A/N: For those of you who are frequent readers of anything I write, you know I pretty much stay up crazy late at night to write this stuff. This one's a new record: 2 AM in a dorm room while my roommate yelled at me to turn off my cellphone light. Yup, new one. Anyways, here's another chapter.

Disclaimer: No.

The shrill cry of his chirping cell phone ruined his apartment's sweet, crisp silence. Blue eyes raked the clock: neon green numbers read out six fifty-two. Dick picked up the call. "Hello?

"Richard." His voice was lessmonotone, more sharp, taught like a drawn bowstring.

With a thin smile, he responded, "Hey, Bruce. How're you holding up?" He tugged his suit up his legs and overh is briefs, letting the skin-tight latex mold to his muscles.

He understood his former ward's jest, but the humor fell flat and died. Bruce cut right to the chase. "You're needed in Gotham."

"I figured as much." He'd assumed taht as soon as he recognized Bruce's familiar voice crackling through the phone. He pinned the cell between his shoulder and ear so as to hear his former mentor while sliding his arms into the uniform's sleeves. "What time?" Dick asked, reaching for his gloves.

"Tonight, ten. Tomorrow, six. Since I can't train them anymore, I need you to help out. Tim can't do it all." There was a brief pause, not so much as a lapse in conversation as much as a moment for solitary thought. "You understand the situation, Richard."

All too well. For once, a camera crew had managed to catch the Dark Knight in action, and the footage had been splayed all over television screens across the nation. Dick had already seen it too many times, the ache pulling at his heartstrings each time he watched a javalin stab right through Batman's kneecap; he was lucky that Red Robin had been on patrol in the area to catch him before he hit the concrete after falling off the rooftop. "I'll be there," promised Dick, slipping the gloves on his calloused hands and flexing his fingers for the right fit after repositioning the phone to hear his former mentor better. "And I'll be patrolling with..."

Finishing each others' sentences was just one side effect of working together so long. "Damian." Bruce knew that the phrase had been left open on purpose as if a question and yet not. "He seems to be the only one you can tolerate for long periods of time."

Really, he was fine with any of them, but Tim made him remember Jason and things seemed to go south from there. Babs wasn't bad, it was just that their chemistry on the battlefield didn't work like their chemistry out of uniform did. Steph? She was sweet. A little bit like Cassie, honestly, and Cassie fawned over him; that freaked him out, and therefore Stephanie freaked him out. Just a tad. Pushing that aside, he answered, "You know me, Bruce. Whoever you put me with, I'll manage." With one hand, he pressed a domino mask to his face, hiding his eyes beneath black and white. Bludhaven was waiting for their hero, but Gotham would call him once night fell.

A/N: Definite points if you see the line. Homophones, people. Homophones.

Anyways, review and thanks for reading!

~Sky