Batman & Robin And Me .:rewritten:.

X. Khakis & Cookies

I MUST HAVE DOZED OFF BECAUSE when I opened my eyes again, the sun wasn't in my eyes anymore, and Dick was standing next to my bed, gently shaking my shoulder.

"Wha...?" I slurred, noticing the pajamas were gone, and in their place, he wore a red sweater vest over a button-down shirt, complete with khakis. His thick curls had been tamed and slicked back, and he had a backpack slung over one of his shoulders.

He caught my gaze and grimaced. "Uniforms." A small shrug. "But what can you do?"

"No," I protested, sitting up and pulling a coverlet around my shoulders to ward off the ever-present draft. "You look good. Where are you going?"

"It's Monday. Gotta put my hours in at school."

"Oh." I was suddenly struck by how free of schedule my life had been. My brothers and I had always been a few steps ahead of our peers in education, so it was simply more efficient to take the appropriate courses online and not have to go through the rigmarole of being in the same grade with people much older than us. We had never had to wake up early on Monday morning. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it sucks. We have to keep up our appearances, you know? Can't have Bruce Wayne's ward not going to school. Raises questions." A wry smile twisted his lips. "But we get the last laugh. I'm taking my college courses right now, unknown to them. The schoolwork for my grade is breeze."

College courses? And I thought I was smart... "I'll see you later, then?"

"Of course." He hoisted the backpack up onto his shoulders and gave me a grin. "Don't have anymore nightmares, now."

I flushed, averting my eyes. "Don't worry."

"I need to talk to Alfred about replacing that couch. It's way too small to comfortably sleep on." He added, sliding out the door after giving me a wave.

"Bye!" I called after him. In a flash, I had snuggled back under my crisp blankets, ready to go back to sleep.

It didn't happen.

After thirty minutes, I finally heaved an enormous sigh and climbed out of bed, reluctant to leave but tired of waiting to doze off. My widow had been opened some time that morning and beautiful, delicious, marvelous, fresh air was flowing in, making me feel brand-new.

"I've got to do something about the state of my wardrobe." I muttered, pulling on a "fresh" pair of pants and a tank top. Fresh being the key word here, since everything still smelled like home and ash. "I'm running out of clothes."

And boy, was I starving.

I tripped downstairs, feeling completely invigorated--if hungry--and on the top of the world. Everything was silent, and I tiptoed into the kitchen. Alfred wasn't around. Maybe I could just grab a snack--

"Harmony."

Feeling inexplicably guilty, as if I'd been caught with my hand in the (nearly literal) cookie jar, I brought my eyes up to the face of Bruce Wayne, who I had somehow failed to notice was sitting at the counter table, dressed in clothes not unlike what Dick had been wearing earlier.

"Hi!" I squeaked, bringing up my hand in a little wave.

"I'm sorry, but I need to ask. How do you know?"

"What?" I started, caught off guard. His icy blue eyes, while not unkind, were sharp and probing and I knew any kind of lie I could cook up wouldn't make it past him.

"Our identities. Did you find out? Figure it out? How do you know about Batman and Robin?"

"I--I'm really not sure." I admitted, confused. "I've read comics about you my whole life. You're...supposed to be fictional characters."

His eyes shone with interest. "Fascinating. You could be a side effect of Chrono's most recent space ripping crimes. Maybe it wasn't entirely a coincidence that we have you here."

I didn't really understand, but at least he wasn't looking at me like I was a suspect. Besides, his last comment had sparked my interest, and it was my turn to ask questions anyway. "Why did you take me in?"

"...It was on Dick's insistence."

I straighted, confused.

"We had been tracking the Joker for weeks. He had been jumping from area to area and taking what he wanted, leaving no clue as to where he would be next. He's crazy, you understand."

I nodded vigorously.

"We followed his trail down to your house, which was smoldering from the remains of an explosion, and looked for survivors. Your parents were gravely injured, and your brothers were gone. Robin found you, wedged under a beam but mostly unharmed, and pulled you out. He seemed upset, and when I asked, he said that you had mumbled something about your brothers, but he couldn't find anyone else. I was going to take you to the hospital along with your parents, but Robin was incredibly guilty--close to tears--and he insisted we take you back with us. The Joker had to have taken them, he reasoned, and it was out fault for not coming sooner. We had to find your brothers." He shrugged. "I trust his judgment, and he's never asked anything like this before, so we took your parents to the hospital and Dick typed up a couple of papers to give us authority to take care of you until your parents were well."

I cocked my head. "Well, thanks."

He smiled, kindly. "You must be pretty hungry, right? Why don't you have some breakfast."

"Sound good...that's actually kind of what I was here for." I started walking towards the pantry, shrugging apologetically. "But I really don't feel like anything but a snack this morning. I was sort of craving some junk food..."

He laughed, and leaned forward to stage-whisper, "Well, you can get into the cookies. Alfred's not here."

He and I grinned at each other, and I realized that I had passed muster and gained a friend all at once.

Vote vote vote yeah