As soon as we were on solid ground and the rope was detached, Dick hugged me like he was holding on for dear life. "I almost lost you." He whispered, voice unsteady.

"You caught me" I replied softly. "I'm okay, I promise"

I let him hold me until he was comfortable enough to let me go, which he did, after a while, though he still looked shaken.

Dick took a minute to breathe as he stepped back, swiping a hand through his hair and looking around.

"Where are we exactly?" I noted the slight familiarity of the alleyway but I couldn't place it. Maybe I could if it wasn't covered in shadows.

Night always muddled memories.

"I could've sworn I beamed us to the cave." He tapped on his holoscreen, squinting at it for a moment. "The zeta tube we used is old school, I'm surprised it even worked at all" Then he dug through his utility belt, producing both a mask and glue. "You're going to need this where we're going"

"Where are we?" I repeated, letting him put the mask on my face.

"Jump City" He said it calmly, even if his shoulders sagged and his fingers trembled.

"Are we going to visit your friends?" That's why it was so familiar. We'd used this Zeta two years ago.

"Yes" Dick wrapped an arm around my waist as he grappled to the roof, allowing us a bird's eye view of where we were in the city, the lights twinkling.

"Who are you!?"

I shot a look to Dick as we turned around slowly. "We really need to work on not getting snuck up on." The last time hadn't turned out so well.

"I know" Nightwing sighed.

Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg stood, ready to fight, illuminated by the moon. The person who spoke, I'm guessing Cyborg, stepped forward, repeating his question from earlier.

"I'm Nightwing and she's the Keeper" Dick raised his hands in surrender and I followed suit.

"Nightwing?" Beast Boy pipped up in interest. "You work with Batman sometimes right? Does that mean you know what happened to our Robin?"

Dick paused. "I don't work with him often"

"He's not lying" Raven folded her arms. "But he's blocking me, so is she"

"Look" Cyborg interrupted. "I get it, this city isn't on the League's radar but we really don't need any newbie heroes here"

"Don't worry, we're not looking to stay. I meant to send us somewhere else and obviously that's not here, but your zeta tube is ancient. I'm going to need to update it in order to get where we're going"

"We never get visiting heroes Cyborg" Beast Boy pointed at us excitedly. "Let's show them the tower!"

"That's really not necessary, it'll take me a couple hours max" Dick shifted uncomfortably. "We'll be out of your hair before tomorrow"

"You have to stay the night at least" Cyborg nodded, pausing to see if his team would object. "You're our guests anyway, whatever's happening can wait until the sun's up"

I side eyed my friend, who looked like that was the last thing he'd want to do. "We'll be okay, thank you for the offer though."

"No, it's alright" Dick subtly took my hand. "We'd love a tour of the tower"

"Great!" Cyborg grinned "we have our car but Beast Boy is gonna have to fly back, we only have five seats."

The group moved, Beast Boy following his leaders instructions, we made our way a little slower than the rest, easy to still see them and seem like we're coming with but also far enough that we couldn't be heard.

"You're ready for this?"

Dick took a deep breath, already tapping away on his holoscreen. "Not really. Just need to make sure the tower doesn't recognize me or you."

"Wait me?"

"My systems automatically sync with the tower the second I'm in the city. It was something I never had the heart to delete and it never mattered because I haven't been here since Slade"

"And we're certain that he couldn't follow us"

"Oh yeah, that Zeta is fried and the coordinates are sealed. Save maybe Bats himself or Tim, the only person who can really access it is me"

Apparently I couldn't.

The group ahead jumped in their car, the back row seats open beside Raven, she was watching us intently as we approached. "This could be fun, you could catch up with your friends"

"Except I'd have to explain where I've been and why I suddenly disappeared." Dick sounded sad. "I just have to avoid my usual tells, everything about me they used to know, you also have to be very careful because you do have some of Slade's mannerisms and they'll recognize that"

"I thought you said they'd never met him" I pulled my sweatshirt sleeves over my hands nervously.

Well

It was Dick's sweatshirt that I'd stolen.

"That doesn't mean they haven't interacted since I left or while I was the apprentice. That also doesn't mean they haven't watched old tapes with him"

"Alright" I began as we got closer. "Let's do this"

Dick got in first, seeming eager to put a barrier between the telepath and me. I subtly grabbed his hand, allowing him to take comfort from the touch.

"So where are ya'll normally, I mean, I know Nightwing helps out Batman but do you have your own cities?" Cyborg, who was driving, got on the road, glancing at us from the windshield.

"Blüdhaven mostly" Nightwing nodded. "Makes it easy to team up when big bads are in Gotham." His voice was steady but the grip the had on me told me how uncomfortable he was.

"What about you? I've never heard of The Keeper before" Raven's eyes were narrowed beneath her hood.

"Oh I'm new, Nightwing's been showing me the ropes of being a hero. I don't even have a costume yet" I lied easily. "How's Jump?"

"It's a pretty peaceful city generally, we do have our bad guys but they're nothing like the Joker or Bane" Cyborg responded. "Although we had a guy a few years ago, craziest smart dude we've ever met. He disappeared after a while"

"Our friend Robin also disappeared but it was before the smart crazy man did" Starfire piped up, a sad tone in her voice. "But we'll get friend Robin back one day."

A small ding came from Dick's hologlove and he squeezed my hand. I couldn't help the relief I felt as I leaned more into my backrest.

Cyborg cleared his throat. "Anyway, You said Nightwing was showing you the ropes, how'd y'all meet?"

"It's complicated" Dick answered before I could. "That's the tower?" He pointed toward a 'T' shaped building.

"Sure is! Ain't she beautiful" Cyborg grinned, calmly driving toward the bridge that lead to our destination. "I can't wait to show you guys everything"