This was an idea I had a few months ago, a detailed story as to how exactly the idea of Robin was introduced to both Batman and the Justice League. This is just part 1, please let me know if you want to see it continue. I'm debating whether I should go with it or not, please review and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own the D.C. universe, D.C. comics or characters. (Including the Justice League)

Part 1: Scene 1

The 9 year old boy sits at the end of the large, dark wood oval table with his arms crossed. A frown on his face in attempt to keep tears from leaping from his eyes. His messy black hair almost covers his blue sapphire eyes as he refuses to look up. It's nearing the early evening as he listens faintly and tries not to think about them, what he no longer has. Words mumbled across the table involving the boy's situation, though it seems to have nothing to do with him.

"Greyson, Richard John" he read his name written in bold letters at the top of a paper, held by a skinny pale man in a black suit. Everything about him was written on that paper, his entire life, and it was waved around by the pale man while he shouted, as if it meant nothing. The pale man slid another paper across the table, the boy read it before the other man picked it up.

"New Jersey State Home for Boys." It said. The other man frowned as the pale social worker spoke, "The boy needs a more permanent home. You offered to care for him until we found a solution, Mr. Wayne, we found a solution. The reports state that…."

'His name is Bruce' the boy thought, 'Bruce Wayne'.

Bruce slammed the paper back on the table with anger, interrupting the pale man, "I don't care what the reports say!" the boy flinched and looked up at the pale man, his name tag shimmered in the light through the window, "Dr. J. Harrison" it read. The boy immediately drove his eyes back down as Bruce continued to speak with frustration in his voice, "The New Jersey State Home for Boys is not a solution, or a permanent home!" he stated.

'New Jersey…' the boy thought to himself, 'I remember the tour two years ago, that was the second to last stop…' he reinforced his efforts to hold back tears as he thought of New Jersey, 'I can't live there…' his thoughts interrupted by Bruce's words of almost desperation.

"You have to give me time to find another solution. Richard Greyson is currently under my care, I won't send him to Jersey!" he slid the paper back across the table to Dr. Harrison as he continued, "two weeks… that's all I ask." His voice calmed gently near the end.

The doctor scrambled the papers back into his brief case as he continued with a snide tone, "Then what, Mr. Wayne? The boy needs stability…"

"I know that!" interrupted Bruce, "it's only been a week since… since the accident…" his voice lowered, "he lost everything he has ever known his whole life in the past few days, recovery from that takes more than stability." He stated from experience.

'Accident!' the boy thought in rage, 'just an ACCIDENT!'

Dr. Harrison glanced at the boy, sitting with his arms now folded, then nodded at Mr. Wayne. He slid another paper across the table, it had no title. The pale man spoke, "very well then, two weeks. But it may be time to consider other options Mr. Wayne…"

Dr. Harrison stood and shook Bruce's hand, after their hands parted Bruce spoke, "Thank you…" he looked back down at the paper as he stood.

"Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Wayne." Dr. Harrison stated as he pulled his coat back over his shoulders.

"Alfred, would you show Dr. Harrison out please?" Bruce asked.

"Yes master Wayne… this way Dr. Harrison." The humble butler held his hand in the direction away from the table. The doctor followed Alfred to the door, the boy waited until he heard the door close.

The boy listened to Bruce breathe for a second before he stood. His chair fell backwards into the wood floor, leaving a loud bang to echo through the mansion over his words, "An Accident!? You know this wasn't an accident! You said people don't die like that on accident! Someone killed them! On purpose!" he shouted.

Bruce reached his hand toward the boy's shoulder, "Richard…" he said calmly.

The boy pushed his hand away and started for the doorway, "don't call me that!" the boy stormed for the door in rage, "only my parents called me that!" he shouted, passing Alfred on his way out the door, it slammed as Bruce spoke.

"Richard! Dick, Come back!" Bruce followed him out, reaching for the door he was stopped by Alfred.

"Master Bruce…" he stopped to look at the butler as he continued, "given the circumstances, perhaps it's time to consider Dr. Harrison's suggestion…"

Bruce sighed as he closed his eyes, he opened the door and scanned the scene for the boy. He was nowhere in sight, Alfred followed Bruce to the front porch where he had stopped, "I can't take care of him Al… I can't."

