After sneaking off in the middle of a stake-out to follow a lead that ended up getting him caught, Robin-now Dick, was grounded. Or more specifically-on house arrest. He was not allowed to leave Wayne Manor other than for school and mandatory events for the two weeks following the disastrous mission- heavy on the dis. As part of the grounding meant he couldn't go into the batcave, which meant he couldn't talk to any of his teammates, train, or work on any cases. The other part was that he had lost his phone for the time being.

However, a week into his prison sentence Dick had some saving grace in the form of Alfred who convinced Bruce to give the boy his phone back at breakfast, stating the lad may need to contact him in an emergency. Dick was overly exuberant to get his phone back from Bruce after 8 days without it. He couldn't wait and was up early that morning and ready for breakfast.

'It's been so boring around here. Not turbing. At least now I can text Wally to see what I've been missing, and maybe do some work on my own cases." The boy wonder thought to himself, his signature smirk finding its wat onto his face.

Noticing how it was almost time for breakfast, he bolted from his room. Dick made it to the stairs and was just about to slide down the banister before grinding to a stop at the top stair.

"Better not risk it. No need to tick Alfred off and get more time- or get my phone taken away again." He muttered.

Dick chose instead to walk down the stairs and into the lavished dining room. Sunlight poured in from the tall broad windows, bathing the usually dark room with golden rays. Bruce was already there- in his seat with the morning paper and nursing a cup of strong black coffee. He was already dressed for the day, a dark black suit with white shirt and gray tie, hair slicked back and brushed to perfection. He didn't glance at Dick as the boy slid into his normal seat to the right of the man. He could feel Dick's impatient gaze bore into him, and instead to glace at Alfred as he brought in their breakfast.

"Good morning Master Dick, your breakfast sirs." Alfred greeted, setting a plate of scrambled eggs, wheat toast, orange juice, and strawberries in front of both Dick and Bruce.

The food smelled amazing, and Dick hungrily dug in while keeping a discreet eye on Bruce the whole time. The man had yet to as much as peek in his direction and Dick couldn't help but feel like Bruce was hiding something from him.

A cough sounded in the otherwise silent room, "If I may sir," Alfred interrupted after a moment, "I will leave you two to go and pack for my impending trip

. 'Oh right, Alf's visit to his sister in England for the weekend. I forgot about that.' Dick thought to himself. He and Alfred had talked about it some three days ago. Alfred's sister was visiting their mother from another part of England and had informed Alfred that he must come for the little "family reunion".

"When will you be back?" Dick asked, stuffing another strawberry into his mouth.

"I shall be back late Sunday evening young master." Alfred replied warmly. "Do behave for master Bruce whilst I am away, won't you?"

"What? Me? I'll be fine Alf." Dick waved off, adding "I'll work on my science project some more and I'll have my phone back to keep me entertained." Oops. He hadn't planned on bringing it up before Bruce did but too late now. He peeked at Bruce to notice how the man had stilled once that statement registered.

"..Yes, quite." Alfred replied, his eyes on Bruce the entire time. "If you aren't in need of anything else sirs, I shall go pack." And with that, Alfred stepped from the room.

Turning his attention to his adopted father Dick watched as the man took another sip from his coffee before placing the newspaper down and turning to face him.

" Alright Dick," he started, " I know you are eager to get your phone back, but I want to make sure you know why I took it in the first place."

"I know, it's because I took off and got captured on patrol. I'm really sorry and it won't happen again. I learned my lesson." Dick rambled, finishing with a blinding smile, hoping for lenience.

Bruce stared at him a moment before sighing and pulling something out of him pants pocket. But before he handed the phone back to the boy, he fixed Dick with a stern glare. "You realize you are still grounded. This doesn't negate that just because you are getting your phone back-"

Dick cut off his impending speech by jumping up in his chair to snatch the phone from Bruce's grasp. "I got it B, I'm in trouble, still in prison, yadda yadda yadda." Dick commented absently, already undoing the passcode and going straight into his contracts. He couldn't wait to find out- only the contacts only had three numbers logged; Bruce's cell phone, work phone, and the home line. Not to mention he couldn't even open any texts. He stared up at Bruce, horrified.

Bruce was watching him, a ghost of a smile on his face as he watched Dick discover the changes he had made. "I locked your messages and phone privileges. They will be fully reinstated once you are no longer grounded," Pausing as Dick groaned. "You are only getting your phone back in case of emergency and not to start talking to everyone again."

"So I can't do anything with this. It's useless." Dick sulked in his chair, breakfast left abandoned. "Not exactly, you can still call me if there's an emergency. But if you were hoping to start talking to the team again you're going to have to wait."

