Chapter 1. Of…
FLEXIBILE RELATIONSHIPS.
I do not own Batman or DC. So whatever. Disclaimer...
This is a pairing Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. In other words known as Batman's sidekicks Robin and Batgirl... and later known as the hero Nightwing and intelligence gather Oracle.
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Well, here I am again having fallen in love with another pairing that I probably shouldn't have paid that much attention to in the first place. Oh well.
So, this isn't one that I've known for very long and although I've tried to gather as much material on this couple as I can it is very difficult to try and get their sort of relationship status right. As it appears that… in the DC universe, things are constantly changing depending on the time they were written and the writers that wrote it. Relationships that were definite in one series become a mere myth in another, while a simple fling in one will become the focal point in the next. It is very confusing. So I decided to throw caution to the wind and write a bit about their Rivalry/Friendship/Romance thingy...
In this Chapter Barbara Gordon is 15 and Dick Grayson is 10. Yes, they do have a bit of an age gap, but that's just the way it was or has been or will be... whatever. This is not going to be a blistering romance from the start, but more like a slow simmering glow of affection that builds up with time.
I'll try and skip a few years over a few chapters. Well, we'll see how it goes.
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Flexible Relationships: The Gymnastics Competition
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Dick Grayson pouted and leaned back in the black backseat of Mr. Wayne's Rolls Royce. He hadn't wanted to come on this trip. He had wanted to stay back in the Wayne Manor and try abseiling from the roof again when Alfred wasn't looking and then walking from the bottom of the garden up to the top of Wayne manor on a tight rope he had installed that morning.
Dick knew that he should be grateful that Bruce had bought tickets to see the regional gymnastics competition, but he didn't really like the idea of just watching a watered down all-girls performance routine for the rich kids of society. It wasn't like it would be helpful to him anyway. Both his parents had been masters of all types of Gymnastic feats. They weren't just mere Gymnasts they were acrobats, and they had taught him from a very young age how to keep his balance performing under pressure high above the world of seemingly mere mortals. There was nothing he could learn here that he didn't already know how to do. And seeing girls show off and break down when they don't get the scores they wanted wasn't something he wanted to spend his time doing.
'And besides it was probably going to all be really serious and lame because they were going to be judged based on how good their routines were. And they weren't even aloud to perform anything dangerous, so that took out most of the fun of watching something like this.'
'Maybe it would be good, but I doubt it. I didn't even hear about it until Bruce said we were going to see it. That should speak for itself, it's no Haly's Circus. '
"Don't look so gloomy, master Dick." Alfred said as the car finally stopped outside the main entrance the performance hall. "This might be a lot more enjoyable than you think."
Dick smiled back at him through the rear-view mirror and nodded. He couldn't believe that it was now almost six months since he had found out about Bruce's secret. About him being the Batman, but nothing to drastic had really happened of late, and although he had been begging Bruce to take him out with him crime-fighting Bruce had instead insisted on him practicing throwing tools, ropes, and hoops, and climbing, swimming, and reading, all the things that the old Richard Grayson had at first thought of as wasting time. He still wasn't sure when it was that Bruce actually wanted him to join him in the crime fighting. He had already told Bruce that he had done that sort of thing before, the swinging from high buildings and all that stuff, but Bruce had merely rolled his eyes and told him to get back to training.
'It's like he doesn't even see me as worth while until I've proved I can serve his every whim. This is so unfair. I know I'll be fine. I've done plenty of training.'
Grayson looked back up at the door of the car as it opened and he followed Bruce down the pathway into the massive building. It felt strange hearing the sounds of cheering and booing in the background as they approached the main hall. It was odd because of the way it echoed around the building bouncing from the walls. It was such a familiar sound. Dick Grayson couldn't help but remember those many occasions that he'd heard them. He frowned, the last time he had heard a crowd cheer like this had been just fifteen seconds before they all gasped as they watched as his acrobatic parents, who never made mistakes, plunged to their deaths in the center of the circus, their trapeze having been sabotaged by jealous entrepreneurs of the underpaid, the devious and the sickly savs that love to raid of the unexpecting. The bastard that had sabotaged the trapeze hadn't even had the decency to try and take them out one to one. No, he had to shame the entire circus by killing his parents in mid-performance.