Alfred nodded his head in argument, "yes you can, and you will." Bruce looked back out at the scenery to find the boy as Alfred continued, "The boy's family was caught in a crossfire between you and Harvey, the boy has nothing left because of the Batman's choices. Along with the fact that he already knows who you are, you would appear to have no other choice."

Bruce turned to argue, but Alfred spoke first, "besides, you might find you have more in common with young Richard than anticipated. Who knows, you might even form an attachment with the boy." Alfred said as he turned to enter the manor.

"Alfred…" Bruce attempted to form a counter argument, "you know I don't form attachments…"

Alfred continued as he had already won the argument, "two weeks master Wayne… you might want to find the boy, we can't help him if he isn't here."

"There's a tracker on his collar… how are you able to talk me into these things?" Bruce asked.

Alfred simply smiled, "it's a gift."

The young acrobat had managed to travel all the way to the edge of the city, he leaped from building side to rooftop, to building side constantly while attempting to hold back tears of rage. He focused dangerously hard on his technique, bounding across the street, stories above the ground. 'Point your toes, straiten your left leg, and concentrate on your core.' He thought. Those were all things his family used to tell him, suddenly he hears their voices in his head.

Tears cloud his vision as he pushes to continue leaping, he remembers their faces, and what they looked like before they died. The memory invades his thoughts and replays on a constant loop, he hears their screams getting louder and louder, until finally, he can't go any further.

He lands firmly on the roof of a 20 story building, his fists tightened, his teeth grinding together, he tries to move his feet as they remain planted in the concrete. It's nearing sunset as he lets it out, his screams echo through the buildings like thunder. He finally stops pretending to be strong, he melts to the ground and pulls his knees to his chest, rubbing his arms. His cheeks as well as his shirt have been stained with tears, whimpering loudly in hurt.

He lifts his head and cries to the sky, "why did you leave me!?" Minutes pass as only his cries are allowed to echo through the streets, as if there was nothing else in the world, "I want to go with you! Let me come with you!" he screams.

The voice of the dark knight rose from behind the small boy, "Richard…"

Startled, Dick turned and stood, trying to hide his tears, "what are you doing here…?" he hiccupped.

Bruce kept a steady voice as he spoke, "I have to take you home now, you can't stay on this rooftop forever."

Dick turned around and folded his arms, "then take me back to Haley's Circus! That's my home!"

"Dick…" he moved closer and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "you know I can't do that."

Dick became angry and pushed away from Bruce's hand, "I want to go back to the circus! Haley will take me back!" he yelled.

"Dick, Haley's Circus is halfway to Fresno by now…" Bruce stated, keeping his voice calm.

"I don't care! I have to go back, take me back!" he yelled.

"There's nothing for me to take you back to…" he regretted the words as soon as they rolled out of his mouth.

Outraged, the boy busted out words that didn't even seem to belong to him, "Yes there is! I'm still a Flying Greyson!" The black haired boy turned to face the dark knight and began throwing punches, left and right, screaming, "They left me here! Why did they leave?! I want to go with them! It should have been you! You took them away! I hate you!"

The words reminded Bruce of the time his parents were taken from this world, all that pain, rage, and anger. The boy's knuckles grew cold and hard, although the punches grew softer, the boy's pain didn't grow any less dreadful to either of them.

"The circus is my home! The circus is everything! I want to go back! I want to go back!" He shouted. Finally, Bruce found himself holding the boy in his arms as Dick held on to him tightly, whimpering, "I want to go back to them… I want them to come back…" Bruce ran his fingers through the boy's coal black hair as he cried, "But they left me… why did they leave me…"

Bruce comforted the small boy as he cried, refusing to let go of the dark knight, "I'm here… and I'm not going anywhere."

Part 1: Scene 2

The sun rose with a poise the following morning, the boy sat silently at the table gazing out the window at the sky. He watched the birds fly away in the distance, he flinched as a small bird landed on the outside seal. He watched it peck at the wood in curiosity, he heard Alfred come into the kitchen to start breakfast.

"Good morning Richard, up again so early I see. Have you been sleeping any better?" Alfred asked, pulling out a plate and tray.

"A little, I guess… they still come to me at night, I still see them everywhere. It still hurts…" the boy replied as he lowered his head.

