High School Drop Out
By SubmissiveJayden
This story is actually made up of a larger collection of stories I have been working on for a while now. I've been wanting to post them all once they were all complete, but I realized that I had been trailing off into different directions with the story and flow wasn't making as much sense as I would have liked it to be.
The collection of stories that I spoke of, begins at Battle for the Cowl. This story starts after Bruce has return from his time away from the cowl. A sequel may follow this story. For this part, Tim has been struggling after taking up the mantle of Red Robin. Now Bruce is back and wants to help his son deal with everything. First thing is first: Bruce must deal with Tim dropping out of high school.
Warnings are to include parental discipline of the spanking variety.
*Tim's Pov*
I truly am glad he has returned. The loving embrace he held me in gravitated all the swelling emotions that had been festering inside of me since he disappeared. His well sculpted arms is the most secure place in our world. No matter what our lives throw at us, we know we can count on this the most. I never let in a thought that I would never be held by him again, although I should admit that there were times I considered it. Now, more than ever, I never wanted to let him go. We stood, arm in arm, for what seemed to be eternity. He didn't make any attempt to disband us. He has the patients of a monk, after all.
He always allowed us to as much comfort as we wanted. Whenever we came crawling into his lap, he never shoved us off. If we ever had a bad day, we knew he would be there for us, even if nothing was ever said, we would enjoy his embrace until it magically healed us. I had seen my older brother, Dick, who is a young adult, snuggling beside him on the couch after he and his fiancé had a rough brake up. Dick didn't know I had watched from the doorway of the living room. Even for the short time that Damian had been around his father, I had seen him push away from the embrace we all seek, only to secretly crave his pursuit.
When both he and I had started to move apart, he slowly moved his hands to the side of my face and moved it to look in his eyes. He stared for only a moment before kissing me softly on my forehead. I couldn't help but to smile larger than I had in so many years. The simply gesture brought tear to my eyes. It has been so long since I had been this happy. So many things had darkened my world in the past few years.
"I'm so glad to see you again, my son." He whispered.
I couldn't help myself anymore. I broke into a quiet sob of joy. He grabbed me once more and held me as if he would never let me go again.
He called me his son! He may not have been my biological father, but I have never really seen him as anything less than that. He had taken care of me and raised me just as my actual father had. I still and will always love my dad more than anything, but Bruce was also a dad to me the same.
"Want to patrol with me tonight?" I'm not sure why he would ever have to ask me that question; maybe just to calm my tears. I said yes in a heartbeat.
Just like that, Bruce and I were off into the dark night.
When Bruce first came back, he had alot on his plate. First of all, he, the Batman, had vanished from a world that desperately need him. Dick had stepped up to take over the family business, but he could only follow so closely in Bruce's massive foot prints. The job demanded alot from Dick and he had given it his best, but Dick simply isn't Bruce, which I am grateful for.
Bruce had made a couple of trips to the Justice League after visiting with us. He had then tried to get all of his side projects under control. I think he was initially surprise that they were better off than he first thought. I overheard him thanking Dick for that.
Then there was Damian. Bruce hadn't really spent too much time with the demon child before he vanished, but was somewhat pleased to see Dick step up and take responsibility for the kid. Damian, I'll admit is a little better today than he was when Talia first dropped him off. I credit that to Dick. Bruce and Damian, however, were still strangers to each other. Bruce has a hard time understanding the creature and Damian leaves very little room for him to try. I had never imagined Bruce would be so short tempered with Damian, though. When Damian went off on his own and straight out refused his father's orders, Bruce blew up on the ten year old. I had never seen anyone get to Bruce like Damian has. As much as I don't like him myself, Dick has been reminding me that he is my little brother and family is everything in our world. To see Bruce dismiss Damian, like he did, actually made me feel bad for the monster. He might never get to see the Bruce that we all have seen and the one we all love as our own father.
