Be Willing to Grow

"So essentially when your target antigen comes in contact with the antibody embedded in your sensor, the voltage will change giving you an alert. But this only works if you first set your base voltage. These sensors may seem fancy or high tech, but some can be bought right at your local pharmacy. Do you know in what form? Anyone? Anyone want to take a stab at this?"

*SNOOORRRRE*

"Ugh. Mr. Leeds would you mind?"

Ned abruptly nudged the shoulder of the sleeping form next to him. Dick abruptly rose up with his eyes lidded and drooling a little.

"Huh wha?"

"Mr. Grayson, would you mind explaining how these sensors could be used in something as simple as a pregnancy test?"

"Huh? What? I didn't get her pregnant! Honest! Please don't castrate me!"

*BWAHHAAHAHAHAHAH*

The entire class roared in laughter. Dick buried his face in his hands to hide his embarrassment while everyone absolutely lost it. Even Professor Stark let out a snicker.

"Mr. Grayson, your outside activities aside, can you please answer the question?"

"Uhhh right ok. Pregnancy tests are quick antibody tests designed to detect the proteins found in pregnant women's urine. But that's a color-based sensor which changes colors showing the bands on the test rather than the change in voltage like the one on the board."

"Ah so you do listen."

"I uh try to sir."

"Sure you do."

After class, Professor Stark asked Dick to come up to his office for a little chat.

"Alright Dick, what's going on man?"

"Nothing Professor. I'm uh just tired is all."

"Kid, first, it's just Tony when I'm off the clock. Second, tired from what? I've talked to Ned and Michelle. You don't really get out very much. You're quick with your assignments. Sometimes you chat with that girlfriend of yours, but mostly you keep to yourself. No parties. No debauchery. No one-night flings. You don't even drink. Dude, are you even in college?"

Truthfully, Dick had been Zeta tubing back and forth between MIT and the cave. After seeing Zatanna at her debut show, he had been trying his best to make time for her. Unfortunately, the best way to do that was to join in on missions. It had been raid after raid after raid of supposed intel sources regarding the Light. Some were successful while others were dead ends. On top of that, Kaldur asked Dick to train the newer recruits on the team. Kaldur could handle the discipline, but Dick was the real team strategist with his knack for bringing out the best in others and developing new combat maneuvers. Garth and Tula were still learning to work with others. La'gaan needed to check his ego. At least Kara was a friendly and cheerful face. All these extra duties began wearing down on Dick.

"I mean. I'm in clubs here."

"Yea. Robotics and hacking. But those don't take up so much of your time that you sleep in class."

"I'm sorry, sir…"

"Tony."

"Sorry, Tony. I just. I dunno."

"Kid, can I be honest?"

"Uhh sure."

"You're bored."

"Huh?"

"Dick, you're brilliant…but lazy."

"Tony, if this is about sleeping in class, I'm really sorry"

"No no. Let me finish. You lack motivation. You're bored because you know all this stuff already. You're not challenged enough."

"Huh?"

"You have a really gifted mind. You optimized the drones' power capabilities in my lab by over forty percent and their sensor arrays by twenty percent. You're just a freshman! But I can see clearly that you really don't want to be here."

"No! No, I do! I really love it here."

"I don't think so, Dick. Like I said, you lack real motivation. I've talked to your closest friends here. When you do assignments, you do them so fast it looks like you're going through the motions. Sure, you show some enthusiasm when you're building the battle robots or you're coding your own Google maps in your clubs, but Ned and Michelle can see that you want to do something more. Can I tell you a story?"

"Ok. Sure."

"I didn't have a sense of direction for a very long time. Yea I graduated MIT with high honors on electrical engineering, but I didn't know what to do with myself. My father, well, he was a successful businessman. Weapons contractor for the army. I worked for him for a little while, but I didn't really care for the job. He said go west, I went west. He said jump, I jumped but mostly a little hop. He said, go sell the Jericho missiles to the army in Iraq, I said sure I got nowhere else to be. Well, in Iraq, our convoy was raided by uhhh Taliban, Al Queda, I forget. Anyway, we were placed in a cave along with other prisoners. Local villagers, rebels, and more. It was so cold at night. We found a space heater in the piles of junk but no way to power it. Using the box of scraps in that cave, I built a battery strong enough to power the heater. Eventually, we got bolder. We used the batter to power a short-range radio transmitter. A few morse code messages later, Uncle Sam busted through the enemy camp, and we went home."

