"But I want one too!" Dick pleaded.
"No," Batman said again dryly, "I already told you you're too young for one."
"But all the other adults have a New Year's Resolution, even you! So why can't I have one?" Dick whined.
"Because if u made one you wouldn't keep up with it." Batman said not moving from his position in front of the screen in the monitor womb "you don't even know what a resolution is."
"I do too!" Dick protested as Batman had one eyebrow raised and turned to see Dick. "This morning in the kitchen, I was looking around and found a piece of paper. I asked Alfred what it was and he said it was YOUR New Year's Resolution! If you can do it, I can too!" Dick said racing out. Batman ran his hand through his hair and exhaled heavily "what am I going to do with him?" Bruce murmured.
Dick absolutely loved playing spy, almost as much as he loved proving Batman wrong. He glued his back to the wall and snuck through the halls of the watch tower. As he hummed the James Bond tune he overheard Green Arrow and Hawkgirl talking at a table in the coffee room.
"...yes!" She said, "I watch it every year!"
"Ya it just doesn't feel like new years without watching the ball drop does it?" Green Arrow said, "I'll be counting down the minutes today, make sure the news is on so I don't miss a second of it!" He said as he finished the last sip of his coffee, put it in the sink, and walked back to the table with Hawkgirl still seated.
"I'll page you as soon as I get word of when it starts okay?" She smiled.
"Awesome." Green Arrow replied as he nodded a farewell and left. What ball? Dick thought, and why was it on the news? Dick knew this was no time for spy stuff; he walked by Hawkgirl, waving happily, and then ran straight to the person who always had the right answers and knew everything.
"I hear Uncle Barry say of all the time!" Wally said casually, "At his house, the TV doesn't always work well so he calls the TV REPAIR MAN and that guy always tells us its bad resolution. So resolution must mean how well your TV looks!"
"But why do people make a NEW YEARS resolution?" Dick asked in the entertainment room where he had found Wally. Wally shrugged and thought for a moment.
"Maybe so they will see clear TV all year?" Wally suggested.
"Yeah! "Dick said excitedly, "Speaking of TV. I heard Green Arrow talking about this ball drop tonight on the news, do you know what that is?"
"Oh ya! It's like this giant ball of magic in New York and it's what makes the New Year start. If anyone doesn't watch it, then they'll be stuck in the past forever! That's why I watch it every year and that's probably why people have New Year's resolutions, so they can see the TV. perfectly and start the new year!" Wally said shutting down his game.
"Then we have to go fix all the TV's because if one of the leaguers doesn't see it in New York-"
"THEN THEY'LL BE STUCK FOREVER!" Wally exclaimed, "We have to go fix all the TVs now!" Dick nodded in agreement. As they hurried out the entertainment room forgetting there was a TV in the very room they were in.
They sat in the lobby wondering how to fix a TV. It was noon which meant they only had 11 hours and 59 minutes. Well, now 11 hours and 30 minutes because they were happily hiding behind the couch munching on Flash's cookies that had 'mysteriously disappeared'.
"How do you fix a TV?" Dick asked Flash in the kitchen after he had declared a cookie thief and settled for a crummy sandwich.
"Well," he said with one hand guarding his mouth so crumbs didn't pour out on the two boys, "you take the broken wire and put it back in, or you take the bad wire out. I mean that's what the TV guy told me."
Dick and Wally looked at eachother and smiled "thanks uncle flash!" They said as the left the room skipping. Flash just smiled at them then gobbled up the rest of his baloney sandwich.
Wally squirmed uncomfortably as they stuffed themselves behind the dark, heavy, wooden box that framed the big TV in the lobby of the Watch Tower.
"Okay..." Wally said looking down at all the long, tangled wires, "which one do we pull out?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure it's this one," Dick said touching a red wire connected to the TV, "because every time I help Batman hack stuff he always tells me to pull out the red wire and the alarms always say RED ALERT so red must mean bad."
Dick said as he yanked out the red wire and left it to dangle. Wally looked down at his suit, he wore red and he wasn't bad, he opened his mouth to protest when Dick said, "Except of course if you're WEARING red!" Dick said pointing to his chest, "then red is awesome!" They both smiled and examined the wires; a yellow, black, and white one remained while the rest were dull, grey, and unimportant.