"Well now, I can't say that one day it will stop hurting… but with time, it will be easier to dry your tears faster." Alfred stated as he cut a loaf of bread into slices and placed them inside a toaster oven. The boy looked at him with a puzzled face as Alfred smiled and went on, "and that someday you will understand what I'm telling you."

Dick nodded and pretended to understand, he turned his attention back at the window. He spoke softly, still with puffy eyes, "hey Alfred, there's a bird in the window…" he pointed at the autumn stained glass.

Alfred looked up and smiled, "ah yes…" he said with a joy in his eyes as he prepared coffee, "I don't believe you know about the robins yet."

The boy's face struck confusion as he spoke, "robins?"

"Yes" Alfred stated, "Would you like to know about them?"

Dick nodded, turning his body toward Alfred propping his arms on the table holding up his head, eager to listen as Alfred continued, "As you may already know, this manor has sheltered the Wayne family for many generations. Which means, that window has been there for just as long. We call that the robin window. You see, every morning, weather winter or spring, a robin would sooner or later make its way to that window… in the Wayne family, the robin is a symbol of a better outcome, freedom, and hope."

Alfred continued as the boy looked back at the robin in the window, "It was known for many generations that if a robin had crossed your path on any given day, the best would be yet to come."

The boy laughed under his breath, Alfred stopped as his chuckles broke the butler's concentration on his story, "ha-ha… robins." The boy said.

"Forgive me for not understanding the humor sir, why laugh at a robin?" Alfred asked, pausing his chore.

The boy looked up at Alfred, now devoting his undivided attention to what the boy had to say next. The boy's eyes grew misty as he spoke with a lowered tone, "my mom used to call me little robin… I was born on the first day of spring, and she always used to say I reminded her of one, when I was up on the trapeze…" a tear rolled down his cheek as Alfred noticed him quickly wipe it away.

Alfred saw something in the boy that morning, something awfully close to the young lad known as Bruce at his age. "Ah." He said as he nodded in understanding. He continued to give the boy something to think about, "Coincidence, perhaps… You can only imagine what the window did for Master Bruce in his younger years…" he stated, pulling the toast out of the toaster oven and placing it neatly on two plates.

The boy suddenly turned to face Alfred, "Bruce?" he asked.

"Why yes…" Alfred continued, pouring the coffee into a cup and placing it on the tray, along with one plate of toast, "like you, young Bruce lost somethings incredibly dear to him at an age not far from yours. He sat by that window almost every morning for years after his loss."

A pause of silence and deep thought urged the boy to ask, "In what way, like me?"

Before Alfred gave enough time to reply to the question, he dodged an answer and continued his routine, "speaking of master Bruce, I've got to take him his breakfast…" he winked at the boy as he set a plate of toast in front of the small child, and proceeded to carry the tray down the stairs.

Alfred held the tray cautiously as he entered the bat cave, he found Bruce at the computer, studying the monitor carefully. A series of newspaper articles were visible on the screen, along with maps containing pin-pointed locations. Alfred could read most of the headlines, involving 'acrobatic family murdered' , 'acid laced wires' , 'young acrobat under the care of multi-billion dollar company owner, Bruce Wayne'.

Upon this, Alfred knew exactly what he was doing, "it would appear the killer went into hiding." He stated, "His current status is the same as that which you concluded on, last week."

Bruce was startled at first, not expecting the humble butler's voice "Al, what are you still doing up?" Bruce said with sarcasm in his words.

"It is 7:30 sir, when you weren't in your room I figured you'd enjoy breakfast in the cave this morning." Bruce released the large screen from his eyes long enough to take a sip of the black coffee. Alfred became concerned at the sight of the bags under Bruce's eyes, "My goodness! Have you been up all night? Working on this?"

Bruce set the empty cup back on the tray, "Mmm… that was excellent AL. New coffee brand?"

Alfred became somewhat frustrated with Bruce's sarcasm, "don't change the subject… when I said, improved conditions, staying up all night to blame yourself for the murder of the boy's family, was not my intent."

"I have been after Harvey for almost a year now, the boy's family was caught in a crossfire between him and Batman. Now, I have an innocent 9 year old boy upstairs that has been to Hell and back because of me!" his voice showed frustration and anger, much like the previous evening at the table, "I have to catch the bastard that did this…"

Alfred replied with a calm, convincing tone, "the boy's loss is not your fault…there's nothing more you could have done then what you are doing now."

