(A/N Lance Bruner was the second ever Robin in the comics. He was in ONE issue and then died. I'm giving him the love DC never will. I hope you all enjoy!)
The rain was picking up more and more, Lance registered. The rainstorm was becoming fierce, but it wasn't supposed to turn into anything close to an emergency. At least that's what Lance remembered from the news earlier anyway.
He kept his eyes glued to the car window, watching as he passed house after house in Bristol. Lance laid his head against the cool glass, and closed his eyes. He'd only met Bruce Wayne once, when he was five. He doesn't really remember anything about the meeting though, so he may as well be meeting him for the first time. Lance sat back in his seat, and raised his legs up to hold them to his chest.
He was almost thirteen and acting like a child. But... But he couldn't help it. His mom and dad had told him that they'd go to Singapore for his birthday. He'd been waiting months for the trip, excited to actually get to leave the country. Then they died last week and now he's... Now he's not sure what to do.
He's grateful, really, that he hadn't been home when the gas line exploded. But at the same time...
He wants his parents back.
The car slows down, and the driver turns to the left.
"Master Lance? We're almost home now sir." The older man said. The driver was balding, and old. Late fifties at his earliest. Anton or Afton or something. Lance wasn't paying attention. Yeah, it was rude, but he's been really upset lately so cut him some slack?
"You don't have to call me that..." He says softly.
"Nonsense my dear boy, for as long as you are a resident, you will be treated as such." The older man says, as he slows the car down to a near halt. They're at a gate now, which opens as the car drives close.
The car takes off again, and Lance leads his mind back to thoughts of his parents. He misses them. Misses them so damn much he can't stand it.
Thankfully, before he can be pulled further into his own thoughts, the car pulls into a garage. Lance is stunned momentarily by the amount of cars inside the large space. At least thirty if he counted right.
Once the car stops, he slowly gets out and double checks. Yup, thirty cars. Thirty one now though, if you include the one he was just in. He jumps slightly when a hand is placed on his shoulder.
"Sorry to scare you dear boy, but you can look at the vehicles anytime you'd like. Come meet Master Bruce." The older man says. Lance nods slightly, and walks off with him into the house proper.
He passes a kitchen and dining room before eventually entering a living room. Expensive looking pottery and paintings litter the area, with a large TV and fireplace also taking up space in the large room. There, reading a newspaper, is Bruce Wayne. The older man raises an eyebrow, and coughs.
"Master Bruce, here is young master Lance. I do believe you had said you'd be ready." The man puts down the paper quickly and sighs.
"Sorry Alfred. You were taking a while and I thought I could get some reading done." Bruce stands up, and sheepishly smiles.
"It's been awhile Lance, do you remember me?" Lance shrugs.
"Not much Mr. Wayne. Just a little." Bruce smiles softly.
"Just Bruce is fine Lance. I'm sorry we couldn't meet again in better circumstances." Lance looks away at that, and Alfred - Lance can't believe he forgot that - touches both of them on the shoulder.
"Now now, let's try to focus on the positives. Young master Lance is still alive, and because of his parents isn't lost in the system." Lance looked up, mildly confused.
"What do you mean?" He asks. Bruce frowns, but he quickly recovers.
"There hasn't been... Steller rumors about the orphanages and foster families around Gotham." He turns to Alfred.
"But that's not a problem right now. You're safe here lad." Bruce smiles, and Lance just sighs.
"Can you show me where I'm sleeping?" Alfred nods.
"I'll go grab your belongings, master Bruce, do show the young man where he's staying?" Bruce smiled again, and leads Lance up the stairs.
"Dick's old room is right next to mine. Yours is the one across from his." He says, as he walks up the stairs. Lance's face scrunched up.
"Dick? That's your... Son right?" He asks. Bruce laughs.
"Yes, he is. He was my ward first, but last year I officially adopted him." Lance nods his head.
"Where is he right now?" Bruce turns his head as the two hit the end of the stairs.
"He's visiting friends in San Francisco. He should be back in a week or so though." Bruce says, and the two continue to walk down the hall.
"Here we are." Bruce exclaims, and pushes open a door. The room is pretty spacious, more than what Lance was used to. He knew his parents were rich, but Bruce must be absolutely loaded to be able to afford this place.
