"About 30 gang members were captured by the GCPD last night. They were members of the Fifth Row and the Gully Carson gang. Some of the gangs who survived the last have revealed that they have been attacked by a giant bat..."
"This city is crazy sometimes." Dick groaned, turning the TV screen from the Bat Computer off after countless and countless news about the Batman invading the entire channel. "It was a case from the GCPD. Of course it's real."
"The GCPD got that from an unknown source." Bruce explained, admiring his masterpiece that was the Batsuit stored inside the pod. "Even the source is still compromised."
"Yeah, because you are the source and you don't want to talk about it." Dick complained. "So this is what Alfred said about being unearthly?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know about you, but a single guy knocking out thirty people at the same time, yeah that sounds like an everyday occurrence, doesn't it?" Dick stated his opinions. "Okay, maybe for me, but not so much for the rest of the people around."
Bruce quit his focus on the Batsuit and went in closer to Dick at the Bat Computer. "Dick, we have seen too many things that we couldn't possibly comprehend." He said. "All kinds of insanity done by the most horrible of people. They have upped their game to eleven. If evil is upping their game, I think good should up their game as well."
"It's not a simple good vs. evil sort of thing, Bruce, and you know that." Dick said. "That's why you don't kill. That's why I don't kill. That's why we'll never kill."
"I'm not saying that." Bruce said. "I'm just saying that most evil had his reasons."
"Yeah, tell that to those maniacs in the Squid." The words that Dick just said managed to bring back those painful memories of the past. Those people in the penitentiary, all the things they have suffered, they don't deserve any of it. "I've been there for too long to realize that something like evil was just nothing but personal satisfaction. Those are evil for the sake of being evil. Real evil gave people no choice."
Dick stared back at Bruce. He gave the seriously menacing eyes that he did not expect the Boy Wonder would give. On his face, there were the remnants of the past. There were the leftovers of what happened in those penitentiary and what had scarred him for life. He glanced away, looking bitter, trying not to remember everything that happened.
##
But he couldn't. It was stuck to his head, the first few years inside the penitentiary was the most painful ones. If not for the visceral punch by the guard when he just got inside his cell, it was the cries of children coming from many places in the other cell. Those children that couldn't do anything but mope and cry were the biggest victim of all. No parents could pat their back and reassure them that it will be fine. Not even the night could silence them for good.
"Oh my god." Dick said, grabbing the edge of his cell hearing the cries of a little girl echoing through the entire room. "What is this place?"
"Hell." Jason replied from the back. "This is every kid's worst nightmare. Those kids, they tried their hardest to kill themselves so that they could snap back out of the dream, but they couldn't."
"This isn't a nightmare." Dick said, turning his back towards Jason. "It's real. I don't even know if that's the scary part."
"That's a very good question." Jason said. "When you go beyond this cell and into the cafeteria, you'll see the worst kinds of children on this planet."
"How long have you been here?" Dick asked.
"I don't know." Jason said, shrugging off. "Two years, I guess? But it doesn't matter. I've been here long enough to know everything."
"Maybe not everything." Dick took out a paper clip in one of his pockets and attempted to pick the locks for the prison door.
Jason could only chuckle on that sight alone. "Even if you're smart enough to pick that lock, there will be guards. They got stun batons. It knocks you out in one hit for about a second."
Dick groaned. "Then how are we supposed to get out of here?"
"We don't." Jason said. "We adapt and survive. That's how we play. Be a good boy and you live. Be a bad boy and you die, and if I sounded like I'm kidding, well those cries aren't."
The cries suddenly stopped. It was replaced by the sound of electrical compartment. The buzzing noise echoed through the tight and small hallway of the penitentiary. It gave Dick the impression that fighting back might not be a smart move.
"We can't just wait here and be treated like we're prisoners!" Dick said to Jason.
"That's the problem, Dick." Jason said. "We already are."
"I'd rather die."
"You and me both." Jason said. "But death is not their first choice. It has never been."
The sound of the chatter that the guards had was immediately interrupted with the loud ringing noise of the bell. The sound of the bell managed to pause any sorts of activity or chatter that they had.
"What was that?" Dick asked.
"It's a bell for lunch." Jason revealed. "Great timing, too. I'm very hungry."
The guards were ready to watch the kids and make sure that they didn't go far back. One of the guards looked quite menacing enough with the grizzly moustache. He opened the lock for the door and banged on Dick and Jason's cell. "Get out, both of you."
Jason simply complied and left the cell. He didn't even bother to look at his cellmate. Dick just stood there inside, grieving about what just happened to the little kids. He couldn't even be bothered to hear those cries again, and that electrical shock that ran through their body, giving a halt to every voice they made.
"Hey!" The guard shouted. "If you want to get hungry, be my guest. You won't get another chance next time."
"Dick, don't be stupid." Jason asked. "Get out." Dick glanced back at the guard and Jason, who was looking at him with the most desperate of eyes. "Dick!" Jason called. "Dick!"
