Title Navajo Dreams

Author Kim

Summery What if...Bruce Wayne raise Roy Harper.

Dc owns all characters

part 6

Bruce watched mesmerized by the glow of the campfire..Thinking back over the last six months of his life...Things had changed dramatically for him..And for Roy he thought, pulling his gaze away from the fire to look at the sleeping form of the child, who lay on top of his sleeping bag, rather than in the bag..as Bruce was...Bruce smiled to himself..the boy hated being confined in any way..under blankets or indoors..After much consideration and discussion with Alfred they had withdrawn Roy from school, opting instead to employ a private tutor..It wasn't permanent, only for twelve months...then Roy would return to the school.

Bruce wished he had done that in the first place..it would have saved the child a lot of anguish if he had...He now realized Roy had needed to adjust to so many things..Brave Bow's death, leaving his home..moving to a new home..New guardian and much more... School was an adjustment that could wait until he had adjusted to all the other things in his life, the tutor he had hired was excellent and Roy was thriving..his marks dramatically improving now that he wasn't having to worry about trying to fit in with other children, who picked on his slight differences, simple things were enough to make him stand out and cause ridicule such as the way he spoke of the Navajo..referring to them as 'my people'..coming from a red headed white boy, it was more than enough to gain unwanted comments from others around him. the boy had suffered much in his young years..not just the deaths of two father figures..but never truly belonging anywhere...The white boy in him stopped him from being Navajo, and the Navajo in him stopped him from feeling like he was white.

He should have realized all these things..but he hadn't, Alfred had tried to tell him, but Bruce had simply felt that the quicker Roy settled into a normal life which included school..The quicker he would adjust...There was more to be considered than he had thought.

In an effort to spend more time with Roy, Bruce had started including him in his training sessions..he reasoned that good defense skills were something every child needed to learn...Roy learned fast and over the last couple of months had become quite accomplished at a number of martial arts..and lately Roy was beginning to ask if he could come with Bruce on some of his outings as Batman...The answer of course had been a resounding NO...which was always followed by a myriad of 'But why's' from Roy...But after discussions with Alfred and quite probably against Bruce's better judgement..He had decided take Roy out with him..Only once a week..and only when there was no serious cases to be followed..The boy would be company on some of the more boring nights..An Roy would certainly benefit from the patience and discipline required on stakeouts or simply having to wait for some crime to take place..It wouldn't be hard if things looked to be getting too intense to simply send the boy to wait in the car.

He hadn't told Roy yet..he had been waiting for this camping trip to tell him and by the time they had arrived it was dark.. they were both tired and after scouting around with torches to find fire wood, they had set up camp.. eaten dinner and within a short time Roy was asleep...Bruce would tell him tomorrow, he smiled as he imagined the boys reaction to the news..Tomorrow was going to be a great day.

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The next morning was filled with breakfast and hiking.. with Roy's excited chatter running continually in the background, as he showed Bruce his favorite childhood haunts... Roy had brought his bow with him and Bruce had spent some time tossing some large pieces of wood into the air for the boy to skewer..marveling at the boys accuracy, and laughing at the occasional arrow that missed...Roy would then have to run to where ever the stray arrow had landed to retrieve it..The boy would sleep well tonight Bruce thought, smiling..Lunch time arrived and they both sat to eat under the shade of a tree, enjoying the warm summer air and the view around them.

"So what do ya think Bruce?" Roy asked.

"About what pal?" Bruce responded reaching for an apple.

"About this...all of this." Roy said indicating the wide open spaces around them. "Nice hey?"

"It certainly seems to have an appeal about it." Bruce said leaning back on the tree.

"Yeah..and it doesn't stink either." Roy sighed happily.

"Stink?" Bruce asked cocking one eyebrow.

"Yeah..Gotham stinks...not like this...it smells like...like dirt and sunshine" Roy finished laying back with his hands under his head.

Bruce smiled to himself...'dirt and sunshine' he thought...The boy really did love the simple things in life..Things Bruce didn't usually have the time to take much notice of...Roy had a way of making him slow down and appreciate such simple things.

"You know I've been thinking quite a bit about what you asked me again the other day..."Bruce started... stopping as Roy suddenly sat up.

"Really...like you've been thinking about it...properly thinking about it..not just that its a stupid idea...but.." Roy stopped as Bruce cut in.

"Slow down son...yes I've been thinking about it...and I've spoken to Alfred about it...and..." Bruce paused relishing in stretching out what he was about to say..making the child hang on his words. "I've decided we can give it a go..under very strict rules though."

Roy launched forward, wrapping his arms around Bruce's neck in a hug before standing up and giving a punch into the air "YESSS" he shouted.

Bruce sat stunned for a moment, still absorbing the fact that the boy had hugged him..he wasn't used to being hugged, and wasn't sure wether to frown or smile..instead he spoke."Ok, ok...Like I said there will be some very strict rules that you will need to agree to allow this to happen..."

"Anything..anything..I'm getting better at following rules Bruce, you know that..I've been trying real hard.." Roy blurted excitedly.

"Yes you have been trying very hard Roy...Alfred and I have both noticed that...and that's one of the reasons I've agreed to do this..Now most of the rules we will discuss in detail when we get back home..But this one..." Bruce said as he opened his back pack and pulled out a small package wrapped in brown paper. "Is one we will talk about now." He handed Roy the package.

"What is it?"Roy asked.

"Open it and you'll find out." Bruce said.

Roy tore open the package, "Wow he said looking at the contents.

"Alfred made it for you..." Bruce said quietly. "And the rule is you need to wear it whenever we go out together as Batman and Robin." he said smiling at the happy boy, as Roy held up the colorful costume.

end of part 6