"Maybe if we mix up the colors the New Year will be colorful!" Wally suggested.
"The world would be a RAINBOW!" Dick exclaimed as he pulled the three wires out. They put the yellow wire in the black slot, the white wire in the yellow slot, and the black wire in the white slot. Now they knew exactly what they would be doing, they squirmed out, high-fived eachother, and raced off to another TV.
10 red, yellow, black, and white wires, 3 grey tangled wires, and a spider web later it was time for dinner. (The spider web had been followed by 2 loud shrieks and a clear lie to Green Lantern about why they were behind the TV)
They two were dragged to the cafeteria by Batman and forced into the serving line. Roy came up behind them with a tray in his hands.
"What's up little dudes?" He said ruffling their hair.
"Oh nothing much..." Wally lied.
"Were just, you know... cleaning up around Watch Tower..." Dick said as he rocked on his heels holding his tray against his chest.
"Umm, okay then?" Roy chuckled.
They each peered over to see what was for dinner on New Year's Eve; pizza, cheesy, cheese pizza. Dick took 2 slices, Wally took 6, and Roy took 3. Since they were the only kids, they were given their own table for 'privacy'. They sat at their table and munched on their slices. Wally was finished with his 4th slice when Roy asked
"So what are ya'lls plans for New Years? Any Resolutions or something?"
Wally and Dick tensed at the word 'resolution'. They looked at eachother then back at Roy and smiled.
"Nah, everyone can see their TV's fine..." Dick said casually as Wally finished his last slice and Dick still had his other one on his plate.
"You going to finish that?" Wally asked, already picking up Dick's slice. Dick looked down at his stomach and put his hand over it as he made a face. "Awesome!" Wally replied with a mouthful of cheese. Roy and Dick chuckled looking at how happy Wally was with his 7th slice of pizza. Roy finished his third, wiped his face with a napkin, got up and threw his plate and tray, then came and sat back down.
"So, ya'll likin' winter break?" Roy asked trying to be as older brotherly as possible.
They shrugged as Wally zipped away with his and Dick's trash and was back in a second, literally.
"Well we got to go!" Wally said as he picked Dick up by the arm and put him on his feet. Dick was startled for a moment when Wally whispered, "We still have 8 more TV's to go! I found a map of the 'TV spots' in the Monitor Womb on Batman's computer and we only have 5 hours left! Dude we have to hurry or we'll all be stuck back in time!"
"Is everything alright?" Roy asked peering over to hear what they were saying.
"NO? WHAT? UMM YA EVERYTHINGS FINE!" Dick said nervously, "WERE OKAY ROY, HEH, JUST... UMM, REMEMBER TO WATCH THE BALL THINGY TONIGHT ON TV OKAY?"
'AND IF YOU'RE A REALLY GOOD BROTHER..." Wally added, "YOU WILL MAKE SURE TO TELL EVERYONE IN THIS CAFETERIA TO WATCH IT TOO! PLEASE ROY! OKAY BYE!" Wally said as he threw Dick on his back and raced out in an instant.
Roy was so puzzled, 'what was the big thing about the New Year's ball in New York? And why were they so eager to watch it?' he put the thought aside because he had made a vow to himself that he would be a real older brother now, and brothers listened to one another. He knew it might be embarrassing, but he went to each and every table, telling them they MUST watch the New Year's ball drop, no one really listened till he added 'Dick will never speak to you again if you don't' so that added a lot of pressure and everyone nodded and smiled and promised.
Dick and Wally were beat. They threw themselves on the couch in the lobby after finishing each TV with 15 minutes to spare till 12 am, New Year's Day. They knew they had did a bang-on job but still they heard loud complaining in the hallways. Hawkgirl, Green Arrow, Flash, and Batman all came into the lobby with a bowl of popcorn in Flash's hands and candy in Green Arrows. The other leaguers had found a TV in other rooms to watch with several other leaguers but neither Dick nor Wally could hear the sweet and beautiful sound of television. Green Arrow set the candy on the table and grabbed the remote. Wally and Dick were ready to see how amazing the TV would look; they didn't even have time to check it themselves. They watched as Green Arrow hit the ON button repeatedly with no returning result.