"And what's that Alfred?" he stated with disbelief.

"Giving the boy a home…" Alfred explained.

Bruce opened his mouth to argue, but was interrupted by an incoming call from the watchtower. He turned back to the keyboard and pressed a blinking butting on the dashboard that opened a window on the large monitor.

To Bruce's surprise, Green Arrow's face appeared on the screen, "Oliver? What's wrong?"

He replied with puzzled tone as the connection struggled to remain online, Green Arrow's words went in and out in between white noise, "Bruce… hostage situation in Gotham city… your… clown friend in the purple… students captive… Gotham City High School."

Bruce's voice deepens, "Joker… why are you spacing in and out?"

Green Arrow continues as if he'd never heard Bruce's question, "do y… know what he wants…?"

Bruce replied with sarcasm, "with High School students: no idea… on my way."

Alfred attempts to interfere, "sir, I don't believe it to be wise to engage in this right now."

Bruce closes the face call window and reaches for his uniform, "not now Al…"

Alfred continues to speak with a worried voice, "now, you haven't got any sleep in over 24 hours, I don't think…"

Bruce interrupted bluntly, "I can survive one night without sleep, Al. I'll be f…"

Alfred interrupted desperately as Bruce stopped in his track at the sound of those words, "with all due respect sir, there is a 9 year old boy upstairs who is wondering where you are."

Bruce continued to get into the bat mobile with almost, a guilt upon his shoulders, "I'll be back soon Al, I can't let anyone else get hurt."

Alfred took a deep breath as the bat mobile's tires screeched upon zooming away. He carried the tray with the toast and empty cup back up the stairs and found little Dick at the table with his toast.

Still chewing, the boy turned and asked, "Where's Bruce?"

Alfred smiled as he found humor in the boy, "Now, chew your food thoroughly before speaking." He suggested, "Master Bruce will return in time."

Dick swallowed his mouthful and asked again, "But, where is he?"

Alfred improvised with a smile, "When he gets here, you can ask him." The boy slouched and took a breath of frustration as Alfred continued, "Now, finish up your toast. And what do you say you and I go into town, and get you some new cloths."

Dick took another bite of his toast with a disappointed look on his face, "Ok…" he said still chewing, as Alfred tried to hold back a smile.

Part 1: Scene 3

Batman arrived on the scene in shadows, just in time to overhear a report from Commissioner Gordon. There was already a perimeter of police cars surrounding the entire high school grounds, no contact has been made between anyone inside and anyone outside the silent high school.

Gordon walked across the street to a dumpster to throw his coffee away, he stopped to look at his watch as the words of the dark knight arose from behind, "how many inside?"

"Jesus!" he took a breath and continued, "There's 400 that we know of."

"It's Saturday, what are 400 students doing here?" Batman kept his voice low as he spoke.

"Workshop… Writer's fair." Gordon answered, looking back at the high school.

"What does he want with high school writers?" Batman asked.

"We don't know, we haven't made contact yet. But we…" he turned to find nothing behind him, Batman had gotten the information he needed to proceed.

Unseen, Batman crept his way through the shadows and entered the building from a side window. He navigated himself around the building, locating Joker with his heat sensitive vision. He stayed above the floor, mostly hidden above the ceiling covers, traveling silently through the building.

He kept his eyes narrow as he traveled from an air shaft leading to an empty room, he heard Joker's voice. "Any minute now…" he said out loud.

He was surrounded by henchmen all wearing the same mask, one of them spoke with concern, "how do you know?" he asked.

Joker turned to face the man, he walked up behind him and pulled out a hand gun, "Because…" he said slowly, raising the gun to the back of the man's head, "I know, the Batman."

A quiet bang was released into the echo of the halls, the silencer was almost in use, the loud crash of the body landing lifeless on the floor wasn't helpful either. Blood leaked all over the floor as Joker stood over the corps, "now look what you did…" he bent over in disappointment at the sight of the blood, "that's not going to come out of the floor easy."

Clink.

"Hey boss, you hear something?" another henchman said from across the room.

The lights burn out, nothing but darkness clouds the room.

