"Who is that?"
"Aw man this-this is classic!"
"Batman?"
Bruce had just walked in through the teleporter with a small dirty boy in his arms, he looked very sad as he silently waked towards the computer,
"I'll explain soon but it's been a long night and i need to get home, we need to get home."
He set course on the computer for the Bat Cave and was about to leave when Superman came in,
"Batman! What are you doing? Who is the boy?"
"It's a long story Superman,"
"Well can you at lest tell us his name?"
Batman seemed to freeze then turned back to the portal.
"That's just it,"
"What's just it?"
"That's just it, i don't know his name,"
Before anyone could say another word he went through the portal.
"Thanks for the update!" Flash called behind him.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion, finally Superman spoke up.
"You heard Batman, he'll explain everything to us in the morning. Let's get back to work."
"Finally, home."
Bruce took off his mask and called Alfred,
"Oh Dear heavens! What happened to this boy!"
"He's ok, he just needs a bath and a snack, can you go make him something?"
"Um, yes sir be back in a jiff."
When Alfred left Bruce leaned over the boy,
"Um...kid, wake up, kid," he whispered
"Ugh..."
The boy lazily opened his eyes,
"Hi, your at my house, I'm going to clean you up and put you in some pajamas then you can go to sleep ok?"
"Ok," The boy sad sleepily.
"But to do that I need to know your name,"
"My name is Dick, Dick Grayson, but my Mommy and Daddy call me Dicky or Little Bird."
"Ok Dicky, can i call you Dicky?"
He nodded,
"Alright let's get you too the bathroom where you can get a bath ok?"
"Ok"
Dick wobbled to his feet and grabbed Bruce's hand, Bruce flinched but let him hold it on his way up the stairs. They went into the bathroom, Dick undressed and got in the tub while Bruce helped scrub the sleepy kid. When Dick was done he raped him in a towel and told him to stay put while he goes to get him one of his big shirts. He slipped a big black shirt over his neck and held his hand as they walked down to the kitchen where Alfred was waiting with the warm cookies and milk.
"Do you like cookies?"
"mmmmhmmm"
Dick climbed up onto the chair and started munching on the cookies while Bruce watched him with a worried look.
"Master Bruce, maybe while he eats you can clean up yourself?"
"No Alfred i have to make sure he's ok,"
"Sir i promise he'll be fine after my care,"
"Um..."
Bruce looked at Dick one last time before saying,
"Ok, i'll be right ba-"
"NOO!"
Dick jumped down and ran over to hug Bruce,
"Don't leave!"
"Uh...I'll promise I'll be back,"
"NO! That's what Mommy and Daddy said!"
He could see the boy was starting to cry,
"Ok i won't go,"
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"But Sir you need to-"
"I'll be fine Alfred, go on Dick, go eat your cookies. I'll be right here."
Dick wouldn't let go,
"Come here,"
He picked him up and carried him over to a sink. Bruce dabbed a napkin,
"Look here Dicky,"
Dick looked at him as Bruce dabbed his eyes,
"I'm right here, your ok,"
"Can i go to bed now?"
"Sure, in the morning i'll show you around the house ok?"
"Ok,"
"But Mr. Wayne-"
"I'll wash up in my room Alfred."
"Can i sleep in your room?" Dick said with dopy little eyes.
"Of course you can. I'll be in my room if you need me Alfred. Let's go Dicky,"
He carried him up to his room and put the boy in his bed.
"I'll be right back I'm just going to wash my face really-"
"NO! I mean, please can you sleep with me?"
"Uh...Ok Dick,"
He laid down with the little boy with his arms around him and pulled up the covers.
"It's ok Dick, I'm right here, I'm right here."
Bruce opened his eyes, he looked around. Ugh, i didn't change out of my suit last night and I'm covered in dirt. Bruce got up and took a shower, changed into some sweats then looked at his room. Am i missing something? Bruce looked all over his room, why is it such a mess? Dicky! Bruce ran all around his room calling for him. Then all through the hall and down and up stairs, through the kitchen and around the living room,
"DICK! DICKY! DICKY WHERE ARE YOU!"
