Batman - no, at this moment he was Bruce Wayne. Let me do this again. Ahem.
Bruce Wayne was not happy. When his adopted son, Richard John "Dick" Grayson, came home, hair soaked wet by the rain, and showing off his small bumps of horns, Bruce could obviously tell something was wrong. He approached the boy with slight caution. You'd think having to raise a boy after a few years, he'd get used to situations like this. No, not really. Welcome to parenthood.
Dick look up at the adult, blue eyes glistening with wet tears. He wanted to hug Bruce so badly. He wanted to be comforted and to hear soothing words coming from the man. But that would show weakness. And devils do not show weakness.
But, Hell, he was already crying wasn't he?
He wrapped his arms around Bruce's neck and began to sob into his shoulder. Bruce did the awkward pat that almost any father could do at a moment like this, and the gently pushed the boy away to get a good a look at him. In a stern voice, but most definitely not the Batman voice, Bruce asked that simple question:
"Dick, what's wrong?"
Now, Dick didn't think that Bruce would ask that question, for some odd reason. He had thought that he would be able to just go to his room and that's it. But of course, Bruce had to be a father, didn't he? God, Bruce. He sighed, however the sigh was more of a hiccup and a sob combined to Bruce's ears.
"Nothing," The acrobatic said, hoping that answer would satisfy the other.
Of fucking course not. Dick hiccuped-sobbed-sighed again. He thought about how Bruce would take it if he told him that he was kicked off the team. Because, remember folks, Bruce Wayne was Batman. Not just any ol'Bat you can find at a convention. No. This was the goddamn Batman. The one true superhero that both villains and heroes fear.
Bruce narrowed his eyes, "Dick."
"..." Dick was scared. He didn't want his friends - could he even call them friends, still? - to get in trouble. "I..." But even if he didn't tell him, Bruce would find out what happened sooner or later. "...I was kicked off."
"You were what?"
"They saw me. At the warehouse. Well, okay, not really 'saw' me, but saw my power. I-I tried lying," He paused for a moment, taking a breath, "I tried lying, but they didn't believe me. Th-they sum'thins' up, Bruce." His tears painted his face in a clear coat, his pale cheeks shining by the chandelier light.
Again. Bruce Wayne was not happy. He pinched the bridge of his nose for a second and exhaled. "I'll make this right, Richard," Said he, nodding at his own statement. "There's no need to cry. This wasn't your fault."
Screw it. Devils officially now show weakness. The teen's lip trembled, "B... But, what if they don't like me any-"
"Do not say that. You've been friends with Wally for a long while, he wouldn't stop being your friend because you were kicked off the team."
Wally. Dear old, sweet Wallace. The boy who thought he knew Richard Grayson's backstory - but not really. The only true part about the 'Flying Graysons' was the death of his parents part. Everything else was basically a lie.
Lie.
The word felt sickening to the devil of pride/lust. Mostly pride. Wally's best friend, Dick, was actually just a lie in a body. The only person, besides Bruce and Alfred, that knew Dick for what he was is Roy Harper.
Let's take a moment and go to Roy, yeah?
Roy Harper is an angel. Not typically your kind, sweet, harp-playing (despite his last name) angel. No, Roy would probably be better as a demon than an angel, in Dick's opinion. But it is what it is. The angel lived on Earth like Dick, being more of a guardian angel to the devil, something that made the other angels a bit on edge about.
Roy was about 4,890,718 years old. More on less. But here on this planet, he'll be... eighteen. Yeah. He's about eighteen years old. Roy was always there for Dick. Literally. Like, right now. As Dick cried, the window of the manor seemed to open and in crawled Roy of Arc. He glanced at Bruce for a quit second, having a deep conversation with the man in that simple second, before kneeling beside Dick.
"Hey," Said the angel.
Dick looked at the archer. "Roy-"
"I know. It'll be alright, Dick," Roy gave a small ruffle of the black hair, minding the horns. "We'll fix this. I promise."
Angels never broke their promises, or that would be called 'lying'. Something that helpers of God should never do. Richard smiled. His smile broke not long after, and Roy pulled him into an embrace, rubbing the boy's back gently.
"It'll be okay, Dick."
(D)(E)(V)(I)(L)
So, I'd thought about bringing Roy into the story. As an angel. I don't know. Was that corny? Probably. But I hoped you liked it. It was more of a filler chapter than anything. So. Yup.
