Notes: I will be going away over the weekend (Saturday - Monday) and so will be uncontactable due to no internet where I'm staying (with my nonni - grandparents). There will also be no updates to any of my stories over that period of time. I quickly churned out this chapter in order to inform you guys (so mistakes will stay unfixed until I get back too).

Bruce and Dick

Persistence (yangires)

Definition: the continued or prolonged existence of something

This was the talk Dick had not been looking forward to. Downright dreading. According to Jason, Tim had his in the office and the family had been witnesses to Jason's.

Dick's was in the privacy of Bruce's study, without even Alfred's presence looming over them to remind them to be civil.

"It seems things ran smoother than I thought while I was away," Bruce started out by saying. "You've done a good job."

"Why does this feel like a 'thank you, now be on your way'?" Dick asked. He hated those. He could still remember that attitude back when he was a police officer. Interviewing victims in Bludhaven had the same feeling, especially since they had thought no one cared and the cops were just going through the motions.

'Yes, I guess I should thank you for taking my statement even though the criminals are long gone and you've wasted my morning. Now be gone.'

Dick still blushed as he recalled Amy explaining that to him. He hadn't understood the tone at first and it burned to learn that they just wanted him gone.

He hated feeling like a nuisance and he hated feeling left out.

"If I said it was?" Bruce said, watching carefully for his reaction.

Dick just managed to hold back on hitting him again. Bruce's bruise from the last time he punched him had just faded. Or Alfred was covering it up with make-up, Dick wasn't sure which.

"I'd say I don't agree."

Bruce raised his eyebrows and yet, his face was still unreadable.

"Explain."

Dick took a deep breath.

"You can kick me out this manor. You could even take Batman from me, bar my access from everything related to Batman. But! You can't keep me off these streets. Not while the people I care about are out there. Surely you can step aside and let a new Batman step up. Batgirl, Robin, now even Nightwing are Gotham names which have been passed to new people as those before them grew older. Batman's already the same!" Dick paused to breathe and it was Bruce's turn to speak.

"Then tell me why you, the man who a year ago was so against our vigilante way of life, became Batman and is now defending your right to be Batman?"

Dick froze. Tears pricked at his eyes as he recalled one of the few experiences which pre-dated waking up in hospital. Only a few spoken sentences between someone else (Bruce, he knew now) and a young him.

'Never to swerve from the path of righteousness.'

He reminded himself that men didn't cry. That's what the nurses at the hospital had told him towards the end of his stay, when they had gotten over their sadness for mysterious man having no memories but he was still terrified of facing the world without knowing who he was.

"I swore, didn't I?" he said. He cursed as the tears dripped down at Bruce's hard expression. Why did that hurt so much? Those words locked in his heart, what did he care if Bruce recalled them?

"What? Dick?" Bruce questioned, the façade cracking. The older man got up. "You remember?"

Dick had gone to see Martian Manhunter for advice as well as Wally. He couldn't go to Superman, Clark was Bruce's friend first. Martian Manhunter had been there for him during his time as Batman.

He had explained that he had no idea what he wanted now that the original Batman was back.

"Do you want things to change?" Martian Manhunter had asked him.

The answer to that was 'no' however, Dick knew that change was sometimes enviable.

"Then pick a change you can live with. Maybe something small."

Dick knew what he was about to reveal wouldn't be small. It would change things but he figured it was a change he could live with.

It occurred to him that maybe he was testing Bruce and his family. Seeing whether they would stay by his side or turn him out. If they turned him out, then maybe it wouldn't sting as much if he wasn't Batman anymore.

"To fight 'against crime and corruption and never swerve from the path of righteousness'?" Dick quoted as he wiped his eyes. "Why do you think I became a cop? I woke up with those words in my head. Didn't realise where they came from until you died." He looked up at Bruce, who was taller than him while standing. "Until I went to see Martian Manhunter. I asked him to retrieve my lost memories. However, he found they weren't lost. Bruce, they're gone and he doesn't think they'll ever come back." He radiated an aura of 'hurt me, please, until I don't care about you and yours'. He felt uncertain and unsure. "You and everyone else, you think with enough time I'll remember everything. I'm telling you that's not going to happen." He finished there and waited, eyes on Bruce's expressions. He waited for the moment Bruce would order him out of the house and out of his life.

Bruce stepped forward. Dick held his breath and waited.

"You remember your oath?" Bruce questioned his face and voice full of awe.