He felt a sick feeling gather in his gut, as the sounds of the cheering got louder. Cheering at a performance well done. Utterly unlike the time his parents died. Dick rubbed the rim of his nose trying to get the image of his mother's terrified eyes out of his mind as she fell. It had been just over a year now since their deaths, but the memory was still so clear.
He swallowed his grief and followed after Bruce. Although he didn't often understand Bruce Wayne he did admire him, and try as he might he knew he would never get a better opportunity to be the person he most wanted to be than when he was being trained by the batman.
They eventually came in through a large doorway into a massive gymnasium and despite his earlier defiance about not wanting to come to watch grounded gymnastics, he felt a buzz that he hadn't felt in a long time, and despite the pain from the memories he felt his heart get lighter as the sounds of cartwheeling, jumping, and leaping that were taking place below.
With anticipation growing, Dick cracked both his knuckles. "So Bruce? Which side are we sitting on?"
"North side in box seventeen."
"Where's that?" Dick looked up at Bruce, and noticed a smile cross his face. He followed his eyesight line until he caught a glimpse of the Gotham Police Commissioner Gordon.
"What is he doing h...?" Dick started to say.
"Gordon so good to see you here." Bruce said walking up with confidence to the older man and took his hand, once he had turned around and recovered from the surprise.
The Commissioner shook his hand. "Good to see you Mr. Wayne I didn't except to see you here, and you've brought your young ward I see." He smiled down the almost eleven year old. "So son, how is life in the Wayne mansion is it as terrifying as people say, is it haunted?"
Bruce laughed. Dick raised an eyebrow. It was always strange to see how different Bruce acted in front of other people. He hardly ever laughed at home.
Dick shrugged. "It's okay, but Bruce has been threatening to send me to school." He shook his head in mocking horror as if the very thought of it was a disgrace.
Bruce smiled and ruffled up the young man's already unruly hair. "He doesn't know it yet, but I have a feeling he's going to really like school. I was thinking of a school or an academy outside the city, but what do you think. Do you have any good suggestions?" He said looking up at Gordon. "We have already tried the home tutor, but for some reason Richard just doesn't seem to pay much attention."
Dick scowled again. 'It's not like I really even need a teacher. I could learn everything I wanted to fine by myself.'
"Well I sent my Barbara to Gotham Academy, and she's been really enjoying herself there. Making friends there was what got her interested in becoming a gymnast."
"What, your young girl about a meter high? She's performing today?" Bruce asked, with amusement and astonishment laced in his voice.
Gordon shook his head as well. "Yes, I know. It's crazy how fast they grow up." He pointed out and down at the large space before them. "There she is. She's the one with the red hair."
Bruce nodded apparently spotting her. "I see the red hair. She really stands out."
"Yes, I'm worried that sometimes she stands out too much."
"I thought she didn't live in the city." Bruce said.
"Not usually no She spends most of her time living with her cousins as my hours in the force don't exactly lend themselves to being a person that is around much at home at all." Jim Gordon explained.
"I see." Bruce said.
Dick sighed and rolled his eyes. He saw her on the floor with the other Gymnasts but they weren't doing anything exciting. They were just talking. He leaned against the railing. This's going to be another occasion when he's just expected to be seen but not heard.
'Why can't we just go somewhere exciting for a change? I want to make a difference. They same way Batman does.'
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Barbara took another small sip of water and then focused on the seats of people looking down on her. She saw a man and her father talking and she turned to her coach. "Hey coach, do you recognize that guy he looks familiar."
He coach looked up at where she was pointing and his jaw dropped. "That's the billionaire Bruce Wayne. Oh my God."
Her eyes brightened. 'This might be fun. He's standing right next to dad too.' "I'm gonna say hi." And she ran off before anyone could tell her no. It was easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission, as the old saying goes.
"No, wait, you need to finish off your practising." Her couch called after her, but she either couldn't hear him, or chose not to.
Barbara raced over to where her father was standing, jumped up onto the railing and embraced him in a bearlike hug. "Daddy you made it. I'm so glad. Who's your friend?" she said turning to observe the younger, dark-haired billionaire. He looked strong, handsome even intelligent. 'A lot better up close than from a distance.'
"Barbara." Gordon sounded embarrassed, "You should know who this man is, I've spoken of him already. This is Bruce Wayne."
