It was Monday afternoon, the final bell rang signaling the end of school. The hallway was lined with blue half lockers and was bustling with the all the students going in multiple directions, most of the students were racing down the hall to catch the bus or their alternate transportation home, some were heading off to afternoon clubs. Typically Dick was one of the later on Mondays, but not today, and it was not because Bruce was not allowing him to remain after school, it was because Foreign Language Club was cancelled today.
Dick stood at his locker putting the books he needed to take home into his yellow backpack. He had more books than usual since he stayed home from school on Friday as well. The boy went to pull out his cellphone to call Alfred, to inform him of the last minute change.
"Hey Dick!" A chipper voice called causing him to turn his head to see a fellow classmate coming. It was Liam, he had spiked light blond hair, with thick rimmed glasses, with gray-blue eyes He was tall for his age and slightly husky.
"Oh hey Liam," Dick smiled and gave him a slight wave after closing his locker and spinning the nob.
"Because foreign language club was cancelled some of us are going to grab some burgers." Liam offered.
"I need to ask…" Dick said hesitantly looking at the phone in his hand. He was happy that he was starting to make some friends, even if they were all older than him, they seemed to accept him, but he did have specific instructions from Bruce not to leave the campus.
"Oh come on, we can make sure you are back by four." Liam's smile was reassuring.
"¡Vamonos!" Katie a brown hair, brown eyed girl called over to them. Her hair was in a messy bun and her hands were on her hips. "What's the hold up?"
"Dick needs to ask permission," Liam informed her due to Dick's silence.
"We can talk in another language the whole time, so it will be like being in class!" Katie smiled.
This really could be considered peer pressure, but the reason he was hesitant to go was because, he had a crazy murder after him, and not because he didn't want to go, he really did.
"As long as I am back before, four, my ride is very punctual." Dick put his phone into his jacket pocket. Dick thought about it, he would be with others, and if Tony Zucco didn't like witnesses would he really hurt him with others around, at a restaurant none the less.
"Good! Nick and Jack are going to meet us there!" Katie gave Dick a light shove to get moving.
"We do this all the time when it's cancelled," Liam explained to the new student.
"One time we tried to order in another language, but these Gotham Academy uniforms give us a way." Katie gestured to the logo on her jacket,
Dick laughed, "I could always speak Romani."
"Have you ever spoken another language to someone to make them stop bothering you?" Liam asked.
"All the time!" Dick laughed, "my dad would laugh at me because I would just you random words and I would change the language with every sentence. My mom would tell him to stop encouraging me."
The restaurant was not to far from campus as was often filled with Gotham Academy students after school. The trio walked up to the fast food chain restaurant, Liam opened the door, Katie and Dick followed him in. The place was brightly lit and overly colorful, lined up against the large open windows was a line of booth style seating, with chair seating in the middle of the restaurant.
"Do they even let you eat burgers in that fancy place you live?" Katie asked as they approached the counter. There were two workers at the register both wearing green polo shirts and fake smiles.
"No, I was excited to have one at the game last week." Dick chuckled thinking about the pile of french fries, topped with cheese burger and hot dog, though now he didn't want to think about hot dogs.
"Must be wild going from living in a circus to living in a mansion," Liam lead his freinds to the ordering counter.
"I'm still getting used to it. Suits and ties," Dick gave a playful gag.
Katie and Liam laughed. Once their orders were placed, they waited short time for the food to arrive. Dick ordered himself the largest burger with all the toppings he could, with a large fry and soda, and a mini pie, pretty much everything he never ate at his new home. Once they got their food the three meet their other two friends at the center large table in the center of the restaurant.
"How can you eat like that and still stay so tiny?" Katie said, "my sister would kill to eat like you and still stay skinny. She gets just salad and still complains she's fat."
Dick shrugged, he was sure to swallow what he was eating before talking, "I still work out like I did, well kind if. I don't have a trapeze, or any other apparatus for that matter."
"So what do you do?" Liam asked growing curious now too, then taking a bite of his chicken sandwich.
"Long hallways, Alfred made me stop swinging from the chandelier."