"Whoa…..that's hardcore, Tony."

"Thank you. One dude had the idea to build a janky suit of armor with all the iron scraps we had and fight our way out, but that seemed like too much work."

"Woulda been cool though."

"My point is, after that experience I felt reborn. I found my sense of purpose. I wanted to build things to help people. So, I founded the renewable energy department at Stark Industries, and I had a good career. Course you know the next part. Wayne Tech bought us out and I was able to retire here, back at the ol' alma mater where I can teach and inspire the next generation."

"Wow. I didn't know you went through all that."

"Yea I really had a marvelous time. But my point is, you need to find your purpose, Dick. You need to find your own cave and your own box of scraps and build something you can be proud of. Sometimes, that cave is not college."

"Are you telling me to drop out of MIT?"

"I'm just saying do what you love doing. Otherwise, it'll just feel like work to you. Whether that's here at MIT, or up in the Himalayas, or back home."

"I, yea you're probably right. Thank you, Tony for helping me see that."

"Of course, kid. It's what I do, inspire and bring the best out of people like you. However, do me a favor and at least finish out the year. One, so you can really figure out what you want to do. Two, so I can squeeze as much genius out of you as I can for my lab. Deal?"

"Deal."

Dick walked back to his dorm with a lot on his mind. Part of him really wanted to stay and earn a degree from MIT. He figured Bruce and Alfred would be so proud to have a college graduate in the family. The other part of him really resonated with what Professor Stark said. He was bored. He wanted to do more than just learn about circuits and build drones and robots. His thoughts were interrupted when a pair of twins bumped him in the halls.

"Whoa! Fred? George? Where are you guys going in such a hurry?"

"Dude! There's like a supermodel in the dorm's cafeteria!" answered Fred

"Yea man! She's probably a transfer student or something. We've never seen her like ever. You gotta come check her out!"

"Thanks guys, but uh, I've got a girlfriend. I'm good."

"C'mon Grayson! It's your dorm! You're gonna have to swing by there eventually."

"Yea bro! According to YikYak, like ten different guys and two girls tried to hit on her and she roasted them hard before shutting them down. I think she's waiting for someone."

"Dude, one guy cried. Even if you don't want to check her out, at least watch the shitstorm of suitors failing miserably to get in her pants."

Admittedly, Dick was kinda curious to see this spectacle, so he agreed and followed the red-headed twins back to his dorm. Upon entering the cafeteria, Dick was enamored, but not necessarily shocked by the sight before him. Sitting at one of the tables, sat a curvy raven-haired girl with blonde highlights. She wore a black tank top showing her midriff, a jean skirt, a pair of sneakers, and an oversized bright red Robin jacket that certainly did not belong to her. In front of her was a half-eaten bowl of clam chowder. She sat cross-legged resting her head on her right hand clearly waiting for someone. Dick smirked.

"You see! Frickin supermodel man!"

"Is she an Instagram model? Maybe she's wearing the jacket as part of a sponsorship or something."

"I bet she's really into Star Wars," joked Dick.

"And how would you know that?"

Before, Dick could answer, Regina George became the latest to approach the mysterious clam chowder girl.

"Hi there. I'm Regina George. You must be new."

"You could say that."

"Well, listen, I love that jacket. I'm a fan of the Boy Wonder myself. He's so hot."

"Uh huh. I hear he's got a girlfriend though. And she's really possessive of him"

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that here at MIT there are a lot of circles, and it can be difficult to properly navigate around them. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there," Regina smiled extending her hand.

"Hmmm, I believe I can tell the wrong sort for myself thanks."

"Hmmph. You're going to regret that," Regina answered disgustedly.

Slowly, footsteps approached the girls. Regina perked up and the new girl simply smirked.

"Oh, hi Richie! Fancy seeing you here," Regina squeaked excitedly.

"I thought you said you needed me to filter out all the clam chowders. What happened to only eating the best?" Dick asked the other girl, completely ignoring Regina.

"You took too long. I needed to eat something while waiting for you….Baby," the girl smirked

"BbbbbbbBAby!?" Regina cried

As if to solidify the point, the girl stood up, wrapped her arms around Dick's neck, and pulled him in for a long-awaited kiss.

