PROLOGUE

Coming home from school on Fridays was perhaps Dick Grayson's favourite time of the week. Because Friday meant that he had two nights of patrolling as Robin in front of him.

The adrenalin rush of flying over rooftops. The warm feeling when they succeeded in helping people. And, last but not least, working together with Bruce.

Some kids looked forward to going to a baseball game, the movies, or the amusement park with their parents. And it wasn't as if Dick didn't enjoy doing things like that with his foster father, the few times it happened, but there was nothing quite like going out as Batman and Robin.

Quite often, Bruce himself would pick him up after school on Fridays. But when Dick heard the heavy oak doors close behind him as he walked down the steps from the school building, there were no sign of any of the cars that Bruce would habitually drive. Neither of Alfred and the limousine.

Dick's brow furrowed for a moment – that was unusual. When he reached the pavement, he took up his phone to check for missed messages but found none. He shrugged and looked around for a place to wait, out of the way from where his fellow students were picked up, but just then the black limousine turned into sight.

Moments later, the car came to a stop, and Dick hurried to open the back door and jump in. He was still training Alfred not to step out and hold the door open for him as if he were some kind of dumb celebrity who needed props to make a noticeable entrance or exit.

"Hi Alfred".

"Young sir".

Dick frowned again – Alfred didn't sound quite himself. Too subdued.

The boy leaned forward, hanging his arms over the front seat, and asked, "Anything the matter?"

"Of course not."

"All right – if you say so," Dick said, sitting back again. "I can hardly believe it's finally Friday. My favourite day! And I know we've got a case going."

"Indeed, sir."

"I've got a feeling this is going to be the best night I've had for ages!"

And if Alfred didn't respond to that – well, it was only to be expected that the correct butler wouldn't. The older man didn't seem eager to chat this day, and Dick was content to look out through the windows and daydream about the weekend until they arrived at the Manor.

Alfred cleared his throat when he stopped the car and looked at Dick in the rear mirror.

"I believe Master Bruce wants to speak with you, Master Richard. He wanted you to go straight up to his study. He will be expecting you."

Dick sat up a bit straighter for a moment before he flashed his driver a smile and opened the door.

"Thanks for the ride, Alfred! I'll run straight up and see what the boss-man wants."

And if Alfred looked after his young charge with a sad look in his eyes, well, Dick was too busy to run up the stairs to the Manor to notice.

NOTES

There is this Golden age Batman and Robin story which is kind of cute, but at the same time utterly absurd and Bruce makes one more exasperated than usual. (A polite way to say he's more of an asshole than usual, at least for Golden age Bruce. He still can't hold a candle to modern-day Bruce, though.)

I decided to try to transform that into a more modern setting – as in, Alfred and Wayne Manor exists – and make it a tad more realistic – as in, at least Bruce will not give his young foster child a wad of money and tell him to take care of himself.

In case any of you have read and can identify the original story, please don't spoil the ending for the rest of the audience. It would take all the fun out of the story if everyone knew how it is going to end, wouldn't it? ;-)

It will be short-ish. Nothing like Careful what you wish for, I promise!

And if I have a picture in my head of what a modern take on a Golden age Batman and Robin story should look like… I have a soft spot for Cliff Chiang's Black and White story Clay. A very soft spot. Have a sneak peek at my Tumblr. tumblr com / blog / northoftheroad

Golden and Silver age Dick went to and from school on his own, and during the Bronze age, he was at college. I think it was Robin Year One that introduced the idea that Alfred, or Bruce, took him by car. Fond as I am of the older comics, in the modern world and with Bruce having enriched himself enough to be one of the richest men in the country (world?), I guess it makes sense that he should be taken to and from school. So that he won't be kidnapped. Which never happened to Dick Grayson in the comics, by the way. See one of my earlier post on Tumblr.