A/N: Dick is currently a senior in high school
August 26, 1997
3:24 AM
The TV broadcast blared in the background as we changed back into our civilian attire after a long night in Gotham.
"...are now coming in that the man behind the mask is reportedly Jeremiah Arkham, owner and operator of Arkham Asylum. Arkham is famous for taking control of the Asylum from his uncle, Amadeus Arkham, after he reportedly killed the murderer of his family, Martin "Mad Dog" Hawins, fourteen years ago. Amadeus remains an inmate in the asylum although it remains to be..."
"Why Arkham?" Dick asked as he finished getting dressed.
"What?" I asked, not really hearing his first question. I had too many things on my mind right now.
"Roman. Why would he choose Arkham to replace him?" Dick asked, elaborating on his initial question.
That was one of the many things on my mind, although not necessarily on the top of the list. Just after Poison Ivy's attack on Robinson Park, a new rouge entered Gotham's arena. His name was Black Mask and he used fear and torture to take control of the Red Hood Gang after Joker's capture at the circus seven years ago. He believed that when he wore the mask, he became the physical incarnation of the Roman god whose face the mask was based off of. Using this mystique, he was able to push himself to the top of Gotham's crime scene. Little did I know that the man under the mask was Roman Sionis, former CEO of Janus Cosmetics. After the mysterious death of his parents, Roman was given control of the company. However, he didn't have the business accumen that his father had and he drove the company into the ground. I had then bought control of the company and replaced all of the leadership within it. This action drove him over the edge, leading him to become the Black Mask and once he controlled Gotham, he came after mistake left him in Arkham.
From there, I can only assume that he pushed his vendetta onto Arkham. He was obviously able to convince Arkham that I wasn't good for Gotham and that the only way to get rid of me was to take the Black Mask mantle and come after me. Unfortunately, Arkham wasn't particularly effective and I captured him easily. In fact, we had just gotten done taking him down and placing him in protective custody at GCPD Headquarters.
Finally, after what seemed like several minutes of thinking up an answer, I was ready to respond.
"I think Roman saw that Arkham was flexible. He could easily be bent into whatever sick reality Sionis now lives in. I'm just amazed that he did it so quickly."
"I know. I have to admit that Roman still kind of freaks me out." Dick said as he began to ascend the stairs to the manor. He was obviously trying to get out of finishing up reports for the evening. Lucky for me, I had an ace in the hole.
"Dick. I'd like to talk to you about something." I said firmly. I wasn't trying to scare him, just make him mildly uncomfortable.
"What?" Dick replied as he came back down to the main level of the cave.
"This." I said, holding an envelope in my hand. "Alfred found this in the mail today. Care to explain?"
"Look, Bruce, I wanted to tell you but.." Dick started as I opened the letter and began reading.
"Mr. Grayson, we are pleased to inform you that have been accepted into the Gotham State University Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps, starting August 1998. You will be required to report for duty one week before the beginning of the semester of basic instruction and training. We thank you for your application and wish you the best of luck in your time with us."
As I finished reading, the look on Dick's face was priceless.
"I made it?" Dick asked in surprise. "They don't ever take people this early. One of my classmates said that they wouldn't accept me until at least next fall."
Slowly, I approached him and just when he thought I was going to lay into him for going behind my back, I extended my hand to him.
"Congratulations, Dick." I said, truly meaning it. When I had read the letter for the first time earlier that day, the only emotion I had had was pride. The young boy that I had been tasked with raising was now a strong, courageous, and heroic young man. I certainly hoped that somewhere his parents looked down on him and smiled.
Once he realized that I truly meant what I said, he took my hand and shook it firmly.
"I think this means we need to celebrate." I replied with a smirk. "Anything you want."
"Anything?" Dick replied, a mischievous look on his face.
"OK. Maybe not anything." I replied, laughing heartily at the disappointment in his face. I was sure that he was going to ask for my Jaguar. He loved that car and had made it known to me that if I ever got tired of it, he would gladly take it off of my hands. Thankfully for the both of us, I hadn't gotten tired of it yet.
"So what do you want?" I asked again.
"Can Barbara come over for dinner some time?" he replied softly.
"I feel like there's a catch hidden somewhere in here." I replied, waiting for him to add his last request.
"I want Alfred to be there. And I think it would be cool if Batman and Robin could delay their nightly appearance until after she left."
There it was. The minute he had mentioned his desire for Barbara Gordon to come over for dinner, I had a suspicion that he would ask that patrols be delayed for that night. It was a once in a lifetime concession I was willing to make.
"If you can get her here, you've got your wish."
August 29, 1997
8:45 PM
I can't believe my luck!
Three days after Bruce found my letter of acceptance to Gotham State ROTC, I was sitting in one of the smaller dining rooms in the manor with Bruce, Alfred, and Barbara. Getting Babs to say yes to coming hadn't been easy. I had to agree to do her math homework for the next week and I agreed to be her date to homecoming next year if she didn't find another date, although that really wasn't that big of a deal for me.
