A Different Game 3b:

Four days passed slowly as the jury was picked, but the family sat supportively behind the boys. Barbara sat beside the first row in the aisle nearest the wall. Her father sat on the end of the row, her hand in his most of the time. Alfred sat immediately behind Dick, Leslie comfortingly at his side. Clark's strong presence buffered Dick's family from Dana and Jack Drake who took up the remainder of the front row. The family had learned in these four days to eagerly await the recesses in the proceedings. With the exception of the lunch recess, the boys could stay in the courtroom and they could talk with them and they could touch them. Barbara relished those opportunities -- holding Dick's hand, hugging him, sneaking him a kiss when she could.

But they were not the only support Dick and Tim had. Stephanie and Cassandra leant Tim some well deserved friendship. Someone his own age that he could count on to be there for him. Dinah religiously sat behind Jim Gordon so she was close to Barbara. Beside her, sat the Titans contingent. Early in the proceeding Wally had commented that he didn't think Roy could sit still so long. Roy had just glared at Wally in response as Donna, stuck sitting between them, rolled her eyes. Dinah, sitting on the opposite side of Roy at the end of the row, patted his knee like he was a child.

Tim and Dick had been instructed by their attorneys to look interested, to look like they were participating in the jury selection process. In reality, they were completely lost. And they hated the feeling. That was the worst part of the situation -- the lack of control they had. On Thursday afternoon, they watched as the attorneys gave their opening statements. They had to sit, emotionless, listening as Reynolds painted them cold-blooded killers.

Today, the state started presenting their case. Evidence Peter Reynolds was confident would convict them. Reynolds stood facing Judge Maria Vargas and announced, "The state calls Lucius Fox as its first witness."

Dick turned toward the courtroom door as Lucius Fox walked in. He went past the bar and headed toward the witness stand. As he walked past Dick's table, he never once turned to look at him. Placing his hand on the Bible and taking the oath, Lucius sat down. Only then did his eyes connect with Dick's. Lucius glared at Dick. In that look, Dick saw that Lucius thought he was guilty. How could he think that? Lucius knew him. Had known him since he first came to live with Bruce. Why? He thought about the many times he had been around Lucius while he was growing up, at the Manor, at Bruce's office. Dick's thoughts captivated his mind as Reynolds went through the introductory questions. Hearing Reynolds use his name brought Dick out of his memories.

"Did you have an opportunity to observe Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson's relationship?"

"Yes, on many occasions."

"Can you tell the court about that relationship?"

"Certainly," Lucius responded. "When Dick first came to live with Bruce, they were very close. Bruce was so proud of that boy. Dick was always hanging around the office. He loved spending time with Bruce."

"Did that ever change?"

"Yes. Right after Dick graduated from high school, he and Bruce started growing apart. They argued a lot. Bruce was upset about it. He wouldn't talk about it much, but I could tell. I'd find him sitting in his office just looking at photos of the two of them."

Dick looked down and sighed. He never knew about that. Bruce had never said -- well Bruce never would.

"Then Dick moved out." Lucius continued, "At first, he went to college, but Dick dropped out after the first semester and moved to New York. Dick went over a year without speaking to Bruce."

"Mr. Fox, what if anything did Mr. Wayne do during that time period?"

"He was lonely. Then, that was the time he adopted Jason. I think that Bruce was trying to replace Dick, at least at first. He grew to love Jason as a son though. But he found he couldn't replace the boy he saw as his eldest son. "

"During this time period, was there any contact from Mr. Grayson?" Reynolds asked.

"Other than Dick's bills being sent to Wayne Enterprises, no. I oversaw the payments."

"What about the adoption of Jason Todd, how did Dick Grayson react to that?"

Dick looked up as Peter Reynolds asked this question. The mention of Jason was a painful subject. It had always been for both Bruce and Dick. Jason's death had left a void in both of their lives.

"Dick was jealous of Jason. Bruce told me how Dick had questioned him why he adopted Jason and not him." Lucius said as Dick rubbed his temple. He remembered that conversation. It had happened at Donna's wedding. It wasn't a bad conversation; it had been one of their better conversations -- one of the healing conversations that had tentatively started mending their relationship. Not that everything was magically better after that. Things managed to get a lot worse before they got better, but that had helped. It had been a start.

"Objection! Hearsay." Jon Walters exclaimed as he stood up.

"Sustained," Judge Vargas ruled.

Peter Reynolds smiled and continued his questioning, unfazed, "What else happened in the relationship?"

