Last time on Bruce is a bad dad

Clark opens his door to find Dick asking for shelter. He lets the kid in only to learn that Bruce has been abusing him lately and Dick insists that nobody can know he's here because Bruce will find him that way. Whilst Lois gets him to bed, Clark is left with what to do next. Whilst he wants to honour Dick's wish for everything to stay quiet, he can't let Bruce get away with this behaviour. He decides to concentrate on the boy's well being for the evening and work through things in the morning.

CONTENT WARNINGS STILL APPLY AS CHILD ABUSE IS A CONTINUING THEME 

https://www.childhelp.org/hotline/

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/reporting-abuse/report/

https://www.legalmomentum.org/referral-directory/childhelp-usa-national-child-abuse-hotline

It was a quiet night after they got Dick to bed and that sentiment continued throughout the morning as Clark began breakfast. Neither of the couple had the heart to wake the teenager sleeping so soundly in the next room. He needed as much as he could get. They'd wake him eventually of course since he needed to eat at some point and they needed to have a serious talk about what would happen next but for now, they were letting him sleep. Lois tapped the table as she thought about the situation they were in, her other hand wrapped around her coffee cup. She'd need the caffeine for the day ahead. She couldn't believe the problem that had fallen into their lap. Bruce had been different in the passing years as that playboy billionaire persona began to wear thin. There'd been hints that he wasn't the best with kids considering every sidekick he had soon distanced themselves from him but she thought that's just what kids did. Well, these hero kids at least. She assumed they just wanted out of his shadow to start their own lives but had she been far to naive? Had they all been too naive? "We've got to tell someone," Clark stated, unable to keep it in. "We can't just keep him here without telling anyone. There'll be questions and Bruce will find out."

"The bastard does know all," Lois sighed into her cup.

"Lois!"

"Well, he is a bastard. You saw what he did to that poor boy," she defended. He hummed in defeat and began plating up their food. She had a point but he wouldn't be one to repeat it. She took a sip as she ruminated on what their options were. There weren't many if she were honest but that didn't mean there were none. "Do you think Bruce has done this before?"

"I have no idea. The others never mentioned anything like this. Perhaps the man has finally lost the plot," Clark thought aloud. It felt horrible to think but he'd find some comfort if Bruce had just gone mad or maybe was being mind-controlled. Perhaps this Bruce was some sort of shapeshifter and the real one was locked up somewhere far away. He would feel better about that. Yet he had a feeling that the simplest answer was the right one. Bruce wasn't a good man and took his anger out on the people he saw as weaker than him. Without criminals readily available, there was another option sitting there. It was painful to think about it. Dick had idolised the billionaire and to have that shattered into pieces, he couldn't imagine it. 

"You need to tell the others even if Dick says he wants to keep it quiet."

"I can't mess with the boy's trust like that," Clark replied though he was halfhearted. He knew it was for the best and after all Dick was thirteen. He may be smart for his age and more mature than the likes of Barry but he was still a child. They needed to do what was best for him. Then again, he had a point about Bruce's status. He'd have the best lawyers in the business, and the respect of the judge and the jury because who the hell hasn't heard of Bruce Wayne and Gotham was well Gotham. He doubted there'd be much justice even after a lengthy court case. Still, it felt like the right thing to do. 

"People will find out eventually and they'll want to know the man they're working with."

"I'll think about it. I'd rather talk with him first."

Eventually, Clark had to leave for a mission that was now suddenly ill-timed but Lois didn't mind staying home with the kid. She would've felt bad leaving anyways and God knows Dick needed the company. She watched her lover reluctantly leave the pair to it before she went to the spare bedroom. She knocked on the door softly and waited until she heard a soft, "Come in." When she opened the door, Dick was red-faced and was wiping at his face. The sleeves of his shirt were wet through and Lois could take a stab at why. She walked over to the bed and immediately pulled him into a hug, being mindful of his injuries. It was tearing her up inside that someone he cared for did this to him. Bruce was his mentor, he was meant to keep him safe. Well, he'd already failed that part with the whole child vigilante gig but he failed even more so now. "It's going to be okay Dickie. It might not seem like it now but it will be," she assured him. She ran her fingers through his hair, gently tugging out the knots as he tightened his hold on her. 

"He's never been like this before," Dick mumbled. "What if I deserve-"

"Now you stop that train of thought before it even pulls out of the station. You're smarter than that," she interrupted. He nodded to himself, throwing away the thought for now but not forever. That was impossible. Still, he'd try for her. She was smart. She had to be to weave her way into situations that would give her the best story. "There's no one to blame here but Bruce and maybe Alfred for negligence but overall Bruce." He hummed softly. He wasn't sure how to feel about this situation other than hurt. "How about we get some breakfast in you, hm? Well, it's brunch at this point." He let out a weak laugh and pulled away a little.