Joker stood from the body and moved to the center of the room, growing an evil grin he spoke with enthusiasm, "he's here… all of you, phase 2. GO!" he shouted

All the men exited the room, leaving Joker alone in the empty darkness. He chuckles as he speaks, "come out come out, wherever you are…" he shifted his attention from one direction to the next as he spoke, "oh do come out… it's been far too long."

He turned around quickly and found Batman inches away from him, he backed away as soon as he saw the dark knight. Startled, he continued, "there you are…" he raised his hand gun.

Batman knocked the gun from his hands, disarmed both his knives, and struck Joker's nose with and upward motion from his lower palm. Causing him to remain temporarily dizzy, he stumbled backwards and slowly regained control of his footing, "now that wasn't nice…" he claimed, wiping blood from his lip.

"What do you want Joker?" Batman demanded.

The henchmen came around the corner into the dark room quickly, dispersing to the sides of the room. The dark knight kept track of every one of them as they slowly surrounded the area. Then they brought a guest: a girl.

Blond hair, blue sweater, black pants, barefoot, gaged, arms tied behind her back, she was dragged into the room by her hair. The dark knight glanced at the girl on her knees, she was obviously drugged. He turned back to the Joker and grinded his teeth at the sound of his voice.

"A talk is all…" Batman started at the Joker, picking him up by his collar. He held up two fingers signally the man holding the blond girl, placing a blade at her neck. Batman saw the pattern, and backed away cautiously as he spoke.

"Let the girl go…" he demanded.

Joker shook his head as he grinned, "That won't do… You see, this here… is Lucy Carlson. Say hello Lucy!" he shouted.

"What importance is she to you?" Batman interrupted.

"Always in such a rush lately…" Joker continues off subject, "I remember the good ol' days, all our little talks." The dark knight keeps his eyes narrow as he watches the Joker slowly make his way around Batman, "speaking of which, why didn't you ever call me back? Is it because I'm too intimidating? Or are you seeing someone else?"

"What does the girl have to do with this?" Batman insisted.

Joker stopped in front of the girl, "Ok. Ok." He turned and knelt down beside the girl, facing Batman he held the girl's head up with his hand on her chin. She cried as he continued, "Meet, president of the writing club by day, and by night: she is full time anonymous blogger and news tracker, AKA, biggest fan of, the batman." He lets her head fall as he stands, "I want to know, why people are starting to view you as such a noble and heroic figure, when… you're no different from me."

"I'm nothing like you." Batman interrupts.

"Oh but you are… in every opposite way." He continued as he picked up the hand gun and waved it around, "You see, I could shoot this girl in the head, and not think of it ever again in my life. You on the other hand, would probably risk your life to save the useless little fan girl." He rose the gun to the girl's head.

"How does that make sense?" a henchman asked from the side.

Without hesitation, Joker pointed the gun at the henchman and shoot him, in between the eyes. He fell to the ground, his lifeless body poured blood on the floor as the girl screamed. Joker continued with frustration, "like that…" he said, gesturing the corps.

Outside, Commissioner Gordon held up his radio and spoke with fear, "alright that's the second gunshot, we're going in! Units 2-7 enter front, 1 and 8 from the rear! Let's move it people!"

Joker chuckles as he continues, "Just like, you will escape here today making sure that every last hostage is alive and accounted for. Whereas, I will escape, but I won't care about who gets left behind."

Batman hears the footsteps of the SWAT team coming down the hall as he stalls Joker, "Not even your men…" he stated, "let me get this straight, you think we are the same because we are exactly opposite…" he slowly reached behind him and pulled out a small trigger.

"No, we are like, the perfect pair. Anywhere I go, you go. Anywhere you go, I go… we can predict each other's every move, and…"

"Really?" Batman interrupted, "what's my next move, Joker?" he asked sarcastically.

Joker took a second to think and opened his mouth, but Batman continued, "Time's up… I already made my move. An EMP temporarily disarmed your weapons, police are 45 seconds away, and sleeping gas has already started seeping through the ceiling."

Joker and his men looked at the ceiling, when they looked back at the middle of the room, Batman was gone. Joker threw the gun at the floor, "oh, come on now… must you leave so soon?" he asked out loud, searching for any sign of the Batman.