##
"Dick!" Bruce called, snapping him back to reality. "You're in?"
"Uh... yeah sure I'm in." Dick inexplicably replied without even knowing the circumstances.
But Bruce knew him better. Dick wasn't the best liars in the world. "You're not listening." He said. "Something bothers you?"
"Yeah, if you can call it that." Dick said. "It was just the thing in the past. I can't stop thinking about the penitentiary or Jason..."
"There are a lot of things that we need to keep behind." Bruce said. "The past could only ruin you so much. You need to learn how to build yourself from those."
"I am." Dick said. "But I guess if I want to be rebuild, I have to keep reminding myself of who I am, and what has made me to be like this."
"You're a strong man, stronger than when I first saw you." Bruce said, tapping his shoulder. "You can do this. We can do this."
Dick smiled. Bruce was eight years older than him. He could sometimes consider him to be a really good friend, a brother, or even a father figure. "Thanks, Bruce."
"You're welcome." Bruce tapped on his shoulder. "Now that since you're not listening, let me explain it to you again."
Bruce went to the Bat Computer with Dick. The Computer itself only consist of a large holographic touchscreen and three physical keyboard underneath it. Bruce dragged in a bunch of files from a folder in the holographic display and showed the thing that he wanted to show, but what Bruce has shown was quite surprising. It was a costume consisted of a red armor, a black cape, and a face mask. There is an 'R' logo written on the side of the chest plate.
"Wow, a costume?" Dick was astonished himself.
"I think I'd rather show it to you than telling you about it." Bruce said. "Do you like it?"
He enlarged the blueprint display of the costume and looked quite pleased with it, smiling in delight on every piece of detail. "It looks amazing. What does the R stands for?"
"Robin." Bruce revealed. "That's what your parents always called you, right? Little Robin?"
"Well, at least you're not naming it Boy Wonder." Dick shrugged off. "Wait, how did you know that my nickname was little Robin?"
"Well, you told me that when you were training back at Nanda Parbat." Bruce revealed. "I don't even know what you were doing. You were just rambling."
"Urgh..." Dick groaned. "I shouldn't be."
"Well, you did and you paid the price." Bruce said. "But hey, at least the costume is good, right? You might want to take a look at this."
Bruce pressed a button on his smartphone, launching a pod right beside the Bat Computer and the Robin costume is already up there. The red armor, the R logo engraved on the side of it, it was all already printed there.
"Wait, how come I'm completely red and you're completely black?" Dick asked. "Wouldn't people spot me easily if I wear red in the dark?"
"The materials for the armor's paint was designed to adapt with light condition, which means that it went darker as the lights out." Bruce said. "Don't worry about darkness. Your armor works well on it. You're safe. Oh and speaking of safe, I don't want you to take that costume immediately. I want you to do something for me, some sort of a trial or something."
"What trial?" Dick asked, crossing his hand.
"Sparring."
Just one word of that managed to catch Dick's interest. He noticed the rather wide training area on the center of the Batcave with training dummies and everything. He always wanted to try to do some sparring there at least once. It looked like a pretty good place to start.
"Spar?" Dick asked. "Hell yeah."
##
The lunch was thankfully not one of the worst times that Dick could ever think of. At least he got more freedom to move this time around. At least there wasn't a steel chain holding his position and blocking him away from walking out. All he needed was a different thing to look for. Sure, it had that same colorless and tasteless atmosphere that the prison gave to him, but looking slightly different did help to color the eyes for a bit.
If looking at something slightly different is enough to cure the boredom of the Boy Wonder, there's clearly something wrong here. He wasn't be able to get used to with looking at the same thing over and over again. He was used to being free. He was used to the sight of getting into the falling forest of autumn into the blooming field of flowers at summer at just a few millisecond of transition to one place to the other, but this? This was brown and grey. Gritty had taken over his atmosphere, and just by that he couldn't forgive those who put him into this mess in the first place.
Dick had Jason walking right in front of him. They were walking on the line for lunch. After all, these prisoners should be kept fed. The wardens will not tolerate death by hunger, and yet they kept bringing the prisoners the worst kind of food on planet Earth. These foods are the ones that gave the feeling of eating actual feces, even though it will definitely not make prisoners hungry for at least until dinner. It stunk, but it was necessary stunk.
Every single time Jason received a soup, he groaned in disgust. Even though he didn't really sound like it, there was a noticeable change of expression on his face as he got every last bit of his food on his food tray. It was disgusting to say the least like a pile of mud combined with garbage, but at least he was better be kept fed of those than being stuck in hunger all the time.
"I know that the food sucked here, but you're going to have to eat." Jason gave his advice, whispering towards him. "There's no other food around here. If you don't eat, you'll die. You'd better keep that in mind."