"Great, its 10 minutes till New Years and the out of all days the TV decides to not work TODAY..." Green Arrow said, clearly flustered.
Robin and Kid Flash shared extremely nervous looks, they got up abruptly and tried tip-toeing out when they were stopped by a slow and loud
"ROBIN..."
The two kids turned around to see Oliver, Bruce, Barry, and Shayera giving them the 'what did you guys do this time?' Stare.
"W-we were only trying to help!" Dick said defensively.
"We fixed up the TVs so you guys would get good resolution, the best New Year's Resolution." Wally said.
"What does the TV have to do with New Year's Resolutions?" Bruce asked firmly.
"Well... uncle Barry said that resolution means how well TV looks so we pulled out some wire and mixed them up and stuff so you guys would get nice resolution on New Year's." Dick said as he hung his head low.
The 3 grownups eyes turned to Flash as he nervously sunk down in the couch.
"Heh..." Barry hesitated, "that's not EXACTLY what I said..."
"Ugh let's just go watch it in another room." Hawkgirl groaned.
"Wait," Batman stopped her, "how many TVs did you fix?"
"Umm..." Robin rocked on his heels as he felt sweat trickle down his eyebrow, "the computer in the monitor womb and well, all of the TVs but-"
Bruce sighed heavily when Robin mentioned the computer when,
"What did you do?" Superman asked as he stormed in looking at Batman, "is this some kind of joke Bruce? Everyone is complaining about their TVs!"
"Is there a TV you guys didn't break?" Batman asked the two boys as he and the other three stood up.
Robin and Kid Flash looked out into space for a moment recalling when the both shouted out,
"THE ENTERTAINMENT ROOM!" Wally and Dick ran to the room, which was surprisingly empty, and pressed the ON button where the saw a brunette news reporter in New York City.
"- and in less than 5 minutes, 2013 will be here!" And it went on break. Seconds later, Flash, Superman, and Batman were in the room as well.
"Okay this is the only TV working so you have to gather as many leaguers as you can RIGHT NOW!" Wally exclaimed. Without a word, Superman and the others nodded and raced out while Kid Flash and Robin went and got as many snacks and drinks as possible.
With a mere 2 minutes to spare, they had managed to cram 45 or so leaguers in the room along with Roy in the back. They all huddled around the 40 by 45 inch TV in anticipation munching on chips and candy or sipping on soda. The excitement filled the room as the countdown began and the leaguers chanted along.
Dick saw Oliver and Roy laughing over something in the back and Wally was on Barry's lap, where was Batman? Dick started to panic, if his dad wasn't here, his life would be over! He searched through the people but Bruce was nowhere to be seen. Dick watched the TV in horror as they counted.
"...7...6...5...4...3...2...1!" Cheering and shouting exploded through the room. He decided to greet everyone a happy new year as they left though he was just checking for Batman.
He stood at the door, waving at everyone and when the room was finally empty, there was still no Batman. Dick shot out the door and looked everywhere upstairs, and he knew Batman wouldn't be in the Monitor Womb because he said that Gotham was doing fine earlier. Dick raced through the lobby, the coffee room, the lounge, the cafeteria and everywhere in between. There was no sign of him. Dick went and sat in one of the wooden chairs that paired a small wooden table in the lounge, he held back his tears as he realized the terrible truth.
"Dad didn't see the TV..." he whispered to himself, "so Dad... must be stuck all the way back in time!"
Dick sobbed helplessly. He folded his arms and dug his face into it as he rested his head on the table. He heard the people walk from behind him whispering to one another and asking whether they should do something about him. He wept and cried and moaned at the loss of his dad. After 20 long and loud minutes, he felt a hand on his right shoulder and one on his left. He wiped his tears as his eyes glowed red and whimpered a small
"...yes?"
He looked up; on his right shoulder was Flash, Kid Flash, and Superman. Then to his left was Green Arrow and Speedy; all looking at him with deep worry.
"What's wrong?" Superman asked kindly.
