Title: Should Have Known
Author: Fighter1357
Publish Date: 09.28.12
In honor of: New episodes!
A/N: I have no idea where this came from, but it came from somewhere and I had to publish it. I'll come out with one-shots more often and my multi-chapter fics will take longer, but I'm not giving up.
Should Have Known:
Bruce should have known.
You'd think he would notice something so big, so unreal, but he didn't. How could he not, really? Between the mask and sunglasses and the fact that Dick had never told him, he wouldn't have known. He hadn't assumed, because why do you assume something like that?
When he had first taken Dick in as his ward, he had been surprised to know that he already knew sign language. But then he waved it off, dismissed it, and figured it was something he'd picked up from the circus. And when Dick had become Robin, the Boy Wonder, the mask didn't help.
It covered up his eyes, so how could he see them? He always caught Dick looking at him and simply figured he was just awaiting orders. When Dick had looked away from him, it always took a moment to get his attention back, like he couldn't hear Bruce. When they first began to fight together, Dick would always wince at the simplest sounds, like they were loud and booming. But after a while, it stopped and Dick would react calm and relaxed, as if he were back home in the Manor.
There had been other instances when he should have noticed; when Dick had almost walked into the street when he was ten because he "hadn't been paying attention". Or when he had been so close to screaming when Dick was playing a video game and didn't hear him, couldn't hear him, and didn't respond for a full ten minutes until Bruce had stood in front of the TV.
No one had bothered to tell him either. Bruce hadn't been told at the Juvenile Center, but how would they know? If he hadn't figured it out, how would they? Then again, he'd never gotten Dick tested to see if could be a possibility. And Dick hid it so well, as if it was just a skeleton in the closet, and acted like it wasn't there, that is wasn't real. It was unreal. Dick was just so bright, and happy, and never once had he ever gave any real sign of it. Why would he? Because he thought Bruce knew.
And Bruce didn't know, even though he should have. Maybe it was minor to Dick, something small that only popped into his brain every once in a while, because he'd been born with it, but to Bruce it was big. He still couldn't believe it. Couldn't fathom it. It was one of things that only mattered when you brought it up in a bad situation. You could never really talk about it in a humorous situation or as comfortably as you would when you ask "What's for dinner tonight?" because it wasn't normal.
What was normal? What was it really?
Imperfection.
Bondage to decay.
Death, even?
Normal wasn't living like you owned the world, or like you had flawless skin, or like you had a lot of money when you didn't. Normal wasn't everyday. Because everyday for you might not be everyday for another person. Normal by definition isn't normal. It's just something that people make up as normal. Define normal. It's clear stated in some versions that it is "a daily occurrence" or "healthy: physically, mentally and emotionally healthy". Perhaps you are not mentally healthy, does this make you abnormal because the majority of people are mentally healthy?
Dick wasn't normal, then, according to the dictionary. He was abnormal. Bruce abhorred that word. He was normal in his own right. In his own right. But it didn't, and doesn't, change the fact that he hadn't noticed.
When Dick told him, he was startled, surprised, speechless, even. He'd never noticed.
"Robin," he snapped, grasping his sons' shoulder and pulling him back, "careful! I thought we were past charging out like that!"
Dick must've been looking at him, because he pouted and grinned slightly. "We are. Didn't hear them."
"Didn't hear them? Are you deaf? Those things are loud, I know you can hear them."
His son started at him blackly, his face going dead. He looked surprised that Batman had said that and for a moment Bruce thought that he'd offended his partner for a moment and then Dick cocked his head and sat down on the cold, icy concrete. He began to shake his head, his hands began to twitch and Bruce began to get worried.
"Robin?"
Dick didn't respond and that's when he realized it.
"You didn't know, I thought you did. But you didn't, did you?"
"Robin…"
He hadn't noticed.
Didn't even notice that his son was deaf.
Fin.