Legends of the Wayne Family
Chapter Fourteen – Visit to Central City P1 & Duke
In late September, with the chill from autumn air and Gotham's natural ability to be colder than possible even in good weather, Dick was more than happy to have an excuse to get out of Gotham. As such, it was a long-awaited promise that was finally coming through.
'Let's go to Central City, I've got a quick meeting with Barry about the Justice League no matter, and while we're visiting, we can stop by and see how Duke's going.' Bruce had announced at breakfast that morning. Bruce, Jason and he were leaving tomorrow, on Saturday for a three-day visit and stop-over at Central City.
Jason and Dick had spent the drive to school that morning convincing Tim not to come with them, bringing up everything from Stephanie to an assignment he had due in two weeks. Jason had even dropped the title of a book that was coming out that weekend that Tim had been waiting for.
'I can purchase it at any other book store- they'll no doubt still sell it in Central City.' Tim had claimed, grabbing his bag as they arrived at school.
'But will you be in your natural habitat to read it, no you won't. You'll have Dick and I running back and forth between the hotel rooms and raising hell- and we'll include you.' Jason threatened, Dick climbed out of the car, thanking Alfred while Jason and Tim followed. Tim hesitated for a solid minute, Alfred leaving while they stood at the front of Gotham Academy.
'…Fine, I won't go. Happy?' Tim exclaimed, finally, releasing the tension that had been in his shoulders and turning to walk into school. 'But you better tell Duke I said hi.' Dick agreed, Jason smirked instead of responding.
'One down, two to go.' Jason stated, crossing off Tim's name where it was written under his uniform sleeve and on his arm. There Dick also noticed Terry and Damian's names as well, Jason may as well have a hit-list heading above the names of their brothers.
Jason wished Dick a good day before disappearing into the Academy without another word.
14
Jason hadn't even needed to try and convince Damian not to come, the older already attesting that he didn't plan to come and visit Duke or the speedster- ever.
And while Jason and Dick didn't have any issues with Terry coming, especially if it meant they could go in his car instead of with Bruce and his horrible music. However, having already travelled with their brother's before, Jason and Dick had agreed to get rid of as many as they could.
'Terry please.' Dick whined, collapsing on Terry's bed in the oldest bedroom at the manor. Jason meanwhile stood against the doorframe watching Dick at work. The easiest way to break down Bruce, Terry and Damian, was to use Dick, secret weapon and little brother, same thing in Jason's mind.
'Dickie, little D, come on- I promise I'll get Bruce to let you and Jason ride with me.' Terry negotiated, sitting at his desk but facing Dick as the nine-year-old started to activate his puppy-dog eyes.
'Please Terry, Jason and I wanna go alone.' Ignoring the fact that Bruce would be with them, however, Jason had supposed that since Bruce had a meet about JL stuff with the Flash, that it was more than likely that Bruce would be working for most of the three-day trip. Which left the fifteen-year-old and nine-year-old to their own devices.
'Di~ck.' It took a lot and over five minutes of the puppy-dog eyes till Terry surrendered, agreeing with Jason and Dick that he'd stay back in Bludhaven instead of going on the trip to Central City. Though it came with a deal, Terry would face-time them once a day to check on them, see what they were up to and say hi to Duke.
Dick and Jason settled for the agreement. Now they only had to make it through an 8hour and 25minute drive with Bruce and his bad-taste in music.
14
Dick and Jason had packed an in-the-car bag and an in-the-boot bag. One had their clothes and toiletries, while the other held their noise-cancelling headphones, fully-charge phones, a portable game console, and a number of other activities for the nearly 9hour drive.
Bruce had been surprised to hear that along with Damian, Terry and Tim had declined not to come. Tim claiming, he was staying for a date with Stephanie and Terry saying he was increasing his patrols around Bludhaven. Even Damian had claimed to have plans with Jon- along with a comment about never stepping foot in Central City unless both Duke and the Flash were long gone.
Nonetheless, Bruce, Tim and Dick were in the undercrowded car and nearly an hour into the drive before Jason had pulled out his headphones and proceeded to ignore Bruce. Dick had survived the next twenty-minutes before asking Bruce if he could listen to his own music- with his headphones.