I did like Babs and I'm sure that she knew it. I wasn't really very stealthy when it came to my behavior towards her. I just wish that I could work up the nerve to actually ask her out, because I'm sure she didn't count this.
"Mr. Pennyworth, this food is wonderful. You are such a good cook!" Barbara shouted out next to me. She was having the same reaction almost everyone had when they tried Al's food for the first time. They would suddenly be compelled to speak up. Bruce and I would often gamble as to how long it would take for people to begin screaming about how great his souffle was. It had taken Barbara only twelve minutes, three minutes short of Bruce's guess and a lot farther off mine. I knew that my Saturday morning would now be spent scrubbing the Batmobile.
"Thank you, Ms. Gordon. However, I must implore that you call me Alfred." he replied, a smirk on his face. Far from being an arrogant man, Alfred did pride himself on being a good cook and Bruce and I could always tell how much the compliments meant to him.
"Alright." Barbara replied. "But then you have to call me Barbara."
"We have a deal, Ms. Barbara." he responded with a smirk.
Bruce and I snorted into our entrees at Alfred's quip. He had always been one with a dry sense of humor and at times like this, it was particularly pronounced.
"Thank you, Alfred." Barbara replied, instinctively understand the joke before turning to Bruce. "So, Mr. Wayne.."
"Bruce."
"Yes, that's what I meant." Barbara replied with a smile. "What is it that you do for Wayne Enterprises?"
Bruce seemed surprised that she would ask him about his work but I knew better. I would never tell Bruce but Barbara was obsessed about getting a job in the Research and Development Department of Wayne Enterprises. Her asking this particular question was as much research as it was simple conversation.
"Well, Barbara, I do a lot. I am the majority owner, which allows me to hire and fire anyone who works for me. Also, I am the chairman of the board of directors, so I am able to control what we do and don't do there as well."
Barbara seemed enthralled with Bruce, which didn't really bother me. I knew that Bruce was just being nice to her and that although Babs may have been infatuated with Bruce, he would never return the favor. However, it did kind of bug me that Babs was mildly ignoring me.
"I heard that LexCorp is trying to move into Gotham. At least that's what Daddy says." Babs said with a smile.
"My lawyers are telling me the same thing. Thankfully, I should be able to block their move."
"How are you going to do that?"
"Well," Bruce started with a smirk that I knew well. It was the only that he only used when he had won and was either playing Playboy Bruce or when he was comfortable with the people around him. "I have the resources to instantly buy out any branch of Lex's company that comes to Gotham. So, if he does try to come here, I'll just tell him to turn around before I buy his company out from under him."
"Wow. That sounds really interesting." Barbara replied.
Bruce laughed before finishing his glass of "wine." I knew that it was only red cranberry juice but it was part of Bruce's facade and I would never do anything to break that. Suddenly, the clock struck nine and I could see the look in Bruce's eye shift.
"Alfred, would you be so kind as to take Barbara home? Dick, you can go with her or stay here." Bruce said, obviously hinting at the choice I was being forced to make.
"I have some homework that I should finish up that's going to take me awhile." I lied, looking at Babs. "I would love to go with you but I'm supposed to be in bed by 11:30 and I haven't done that biology homework yet."
"Dick, you know that bio homework will only take you twenty minutes. Come with us." she replied, using that smile that drove me wild.
"I can't." I lied again, cursing my alter ego. "I'm really sorry but I've just been having a lot of problems with the stuff we've been learning in there. I'll walk you out to the car though."
The smile on her face said that she was disappointed, but that she understood.
"You could have gone with her, you know." I said as Dick descended the stairs to the cave roughly twenty minutes later.
"Sure, Bruce. When have you ever let me get out of patrols?" he replied, obviously not believing me.
"When have you ever gotten accepted into college." I shot back.
"True. But we need to check-in with Gordon at Arkham tonight and I wouldn't want you to have to go out there on your own."
"Thanks." I replied sarcastically. For whatever reason, Dick jumped at the chance to go out to Arkham. I had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with a particular parent killing clown that was out there but I knew that he would never tell me that he went out there to make sure that the Joker hadn't escaped. For all the times that someone had gotten out, the only scare we had ever gotten with the Joker was a brief spell when he killed a nurse and escaped the main holding cells. Thankfully, he was captured outside the building, nowhere near the docks.
"Not a problem, Bats." he said as he exited the uniform bay with everything but his mask on. I was still amazed with how quickly Dick had grown over the last few years. It seemed that every few months, I had to refit him for a new suit. The skinny gymnast that I remember when I first brought him home had grown into an incredible athlete. While he didn't quite have my bulk or power, he made up for it by being much quicker and flexible. Also, his parkour had improved dramatically over the last couple months alone. While originally he had trouble keeping up with me on patrols, it seemed like he was racing me everywhere and nearly winning. It was only through my immense knowledge of the Gotham skyline that I was able to beat him.
