CHAPTER VII

When we reached Wayne Manor, Dick immediately got out and said, "Ah, it feels like it was yesterday, the last time I was here." "Hardy har," I said. We approached the entrance, and knocked on the door. Alfred answered it and said, "Welcome back, Master Wa—um, who is this?" I cleared my throat awkwardly and said, "This is Dick Grayson." I told him what happened. Alfred said, "Well, in that case, I don't think anyone else has to know, do they?" "NOPE," I said.

As we walked through Wayne Manor, Dick looked at and touched everything, eventually nearly knocking over a two hundred thousand dollar vase…after which he knocked over a five hundred thousand dollar armor set. I turned around and said, "Please keep your hands on your bags." "Got it, Bats," Dick replied. "And don't call me Bats!" I said. Dick nodded and said, "Of course. Won't happen again." "Thank you," I said.

We reached my childhood room a few seconds later. "This'll be your room," I said. Dick looked around and finally asserted, "Snazzy." "Yeah, sure," I said, "Do what you will." I walked off, not realizing that Dick was still following. I reached my room, and Dick peered around the corner. "So this is where you keep it," he said. I jumped. "Yeah, it sure is," I said. I looked at the Batman suit. It still looked pretty cool, even without its owner inside. "You know," Dick continued, "I'm not sure you should keep it in here. You need…a Batcave!" "A Batcave?" I said. "Yeah, you know, like a lair," said Dick, "Are there any caves nearby we can use?"

I sighed and said, "Yes, but it's an actual bat cave." "Well, that shouldn't be a problem for Batman, should it?" said Dick. "Well, actually…" I said. Dick widened his eyes and let his jaw drop. "Batman is scared of bats?" he said in disbelief. "I'm not scared of them," I said. Dick laughed and continued, "Methinks he doth protest too much! You're so afraid of bats! This is hilarious! If I didn't have to keep it a secret, I would post it on Facebook!" I shifted uncomfortably while Dick laughed more. "Are you done?" I said eventually. Dick blew out a long puff of air and said, "Yes. But we're using that cave."

Though I kept saying it wasn't a good idea, Dick had already fashioned a torch out of an old table leg that he found in the trash and an old shirt and was in the process of lighting it. As it burst into flame, he said, "Alright, if you won't go in there, I will." I knew I couldn't let him go in alone, so I said reluctantly, "Fine, I'll get a flashlight."

We walked to the cave. As we reached the mouth, Dick turned and smiled at me. "You ready?" he asked. "As I'll ever be," I replied. "Then let's do it," he said. He walked in ahead of me, and I followed. We had only gone a few hundred feet when a few bats came at us. I yelled and jumped back, dropping my flashlight. Dick looked back at me, smirking, with one eyebrow raised. Breathing heavily, I picked up my flashlight while saying, "Not one word." Dick turned back around, still smiling, while shaking his head.

As we kept walking, Dick looked around and said, "Hey, you know, this is almost like a natural driveway." "Batman does have a car," I said. Soon, we reached the end of the tunnel and found that it opened up into a gigantic cavern, filled with the squeaking of bats. Many of them flew downwards towards us and past us. I stiffened, not breathing. Dick, however, was standing in the middle of the swarm, grinning. He looked towards me and said, "Come on, man, this is pathetic. You're called Batman! You have to face your fears sometime." "I'd rather not right now, thank you," I said.

Dick walked to the left side of the cavern and waved his torch in a general area and said, "See, I figure we can have a bunch of computers right here, you know, to store criminal data, and such." He dashed over to the north side and continued, "Gadget rack, right here. I mean, if anybody else gets in on this, a good first impression includes showing off your coolness. And here, smack in the middle, we can have your car." He tapped his foot on the ground. "Hm, what else? Oh, how about on the right side, if we ever have, like, specialized Batman costumes, we can have like a row of display cases!"

I had to admit, I liked his suggestions. But I wasn't such a fan of the place being an actual bat cave, of course. There was one other problem. "Hey," I said, "Those are good ideas and all, but that still leaves a lot of space. What do you think we should do with the rest of it?" Dick thought for a minute. "I've got it," he said, "Every time you go out and take down some kind of villain, you can bring back a souvenir." "A souvenir?" I said. "Yeah," said Dick, "You know, like, say, you put away the, um…the Bee." "The Bee," I said. "Look, I'm doing this on the spot, alright?" He said. "Anyway, say he uses a 'honey-gun'. When you take him down, you take the honey-gun, and you put it in a glass case here."