He continued to speak into the darkness with sarcasm, "you just got here… and we haven't even started with the…" he was interrupted by a clink from behind, he turned and found a bat shaped boomerang with a blinking light stuck in the floor. It blinked three times before Joker's eyes widened, boom!

Joker, the girl, the men, all swallowed by the smoke cloud. Unconscious bodies dropped left and right, all the men in the masks hit the ground with a thud. Above the cloud, Batman held the unconscious girl firmly by the shoulders as he scanned through the cloud. The henchmen were asleep, Joker was nowhere in sight.

SWAT was moments away from the doorway, they turned the corner entering the smoke filled room. With gas masks, they found and cuffed 17 masked men, found two of them dead. Batman untied the girl and set her gently outside the doorway of the smoke-filled room. He waited for a member of the SWAT team to find her before disappearing into the shadows again.

The dark knight watched from a nearby building side in the shadows as the girl was carried to an ambulance. The 400 students that were being held in the gym fled through the doors with Police officers, he made sure the masked men each got their own free ride to the station.

He saw Commissioner Gordon walk silently back to the dumpster, he waited there for several minutes before he turned around again. The sight of the dark knight shocked Gordon out of his words. He took another breath before he spoke, "You know… one of these days you're going to give someone a heart attack…" he claimed.

"Too late." Batman replied, continuing with information on the attack, "Joker was behind the attack, I don't think these men followed him under their free will. Drugged maybe, the girl was drugged as well, she'll need therapy; mental and physical."

"I'll make sure she gets it. What did he want?" asked Gordon as he turned to look at the high school.

"Fan club." Batman replied with disgust.

"so I guess he just wanted an excuse to see y…" he turned back around to find he was talking to an empty alley way, Gordon took a deep breath of frustration, "one day…" he said to himself, "heart attack." He said sarcastically.

Part 1: Scene 4

Alfred holds the hand of young Dick as they walk down the sidewalk of a busy street, funneling themselves through the moving crowds. Young Dick held Al's hand tightly, until just beyond the crowd, Dick saw something.

There was a man in a tall dark cote in the shadows, a hat covered most of his face. He held something in his pocket, and a dark look in his eye. He held his hand over her mouth, pushing her against the wall. Dick saw her struggle to get free through the continuously shifting faces.

He spotted a candy store just off the ally way, a gumball machine in the display window. He let go of the butlers hand and darted away, disappearing into the crowd, "Mr. Greyson!?... Richard?!" Alfred called out in surprise and worry, dropping the clothing bags.

The young boy reappeared on the other side of the current, he swung a rock at the glass, the sound of the shattering glass scared most of the crowd to move faster. With panic amongst the people, he swiped a handful of gumballs and dashed around the corner. The sight of the tall man shocked him, his voice just made him angry, "get lost kid."

Dick threw the gumballs at the man's feet, and kicked the back of his knees, causing him to loose balance, slip, and fall. His body hit the ground with a thud, but Dick didn't stay long enough to see him back at his feet. He grabbed the woman's hand and ran back into the sidewalk.

By now, the street was empty, he raced her back around the corner and yelled, "Run! Run now!" she left him alone as she disappeared into the distance. The man got to his feet and looked around the corner in disgust, "why you little…" he growled.

Pouncing toward the boy, Dick anticipated every move he made. The man was slow, and easy to avoid. Dick eventually ran the man into a street pole and tied his shoe laces together, sending him to the ground again with a loud thud.

The boy felt a sense of pride as the police sirens came flashing around the corner, he smirked a little at the sight of the man being cuffed and lowered into a police car. He suddenly remembered Alfred, where did Alfred go?

He turned to look but found a police officer instead, his caught the boy's small hands and pulled them behind his back. "Not so fast little guy." He said, cuffing his hands.

Dick found himself cuffed, in the back of a police car, pleading for innocents, "Wait! This is all just a big misunderstanding, you got the wrong guy!" he claimed.

"Shut up" said the driving officer, suddenly, the boy found himself riding in silence to the police station. He was walked up the front steps like a criminal, and cuffed to the bench near the receptionist's desk. He watched the door for Alfred, every time it opened, he had hoped to see Alfred's face. But as soon as he saw Alfred, he looked down and to the side.

