Dick stayed still, curled up in a ball, while a couple of older boys beat him with sticks and verbally abused him.
"You're so pathetic! I bet your guardian didn't even want to keep you!" Bully One taunted.
"And that whole stunt with Lex Luthor! That was ridiculous! Why would anyone refuse to be adopted by Lex Luthor?!" Bully Two growled.
Bully One kicked Dick, who was still ignoring them. "Hey! Get up and fight, loser! We know you can!"
Dick mumbled something they couldn't quite make out, something about not fighting civilians.
"Newsflash, Brat! You're a civilian, too!" Bully Two hissed, obviously offended. "And a blind one at that!" The bullies resumed hitting him with sticks.
"Hey!" Dick was startled when the Orphanage Manager stepped in. "What do you think you're doing?!"
The two bullies dropped their sticks and ran off.
"I'll discipline them later… Are you alright, Richard?" The Orphanage Manager asked.
"I'm fine, Mrs. B. I've dealt with worse." Dick replied.
Mrs. B. scowled. "Not what I like to hear. Your former guardian pitted you against too much if you've had worse than that."
"No he didn't! It was my choice! He would've been much happier if I stayed home!" Dick snapped, angry at anyone who dared to say Bruce had done him wrong.
"You're taking the wrong attitude with this. You should be glad the CPS took you away from there."
"Better that home than no home at all!"
"This is your home for now."
"No! This is an orphanage! This isn't anywhere close to my home!"
"Is something the problem, Mrs. Bleufield?"
Dick's head snapped up at the familiar voice.
Mrs. Bleufield sighed. "Richard's being difficult. We'll be inside in a minute, Mr. Allen."
Dick stood up, silently and gloomily. He knew why Barry was here. It had been all over the news last night that the court had denied Bruce any communication with or guardianship over Dick.
"Listen up, Richard. I don't want a repeat of what happened with Mr. Luthor, or Mrs. Bell, or Mr. Wilson. This man and his wife have been kind enough to offer to take you in after all the trouble you've caused, so be nice." Mrs. Bleufield commanded.
Dick wasn't intimidated, but he allowed Mrs. Bleufield to lead him into the office anyways. At least it wasn't another enemy of the Justice League. Three had tried to take him in already: Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, and Deathstroke. Lex Luthor had tried to use his influence to overpower Dick's decision, Queen Bee had tried to force him to agree using her powers, and Deathstroke had nearly been arrested for losing his patience. None of them had been a fun experience, and, more importantly, none of them had succeeded.
After Dick was seated, Mrs. Bleufield spoke. "Richard, this is Mr. and Mrs. Allen. They've come all the way from Central City in hopes of taking you in. Can you give them a chance?"
"I don't want to go with anyone but Bruce." Dick repeated the same words he'd said in every adoption meeting since he'd been taken from Bruce. Despite the fact he knew Barry and Iris Allen, he wasn't going to let them take him in without effort. He wouldn't let anyone, sans Bruce, take him in without effort.
To his surprise, Barry, not Mrs. Bleufield, was the one to reply, putting a hand on Dick's shoulder while doing so. "We're aware of that, Kiddo. Unfortunately, the court has spoken against that wish. We're here to offer an alternative. It can be temporary, if you'd like. Should Mr. Wayne get permission to take you back, we won't stop him, but, for now, we'd like to take care of you. What do you say?"
"You… you'd give me back to Bruce if legally permitted?" Dick acted shocked. In reality, he was only slightly surprised. Barry and Bruce were pretty good friends after all.
"That's correct. We're not the kind that would force you to do anything against your will. We're not going to make you come with us. You can if you want to, though. I don't think many others will come along with the same opinions." Barry continued.
Iris interrupted. "We also have a nephew that's not much older than you. He's a really good kid and I'm sure he'd help you adjust."
"So what do you say, Richard? Will you come home with us?" Barry finished.
Dick pretended to think it over. He could practically feel Mrs. Bleufield's eyes boring into him.
"I guess so. But you have to promise you'll give me back to Bruce if the court will let you, okay?"
"Got it." Barry agreed.
"We promise." Iris put in.
"Alright. I'll start the process and he can come home with you in a few days." Mrs. Bleufield said. She was relieved someone had managed to win him over; Dick could hear it in her voice.
