Chapter Text
“No,” you laughed at your boss over morning coffee.
“(Y/N),” he said sternly, “It’s good for us. And he’s a good guy, he’ll help the kids.”
You rolled your eyes at your old friend and mentor, Charlie, and sighed.
“I just don’t see what a rich white boy wants to do in a community center in Blüdhaven,” you muttered.
Charlie shrugged, allowing a small smile.
“Who knows,” he said. “Volunteer apparently. But with Dick Grayson here, the donations are bound to start coming in. If only from women that want to come meet him,” he laughed.
“Well, good thing you’re a married man,” you smirked, looking at the picture of Charlie and his husband on his desk.
Charlie seemed a little lost in thought for a moment while looking at the same picture, but soon spoke up.
“Did you take the donations to the bank this month?” he asked. You shook your head.
“I was going to do it Friday, I have to head that way for an errand anyway. That okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” he said. “It’s not a lot, but it’ll keep the lights on.”
You nodded, looking at the paint peeling off the walls, and feeling the humidity from the broken air conditioner you didn’t have the budget to fix.
“When does he start?” you asked, dreading the answer. You had this place running like clockwork, albeit at the expense of all your energy each day, but still.
There was a knock on the threshold of the door, and a voice answered, “Now?”
You turned to see a face you knew quite well from the papers and television staring hopefully at you. He’d tried to dress down, but with his plain gray t shirt, he was wearing jeans that cost more than your rent. His hair seemed carelessly tossed, though you could tell there was product in it. He smiled at you, but you couldn’t quite manage it back.
You gave him your name as you shook his hand, and he gave his.
“I know who you are,” you laughed bitterly.
“(Y/N),” Charlie said as a warning to be friendly, “Why don’t you show Mr. Grayson here the grand tour?”
You finished your coffee and placed the mug on Charlie’s desk before shooting him a look and turning to Dick.
“Right this way, Mr. Grayson,” you said, not waiting for him to catch up after saying his goodbyes to Charlie.
“Uh, you can call me Dick,” he said, after jogging a bit to catch up.
“I’m shocked you don’t go by Richard,” you smirked. “Who under the age of 85 is named Dick?”
Expecting him to take offense, you were surprised when he laughed.
“Fair point,” he allowed. “It’s just what everyone’s always called me.”
You rounded the corner and started the tour.
“In here you’ll find our court, mostly used for basketball, sometimes volleyball, badminton, etcetera,” you said, opening the door to a shabby court.
“Nice,” he said, unconvincingly.
“I’m sure it’s not what you’re used to, but it works just fine,” you muttered, unable to rein in your bitterness.
He studied you for a moment but said nothing. You continued down the hallway to a smaller room. Bringing him inside, you showed him the various tables and work stations.
“This is our home economics room,” you explained. “We teach kids how to sew, sometimes how to make simple meals, teach them what’s healthy and how to get it at an affordable price.”
“You teach them to sew?” he asked.
“We can’t all afford designer jeans, Dick,” you said. “Sometimes it’s mend the hole in your shirt, or go without it.”
You were going to continue on, but he gently grabbed your arm. Your heart rate skyrocketed, and you pulled back, tears forming in your eyes before you could tell your body it wasn’t under attack.
“Don’t touch me,” you almost yelled instinctively. You saw Dick draw back, recoiling in horror at his gentle touch.
“I’m… I’m sorry, I was just going to ask you… Are you okay?” he asked.
You closed your eyes and took a breath, as your time in therapy had taught you, and answered when you were ready.
“I just don’t like being touched,” you said. That was all the explanation you owed, if any, to him. “What were you going to ask me?”
He looked almost guilty now, like he didn’t want to, but you held your gaze, telling him to answer.
“I was going to ask if you have a problem with me,” he said. “You keep referencing my family, well, my adopted family… I can’t help who I was adopted by,” he shrugged.
“And you’re dealing with that wealth disparity guilt by, what, volunteering here for a few weeks?” you guessed. “And then you can run back to Mr. Wayne and feel better about your six course meals and private jets?”
“I plan on staying for a long time,” he answered quietly. “If you’ll have me.”
You eyed him carefully, trying to assess if he was serious.
“We’ll see,” was all you allowed, though you felt your guard lower a little. You hadn’t moved since you’d screamed.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, taking a step back to allow you some more space.
“Yes,” you answered, annoyed at his seemingly genuine concern.
Despite your initial distaste for him, he seemed actually very nice, and it was not helping your grudge against him. You checked your watch and realized it was almost time for your first scheduled activity of the day.
“You’re welcome to hang out with Charlie for an hour,” you offered. “Or you can come watch a senior citizen’s water aerobics class I have to go teach.”