"Then Jason died in that accident. Dick didn't even come to the funeral. It was months later before he showed up. He and Bruce argued. I knew that. Bruce told me he had taken Dick's key away from him. Bruce was very upset, but he wouldn't open up. It was then that Dick seemed to really go wild in New York. I saw newspaper and magazine stories about him with all these different girls. Then, there was the model he moved in with," Lucius said shaking his head.

"You paid Dick Grayson's bills while he was in New York. How much of Bruce Wayne's money did he spend?"

"Dick lived in New York for three years. During that time, even after he and Bruce started back speaking to each other, they had very little contact. But Dick had no problems spending Bruce's money. He managed to spend over thirty million dollars in those three years. And on what I have no idea. He had nothing to show for it. What does a boy between the ages of nineteen and twenty-one do with thirty million dollars?"

Roy turned toward Wally and Donna. They knew what the money had been spent on. It was Dick's contribution to the Titans. But there was no way to explain that. It made Dick look so bad.

"What else happened in their relationship, Mr. Fox?"

"Bruce was seriously injured in a accident. He was confined to a wheelchair. But Dick never came to visit him. His father was in a wheelchair for a year and he never visited him. He was even going to marry that model he was living with and I don't think he even invited Bruce."

Dick looked up and whispered to Jon Walters, who nodded as he kept writing, "That's not true, I did invite Bruce. He didn't come," .

Peter Reynolds walked over near the defense table, so that Lucius Fox was looking at the defendants. "Mr. Fox, do you know Tim Drake?"

"Yes I do. Bruce was very fond of him. He was like another son to Bruce."

"What do you know of his relationship with Dick Grayson?"

"They're very close. Recently, they had been coming to Bruce's office together. They were almost always together when I saw them. Bruce and the boys were growing very close. At least, that's what I thought. Bruce finally formally adopted Dick in March. I thought that the bumps in their relationship where over. I would have never thought Dick capable of murdering Bruce, until I saw it with my own eyes."

Walters had jumped from his chair objecting as Dick was turning from his attorney to Tim and back again.

"What!" Dick exclaimed as he turned back to Tim who was looking at him with a confused look. "What is he talking about? He couldn't see us do anything because ..."

"Shh," Wilson Avery said firmly. "Be quiet now."

Dick forcefully sat back in his chair shaking his head. His emotions were churning raw inside him.

"Mr. Fox," Judge Vargas questioned, "are you saying that you saw the Defendants kill Mr. Wayne?"

"No your Honor. I saw the videota -- "

Maria Vargas held up her hand, "That's enough Mr. Fox, we'll talk about that in a while. Objection sustained Mr. Walters. The jury will disregard Mr. Fox's last statement."

Dick leaned over to Tim and whispered, "How do they forget what they've heard?"

Tim turned to Dick and sighed, "I don't know."

"Now, Mr. Fox, I'm going to draw your attention to the evening of July 27, 2001. Did anything happen on that night?"

"Yes," Lucius said with emotion in his voice, "that's when Bruce...died." Lucius removed his handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped his tears. "I ... I found his body in Wayne Manor. I had gone there with some papers Bruce had forgotten to sign. Bruce was always forgetting to sign important papers. When I arrived, I rang the bell, but there was no answer. Bruce gave me a key many, many years ago, so I let myself in. That's when I proceeded to go the study. There was a smell. It was horrendous. I had smelt it before unfortunately. When I was in the war. Burning flesh. It's a smell you never forget.

"I...I saw the open doors leading to the veranda, and I followed. That's when I saw ... it. The body. It was ... it was burning," Lucius said as emotion filled his voice and stopped him from talking.

Peter Reynolds poured a glass of water at the prosecution table and carried it to Lucius, sitting it in front of him. "Mr. Fox, I know this is terribly hard on you, and I'm sorry. But can you tell us what you did next?"

"I ran back into the study and called 911."

"And after the police came, did you assist them in their investigation?"

"Well, I don't know how much I assisted. I ... I answered their questions and told them about the security cameras."

"Did you watch the security tapes with the police officers?"

"Yes, with Detective Jacobs."

"And could you describe what you saw on the tape?"

"The security tapes only show the entrances to the Manor. Bruce wouldn't have the cameras inside the house, even though I recommended it to him on more than one occasion. He felt it would violate his privacy," Lucius said shaking his head at the thought before he continued, "When I saw the tape, I couldn't believe what I saw. Didn't want to believe what I saw."

"Which was?" Reynolds asked.

