Fawkes

Vase Drop

I didn't get a wink of sleep at all that night. I spent all of that time drawing on my ceiling and trying to figure out if I was happy or angry with the new arrangements. I decided to make peace with it for the time being, and when morning came I showered and threw a ball at the wall until the door opened.

I spent the whole day doing chores with Alfred, although I enjoyed the time. I always enjoyed the butler's company, no matter what we were doing. I thought about what he said to Batman about me 'making friends' my own age.

I realized that through all of my years as a criminal, I had never once talked to someone my age, the only exception being Robin. I had no idea how to deal with kids or how to make friends, and quite frankly, I didn't care. I wasn't about to put myself out there for a bunch of people who didn't trust me and probably never would. I was done trying to be something for people, all it did was backfire. I tried to be a good criminal for the Joker, he tortured me nevertheless. I tried to be a normal kid for my parents, but they ended up dying because of me. I tried to be a good person for Batman, but he never trusted me and just ignored my attempts.

So a bunch of sidekicks on a kid team? I wasn't about to go out of my way to earn their respect. All they would do was turn against me. I just had bad luck like that, ever since the beginning. If you have that much bad luck you eventually lose faith in the universe, others, and yourself.

That was just the way it was.

Alfred and I cleaned the house, even though hardly anything was dirty. I volunteered to dust the chandelier and before he could say no I had already climbed the staircase and swung my way onto the huge hunk of crystal and brass. Alfred had yelled at me to get down, but I wouldn't listen until the whole thing was devoid of all dust bunnies. I was in a bit of trouble after that, but all I got was a hand to the back of the head and a stern lecture.

Cleaning took up most of the day, only stopping for lunch and bathroom breaks. By three o'clock, the whole place was sparkling, and I was alone in the entrance hall sliding across the freshly waxed floors in my socks. I would start at the top of the stairs, slide down the railing and land on the ground to see how far I could go. My record was five feet from the front door, but I was determined to beat it.

Clambering to the top of the stairs again, I positioned myself against the back wall and decided to get a running start to the railing. In the back of my head I heard a car engine, and I wish I had paid more attention to it. But sadly, I was so caught up in what I was doing that I brushed it off and began sprinting to the staircase. I leapt onto the railing and slid all the way down as the lock in the door clicked. I landed on the floor as the front door opened and had hardly any time to react as Bruce Wayne's broad figure came into view.

"Shit—"

My profanity was interrupted by me slamming into the man, sending me to the ground sliding at an even faster speed towards the wall.

I turned my head as I couldn't stop myself and was surprised to see a small figure I recognized as Robin staring down at me in shock. Before I knew it I had crashed into him as well and he went flying over me as I hit a pedestal and finally stopped.

The impact sent a shock down my spine, but hopefully nothing major. In the moment that I stopped moving, thinking all was over, an expensive looking vase toppled from the pedestal and crashed into the floor, shattering everywhere and on me. Pieces of ceramic found their way into the skin of my face, hands and arms. After all the shards stopped sliding across the floor, and everything was silent, I looked over at Bruce's face.

His expression was mainly stoic, but I could see a hint of both anger towards me and concern for Robin.

I swore over and over in my head as the billionaire helped Robin up and I quickly tried to stand, knocking my head rather hard on the pedestal and rubbing it a bit before looking up at Bruce's disapproving face and Robin's irritated yet smug one.