DC | ❝ son when you grow up, will you be the savior of the broken? ❞

[menarebrave]

(cont from here)

[ Bruce remains quiet as he listens. There is so much he can only imagine. Aqualad? It must be related to that Arthur Curry. M'Gann? Kid Flash - must be related to that Barry Allen. There is so much that it seems this young man has already experienced, while Bruce is far older than him and barely scratched the surface of it all. ]

Nothing is a promised success, Dick. There's no guarantee any of us will make it out of anything.

Let me ask you this: will being something other than the Batman help you?

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[officiallywhelmed]

[ He winces a little at that, even as he nods. ] I know. I just...I don't like being the one to take them down that path.

[ He didn't like the idea that he would be responsible for their deaths.

The question has him hesitate again, and he hates it. He hates how uncertain everything has become lately. But when he finally answers, he does so honestly. ]

I don't...I don't know. It's the first time I've considered not being Batman. But...I won't know unless I try, right? Try to figure out my own way.

[ Honestly, part of it scared him. He'd been working under Batman for so long, imagined becoming Batman for so long, that the idea of doing something else, something new, was a little frightening.

But then, so was being adopted by someone after his parents died. So was leaving the circus and moving into a strange and unfamiliar city. So was the first time he'd started training to become a crime-fighting hero. So was the first time he'd gone on a mission, both with Batman, and on that very first solo mission with Kid Flash and Aqualad. So was forming a team of young heroes, a team of their very own.

There had been so many things that had been more than a little frightening in his life. But he'd managed to overcome that fear each time, and be better for it. And trying to find his own path - to be his own hero - is scary, and it is hard. But maybe it is what he needs, after all. ]

[menarebrave]

That's the burden of being a leader. Which, I'm sure you know.

[ The look on his face says he isn't one that wants to be saddled with it either. Yet, he will be. He and Diana are putting this team together. That means that it'll be the both of them making the calls... but he has the feeling that he'll be the one they look to.

His current track record doesn't give him the most faith. ]

Part of growing up is following a path you set for yourself. Sometimes it lines up with what your parents wanted... sometimes you find yourself having a true calling.

[ His gaze softens then. He can remember the arguments with Alfred when he was younger. The path he took wasn't the desired one... but it was the one that he needed. That Gotham needed. That his family legacy needed.

Hopefully, he hadn't soured it before then. ]

Is being any form of Robin or Batman what you want?

[officiallywhelmed]

[ He can't help a slight frown. Even though he knows it's true, he isn't sure if that answer comes from him not explaining himself right, or if it was exactly the reason he'd been afraid to talk about all this with Bruce back home at all. That the burden of being a leader was just inescapable, and expected, and even if neither of them wanted to be leader, it's just what the do. For the sake of The Mission.

That's what made everything so hard. ]

...Maybe...maybe not exactly like Batman, or even Robin. But something like it. I like being a hero, and trying to keep people from getting hurt. Just...maybe something a little different.

[menarebrave]

Then it sounds like you're on your first step in figuring it all out.

[ There is an honest tone there, and one that is even proud. Dick has already picked what life path he wants--it's just filling in the details. He isn't Bruce, so he can't be Batman. But, that doesn't stop him from figuring out what other kind of a hero he can be. ]

It might help if you start by figuring out the kind of hero you want to be.

[officiallywhelmed]

[ The small hint of pride is what finally eases his nerves, his shoulders relaxing even just slightly. Even though this isn't his Bruce from his world, it's still Bruce. So maybe the Bruce he knows back home would feel the same.

Maybe he could talk about these things to his Bruce, after all. ]

Yeah. That part I'll have to think about.

[ It's not something to be taken lightly, after all. So he would need to take time to really consider what and who he wanted to be. ]

[menarebrave]

You have some time to think about it. At least you're not my age and questioning it.

[ It's am ambiguous statement, left to make one wonder. Bruce only lets people in to a certain point. Alfred is one who creeps in closer, but, even Alfred can't get to the depths of how Bruce really feels. ]

[officiallywhelmed]

[ Maybe it's just because he's used to Bruce, no matter what world he's from, but Dick catches something in his tone that has him glancing up at the older man curiously. ]

...Is that...something that's happened before?

[ It had neve occurred to him to think that even Bruce could question these things at times. He always just seemed to unwavering, so intent on The Mission. ]