Explanation

"So how did you get the Bat to see things your way?"

"You never heard that story?" Dick gave Roy a look.

"I'm dying, tell me."

"You remember he had me in that private school? I hated that place but he insisted it would give me 'polish' or something; he was intent on getting rid of the rough circus kid edges so I could blend in at the country club and the charity benefits he was always dragging me to. Did you know I owned a tux when I was ten? Armani, no less. Anyway he started this whole thing about how I needed to take some SAT prep courses, add more activities, get some really hot letters of recommendation, start going around to look at schools-the whole bit."

Roy popped a beer, handed it over to Dick and opened another for himself. "I know all this-how did you diffuse it?"

"Bruce was all intent on my going Ivy League, maybe Big Ten and I was feeling pretty stuck. Even Alfred was saying how I needed to 'live up to my potential' and all of that."

"And…?"

"I had this idea; one day I was out in the garage, working on my Dad's old Harley, changing the plugs, tuning it up. I'd spent like almost a year rebuilding the thing and it was just about ready."

"C'mon, Junior, spit it out here; this isn't a shaggy dog we're dealing with here." Roy wasn't the most patient person on the planet. Dick ignored him.

"So one night I come into dinner and announce that I've finally decided what I want to do with my life, outside of the spandex, anyway. " Dick paused for effect to sip his beer. "I told Bruce I'd talked to my counselor that day and decided that I wanted to transfer from St Patrick's and enroll in the local Vo-tech to study Auto Mechanics."

Roy stared at him in disbelief then burst out laughing. "You're shitting me!"

"God no. I went on about how Bruce knew how much I liked working on the bikes, how I knew more about the Batmobile than he did and how mechanics are always in demand and well paid. I thought he was going to swallow his tongue."

"And…?"

"And so I arranged a tour of the local Vo-tech, went over with Alfred who thought I was serious about the whole thing. We saw the shop, talked to the teachers, the whole bit. That night I heard him talking to Bruce telling him it wasn't as bad as they'd thought, that it was all kinds of professional, and while the students seemed a bit rough-to use Alfred's words-they all seemed to be enjoying what they were doing."

"And Bruce bought this?"

"Bruce did a slow burn for a few days and then it hit Page Six. There was this blurb about how you can take the kid out of the blue collar but you can't take the blue collar out of the kid." Dick was smiling at the memory; it really had been pretty funny. "Then I started talking about how if I ran a garage or worked on cars I could really make some nice customizations to the Batmobile, it would be done in complete secret and I'd be able to make a bigger contribution."

"He liked this?"

"He hated it but had to agree that it had a practical side to it."

Roy sipped his beer again. "And…? Don't leave me hanging here, dude."

"And so I let this all ride and sink in for a few months, making sure I spent a lot more time out in the garage playing around with the cars and making comments now and then about engines and custom work." Dick drained his beer and let Roy hand him another. "Finally, about a month before we had to finalize the acceptance to Vo-tech…"

"Wait, you mean you actually applied?"

"Of course I applied and was accepted. They were thrilled. Anyway, a few weeks before I have to make it official I started hinting that maybe I'd like to think about going to a local college and so maybe-just maybe-I might stay in college prep, maybe look at places along the east coast. Bruce was so thrilled he agreed to anything. He made one comment about Ivy League and I said how it wasn't really what I had in mind and he dropped it permanently."

"That was it?"

"Pretty much. He was so excited that I was forgetting about Vo-tech he would have agreed to my joining a seminary."

"Okay, so what did he do when you dropped out after one semester? He must have been seeing red."

Dick took another long pull on his beer, buying himself some time for a few seconds the continued almost under his breath. "He was disappointed. He didn't say anything, but I could tell he was."

Roy looked over at him; they'd known one another too long and too well for Dick to slide this one by him. "And you still think you let him down, even though you went through Cop College, lead the Titans and the Outsiders, not to mention that stint you put in as top guy with the JLA, right? Christ, dude, you're unbelievable, you know that?"

Dick didn't say anything, just gave Roy a mild look, gave a half shrug and focused on his knee. There was no anger, no emotion registered, which is how Roy knew he'd hit the nail on the head. "About a year ago I was up at the JLA satellite doing some research and overheard Bruce and Ollie talking-they didn't know I was there or maybe they didn't care. Anyway, Bruce was going on about how you were a cop, you were cleaning up Bludhaven, you were leading the Outsiders and all this crap you do and Ollie made some comment about how it sounded to him like you were becoming as anal as Bruce was."

Dick snorted a laugh. "Ollie said that? Yeah, well, I never did think he thought much of me so there you go."

"He just thought you were a little tightly wound, that's all. He liked you okay. So Bruce gets his spandex in a knot and starts on about Ollie had it wrong-you know in that quiet, controlled way he has of ripping you a new one. He goes on about how you were doing more that he could and you'd turned out better than he'd hoped, that you were going to be better than the Bat by the time you were like twenty-five or so. He shut Ollie up and good."

"Yeah, well, he was just doing a number on Ollie."

Roy finished his fifth beer, looked at his watch and stood up. The sitter was waiting and he had to get back. "Bullshit. I gotta go, 'tuck my little girl in. Later, Dick. Call me, okay?"

With Roy gone Dick got his jacket, kicked the new Ninja into gear and made the Manor inside of an hour. It was still before midnight when he walked down the stone steps to the cave. The Bat was there, cowl pushed back and working on two of the computers. "Hey."

Batman looked up. "I didn't expect you. Problem?"

"No, I just thought I'd stop by and say hello, that's all."

Bruce gave him a searching look, trying to figure out what this was really about. Finally, seemingly finding no hidden agenda he gave a small nod. "I'm glad you did."

1/16/07

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