Young Justice: Robin Centric

Christmas Special: What If?

Categories: Daddybats/Fluff/Angst

A/N: Happy new year! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas too:) Sorry it's super late!!!

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It was a bad argument. The disagreement lasted long into the night.

"It's just a party! " Dick moaned.
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're 14 years old. You are not going."

"Oh come on-"

"It's Christmas Eve! And you know what happens at those parties Richard!"

The teenager decided to lie. "Um- his parents are home! And it's only small and there's no alcohol or drugs and I won't be back late -"

"No," Bruce cut him off, "I don't buy it."

The words fell out of his mouth. "I hate you! Living with you isn't worth being Robin!"

The disgruntled playboy bit his tongue. "Well maybe I shouldn't have adopted you then."

Dick didn't mean to say it. And neither did Bruce. But they couldn't stop themselves.

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His arm slipped out of the covers and dangled over the side of the bed. Richard felt the cold air hit his porcelain skin. It woke him instantly. He always slept in the middle of his double bed and almost never rolled onto the side. He felt something digging in his back, so, he sat up.

He scratched his head and slowly opened his eyes. A blurry unfamiliar room came into sight. Richard rapidly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. A part of him believed his mind was playing a trick on him.

But it wasn't.

He was not half asleep. He was defiantly awake. Dick Grayson was sat in a tiny attic bedroom. The walls and floor were worn out wood and the furniture looked at least 50 years old. He was afraid to stand up, he wasn't sure if the floor boards could take his weight. This had to be a trick.

He carefully got out of bed and made his way through the claustrophobic hallway. Each step creaked as he placed his foot on it.

Something caught his eye. It was a lopsided photo of a family of four. The woman had beautiful black silky hair and rouge lips. She had a blonde baby girl on her lap who looked like the man beside her. Standing in front of the tall muscular man was... Dick.

"Richie!" a young girl's voice shouted.
He spun around. At the top of the stairs was a blonde girl, no older than 6.

"Mommy and daddy are already downstairs!" she told him.

She ran down and grabbed his hand. She pulled him into the living room.

The man and woman from the picture were sat on the couch, wearing a smile.

"Wow there's so many," the little girl gasped at the 8 presents under the fake white tree.

She raced over.

The man grabbed Dick's arm and leaned close to his ear. "Sorry there isn't many this year son."

Dick nodded and gulped. He didn't know what to do other than act like he knew these people. He went over to the tree and glanced at the name tags. 4 for him and 4 for... Mabel. At least he knew her name now.

Once he finished awkwardly opening his presents, he looked at his 'sister'.

"Are you happy with what you got Mabel?" he asked, realising he hadn't spoke all morning.

His 'parents' gasped. "You're English is coming along well isn't it?"

Dick just nodded. Great, this Richard Grayson couldn't speak English?

"I've been practising?" his reply sounded more like a question.
"Well done Rich." he smiled.

Dick hated being called Rich, but he bared with it. All he had to do was figure out what was going on. So for the rest of the day he was Richard. He had parents and a sister. He planned to try and find Bruce after dinner.

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They let him out for an hour. Luckily he was actually still in Gotham.

The cab stopped and Dick jumped out. Adrenalin coursed through his veins. He ran towards the door, almost slipping on the ice. He burst in, panting and relieved to be home.

Bruce must have been going crazy, he thought.

Alfred appeared.

"Alfie!" Dick smiled. "You won't believe the morning I've had!"

The butler merely held his palm up to stop him. "Whom might you be?"

"What?" He staggered back. "It's me, Dick!"

He cleared his throat. "I don't know who you are, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Tears welled in his eyes but he refused to let them spill out. He nodded and held the door. He took one last look at Alfred's blank face, and left.

He spent all his money on the cab ride there.

There there was still one place that he could go that was in walking distance.

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45 minutes later, Dick found himself stood outside Gotham cemetery. The tall black gates seemed unusually inviting, so he didn't hesitate to enter.

He knew exactly where to go. He'd visited hundreds of times. Bruce used to have to pull him from the headstone.

"Hey mom, hey dad," the boy kneeled down. "I'm s-so confused. I woke up this morning in a different home. It's like Bruce never came that day,"

Snowflakes drifted down silently from the cloudy sky. Dick placed his hand on the marble.

"I miss you so much! I miss the circus! I miss performing! And the man who got me through everything doesn't remember me! Maybe it was because I was so horrible to him last night... but I didn't mean it!" he cried out. "I didn't! I can't do this without Bruce. I c-can't lose him too,"

He closed his eyes and sunk his head into his hands. Was this his life now? Living in a house that's falling apart with strangers?

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The words almost fell out of his mouth. "I ha-"

But he stopped himself. It was like he had just woke up from a nightmare.

"You what?" Bruce asked.

Well that was weird. Dick thought. What just happened?

"I'm sorry," he said instead. "You're right. It's Christmas Eve! It's family time not friend time."

Bruce nodded. "That, and you're too young."

He grimaced. "Yep... that too."

"Well, go get some hot chocolate and then up to bed,"

Dick wrapped his arms around Bruce's chest. "It's good to be back."

And so, Dick decided against telling Bruce about the whole 'alternative universe' fiasco. He told Wally instead but he didn't believe him. Whatever it was, it was needed. It helped him remember everything that Bruce had done for him. Without it, he would have said some pretty hurtful things. It would have destroyed their relationship, and Gotham was not ready to lose the Dynamic Duo yet.