He was worried, more than he had been since that time he thought Bruce would return them to Juvenile Center. Alfred picked it up from the front of the school at the same time as usual, as if it were a timed clock, but for once Dick did not take the luxurious car with joy. He felt his suitcase weigh more than he should, and he walked as slow as if he could avoid reaching the mansion.

Dick was an exemplary student, top of the class when you consider his remarkable grades. Not precisely because the extensive education of the circus was good, no. The young man studied as long as he could while he balanced it with his nightly routine, he thought that all his sacrifice of him was rewarded by flying through the air and fighting for justice.

That day, however, he saw his efforts reduced to nothing and everything because he had not been able to sleep well after the patrol. He faced a complicated decisive exam in English, but in his exhaustion of him his mind of him could only come up with sentences in Romany. It was hard to think in another language when he was still thinking in his mother tongue. He was a bit surprised to recognize the big red F that cut through the entire sheet.

And that's why he was worried, because it was the first time he had missed an exam in his entire student career. His fear of him was not the same as when he was 9 years old, now he was afraid that Robin's mantle would be taken from him just because he could not win an exam. Neither he nor Alfred initiated a conversation, the old man because he did not just speak first and the young man because he was too engrossed in his anxiety.

Upon reaching the mansion, he got out of the car as fast as he could and took refuge in his room from him. Bruce used to arrive at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, an hour after he arrived at the mansion, Dick wanted to take all the time he had to think about the problem. The first thing he refused was to hide the problem, Bruce could be oblivious, but Batman would realize it instantly. He could not delay it, he was sure that it could aggravate the problem (although it was already serious).

The only option was to say it, but how to tell him? What should I do? He took out his notebooks, one by one, to search for that exam. He stared at him and a part of him wanted to cry. His parents of him in the circus were never very strict in education or in life, they could not be if they lived constantly traveling and living with around a hundred other people. But Bruce was different, a mistake on the pitch could be deadly, it was mandatory to perfect every move in his routine for him, a mistake in front of the press could destroy his life. He didn't know how he could react to it.

Time passed faster than usual or Bruce was early, but Dick didn't care. He was scared of the possible consequences, he did not tremble because being an artist took away that ability, instead he sweated so coldly that his hands seemed icy. A part of him said that he was exaggerating, that it was ridiculous so much fear of whoever took him in, but he couldn't help it.

His thoughts of him were interrupted when he felt a knock on his door of him, Dick got up from the desk chair that walked as if it were a funeral march to the door. He opened it and quickly lowered her face to not face him. Bruce greeted him and walked past him into the room.

"Hi Bruce" his voice of him involuntarily cracked at the end of the sentence.

"What's up, chum?" Bruce spoke in the calm voice of the billionaire philanthropist, it was a pleasant tone.

"You see, I ... uhm" Dick stuttered, so far removed from his firm and bright personality.

"Don't stutter, did something happen at school? Did they do something to you?"

"No! I just ... have something to tell you"

"It's something bad?" Bruce slipped the friendly tone out of him, and he started sounding like the real Bruce, a man caught between Batman and the corporate character Wayne.

"Yes, but promise not to get mad" The boy touched his arm of him, almost in terror.

"It depends on" Bruce narrowed his eyes when he said it.

"Well, but you have to know that he is not even that good a teacher and I suspect that he has something against me, with the entire course and also not ..."

"Richard, get to the point." The man interrupted the boy's rambling with a firm but not threatening tone.

The young man sighed even more nervous than before, but instead of answering he returned to his desk taking the exam in his hands, stopped again in front of his mentor and cleared his throat to avoid his voice trembling again. In a fit of bravery, he looked him square in the eye and spoke.

"I missed the English test, look" he held up the test to show the big F on the paper. He looked away again not wanting to see the disappointment in those eyes.

"Is that why you are so worried?" The boy didn't reply, he just nodded.

The silence was only interrupted by a soft chuckle, one that was far from being a laugh, but it wasn't that polite snort that was given at those charity parties. It was a genuine laugh that he hadn't heard since he arrived at the mansion.

Dick lifted his face in dismay, confused at what was happening.

"To be honest, that relaxes me a bit." Bruce spoke in a good mood.

"What are you talking about?"

"This was destined to happen, I didn't think you were going to last that long. Leading a double life is a great wear and tear, it was natural that at some point you couldn't keep it up."

"So you're not angry?" Dick was still confused, not knowing how to react correctly.

"No, we are human, it is normal not to always have the best grades, it is normal to be wrong. I was worried that you would continue to demand so much of yourself, because you could be wrong at the worst moment. This is only an exam of one subject, not the newspaper or the league "

"I do not understand"

"You do not have to do it now, you will discover with time the errors generally have a solution"

"But you always talk, you say mistakes are deadly ..."

"In battle, chum. Only there"

Dick crossed his hands on his chest in reflection, then raised his excited face.

"So I'm not punished?" The boy had lifted a great weight from him, now he was only hopeful.

"You are" Bruce smiled. Dick's smile from him fell quickly.

"Huh? Why?"

"Well, mistakes have solutions, but also consequences. Think a little what you could do to prevent it from happening again."

Dick was disappointed, but calm. Next time it wouldn't be the same. Bruce offered a small smile and went to sleep, at ten he started the patrol, and he would not be accompanied, but he thought it was worth it.