Chapter 19

Walking down the steps in front of his mentor, Dick can feel himself begin to sweat. He hoped he sounded nonchalant about what he had said in the office upstairs. He also hoped that the search he had started five minutes earlier would not have been a waste of time.

Stepping off of the stairs, Dick attempts a smile toward Alfred, who is dusting the chemical area of the Batcave.

"Any beeps?" asks the boy, having set the 'computer to beep if any names popped up.

"Nothing yet, Master Dick."

Shaking his head, Dick can feel the pressure of having his mentor be in the 'cave. Maybe this wasn't such a bright idea to let Bruce know what I was thinking. It'll suck big time to have him watch as nothing happened.

Sitting down in front of the 'computer, Dick glances at the screen to see what the program has only run through seventy percent of the names listed in the database. As he stared, the boy watched as more and more names passed the fingerprint test he was running. As the percentage completed started to climb into the ninetieth percentile, Dick began to lose faith in his idea.

"Dick, it was a good idea…" starts Bruce, but stops as he hears the 'computer beep.

Jerking his gaze down to the screen, Bruce reads the name listed and the picture that accompanies the name.

"Yarsmith, Trevor," says Dick quietly, sensing that Alfred has left the dusting and stepped up behind the boy in the chair.

"My word, Master Bruce!" exclaims the butler. "That man works for you!"

"The fingerprinting would be require, for him to be employed as a security officer at Wayne Tech," says Dick quietly, glancing away from the 'computer to look up at his mentor, whose gaze is fixed on the screen.

"Yes, Dick," replies the cold voice from the man staring at the computer. "But you're wrong about one thing, Alfred."

"Sir?" asks the butler, glancing at his employer.

"That man doesn't work for me any more. I fired him two weeks ago for brutality," says Bruce, taking his gaze away from the 'computer to stare at his ward.

"What happened, Bruce?" asks the boy, staring up at his mentor.

"Ex-military. I hired him after he retired. I thought he would make an excellent Assistant Chief of Security at Wayne Tech. He had been on the job for less than a month when the complaints started to come in."

"Complaints, sir?" asks the butler, glancing between the 'computer screen and his employer.

"Being rough with the assistants and secretaries. Usually nothing that could be completely identified as doing something wrong," says the billionaire turned crime fighter, sneering on the last word. "Finally something was caught on camera.

"Pam from Human Relations used her security card to enter the building and she held the door for another secretary who had walked up behind her. Yarsmith let the second woman go, but called to Pam. As soon as the secretary walked around the corner, Yarsmith backed Pam against the wall. Since the cameras don't use audio, Pam let me know what followed from there.

"Pam said that Yarsmith was furious over her allowing the other woman to get through a secured door using Pam's pass card. Pam tried to explain that she's worked with the other woman for years now and was just trying to be friendly.

"Yarsmith began to push her around in the halls, not happy with her answers. He grabbed and slammed Pam twice into the wall behind her. Luckily, McDonald had been keeping an eye on Yarsmith due to the complaints. McDonald brought Yarsmith to me immediately and, since McDonald was Chief of Security, it was decided to let Yarsmith go that day. I wasn't going to employ a bully," finishes Wayne.

"He's pissed because he lost his job?" asks Dick, glancing over at the screen and the man's face on it.

"But, why hurt Master Dick?" asks Alfred, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"During the last meeting, Yarsmith said that the only way to control people was through fear. It's no secret that I care about my ward," says Bruce, placing a hand on Dick's other shoulder. "He wants to control me through my fear for you."

"He doesn't know you very well," says Dick. "No one controls you."

Nodding his head, Bruce gives the Dick's shoulder a quick squeeze before dropping his hand back to his side.

"It ends now," says Bruce, staring at the screen and the man shown upon it. "I know who you are, you son of a bitch. No more!"