Dick listened to every word he said. He certainly wasn't lying on the dying of hunger part. It's his turn now. He put his tray on the table. The chef seemed perplexed to see the sight of the new guy, but honestly, disgusting foods only come in from disgusting chefs, and in this case, it couldn't be more obvious. His stomach stretched about four-five inch from his chest. He had noticeable stains of mustard on every part of his napkin. His facial structure made mountain rocks looked more consistent. What could possibly go wrong?
He glared at Dick with interest and a grin, the kind of grin that pedophiles would have, and the same kind of interest too. He splashed the said food into the tray. "So you're the new kid, huh?" His voice was deep, chubby, and sounded as good as the look on his body. "Welcome to the Squid."
The Squid was indeed an odd name for a prison, but there are definitely worse names for one. The name Squid sounded kid-friendly, but what's inside was definitely not. The kids didn't quite catch that family friendly tone and how it was supposed to be ironic. All they could think about was this place, and now fear of Squids could not be more apparent.
Dick didn't speak a word. He just glared at the disgusting food that he was putting on his tray. The chef didn't even bother to look at the tray. He just stomped the food right in. Some splashed right towards Dick's face. He wiped it out and stared back at him.
"Well, since you're new here, I'd like to give some introductions." He began. "Name's Clarence."
Dick raised his head, getting his focus away from the filthy food and back towards the guy. "Grayson."
"Well Grayson," Clarence said, putting his soup spoon back waiting for the next prisoner. "Enjoy your meal."
He couldn't even tell if it was a meal until he got a good taste on it. The moment he got his meal, he turned around towards Jason and followed him from behind. He was the only guy who cared for his safety and the only one he could trust. There's no use of fighting him at this moment or going against his order.
Apparently, the sight of a new kid was a completely new thing for the rest of the prisoners on board the ship. Those creepy, curious stares that they gave towards him fortunately didn't distract him, and there were like tons of them who watched him like that. In the corner, the left, the right, every direction, eyes stuck towards the Boy Wonder. He kept walking with Jason on his back and was very cautious with everyone he saw. He just never wanted anyone to completely stab him in the back for once.
"Why are they looking at me like that?" Dick asked.
"You're new." Jason said. "We don't get a lot of new kids here, and we don't get friendly with them either. Stay away from them if you want to stay alive."
This is the first time in history that he noticed boys and girls were hanging out on the same room, but these girls, as Dick observed, wasn't really the kind of girls that were electrocuted last time whining and crying for help. These were the girls who got the same kind of unpleasant, disgusted stare that the boys gave, and their face could only show the scars of relentless beating.
He sat down on a nearby empty table with Jason right across him. Dick began to ignore the stares that the other inmates gave to him and began focusing on the food. He was pretty hungry too after all.
"Dick, the first time you eat this food, you're going to puke." Jason said. "That's why I got you a barf bag just in case you do."
Those piece of advice was intimidating enough. Dick smelled the food. It didn't smell very good. He grabbed a spoon and began pouring a portion of it right into the top of it. He gulped, bracing for the moment he ingested the food, and in an instant, he got it inside his mouth. Dick closed his eyes, trying to hold off that painful feeling of unpleasantness that the food gave to him.
But the longer he kept biting, the more familiar the taste of the food. Dick swallowed that spoon full of food that he just processed on his mouth and got the little taste of it. Jason was already preparing for the worst, awkwardly opening up the barf bag and getting it closer towards Dick's mouth, and somehow the rest of the people on the prison was preparing for that funny moment where Dick was going to puke over that disgusting piece of filth.
Somehow, he dodged the bullet. "Eh... it could be worse."
The reaction on Dick's face was quite astonishing for Jason. He didn't even realize how much that meant to the entire people watching him like that and anticipating that going to be puking face.
"What?" Jason was both disappointed and surprised on that reaction. He wasn't even sure what to display first.
"It's not the worst food I've ever tasted if you're asking me that." Dick said, going as so far as to continue eating his meal.
"But..." Jason sighed. "Whatever. Just eat." Jason proceed to eat the meal himself. Since he has been two years living here, he should've known better not to be disgusted on his own food, and Dick couldn't help but to notice that. "How old are you?"
"Ten." He replied. "You?"
"Depends." Jason said. "What year is this?"
"2005."
"Nine then." He revealed.
"Nine is right."
A boy, dark in hair, pale in skin, and muscular in size, said that right out of nowhere. He popped right behind Jason's back, circling his hand. Jason didn't look very comfortable near him. If this is the prison's definition of bullies, then they weren't on the right hands.
"New roommate?" The big guy said, laughing in a very tough and arrogant tone. "At least you got someone new to cuddle with. Who's the boy?"
"The name's Grayson." Dick said. "And you?"
"Johnny Rancid." He finally revealed.
"So what's your business here?" Dick asked.
"Oh it's nothing." Rancid said. "I'm just telling little Jason here that his friend is going to have some initiation."
"What initiation?" Dick asked.
"It's been a while since our last." Rancid said. "I'm not going to pretend that we're entertained by the lack of new members inside the prison. We're not. It's been a while since we got a new target."
"Target of what?" Dick asked.