Barbara knew full well who this man was, but she liked playing this sort of game. She smiled an award-winning smile that might have melted the heart of any other man, young or old. "Ahh, the guy that donated $2,000,000 to the restoration of the buildings in Matastrut City after the earthquakes. Well, it's a great pleasure to meet you sir!" She held out her right hand, which Bruce took and shook.
"Pleasure is all mine. I was just talking to your father about how I could have sworn you were only about 8 years old last time I saw you, and now your suddenly twice that age and height." Bruce had a warm smile, one that made you feel that you could trust him, and a firm handshake that seemed to carry the weight of his fortune in its grip.
'He seems to be a no nonsense type of guy, but all the rumors about him would point elsewhere.'
"Well children grow up." she winked at him. "And I'm a sweet sixteen year-old now."
"Haah!" She looked down to the rich man's right side where she saw a young kid rolling his eyes and scoffing at her apparent flirting.
"You got a problem shorty?" She raised an eyebrow at the rude kid.
"No, but you do. You think just because your fifteen and can perform a few flips that you're the best thing in the world, but you're not. My parents and I could do what you do on your best days in our sleep."
"Dick!" Bruce growled down at him. And just briefly Barbara could have sworn that she saw the young kid wince a bit at the possible fault of his words or maybe the rudeness behind them as he received a glare from his guardian that she was glad to not being the recipient of.
"No, it's all fine." she said, waving away the billionaire's scowl.
"They're only one way to find out." She grabbed the front of his jacket and threw him over her shoulder and jumped back into the ring as the practice session was still in affect.
She walked into the center of the mat and put him down. "Okay. You are the one who issued the challenge little man. Let's see if you can deliver."
Before he could answer her she walked to the edge of the mat and began practicing. He looked back up the way they had come a noticed all the thousands of faces looking down at him including an amused Bruce Wayne and an embarrassed Commissioner. 'How the hell did I get into the mess? And why is Bruce smiling?'
Out of the way, but walking with purpose towards the mat seemed to be the gymnast's coach. "Barbara! What do you think you're doing? He's not supposed to be here."
"Oh, I'm sorry, but he really wanted to practice with me. What else was I supposed to say to an adoring fan? And his father was okay with it." She pointed back up to Bruce Wayne. And he waved back down at them and surprisingly the coach had a change of attitude.
"Well, considering the fact that this floor section won't be used for another fifteen minutes I think you can use it."
"Thanks coach." Barbara waved at him and then turned back towards the dark-haired, blue-eyed challenger. "Well, that's that."
"You've got a lot of nerve." Dick Grayson said straightening himself up and trying to make himself feel taller.
"As have you." She smirked.
"You're not just another stuck up rich kid that I have come to expect at the events Bruce seems to go to." He crossed his arms and looked at her with a bit more interest as if giving a mockery inspection.
"Ha Hum!" She gave a false laugh that sounded funnier than he thought she had initially intended it too. "What have you got that's so much better than what I've got? Give me your best performance if you can."
Dick Grayson felt the pump of excitement flood his veins at the challenge. He had been given permission to perform and he wasn't going to disappoint now. He squatted down and did a few stretches and then sprung back up ready for action.
"You're going to regret this." He smirked back at her. "Prepare to be dazzled."
He walked to the very corner of the floor and paused for a moment letting all the sorts of ideas and memories of all the different flips he could do run through his mind. And then he ran into the middle flipping forward in a series of handstand flips, halfturns, pikes and backflips.
Once he had reached the end he came back into the middle again running and performing another similarly impressive show. He could hear the cheer and the ahhing from the crowd now. 'Yep, I still have it.'
On his third set he misjudged the speed of his performance and a flip that he attempted almost took him right out of the padded ground mat. However, Barbara had somehow anticipated his move and had positioned herself into his path and caught him mid-flight right between her hands.
Dick could feel himself blush with embarrassed as she caught him, stopping him from landing face first on the hard ground outside the mat. 'No. No. No. No. No! How could I have let this happen? I'm better than this. I haven't made such a stupid mistake in so long!'
As she corrected him and he stood up and shook his arms out he heard the choruses of ahhhs from the pleased crowd echoing around him. 'Of course they would think it was cute, but it wasn't. This was too embarrassing.'
"You okay kid?" the red-haired gymnast asked.
"Of course I am." He stood up and shook his arms. "Sorry, I'm a bit rusty."
