Shadowed past

Chapter 7

Bruce's POV.

After Dick fell asleep, I tucked him in and made my way down to the cave, as soon as I got to the cave, I went straight to the computer. I needed to find Zucco and the sooner the better. "Master Bruce, I thought I told you to look after Master Dick?" Alfred asked slightly annoyed behind me. Without taking my eyes off the screen I answered him. "I have, and he is sleeping in his bed. Beside I need to find Zucco." "Don't you think you can take a break? I mean you have been looking for him since Master Dick arrived." "I can not rest Alfred. Not until he's behind bars. For both child abuse and murder" I told him as I turned to face him.

"Murder? Do you have any proof, sir?" Alfred asked a bit shocked. "Well, according to Dick, he saw a person snick around the circus before the show and enter the tent. But he never saw who it was, all though he did see Zucco arguing with Jack Haly the day before. So, by putting all of this together it makes sense that the person Dick saw that night was Zucco. Gives Zucco more reasons to want Dick dead, to finish the job." I explained to him before going back to look for Zucco.

"Zucco... killed my parents?" A low hurt voice said behind me. I quickly turned to find Dick standing at the bottom stair step. His eyes were red from crying and he was slightly shaking. "Dick..." Was all that came out before he slowly sat down, with his legs in his chest and more tears started to form before they fell. I got on my feet and walked over to him and sat down next to him. "I'm so sorry, Dick." I said in a calm voice as I took him into a hug. I laid his head against my chest as I draw circles on his back.

"Why? Why did he do it?" Dick asked in between sobs. "I don't know, Dick. But I will fund out." I said calm and barely over a whisper. I started to rock back and forth as Dick cried into my chest, while he was holding onto my shirt. We ended up sitting like this for an hour until Dick had calmed down. He was still crying, but he was calmer. "Why did you come down here?" I asked still in that calm voice, while still holding him close. "I..." He tried but stopped. "Nightmare" He whispered. I sighed. "Zucco?" I asked.

He just nodded. I could feel him starting to shake again. "Hey Dick, look at me." I said softly and waited for him to look up. "You're going to be fine, ok? Zucco won't do you any harm anymore. Not while I'm around." I said and made sure Dick understood, as long that I'm round, he will be safe. I looked him in those red eyes and gave him a warming smile. Dick gave me a sad smile in return. "How about I show you around here?" I asked as an attempt to make him think on something else. Dick looked around and nodded.

I began to stand and helped Dick up in the process. "Ok, what do you want to look at first?" I asked and looked round as my hand was on one of Dick's shoulders. I could see him looking around and stopped on the souvenirs. I smiled and started to walk over to them, Dick following close behind. I let him go and look at the different things I have collected over the years. "What's this?" He asked looking at a glass case, holding a deep red hood. I walked over to stand next to him and looked at the hood.

"Oh, that was the hood to a villain called the Monk. He was a blood-sucking villain who used hypnosis as a weapon. He became a Gothic nightmare with his ability to become a werewolf. I travelled to Transylvania to stop him. One of the weird criminals here in Gotham." I said and smiled down at him. Dick went on and looked at the rest of the souvenirs before we headed over to the vehicles and then the suits.

"Why do you have so many suits and vehicles?" Dick asked as we made our way to the main part of the cave. "Well, I made some upgrades on them and they hold memories. And I just never got rid of them." I answered. He seemed satisfied with that answer since he didn't say anything else about it. The last thing left in the cave that we haven't really looked at was the computer, and it seemed like Dick was in a better mood. I could see him looking over every part of the enormous computer. I moved to stand behind the chair and showing Dick I wanted to sit. "This is the most secure computer in the world and contains information of almost everything you could think of." I explained after Dick was seated. By the look on his face, it looked like he found it interesting and curious of what was on it.

"Did you make it?" Dick asked as he looked over the keyboard. "Yeah with tech from Wayne Industries and help from Lucius Fox. He helped me make most of these things in here." I answered. "How 'bout we head back up, I think someone should get some sleep." I said after seeing Dick yawn. He just nodded in agreement and stood up. As he stood up, the screen lit up showing the file I had been working on. It had found some more leads on where Zucco might be. Dick looked at it and saw more then I would have liked him to see. I turned off the computer and turned to walk to the staircase, hoping he wouldn't say anything.

"You're going after him, aren't you?" I stopped and turned to look at him. "I am." Was all I said before Dick interrupted my next word. "No, that's for me." He said in a serious tone. I walked over to him and kneeled down to the same level as him. "Dick, Zucco is a dangerous man. I don't want you anywhere near people like him. Beside you don't know how to fight, you would only end up getting yourself hurt or worse. I will get him and put him behind bares forever." I said and hoped he would understand and let this go. "But you could train me. With your help I could be able to take him down." I sighed.

"Dick, it's still too dangerous. I will not train you for only you to end up getting hurt. You're nine years old, you have your whole life in front of you." I said hoping he would let this go. "Now, someone needs to go to sleep." I said with a softer voice, so he wouldn't think I was annoyed or angry with him. Dick nodded and walked past me up the stairs and continued up the next staircase up to his room.

"How did it go, sir?" Alfred asked as I walked into the kitchen. "It went well, I showed him around the cave." I told him as I sat down on one of the high chairs at the island. "Then why do you sound like something went wrong?" He asked as he sat down a cup of coffee in front of me. "When we looked at the computer, it notified me about a possible location of Zucco. And Dick saw it and now he wants me to train him, so he can take him down." I said after taking a sip of coffee. "And are you sir?" I looked up at Alfred before answering.

"I'm not going to train him just for him to get hurt. And that's what I told him. Alfred, he's nine. He has his entire life ahead of him." I said moving my look out to the hall. "Very true, sir. But age didn't stop you from looking for an answer about your parents' murder." Alfred said after a while. I looked directly at him as I thought back to when I was around Dick's age.

"You weren't that pleased with me back then." I said letting a tiny laugh out. "No, I was not, sir. But I knew I couldn't stop you. I only hoped you were going to be safe." Alfred told me. "And you can't stop him from wanting to do the same with his family." I sighed and looked down in the cup. "What do I do Alfred? Do I help him or?" I asked completely lost. "Help him Master Bruce. That way you know he will be safe." Alfred told me and I smiled in returned.