Chapter Text
Robin jumped out of the Batmobile and stormed towards the Batpoles, his hands in fists and an angry look on his face. Batman got out of the Batmobile by opening the door and called after Robin who ignored him and shot up the Batpoles. Batman sighed heavily and slammed the car door shut just as Alfred walked into the Batcave with two glasses of water. He scanned the room and noticed a lack of Robin.
“Master Robin already gone up the Batpoles?” he questioned as he approached the caped crusader.
Batman grabbed one of the glasses and gulped down the water “Yes, he has” he muttered sounding angry.
Alfred raised his eyebrows “Everything alright, sir?”
“No, Alfred. Everything certainly isn’t alright” Batman removed his cowl and threw it onto a nearby surface “He could have got us both killed by disobeying my strict orders” Bruce removed his gloves and rubbed his hands over his face in frustration “I need to go talk to him” and with that, Bruce himself headed up the batpoles to find his ward who had sulked to his bedroom.
Bruce knocked before entering and made eye contact with Dick who was sat on his bed, arms folded and with a scowl on his face.
“I could have handled the situation by myself, Bruce” Dick grumbled.
Bruce sighed and walked over to the end of the bed “You disobeyed my direct orders to not go into the basement alone. You got jumped by six goons that could have overpowered you.”
“But they didn’t!” Dick protested “I had already knocked two of them out by the time you got down there, I had it under control.”
“That isn’t the point I’m trying to make, Dick. Anything could have happened, you were lucky I was there” Bruce folded his arms, clearly failing at getting through to Dick.
“I didn’t need your help” Dick raised his voice, annoyed at his guardian “I was fine, I didn’t need to be saved or anything like that.”
“One day I may not be around to help or save you” Bruce kept his voice calm “Maybe one day, you might have to take up the Batman mantle and-”
“Maybe I don’t want to be Batman” Dick cut him off, regretting his statement but continued “And I don’t want you to come save me when I don’t need to be saved, I’m not a kid anymore” Dick yelled.
Bruce was taken aback “It's fine if you don’t want to be Batman but think of all the times where we’ve had each other’s backs. I know you are not a child anymore, Dick, but you are still young and have much to learn” Bruce raised his voice but wasn’t yelling, yet.
Dick huffed “Why don’t you trust me?”
“What?”
“Why don’t you trust me to do things on my own?” Dick repeated, louder.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you…” Bruce sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose “I just don’t want either of us to end up killed at the hands of any villain.”
Dick remained silent for a moment and grumbled “I know.”
“You need to learn from mistakes, Dick. You are grounded from being Robin for a couple of days. Hopefully, you’ll spend that time reflecting on your actions and studying hard for school” Bruce scolded.
“You can’t do that” Dick objected.
“Yes, I can and maybe you’ll learn not to disobey my orders too. I’m just trying to keep you safe.” Bruce turned and headed for the door.
Dick grumbled and tucked his knees up to his chest. Being grounded from being Robin was frustrating and annoyed him. It was true that he needed to catch up on some schoolwork but he didn't feel like he needed to think on what Bruce had said to him. He was old enough to make his own decisions regarding Robin and if he hadn’t gone down to the basement, some goons surely would have got away, so in his mind, he did the right thing.
A couple days passed incredibly slowly for Dick; he couldn’t wait to be ungrounded. He did apologise to Bruce for yelling at him and Bruce accepted his apology, thinking that Dick had thought long and hard about his careless actions. It was early afternoon when Batman received a call from Commissioner Gordon, requesting his assistance in busting into Riddler’s hideout. Batman and Robin met Chief O’Hara and a few police officers outside the hideout. After a quick discussion and rundown of the plan, Batman and Robin burst into the hideout and were met with 5 goons and the Riddler. A fight broke out with fists flying wildly. Riddler was laughing hysterically in the corner as he watched the chaos unfold. The plan was to take out all the goons first and then tackle the Riddler together but Robin was worried that Riddler would make an escape. So, after knocking a goon unconscious, he ran up to the Riddler to make sure he wouldn’t get away. Riddler stopped laughing and began to run around the room away from the boy wonder and towards an exit.
“Robin, stick to the plan” Batman bellowed watching Robin run after the prince of puzzlers.
As Batman’s attention was now on Robin, a goon saw his opportunity, took out a knife shaped as a question mark, and stabbed Batman in his left calf. Batman let out a loud grunt of pain and hobbled to the nearest wall to try and steady himself. Having heard the grunt, Robin turned around to see what had happened. He gasped, guilt washing over him as he ran to Batman’s side. Chief O’Hara and his men had seen everything and were surprised that the boy wonder ignored Batman's plan and warning. They began rounding up the goons. O’Hara was in a fluster, not knowing what to do with the injured caped crusader. Batman assured the Chief that he would be fine as long as he could get back to the Batcave. With the help of Robin, Batman made it to the Batmobile and breathed through the pain as he drove back to the Batcave where Alfred was ready and waiting to patch him up. Riddler was long gone, unfortunately.
Back at the Batcave, Alfred was finishing up his stiches on Batman’s leg. Robin stood nearby watching Alfred’s every move. Batman’s face was covered by his cowl but Robin could tell that he was furious with him.
“There you are master Bruce, all stitched and bandaged for you. Try to keep your weight off of that leg for a bit. Bat-cillin will help” Alfred handed Batman some Bat-cillin and water.
Batman swallowed the pills and the glass of water and then turned his attention to Robin “What were you thinking?” his deep voice making Robin’s anxiety skyrocket.
“I didn’t want the Riddler to get away” Dick whispered, looking down at his feet.
“Well, he did and I’m in no fit state to go after him right now” Batman yelled. He was about to continue his lecture when the red phone rang. Robin brought the phone over to where Batman was sitting.
“Hello, Commissioner”
“Hello Batman, Chief O’Hara has told me what happened. Hope you are aright”
“I’m doing fine, thank you. Need some rest but I will catch Riddler in time”
“That’s alright, Batman. We have all our best men looking for him. I am a bit surprised at what O’Hara told me; Robin not listening to the plan?”
Batman paused and glanced at Robin “He is still young, Commissioner, a lot to learn and he will learn from this mistake I’m sure”
Robin felt immense guilt and looked away from Batman.
“Well, Batman, I agree with you there. There is a lot of responsibility on his youthful shoulders but he has you to learn from at least”
Batman hummed.
“Get well soon, bye now”
“Bye, Commissioner” Batman put the phone down and glanced over at Robin again “You better go upstairs and do some homework.”
All Robin could do was nod and he trudged over to the Batpoles feeling very sorry for himself. Batman hobbled to the poles soon after and made his way to the living room where Alfred had made some cookies. Dick had gone to his room to do his homework, hating himself for what had happened, which was all his fault. Concentrating on his homework was impossible knowing he was responsible for getting Batman injured and out of action for a day or two. If only he had just listened, this would never have happened. Dick’s thoughts began to spiral, thinking about how much of a disappointment he was to everyone and questioning why Bruce had taken him in, in the first place. Teardrops landed on his homework as he cried quietly, hating himself, wishing his parents were still alive.