"That's okay. Why don't you give this a try?" She landed on the ground and proceeded to do fifteen very fast and proper push ups, and then with the strength of one she pushed herself up to a standing position and did a backwards flip with the momentum and landed back into her push up position.
He heard the crowd about them ooh in admiration at her skill, and knew that although they weren't performing for the judges at the moment, but they were certainly getting the most attention out of all the practicing gymnasts.
Dick wasn't quite sure whether he could manage something like that, so instead from a standing position he bent over backwards until his hands touched the ground. He then proceeded to do a headstand and from that he moved his feet further up, raising the arch between his hands and his feet, until he could inch them onto the back of his head. To which he then lifted his hands up to either side of him to show the crowd watching that he truly was a man of talent and that he was indeed standing on his head.
The girl beside him clapped him on and when he looked up at her he noticed her giving him the thumbs up sign. He put both his hands back down and lifted his feet back up before letting his body correct itself to standing up the right way round and he was pleased with the crowd's cheering.
"Well done kid. I'm impressed. Let's try and do one handed cartwheels to the other side of the mat."
"You're on." Dick did as she requested, but only after half way did he notice that he was getting dizzy. 'This never happens. Why am I feeling sick?'
Once he got to the other end he dramatically stopped as if he had died and flopped out in a star-shape on the mat for everyone to see. And the crowd above him were clapping and laughing at him.
"Well done, but you're not making it very easy for yourself. Try having your hands facing inwards not outwards when doing your turning it'll be easier." She advised.
Dick frowned. 'Why was she telling him what to do?' "I don't do that."
"I just saying it would help."
"I don't need help. And don't tell me what to do. My way is just fine."
"Well, that's bloody arrogant." She pinned a small section of her hair that had come undone back up. "With an attitude like that there is no way you'll be able to get back into the show business."
He frowned. 'What the … did she even know who she was talking too. He was Richard Grayson, one of the legendary flying Graysons of course people would have him back. She must not have known.'
"Well, since you're new in Gotham I don't expect you to understand, but I'm a trapeze acrobat and I eat moves like that for breakfast. They're simple." He flipped backwards and landed in the splits in ease. He could feel many eyes everywhere focusing on him.
She walked right up to him and looked down at him smiling a very tight smile. "You think you're better than a trained gymnast just because people liked your parent's performance."
"I don't think it. I know it." Dick smirked. People always loved it when he spoke like this. Except for Bruce, but he was one of the few.
"Huh." She scoffed. "With a statement like that I can only assume you're still an amateur." She flicked his nose and stuck her tongue out at him.
He wasn't sure whether he should be anger with her anymore or not. That had not been the response he had anticipated. He was just about to start arguing again when she glanced at him briefly before looking up at the announcers in the judging board area. He wasn't quite sure what happen in that brief second, but she suddenly looked so important and noble that he felt small and insignificant. What she was doing to him?
She turned back to him with a grin on her face. "I'm on in five minutes kid." She pointed over to one of the sides of the area. "If you wanted you could probably watch my routine from over there, or you could go back to your Guardian and watch it with him." She raised an eyebrow as if she was generally interested in his decision.
"Sure." Dick nodded. "If I'm allowed, that would be cool."
He sat down with her coach and waited patiently for her session to start. It was different almost difficult for him. He had been so used to performing tricks and shows himself he didn't find it very natural to just sit back and observe. Something in him just wanted people to notice him. To see him and congratulate him on how brilliant he really was.
When she eventually did come up to perform she took off her long-sleeved warm jacket and revealed a glowing and glittering white leotard that covered her arms and closed around the neck loosely and had a purple V-shape design going down from either shoulder into the centre of her waist line. It made her look like a glittering angel.
She came up to the corner of the mat stretched her arms out and above her head and then became poised, ready to perform. She then half ran, half-skipped into the middle of the floor and performed two somersaults and then one triple-turn over before landing perfectly thirty centimetres from the corner. She was a flash of white, purple, and red as she then cartwheeled away, performed a backflip, and poised perfectly, smiling at the audience as if she was actually thoroughly enjoying herself. Seemingly, dancing into the next corner she then came running into a double flip, followed by another two single somersaults, and finishing with a 360 full body turn two meters high in the air.
It was truly breathtaking seeing the young athlete leap up into the air at twice her own height, and to land perfectly and gracefully back onto her feet.
