Well, it's been a life-age since I updated this thing, but I've got the next chapter written already. My thanks to my readers and reviewers especially for reminding me of how great this story is and how bad I need to update it! Without you this probably wouldn't be up!
Stupid Todd and Drake had refused to budge on allowing Damian to drive the car. A foolish choice, given that Damian's driving abilities far surpassed their own, but Damian knew better than to expect rational decision making from the likes of them.
Thankfully, Damian's unlimited ingenuity came in handy during trying times such as these. Damian was ready to show Richard the best time he had ever had - after all, as Grayson's Robin, Damian was clearly best qualified to care for their new charge.
They would have an experience that put Drake and Todd's performances to shame.
So, the city has electric scooters. And Damian Wayne, son of billionaire Bruce Wayne, has an infinite amount of quarters.
If the city didn't want the sidewalks to be used as racetracks, then they shouldn't have made them so… tempting.
Richard continues to have excellent balance, and he and Damian are quickly weaving around each other at 20 miles an hour on a combination of sidewalks and the road. They have encountered many people yelling, and many honked cars from near misses along the street.
A part of Damian knows that he is being irresponsible, but the other just wants to know just how long this exuberance on Richard's part will last.
Dick's eyes scrunch as he smiles at Damian in the teeth-baring way children do when they cannot contain their excitement. "I think driving is against Daddy's rules!"
"Well, 'Daddy's' rules are dumb!"
Dick laughs, and drives in swinging curves. "Yeah, Daddy's rules are dumb!"
Anyway, everything is well and good until the flashing primary colors of the police arrive on the scene and all good things come to an end.
Damian gulps, and narrows his eyes, as it becomes painfully obvious that no, this is not a case of wrong place-wrong time, this is a case of - several concerned pedestrians have reported the reckless behavior of two delinquent youths with no regard for public safety who have apparently broken several (incredibly minor) laws.
Damian spares a glance at Richard, who has gone very small and pale and quiet under the scrutiny of the frowning uniforms, and tucks under Damian's arm, trembling, as soon as he is given the opportunity.
Damian would like very much to feed these officers a piece of his mind, but is restrained by the fact that they must not call attention to themselves and his desire to not traumatize Richard further with engagement. After confirming that no, they do not have an adult present, and yes, he is Damian Wayne and this is his young friend who does not wish to give his full name out to strangers (Richard has no identification on this world, and it would not do for these poltroons to realize what they are dealing with), Damian and Richard are shuffled into the back of a patrol car and escorted to the station.
Damian's eyes narrow as he seethes with anger, imagining burning holes into the headrest of the officer driving the car. Arrest him? The Son of Batman? The Heir to the Demon? How dare they? Clearly, these fools were simply looking for a chance to flaunt their power over some rich kid at the earliest opportunity!
"Do not worry, Richard," Damian hissed, "they cannot hold us long. We will not put up with this outrageous behavior! It is beneath us!"
Richard didn't respond, simply stayed pressed into Damian's side, shaking silently.
Damian's chest knotted up as he glanced down at Richard, awkwardly patting the boy's back, before shooting his gaze out the window. This was all the fault of the police. And those wussy bystanders. And… the electric scooter company for making those things so easy to use. And… and… Damian glanced down again at Richard's trembling form, gulping as he bit his lip.
Todd and Drake were going to be insufferable about this.
After being escorted to an honest-to-goodness cell in the police station (as befitted their incredibly threatening presence, obviously), Damian had come to be increasingly worried over Richard's condition.
It was disconcerting to see him this way, when Damian was used to Richard exuding nauseating amounts of confidence at all times, especially in situations of stress. Of course, he had begun to become accustomed to Richard's anxiety, but this situation made everything infinitely worse than before.
Richard would not speak. Would not communicate. Would not even follow Damian with his eyes. He remained ashen pale, and the shaking did not subside. His eyes, wide open, stared into the middle distance, and his breathing was irregular.
Damian, worried that Richard might fall if he experienced a panic attack, carefully settled them both on the floor, against the wall.
"It is alright, Dick. I promise."
A tapping on the cell door captured Damian's attention, and he turned to see a frowning police woman with her hair in a bun staring down at him.
"Damian Wayne?"
"That's what it says on the police report, woman." Grayson would say that was an inflammatory comment. Grayson was not here right now.
"Nice manners, brat. Come on out, you can leave your friend here."
Damian narrowed his eyes. "This hardly seems standard protocol."
"I didn't realize you were the reigning expert."
Damian's frown deepened. He was not in a position of power here. If he got into a fight, he would lose, and while he would normally fight anyway, for the principle of it, he did not want Richard to see him lose. He could not imagine anything more stressful for the boy in this moment.
"Richard, I am leaving, but I will return shortly. It is alright, I shall simply step out with the nice police-woman for a while." Damian patted Richard's knee awkwardly. "It will be okay."
Damian straightened, and moved towards the door, but in his first active movement for a while, Richard reached out for him, as tears started to well in his eyes. To this point, Richard had not cried, simply stare blankly ahead. Now his eyes were locked on Damian, and tears were spilling over his cheeks.
Damian whirled to face the woman - "Allow me to stay. He needs me."
"You don't give the orders around here, kid."
The door slid open, and Damian stewed, incensed that even in a world without supervillains Gotham could be so awful. They really should have looked into statistics of police corruption earlier. A rookie mistake.
Damian squared his shoulders and marched outwards - he knew that protesting would only prolong Richard's suffering. Better to 'rip the band-aid off'. Damian proceeded to be frogmarched to an interrogation room (best not to object yet, give them enough rope to hang themselves) where he was sat on the opposite end of a table and subsequently abandoned to stew in his own thoughts.
No doubt they expected him to be winding himself up in fear at this point, but in reality Damian was simply angered that they had taken him away from Richard to waste his time. Anyway, it wasn't as if he was suspected of being a serious criminal. Someone must really hate him.
The same woman came in and sat in front of him, smug satisfaction playing over her face.
"You rich kids think you can get away with anything, don't you."
Damian deigned this with only a 'tt', crossing his arms.
"Do you know how many civil law violations you racked up there?"
Yes, not that Damian cared to inform her.
"Do you know how many people you put in danger?"
None, Damian knew how to be careful. He was not a fool like Drake. He could pilot the Batmobile, a scooter was nothing.
"You or your friend could easily have lost control and hit someone, and you scared a lot of people to death. What if one of them had heart problems? Were you going to protect them from a heart attack? What about your little friend? I take you to be the ringleader here, buster - what if that kid - Richard - had taken a tumble. He could be pretty hurt right now."
"The only person to cause Richard harm today is you, after traumatizing him the way you did. You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"
"I didn't choose to encourage criminal behavior, Damian."
"We were riding scooters."
"Motorized scooters, and you were driving recklessly and endangering the peace. Did you think you were just going to get off with a warning? A slap on the wrist? You rich kids are all alike - you think you own the city because you come from money, but I'm here to tell you that you're just like everyone else. You're not a vigilante, skirting the law - not in this town. Is that understood?"
Damian scowled. This had been the worst day.