Chpt. IV: Urban Legend

Dick watched as Clark pulled out his ring of keys and opened his apartment door. Clark stepped inside first, then gestured for Dick to come in.

Dick had chased after Clark once they got off the bus. Dick said he'd tag along with Clark, wanting a small tour of the city. Then once he'd get word from his "uncle" that he was ready for Dick, he'd leave. In the meantime, Dick offered to help out with Clark's story.

So Clark showed him around Metropolis on their bus ride. Clark eventually invited Dick up to his apartment for some lunch. Dick was hiding it well, but he was incredibly hungry. He didn't remember the last time he had a proper meal.

Dick stepped inside of Clark's apartment. The doorway led to the kitchen, which was big with an island to sit at and eat dinner on. Going past the kitchen was a living room with a few couches and a coffee table set up in front of a huge entertainment system. A flat screen TV with large speakers and a stereo. Over to the side was a desk, probably for Clark's work.

Clark took a seat at the island. "Come on, have a seat," he said with a smile. "Make yourself at home."

Dick nodded and slid onto a stool on the island. He gave a slight smile, still uneasy in being in the nice apartment.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Clark asked.

"Just water," Dick said softly. He was still trying to figure out how much money Clark made from his job to afford such a nice home.

Dick was so lost in thought that he almost didn't notice Clark set the glass of water out in front of him. Dick took a sip as Clark sat down. He suddenly had a notepad in his hand.

"Alright," Clark said. "I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to get this started. Tell me about Dick Grayson."

Dick took another sip, quickly trying to figure out how to do this. "Well, I don't know where to start," Dick said.

Clark tapped a pen by his notepad. "How about when you first met him?"

Dick nodded. He took a deep breath. "I was at the orphanage a little bit before him. I was 8 when my parents died. Not too long after that, he showed up. I knew who he was before he knew who I was. He was like a celebrity to me. But we had more in common than I realized." Dick took another sip. "He was sort of lonely growing up, having been a circus acrobat. He didn't really make much friends his own age since he was always performing. His parents were all he really had. Mine were all I had too. He and I got along, me being a fan and all. He and I soon became great friends.

"He and I were friends at the orphanage together for maybe a year or two when someone new came along. A girl. She was a year younger than Dick and I, but just like every other orphan when first arriving, she was shy. Dick and I welcomed her to the orphanage the way most kids hadn't. We made a good impression on her and she was thankful for us being so kind."

Dick took a deep breathing, suddenly regretting ever having agreed to telling Clark any of this. He continued anyway. "We all grew closer. We got older. Things changed a little bit. Dick sort of began to grow feelings for this girl. I understood, she really was gorgeous. maybe a year later, someone had adopted her, leaving Dick and I back to where we had started: with just each other. I guess he really loved her, because not knowing where she was anymore kind of drove him a bit crazy, I guess. He stopped sleeping. He wouldn't eat. He wouldn't talk to me the same anymore. Sometimes he'd even disappear for a while, and no one had any clue where he went.

"I remember, one rainy night, I woke up to the sound of thunder and sat up from my bed. I saw Dick sitting on the floor against his bed. The moonlight from the window above his bed sort of cast a light over him. I could see a few pieces of paper laid out in front of him. One or two were some gruesome drawings. One seemed like a blueprint of some sort with markings of his own. He also had a list of what looked like names on another sheet of paper. On his lap, he was writing a letter.

"I remember seeing all of this and I got really scared. I guess I might have made a sound or something, because Dick suddenly looked up at me and waved his hand around. He told me to go back to sleep, and to forget I had seen anything. I asked why. He said not to worry. I was incredibly worried though. I was scared. I was afraid he'd do something to me, so I laid back in my bed and turned so my back faced him and shut my eyes tight.

"I woke up the next morning and found Dick gone. I expected to find the letter he wrote on the bed, but it wasn't there. I had asked Mother Louise if she had seen Dick. She brought me into her office. When I walked in, I saw Dick sitting at a chair in front of her desk. He was crying. Hell, he was more than crying. He was breaking down. He had blood stains all over his shirt. He had some blood on his face too. It was dried up, like Dick was like that for a few hours.