Jason tried to stand up, but Rancid pushed him down. "Where are you going?"
"I don't want to look."
"Well, too bad. You're going to look anyway." He said. "BOYS!"
Dick looked back towards whom Rancid was referring to. But before he could even do that, two pair of hands got both his arms and just pulled him away from his dining chair. He's now on the ground being surrounded by bigger boys. And in just a moment, he'll make sure that things
"Initiation is all about having fun." Rancid continued. "If you want to get to this prison, and you want to do it legit, this is how you do it. Guards of this prison are corrupt. They don't care about us until the bell rings. If you don't fight, well, you'll going to get beaten up. But the fun part is if you do fight. So instead of beating Jason like we usually do, we'll going to beat you instead."
The two guys behind him released their grips. Dick dropped down the floor and stood up immediately. "Well, at least you got one thing right."
"What is it?"
"I'm a circus performer." Dick said. "My job is to entertain. So bring all you have."
Rancid laughed in an evil manner. He gestured to the two boys to charge right towards Dick, attacking him with full charge. But Dick was more flexible. He ducked as the two was about to land punches on him. After the two misses, Dick kicked each of their back leg, causing them both to kneel down. He punched the first kid's temple and he fell down unconscious. The other kid landed a punch at Dick, but he was able to block that and elbow his forehead, also knocking him out.
"So Rancid," Dick began walking closer towards a terrified Johnny Rancid. "When you said that I'm going to get beat up, aren't you confusing me with you?"
Johnny Rancid charged himself towards the Boy Wonder. His punch was at a very predictable angle. Dick used that predictability and twisted it for his advantage. As the punch was about to land on his head, he slightly dodged it and kicked his stomach in retort. The kick was hard enough to stop his movements. After the kick, Johnny grabbed his stomach for a moment, and despite still being in pain of that kick, he still tried to get in closer to land another punch towards Dick.
Of course, Dick dodged the punch. But he had enough of this nonsense. He gave a backhand towards his face and repeatedly punched his upper body multiple times in a speed of almost 3-4 punches a second. Dick landed his final punch at him, a punch to the face, which somehow caused his leg to lose balance and launched himself towards the same dining board that Jason was sitting.
"Either those were steroids or just implants. Either way, not cool." Dick said.
Out of nowhere, someone else launched in with a kick. Dick was able to notice that fast enough to dodge it out. The guy landed towards Johnny Rancid's fallen body. It could only do so much as to damage his chest even more, causing him to groan in pain. "Of all the places you chose to land on..."
The mysterious guy jumped and was attempting to kick the Boy Wonder using a simple somersault. The scary thing was the somersault was quick, like he blazed himself against the wind, and landed perfectly on the floor. A hit of any of his body part will be a fatal blow. This kid is a professional, and Dick had to be very careful on this.
"Dick, watch out!" Jason shouted from the back. "You're going against Zavimbe! You're not going to win!"
"I haven't even tried yet." Dick said, getting ready on his fighting pose.
Zavimbe was a black African sort of kid. It couldn't be more apparent when Dick actually noticed the color of his skin. But that wasn't the intimidating part. If it wasn't for the evil stare, it was the flawless flip that got him there.
Zavimbe attacked first with a very skillful move. He put only one of his hand into the floor and launched his kick above towards Dick's head. It was so fast Dick couldn't even have time to move backwards. He could only block so little. Soon after that move, he lowered his feet back to the ground and swept it, targeting Dick's feet with a hit to the side. Thankfully Dick was quick enough to notice those moves and lifted his feet one by one as he attempted to swoop his leg off the ground.
He raised his target towards Dick's arms, rolling smoothly as he went along for every single attack he made, and swoop his foot towards it. Dick moved his stomach back seconds before it hit him, but he didn't stop there. He swoop another kick to his head, hands still on the floor, and he managed to actually land a kick on him. Dick stumbled to the ground, feeling the unpleasant buzzing on his head, and tried as hard as possible to regain control.
The crowds cheered as Zavimbe managed to land a hit on his head. If it was a stage, that was a knock out, except Dick wasn't knocked out yet.
He noticed that Zavimbe did the ginga, a basic move for capoeira practitioners. And since he was familiar with Capoeira himself, even though he wasn't very good at it, he decided that he might as well exploit the weaknesses of Capoeira that most practitioners should be aware of. Zavimbe launched another attack. This time, he launched himself up in the air and attempted to stomp Dick in the ground, but Dick was fast enough to avoid it.
The more Zavimbe spun, the easier it is for Dick to notice his patterns and expose his weakness. He launched more leg swoop on Dick's lower body and Dick was struggling to even avoid every single one of them. Dick was about to get into the risk of getting his head kicked again just for him to actually expose his hands, the crucial structure for almost all capoeira moves.
So he moved his head forward, prompting Zavimbe to launch his leg above. And in a quick succession, Dick lowered his body and swoop his hand towards Zavimbe's. Dick manipulated Zavimbe's own strength and lifted his hand towards the direction of his leg swoop, causing his body to lift off the ground. Dick had some time to lift his head and direct it towards his, kicking it and causing him to get launched into a nearby dining table.
