Title: My Richard. Part Seven
Author: Simon
Characters: Dick/OC
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Dick graduates High School.
Warnings: None
Disclaimers: These guys aren't mine, they don't belong to me, worst luck, so don't bother me.
Feedback: Hell, yes.
Thanks again, Jim.
Dick's grandfather makes a very small appearance here. I know, I know. I just like him. Bear with me.
My Richard
Part Seven Seven years agoDick had been getting two or three letters a week from Laura since they started arriving over a year before—and that had been almost a year and a half since the two of them first started seeing each other. One way or another, he'd now been dealing with her for almost three years.
My Richard,
I was so excited this week that I could hardly stay in my skin! I was walking down the hall at school yesterday (yes, I'm back in a regular high school and it's stupid, but I guess they all are) and I saw a guy from the back who had the most incredible shoulders and the straightest black hair and the cutest butt...I thought that you'd come to see me and I ran all the way over to him and kissed him before I even got a good look at him!
Talk about surprised!
It wasn't you, but he looked so much like you I pretended for a minute. You're better looking, of course, and he didn't have your beautiful eyes.
Then I found out that he's a football player and kind of a jerk and that made me mad so I wrote him a note that told him he should be as nice as you are. He just laughed and I hate him...
He was a senior in high school now, it was early spring and he would be eighteen soon. He was waiting for his college acceptances, coasting out his last year and embracing Senior Slump.
Leslie Thompkins hadn't told Bruce or Alfred, but Dick knew that if she became alarmed about anything new, she would pick up the phone and then he'd have a real mess to deal with. Because of this, he talked to her, but he didn't tell her everything. He didn't tell her that he'd begun getting letters addressed to him but delivered to the school office. Alfred thought that he was only getting the one or two a month that came to the house—and he thought that was too much, even making the odd comment about the amount of mail the young master seemed to be receiving lately. If Alf or Leslie found out that he was really getting closer to a dozen a month or more, they would have stepped in and Dick didn't want that to happen. The last thing he wanted was to deal with Bruce when he was in Bat Protective Mode.
It was still his problem, damnit. He would handle it. And besides, they were just letters. It wasn't that big a deal.
It really wasn't.
My Richard,
I thought about you all weekend. Remember that day it was snowing and we swam in the indoor pool then kissed in the Jacuzzi? I think that may be my favorite memory...
Bruce seemed to have back-burnered the whole thing. That surprised Dick for a while and then he realized that he didn't know why that should bother him. Bruce always pretty much assumed that he was alright, and if he wasn't, then Alfred would say something. No news is good news and all that.
He had told Bruce that everything was fine; that he had it under control and Bruce had—maybe stupidly—taken him at his word. Dick never told him about the letters in the pink envelopes that showed up in the Manor mailbox every couple of weeks and evidently neither did Alfred. If either of the two men knew anything about the ongoing situation, no one said anything to Dick. It was sort of like the elephant in the living room. No one talked about it so it wasn't really there.
In the almost two years since Laura had moved away there had been no direct contact between them. There had been letters, hundreds of letters, but she hadn't shown up or called or anything like that. There had been no face-to-face meetings and Dick somehow saw that as a positive sign. He was able, almost, to put her in the back of his mind, almost able to forget about her for weeks at a time. He dated girls in school, but there was nothing serious and he was too busy with college admissions and his work with Batman and the Titans to give it much thought.
So long as he didn't give much thought to the letters, that was. He'd open them, skim through them since they all said pretty much the same thing, then stick them in the file he'd started for them. He'd had to open a second file, in fact, but he chose not to think about that, either.
Well, usually.
Most of his social life, such as it was, revolved around the Titans—well, after saving the world, or some part of it.
They would do their thing then hang out for pizza or a movie or something. Garth would often have Tula with him and sometimes Dick was jealous seeing how happy they were together and wished, a little wistfully, that he had something, someone like that. It was obvious; they'd get married at some point, have a home and kids. They hadn't actually planned it all out but they were so damn happy together. They were going to make it. They would be one of those couples you see celebrating their sixtieth wedding anniversary surrounded by a hundred kids and grand children and great grand children. That would be them and Dick had a feeling he'd be there at the party stag.
Donna was with Roy and Wally, well, he seemed to have a cornfed girl back home but Dick was always too busy to really get serious about anyone.