Dick had done a great job in his tenure as Batman. He and I fought alot in the beginning about his place in the mantle, and with a little scheming, I was eventually able to get him to see that he needed to step up and take Bruce's place while he was away. Dick was the Batman that we all inspire to be. He wasn't perfect, however. There was a time, when I was away, that he had come up with a half thought out idea to bring Bruce back from the grave. If Dick had listened to me, he would have known that Bruce wasn't really dead and actually stuck in a time loop. Maybe if Bruce's body was actually Bruce's real corps, Dick's plan may have gone well. Long story short, Dick had created a huge mess that almost cost Damian and Alfred their lives.
Dick was not convinced that he had acted beyond rationally, even after Alfred had paddled him for the mayhem. When Bruce listened to the story of events from Alfred, he decided that Dick needed to take the lesson more seriously and lectured and switched him for it. I think Dick was more attentive to Bruce's lesson because the next day, Dick made a round of apologies to everyone that was affected.
Bruce is a very stern man. He never waivers from his path of justice. He rules the night as Batman to uphold criminals to the law. When his children misbehave, he is just as strict. He expects us to live up to all that he believes the path of good is. If we fall off track, instead of sending us to jail, like he does the criminal underworld, he takes us into his own hands for discipline. He can lecture us for hours and make us write out everything he said multiple times. I swear, I've probably written enough for a hundred books on what I've done wrong. He may also ground us to our rooms for awhile. I've heard other kids my age say that they don't really mind being grounded as much because they didn't really have much else to do anyway. That is not true with us because when we are grounded, we are not allowed to participate in our favourite activity: being vigilant crime fighters. Mostly though, Bruce believes in an old fashion form of discipline; yes, he still spanks us. I know how it sounds. Some of my friends make fun of the fact that they know if I get in trouble, I run the risk of Bruce putting me over his knee until I am remorseful.
I hate being spanked. Everything about it sucks. I always feel embarrassed. I'm not sure if it's more from the fact that Bruce is actually spanking me or if it's the fact that I did something bad enough that Bruce felt that I deserved a spanking. I try to be a good kid, but I don't know a single kid that never does anything wrong. Unfortunately, I'm no exception. Bruce tends to hold us to a much higher degree than most kids are held to anyway. It's hard to not do a single thing wrong. Bruce always tells us that we are allowed to make mistakes as long as he can correct us. The day we stop letting him do that is the day we have to face those mistakes on our own.
Some might argue that we shouldn't take corporal punishments, but on the other hand, I have seen exactly what cleaning up our own mistakes mean. Jason Todd, another one of my adopted brothers, has been in and out of the prison system more times than I can count. He refuses to listen to the lessons that Bruce has tried to teach us and wants to be completely out on his own. I don't want to end up like Jason. If that means having Bruce tan my hind when he feels it is appropriate, I feel that the compromise is worth it. Truthfully, I may not enjoy spankings, but I know I definitely learn from the experience and try my hardest to not need to learn the lessons a second time. In a weird way, I usually feel better after a spanking. Maybe it's because I've cried hard enough that I just feel better that the experience is over, or maybe its Bruce always comforts me and tells me that he still loves me and all is forgiven. I'm pretty sure Jason doesn't get that kind of feeling when he leaves prison.
Bruce knows I have gone through alot since he left. Alfred and Dick were required to give him a full status report as soon as he got back. I listened through some of it. I had to cringe whenever my name came up in the report. I wasn't the most well behaved son while he was away. Like I said, I had been going through alot. When Dick talked about just how I had schemed to get him into the mantle, I had actually forgotten that Dick didn't know the whole story behind it. I was actually quite thankful that Jason wasn't even around to hint at the fact that there was more behind the story. Dick told Bruce that he had punished me for putting on the mantle against his orders. Bruce gave me a stern nod to show he approved of Dick's methods. I just lowered my head to hide my blush.
It was Alfred who had mentioned that I tell Bruce myself what I had been up to since Bruce was gone. I knew what Alfred wanted me to say, but I just couldn't find myself opening up about it. After a long awkward silence, Dick had finally cut in to say that I had dropped out of high school and emancipated myself. I knew Dick could empathize with what I was going through because he had been the one to tell Bruce that he dropped out of college when he was eighteen. Of course Bruce had already known that, but he waited until Dick had finally admitted it to him. Dick told me that Bruce used the belt on him that night. Dick said that the worst part of it all was the disappointment that Bruce looked at him with. It was the same look that Bruce had when he turned to look at me. I was looking down to avoid it, but Bruce insisted I look him in the eyes and confirm its validity.
