Watching

Five Years Ago

"I know that, but maybe I could take a year off before I start college. I mean, why not?"

"Because you know as well as I do that if you put it off for a year, you may well never go back. Besides, what do you propose to do for a year if you're not in school?"

"I want to work full time as Robin, hone the things I may be a little shaky on now, get to a really top level, better than I am now and maybe that would be the best thing in the long run. I mean, c'mon, Bruce—no one in my family ever went to college and besides, it's not like I'm going to be on the streets if I don't get a degree."

"And where do you suggest you do this 'honing'?"

"Here, where else?" Dick hadn't expected that question and it took him back a little bit—a weakness he knew Bruce could and likely would exploit.

Bruce was staring a challenge at him, daring him to explain himself in a way that would be acceptable and probably betting that was impossible. "You expect to live off of me for the rest of your life?"

The comment was dripping with sarcasm and Dick was caught a little flatfooted—and as kicking himself for that. He knew better when dealing with Bruce, he'd known better since he was ten years old. "I didn't say that and it's not what I meant. I said no one in my family ever went to college and they all did just fine. I can make money, Bruce. I mean, hell; I started working when I was four years old. I know how to work." Dick hated this conversation. He hated knowing he was disappointing Bruce and he hated knowing he would rather open a vein than study business like Bruce expected him to but that was the truth. Couldn't he just major in something he was more interested in? Sure he could, but he flat out didn't want to spend the next four or six years sitting in a classroom studying when he could be out doing things that mattered a whole lot more to him than writing papers on subjects he didn't care about.

Bruce just wasn't having any of it. He'd been planning for this ever since he realized that Dick was smart enough to do whatever he wanted and what Bruce wanted was an heir to the throne of Wayne Enterprises. He wanted to be able to pull back a bit and let someone else hold the corporate reins. Plus there was no reason to think he'd be around forever and Dick was the anointed fair haired boy, whether he liked it or not. Damnit, he thought Dick knew this and it hadn't occurred to him Dick had a problem with this. He'd never said anything before and so everything seemed to be falling into place like it were all preordained.

Bruce took a couple of breaths; he didn't want this getting too heated and that was where it would end up if they weren't careful. Dick would walk through fire for him and Bruce knew that, but right now it was sounding like Dick wanted to take a detour first.

Later that evening, just before he was about to get ready for patrol Bruce asked Alfred. "Am I being too hard on him? Should I let him take a year off even if it means he might never go back to school?"

"A young man needs to fellow his own path, you of all people should know that."

"He's so smart, he needs the stimulation, and the exposure to everything a really good school could open him to."

"If it's meant to be, if he has the interest, he'll go—if not now then later. I prefer not to stoop to clichés about leading a horse to water and than having the steed decline a drink, but I'm sure you would agree that unless Master Dick wants to be at a university, he'll pay it passing interest at best and might well spend his time more productively elsewhere."

"John, did you hear that? He's actually considering allowing Dick to skip college."

"If the boy isn't sure it's what he wants, that might be the best idea for now. And he didn't actually say he would skip it completely, he just said he wanted to wait a year or so."

"Of course he has to go. He's much too smart not to."

"He's also smart enough to know what he wants and what he doesn't. Let him make up his own mind, Mary."

"When he was six he decided he wanted to eat two entire bags of candy and you let him. He was sick for three days."

"And he learned not to do it again, didn't he? Let him make his own decisions, let him make his own mistakes. Let him learn."

"Hey Grayson, I heard you scored a friggin 1550? Dude, you are robo-student."

The scores for the last rounds of SAT's were out and the word spread pretty fast. Jamie Sylvester had made an almost impossible 1600, but Grayson had been close enough with a 1557.

"Eh."

"What 'eh'? Mister Wayne must be ecstatic to know your blood has potential to turn as blue as his."

"Mister Wayne will be ecstatic if I get a MBA from Harvard, take over the corner office at WE and free him up to sharpen his putting skills when he's not out getting laid." 'Had to keep up Bruce's vacuous image, after all.

"'Sounds to me like Mister Wayne has things figured out just fine. Catch you later, dude."

