A Savage Return

Chapter 1

The next morning, Dick ran into the dining room and did a cartwheel as he went to his seat. "Well someone woke up on the right side of the bed this morning," Bruce said smiling after he sat his paper to the side.

"Yeah, I slept really good last night," Dick replied smiling back.

"Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to go see that new movie today that you've been wanting to see. What was it?" Bruce looked down at his paper trying to find the movie.

"Zombie Ninjas?!*" Dick yelled excitedly. He then jumped out of his chair and nearly knocked Bruce out of his. "That would be so astrous!"

Bruce chuckled. "Ok, but keep your voice down. You know the rule about yelling in the house."

Dick smiled. "Sorry," he said as he sat back down. He then closed his eyes and did the breathing exercise that Bruce showed him for calming down.

Alfred walked in with two plates of French toast, a pot of coffee, and a glass of milk on his silver tray. "Good morning, Master Dick. Did you sleep well?"

"Great," Dick said as Alfred placed the plate and glass in front of him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Alfred said with a smile then placed the other plate in front of Bruce. "Warm your cup, Sir?"

"Yes, please, and thank you." Alfred just nodded.

"Bruce and I are going to see Zombie Ninjas today," Dick told Alfred excitedly.

"So I heard. I hope you two enjoy yourselves." Once Bruce's coffee was warmed, he took his try and the nearly empty coffee pot back to the kitchen to let the two talk in private.

"So are you finally caught up on your schooling?" Bruce asked before taking a bite of his French toast.

"Yeah, I think last week while you were with the League was when I finally got caught up," Dick replied then ate another bite of his food.

"Good. Sorry I've been so busy lately. That mission had some major problems afterwards that..."

"I know. It's fine. You're making up for it today," Dick said grinning.

"I promise, today will be just you and me. No work, no League, nothing."

"Thanks."

They ate in silence until they were done, then went into the living room. "So when does the movie start?" Dick asked as he and Bruce sat down on the couch.

"Eleven thirty. Why?" Bruce asked curious.

"I was thinking maybe we could go to the park and play chess like we use to. We don't ever do it anymore."

Bruce looked at him surprised. "I thought you grew out of it."

"Nah, just got tired of playing it all the time. I mean, we did use to do it every Saturday morning and it kind of got old after a while."

"And now?"

Dick smiled. "I want to see if I can still beat you."

"You beat me?" Bruce asked raising an eyebrow. "I seem to remember you always getting upset whenever I had you cornered."

"I was young then. Now I know I can beat you," Dick said overly confident.

"Oh really? Well then, I guess we have a chess match to play," Bruce said as he stood up, headed to the closet to get the game, then headed out to the car.

Dick knew Bruce loved chess and always tried to get people to play him. He wanted to do something Bruce liked to do too. Plus, he missed the times when it would just be him and Bruce trying to beat each other in a game of logic. "Wait for me," he called out as he ran after Bruce.