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"What do you think?" She came to her coach and hugged him. "Was my performance good from where you were sitting?"
The coach nodded, beaming at her. "You are going to go places my dear there is nothing that can hold you back. You have an amazing life ahead of you."
Barbara grinned and looked back at Dick Grayson. "So was that worth seeing, or are you too high above me to give your opinion?" Her tone of voice was sarcastic and she lifted up her head and looked down her nose at him in a rather elegant, but know it all fashion.
Dick grinned at her shaking his head. "Sorry, but if I inflate your ego much more there won't be any room left for improvement."
She pouted unimpressed by the seemingly lack of praise that she was so used to getting. "Be that way then."
Before he could say anything else to her she had been pulled away to go to the next section of the gymnasium. Not really thinking much about whether or not he might be allowed to follow after her he did so anyway. They made their way to the uneven bars and sat down on the seats to the side, watching the performances that were being shown.
Grayson squared his shoulders and sat up straight watching everyone. They all observed the tough sequences of swings, turns, bar jumps, and releases that were being performed and made their own estimates as to whom they thought should be marked the highest.
"BARBARA GORDON ON THE UNEVEN BARS." Came a clear voice over the loud speaker and Barbara stood up.
"It's time to get going." Her coach took her jacket and nodding, stepped forward approaching the bars as if they were snakes that might just attack her if she wasn't careful. Before getting to the bars she turned and raised one regal arm up to the crowd on her left. Waving to her audience as if she were a beloved queen.
She stepped forward and jumped up catching the smaller bar firmly. She swung her legs up circling round the bar and balancing on her hips. She spun around a few more times and then leapt across the other bar. Her arms were dead straight and strong as she started circling around that bar in different positions as well.
She seemed to be going impossibly faster until she let go of the top bar, turning a 180 in midflight just before catching the lower bar again, but with her knees. There was another ohhhing sound from the crowd as the bar contact was so unusual. She finished the one swing before seemingly flying to the higher bar again. She did two complete twist and catch releases before balancing perfectly in a vertical line and doing a 360. She looked sturdy and strong, yet also weightless as if her moments were as fluid as water. She made it look easy.
Finishing off she spun around the top bar twice before springing off it doing three rotational spins and backflips at the same time before landing in a perfect dismount.
There was a thunderous applause as those that had been watching cheered at her success. She stepped away and skipped toward her instructor. There was a bounce to her step that gave away her emotions and her pride in her beautiful performance.
Dick rushed to the edge of the mat, "THAT WAS AWESOME!" He exclaimed excitedly and hugged her as soon as she got near.
"I know, but please compose yourself." She said as coolly as she could manage while patting his head.
"Your triple backflip was awesome! How did you do that in the dismount?" He looked up into her face he was struck again by just how blue her eyes really were.
"Practice kid." She raised an eyebrow. "Practice, determination, and just a little bit of luck." She was given dressing gown by her coach again and pulled at the elastic that was holding her hair up, shaking her head and letting her hair bounce down. It made her look a lot less serious and snobby, and more fun and exciting. She let out a sigh of relief and took a drink of water while looking up at the scoreboards waiting for her own score to come up.
Dick hadn't ever seen such long flaming red hair on a girl before and it looked so alien to him that he couldn't stop staring.
"Hey, what score do you think I got?" Barbara Gordon asked him and he looked away quickly not wanting to be thought of as weird for staring.
He frowned refocusing his eyes on the board, and thinking back to the sequence and how the judges would be estimating it. "9.4 for Artistic flare, 9.7 for performance, 10 for difficulty, and then 8.2 … and so on…." He grinned.
"I'm glad you're not scoring." Barbara said, and rubbed her hands together in anticipation. In a just a few seconds the score came up.
"IT LOOKS LIKE THE TOP SPOT HAS GONE TO…" The speaker started to announce the winners.
"You… you won." Dick stated in pleasant surprise at the score and also in amazement that he had been able to witness it.
"Yes!" She whooped for joy and grabbed Dick Grayson in a bear hug. "I won! I can't believe it I won!"
His breath caught in his throat as she hugged him, and all of a sudden he felt like he had known her for years and was hugging her back as if she had always been his best friend. Her flashy leotard and straightforward personality made him feel more at home in her arms than he would care or dare to admit. It felt like he was in a really posh Circus or something…
There was a chorus of cheers that spread across the area, and sadly a few glares that had to be ignored by the passing gymnasts that didn't do so well.