"The tapes showed Dick and Tim leaving the Manor by the garage exit. I ... I identified the boys for Detective Jacobs. They...they were -- laughing and talking about what they were going to do over the weekend." Lucius said, a look of disbelief on his face.

"And why did that disturb you?"

"Because there was blood on their clothes. Bruce's blood."

"Objection! Speculation."

"Sustained."

"One final question Mr. Fox. Based upon the security camera tapes you reviewed, did anyone else enter or leave the Manor after the Defendants?"

"No."

"Thank you Mr. Fox, nothing further."

Tim leaned into Dick and whispered, "He doesn't need anything further."

Dick nodded his head in agreement as he watched the jury and the glares they were giving them. Reynolds had started out strong and Dick had a strong suspicion that Reynolds hadn't fired his big guns yet. And that suspicion caused the knot in his stomach to tighten. He watched Tim rub the back of his neck. Neither of them were used to sitting as still as they had this week. Who knew how tiring just sitting could be?

They watched as Jon Walters questioned Lucius -- bringing out good facts of Bruce and Dick's relationship. How he really didn't know how Bruce had felt, that he had just been speculating. Dick could tell that Lucius was not happy as Walters cut him off and kept him from explaining. He also watched the jury. He wondered how much, if any of the cross-examination was really making a difference. The looks they were giving Tim and he made him uneasy. He could tell Tim felt the same way by the way the younger boy fidgeted in his chair and kept darting his eyes toward the jury. Dick nudged Tim to get his attention and gave the boy a slight smile, which he returned.

Peter Reynolds watched as Lucius left the stand and walked past counsel tables toward the audience section of the courtroom. Reynolds smiled as someone caught his eye and an idea formed quickly in his head. He leaned over to Detective Jacobs and whispered, "I've an idea, watch." Then straightening back up, he said, "Your Honor, the State calls Alfred Pennyworth to the stand."

Dick's head jerked towards Reynolds, "What! He can't do that!" Jon Walters placed a hand on Dick's shoulders in an attempt to calm his client down. Dick jerked away and turned toward Alfred who was sitting behind him. Alfred reached across the bar that separated them and Dick took his hand. Holding tightly, he asked his attorney, "What are they doing?"

Jon Walters didn't answer Dick, he simply stood to face the judge, "Your Honor, Mr. Pennyworth is on the defense's witness list, not the prosecution's."

"But he is on the list, correct Mr. Walters?" Judge Vargas asked.

"Yes, your Honor."

"Then Mr. Reynolds may call him. Mr. Pennyworth, please take the stand."

Alfred, still holding Dick's hand, stood erect. The dignified elderly gentlemen gave Dick's hand a supportive squeeze before releasing it and heading toward the stand.

Dick's eyes trailed Alfred. Dick's breathing was heavier than before, his heart was pounding faster. Tim watched the events around him, looking from Dick to Alfred and back again. He felt as if his life was spiraling faster and faster out of control.

Peter Reynolds walked toward the witness stand, "You are Alfred Pennyworth, correct?"

Sitting perfectly erect, gray eyes boring into Peter Reynolds, Alfred's clipped British accent curtly replied, "I am."

"Now Mr. Pennyworth, you worked for Bruce Wayne, did you not?"

"I have served the Wayne family for many years. However, most recently, I have been acting a personal valet for Master Timothy at Brentwood Academy."

Tim smiled at Alfred at the mention of his name.

"Yes, about that, you weren't employed by Jack Drake in that position were you?"

"No sir."

"Thank you. Going back to Bruce Wayne. Your relationship with him was not simply that of employer and employee, was it?"

"No sir, it was not."

"You raised Bruce Wayne after his parents murder."

"Along with Dr. Leslie Thompkins. We were his legal guardians. I had been in his family's employ since before Master Bruce's birth. His parents knew that should anything happen to them, I would endeavor to take care of Master Bruce."

"And how old was Bruce Wayne when his parents were murdered?"

"He was six."

"So you raised him from the age of six. Tell the court how you felt about Mr. Wayne?"

"Sir?" Alfred asked as he looked at Reynolds.

"Would it be fair to say that you considered him your son?"

"Yes, sir. That would be fair to say."

"And did you assist Mr. Wayne in raising Richard Grayson after he came to live with Mr. Wayne?"

"Most certainly sir," Alfred said with an air of pride as he looked to Dick who smiled back at him. "Master Richard brought a light into that old house. A light to both Master Bruce and my lives."