Grumbling under his breath, Dick finished his breakfast and sulked back upstairs. Sighing, he flopped onto his bead and stared at the ceiling. 'Well now what? Can't call or text anyone." He glanced at his phone, 'but maybe...' quickly unlocking the device he found the desired app, tapping on the icon and holding his breath,

Dick watched the app open as if by magic. 'Ha! Thank stars Bruce isn't up to date on other forms of communication. Mainly; snapchat. He quickly tapped on Wally's name. Dick was buzzing with excitement; was it really going to work? Quickly he looked around his room, deciding on the door before taking a picture and typing the message still in prison. What's up before sending it. A minute passed with no reply. Did it not work? Had Bruce known and blocked the apps? Dick was just about to lose hope when his phone beeped. Hey Bro, glad you're still alive! Yes! Dick's face broke out into a large grin; it actually worked! Then, a new message popped up, with a close up of what looked to be a question mark. Dude, what's up with your phone? His phone buzzed again, with a close up of Wally's face. I can't text you or nythn. Mentally sighing, Dick tried to find the best way to explain his situation to his friend. Phone hacked by bman no thruwith a pouty face. Smirking, he sent the message.

They continued to snap for a few hours. The messages were brief, but at least he could talk to Wally again. Dick walked around the manor, snapping ridiculous things as he and the speedster tried to take more stupid pictures than the other did. Finally, Dick made his way downstairs. He was headed to the lounge when he heard pots being moved in the kitchen.

"what the?" changing paths, he followed the sound into the grand kitchen. Pristine marble floors, granite counter tops in a soothing gray, accented by the mahogany wood cabinets and stainless steel appliances. Noticing someone hunched over on the other side of the island, Dick slid over to see Bruce looking for something under the cabinets.

"Uhh, what're you doing?" Bruce looked up, staring at him a moment before answering, "I'm getting ready to make dinner."

Oh no. There is a reason Bruce isn't allowed in the kitchen. And there is certainly a reason as to why he NEVER cooks. Bruce can't cook. Whenever he tries, he ends up ruining the kitchen or worse. They have actually lost appliances when Bruce tries to cook.

Bruce must have read his thoughts, because he straightened to his full height and fixed his adopted son with a glare. "I can cook. And I know I've had my troubles in the past, but we'll be fine."

"You said that last time." Dick pointed out. "You said that the time before too, and the time before that-"

"Don't you have homework to do?" Bruce grumbled with a huff, crouching back down to rummage through the cabinet again, "I'll call you when dinner's ready."

And with that, the discussion was over. Dick knew, once the dark knight of Gotham set out to do something he was going to do it. Dick turned to walk out the room when a devious idea came to him. Sending a quick glance back to make sure Bruce wasn't watching, he quickly took a picture. He's in the kitchen. He's not supposed to be in the kitchen sending it to Wally. At least if he dies from food poisoning, they'll know the cause, he thought.

Turning from the kitchen Dick slowly made his way back upstairs. He had just made it to the top of the stairs when he heard what could only be described as a heard of elephants trampling through a chimes shop while somebody blew up a nearby shop.

Dick slid down the banister and rushed back into the kitchen only to duck to the floor as a pot lid crashed into the wall where his head had been. Cautiously, he stood up and surveyed the damage; there was a pot lid stuck into the wall behind him and another crammed in the ceiling. But that was nothing compared to the stove. It was somehow sunken in, the metal caving into the oven, with a pot following the concave. There was a pan on fire on the backburner and some sort of brown liquid bubbling on the floor. The microwave was buzzing and the time only said end, and the fan was hanging on by a wire. In short, it looked like a bomb had gone off in the 3 minutes he was gone. Dumbfounded, Dick stared at the hot mess that had been the kitchen for a solid 30 seconds before slowly raising his phone and snapping a final picture. This is why we can't have nice things. A titter to his left drew his attention from the scene in front of him to his mentor who was dusting himself off as he picked himself up off the floor. Dick watched as Bruce surveyed the scene he caused with a tired face before turning to look at his adopted son. "…why don't we," he began, "-order something for tonight?"

Sunday morning found Dick munching on cereal as he flipped through a catalog of display kitchens, lazily browsing different countertops, finishes, and designs. He could just catch Bruce's voice in the other room, probably explaining to Alfred about how he managed to destroy the kitchen again while reheating an already prepared room. Dick smirked to himself; Alfred was particular about the kitchen and Bruce had already done this before. He certainly didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of Alfred's lectures. He man could make you feel like dirt with but a few words. He was brought back to reality as hid phone buzzed with a text from Wally. Hey, you still alive? Chuckling to himself, Dick took a picture of the catalog and sent a final snap; onto kitchen number 3!

A/N. So yeah, this idea came to me after a conversation with a friend of mine who isn't allowed to cook because she once destroyed the kitchen. Couple that with some fanon theories, I've read where Bruce can't cook and Alfred being kind of particular about the kitchen and you get this idea.

Also, in the end Bruce did unlock Dick's phone – that was meant to happen off-screen.

Let me know what you thought- anything that can improve or that you liked!