Rising Robin

Chapter XXXV: Broken Heroes

Dick walked up to the doors leading to Bruce Wayne's office...the entrance to the Batcave, as Bruce had called it.

He placed his hand over the doorknob, but hesitated opening it. Should he even bother going in? Should he even try to understand Bruce? The man had lied to Dick. From the second they met, he had lied to Dick. Nothing he had said was true. None of his motives were true. He had a dark & secretive side, & who knew what else Bruce was capable of. Him & Alfred posed as threats to Dick. There's no way he could stay with them any longer.

But he couldn't go anywhere. Not without taking down Nolan Drake. He needed help now that Rachel & everyone had left him. He needed Bruce. He needed the Batman.

Dick sighed. He opened the door slowly, immediately regretting it. "You at least deserve some answers," Dick told himself. Regardless of his reasoning, he was still terrified to continue his way through the office. His palms grew sweaty, & he felt his heart beat irregularly. His head began to throb & his arms grew numb. The panicky feeling was coming more & more, growing worse each time. Dick genuinely began to fear for his life. Was he sick? Was he going to be okay? Was he going to die?

Dick shook his head softly. He needed to stop thinking stupid thoughts, & he needed to stop distracting himself, because Bruce was ready for him.

Dick slowly made his way towards Bruce, who was seated at a nearby armchair across from a fireplace. He held a glass of something in his right hand while his left hand hung loosely over the armrest of the chair. Another armchair was placed next to Bruce's seat. In between the two seats was a small glass nightstand that held a bottle bourbon & an empty glass cup. Bruce looked up at Dick. "Take a seat. Have a drink," Bruce said softly.

Dick bit his lip. He sighed softly & went to the chair to sit. He glanced at Bruce, who was still wearing the black Batsuit armor. Dick scoffed. "You couldn't be bothered to take that suit off?" Dick asked.

Bruce shook his head & took a sip of his bourbon. "This is who I am, Dick," he said in a low voice.

Dick rolled his eyes. "Right. You're the Batman."

The two sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes. Dick reached to his side to grab the empty glass & poured some bourbon into it. Dick set the bottle back down & took a sip from his glass. He let out a deep breath. "So...when I showed up to Rodrick's apartment...that was you."

Bruce nodded softly. "Yes, Dick."

Dick nodded. "Right. Duh." He continued to think to himself. "So...does that mean that you followed me to the apartment that night?"

Bruce shook his head. "No. I was really looking into intel from the GCPD that night. I just had no idea that you'd be down there."

Dick nodded. "And, um...Cadmus..."

"I was there," Bruce admitted. "When the firefight broke out between Cobblepot's men & the Cadmus soldiers, I was there containing it as you broke those prisoners out."

Dick nodded softly, suddenly filling in blank pieces. Bruce continued. "I didn't expect you to get caught up at Cobblepot's warehouse, though."

Dick shrugged. "Yeah, but what're gonna do?" Dick asked rhetorically. "When the Russians ask for you, you show up."

Bruce turned to Dick. "This isn't a joke, Dick."

Dick shot a stare back at Bruce. "Yeah, no, this was never a joke to me, Bruce. It never was. It has always been very real for me. Everything down in the Gotham City Underground, everything that Nolan Drake has done to the innocent lives that he's taken, all of it, I was there for. I wanted to stop all of it. I STILL want to stop it. No, I WILL stop it. But you haven't seem to be able to do a goddamn thing about it, Bruce. Not as the playboy billionaire, & definitely not as the fucking Bat. I've come closer to stopping Nolan than you have ever gotten, & I just want you to really let that sink in & feel fucking ashamed. You're a piece of shit, Wayne. Not just for lying like you did, but for lying about how much of a coward you really are as well."