A/N: I finally got a beta, so once more I strongly advise to read the first chapter again in case you didn't understand something. Thanks a lot to Kari for all her hard work.

Second chapter: Runaway

Batman stayed working in the Watchtower. It was around six in the afternoon when he decided it was time to get back home at last. As he was walking toward the transporter, the machine hummed to life and Oliver walked through it. His expression hard, Oliver got near the man he had considered a friend not so long ago. Bristling with anger, Oliver threw a hard punch, making Batman stumble a few steps back. Batman hadn't really been expecting that, but he wasn't exactly surprised, either.

He raised his hand to touch his now wounded face. The spot felt sore and he could tell some bruise was starting to form.

"I get your kid told you everything."

"Yeah, my kid told me everything. Bruce, what the hell?!" Oliver snapped, getting only more agitated. Bruce being so open about this wasn't helping him to calm down.

Superman was walking through the halls of the Watchtower when he heard the tumult going on. He went directly to where the noise was coming from. When he got there, he saw a very angry Oliver Queen and Batman getting his cowl off. He caught sight of Bruce's bruised face and he had no doubts that Oliver was responsible for that. Superman was shocked to see his friends fighting. He knew that Oliver often didn't get along with Bruce, but he believed the days of those two fighting were over. What got Superman suspicious though was the fact that Bruce didn't seem very angry, he actually looked… sad?

"What's going on?" Superman asked as he approached his friends.

"Yeah, why don't you tell him?" Oliver yelled sarcastically. He was glad that Superman was there. Bruce wasn't defending himself, but he could use some backup. The ride to the clinic and back hadn't helped to calm him down; instead just the opposite had happened. And Oliver had forgotten all the promises he had made to his son to manage the situation much better.

"This is a private conversation, nothing that concerns you, Superman," Bruce answered, irritation building up in him.

"You are afraid to tell him, aren't you? Too afraid to face the music? So you can be big bad bat all in front of kids but not with us? Afraid we might not just let you beat us?"

"What are you talking about?" Superman called out, alarmed. He didn't understand what Oliver was referring to, and he didn't like where this conversation was heading.

Bruce crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't afraid of Oliver, or Superman for that matter, but he was thinking of Dick. He was concerned about how it would affect the boy if he found out that Oliver knew what had happened that day. If he told Superman as well, he was sure the boy would want to die from embarrassment.

"Oliver is worried over Dick; it seems he thinks that I'm some kind of danger to the boy, which I'm not." Bruce said the last word looking carefully over to Oliver. He intended those words to sink in. Maybe Oliver would believe him and give him a bit of credit. Or at least remember that there were other people involved in this, and they could end up being hurt.

"What? Why?" All this was getting a very confused Clark Kent and he could feel himself growing anxious. Dick was important to him, they were like family, he was just such a good kid. He couldn't help but look at him like a nephew. But he knew his friend, right? Bruce wasn't an easy person. He could in fact be very difficult to deal with, but Bruce loved that boy like he was his own son, he would never… Oliver had to be mistaken, hadn't he?

"You tell him why, you heard me, you better tell him or I'm calling fucking child services on you!" Oliver threatened. He hadn't given much thought to that so far, but he was starting to think that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.

Bruce didn't like being threatened. He didn't have anything to hide, but still he knew that even if spanking was legal in Gotham, he would have a hard time explaining to child services why he spanked a teenager, and maybe they would still consider it abuse and take Dick away from him. He knew that Clark wasn't going to like what he was going to say, but he was thinking that maybe he should tell Clark before he assumed the worst.

"Spanking is legal in Gotham." Bruce answered him. He kept holding Oliver's gaze, he didn't have to defend himself for anything.

"I don't care if it is legal in whole damn America; sixteen is way too old to spank anybody. I'm sure they wouldn't be very happy to hear that even if it is legal!" Oliver yelled back.

"Spanking?" Clark echoed. He was positively aghast. That boy could not have done anything wrong in his eyes, but even if he did, he didn't deserve that. And he was in agreement with Oliver: Teenagers were too old for that. He didn't think that little kids deserved that, but the age factor was only making it worse.