His voice was growing into a panic,
"DICKY!"
Then he ran into Alfred,
"Sorry Master Bruce,"
"Oh sorry..." Bruce said detracted
"Have you seen Dick?" He was looking around the dining room as he said so,
"Oh i don't believe i have,"
"Ok well keep an eye out for him ok?"
"Ok but sir i heard him i think in your room last time i checked,"
"What? i was just in there i didn't see him."
"Well it was about 5 minutes ago i heard some ruffling up there, i would check again if i were you,"
"Fine ok i'll be right back,"
Bruce ran up the stairs to his room and saw some of his pillows were gone,
"Dick? You in here?"
He ducked under the bed and there he was, curled up in a ball with blankets and pillows surrounding him. Bruce sighed in relief,
"Dicky, wake up," Bruce said as he shook his shoulder,
"Wa-"
He looked around,
"Mr. Wayne? Is everything ok?"
"Yes Dicky, everything is fine, hurry up and get dressed, Alfred got you some new clothes,"
"Where are we going?"
"I'm going to show you where i work, the Watch Tower,"
"Isn't that where the super heroes go?"
"Yes,"
"Who are you?"
"Come here and i'll show you," He said with a smile,
They walked into the library part of the house.
"But this is just a bunch of books Mr. Wayne,"
Bruce just smiled as he walked towards the B section and pulled on a book about bats. When he did this the book shelf opened and in front of them lead a long stairwell,
"Wow..."
"Remember don't tell anyone about this ok?"
Dick just nodded as Bruce lead him down the stairs into a large cave with computers, cars and weapons. Dick let go of Bruce's hand and started running around looking at stuff yelling,
"What does this do!"
And,
"What is it!"
Then finally the kid ran up to the display cases where he puts his Batman suits,
"Y-your...y-your..."
Dick turned around and look straight into Bruce's eyes,
"YOUR BATMAN!"
"The one and only," He said,
"Now i know it's going to be hard to tell me cause you probably want to forget it but i need to know what you where talking about last night before i take you to the WatchTower,"
The boy's smile disappeared, Please don't cry i can take the crying, please don't cry,
"Well two men wanted money from the Ringmaster,"
"Do you remember why? I need to know everything,"
Bruce could see the boy was reluctant, like if he told him he would be hunted down or something. Bruce sat down on the table in which Dick had climbed on.
"Look, you can tell me anything. No one's going to hurt you, your safe here."
The boy looked up at him,
"Ok well they were saying something about protection. Then the Ringmaster wouldn't pay so the other two said he would regret it."
"Thank you Dicky, you did a good thing, now what's your favorite color, Alfred got some new clothes for you in every color."
"Ok, uh green no yellow, wait wait no red, or black *GASP* Black, my cape! Where did it go!"
He started running around looking for it,
"Alfred can you bring down the boy's cape!"
"Right on it sir!"
"Don't worry he'll be back in no time."
"Ok,"
"But in the mean time what color do you like? And don't pick over 1."
"Red then,"
"Is that it?"
"Yep i love red."
Alfred came down with the cape in his hands,
"Here you are sir, a freshly ironed cape,"
"Thank you!"
He picked up the cape and put it around his neck, he held it out and started to flap and giggle. Then he stopped.
"What's wrong Dicky?"
"When ever i flapped my cape Mommy and Daddy used to call me their little bird, but now..."
"But now I get to call you my little bird," Bruce smiled.
Dick raced up to Bruce's legs and started hugging him, Bruce leaned down to hug him to but then Alfred said,
"Master Bruce, it's already 10:30, so you probably need to-"
"Yes yes, i'll hurry. Ok Dick what animals do you like?"
"Uh...I like birds,"
"You do, well let me look in here and find you a red shirt with birds,"
The longer he dug in the pile the more he thought there wasn't going to be one, then he remembered his trip to the zoo when his parents got him a shirt 3x his size that only now fits him. Even though it's big it still exactly what he wants.
