A/N I'm absolutely ecstatic over the reception of this story! Thank you so much, all of you who reviewed! I'm headed off for a few days, so next update will be on Friday. (The chapters get a little longer after this.)
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, gadgetry, or sound effects associated with Batman.
Bat-Chapter 2: Featherless
"Bruce!" Rachel hissed furiously, but he ignored her and crossed the room to where Richard Grayson sat motionless in his chair.
Dropping to his knees, he watched as the pale eyes slowly focused on him. "Hey," he said easily, "I'm Bruce." He waited but the boy made no response. "I've got a big house and lots of room, so you're going to come stay with me for a while. If that's ok with you," he added. The boy still made no indication that he had heard. Bruce was beginning to feel a bit desperate when a shadow fell over his head and an intense expression of relief broke out on the boy's face. Bruce looked up to see Rachel standing next to them.
"Hey, buddy, you ok?" she asked, gently running a hand through the kid's hair. He nodded in quick, small jerks. "Listen, I need to talk to Mr. Wayne for a minute." Richard's eyes again filled with fear, and Rachel quickly said, "We'll just be right over there." The boy leaned over the arm of the chair to see where her finger pointed and slowly nodded. Bruce stood and let Rachel tug him over to the corner. "Bruce, I told you I don't want you taking him!"
He met her glare calmly. "You don't want him to come with me, fine. But why don't you take him? He's obviously attached to you." Richard, in fact, was staring at them intently, as if afraid Rachel would disappear if he took his eyes from her.
"I can't," she muttered. "My mom's not doing well, and even if I was actually in my apartment to do more than sleep, my landlord doesn't let kids in the building."
"You could always take him back to Social Services," Bruce said sarcastically.
"You know that's not an option."
"And you're as short on friends willing to take in a stray kid as I am." He saw the look of defeat on her face and pressed his advantage. "Look, Alfred will be there too. Whatever shortcomings I might have he'll more than make up for. And you can visit as often as you like." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I meant the boy, not me!" he exclaimed impatiently. "Rachel, I'm your friend, not a defendant. Remember?"
She sighed and he knew that he had won. "I guess there's no other choice. For now."
"We'll see," he said under his breath as she headed back to the chair.
Rachel knelt before the silent boy. "Honey, Mr. Wayne is a…good friend of mine. He's going to take really good care of you at his house. I would take you home with me if I could, but I can't right now." She looked anxiously into his face. "I promise I'll come see you a lot. And you can come visit me too, ok?"
The boy spoke for the first time since Bruce had entered the room. "Tomorrow?" he pleaded.
"Yes," Rachel promised. She stood, looking at her watch. "I have to go. I had an appointment ten minutes ago." She turned and lowered her voice, "I swear, Bruce, if you hurt him…"
"I am not going to hurt him," he gritted through clenched teeth. "What do you think I am?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "Maybe I never did." She closed her eyes tiredly and shook her head. "I've gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow," she told Richard, offering all the comfort she could in a smile. And then she was gone.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me." The kid looked at Bruce like he was Crane in a burlap mask. "Yeah, uh, shall we go down to my car?" The boy slowly pushed himself off the chair, and Bruce saw that he'd been half sitting on a battered red backpack. "Is that your stuff?" Bruce asked, and was pleasantly surprised when he got a nod. Maybe this wouldn't be impossible.
The kid was absolutely silent as they drove. Bruce made a few desultory remarks, but found that holding a one-sided conversation with that statue-like figure was more daunting than tackling Rha's Al Ghulon a moving train.
At last Wayne manor, statelier than ever in its resurrection from the ashes, loomed before them. Bruce pulled into the carport and turned off the engine, unnecessarily announcing, "Here we are!" He waited for the kid to walk slowly around the car, then led him to the side door which Alfred held open.
"Welcome home, Master Wayne," the butler said in his crisp accent, then paused expectantly.
Bruce spoke with forced cheerfulness. "Alfred, this is my ward, Richard Grayson. Richard, this is Alfred. He takes care of us."
Alfred nodded respectfully. "How do you do, Master Richard?"
"Dick." The boy spoke so softly Bruce wondered if he was imagining things. "My name is Dick."
"I beg your pardon, Master Dick, I shall remember in the future. Now, if you would care to follow me, I have prepared a light afternoon repast. Unless you would care to go to your room first?" Dick shook his head. "Excellent. This way, then." Alfred turned and led the way indoors, and with only a slight moment of hesitation, the boy followed. "I hope you enjoy chocolate chip," the British accent drifted back. "I was unfortunately ignorant of your personal preferences…"
Bruce watched the retreating figures in mixed relief and exasperation. I couldn't get the kid to say a single word all the way from Wayne Tower, and now he's practically Alfred's best friend.
That night, Bruce cautiously stuck his head through the half open door of Dick's room. The boy was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring down at his hands. "May I come in?" Bruce asked.