"He even uses his belt." Oliver greatly enjoyed letting that fact out, maybe a little bit too much. He was out for revenge.

Clark tried to tell himself he hadn't just heard that, he couldn't… He felt his own anger rising up. Before he was actually aware of what he was doing, he planted a punch on Bruce's nose. He could see his friend was bleeding, but he wasn't exactly sorry because of that now.

That blow just hurt a little more than Oliver's, and Bruce was getting tired of being socked and not defending himself.

"I guess that it doesn't help very much that I only gave him a few licks with that thing."

"No, it doesn't, how are we supposed to know that is true? You could just be lying to save your sorry ass."

Bruce held his tongue. He thought about telling them that he had been honest to them, they had no real reason to mistrust him.

"And even if that was true, I have known that kid since he was nine years old, how you dare to ever lay a hand on him? It's beyond me how you could hurt him! I don't care what he did, I can't believe you!" Superman bawled.

Bruce glared at Clark. A part of him was happy to learn that Superman deeply cared about his kid, enough that he would do anything to protect him even from a well deserved punishment, but he didn't like that they were questioning his parenting or his methods to correct the boy. This was a private matter; they didn't have any say in it. And he cursed himself realizing that it was purely his own fault that it was no longer private, but how could he have known that Roy was there? He should have known, he chastised himself; he should have made sure that no one was around. He disciplined Dick in private, especially if the punishment was like this. He was just all the sudden furious with himself for punishing Dick when he had been too upset to deal with him.

"You both can be as mad at me as you want to, but neither of you have any say in how I deal with his misbehavior, you have no right to butt in on my parenting." Bruce said the last part looking directly to Clark, like he was challenging him.

"Like hell we don't, you might have been responsible for that kid until today, but I'm not letting you anywhere near that kid alone anymore, you should consider yourself lucky if you ever see him again after today," Oliver countered. He wanted to hurt Bruce, and he wanted to hurt him where he was sure it would do a lot of damage.

"What are you implying?"

But Clark answered before he did.

"I think Dick should stay with me, at least until we have cleared all this." He crossed his arms and he was hoping that Bruce would agree with him. It wouldn't make much difference, but a part of him didn't want to fight with Bruce over this.

Like hell you will! They weren't taking his boy away from him, this was too much. He didn't care if he had to fight the entire Justice League, yet he was making an effort not to show how riled or nervous he actually was.

"You're not taking my boy away from me, Clark; you're not taking him away from his home."

"I don't think you have you much of a say in that. Maybe we should talk this over with Dick, I'm sure he doesn't enjoy being abused by you," Oliver retorted.

"I'm going to grab a bag and change back into me civvies. I suggest you do the same, Bruce," Clark added more firmly.

"I doubt Dick wants to go anywhere with you, I don't abuse him."

Oliver snorted to that comment.

"I don´t," Bruce insisted adamantly, looking to Clark. Bruce was kind of desperate to believe him. He could see they were still mostly upset with him, and they weren't really listening to him. Clark left. Bruce stayed reflecting on the recent events for a few seconds. He knew he could fight the Justice League if he wanted it, but he also knew they weren't going to let him have a minute's rest ever again if he did that. They wouldn't just let this go. He sighed to himself. Maybe after they talked with Dick, they would see reason. So he went to change his clothes. They switched the destination of the transporter to Batman's cave.

Dick was walking down the stairs of the Batcave; he had decided to go down to do some training, when he heard the sound of the transporter. That had to be Bruce; he had been waiting for him the whole day so he was happy that Batman was back, they could finally go on patrol.

"You're back, Bruce!" Dick exclaimed cheerfully before looking up, but when he did, he could see his mentor wasn't alone. At first, he saw Clark, and that was a pleasant surprise, but as he saw Oliver, he was bewildered. What really took him aback were their grim looks and the bruising on Bruce's face.

Clark halted the boy from walking any step near them with his hand. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy and he hated himself for that.

"Dick, Oliver and I need to speak with you."

"What's wrong? Is Roy okay?" Dick wondered, worrying over his friend.