"It's true." I muttered. Bruce insisted that he hadn't heard me and asked me to repeat myself. "I said, 'yes, I did drop out of school and I also emancipated myself.'" Bruce shook his head in utter disbelief. I quickly tried to redeem myself. "But I'm going to get my GED and I know I can easily pass the test! I just realized that I was splitting too much time between studying and saving people."
"Timothy! You know exactly how I feel about education! You know that you are supposed to put school above everything else!" Bruce crossed his arm over his chest.
I don't think I could have looked more ashamed at that moment. I knew if Bruce was still around, I would never have considered the option of dropping out, but he was there and I was having a hard time making it to classes let alone finding enough time to study.
"But that isn't even the whole truth, is it Master Timothy?" Alfred proceed to tattle on me. I didn't say anything and continued to look at the floor. Alfred turned back to Bruce and explained what he meant. "Timothy hadn't even attended a single day of his senior year. After several threats to expel him, he finally decided to drop out himself."
Bruce let out a low growl. I knew I had it coming later. Bruce surprisingly turned quickly to Dick and snarled out, "And you just let him?"
Dick was as caught off guard as I was. I didn't want Dick blamed for my decision. "I had enough going on! I had Damian to look after. He's plenty enough on his own. I had a little chat with Tim about it, but I couldn't blame him. Hell, I did the same thing when I was around his age."
"It's not the same thing! You dropped out of college; after you already graduated from high school." Bruce went on. I could tell that things were not looking up for me. "I also seem to remember you and my belt having quite a discussion about it." Dick blushed at the memory and found the floor just as exciting as I did. Bruce turned back to me. "Tim, go upstairs to your room and wait for me there."
I didn't give a second look back as I hurried to follow the order. I wasn't sure I could take too much more anyway, especially if they brought up anything else I could get in trouble for.
On my way up the stairs, I passed by Damian. He had left the conversations a long way back. There was just too much tension between him and Bruce that I think they were both too uncomfortable to be in the same room with each other for too long. I wondered if Damian would give going down to the Batcave another chance. He seemed to linger outside the entrance for a little while before turning away. I wish I knew what to say. As much as I can't stand the kid, I still can't stand to see him go through this. He quickly walked away before I had a chance to open my mouth. After a long sigh, I continued to make my way upstairs to my bedroom.
Once I laid acrossed my bed, I started to think about the lecture I was in for. I get that Bruce is disappointed in me for dropping out, but did I really deserve a spanking? Was he really going to use a belt on me? My own father, Jack Drake, used to hit me with a belt when I would get in trouble for mouthing off or staying out passed curfew. I hate being hit with a belt more than anything else. It usually means being bent over my bed without my underwear on. Bruce has stronger arms than my dad did, but it always seemed like my dad hit harder. I think that Bruce holds back alot more for fear of hurting me too much. I've always been scared of the day that Bruce decides that I deserved to be hit hard by that thing. I know deep down that Bruce would never hurt me beyond what he knows I can take, but that never does enough to calm me down.
It was several hours before Bruce came knocking at my door. It startled me for a moment because I hadn't even heard him approach. I yelled for him to come in, but he had already started opening up the door by then. As soon as his giant figure was in my room, I set up in my bed and braced myself for what was about to come.
Bruce stood in front of me, by my bed, just like he normally does when I'm in for a long lecture. I think he likes appearing like a giant to remind me of just how small I am in comparison. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at me. I couldn't bring myself to look into his eyes, even though I know he would order me to do just that. He let out a deep breath before he started in. This time he did something different. He unlaced his arms and sighed. I actually risked looking up at him just as he was seating himself beside me on my bed.
"Son," He began. "I'm not sure what to do with you."
With a slight tremor in my breath, I asked back, "What do you mean?"
"Look at me." There it was, those dreadful words. I forced my head to move against its will to look Bruce in the eyes. "I need to know, the emancipation thing?"