Sure, he'd had a crush on Barbara since he was like twelve, but that's all it was and he knew she'd never look twice at him. He was too young, too short, too, too nerdish and too much of a workaholic for her to be interested. Maybe someday it would happen, but no time soon. Until then, if 'then' ever happened, at least they were friends. That was something.
My Richard,
I was in the mall today and I saw this woman pushing a stroller. She sort of looked like me with long blonde hair and she had the cutest little boy. He didn't look anything like her; he had dark hair and blue eyes. They weren't as blue as yours, but I started thinking that someday that will be me with our baby...
He'd dated Blair, a girl in his class, for a couple of months the year before, but she'd gotten annoyed with him for always having other obligations with Bruce or something and there was so much that he had to keep secret that he always felt like he was only half there when they were together. Blair felt the same way and thought that he was still thinking about Laura and making comparisons. He wasn't, but Blair kept it in the back of her mind and it bothered her a lot. They'd go to a party or something and he'd have one ear listening for his beeper to go off because Bruce needed him for back up or maybe to hit some stupid society thing with him where Bruce wanted him to wave the Wayne Corp flag. Finally he and Blair had agreed that it wasn't working and ended it. They stayed friends, though, and that was good. They still liked one another, they even went out together, they just weren't a couple.
He hated doing that, going to the parties and the receptions, but Bruce insisted that he make these appearances and said that he had to learn how to deal with social situations.
He hated the pretensions and the patronization that was always aimed at him. He was Bruce's charity case, the orphan, and the circus rat who needed a home. He disliked the conspicuous consumption and the hypocrisy and he was uncomfortable with the employees and their spouses sucking up to him to get on Bruce's good side. And, of course, there were the old rumors, the ones about why a single man would take in a young boy. He hated them, but had learned to mostly ignore them. That didn't mean he didn't hear the comments, though. Usually he'd arrive late and leave as soon as was possible after spending as much time as he could either in a corner or talking with Lucius or someone he could stand. Bruce, of course, was always too busy to pay any attention. As long as he made an appearance he was usually alright for a while on that score.
My Richard,
My Dad was talking last night at dinner about how much he had liked working at Wayne Corp and how he missed the East Coast. I told him that he should go back, but he just gave me a funny look and said something about 'water under the bridge'.
I think he should write Bruce a letter, don't you? I mean, Dad is sort of weird about it because he's 'Bruce Wayne, Zillionaire', but I tried to tell him that Bruce is really nice.
Well, I think he should call, but I don't think he will. Maybe you could talk to Bruce over dinner or something?...
He was coming to realize that he really wasn't all that interested in business. He knew, he'd known since he was like twelve that Bruce semi-expected him to get an MBA then eventually take over Wayne Enterprises at some point. The thing was that he didn't want to have the office down the hall from Mr. Wayne CEO, not at all and certainly not for a very long time at the very least.
He didn't know how to tell Bruce that. Bruce would suck it up and bury it behind his usual smooth mask, but he'd be hurt and disappointed and Dick couldn't do that, not after everything Bruce had done for him and given him.
He couldn't.
So he applied to a bunch of schools with an eye to major in Business and Economics and all of that boring stuff. It was the least he could do for Bruce.
He could still be Robin. He'd be fine.
Dick became even closer to the Titans as the year wore on. He and Wally would sit around just shooting the bull for hours. Sometimes Roy would be there, too. They'd hang out at one of the Manor pools or someplace, talking, trading secrets and hopes and all of that. It was as close to just being himself as he could get.
They'd talk about Titan stuff, how hot Donna was, what would happen to Garth if Arthur finally really flipped out, school, pizza, movies, their various parents and guardians—all the usual stuff.
The one thing Dick never brought up were the on going letters from Laura. He didn't tell anyone about them. One day Roy asked what had happened to Laura and Dick just said that her family had moved. That closed the subject and no one pursued it. Wally may have given him an odd look, but he kept his mouth shut for once. Thank God.
The letters from the colleges came. Dick was accepted to every place he applied, opting to go to Hudson. He took little pleasure in winning places at the schools, though, convinced that no one would have the balls to turn down the Wayne money. He may have been right about that, but his grades were good and he had nothing to be ashamed about on that score, much as he didn't really believe it.
The truth was that he was only going to college at all because Bruce had assumed that he would and it was never open for discussion. Or at least Dick never felt that it was, anyway. He just went along.