"Would it then, Mr. Pennyworth, be fair to say that you considered Richard Grayson as sort of a grandson."

"That would be exactly how I would describe our relationship. Master Bruce was certainly the father figure in that relationship. As such, I was allowed the luxury of not necessarily being the disciplinarian in that relationship, as most grandparents are allowed."

Peter Reynolds smiled at the elderly man as he continued. "Living in Wayne Manor with both Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, you could observe their relationship better than anyone else, wouldn't you agree."

"Most certainly, Mr. Reynolds."

"You heard Mr. Fox's testimony earlier today concerning their relationship."

"Indeed I did. Mr. Fox told you what he observed of their relationship. Unfortunately, he was in error a great deal."

Peter Reynolds nodded his head before continuing, "But Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson did argue, did they not?"

Alfred sighed and responded, "Of course they did Mr. Reynolds. All fathers and sons argue. It is part of the growing up process. That fact alone does not mean that these ridiculous charges against Master Richard and Master Timothy are true. They loved each other very much. Although neither of them were very verbal about their feelings, there was no lack of love between them."

Dick and Tim smiled in pride at Alfred's response. Dick slid his hand across the table and took Tim's in his reassuringly.

"I appreciate your feelings Mr. Pennyworth. I recognize that this situation has to be difficult at best for you. Bruce's death and then Dick's arrest for the murder. Naturally, this is an emotional situation for you. I'm going to try and not keep you on the stand any longer than is absolutely necessary. I know my next few questions are going to be difficult for you, but I have to ask them. Mr. Pennyworth, were these arguments between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson ever physical?"

Alfred's eyes narrowed as he looked at the man questioning him. "Physical, Sir?"

"Did they ever physically fight each other?"

Tim felt Dick's hand go weak on his and he turned to look at his "older brother". Dick's face had grown pale and he stared straight ahead, seemingly deep in thought. It was clear Dick was upset.

Alfred closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Quietly, in no more than a whisper, he replied, "Yes."

"Did you say Yes, Mr. Pennyworth," Reynolds asked raising his voice.

Looking out of eyes, which now seemed old and tired, Alfred replied, "Yes."

Tim's eyes grew wide. "Yes." What did they mean by yes? He'd never seen Dick or Bruce physically fight with each other. Dick had never told him that. It had to be Bat related. Tim knew it was Bat related. But that was something they could never explain.

"Lets be more specific, were punches thrown or are we talking about just slaps?"

Alfred looked down and replied, "Punches sir."

"All fathers and sons don't punch each other, do they?"

"Objection!" Walters yelled.

"Withdrawn. Thank you Mr. Pennyworth, I have nothing further," Reynolds said as he turned and walked back to his table.

Jon Walters stood and announced to the Court, "Your Honor, I believe that Mr. Pennyworth has endured enough today. Since he is on our witness list, we'll reserve our questions until our case in chief."

"Very good Mr. Walters," Maria Vargas replied, "Mr. Pennyworth, you may stand down. Mr. Bailiff, if you would escort the jury to their rooms, we'll recess an hour for lunch."

Alfred walked over to the defense table as people filtered from the room. Once the recess was formal, Dick stood and walked to Alfred who hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry, Young Sir, I'm so sorry."

Dick held to Alfred as if his life depended upon it. "It's not your fault, it's ours," he whispered.

Alfred looked Dick squarely in the eyes. "Who do you mean by 'ours'?"

"Bruce and me," he replied in a low soft voice. "Bruce and me."

Alfred pulled the boy back into a comforting hug.

***********************************************************************

"Lucius," Clark's strong voice called out in the courthouse hallway.

Lucius stopped in his tracks and waited.

"Thank you for stopping. I wanted to talk to you."

"About what Mr. Kent," Lucius replied coldly.

Clark noticed he had called him 'Mr. Kent'. That was something he hadn't done since Bruce had first introduced them. "I wanted to let you know that I understand why you think what you do, but you're wrong. Those boys didn't kill Bruce. They wouldn't hurt him."

"Where you listening in there! Did you hear what I said, what Alfred said."

"It's not what it sounds like Lucius. You know Dick."

"I thought I did. Have you seen that videotape? Have you seen how callous they're acting. They've got his blood on them and they're laughing. You can't explain that to me. You were suppose to be his friend. But you're helping and supporting his killer. Good day Mr. Kent."

"I'm helping and supporting his son," Clark said as Lucius walked away. He shook his head. As he turned to walk away, his cell phone rang. "Kent here."