"It was just to save your company." I quickly answered. I never wanted Bruce to feel like I wasn't grateful he adopted me, but in order to save all of our assets, I knew it would need to be done. "Dick didn't want to run the company. With Thomas Elliot posing as you, we needed to make sure he didn't attack us financially, like he tried."
Bruce nodded his head. The whole plan had actually been his idea. He had signed his assets in the company to me in his will. I think he had always figured I would turn eighteen before anything happened to him, but just in case, Bruce signed a letter that said he was willing to emancipate me and gave the letter to Lucius Fox for safe keeping.
"I didn't do it because I didn't want to be adopted." I let my voice drop lower as my head turned away from his eyes.
"I'm glad to hear that." After a moment, Bruce reached over and physically moved my head to face back toward him. "Tim, I need the truth now. Other than disobeying Dick's order and dropping out of school, is there anything else you want to tell me about that happened while I was gone? Now is the time to do so."
Yes! I have a million things that I should probably tell you about. I fought with Damian alot and beat him up really bad on the roof of the building that your parents were killed in. I also spring Jason from prison and came up with a horrible plan that involved him taking over as Batman so Dick would see that he was the right one for the job. That ended up backfiring on me because Jason turned on me. I also sprung a possible assassin from jail, but you already knew about that one. I'm sure I'm still forgetting alot.
For some reason, I still couldn't bring myself to say these things out loud. I know that if Bruce ever found out about any of these things I would find myself in a world of trouble. He's asking me to say it now, but I just don't want to. If there is no possibility for him to find out, why mention anything? Dick didn't know about Jason so that means that only Jason and I know about that one. It's not like Bruce and Jason are on friendly terms so I doubt that he'll mention anything about it. I may be in the clear for that one, but I highly doubt both Dick and Damian wouldn't mention anything about the brawl Damian and I had. "Damian and I have been fighting alot." Bruce nodded his head like he expected I'd say this. He also waited for me to go on. I'm pretty sure Dick must have told him. "Including a time that Damian attacked me out of nowhere, while we were on patrol."
"And how did you go about restraining him?"
Ouch. Bruce knew that I didn't restrain him. I'm sure Dick said I fought back. I'm not sure how badly Dick had mentioned I hurt him. I wanted so desperately to turn away from him, but I know better than that. I hate admitting to the things I've done. Bruce usually already knows what I've been up to, the bad and the good. He still will make me recollect everything I've done.
"Damian was out of control! He cut my line!" I know I didn't actually answer his question, but I still felt the need to justify myself. He most likely already knew what happened. I want to throw in my side of the story before anything.
"Tim, calm down and answer me."
I'm seventeen, but when I sit in front of Bruce during a lecture, he always makes me feel about ten. For a moment, I almost wanted to yell at him for putting me through this, but I know Bruce would have called this a temper tantrum and punished me worse for it. I, instead, pulled my knees up to rest in front of my face. "I'm sorry, Bruce. I didn't restrain him."
"What happened then?"
"Dick didn't tell you?" I regretted saying that the second the words left my mouth. I've been having that problem lately. Alfred told me it was a teenager thing. I hate it because it tends to get me into alot of trouble, like now.
"Watch your tone! I asked you. I expect you to answer me."
"Sorry." I muttered out, behind my knees. "I thought that the only way to get Damian under control was to show him I wouldn't put up with his behaviour anymore. I fought Damian. We ended up on the roof of the theatre where your parents died. Bruce, I'm sorry."
"Did you hurt him?"
I wasn't expecting him to ask that. I thought he'd be more pissed about where the fight took place, not the outcome of the fight. "Umm. I might have."
"Tim, how old are you?"
Now this was getting ridicules. Bruce knows exactly how old I am. "Seventeen."
"And how old is Damian?"
"Ten."
"And you really think that it's alright that a seventeen year old is beating up on a ten year old? Tim, you could have seriously hurt him! From what Alfred said, Damian had a dislocated shoulder and a broken nose! That's not even to mention the dozens of cuts and bruises he had! We already live very dangerous lives."