"M-my dad... he, he's..." Dick stammered as he wiped more tears, "he's..."
"Stuck in time forever..." Wally completed his sentence softly as he too was very stunned now.
The three adults and the Roy all stared in shock and confusion at the two boys. Dick got up and ran straight to Batman's room in the Watch Tower. He opened the door then slammed it behind him; he locked it too. The boy threw himself onto Bruce's bed and hugged his pillow. He cried and cried and cried at his lost father. He missed him so much, he cried himself to sleep.
Dick woke up and stretched out his arms. For a second he didn't know why he was here, and then he remembered the date; January 1st. That meant yesterday was New Year's Eve, the last day he saw his father. Dick opened the door and walked to the coffee room in his wrinkled Robin suit. Batman and Robin would always go to the coffee room first thing in the morning to eat donuts and sometimes Robin would talk about his dreams. Now he had no one to talk to, he came into the room and sat down at a table in the corner. He could feel Green Arrow, Superman, and Flash staring at him as he got up to get his favorite chocolate donut. Dick sat back down when the 3 adults stood up and walked over to him.
"Hey sport..." Flash said awkwardly, though Dick didn't even bother to look up, "Wally explained to us what you guys were doing yesterday..."
Just then Wally and Roy came running in to the room.
"Hey! You, you're awake!" Roy said panting.
Wally ran up to Dick and said
"Wanna race around a bit?" he said excitedly.
Dick nodded no and made a sad face, and with his donut in his hand, he dragged his feet out the door, sheepishly, and started out when Roy patted him on the back.
"But we have a super awesome surprise for you!" Roy said as he and Kid Flash hopped in front of Dick and the three superheroes stood behind him.
"You'll love it!" Wally said as he attempted to cheer the small boy up.
"I don't wanna..." Dick murmured as he pushed the two to the side.
"Well too bad!" Flash said suddenly. He grabbed Dick by the stomach as they all the Superheroes and sidekicks ran together. Dick actually felt the muscles on his face form a smile for a second, but then he reminded himself that nothing could replace his dad.
After a while of running, Wally hopped in front of everyone and said
"Now Dick, this is the part where you close your eyes..."
Dick gave a slight nod and a small smile of agreement as he did what his red head friend said and they continued to run.
After a while of running, Dick started to wonder what was so exciting, and then he found out.
"OPEN YOUR EYES!" Roy exclaimed.
Dick's face lit up to the maximum. His smile stretched across from ear to ear. He ran up from behind the man who had been kneeling down and jumped on his back. The man got up and chuckled.
"What's up Dickey? It's just me!"
The man got up and cradled the boy in his arms
"Don't ever leave me again daddy..."
"I didn't leave you! I was fixing the computer!"
"Don't leave me..."
the boy whispered as he fell asleep.
A few minutes later, the boy was out and the leaguers and the two sidekicks talked for a while.
"Why was he so happy to see me?" Bruce asked looking back at Dick again who had been sleeping in his chair.
"Because Dick and I thought," Wally answered, "that a new year's resolution meant that your TV had to look good for the New Year and anyone who didn't watch the ball of magic that made the year start drop in NYC then they would be stuck in time forever."
"So when you weren't in the entertainment room, well the kid thought he lost his father." Green Arrow explained.
"That's absurd!" Bruce laughed.
"No seriously," Superman said, "the boy really thought you were dead."
"Oh...".Bruce said quietly. He looked back at Dick and smiled, "thanks guys, I really appreciate what you did for him." He waved goodbye as they left the monitor womb.
Then he went to his computer and looked for a certain piece of paper. At the top it read NEW YEARS RESOLUTION. He only had a few things on it such as "treat Alfred nicer " or "manage Wayne enterprises better" he added one more thing to his short list. He put a star by it, circled it, underlined it, and highlighted it. The resolution read "be the best father a boy could have." He hid the paper again and kissed the boys forehead.
"Yes... this year will be great..." he whispered to himself with a smile.
A/N: I WARNED YOU ABOUT DADDYBATS! Lol, but i hope you liked it! Tell me what you think cuz that would help and if you have an idea for a chapter, i'd be more than happy to turn it into one! Thanks!