Bat-Family Oneshots

Dick's no good, very bad day

Dick knew that this day was going to suck the moment he got out of bed and noticed that he had slept in on a day when his schedule was jam pack from morning to night and beyond that. Swearing he jumped out of bed and pulled on his clothes and shoes before flying down the stairs and towards the kitchen so he could pick up his keys. In the kitchen was Alfred who was looking at him in concern “Why arn't you at work master Dick?” he asked in concern. Dick ran a hand through his hair sighing “My alarm never went off.” He quickly walked over to the key hooks looking for his bike and growled when it wasn't there “Where are my bike key's?” he asked slightly crazed. “You told Jason he could use it today while his was being mended” Alfred said lightly and Dick Swore slamming his hand on the counter “How am I going to get in on time now?” he asked sadly and Alfred patted him on the shoulder pressing a travel mug full of coffee into his hands before reaching around him and plucking the car keys out of the rack “Off you go Master Dick and give master Bruce a call on the way and let him know” Dick nodded taking the keys and headed out calling a quick thank you to him on the way.

Dick set off to work trying not to panic at the thought of how far behind he was going to be when he finally go there. He took a deep breath before calling Bruce through his hand's free setting after a few rings bruce finally picked up and it felt like an eternity “Dick are you okay?” Bruce asked and Dick tried not to laugh “Yeah B, Just don't be mad” he said just loud enough to be heard. “What is it Dick?” he asked tone and hard and Dick sighed “My alarm didn't go off and well im running a little late. I should be in time for my first meeting but just in case i’m not can you start it off and ill get there when i can” there was silence and Dick couldn't help but to hold his breath, he hated disappointing Bruce. “Dick” he said exasperated “Ill take the meeting if you don't make it in time just try to get here as soon as you can” he said and Dick wanted to cry in relief “Thank you B” he said “Im so sorry about this” Bruce sighed “It happens. Now tell me about this meeting” Dick took a deep breath “Okay so you know that Homeless shelter down on fifth avenue, the one that Jason had been helping out well they want to set up opportunities for the you people that live there. Opportunities that will give them a chance to get work experience and hopefully build up relationships with companies that can potentially give them jobs and move them out of there living situations.” He quickly explained “Anyway they have a few of the people setting it up come in along with some of the people that would be the testers for the idea, they knew how much work we put in to try help as many people as we can so they picked us as the first company to try it out. The notes are in my office ask Dina to get them for you but its pretty much sorted out we were just working out the final kinks in it. They asked for unpaid opportunities i was going to let them know that we can offer full wages to those that do the work as well as other benefits such as training, therapy etc.” Bruce sucked in a breath “and were is this money coming from?” he asked and Dick laughed “It comes from the society and community fund. I was in a meeting with Jason and the rest of there team the other week and saw that they barely used there yearly quota as most of the time they do fund raising and other things like that with the money they have had left we can take on almost 100 people and pay them for like years at a basic WE rate, the insurance the company has can also cover almost triple that. The therapy and care like that is a collaberation between Les and I, shell be there by the way she is demanding all people that join are required to have full check ups” Bruce hummed “Wow Dick this is something else im really proud of you” Dick smiled before sighing sadly “Im really proud of this B i have been working on it for months. Im just dissapointed that im not going to be there to break the news”

“You’ll make it, Drive safe” Bruce said before hanging up and Dick sighed as he focused back on the road. He was about ten minutes out and would get there with five minites to spare when suddently there where flashing lights and a siren in his rear view mirror. “Dammit” he said hitting his staring wheel as he pulled over. He quickly turned off his car and sat waiting as he watched the police officer walk over through the mirror. He didn't know why he was getting pulled over, he hadn't been speeding, he hadn't been on his phone he didn't know what he had done and he really didn’t have time for this. The officer tapped on his window and Dick pressed the button “What can I do for you officer?” he asked gently the officer scowled “License and registrtion please” Dick sighed “It's in the glove box do you mind?” he asked knowing it better not to make any sudden movements the officer nodded. Dick reached over and shuffled around a few things before pulling out what he needed “Can I asked what this is about?” he asked as he passed it over however the officer ignored him “Is this car registered to you?” he asked. Dick took a deep breath before saying “Yes the car is in my name”. The officer nodded looking through the papers “Is there a weapon in the car?” he asked and Dick could laugh at the idea “No there is not” the officer nodded not looking convinced.