"Sounds good," he replied. 

"How about you borrow some of Jon's clothes? You've already used his pyjamas and I doubt you'll fit in Clark's stuff," Lois suggested. Clean clothes could really start a day off well and Dick needed everything he could to make his day better. 

"I'm just as buff as Clark thank you very much." She tutted at him and went to the cabinet. Dick watched her root through the clothes silently. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen next. He couldn't stay here forever. He'd need to find somewhere else to live at some point. There was always the Mountain but what would his friends think? Would they just think he should've been able to fight back? Would they think he could've escaped sooner? What would everyone think of Batman now? Would people even believe him? 

"What do you think of this?" Lois' voice pulled him from his thoughts and he blinked a few times before seeing what she was showing him. It was a blue jumper with light wash jeans. Not his style but he wasn't going to complain about that. 

"It's fine."

"Great. You get busy getting dressed and I'll get your food ready."

"You don't have to. I can make it myself," he insisted. 

"Not with your arm the way it is mister. Besides I'm just warming things up." He didn't have the energy to argue any further and just let her go.

Once he'd eaten, Lois ushered him to the couch and put on a movie. She didn't talk much about the situation at hand since he wasn't in the right state of mind to think about it. He needed time to breathe and come down from it all. Everything was quite relaxing until there was a loud knock at the door. You could hardly call it a knock. It was like someone had punched the door more than knocked it. Dick immediately gained back all the anxiety he'd been slowly letting go of during the movie and looked to the older, unsure of what to do. He just knew it was Bruce. He didn't know why he knew but he just did so how was he going to react? He could hide but that would prolong the inevitable of being. He could fight back but he wasn't in the best condition for that and he didn't want Lois to be caught up in it. "Open the door," Damian's voice commanded. Damian? Why was he here? They stared at the door, each thinking about what to do. Neither were really prepared for someone to find them so quickly nor were they prepared for that person to be anyone other than Bruce. "I know he's in there. Open the door or I'll kick it down." 

"You'll do no such thing," she stated firmly. "Hold on a damn minute and I'll open the door."

"What?" Dick whisper-yelled. He couldn't get his voice to be any louder. 

"I've got this. You stay there," she whispered back. He nodded, gulping as she got off the couch and walked closer to the door. She opened it a crack to find that there wasn't just Damian outside. It was all the previous Robins though they were in civilian gear so she guessed they weren't treating it entirely seriously. Unless they were just trying to lure her into a false sense of security. "I'll let you in on one condition. You listen to me because this isn't some rebellious teenager's "my family doesn't understand me" situation. This is incredibly serious." They tilted their heads to the side, curious though wary. She wouldn't expect any different from them and convincing them may be difficult but she had a feeling this would be the one time they wouldn't be so stubborn. "Am I clear?"

"Crystal. Now let us in, you're freaking me out," Tim responded. She moved away and opened the door entirely, letting them pass through before closing the door and locking it. She immediately put herself in between the group of boys and Dick to help mediate the situation. She could tell the youngest in the room was incredibly uncomfortable so she hoped standing close to him would give him some comfort. 

"Obviously Bruce told you he was missing, did he give you much else?"

"He said there'd been a brief argument," Damian answered reluctantly. "I assumed Grayson had been dramatic and run off to prove a point but his reaction to our presence makes me think otherwise."

"You're damn right to think otherwise. He wasn't being dramatic, he wasn't being unreasonable, he was in the right and your mentor-"

"Ex-mentor," they all replied in unison.

"-ex-mentor is in the wrong." She glanced to Dick to prompt him to tell them. He looked to her then to his very confused siblings. They knew something was going down but he'd have to be the one to tell them. 

It remained next to silent as Dick both worked up the courage to speak his mind and found the right words. He messed with anything his hands could hold onto which was usually just the opposing hand before he managed to speak up. "Remember when I said something was up with Bruce and you told me not to worry about it?" he asked. They nodded slowly. "Probably should've worried." Out of all of them, it was Damian who had the biggest reaction to that statement which was quite controversial given his initial stance of punching the door like it had said something about his mother. His eyebrows knitted together with what was presumed to be worry and he strode towards the younger. He moved carefully past Lois, giving her a nod to show he didn't mean anything shady with his movement and sat beside Dick. His eyes scanned over the teen and focused in on the way the acrobat pulled at his sleeve. 

"Can I see?" 

"You already know, don't you?" 

"I have my theories," Damian responded. "I'd like to confirm."

"Confirm what?" Tim asked.