"Later." Yes, so it seemed. Bruce was happy with his score and he was happy that it seemed to say that Dick would be at least applying to some good places but Dick still wasn't sure college was what he wanted to do. In fact, he was pretty sure it wasn't and he wanted to just flat out make Bruce understand that, but it wasn't as easy as just kind of dropping the shoe over the bananas flambé or tooling along in the Batmobile. He knew Bruce expected him to think it over and realize the best thing for him would be to apply to the Ivy League or, in a nod towards slumming, the Big Ten and get the degrees that were pretty much required. Yes, he knew that.

The problem was that he simply didn't want to.

(Note: for our non-yank friends, the SATs are the Scholastic Aptitude Tests taken by high school students wanting to go to a university or college and play a medium/large part in college acceptances. 1,600 was a perfect score before the scoring was changed this year. Most kids take two tests, English and math and could score up to 800 on each. The two scores were added, giving you the total. The conventional wisdom in my day was that you got 400 for writing your name correctly, anything over 1,000 was decent and above 1500 meant you could go almost anywhere, as long as you had the grades to back it up.)

"So why don't you just tell Bruce?"

The twice-monthly Titan's meeting had just ended and the kids were sitting around eating the usual pizza. Donna knew something was bothering Dick, but for him to come out and talk about a problem was pretty unusual and told her just how upset he really was. Well, she'd just make him talk to her.

"Because it's not that easy. I mean, after my parents were killed, he was the only one who made any effort at all for me. He took me in, trained me, gave me a way to get rid of the anger and showed me how I could make some kind of a difference. In his convoluted way, he's supported me and done what he thinks is right for me."

"That's all true, but this is your life, Robbie, not his. You have to do what's going to make you happy."

"I know that, but how am I supposed to be happy if I know that what I'm doing is disappointing him?"

The other three were listening, Garth seemed to be nodding along with what Dick was saying and so was Wally but Roy was another story. "So you're saying you owe him four more years of your life just because he'll be bent if you let him know the track he has you on isn't necessarily where you want to be going? That's bullshit, Robbie and you know it. If he cares so much about you, he wants what will make you happy."

"To thine own self be true, Roy?" Wally took the last slice of pepperoni as he walked by to flop down in an easy chair.

"Yeah, sure. Dick should do what's going to work for him, not what Bruce wants. Hell's bells, he's already Junior Bat now, the last thing he needs is to be Bruce Junior, too. I mean, who on the entire planet would need that?—except—does he really get laid as much as they say?"

Dick just gave Roy a dirty look and left. Donna, furious at Roy yet again, went home alone and refused his called for a good two weeks.

"So Dick, have you decided where you want to apply?"

Bruce had wandered into Dick's room after he'd gotten back from the Titan's meeting and had, oh so casually, brought up the subject of college applications. Subtle as a brick, as they say—if he ignored the fact that Dick didn't want to go to college, maybe that pesky little fact would go away.

"Well, like I was saying, maybe I'll take a year to work, maybe do some traveling on my own and then go to school." And when the year is up, with any chance the whole thing would die down and I can just get on with my life and make my own plans.

Bruce sat straddled backwards on the straight-backed desk chair, his hands on the back in front of him and nodded. "That might work out but I think that if you apply now and get your acceptances, you'll be in a more secure position later on. You'll have a better idea about what you're doing and it will be easier to make plans." And then when he got this teenaged wanderlust through his system, he could settle down.

"I was thinking that I don't really want to go Ivy League." No kidding. "It seems a bit effete for me, y'know? I'm still basically a circus rat, even with Alfred's polishing."

"No problem with that. You were thinking Big Ten, then?" This was good; at least he was talking about picking a school.

"They're all pretty big, aren't they? I don't know if I want a place with like thirty thousand students." Maybe Haley's circus would work out, small, friendly…

"Some place smaller? Understandable but you realize that will make it harder for Robin to blend in and get lost in a crowd." Or to have Batman or the Titans visit.

"I know, but I should be able to deal with that." Especially since I expect to never have the problem come up.

"Have you given thought to a major yet?" Business, obviously.

"Not really, I thought I'd start with a general program and then see what looks interesting." And anything but business.

"Well, all right. I'll have Lucius look into schools that may fit some of your criteria—do you know what part of the country you might like to be in?" Clearly close enough you can get home to work on cases when I call.