His smiled and let out a little laugh.
“I think this shadowing experience would be quite incomplete without it,” he said.
“Alright,” you shrugged, feeling a little lighter. “But don’t blame me for all the old women who are going to hit on you.”
He followed you into the indoor swimming facility. You wouldn’t have thought that Blüdhaven would have had such luxuries, but back in the 80s when this place was built, there were some serious benefactors. Back when the city wasn’t so terrible.
You led Dick into the room, hearing your shoes change sounds once you hit the wet concrete. The water was still, and the air smelled like chlorine.
“I have to get changed, but feel free to sit on any of the benches and hang out,” you offered.
He nodded and you went to go get changed. You put a robe on, and headed back out to the pool. When you emerged, a few of the seniors had started to arrive. Some had come in their bathing suits, others were heading for the locker rooms.
You saw one of your more sociable students talking to Dick. He caught your eye and smiled briefly before you approached them.
“I see you’ve met my most enthusiastic aerobics student,” you said, patting Ethel on the shoulder as you came to stand next to her.
“What a nice young man,” Ethel praised, staring up at Dick who was quite a bit taller than you both. “Is he coming to the dance this weekend?”
“The dance?” Dick looked at you with a mischievous smirk.
“No, Ethel, he’s busy,” you said.
“This weekend?” he asked. “I’m free as a bird actually.”
Well, you’d tried to get him out of it at least.
“It’s a senior’s dance,” you explained.
“I’m bringing my granddaughter, Gracie,” Ethel said enthusiastically. “I would love for you to meet her. She’s very beautiful, and she’s smart as a whip!”
Dick chuckled and shook his head.
“I don’t really date, Ethel,” he said.
“I have a grand-nephew too,” she winked.
“No, no,” he laughed. “I just don’t date, as a rule, but thanks for looking out for me.”
Ethel looked at you as if you knew why this might be, but then glanced back at Dick.
“Shame,” she muttered. “Well, perhaps I’ll steal a dance from you myself then.”
“It’s a date,” he promised.
Ethel smiled and made her way to the pool steps. You smiled at Dick, glad he’d been kind to her.
“Hey, you promised I’d be hit on, not set up,” he smirked. “Ethel barely looked at me.”
Despite yourself, you laughed.
“Yeah well, plenty of old fish in the sea,” you nodded towards the full pool. “Can you hang this up for me?” you asked, giving him your robe.
If you hadn’t been looking carefully, you would have missed the microsecond that his gaze drifted over your exposed skin. It didn’t take long, but something told you he had looked more carefully than if he had stared.
You blushed involuntarily. It wasn’t like you to feel self conscious about your body, and it wasn’t that you felt badly about the way you looked, but you were very conscious of his sharp intake of breath when he saw you and his fleeting gaze.
“Thanks,” you muttered before jumping in the water.
You lost yourself in your lesson, showing the seniors how to move in the water, different variations for different mobility levels. It was fun, as it always was. What surprised you was when you looked at Dick, he seemed to be enjoying it as well. He seemed content, happy to watch you and the seniors.
When the lesson was done, you grabbed a towel and walked over to him.
“I’ll have to bring a suit next time,” he laughed. “Seems like a good work out.”
You rolled your eyes and laughed.
“Yeah well, your workout’s just beginning,” you said. “You’re taking lead for the basketball practice once the junior high kids get out of school.”
He looked intrigued, and nodded.
“I can do that.”
“I figured,” you said. “You seem the jock type.”
He put his hand on his chest and winced.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he said.
You took in a breath, thinking of one particular jock, and let it out.
“It can be,” you said, more to yourself than to him. “I’ll be back, just have to change.”
You left him alone in the pool while you changed, and met him in the same spot.
“We got some time to kill this afternoon,” you said. “You any good with fixing stuff?”
“I am,” he nodded. “What’s broken?”
“Everything,” you laughed. “But let’s start with the air conditioner.”
You started the walk to the side of the building with the unit and fell into an easy silence.
“Didn’t you used to be a police officer?” you asked when it occurred to you. “Shouldn’t you be doing that?”
“I was a detective,” he nodded. “Took a sabbatical.”
“Ah,” you nodded.
“Just needed a change,” he shrugged.
“Every day is different here,” you assured him. “It’ll be a change every day.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for,” he smiled.
You led him outside once you’d grabbed some tools, and watched him take a look at the thing. At first you thought he might have just been bluffing that he knew what he was doing, but he looked at it for a few minutes and stood back up.
“Just needs a new part,” he said. “We can go pick it up if we have time. I can install it, easy.”
“Shit, okay,” you nodded. “I thought this was going to cost like hundreds of dollars.”
