Rose didn’t know when she started showing up for dinner, or why, but she didn’t make it into a thing. She could see Grant whenever she wanted, and the jury was out on whether or not she was completely over the whole thing with Dick, but she was making solid effort at acting like he wasn’t sleeping with her dad. Hopefully that counted for something.

“I heard Cass was looking for me.” This was the first time both Dick and Grant were out, and Rose was doing her best not to make it weird. She could handle her dad in small doses and if she wasn’t looking for a display of fatherly affection. That wasn’t something she could count on him for, even though she knew he was capable of it, and it made her even hungrier for the small moments she could get. 

Alfred had met with Master Dick since his hospitalisation, he’d made certain the boy knew that he held him no ill will nor disappointment for who he chose to share his life with (though he felt some at the thought of Dick pushing him away because of it). But, Master Dick was only half the issue in this case; Alfred still needed to meet with Master Slade, it only felt right. 

So, during a time when he’d known Master Dick was not at home he’d come with another batch of food and knocked politely on the door. Alfred had his own way of sizing up a man and he (unlike Master Bruce) felt no need for grand posturing. He would meet and speak with the man and make his own decision. 

The door opened and he spoke, “Master Slade I take it?” he asked politely, “I am Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, Retainer to the Wayne Family. I have brought some home cooked meals for Master Dick since, as I suspect we are both well aware, the boy could burn water.” 

After Joey told her that Slade came by looking for her, Rose knew she could only avoid the conversation for so long. What happened to Dick was the final push she needed, even though she didn’t want to talk about that with him, she wanted to make sure he was okay. M’gann only had so much information to provide. 

She was alone in the house when she finally made the call. Gritting her teeth, she waited until she heard his voice on the other end before speaking up. “It’s me.” Her tone was stilted. “I heard what happened. Wasn’t me, just so you know.”

Rose had seen her father a handful of times after the whole afternoon with the puppy. It was still weighing on her mind even now, weeks later, and she still didn’t know what to think about it. Her feelings flipped between being confused or just suspicious, but she knew the latter was somewhat irrational. It wasn’t as if her father expected her to be right there when he appeared with a puppy in his arms. Maybe it really wasn’t some weird way to show some softer side that didn’t actually exist. 

The only reason she was going to the Halloween party was because of a job, but the whole thing took faster than she expected. A costume was necessary, annoyingly, so she dressed up as a pirate. It was the first thing she thought of, and she wasn’t about to put extra effort into the getup. 

As she moved through the crowd, she kept an eye out for one of her brothers. Instead, she saw her dad, sitting there plain as day, in scrubs. The look was so absurd that she didn’t even know what to do at first. Blinking, she smirked. “Can’t remember you ever so much as putting a Band-Aid on my knee.” It wasn’t the same sort of tone she used with him in the past; it was actually playful. The recent weeks and seeing him more had softened...something.

Rose didn’t know what to expect. It had been a while since she last heard from her father. During that time she made a point of being difficult to reach. This was her opportunity to live her own life, free from the constraints of a name and reputation that always proceeded her because of her father. Sometimes it was a benefit (those times she didn’t mind so much), but in most other ways it made it impossible to move through the world undetected. 

It felt too familiar to meet at her hotel. She still hadn’t decided if she wanted to help or not. It depended on what he was going to ask and how he asked it. The only thing Rose agreed to so far was a conversation; the best place to have one of those was in the open air. One thing she learned from her father was constant paranoia and situational awareness. She didn’t want to have this discussion anywhere where they would be overheard or inside a dwelling that could be bugged. 

When she saw him, she felt something in her chest swell and tighten at the same time. It made her mad. She put out her cigarette on the rock formation she was sitting on and frowned at him. “You look the same,” she finally said, her tone carefully deadpan. Fucking typical. “I’m here. What do you want?”

Linda nodded a sad goodbye to Dick and closed the door to his home. It hadn’t been an easy conversation, one involving the death of a loved one never was, but she was pleased he’d reached out to her about possibly speaking with a member or two of his family. She’d left her contact details with him and was going to make her way back to her city office when she turned and saw a large man coming towards the door she’d just walked out of. 

Rose didn’t like working this early. It was always boring. She wasn’t in the business of interfering in petty crimes; besides, she was hardly tempted to even give it a good ol’ college effort. 

What if she’d gone to college? Dick tried to talk to her about college once. She shut down that conversation real quick. At the time, she’d been too young to even think about anything like that. All she knew was that she wanted to be a Teen Titan. She’d wanted acceptance, validation, and a sense of belonging that she’d never been able to find, except with her brothers. That was different, though. There was a certain pride in those famed heroes believing in her. Looking back, it seemed damn pathetic. 

Perched on the edge of the roof, she leaned back on her elbows and sent a brief text to Joey. At this rate, she’d definitely be home early. 

When she saw him, she showed little surprise. She accepted that they worked in the same city and likely would be for the foreseeable future. “Missing something?”