"I'll be right back Dick,"
Before Dick could protest Bruce was racing up the stairs and into his room. It took him about 2 minutes to find the shirt and when he did there was a loud crash that came from below, he raced all the way back down till he was in the Bat Cave staring at a broken cup in the middle of the floor with Alfred cleaning it up and Dick stand in the black with tears growing in his eyes.
"What's wrong Dick?"
"I saw that Mr. Alfred made you coffee and i wanted to bring it to you but then it fell and i didn't mean to don't be mad please," The boy was very close to crying now,
"No no no no it's no problem for me to clean it up, you were just trying to be helpful," Alfred said with a forgiving face,
"It's ok Dicky, i have plenty of cups."
Bruce patted his head,
"Look what i got you, i know its big but i hope it will work,"
Dick's frown turned into a smile as he held the soft shirt with black birds traced along it.
"Alright, there's a bathroom right in there where you can get dressed, here's your clean jeans. Come out when your done ok?"
"Ok,"
It was about 5 seconds till he was back out with the shirt, pants and cape on. He looked down at his bare feet,
"Can i have some shoes?"
"Yes I think i have some green shoes in your size when i was a kid, it's got to be somewhere in this box, here we go!,"
Dick slipped on the shoes and looked up at Bruce.
"What is it?"
"I don't know how to tie my shoes,"
"That's ok, here i'll do it for you,"
When Bruce finished tying them the boy asked how they were going to get to the WatchTower,
"Easy like this,"
He got on his computer typed in WatchTower, then the teleporter opened up,
"Woh!" Dick said as he looked into it.
"How does it work?"
"We just walk through like this-"
"Wait! Your suit!"
"Oh yeah, be right back,"
He slipped on the suit and ran back into the cave,
"Ok ready?"
"Um..."
"Come on all you have to do is-"
"Wait!"
"What's wrong?"
"I-i'm scarred."
"It's ok, you just have to walk right through it and then-"
"But what if something goes wrong?"
"Nothing is going to go wrong,"
"But what if-"
"Did you trust me?"
"What?"
"Did you trust me when i took you to my house?"
"Yes,"
"Did anything bad happen?"
"No,"
"Then do you trust me to go to the WatchTower?"
There was a long pause,
"Yes,"
"Here, i'll go first. You come in after me ok?"
"Ok,"
Batman took one last look at Dick before he went into the portal.
"Batman!" Flash yelled as he walked out of the portal,
"Where have you been? Your over 3 hours late." Superman replied,
"Look it was a long night i had-"
"No excuses why are you late?"
"Well-"
Right then Dick jumped out of the portal and landed beside him,
"That was so cool!"
He started running around Batman saying,
"Can We do it again!, Can we do it again!"
"Dicky, stop just a second," Bruce said while looking down at him, Dick nodded.
"Who's that?"
"It's a long story." Batman looked exhausted.
"Well, can we have a meeting about it?"
"Just a second. Dicky, lets get you some breakfast ok?"
"Ok! Can i have some donuts?"
"Yes, you can whatever you like," He walked Dick down into the kitchen,
"That was just, wow." Flash said as he watched the kid stick right next to Batman.
"I'll go talk to him," Superman caught up to them,
"Bruce, look you need to talk, we-"
"I don't "need" to do anything,"
"We need to talk about the child."
"What do you mean?"
"We need to find a suitable home for him."
"What make's my home unsuitable?"
"Look we just need to make sure he has the proper care and-"
"What are you trying to say?"
"We need to know why your keeping him."
"Why not!" Bruce accidentally yelled that part.
Dick had stopped and was looking up at him. Clark was gesturing toward the conference room.
"Look, i'll be right back Dicky i just have to-"
"No!"
Dick started hugging him and not letting go,
"I promise I'll be right back."
"But that's what Mommy and Daddy said-"
"I'm not Mommy and Daddy, I'm Batman, and Batman always keeps his promises."
Dick looked up at him,
"Always?"
"Always."
"Ok,"
"Clark, where is Hawk Woman? She love kids right?"
