AN: I love the fact that when given an entire summer to write I didn't, and yet when given a study hall I did. Strange.

The silence in the room was seconds away from breaking. They were in one of the small rec rooms the League had scattered through the Watchtower. They didn't want to go back to the Cave yet and worry the others with their negative energy. The team glanced at each other, waiting to see who would be the first to speak. Every molecule within Wally seemed to vibrate. His talk—scream—with Uncle Barry had been very therapeutic, but he was still anxious about the whole situation.

Artemis was fiddling with the end of her ponytail, waiting for Wally to snap again. She understood why her boyfriend was so high strung and anxious about this whole situation, but this was the most stressed she had seen him in a very long time. Yes, Dick had been missing for five years, but Wally had seemed to cope with that by pushing his feelings away. He had focused his energy into fighting crime, learning to play the ukulele, volunteering even more at Central's youth clubs, and he even tried knitting. He could fill his days with distractions and not think about the little boy who—in Wally's mindset—he had abandoned and failed. But now that child was there—right in front of Wally. She knew what she saw whenever she looked at him. She saw the scars; the whip falling on his back; the tears staining his cheeks and the fear in his eyes. She could only imagine what images flooded Wally's mind when he saw the kid. As bad as Artemis was at taking care of Dick, Wally was just as good at taking care of him. If not better. Wally was the person Dick went to with his fears, Wally was the one who held him tightly after nightmares, Wally was the one who made him laugh and Wally was the one who acted as the go-between with adults and Dick. If there was a problem that Dick didn't know how to communicate with the adults, Wally would step in and help him without speaking over him. Wally would make an amazing father.

And now Artemis was thinking about a future she had never thought of before.

It was Connor who broke the silence. He stood, ignoring the heads that turned to him. He strode over toward the mini kitchen, rummaging in the fridge.

"Connor," Megan twisted to look behind her, "what are you looking for?"

He shrugged, "I'll know when I find it."

It was strange, but not completely out of the normal for Connor. His actions were sometimes hard to explain, but they always made perfect sense to him. He turned, a half-empty bottle of sparkling cider. Most likely left by one of the younger members of the League. He then opened a cupboard, removing five disposable cups from the near-empty shelves.

"Find something good?" Wally asked.

"I don't know if I'd call that good." Artemis raised an eyebrow at the questionable drink. She wasn't a big fan of cider.

"I'm not a fan, but I think it fits the mood."

"What mood would that be, Connor?" Kaldur had moved closer to Connor, trying to help him with the cups.

"Celebration." He passed the first full cup to Megan, quickly beginning to fill another. "It might not be a huge one, but we have a victory."

"I don't know if I'd go that far," Wally snapped. Artemis placed her hand on his arm, reminding him he had support. This wasn't his fight alone.

"I know it's not a big one, but we still won." Connor continued to pass out cups. Wally begrudgingly accepted his. "Everything might not be perfect, but we're one step closer."

"I agree." Kaldur smiled shakily. "We might not have accomplished all of our goals, but we're making progress."

"I think it's important to celebrate small victories just as much as the big ones." Megan stood next to her boyfriend, raising her plastic cup a little higher.

Wally scowled, mumbling under his breath. Artemis pulled him toward the others. As much as she understood his emotions, she didn't agree with all of them. He needed to be a little kinder to himself.

"I think this would be exactly what we would want Dick to do." She tried to coax Wally into agreeing.

"How?"

"By accepting things as they are and being proud of ourselves. No matter what other things say."

"We should be proud of all the hard work we've done to get this far, even if we're not done yet." Megan chimed in, shooting Artemis a friendly smile.

"And we're not done yet." Wally sighed. "But we're working on it."

"That's the spirit." Connor smiled. It was rare, and that made his smiles even more important. "Here's to our hard work."

He raised his glass, his teammates copying him. They bumped together, drinks sloshing slightly.

"And to Richard," Kaldur called before they could drink.

It may only be one small step toward fixing the past, but it was still a step in the right direction.

The cider had fallen flat making Artemis dislike it even more. But Megan looked so happy that she didn't want to be any kind of negative. It had been so long since they had been happy. They had been fighting, mourning, and coping together. All behind closed doors. No one could know that the heroes had a weak side. They didn't want to trouble the new members of the team or force their insecurities upon them. What kind of welcome would that be? Artemis knew that Megan had a hard time with Garfield. Gar looked up to Megan, and Megan loved him deeply, but once Nightwing had insinuated that she was using Garfield as a replacement for Richard. No one was sure if he was serious or not, but Megan had forced herself to take a step back and make sure she wasn't projecting onto Gar.

