I've been having a good time. Uncle Clark and Aunt Lois have been very nice to me. Clark understands what I am going through and has even been helping me hone my skills by fighting against me. It's been going well.
It was late one night, I should have been asleep, but I was used to staying up late on patrol with Bruce, and I got a call.
"Master Richard," I heard Alfred on the other line.
"Alfred, how are you?" I realized how late it was, Alfred wouldn't call me unless it was an emergency, "What's happened? Where's Bruce?"
I was starting to get worried.
"Master Bruce is fine. Master Joker on the other hand has been shot. He's still alive but he's critical. I am working on stitching him up now. I wanted to call before Master Bruce came back in, in case he would have prevented me from contacting you," He said, "I just thought you should know. I know you care more about Master Joker than you care to let on and I know Master Bruce is worried sick."
"Thanks for letting me know Alfred. I'll be there as soon as I can," I hung up. Alfred was right, I did care about Joker more than I let on, but who wouldn't care about someone who made their father figure happy? And Bruce, he's worried sick. Joker could take a while; I need to be there for Bruce.
I hated to wake him, but I went into Uncle Clarks' room, "Uncle Clark," I whispered.
He rolled over and looked at me. It was dark but he must have seen the worried look on my face. He got up and we left the room to make sure we didn't wake Lois.
"What's going on Dick?" he asked thoughtfully.
"Please take me back to Wayne Manor, there's been some trouble," Clark was one of the few that knew who Batman was and was in the fewer that knew he was with Joker.
He grabbed me up ran out of the house and flew up into the sky. I told him what had happened on the way. It didn't take more than a minute to get there. He could have flown faster but I wasn't used to traveling at those speeds so it would have made me sick.
"Thank you," I told him as he sat me down outside the door.
"Any time," He said, "Take care of Bruce and let me know what happens. You are welcome to come back any time you wish," and he flew up and away.
I ran in the door and went down to the batcave. Joker was on a table and Bruce was sitting next to him with his head down. Alfred was at the desk and stood up when I came in.
"Welcome home Master Dick," he said coming over to hug me. Most butlers don't hug who they work for but we were a family here.
Bruce looked up at me for a second then looked back down. He was consumed with worry. Would he sit there until Joker wakes up? That could be days.
I walked over to him and gave him a slight hug. We had a falling out, but we were still close. We were still family. I pulled up a chair and sat next to him. We sat there for what seemed like hours. Joker stayed still the whole time. If I hadn't seen the slight lift in his chest to breathe I would have thought he was dead. I ended up falling asleep and only woke when Bruce was carrying me to my room.
"You didn't have to carry me, I know you want to stay by him," I said groggily.
"I know, but I care about you too. You are my son Dick, I care about you more than you can imagine," he said as he opened the door to my room and set me on the bed.
"Goodnight Dick, I'm sorry about our fight and I'd just like to say welcome back, even if you decide to only stay the night," he started to leave.
"Thank you and I'm sorry as well. He'll be ok you know," I said trying to comfort him. I fell asleep as soon as he closed the door.
After that first night Joker got moved up to the guest room he was first given when he arrived here after hanging himself. Bruce spent a lot of time up there with him. The few times Bruce did leave were as Bruce Wayne to go lobby against gun violence. He'd now had 3 people he loved shot; only one might survive. Batman was played off as injured which is why he hadn't been seen.
We talked and I decided that I would go my separate way once we knew if Joker was going to live and get back to normal. We would still stay close though, and I would help him whenever he needed it. I like having his blessing for it more than just running away.
I'm starting to wonder if Joker will make it through this. It's been almost two weeks now and even for that type of injury that was a while. I hope he makes it… For Bruce's sake.