*GASP*

The crowd that gathered to watch the whole thing were in complete shock. A bunch of guys and a few girls grumbled and stomped away in defeat. Regina herself froze and couldn't believe the spectacle in front of her. Dick and the girl in his arms did not care and just continued living in their own bubble kissing and kissing and kissing. Finally, Regina stormed off leaving the two supposed lovebirds to themselves.

"So, Richie, want to continue this elsewhere?"

"Hahha please don't call me that. I cringe so hard whenever I hear that godforsaken name."

"I've missed you"

"I've missed you so much, Zee. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Mmmm you forgot your jacket. Thought I'd be a good girlfriend and deliver it back to you. Also, I'm pretty sure I just scored you some massive street cred."

"Haha more like made me the enemy of every guy here."

"Oh hush, you like the attention. Now c'mon, I want to see your dorm!"

"More like you want to lie in my bed haha"

"What, and you don't?"

A few hours later, Dick and Zee cuddled in bed. Dick leaned against the bed's headboard while Zee curled into his lap resting her head on his shoulder. A blanket draped around them for extra warmth.

"Gotta say this place is kinda nice."

"Yea. I got lucky with the housing draw. Not a lot of freshmen get suites like this. Normally we'd get stuck with like three beds in a single room. It's nice to have separate rooms and a living room."

"Mhmm I bet. We definitely could not do what we just did if it was like a one-room triple."

"God, I've missed you."

"Hehe, come here."

Zee pulled him in for a quick kiss. Dick relaxed a little and slid down to rest on the bed. Zee followed lazily drawing circles on his chest.

"So, almost done with the first year of college. I'm sorry for not visiting earlier. The shows have become huge hits."

"I bet. I told you that you would shine. You're so good!"

"Haha. Thank you. I needed that confidence boost. You always know what to say."

"Yea…."

She could sense some slight uneasiness in her beloved, so she rolled and climbed on top of him pressing her face as close as possible to his.

"What's on your mind," she asked in a tiny whisper.

"I just. Well, I had a talk with a prof."

"And?"

"And well. I think you were right all those months ago. I think…..I think I want to do more than what I'm doing right now. I feel like I'm in sort of a rut."

"Hmmm"

"I feel out of place. The more I think about it, the more I realize I don't have a sense of direction right now."

"Mmmmhmm" Zatanna purred nuzzling his neck.

"Honestly, while I've enjoyed my time here, I don't think I can last another three years. I might want to drop out."

Zatanna nodded against his cheek and began nibbling at his earlobe.

"You're enjoying this aren't you? Go ahead, say it."

"I…." she kissed his cheek

"fucking….." she kissed his jaw

"told….." she kissed his nose

"you….."she kissed his other cheek

"so…" she kissed his lips.

She giggled into the kiss, and he laughed alongside her.

"I did learn some stuff, though! Plus, Ned and Michelle have been great friends."

"I bet. But sometimes, you've got to forge your own path. Like you said, you still learned something. I don't think this was wasted time. If anything, it helped you piece together your true path a bit more."

"Wherever I go, I hope you're right there with me."

"Baby, we're magically bonded. You couldn't get rid of me even if you tried."

"You knew something was wrong, didn't you? That's why you came?"

"I came several times in the past twenty minutes, baby…."

"Ugh Zee!"

"Hehe but yes. Like I said, that spell we casted together, it connects us. I can feel your pain and sorrow just like you can feel mine. On the flipside, we share each other's joy too."

"You sure you didn't just connect us via the Force or something?"

"Sure, think of it like that. I felt a disturbance in the Force hehe."

"God, I don't deserve you."

"No, and I don't deserve you. But here we are. Right where I want to be."

"I love you."

"I love you. And whatever you choose, I will always support you."

"I promised Professor Stark I'd finish out the year first."

"Then I'll be waiting. Till then, we could make up for lost time."

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Uhhhh Dick? Zatanna? Michelle and I were going to get dinner. Would you two like to uhhhh join us?"

"How about it, Zee? I could go for something to eat right about now."

"Haven't you eaten enough already? Has your taste for me dulled after all this time?"

"C'mon Zee!"

"Hehe, yes, Ned, Dick and I will be ready in ten minutes!"

