Tale of Two Gothams

Ch. 3: Realization

Dick woke up the next morning expecting to be freezing, but found that he was not. He had two extra blankets on his bed, but he didn't remember putting any on his bed last night. 'Maybe Bruce put them on when I was asleep and then turned up the heat.'

He looked over at his clock and it read six forty-five. He closed his eyes again as he tried to convinse himself to get up so he wasn't late for school again, but he opened them again when he heard a knock on the door. "Dick?" It was Bruce.

Dick got out of bed and walked over and opened the door enough to peek out. Bruce was standing there with a small smile on his face. Dick smiled back then opened the door all the way and walked over to his dresser to get dressed. Bruce walked in and sat on Dick's bed and watched him change his shirt and put on pants. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"A lot better. I know you were worried about the Portal Gun doing something to me, but I think it was just a dud. I haven't turned into some portal or sent anyone away yet," Dick replied with a teasing smile as he grabbed his shoes from inside his closet then went and sat on his bed next to Bruce to put them on.

Bruce chuckled. "Well, that's good. Listen, I came up to tell you that I'm gonna be late getting home tonight."

"You're not going out without me tonight, are you?" Dick asked tying his last shoe.

"No. I'll be home in time to swing by here and pick you up," Bruce replied smiling.

"Good," Dick said. He grabbed his book bag and coat and headed for the door. Bruce stood up and followed Dick out.

"I also have a meeting this morning, so I won't be able to take you to school today."

"That's ok, Alfred can take me again," Dick said as he sat down at the table. Alfred sat a bowl of oatmeal down in front of him.

"Ok, I got to go. See you tonight," Bruce said as he turned to leave.

"See ya, Bruce."

Once Bruce was gone, Dick dug into his oatmeal. He ate in silence for about fifteen minutes then turned to Alfred. "Come on, Alfred, I don't want to be late again."

Alfred picked up Dick's now empty bowl and looked down at him confused. "Late?"

"Yeah, remember? I was a little late for school yesterday."

"Oh, ok, then let me go grab my coat," Alfred replied and left the room.

Dick smiled and grabbed his coat and book bag and went to the car. Alfred showed up a few minutes later then they headed off to school.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Bruce walked in the door and saw Dick sitting on the couch watching TV. "You ready to head out, Dick?" he asked walking up behind him.

Dick turned off the TV then stood up and looked at Bruce. "You bet!" he answered a bit louder than he intended.

Bruce chuckled then they both headed to the study where the elevator to the Batcave was.

When they got down to the cave, Dick ran out of the elevator and did a few flips toward the suits. Once they both got their suits on, they got in the Batmobile and headed out to patrol the city.

After about an hour, Robin was really bored. There hadn't been any criminal activity since they got into the city. He went over to where Bruce was standing and sat down. "Anything yet?"

"No," Batman said simply.

Robin sighed. "I hate nights like these."

Batman turned his head toward him and smiled. Before Batman could respond, an explosion caught both of their attentions.