Bruce and Dick walked up to one of the officers. "I'm looking for Commissioner Gordon. Is he in his office?"

"Oh, Mister Wayne. Yes, he's actually waiting for you," the female officer said.

Bruce looked confused. "He is?"

"Yes, he said to send you in right away."

"Uhh, ok. Thanks." Bruce then walked toward Gordon's office, Dick following close behind.

Bruce knocked on the door. "Come in," Gordon called out.

Bruce opened the door, let Dick go in first, then walked in and closed the door. "Were you expecting us?" Bruce asked as he and Dick took a seat in front of the desk.

"Yes. Bruce, I just got a call from Steve Savage," Gordon said then saw Dick tense up at the name. He then watched Dick as he continued. "He said that you came to his house, asked to see Dick, and when you left, told him that if Dick didn't go with you, you would ruin him, as in make it to where he'd lose his house, money, and so on."

Bruce's eyes went wide. "You know I would never do that."

Gordon looked over at Bruce. "Bruce, I've seen you this past month. Ever since you took Dick back to the orphanage, you've been more distant, more aggressive."

"Jim, I would never threaten anyone like that, no matter what they did to me."

"And I know that. I called the mansion right after I got off the phone with Steve, but Alfred said you were already on your way here."

"Yes, I wanted to give you evidence to get Dick away from them."

Gordon sighed and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and finger. "Bruce..."

"Here, listen," Bruce said interrupting him as he pulled out the recorder and pushed play.

"He beats you?"

"Yeah, everyday. He always finds some reason to, whether it's because I put something in the wrong box, or didn't do what he said fast enough. Sometimes he just beats me for no reason at all."

Bruce hit the stop button, knowing that it was enough to convince him and that he would listen to the rest later, and saw Gordon's eyes wide. "Dick, is he really beating you?" Gordon asked looking back to Dick.

Dick looked sadly to Bruce, who in turn nodded, then to Gordon. "He doesn't just beat me. He told me if I ever tried to leave without his permission he would... well, I've got a messed up leg and a broken arm because of it, and he told me after those times that if I ever tried it again it would only get worse," he finally said looking away from Gordon.

Gordon got up from his seat, walked over to Dick, knelt down in front of him, and placed a hand on his knee. "How long has he been doing this to you?"

"It started a few days after they adopted me."

"Does his wife hit you too?"

"No, she just stands there 'cause if she tried to stop him, he'd hit her too, but she never tried to help me afterwards, and she would always say something like 'should've listened,' or 'next time get it right' and then walk away." The tears were welling up in his eyes again. "Please don't take me back to them," he begged.

Gordon looked over to Bruce then stood up, walked back around his desk, sat down, and picked up the phone. "Karen, get me Child Protective Services." Dick looked over to Bruce confused as Gordon talked. "Ok, then patch them through when you get a hold of them. Oh, and also give me the number of the orphanage." Dick's head shot back toward Gordon, fear evident in his face. Gordon wrote down the number. "Thanks, Karen, and I need them right away." He then hung up the phone.

"Why do you need to call the orphanage?" Dick asked a bit worried.

"I need to see if they did a background check on the Savages. If they found any indication of past abusing, they would've never let you go with them."

"Oh," Dick said and looked down at the floor.

"And to see if they have room for you," Gordon continued.

Dick jerked his head back up, eyes wide. "What? Why?"

"Jim, he can stay with me," Bruce said.

"Sorry, Bruce, but I can't allow it."

"Why not?" Bruce asked.

"Because, when you gave Dick up, you gave up the right to take care of him, and if the CPS found out I let Dick stay with you, I'd get in a lot of trouble."

"It'll just be for one night, and if they send him back to the orphanage I'll just readopt him anyway."

"Bruce, it's not that simple. The CPS probably wouldn't let you readopt him."

"Why?"

Gordon sighed. "Bruce, to the CPS, giving up a child for no reason is like neglecting them, and that's what they deal with, neglect and abuse. They try to keep the children away from that kind of stuff. I'm sure after I tell them about this, they will investigate Steve and Sarah, and I'm sure they've already investigated you for abandoning Dick. They won't be easy to convince that you won't give him up again."

"I promise, I would die before I ever do that again," Bruce said more to Dick than Gordon. Dick gave him a small smile.

"You don't have to convince me. Just don't get your hopes up that you can get him back."

"But I don't want to be with anyone else," Dick said quietly.

Gordon sighed again. "Look, I can tell the person at the orphanage to make sure you don't get adopted until after I talk with the CPS, but if they say there's no way for Bruce to readopt you, then I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do."

A tear slipped down Dick's face then stood up and faced Bruce very angry. "Why did you have to be so stupid?!" This outburst surprised both Gordon and Bruce, and Bruce just looked at him shocked. "You knew perfectly well that I could protect myself, and if I couldn't I knew I had my friends, and I thought I had you, but you never cared about me!" Tears were now streaming down his face and he ran out of the office.

Both Bruce and Gordon stood up and ran after him. "Dick!" Bruce tried calling out, but by the time he and Gordon got out of the office, Dick was gone.

YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ

Dick ran all the way to Wayne Manor and burst through the doors. His leg and arm were killing him from all the movement from the running. He just stood there crying.

Alfred and Wally came into the room to see what happened. "Master Dick?" Alfred asked when he saw Dick.

Dick ran up to Alfred and just barreled into him, clung to him for dear life, and cried harder. After a few minutes, Alfred pushed him away enough to kneel down so he was eye level with him, his hands on both of Dick's shoulders. "What on earth is the matter?"

"Why did Bruce have to give me up? Now I may never get to come back here," Dick said. He was still crying, but he had it under control a little better.

"I'm sure Master Bruce will do everything he can to get you back."

"But he can't if Child Protective Services won't let him."

Alfred just pulled him back into a hug. He didn't know how else to respond. "It'll be alright," he said rubbing Dick's back.

Wally just stood there looking at them sadly. He wanted to comfort his friend, but knew that Alfred was better at it, so he just left them alone and walked back to the living room.

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Almost done guys. Only one more chapter to go. How are you liking this story so far. Please comment and let me know.

Thanks for reading :D