His parents only just last year officially became billionaires. Bruce had been that way since birth. Something must have shown on his face, because Bruce touched him on the shoulder, with a look of concern.
"You alright Lance?" He asks, and Lance slowly nods.
"This is just... A bit bigger of a room than I was expecting." He says lamely. Bruce smiles again.
"If you need anything or want anything changed, just let me or Alfred know. He should be up in a second with your stuff. Feel free to decorate as much or little as you want." Bruce looks at his watch.
"I have a meeting at Wayne Enterprises soon. I really wish I could stay and talk to you more, but I have to go. We'll talk more over dinner tonight." Bruce says, and promptly stomps off. Lance takes another look around at his room. This was his life now.
He wasn't sure how he felt about it...
One Week Later...
It was lunch time when he first met Dick Grayson.
Alfred had made him some sort of extremely delicious turkey sandwich. Lance had had fancy food before, but this was just ridiculously good while somehow being formal. It was so... So weird.
It was as he was pondering this that he felt a hand on his shoulder. He nearly jumped ten feet in the air (he felt like he did anyway) before a laugh is heard.
"Sorry! Didn't mean to startle you!" He turns his head around and sees who he has to imagine is Dick Grayson. He gives the man a small glare, though there's not much heat behind it. Not much anyway.
"You're Dick I guess?" He asks carefully. The older teen smiles warmly.
"Yep! Just got back from San Francisco and decided I needed to say hi to my new foster brother!" Lance's face scrunched up a bit, though Dick didn't seem to take any offense. Instead, he goes in for a hug. Lance protests, but it falls on deaf ears as the man envelops him in a quick, but strong, hug.
Lance barely reciprocates it, but again, Dick isn't bothered by it.
"This place can take some getting used to. It took awhile for me to be comfortable after I moved in." Dick says, and Lance slowly nods.
"It's a... a lot." He says lamely. Dick just smiles wider somehow.
"Alfred gave you the grand tour I suppose, but did he teach you the best chandeliers to swing from?" Lance's eyes go wide.
"Bruce lets you do that?" He asks, and Dick just laughs.
"Nope! But that doesn't stop me." Despite his best efforts not to, Lance finds himself smiling. He's about to ask exactly how Dick gets up to the ceiling, but Bruce walks into the kitchen shortly afterwards. Him and Dick turn to face each other, and there's a small amount of tension in the air. Lance looks between the two for a moment.
"Dick. I'm glad you're back." Bruce says, his face completely neutral. Dick manages to smile, though it's nowhere near as wide as earlier.
"Yeah I just got back from the airport. Alfred is putting my bags up." Dick says, and Lance just raises an eyebrow.
"Are you two ok?" He asks bluntly. The two turn to face him, and Dick just smiles wider.
"We don't always get along, last time I was here..." Bruce's face turns grim.
"I said things... I shouldn't have-" Dick raises a hand, and smiles.
"It's fine. I did too. We're... ok." Lance doesn't believe that for a second. Bruce does seem to perk up ever so slightly though, so that's something at least. Lance decides that maybe he should help.
"Dick's gonna show me which chandeliers to swing on." He states, and Bruce's eyes go wide.
"Dick I've only reinforced the chandelier in the entrance hall." The older teen smiles, a bit more mischievously than before.
"I know! That's why I'm going to the ball room!" He then rushes past the man, and Bruce just sighs. Lance bites his lip.
"Are you two really ok?" He asks carefully. Bruce doesn't say anything, and Lance puts his sandwich down.
"You love him right?" Bruce turns to Lance, a look of confusion adorning his face.
"Of course I do." Lance smiles softly.
"Make sure to tell him. I loved my parents. I... I dunno if I said it enough." Bruce walks over to Lance, and puts a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sure they knew Lance. I'm sure they did." Lance just sighs, and grabs his sandwich.
"I know..." He says quietly. Suddenly, a crash can be heard in the distance. Bruce whips his head to look in the direction the noise came from.
"I'm okay!" Dick's voice comes in from across the house. Lance can only barely hear it though. Bruce puts his head in his hands, and sighs heavily. At that moment, Alfred walks into the kitchen.
"Shall I call the regulars sir?" The older man asks, and Bruce just nods, his hands still on his face.
