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┌─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┐
CHAPTER FOUR: GOD, I HATE SURPRISES
└─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┘
→ OCTAVIA SAT NEXT TO dick as he pulled up in the wayne drive way. "you sure about this?" octavia asked.
"yeah." dick replied. bruce walked out and dick and octavia looked up. octavia, dick and bruce smiled at each other.
inside, bruce was waking between dick and octavia, "i haven't heard from you in a while." bruce said to dick, "when alfred told me you wanted to stop by, i'll admit, i was surprised."
"it's not like you, bruce, to be surprised." dick said.
"true. i don't want to make it a habit." bruce replied.
"i see you made the news. with your old titan friends. new ones too." bruce said to both of them. "good god." octavia said softly.
"you've been very busy." bruce said.
"i have." dick replied. "but that's not the reason you've come to see me." bruce said as they walked into his office.
"no... i never got the chance to tell you why i left." dick said, "i wasn't exactly on great terms." dick said.
"with my experience, when people part, it rarely is." bruce replied.
"i don't wanna make a big deal out of things. i just wanna say somethings to clear the air." dick said, sitting down. bruce sat down in front of him. dick looked at octavia, giving her a knowing look. she nodded, leaving them alone.
"when i left for detroit. part of me was still back here. still trying to make sense it was this darkness inside and i didn't know what to do with it. hurt me and i hurt others... i hurt octavia." dick paused before continuing, "the whole time i thought it was because of the way you raised me. the way you weaponized my childhood." dick said.
"that's one way to put it." bruce replied.
"point is, i blamed you for a lot of things that might not have been your fault."
"i see. so you've decided which one it is now and you've come to render a burden."
"no. it doesn't matter anymore. the why or how. i know you only did what you knew. what you thought was best for me and for octavia. the training... everything. you only did it so we could focus on something other than what happened to our parents."
"this... uh... this darkness you mentioned."
"i had to let it go in order to move on. stopping me from realizing all the things you did to help me."
"i'll be curious to know what you think those things are."
"maybe another time."
"cryptic. well done." bruce said.
"i lean from the best." dick said, leaning back in his seat.
"i appreciate you coming by. things haven't been the same since you left." bruce said, pouring them cups of tea.
"you mean with jason todd?" dick asked as bruce handed him a cup.
"yeah, he's shown great progress as you've known. he's got some rough edges that need to be smoothed down."
"same for your sister." bruce added, "those two... they're something else."
"seems right up your alley." dick replied.
"perhaps after this conversation, i'll take an entirely new approach."
dick chuckled, taking a small sip from his cup, "i'll believe it when i see it."
"fair enough. old dogs, etc. what about you? any new tricks?"
"maybe."
"if there's anything you need, you let me know."
"as smarter of fact," dick said, putting his cup down and leaning back in his seat again, crossing her legs, "there is. i've been thinking about san francisco."
"the titans again."
"maybe it's time for a do over."
"one condition." bruce said.
——
as dick drove down the golden gate bridge, jason spoke, "it's not a demotion, per say. more like a temporary location."
rachel scoffed, "yeah whatever. dick, where are we going?"
"i thought it was obvious. this bridge is a ton of news." dick replied.
"but where specifically." gar said.
"you'll see."
"god, i hate surprises." jason said.
the elevator doors to titans towers opened. jason, gar, dick, octavia, and rachel walked out of the elevator.
gar and jason looked back at dick. he nodded and they both ran off in different directions to explore.
octavia didn't move from her spot. she looked around the tower. dick looked back at her, "you okay?" he asked.
"yeah..." octavia said softly. no. octavia thought. dick walked up to rachel as jason and gar camr back to the main room.
"what is this place?" rachel asked dick.
"home." dick replied.
"i get the big room?" jason asked.
"keep dreaming." rachel replied. octavia dragged dick to the side, jason looked over at them.
"this is what you wanted to talk to bruce about? you're restarting the titans?" octavia asked softly.
"octavia—"
"did you forget about what happened last time?! what happened to me?!" octavia asked, pointing to her arm.
"no, i didn't forget." dick said, looking at her arm. "then why the hell are you doing this?" octavia asked.
"you guys okay?" jason asked. dick and octavia looked back at the three of them.
"yes." dick said, "we're all good..."
octavia looked and glared at dick. octavia scoffed and walked away, "i'm taking my old room!" she yelled, walking down the hall.