“I have the right to know what this is about” Dick finally said again and the officer just looked at him “I don't have to tell you anything” the officer said and Dick laughed “I would like to see you commanding officer now”. The police officer snarled leaning forward “You think your so special don't you just because gypsy trash like you got take in by some rich asshole like Bruce wayne don't you?” he asked and Dick raised an eyebrow “There is nothing special about me. Yes I got a good opportunity but i worked hard to get what I did”. The officer laughed harshly spitting all over him making Dick flinch back “I would like to see your commanding officer now” the cop nodded and smiled “Of course” he said walking back to his vehicle. Dick leant forward pillowing his arms on the steering wheel followed by his head. He felt tears burning his eyes as he tried to keep them back by taking deep breaths. He definitely wasn't going to make the meeting now and he had been so close, so damn close. He didn't know how long he waited before there was another knock on his window. He looked up and rolled it down “Hey Dick hows it going?” Goran said calmly and Dick laughed wetly “Hey Jim not great if im honest. I don’t know what I did” he said and Jim tapped the door “It's alright Son ill find out for you” he said before walking off. Dick leant back against his chair and waited as he made patterns with his finger against his leg. He knew he probably should just tell Gordan what had actually happened but he just wanted to get out of here and it didn't really matter in the end cops like him always walked away free anyway and that was the reason that there was no trust between the citizens of Gotham and the law enforcement.

Eventually Jim appeared back and the window and passed his papers back “Your free to go apparently it was a misunderstanding” by the look on his face, Dick knew that Gordan knew what had happened “Thank you” was all Dick said before rolling up the window and pulling off towards WE. When he got there he realised he didn't have his badge he went over to security and smiled “Hey guys, so i fogot my badge mind buzzing me in?” he asked sweetly. The guard looked him up and down frowning “No badge no getting in” she said before going back to what she was doing on the computer. Dick frowned before looking at her closer he didn't recognise her “You must be new?” he asked and she looked up again and nodded “Yesterday” she said and Dick smiled “Im the VP here, Dick Grayson” he said sticking his hand out to shake hers. She looked at the appendage and frowned “No badge no entry” she repeated. Dick sighed deflating against the desk before sighing and pulling out his phone as he walked away “Hey Dick” the person on the other side of the phone said as soon as it connected. “Hey Jay, are you in the office?” he asked. “Sure am what can I do for you?” he asked and Dick laughed “Come buzz me in, I forgot my badge at home and there is a new security guard” Jay whisled “Quite the pickle your in” he teased. Dick pinched his nose “Please Jay” he said and there must of been something in his voice because Jay almost instantly agreed “Ill be down soon” he said and the call disconnected.

Dick leant against the wall closest to the security gates and waited ignoring the looks that the lady was shooting him from the desk. About five minutes later Jason appeared shooting him a smirk as he walked over to the desk obviously Dick couldn't hear the conversation but he could see Jason giving the lady his best smile, showing her his own badge and then pointing at him after a few miniutes of back and forth Jason eventually waved him over. “Sorry” the lady said quitely and Dick only smiled “No problem, you where only doing your job its good to know our safty is in such good hands. Keep up the good work” he said as he walked through the barrier meeting up with Jason on the other side.

The two brothers waved her goodbye and walked towards the elevators. Dick leant against the handle as they waited for the elevator to go up “So” jason said “You missed your first two meetings Bruce is pissed” Dick sighed “Don’t” was all he said. Jason nodded “See i would let it go but that first meeting you had was probably the most important one you would of has all day” he shouted and Dick understood he really did but he didn't know what to say if there was anything to say. “Jason I’m so sorry” but the other boy was beyond mad “I get sleeping in late but turning up two hours after you said you would be in and then pulling me away from my own work to let you in the building. What could possibly been important enough that you miss a meeting that would give kids that have nothing opportunities to get better lives?” he asked tone hard and Dick stared at the ground “I don't want to talk about it.” He said softly, he hated this disappointing people. Jason laughed harshly “Of course you don't”.