"Understood. Anything you would like to eat master Bruce?" Bruce walks away slowly and Alfred merely shakes his head. Lance stifled a laugh.
This wasn't... Wasn't so bad.
One Month Later...
Lance was getting used to living in the manor, don't get him wrong. But he's been getting really weird vibes from Bruce and Dick. Not like before, when the two seemed really uneasy around each other. Hell they've both been great to be around now.
No, what he's worried about is how sometimes, when he comes down for breakfest, Dick or Bruce don't come down until he's practically done eating. Sometimes they don't even come down at all before he goes back upstairs. And when they do manage to make it to breakfest, sometimes they have a slight limp, or they seem to favor one hand over the other. It's... Odd. Really odd.
If it wasn't for the fact that both of them are absolutely fine with each other, he'd assume that the two were hitting each other. But again, they were both fine. Hell, more than fine, they were great. Sometimes they even made jokes at breakfest or dinner about how clumsy the other was. Lance knew they weren't fighting. He knew it.
So, he was determined to get to the bottom of it. And for the past week, he'd been helping Alfred clean the house. At first, Alfred tried to tell him that it was alright, that he could take care of the house alone. But Lance was able to convince him to allow him to clean the first floor, and Alfred could get the rest. Lance figured that there must be something in this house that could explain Bruce and Dick's weird behavior.
He had no clue what he'd be looking for exactly, but anything out of place or odd was on the menu. And he also got to clean out of it. Which... He always found fun. His parents didn't understand it, but they also didn't question it. So, the few maids in the house taught him well. He could get any stain out of practically anything now. Alfred himself was nearly shocked the first day that Lance had cleaned the house. That got Alfred at least off of him, and he could go back to checking... For whatever it was that he was looking for.
After a full week though, he did feel extremely stupid about this. What was he even doing? It's not like he'd find a secret video camera that showed him exactly how Dick and Bruce were getting hurt. And he knows he's not going to find a secret tunnel or room. That's just crap on TV. Still, he cleans. And he looks.
On one particular day, as he's cleaning one of the many foyers in the house, he notices something. He's dusting right now. And there's a very fine, very small layer of dust around the room. Which, yeah that's normal. He hasn't dusted that stuff yet. But a grandfather clock on the other side of the room? It's perfectly clean. No dust, no dirt. Absolutely nothing. As if it's cleaned every day. But obviously the room isn't cleaned every day. So why was it so spotlessly clean?
Lance walked over to the clock, and looked it over. Oh, it's broken. Lance shakes his head. It's pretty old. Maybe Bruce's parents bought it and he cleans it himself? Maybe it has sentimental value? Well, if that's the case, Lance can leave it alone. Or at least he could, if he didn't notice the dirt inside the clock.
Lance sighs as he opens it up, and starts rubbing the face of the clock. He tries to not move the hands of the antique, but it's rather hard to do as he scrubs it down. About the same time that Lance finishes cleaning, he looks up to the hands. He frowns. He doesn't want Bruce to know he messed with it. If it's sentimental, he might not appreciate it. He starts to try to move the hands back to where they were before, but suddenly, there's a small click, and the grandfather clock pops open... Away from the wall... Like a secret tunnel. Lance blinks a few times.
"... Huh." He says, mildly shocked. Can't be right all the time he supposed. He turns around, and doesn't see anyone. Lance debates for all of five seconds before he gulps, and then starts to walk into the darkness. There's stairs, and it's pretty hard to see, but he's always done well in the dark, so he manages to make his way further and further down. He doesn't know exactly how long he walks, but once he hits the bottom of the stairs, lights suddenly turn on, and Lance audibly gasps.
He's in a large underground cavern. That isn't what's shocking him though. What's shocking him is the fact that he can clearly see the Batmobile just a few dozen yards away. And there's more too. A large waterfall is in the distance, and there's numerous desks and lockers and containers around. There's also an extremely large computer with about a few dozen more buttons around it than what Lance would expect.
But the biggest shock was when he turned, and saw a Batman and Robin suit in the corner, behind some glass. There was also a new suit too, one that had a blue bird on the front of it. Lance stalks over to the glass cases, his mouth wide open. He swallows air. Was... Was Bruce Batman? Does that mean Dick is Robin?