The two continued to fight, exchanging blocks, hits, punches, and kicks. Dick used his agility and tactics while Zavimbe used his flexibility and speed. The dance was quite interesting, but including the previous attacks, it only lasted for a minute long, and nobody won. Zavimbe pulled up a leg grab and rolled around Dick's body attempting to slam it down the floor, but Dick grabbed him and slammed him instead. After a little bit of wrestling, the bell rang. This is where the guards popped in.
"Zavimbe! New kid!" One of the guards said. "Drop it!"
##
"We're done here." Bruce said to him after Dick finished the said test. "You passed. You're still as good as ever."
"Well, I had a good teacher." Dick replied.
"Not really." Bruce admitted, snorting. "The first time I found you, you were already good at fighting."
"Well, I had a lot of good teachers." Dick redirected his words, which caused Bruce to laugh, which was something unusual for him to do.
Bruce threw in a dry towel towards him. The sparring was only around two-three minutes, but it carved so many sweats around Dick's body. Bruce not only considered him his student, but also a worthy opponent, as Dick Grayson was as wonderful as he was when he got that title. Dick was sparring against one of his teachers. Breaking the defenses of someone like Bruce Wayne is like breaking through a steel wall using bare hands, almost close to impossible.
"You want to talk about it?" Bruce suddenly asked a question.
"Talk about what?" Dick asked.
"What has been bothering you." Bruce revealed.
"Well, yeah there are a few things that's been bothering me." Dick said. "Practically, I'm now famous, all thanks to you bringing be back to Gotham. I've told you everything that happened to me, well, almost everything."
"Almost?" Bruce retorted on the last few words. "You mean that there's something that I don't know?"
"Er... When I say almost, I mean most of the things that matter at least." Dick said. "Should I tell you what type of boxers I use every morning?"
"Okay, I get your point." Bruce said.
"But how about everyone else?" Dick asked. "Should I tell them what happened to me?"
"You shouldn't." Bruce said.
"I can't always keep secrets long enough, you know?" Dick said.
"Then I should save that Robin role for someone else." Bruce said, which couldn't shock him even more. "I want someone who can keep secret to himself."
"I'm not talking about that kind of secret, Bruce." Dick said. "Look, I won't tell that I'm a vigilante beating up a bunch of thugs or tell people that you're a vigilante beating up a bunch of thugs, because that would be funny, and ridiculous. No, I'm talking about Dick Grayson, you know, as in the circus guy who got missing for like ten years and suddenly is alive?"
Bruce crossed his hand, looking rather skeptical to the point he's about to make.
"At least one guy in this world wants some answers, especially the guy that is going to be my neighbor!" Dick said. "Should I remind you that he's my biggest fan?"
"What are you going to tell the media, huh?" Bruce asked. "What are you going to tell Tim?"
Dick paused, thinking of what the media should know, and what they shouldn't know at all. He had a terrible past that he wasn't even sure if he should tell. Perhaps sometimes, there were things that deserved to be forgotten. "Maybe I should consult someone."
"Who?" Bruce asked.
"My neighbor."
Bruce raised his eyebrows before he widened his mouth, realizing on the person that he was going to talk with. But there was something else he needed before he could get out of the Batcave.
"Hey!" Bruce called.
Dick turned around right before Bruce threw him a key of some sort. He caught it with good reflexes. "What's this?"
"The latest Ninja, black with dark blue stripes." Bruce revealed. "There's also one if you want to work out as Robin."
Dick smirked across the room, scoffing. "Well, you knew my taste very well."
He left the room.
##
It was afternoon a day after the party. Tim had given Dick Grayson a chance to stay at his apartment, but he wasn't here now. He wasn't going to be at his new apartment as well. Right now, Tim Drake was sleeping on his room, lying unconscious after that best graduation party ever. It was glorious. Beers, crazy friends, non-stop EDM tracks, getting heavily drunk, and a girlfriend on his side.
Yeah... girlfriend.
When he got that thought on his head, he glanced to the side of his bed, but Ariana wasn't around. He woke up only using his plain t-shirt and boxers. That night he got with Ariana was one of the best, if not, the best. She wasn't extremely drunk, but the beers that got into Tim's system probably got into hers as well. The moment they made out right on Tim's room, every part of her common sense was gone. All that's left was just pure, unadulterated satisfaction.
Ariana was probably somewhere around the kitchen cooking up one of Tim's favorite meals. She was an amazing cook on her own and she knew everything that Tim liked and knew when to bring it up to him. His predictions on her current location was right. Ariana, being the seductive person that she was, didn't really use her own shirt. She used Tim's and she didn't even bother to wear her thong that she wore during that intense make-out session, as Tim could clearly see that on the bed she was in. The shirt only covered all the way to slightly above her thigh, and Tim couldn't help but to find that stunningly sexy.
