Part 3: Detention

Well, well. Here comes Golden Boy. Funny, he doesn't look very golden today. Looks rather tarnished if you ask me. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he finds that first note. Then we'll really see that golden glow fade even more.

The weekend was passed him, but not the haunted look that continued to plague his face. He had not eaten since lunch on Friday. In place of his breakfast tray, he found a note.

"Master Dick,

You will come down and have your breakfast before school.

Alfred"

Even though breakfast waited, he did not want to face their accusatory eyes across the table. It was enough to cause him to lose his appetite yet, again. Rather then sit with his Aunt Harriet or with Bruce, he waited in the hall until Alfred showed and he followed him out to the car to go to school.

"Wait," Bruce said behind Dick. "I'll take him. I have a meeting at the Wayne Foundation."

Dick's stomach did flip flops as he wondered what was going to happen next. Bruce never said a word as he drove Dick to school. Dick kept his head down or he looked out the window. He didn't want Bruce to see his red-rimmed eyes or the dark shadows that betrayed how little sleep he had been getting. For the third time in a row nightmares plagued his sleep. This time even his parents were pointing fingers. He didn't think he could take much more. And when he could no longer go back to sleep, he got up and finished the homework he had not completed on Friday. He fell asleep at his desk when the alarm clock woke him, announcing that it was Monday and another week of school was beginning.

Arriving at the school, Dick didn't wait for Bruce to tell him to have a nice day. The words sounded hollow in his ears, and insincere. It was as if Bruce really didn't want him to have a nice day but wanted him to suffer for the imagined crime the he supposedly committed. With faltering steps and hunched shoulders, the vibrant energetic boy was gone. He was nothing. He felt like a wraith that would disappear if the sunlight touched him. Dick moved to the front door of his other prison. He wasn't aware that three sets of eyes watched him. One set of eyes showing concern despite the disappointment, another set showing disappointment at the promise that a certain 15 year old had brought, and a third showing something far darker than the other two. The concerned eyes though disappeared while the others continue to watch his every move.

Dick entered the school and down the hall to his locker, his shoulders bent and feeling the weight of the world. He looked up to find an envelope taped to the front. He pulled it off and stuck it in his notebook after putting his backpack in his locker and preparing to attend his first class of the day. He was about to leave when Principal Schoolfield approached.

"Come with me, Mr. Grayson."

Dick followed without saying a word, but still curious as to why he was not being allowed to attend his first class.

"I'm supposed to be in Chemistry," Dick said. "I have to turn in my homework."

"I will take care of it," Mr. Schoolfield had led Dick into a small room used for meetings.

"You will come to this room each day. You may go to the library to check out books to read, but they must be returned at the end of the day."

"What about my class work?" Dick asked.

"You will not be allowed to participate in class. You will receive a failing grade in all your classes," Mr. Schoolfield continued. "Like I said on Friday, you will retake your senior year. Now, please give me your Chemistry assignment."

Dick did as Mr. Schoolfield instructed and to Dick's horror, the principal tore his homework in two, then he tore it, again. He took the pieces and tossed them into the waste can.

"I will be meeting with your teachers to explain your absence. Now, you may go to the library to retrieve a book. There will be someone waiting for you when you return."

Dick watched Mr. Schoolfield leave, then realized he was waiting for Dick to exit to head to the library. Once there, Dick took his time choosing a book. His eyes drifted to an area that he had often went to, the area focusing on solving puzzles and even crimes, but his heart wasn't in it. It reminded him that his days as Robin were suspended, maybe even gone forever. He did not want to think about that prospect.

'Trying to find a book to check out?" Someone said behind him, and only so his ears could hear. "Don't turn around. Take the one located on the third shelf and the fifth book in."

Dick pulled the book off the shelf. "A Death in the Family?" He read the inside flap of the cover. It was a story about a man who committed suicide though he proclaimed his innocence regarding a crime he was accused of committing. The evidence was overwhelmingly stacked against him until it was too late.

"Why do you want me to read this?" Dick turned around, but the person who spoke to him was gone.

I couldn't resist letting him know of my presence. I wanted to let him know that someone could get to him. I don't know why, maybe it was because he looked so pathetic this morning. Been having a rough weekend? Well, you're going to have a rougher week. I have so much planned. First your expulsion from school should do it. And I know just how it will happen. I can't wait to see the look on Dickie Bird's face when the cops come and take him away. Of course, I'll be there to help him, offer my services and maybe my home as a refuge since Wayne probably will disown him at that point. I want you on the streets, Dick Grayson, then you'll be in my territory. Then Dickie boy, you better run because nothing's going to stop me from taking your life.

Continues with Part 4: Stacked Against Him