I nodded. "Okay, maybe so," I said, "But if we want to keep this place a secret, we'll have to make sure that no one wants to come in here." "True," agreed Dick. And so, about an hour later, there was a sign in front of the cave saying DANGER. I nodded and said, "Alright, fine. We can use this place as a 'Batcave'." "I knew you'd come around," said Dick, smiling.

Afterwards, we headed back to Wayne Manor and started to move Dick in. We hooked up his Xbox to the TV inside, and he began to put his books on the shelf and his posters on the wall. I left to let him finish. When it was time to come to dinner, I walked to his room and knocked on his doorframe. He was sitting on his bed, reading. "Hey," I said, "Dinner's ready." "Okay," he said, "Just let me finish this part." I looked at the book he was reading. It was Dante's Inferno. I looked around on his shelf and saw Ulysses, War & Peace, The Iliad, and several other classic tomes.

I looked back at him and said, "I didn't pin you as the reading type." "Well, you learn to do it when you live on a train," said Dick, "Besides, this stuff is good." "That is true," I said. "Alright," said Dick, closing the book, "I'm ready to go." I led him to the dining room. There was already three plates of some kind of French delicacy the name of which I can't pronounce on the table. Dick just stared at it for a few seconds. "Come on, try it, it's good," I said. Dick gingerly picked up his fork and cut off a piece. He chewed it slowly, judging its taste.

Eventually, he nodded and said, "Not bad. You guys got some Coke to go with this?" "Sure," I said. I got him a can, and as I sat back down, I said, "I knew you'd like it. I always had this for my birthday." "Well, you certainly knew how to party," said Dick. After dinner, I showed Dick all my cars. "Do you have your driver's license?" I asked. "I have my permit," he replied. "Well, in that case, I guess you'll take one of these for a spin later," I said. "Why not now?" he asked. "Because," I said, "right now I have to go and patrol." "Oh," said Dick.

Fifteen minutes later, I was dressed in the Batman suit, and Dick was leaning on my doorframe with his arms crossed. He sighed and said, "Are you sure I can't go with you?" "No," I said, "If you want something to do, just play Halo or pester Alfred." "I guess I can do both," he said. "Alright, just don't give the old man a heart attack," I said. We heard from about twenty feet away, "I heard that." "I would say that's the old man," said Dick. "Ha, ha," I said.

That night was fairly boring, aside from a couple of muggers. Of course, the victims grabbed their possessions and ran away. In this city, for someone like me, a thank-you is too much to ask for. I took it slow on the way back to Wayne Manor. The city I grew up in. The view from a rooftop gave me a new perspective. It looked so desolate that way. All the buildings were drab and dark, and steam wafted through the air from dozens of smokestacks. I eventually came across the police station, and a figure sitting on the edge of the roof caught my eye.

It was a girl, about Dick's age, with red hair, looking out over Gotham. "What are you doing up here?" I asked. She jumped and turned around. Her jaw dropped when she saw me. "BATMAN?!" she said. "Not so loud," I said through gritted teeth. "Oh, sorry…Batman?" she said. "Yes," I said. She got up and said, "Eh, I just head up here at night. It's actually a pretty good view. Fortunately, my dad always hides his keys in the same place, so I can get in here easily." "Your dad?" I asked. "Yeah," she said, "My dad's Jim Gordon." I froze for a few seconds. I finally snapped out of it and said, "Um, so you're…?" "Barbara Gordon, at your service. Well, not literally of course, I just meant that…" "I know what you meant," I said.

Barbara nodded and said, "I'm glad we understand each other." "Hey, why don't you head on home," I said, "I wouldn't want to worry your dad." "Oh, come on," she said, "There had to be some days where you had to get away from your parents!" I looked her in the eye and said, "No, there wasn't." She faltered. "Come on," I said, "I'll follow on the rooftops."

After I got her home, I headed back to mine. I went to Dick's door and heard him snoring. "Sir," I heard behind me. I looked around to see Alfred. "Oh, hey, Alfred," I said. "I've been meaning to ask you: Why did you take the boy in?" Alfred asked. "Because he needs someone to look up to," I replied, "He needs a father figure. I just think I can do that." Alfred smiled and went back to bed. I decided to stay by the door for a little while longer, alone with my thoughts.