Tim approached her from the back, and he couldn't help but to notice that amazing smell of a food. He hugged her gently and began sniffing out her neck, biting it. "Good morning, love. You're making something?"
"Hey, Timmy." She replied. While still keeping focus on her cuisine, Ariana turned around and kissed Tim's cheeks. "I'm making your favorite soup."
"Mmm... smells delicious, just like the cook." Tim released his grip from Ariana and focused on touching the boiling soup with a spoon, but Ariana quickly snatched it out of him.
"Uh... uh... No sneak peeks." Ariana replied.
"Not even for the royal prince?"
"Not even for the royal prince."
"Aww." Tim lowered the spoon and put it back to the table. "What should I do to get a peek?"
"No, no. The real question here is what the royal prince should do to get his cuisine."
"What?" Tim exasperated. "Was a night of romantic proportions isn't enough?"
"Mm mm." She shook her head. "Last night was amazing, but there was something quite missing. I'm not really sure what, but I..."
Those sayings were interrupted as Tim's doorbell rang. Tim's face went from a bizarre boiling red into a state of calm the moment he heard that. He focused his attention towards the door and walked towards it. "I'm coming!"
"You most certainly are." Ariana whispered under her breath.
Tim arrived at the door and opened it to reveal one of his favorite childhood icons standing right in front of him. "Oh hey uh... Dick. How are you doing?"
"Well, I'm looking for..." Dick noticed something behind Tim. He focused his sight downwards, indicating that the object was on the ground. By the time he glanced at that object, Dick raised one of his eyebrows. "Uh... is your girlfriend here?"
"What, oh yeah." He said. "How did you..."
Tim looked back only to notice her bra was sitting right at the top of the table. That sight could only get Tim to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Oh," Tim said. "Well I... let's just say that..."
"Hey, you scored." Dick revealed. "You scored when I haven't. I'm proud of that."
"You haven't?" Tim asked. "Dude, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
"No! Really!" Dick said. "I've been too much with Bruce lately, probably a little too much."
Tim gave him an evil, seductive grin, with one of his eyebrow curved down. "Did you..."
"No!" Dick stopped. "I didn't score with him! What are you, nuts? I'm as straight as you can possibly get!"
"Okay fine." Tim said. "I'm just kidding. So really, is there something that I can do to help?"
"Yes actually." Dick said. "It's about what happened to me. I was just a day in Gotham and I just told people that I'm alive. But people want to know how, especially my about-to-be neighbor and my biggest fan. Am I right?"
Tim was intrigued by his statement. He crossed his hands and raised his eyebrows.
"So let's just talk and get this over with." Dick said.
"Okay." Tim said. He waved towards the living room. "Come in."
Dick walked inside and closed off the door behind him. Tim immediately ran off towards the bra lying on the ground that was made clear by his current house guest that it can be seen right off there. After snatching off the bra, he went to his room and just threw it in. Ariana was just probably there, gathering up as much clothes as possible.
"Well, make yourself at home." Tim said to his house guest. "This is part of your home after all."
"Thanks." Dick nodded. He took a seat on the living room. It was a cozy and comfortable place to live. It was clean and tidy, minus the messed up clothes that he got during the make-out session he had with Ariana last night. Tim hoped that Dick would feel comfortable. He didn't expect a guest especially this morning, and especially from the Boy Wonder himself.
After a little bit of cleaning and tidying up, Tim went back to the living room, finally ready to confront his guest on the matter. "Sorry about that. I don't expect guests this early."
"It's alright." Dick said. "I'm the one who should say that. I shouldn't visit you this early."
"Well, if you considered 10AM as early, because I certainly don't." Tim remarked. "In my college years, I was used to wake up at five. It was cheating day this time, and believe me when I say that it's an amazing cheating day."
"Yeah, especially since your girlfriend is around." Dick replied. "She's beautiful by the way. You're very lucky."
"Nah." Tim shrugged. "It took me a lot of effort to ask her out. And honestly, I can't believe she said yes."
"Where's your family?" Dick asked.
"My dad is working at Drake Industries subsidiary at Gotham South." Tim said. "He visits me once in a while, but he had gotten very busy for the last few years. He's CEO after all."
"Your mother?"
Tim's face went bitter. She almost closed his eyelids off, glancing down and looking away. "She died during her trip in the Caribbean."
Dick widened his eyes. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry."
"That's fine." Tim said. "It was like five years ago when it happened. I was in my class when I heard the news. I can't believe it myself. I was... devastated. I don't even know what to say." Tim hated that he had to bring up that news somehow again, but he was glad that he could get it out somehow. "How come Zucco didn't kill you when your parents died?"
"Zucco doesn't kill kids back then. I don't know if he is now, though. I was lucky that he didn't. If he did..." Dick sighed after those words. "By the way, my parents didn't die because of some 'weird accident on the trapeze' as the news said. No, they died because Zucco's men shot them. After my parents got a proper burial, I left the circus. I realized that the circus already had too much trouble on its own. So..."