Clark grabbed his communicator and called for her, when Hawk Woman came she said,
"Aw look at him! He's adorable!"
Dick looked up at her and backed up behind Batman's cape. Batman let a smile escape from his face in the WatchTower, which he has never let happened before.
"It's ok Dick, she's not going to hurt you she just thinks your very handsome,"
Dick smiled and shyly waved a hello.
"Do you think you can get him some breakfast while i'm working?"
"I would love to!" Hawk Woman leaned down, "What do you like for breakfast?"
"I like donuts,"
"Good cause Flash has a huge box of donuts from around the world let's go!"
When Bruce was satisfied that Dick was happy he turned back to Superman,
"Lead the way,"
"Does anyone have any questions?" Batman asked,
"Can you repeat that?" Flash asked with a confused look on his face,
" *SIGH* Ok so this boy, Dick, his parents are the act, The Flying Graysons. Last night they were murdered because of Zucco's group. They wanted protection money from the circus but the Ringmaster said he wouldn't pay so they did something to the ropes making the Graysons fall to their deaths. I took him home to make sure he was ok cause my parents died when i was young too. Do you understand now Flash?"
"Sorta,"
"Well that will have to work cause we need to talk about getting the boy in proper care," Superman replied
"What do you mean proper care?" Bruce questioned.
"I mean we need to find some parents for him,"
"Why not me? Not to be rude but he's gotten very attached to me,"
"It's only been 1 day,"
"I know, and that was the 1 day he attached to me,"
"Look, it's for the best Bruce, how are you going to provide for him?"
"With my billionaire company that's how Clark."
"But you can't give him the one thing he desperately needs,"
"And what's that?"
"A loving father,"
"Do you think i don't care about him?"
"I know you care but between you, your company, your solo hero gig and being a member of the Justice League how are you going to be there for him?"
"I will,"
"Look i know a great orphanage where we can-"
"No! Dicky's- this kid's parents just died we can't give him away,"
"No that's exact exactly why we need to give him away, this way he'll have new parents in no time."
"I can't just tell him he has to leave, think of how he's going to feel?"
"He won't understand right now but when he gets older then he'll be happy to live with such caring parents."
Batman was beat, what else could he say that didn't make him sound weak or desperate, but i am desperate, i can't let him go, he thought,
"Fine, but you have to tell him,"
"No problem."
Superman got up and went out the door, Batman walked up and peaked around the corner.
Dick had finished his donuts and was talking about how great Mr. Wayne is at the 25 foot long table.
"Dick?" Superman asked
"Yes,"
"Um...well it's been a great time having you here and now we're going to take you to a place where you can get a Mommy and Daddy who will be super happy to have-"
"NO! Mr. Wayne said he would take care of me,"
"Well see you-"
"But i want Mr. Wayne! I want him to be my Daddy!"
Bruce's heart broke as the boy went into a sob, he fell to the ground and kept crying and crying. He could tell Clark did feel bad for what he was doing. Bruce couldn't take it, he ran up to Dick's side and held him in his arms.
"Dicky it's going to be ok, you'll find some great new parents to-"
"I don't want new parents, i want you." Dick looked up at him with sad eyes.
Bruce wished there was something he could do or say that would make everything for this boy ok.
Bruce looked up at the blank ceiling, this is the 5th time in a row this has happened since he got rid of Dick. Nothing felt right anymore. He would lay awake thinking about it for hours. Tonight he couldn't take it, he was going to talk to Clark now.
Bruce got into his suit then went to the WatchTower. The room was pitch black with no one there, he walked down the halls till he got to the monitor room where Superman was on watch duty.
"Clark, we need to talk,"
"About what?"
"About Dick Grayson."
"Look i know you we attached to him but-"
"Is there anything I can do? Quit the league? Quit Batman what?"
"You would really quit Batman for this boy?"
"Don't tell anyone, but yes."
"Look Bruce i think maybe you should-"
Sirens started going off,
"Whats going on?" Bruce asked,
Superman typed something on the computer,
"Oh no..."
