It Comes With the Cape

Rich Boy's Retreat 2

Mwahaha...

All this power is getting to my head. I could've published this ages ago, but I waited so more people would have to suffer through the cliffhanger.

I am slowly becoming evil like the people who write TV episodes.

xXx

A couple days passed. They didn't feed him. Their logic was that people could go a few weeks without food, so why waste it? They didn't let him loose to stretch, either. That was what got to him the most. He needed to stretch and work his muscles to stay in the shape he was.

He adjusted to the monotony of being alone, with the exceptions of a few visits that were purely for the purpose of taunting him. That is, until the captain came in in a livid rage.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" he was ranting. "One of those... vigilantes!"

By the time Dick knew what he was talking about, the man had already flung the basis for his claim in the millionaire's face.

"This! This is one of those crazy people's... things!" It was the birdarang Richard had picked up the night they'd nabbed him. "We found it in your bag, don't even deny it!"

Dick attempted (unsuccessfully) to wave his hands in a 'slow down' motion. "Whoah, whoah! I'm a bored, rich collector. Why would I NOT have one?"

"Admit it! You're one of them!"

"I'm not! I'm telling y-- OOF!" A punch landed itself in his solar plexus.

He struggled to draw a breath as the man continued in his rage. "LIAR! We found it in your satchel!"

"I'm... not..." He got a backhand to the face for that.

"You are. Admit it."

"I'm... NOT."

This time, it was a punch in the face, right below his eye.

"You. Are."

Dick gave up. This guy was really persistent. He hated it, but he had nothing else he could do. What else was he supposed to do to convince the man? So he did the last thing he would ever want, expect, or think to do.

He cried.

The captain seemed startled when Richard hung his head and started to shake with his silent tears. Gradually, they got stronger, until a sob escaped his lips. Soon, he was full-on crying, an almost-adult reduced to tears before his tormentor.

Not a single one of them was fake; everything he was doing was coming from his actual feelings deep down and the pain from his maltreatment.

It was also greatly exaggerated.

He decided to up his game a bit. "I want... I wanna go home," he mumbled between sobs.

Just before the captain could respond, alarms rang out. "Blast it! I'll be back for you." He ran from the room. A/N: Censored for obvious causes. There's a reason the expression is "cuss like a sailor."

Dick started to rein himself in, wiping his eyes on his shoulders. Wow, that was the first time he'd cried as a bluff in... ever? No, he'd done it before. It had just been a long time. Years, probably.

A couple minutes later, the alarms shut off. Dick bowed his head and waited in apprehension for the captain's return. When the door opened again behind him, he turned slightly at the noise, continuing his 'broken' façade.

He gave a start when they threw a familiar figure at the wall in front of him.

Tim.

No, not Tim. Red Robin. He had to distinguish the two for now.