Barbara Gordon took his hand and pulled him after her towards the waiting room to see her father.
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"That was pretty awesome." Dick said smiling. "I'm going try doing that when I get back home."
Barbara rolled her eyes. "You do that." She said sarcastically.
"That was a good win." Dick stated. "This might also be your lucky day. I know it's my lucky day." He remembered his mother saying often once they had finished performing after many a good show. "Good job I was here to see it."
She paused raising her eyebrow. "So,... you're saying that maybe it's because you're here that I got lucky and won. Cheeky."
Dick frowned. "Huh? No, that's not what I meant at all."
Barbara leaned forward and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. And for the second time that day Dick felt a glow around him or a sense of something warm and comforting rush through him. "W...what... was..." 'What was that for?!'
"You did really help me today." She smiled honestly. "Your smile and competition was a fun distraction. The stress wasn't nearly so bad this time. Thanks."
Before he could give her an answer the door suddenly opened and her father and Bruce came walking in. "Daddy! Daddy! Look at the score I got!" she pointed to the screen in the corner.
'Why does she still call her father, daddy? Dad's okay, but daddy?' He had stopped calling his own father that at eight years old. Dick Grayson watched after her as she ran up to her father. Her hair seemed to leave a burning trail behind.
'She is really pretty.'
"You did so well. I'm so proud of you sweetheart." The commissioner embraced her in a proud hug and then held both of her shoulders and looked lovingly into his young daughter's face. "I think this calls for a celebration. What do you think?"
"I'd love to daddy. I've got the perfect place I'd like to go and see. See you later kid!" She waved back at him and then pulled her father further away. Bruce and Dick both watched her leave spinning and talking at the same time. Her sparkling, purple, and white leotard reflecting the hallway lights with the thousands of sequins and gems that were littering the beautiful piece.
'And I thought that Mum dressed me up too much.'
Dick scratched the back of his head and tried to look away from the departing winner of the bars. However he just couldn't. Whether it was seeing just how beautiful she looked, or whether it was the excitement of her win, or the fact that he had only just met her, and didn't really expect that outcome at all. Or maybe it had to do with the fact that she just had a commanding presence that seemed to demand respect. He just didn't want to look away.
Only once she had finally gone out of sight did Dick Grayson turn back around and walk into Bruce.
"Watch where you're going?" Bruce said.
"Yeah, sorry."
"You look distracted." Bruce seemed to have an all-knowing smirk on his face as if he knew what the young man was actually thinking.
"I'm not. I just didn't expect you to be right behind me as all."
"That's strange." Bruce took on a thoughtful gesture and cupped his chin with his hand. Although it did look as if he might have been trying to cover up a laugh. "I have been standing here the entire time."
"Oh."
Bruce's smile became more serious. "However if I were you I'd try and get my first girlfriend to be closer to my age."
Dick blushed. "I wasn't thinking about wanting her for a girlfriend. That's gross, and she's way too old."
"Hahaha!" Bruce laughed a little but didn't push the matter further. They went back up to their seats and stayed for the rest of the other performances and declarations of winnings, which were all extremely exciting, but for some reason that Dick couldn't get his head around why he now felt a little sad.
'Maybe it was sad she had to leave so early.'
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"So, did you have a good time?" Alfred asked Bruce and Grayson when they eventually got back into the beautifully, shiny Rolls Royce to go home.
"Yep," Dick said before Bruce got a word in. "I had no idea that the judging in those sort of competitions was so harsh. I think a lot of the moves were a lot harder in some routines than in others and the judges seemed to have favorites." His smile seemed to deflate briefly. "But apart from that. I thought it was really cool."
Bruce smiled. "I told you, you would enjoy it."
"Yeah, thanks Bruce." Dick agreed.
Bruce leaned back and relaxed into the leather seat. "You seemed to have made fast friends with the commissioner's daughter, Dick."
"So?" Dick questioned, frowning at what he thought he might have been implying. 'What is Bruce up to now?'
"School is the best place to go to make some more friends. Do you want to go to the same school as her? You won't be in the same form, and she'll probably be finishing soon, but at least she'd be there from the start."