"I hadn't really narrowed that down, maybe New York or something so I can get to Titan's headquarters? You don't expect me to live here and go to school do you?" You're kidding, right?

"No, of course not, living on campus is an important part of college life." And I can still keep an eye on you that way.

"But I don't think we need Lucius for this, I'll talk to my counselor Monday." Don't show up, don't show up. I'll handle this.

"Fine, but let me know what he says, all right? Now, finish your homework and let's get going on patrol." I'll call that counselor tomorrow and talk to him.

"John, did you see what just happened? That man is going to allow Dick to skip college."

"That's not what happened, he just agreed to let Dick take a year off between high school and going on and I don't see a problem with that. Let the kid have some freedom for God's sake; he's been working since he was four years old, he needs to kick up his heels a bit, follow his feet a little."

"You would say that."

"Gypsy. Gypsy is in my blood and my soul, m'darlin'"

"And Dick is your son. Sometimes I think he might have a little too much of you in him for his own good."

John came around the couch and put his arms around her. "You never minded, missy, you never did and you know that's no lie. In fact, I'm thinking it's time the boy started turning his thoughts to the ways of love. You have that remote?"

She laughed, half afraid he was serious and knowing Dick could take care of himself as far as girlfriends were concerned. Well, probably, anyway. She'd be watching him about that.

An hour later she snuck out to the living room while John was sleeping and turned on the TV. A couple of months had gone by while they weren't paying attention and now Dick was looking through his college acceptances—and there were so many! He was so smart; he always was, even when he was just little. She found the remote under a throw pillow and hit the 'on' button.

"Dick, sweetheart, you're going to college and you're going in the fall just like Bruce was hoping. You've given it a lot of thought and you realize that he's right. If you take a break now you may never go back and you're too smart to let a chance like this slip away without even giving it a try. There are four good schools right there in your hands and you know you could probably go anywhere you want, all you have to do is make up your mind. You're going to make Bruce and Alfred happy by going and you know that and after all they've done for you, it's the least you can do. You're going to decide which place you want to attend. You'll do that tonight and then you'll tell Bruce this weekend. And remember that I love you, my darling."

Saturday night Bruce was just starting on his dessert when Dick cleared his throat. "Um, I've made a decision about school."

"Yes"

"Hudson. I think I'd like to try Hudson in September."

Bruce looked slightly taken aback. "But you said you wanted to take a year off."

"I know, but I've changed my kind and I think this is the best way to go." Dick put down his fork. "And I think business would be a useful thing for me to know something about. Is that okay with you?"

It lasted until Thanksgiving when Dick went home for the holiday. He asked Bruce if he had a minute an hour before he was due to go back to school. "Bruce? This isn't, I mean…Look, I don't think school is really, I mean that, um, well, I'm thinking about not going back after the semester is over."

"But…I thought you liked it up there. All your letters sounded like you were enjoying yourself, and you were talking about a girl you're seeing. This sounds a little hasty to me."

"I was, at first, but it's just not what I want to do. I tried, I really did, but I just can't get into the classes—all those stats and business strategies are so frigging dry. I've done some work as Robin, but it's too quiet up there, no real action, y'know?"

"I do know, as a matter of fact." Truth be told, Bruce hated stats, too. "But you can transfer to a larger school or one in a city where there'd be more for you to do. And what about your girlfriend?"

"Lori dumped me two weeks ago and I don't want to go straight into another school just now. I just don't; I want to take a break from class work."

"Have you thought about what you'd like to do next?" Was this about the girl?

"I'm working on that." Dick just gave a slight shrug. "And no, this doesn't have anything to do with losing my girlfriend. It's not like it was true love or anything."

He really wished he'd just taken that year off to get his ideas together before it got to this point. He'd disappointed Bruce and Alfred and now he felt like a complete loser but he couldn't just stay up at Hudson. He hated it. He hated the classes, the smug students, the arrogant professors and the assumption that because Bruce Wayne was his guardian and by sucking up to Dick, the school could hit him up for a new gym or science building. He'd think of something. Hell, he was still Robin and that wasn't chopped liver.

John came out of the bedroom in time to see his wife watching this on the TV, remote still in her hand. "Mary, what have you done now?"

TBC