Slightly disappointed but not surprised, Bruce spent the next two hours of the drive, driving while answering a spare few calls about and from Wayne Enterprises, one call from Alfred who was checking on their progress, and three calls from Barry Allen, saying something about a nephew currently staying with him and that he hoped Bruce wouldn't mind the eleven-year-old being around. He'd just agreed, the speedster was already difficult to talk to in person, let alone over the phone (on Bluetooth)- while he was driving.
Dick had fallen asleep by the time Jason told Bruce to stop for food. They had pulled into a drive-thru, placing Dick's serving in the front seat till he woke up. Half an hour later Dick awoke, however, Jason had fallen asleep in his younger brothers' stead.
'Here you go sport, eat what you can.' He knew Dick didn't get car sick, luckily neither did Jason, he still wasn't going to push his luck though. Dick had eaten while telling Bruce about his schoolwork, most of which he'd already told Bruce about- though Bruce still listened intently and commented on occasion.
'Do you think the Flash will like me?' Bruce had picked up a few times on Dick insecurities, one such was the kid's self-esteem and need for people's approval. Bruce checked the rear-vision mirror, catching Dick's eyes and spotting how his boy was twisting his fingers between themselves.
'I don't see how he couldn't Dick, you're an amazing young boy and you love everyone and everything around you. Barry's very similar, in fact, I'm only worried that he'll like you so~ much he'll try to keep you.' Bruce played, instantly making Dick forget about his concerns in favour for such a strange situation.
'No, Barry can't have me!' Dick cried out, even Jason started to wake and was quickly catching onto what Bruce had said, Jason began to play along.
'You're joking right Dick, Barry's gonna keep you forever!' Bruce smiled as Jason kept up the play-scenario, ever gladder that Jason had finally found someone to really connect to in the family.
14
They arrived in Central City around 4PM, having left Gotham around 7AM. Bruce had checked them into their four-star hotel, one that Jason had insisted they stayed at for some reason he hadn't explained other than saying that he just liked the hotel.
Their suite contained three rooms and two bathrooms. One main room that was the lounge and entertainment area, then branching off that room was one master bedroom (Bruce's apparently), and another room that held two double kind beds. Each bedroom had a connected bathroom, and as Bruce was organising himself and putting Jason and Dick's bags in their room, his sons started exploring the room.
'Dick! Over here, there's another bible here.' Jason cried, Bruce saw Dick run out of the master bedroom and back into the shared bedroom.
'There were two in Bruce's room, one in each bedside table.' The two continued the take tally of all the things in the rooms, everything from the power points to the shampoo and conditioner was counted. Finally, twenty minutes later they collapsed atop Bruce's bed while Bruce was setting up his laptop and a few things he may need if he got any more calls from Wayne Enterprises.
'What now?' Dick asked, pointing out to Jason the tiny chocolates that were on Bruce's pillows- they disappeared quickly.
'How about we meet Duke for dinner, and then have an early night so, tomorrow the two of you can meet the Flash without falling asleep.' Since both boys had slept for at least an hour in the car on the drive, Bruce was expecting them to sleep with a little more difficulty. Then there was the fact that they were staying in a hotel and not at home, Bruce hoped Dick and Jason didn't get nightmares tonight.
Duke had suggested a small diner near his university, saying it was "family friendly" and had a hip-vibe. Bruce nearly groaned, hoping it wasn't a hipster establishment, who knows what Jason and Dick would do to a place like that.
It turned out to be a rather nice diner, a good selection of quality food without the extreme prices (as Duke thanked), and best yet, the tables had a paper like covering that was purposely there- along with coloured pencils for kids to draw on. Dick had instantly started drawing, Jason even started a game of Tic-tac-toe with Dick, then Duke and then Bruce.
'How're your classes going?' Bruce and Duke started, after having ordered food and while Dick and Jason entertained each other. Duke sucked in a breath before answering.
'It's uni- not as bad or stressful as people said it would be, but not a walk in the park. I've got two projects due next week and a quiz to complete in a few days.' Duke had always been unsure about what he wanted to do after high school, confiding in Bruce many times about whether or not to try out university or just go straight into the workplace.
