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Dick is still bitter, but Bruce never asks for help directly. He came and asked in person. Dick is a little too curious to pass the opportunity up.
Dick knew when he was being followed. It was hard to hide from him.
Something that aggravated him was the fact that it was Bruce who was following him.
Did he not think that Dick wouldn't know? How could he not, he'd trained Dick for god sake. If Dick didn't know that would be more telling of Bruce's teaching.
He hadn't seen Bruce in a while, not since he left. Everything was too fresh and raw. Dick just wanted to get settled in this new start. Wanted to fully get a handle on being on his own, truly, for the first time in his life.
It was liberating to not have to ask permission or be aware of where his former partner was at any given moment.
Dick made his way to a quieter part of the city. There was a reason Bruce was here and Dick knew it wasn't to check on him. Given what Dick had heard he didn't think Bruce had the time to follow Dick around like that.
He stopped on the edge of a cathedral.
Sometimes he'd start his route here so he could listen to the choir before he left. One of the better choirs he'd heard. There weren't many churches and it was nice to find them occasionally so he had a semi safe place to direct people too if needed.
Bruce landed on the other end of the rooftop, covered by the shadows like he always does.
Dick felt the muscles in his back grow tense. He needed to avoid a fight and be the bigger person. He could do that.
"What do you want?" Dick asked, turning to face him fully.
"I am going off-world for a while." Bruce answers curtly.
Dick furrows his eyebrows. "What? The kid can't handle Gotham for a few days? Don't trust him?" Dick can't help but jab slightly even if he knows he shouldn't. "Or you care more so you won't throw him to the wolves like you would me."
He hears Bruce suck in a breath. The most emotion he's ever seen displayed in public from Batman. "Dick-"
"Oh, save it." Dick snaps. He turns away again.
"I would greatly appreciate it if you could hold down the fort while I'm gone." His voice is tight with the same emotions Dick felt, which only grates on Dick's nerves more. Did he think Dick was just going to forgive and forget?
He bit back the retort on his tongue.
Was he asking for help? Bruce never, ever, asks for help. Too proud or whatever.
He was here asking for Dick's help.
He will admit to being a little too shocked to have something smart to say.
Instead Dick stares at him. He can't quite believe what he's hearing. It's so… so not Batman.
"I leave on Wednesday." Bruce finishes before disappearing fully into the shadows like the drama queen he's always been.
Dick would replay the conversation over and over and over in his head for days afterwards.
Bruce had asked for his help. Had come all this way to ask Dick to take care of something for him, to watch over his most prized possession. To protect his most prized possession. He wanted Dick to handle Gotham while he was gone. It wasn't something Dick hadn't done before but the circumstances were very different now.
Dick, for argument's sake, was essentially an outsider. He didn't live and/or operate out of Gotham regularly anymore. He'd left being associated with the Bat. He was independent. Everything Bruce avoided when it came to dealing with Gotham. Everything had to be done in house.
But, he still came. He still asked. He still, on some level, trusted Dick
He didn't know how to feel about that.
Dick was still angry and hurt. Those feelings weren't just gone.
But Bruce came and asked Dick himself. He didn't call, he didn't send an email or text, didn't make Alfred call, and he didn't send a letter. He came and asked. Face to face.
Dick could, at the very least, honor the effort by accepting the request.
He stood outside the main gates for twenty minutes.
Maybe this was a bad idea. Surely the kid Bruce replaced him with can more than handle himself. Based on the reading he'd done recently the kid had potential.
It wasn't going to do anyone any good for him to stand here contemplating if he'd made the right decision. It had been made. He was here, and there was work to be done.
Dick decided that he'd slip in through a side door instead of the main one. Bruce should be gone but Dick refused to take any chances. The one conversation they'd had recently had more than proved they were ready to talk to each other yet.
He listened for anyone in the house. For movement in the halls. For Alfred anywhere. Nothing. Just silence. Judging by the time Alfred would likely be back soon. Probably dropping Jason off at school or running errands in the morning like he preferred.
He stood outside the closed study for thirty seconds just to make sure before unlocking the old grandfather clock like he'd done so many times prior and slipping down in the familiar depths of the Batcave.
The smell was oddly comforting. Like going back to your school. He could hear the bats high in the cave moving about. Nothing had changed. Not that he'd expected anything to change. Bruce didn't like change. That'd been part of the problem.
Meaning the passwords would be the same too. Bruce may be suspicious of everyone around him but, for whatever reason, passwords on the Batcomputer were rarely changed. Maybe that would be revised at some point but for now Dick would take advantage.
If he was watching Gotham for the next week or so he'd need to know what activity to look out for. Being gone for several months had forced him out of the loop with Gotham's underworld. Not ideal.
He went back a few months looking for anyone notable. Anyone familiar. It was a lot of nothing. Relatively quiet. Which was weird. It usually meant someone was planning something and they were waiting for their moment.
Now would be a good time with Batman gone. This is probably why Bruce wanted Dick here. In case someone did try something stupid.
He'd gotten into a recent mob case they'd been dealing with for the past week or so when Dick heard the grandfather clock open again.