"Did you say chandelier?" Nick raised an eyebrow, he was only half listening to the eight-year-old. Nick was a short blond hair and brown eyes. His jacket was already off and hanging on the back of the chair and his tie was loosened, but still around his neck
"You're fearless!" Katie was impressed. She never saw him fly, but she was using her imagination combined with the tricks he had shown off before.
"Alright Dick, official rules of unofficial Foreign Language Club Meeting, no English." Nick told the newest member of the unofficial club.
"One more rule him," Katie spoke in English, she smoothed her skirt under her before sitting down. "No Romani, he knows enough languages not to use one we all don't know."
"Shesti!" Dick smiled widely setting down his tray and taking off his jacket and losing his tie as well. using the Romani word for nonsense.
"Usted está desesperado" Katie rolled her eyes.
Dick laughed while munching on his french fries, he was not hopeless, he just enjoyed joking around with his new friends, and this was how the rest of the hour went.
Alfred had to make a quick trip into the market to gather the last few ingredients for that night's dinner. He parked the town car in front of the small market. It had a green and white striped awning, with the words Main Street Market, it was a brick building, outside in front of the windows under the awning was bins that contained the fruits and vegetables on sale at the time.
Alfred turned the car off and stepped out, locked the car, then went into the market, The butler checked his pocket watch, he had ten minutes to pick Richard up from school. Once inside he got a fresh loaf of Italian bread, eggplant, and onions.
Dick glanced down at his watch, it was five past four, "Adiós, Au Revoir, Poshchay, Achh devlesa!" he called bidding his friends good-bye grabbing his backpack and tray of food, unknowingly leaving behind his jacket he raced out of the restaurant nearly running into a family entering the restaurant.
The boy ran back to the school, he knew Alfred was already at the school. The boy pulled open the back door and jumped into the black town car, as soon as the he shut the door the car started to move. "I'm sorry Alfred! They cancelled, because Madam Durant was out sick so we grabbed some burgers." Dick leaned back and buckled himself in.
"That's alright kid," a clearly American voice with a New York accent came from a well muscled man with olive skin and slick black hair and thick mustache in the front seat on the driver's side, while another man who looked just like the driver, except much thinner, slipped out from his hiding place in the passenger side.
Dick's eyes grew wide, this was the right car, but where was Alfred? He tried to unlock the door, but the pin style lock was in the door, with no way of getting it out, by hand. The boy banged on the window and tried to pull at the door handle, anyway, "Let me out!" Dick pulled the door handle desperately, again. He then noticed the button the would allow the window to go down, quietly he un buckled himself, he hoped his captors would have failed to think of locking the windows. He pushed the button and it started to go down, Dick willed it go faster, but once the window was open enough for him to slip out he did, leaving his backpack behind.
"Oh no you don't, our boss wound't be happy," the second man reached over to grab Dick's foot, but the man missed the speedy boy and the acrobat slipped away.
"Damn Rico! Go get him!" the driver of the car called suddenly stopping the car crashing it into the car in front. Rico jumped from the car and attempt to chase down the eight-year-old who was now running away, with brilliant speed.
Alfred carried the single bag in his left hand, while with his right hand reached into his pocket to pull out the car key, he clicked the button to un lock the car, but no sound same. The butler's eye brows knit together as he looked around for the car. Alfred looked around a little while before pulling out his phone to call the boy to inform on of the situation. After two calls to the boy's phone with no answer the butler made his way to the school, it was almost four and Richard would be out soon. It would be a ten minute walk to the school from the market. With the knowledge of Tony Zucco loose, looking for Dick he knew he needed to get to the boy quickly. On his jog to the school he called Bruce to inform him of the unfortunate circumstance that was not unfolding.
Bruce was sitting in a board meeting listening to a sales pitch when his phone started to buzz in his pocket, he quickly glanced down at the number and noticed it was Alfred's cellphone. It was strange that his butler would call at this time knowing about the meeting. Guessing it was the off chance the older man could have forgotten the meeting Bruce sent the call to voicemail.
Alfred made it back to the school, he called Dick's phone again, hoping that the reason the boy never answered was because he was in his club and didn't want to interrupt the lesson. He could hear a phone ringing, it was the ringtone Dick used, it was a distinct sound; the sound Haly's circus used when welcoming the audience.