"Well, I must say, that I thought we'd last at least two months." Alfred's voice says from behind him. Lance whipped around, and nearly trips over himself.
"Mr. Pennyworth! I, uh, I didn't mean to-" The older man just smiles and walks over to Lance.
"I do believe dear boy, I told you to call me Alfred." The older man says, and then walks over to the large computer. He pushes a few buttons, and Bruce's voice can suddenly be heard.
"Alfred? Is there a problem? Why are you in the Cave?" Lance walks slowly over to Alfred, who just chuckles softly.
"I must say master Bruce, young master Lance is far more intelligent than we give him credit for." Bruce is silent for a moment, before sighing loudly.
"I'll be right down." He says, and Alfred turns back around to stare at Lance. Lance shifts awkwardly under his gaze.
"In my defense... That clock was extremely dirty?" He says questioningly. This time, Alfred doesn't chuckle. He laughs.
(...)
Bruce is down in the Cave not five minutes later. Lance is standing in front of the glass case containing the Batsuit. He turns around and tries to curl in on himself when he sees Bruce. He lamely waves at him.
"I uh, I didn't see anything. I promise?" He says, though he knows it comes out more like a question. Bruce just smiles and shakes his head.
"It took Dick three months to figure out I was Batman. And he'd interacted with me as both Bruce Wayne and the Batman." Bruce says, as he walks over to Lance. The young teen just stares up at Bruce. At Batman.
"You're... you're really cool." Lance blurts out. Bruce just huffs, seemingly trying to hold back laughter.
"I figured you'd figure it out eventually. But I didn't imagine you'd find the Cave." Bruce says, and Lance laughs awkwardly.
"I really like to clean?" He offers. Bruce's smile gets even wider.
"Tell you what. Let's get back upstairs and we can have a more honest conversation, alright?" Bruce asks, and Lance nods, as he follows Bruce, Batman, up the stairs.
(...)
Lance learns a lot over the next few months. How Bruce became Batman. How he adopted Dick. How Dick became Robin, and now was something new. Nightwing. It was a kryptonian legend of some sort. Apparently Bruce wasn't Superman's biggest fan.
Over the last few weeks, Lance has also gotten to clean the Batcave, and even helped Bruce and Alfred organize a bunch of their supplies. Bruce even let him throw a Batarang! It flew past the training dummy and went into the wall. Which apparently was better than Dick's first throw at least. Somehow it went over the edge into the water below.
Suffice to say, learning that Bruce was Batman was probably [read: Definitely] the best thing to ever happen to him. Ever. He was going down into the Cave when he heard Bruce and Dick getting into a... Well not an argument, but a rather heated discussion.
"-I won't put him in danger Dick."
"Then give him a year of training! You gave me six months!"
"That was only because I knew you wouldn't last longer than that without running off on your own." Lance heard them bicker more as he hit the bottom of the stairs.
"You guys ok?" He asks, and both turn to face him. Dick smiles.
"Oh yeah I'm good. Just trying to convince Bruce to make you Robin." Lance drops the Lysol in his hands. He then blinks.
"... What?" Bruce sighs heavily, and then runs a hand through his hair.
"What we are discussing is whether or not you should. And I'm not sure if I should-" Lance rushes up to him.
"I can be Robin?" He asks softly. Lance's heart is beating in his chest. Dick smiles down at him.
"Can you really say no to that face B?" Bruce looks down at Lance, and then his face turns grim.
"At least six months of training. We're also making sure you can throw Batarangs with accuracy. You're also not setting food outside the Cave without learning how to properly grapple." Lance quickly nods, and then looks between the two of them.
"Why... Why are you doing this for me?" Dick kneels down to him, and ruffles his hair.
"I can't be everywhere at once. The Teen Titans need me. I'm their leader." He says, and then stands up.
"Besides. Batman needs a Robin, after all." Bruce meanwhile, doesn't look convinced. He keeps his gaze on Lance.
"You can say no. In fact, I'd prefer you to. This life, it's not... It takes a toll on you. It's not something for the faint of heart." Lance chews on his lip. Again, five seconds is all it takes, before he smiles widely.
"I'll do it! I'll be the best Robin ever!" Dick laughs, and Bruce smiles.
This... It's not his family. Not his parents... Hell it's not even that trip to Singapore. But somehow... It's nice. Really nice.