1965
Going to the circus had been, quite possibly, the worst decision of Bruce Wayne's adult life. Of course, of course, of course there would be a double homicide right in front of him on the one night he took off. And of course there would be a ten year old boy left sobbing beside the lifeless bodies of his parents. His relationship with Julie was finished the instant that he ran off to seek justice for the boy. He didn't much care.
By the end of the night, Batman had put the fear of God into Tony Zucco, and dropped him off at the GCPD's doorstep with his hands in cuffs. Bruce Wayne was called in as a witness to the trial, as was Dick Grayson. When they were still at the circus that night, Bruce convinced himself to stay away. He told himself that Dick Grayson would be better off without a crazy man with a bat costume as his guardian. But at the trial, he saw the pain in Dick's eyes. The rage. The resolve. He saw in Dick's eyes everything that he saw in himself. He knew, there and then, that he had to be there for Dick.
Bruce offered to make Dick his ward, and the boy, traumatized as he was, just nodded his head in absentminded agreement. Bruce did his best to care for him. He enrolled Dick in a good school, he stayed home from the galas and board meetings in order to make sure that Dick was fed and had company, but he still left each night. Always after Dick was in bed, though. He made sure of that much.
Or at least he thought he did. But like anyone, Bruce slipped up. He didn't count on a child's lack of ability to sleep soundly during a thunder storm, and he didn't remember to close to secret entrance to the batcave in his study. And so, when Dick went wandering around the manor in search of Bruce that night, he found a staircase where a bookshelf ought to be.
The cave, in no uncertain terms, blew his little ten year old mind. Especially the giant penny. He had no idea why there was a giant penny.
"Oh my God," he gasped. "This is soooo cool!"
He didn't tell Bruce that he knew. Not at first, anyways. After touring the cave, Dick had retreated to his bedroom and spent the rest of the night drawing up costume plans in his journal.
Dick went through all sorts of ideas over the next few nights. Batboy was his first idea, though it went out the window after he decided that the name was terrible. It was only after the initial bat-themed sketches had been trashed that he stumbled across the right idea. His mother always called him her Robin. He didn't exactly know why, but it could have been for a variety of reasons. How he never sat still, how he seemed to soar through the air on the trapeze, his habit of whistling all the time... Could have been all of the above.
They wore green and yellow costumes, back in the circus. With the addition of red, like a robin's breast, Dick had found the perfect combination. He told Bruce that they needed fabric for a school project of his, and he asked Alfred to teach him how to sew. From there, he knew enough to put the costume together.
Bruce was in his study after putting Dick to sleep, deciding whether or not to give Shondra a call before he went into the cave for the night. Dick sat outside his door, spying on him all throughout the call, waiting for the moment that Bruce would hang up and show him how to get into the cave. Whatever he expected, it certainly wasn't a big red button hidden inside a bust of William Shakespeare. And yet, that's exactly what caused the bookcase to swing open. After Bruce had gone down the steps and closed the passageway behind him, Dick sprang into action.
He waited just the right amount of time before he mimicked Bruce's actions to open the door to the cave. Bruce was at the bottom of the stairs when he heard it swing open again. He spun around, expecting to see Alfred, only to be greeted by the sight of Dick leaping into the air. The boy flipped through the air, landed on his hands on one of the steps, and then launched himself back into the air. When he had succesfully reached the bottom of the stairs, vaulting over Bruce's head in the process, he grinned proudly at his mentor.
"What do ya think?" Dick asked. He struck a pose and showed off the costume he had designed. A black domino mask, a red tunic, green shorts and boots, and a cape with a black outside and a yellow underside. The kind of outfit you'd expect a kid to dream up.
Bruce just laughed. He didn't know what else to do. Of course Dick had figured it out. He should have expected as much, really. Dick's smile faltered a bit at the sight, unsure of what the laughing meant.
"You're serious, aren't you?" Bruce asked, once he had finally quelled his laughter. "You want to be my partner?"
"Duh!" Dick said. "What kid wouldn't want to fight crime with Batman?!"
"You know what? Fine. I suppose you earned a ride-along, with your detective work," Bruce said with a smile. "Just tell me one thing. How did you figure it out?"
"That's a mystery for you to solve!" Dick shouted. He was already sprinting for the batmobile. By the time Bruce joined him, Dick was bouncing up and down in his seat.
Bruce wasn't an idiot, of course. He had a suspicion that Dick would catch on someday, he just didn't expect it to be so soon, or for him to attempt to become a hero himself. But he also wasn't just going to drive the kid into a shootout between the police and the Red Hood Gang. He'd stick to costumed rogues, the ones who just did it for kicks. Maybe Joker would get a kick out of it, and maybe it'd help Bruce enjoy himself for once. It wasn't going to become a regular thing, though. It'd just be one night. Two tops.
Yeah, right.
