Can I?

Chapter 5

It had been another week and Alfred was now back on his feet. Bruce had let Dick stay, and Bruce had been quiet about the subject. Normally that would be a good thing, but Alfred could see on Bruce's face, every once and a while, that he was still thinking about it, and Alfred was pretty sure that the situation right now wasn't helping.

Alfred got a call from Commissioner Gordon at about four that afternoon, telling him that Dick and Barbra were jumped on the way to Gordon's house. Barbra managed to get away thanks to Dick, but he wasn't so lucky.

At the time, Bruce was in a very important business meeting and wasn't taking any calls. It was another hour before Bruce finally heard about the kidnapping. Now he was pacing back and forth in front of the phone.

"Sir, please calm down. Pacing like that is not going to make them call any faster."

Bruce stared at the phone then went over and sat down next to Alfred on the couch. "Sorry," he said as he leaned back on the couch. "It's just, we wouldn't even have to be waiting if they hadn't found a way to deactivate the tracking devices."

Alfred placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "He's going to be fine."

"But you don't know that," Bruce said as he stood back up and began pacing again. "This is just one reason why I have to take him back."

Alfred flinched. He was right, Bruce was still thinking about taking Dick back to the orphanage, and this situation just made up his mind for him. "Master Bruce, please."

"No, Alfred, I've made up my mind." His face went from angry to sad. "I'll take him Monday morning."

Alfred looked horrified, but before he could say anything to try and change his mind, the phone went off.

To Alfred, it looked like Bruce dove for the phone. "Hello?"

"Mr. Wayne, we have your son," a low voice said.

"What do you want?"

"We want five hundred million dollars, all cash, in half an hour taken to the docks."

"Where at at the docks?"

"Don't worry about finding us, Mr. Wayne, we'll find you, and if there's any funny business like the cops or Batman... Well, let's just say your son will be meeting some new friends." The man laughed before Bruce heard a click that told him the guy hung up.

Bruce just stood there after he put the phone down. "Sir?" Alfred asked worriedly.

Bruce didn't say a word just turned around and ran out the door.

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Bruce stood at the docks with the five hundred million dollars in one of his cheaper briefcases. 'Dang it. How many times have I had to do this?' Bruce sighed. "Dick, you don't deserve this life," he whispered so quietly that he barely heard himself.

"Mr. Wayne?"

Bruce spun around and saw a tall, well-built man with dark hair coming toward him. 'I swear, if he...' "Oh my..." He saw another man, slightly shorter and not as well-built, drag Dick from out of the shadows.

Dick had a long cut down the left side of his cheek and a huge bruise going from his left eye all the way down to this chin. He also looked groggy like he had been drugged, but Bruce just put it off as exhaustion from the beating he had.

"Do you have the money?"

Bruce threw the briefcase at the man's feet. "It's all there."

The man knelt down, opened the case, looked through it for a minute, then closed the case and stood up. He gave the briefcase to the second man and roughly grabbed Dick by the arm, causing Dick to stumble and almost fall. "As promised," he said then threw Dick at Bruce's feet. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you."