Dick breathed a sharp breath in. That's what Bruce choose to focus on? He nodded, confirming it once again.

Bruce stared at him in silence.

"Talk to me," Dick said nervously. He wanted this over so his stomach could stop doing flip-flops.

"I'm amazed. And surprised. Of all the things to remember, you remember that. You should know, I don't wish this life on anyone. But it seems not even memory loss can dissuade you for long, Dick."

Dick gave him a confused look, wondering what he was talking about.

"You don't remember but I've tried to make you quit, to hang up your cape so to speak, a few times. Each time, you pushed through. Becoming Robin, Nightwing and now Batman. If I asked you to fight to keep the cowl, you probably would, wouldn't you?"

Dick nodded. If Bruce ordered him away, he would listen but, if there was a chance he could keep being Batman, he would take that.

"I'd like to continue being Batman without a fight," Dick said.

Bruce thought about that for a bit. Then he nodded.

"What?" Dick could hardly believe his luck.

"I still need to get out there-"

"You can have the Justice League!" Dick said quickly. "Or just take over to give me a break sometimes! I don't mind as long as I'm out there most nights."

Bruce smiled.

"In that case, we'll need to keep up with each other's reports. Every Monday morning, maybe right after Sunday patrol, I will quiz you on things in my reports to see if you've been paying attention. We can't let any criminals slip through the cracks because there's two of us on the case. Communication will be key."

"No worries about that, Bruce. I've been a cop, remember? I had to work with a partner during that time too!" Dick was smiling now, excited. The only reminder of the tears he had shed was the slight redness around his eyes.

Bruce found he was still smiling too. Dick made it sound all exciting and he couldn't help but be swept away in his enthusiasm.

He found himself thinking about Dick's training and what he could add to it. Maybe some different fighting styles and throw in some weapons. He could get Jason to show Dick some street fighting so that Dick knew what to expect from people on the street. There were reports they needed to go through and history to catch up on.

Bruce could get used to training the new Batman.

Tradition (Ki-Chan Riker)

Definition: Passed down from generation to generation

Dick swept Bruce's feet out from under him. He flinched back as Bruce flipped, feet heading straight for his face.

"Come on, Dick! Get those feet off the ground!" Bruce ordered. Dick swallowed and launched another kick towards Bruce's side which was easily parried. "If you fought like this as Batman, then how did you survive the year?"

"I thought we were sparring?" Dick questioned in confusion.

"We are. We spar like we fight," Bruce responded and threw a punch which Dick twisted to avoid. "And I want to see how much your body remembers."

Dick had spent months of his new life trying to suppress the leaps and flips as such things weren't recommended for police officers, their image or their fighting style. It wasn't easy to let go of that control, even though he had been able to let go a little in the Bat suit.

"Okay," Dick responded a little hesitantly. Then he leapt over Bruce, hands planted on his shoulder. Instead of going right over, at the peak of his handstand, he moved into a cartwheel. Dick dropped off Bruce's side, while Bruce was twisting and expecting him behind him. He kicked out, aiming towards the back of Bruce's knees and brought him partway down.

"Good job," Bruce said as he straightened up and slipped out of Dick's attempt to slam him to the ground. "That's using what your parents taught you."

Dick smiled and rolled his eyes. It was an odd thing to say to someone with amnesia.

"Think you can keep it up?" Bruce asked.

Dick's smile turned to a smirk as he felt his body loosen up, ready for the familiar moves.

"Of course," he responded confidently.

White (MiriB)

"Oh-"

"My-"

"Goodness gracious!" Jason cried out, earning glares from his brothers. "No one appreciates my theatrics," he lamented. He had done an over-the-top gasp and everything.

"-tt-" Damian responded.

Tim just turned back to the screen. On screen, a man in a white shirt ran across the pavement. He reached a bench and flipped over it. Stairs? He leapt down the railing. A wall? He did a number of bouncing and bounding tricks to get atop it.

"So this is how Dickie-bird spends his Wednesday nights," Jason commented in an impressed tone. They were impressive tricks. Things they did on a nightly basis but Dick somehow made them look good. "Who wants to tell Dad?"

"This explains how Grayson managed to stay in good form," Damian commented, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"He's going to want to pull back on it though, just in case someone recognises him or links him to Batman," Tim said. Jason lightly wacked him over the head.

"Stop being paranoid." He was just glad Dick seemed to have a hobby outside of fighting crime. Free running suited him.