“I mean it would, if you had a licensed person do it,” he laughed.
“You’re not gonna accidentally blow us up, are you?” you asked, semi-jokingly.
“No,” he promised. “I may have been raised in a fancy house, but our shit still broke, and Bruce insisted that I learn as many trades as I could. He taught me to always be prepared.”
“Well, there’s a hardware shop in walking distance if you don’t mind the heat,” you said, noting the temperature of June in Blüdhaven.
“Lead the way,” he offered.
You walked down and got the part. Dick installed it, and you turned the AC back on.
“Alright, I’m starting to change my mind about you, Mr. Grayson,” you said.
“All it took was a little cool bribery,” he smiled.
You popped your head into Charlie’s office.
“Hear that?” you asked, smiling.
“You fix that?” he asked, flabbergasted.
“No, oh my god, no,” you laughed. “It was Dick.”
“Damn, okay, give him a raise.”
“He’s a volunteer,” you pointed out.
“Give him a cookie,” Charlie joked.
You laughed and left the office, heading down to the gym with Dick. The kids were starting to arrive as well, and you greeted most of them with high fives.
“Where’s Charlie?” one asked.
“We’ve got a new volunteer,” you said, gesturing to Dick. He waved, somewhat nervously. “Now, the washer and dryer are broken so it’s gonna be shirts and skins today, I’m afraid. We only have enough jerseys for half so count off and, uh, listen to Dick I guess.”
You walked to the bleachers to see what he would do. To your surprise, he took charge immediately. The kids counted off and formed their teams, and Dick started to run it as if he’d been a coach his entire life. They started with a few laps around the court, then a few practice shots to warm up before getting into a game.
One of the kids, Marcus, went to take a shot and missed.
“It’s alright, buddy, try again,” Dick said encouragingly.
Marcus looked unreasonably angry.
“Fucking hate this game,” he yelled, pushing away one of his friends who’d tried to calm him down. Something seemed off, and Dick hesitated, so you got up and walked over to Marcus.
“Hey,” you said quietly, pulling him away from the kids. “Have you eaten today?”
Marcus bit his lip and refused to look at you. You could feel Dick’s gaze on you.
“Did you eat anything?” you asked again.
“No,” he admitted. “Nothing in the house. School cut the free lunches.”
You nodded, touching his arm gently.
“Alright,” you announced to the kids. “Pizza’s coming your way after practice, but that means you gotta work for it, so move!”
Dick looked a little stunned, but you motioned for him to keep going.
“Why don’t you help me pick it up?” you asked Marcus. “We can get a snack on the way, okay?”
He looked mildly embarrassed, but was apparently hungry enough to follow your lead.
“Grab your shirt,” you offered, “And meet my at the front door.”
He nodded and you met him at the door. You handed him a granola bar you’d found in Charlie’s office.
“Mom lost her job again,” he said solemnly as you walked to the pizza place.
“She’ll get another one,” you said.
“I just need to turn sixteen and then I can start helping out,” he said.
You pressed your lips together, thinking.
“Maybe we can find something for you,” you said. “Under the table, at least for the rest of the year until your birthday.”
His face lit up.
“Where?” he asked.
You nodded to the pizza place you were about to walk into. Opening the door, you saw one of only a few friendly faces in Blüdhaven. Sal, the owner of the shop greeted you happily.
“Whatcha need?” he asked.
“Give me four larges, put whatever toppings you need to get rid of on there,” you smiled.
“For the center?” he asked. You nodded, knowing he’d give you a discount.
As he went to work, you rounded the counter.
“Hey, do you need anyone?” you asked quietly. “Sweep up, make the dough, anything?”
He eyed the kid behind you and then looked at you. You nodded, as you’d done many times before.
“Course I could,” he said.
Thanks,” you smiled, and kissed his cheek.
“Can you start next week?” Sal asked Marcus.
“Yes, sir,” he responded.
You waited in a booth for your pizzas, and Marcus just kept thanking you.
“It won’t be much pay,” you warned him. “Just something.”
“Anything’s better than nothing,” he said. “Why’s that guy so nice to you?” he asked.
“He’s basically my uncle,” you shrugged. “My dad’s best friend since they were little. We grew even closer after my dad died.”
“My dad’s dead too,” Marcus nodded. “Shot in a mugging. I fucking hate this town.”
“Language,” you said, only out of reflex. “But same.”
“Why do you stay?” he asked.
“Pizza’s ready,” Sal said. He put the pies on the table.
“How much?” you asked.
“Forget about it,” Sal waved you off.
You shook your head and took out what you had in your wallet, which amounted to a little over twenty dollars.
“All I got right now,” you said. “I’ll get you later.”