"What is it?"
"You won't like it but a group who works for Zucco is attacking the orphanage."
"We need to get there NOW!"
"What, do you know what's happening?"
"Zucco knows about Dick and he's going to get him to keep quite, that's why we have to go right now!"
Bruce left right away while Superman had to explain to Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Red Tornado everything and catch up.
When Superman got there half of the building was in ruins while the other one was on fire, Bruce had just pulled up,
"Batman! You cover the right flank with Green Lantern and Flash while i-"
"I'M GOING AFTER DICK!"
Bruce completely ignored Superman's protests and ran into the burning building.
"DICK! DICK ARE YOU IN HERE! DICK! DICKY!"
He ran around the rooms opening doors and looking though everything,
"DADDY!"
At once Batman raced toward the cry,
"DADDY HELP! DADDY!"
"I'M COMING DICKY!"
When he got to Dick he was stunned of what he saw,
"The great and powerful Dark Night, the one who almost ran me out of business. And Right now i have his precious son in my hands,"
Zucco was standing with a gun pointed at Dick's chest. No...
"You probably wondering why in the world would i come here instead of sending someone, well there was someone else and then this guy," Gestured to Dick, "Kept saying how Batman was going to save him, that his Daddy was going to save him. His dad is Batman. I thought he was just making up stories since i killed his dad, when i told him that he started saying the Batman was his new Daddy. But when i saw you pull up like 5 seconds after i knew it had to be true. So that's when i waited for you. So what should i do first?"
He started to swing the gun around Dick, he then stopped and put his finger on the trigger.
"NOOO!" Bruce yelled accidentally out of his normal Batman like voice.
"Oh so he is your son, isn't he? Well if he is then maybe i could make you suffer by killing him? Or i could keep him hostage so you'll quit Batman?"
He started to reach down to pick up the boy.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Batman started running up to Zucco but then he placed the gun right up on his chest.
"Are you sure you want to do that?"
Bruce stopped and watched helplessly as Zucco put his finger on the trigger.
"DADDY!"
"Dicky it's ok, you going to be fine,"
"Aw how sweet, but i have something else in mind,"
Zucco stood up and pulled the trigger, as he did so Bruce kicked his stomach which made him miss but he skimmed Dick's arm making it bleed on the side. Dick cried in pain as he covered it with his hand. Bruce ran over to Dick,
"Don't worry, i'm here Dicky, i'm here."
"No your not!"
Zucco shoved him across the room,
"DADDY! DON'T HURT HIM!"
Dick got up and started punching at Zucco's legs.
"Don't worry, I'm only going to hurt you little brat."
Zucco picked him up and held him over the ledge.
"DADDY!"
Batman turned to see him squirming in Zucco's arms, he stood up and started running towards him.
"Na ah ah! Don't take another step,"
Zucco losened his grip on Dick.
"Please, don't hurt him."
"Begging from Batman? This must be my birthday, but it would be even better to see you cry,"
He then let go of Dick,
"AHHHHHHHH!"
"DICK!"
Bruce jumped over the ledge and caught him before he landed.
"Another day Batman, another day!"
Zucco then disappeared. Bruce looked down at his cape where Dick laid holding his arm and crying.
"Dicky are you all right?"
Before he could answer a giant flaming wall started falling towards them. Bruce jumped out of the way but while doing it Dick started to fall again,
"DADDY!"
Bruce grabbed Dick's cape he was wearing and pulled him back up. The building started shaking, This building's about to collapse, we have to get out of here, now. Bruce looked around for and exit. Then the ground under Dick broke off, he then smacked about 3 feet below him.
"Dicky, stay there. I'm coming to get you."
He jumped down and scoped him up. Bruce ran down the burning hall and jumped out of the window with the boy in his arms. The building exploded behind them.
Superman saw the building explode, Bruce... He flew around the building with the others close behind till the saw a black shape sitting on the ground. When they went over there Batman was holding Dick in his arms while Dick cried and said,
"It's alright Dicky, your safe i got you, i'll never let go of you, never again."
THE END