The Start of a Good bye
"Ouch! Easy Alfred, that still hurts!" Yelped the boy wonder. The old butler just raised an eyebrow at the young master before continuing to change his bandages.
"Then, next time Master Richard, you shall be more careful when defying the master's order and staging a coup with your friends now, won't you?" The butler scolded, even though he didn't seem too upset about the ordeal that happened at the Hall of Justice, he did worry when Batman came back with a battered and bruised Robin. Dick smiled sheepishly at the old man and made sure not to make another complaint.
"Sorry to make you worry, Alfred." The butler merely gave the boy a small smile before he finished wrapping the bandages around his small but growing body.
"Apology accepted, Master Richard, but I don't think I am the one in need of an apology." He glanced up at the stairs leading up towards the manor.
Dick became a little nervous at the suggestion but he knew that what the butler said (or implied) was true. He did defy the Batman's orders, but he had a good reason to... right? He didn't mean to worry his mentor or anything like that. He just wanted to be seen as Batman's partner, and that whole thing that happened at the Hall of Justice just made it seem as if maybe Batman didn't see him as one. Maybe Roy was right and the adults (Batman) just saw them (him) as nothing more than sidekicks. He wasn't Batman's sidekick, he was his partner there's a difference. Big difference. "He's not that upset... is he?" Dick asked, slightly biting his lower lip.
Alfred's eyes softened at the nervous gesture and gave him a small encouraging smile before ushering him up the stairs saying, "He can never truly be angry at you, young Master." And that gave the boy wonder a small amount of courage, enough to go upstairs.
He smiled brightly at Alfred and made his way up towards the manor's den. He looked around the room to see if Bruce was there first, and when there was no sight of him, he decided to head to the older man's study. On the way down the hall he thought about how to apologize.
'Should I start with the puppy eyes or with the quivering lower lip. The puppy eyes usually work, but the quivering lips seal the deal almost all the time.' He stopped when he was in front of the study and suddenly, the small courage that Alfred had given him, had vanished. He raised his hand to knock, but before he could the voice on the other side of the door said, "Come in." He became nervous again, but swallowed the lump in his throat and opened the door.
Bruce looked up when he saw the door open and got up from his chair. "You're ready to head out now?" he asked. Robin nodded.
"Then let me get ready and then we'll go meet your new... team." Dick winced slightly at the way Bruce had paused momentarily before saying the word 'team'. The way he said it didn't sound that good either. Dick nodded once again, trailing behind the Dark Knight heading back to the cave.
Once his mentor was suited up, they both walked to the zeta tube located inside the cave. But before they got in, Dick grabbed onto Batman's gloved hand and paused their walk towards the transporter.
Batman raised an eyebrow, inquiring a silent 'What?' Dick went to bite his lip, stops himself, opens his mouth, closes it, and bites his lip again and looks away. The Dark Knight, somewhat worried, knelt down a bit to face his young ward and put his hand on the side of his face, taking off his sunglasses with his other hand, and gently moved his face to make Dick look him in the eye. "What's wrong?"
Dick tries to look away again but the hand on his face grips him gently. "I'm really sorry!" he blurts out, quickly. Batman was a bit surprised at the sudden apology, and a bit confused too. Dick sees the confusion in his mentor's face and quickly opens his mouth to explain.
"I-I disobeyed orders and hacked into the League's files! If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have gone to Cadmus in the first place! So I'm really sorry for not following orders and for making you worry..."
"Don't be sorry." He said, understanding filling his eyes."You shouldn't be sorry. Yes, you defied orders, but with good intentions. Mind you that I'm not excusing your actions, but there are times when some orders... aren't meant to be followed." Dick looked up at him, still a bit unsure. "These orders are to keep you safe, but I can understand how sometimes that may be frustrating. It's why you did what you did in the Hall, and I should have trusted you more- we should have trusted all of you more, but going off to prove yourselves may end up causing more problems than solving them." The boy wonder understood, but he still couldn't help but feel guilty for causing him to worry. "This time going off to prove yourselves actually provided a good result. You uncovered Superboy and saved him from becoming a weapon and providing him with a chance at having a real life and in doing so you've made us realize that Cadmus is more stealthier than we originally thought. You shouldn't be sorry for that."
Dick sighed in relief as he felt all his nervousness wash away. He still felt bad though for making his father figure worry. "Still, I'm sorry for making you worry like that. I should've called." Bruce smiled softly at him and patted his hair ruffling it a bit. "Apology accepted." The boy smiled widely and swiftly wrapped his arms around him. The Bat returned the hug, draping his cape over both of their bodies. "But what did you mean you should've trusted me more? Don't you already trust me?" Dick asked genuinely confused about the statement before.
Bruce sighed. He really didn't want to get on to this subject, but he knew it had to addressed. "It's not really an issue of trust..." He started, not really sure how to continue. 'I'm just not ready to let you go... Not just yet.' Dick, still wrapped in his arms, looked up tilting his head motioning for the older man to continue.
"It's not something I'm ready to talk about yet and it's not something you should worry about, but know that it's not about trust issues. I trust you and I hope you trust me enough to wait for when I'm ready to talk about it." He finished not sure how Dick would react to that. The boy had a thoughtful look on his face, before smiling brightly and hugging him tighter than before. "Of course I trust you, Bruce! Always..." Bruce smiled and just stood there hugging his boy just for a little longer, trying to savor the moment. Moments like these are rare and it's always nice to know that they can still have a few minutes of peace once in awhile.
After a couple more minutes, they let go of each other and Bruce is the first to speak. "Now lets go meet your team mates." At that, the boy wonder became excited, he put his sunglasses back on and started talking about how 'great it's gonna be with KF and Aqualad and teaching Superboy new things that the Genomorphs didn't teach him.' And as Robin continued talking, Batman couldn't help feeling proud that his little bird was spreading his wings, but he also felt sad that he was one step closer to leaving the nest.
'This...' he thought, as they beamed up to the headquarters that now belonged the new teen team, '..is the start.' He saw Robin greet his team mates laughing his signature cackle. Batman finished the bittersweet thought as he acknowledged Red Tornado and Black Canary, giving them a nod of greeting.
'This is the start of a good bye...'