In this story I am going with the Universe in which Dick is 9 years old and speaks Romani and very little English when he first becomes Bruce's ward. He has only recently lost his parents in the terrible trapeze accident and been brought to Wayne Manor.
INTRO
Dick couldn't believe he was standing here. The Batcave. He was in the Batcave. It was huge and everything he thought a cave should be, eerily silent and dark. If not for the bats above flying around and talking and the computer monitors, the place would have been very scary he thought.
He wanted to look around so much. He had seen a giant penny and dinosaur as Bruce had walked him through the Cave and he so wanted to find out what else was down here. But, he reminded himself, there was something more important happening right now. Much more important.
Dick was trying not to fidget but the wait was killing him! He had to know Bruce's answer.
What if he says no? Dick suddenly thought.
His eyes hardened. Then I'll just find him myself, Dick's conviction in that thought was absolute. If Batman refused to help him capture/kill Zucco then Dick would do it himself. That night suddenly consumed his senses; the music, the lights, the cheering, the screaming all filled his mind. The sudden snapping of ropes, his mother's widening eyes as she began to fall, the wet thump and crack as they hit the ground below. The blood. The warm blood on his hands as he knelt beside their mangled corpses; cooling in the chaos of the panicking crowd. So still. Forever still.
No. He would not let that man get away.
Dick caught movement on the other side of the room and focused back on the present, and the man who was to decide his fate, with a calming breath.
It was time.
"Before we begin there is something very important I need you to understand Robin," Bruce said, walking over to his new protégé. The two were standing across from each other in a smaller chamber within the Cave. It had been repurposed just for training Dick now that Bruce had decided to take him on.
Today was their first day of training. Bruce had decided to start with hand-to-hand combat since that would be Dick's main weapon once he was let out in Gotham. Martial Arts took years of dedicated practice and discipline to learn and master and Dick likely didn't have that kind of time. Therefore, Bruce had decided it was imperative they start that training as quickly as possible and then work in the rest as they went.
Truly it had turned out to be a blessing in disguise that Dick had not known English very well. It had given Bruce a legitimate reason to not enroll the boy in school immediately after adopting him on the premise he was receiving private tutoring to learn the language of his new home first. Which, Bruce thought whirly, was true.
Both were dressed in t-shirts and sweat pants. The boy looked so small and young standing before him on the practice mat in his baggy clothes. Why had he ever agreed to this?
One look in his new wards young, determined eyes gave him the answer. The boy had made it perfectly clear that with or without Bruce's help, he was going to get justice/vengeance for his family's murder. The boy had already proven himself to be a bright and resourceful kid, having only needed little over a month to find the Batcave. Bruce was also hoping the boy's natural agility and talents would help him pick up the more physical aspects of his trainings faster than usual.
The young boy watched as Bruce approached paying rapt attention to his every move. The boy was very tense though Bruce knew it was probably from nerves rather than fear of him. That was good, but the problem was Bruce was going to hurt him and he needed the boy to understand why.
Kneeling down to Dick's level Bruce made sure to establish eye contact with him before he spoke. "Dick I know you want this but I need you to be aware of just what you're getting yourself into," Bruce said and the boy nodded. "This is not going to be easy. It is going to be hard and painful. Very rarely will it ever be fun and you must always take it seriously. This training is to help keep you alive and protected from people like and worse than Tony Zucco." At the mention of the man's name Bruce could see a sliver of cold rage enter the blue eyes before him. "I will push you and hurt you and demand that you give me more then you have. You will see many horrors, some far worse than even your family's death. You will forever have to hide your identity and who you truly are. Your body will be broken, sliced, stabbed, bruised and scarred." Bruce continued, hating the honest words he was saying but he could tell that some of what he was trying to convey was finally starting to sink in. Fear, a very small amount, had shadowed those brilliant blue eyes.
Bruce placed his hand on the boy's slim shoulder, never losing that eye contact with his new partner. "It will be scary but what I need you to remember Dick, is that I will always be there for you. I will always help you and anything I do to you in this training is just to help you survive and grow stronger. To be prepared for the things out there," Bruce said squeezing the boy's shoulder slightly. "I will never maliciously hurt you, but I will cause you pain. Do you understand?"
Yes, he understood perfectly. He understood now, from those words, that Bruce was finally taking this just as seriously as he was. That made him glad, but it also scared him. Bruce agreeing meant that this was actually going to happen now. He was going to avenge his family. He was going to fight the criminals of Gotham with Batman. Psychos like Joker and Scarecrow and Bane. The thought was enough to almost make Dick second guess himself.
But he had also heard the unsaid words in Bruce's speech. Bruce was promising not only to train and help him but to let him be his partner. To fight with and alongside him to try and rid this city of filth like Zucco. To protect the innocent and save the city. To be the hero that had not been there for him and his family. It was an honor that Dick vowed in that moment to live up to. Robin would be someone Batman could count and rely on, Dick would make sure of it.
Dick stared at Bruce. The man had no idea what thoughts were going through the child's mind but after a few moments the fear left his eyes again and he grinned at his mentor.
"When do we start?"
AN: not 100% happy with this but I was tired of messing with it and I promise the chaps get better! This story is going to be a series of one shots about Dick's training as Robin. The chapters are not necessarily related to each other but since this is a collection of his experiences they may at times reference each other.
Please let me know your thoughts on this chap as I'm not really confident in how it came out and let me know if you want me to continue. I already have a few other chaps lined up so just say the word