Title: Reverie
Author: InvisibleBrunette
Rated: K+
Summary: He has always been told he was great. It was his lineage that made him so. Set in the Batman and Robin Reborn series. Slight spoilers for the "Batman and Robin Must Die!" Arc (Issues 13-15).
Feedback: Good? Bad? Ugly? I wanna know.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the Arcs. They belong to DC.
A/N: Thanks to Bluejay and Quinlan O'Shea for reading part of this. And this is unbeta'd, any errors are completely mine.
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He always been told he was great. It was his lineage that made him so.
He is the grandson of the Great Ra's Al Ghul, that in itself was something to be prideful for, and he was, but what he secretly believed more glorious, more prideful, and more wondrous; He was the son of the Bat. And he wanted nothing more than to make his father proud, to fight along side him.
After all, that was his rightful place.
His mother would tell him fantastic tales about her beloved. How he single-handedly tore through his grandfather's ranks. How he ruled over his city in the night, and inflicted justice to the scum that filled it in the way he saw fit. How villains sought to destroy him, only to be struck down. How she and his father fought side-by-side.
In his mind, his father was a tall, broad, dark, invincible ruler.
Then, when he finally met him, the man that was his father was nothing like how he'd imagined. He was not the perfect being from his mother's stories, he had his flaws as any other person that had never, nor tried to, move on from a tragic event early in life. But no matter what, he would fight beside him in his rightful place.
But all too soon, his father was lost to him.
That fool Grayson had stepped in at that point, taking over the mantle that was rightful his, as the protector of his father's city. But now, when he looks back on it, he must admit, if only to himself, that the first Robin was more suited to the position that he would ever be.
He supposed that the main reason he had been so awful to Grayson at the beginning of their partnership was resentment, this man had had something he would never get to have, time with his father. A bond that would never be forgotten, and his father's fondness for a mere charity case. Something he would never get a chance to have.
As time went on, he saw why his father adored the former Boy Wonder. The man was a ray of light in an otherwise dark world. He began to enjoy patrols, even growing to care for the new Dark Knight's well-being. Doctor Hurt shooting Grayson in the head made that abundantly clear. Seeing the pellet connect with the base of the his partner's skull was truly one of the most horrifying sights he had seen in his ten short years. Not because it was the most gruesome, he had seen far, far, worse done by the League of Assassins' handy work, but because this wasn't some nameless, faceless person being killed, it was Richard.
But Richard hadn't died, and come to find out, neither had his they had won the battle with Hurt. That fool Drake had been right all along, not that he would ever voice that. Ever. His father was alive. At the time, an inexplicable joy surged through him. He had a chance to get to know his father, show him how he had improved during his absence. Now he had a chance for his father to love him, just as he loved Richard, Todd, and Drake. Maybe even more-so.
Now, he had what he had always wanted in the first place. He was Robin to his father's Batman. But it wasn't the same. There was a pang of longing. It made him wonder if they would ever get to the same point of familiarity that he and Richard had. Not that he would ever say it aloud. Though, he was sure Pennyworth knew what he was thinking. That man always seemed to know everything...
He missed Richard's jokes, his ridiculous smiles, his contagious laughter, his constant praises...
He missed his brother.
"Hey kiddo," he felt Richard's arm drape over his shoulder, jolting him from his thoughts. "Didja miss me?"
"t-t. Not even." His lips quirked upwards against his wishes, and his neutral voice was betrayed by a lightness in its tone. He knew that Richard was aware that his answer wasn't the truth, but the former Boy Wonder just smiled.
"Yeah, I missed you too."
-End
"Every now and then I have the feeling I've totally lost my mind. It's a great feeling" -Dick Grayson/Nightwing