Young Justice: Robin Centric

Principal's Office

Category: Daddybats

***

"Richard John Grayson. Please report to the principal's office," the lady spoke through the speaker in one of those generic secretary voices.

Dick gathered his books together and dumped them in his bag. He fumbled out of the classroom nervously. The only kids called to the principal's office were the bad ones.

The door opened as soon as he arrived. Principal Stone greeted him with a warm smile and gestured him inside.

It wasn't your usual one-to-one meeting. Sat in the corner was the school nurse and a bald man in a grey suit. Dick took the seat opposite Mr Stone's.

The teenager was incredibly uncomfortable. But instead of profoundly sweating or panicking, he quietly fidgeted underneath the desk.

"You're not in any trouble Richard. I just want to ask you a few questions." Mr Stone said, noticing Dick's ridged shoulders.

He pulled out a notepad and pen from one of the drawers. "I see that you have your cast off, that's great! But... how did you get that again?"
"Tree," he responded quickly. "I fell out of a tree. Lost my balance ha-ha."

He wanted to throw himself out a tree after saying that. Ha-ha? Yeah. Very believable.

Mr Stone began writing something down. "Richard, please can you take off your shirt?"

He said it so care-free, like it was no big deal to ask a student to strip down for you.

Red flushed Dick's face in embarrassment. "Why!?"
The principle made eye contact with his student. "Richard, one of your classmates reported that you have multiple scars on your chest. Can we please see?"

"No." He said, but there was a slight uncertainty to his voice. "Can I go?"

He didn't care about the answer. No matter what he said, he was leaving.
But it wasn't Principal Stone that stood in front of the door, it was baldy.

It didn't take a sleuth to figure out what was going on. "I want Bruce."

"Richard, we're only trying to help. Did Bruce Wayne do this to you?" The last sentence that rolled off Mr Stone's tongue created an eerie silence.

Dick bit his lip and took a deep breath before saying anything. He had to stay calm. "No."
The nurse spoke this time. "He can't hurt you anymore,"

She was about to approach him, but remember that calm thing? Didn't last long after that.

"Hurt me?" He shrieked. "He's my dad! He would never hurt me! I don't need baldy's protection! I want Bruce!"

"We can't bring Bruce in. If you don't cooperate, we will have no choice but to open a full investigation!"

Keep your cool, it's just an enquiry. There aren't any police... But baldy must be from the child protection services, right? Must be a formality. Just. Stay. Whelmed. He thought and internally sighed.

"Okay," Dick sighed. "But you are telling him right?"

Baldy gave Mr Stone a nod. He started punching in Bruce's phone number.
Dick sat smugly as he heard Bruce yell down the phone, demanding to see him.

It disappeared soon after though when Stone hung up and asked him to strip again.

This time he didn't protest. There could not be an investigation.

Thankfully Alfred was pretty good when it came to stitches. The Dynamic Duo would have a lot more scars if it wasn't for him. Leaving Dick with only a few questionable lines on his chest.

"Can you explain how you got these Richard?" Stone asked, his pen at the ready.

"Sure," he shrugged. "This one is from when I fell off my bike when I was 9. Bruce promised me he wouldn't let go... but he did. So I guess in a way he did do that one!"

He proceeded to lie about how he got his scars.

After 5 minutes of absolute bull, the annoying secretary rang.

"Mr Wayne is here," she said, " - hey wait you can't go in there!"

The door was pushed open. The billionaire entered with so much presence, it put the whole room on edge.

"Mr Wayne!" Principal Stone finally managed to say. "This is a private meeting!"

But by that time Bruce had already scraped the plastic chair against the floor and sat next to Dick. "This meeting involves my son."

All eyes were on Dick. The staff looked for the little tell-tales of an abused child. Obviously, he showed none. He sat calmly next to his alleged abuser.

"Bruce doesn't hit me." He voice was steady an filled with certainty. "So can I go now?"

They couldn't do much else. His injuries had been explained, and Bruce being there didn't seem to faze him. Above all, he denied it. An investigation couldn't be started without definite proof or an allegation.

Mr Stone nodded. "If Dick comes into school with anymore unexplainable injuries, we will have to choice but to open a formal investigation."
"I understand," Bruce stood up, "I appreciate you looking out for the well-being of my son."

"Truth is I'm just a klutz ha-ha!" Dick joked, but no one found it funny.

There was an awkward silence in the room, Dick couldn't wait to get out of there.

***

"That was a close one," the teenager slammed the car door.
"Don't slam the door," Bruce rolled his eyes after telling him for the 100th time. "And it was too close - we might have to consider home school."

It wasn't unreasonable and it was the only obvious solution. Dick could hide the cuts and bruises, but when it came to broken bones, it got difficult. It wasn't like he broke something everyday. But it was definitely more than your average teenager.

Dick clicked his seatbelt in. "Won't that be suspicious?"
"Yes," sighed Bruce.

However, Dick didn't like the idea of going into the foster care system. And if they searched the house, there was a chance they would find the cave. It was too risky.

There was another option, but neither of them dared to bring it up. It was a last resort. Being Robin was a part of Dick, without it, he wouldn't be the same.

"We will fix this," he placed a hand on Dick's shoulder.
"How?" Dick asked.

Bruce usually had an answer for everything, but this time, he didn't.