A/N: Hey guys! Okay… still a little mad at the fact this is a Christmas story. I like that none of you guys seem to mind that but I'll do you guys a favor. As long as it's still legally Winter I'll keep writing this story. If I don't get this story done by Robin's birthday (March 21st) then I'm sorry, you'll have to wait for the end in either November/December.
Disclaimer: That's all I have to say on the subject. You guys know what it means. And if I owend DC I'd do something about the jacked up version of Batman. Yes I am talking about Brave/Bold version, no offence to anyone who likes the show.
PLUS!
I'm sure everyone knows this and if you guys do then I'll feel like such a newb, but I just found out about the song "Pain" by Three Days Grace which I am currently listening to, but I must admit, I think it pretty damn suits Batman hella well. If you guys haven't heard it…
HEAR IT! BEST SONG EVER!
Italics= thoughts
Warning: OC-ish Dick in beginning of chapter. And has AU-ish references, so bear with me, it's fanfiction for a reason. I have every… I mean… half the rights to control what happens here.
Enjoy & R&R
Chapter 10: Hints
Saturday December 10th, 2011 (7:00 PM)
Robin, now Dick, entered through the front door. He would have come through the grandfather clock like he normally does but his heart wasn't in coming in from the BatCave. Luckily Dick had managed to change into his civies before coming home.
"Master Dick, is that you?" Alfred asked. Dick placed a backpack which held his uniform on the couch and froze at the voice. Dick looked up from where the voice was heard.
"Yes." Dick answered. He walked over where he heard Alfred's voice. "Who else would it be?" He asked.
"Did you go see Morgan and her son?" Alfred asked as he finished washing several dishes. Dick remained silent. Alfred dried off his hands and turned to the young master. Dick stared right at the old man.
"Master Dick, is everything alright?" Alfred asked. Dick looked down.
"There was spell cast on Bruce." Dick murmured crossing his arms and leaned against the wall.. "The La Fays don't know where he is. Mordred said he can't remember which spell he used on Bruce so it won't be easy to track him." Alfred sighed then smiled.
"Master Dick. I have some news for you." Alfred said. Dick stood back up straight and looked at Alfred.
"Yeah?" Dick asked a little confused. Alfred nodded.
"Well… what is it?" Dick asked.
"Master Bruce called." Alfred said. Dick's eyes widened in shock. He was getting ready to smack himself to wake up from another dream and wait…
"Did, you just say, B-Bruce called?" Dick asked excitement filling his voice.
"Yes sir." Alfred said.
"You're not lying are you? Dick asked.
"Have I ever lied?" Alfred asked. Dick thought about it for a moment. Alfred has never really lied to anyone. All he's ever done is stretch the truth every now and then, but it was never for selfish reasons.
"No." Dick answered. Alfred smiled.
"Well? What did Bruce say? Can I call him too? Is he alright? Where the heck is he? How come he hasn't called or texted me before?" Dick asked a little too excited. Alfred smiled at the young, but very excited boy.
"Come with me Master Dick." Alfred said setting a hand on Dick's shoulder and guiding him towards one of the many living rooms.
Once Dick and Alfred sat down on a long red couch Alfred decided to start talking till…
"Well, what did Bruce say?" Dick asked a little more calmly.
"Master Bruce…" Alfred stopped mid-sentence, here come the minor lies, but lies t=none the less, "he called through the bat monitor today while you were at school."
"Seriously?" Dick interrupted. "Why didn't you call me?"
"You could've been in the middle of an exam sir." Alfred said.
"Like the exam would've mattered that moment." Dick said. Alfred stared down the young boy.
"Alright fine the exam matters, but hearing about Bruce matters to me more." Dick said.
"Bruce preferred not to disturb you." Alfred said. Dick rested his elbows on his knees and his palms under his chin.
"That just isn't fair." Dick said glumly. "Anything he wanted me to know?" Alfred took a deep breath.
"He wanted you to know that he is alright." Alfred said. Dick smiled lightly.
"Good, I'm glad. Alfred can I talk to him or hear his message?" Dick asked. Alfred shook his head grimly.
"I'm afraid… Master Bruce deleted the message after he sent it." Alfred said.
"Why would he do that?" Dick asked.
"Perhaps so you weren't able to track him." Alfred said.
"Did he tell you where he was?" Dick asked. Alfred shook his head.
"Is there any way for me to contact him?" Dick asked.
"I'm afraid not sir." Alfred said. Dick sighed and brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs.
Alfred placed a hand on Dick's shoulder. Dick looked at Alfred.
"He also wanted you to know that he's thinking about you." Alfred said. That brought a smile to Dick's face.
"Did he mention when he'll be back?" Dick asked.
