Dear Eris from November who asked me to please update soon...

I'm sorry.

I have so many fanfics, many of which are actively being neglected. I'm sorry that this update took so long. I hope you guys enjoy.

Bruce wished that Gar was his problem child. Gar was four years old and often was forgetful or entirely oblivious to the rules. He was a sweetheart but a klutz and sometimes Bruce felt like he needed to keep the darling little boy on a leash. But he wasn't the one Bruce worried about the most for one reason, Gar had no chill. Gar would run and play and have fun but he would also freak out if one of the seven people he trusted wasn't around. There was no chance in the whole world that Gar would fall prey to stranger danger.

Not like Kori. Gar and Raven trusted no one, Kori trusted everyone, and Victor and Richard were middle ground. Bruce didn't have to worry about any of his children as much as he had to worry about Kori. She was five and didn't understand that there were people who wanted to hurt her. Because to her, everyone was a friend. And that was what freaked Bruce out the most.

He didn't like taking his kids to the park. They all loved it, they'd run off, play with other kids, have a blast. He'd watch from a safe distance. Sometimes Raven stayed with him and read in the shade as he had one arm loosely wrapped around her. Victor would push Gar on the swing or help him build up little sandcastles and Richard and Kori played grand games of tag or hide and go seek or fought valiantly with branch swords. Bruce would try to keep an eye on all of them, but it wasn't always easy. Even if he had Alfred as back-up, some things slipped through the cracks.

So he was paranoid. He was paranoid that someone would exploit Kori's trusting nature. He spent most of his time at the park watching her run around so that she didn't run off with a stranger. No matter how many times he asked her not to talk to grown-ups that she didn't know, Kori continued to try to make new friends. So Bruce didn't take his eyes off of his little girl.

Except when Gar fell and scraped his legs or Bruce noticed someone bullying his otherwise good-natured oldest, or some other emergency popped up. Then his eyes would flit away from Kori and he just had to hope that things wouldn't go array.

Unfortunately, the world didn't work out the way he wanted. After one particular scraped knee incident he noticed Kori wandering away with a tall, thin man. He didn't even bother setting Gar down, he just booked it after them, calling out to his daughter.

"Kori! Kori, we're headed home now!" His panic drew some attention from other parents. If he wasn't such a regular at this park, as well as being a public figure, he knew that he would realistically look like the kidnapper in this situation.

"Oh! Sorry, mister! This is my daddy, we have to go home now. Daddy, this is my new friend! He has a puppy!" Bruce reached for Kori's hand and gently pulled her away, glowering at the older man.

"Sir," he said, memorizing the man's features, "it's not a good idea to wander off with someone else's son or daughter." Bruce picked up his daughter, holding Kori and Gar easily and prepared to kick the predator in the balls if necessary. Later he would look into trying to find the man, dole out some Bat-justice if he could. For now, He needed to focus on getting his kids home and once again having the stranger danger talk. He let Alfred get the five in the car and called the police on the predator. Then he drove home and herded his kids inside.

He sat his five down in the living room and began the lecture.

"Okay, kiddos, it's incredibly important that you keep in mind that you are never ever to talk to strange adults, okay? Unless me, or Alfred, or Clark introduces you to another adult do not talk to them. Ever. They are not your friends and you should not trust them, no matter what they say. They could try to take you away or even hurt you." Bruce had tried to say it in much nicer ways time and time again but today was too close a call, so he was dead serious now. Gar started crying and Bruce lifted him, cradling him close. His boys and Raven all swore not to talk to strangers, but it was clear that Kori didn't really understand. So he sent the others off and sat down with her, holding her close.

"Sweetheart, I understand that you like people and I want you to have friends. But the man you walked away with today was not going to show you a puppy. You could have gotten hurt. Until you're old enough to defend yourself, you need to be more careful who you trust. No adult should ever, ever try to take you away from your brothers and sister and me. If they try, then you shouldn't trust them."

"So there wasn't any puppy?" Kori asked, getting disappointed, "He lied to me? That isn't nice!"

"It isn't nice. You have to be careful and stay away from all the not nice people. I'm sorry that there are people who will be not nice. I'm sorry that not everyone is good and that some people just want to hurt nice little girls and boys who trust them. But I'm always going to be here to make sure that nothing bad happens to you."

"Should we be not nice to the not nice people?" Kori asked, frowning. Bruce sighed.

"Sometimes we have to be not nice to the not nice people if they're trying to hurt us. If someone is trying to take you away, you have to be a little not nice. The best thing you can do if someone is trying to take you away is to make me or one of the others aware of the situation. Sweetie… I promise that when you get older you'll get to see that there are a lot of good people in this world and a lot of people will be your friend. But for right now, please don't talk to strangers, okay?"

"Okay, daddy…" He kissed her head.

"I love you, princess. You can go ahead and go play with the others." Kori smiled and ran off, and Bruce just sunk back into the couch, letting himself get his bearings. Today had been one of the scariest days of his life. He was always paranoid, but today it had actually happened. His daughter had almost been kidnapped. It took him a bit to shake that fear and panic and anger. He had to listen to his children laughing for a while before he fully believed they were safe.