Tomorrow Robin

Controlling Him

Scar tissue...

Dick fed Geronimo a tiny sliver of White Stilton with a slight smile knowing full well that the cheese was for some snooty wine and cheese party. It smelled terrible and cost a ridiculous amount. Some cheek pincher socialite would miss out on her last nibble.

"Passive aggressive mouse feeding Dick?" asked Bruce who knew full well how disappointed Dick was.

"Maybe. Don't tell Alfie. I think this stuff is priced by the crumb." Dick hadn't been able to do anything for his Uncle Rick. Leslie who'd scrutinized every aspect of Dick's ability to heal had warned him it wasn't going to work. Living tissue, dead tissue and scar tissue... healing was complicated. Dick couldn't revive dead tissue, regenerate new tissue or manipulate living tissue that had healed improperly so long ago it thought it had done the job properly. Four years ago he could have helped his uncle but these gifts came too late.

"Focus on the little boy you were able to help."

"That's what mom would have told me," answered Dick with a sigh. "I'm kind of glad now all the secrecy kept me from shooting off my mouth with hopes and dreams to Uncle Rick if I was never going to be able to deliver."

As far as Dick's uncle knew he'd had another round of routine tests while his nephew just happened to be visiting. Rick was both wheelchair bound and slightly brain damaged. Dick had known going in that the brain injury was beyond his skill but a spinal injury is such a small amount of damage he'd hoped to be of some help.

Dick dug around under his bed pulling out an unopened 1000 piece clown puzzle someone from Bruce's society crowd had given him for his 9th birthday. Though he liked puzzles just fine, after meeting the Joker the clown puzzle had gotten shoved away unopened. With an unfocused stare from Dick, as Bruce watched the puzzle assembled itself in a few heartbeats. The very dust sheared from between the pieces re-joined into a smooth near perfect clown poster.

"That's been in pieces since before Uncle Rick was hurt. The production date is from eight years ago. I guess in Gotham clown puzzles sit on the shelf for a while before selling. It looks almost perfect. You'd never guess it had been in a puzzle cutter press," commented Dick.

"You can stop torturing yourself and me anytime now." Bruce picked up the cardboard clown and the puzzle box. "This is one ugly puzzle," he observed. There were a few hints of imperfections where puzzle dust had no doubt been left at the factory preventing a perfectly smooth reconstruction.

Dick wasn't done pouting.

Frowning, Bruce swatted Dick gently with the clown to get his attention. "Come patrol. The Riddler was released on good behaviour but he's showing an unhealthy obsession with fortune cookies."

Dick grinned up at Bruce and put Geronimo's cage back on his dresser and ran to catch up.

Bruce tossed the clown puzzle board in the incinerator in the bat cave before hopping into the batmobile; creepy puzzle. Bruce couldn't believe Dick had kept it for three years just because it had been a gift.

Robin had been back patrolling with Batman for a while now but he'd been off duty with the team for nearly two months now. He'd still trained with the team but just like when Kid Flash had grown two inches in a couple weeks and his coordination had went out the window, the team controllers hadn't wanted Robin on active duty right away. Black Canary explained that with the entire team being in their teens sometimes they'd have to wait out changes due to puberty on the sidelines.

Red Arrow said he took a month off when he went up a bow size because his height and strength had increased. Red Arrow had waved that off as last summer being ages ago. Robin and Wally had struggled not to smirk as Black Canary mocked the "ages ago" thing behind his back. Sometimes Red Arrow was a bit hard to take.