TITLE: Possess the Spirit of Independence
DISCLAIMER: Sadly, not mine.
NOTES: Fanfic100 # 94, Independence and Psych30 #15, Halo Effect
Sometimes Dick wonders what would have happened if he'd stayed in Gotham, if he hadn't quit his job as Robin. When things are going well, he forgets why he left, what Bruce said and did.
When he asks his family, he gets different answers.
Kory strokes his cheek. "You would not be you," is all she will ever say.
Roy sighs whenever he asks it, and Dick immediately feels bad for bringing up sore memories. "It doesn't matter," Roy usually says. "You did it and it's done."
Dick only asks Babs once. The half-hour rant is seared into his consciousness forever and causes him to wince involuntarily when Bruce says or does certain things.
Raven approached him once, before he could ask her, touching his arm fleetingly. "Jason's mistake was his own to make. And you have never been responsible for Bruce. But most importantly, you know as well as I, you cannot live your life in the shadow of your parent."
"I could not begin to guess," Alfred said when Dick got up the courage to ask him. "But you should know that I, for one, do not blame you for anything. Those were difficult times for all of us."
Dick never asks Bruce, because he's afraid of the answer, no matter what it might be.
One day, Tim stands next to him on a battlefield, and Dick looks at him in wonder, his brilliant little brother, the best of Gotham, and thinks, "I'm glad I left."
The grin Tim gives him is agreement.
--end--