"That's the third time his phone rang," The butler could hear a girl say.
"Let me answer it, and tell them he forgot his phone." Liam pulled Dick's phone from the right pocket, "Hi…um this is Liam…Dick forgot his phone."
Rather than speaking into the phone, he ended the phone call and went to the group of kids. "Excuse me, children would that be Richard Grayson's phone?"
"Yeah, he forgot his jacket, his phone was in his pocket." Liam said and handed Alfred the jacket, he had seen the butler before when Dick was picked up in the past.
"He's not with you?" Alfred felt his heart racing, right now it was his fault Dick was missing.
"No, he said he needed to catch his ride. I saw him get into a car, the same one he always did." There was a hint of worry in her voice.
"Thank you," Alfred said more absently than he intended, before pulling out his own phone.
Alfred called Bruce's direct line this time, knowing full well that he was in a meeting, but his master needed to know about his ward's kidnapping.
"Hello Bruce Wayne's office Missy speaking." Her voice was cheerful and chipper as always.
"Miss Melissa, it is Alfred Pennyworth, I need to speak with Master Wayne this instant."
"I'm sorry Mr. Pennyworth, he's in a meeting—"
Alfred cut her off, "I am aware of this, but this is important, it's about Master Richard."
Missy paused and bit her lip, she was under strict instructions not to disrupt the meeting, but she knew full well that if Alfred was telling her to do so it must be important. Never in her three years of being Bruce's secretary had the butler ever asked her to do this task. On top of this, he said it about about her boss's ward. "Okay, I will." She was hesitant.
"I will take any blame for Master Wayne's displeasure."
"Thank you…I will be bright back…" Missy placed the call on hold and went across the hall to the conference room. She well manicured hand hovered in front of the door before knocking. She loved her job here, and hoped this act would not get her fired, or at the very least Alfred was right about taking the blame. She also knew of Bruce's fatherly relationship to his young ward. Missy knocked, and slowly opened the door. She poked her head in and and all twelve members of the meeting look at her with judging eyes.
"Miss Bennett, what is the meaning of this interruption?" Bruce stood up and buttoned his suit jacket.
"I apologize Mr. Wayne," She said being sure to could confident and strong, "But I have a Mr. Pennyworth on the line and he saids it's about Richard, but had told me nothing more."
"Thank you Missy, please tell I will be right there, and have the call transferred to me in my office."
"Yes, sir," She said relieved that he went back to be slightly informal with her, to her that meant she was no longer in trouble. She quickly shut the door and went back to her desk.
"I deeply apologize for the for the interruption. I must take this call Richard is my ward and I would like to be sure everything his okay. I will be right back." Most of the board members knew of his new role as guardian, but never had they seen it come in the way of his job, so even they knew it must be important. As he left he received polite nods and words of understanding.
Bruce swiftly made his way to his office fearing the worse, for Alfred to interrupt the meeting it had to be be important. "Alfred…" Bruce said into the phone disregard pleasantries.
"Master Bruce, I must you inform you, the town car was stollen, Master Richard is not at the school. I fear he's been kidnapped."
Bruce's heart felt as if it stopped for a moment, he was worried enough when he was separated from the boy at the baseball game, but hearing he was kidnapped with Tony Zucco around brought a whole new level of fear to the new father.
"Call Captain Gordon. I am going to end the meeting, I will meet you at Dick's school." Bruce spoke quickly.
"Yes, sir Master Bruce." Alfred said before the line was disconnected. He felt guilty, if only he didn't stop at the market before pick up Dick.
Liam and Katie looked at each other, then Katie spoke up. "Is it our fault? We asked him to come."
"No, miss, this very well could have happened even if he stayed here on campus." Alfred wan't sure it was true, but he wanted the children to put at ease, "but be prepared to tell the police everything that happened when they arrived.
A/N: So what do you think? Dick has gotten himself in trouble, but can Bruce get him before it's too late!?
Also if you didn't know I have a new AU out called 'The Start of Something New' check that one out too, it's got some crazy twists, like Thomas Wayne as Batman, and Bruce as his Robin. Dick will be hanging with them as well.
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