He glanced at the time. It was barely noon. There was no way the kid was back.
Alfred stopped in his usual place behind the chair and cleared his throat to announce his presence. "Master Bruce wasn't sure that you would come."
Dick didn't turn to look at him, instead staring at the keyboard. "Well, here I am."
"It is good to see you, my boy."
Dick smiled lightly standing so he could face Alfred fully. "I'm sorry for how I left. That wasn't fair to you."
He saw Alfred's smile falter as he looked back on the memory. "Many things were said that night that were not meant."
"You don't need to apologize for him Alfred. He's an adult. He can do it himself."
"Yes." Alfred very clearly didn't want to discuss that night, and Dick couldn't agree more. "When did you get in?"
"About two three hours ago. Thought I'd get a jump on things."
"Right, I'll set up a room. Let me know if you need something."
"Thanks Alf. I will."
Dick watched him go back upstairs.
He felt bad for how he had just left in the middle of the night. No goodbyes and well wishes, just him filled with emotion and everything he could stuff into a bag. It hadn't been fair to Alfred or Barbara. He'd already apologized to her for everything but Alfred had presented more of a challenge.
Dick went back to pouring himself over all of the recent cases active, solved, or otherwise. Bruce was nothing if not through and Dick couldn't afford to miss any detail. Anything could lead to solving the case.
Old mugshots from ten years ago, former addresses, former employers, friends, family, partial license plates, school ids, library card, and even a pen pal in Sweden (Dick read through the letters, he's pretty sure the recipient is getting scammed).
Dick worked on memorizing the mugshots of the potential suspects for lieutenants in the nameless mob that Batman and Robin had been following recently. Ugly guys honestly, between the numerous bar fights and the unhealthy lifestyle that came with drugs and sex, these guys didn't stand a chance. The problem was it helped them blend in with everyone else in this line of work.
He began setting up facial recognition. The computer may be better at spotting these guys than him. The computer did have more eyes after all.
The grandfather clock opened again. This time it was the kid. The footsteps were fast, excited, and not quite.
He shot past Dick to a workbench a few feet away depositing a backpack before freezing in his tracks. He wasn't used to visitors in the cave. Dick felt he should cut the kid a little slack. He was new at this after all.
It was silent for another moment before Jason finally confronted him. "Hey! Step away from the computer."
Dick bit back the amused smile at his tone. Jason wasn't really a threat to him, but Dick would humor him. It was the least he could do. Dick did technically break in. He turned the chair to face Jason while remaining seated.
There were a lot of emotions that flew across Jason's face when he got a good look. It was at least clear he did not know Dick would be here and he was more than disappointed.
Jason had a Batarang in hand, he'd been ready to get into it with Dick before realizing it was completely unnecessary and standing up straighter. "What are you doing here?" His tone was skeptical.
Dick gave him a once over before answering. "What do you mean what am I doing here? He didn't tell you?"
Jason didn't answer.
"He asked me to fill in while he was gone."
Jason blinked. "He asked you to what?"
"To fill in. Based on his notes here, I think there should be focus with that mob case you guys wrapped up recently. It looks like it might be bigger than originally thought." Dick gestured back at the screen.
Jason took a moment to judge the scene in front of him. Whatever he'd thought was going to happen while Bruce was gone, Dick being here had obviously not been it.
He jutted his chin out slightly. "Well thanks for coming all this way, and for the heads up about the mob, but I can take it from here and you can go back to wherever you've been this whole time."
"No, I think I'll stay here. Alfred would be upset if I didn't at least spend the night." Dick counters easily leaning back in the chair
"Okay, that's up to you. But I don't need your help with patrol tonight, I can handle it."
His eyebrows shoot up.
This made a lot more sense. Bruce hadn't given Jason a heads up that Dick would be here meaning Jason thought he was going to be on his own for the first time ever.
Dick had an idea forming. A bad one, but he was willing to let it play out. It might even do the kid good to extend the leash while the bat isn't there to hover over anyone's shoulder. Jason may even appreciate it.
"Oh really?" Dick asks him.
"Yeah, really." Jason agrees, feigning confidence.
"He's gonna be gone for a while. You think you can handle Gotham all by yourself for that long?"
"I've lived in Gotham my whole life, I grew up in Crime Alley. Yeah, I'll be fine. But if it makes you feel better you can run comms or something."
Dick doesn't respond immediately. He lets Jason squirm for a moment. Pretending to consider. If Jason really has lived in Crime Alley his whole life he'd know the ropes.
"Alright." Dick finally tells him.
Jason deflates slightly. "Alright?"
"Yeah, why not. You grew up on these streets. You can handle yourself. I'll stay put and catch up on my reading and be back up if you need it."
"I won't." Jason tells him instantly.
"Of course not."
Dick leaves about ten minutes after Jason, leaving comms and the plan to Alfred while also promising to stay close. Which Dick did. He remained out of sight the best he could. Jason seemed to already know where to go.
He had taken what Dick had told him earlier seriously. He'd gone back to an old bust they'd made four days prior.