My Richard,
Have you decided where you're going to school next year? You're so smart that you could go anywhere. Wouldn't it be funny if we went to the same place? We could get a cute apartment together and walk to classes and then after I cooked dinner (or maybe once in a while you could cook!), we could do our schoolwork together.
Wouldn't that be great?...I'm thinking about going to Boston U. Have you made your choice yet? I could always change mine if you wanted...
The school year, his high school career, finally ended after finals, a senior class trip to the shore (where he met up with Garth who was surfing with some other Atlans) and the graduation dance he took Blair to as just friends. The night of the graduation ceremony was clear and not too hot. The ceremony was held outside and there was a full moon.
Bruce was there, of course, and Alfred. Leslie had shown up for a while before being called away and Barbara was there on the other side of Bruce. Dick received awards in math and science and wore the gold cords indicating that he was a member of the Honor Society. They took the usual pictures and Alfred looked as happy as any grandparent there. Bruce ignored the stares he got wherever he went and Barbara kissed Dick on the cheek—not exactly what he would have chosen himself.
Afterwards there was another dance at one of the local country clubs that Dick again attended with Blair. They had settled into simply being friends with no bad feelings between them. In fact she hoped to pair him up with her friend, Sarah, and Dick wasn't fighting it too hard.
They ended up with about eight classmates, the ones Dick had hung out with, all coming back to the Manor for a swim about two in the morning. There were enough bathing suits in the pool house and it was a reasonably clean night—one couple disappearing into the greenhouse and another into the garden not-withstanding. With Blair's prompting, Dick and Sarah finally got to really talk and he said he'd call her later—maybe in a day or so. The ended up dating all summer.
It wasn't a grand passion, but she was a nice girl and they had fun together.
My Richard,
What are you doing this summer? Are you working? Are you taking classes? My father thought that you might be doing something with Wayne Corp, some kind of apprenticeship or something like that. Are you?
I'm working at the mall at this really cute boutique. In fact I found this really beautiful shirt I got for you and I'm going to send it as soon as I get it out of layaway.
It so incredible—it's silk and the exact color of your eyes. You'll look awesome in it...
Dick divided his summer between a couple of different things. He visited his grandfather in Europe and they took a two-week road trip through Switzerland and Austria, stopping for a few days in Northern Italy. They did some backpacking and a little low mountain climbing—more hikes than mountain climbing, really. They stopped in at some museums where Papa showed Dick some of what had happened to the Gypsies during World War Two. Hitler had lumped them in with the races to be exterminated. A good part of the family had died in the gas chambers after being shipped to Poland in 1945 and his grandfather had barely escaped, surviving only because the camp had been liberated soon after he'd arrived.. Dick had known that, but in a detached way. Seeing the pictures and the memorabilia with his grandfather brought it home as the old man talked about his brother and parents being lost.
After that Dick flew from Vienna to Paris to catch up with Haley Circus. Alfred had forwarded the message to him while he was still on the road in Austria. There had been an accident, though nothing fatal, just one of those things. He spent a month filling in for Franz, one of the current flyers, who was recovering from separated shoulders after a fall. Dick threw his quad again and—damn—it felt good. The crowds, the smells, the endless practice and hours.
God, he loved it. He'd forgotten how much and he was welcomed with opened arms. A good number of the circus family had known him ten years before and they treated him like the Prodigal.
By the third week of August he had to head back to the States. He had to get ready for school and he knew that the break wasn't going to be an easy one. Bruce and Alfred—of course he'd see them again and a lot, but he knew that it wouldn't be the same.
He wanted to horde the last few days they'd all have together. He knew it was a cliché, but it was true. This was a breaking point, both an end and a beginning. He'd have to leave again ten days after his plane landed. He'd take another plane up to school. Things would be different after that; he wouldn't be someone Bruce would automatically think of as a kid. He'd be an adult. Well, more of an adult, anyway.
It would be an adjustment for them all.
My Richard,
I found out from my friend Becca that you're in the freshman class at Hudson. She had this book with all the freshmen listed and there you were with a picture. You're the handsomest boy in the class—I checked! That's so great! I'll be able to come visit you because I'll be going to see Becca anyway.
Do you think I could stay in your dorm or should we get a room somewhere? Whichever you want is fine with me, you know that. And I have that shirt I got you. I can't wait to see you wearing it—in fact I can't wait to see you not wearing it...
TBC
14