Dick shrugged, not looking up. Taking that as a yes, Bruce walked in. Jamming his hands into his pockets, he asked casually, "You all settled in?" His quick glance showed no visible change in the room. Remembering the boy's single backpack, he supposed there wouldn't have been much to unpack. "Do you like the room?" He got another shrug. "I realize it's a little boring right now, but that means there's a lot of space to put in stuff you like…" He trailed off as he realized his words were generating no interest.
Stepping nearer, Bruce took a close look at the boy. He was skinny, even for his small size, and the translucent skin drawn tight over his face gave him a skull-like appearance. It was the end of summer, and the boy was pale as a ghost. With a searing flash of anger, Bruce spotted a faint bruise near the back of Dick's jaw. Four months since his mother died. Was he stuck in that hell the whole time?
At a loss for anything else to say, his eyes dropped to the object Dick studied so intently. It was a small, black, and familiar box. Oh boy. It wasn't the topic of conversation Bruce would have chosen, but he didn't have a lot of choice. "Weird box," he remarked. "What is it?"
There was a long moment of silence, then boy said in the same inaudible voice he'd used all day, "It helps you look through stuff."
"Wow, where'd you get it? I'd guess they don't sell it at Toys 'R' Us."
After an even longer pause Dick whispered, "Batman gave it to me."
"You know Batman?" Bruce sounded suitably impressed.
Dick hunched his shoulders. "Not really."
The silence grew deafening and Bruce gave in, feeling like a coward. "I guess I'd better let you get to bed. You know how to ring for Alfred if you need anything?"
Dick nodded.
"And my room's just down the hall." Not that I'll be in it, Bruce thought with a twinge of guilt. But there had been a message from Lieutenant Gordon. "Goodnight," he said, not really expecting an answer. He didn't get one.
------
What will it take for Bruce to overcome his ward's tragic past?
Find out in our next exciting installment – same bat-time, same bat-channel.
All bat-reviewers will be issued an insurance policy guaranteeing compensation should an attack by the Joker, the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, or Catwoman lead to loss of life and/or limbs and/or sanity.
A/N If anyone knows what the black box viewer thing that Batman tosses to the blonde kid on the fire escape is actually called, please let me in on the secret!
Notes to Reviewers (in alphabetical order)
Antigone3: I'm glad you approve my interpretation! I have to admit, I've always enjoyed Robin's corny jokes, but the challenge of making him fit into the "realistic" (so to speak) universe of BB was irresistible.
Arabella: YOU CAME! Of course, now you're going away again sniff sniff Is there really a lot of Heyer and Loring in this story? I realize that they, along with a few others (Tolkien, Pratchett, McKinley, Wrede…), do have an integral impact on everything I write, but I hadn't thought that those particular influences were prominent in this story. Wasn't the kid wearing a red sweatshirt? And you really should write me a scathing review sometime. 'Twould be highly interesting.
Gewher: That was the first thing I thought when the kid popped up on the screen. (At least, I think it was.) Hope you enjoyed the update!
Goth Child of Zyon: About that piece of the Batmobile…Did I mention that supplies were limited?
Haley: Thanks for the encouragement!
Lyerial: Brilliant, eh? I fear I'm getting a big head. Thanks for the review and I hope this update was quick enough!
Melismata Maiden: I can't claim that I've hashed it out with the screenwriters, but I was surprised not to find any other stories that made the blonde boy/Robin assumption. (If you run across any let me know.) It seems so obvious to me. I don't if Alfred really spoils him – at the moment, I have the idea that Bruce does the spoiling and it's up to Alfred to keep both Bruce and Dick in line.
Ouatic7: Your remark about Alfred picking up the slack in Bruce's parenting skills cracks me up, since I wrote a line almost exactly like that into this chapter! About the occupations of Dick's parents – I explained my limited Batman background at the beginning of chapter 1, so there are definitely going to be departures from canon. (I'd also like this to be my story, not DC Comic's.) However, I'm trying to leave the fabric of the story loose enough that I can weave in background material. I'd like to include at least the most major points of canon (in some distorted form or other), and that seems to be a major one, so thanks for bringing it up! (It would have been the 60's batmobile, but, er…supplies were limited.)
Pun: Believe it or not, the orphan parallel between Bruce and Dick didn't strike me until I started writing this story. And then it hit me between the eyes. WHAM!
Sobaka: I think Rachel is a jerk where Bruce is concerned. I liked her fine all through the movie…right up to the part where she leads him on, kisses him, and then tells him he's no longer the man she loves. So I'm relieved you don't mind my portrayal of her! (I actually thought about sticking an apology to any Rachel fans at the beginning, but decided I was being true to character.)
Starpossum: I hope this update was quick enough for you (lol)! You almost didn't make it onto the list, I found your review just as I was getting ready to post the chapter. So thank you, and I hope you enjoyed the continuation!
Timaios: blushes Why thank you! Oh…you meant the story…