From where Dick stood he could see a speakeasy entrance with four clearly armed guards and three kids. He was pretty sure they were teenagers. There was an obvious exchange between them. Dick knew a drug deal when he saw it. From what had been documented these guys were gun runners. Just selling weapons to the highest bidder.
But Dick knew better. No one with skin in the game only dealt in one thing. Everyone knew that. Sometimes if one portion got better, more effort was focused. Their drug trade wasn't well known so there was more focus on the weapons. Even gangs operate like businesses. You push the most profitable aspect of whatever you're selling.
Dick was curious how Jason would respond. He didn't know the kids history, where he'd come from or what he'd been up to before Bruce intervened. Dick could easily see Jason stepping in and he could also just as easily see Jason staying out of it because, as sad as it was, this was something kids just did. Jason may have sympathy for the kids who were doing things like this.
He didn't have to wait long.
Jason wasn't quiet. His entrance was enough to scare the kids off.
He pushed off the fire escape he'd been watching from, using his momentum to kick one guy in the head and then knock another guy into the metal door with a loud bang. Jason didn't waste any time working on taking out the other two.
Dick watched as he used his grapple around one guy's ankle and attached it to the remaining goons wrist before firing upward to leave them dangling about six feet in the air. Not bad, but incredibly sloppy.
The metal door opened.
There was a meeting tonight. You didn't put four goons outside to block a door for no reason. And Jason had alerted them all to his presence.
Dick counted ten guys forcing Jason back towards a corner of the alley. Jason very clearly was a fighter but he was severely outnumbered.
Dick hesitated jumping down to help.
Jason had wanted to prove he could handle himself. If Jason was smart he'd retreat and work out a new plan. He needed to think on his feet. This situation would be very telling to how Jason handled changes in the plan.
Only Jason didn't retreat and regroup. Clearly this kid enjoyed a challenge. Between the wide variety of different weapons these guys were armed with and the dimensions of the alley Jason's window of escape closed fast.
He turned scrappy, lots of elbows and fists. It was obvious he didn't know what to do and was being driven on instinct alone.
Dick could tell Jason wasn't getting out of this without help.
He dove down with a grace he'd perfected over his many years landing silently on the other side of the large mob of angry men.
Dick lightly tapped one on the shoulder.
Confused he turned to see Dick sock him in the face before working on taking out another three.
As Dick made his way over to help pull Jason out and retreat it turned ugly. He watched helplessly as Jason made a move to block a baton from striking his face with his arm.
Dick watched the baton land and all of the color immediately drain out of Jason's face. His arm bent unnaturally under the force of the blow.
Jason hit the deck.
Dick knew he needed to end this quickly. There wasn't any more time for fancy moves.
He needed to be fast and brutal. He needed to get to Jason.
As he secured Jason to himself some of the goons he hadn't knocked out made moves to get back up and keep fighting but Dick was gone before they could make another move.
Jason whimpered at each jostle. He didn't seem aware of his surroundings. Dick stopped on a rooftop a block away to quickly assess Jason for other injuries.
He was bleeding from a swelling cut on his temple, there was a cut lip, his other cheek swelled where someone had obviously hit him in the face, and of course there was the broken arm.
With the way Jason was behaving at the moment Dick wouldn't be shocked that he didn't have a broken rib or at least some serious bruising on his torso.
"Nightwing to the cave." Dick calls out.
"Nightwing?" Alfred answers
"Just a heads up, we're coming back. Robin's hurt pretty bad."
"Understood."
Dick shut off his comm before heading back for his bike mentally kicking himself for not bringing the car. It wasn't like Bruce was here to tell him no.
He left Jason with Alfred before heading back to the speakeasy. There was still time to make this night successful so that way they both could avoid the inevitable lecture from Bruce.
Dick scouted around the building before finding a less obvious entrance to get in.
Inside they were scrambling. Yelling at each other and trying to cover their tracks as quickly as possible.
"Are you kidding me?" One of the guys yelled out to his associates. "That was Robin who showed up. Now I don't know who the other guy is but where there's Robin there's Batman. And ain't no way am I getting caught by him."
Dick stepped into view knocking the other guy out. "Now I know I'm not Batman. But I think it may be a little too late for that."
It didn't take him long to clean the place out. There were twelve mugshots to memorize for the twelve lieutenants that worked for this organizations and he found all twelve still stupidly in this speakeasy after Robin had blown their cover.
This would be easy to spin. Bruce didn't need to know about the beginning stuff. Clearly Jason went with feelings instead of his head. That needed to be worked on but, Dick appreciated the obvious reasoning for the response.
Robin was trying to help protect those kids from predators. It's what Robin did.
Dick didn't mind spinning this story ever so slightly to make Jason out as a little less stupid. Jason probably would've been fine if there had been ten other guys that went out to help beat him up in a claustrophobic alley.
If anything Dick admired the conviction.
Dick knows he can be a hot head and get a head of himself. Jason is obviously no exception. The rest of this week may be more fun than he originally thought. And he couldn't wait to see it play out.