True, she viewed both boys as little brothers she wanted to coddle and love, but she wanted to make sure she cared for Garfield because he was Garfield, and not because he reminded her—in any way—of Dick. This meant she had withdrawn from Gar and didn't allow herself to be too close until she was sure that she wasn't using him. That had been a trying week. Garfield was confused about why Megan was suddenly so busy, and Megan had come to Artemis to talk through her problems.

But now they didn't have to hide all of their emotions. They could share without feeling like they were bringing an unneeded problem onto the others. Dick was a part of their lives again, and they would be able to talk about him without feeling like they were dredging up the past. He was in the present. Finally, he wasn't a long off dream or fairy-tale, he was there.

Artemis didn't need to keep him in a box anymore. Dick just wasn't a few memories or pictures she kept under her bed and looked at occasionally, he was a living, breathing part of her life again. He may not be as connected to them as he was in the beginning, but they had worked through his defenses before, and they would do it again. They had to.

Artemis didn't mind the refill Connor forced on her, because it made him happy. They finally got him home.

Richard let his hands find their center at his chest. He didn't want to do actual yoga, but he needed to calm down. As much as he wanted to lie in a ball and cry for hours that would only bring more shame to his master. He needed to gain control of his emotions. So he sat on the floor. His legs were tucked beneath him, his toes poking out from under his knees. He liked to try strange positions. It had been uncomfortable when he had first started, but over time his body seemed to welcome the position and he pushed himself to try even harder poses. He was flexible. That was from a childhood that he didn't remember, and people he didn't want to forget.

His arms lifted above his head, the air coming in through his nose and leaving through his mouth. He repeated his pattern of raising his arms above his head and bringing them back to rest at his chest. Having a pattern was relaxing. It allowed his body to run on autopilot while his mind could sort through his troubling emotions. Sometimes, when he didn't want to think, he would try to put himself in some new routine or position, but as much as he didn't want to think he needed to. Unless he was one step ahead of the League, they would always distress him. By giving himself this time to organize his thoughts and feelings they wouldn't be able to get to him as easily.

"Okay." He let the word escape on his breath. "I'm okay." He pulled his arm over his hand, twisting to stretch out his spine. He felt tight. Maybe he should feel tight, but he wanted to be calm. Even if it was only a few minutes before he went on the offensive again Richard wanted to be in control of his universe.

Now that sounded like some new aged bull-crap. Richard felt his spine crack quietly. He began to twist the other way. Finally taking some pleasure in his isolation. He knew he was alone. As upset as he had been, he thought the Lantern might've been even more distressed. Heroes were always more touchy-feely. It was disgusting. That meant that the heroes would comfort the Lantern and possibly working on a new way to 'reach out' to him. They cared way too much about emotions, so if they thought they were causing him distress in any way they would probably put all their plans on hold to figure out how to 'help' him without the drama. Good for him.

"Hey," Richard opened one eye. He was surprised that anyone would come to see him so shortly after his outburst. Wait... he didn't know how long it had been. It could've been mere minutes or a few hours. He should ask for a clock. "mind if I join you?" It was his babysitter. Raven was walking towards him, not exactly waiting for his answer.

"If you must."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I am a fan of meditation."

"Good for you."

Raven sat next to him in silence as she started her pattern. She hovered a few inches above the floor with her hands resting on her knees. Without meaning to, they synced their breathing. Richard hadn't meant to, but he was fairly sure Raven was copying him. Richard continued to raise and lower his arms. He hadn't done this with another person for a very long time. The first time was when Will tried to teach him to stop crying so Master wouldn't get angry, then again when Master had taught him how to pay attention to his heartbeat so he could fire between beats. Ever since then he had been left alone to his meditation. He usually did it late at night or early in the morning when Will was still asleep and Master was gone. Scott would never bother him. It was Richard's sacred time to be still. He wasn't sure how he felt about Raven being there. It felt different, but he wasn't sure if it was a good difference or a bad one.

"Thanks, for helping with that." He didn't know what to do.

"Don't worry about it. I want to help."

"But I don't want you to."

"Why not?"

"I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me. Whatever you were doing to help couldn't have felt good."

Raven sighed, glancing at him. Richard quickly closed his eyes. He didn't want to look at her.

"I understand, and I can't promise that I'll never do that again, but I'll try my best not to. I want to help, but I also know that I won't be helping you by causing more distress. I respect your wishes."

That was new.

AN: I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter! I can't wait to see what my senior year holds for me, and I pray that you guys feel loved, blessed, and content this school year. I know school can be overwhelming, but I want you to know that grades and stuff aren't more important than who you are as a person. If you are a loving, kind, friendly, encouraging person, you are amazing! Don't worry about the expectations that others put on you, focus who you know you are and everything will be amazing. You are amazing! Take care! I love you!