August 15, 2315h

	"Nightwing, I'm sorry -" Robin began as he touched down on the 
roof of Dick's old apartment building.  He bit his tongue as Nightwing 
held up a hand.  The older vigilante was intently scanning the 
surrounding neighborhood.  
	After a moment, his focused stance eased.  "No dice, Oracle.  And 
Robin's here now.  I'll keep you posted."  Nightwing's eyes turned to 
Robin.  "We thought he might try to intercept me around here since he 
knows the neighborhood pretty well and knows it's on my patrol route."
	"Look, Dick, I -"
	"Save it, Robin.  And don't apologize.  This has been a long time 
in coming, but his timing sucks."
	Nightwing's tone did not invite further discussion, but it didn't 
allay Robin's sense of guilt, either.  He knew Nightwing did not want 
Spud taking up kevlar, and still Robin had taught the boy to use the 
jumplines.  Somehow the excuse that he hadn't meant any harm felt hollow 
now that the boy was once again out on the streets of the 'Haven.  
	He started as Nightwing launched off into the night and hastened 
to follow him to the top of a taller building.  "We're following my 
patrol route backwards from here," Nightwing explained when Robin 
dropped down beside him.  "He'll want to meet me on a roof to prove he 
can do it, but he still doesn't have a lot of upper body strength.  
He'll need landings to climb more than two stories, and I'm pretty sure 
he's got one of my lines, not one of Batman's pneumatic launchers.  So 
keep an eye on fire escapes."
	"You don't have a tracer on him?" Robin asked, moving a little 
apart from Nightwing to scour the shadows below for any sign of 
movement.
	Nightwing made an irritated sound.  "Yeah, every kid needs their 
father figure replacing their buttons with Bat-tracers and stitching 
homing devices in the seams of their jeans."
	Robin threw an incredulous glance at his companion.
	"Don't look at me like that - he did it to you, too."
	"I knew he had one in the cape -"
	"This is going to take too long,"  Dick interrupted.  "Oracle, any 
chance he took the tunnel?"
	Oracle's answer sounded in Robin's ear, indicating that she had 
opened their channel to him.  "Not likely.  I've been in here since you 
started patrol aside from when I tucked him in, and that was around 10.  
And I would've picked him up on one of the other house cameras if he 
tried to take the stairs down."
	"The bus again?" Robin suggested.
	"Probably.  And he had to figure that Babs'd notice within a 
camera sweep or two."
	"He knows how to make the transfer at the Port Authority," Oracle 
pointed out.
	"You usually surf the el into the business district, right?"
	"Yeah, Robin.  And I call home all the time from Palmeiro Building 
over by 61.  Think he'd try it?"
	"I'd rather you guys found him before he tried."
	"Right.  Robin, we're splitting up.  You take the Palmeiro 
Building.  I'm going to try Felini Towers just south of the PA terminal 
and work back toward the Blue Line.  Thanks, Oracle."
	"Just find him."
	"We will."  Nightwing's tone did not admit a chance of failure.
	"Dick?" Robin started again.
	Nightwing paused, then turned to face him fully for the first 
time.  "Tim.  He's fine.  I know how well you all have trained him.  
It's good that you did, because at least he knew how good he would have 
to be before he tried this stunt.
	"He's not out here now because of you; he's out here because of 
me.  And you can fret all you want about the jump lines, and I can fret 
all I want about the fact that *I'm* the one who showed him how to time 
Babs' camera sweeps and sneak out, and he'll still be out there 
somewhere.  Got it?"
	Tim blinked, realizing he'd slipped into reading Nightwing's 
attitude as Batman-like and finding himself taken aback by the offered 
explanation.  "You taught him -?"
	"We wanted to surprise her with some ice cream."  And despite 
Dick's words, there was self-recrimination in his tone.