dick!" Jason tried to explain. He whipped around, regretting not doing so earlier, to see if the older had managed to escape the man who had made their lives a nightmare. His heart sank. Horrifyingly, no one was there. "Where is he?" he shrieked. Tim turned around and saw the same thing he did. Nothing. 

Bruce tried to keep his cool, tapping into his Batman persona and told the pair to lead him back to where they saw Joey. They nodded and both grabbed a hand each then pulled him all the way back through the street. He felt his heart pound against his chest as they got closer and closer to the spot. Unfortunately, just as when they had looked back for the acrobat, no one was there. All that was left was a spot of blood on the ground. 

"We left him," Tim whispered as Bruce desperately called for the police. He knew they wouldn't solve the case half as fast as himself but he didn't care to deal with their suspicion if he didn't call this in. "We actually left him."

"He told us to run," Jason reminded him. His shock prevented his voice from being anything other than monotone. He stared at the spot of blood. Silently he prayed that it was Joey's. Dick's right hook had always been strong. 

"And we listened!"

"The fuck were we supposed to do?" Tim paused for a moment as his eyes cast to Bruce who was trying to relay every detail he could to the operator. 

"Something."

After talking with the police and giving their statements, Alfred picked up the three and took them home on a very quiet car ride. There wasn't much to say. All the time Jason and Tim spent in therapy was ruined. When they got into the manor, Bruce went straight to the Batcave to work on the disappearance. He knew there were some CCTV cameras in the surrounding streets that would be impossible to avoid when coming out of the alley so that would give him a good idea of where Joey was going. Presumably, Joey was stupid enough to walk by quite a few so he should get some solid leads. 

"Where's he going?" Tim asked no one in particular when he saw the billionaire march off. Jason shrugged and started following the man, the younger in turn following him. 

They stalked the man through the halls and into the library whilst maintaining their distance. Dick had just been kidnapped and he was going to read a book? Weird coping mechanism. They peeked their heads around the corner to see if this was indeed what he was doing only to find the fireplace moving to close a gap. Jason sprinted in and put his hand on the stone to prevent it from closing. Sensing his hand, the fireplace moved to make the gap wider. 

"Stairs?" Tim questioned.

"Hidden stairs," Jason corrected. They glanced at one another suspiciously before silently agreeing to explore. The stairs felt like they were going to go on forever until they finally saw a flat walkway. 

"I wonder if this is where Bruce disappears to," Tim muttered. There were often times when Bruce could be nowhere to be seen. Obviously, they lived in a large house but it couldn't be that big for a person to completely go missing. They stepped onto the walkway and looked around. 

"No way," Jason stated.

"Batman is Bruce!"