"Roy is okay, but I really think we should have this conversation in private," Oliver replied, throwing an angry glare at Bruce.

Dick caught that look; he could see that the three adults were disturbed. A strange, tense feeling hung in the air. He couldn't help but be more and more afraid. They wanted to speak with him in private and he couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad was about to come.

"Anything you might want to talk about with me, you can just say in front of Bruce. What's all this about?" Dick asked. He didn't understand what was going on, but he was sure that he didn't like it. He wasn't in any kind of trouble, was he?

Clark threw him a bag, which Dick easily caught.

"Put some clothes in, and anything you might want to bring, Dick. I think that maybe you're going to want to live with me for a while."

That felt like slap to his face. What the hell was Clark talking about? He suddenly felt cold; he didn't like what the man he considered to be his uncle was saying. He scowled at him.

"'Put some clothes'… Clark, what the hell are you talking about?!" he snapped.

"Dick, they know and they're worried," Bruce was quick to say. He knew that they weren't handling the situation very well. He glared at Clark for throwing that bag to Dick without an explanation. He could see Dick was battling emotions, and he would probably end up hating Clark for this.

"What the fuck do they know?!" Dick demanded, a surprised look on his face. He directed his glare at Bruce now. Bruce's comment wasn't really much help, and he was surprised Bruce would expect him to guess what was going on only because of that. What this some kind of twisted joke?

"And care to tell me why the fuck your face is all battered?" Dick barked, a bit concerned even if he tried not to show it. He knew it was wrong to swear, but he didn't care much at that moment.

Bruce bit down a remark on Dick's language. He wasn't used to hearing him being so disrespectful especially when he was around. But he was going to let the kid be this time; he knew Dick wouldn't behave like that if this wasn't such an unusual situation.

"They are concerned about you, they think that maybe living with me is not in your best interest." Bruce could see that this was only confusing Dick even more. Oliver and Clark turned to glare at him, but Bruce glared back at them. At least he was trying to explain, did they just expect Dick to happily go with them? No questions asked? "They know that in rare occasions, I spank you, and they're worried that I might abuse you."

Oliver and Clark didn't stop glaring at him, but Bruce didn't care. He was sick of trying to beat around the bush, he was more a man of straight forward conversation.

Dick flushed deeply to that new piece of information. His gaze fell quickly to the floor. He took a few steps back to the stairs again.

"Did you…?" Dick whispered, finally daring to look up to his mentor again. He was deeply hurt and he didn't want to believe that Bruce would do something like that to him.

"No, I didn't. Roy told."

Oliver's glare at Bruce was even more intense than it appeared possible. He wasn't happy that Bruce just calmly threw his kid under the bus.

"No, no, no, Roy is my friend, he would never…." Dick was shaking his head in denial and started to pace around the room.

"He is your friend, and that's exactly why he told me everything. He's just deeply worried about you. 'Sides Bruce is letting out the piece of information that Roy only told me. Bruce told Clark and Roy, my kid didn't know everything and Bruce could've just lied to him if he had wanted to."

"Are you for real?" Bruce smacked his face with his palm. "You practically forced me to tell Clark, you even threatened to call frickin' child services if I didn't. And regarding Roy, you're right, I could've lied to him, but he wouldn't stop pestering me and I thought that maybe it would be for the best."

"If you don't have anything to hide, you shouldn't care who I call."

"If Roy is worried about me, he should've kept his damn trap shut and mind his own fucking business," Dick burst out angrily.

"Dick, please." Oliver could understand that the boy was angry and deeply ashamed over what was happening, but he was begging him to forgive his son.

Dick threw the bag to the floor. He walked a few more steps away from the adults.

"Bruce doesn't fucking abuse me, now I'd really appreciate if you and Clark leave."

"We can't just go, please, we need to talk more about this in private," Oliver pleaded.

"What the fuck is there to still talk about? Do you wish to humiliate me even more by asking for details? Are you really that cruel? I can't believe that of you, Clark, I thought we were friends." Dick threw his hand to the pockets of his tracksuit top and locked his gaze on Clark for a moment.

