August 19, 2140h

        Dinah descended the stairs in search of Bruce.  Barbara had sent
him to get an IV stand twenty minutes ago and he hadn't reappeared yet.
She heard snuffling noises and hastened her progress down the stairs.
        "Bruce."  The words were barely a whisper.  Her big, fearsome
husband was huddled on the floor, crying.  Spud was clinging to him, crying
just as hard.  She crossed the floor, almost in a daze, kneeling beside
them and slipping her hand across Bruce's broad shoulders.  "Honey…"
Belatedly, she noticed the scraps of the Nightwing costume strewn about the
floor.  What had happened down here?
        Spud sobbed brokenly into Bruce's shoulder, hiccuping in between
fits of tears.  Dinah ran a hand through Spud's hair, then the other
through Bruce's, pulling his head against her shoulder.  Surprisingly, he
let her.  His large form heaved with shaking sobs.  Bewildered, Dinah
wrapped her arms around both of them and let them cry against her until
they both were silent.
        She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Bruce's forehead, then tilted
Spud's face toward her.  It was red and splotchy from the tears and the
force of his sobs.  "You ready to go upstairs?" she asked him quietly.
"You want to say goodnight to Dick and Babs before they go to sleep."
        Spud nodded, wiping his nose with one hand.
        Dinah squeezed Bruce's shoulder and he eased away from her.  She
rose, holding out a hand to Spud.  "Tell Alfred it's time for us to go
home," she ordered Bruce gently.  "I'll be out as soon as I can."
        Bruce nodded and watched her as she led Spud up the basement steps.
Then he followed.