"Father can be a bitter man," was all the older replied. Hearing that was enough to make Dick cry. It was confirmation in some way that at least Damian knew Bruce wasn't a hero twenty-four seven. He wasn't idolizing the man and he appeared to understand what was going on. Maybe he'd been wrong to think his brothers would blindly follow but he wasn't going to get his hopes up yet. There was no unanimous denouncement of Bruce's character so he couldn't assume much right now. "Can you show me what he's done?" Dick rolled up his sleeve a little to reveal the bruises that were much darker than the night before. They looked painful and sore, which they were but they still looked worse than they felt. 

"He had to put it back in," Lois added, seeing that the acrobat was getting overwhelmed. "You don't do something like that on accident."

"Fuck- you don't- bastard," Jason muttered angrily to himself. He couldn't find anything more to say than a string of both shocked and incredibly angry words that were aimed at one man in particular who should be very thankful he wasn't within hurting distance. He would be soon enough if Jason had anything to do with it. 

"Clark and I agreed to take him in for the time being. He's not going back to the Manor until I'm sure he won't be hurt again."

"Have you taken him to the hospital?" Damian inquired. He said it like he already knew the answer but Lois still shook her hand in response. 

"I told them not to," Dick admitted, not wanting them to go off on Lois. She'd been his lifeline along with Clark and he wouldn't let her take the fall.  

"It would leave a paper trail and you'd be kept in overnight. Enough time for Bruce to find you in a matter of hours," Tim thought aloud. "Did you do many checks on him?"

"He's been worked night and day for the last month. He needed sleep not a physical," Lois answered. 

"You guys can sort that out. I'm gonna go fuck up a deadbeat," Jason announced. "To think he promised to change."

"Wait, he did this to you too?" the younger asked. The hero nodded solemnly which caught the attention of the other two siblings.

"You too?" Tim and Damian responded in unison. They then looked at each other in equal confusion. "You too?"

Upon that revelation, Dick felt an odd sense of reassurance. It was horrible to know that none of them had been spared but at least they'd believe him. He'd been terrified that if he said something, he'd be kicked out of the family or something because they'd think he was lying but no they'd lived through it. They were on his side. He pulled his sleeve back down and looked around at the others. This was his first time going through one of Bruce's rages and he couldn't stand it. How many times had they gone through something similar? The thought was enough to make your stomach drop. "He's hurt all of you," Lois concluded. She shook her head to herself with a sigh. This man had been in the hero community for years and he hadn't been pulled up on it? There's been outrage at the child hero business once enough time had passed pretty much all the big hitters had little ones following them around. 

"Suppose so. He just switched on me one day. We'd been working together and he got pissed. Dragged me upstairs and said some bull about being a street rat," Jason explained. "It only happened a few times."

"He made me train all the time without breaks. I swear I could've gone blind after staring at a screen for so long coming up with new code to encrypt our servers with. Like Jay, it happened a few times but it was enough to keep me wary," Tim added.

"Father had a temper when he was stressed. I knew no better then but now I do. Children shouldn't be treated as such. When Drake replaced me, I questioned him on his ability to care for him. Father insisted he'd changed," Damian concluded. 

"Why doesn't Alfred do anything?" Lois asked. Surely the butler had some feeling that this was wrong.

"He does but he's always far behind especially since he's gotten older. Doesn't excuse it but it explains why he doesn't immediately pick up on it. He has a word with Bruce, Bruce promises to change or gets us something to make up for it and then we pretend it never happened until the next time," Tim explained. "Benefits of being rich, he can make those good times really good and you run along with it."

"I'm sorry you guys went through that," Dick said softly. His bottom lip trembled as everything weighed on him. Everything was going to change all over again. He hated it. He just wanted things to feel safe again. Secure. They'd begun to feel like that when he was with Bruce but now that was over too. What if they were never going to be secure? What if he was going to keep going through these stages where he thinks he's secure but time will pass and soon enough he's lost again? "What do we do?" he asked. Now there was the question of the hour. What should they do now? They knew that he wasn't going back to Bruce without things changing that was for sure and they weren't going to take Bruce's word for it either. They were going to have to witness real change and that was even if Dick wanted to go back with him which was very unlikely. They'd have to tell the billionaire that they weren't going to let him have his protege back but how would he take it? Would he admit his faults or simply get defensive about it? All they knew was they had to handle it in a way that would benefit the youngest in the room. He'd gone through enough and this was something he didn't need to be mishandled. 

"Cass could have him for a bit? No one with anything short of a death wish will mess with her," Tim suggested after a long drawn out silence. "That would give him a secure place to stay with a familiar person that we can trust."

"Why would Cass have him?"

Bruce Wayne. The man had dared to enter the apartment without Lois' permission and he dared to walk in like he owned the place. Everyone stared at him, glaring as he got closer to the group. "I believe you have my ward. I hope he hasn't caused you too much trouble," he announced coolly. Clearly, he thought he still had a hold on the situation and he could manipulate it to his please but his timing was far too off for that. 