'That's not so bad, what about your courses- you were doing courses from Communication Arts and Humanities right?' Duke nodded, explaining how his course had been going, describing a few of his lecturers and tutors for tutorials. Even mentioning a club he'd joined and a collection of friends he had made.
'I'm glad you're enjoying it Duke.' Bruce thanked, grateful that Duke may have finally found what he wanted to do. Duke had simply nodded before starting a game of Tic-tac-toe with Dick.
They ate and before long Bruce was buying his three kids ice cream a block away from Duke's university campus and where he was sharing an apartment with his apparent girlfriend, Isabella Ortiz [1]. Bruce had controlled his surprised, he hadn't known the two were dating, but Bruce had met her and as much as he feared for his kids, Bruce knew Isabella was a rather good match for Duke.
'Duke can we see your campus?' Asked Dick, skipping along the sidewalk as they walked towards Duke's university. Duke hesitantly agreed, insisting it would be kinda boring, however Jason and Dick had promised their twenty-year-old brother he was wrong.
Together, Bruce, Duke, Jason and Dick had wondered the Central City University campus at 8PM, with nearly nobody around for twenty minutes before Jason's phone had started ringing loudly. Jason and Dick jumped and quickly answered a face-time with who Bruce quickly noted was Terry.
'So, you made it all safely, thanks for not telling me.' Terry started; however, Jason and Dick had apologised before turning the phone to show Duke who awkwardly waved before starting to say hi to his older brother. The face-time went for the next eight minutes before they'd said goodbye to Terry and they goodbye to Duke.
'Now, to bed please boys.' After arriving back at the hotel Bruce had managed to get Dick and a reluctant Jason to brush their teeth, change into pyjamas and nearly into bed before Jason had claimed he needed to go to the bathroom. Then Dick wanted water if he got thirsty at night, Jason had returned and also wanted water.
Following that Dick had also wanted to call the manor to say goodnight to Alfred, Damian and Tim. Bruce had convince the nine-year-old that he didn't need to do that. However, by now it nearing 9:30PM and Jason now wanted to stay up till 10 when a show he wanted to watch would come on.
Finally, the fifteen and nine-year-old fell asleep when Bruce faked a phone call from work, keeping the boys in their beds while he 'answered' and evitability boring the boys to sleep.
With Dick and Jason asleep, Bruce had closed their bedroom door and made a call to Alfred.
'Hello master Bruce, something the matter?' Alfred answered, Bruce could just barely hear the Bat computer working in the background when the older spoke.
'No Alfred, only just got Dick and Jason to bed. How are Damian and Tim?' Bruce asked as he returned to the master bedroom, having checked all the windows and doors around the suite were locked.
'Both left half an hour ago to start patrol, Agent will be returning at midnight while Redbird is planning to stay out till 4AM. Red Bat is also planning to drop through Gotham after 2AM to check on Redbird.' Alfred answered, knowing the line between the Wayne Manor and Bruce's private phone were always secure.
'That's good, you'll make sure Damian doesn't do anything too dangerous?' Bruce knew Alfred would even without him asking, however, couldn't help himself and spoke anyway.
'You send your children out in masks and costumes each night master Bruce, of course I'll watch out for them, even with you not here to do it yourself.' Alfred informed him; Bruce stood with a breath of relief as Alfred reassured him.
'Thank you, Alfred, we'll be back in two days.' With that Alfred wished him a good night and hung up, Bruce turned to his laptop and had it on in seconds. If he wasn't patrolling tonight, he could at least check what was happening in his city.
[1] Isabella Ortiz is from the comics and apparently Duke's girlfriend, but honestly won't be showing up other than for mentions.
I'm honestly not that interested in romances in this story, so a lot of the dating pairs probably aren't going to get covered a lot in that aspect- as in I'm not going to write a lot of romance stuff unless it's a part of a plotline.
Also, long time no update- surprising or not, I probably won't be consistently updating, sorry- but I'm not abandoning this story so no fear.
++ Has anyone read Batman: Wayne Family Adventures (on WebToon), because that's something new and batfam friendly DC content that's come out and boi- it's everything batfam fans have been asking for!