The elevator fall into silence until Dick said “How did it go?” Jason glared at him before deflating slightly “well no thanks to you”. Dick didn't know what to say so he opted for “Good, that's Good” he breathed. When the elevator opened Jason stormed off and Dick could only watch him go. Taking a few deep breaths trying not to let the panic and stress of the day so far get to him he walked towards his office. He ignored the greeting his assistance gave him and went into his office and slammed the door behind him. He threw his jacket and bag onto the couch and sat down in his chair he pulled at his hair a few times trying to calm the panic building in his chest. “Come on Dick pull it together” he whispered to himself trying to breath through it. When it didn't work he pulled his desk draw open before shuffling through his things until he found the orange bottle of pills. He didn’t like taking them but he needed to get through the day he couldn't disappoint them anymore then he already had.
He popped it open, shook two into his palm and swolled them dry. He leant back in his chair looking up at the ceiling as he let them take effect. When he felt like he could breath again he sat up and pulled his daily planner towards him with a pen he scored the first to meetings out and checked what and when the next one was. He growled Lex in ten miniutes, just what he needed after all that he had gone threw today so far.

With a sigh he grabbed his file full of notes and quickly made his way to the meeting room. He was thankful the room was already set up all that was left was for the people to turn up, Dick took his seat at the head of the table and waited. Five miniutes later the WE employees filed in followed by the Lex Corp employees. Dick stood to greet Lex Luthor himself and they exchanged superficial pleasantries.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us Mr Greyson” Lex said when they where all seated “Yes” Dick said forcing a smile “I read through the files you sent us and well ill cut to the chase this doesn't seem like something that Wayne Enterprise would be interested in collaborating in” Lex nodded “I thought you might say that but let me tell you it would be a great source of income for both of us, imagine how many people you would be able to help” Dick nodded “While that is a lovely thought it doesn’t negate the fact that Wayne Enterprise has never and will never have anything to do with weapon's. We are in the business of helping people not in the business of helping them be killed” Lex pursed his lips and it was in that moment that Dick knew it was going to be a long meeting.

After an hour and half of backwards and forth the meeting ended in a stalemate neither man had given up and frankly Dick was exhausted. He said adios to the bold headed freak and headed back to his office falling back into his chair. He wanted nothing more then to scream or go home and hide in his bed for the rest of the day and pretend none of this had happened. He swung lightly in his chair when there was a knock at the door he took a deep breath and called for them to come in. The door opened and Dina came in “Mr Grayson your four o'clock called and said they would be unable to come in and asked for it to be scheduled for another day Dick smiled “That’s fine just update the calandar for me” he said pulling his own planner foward and scoring out another two meetings.

The woman nodded and left door closing behind him he glanced down and check where he was needed next. He got up and headed to the door he was supposed to be downstairs checking in with the planning committee for there next big fund raiser for the tech department. Downstairs as usual was chaos people where running around with clipboards and god knows what else. “Mr Grayson” Samantha called out waving her hand to get his attention “So good you could make time in you busy schedule to see what we have got so far” She said when he got near her. Dick forced a smile “Oh don't worry about it all departments are important to our company including yours so show me what you have” Sam smile at him and directed him to a room off to the side. Inside was three big white boards with pitcure, mind maps and writing all over it. She told him to take a seat and she picked up a folder “So for this fund raiser we decided to veer away from the usual choice of classy and up tight” she explained “As this is for the tech department we decided to collaberate with them to create an interactive experience for the attendees that give them the opportunity to test out some of the things that the tech department has produced” Dick nodded liking what she had come up with “Such as?” he asked.

Sam smiled and opened the folder at a marked page and pushed it towards him “As you know i’m sure the tech department doesn't just focus of computer programming but so much more as you can see we have come up with a list of things that encompass all sides of the department, from computer programming, robots, security etc” Dick read over the list and nodded “and what would the theme and dress code be?” he asked and Sam smiled flipping another page “think star trek” she said and Dick looked at the room design, it gave space ship vibes and frankly Dick loved it, he knew it would be enjoyable for everyone especially the nerds that a thing like this would attract and that is what they wanted. “and the dress code would be silver but up for interpration for those in attendance in accordance to the theme” she added. They talked for a while longer before Dick suddenly noticed the time “So sorry” he said standing up “Im late for my next meeting” Sam nodded and he shook her hand before leaving the room feeling a little lighter unfortunately that feeling didn't last as he walked out the door he crashed into a person who was carrying paint. He blinked looking down at himself before looking at the person on the floor he crouched down helping the poor girl up “Are you okay?” he asked noticed the tears in her eyes “Im so sorry” she babbled and Dick patted her on the arm “It's alright no harm no fowl, it's just a suit are you hurt?” he asked and the girl shook her head, thankfully Sam came out and got the girl from him “Come on Angie lets get you cleaned up” she shot Dick an appologetic smiled and ushered the teary eye woman to the bathroom.