I had never truly regretted what I did to Damian, until this moment. I hadn't realized just how bad Damian's injuries had been. The kid hides them well. Tears welled up in my eyes as Bruce listed off what I had caused Damian. "I'm sorry." I'm not sure if Bruce accepted my apology or not because he simply nodded.
Bruce moved his body a little closer to mine in the middle of the bed. He almost seemed like he was going to give me a hug, but I knew better than that. He grabbed a hold of my wrist and gently guided me to be face down over his knee. Without warning, I let out a loud hiccup of a sob. I felt Bruce's hand run up and down my back. He made a shushing noise while he did that.
With a tug or two, he was able to pull my pants down and my underwear down in another movement. "Tim, why are you getting a spanking?"
The dreaded question. Once again, Bruce expected me to enunciate what I had done wrong. I wished he would just spank me and get it over with. "Because…" I hiccupped once more. "Cause I fought with Damian and not listening to Dick and cause I…" Hiccupping just made this experience even more humiliating. "I dropped out of high school."
Just as I hiccupped once more, Bruce started spanking me. Sobs continued to follow the hiccups. Bruce wasn't swatting me as hard as I knew he could, but he also was making sure each swat still burned. For the first five minutes, Bruce sat still and spanked me without saying much. I just cried and tried my hardest to remain as still as I could. Bruce doesn't like it when I squirm around too much. After what seemed like a half hour, I wasn't sure just how much more I could take, especially without moving around.
I couldn't help myself and put my hand on my lower back to try to protect my backside from more harm. Bruce just scooped it up without missing a beat. Without much hope of my punishment ending anytime soon, I cried louder into my comforter.
"Please, Bruce, I'm sorry!" I pleaded with him to stop after he wasn't swayed with my tears.
"For what Tim?" Bruce replied, still without letting any mercy show.
"For not behaving for Dick!"
"Dick already punished you for that, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then that's not why I'm punishing you."
"Cause I hurt Damian."
"Are you sorry for anything else?"
I knew he was trying to make me feel bad about my decision to drop out of school, but I didn't feel that I had made the wrong choice. A GED is just as good as a high school diploma. I've heard of plenty of busy or over qualified people graduating early with a GED so they wouldn't have to waste their time with sitting in classes for things that they already knew. After striking my lower, more sensitive bottom, I was ready to say anything just to get him to stop.
"I'm sorry I dropped out of school!" I practically yelled this out.
"No. No you're not." This was Bruce's reply.
Great. He wouldn't believe me. I don't know if he'll ever stop spanking me. "Yes I am! Bruce please!"
Bruce answered me by swatting harder. Once that happened, I started shifting as much as I can to get out of the way of the pain. "Stop." Bruce ordered. I tried to still myself as much as I could. By now I was practically screaming into my mattress. My butt felt like it was atleast a neon shade of red. "You know why I know you're not sorry? If you were truly sorry, you would be agreeing to go back to school to end this spanking."
Going back to school? No! I don't care how badly of a spanking it is, I'm not going back. I'm getting my GED and that's final. "I'm not…" Sobbing keeps cutting off my words. "Not going… back!"
Bruce seemed to have missed my words, either that or he was choosing to ignore them. I couldn't take it anymore. I tried my hardest to get out of his grasp. Of course this was an impossible task, but that didn't stop me from trying. Bruce suddenly stopped spanking me. He released his grasp on my wrists. I quickly started rubbing my swollen bottom.
"Go grab me your hairbrush." Bruce said in a monotone voice, as if he were asking for the weather.
I should have expected this already. Dick and I had a conversation about how Bruce would take my refusal to attend school. Dick had told what happened when he first told Bruce that he wasn't going back to college. Bruce had played it off cool at first until he told Dick he would be punished. Dick said he didn't realize how serious Bruce was until he brought his leather belt down to the office, where Dick was waiting for him. Dick said it was bad, but it wasn't any longer than most times Bruce disciplined him.
I hadn't moved since Bruce had given his order. I was hoping he would atleast give me a chance to compose myself. "Shh…" Bruce spoke softly to me. "We're not done just yet." I started to cry harder. I'm not sure how he expected that to calm me down.