"I'm afraid not." Alfred said. Dick let out another sigh.
BUZZ!
The doorbell rung. Dick and Alfred both looked over at the hall that led to the door way.
"And who might that be?" Alfred asked.
XXXX
(One hour ago)
After Bruce and Clark were done glaring at each other Bruce hid in his guestroom. It isn't normal for Bruce to try to hide from his problems, but Bruce's maturity levels have been slowly dropping since he was struck with the de-aged spell. Clark was left in the kitchen thinking.
"Superboy isn't my son. Bruce has it all wrong. He may have my DNA, but that doesn't mean anything. Yet Bruce goes his way in calling him my son when he was the one who couldn't trust him when the league first met him. He willingly adopted Dick, willingly took him under his wing. And he goes his way on calling him his son. Does that even make since? A man who isn't even related to a boy can openly call him his son to anyone? Of course he can! Pa never seemed to mind calling me his son and he found me in a damned rocket ship that crashed on his farm and ruined most of his crops. Then there's a man who ignores his biological son just because he feels violated. When you put two and two together… it does sound like a harsh story. Maybe that's what Bruce was trying to tell me. He cares about a boy who's not even related to him and treats him as a son. And here I am ignoring the boy who has my flesh and blood." Clark placed a hand on his head. "Maybe I am being too hard on the boy. He didn't ask to be born from my DNA, didn't ask to be me. He didn't have a say or a choice in any of this. I can't blame him for this. It isn't his fault." Clark let out a breath. His ears then twitched. He heard a crack. Clark raced over to Bruce's guestroom and didn't even bother knocking. When Clark entered Bruce was nowhere in sight. Clark listened carefully to hear Bruce's heartbeat. Clark looked all around with his X-ray vision Bruce was nowhere hidden. He started using infrared vision and saw fingerprints on the closed window.
"Bruce." Clark growled angrily.
XXXX
(PRESENT)
"I'll go get it Alfred." Dick said.
Alfred got up with Dick to see who was at the door. Dick gripped the doorknob and standing behind the door was none other than 'Mathew Malone'.
Dick's eyes widened in surprise.
"Master Bruce?" Alfred thought.
"Matt? What are you doing here?" Dick asked.
"Hey Dick. I thought you and I were going to hang out at the mall today." 'Matt' said. Dick thought for a second.
"Oh! Yeah. That totally slipped my mind. I didn't think you'd remember." Dick said. Dick looked up at Alfred.
"Is it alright if I go?" Dick asked. Alfred looked down at both his young masters. Which seemed odd now that he thought about it.
"Very well, but… be back before ten." Alfred said.
"Sure will." Dick said, mood a little more lightened.
"See'ya Alfred!" Dick called.
"By Mr. Pennyworth." 'Matt' said. Alfred smiled at the two and nodded his goodbye. He hasn't been called 'Mr. Pennyworth' by Bruce since he first started working in the manor.
…
"Great to see' ya Matt." Dick said as the two walked away from the manor.
"You too Dick. How're you feeling?" Bruce asked.
"Better than last time you saw me." Dick said.
"Why's that?" Bruce asked.
"Alfred got word from Bruce. Didn't get to talk to him… but at least I got to hear he's okay." Dick said.
"You were worried about Bruce when he's just at a business trip in Europe?" Bruce asked.
"Well, I haven't exactly heard from him in weeks. Wouldn't you be worried if you hadn't heard from your cousin in weeks?" Dick asked.
"Cousin?" Bruce thought, "Oh, right."
"I guess, but it'd depend on the scenario." Bruce said. It wasn't much of a lie, other than the fact Clark is not his cousin, but he's the Man-Of-Steel. He doesn't have to worry about him all the time. Clark can handle himself… every now and then though. The only time Bruce was ever genuinely worried about him was when Amanda Waller accidently decided to launch a nuke laced with kryptonite at the island where Superman was located.
"What kind of scenario?" Dick asked. One of Bruce's eyebrows rose.
"Huh?" Bruce asked looking at Dick. The two had already exited the gate and were a good several yards away from the manor.
"You know, what would the scenario have to be for you to worry about your cousin?" Dick asked again.
"Um, I guess it'd have to be a nuke aiming towards him type of scenario." Bruce said. Dick gave him a skeptic look and chuckled.
"So I guess your cousin can just about handle himself. Would you actually think about taking a nuke for him?" Dick said.
"I've done it before, and I'm not planning on taking another nuke for the Man-Of-Steel ever again." Bruce thought bitterly.
"Yeah, he can handle himself. But take a nuke, you're kidding me, I'm five 'foot 'five. I want to grow to be at least 6'2." Bruce said. Dick laughed.