Dick rushed to the elevator and swore as he looked at the time he was definitely going to be late but he had to swing by his office and change before he went anywhere near the board room and of course he was going to be late to the meeting he had with his own father. This was seriously going to look bad after everything that had already happened but thankfully this is all he had left he just needed to get through this and then he could go home and hide in bed until the day was over.
Dina gasped when she saw him and he cracked a wry smile “Could you tell Mr Wayne that i am running late?” he asked and Dina just nodded picking up the phone.

He walked into his office pulled out his spare suit and headed straight to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He couldn't help but laugh he looked an absolute sight covered in bright green paint. He collapsed onto the sink trying to suck in breath as he continued to laugh, eventually though that hysterical laughing turned into sobs as the stress consumed him and he let it happen he allowed himself to break apart and slid to the floor in the process. After a few miniutes he calmed himself down and stood up looking in the mirror once more before stripping out of his soiled clothes washed his hands and face unfortunately a green hue remained on the skin on his hands and he just sighed. He grabbed a towel and dried himself off before getting dressed. He walked out the office and Dina said “Mr Wayne said that they will get started and you can join them when you can” and Dick nodded.
He walked over to the elevator and was about to press the button to go up to the top floor when he paused he know he shouldn't but he couldn't be here anymore he clicked the bottom floor and walked out the building towards his car.

It didn't take long for him to get home and when he got there he ignored alfred and headed towards his bedroom he quickly stripped and pulled on a pair of sweat pants and collapsed on his bed  as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out like a light.
The first thing Dick heard was his bedroom door hitting his wall he sat up and looked and Bruce before pulling the blanket back over his head already knowing what was going to happen he could see it on the mans face the anger and the disappointment. “Not now bruce” Dick mumbled curling into a ball. But the older man didn't take the hint he ripped the blanket off of his son and stood above him arms crossed. “what the hell dick?” the older man asked voice hard and emotionless. Dick turned over burying his face into his pillow shaking his head ignoring his father. “Your not a kid anymore, you can't just decide to sleep in, miss two meetings and leave early. Your supposed to be better then this, I expected better then this, your supposed to take over the company one day and all you have show is that you arn't ready and I don't know if you ever will be” Dick burried his face further into the pillow as tears began to fall, he held his breath as he listened to bruce breath harshly eventually the man snarled out “When you are ready to act like an adult and talk to me about what the hell you thought you where doing today come and find me” and with that Bruce was gone slamming the door behind him.

Dick lay there as he once again let the tears fall freely, sobs wracking his body. He let them all down today and he knew that tomorrow would be better he also knew that he needed to let him self feel his feelings in this moment, that is what his therapist always told him.

Downstairs Bruce slammed a mug on the table as he began to make himself coffee Alfred walked in and sighed “Master Bruce I do hope you arn't angry and Master Dick it was hardly his fault he was late” Bruce turned towards his father figure scowling and Alfred ignored it from years of practice as he went on to explain “After all he couldn't of known that the socket he plugs his alarm clock in was faulty after he left this morning I went to check it because it's not like him to sleep in anyway I found it off but the switch on I called an electrician they will be here tomorrow to fix it and check the rest of the wiring” Bruce took a sip of his coffee before nodding his thanks and walked out.

He was still angry now he knew about the alarm clock he could excuse Dick especially because the other man had let him know he might be a little late, but two hours didn't have any explanation, that was two hours worth of meetings he missed, important meetings. He thought to himself as he sat down on in his office chair to drink his coffee. He was sat down for five miniutes when his phone started ringing with a sigh he picked it up “Hello Jim” he said and the other man sighed “Hey Bruce I was just calling to check up on Dick after what happened this morning” Bruce frowned “what happened this morning?” he asked concern in his voice and Jim was silent for a moment “With the officer it wasn't right that Dick got pulled over and held until I got there and it certainly wasn't right what he said to him” Jim said getting riled up, Bruce frowned even more not understanding what was being said “Jim, explain to me what happened” he ordered and the older man sighed “Bruce, Dick got pulled over this morning by a cop, the cop treated him like a criminal, he pulled him over for no reason. He made Dick sit there after he asked for me for an hour and a half when i got there and spoke to the officer I found out that he had said some really horrible stuff to Dick, of course Dick didn’t tell me. I found out from him, the man told me that Dick deserved to feel what it was like on his side of the fence how Dick thought of himself as special just because gypsy trash got taken in by you” Bruce was silent for a few minutes before saying “And what is going to happen?” Jim answered quickly hear the anger “He will be suspended with no pay while an investigation happens regarding his coduct during the job” Bruce nodded despite knowing the other man couldn’t see him “Bruce” Jim said carefully “He won’t get away with this I have had my suspensions for a while there was just no proof. Ill make sure he doesn't get away with this” Bruce took a deep breath before thanking the man and hanging up.