I didn't want to be punished anymore. I wasn't going to breakdown or bend; I'm not going back to high school! Did he really think he could just beat me into submission? It hadn't worked on Dick, it won't work on me. Didn't Alfred say that he had punished Bruce the day he refused to continue with his graduate studies? Bruce knew first hand that this wouldn't work. What did he really want accomplished? Whatever it was, I wasn't just going to just wait around and find out while my backside paid the price.
"No!" I screamed. "No more!" I was expecting to be swatted for my outburst. It was surprising to find that Bruce hadn't moved an inch. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. I know I shouldn't be yelling at him, much less telling him 'no.' I'm sure to get a harsh spanking now. But, I stayed in place, over his knee, crying into my bed sheets.
This was usually the point in my punishment that Bruce would let me cry as much as I wanted to. Usually, he would scoop me up into his strong embrace and hold me until I tired of crying. He was usually the polar opposite of the strict disciplinarian that he just was. The fact that he wasn't being in anyway the kind, comforting father now only leads me to believe that this punishment truly isn't over. After atleast five minutes of lying there crying, my sobs were starting to be reduced to sniffles. The lack of comfort Bruce was offering was hurting me the most. I know he's disappointed, but this was too much.
There is no way I am going to make an attempt at retrieving my wooden hairbrush. Alfred insists we all get the same generic hairbrushes that double as a mini paddle. I'm not sure that anyone of us has actually used the thing for our hair. When Alfred combs my hair, he is always sure to use it. I felt Bruce shift slightly under me. He patted my butt softly as a hint to say get up. I just wanted to bury myself into my sheet until I disappeared.
For some reason, probably through this weird teenage aggression and uncensorshipped language I was learning, I was overcome with the desire to yell at Bruce for even considering taking me over his knee again. As bad of an idea that this sounded like I quickly got myself off his knee and covered my bottom with my boxers (my jeans had flown off long ago). I moved closer to the bathroom so Bruce would think I was obeying him, but in reality, I was just trying to get as far out of his arm's reach as I could. I turned around and faced Bruce just before entering the bathroom.
"Bruce, I'm not getting my hairbrush. I get it, you're disappointed in me for dropping out of school. Truth is, I'm disappointed in myself. Even still, I made my decision. No matter how much you punish me, I will not go back to school. I wish we could just discuss this, without me being over your knee."
Bruce just sat and stared at me with the same stern expression that he always had. "Are you done?"
Perfect. Bruce was still just as mad as he was before. I nodded my head. I had to fight against my instinct to just go grab my hairbrush from the bathroom countertop, but I wanted Bruce to realize that I was serious about not going back to school.
I watched as Bruce stood up from his spot on his bed and came to stand in front of me. This time, I tried my best to keep my eye contact with him. He could easily reach into the bathroom and grab my brush. I didn't fault in my stance though.
"You're grounded until you have your GED in your hands."
When Bruce said that, a smile almost came to my lips because I knew he had official finished physically punishing me. The thought of smiling quickly vanished when I realized just how long it would take to have my GED in my hands. My expression actually dropped into a pout.
"Bruce that could take several months!"
"So would getting your high school diploma." Bruce sighed heavily. "You made your choice. I wish you would have made a better choice, but as you've said, you made your decision."
Finally, I felt Bruce wrap his strong arms around me. I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist and buried my head into his chest.
I was going crazy just waiting day by day. Bruce had to be ridicules if he thought it was a just punishment to wait till the day that I received my GED in my hands to be ungrounded. I figured I could probably argue my point better if I knew what the score was to the test I had just taken. It had only been a week since the test, but I could hardly wait any longer. I have an overwhelmingly good feeling about the way the test would turn out, but that did little to sway the opinion of my adoptive father.
I have been grounded for six weeks now. Bruce hadn't initially specified what I was grounded from, other than from Red Robin. At first, I didn't ask, not wanting a full expectation of rules to follow; after all, if I didn't know, how could I get in trouble for it? The first day of my grounding, I spent mostly all of my time on my computer trying to register for the next possible GED test and prep courses. I had registered to take the test in Blüdhaven because I knew I could take the test in a week at the soonest there. I could probably also spend the day with my older brother, Dick at his apartment. Dick would want an excuse to go back to Blüdhaven so he was thrilled with my idea to take the there. The prep courses I registered for were going to be held three days before and a day before. I figured once I took the test and had nothing to cure my boredom, Bruce would relax on my punishment.