Dick seemed to really consider this very carefully. "I don't know. I've never even been to school before." He seemed a little self-conscious all of a sudden. "Mum was always the one that taught me stuff. I don't want to be taught by some strange weirdo."
Bruce nodded his head in understanding. "Well, it wouldn't be one but a few, and you do have time to think about it, but I've already decided you need to go to school. You can choose which one out of the few that I have been recommended, but you need to decide by next week."
"Yeah, sure." Dick sighed and flopped back on the seat sliding down its large leathery surface. He looked relaxed, bored, and tired all at the same time.
Alfred, driving at the front, cleared his throat. "Well, I'm glad you both enjoyed yourselves this is the first time you have both been able to go out together, during the day, in three weeks."
"During the day? What do you mean Alfred? Dick doesn't come out with me during the evening either." Bruce's frown became the batman scowl of displeasure and he turned to look at his ward. "Richard?" Despite trying to avoid eye contact Dick had to look back at the tall dark man beside him.
It was a look that made Richard feel like his blood had frozen in his veins. "Yeah."
"You've been following me haven't you, even though I told you not to."
It was not a question. "I just want to help." Dick admitted. "I was just watching your back."
"You are not ready until I tell you." Bruce said bluntly, and then turned to look out the window.
Dick crossed his arms and fumed. 'He didn't even know I was following him. Isn't that proof enough that I can take care of myself.'
Alfred cleared his throat again. "Master Dick, what was the name of the commissioner's daughter again I don't remember you mentioning it."
"Barbara." Dick explained. "She's really funny, and she's got really red hair, and she won first place for her routine on the bars."
"I see." Alfred nodded. "Is she much like her father?"
"She doesn't look much like him." Bruce added. "She has a dumb act going on, but I think she's a whole lot smarter than she's letting on, and she has her father's decisive behaviour. But I have a feeling later on in life she's going to become a troublemaker. She knows she's attractive, and how to get what she wants when she wants it. She's already got her father wrapped around her little finger."
Dick frowned at Bruce's description. "Just because she smiles and hugs her father doesn't mean she was trying to manipulate him."
Bruce nodded. "That may be the case, but she looks to me like the type that doesn't slow down and stop for anything."
"Sounds like you." Dick frowned. "You plough through meeting all sorts of people like there's no tomorrow."
The older man frowned and turned toward Dick in his seat. "I don't expect you to understand since you are still young, but I can tell. I know these sorts of things about people. I can guess. She's going to be a thrill seeker later on in life, and she's going to be trouble."
"Thrills!? What's wrong with having a thrill seeking life?" Dick asked.
"Nothing. And everything." Bruce admitted.
"And this is coming from the man that dresses up as a bat in order to take down criminals so they don't know they've just been defeated by a millionaire with a pet cleanup project complex."
"Enough. That's it for today." Bruce said bluntly. He opened up a suitcase that Alfred had brought with him in the car that detailed exactly the new goings-on, contacts, and contracts at Wayne Industries. Dick looked out the window at the passing city scape, cars, and people, trying to ignore the bitter taste of defeat he would get in his mouth when he tried arguing with the B-man. He tried to think about better things.
'Barbara wasn't just a thrill seeker. She has ambition.' She had done a few things that he had never even tried before. 'I can't wait to get back home and practice in the batcave.'
"So, master Dick, which part of today has been your favourite so far." Alfred said trying to liven up the conversation again and keep it friendly.
"All of it." Dick said enthusiastically. "And…"
Bruce interrupted. "That's an understatement. He managed to get on the floor and practice himself. But for some strange reason he seemed to be following around a certain someone all day." Bruce chuckled.
"Yeah Barbara," Dick agreed, not really sure where Bruce was going with all his remarks, or why he had interrupted, but glad he was in a mood to join in at all. "I think she's really cool."
He tapped the glass of the window and stared out at city world around him. Bruce could make fun of him all he wanted, but he knew what he wanted. She might be pretty, but that didn't mean anything right now. She reminded him of his mother, and he hadn't even been aware of the fact he had actually missed watching his parents perform their stunts. Seeing Barbara Gordon in happiness and bliss as she flew through the air just made him feel whole again.
'I need to become a flying Grayson again. I've missed it so much.'
.
.
End of Chapter 1.
Well, that was the first chapter. What do you guys think so far? Do you like it? I know a lot of people have quite a few different ideas about this couple so…
:D
Let me know and give a review.