"So when I said no killing--" I jammed my knee into a guy's solar plexus. "--did you take that to mean, end peoples' lives?" My elbow crashed onto the back of his neck. I let his body collapse to the floor like a bag of wet cement. 

"There's only one dead body!"

"Yeah, one too many," I said. Dad flipped his switchblade shut. He tucked it back into a pocket, and I leapt away from a thrown punch. Spheres fell into place between my fingers, before flying out and erupting into smoke. 

Something dark whizzed past my head, accompanied by an echoing cackle. My eyes lit, and I looked up at the piled crates. I took a running jump, and with a bang and rattle I landed on one. Higher and higher, I climbed. Robin crouched at the edge of the topmost crate. His hand rested on his belt, lenses of his mask narrowed as he stared at the scene below. 

"So," I said, plopping my hands on his shoulders and leaning over, "how've you been, birdie?"

"Whelmed."

"You don't sound that way."

"I'm not allowed to drink coffee." Rob let his weight rest against my legs. The whites of his mask disappeared when he closed his eyes. "It's been a while."

"I wasn't exactly planning on vanishing."

"Isn't that your whole gimmick?"

"Only when I want it to be." I sighed and carded a gloved hand through his hair. "What did I miss?" Things moved fast in Gotham. So many things could've changed: new gangs, new villains, escapes, captures. Robin might've been a bird, but he was my fly on the wall. At least, when I couldn't gather my own information. Sometimes being a hero got in the way more than I'd like. But what was I supposed to do? Let the world get destroyed?

"Not much. Pretty much everyone that got ousted took back their territory, all the villains we caught broke out, the usual." Robin pressed his head against my hand. "We're back on patrol route six now, so you might want to avoid that."

"He's too young for you!" yelled Dad. I rolled my eyes and ignored him. With a flick a smoke bomb landed between him and Batman. My hands slipped under Rob's armpits, and I hauled him up.

"I'm going to go feed the child. Possibly to a dog."  Rob struggled against me, at least until I tossed him in the air and caught him by the ankles. I tsked. "Now, you can either play nice or I can throw you out the window."

"Throw me out the window and end my suffering."

"Dramatic much?"

"Oh, like you're one to talk."

I threw him out the open window. I jumped through after him, easily clearing the small gap between buildings. How Gotham hadn't burned in a night, it was beyond me. He grumbled and dusted off his uniform. Laughter peeled from me. It wasn't the worst I'd done to him. Far better than the time I threw him in a tank filled with octopi. 

"You know, I'm pretty sure you're the reason I'm never whelmed," he said. "Where are we going?" I eyed the grappling gun on his belt. "What?"

"Is that cable going to be strong enough?"

"It's strong enough for me and KF, should be more than strong enough to hold you. Bats doesn't make tech halfway. I'd be more worried about me dropping you. And that's not all that big of a thing. I'm strong, and it's not like I grew up doing anything else."

He was smiling, a wide grin on his face. I exhaled. A step closer, and I wrapped him in my arms and pulled him close. He's so small. The observation echoed in my brain. He melted against me, and I nestled my head atop the combed black hair. "I missed you," I whispered. 

"Missed you too."

After a while, I pulled away, suppressing a laugh as he tried to stay pressed against me. His costume didn't retain too much heat on his arms. While the days were warm, the nights on the roofs could grow cold, chilled further by gusts of wind. "McDonald's sound good?" 

A nod was all it took for us to be swinging over rooftops. I clung to Rob, a whistle ready in case something were to go wrong. Blackjack was fast enough. And if he wasn't, then Mrs O'Leary would be. Robin wasn't clearsighted, at least he wasn't when we were younger, and it wouldn't be hard for the Mist to convince him it was some hero or something. 

The Mist gave heroes more credit than they deserved. 

"What do you want?"

The glaring lights of light night traffic glared up at me. Yellow light from the sign washed over us, casting us in a sickly pallor. "Double cheeseburger." Bills slipped from my pocket into his hand, I kept my gaze on the building. Longing rose up in my chest. Normal things, that's all this was. I was eating food with Robin on a roof, that's normal.  Why couldn't my normal be sitting in the restaurant? 

I knew the reasons. Gotham was one. My existence was another. Heroes were another complication. Monsters trying to kill me. There was a laundry list of things, and sometimes I wished I could throw it out. 

Rob shot me a salute before dropping out of view. 

"Stealing my brand, Robin," I said, shaking my head with a fond smile and rolling my eyes. The hard edge of the roof dug into my thighs. My feet swung through the open air. An easy catch if I slipped. 

And wasn't that something? For someone with death threats and their name on dozens of hit lists, who's entire existence was fraught with danger and risk, falling off a tall building was probably the last thing that would kill me. I tugged at my gloves and turned my face up to the sky. 

I chose this. I chose to become what I am, and I wouldn't trade it. At least here, sitting on the rooftop in Gotham, I knew I had a choice. There wasn't some prophecy laid out in front of me, some destined set of events that would come to pass whether I wanted it to or not. Oil and water, two types of paint on the same canvas, yet two wildly different pictures.  

"Thinking about something?" asked Rob as he sat beside me. 

"That was fast."

"Not a lot of business at this time. Plus they were happy I wasn't fighting a villain in the dining room. You know, again?" Laughter shook his shoulders. He pressed a warm, wrapped sandwich into my hands. The paper crinkled as I unwrapped it, and when the greasy food hit my tastebuds I nearly cried. I missed this. I missed it so much.

Robin leaned against my side, biting into his chicken nuggets. His warmth was a reassurance. Things are normal, I told myself, things are back to normal. I didn't have to put on an act. I didn't have to pretend to have a stable home to go back to so Chiron would let me leave. Gods only knew what he'd say if he ever found out. I snorted. He'd probably try to make me stay at Camp. 

"Should you be eating your family?" I asked, a smile on my lips.

"They taste delicious." 

His comm beeped to life, and he placed a hand over it, holding up a finger to silence me. I waited and watched as his shoulders fell. I pressed my lips together and ran my fingers along the roof. It wasn't anything good. 

"I'll head back, A," said Rob, before turning off the earpiece. He sighed and looked at me. "I need to go. Just...Just keep up your end of the deal. And maybe get a new shirt."

I rolled my eyes and placed my foot on his side and shoved. The shirt might've been old, singed, and torn, but I had my reasons for keeping it. Robin stuck his tongue out as he disappeared into the night, a bag sticking out of his pockets. I hid my grin. He'd find them eventually. I stood and turned. I might as well have a little more fun on my grand comeback. Cracking my knuckles, standing at the edge of a building, I laughed. 

Oh, it was good to be back.

Please accept this chapter, along with this drawing I made a while back (like at least from May) 

I have a couple more versions of this, but they're not done, so you get this one!

See yah