He made his way over to me by the computers and took the seat next to me. I used this to take my chance to get up and get changed for the evening as well.
"So, we'll wait about an hour and then I'll call Gordon. Hopefully, he'll still be at Arkham. Otherwise, we'll have him meet us there to go over the new security."
"Great." Dick yelled from the computers. "Do you know who he plans to put over there?"
"Reading through some of the reports that I was able to copy from Gordon's files, it looks like Bullock and Montoya will both be over there."
"Really? Montoya? He's practically brand new!" Dick said in shock.
"I know but Gordon hired him personally out of Coast City so he must trust him. We have to have confidence that Gordon will put the right people on the job." I replied.
A couple minutes later, I had finished suiting up and was ready to go.
"Ready?" I growling, finally entering my alter ego's persona.
"Born."
10:33 PM
"How's the transfer going?" I asked Gordon as I suddenly appeared behind him at the docks of Arkham Island.
Maybe it was me, maybe it was the island, either way Jim jumped half a mile up in the air before he turned around to answer me.
"It's going fine." he replied shortly before loosening his tie and continuing. "Bullock and Montoya have taken care of getting all of the former armed personnel of the island. Now, all the doctors will go through the most thorough background check we can use. Only the ones that get a perfect score will get to come back to the island. Visitors are going to have to set an appointment at least a month ahead of time. They'll be stripped down and they'll only be allowed to wear scrubs."
"Not that many inmates here get visitors."
Gordon chuckled before he replied.
"Well in the intensive ward, yeah. However, according to the old Warden, a lot of the low security inmates get visitors just like anyone else at a crazy house would get."
"What are you doing with them?" I asked him.
"The low security inmates? They're being sent to Metropolis until I can find a better place to hold them."
"Wonderful." I growled.
Twenty minutes after we had ditched Gordon at Arkham Island, I was in the car, calling a friend.
"Clark?" I said into the phone.
"Bruce? What's the matter?" Clark Kent replied over the phone.
"Gordon is moving some of the lower risk patients from Arkham to an unknown location in Metropolis. Among them is Edward Nygma. Make sure to keep an eye on him. I wouldn't want him to get out and ruin your city too."
"Sounds good, Bruce. Oh, by the way, did Diana ever get ahold of you about Hal?" Clark said, changing the subject.
"No." I said, reverting back to my regular voice to indulge the Blue Boy Scout. "What's the matter?"
"Well," Clark huffed into the phone. "Apparently, he was on his trip back to Oa to recharge his ring. He hasn't returned. That was four months ago. I've been trying to cover Coast City and Oliver has started covering it on the weekends. But, we can't expect the both of us to be able to cover both locations for very long."
Oliver Queen AKA The Green Arrow. Within the last two years, he had come onto the scene as a masked vigilante in Star City. I knew him as the cocky CEO of Queen Industries, one of Wayne Enterprises' main competitors. However arrogant he was, I had to admit that he was the most accurate marksmen I had ever met. We had invited him into our small unnamed cabal just six months ago.
"What about John?"
John's real name was J'onn J'onnz and as ridiculous as it still sounded to Bruce, he was the last of the of an ancient race of aliens that lived on Mars. While he was there, he was the equivalent of a Martian Police Officer. He stood well over six feet tall and had bright green skin. As Martians are apparently shapeshifters and telepaths, he never spoke in his true Martian form, instead opting to speak telepathically. Traditionally, he transformed into a human whenever he went out into the public so that he didn't incite a panic. He joined our group roughly a year ago.
"He's going to check in but he doesn't like to be tied down to one location." Clark replied shortly. "Oh, there's something else."
"What?" I asked, reverting back to my Batgrowl, obviously indicating that I wanted to be done with this conversation.
"I've been talking to the President as Superman and he seems to think that we should get a base of operations. He's even talking about utilizing some government funding to provide us a facility in DC."
"Absolutely not. I'm not against a base of operations. But, if we accept government money, then we become government contractors. That means that the government controls who we fight and when."
"Why are you also so pessimistic, Bruce? They're offering us their blessing." Clark replied sharply.
"Because I know how horrible the world is, Clark. If we want a base, I'll pay for it." I replied in anger before I hung up the phone.
Robin and I sat in silence as we continued our trip back to the Manor. Suddenly, Robin spoke up.
"So when do I get to join the League?" he asked softly.
"Excuse me?" I replied, shocked out of using my traditional growl.
"Your team. When do I get to join? I turn 18 next year and I've worked with you for three years now." he asked, even quieter than before.
"You have. But, you aren't ready for it yet. Plus, I don't want to start introducing minors into our "League" or whatever you called it." I replied using the softest tone I could.
"Alright. I was just curious." Dick said, regaining some of his confidence. I almost spoke again when the radio cried out.
"JOKER HAS ESCAPED! Calling all units, the man known as the Joker has escaped from the Asylum. He was last seen on 45th Avenue! Three nurses killed and two officers, including Dectective Montoya!"