Sometimes You Learn the Hard Way
November:
Tim hit the floor hard and closed his eyes against the flash of color that swarmed his vision. He took a moment to calm his breathing and gather his thoughts. Of course, gathering his thoughts wasn't very easy since, for the last two hours, he had been pounded relentlessly.
The teenager opened his eyes and saw Bruce standing over him.
"Up."
The command was simple, the act not so much. Stifling the groan that threatened to fall from his lips, Tim got to his feet and ran a hand through his sweat-drenched hair. He'd known from the moment he took this job that he'd be entering into the most physically demanding experience of his life. He had seen Bruce, Dick and Jason on the streets and knew the skills they possessed came from years of training.
Tim was prepared for that and looked forward to being able to fight even close to their level. But he didn't think that he would be thrown in to the fire without preamble.
Bruce had told Tim that the skills that Batman and Robin had were from years of experience, but many of them were from mere instinct. And so, Bruce told him to change and meet him on the mats. As soon as the teenager's first foot was on the white pad, Bruce attacked.
Tim was on the ground in two seconds from a swipe at the ankles. He landed solidly on his back, the air knocked out of his lungs, and gasped for a good thirty seconds before he heard Bruce's voice.
"Always be prepared. Up."
Tim did as he was told and as soon as his back was straight a fist came at his face and the only thing he could think to do was move. The fist flew next to his check and he turned wide eyes to Bruce.
"Instinct," was all the older man said.
Tim's instinct, however, didn't react fast enough to the uppercut and, again, he found himself on the mat. The dance of Tim getting hit, tripped or somehow else thrown to the mat by Bruce continued for two hours in utter silence. Sometimes Tim would react with agility and speed and somehow avoid the hit, kick, or whatever else Bruce threw at him, but a majority of the time, the teenager was not so lucky.
Finally three hours into it, after Tim received a strong kick that left him on all fours panting in the middle of the mat, Bruce spoke.
"Shower and clean up," Bruce said as he walked away. He was nearly up to the Manor when he spoke again to Tim.
"On top of being able to avoid a hit, you have to learn how to take one." Tim raised his head to look at Bruce. "Sometimes the only way to learn that is to experience what happens when you don't know how."
As Bruce's steps retreated the teenager shook his head realizing that Bruce had just intentionally beaten him up.