"Mother Louise told me that she was only going to tell me this because I was the only close friend to Dick. She showed me a letter; the one Dick had written the night before. It had said something about Dick not returning because he was going to do something he should've done a long time ago. He confessed his love for our friend. He said he was sorry. Mother Louise explained that Dick had murdered a mob boss by the name of Tony Zucco. It turns out he was behind the circus fire that killed his parents. Dick went to exact revenge on the guy. It's a miracle he didn't die doing so.

"Mother Louise told me that Dick had showed up at the orphanage in the middle of the night after he had done it. Apparently he had asked to do a confession and begged for forgiveness. She brought him inside and had him sleep in her office until the next morning."

Dick was about to continue when he heard the door behind him start to unlock. He turned to looked back. He watched as the doorknob rotated and the door swung open. A pretty red headed lady walked in with large grocery bags. She probably didn't see Dick, because she began to stumble and tried to kick the door closed. "Clark!" she called.

Dick watched as Clark ran over to her aid. "Coming," he said. He took her bags and set them on the kitchen counter.

"Ah, that's better," the woman started. She walked over to the office desk across the kitchen. "Okay, so I was thinking tonight I would cook Italian, a little pasta with Alfredo, some salads maybe." She was beginning to set her purse down when she noticed Dick. "Oh," she said softly. "Hi."

Dick stood up and walked over to her. "Hi, I'm John," Dick said, almost forgetting to not say Dick. He held his hand out.

The woman smiled softly and shook Dick's hand back. "Lois Lane," she said. Dick noticed her eyes glance over at Clark. Dick turned back to Clark and smiled, standing next to Lois.

Clark was putting up the groceries, oblivious that the two were staring at him. "I don't think I've ever had Alfredo pasta," he said when he finished. He turned around and saw Dick and Lois staring at him. He blinked. "What?" he asked.

Lois cleared her throat, walking back over to the kitchen. "Nothing, I didn't realize we'd have guests. That's fine though, I can cook dinner for three tonight." She began pulling out her groceries again to begin cooking.

Dick held his hands up defensively. "Oh, no, don't worry," he started. "Clark only invited me up as a secondary source for a story."

Lois turned back around and faced Dick. She then turned to Clark. "Secondary source?" she asked.

Clark nodded. "Yeah, that story I went to Gotham for. John here is giving me some good background on it."

"Oh, the acrobat kid?" she asked. She turned back to Dick. "And you're a...secondary source?"

Dick nodded. "Yes, ma'am." Dick was hoping he'd be able to drop the discussion quickly and leave before he went any further with the story. He cleared his throat. "Well, it's getting a bit late, and I wouldn't want to intrude on your dinner together, so I think I'll get going."

"But John, you said your uncle would come for you, right?" Clark asked. "Maybe you should wait a little while longer."

Dick bit his lip. He glanced back at Lois, who was shooting Clark a stare with heat vision. He turned back to Clark. "It's fine, really. I'll wait at the bus stop for my uncle."

Clark shook his head. "I would feel terrible kicking you out. Please, stay."

Dick scratched the back of his head awkwardly. There's no way in hell he could stay. Lois clearly didn't want company. Maybe he can kick him out. "I'll stay, if it's all the same to Ms. Lane," Dick said, gesturing to Lois.

Lois stopped what she was doing at the kitchen and turned back to Dick. "Clark is right, we can't throw you on streets," she said. "You're staying for dinner."

Dammit, Dick thought to himself. "Fantastic," he said out loud with a smile.

Dick sat at his seat at the table and looked at the plate before him. The warm soft pasta was layered with the creamy Alfredo sauce. There was grilled seasoned chicken under the pasta, steamy and hot. Dick could smell cheese somewhere in his dish. He couldn't see it, but he was dying to taste it.

Dick forgot how long it had been since he had a proper meal. The food he got from the Underground wasn't the best or the healthiest. In fact, he had often wondered where the raw meat had even come from. He pushed the sickening thoughts and memories from his mind, focusing on the plate in front of him.

Dick grabbed the fork and began eating. He took small, slow bites to maintain a normal image with his appetite. He was savoring every second of it.

Dick began asking Lois and Clark personal questions. Things about their lives and work, anything to keep the subject off of himself.