"Funny, that's how tall Bruce is." Dick said. "Him and my Uncle Clark went through a similar situation a couple years back." Bruce raised an eyebrow.
"Uh… similar situation, luckily there was no nuke involved." Dick said.
"Right." Bruce said sarcastically, pretending to sound suspicious. The look Dick gave him was a little amusing. Bruce smirked slightly then it fell once the thought came to him.
"I didn't know you had had an uncle named Clark." Bruce said. Dick smiled sheepishly.
"Uh… yeah. he's not really my uncle. He's one of Bruce's best friends. Well at least I assume they're best friends. They hardly ever see eye to eye."
"I could only imagine way." Bruce thought sarcastically/bitterly.
"Well me, and my cousin hardly ever see eye to eye either. That's probably the reason why I snuck out of the house an hour ago." Bruce said. Dick raised an eyebrow.
"You're in trouble when you get home." Dick said.
"I don't care. I can easily scare my cousin with a look." Bruce said.
"Hah! Bruce has that same effect on Clark." Dick said. Bruce looked down wanting to change the subject. He could make fun of Clark behind his back all night if he wanted to, but after what happened earlier he wasn't really in the mood.
"So what are you planning on getting Bruce?" Bruce asked.
"Stupid question. Then I'll know." Bruce thought. Dick looked up at the sky a small smile on his face. He placed his hands behind his head as if trying to relax and shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't know. Haven't really thought about it. Before Bruce left he left me and Alfred a fair amount of gifts under the tree. Alfred got Bruce a few things, but I still don't know what to get him." Dick dropped his hands from behind his head and folded his arms together.
"What would you get your dad?" Dick asked. The question caught Bruce off guard. His eyes widened in shock.
"… I haven't thought about what to get my dad for Christmas in many years." Bruce muttered.
"Come again?" Dick asked.
"Don't know either." Bruce said looking down. Dick's face faced forward.
"I always used to give my biological dad all sorts of things he liked in the catalogs he read. But, it's a little hard to buy something for the man who can buy everything. If he's never thought of buying it, then why try to surprise him?" Dick said.
"That's the beauty of Christmas, you can surprise people." Bruce said.
"Well, as shocking as it's going to sound, Bruce doesn't really like surprises." Dick said.
"That doesn't sound like Gotham's favorite playboy to me." Bruce said smirking.
"Heh, playboy. I know everyone thinks Bruce doesn't look like he has a careful bone in his body but he's always careful. It's always, 'Dick watch out', 'Don't do that you can hurt yourself', 'be back before this time', 'I'll pick you up myself just to be safe'." Dick said.
"Well… you can't really blame him for wanting to watch out for you." Bruce said.
"I know." Dick said looking down. He brought his face back up and looked at Matt.
"I don't know if it's me or you look very familiar to me." Dick said remembering that time in school when he swore 'Matt' looked distinctly similar to someone he might know.
"What are you talking about?" 'Matt' asked.
"I swear… you look so much like someone I know. I just can't tell who right now." Dick said getting a little frustrated. Bruce couldn't help but smirk amusingly, but tried hard to make it look skeptic.
"Do I want Dick to know?" Bruce thought. He turned his head and noticed they were already nearing the mall.
"Figured it out yet?" 'Matt' asked.
"No." Dick said bitterly eyes narrowing. Then he looked to the side. "Oh hey we're at the mall let's head in." Bruce couldn't help but laugh a bit. It'd be weird if he laughed while he was still thirty-two years old, but seemed to stop caring that his maturity levels were dropping for a while, especially after noticing how much he's been smiling these past few weeks. It was perfectly normal for him to smile and laugh at this age. He remembers laughing while playing basketball with Ethan Bennett when they were in high school. The two ran ahead inside the tall building.
They were greeted by crowds of scrambling last minute or early shoppers. Would shopping for a gift on December tenth be considered last minute?
"Matt! Matt, where'd you go!" Dick called out in the crowd. Dick felt a hand grip his shoulder. He turned around instantly raising a fist. Bruce caught that let go of his shoulder and raised his hands up in defense.
"Whoa. Relax Dick it's me." 'Matt' said. Bruce grabbed Dick by the wrist and pulled him away from the crowd.
"Where'd you go?" Dick asked.
"I didn't go anywhere. When we got in you got washed away in the crowd." Bruce said.
"Funny, I didn't even feel that." Dick said.
""So which store first?" Bruce asked. Dick looked around.
"Uhh… you pick." Dick said.
"We're shopping for your guardian." Bruce said.
"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean people aren't allowed to give me ideas." Dick said.