"How's it going?" Lois's voice sweetly sounded in his ear.

"This morning has not been good. I can't see how it could get worse, but I have a feeling it will."

"I saw some of it on CourtWatch."

"Lois, I feel so helpless."

"Not something you're use to, I know. I'm sorry you and Jim didn't find anything to dispute the state's evidence."

"It doesn't make any sense, Lois. I know those boys are innocent. I know it in my soul. But all the evidence points to them and only them. But you know what's the most frustrating thing. It's this nagging feeling that we're all missing something. Something Bruce would see immediately and give us all that annoying look of his that we were all so stupid." Clark took a deep breath. "And I'd love to see that look right now."

***********************************************************************

Most of the 'family' had chosen to eat in the courthouse cafeteria. The seats were scarce, so they scattered sitting where they could. Roy walked over to Dinah, a tray of food in hand, and sat it down in front of her at the table for two.

"How've you been?"

She looked at him with tired eyes, "Like the rest of us." Then she glanced around the cafeteria and her eyes fell on the table near the opposite wall where Barbara sat with Jim, Alfred and Leslie. "I'm worried about her."

"Yeah." Roy said as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"I'm staying with her right now. I didn't want her staying in the clocktower alone."

"Good."

"You're in a talkative mood. What happened to the famous Harper mouth?" Dinah asked as she saw Donna speaking with Stephanie and Cassandra in the cafeteria line.

"If I talk a lot right now, I'll get myself worked up. If I do that, I'm going to hurt a certain prosecuting attorney. Even I have enough sense to know that's not going to help anything. So I'm NOT saying much."

"I can relate to the feeling," Dinah responded.

"Yeah. That's why we're family," he said as he took another bite of his sandwich.

***********************************************************************

They sat alone in the holding cell. They had left their suit jackets in the courtroom. Tim noticed Dick wasn't eating. Granted the peanut butter sandwich's weren't the best he had ever had -- and he wondered how you could mess up peanut butter -- but it was all they were getting and Dick needed to eat.

"Eat."

Dick looked up at Tim, "What?"

"Eat," Tim repeated as he took his sandwich and showed Dick the activity he wished him to engage in.

"I'm not -- "

"Hey, don't start that. You made me eat breakfast Monday. You were right then, the advice is still right now."

Dick tried to smile, but found his mouth wouldn't really comply. He took the sandwich and started eating.

Tim watched Dick as he ate, then tentatively asked, "What was Alfred talking about?"

Dick looked up at Tim, "The fight?"

"Yeah," Tim said as he looked down running his finger around the rim of his cup.

"Happened after Jason died. We ... we were both hurting, said a lot of things we didn't mean. Things got out of hand." Then he looked at Tim and said, "I'm sorry."

"'Bout what?"

"Everything. What happened in there this morning wasn't good. It looks bad. And your dad was right, you wouldn't even be here if it weren't for me."

"That's not true Dick. I know things look bad right now. But look, this is the first day of testimony. That's all. We haven't even had a chance to present our case yet."

Dick looked into Tim's eyes. He saw the sincerity there, the belief that things would work out in the end, that justice would prevail. Dick was beginning not to believe that anymore. His hope was beginning to waiver. He looked around him -- the gray steel bars that surrounded them, the metal table and benches bolted to the floor, the peeling paint and graffiti on the gray concrete walls. He didn't want to believe that this was his future -- their future -- but each day it seemed more and more a reality.

He was a flyer. They both were. They couldn't be caged. They needed freedom to breathe. Then again, did it matter? If the state and Peter Reynolds had their way, they wouldn't be breathing anyway.



to be continued ...



Author's Note: I have been asked by all of my beta's if the fight between Bruce and Dick was canon as was Bruce's taking Dick's key away from him was

also canon. They both are. Happened in Titans (I don't have the number handy but can find if someone really wants it), as Dick explained a bit above to

Tim -- when Dick came back from Kory's planet where he had been for around 2 months Danny Chase told him about Jason's death. Dick was devastated.

He went to Bruce. Bruce, as we all know, doesn't take pain very well. He was upset Dick hadn't been at the funeral, "People asked about you." The fact

that Dick was off-planet at the time wasn't really getting through to Bruce. They both said a lot of hurtful things to each other and ended up blaming the

other for Jason's death. The fight went from verbal to physical -- Bruce doesn't take pain very well -- When Bruce left, he told Dick to "Leave your key

with Alfred." After Bruce left, Dick sat on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest crying. If you want good angst, this is a good read.