Faith complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
Dick looked up at the man, surprised, shocked, and speechless. Time seemed to stop again, like when he'd learned about what happened to Bruce. He was sure he'd stopped breathing and so he gasped out, wanting air. It was a mistake, it had to be. Why would Bruce do this to him? Why? 'because all he ever wanted was to control you' came the angry thoughts that always came. He pushed them back.
Richard Grayson looked up at Alfred, who did not look surprised, shocked or speechless at all. Then, slowly, Dick's head turned to stare at Tim. Nope, he wasn't surprised, shocked or speechless either. He was…smiling? No. It couldn't be a smile. The boy hadn't smiled since…well, since that day.
Finally Dick slammed his hand on the desk, hard. "Damn it! Damn him!" He yelled out and stormed out of the room, he was angry; beyond angry, really. It was just like Bruce to make a hard thing even harder.
He ran out, got on his motorcycle and took off. It didn't matter where he went at that point. His life was and had always been pointless, he thought, though he was wise enough to know that this feelings would pass. His parents had died, all of them. All 3 of them.
He was 23 years old and his life was a mess. He had nothing to live for. All this time he thought he could be a hero, he could help people and that was his calling. Some day Batman would recognize him. Really, finally see him. That hadn't happened, and now? Now he'd never get the chance to hear what he needed.
"So he just took off?" Barbara asked, worried for her former love. She was worried about all of them, really. What would Alfred do, without the cause. What about Tim? He wasn't quite a man, and she wondered, carefully, about Jason Todd...
"Yeah, it was weird. I mean this is Dick Grayson, right?" Tim noted, as if that should explain everything, but it kinda did. Richard Grayson, the boy who had lost so much, was a light, a carefree, happy, loving light in the life of everyone that knew him. He didn't really do 'doom and gloom', that was Jason's department.
Barbara nodded, taking another carrot stick from the bowl that Alfred had set in front of them, and played around with it before she brought it to her lips, and then put it down.
"Yeah, I get this is... unimaginably hard, I just don't understand why he's so upset about this."
"And why not?" The two lifted their heads to see a very old looking Alfred heading towards them. In the past few weeks, he had seemed to shrink, like all his strength was being drained away.
Tim tried to gift Alfred a reassuring smile, to let him know that he was there for him. That they could be there for each other, but instead it came out looking like a wary, unsure grimace.
"Well" Barbara replied, wondering how she could explain herself. "It was obvious wasn't it? That Bruce saw him a certain way..."
Tim nodded. Bruce Wayne was a father to him, Dick and Jason his brothers, and yet, even from the beginning, something had been clear and obvious. Richard Grayson was special. "How is this a surprise to him?"
Alfred sighed at that, sitting down, for what seemed like the first time in his life.
"It was clear to us that Master Dick would inherit Wayne Enterprises and all the fortune that comes with it-"
"He just had no clue" Barbara finished for him, and felt the desire to wrap her arms around Dick. Of course, she also wanted to punch him in the face for worrying their family unit at a time like this.
"I don't understand" Dick Grayson muttered to himself as he sat on the edge of one of Gotham's buildings. He didn't have his Nightwing costume on, it didn't seem to matter anymore; all his will had left him.
For the past month, he'd been pretending he was going to be fine. He was determined to be strong for the others. He wasn't going to be weak- he hadn't been raised to be weak. Alfred would surely miss Bruce the most, he had been like a father to Bruce and it was just wrong to outlive your child. Tim…Tim had still been living with Bruce. They were partners and family. The poor teenager would be so lost...
Jason? Wherever he was, surely destruction was in the wake of his sorrow. Damian had run off to his grandfather, and Dick was determined that he would find and help the boy. At the moment though, Dick was glad that the young boy was not around, because hearing that his father had left everything to Dick would have caused him unnecessary feelings.
Dick sighed. It was like everything he'd been trying to kill inside of him for the past month was suddenly brought up to the surface. He had to take a long breath again, he hadn't cried. Of course not; he had been taught to hide his emotions. He had trapped all the anger, hurt and sadness and tried to drown them, because what was alternative?
He couldn't avoid it now though, not when the selfish bastard had been so gracious in the end. Why? Why? Why?
"Why…?"
"Alfred," Barbara had followed the butler into the kitchen and was now looking down at the floor, feeling guilty for what she was about to ask.
"Yes Ms. Barbara?" Alfred smiled,knowing that it was hollow. There was a hole in his heart now, and he just knew it would never heal. He had always known that the call would come, or maybe not even a call, maybe it would be Superman stopping at his door, or maybe the world would just be up in flames, and he would know. He hadn't been prepared.
"Will Dick be okay? Why did Bruce... I mean, it's not like Dick ever asked anything of him..."
The butler nodded, understanding what she meant. Richard Grayson had come to the manor a long time ago, he had belonged from the beginning, and he had healed many wounds, and yet, he was not the biological son of Bruce Wayne. The will, in which he was named heir, had been written back then. Back when Richard was a child, long before the fights, long before Nightwing...