“Don’t worry about it, bug,” he said.
You thanked him and returned back to the center with Marcus, pizzas in hand. When you arrived, you saw the kids playing, but someone had joined them. In Marcus’ absence, Dick had joined the game. On the skin’s team.
You’d be lying if you said his body wasn’t massively impressive. Objectively, he kept himself in amazing shape. But it wasn’t just that. Though you’d never been particularly drawn to athletic types, the way he moved as also mesmerizing. He was so graceful, so fluid. You blinked and turned away before he caught you staring.
“Anyone hungry?” you asked when they’d seen you enter.
A bunch of hungry teens surrounded you, taking all the pizzas out of your hand and assembling a line of them on the bleachers. Marcus joined them, leaving you and Dick to watch from afar.
He was breathing a little heavy as he jogged over to you, and you could smell his scent, his sweat. You tried not to look at him, scared he’d catch you staring at him.
“How often does that happen?” he asked.
“What? Pizza?”
“How often do kids come here and have their first meal of the day?”
His tone was serious, and you didn’t want to talk too much about it in front of the kids.
“A fair amount,” you said quietly. He didn’t look surprised, but rather, almost determined.
“And the center has a budget for pizza parties?” he asked.
You turned to him, ignoring the perfect body directly in your eyeline, and looked up at him.
“No, it does not,” you shrugged.
He looked surprised and a little impressed.
“Let me take care of it next time,” he offered.
What did he take you for? You weren’t looking for his charity, you could take care of your kids just fine. Still, it was nice of him to offer, you supposed.
“It’s fine,” you said. “The guy who runs the place gives me a break.”
“Still,” he pushed.
“Dick, it’s fine,” you said, unable to yield your pride to the heir of the Wayne fortune.
You walked away and headed to grab some pizza with the kids. Dick followed slowly after you.
“Miss, Dick is great,” one of the kids said.
“Yeah,” another echoed. “Are you gonna keep him around?”
You shrugged, not looking at Dick.
“He didn’t come with a receipt so I guess we’re stuck with him.”
They laughed, and you heard Dick chuckle slightly too, though you didn't meet his gaze. You were still unsure of him. Sure, he was nice, and admittedly charming, but you just couldn’t be sure of his motives. Did he truly want to help? Or did he just want to alleviate some guilt, or distract himself for a while? You guessed you’d just have to wait and see.
One of the kids was looking at his phone, and showing another some video.
“Miss, look at this,” he said, showing you the video. It was the vigilante known as Nightwing. “Someone caught him flying around, jumping across buildings an’ shit. That guy’s crazy.”
“He’s something,” you said.
“You don’t like him?” Dick asked.
You shrugged.
“I don’t know. I guess he does some good but lord knows what he’s doing to those criminals. I mean we have a justice system for a reason. Who’s keeping him in check? Who’s double checking his work, you know?”
Dick nodded.
“That’s fair,” he said. “Seems like he’s doing an okay job so far,” he added.
“We’ll see,” you said. Apparently your mantra for the day.
“Well I think he’s dope,” Marcus declared. “Any man that can pull of tights has my respect.”
“I think it’s probably more like armor,” Dick said. “Just happens to be tight.”
“Nah, it’s tights,” Marcus laughed.
“You’re probably right,” Dick joined in.
After the kids had finished eating, Dick stuck around to help clean up.
“Maybe I can help you fix that washing machine,” he offered.
“That’d be great,” you said. He still had his shirt off, waiting to put it back on when he was a little less sweaty. “Basketball’s Tuesday/Thursday if you want to have those as your volunteer days,” you added. “Maybe you can swing by Thursday morning and fix it then?”
“I can do whatever you’d like,” he said. “I’m just here to help.”
You nodded, starting to suspect that was actually true.
“You’re good with them,” you said. “They’re usually wary of outsiders.”
“Fair enough, I suppose. They seem like good kids.”
“They are,” you sighed. “Just don’t get a lot of opportunities. Or good ones anyway. I like to think that the days they’re here they’re not joining a gang or whatever out there.”
“You’re probably right,” he said. “You’re good with them too. With everyone that comes here.
“It’s nice, helping the people of the city” you shrugged. “I like the people here. Well, the ones that don’t murder, rape and steal,” you ammended with a grimmace.
You finished picking up and headed towards Charlie’s office.
“I’ll lock up with Charlie, you can head home,” you said.
“See you Thursday,” he said and waved on his way out.
On your way home you contemplated your new volunteer. Despite your original, and admittedly lingering distrust of him, he came off as genuinely wanting to help. Maybe you’d been quick to judge him just because of his background.
You made it home, and you made the resolution before you fell asleep, to give him an actual chance.