Alfred said nothing. He only walked to the front desk in silence after glancing at the boy. He studied various papers and reports, he spoke to the nearby officer and glanced back at the boy. His words were mumbled, and unclear. The boy watched Alfred pull out his phone and dial Bruce, he heard only fragments of their conversation.

"Master Bruce…"

"Hello Alfred." He said from the other line.

"We have… police station… young Dick… legal documents proving… won't allow me to… legal temporary guardian… as soon as possible." Alfred's words gave the impression Bruce was angry, he watched as Alfred put his phone away and nodded at the officer, "I'll wait with him." He said.

Dick's heart rate grew faster as Alfred came and sat down next to the boy, finally he let words slip from his mouth before he could stop them, "is he mad at me…" the boy asked.

Alfred looked down at the boy as he improvised, "Master Bruce will arrive shortly, we can't leave until he signs off for full responsibility of vandalism." Alfred continued with curiosity, "Young Richard, what on earth possessed you to break into that poor man's candy shop?" he asked.

The boy thought for a second with confusion on his face, 'the gumballs' he thought. He opened his mouth to answer as Alfred continued, "if you wanted something sweet, I would have bought you something… there was never any need to steel." He stated.

"But I didn't steel candy!" he argued, "there was a man, he had a gun, he was going to hurt someone… I had to stop him, I didn't mean to…" he paused as he heard the door open. He turned and saw Bruce's face, but Bruce didn't look at the boy.

He walked in a straight line to the front desk, like Alfred, he studied various papers and reports, signing forms. He spent several minutes at the desk, it seemed as if he refused to look back at the boy. Dick counted numerous minutes before Bruce finally turned around, he walked with a gentle pace towards the boy, followed by an officer who fished a ring of keys from his pocket.

The officer kneeled down to unlock the cuffs as Bruce stayed standing, he made no eye contact with the boy as he spoke to the officer, "again, I'm really sorry for the trouble." He said.

The boy flinched at the sound of the cuffs flinging open, he stood slowly as the officer replied, "Oh, it's no problem." He stated.

Bruce shook the officer's hand firmly, "thank you." He said. The officer tipped his hat and walked away. Bruce changed his tone as he directed his attention to the boy, "let's go." He commanded, but without anger.

The ride home was piercing silent, only the engine was allowed to scream. Dick feared to let his eyes wonder anywhere but the floor, but he knew exactly where they were, and exactly how much time he had left. 'Tell him' he thought to himself, 'just say exactly what happened, I didn't do anything wrong.' He contemplated, 'wait; beg for forgiveness. He knows what happened, he already thinks I'm guilty.'

Dick argued with himself silently until the car came to a stop, the engine was silenced, only the sound of him breathing remained in the car. "Alfred, leave us." Bruce said with a calm voice, interrupting the silence.

"As you wish, Master Bruce." Alfred exited the vehicle quietly, the shut of the car door seemed so loud it gave the impression he was angry too, 'Maybe he was exaggerating… or maybe he was mad at me as well.' Dick thought to himself.

Dick watched Alfred walk silently up the steps of the manor, Bruce waited until Alfred was inside to start speaking. He could faintly hear the huge door to the manor close right before Bruce spoke, "Dick…"

He was interrupted by the boy's frazzled words, "I know you're mad at me! I can explain everything! It was a misunderstanding, they caught the wrong guy! There was a man in the alley way, he had a gun in his pocket, he was going to hurt someone, and I…" Bruce smiled as the boy attempted to plead his case.

"Dick, I never said I was angry with you. I read the reports." Confusion struck the boy's face as Bruce continued, "I know why you acted upon those circumstances, it was your course of action that got you in trouble."

Bruce opened the door and put one foot on the ground, "come with me." He said as he exited the car.

Dick thought for a second before opening the door, 'he's not mad?' he exited the car and ran to catch up to Bruce, who was halfway to the manor. They walked side by side through the manor doors, and down the hall. Passing Alfred, Bruce spoke, "I have an idea." Alfred winked at him as they passed.

Bruce opened a door, leading to a staircase. They walked down the dark staircase and the boy came to a stop before they reached the bottom, he could see it in dark, "is that…" he asked slowly.

"Yes." Bruce said. The boy's eyes filled with surprise as Bruce turned on the lights.

Dick couldn't hold back a smile as he spoke, "no way…"