"But..."
##
"You were ten!" Jason said. "You got people that care for you, and you just leave?"
"It's not that easy." Dick answered. "You have no idea what kind of problems that my circus had. Hunger, taxes, debts, being beaten up by Zucco's men, tons of them. I don't want to make things worse by adding myself into those problems."
"At least it's better than here!" Jason said.
"No, it wasn't. I think it's much worse." Dick revealed. "I may be free, I may have people who take care of me, but I'm not so happy. I don't know why. It just doesn't feel right staying there. And by the way, I didn't leave by being a dumbass either. I know my way off the forest. I know how to get food, how to get clean water, my dad taught me all of that and I've endured the wild for about six months already."
"Six months?" Jason was utterly shocked. "I don't believe it myself."
"Like I said, I've tasted worse foods." Dick said
"I don't know how, but somehow I believe you." Jason revealed. "I never actually see a real-life Tarzan. But you're totally selling it. Wait a second... I still don't get why. You're one of the most famous kid ever lived. You said that you have fans, people who admire you, and you said that there are thousands of them! There has to be at least one person who wants to help you!"
"I... I never thought of that."
"Really?" Jason said. "After all this time pretending like you're some sort of Tarzan for no reason when you could've just went to a city and tell people that you're still alive."
"Why are you saying all of this?" Dick said.
"What, is it wrong for me not to give a shit?" Jason said. "Is it wrong for me not to point out how dumb you are dealing with this issue?"
"Look, I'm sorry." Dick said. "Yes, I was dumb. I didn't think of this through. I was... stressed. I don't know what to think. I just want to be left alone. You have no idea how it feels like after you see your parents got shot. You don't know how it feels like to see your parents now buried down the ground! All I want is to be left alone!"
"Well you could've just stayed on the circus's tent instead of in the forest where you can get eaten by a tiger!" Jason said. "Dick I know you were stressed. I know it's tough to lose your parents, but you need to think smart. I'm trying to help you here. I don't want you to make one bad decisions after another."
"How can I think smart when I'm stressed?" Dick said.
"Okay fine. You were stressed. I get that." Jason said. "But the people on the circus... they just let you go? They might be stressed out after seeing your parents die, but they're not as stressed as you are. They can make smart decisions, and letting you go is not one of them."
"They trust me." Dick said. "They knew that I can handle myself very well. I was trained to survive in the wilds. They knew that I could do things that they couldn't. That's why they let me go. I insisted on them for letting me go."
"Did they ever come back to you?"
"Yes, actually." Dick couldn't even keep his breath consistent as he almost shed a tear. "I met them only once, at least one of them, and I was right. The circus had gotten worse and it eventually splits up. They struggled to survive on themselves. I could only make things worse if I join up with them."
Finally Dick shed his tears. Jason had pushed him over to confront his past once again. He didn't blame him for all of this. In fact, he thanked him. It felt really good to finally go back to the past and look back at the decisions he made in his life. Going out alone in the wilds wasn't exactly the smartest one.
Dick snorted as he wiped his tears out.
"I'm sorry." Jason said. "I got way too personal, am I?"
'No it's okay." Dick said. "You don't have to apologize. You're right for bringing that up. Just because I can, doesn't mean I should. I should've thought about this more times. Maybe I shouldn't leave the circus. Maybe the circus is better if I'm around. Maybe somehow, I can help them all."
##
"And just yesterday, Bruce helped all of the performers, every single one of them." Dick said.
The connection to the past and the present was quite uncanny. It almost felt like he was telling the same story and shedding the same tear. He couldn't find the right term of it. What was it called, dèja vu?
Dick continued the story. "He gave them scholarships, jobs, early retirement, even a memorial to my parents, all the things that I wanted to give them but I couldn't. He did, and I can't be more thankful about it."
Both Tim and Ariana joined the chat. It must be hard for both of them especially Tim. Seeing one of his favorite icons crying as he tells the story of how he got here was hard to stomach. Tim can be seen wiping off his tears, and Ariana snorted on her tissue paper as she cried listening to that.
"So what else happened?" Ariana asked.
"Well, I didn't stay long inside the prison. I got out after like three months." Dick said. "There was some sort of an explosion. It broke off the entire prison and I escaped. I was lucky."
"And how about Jason?" Tim asked. "Where is he?"
Dick trailed off from that question. "I don't know. We didn't see each other since we got out."
"Whoa." Ariana said. "That's... quite depressing."
"Yeah." Tim said. "And uh... thanks for opening it up to us. If you need help, anything, just... let me know."
"Let US know." Ariana corrected. "We'll help in any way we can."
"Thanks guys." Dick said.
"Do you need anything else?" Tim asked. "You're hungry? I assume you're hungry. Ariana's cooking the best food."
"No thanks." Dick gestured to stop. "I'm not hungry. I had this idea that... I think the public should know about this."
