Ingenious >>>(Young Justice/Dick Grayson)<<<

Chapter 9

April 10th
02:56
The Bat Cave

Parker reviewed the footage for the hundredth time. "There is no point in this." She shouted again. "There is absolutely nothing else to be found."

Behind her stood the Bat. He looked at the screens intently. "We must have missed something." He announced calmly.

Covert groaned. Gaining patience had proved to be a hard task, something Gotham's newest vigilante learned quickly. "You said that an hour ago."

"Forty-three minutes." The Dark Knight corrected.

She made a face. "Well, excuse me." Her muttering was met with a disapproving bat-glare. "I know you want to believe this, but I just don't see it."

The three-second long clip showed the Joker, a current resident of Arkham Asylum. Due to some recent evidence, the police suspected a major breakout of the asylum. The clip showed Joker saying three words: "In due time,"

"This isn't evidence, Bruce." Parker continued her argument. "Criminal or not, Joker still reserves the right to private audiences." Her tone disbelieved the audacity of the Unite States law.

"Yes," the Bat acknowledged. "That's why there's no audio. These cameras made out these three words. He's planning something."

Tired, Parker put her fingers on her brow and rubbed the spot on her head. "Why don't we think about this in the morning?" She suggested. "Robin is out on patrol and Alfred can man the I.T. till then. You need a night off."

Surrendering, Batman took off the cowl. "You do, too." He erupted into a speech. "Ever since I let you start helping with this, you've had less than six hours of sleep every night. It's not healthy."

"Robin does it." She quickly countered with a defeating smile. "You do it. I can do it, too. Besides, sleep is overrated."

He scowled. "That's not-" he stopped himself before he delved too deep. "You're only here for another three weeks. Try not to go back exhausted."

Parker made a few mental calculations. When she finished, sadness overtook her. "Only three weeks, then?" The floor suddenly seemed very interesting.

Bruce sighed. "I've been meaning to talk to you about this, actually." Pausing, he gestured for her to follow him up the elevator. "How's the mainframe coming? I don't read your progress reports."

"Slow." She shrugged. "I plan to be done by Halloween."

"Sounds about right." He admitted. He turned to her. "These past few weeks have been great." Daddybats kicked in. "If you'll have it, I can make this arrangement more... permanent."

Her eyes widened. "You mean it?" The uncontrollable smile on her face answered for her.

The billionaire nodded.

In turn, she flung her arms around her guardian, hugging him. "Thank you." She whispered.

Slightly surprised, Bruce hugged her back. "It may be a while before everything is finalized." Came his warning.

She broke away and stared at him incredulously. "It doesn't matter." She wrapped him in a second hug.

Bruce felt like he had completed something. He had secretly been this girl's guardian angel since her rescue all those years ago. Saving a child the way the Batman did had changed him. Now, things had come full circle. She would always be safe.

This time, it was him who broke away from her, if only because they had reached the top of the elevator. "How has your training been going?"

"Well, I think." She had her arms on her hips Peter-Pan style.