"Indeed..."
"This is ridiculous" The man had muttered, mostly because he didn't want to deal with this kind of decision. He was young and strong, and Batman. He was full of confidence that he'd live to a ripe old age. Overly confident.
Alfred shook his head and set a cup of coffee next to the younger man. Bruce wasn't wrong, but the decision did need to be made.
"Master Bruce, If you don't let your will be known, what will become of your father's company should something happen to...the bat?" It was said with a bad taste in his mouth, he was still not thrilled by Bruce's night time activities.
Bruce Wayne sighed deeply, annoyed.
"Well, I'll just leave you in charge of everything..."
"Master Bruce!" There was alarm, distaste, and anger in the response. It made Bruce's head shoot up with a look of curiosity. Alfred wasn't afraid to chastise him, but it also didn't happen too often.
"I don't plan on being alive when you die"
Bruce had smirked, since he hadn't been planning on dying any time soon.n
"The question, Master Bruce, is who do you have faith in? Who do you trust with your legacy, power and fortune when you are no longer here to make all of the decisions?"
Bruce blinked, he had never expected Alfred to take this whole thing so seriously; Bruce wasn't great at introspection.
"Who Master Bruce?"
Bruce had shrugged then. The question wasn't really a was really only one person,one boy he had faith in.
Barbara nodded, beginning to understand. Everyone knew that Bruce and Dick's relationship had only soured in the later years. When the boy was young, he had idolized Batman, idolized Bruce Wayne...but that was before the bitterness. It was before the anger.
"You're saying that the decision was made before Dick turned into a man, before Jason, and Tim and Damian..."
Tim looked up as he heard the door to his bedroom open. He had been watching mindless videos online, and had expected to find Barbara at the door; she had been trying to get him to eat.
Dick.
"Hey man…" Tim greeted, enthusiastically, as he sat up on his large bed. Dick looked tired, more so than he had even during the funeral. It had been frightening how he had shown no emotion then, and now, now he seemed to be falling apart.
Dick said nothing, just threw himself on the bed, as only Dick Grayson could, and stared at the floor. He was tired.
"Thanks for knocking by the way" Tim muttered, faking annoyance. He was honestly just glad that Dick was safe, that he hadn't been stupid. The older boy turned to face him, giving him a sad smile.
"It's my house." He joked, laughing, but Tim knew it was fake. There was no joy there.
"True…" Tim agreed and then stared at the 23 year old. It was strange to see him so sad. "but you'll let me stay, right?"
" Why'd you get all freaked out when you heard his will? Does it really bother you that much…to know that he loved you so much?" Come on, he had to know...
"…yeah" Dick finally said, a sob escaping. The younger boy, Robin, looked at him now like he'd grown a second head.
"Are you serious?"
"When I first came to live here, this was it. Y'know..." Dick took another, unfamiliar breath, like his spirit just didn't fit in his body anymore. "This was all I had. Alfred and Bruce, and it was so hard, because they weren't my mom or dad."
The younger boy bit his bottom lip, he wanted so badly to make things better for Dick, but he couldn't even do it for himself.
"I don't know why it happened, but I smiled one day. I decided that my mom and dad would want me to be happy, and so I tried, and then...it actually happened. I actually felt happy. This world, this hero business...it filled me up. Bruce... we could never see eye to eye, but when I was a boy he was there for me. I loved him. I really, really did" Dick admitted now, letting his tears fall, grabbing a blanket and covering up his face.
"… I know" Tim whispered, letting his own eyes fill with tears. Batman had been Robin's mentor, and his father, and Tim understood that. He had felt that. Dick was the first Robin, and what else could Batman give him, but everything?
Dick nodded and got closer to Tim, to his brother, not by blood, but by life experience. Brought together by 'the cause'.
"We had been arguing one day, and I...I was being such a brat" Tim began, regretting all of his harsh words now. "I remember telling him he didn't have faith, and that was his problem. He was being the smug bastard he sometimes could be"
"Smug bastard was all I knew" Dick Grayson muttered, joking, thankful for the story.
"Yeah...well, he said...'I have faith in Dick'" Tim finished, awkwardly, giving his older brother a genuine smile.
"You were 10 years old when he wrote his will, he never changed it" The comment had come from Alfred, who was by the doorway, having just said goodbye to Barbara Gordon, and had planned to check on Tim.
"Good to see you home, Master Dick"
"He could have shared the responsibility, geez..." The oldest boy grumbled, to be honest, he was overwhelmed by all that had been given to him, after all, he hadn't been Bruce's only child.
"Perhaps, Master Dick, however, he knew that no matter who you grew up to be, you would always be wise, and full of joy, and always willing to help your loved ones."
Alfred walked over, as Dick stood up, both wanting to embrace, however, Alfred first put his hand on Dick's face, so that the boy could look into his eyes.
"His faith in you never faltered, and so, his will never altered."
The End