Bruce sat there in thought for a moment “Wow” he said to himself “I am such a shitty parent” no wonder Dick was out of it all day that was a really terrible thing to happen and while Bruce would of loved his son to tell him what was going on he could understand why he wouldn't want to and yes Dick really should of come to the last meeting and yes he was still angry about it and they would be having a conversation about responsibilities, the anger wasn't as strong anymore.

Leaning back in his chair he looked up at the ceiling he need time to think before he went to talk to his son. Suddenly there was a knock at his door and he called them in “Hey B” Jason said “Have you seen Dick?” Bruce shook his head “why?” Jason shrugged “Needed to apologise to him and pass on a message figure i would kill two birds with one stone” Bruce nodded “why did you need to apologise?” he asked curiously. His second eldest son shrugged “I said some pretty terrible things to him earlier because he was late for the meeting this morning but It worked out and he didn’t deserve what I said” Bruce breathed out and nodded “Ill let him know you were looking for him if i see him” and Jason nodded “Oh and Cat said Dick did amazing in his meeting with Lex this morning all things considered. It was pretty shit that the boldy brought up your parents in a meeting about weapons.” Jason said as he closed the door. Bruce stared at the door before he felt his heart drop, he hated Lex especially trying to manipulate his son into agreeing to a deal by bring that topic up. It was horrific and his son no doubt protected him during it. Not to mention Lex always left people in a bad mood regardless of the topic.

Sighing again Bruce reached under his desk and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a glass he needed a drink. He downed the first one instantly and poured himself another and took a sip “Oh my god” he mumbled to himself. He really was a shitty father he needed to talk to Dick he was about to stand up when his phone rang again and he sighed sitting down again. He glanced at the name and saw Dicks assistant “Dina what can I do for you?” he said and she responded “I couldn’t get hold of Dick so i thought I would let you know. The suit that got ruined earlier sadly was unsalvagable the paint wouldn't come out so I scrapped it and hopefully he can get a nice replacement” Bruce sighed “Paint?” he asked and Dina laughed “Dick had a meeting downstairs for the tech fund raiser and apparently he ran into a girl carrying fluorescent green paint which is why he was late for the meeting he had with you and the rest of the board members” she explained and Bruce sighed “Thank you Dina ill let him know” he said and he could hear the smile in the girls voice “No problem Mr Wayne have and good night” and with that she was gone.

Bruce grimaced his son had a series of unfortunate events, a normal person would of given up long before his son did and after all that he had been through today Bruce made it worse by what he had said. He couldn't believe what he had said, he thought he had gotten past that the harsh words aimed at the people he loved when he was angry. He hated this part of himself, the part that destroyed the people around him. He thought he was getting better especially when it came to his kids.

Standing up slowly he left his phone on his desk and headed to his room to get changed out of his suit and into something more comfortable. After that he headed towards his eldest son's room and knocked on the door but got no response he pushed it open and found him laying in the same position he had been in when he left him in earlier. Rubbing his hands together Bruce walked in closing the door behind him. He sat down on the bed and peeked over his shoulder seeing the tear stains under his blood shot eyes. “Oh Dick” he said laying down next to him and pulling him into his chest. “I’m so sorry for what I said you didn't deserve it especially after the day you have had” he whispered “You did amazing today Dickie, I’m so proud of you and you will be an amazing when it is your turn to run the company” Dick sobbed turning over to bury his face in his fathers chest. “Im so sorry Bruce” he sobbed “I fucked up big time today, I disappointed you”. Bruce shushed him “No Dick, today wasn’t your fault you couldn't control all the disasters you faced today. It wasn't your fault and you could never disappoint me.” Dick cried until he fall asleep safly in his fathers arms and Bruce lay there running a hand through his eldest son's hair and he would stay there as long as Dick needed him. .