Dick stayed sitting, silent, as Mrs. Bleufield wished Barry and Iris farewell and promised to let them know when Dick could go home with them. He continued to sit silently as Mrs. Bleufield begged him not to mess this up before finally getting up to allow her to lead him back to his dormitory.
His thoughts wandered to Bruce. He figured the man was taking this even worse than he was. He was probably planning to appeal the decision. Tears came to his eyes as he thought about his father figure. He wanted to go home. Back to Wayne Manor, to Gotham. He wanted to eat Alfred's cookies and be comforted by Bruce. To go on patrol with Batman and to be assigned missions with his team.
He knew things would never be the same as they were before he was blinded or before Batman and Robin's identities were revealed. But gosh, he really wanted to go home. Barry and Iris had always been kind to him, and he'd rather be put with them than with a stranger or, worse, a criminal, but they weren't Bruce or Alfred. They would never replace his second family and he was sure they knew that.
"Don't cry, Richard. You're going to a new home. You should be happy." Mrs. Bleufield scolded lightly as they reached the teen boys' dormitory.
"I want to go home. I want to see Bruce again." Dick murmured, even though he knew Mrs. Bleufield would disapprove.
Sure enough, she wasn't at all pleased with his response. "That man should have been charged with child endangerment for what he did to you. I'm upset he didn't. Don't think about him. He's a bad influence."
"He's a better influence than you." Dick hissed under his breath.
"What was that, Richard?"
"Nothing. Leave me alone." They had reached his bed by then so he didn't need her help anymore.
"I'll bring you your dinner in an hour. Do some studying until then." Mrs. Bleufield shoved a Braille book into Dick's hands.
Dick sighed and opened the book as the clicking of Mrs. Bleufield's heels proved she was leaving the dormitory. His fingers read that it was math, but it didn't delight him like it might've back at Wayne Manor. For one thing, the level was wrong, so the math was too easy. These people didn't quite believe he was at the level he'd risen to at Gotham Academy. They didn't even know what a mathlete was. Sighing again, he put the book aside and groped about for a different one. His efforts were finally rewarded when his hands landed on a Chemistry book. At least they believed he knew that subject well enough.
He thought of Wally as he perused the Chemistry book. Did Wally miss him? Did he know his uncle was adopting Dick? Wally had promised to help him learn Braille, but he no longer knew where Dick was, so he couldn't keep that promise right now. Dick still struggled a little with putting together the words. No one at the orphanage was willing to help him, so he wasn't even sure he was reading it right. For example, he thought he had just read Chlroine. But that was supposed to be Chlorine, right? Argh! Had he mixed up his r's and his o's again? He'd been struggling with those letters back when he was studying with Wally, and still hadn't managed to fully learn the difference between them. He also mixed up his r's and w's. R was just a really tricky letter for him.
He closed the book and tossed it aside, flopping down on his bed and groaning when he heard the book knock down a lamp. It was too early for the lamp to be on, so he doubted it would cause a fire. The lightbulb sounded like it shattered though.
He dozed for a while, waking up briefly to eat dinner and then fully get in bed.
His dreams were full of memories of his time with Batman. He woke up as distraught as when he was first separated from Bruce, and the mood didn't go away over the next few days. It didn't even go away when Barry and Iris finally arrived to take him to their home. He just kept thinking of his mentor and how much he wanted to see him.
"We're here." Iris told him after a three hour car ride to Central City.
Dick nodded silently and got up slowly, feeling his way out of the car. Iris gently took his hand and led him into the house.
Up ahead, he could hear Wally asking Barry where he'd been all day.
Barry just answered, "Busy." Dick could practically hear the smirk in his voice.
So Wally hadn't been told? Interesting, but not surprising.
Dick knew when Wally noticed him because he heard a hint of a gasp and then two arms were wrapped around him.
"Dick! I thought I'd never see you again!" Wally cried in Dick's ear.
"I'll never see you again…" Dick murmured.
Wally allowed a half-groan, half-chuckle to escape his mouth. "You know what I mean!"
Dick just shrugged.
"What are you doing here?" Wally asked. "Not that I'm disappointed to see you or anything. I'm just curious."
Iris answered for him. "Dick agreed to let us care for him until Bruce can win him back through the court system. We had to go through the orphanage to do so, so legally he's adopted. But we are a hundred percent willing to forsake that should Bruce win his rights back."
Dick felt Wally nod. The older boy released him from the hug and led him over to the couch.