Dick was kind of also grounded, but not really. Dick had been wounded pretty badly. Dick had agreed to stay at the manor with his family until he was healed. Dick figured he'd stay for a week or two, but Bruce demanded him to stay for a minimum of two months. Dick wasn't in trouble like I was. Although Bruce had beaten Dick with a switch, a story that made my skin crawl, Dick had explained that it wasn't the same thing as if Damian or myself had been in trouble with Bruce. I didn't really see the difference because Bruce had threatened to beat both me and Damian with the switch if we were caught fighting and it turned physical like it had one other time. Dick had justified his point by saying he was an adult so it meant two different things, whether or not I could understand that.
After the test, Bruce did little to ease up on my grounding. Two days after the test, I wondered down to the Batcave to read over some old case files. Damian had been down there with Dick, training. Damian let out a loud, annoyed sigh when he saw me and asked if Bruce allowed me access into the cave. I stayed quiet until Dick asked me the same question, albeit wording it differently. My only response was with a shrug of my shoulders and I said that I had already taken the test and there was no need for farther banishment. Unfortunately, Bruce didn't see it that way. By the time Bruce got down there, I had been so enveloped into my research that I hadn't heard Bruce's approach. Bruce loudly grunted out the question, "what are you doing here?"
I was stunned and jumped to my feet, but I kept my eyes on the research on the ground, forsaking looking at my mentor. "Just going over some old case files. I figured I'd give them a once over, seeing as I've already taken my test." I dared to look up to see Bruce's reaction to this logic.
Bruce shook his head side to side. "When did I say you'd be ungrounded?"
My lip quivered, without my permission, as if to say I wanted to throw a fit. I heard Damian scoff in the background. "But, Bruce I took..."
Bruce held up his figure to stop me. "Answer my question."
I sighed angrily, "It's not like I'm doing any good to just lie around all day not doing anything!"
Bruce answered me with what I had coming. Bruce sharply grabbed my forearm and brought me closer, before turning me slightly to get a better angle to swat my bottom. "Try that again." Bruce warned as he let go of my arm. I was in a mix of pouting and anger. I ignored Bruce as I stomped out of the cave and back to my room. I heard Bruce let out an exacerbating sigh as he let me leave.
I fell face first into my pillow once I was in my room. I made a show of slamming my door shut to prove how displeased I was with the situation. I knew I'd be in trouble for this action, but couldn't concentrate on that at the moment. All I could think about was how unfair his situation was. Here I was, seventeen. I am emancipated. I already left high school and was about to earn my GED. I am a CEO at Wayne Enterprise. I created my own secret identity as Red Robin. I am even in the process of constructing his own house. This just wasn't fair!
I started concentrating on my house. I am having it constructed to be everything I could ever want. Bruce wasn't thrilled when he first heard about the construction, but came to warm up to the idea. Dick, Jason and Cass had their own apartments. Dick moved out when he was eighteen, only slightly older than I am now. If my place was already set up by now, I couldn't think why I'd stay here and put up with Bruce's unreasonableness. Not for the first time, did I envy Jason's choice of lifestyle. Sure Jason might have some things harder, like not having Bruce Wayne or Batman to bail him out of tight places, but he wouldn't have put up with Bruce treating him like a child. Dick still had to follow along with Bruce's rules or risk punishment. Why couldn't Bruce see how unfair all of this was?
I let out a scream into my pillow to muffle the sound. It was at that moment that I heard a knock at the door. I knew it could only be one of three people: Bruce to spank me some more, Alfred to lecture me about not slamming doors, or with any luck, Dick had convinced Bruce that he'd calmly talk to me. I watched as the door opened and in stepped Bruce. I sucked in a deep breath and continued to lay face first in the pillow.