Bruce decided not to give Dick any ideas and the two settled on walking around till they find a good store. After a while of walking and trying not to get U-Hauled away by the crowd. A person accidently knocked Dick to the side. Bruce grabbed him by the sleeve of his hoodie before he fell.
"Thanks." Dick said.
"No problem." 'Matt' said. Bruce stopped short once he heard Dick's stomach growling. He was even more surprised knowing he heard it despite the loud crowd. Bruce turned to Dick.
"You hungry?" Bruce asked. Dick looked down at his stomach.
"No!" Dick said. As if right on que Dick's stomach rumbled again. Bruce raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe a little." Dick said. Then…
GRRRRRRRRRR!
Dick's stomach practically roared. Dick looked up at 'Matt'.
"Possibly a lot." Dick said. Dick grimaced as his stomach rumbled again. Bruce couldn't stop himself. He rolled his eyes. Then grabbed Dick by the wrist and dragged him over to the nearest food court.
"Come on, let's get your stomach filled before it bursts from roaring." Bruce said. "Hasn't anyone fed you all day?" Bruce added.
"Nope. I was someplace else all day and never really got the chance to eat." Dick said as he ordered chilly cheese fries from a cashier.
"You want anything?" Dick asked.
"No. I already ate." Bruce said. Dick received and paid for his food and walked to the nearest empty table.
"How dare you torture me with those words." Dick joked with a smirk. Bruce tried to give him his best smirk, but couldn't help but let his words sting. Clark's words were still fresh in his mind.
"... All I see is a man torturing his son with lies." Bruce glared at the memory then shook it off and joined Dick at the table.
"So, what'd you get your family for Christmas?" Dick asked. Bruce looked up confused then remembered he wasn't himself. Being de-aged momentarily left his mind.
"Hmm? Nothing special." Bruce said with a shrug.
"You feeling okay?" Dick asked, noticing 'Matt's' discomfort.
"Yeah." Bruce said giving him a false smile. Dick looked right at him.
"I know that smile." Dick thought.
"What'd you get Alfred?" Bruce asked.
"Something I know he'd love." Dick said.
"Which is?" Bruce pressed.
"A secrete." Dick said. Bruce slumped.
"Great. Childish instincts kicking in again." Bruce thought bitterly. He set an elbow on the table, resting his head on his hand while his head faced the other way.
"What'd you get for your cousin?" Dick asked eating the last of his chilly cheese fries.
"Well, for his birthday… I gave him an envelope filled with cash. So I figured why not get him a new pair of shoes." Bruce said not attempting to look at Dick.
"Are you still angry about your cousin?" Dick asked. "Why'd you sneak out of the house. What got you so angry at him for?" Dick asked.
"It's nothing." Bruce said.
"Doesn't sound like nothing to me." Dick said smiling. Bruce looked over at him and smirked.
"I know what you're trying to pull there." Bruce said getting up as Dick threw his trash away and grabbing his soda.
"Couldn't hurt to try." Dick said following Bruce away from the food court.
"Where do you want to go?" Bruce asked as the two entered an elevator. Dick pressed the 8th floor button on the elevator which is where the mall keeps most of its most expensive merchandise. Bruce didn't even notice which number Dick pressed. He didn't even realize Dick did that on purpose.
"I want you to tell me what happened. Why'd you sneak out?" Dick asked.
"It's nothing." Bruce said, not wanting to remember the cab and the three subways he had to take to get to Gotham in an hour. Dick glared at his friend.
"I will stop this elevator if you don't tell me what happened?" Dick asked.
"Me and my cousin were arguing again, that's all." Bruce said still angry about the memory.
"About what?" Dick asked.
"My nephew." Bruce muttered surprising himself at the same time by saying that word. He knew Dick was surprised too, judging by the way his eyes widened in surprise.
"Your nephew? How old is your cousin?" Dick asked. Bruce sighed.
"Thirty-three. He just found out about his son and is having trouble excepting him. He's not a bad kid. He's just lost and looking for guidance. And my cousin's the only one who can give it to him."
"Ironic." Dick said. "Clark's going through that exact same thing. He's the exact same age. Bruce and him are starting to argue more and more and mainly because of his knew kid." Dick said. He looked at 'Matt'.
"Now I know who you remind me of."
A/N: Boy am I happy I made this chapter short. I didn't mean to end it here but I don't want to keep you guys waiting. I think I'm just going to make the chapters shorter for now on so I could post them even faster. Also, it's normal to be 14 and have a 30+ cousin. Mine is actually visiting right now. He my nephews, niece, cousin-in-law, her sister and her son just came back from Disney Land and decided to come visit us. - (that's supposed to be a real smiley face, but you can't see it cause apparently fanfiction has a problem with the real smiley faces.
Well g'night! Tired.
Sincerely,
*SS8*