"Quite the opposite really. You're the only one causing trouble," Lois responded. 

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"We know what you did to him. We know what you did to each of us," Damian answered. "Have I enlightened you to the meaning Father or would you rather be an example of your behaviour?" Bruce ran his hand through his hair and they could almost hear the cogs in his brain working overdrive on how to save himself. It wouldn't work fast enough though since none of them wanted to give him the chance to pull up some excuse. 

"You've got some nerve sending us over here and making it out like Dick was in the wrong. What brand of bastard is that?" Jason spat venomously. 

"We've all let our anger get the best of us-"

"But they don't go around hurting kids!" Dick shouted. He clamped his hand over his mouth after saying it, reminding him of when Bruce had done that to him. He didn't know why he was so afraid to be truthful but he was. 

"It was an accident," Bruce replied. He was really asking for a slap in the face if he thought this was going to get him out of it. Seeing everyone harshen their looks at that excuse, Dick found some more confidence in him. He was in the right and he had to say something about it or he'd regret it later on. Besides, he had people behind him in case anything was attempted. He wouldn't be hurt again by the older. 

"It would've been an accident if you stopped after the first time," he pointed out. "Face it, you've been caught out." It seemed Bruce finally got it into his head that he couldn't pull his PR moves on these people as he did with the waves of rich people fawning over him. They were far too smart for that so that alley was closed off to him. 

"So you have. What are you going to do about it?"

"No Bruce, what are you going to do about it?" Lois inquired, pointing at him for emphasis. She had his attention that was for sure. He narrowed his eyes at her and hummed to himself. What she said hadn't shaken him as much as she'd like. Then again, this was Bruce. He wasn't one to take off his poker face. 

"You can't go to court with it since your story involves our vigilante identities and you wouldn't want to out all your friends so I'm not going to get a lawyer or gather evidence to support myself."

"Dick-"

"No, he's right," the teen admitted. "But that doesn't mean we don't have any options."

Dick faced off against the worst of the worst every night since he was a kid. He risked broken bones, cuts and bruises, torture and even death depending on who he was dealing with. Just because he did it with a mask on didn't mean he didn't have that power when he was just Dick Grayson. Bruce had been a mentor to him but right now he was no better than the people he put away so he just had to think about this in the same way. "Give up your guardianship of me," he stated. 

"What?" 

"I said give up your guardianship of me. You clearly don't care for me and I'm not going to be your Robin again so the option that benefits both of us is you giving up your guardianship." He raised an eyebrow at the suggestion and thought about it. After going over it in his head, he couldn't find anything that could backfire on him.  Other than needing a new protege he didn't have anything to lose.

"You'll be put into the foster system if I do that," he said smugly. He thought he'd just add it in there out of interest. Maybe that would deter him since finding a protege could take some time but he wasn't going to insist on keeping him around. That was far too much effort for someone so replaceable.

"He won't be," Damian disputed. He put his hand on Dick's shoulder, the uninjured one luckily, and gave him a reassuring squeeze. The younger looked at him questioningly, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Grayson will be in my care for the time being."

"Fine then. Maybe having a child will put my actions into perspective for you." It took everything in the siblings to not rip the guy's head off. They knew he had some sort of superiority complex about him but seeing it in action is another thing altogether.

"How about you go start on that paperwork hm?" Lois suggested, folding her arms. She didn't want him in the house any longer and if he didn't get moving, she'd kick him out. Things had been settled to some sort of degree and there was no point in keeping him around. They'd do more about the situation later. For now, she knew it was time for him to leave. 

"We're not seriously going to let him just leave after everything he's done right?" Jason growled out. He wanted at least one good punch in for all this trouble not just some legal work. Yet Tim had already grabbed him to keep him still whilst their deadbeat mentor walked out thinking he was smarter than the entire world. "What are you doing? He's getting away!"

"Wait for your moment," Lois told him. "He'll be getting a few hard hits soon enough. For now, we concentrate on Dickie and perhaps the lock he broke to get in here."

Batman's name became a stain on The Justice League and the hero community in general. No one worked with him, he wasn't allowed to lead the Young Justice team or have any contact with the members within the team. He did avoid a court case but that didn't mean his reputation remained intact. A few weeks after handing over guardianship to his eldest, a hard-hitting article was written on him. Charities refused to invite him to their galas, companies began to choose others to work with and he found himself being pursued less and less. In fact, he'd just become another one of the old men people talk to out of either pity or to bleed him of the last bits of money he had. Though his funds remained high enough to keep up his lifestyle, he was alone in it entirely. Yet he knew two things. 1) He deserved it and 2) this was a long time coming.