As time went on, the three of them managed to eat their dinner without anything spoken that Dick didn't want spoken.

Lois stood up with her plate and reached for Clark and Dick's. "I'll do the dishes," she said.

Dick nodded, smiling, and watched Lois walk to the sink and start washing the dishes.

Clark cleared his throat, calling Dick's attention. Clark leaned in close, making Dick lean in closer. "You never finished your story," he said.

Dick bit his lip. He sat back and shook his head. "That was it," he said in a normal voice. "That morning, at the orphanage, that was the day I ever saw him. He left the orphanage, and Mother Louise promised to keep him safe, and give him a chance to run away from the law."

Clark nodded. He sat back on his desk, looking down at the notepad where he was taking notes about the story. He stared at it, not with a look of accomplishment, but almost like a look a shame.

Dick raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you wanted?" Dick asked. "Can you go with what I gave you?"

Clark took a second to respond, as if in deep thought. He shook his head and tore apart the entire notepad. "I can't use this," he said.

Dick's heart skipped a beat. He worried if Clark had somehow caught on to Dick's bullshit story. Were there any flaws in his lie? Dick didn't think so. Dick spent so much time wondering what he did wrong, he almost didn't realize that Clark had managed to rip apart an entire notepad with ease. But Dick disregarded it.

Clark sighed. "John, this guy was your friend…is...your friend. There's no way I can feel right with releasing this exclusive story on someone with such a traumatic life."

Dick began to breath with ease. He still put on a concerned look. "But what about your story? You might lose your job."

Clark waved his hand away, shrugging it off. He pushed his seat back from the table and stood up. "I'm going to use the restroom."

Dick nodded and watched Clark walk away. He glanced around the kitchen, hoping to find some sort of clock with an indication of the time. He looked out the window. He could see a red sunset in the sky. The silhouette of Metropolis was visible against the blood red sky.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Dick heard Lois let out an exasperated sigh. "One minute," she called over the running water at the sink.

Dick got up from his seat and walked over to the door. "Don't worry Ms. Lane, I've got it," Dick said, smiling a charming smile to Lois. Lois smiled back briefly, then went back to the dishes.

Dick unlocked the door and opened it. An old man in a suit stood behind the door. He had gray hair and a thick mustache. He looked at Dick, then behind Dick, then back at him. He didn't seem sure what he needed.

"Good evening, son," the man spoke in a British accent. "My name is Alfred Pennyworth of Wayne Manor. I'm looking for a young man by the name of Dick Gra-"

Dick shushed the man before he continued. Dick glanced back behind the door where Lois was washing the dishes. She didn't stop.

Dick let out a sigh of relief and turned back to the man. "I'm Dick," he said in a hushed voice. "If THEY ask, my name is John," Dick gestured to inside of the apartment.

The British man nodded in agreement. Dick took a step back into the apartment. "Alright, my ride is here," he called to Lois. "I'll be going."

Lois swung her wet hand around from the sink, waving goodbye. "It was a pleasure having you here."

Dick nodded. He glanced back to the direction where Clark had gone. He still hadn't come back. "Tell Clark I said bye," Dick said before walking out and shutting the door behind him.

Dick turned to Alfred in the apartment hallway. "Alright," Dick started. "What is it you want with me at Wayne Manor?"

"I need you at Wayne Manor," said a voice down the hall. It was a deep, American voice, unlike Alfred's British accent.

Dick squinted his eyes, trying to make out the dark silhouette in the shadowy end of the hallway. He couldn't tell who it was.

Alfred let out a sigh behind Dick. "Bruce, must you always be theatrical?"

Dick looked back at Alfred, then back at the silhouette. "Oh, right, sorry," he said. He walked closer to Dick, into the light. Before Dick stood Bruce Wayne, playboy billionaire of Gotham. He stood there with his expensive suit, perfectly styled black hair, chiseled chin and built body mass. Dick remembered seeing his face in old magazines down in the underground. When Dick worked out, he always hoped to look like Bruce Wayne. He was a goal, an idol, you could say.

Dick's heart began to pound. Bruce gestured the stairs behind him. "Come, take a ride with me, Dick."