"I was wondering why Uncle Barry had started buying books in Braille. It probably should have been obvious. Oh well."
Dick felt a breeze and knew Wally had just sped off. He returned less than a second later.
"Let's see! We've got some literature, some math, a little bit of science… Oh! I forgot about that Braille phone I bought online! It came in the day after… Anyways, it's at home! I'll bring it later!"
"Is the math book the right level?" Dick asked.
"I don't know. Differential Equations? Vector Calculus? Does that sound about right?"
"Thank god. The orphanage didn't give me the right level. It was too easy."
"Define easy."
"Single-Variable Calculus."
"For you, that is definitely easy."
"I'm still having trouble with my r's. The people at the orphanage weren't very helpful."
"Okay! Let's have a study session right here right now!"
Dick felt the couch shift as Wally plopped down on it. He stayed still, not reacting.
"Hey… What's the matter?"
Dick sighed. "Stupid question, Wally."
"Yeah. You're right," Wally admitted, "But I don't know the right thing to say."
"I just want Bruce."
"I know, Dude. I'd feel the same if I was separated from my family."
"Do you know how he's been doing? I mean, he's not allowed to contact me, so I wouldn't know."
"Hard to say. No one's seen Batman since you were taken away. Bruce has been seen, but only to run his business and attend court sessions related to you. Hasn't been to any fancy schticks and there's rumors he's not planning to hold any anytime soon."
"What do you mean no one's seen Batman? Are you saying he gave it up? That's impossible! Surely..."
"Crooks are running wild in Gotham, Dick. Crime rate's shot up since CPS took you. The supervillains are doing everything they can to gain Batman's attention, but no one has seen him stopping any crimes, much less dealing with the Gotham rogue gallery."
"That... that can't be... I don't believe you!"
"It's true, Dick. So true that other heroes have started frequenting Gotham to try to calm the chaos, and Batman hasn't even tried to stop them. Uncle Barry's gone several times and I know the League has tried to contact Batman. Uncle B says Batman never answers his com link anymore. He tried calling the manor and Alfred answered. Uncle Barry could hear Bruce say in the background, 'If it's a Justice Leaguer, hang up.' The League's tried everything. They suspect Bruce may have started blocking their numbers."
"I... I need to tell him to stop avoiding the League and to go back to being Batman! Gotham needs him! I..."
"You said it yourself, Dick. You're not allowed contact with him. If… if someone finds out we let you talk to him..." Wally left the sentence open-ended. Dick knew what he meant by it. If the Allens let him talk to Bruce and CPS found out, he could be taken away again, and he may not get another chance at relative safety.
"Is there really nothing we can do?" He whispered.
"You know as well as I do that Bruce is stubborn. He's making a stand and he's not about to end it just because we told him to. We also know he's doing this in an effort to get you back. And you can't deny that you want to go back yourself. Any efforts on your part wouldn't convince him either. He'd just think we told you to try to stop him. Then he'd be even angrier at us."
Dick fidgeted a little. "What do you think will happen if they never let me go back? Will Bruce give up Batman forever?"
"For you, there's no saying what he'd do."
A strained silence spread between them, lasting a few minutes before being broken by Wally.
"Let's work on reading some Literature, okay? We've got The Lord of the Flies, Catch 22, and Fahrenheit 451. You pick."
"Fahrenheit 451," Dick chose.
Wally placed the book in his hands and they started working on reading it. Dick read the letters and words out loud while Wally helped out using a chart that listed the English letters and numbers next to their Braille equivalents.
They continued like that for a while before Iris called them for dinner.
"I cooked one of your favorites, Dick. With a lot extra for Wally and Barry of course," She informed them. "I may not be Alfred, but I hope you like the food."
Dick thanked her as Wally helped him into a chair at the table. He hadn't been eating a lot since he had been taken from Bruce, but the home-cooked meal brought back his appetite long enough for him to eat it.
Halfway through the meal, Barry turned to Dick. "I found a gym not far from here with acrobatic equipment, I thought we could head over tomorrow and sign some forms to let you and Wally join the gym. That way, you could relearn your family's act."
Dick began crying at the idea. He felt Wally touch his shoulder gently and maneuver him into a hug.
"It'll be okay, Dick. Uncle B's looking out for you. We'll all help you out, okay?"
Dick nodded, still sobbing into Wally's chest.