Tim sharpened his eyes on that thought alone, but Ariana didn't change her expression. Actually, she was the first one who shared her thoughts. "I agree. You can't just expect someone like Dick Grayson to just pop out of nowhere. People are going to have questions."
"And how are you going to do that?" Tim asked.
"Well, you can post a blog about it." Ariana said. "And then there's Vicki Vale..."
"Oh please no." Tim said. "Look, I don't care what she said to you last night, Dick, but she was just giving you ideas."
"Yeah, and it was a good one." Dick said. "So what's the problem?"
"It's nothing." Ariana revealed. "Tim just hate reporters."
"They asked me the most personal questions. They just can't mind their own business." Tim revealed his reasons. "They just can't keep it to themselves, and I hate that."
"Well, there's something that you need to know about Vicki, Tim." Ariana said. "I've known her since High School. She's a good friend and a professional reporter. We can trust her."
"Oh, so Vicki Vale was your friend and you didn't tell me?" Tim asked.
"You didn't ask." Ariana said. "When have you met Vicki Vale anyway?"
"I met her during my Freshman year." Tim said. "She was smart, but in a diabolical way if you know what I mean."
"Uh... guys," Dick interrupted them. "I got her number. I think she might be interested on putting me in an article."
"You got her number? How?" Ariana asked.
"Well, I had my own ways of..."
"You're Dick Grayson. Of course you got her number." Tim interrupted, giving an irritating facepalm. "Okay, so you got her number, so what? You're going to give her an interview for this?"
##
"On behalf of Gotham, we are very sorry about your losses." She continued her interview. "They were the most talented people on Earth. We are all saddened by their deaths." She flipped a page on her tablet. Interview apps are getting quite popular with journalist for the past five years. "How did you meet Bruce Wayne?"
"Bruce Wayne found me." Dick revealed. "He was at a trip to Paris. I was a bartender there, not really knowing what to do with my life. Bruce got beaten up by a bunch of thugs and I saved him out. He hired me as his bodyguard."
Vicki raised his eyebrows. "But why didn't you come with him when he arrived in Gotham six months ago?"
"I was... having a little reunion with my old friend in Blüdhaven." He revealed. "He said that I should stay there for a while when he settle things up. After that, he picked me up."
"That's wonderful." Vicki replied. "So what are you going to do for the future?"
"Not much." Dick revealed. "Maybe I'm going to be a bartender again if Bruce actually give me permission to quit or something, maybe not, but I'm not quite sure. The future is a mystery, and I'd like to keep it that way."
The exclusive interview was held right on his new apartment where Vicki Vale already prepped her own cameraman, microphone, lighting, etc. Tim Drake was very generous of letting someone like Vicki Vale to have an exclusive interview right on his apartment. Surprisingly, it was Dick Grayson who did the convincing, and surprisingly, Tim Drake agreed for this. According to Bruce, he wasn't really fond of reporters.
But Vicki Vale was different. She was professional on her work. She was two years older than Dick Grayson himself, and the two years apart had shown her very competent interviewing skills. Unlike the Vicki Vale that she met on her party, she kept her emotions down there somewhere, hiding it the best as she could with the blankest of faces. She asked the questions with a soft, sincere tone, and her acting was worthy of some sort of an award.
It didn't please the child prodigy one bit.
"You know," Tim began his comments, talking to Bruce Wayne at the far side of the room away from the reporters. "I'd rather have millions of people storming here complaining about how loud my music is than a bunch of reporters asking questions about my personal life."
"It's not the reporters who asked questions, Tim. It's the world." Bruce replied. "If someone like Dick Grayson just popped back from the dead without any reason, people are going to have questions about it. How many times should I say that?"
"Yeah but..." Tim was about to answer that statement, but he chocked.
"You just hate reporters in general." Bruce revealed. "Besides, he's not Tim Drake. He's Dick Grayson, the Boy Wonder. He can do anything he wants, even if it is quite stupid."
"Well, I can't argue. Besides, it's only a matter of time before he got sick of reporters." Tim said. He sighed, turning around and forgetting the sight of multiple reporters inside his own Cottage, and focused more on the sight of his beloved girlfriend.
Ariana was surprisingly okay with the sight of reporters in every corner of his Cottage. Either that, or she just liked to see Tim getting annoyed to death. Tim was the kind of person who would throw a punch to anyone disturbing his study session, even if that person was his girlfriend. And instead of being angry, she was very much amused of his reactions. He was a serious person after all, and the best part of being a serious person is seeing someone like him suffer for the most wrong of reasons.
"Aww... is Mr. Drake being grumpy again?" Ariana went in closer to Tim's face. "Someone needs a cuddle."
"I don't need cuddles, Ariana." Tim Drake actually said that to his own girlfriend, even though she was hugging him tight and pulling his cheeks. "Stop it."
"You know, I always like it when you're completely serious." Ariana said. "And by the way, our breakfast is getting rather cold. We'd better taste it before it's getting worse!"
Tim sighed. "I suppose you're right."