Clark didn't know what to answer; he could see now in the young man's eyes how much hurt he had caused. That had never been his intention. He was regretting his decisions on how to address this and he wished he knew how he could make this right again.

"We aren't trying to be cruel, kid, but we do have to ask a few more questions and you can't stay living here anymore. I know change is hard…" Oliver answered calmly.

"I told you he doesn't fucking abuse me! Spankings are legal in Gotham, and he has rarely ever done that to me. I just got my butt busted a few times; I deserved it. Who the fuck cares? Why can't you two just leave me alone?!" Dick cried. He couldn't believe he was defending Bruce – they were forcing him to defend Bruce's actions! They were literally forcing him to come to Bruce's defense for inflicting pain on him! Dick didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Dick, we know he uses his belt and…."

"It was only a few licks with that damn thing, and they didn't even hurt!"

Bruce raised an eyebrow to that remark. He wasn't exactly expecting the kid was willing to continue lying for him and he was sure from the strength he had used and Dick's yelps that day they had hurt.

"And he doesn't use it regularly, that was a one time thing, I really deserved it…." Dick suddenly fell silent and bit his lip. For a few seconds, he merely stood there, taking deep, shuddering breaths. "I'm sorry for the things I said, but as you can clearly see, he doesn't abuse me. I'm fine. These concerns have no foundation, so if you and Mr. Kent could please leave?" Dick didn't regret anything that he had said, but he hoped that if he could convince them that he was alright, they would finally leave him. Now if he hadn't been obviously that shaken up, they just might have bought it. Sadly, it turned out the opposite for Dick and they were even more worried now.

"Dick, those were just a can of lies. I really believe we should talk about this in private. You don't have to be afraid…"

"Are you saying I'm being dishonest? My word doesn't have credit anymore?" Dick questioned. He was starting to scare. They were trying pulling him away from his home and he was going to fight them if he had to. He shoved his hands farther into his pockets. But the comment that made Dick's world spin came from Bruce.

"I really think you should go with them, chum." Bruce sighed, he could clearly see Dick's turmoil and he couldn't help but feel guilty because of that. Besides, Dick obviously needed to calm himself down before he only got more upset and dug himself an even deeper hole. He was only making this situation looking worse than it was.

Dick froze. He... he had to have misheard that, hadn't he? Surely that couldn't be. Surely Bruce wouldn't... He tensed up when he spotted the determination in Bruce's expression. He would. They were going to take him away from his home and Bruce was just going to let them. Something inside Dick broke. Bruce was giving up on him...

Dick drew back, tears pricking at his eyes. Bruce was deserting him. Bruce was just letting him being taken away.

He shook his head, refusing to believe what was happening. Not only had Roy betrayed him, now Bruce let him down, too. He would lose everything... He would lose his home and Clark and Oliver would probably never let him see Bruce or Alfred again. And Bruce didn't make any attempt to stop them. The man he had come to love like his own father simply let them take him...

His gaze flew up, searching for the faces of the people he had thought he could trust. The feeling of betrayal was so sharp that it stung inside his chest. One of his best friends was giving away his secrets, his uncle and friend was tearing him away from his home and his father figure didn't even give a fuck. His stomach twisted into a knot. He made a fist with his hands to grab something that was hidden in his pocket, and Bruce could tell from his body language what the boy was planning. Father and son knew each other; they didn't need words to communicate.

"Richard, don't, I know what you're thinking, but don't you dare…" Bruce bellowed as Clark and Oliver only exchanged blank glances. Before Bruce could say anything else, Dick grabbed two anesthetic gas grenades that he had hidden in his pocket and threw them. Bruce knew that Dick sometimes had his utility belt or some of Bat's artifacts in case an emergency arose. He cursed himself for no preventing this turn of events, but it was too late now. Helplessly, along with Oliver he sank to the floor, unconscious. Clark sucked the gas-filled air into his lungs to protect Bruce and Oliver from inhaling it, but he reacted too late and the gas had already taken its effect. Dick had put on a small gas mask, and before Clark got near enough him, he grabbed a miniature box that was above the Bat computer and opened it. Inside, there was kryptonite.

A/N: please review.