Bruce didn't always enjoy being a parent/guardian, especially when one of his children were in trouble. He always made a point of telling us this. All of his kids were a handful. I knew I was no exception. I wished Bruce had come in to tell me that my punishment was up and he was going to allow me to continue on as Red Robin, but I knew Bruce better. For the sake of his 'responsibility' to me, as he would say, I was not be let off that easy. "Timothy." Bruce entered my bedroom and shut the door behind him. He made his way over to my bed.
I didn't move from where I was at. Instead, I muttered "Go away!" It was too low for Bruce to hear me, or so I hoped.
Bruce sat beside me on my bed. "Sit up." Bruce commanded.
No! I thought over and over, but I couldn't find the courage to actually say it out loud. Instead, I continued to lay there. I felt Bruce lay his hand over the back of my head as he gently pet my hair. I was alittle confused by this gesture. Bruce had obviously come to scold and spank me, so why was he being so gentle?
"I'm not going to say it again." There it was again; that cold command. Bruce's tone didn't match his movements though. It was almost as if Bruce were silently begging me to comply. Oddly enough, it worked. I moved from my stomach to side and eventually to sitting beside Bruce on the bed. "Good." Bruce praised as his hand now ran circles in my back in a massaging way. Bruce didn't say anything farther for a few minutes. When he felt that I had calm down enough, he went back to his questions, while still keeping a hand on his back. "You want to tell me what that was in there?"
I now felt ashamed of the way he had just behaved. "I'm sorry, Bruce. I was out of line." I was always amazed at just how quickly my emotions could go from being upset with everyone and everything to being calm and relaxed. I supposed the opposite happened as well, but the rush usually makes my mind think slower and therefore not noticing.
Still, Bruce kept his arm on my shoulder as he rubbed. "Tim, you know why you're grounded, right?"
I sighed. I didn't want to throw another fit so I took my time to pick my words carefully. "You said I'm grounded until I have my GED in my hands."
Bruce nodded. "But why did I ground you?"
I looked up at Bruce as if the correct answer could be read on his face. As always, Bruce was unreadable. If anything, Bruce had a look of disappointment. Again, I chose to bite down on my tongue before it decided to spew out something like: 'because you're an unreasonable jerk.' With my tongue being suppressed, I simply shrugged.
"I didn't ground you to be an unreasonable jerk." Bruce was doing that Batman thing again; reading my thoughts. "You decided, on your own, that you were going to drop out of high school to work full-time as Red Robin. You know damn well that if I had been here, you wouldn't have even considered it an option. Before you go on about how I wasn't here and things were different, hear me out." Reading my thoughts again. "You made your choice, but you made it rather quickly. Instead of jumping into working full-time, I want you to take a break and explore other options. Consider this punishment as time off so you can see what else is out there."
"What do you mean by other options?" I asked, mildly confused. I knew Bruce usually did stuff for specific reasons, but it hadn't occurred to me that Bruce might have had a justifiable reason for grounding me for this long.
"College is still an option to people with GED's. You're a smart kid. I want you to have every opportunity out there." College wasn't something I had been considering. The reason I dropped out of high school wasn't necessarily that I thought I was too smart for it, but because I didn't have time for it. There was no way I'd want to go through the same ordeal with college. Bruce was reading my face like an open map. He moved his hand from my shoulder to my chin to make sure I had his full attention. "We both know that I won't be around forever." That sentence sent chills down my spine. It was a cold reality that we all recently faced. "This life… It's not what I want… Not something you should want to do forever. Go now and get a degree while you're still young and have those options open. If after four years you choose to come back, Red Robin will still be here for you."
I didn't need a minute to make up my mind. "I don't want to go to college! I quit high school to be Red Robin. College will end just the same. That's why Dick dropped out! Isn't that why you dropped out too?"
This wasn't something that I think Bruce or I would agree on anytime soon. Bruce stood up. "Make up your mind when your punishment is up. Until then, you are to stay out of the cave and away from all affairs that involve costumes and villains." Bruce turned to walk out the door of my bedroom, but stopped just before he reached the knob. "I can't speak for Dick, but if you're going to compare yourself to me, then ask yourself if you really want to turn out the way I have." With that, Bruce Wayne left me to contemplate his words for the rest of the evening.