"Uhhh great!"

"Ned you're staring," chastised Michelle

"Huh? I'm sorry! It's just. This is Zatanna! The Mistress of Magic! Like come on!"

"Hehe. It's ok Ned. I'm flattered. But you guys knew me before I started my show."

"Well, we knew of you, but we've never actually met you."

"Then I'm finally glad to meet you two. Thanks for making Dick feel so welcomed here."

For dinner, the four friends opted to go out and welcome Zatanna to the streets of Boston. They got a table at the Union Oyster House and Zatanna finally got some quality clam chowder.

"Sooo what's with the Robin jacket? You a fangirl or something?" Michelle asked.

"You could say that. Dick and I live in Gotham so it's pretty neat to see the dynamic duo doing their thing. Plus, he's got comfy merch."

"C'mon now, Zee. Soon you'll be getting your own merch. I bet those will sell out instantly."

"Ugh don't remind me. It's going to be so weird seeing my face on t-shirts and posters."

"I'd buy out the whole stock if I could."

"We both know you totally can"

"Alright alright enough flirting! Ned and I already gave you two like three hours together."

"Sorry about uh sexiling you from our dorm Ned."

"Nah, it's cool bro. I just did my homework at a coffee shop."

"No you didn't! You went there to talk with that one girl. What's her face uhh?"

"Shut up, Michelle!"

"Betty!" Dick exclaimed in realization.

"Yes! Betty Brant! Now I remember. She goes to that coffee shop ever Thursday to write her column for the paper," Michelle agreed.

"Awww. Ned's got a little crush," Zatanna teased.

"I mean maybe a little," Ned smiled meekly

"Ooo dude you got it bad. Following her to a coffee shop to talk?"

"Oh please, Dick. You weren't much better. I remember you jumping in front of Megan to shake my hand."

"Zee!"

"Oh young love. Seems kinda pointless to me."

"C'mon Michelle. You can't tell me there isn't someone you fancy," Zatanna asked teasingly

"Nah. I'm not interested in anyone."

"Really? Well, I guess I'll have to break that news to that dude in my chem class. Peter will be so disappointed."

"Peter?! Wait don't you dare say anything!"

The group laughed raucously at Michelle's change in demeanor. As dessert came around, Dick felt like he needed to make a serious announcement. He took a deep breath and decided to rip the band-aid off.

"Hey, guys. I uh need to tell you something."

"Dick? Is everything alright?"

"Yea. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I just…..I'm leaving MIT after this year."

A brief silence passed between the friends. Oddly, both Ned and Michelle smiled brightly.

"Took you long enough," smirked Michelle

"Huh?"

"Finally, bro! I can't believe it took you this long to decide this."

"Wait. You guys want to get rid of me?"

"Nah man," continued Ned, "we just knew that you didn't want to be here."

"Yea. You were content here, but you weren't happy. Ned and I weren't really sure how to bring it up to you. You clearly wanted to be doing something else."

"Yea! You're honestly a little too smart for MIT. You were disinterested in like everything here."

"Wow, you guys really saw through me huh?"

"Honestly, the only times you were really happy, was when Zatanna called you on SKYPE. And now I can see why."

Zatanna blushed at this comment. She leaned in and kissed Dick on the cheek.

"Hehe I have that effect on Dick."

"And you guys aren't mad that I'm leaving?"

"Dick, we're your friends. All we want is for you to be happy. If it takes dropping out of college to be happy, then so be it," reassured Michelle.

"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. You are some of the best friends I've ever had."

"Be sure to write! I want to hear all about your new adventures."

"Haha, of course. Also, one last word of advice, don't wait on Betty and Peter."

"I don't like Peter!"

"Right. But still, take a leap of faith. You never know where you might land."

"Cheers to that!"

After dinner, Ned walked Michelle back to her dorm while Dick and Zee settled on the couch in his. Eventually, Dick's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Dick. I've got something for you."

"Hey, Bruce. What's the sitch?"

"I've been tracking a new drug coming in and out of Gotham. It's pretty heavy stuff. I think there's a hub nearby. I know you're busy with college, but we're spread thin and…."

"I'll do it."

"Huh? Ok then. I need you to investigate and find the source."

"Where am I headed?"

"Bludhaven."