AN:

This is just a story idea I came up with while listening to the Evanescence song "End of the Dream"

This entire story is based on the line "Why must we fall down to understand how to fly? I will find a way, even without wings."

YJ ©DC Comics.

"They're gone. They're all gone. And I can never have them back." Dick muttered to himself as his parents' bodies were being lowered into the ground. "I'll never talk to them again…I'll never see my mom's smile, or hear my dad's laugh. They're gone forever. I'm all alone…"

As the little bird began crying, he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw that the hand belonged to Brice. "It'll get better. I promise. You might not think so now, but overtime, it'll get better." Bruce looked around and noticed that the funeral had just ended. Everyone was returning to their normal lives. Everyone but Richard. He didn't have that luxury anymore.

"Thank you, Mr. Wayne. For paying for their…well, this." No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't mutter the word. Funeral. He couldn't admit that they were gone forever. He knew they were, but he just couldn't admit it.

"It was the least I could do." He felt guilty. Sure, there wasn't truthfully anything he could have done to stop them from falling, but he was Batman! Protecting people is his job. And this little boy just lost everything he had, while he was just sitting on the sidelines watching. He had to make it up to the boy somehow. "Just wondering, where are you going to go now?"

"I-I don't k-know." Dick said while tears flooded his eyes. Bruce knelt down beside him and wrapped his arms around the boy. Dick placed his head on Bruce's shoulder and cried into the man's coat.

"Dick, how would you like to stay with me?" Bruce asked. He thought back to the time when his own parents were murdered. If he didn't have Alfred to care for him, who knows what would have happened to him. The boy needed someone. And Bruce was willing to try and be that someone.

"Y-you mean l-like adoption?" Dick stuttered through his tears.

"Yes, Dick. If you're fine with it, I'd like to adopt you." The boy stopped hugging the man and looked into his eyes.

This time, he wrapped his arms around Bruce's neck. "I'm definitely fine with it."

"That's great. You're going to love Alfred." Bruce said.

"Who's Alfred?" Dick asked.

"Do you like cookies?" Dick nodded. "Alfred makes the best chocolate chip cookies you have ever had." Sure, he didn't know exactly how to comfort Dick, but he was trying. It had been a long time since Bruce had a real family. Sure, Alfred was family, but Bruce never imagined having anyone in his life but Alfred after it happened. Now he might actually have a shot at having a family again.

"Chocolate chip is my favorite." Dick stated. That was the first non-serious thing that had come out of his mouth since his parents had died. He almost regretted saying something like that at their funeral, but then he realized that's what they would have wanted. They never were extremely serious people. They'd have their moments, but they were loving and carefree people. They would have wanted him to be able to move past their deaths.

"It's my favorite too." He almost felt guilty for talking with the boy about cookies at his parents' funeral, but he just wanted to get his mind off of their deaths.

"Bruce, I don't mean to be rude, but why?" Dick asked. The question seemed to have caught Bruce off guard, because Dick saw his eyebrow raise.

"Why what?" Bruce asked.

"Why do you…want to adopt me?" Dick asked.

"Because believe it or not, I know exactly what you're going through." Bruce admitted. Dick raised an eyebrow at the man, so he continued to explain. "My parents were murdered too when I was around your age."

"How-how did you…get over it?" Dick asked. "All I see when I close my eyes is them…them f-falling!" Dick said while he began crying. Bruce once again wrapped his arms around the boy to comfort him.

"To tell you the truth, I've never completely gotten over it." Bruce replied. "And even though I always thought all I wanted was to get over their deaths, I recently realized that maybe that's not what I should do."

"W-what do you m-mean?" Dick asked.

"Well, if you completely get over their deaths, that entitles that you forget about them as well. Your parents don't want to be forgotten, Dick. And, you can always love them as long as you remember them."

Dick turned around and looked at his parents' tombstones. They had been buried in Gotham Cemetery. They had been buried. The thought was just so…foreign to Dick. He never imagined he would have to move past his parents dying. The entire thing had just been so quick. So unpredictable and so unlikely. And he had to wonder; why him? He would never wish this on anyone else, but he just wanted to know why the universe chose to torture him that day.

"Can we…can we leave? This place is…depressing." Dick asked. He liked being around his parents, but the thought of cemeteries had always frightened him when he was a kind. And the silence surrounding Bruce and himself was just…unsettling.

"Trust me, you'll get used to it. I visit my parents once a month. I used to hate coming to the cemetery to visit them, but after a while, I just realized I loved being with them. It just takes some getting used to." Bruce said. "I can wait outside the gates, if you'd like to say your goodbyes."

Dick nodded, so Bruce exited the graveyard. He saw Alfred waiting outside the gates. "How is he doing?" Alfred asked.

"Pretty bad, but not as bad as I would have thought." Bruce replied. "Oh, and Alfred. We're going to have a new member of the Wayne family." Alfred couldn't help but smile. Even though it was difficult, he had loved raising Bruce. And now he'll get to help raise a new young master.

"So guys…I-I never thought I'd have to do this. To say goodbye to you this soon…I don't even know what to say." Dick laid on the ground in-between his parents' graves. He could feel tears slowly escaping his eyes, but he needed this. He needed to say his goodbyes. "Well, for one-this won't be the last time I come to visit. I'll come back once a month like Bruce does. Who's Bruce? I think he's going to be my new parent. Of course he'll never replace you two, but…he's nice. I like him, you guys. And he says there's a man named Alfred who lives with him, and he makes the best chocolate chip cookies. Of course, no one's cookies will ever be as good as yours were, mom." He looked up to the sky as more tears escaped his eyes. He didn't want to fight them, because his tears just felt…natural. It felt good to cry. To let it all out. "So, before I go for now, I just want to say I love you both. And to make you happy, I'll make sure I live life without thinking about you guys all the time. But don't worry, I could never forget you two." He gulped. Despite being at their funeral, he still couldn't believe that this was really it. He'd never see them again… "So this is really it…I love you guys. I love you so much."

The boy stood up and began walking away from his parents' graves, towards the cemetery gate.

"How'd it go?" Bruce asked, as soon as Dick walked through the gates.

"It was…easier than I expected." Dick said. "Who's this?" He asked, while directing to Alfred.

"My name is Alfred, young sir." He replied.

"Bruce told me you make great chocolate chip cookies." Dick said.

"Did he now?" Alfred asked while looking at Bruce. "I suppose I'll just have to make some once we get back to the manor."

And Dick smiled. Sure, these people weren't his mom or dad, but they seemed to be the closest thing he would be getting. He could already tell they both cared for him greatly. And although he barely knew them, Dick knew they were going to be a happy family.